Let Let Let - Warplanes » 1/72

CMR G36 DFS Weihe/VT-3 Vazka 1/72

Darko — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 13:11:36 +0000

Hans Jacobs designed the prototype Weihe in 1938, after his Reiher of 1937 and before the Olympia Meise of 1939. As Hans Jacobs had been taught sailplane design by Alexander Lippisch, designer of many gliders during the 1920s and the Fafnjr of 1930 and Fafnir 2 “Sao Paulo” of 1934, one can state that the Weihe was another of a long line of saliplanes which were influenced by the Fafnir. The clean, simple beauty of the Weihe would make it a worthy exhibit in an exhibition of Greek art.The machine started its great career in 1938 and set up its last World Record in 1959, over 20 years later. This is even more remarkable because very few countries were able to build this machine again because of its construction cost in the austere period after 1945.

CMR G36 DFS Weihe/VT-3 Vazka 1/72

When you open CMR Weihe box you may be surprised with the simplicity of this kit, but don’t worry, the kit is just adorable. Quality of the moldings is just great as we used to from CMR, casted in cream resin, with nice level of details crisp and smooth. This kit contains 10 parts and it is really easy to build. Cockpit is small and only parts that CMR provided for it are pilot’s stick and seat, I added some seatbelts made of tape and that’s it. All parts fit great so no filler was needed. Acetate canopy has great transparency and CMR provided two of these…just in case something went wrong. Nice addition to this kit is small “in Action” photo reference CMR printed on two A4 sized pages and scale plans of this glider. Although there is not assembling instructions inside the kit, assembling shouldn’t represent a problem even for the beginners.

Decal options include:

DFS Weihe – D-11-184 - Nationalsozialistisches Fliegerkorps (NSFK), Wasserkuppe, Hessen Rohn, Germany
DFS Weihe – SP-029 - Zur Mountain, Poland 1948
DFS Weihe – OK-8011 - CNA (Czecholsovak National Aeroclub)
Se 104 Weihe - ’5′, ’7′ & ’16′, Sweden
VT-3 Vázka – OK-3059 - Stranik Mountain, Czechoslovakia
VT-3 Vázka – OK-8162 - Czechoslovakia
VT-3 Vázka – OK-8303 - Brno, Medlánky, Czechoslovakia
VT-3 Vázka – OK-8606 - Vrchlabi, Czechoslovakia

My choice was NSFK sample, so after assembling the kit I first primed it with mr Surfacer 1200 and then the difficult part came, to find a match for FAS1 color… My choice was the Testors-Model Master 2709 Light Ivory color, I find that color to be a close match. After a coat of Klear it was time to apply markings. CMR decals are very good, in perfect register and thin, so I didn’t use any decal solutions. After another coat of Klear I applied final semi-gloss coat of MM II varnish.

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Building this kit was truly relaxing, and I can recommend this model to all modelers. If you are looking for your first all resin kit to build this might be a choice for you. Gliders are very interesting subject and CMR has established as the company that offers a vide range of these kits.

Darko Mladenovic

Sample kit provided by Petr Buchar owner of CMR models

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AZ Model 7301 Spitfire mk Va 1/72

Darko — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 07:18:18 +0000

The basic Mk V was a Mk I with the Merlin 45 series engine. This engine delivered 1,440 hp (1,074 kW) at take-off, and incorporated a new single-speed single-stage supercharger design. Improvements to the carburettor also allowed the Spitfire to use zero gravity manoeuvres without any problems with fuel flow. Several Mk I and Mk II airframes were converted to Mk V standard by Supermarine and started equipping fighter units from early 1941. The majority of the Mk Vs were built at Castle Bromwich. Continued with the Type A wing with 8 × .303″ Brownings. This version could reach a top speed of 375 mph (603 km/h) at 20,800 ft (6,300 m), and could climb to 20,000 ft (6,100 m) in 7.1 minutes. A total of 94 were built. One well known VA was W3185 D-B flown by Douglas Bader when commanding the Tangmere Wing in 1941. He was shot down in this aircraft (possibly by “friendly fire) during a “Circus” (a wing of fighters escorting a small number of bombers) over Northern France on 9 August 1941 and spent the rest of the war as a POW.

