Introduction

The nine current releases, sheets no 30011 - 30020 continues the growing line of products from Wingnut Wings, These new sets give us a wider choice of subjects to portray than what is in their #32006 kit. Remember the WNW Palz D.IIIa kit comes with 5 colour lozenge and rib tapes.

The sheets are priced at $19 and the current international free shipping policy also applies to these. This may seem a bit high to some when a full kit costs $59. However, I think this reflects the cost of what these sheets cost to produce. In fact I suspect a pretty large chunk of what you pay for the kits, goes into producing the decals in the boxes." ( Comments by Mikael Terfors edited to fit current issues ).

Sheet #30019 Pfalz D.IIIa of various Jastas

This sheet is dedicated to various machines from different Jastas. This includes six known profiles.

A. Pfalz D.IIIa 1296/18, pilot unknown, Jasta 56 late 1918.
B. Pfalz D.IIIa 8178/17, Ltn R. Stark, Jasta 34b May 1918. (11 victories).After serving with distinction in the 2nd Bavarian Uhlan Regiment, Stark transferred to the German Air Force. Posted to FA(A) 296 on 15 November 1917, he was soon off to Jastaschule II for fighter training. Joining Jasta 34b on 18 January 1918, he scored five confirmed victories in the spring of 1918. On 24 May, he joined Jasta 77b as acting commander and scored his sixth confirmed victory the day after he arrived. On 7 June, he was reassigned to Jasta 35b as Staffelführer where he remained until the end of the war, scoring five more victories flying a Pfalz D.IIIa, Fokker Dr.I and Fokker D.VII marked with a lilac colored engine cowling (or spinner)and a lilac band on the fuselage and lilac field on the horizontal tail unit.
C. Pfalz D.IIIa 8284/17, Vzfw J. Pollinger, Jasta 77b May 1918. The Pfalz Flugzeug Werke began using the 5 color printed day pattern on Pfalz D.IIIa aircraft with and/or during production order D.8000-8339/17. There are some aircraft s/n D.8223/17 or D.8283/17(rudder fabric)and D.8284/17.
D. Pfalz D.IIIa 8304/17 pilot unknown, Marine Feld Jasta (?) late 1918.
E. Pfalz D.IIIa serial unknown, pilot unknown, Jasta 37 late 1918. This machine is shown here in its Jasta livery but when photographed after the war it had evidently been at a German fighter school without armament and a school identity number (#23) painted on the fuselage.
F. Pfalz D.IIIa serial unknown, pilot unknown, Marine Feld Jasta (?) Mid-late 1918.

Note: There were several Naval land units. By 2 Sept.1918 they came together as a Marine Feld Geschwader (Naval Wing operations) and were given individual black unit identifiers on the yellow horizontal tail units. These markings were detailed in a memo to Naval headquarters on 26.10.18. Pfalz D.IIIa aircraft (Profiles D & F) were probably in the units (MFJasta or Seefostas) previous to those markings being standardized.

What you get in the package

The decal sheet came sealed in A4 sized plastic zip locked bag, making it easy to reseal, and keep the decals safe until you use them. A folded A4 sheet printed in full colour serves as a four page booklet that gives you the instructions on application and also the bio of the pilots that flew the planes. The style of the monograph is similar to what we have seen in the instruction booklets from the kits. Full colour profiles are done by Ronny Bar and they are complimented by archival images of the subjects.

One neat detail in the instructions are hints as to which optional parts to use from the kit and which engine option to choose.

The decals are of the same quality and style of what we have gotten used to from their kits. Cleanly and crisply printed by Cartograf of Italy, my samples were in perfect register with a glossy sheen and clean opaque colours.

Small decals such as the prop, weight tables and rigging instructions are also included on these sheets. So are some of the national crosses, that in some cases duplicates what is already in the basic kit.

Lozenge or no lozenge is no longer a question

Now that Wingnut Wings has released their version of the intermediate factory printed 5 colour lozenge (Farbenflugzeugstoff) these decals are even more relevant. These sheets that have been released don't have any lozenge included in the package. Notably this is what many other manufacturers have done in the past, Microscale & Superscale being the most memorable.

As with every WNW sheet this set includes some profiles that have the standard over-all Silbergraü camouflage, and does not need lozenge to be finished.

The instructions for the Pfalz sheets does state that the lozenge decals are available separately. Decals no 30001 (5 colour upper), 30002 (5 colour lower) and 30005 (rib tapes). So if you fancy doing one of the lozenge covered profiles, you either have to purchase them separately. Though the rib tapes on the Pfalz D.IIIa type all appear to be lozenge fabric cut in strips. Remember the WNW Palz D.IIIa kit comes with 5 colour lozenge and rib tapes.

Conclusion

With so many great liveries coming from WNW we really need "export versions" (without decals) of their kits So we can build all of these great schemes. Model On!

My thanks to Michael Terfors for allowing me to use some of his text from his WNW decal reviews.

When contacting manufacturers and publishers please mention you saw this review at AEROSCALE