Toko 1/72 Pfalz D.XII

                The Pfalz Flugzeugwarke began life producing the Otto pusher biplanes under license from the Otto Company and later acquired the rights to produce Morane Saulnier Type H and L fighters. Other aircraft manufacturers somewhat overshadowed Pfalz Flugzeugwerke and seemed to get all the glory.  This should not distract from the fact that Pfalz did shoulder a large portion of the German Aircraft industry throughout the war.  One of these unsung heroes was the Pfalz D.XII.  This aircraft was quite important to the German late war effort.  It is estimated that some 750 to 800 D.XIIs were built before the factory began to tool up for the D.XV in October 1918. 

                 Like most aircraft companies, captured aircraft were studied extensively to learn all their secrets.    Pfalz was no exception.  The D.III and D.IIIa were heavily influenced by the French Nieuport and the D.XII was heavily influenced by the SPAD S.VII and S.XIII. 

                 As the war progressed the German Jastas were faced with ever increasing numbers of allied fighters and had to change their fighter doctrines.  This shift was from free chase to a more controlled and organized attack pattern.  This led to the preferred German method of attacking the enemy from above and in mass.  After you positioned yourself you dove on the enemy, did your damage and escaped without getting entangled in a dogfight.  This was a tactic that the Germans were taught by the French SPAD pilots.  The SPAD was fast, could dive like a rock and was very strong.  It’s only draw back was that just about any Aircraft could out turn it.  The designers at Pfalz knew this and wanted to build an aircraft that could dive well and out turn most of the new Allied fighters like the SE-5 and SPAD.  In this endeavor they were, for the most part, successful. 

                 In reports from the second fighter competition held 27 May to 21 June 1918, we see a great insight of the Pfalz D.XIIs performance.  When the Pfalz had the BMW D.IIIa engine it was quite a performer.  In fact it was second in climbing to the Rumpler D.I (it out climbed even the Fokker D.VIIf) and was considered to be of “quite similar value” to the Fokker by all but one pilot who liked the Albatros D.XII more.  In the end both the Pfalz and Fokker were to be put into production with the Fokker being favored for the BMW D.IIIa engine.  However the hope was expressed by all that ideally the BMW engines would be divided between the two fighters.

                 In practice almost all the BMW D.IIIa engines were put into the Fokkers and very few of them were installed in the Pfalz D.XIIs.  So it is not surprising that the Fokkers were so populer.  If BMW could have been able to produce enough engines for both fighters it is almost certain that the Pfalz would have been as, or at least almost as famous as the Fokker D.VII.  Since the Pfalz was in fact a very good aircraft and it was an improvement over the older German fighters it was decided that it would be produced with the Mercedes D.IIIa. This engine produced 160 hp compared to the BMW D.IIIa that produced 185hp.  The Pfalz was not always popular with airmen or ground crews. The Fokker had no rigging, and the Pfalz had a rigged two bay wing.  The Fokker had stellar performance with a 25hp advantage over Pfalz.  It is easy to see that if you had to put your life on the line in an aircraft you would pick the Fokker. 

                 In combat the aircraft did perform well.  Leutnant Rudolf Stark, CO of Jasta 35b said that most of the pilots that received the Pfalz had preconceived notions and prejudices towards it.  However later on the pilots did well.  In fact it climbed well and could fly along with the Fokker D.VII in all respects and in a dive it was slightly faster but in turns and combat it was slow and could not compare with the Fokker.

 In reality the Pfalz with its 160hp engine, could not compare with the Fokker with its 185hp engine.  In fact nothing the Germans had, or the allies for that matter could really compare to the Fokker D.VII.  It is intriguing however to wonder, if there were enough BMW D.IIIa engines to go around, What the Pfalz could have done and what impact it may have had on the final days of the First World War. 

                For a WWI enthusiast, to see all the eastern European companies that have a heavy emphasis on WWI is quite exhilarating.  For the most part these kits are very well done and the detail is incredible.  This kit is no exception. 

                 When you open the box you will find two parts trees of light gray plastic, two decal sheets, one containing national insignia and one containing Lozenge decals for the wings.  The instructions are well written, and the assembly and construction is well diagrammed.  However rigging information is not present in the instructions.

                 The decals allow you to build two aircraft.  The first is that of Leutnent G. Klein and one of an unknown Bavarian Jasta.  The Lozenge decals are of questionable color so I chose to use Eagle Strike four color lozenge decals. 

                 The parts are molded beautifully with a little flash that is very easy to clean up.  The wings are beautiful and thin, in fact some of the thinnest I’ve seen and the car like radiator is very nicely done.  The cockpit sides have very nice molded on detail and the engine looks like it could be built and displayed all by itself.

                 The struts are molded beautifully and very thin, they are to scale and will need some care to not damage when you remove them from the trees.  I guess that the only real draw back is the simulated fabric on the wings and tail.  It does look better then some of the earlier kits like Revell and Airfix with simulated fabric.

                 The kit also scales out pretty well using Ian Stair’s drawings.  With the wing span being too long and the fuselage being too short.  Other wise every thing is quite good.  I think that you would have a hard time picking up these discrepancies when the kit is complete. 

                 All in all the kit looks good and should build into a great looking model.  I know of five models in 1/72 scale of the Pfalz D.XII Cramer Craft and Classic-Plane both built Vac kits.  Veeday, Merlin and Pegasus built injection kits.  The Pegasus kit also has some cast metal parts and is quite nice but is now out of production and cost around $20.00.  In my opinion however I think that this is the best kit of this aircraft in this scale.  

                I start this step by painting all the surfaces that will be covered with lozenge.  I like to use a light color like tan or white.  After letting this dry I applied the lozenge decals.  This is somewhat tedious but it sure looks cool when you are done.  First you cut the strips of decals out, then cut them to the cord length of the wing. Some wings were covered cord-wise and others were covered span-wise and still others were covered diagonally.  You will have to research the aircraft you intend to model to know which method to use.  I do the bottom of the wings first and then the top.  You start in the middle and work out on ether side carefully butting the next decal against the one first placed.  Let the decals dry before the next decal is placed.  This is not an easy project because the decals shrink ever so slightly.  This can cause a line at form at the joint and if you overlap the decals you get a lump there.  So you have to lay the decals just right and that comes with a little practice.