AZ Model kit

AZ model Spitfire mk Va kit comes packed in an end opening box with beautifully designed box art. Kit is beautifully molded in dark grey plastic. The box contains 39 plastic parts, one resin part and one clear part for canopy that is injection molded. There is some flesh present as well as some sink marks but they are easy to clean. Level of details is just enough and panel lines are crisp, clean and just as they should be for this scale. Fuselage halves are separate parts and when I tested the fitting they fit well. I tested the wings fitting with fuselage and they also fit well but some adjustment is needed to make a perfect fit. Cockpit is just great on this kit, maybe some sink marks and ejector pin marks can make some problems, but nothing an average modeler couldn’t solve. Anyway this is a short-run model so bare it in mind when you start building this kit.

AZ Model 7301 Spitfire mk Va 1/72

Canopy is nice clear with good transparency. Instruction sheet is printed in two pages A5 format and it is easy to follow. Decals are well printed and there should be no problem working with them. Four decal options are present and for me, by far most interesting is option for W3185 D-B flown by Douglas Bader. Painting and marking instructions are printed on the back of the box, and stencils placements are printed on the instruction sheet.

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This is nice kit, and I warmly recommend it to all modelers interested in a subject no matter how experienced they are. Kit is simple, would look great on a shelf and perhaps with a little effort it can be made to be a competition winner model.

Darko Mladenovic

Sample kit is provided by Jaroslav Osten from AZ Models

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CMR 212 De Havilland Vampire F.3 1/72

Darko — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 10:59:22 +0000

The de Havilland DH.100 Vampire was a British jet-engine fighter. It was commissioned by the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, and was the second jet fighter to enter service with the RAF, after the pioneering Gloster Meteor. Although it arrived too late to see combat during the war, it served with front line RAF squadrons until 1955, and continued in use as a trainer until 1966. It also served with many air forces worldwide, and set aviation firsts and records. First two Vampire F3 were converted from two Vampire mk I, and Canadians were among largest customers for this particular type. With 86 in total, the F 3 was the first jet fighter to enter RCAF service in any significant numbers. It served to introduce fighter pilots not only to jet flying, but also to cockpit pressurisation and the tricycle landing gear. The “Vamp” was a popular aircraft, easy to fly and considered a “hot rod”. 20 Vamps were exported to Norway and a total of 202 were built.

CMR 212 De Havilland Vampire F.3 1/72

The kit come packed in hard top box with all major parts packed in separate bags in order to avoid possible damage during the shipping. CMR kit features over 50 resin parts molded in recognizable excellent quality resin. This multimedia kit comes with Eduard photo etched parts and masks for quick and precise painting of canopy. Resin parts produced by CMR are as usually outstanding quality with minimal molding blocks parts that need to be cleaned. Cockpit is highly detailed and once assembled and painted it looks wonderful and realistic. CMR provided two Canopies as usual for them just in case that you need to practice on one; these parts are vacuformed and with excellent transparency. Level of details on fuselage wings and tail is excellent with opportunity to leave flaps and airbrakes in opened or closed position at your choice.

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CMR provided two fuselages to accommodate the RCAF version with a clear panel just forward of the windscreen. Undercarriage is outstanding with wheel wells beautifully molded and highly detailed. Landing gear legs are molded in special CMR extra strong resin so they appear to be more than strong enough to hold the finished model. Six A4 pages walkarround is also packed in the kit so it will be handy once you start building this kit. Assembling instructions are well designed and printed on six A4 pages, and they are easy to follow. Decals are as usual for CMR beautifully printed, thin and in register and regarding the choice of color schemes, they are as follow:

De Havilland Vampire F.3 – VT 864 – ‘H’, No. 54 Squadron, RAF, 1948
De Havilland Vampire F.3 – VT 871 – No.601 ‘County of London’ Squadron, RAF
De Havilland Vampire F.3 – VT 821 – ‘L’, No.601 ‘County of London’ Squadron, RAF, Malta, June 1952
De Havilland Vampire F.3 – 17021 – ’021/GO’, RCAF
De Havilland Vampire F.3 – 17031 – ’031/SL’, 402 and 442 Squadrons., RCAF, up to 1956
De Havilland Vampire F.3 – 17062 -’062/SL’, 442 “City of Vancouver” Sqn., RCAF, Sea Island, British Columbia, 1948-56
De Havilland Vampire F.3 – 17074 – ’074/SL’, 442 “City of Vancouver” Sqn., RCAF, Sea Island, British Columbia, 1948-56
De Havilland Vampire F. Mk.III – P42459 - ‘B-AH’, 336 Sqn. RNoAF (Royal Norwegian Air Force), Norway, 1949
De Havilland Vampire F. Mk.III – P42459 - ‘H-PX’, 336 Sqn. RNoAF (Royal Norwegian Air Force), Norway, January 1951

CMR Vampire kits family is truly remarkable and by any means this kit is great addition. I can highly recommend this kit to all modelers with some experience in working with this kind of kits. This is not a kit for a beginner but surely it is a kit that every early Jet fan should have in his collection.

