Pfalz D.III

This 1/72 scale kit is from a Ukrainian model company that I’m quite familiar with called Roden. Some of their kits I’ve worked on in the past are good while others are not so good in my opinion. I like to believe that this kit follows on the good side of Roden. The pros of this kit are as follows: You have four paint schemes to choose from and the one I did was flown by Lt. Hans Klein (22 victories), Jasta 10, late 1917. The other three schemes are Lt. Alois Heldmann (15 victories), Jasta 10 serial # 1395/17, 1917., on the cover of the box is Lt. Emil Thuy (35 victories), Jasta 28, serial # 4017/17, 1917, the last one was flown Lt. Alfred Lenz, Jasta 22, serial # 1386/17, February 1918. The painting of the aircraft is good. The pieces for the kit fit well for the most part even though putting the engine in the cowling is a rather tight fit. I have no issues with the decals whatsoever even though I accidentally put on painters on one of the tiny decals. It got stuck and there was nothing I can do about it. So I had to paint a thin black line on where the ruined decal was. The cons of this kit are as follows: The color painting guide illustrations are in poor quality black and white. This is especially true if you’re trying to do Lt. Alois Heldmann’s plane. You wouldn’t have a clue as to where to place your decals on the left side of the aircraft since it’s basically hard to see. There are also not enough views of angles in the color painting guide illustrations. In conclusion, I give this kit a rating of 4.5 stars out of 5! Roden if you’re reading this I highly recommend that your illustrations be in color as well as add more views on your future kits. Other than that in my mind, it is one of better kits I’ve seen from them in a while. I highly recommend this one into your WW1 collection.