Pfalz D.IIIa 8417

Eduard have in its products a number of them dedicated to WW1 and one of the many is their kit of Pfalz D.IIIa. From Eduard instructional leaflet:

Pfalz D.III was, together with theAlbatros D.V and Fokker Dr.I, one of the three main classic German dog-fighters from Fall 1917 until the Summer 1918, when all of them were replaced by the excellent Fokker D.VII. Pfalz D.IIIa was a development of its predecessor, the Pfalz D.III. D.IIIa had improvements such as new wing, new tail, better located armament (two LMG 08/15 machine guns in front of the cocpit), and a new 180 HP Mercedes D.IIIa engine. Altogether, 750 Pfalz D.IIIa’s were produced, and when they were replaced by Fokker D.VII’s, they continued in service with training units.

This kit in 1/48 scale have few editions and this one, presented here, is Weekend edition kit, stock code 8417. Kit is so simple, it have two plastic frets with parts (not so many) and nice decals provided. Build is more the simple and pleasant and nice to practice wooden painting interior of the kit. I some close past, i have use this kit for review of Eduard steel bepts for German WW1 airplanes so take a note that belts you see on some photos, are not part of this kit.

Definitely almost no special attention need to be point on build of this kit, only more care need while assembly landing gear. Note that it have one long shaft which have to be mounted on two struts and on this struts are tiny point which indicate where to cement shaft. That’s all, after that you simply paint it and cement on kit on its position.

What is feature of teh WW1 airplanes is riging and this kit have not much wires so it could be nice start kit for those who is less experienced with biplanes. Apart from wing riging, there is also contol tab cables, so don’t forget to include them either. Eduard provide good instruction for riging.

Pleasant kit to built, with no special big skill and final result is in attractive looking plane. Sample kit is not available but you can find others on Eduard site and my big thanks goes to Eduard for sample kit provided.

Srećko Bradić