I haven’t posted any in-progress pictures here before, but I do have a WNW Pfalz D.IIIa that’s been going for a long time. Anyway, in order to perhaps motivate myself, I’ve decided to share what I’ve done so far.
I’d always liked Hans-Georg von der Marwitz’s “Wine red” Pfalz. Until recently, we owned a Toyota RAV4, and the color is a good match for wine red, but my wife didn’t think it would look good with orange diamonds on the doors. (Of course, if we’d had the markings on the doors, maybe the woman that crossed 3 lanes to total it would have seen it sooner!)
Instead, I “settled” for the Wingnut Wings Pfalz D.IIIa.
One positive result of my early procrastinations was that the marvelous Jasta 30 book by Bruno Schmäling & Winfried Bock came out last year. After getting the book, I was able to get most of the painting done by the end of 2014, then life happened, and it’s been mostly stalled since.
Several paints were tested for both the “wine red” and Silbergrau, using some old spare Eduard Pfalz wings. Parts were primed with Tamiya Gray Fine Surface Primer. For the red, I chose Tamiya Spray TS-33, Dull Red, for 3 reasons – great coverage, smooth finish, and my wife & I both think it’s a great color! For the light blue, I used a 10:1 mix of Tamiya XF-2 Flat White and X-14 Sky Blue.
The Silbergrau was a bit of an adventure. I had a couple of versions that looked really good on the smaller Eduard wing, but I could not get the same look on the actual 1/32 version. Wingnut suggests a Tamiya mix, but the finish seemed fragile and grainy. I eventually used Model Master enamels, mixing MM 28003 Silver and Light Gray FS 36495 (MM 1732). I started with a 50/50 mix, and then added a little more gray. I had some airbrush issues, and it took some time to get a finish I liked. I wouldn’t use this mix again. The radiator is Alclad Aluminum.
I used Pheon Decals sheet 32026 Pfalz D.IIIa fighters of Jasta 30. Although there are profiles both with and without the diamond on the upper wing, I just couldn’t leave it off. Of course, if you’re really going to screw up one decal, it would have to be something very large and prominent. Many thanks to Rowan & Sabine at Pheon for supplying a replacement. It takes some care to position it around the radiator, but it looks really good now.
I also used HGW 132006 Pfalz D.III/D.IIIa seatbelts and Master AM-32-023 Spandau LMG 08/15 barrels. For rigging, I am using Maxima Chameleon 2 lb. test (0.12 mm) monofilament, with Bob’s Buckles and 28 or 30 Ga. Amber Polyimide tubing. A section cut from the eye of a needle is used as the guide for the radiator shutter under the top wing. The PE shutter shaft has been replaced with 0.4 mm tubing, and the handle made from 0.020” Evergreen plastic rod.
Now I just have to get all of the “small” details done, try a few new techniques, and set aside a little time to tie it all together!
Thanks for looking,
Rich