Darko Mladenovic

Sample kit provided by Petr Buchar owner of CMR

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Schleicher Ka-6 Rhönlerche 1/72 resin kit CMR

Nico — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 16:50:17 +0000

This kit was released by the end of last year in the CMR series of gliders. As usual for CMR it is a nice little kit with much detail included. Ka-6 was a common sight in the fifties and sixties as a standard glider-trainer for many gliding clubs until it was replaced by the Schleicher ASK-13. Resin kit is well manufactured with sharp and crisp details. Canopy is in transparent resin and comes in two parts. Best method to glue these two parts is using wood-glue instead of polyacrylic glue.

CMR glider resin kit box

Instructions are given in ten pages with many photo details. Kit is very straightforward to build and although photo-etched parts are provided for the interior it must be realized that there will be very little to see if ‘canopy closed’ is chosen as an option. Kit also contains templates for canopy frames, but from photos it will be evident that at least it did not have external framing! I would advise to leave canopy as it is! Surfaces need to be mildly sanded before final painting to represent woven and doped fabric surface. Here I would advise not to use airbrush but normal medium-size hand brush. I think airbrushing will give a very unnatural smooth coating!

Box-art is for Dutch Ka-6 PH-239 owned by mr. Leen de Bruin. Plane was owned previously by several members of Dutch gliding club ZC FLEVO based at Biddinghuizen. It was originally a club-owned trainer from ZC FLEVO, but after a crash it was rebuilt by club members using parts from various other crashed or derelict Rhöns. That explains the German name ‘Misch Masch’ which literally translated means ‘Mixed Mass’. After rebuild it flew again in 1992 and as a former ZC FLEVO member I can at least say that I already flew this plane when the present owner Leen still was a young kid!

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Except for PH-239, there are decals for several other Rhöns on the decal sheet.

This is an excellent and high-quality addition to the 1/72 range of CMR glider kits.

For more details, see CMR web site Price of this kit is around EURO 15 without P&P costs.

Nico Braas

With special thanks to Petr Buchar from CMR for providing the kit for review

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AZ model AZCZ34 Blanik L-13 glider

Darko — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 08:16:43 +0000

Blaník entered production in 1958 and quickly gained popularity as an inexpensive, rugged and durable type, which was easy to fly and operate. It was widely adopted in the Eastern bloc and was exported in large numbers to Western Europe and North America. Total production was in excess of 2650, or more than 3000 if variants are included. The Blanik glider is an all metal two seat glider easy to control and it is suitable for basic and advanced training since it is equipped for flying in clouds and for heights up to 8.000 meters, every single pilot that flew this glider like’s it. The Blanik has a semi-retractable landing gear, the wheel being embedded under the forward fuselage and a tail skid or a small tail wheel in later versions being fitted at the far rear. The Blanik glider was found in many clubs all over Europe namely Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Serbia and others. Nearly half a century after its first flight it is still the most common glider in the World and probably judging to this fact it is the most successful glider built. Generations of pilots gained their first wings flying this glider.

Blanik

AZ model kit is beautifully molded in dark grey plastic. The box contains 19 plastic parts and one clear part for canopy that is injection molded. Small photo etched fret containing parts to be used inside the cockpit contains instrument panels, seat belts and rudder pedals. There is some flesh present as well as some sink marks but they are easy to clean. Level of details is just enough and panel lines are crisp, clean and just as they should be for this scale. Fuselage halves are separate parts and when I tested the fitting they fit well. I tested the wings fitting with fuselage and they also fit well giving the proper angle present on Blanik. Comparing the parts with available drawings shows that this kit is spot on in terms of accuracy. Canopy is nice clear with good transparency. Instruction sheet is printed in two pages A5 format and it is easy to follow. Decals are well printed and there should be no problem working with them.

