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Oh nooo 😂 Source: https://www.frrom.com/index.php/index.php?page=Accueil-2 As the FRROM 1/48th Super Mystère B2 seems to be a success why not another post-WWII/Cold War French jet in 1/48th scale? Like the SO.4050 Vautour, MD-454 Mystère IVA, MD-450 Ouragan or MS.760 Paris. V.P.

Source: http://frrom.com/index.php?page=jeu_N2-2 AZUR-FRROM is to release a aircraft new tool kit expected for release in March-April 2022. Three boxes will be provided. Guess the type? Game starts on Wednesday 17th of November at 06.00 PM Paris time The goal of the game is to guess what will be this new kit. Scale is : 1/72 nd . Every day additional informations on the plane or the kits (three clues each day) will be provided. Remember: AZUR-FRROM mainly producing 1/72nd kits of planes forgotten by mainstream kit makers. V.P.

Hello For those who did not followed the build within the “To the few...” group build here is my finished 1/72 FRROM Douglas DB-7. This is Douglas DB-7 B3 N°41 from GB I/19 in June 1940 somewhere in France. Groupe de Bombardement I & II/19 were the only DB-7 groups which fought in France from June 5th as the third one arrived too late. Two other groups were preparing in North Africa as well. The build is here : https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235146320-frrom-douglas-db-7-french-air-force-1940-172/ Patrick

Hello Here is the kit I chose to attend this group build about the first year of WWII in Europe. This is the new FRROM FR0052 1/72 kit of one of the Douglas DB-7 which entered French Air Force front line service in May / June 1940. Here is some information I picked up on the FRROM Internet site. http://www.frrom.com/index.php?page=frrom_fr0052 In 1939, France, behind in the production of modern aircraft and anxious to rearm in the face of the approach of war, sent a Purchasing Commission to the United States. It was shown various aircraft, including the Model 7B which would become the DB-7, a twin-engine Douglas high-wing. A flight by a French pilot ended badly, the aircraft crashed to the ground, but it was promising enough for France to order 100 aircraft, coded DB-7, which were to be delivered by January 31, 1940. These aircraft were to be equipped with Pratt & Whitney P-1830-SC3-G engines. Additional orders were placed on October 14, 1939 for 100 DB-7As (enlarged tail fin and Wright R-2600-A5B Twin Cyclone engines), 170 additional DB-7s on October 20, and finally 480 DB-7Bs with R-2600 engines and enlarged tail fin. The aircraft, shipped in crates, were to be assembled in France. However, the port of Le Havre and the assembly plant in Caen were considered too close to the frontline, so it was decided to send the DB-7s in crates to Casablanca to be assembled in Morocco. A certain delay in production and convoying allowed only 10 aircraft to be assembled by April, 20 by May, and so on. The aircraft assembled in Morocco were brought up to French standards (throttle levers, radio equipment, armament, painting of the fuselage roundel, which appeared a different blue from that of the rudder and wing roundels, painted in the factory, removal of the registration number under the wings) and were first given to GB I/19 and II/19. It was only on May 16, 1940 that these groups were fully equipped. They were sent to mainland France, and, given the disastrous situation of the French forces, were engaged against the Germans in the North of France. In mid-June, it was decided to evacuate the modern aircraft to North Africa, so the DB-7s were sent to Algeria. GB II/61, equipped in the meantime with DB-7s, was sent to mainland France but only had time to carry out one mission before having to return to AFN, like the survivors of GB I/19 and II/19. After Italy entered the war on June 10th, the DB-7s bombed Cagliari. 16 DB-7s were lost during the battle of France. Specifications (French DB-7): three-seater twin-engine bomber of metal construction with mid-wing. Engines: two Pratt & Whitney 1830-SC3-G of 910 hp. Wingspan 18.70 m, length 14.30 m, wing area 43.10 m2. Ceiling 9,400 m, maximum speed at 3,400 m: 496 km/h. Armament: 4 Browning machine guns in the nose, two twin MAC machine guns in the rear position, 800 kg of bombs in the hold. Pictures of the material below come from the same site. To be followed... Patrick

