Alrighty then here are a couple of images.

and another...

Here is what the kit instructions show.

Tread; your brief description has me thinking. I would like to see more of what your talking about.

Now that the engine is dealt with. More about the cockpit.
When I discovered the over thick cockpit flooring I came to a decision. Either I could just replace the piece with ultra thin plastic sheet (which would have been easier.) Or I could take the high road and stick with using the kit parts. Since Rowan entrusted me with a kit that Gavia asked to have reviewed I chose to stick with the kit parts. The review is not about my abilities but to evaluate the kit's buildability for the average modeler.

Rather than build the compartment as the instructions recommend I chose also to do it one piece at a time to be sure to get a good fit as I glued the pieces in place. These inscale parts are too fragile (even when glued together) to expect any kind of strength when trying to install. The fit is very tight but you do wind up with a very nice look to the cockpit.

Now to historical accuracy in cockpit colouring.
I have one image of an original Pfalz E.IV with the fuselage covering pulled back. Everything except the fabric is black. The longerons, vertical and horizontal formers, fuel tank everything is overpainted black.

The Gavia Pfalz E.I kit cockpit is represented as being varnished wood, bleached linen fabric and bare metal components.

Pfalz had a large propensity to do either. This is according to what they had instock at the factory at the time.

Seen at E-Day 2006..http://www.eday.cz/?text=galerie.php&io_photos=10&io_page=1&i_g=27

Gavia Pflaz E.I

From the above images we can see the fuselage ribbing spoke of in previous threads. The builder has done an excellent job of accenting them except on the fuselage sides there were not any battens. So they shouldn't have raised details. Also the access port for the fuel cell drain on the pilot's right side has simply been painted over. Otherwise a very good build.

Hello Stephen, could you please tell me what precize part/area you mean by that?

Thanks, Nico Teunissen

Great Scott.
There is some guys who realy can build them to beuty. I just wish that I have...

Lovley
Lars

Very clean build indeed.

Most helpfull!

Thank you.

Greetings, Nico Teunissen

Greetings all;

I was asked recently why this drain feature was present. As it wasn't on all of the early Pfalz E.I but was incorporated in later E.I , E.II , E.IV and etc. I am still doing a bit of research into this but it seems that it facilitated repairs and flushing the fuel tank for impurities.

In the early days fuel came pretty raw by todays standards. The tanks they were drawn from often were contaminated by moisture. To keep rust out of the storage and ultimately the fuel tanks for the aircraft ground crews were supposed to use cheescloth rags as an additional filter over the the hose that was inserted into the filler tube. Pfalz decide for the above stated reasons to add the drain to the fuel tank itself.

Greetings all; I am still forging head with this build folks. I am almost to the point of closing up the fuselage.

The Instrument Panel (PP 37 ) such as it was on the original aircraft held the oil pulsator glass, and fuel on / off and engine magneto switches. Morrell Phalax Tachometer is represented in the kit by the decal D17. Its placement should be vertically spanning the forward bay of the cockpit in front of the pilot. Another instrument, the starter / ignition switch would be found above the pilot’s left shoulder on the top longeron. See the image previously posted of the cockpit assembly.

Greetings all;

I am proceeding with the build and painting the various shades for the translucent fabric. I had a query asking about the Pfalz E.II. essentially it had more horsepower and longer wings. Yes it was built along side the E.I production on the same factory floor at the same time.

Greetings all;

Just a couple of build notes here. It is apparent only after you match the top deck upper forward cowling. (This deck needs to sit near flush with the fuselage surface. This will take some sanding of the underside of the rear portion (aft of the cockpit.) That the fuel cell cannot be seen entirely. If you paint the leather strapping around the cell it will not be seen after cockpit completion to any degree. If you do want the straps try painted decal film cut in narrow strips. Also the forward oil and auxilary fuel tank cannot be seen unless the firewall is left off for display. If one were doing a diorama these items would come in very handy. Other wise they cannot be readily seen.

Greetings all;

Yes I am bringing this up again to give you a bit more information on the possiblities of this cockpit.

Warning!!! If you do use the kit provided cockpit flooring, every thing and I mean everything needs to be checked. I have already discussed the interior framing, but...the Legs on the seat supports ( PP 21)need to be shortened by about 1/16 of an inch. So the seat does not keep the upper deck piece from sitting flush when it is applied.

The control column (PP 40) needs to be placed so that it is ahead of the front edge of the seat by about 1/16 of an inch. Otherwise the lowering of the seat and the framing will hit the control column. Make sure the longer end of the control column base rod is at the rear.

Next, I cannot say this enough. The fine in-scale parts are fragile. The control column yoke (inverted "U ") and the rudder bar ( PP 29) will break if you look at them wrong.

I am afraid this news is al little too late for me. I had a hard time and did a lot of sanding before I had all the parts in place... Actually to be honest it does not deserve a price for best looking interior now


Greetings, Nico

P.s. this project is on rest for a short time, am working on a F2B from Eduard now.

I totally understand Nico.

I wanted to do this review a little faster but my caution has me focused on trying to stick to the kit parts. When i can get the images back though I'll point out a couple of small modifications such as starting magneto, fuel gauge, fuel tank switches, tachometer, and pulsometer.

Mike Robinson's build of this kit as seen in Nov IM.
http://www.internetmodeler.com/2006/november/aviation/eduard_pfalz,php

An interesting "side" note for those of you thinking about building this kit. On some of the real aircraft they evidently sheathed the outside of the cockpit vertical sides in plywood and overpainted it black (in the field?) The reason has been given "so pilots did not put their elbows through the fabric sides."

Alright here is a bit of fun. Beginning with some cockpit interior views. Note the added gauges, fuel tank switches and starting magneto. Also even though the kit had them (unpainted) I added identical lap / seat belts from Eduard's prepainted set, mentioned in an earlier Aeroscale thread.

Can anyone spot the modification I had to make to hide the brass rod wing spar I will add later?

Here are some bits and pieces in early stages.

Well now I have seen almost everything. An 80% ultralight Pfalz E.I...
http://www.airdromeaeroplanes.com/emil_rose_pfalz.htm

Well good people the fuselage is closed up now. On to the fuselage facades and photoetch. first the turtle deck behind the cockpit that has the main fuel tank filler spout. Near the engine there are additional filler spouts on the upper deck. The photoetch is silver nickel over brass. It bends easily and without some measure of care crimps very quickly. I also detail that fuel drain area. Some were bare metal rimmed others were painted black.

I cannot stress enough the importance of an Optivisor! When you magnify your work the mistakes become very small.

Also the additional PE band for the cowling is exactly the right size for the exposed surface perimeter. tack it in place with a bit of cyano (superglue) ... it will almost hold n place from the glue's vapors. then hold it down with your thumb as you continue to let the capillary action of the glue bind it down.

Before I begin attaching the pylons I want to finish all concerns with the fuselage. This includes the reinforcement patches for the rigging cables and engine components.

Gavia's 1/48 scale Pfalz E.I by Jerry Creager

http://hsfeatures.com/features04/pfalzejc_1.htm