I’m normally an Armour guy, but I was getting a little burnt out on all the Tigers, and Panthers, and T-34’s I’ve been building lately. I thought I could use a change, so decided to build a bi-plane model. I haven’t built one of these since I was a kid, so it’s been well over 30 years!!!
Anyway, this is the Eduard 1/48 Dual combo version. These Eduard bi-plane kits are awesome! I have really been bitten by the bi-plane bug now.
I built it almost OOB, the only additions being some wire to replicate fuel lines from the upper wing tank, and I also used solder for the radiator pipes. I’m very surprised Eduard didn’t include the radiator pipes in either this kit, or a number of the Albatros kits they’ve released. The markings are for a pilot named Joachim Buddwcke from Jasta 30 in 1918.
I am not happy at all with the way the prop turned out, and plan on re-doing it asap. I had MUCH better luck with my current build, and Albatros D.III, and will copy that technique on my Pfalz. Overall, I’m pretty happy with how it came out, and am excited to finish my next one. Thanks for looking, and comments welcome.
It looks great! I like how smooth the finish is over the body, it looks fantastic. What type of paint did you use?
Also, i think the prop looks very good - i’m pretty awful at painting wood grain, what technique did you use to this one, and how is that different from your current build?
Chris and Frank: Thank you for the positive comments!
Chris; I painted my Pfalz with Tamiya AS-12 in a spray can. After I applied the decals, I over-coated it with Testors Clear flat Lacquer in a spray can also…that’s all.[:D]
As for the prop, on the Pfalz, I sprayed it Tamiya XF-59Desert Yellow, and then painted laminations with Tamiya XF-10 Flat Brown. I thought the difference was too stark, so I applied Vallejo 929 Light Brown over the dark brown.
On my latest build, and Eduard Albatros D.III, I painted the prop XF-59, then used a prismacolour pencil # pc945 Sienna Brown to draw the laminations. Afterwords, I brushed on a coat of Tamiya clear yellow. Here’s a couple of pics to demonstrate.
Great job on the Pfalz, and the Albatross is shaping up nicely too. I agree with you on the prop, the second method is very convincing, great idead overcoating with the clear yellow, it seems to help lessen the contrast. Have you used a similar method with the wood paneling on the Albatross? I think I’m getting dizzy looking at all that rigging!
On the fuselage of the Albatros, I used a different method. I first sprayed XF-59. After it dried, I applied Burnt umber oil paint overall. I wiped off most of the oil paint, leaving a tinted, streaky mess! Then I took a flat, wide brush, and ran it along the panel lines to simulate the grain. I alternated directions as I went to make it look more natural. After it dried 24 hours, I sprayed on Tamiya clear yellow.While it does look pretty good IMHO, I realize it’s probably too dark for an Albatros. Next time, I’ll try something different.
Well done indeed… I have that same kit, although the decals are for a different version, Rudolf Berthold’s red & blue mount, although the plan is to get it done in the lozenge camo to depict Stachel’s Pfalz from The Blue Max…
Frankly, I don’t see anything really wrong with your prop, Pard… Your wood-grain technique looks good enough to me… Also, the guns look like their cooling jackets are photo-etched. They come with the kit? (Mine didn’t have any PE parts included)
I love your Plafz and want to marry it…I’ve been eyeing these 48th scale WW I Eduard kits for awhile (I have a few in 72nd scale—very tiny). Does the rigging come with the kit?
My Pfalz is the “Weekend Edition” and doesn’t come with any rigging material… Of course, I use stretched sprue for rigging anyway, so it doesn’t matter…
Thanks for all the comments, it really motivates me to finish my Albatros!
Rick: I used nylon sewing thread. I pulled it between my thumb, and a Sharpie to color it. Then I drilled .080 holes through the wings. I pulled the rigging through added a drop of cyano, and touched it with accelerator. Then I trimmed it flush with the surface of the wings and touched up the paint.
Hans Von Hammer: My kit is the dual combo edition. It has two complete kits, photo-etch, and masks for the tail surfaces. Yes, the MG’s are PE. I just watched the Blue Max last weekend! Great movie!
Eric Von: No, there is no rigging included. As I said before, I used nylon sewing thread. These are really great kits!
Concur on TBM… Dunno if you ever got a chance to see it, but there was a movie mash-up of The Blue Max and Flyboys on YouTube a while back (it’s been pulled since their were some copyright violations)… The fight scene between Stachel and the 2-seater was redone with the “Rawlings” vs the “Black Baron” footage of Rawlings fighting Stachel and showed Stachel blasting Rawlings outta the sky… I wish I would have had a way to keep it… It was really good!
How’d you do the PE jackets for the guns? I have a PE set of German guns (from Tom’s Model Works) that came with the 1/28th Revell Fokker Dr1 I got offa Ebay a couple years ago, but haven’t tackeled yet. Not having dealt with much more than occasionally bending flat parts 90 degrees or some such, I’m a little intimidated by rolling parts… Frankly, if you can do 1/48th scale gun jackets, then I can just “scale up” your technique to 1.28th, right? Or am I ate up?
I suppose you could do it one of a couple of different ways; if you have a selection of drill bits, you could use them to form the PE cooling jackets. Or, you could use a tool to roll them like what I used. Here’s a link to the set:
I recommend this tool if you have any round PE bending to do. I think it pays for itself in the long run by eliminating the frustration of other methods. After you bend the part, just use a dab of cyano, and place the join on the bottom of the gun next to the fuselage.
Boyd: Thanks for the compliments! You can see it in person Thursday.
Eric Von: Thanks! All that rigging has been secured, and it should be finished in a day or two. Just have to touch up the paint here and there, and add the wing decals. I should have finished pics soon.