UPDATE: it'll be a 1/72nd Douglas DB-7 Boston - ref. FR0052 http://www.frrom.com/index.php?page=frrom_fr0052 This FRROM Armée de l'Air DB-7 initial boxing will eventually followed by Special Hobby RAF DB-7 Boston I & II boxings. ‐-------------- Marketing teaser campaign... FRROM game: guess our next kit project. First clue on Tuesday December 12th evening. Source: https://www.frrom.com/index.php?page=jeu_N4-2 I've got dreams: 1/48th scale Vautour II, Mystère IV and Alizé, as follow up and at the same quality level as their recent Super Mystère SMB2. 🤞 However, considering the FRROM/Azur boss aviation main focuses (for Interwar & WWII a/c in 1/72nd scale) and the most probable partnership with Special Hobby for the design and production, I admit that I have no illusions. V.P.

Hello Here is my next Northrop Gamma of the late 1930's with this 1/72 FRROM Gamma 2E in Chinese service coded 901. Once again I cannot better tell you the story as it is written on the Internet site of the producer of this kit. http://www.frrom.com/index.php?page=frrom-fr0034 “In January 1932, with the help and capital of his friend Donald Douglas, John Northrop created the Northrop Corporation, a subsidiary of the Douglas Aircraft Company, which allowed him to work independently on aircraft with metal construction, a technique he pioneered. Northrop thus developed the Gamma, a fast mail plane. By adapting a wider fuselage to the Gamma that could carry eight passengers, Northrop obtained the Delta, a transport plane whose prototype left the factory in May 1933. The Gamma 2E, compared to the civilian versions, had a bombing hatch added under the fuselage, behind the wing, and was of course armed. In the early 1930s, China had to face Japanese expansionism. In 1934, it imported 132 aircraft and 14 spare engines from the United States for a total of $3.7 million, including 46 Northrop Gamma 2Es and 21 Vought V-92C Corsairs. The Marco Polo Bridge incident, caused by the Japanese on July 7, 1937, drew the two countries into the war from the 28th. The Gammas were assigned to squadrons (Chungtui) 1 and 2 of the 1st Bombardment Group (Tatui), and to squadrons 9, 11 and 14 of the 2nd GB. They were mainly used in the fighting around Shanghai. On August 14, 1937, on Chennault's orders, about forty Chinese aircraft attacked the Japanese fleet off Shanghai and bombed the enemy command post. The Gamma 2E of the 14th Chungtui mistakenly attacked the British cruiser HMS Cumberland without causing any damage. The Japanese claimed the destruction of a Gamma 2E. During the following operations, the Chinese air force suffered significant attrition, which led to the reassignment of the Gammas of the 1st Tatui to the second (October 1937). On October 14, five Gammas took off from Nanking in the company of other Chinese aircraft to attack the airfields and depots of Shanghai. On the 20th, five Gammas bombed the Japanese. On the 24th, the 902 of the 2nd Tatui was shot down. On November 11, three Gammas attacked the aircraft carrier Kaga, but two were shot down (1405 and 1402) and that same day, a Gamma was destroyed on the ground by a Japanese bombing raid. On January 4, 1938, two Gammas were bombed and destroyed in Hankou. At the end of October 1937, a unit formed by American, French and Dutch mercenaries was set up (14th Volunteer Sqn) and based in Hankou. Four Gamma 2E from the 11, 14 and 9 Chungtui were assigned to this unit and participated in bombing missions. Labusssière would record 116 sorties in this unit, including 28 war missions. The last war mission took place on March 20, 1938, the unit was disbanded on the 22nd after losing 3 of its Gammas. The surviving Gammas, if any, were probably transferred to training. Another variant of the Gamma, the 5A, was purchased for evaluation by the Imperial Japanese Navy. And the prototype of the 5B version, which differed from the 2E by the canopy and other external modifications, was used in Republican Spain. The Gamma is at the origin of a very successful family, which includes the Gamma 5B (used in Republican Spain), the Northrop A-17, and finally the Douglas SBD used as a dive bomber by many air forces during World War II. Specifications (2E): Single-engine, two-seat bomber with low wing and fixed landing gear, of metal construction. Offensive armament: 1,600 lb bomb load and 2 .30 machine guns in the wings, defensive armament: one machine gun in the rear seat. Corrections: Please note, the assembly diagram of the Gamma 2E (FR0034) in step 12 is correct, unlike the correction that was put in some boxes, the tank must be mounted at the rear (the transparent flat face is turned towards the front of the aircraft (and there is no transparent part in the semi-retractable tank). The same must be done for the Gamma 5B The machine gun holes must be dug and the headlights installed in the wings. Camouflages: Cam A: Gamma 2E Bomber coded 901, Chinese Air Force. Aircraft belonging to the 9th Chungtui, 2nd Tatui then passed to the 14th Volunteer Sqn, Hankéou, July 1937 to April 1938. This aircraft was, among others, piloted by William Labussière. Cam B: Gamma 2E Bomber evaluated by the British Aeroplane Experimental Establishment, coded K5053, 1937/38. Cam 😄 Gamma 2E Bomber, 14 black, from an unknown Chinese unit, 1937-1938. Cam 😧 Gamma 2E Bomber, 1412 black, transferred from an unknown Chinese unit to 14 th Vol. Sqn, early 1938.” I hope you like her. Patrick

