Windsock Datafile 146
Pfalz D.XII at War

Reviewed by Rob Baumgartner

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Lurking somewhere in the Wingnut Wings pipeline is a new kit of the Pfalz D.XII. It can’t be too far away, so now would be a good time to expand your reference library on this late war German fighter.

Windsock Datafile #146 from Albatros Productions fits the bill nicely. Way back in 1993, the late Peter Grosz authored the original Datafile on this aircraft. Unfortunately it’s been out of print for some time but this updated study of the popular aircraft is a worthy successor.

The tried and trusted format of the series continues with 40 pages between the A4 sized covers.

Colin Owers provides the narrative and it’s an interesting and entertaining read. The history of the type is discussed as well as the construction and characteristics of the aircraft itself.

One of the hallmarks of this series is the photographic coverage of the subject in question. Unfortunately period photographs of the D.XII are not in abundance. So if you have the earlier Datafile, you will see some images that have been repeated here. Not a problem because printing technology has changed a lot in the intervening years, thus it’s been possible to print these duplicated photos much larger and clearer than before.

Of course there plenty of new “eye candy” as well. Amongst the nearly 140 black and white images are 15 in colour from the Australian War Memorial’s Pfalz D.XII. These close-up images are complimented by the author’s detailed shots of various components from the AWM D.XII during the restoration process taken out in the ‘70s.

Marty Digmayer has been busy and presents 7 pages of revisionist scale plans. As well as the expected 1:72 and 1:48 scale renditions, parts of the airframe have also been covered in the popular size of 1:32...for obvious reasons.

Ronny Bar supplies more of his superb artwork as does Robert Karr with his evocative painting on the cover. All of this provides the reader with a total of 8 aircraft profiles. Two of these are revised interpretations from the previous volume and the other 6 are completely new to the Datafile series.

Rounding out the publication is a “Camouflage and Markings” section as well as an appendix that tabulates the measurements, performance figures, and past kits of the Pfalz D.XII.

So for the perfect all-round reference source for this popular fighter, you can’t go past this publication.

Thanks to Albatros Productions for the review sample

Review Copyright © 2011 by Rob Baumgartner
This Page Created on 25 July, 2011
Last updated 26 July, 2011

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