Hi all,
As related in my Introductions post, my current Great War build is that of one of the two Pfalzes built for
The Blue Max, the more accurate but poorer-handling G-ATIJ:
'TIJ flew in several other films until ultimately being retired to a hangar in Alabama. There it was found and its location passed on to
Blue Max fan and collector Peter Jackson, who then bought it and had the sad old plane shipped to NZ. The aircraft was restored to flight - in its film scheme - at Omaka in New Zealand and flew as ZK-JPI, making its debut at the 2005 Classic Fighters Airshow. That was a highlight for me! It is now on static display at the Omaka Heritage Centre, appropriately on a red carpet, but is apparently still ready-to-fly. They have it displayed under a projector screen which shows the first "dogfight" of the film on a loop, which features this aircraft and its sister Pfalz...which Sir Peter also owns, and is used as a training aeroplane for The Vintage Aviator Limited.
Like many here I love the film and when I lived in Blenheim in 2007 I visited the museum often to see this machine in person. One of the reasons was to photograph every inch - over the barriers - in preparation to build it from the 1/72 Roden kit. After a while I had build most of the airframe but the paint scheme scared me off and I opted for a Jasta 10 machine instead, but this year I recovered my composure and got back into it.
I'd previously done several mods to the kit to more accurately reflect the replica's appearance, chief among them removing two cylinders from the engine, carving footholds into the fuselage side, and sanding the rudder and fin to match the replica. This weekend I also removed the radiator from the top wing.
As you can see it's already been partially painted so my next step is to go over everything with Tamiya Light Grey as a base. Then is the question of the unique lozenge and I have three options: hand-paint an approximation (as I'm keen to just get the thing done, and do it properly in 1/32 later this year); buy an Encore kit and use the decals (on-selling the kit sprues); or invest in an Aviattic set, which will involve some tricky measuring and cutting as the airframe is pretty much built.
One lingering question is that of the colour on the cowls, struts and wheels. The Encore instructions I've seen say that this Pfalz had them in black in the movie, but in person the restored aircraft has not black but more of a very dark blue. Does anyone have any suggestions for this? Here's an example, although I think the flash brings out too much blue:
http://www.airplane-pictures.net/photo/118937/germany-imperial-air-force-ww1-pfalz-d-iii-replica/Also this one:
http://www.abpic.co.uk/photo/1359613/Any thoughts, comments and criticism welcome!