Hello Here is another bird of the Northrop drawing board of the late 1930's and I cannot better tell you the story as it is written on the Internet site of the producer of this kit. http://www.frrom.com/index.php?page=frrom-fr0051 “In January 1932, John Northrop created the Northrop Corporation, a subsidiary of the Douglas Aircraft Company, with the help and capital of his friend Donald Douglas, which allowed him to work independently on aircraft with metal construction, a technique he pioneered Northrop thus developed the Gamma, a fast mail plane. By adapting a wider fuselage to the Gamma that could carry eight passengers, Northrop obtained the Delta, a transport plane whose prototype left the factory in May 1933. The Gamma 2E, compared to the civilian versions, had a bombing hatch added under the fuselage, behind the wing, and was of course armed. The Gamma 2E was sold in several dozen copies to the Chinese, who used it during the conflict against Japan. The Gamma 5B was an evolution of the Gamma 2E of 1934, it differed by the empennage and the canopy, more rounded on the 5B. In April 1936, he took part in an international competition of the Argentine Army and Navy to renew their aircraft fleet, a competition which won the B-10 WAA and WAN for bombing, the Hawk 75 with fixed landing gear for hunting and the Focke-Wulf Weihe for bombing training. Left in a hangar at the El Palomar base, near Buenos Aires, it was bought there by Henry Fletcher, an American living in Mexico, in January 1937. As the Spanish Republic was then looking for aircraft of all types to deal with the uprising of part of the military led by Generals Sanjurjo and Mola in July 1936, it was hardly surprising to find the aircraft in Mexico in the first quarter of 1937. At the end of December 1937, it was loaded onto a cargo ship and landed in Le Havre on January 13, 1938. Reassembled in the workshops of the SFTA, one of the companies controlled by the Spanish Republican government, it arrived in Spain, in flight, in the spring of 1938. The aircraft was painted in Republican colours, green on the upper surfaces, blue on the lower surfaces, with red identification bands at the wingtips and around the fuselage, the Republican flag was partially painted on the rudder. The Gamma 5B received the code BN-001, applied to the fuselage strip. In June 1938, it was transferred to the 1st Coastal Defense Squadron of Group 7, based in El Carmoli (Valencia). The crew assigned to the aircraft was pilot Joaquin Tarazaga Moya and photo operator Sergeant Navarro, the latter sometimes being replaced by Lieutenant Lopez Dominguez. The missions were carried out solo, the aircraft took off at night in order to arrive at the target at dawn, to benefit from surprise and good aiming conditions during the bombing. Other missions consisted of long patrols off the coast to search for possible submarines or enemy boats. At the end of 1938, the squadron was transferred to the Huercal Overa airfield (Alicante province) to counter a landing at Motril, a landing that did not take place, then returned to El Carmoli at the beginning of 1939. The Gamma, undergoing repairs, was not transferred to Oran with other aircraft of the Republican fleet, at the end of March 1939. It was captured in good condition by the Nationalists and was sent to the Cuatro Vientos experimental centre, near Madrid, where the different models of Republican aircraft were tested. It does not seem to have been put back into service by the victors, and it still appears in this park in 1950. Specifications: single-engine two-seater bomber of metal construction. Engine: a Wright Cyclone G of 870 hp, driving a three-blade Hamilton metal propeller. Wingspan 14.57 m, wing area 33.7 m2. Armament: 4 machine guns in the wings, a fifth in defence, possibility of carrying 1000 kg of bombs under the fuselage. Camouflage: Cam A: Gamma 5B coded BN-001. Aircraft of the Grupo 71 de Defensa de Costas, El Carmoli (Valencia province), between June 1938 and April 1939. Notes: Attention, the assembly diagram of the Gamma 2E (FR0034) in step 12 is correct, unlike the rectification that was put in some boxes, the tank must be mounted at the rear (the transparent flat face is turned towards the front of the aircraft (and there is no transparent part in the semi-retractable tank). The same must be done for the Gamma 5B In Argentina, the aircraft is left entirely in natural metal, and coded NR14998. It is then equipped with a 700 hp Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp engine. In Mexico, the Gamma 5B bears the code XA-ABI, and uses the Wright Cyclone engine that it will have in Spain.” Actually after building four Northrop Delta from the same manufacturer I can say I am seasoned and I have found easy to assemble all the parts. I had to sand around the pants to get a near perfect joint and it was the same for the wing to fuselage joint. I had to use a rule to place the bomb launchers and the last and small difficulty was to place the vaccum formed canopy on the fuselage. For those interested by this period of aircraft by Northrop the best book is “The Northrop story 1929-1939” by Richard Sanders Allen, ISBN 0887405851 Later will come the Northrop Gamma 2E... Patrick

