DFS Kranich 2 AZ model 1/72
DFS Kranich 2 was the most widely built glider in Germany from 1935 to 1939. Several hundred examples were built; exact numbers are not known. On 11 October 1940 Erich Klöckner in a Kranich achieved the record height in a glider of 11,460 m. Because it occurred in wartime, the altitude record was not recognized by the Allied occupying powers, and Klöckner only received official recognition by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) in the late 1990s. This record height was only exceeded ten years after the flight by the American Bill Ivans during a similar scientific program in the Sierra Nevada. After the WW 2 this glider was produced in Utva factory in Yugoslavia and it was named Zdral.
AZ model AZCZ39 kit comes packed in well illustrated soft box. Marking and Painting instructions are printed on the back of the box . Box contains one sprue with 16 parts, two vacuformed canopies, one photo etched fret with 11 parts and Decal options for four gliders. Plastic parts are well molded in grey plastic that appear to be a bit heavy, but the level of details are high enough. Panel lines are crisp and clean, and the details ae well reproduced comparing the kit with available photos and drawings. Cockpit interior details are high enough and photo etched parts make this kit cockpit looks really outstanding. Parts provided on PE fret are seatbelts, instrument panels and pitot tube. Decals are outstanding and AZ provided options for Czechoslovakian, Polish, German Luftwaffe and Yugoslavian sample. My choice was to build a kit of Utva Zdral.
As usually I started this build with painting cockpit interior, I painted it in Grey color, added PE parts and it was time to assemble the fuselage. The fit is rather well and some little sanding and filling did the job. Next step was to attach wings and horizontal tail, just few dry fit tests and small corrections with sanding stick did the job. Acetate canopy has great transparency and AZ provided two of these…just in case something went wrong. It took some time to cut these to fit the kit and to mask the canopy but it wasn’t a fuss. Kit was than primed with Gunze Mr Base White and it was time to paint the model. My choice was the Testors-Model Master 2709 Light Ivory color, I find that color to be a close match. AZ decals went well on the kit using just a small amount of Gunze Mr. Mark Softer. Final coat of Semi Gloss Model master acryl coat was sprayed just to seal the decals and the kit was finished.
Building this kit was truly relaxing, built in just a few days, and I can recommend this model to all modelers.
Darko Mladenovic
Sample product is provided by Filip Tomci from AZ Models
