Black dagger. A WNW Pfalz D.IIIa

[Des]

Coming along beautifully Stefan, the pilot figure will really bring the model to life and is a great choice.

Des.

[Skids]

Great start Stefan, will be watching closely as I have yet to start mine

keep putting it off but I will start it this year (been saying that for nearly 2 years!! but this could be the year)

Hopefully your build will be a good inspiration

[stefanbuss]

I was a-gardening to-day.

Planting some lupins here


and some poppies there














to be able to report in the end:

The Pfalz's base is pfinished!

[coyotemagic]

Very fine base, Stefan!  The flowers are a nice touch!
Cheers,
Bud

[Borsos]

oh my god, what Hippie stuff! 
Very nice flowers, well done. Are these from Kellerkind miniatures?
Borsos

[Ernie]

Pfantastic pflowers, Stefan...pfabulous pfoundation for the Pfalz, my Pfriend.

Cheers and apologies ,
Ernie

[stefanbuss]

Ernie: exactly.

Borsos: i followed a recommendation by James "Fareast" Machin and bought those flowers from Reality in Scale in the Netherlands - only to realize that they are a reseller. The plants come from Fredericus Rex in Germany (buying there would have saved money and time, but hey...)

Coyote: thank you.

Now back to the Pfalz and my cunning plan. Or something like that.

[stefanbuss]

Friends, i had an accident last week, resulting in a sprained ankle, a sprained ellbow and much less progress on the Pfalz then i had planned. I had to learn that it is rather hard to work at the modelling bench when you cannot use your arm properly.

Nonetheless i have started detailing the engine and i closed the fuselage, following Bertl's advice to close the fuselage before adding the engine. I am not convinced the engine will fit, but i will deal with that when the engine is finished.

The fuselage is closed now, puttied, taped and has received its first coat of paint. I applied a mix of 50% Misterkit Silbergrau (wich is actually just a light grey) and 50% Vallejo Chrome, resulting in a nice metallic sheen, and started adding a missing panel on the larboard lower wing.

All of the paint on the fuselage will be covered with black paint, of course, the wings will receive five colour Tarnstoff decals.

As i said, not so much to report.

S.

[gedmundson]

Sorry to hear of your accident Stefan - get well soon! Your Pfalz is looking great. I was interested to see your formula for the silbergrau since that was my main concern for the two Pfalz models I'd just completed. Nice to know there are other options out there.
Cheers,
Gary

[stefanbuss]

Gary,

i must confess i was very disappointed when opening the jar of Misterkit. Their are promoting their light grey as "Pfalz Silbergrau", but it is just a light gray, no metallic pigment in it - and the jar only filled 50%.

As i wanted to have a silvery sheen in it (even when it disappears below a black coat, it will be visible in parts, as the fuselage was not repainted completely), i tried adding chrome colour i had on hand and was happy with the tone.

[lcarroll]

That sounds like no small accident, Stefan, hope you are fully recovered quickly. The Pfalz looks real good, how did you do the fuselage join strip on the spine, vinyl like mine or a strip of styrene?
Cheers,
Lance

[Borsos]

oh, yes, gute Besserung!
Fredericus Rex, thank you for the hint. I'll check this site.
Borsos

[stefanbuss]

Lance,

i must confess: being the lazy guy that i am, i didn't apply a strip of styrene - instead i used some Tamiya tape. That tape's texture will be sufficiently covered with paint in the end (i hope).

S.

[stefanbuss]

The engine is in, sans oil pump.

The Mercedes DIIIa received the "standard" Taurus treatment (spark plugs, valves, rockers, intake mainifold nuts) plus wiring. I hate that part of detailing (the wiring, that is), but that all can be seen afterwards, as Hertel's Pfalz had cut down engine panels, to aid in cooling.

The next step will be the oil pump at it's respective wiring. More wiring, again. Poor me.

S.

[stefanbuss]

Small update:
Lower wing is prepared for adding the small, June type, Balkenkreuze. The larger, April type Balkenkreuze have been overpainted with Pfalz silbergrau, as this would have been at hand at a Pfalz Staffel.

The fuselage is now black (actually this isn't pure black, but a mix of 50% Vallejo blackgrey and 50% Chocolate Brown, giving me opportunities to use black for shadow effects later on), the tail is white. Scratches have been added by way of using some steel wool, the tail's end is already highly glossed for the dagger decals. I prefer adding scratches by removing the paint (adding micro-scratches, if you want), instead of painting them. I never managed to end up with realistic scratches by way of painting.
The exhaust is a resin replacement from TMD, superthin (actually so thin that it was crushed by our Mail Service in several places).
The next step will be to add the springs for holding the engine panels in place (in fact first scratching the springs, than adding them to the fuselage).


The propeller was made with colour pencils, as usual.