New game from FRROM Source: http://www.frrom.com/index.php?page=jeu_N3-2 Start Thursday 16 December 2021 - 18:00 Paris time V.P.

FRROM is to announce a 1/72nd new kit at Telford. Source: http://www.frrom.com/index.php?page=Accueil-2 Bets are open. V.P.

FRROM is currently studying the idea of a 1/72nd Breguet Br.521 Bizerte kit. The brand would like to hear modellers about this project. The planning and explanations are here: http://www.frrom.com/index.php?page=frrom-frxx-2µ Source: http://www.avionslegendaires.net/avion-militaire/breguet-br-521-bizerte/#photos V.P.

Hello Here are a couple of Special Hobby / Azur FRROM 1/72 Dassault SMB2 I built just in time to bring them at SMW Telford. Actually, those kits are not already available and they are test shots given to me by the manufacturer. They are likely to be produced by the begining of next year. First, here is the SMB2 N° 88 10-RB from Escadron de Chasse 2/10 Seine in natural metal finish in 1962 at Creil AFB. Next is the SMB2 N° 59 10-SD from Escadron de Chasse 1/10 Valois covered by the last camouflage in 1974 at Creil AFB. Both of them are, except the scratch pilot harness, strictly built from the sprues, as the box does not exist. The decals came from two Berna Decals sheets (72-52 & 72-54). They were shown on the Special Hobby space at SMW. The French SMB2 will be produced under the brand Azur FRROM and the Israeli aircraft under Special Hobby. Patrick

FRROM-Azur is to release a 1/72nd Northrop Delta kit Source: http://www.frrom.com/index.php?page=Accueil-2 - ref. FR0032 - Delta Civilian Version "Swedish, TWA and Mexican Service" Source: http://www.frrom.com/index.php?page=frrom-fr0032-2 - ref. FR0033 - Delta over Spain Source: http://www.frrom.com/index.php?page=frrom-fr0033-2 V.P.

Special Hobby has just re- released the Azur-FRROM (link & link) 1/72nd Vickers Type 267 Vildebeest Mk. III kit - ref. SH72400 Sources: https://www.specialhobby.eu/en/our-own-production/special-hobby/vickers-vildebeest-mk-iii-1-72.html http://www.specialhobby.info/2018/10/sh72400-vickers-type-267-vildebeest.html In box review: https://www.detailscaleview.com/2018/11/special-hobby-vickers-type267-sh72400-review.html V.P.

