Pfalz Model Images
by Sandy Adam

The Pfalz Collection - I
Pfalz D.IIIa, Jasta 16b Western Front, 1918

This is the beautiful little Eduard kit made straight from the box as von Holtzem's machine, with a few additions like flare rack and mirror and the star on the upper wing. I read RR's Windsock article and agreed that it looked like loz lower and silbergrau upper wings but think he was wrong about the black line on lower leading edge - probably a pencil line on picture. This won me our last triple branch championship - but more importantly, got several of the other guys to dig out some biplane kits and get enthusiastic!

The Pfalz Collection - II
Pfalz AI, Western Front 1915/16

This is the early Eduard Morane Parasol finished as the Pfalz AI copy. I love those white finishes with black tapes. The only change was the Pfalz badge on the cowling - courtesy of the JGMT EI kit (see later). The kit's a bit rough but makes up into a nice dramatic subject.

The Pfalz Collection - III
Pfalz Dr.I - Western Front, April 1918

Copper State kit of a fascinating subject. Only 10 of these tripes reached operational service but you've got to have it in the collection dontcha? Not a kit for the beginner, the main bits need quite a bit of work, but lots of lovely extras as usual with CSM. Its worth having this kit just for that massive propellor!

The Pfalz Collection - IV
Pfalz E1 - Bavarian Air Service, Winter 1915

This kit is an absolute jewel. Made by the French firm of JGMT in resin, it is a beaut in all depts, apart from an under-sized machine gun. JGMT kits are expensive but the quality of the mouldings has to be seen to be believed - viz the leather padding on seat for example. They also give you a spare tiny brass Pfalz badge that's a work of art in itself. Another dramatic black and white Pfalz with crosses in every conceivable position.

The Pfalz Collection - V
Pfalz DVIII - Jasta 90, Mannheim, late 1918

This is a Tom's Modelworks kit which was arrived very badly malformed and misshapen. This may be peculiar to my unfortunate example but I had to rebuild the entire front and lower fuselage and wing centre section. Check before buying . For a resin kit it's inexpensive with lots of good extras and allows a variety of great colour schemes. I opted for the unfortunate Lt Forstmann who wrote it off quite spectacularly. As always with WWI, there are doubts about exact colours and whether this aircraft ever wore the big spinner, but this is my interpretation.

The Pfalz Collection - VI
Pfalz DIII - Jasta 10, Courtrai 1917


This is the one that actually started the Pfalz craze for me. I'd made stacks of Aurora Pfalzes years ago (RR says he could never find one in London in the late sixties - well up in Scotland we were swimming in them.) More recently I'd looked at the Glencoe reissue many times, when out came the superb Eduard rendition. Game set and match. Perfect kit, accurate, cheap, plentiful, easy to make. Wow.

My subject is the fascinating 1370/17 which was flown by Vzfw Hecht and then captured by the RFC. I have a coupla others unmade, that one day will hopefully be a tryptych with the all-silver factory fresh 1370; then this one; then the bruised and used 1370 in RFC roundels with its G110 numbers added. That'll be when I'm 105.

Up | Chez Sandy Adam | Gallery | Home