OK ! I have some great news !
The Roden Pfalz D-III has arrived. It is the correct one needed to build my Werner Voss Pfalz D-III. It has the MG's mounted inside the fuselage, and they are not exposed. It also has the earlier style wing and cabane struts. Plus it has the smaller horizontal tail. I should be able to build the correct model of the Voss Pfalz, without having to modify anything, or cut up parts on the WNW D-IIIa model.
You can't believe how stoked I am right now. Yes it doesn't take much I guess... 🙂
These are some pictures of the sealed box. I was very fortunate and grabbed the very last one that Sprue Brothers had in stock. It was meant to be I guess...
This is the box art once the shrink wrap was removed. It took out some of the reflections and allows us to better see the box art. Pretty cool illustration I think.
Now on to the contents inside:
This shows the wings. Thankfully they are molded as single pieces.
The under camber looks very good too.
This is the fuselage tree.
This shows the exterior plastic. The molding looks to be nicely done.
This shows the stringers / longerons and some of the molded on bulkhead lines.
This is the earlier style horizontal stabilizer. This is what was used on the early D-III. They were enlarged on the later D-IIIa. The chord dimensions were considerably wider.
Now we are looking at the area where the MG's were mounted inside of the fuselage. This arrangement was changed on the later D-IIIa after combat experience showed it was hard for the pilot to reach the MG's while flying if he had to clear a jam or a stoppage. So the mounted the MG's on top of the fuselage on the later version.
There are two different style props included. I'm guessing that one is an Axial style, and the other one might be a Wolfe, but I'm not exactly sure to be honest. I will do some research, and I may possibly "borrow" one from the WNW Pfalz D-III kit, because it also has several styles included. Chances are they will be better molded and have nicer details.
This is the Daimler Benz D-III engine parts tree. It is the same one found in the Albatros D-III and D-III OAW kits. I have almost completed building the engine in my Voss Albatros. I can tell you they look very nice when completed. I hope they will fit inside of the fuselage with minimal fuss.
These are the cockpit and fuselage formers. The spinner, exhaust, and axle spreaders are also located here.
This is a close up showing the details of some formers, and the spinner. I believe the WNW kit also has two different style spinners. One has an open center. If this is the case, I might "borrow" one from the WNW kit as well. It would likely fit on the spinner better if I kept like parts grouped together. Time will tell.
Now we are looking at the landing gear and wing struts trees. There are two identical ones in the box.
This is a close up of the main wheels.
The MG looks OK. It will probably look just fine since it will be buried deep inside the fuselage, hidden away from the open.
This shows the older original style wing strut ends. They were more squared off and not tapered.
Over all, I am very pleased with how these parts look in the box...
Now I can't wait to get cracking on this one.
Building a Voss Pfalz D-III has been on my bucket list of "to do" kits for many years now. Building this one and his Albatros will take care of two kits that have eluded me over the years. Since we have this "Great War" group build going on, there's no time better than the present.
Thanks for stopping by, and as always, comments are encouraged.
Good night.