Azur-FRROM is to release a 1/72nd Renard R-31 kit - ref. FR0039 Release expected in October May 2018. Source: http://www.specialhobby.net/2018/03/fr0036-renard-r-31-172-pripravujeme.html Box art Sprue A V.P.

AZUR/FRROM is to release in June 2017 a 1/32nd Industria Aeronautică Română IAR-80A kit - ref. FR8002 Source: http://www.frrom.com/index.php?page=frrom-fr8002-2 V.P.

French Wings 4 - Lioré et Olivier LeO 45 Azur FR.ROM The Lioré et Olivier LeO 45 was a French medium bomber from WWII. The aircraft was an effective bomber however it appeared too late to have much effect on the Battle for France. Even though the first prototypes were built in 1938 the shortage of propellers and the change from the original Hispano-Suiza engines led to only 22 aircraft being delivered by the start of WWII. The aircraft were particularly distinguishable by the large 20m cannon fitted for rearwards defence. In the end over 400 aircraft were produced and these would be used by the Vichy government. The aircraft were also used by the Luftwaffe though in the transport rather than bomber role. In a strange twist some of these aircraft would then receive American markings over the German camouflage after they were again captured. The book is softback A4 in size with 80 pages. There are a wealth of black & white photographs with 22 pages of colour profiles. The text is interspersed with technical drawings of the aircraft. The text covers Development, construction, combat use (including Vichy use in Syria), captured use, and use post WWII. These books in the French Wings series are excellent give an insight into often forgotten but import French aircraft, and this one is no exception. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of Available direct from MMP Bookis

Source: http://www.frrom.com/index.php?page=Accueil-2 To be followed V.P.

Calling this one done - earlier stuff can be seen here. Comments/thoughts/abuse appreciated! Have fun... Iain

Source: http://www.frrom.com/index.php?page=fr8001-iar-81-c-1-32-nd-2 AZUR-FRROM is to release in June 2013 a 1/32nd IAR 81-C fighter injected kit - ref. FR8001 V.P.

Howdy, folks! Here are my finished IK-2 and IK-3, Yugoslav pre-WWII planes. These brothers were made late 30s, very different designs and still very similar. IK-3 took part in air defense of Belgrade in April 1941. and had 11 wins with 4 casualties over Reich's Bf109s... Unfortunately, there wasn't enough of them for that defense to have any chance of success, out 12 produced only 6 were operational and after a few days the two remaining were captured and scraped. Heartbreaking... IK-2 was mostly stationed in Bosnia at the time and surviving ones were given to Croat Air Force. As for models themselves, mostly build out of box, Azur Frrom did a decent job with them. IK-2 was given a bit of details in the cockpit and not much more than that (save the wires on the outside, mentioned in instructions). There are a few inaccuracies outside, most of which can be easily fixed. Canopy could have been done better (goes for IK-3 also), but it's not completely useless. I wasn't going for 100% accuracy, so it didn't bother me much... IK-3 saw a bit more work in cockpit, seat and belts were made from scratch, as were side details. There were some touch-ups on the outside of both, mostly opening exhausts and intakes, IK-3 legs also got a bit of pedicure... More on this can be found in WIP thread... Thanks for watching... Cheers!