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Four different marking options printed on box are provided as follows:

Czech aeroclub
RAF
DOSAAF USSR
Japanese

Darko Mladenovic

Sample kit is provided by Jaroslav Osten from AZ Models

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Spitfire AZCZ35

Srecko — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 15:06:50 +0000

Spitfire offer are growing every month and in this moment largest offer coming from the AZ Model from Czechs Republic. Their 1/72 range of kit of this airplane are rapidly grown up with the number of new releases and in March 2010 two brand new kits are released. One kit is the sample machine flown by famous Douglas Bader and the another machine, presented in this review, is the Mk. Ia flown by the two Czechoslovakian pilots. This kit is in the 1/72 scale and have stock number AZCZ35. Top box have very nice combat art with the Spitfire Mk.I downing one Bf109E over channel.

Inside is two frets of parts in grey plastic as well one clear canopy part. This kit have very crisp molded parts and very precise engravings over the surface. No doubt that manufacturer give best effort to use maximum accurate data to make this kit. Plastic is soft and very easy to work with it. In general this kit have just enough parts need to make kit. Assembly sheet is very clear and easy to follow. I have to note that you have no parts number on the frets but as well there is not much of parts and the numbers are noted on the front page of assembly leaflet, it is not problem at all to build the kit.

Supermarine Spitfire Mk. Ia

Kit could be built very fast. Canopy is good basic detailed and if you are not fan of the super detailing, all you need to add is the photo etched seat belts. Cockpit interior fit perfect with fuselage. Wing assembly is a little bit difficult and you have to sand the trailing edge from inside of the lower wing half, part number 3. After that wings could be perfect joined and then placed on fuselage assembly section. Another problem I have experienced with cockpit canopy and in this reason rear section is a little narrow so clamps have to be used to press this area on fuselage to fit to the canopy.

Instruction is simple made and what I miss is the another side view. Decals are very quality and inside was two sheet, one with the basic inscriptions and the another with the national insignia and unit markings. My choice is the first machine shown on box, flown by P/O J. Muzika. What I have note is that on the box art this machine is shown with two plates over the exhaust but as well I could not find any image of this machine, I did not add it but please note about this feature if you decide to build this kit.

Very good kit and I warmly recommend it!

Srecko Bradic

Sample kit is provided by Jaroslav Osten from AZ Model

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IK-3 AZ Models

Srecko — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 21:01:54 +0000

Finally we have injected kit of the Rogozarski IK-3 available on the market in large quantities! This is fighter airplane which was in limited number deployed into the service of the Yugoslav Kingdom and this machine was used in short April war. As well it is not much known, it is normal that it is not pay much interest by the manufacturer as well manufacture of the tools for the injecting molding is expensive works. Release of this kit by AZ Models, by the end of the February 2010, present great refresh on the market and this will be for sure greatly accepted by the aviation fans, especially those who are much interesting in the small countries aviation and history. AZ Models delivered injected kit of IK-3 in 1/72 scale and they released in two packs:

Rogozarski IK-3 “Early”
Scale: 1/72
Kat #: AZ7297

Rogozarski IK-3 “Late”
Scale: 1/72
Kat #: AZ7298

Part coming on two frets, one transparent with cockpit canopy and the another in grey plastic. Manufacture is at high level, details are crisp and overall comparing show that this is in general accurate kit. Assembly going smooth and without any problem. Instruction leaflet is very good and easy to follow. Interior is made simple, instrument panel is plastic with decal for the instruments. What I will pay attention is a thick trailing edge of the wings, they need to be sand down. Also note that in some reason my sample have a little bit stronger fabric details on starboard fuselage side so this area need to be slightly sanded. Whole kit could be made and ready for paint in some two days, no more.

IK-3 scale model

Both kit feature multi color camouflage pattern, introduced in summer 1940. Decals given in kit cover few samples and they are good work, good slide and set on surface. Only problem I have find with the blue national insignia color, which have to be blue grey. Personally I expected to find out all grey camouflage samples, as well this is original proposition for the IK-3 fighters, but no sample is given by original kit. So I have make kit in this pattern, no matter that this is not given with kit. I was fortunate that I have interview long time ago foreman who have work on the IK-3 manufacture so I have used his info about the grey color for this plane, which is hand mixed.

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I will direct you on some tips during kit assembly- you have already note that it have thicker trailing edges on wings, and maybe could have issue with fabric on fuselage. Also note that kit does not have ring guns sight as well counter weight ( under wing). You should find it in spare box or self made it. What you also miss is the small antenna must on the vertical tail and you need to make it. For this purpose I use excellent Albion Alloys tubes and the same tubes I use as connectors for the landing gear parts.

