Avia BH-21 Czechoslovak Fighter and Training Aircraft - 1:72 Fly

[Julien]

Avia BH-21 Czechoslovak Fighter and Training Aircraft
1:72 Fly

The BH-21 was a single-seat fighter aircraft designed by Pavel Benes and Miroslav Hajn of Czech aircraft manufacturer Avia. Entering service in 1925, the aircraft became the mainstay of the Czech Air Force in the interwar years with 137 being built. A further 44 were license built in Belgium by Société Anonyme Belge de Constructions Aéronautiques, for use by the Belgian Air Force.

Powered by a 304 HP V8 engine developed by Hispano Suiza, the BH-21 was capable of 152 mph and could achieve a service ceiling of over 18,000ft. Armament was comprised of a pair of .303 inch Vickers machine guns mounted in the front fuselage above the engine.

No BH-21 saw combat as they were all retired prior to WWII. The only claim to fame the BH-21 had was when the BH-21R powered by boosted HS-8Fb engine( 400 hp) won several national air-race competitions in 1925. A further version of the BH-21 named the BH-22 was developed as a trainer by removing the armament.

The Kit
It is good to see Fly continuing their tradition of tackling some of the less obvious subject out there. Inside the sturdy, end-opening box are two sprues moulded in beige plastic, a small bag of resin parts, an injection moulded windscreen, a vac formed windscreen and a sheet of decals. The quality of the injection moulded parts looks very good. There is a little flash, but this is really no problem. The kit has fine details and features such as the fabric wings have been captured very well.

The cockpit is comprised of seven parts, including a floor, seat, control column, instrument panel, rudder pedals and rear bulkhead. The level of moulded detail is pretty good. Some of the basic structural details are moulded in place on the inside of the fuselage halves, and there is some raised detail on the instrument panel. The seat is cast in cream coloured resin with harnesses sculpted in place. It looks an excellent piece of work by Fly and should show the cockpit off the best effect. The radiator, mounted under the centre of the fuselage, is cast in resin too.

Once the cockpit is finished, you have both a vac formed and injection moulded canopy to choose from. If like me you do not like vac form canopies then the injection part is most welcome. In fact when I look at the vac form part it is really badly formed and I can not see where you are supposed to cut this out if it were not for having the injection part alongside it. For future kits I would advise fly to go with injection canopies in this scale.

The rudder is provided as a separate part, which means it can be finished in the deflected position if desired. The horizontal stabilisers are moulded as solid parts, as are the wings.The upper wing has locating points for the struts, but the lower wing just has raised bumps which will have to be drilled out in order to fit the struts in place. Diagrams are provided to help the builder line everything up properly. One thing that does strike me with these kits from Fly is how good the fabric surfaces on a whole are.

A choice of exhaust systems is included. One is a full length version which runs down the side of the fuselage, the other is a shorter version which is cast in resin. The undercarriage is pretty nice, and a choice of two different wheels is provided

Decals
Decals are provided for five different aircraft. Two from the Belgium air Force, and three from the Czechoslovak Air Force. The Czech roundels are correctly handed which some manufacturers still manage to get wrong. Though as Fly are a Czech company you would hope that they got this right!

Instructions
The instructions for the kit are on the whole very good with placement and riggind intructions included. The could be a bit better in some cases, ie there are two different front cowlings provided but no instructions as to why?

Conclusion
It is nice to see something different than the normal types being made, FLY have to be congratulated for this. If you have some experience of building biplanes, then you shouldnt have too much trouble with this. Recommended.

Available in the UK from Hannants

Review sample courtesy of