Vickers / C.A.S.A. Type 245 "Spanish Vildebeest" 1:72 FRROM Azur The Vildebeest was initially developed as a torpedo bomber by Vickers in response to specification 24/25 to provide a land based aircraft giving coastal defence capabilities. With several variants originating from the original design including the Vincent, Spain ordered 27 aircraft but specified the installation of a Hispano-Suiza V12 powerplant in place of the Bristol radials that were fitted to other aircraft. This changed the profile of the aircraft significantly at the front end giving a much more aerodynamic and tidier look. The order for 27 machines was met through 2 British aircraft being supplied and 25 being licence built in Spain by C.A.S.A. which were posted to Murcia although the delivery wasn’t until 1935, just before the Civil War despite manufacture starting in 1932. At this time, they were void of guns, bomb racks and bomb aiming equipment. Despite these omissions, they were pressed into service in 1936 by the Republicans during the civil war by using a 3rd crew member to drop bombs through a panel under the pilots seat! They later moved to Valencia in support of further bombing missions. After one and a half months of operations, seven Vildebeests had been lost in combat. Towards the end of 1936, the remaining aircraft were sent for repairs and to have the bombing equipment installed and went back into service with Grupo 73 in coastal defence duties until the end of the war. The kit This is another pleasing variant from FRROM Azur based on the original Vincent kit. Boxed in the new standard light blue style box with stunning artwork of an aircraft operating over the Aragon Front from Sarinena Airfield in 1937, the contents are plentiful containing injection moulded plastic, resin, etch and no less than 5 scheme options on the decal sheet. There is a hint of flash present along the mould seams in places, this is more noticeable on delicate parts such as the struts. I find running a sharp modelling knife along the edges is a good way of removing it. Typical of Azur’s product range, the kit doesn’t have location pins like you would expect on main stream kits, so construction will be more challenging if you’re not used to this. The instruction sheet is in a folded A5 booklet format with text in French and English. The diagrams are clearly drawn with exploded diagrams where detail necessitates. Assembly of the kit is very much the same as the Vincent Mk.I that I reviewed recently HERE. The cockpit is nicely detailed with a mix of etch, resin and plastic parts. The pilot’s seat is assembled on the internal framework that bridges the width of the cockpit to each side of the fuselage. On this is also mounted the resin control column. The seats are treated to some tech seat belts. According to the references I’ve read up on, the early operations lacked guns and had a third crew member, however the instructions include a rear gun position but no third seat (if the additional crew member actually had one), so keep this in mind when choosing your scheme. I suspect that a rear gun was indeed added for operations or else the rear gunner would of been able to drop the bombs instead of needing a third crewman. Due to the different powerplant, this version gets completely new fuselage halves. Again, interior detail is moulded in to the halves as on the other kits. Care will need to be taken fitting the small round side windows as there is no step to secure them as with on most main stream kits, so there is a higher risk of getting glue marks on them. A beautifully moulded resin engine is included that drops in to the opening at the top of the nose whilst the lower nose has two radiators sandwiched between the fuselage halves. A different propeller is included for this version with a pointed spinner. Unfortunately, my example has suffered from some sink marks on both the blades and spinner so some filling will be necessary. The tail on this version is different in that it has an extended base below the fuselage, similar to the hurricane but more pronounced. With the fuselage assembled, the wings are next. As mentioned in the other review, care should be taken aligning these up. Fortunately, this is made easier by the wings being completely parallel. A good thread is provided HERE by John (Viking) on handling this tricky stage. Some of the location points are barely visible, so you may want to address this with a micro drill. The instructions on the strut locations are quite thorough with exploded diagrams assisting the main drawings. The wings are moulded as single pieces with stunning surface detail. Whilst the sprue containing the spatted wheels is included, the Spanish versions didn’t use spats, so there are plenty of leftover parts to go in the spares box. I’ve read that some of the Spanish aircraft were fitted with floats and this version was covered by Special Hobby previously. It would of been good to have this option included. The weaponry in this kit is a little disappointing. The box artwork shows an aircraft fitted with wing racks which is to be expected for late 1936 onwards, but there isn’t any contained in the kit. Conversely, the instructions call for the torpedo to be fitted, but I’m not aware of them being fitted in service. It would of been good to see the wings ‘bombed up’ from the box. As with the other Vildebeest variants in this range, the kit is thoughtfully adorned with lots of resin and etch detail to give it the busy look reflected in the real aircraft. Additional coolers are mounted under the lower wing leading edges, these are provided in resin. There are prominent slat guides on the top wings of the Vincent, these are provided on the etch sheet. Markings There are 5 options included in the kit. Given the history of weaponry fitted that is described in the introduction above, this should be considered as to what year(s) of service your chosen aircraft was operational in, particularly if you want to scratch build some wing racks. The choice of schemes offers some eclectic finishes from brightly coloured over silver, dark green, and mottled green / yellow oche. The decals are printed by Aviprint with sharp definition and no evidence of registry misalignment. T-5 – Silver / red bands – Sarinena Airfield 1937 T-23 – Dark Green / Yellow Oche Mottle over silver – Los Alcaceres 1937 T-9 – Silver / red bands – Manises Airfield (nr Valencia) T-1 – Silver – shortly after delivery (1935 ??) BR-60 – Dark Green / red bands – Grupo 73 based at Los Alcaceres 1938 Conclusion This is another great variant to the Vildebeest range with quite a different look to it because of the liquid cooled powerplant. It's disappointing not to have wing mounted bomb racks and bombs included considering these were catered for in the Vincent Mk.I and the sink marks in the propeller will need some filling to tidy up this prominent feature. Apart from these issues, it’s a great kit full of detail thanks to the etch and resin supplements. The nature of these short run style kits means that beginners will find it a more challenging build if not used to them, but there is no doubt as to the quality of build you can achieve from the box. Review sample courtesy of