No matter of minor problems, this is definitely great kit to made! This is all range kit so even the beginners could be make it as well experienced modeler. You can get this kit from AZ Models site and also see more build kit on the LetLetLet Forum. Kit is recomended!!

Sample kit is provided by Petr Muzikant, from AZ Models.
Great tanks to the Albion Alloys for support in model build!

Srecko Bradic

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Albatros D.V in 1/72, Eduard ‘Weekend Edition’ kit no. 7402

Profa — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 11:28:47 +0000

Advancing from D.II to D.III, Albatros’ engineer Robert Thelen kept good fuselage of D.II and had changed wings to known Nieuports’ sesquiplane style with V-struts. Unfortunately he coppied also weakness of this wing form, and it required careful piloting to avoid the risk of wing failures… When in beginning of 1917. D.III type became obsolete comparing to new allied fighters S.E.5 and Spad VII, German Inspektion der Fliegertruppen (Idflieg) required it to be improved. Thelen now kept successful wing form and created new fuselage, with elliptical cross-section. Only change to the wings was a revised linkage of the aileron cables. He also kept 170 hp Mercedes D.IIIa engine and changed the rudder to OAW-built type.
New type entered service in May 1917, but offered very little improvement in performance, and many pilots preferred the older D.III. After facing further wing-failures and bad maneuvering, Albatros improved D.V to D.Va by going back to the D.III’s aileron cable linkage to improve control, and designing reinforced fuselage, stronger wing spars and heavier wing ribs.

Albatros D.V kit from Eduard

Although not a top-class fighter because of structural problems, D.Va had no true alternative because of problems with other fighter-types (namely Fokker Dr.I and Pfalz D.III) until the summer of 1918, when Fokker D.VII entered service.

Production of Albatros D.V/D.Va continued until April 1918, and this type was in use until the end of the war.

The kit:

Eduard’s Albatros D.V Weekend Edition in 1/72 (kit No. 7402) comes from a long line of their previous issues, limiting a modeler to one painting option but giving a possibility for a quick (‘weekend’) build.

Box contents 32 plastic parts on one sprue, decal set for one option and b/w instruction sheet.

Plastic is nice, with no flash, and only ejector pin marks on the kit itself – on the inside of the fuselage are not a problem – once the kit is finished these can’t be seen.

The outside of the fuselage has fine recessed panel lines and raised access panels. The wings have a nice ribbed detail and with some weathering will look rather good.

Cockpit area is almost empty, except for the floor with controls, some raised side details and (unfortunately erroneous) control column. This area is the only down side of the kit, considering the fact that there’s a lot of pictures showing interior details. Eduard could do a better job here (apart from PE parts that could be obtained separately). Now it’s up to the modeler to do some scratchbuilding of control panel, floor compass… Level of detailing is, of course, up to you…

Another missing part, and this stands for all kits in this line, is cockpit glass – it is even shown on painting guide…

From my previous experience with this model, I believe there’s not going to be fit problems, as this requires minimum or no putty at all. I’ll address this later, when start building.

Instructions:

Instructions are given on a folded A-4 paper, with b/w painting guide. My copy is poor, so one should take good care of painting and decal positioning. Luckily color profiles are given on the side of the box, so this might help… There is also possibility of downloading colour instruction sheet from Eduards’ web page.

Paint/Decal option:

On the better side, this kit contains decals for Oberleutnant Richard Flashar’s mount, D.2065/17, commanding Officer of Jasta 5 (and later commander of JG2). On this plane the entire fuselage was painted light grey, tail surfaces were bright green with red trim to it, and red dragon on both sides comes to further enhance the looks.

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The red trim around the tail surfaces are decals, and the decal film is very wide. This makes strips useful as they will not fold up. Dragon is given as three piece affair, so some careful positioning would be required.

Conclusion:

On the plus side is excellent plastic, with nice level of details, with interesting paint option.

On the minus side, I wish Eduard had given more effort to cockpit detail, including windshield… Anyway, I’m going to enjoy this build and shall recommend this product to all modelers with love to WWI period and little time to spare for their building… You can buy kit direct here!

Zoran Jakovljevic

Sample kit is provided by Jan Zdiarski from Eduard

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