The Breguet XIX from Airmodel (vacuformed kit)

[CarLos]

As promised in this thread here is a rapid review of the Airmodel vacuformed kit.

The contents comes in a sealed bag, as usual with Airmodel vacs: instructions, two sheets of 1mm thick vacuformed plastic some epoxi resin detail parts. No decals are included. I must add that whenever I received kits acquired in Airmodel site they arrived well packed in card boxes protected inside by foam or newspaper.

The instructions consists on a folded A3 sheet with a resumed history of the plane (in German and English), some black and white profiles and an exploded view of the parts.

The fuselage has molded the Lorraine Dietrich engine but extra parts are provided for an Hispano-Suiza 12H (or 12L?).

I've got two kits and one has the main parts already sanded (well, almost. I tend to do the final touches on the wings when I begin the construction). You may see that the cylinder covers are crushed, but that is my fault as they were good when I acquired the kit. Nothing that a little CA or milliput from the inside and a some filler in the outside doesn't cure.

The detail is good, with a realistic representation of the canvas over the structure. The parts - fuselage and wing halfs - fits very well, although the wings requires very cautious sanding on the trailing edges, as usual with vacforms.

The resin parts are very well molded, although they could have some more detail, mainly the wheels that lack the very characteristic spokes of the Br. XIX. Also the radiator must be detailed with a mesh, as the faces are plain.

I didn't investigated the accuracy yet; I only measured span - 204 mm against the real 205 - and lengtht (fuselage + spinner) - 131 mm vs 131.1. So at least dimensionally it is good enough for me.

In conclusion, and in my opinion, the kit is well worth the 12.50 euro it costs. It needs some preparation work as all the vacs do, and you must scratch build some parts, mainly in the cockpit, but the required work is within the reach for most modelers and result will be rewarding.

Although the Br. XIX was used by many countries during the thirties, only a few decal sheets are available - Hannants lists two sheets by Blue Rider, one for Bolivian aircraft during the Gran Chaco War, and another for a Manchukuo machine. Probably others are available, and if you know of any one please please refer it here.

The main reference I know is an extensive article in Air Enthusiast Quarterly number seven. Again, please share here some other references you find important.

Carlos

links:

Airmodel site

Bolivian decals

Manchukuo decals

[Learstang]

Nice review, Carlos! I may just pick one of these up.

Regards,

Jason

[CliffB]

Thanks CarLos - even the resin parts are much better than the Omega ones.

Cliff

[Paul Thompson]

Nice review. I had one of these some 10 years ago, and forgot there were resin bits. Must have lost them over the years.

If you can find one the HitKit effort is well worth getting for the extensive decal sheet, which covers all engine configurations. Their sheets can be a bit hit or miss in how they behave, so worth testing a bit destined not to be used to see if it needs a coat of Microscale liquid decal film.

Paul.

[Learstang]

I used to have the HitKit Br.19, but I lost it years ago, including the decal sheet. The kit itself was definitely hit-or-miss, but I'd still buy one if I could find it.

Regards,

Jason

Edited February 2, 2015 by Learstang

[Old Man]

Thank you for the information, Sir.

On your evidence, it seems a reasonably promising kit.

[Learstang]

Thank you for the information, Sir.

On your evidence, it seems a reasonably promising kit.

I'd love to see a Br.19 get the OM treatment!

Regards,

Jason