Eduard's 1/48 scale
Pfalz D.III

by Garfield Ingram
 

  

Eduard's 1/48 scale Pfalz D.III is available online from Squadron for less than $10.00
 

This is the Eduard 1/48 scale Pfalz D.III kit built pretty much out of the box.

It is my first fully rigged biplane model in a very long time and I made a number of bonehead mistakes - hence, there are no close-ups. The next time I do this, I will pre-drill the struts as I had done on the mainplanes and fuselage. I relied on overlapping the monofilament rigging over the struts which had rather messy results.

If you are going to build this kit, it is essential to check your alignment continually. I found that the cabane struts were not aligned to each other, one set being further forward than the other. This result is that the wings are twisted relative to each other when viewed from above.

I had to do some fancy fiddling to get them to align. I must admit this to be my mistake not Eduard’s as I probably didn’t ensure that the fuselage halves were properly aligned due to the absence of locating pins.

The model was painted with my own mix of flat white and brilliant silver enamel. This resulted in a soft grey finish that is close to what I believe the real deal to be like.

After the paint was cured, I sprayed on several thin layers of Floquil Crystal Coat which was rubbed with 8000 grit paper and polished out after curing.

Floquil Flat was used for a final finish as it gives a velvety semi-gloss lustre.

The prop was painted in a series of layers. First, a yellow/red brown was sprayed on followed by a thin wash of darker brown applied with a stiff brush to simulate the wood grain. The darker laminations of wood were then created with a thin mixture of dark red-brown acrylic, a fine brush and a steady hand. The entire prop was then given a number of coats of Floquil Crystal Coat stained with a golden yellow/brown. This final coat reduced the contrast of the laminations a little bit more.

To me the Pfalz D.III is truly a beautiful airplane and showcases the brilliant German design and construction which so many of us find so intriguing.
 

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

Model, Images and Text Copyright © 2007 by Garfield Ingram
Page Created 01 February, 2007
Last Updated 24 December, 2007

Back to HyperScale Main Page

Back to HyperScale Main Page