That the distinction of being the first operational aircraft fitted with an interupter mechanism and forward firing machinegun goes to the Fokker E1 is well known. Tony Fokker probably got the gig because the authorities recognised that his monoplanes had much in common with the Morane on which Roland Garros had initiated the new era of air fighting. In truth the similarities were more superficial than a cursory examination will reveal and the Fokker was superior to the Morane in most if not all respects. Rather more than superficially similar, and also less advanced,the Pfalz monoplanes were in fact licence built to French drawings. Given this the origin of the Pfalz monoplanes and the magical powers atributed to the Frenchmans Morane it was only natural that they too should be fitted with the new armament, though with far less success,

When I commenced this project I had two ways to go for a Pfalz E1.There is a Russian kit of the Morane G/H which, whilst it can be adapted, is of variable quality and only limited availability.My prefered option was to convert the Eduard Morane type L, which at the time had two distinct advantages: a) it's a better kit with some nice etched brass which can be used equaly well on the Pfalz. and b) it was available. As conversions go this one could hardly be much simpler. If you've never done a conversion before and want a Pfalz E1 in your collection (or a Morane G/H come to that) this is the one for you.

The Fuselage

So as to make use of the kits etched brass I tackled this while the fuselage was still in its two halves, but taped them to-gether to make life easier. Remove an 11mm section starting at the back edge of the Morane cockpit forward, then remove the tape and cement the left and right front ends to the corresponding rear sections. I skinned the fuselage sides, and later the top and bottom, with 20 thou plastic card for streangth and finish. That's it; that's all the surgery the fuselage needs.

Wings

Because of the need to get the rib spacing right this is not simply a question of sawing the wings off to length, but it very nearly is. First seperate the wing panels one rib space outboard of the centre section cut out on either side, then remove 5mm from each wing tip parralell to the angle of rake. Refine and restore the tip profile by sanding. I told you this was easy.

Tail Surfaces

Okay I admit it, these parts are scratch built. But all they are is flat 30thou card sanded to section. Ribs are scribed with a craft knife (in my case the biggest ugliest Stanley knife you ever saw) then reduced by sanding.

Assembly

From here on the task is no worse than assembling a limited run plastic kit. I incorporated as much of the kits brass interior as was practical, but substituted a rather more Germanic seat and control column. The wings were drilled and pinned to the fuselage rather than simply butt jointed, and extruded strut material was used throughout. My chosen subject was an unarmed company demonstrator so no gun was needed, but it was powered by a captured Clerget rotary for which an Aeroclub replacement engine was used. I also obtained replacement wheels from the same source.

Finish

This paricular Pfalz E1 was a company demonstrator and sported an immaculate black and white finnish. To tone down the contrast however, I added a little blue to the black and some orange to the white. These machines followed the Morane practice of using pre-coloured split cane in lieu of rib tapes; this is represented on the model by thin dark blue decal stripes. All undersurfaces are black with white national markings from one of Aeromasters Alb D111 sets. All other national markings came from Almark and rigging is 10amp rolled fuse wire.

So there it is. By this method any of the Morane/Pfalz monoplanes can be modelled, right up to the Mercedes engined EV1.Since this model was completed a 1/48 scale resin has appeared from JMGT. Whilst this French kit it excelent in every way, it is also three times the price of an Eduard Morane L; so this would still be my method of choice. In the past I have converted the Revell 1/72 scale Fokker E111 back to a Morane L, so it should be perfectly possible to make a Pfalz E1-EV1 in the smaller scale. Happy hacking.

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