Vickers vincent Mk.I 1:72 Azur FRROM The large, ungainly and yet somewhat attractive Vildebeest was first flown in 1928 using proven design methodology incorporating an all metal airframe with fabric skinning. Crewed by either two or three, production variants predominantly used the Pegasus radial engine. Whilst the Vildebeest was primarily employed as a torpedo bomber, a private venture by Vickers was to create a general purpose version to replace the Westland Wapitis and Fairey III’s in supporting the army out in the Middle East. Successful trials in the hotter climates were successful and this was to become the Vincent. The Vincent first entered service in 1934 with 84 Sqn based at Shaibah in Iraq and by 1937 equipped 6 squadrons in Iraq, Kenya, Sudan and Egypt. Differences on the Vincent were fairly minor with the most noticeable change replacing the torpedo with a long range underbelly tank. By WWII, the Vincent was mostly replaced by Blenheims and Wellesleys, however 84 aircraft continued service into WWII. They operated bombing missions against the Italians in the East African Campaign and Iraqi rebel forces attempting a coup in 1941 as well as coastal patrols from Aden. A notable achievement was the attack on the Italian submarine Galileo Galilei which led to its surrender. Vincent’s were retired from front line RAF service in 1943 although continued on in some more unusual activities until 1944. Around 60 of the retired machines were passed to the RNZAF in 1939 where they served in the reconnaissance and attack role. Altogether, 197 Vincent’s were either produced or modified from Wildebeests. The kit Azur released the Vildebeest a few years ago (See Paul’s review HERE) and it was warmly welcomed by the modelling community. This is a release of the same kit with some additional parts as necessary to create a Vincent. Whilst it’s a limited run kit with typical characteristics like a lack of location pins, the quality of the moulding is quite stunning. So what’s included in the kit? Firstly, there’s 4 medium grey injection moulded sprues holding around 80 parts of which some aren’t used. There is hardly any flash present. This is supplemented by 24 resin parts; a clear sprue and a fret of etch containing over 50 parts. In the box I received, there was also an additional larger resin engine that isn’t mentioned in the instructions but I assume to be a Perseus engine with moulded on connecting rods. This was only used in small numbers on the Vildebeest Mk.IV, 12 of which were sold to the RNZAF so there is the possibility to make one of these. The A5 instruction booklet is provided with text in English and French. The diagrams were well drawn with useful exploded views of some of the more intricate elements such as accurate location of wing struts relative to each other. Paint schemes refer to Gunze paints. Rigging diagrams are also included. Perseus engine ? Construction starts with the cockpit interior. Azur don’t just provide great external detail, they make sure the interior is well provided for too. A combination of etch, resin and plastic is used to give the cockpit a comprehensive and scale accurate look. The interior of the fuselage halves include detail to represent the metal framework. Etch parts include seatbelts, trim wheels and rudder pedal straps. The control column is finely produced out of resin. One of the more tricky elements of the kit is the clear windows. Whilst most mainstream kits tend to have a tab that windows locate against, these simply push in from behind with a very subtle taper to hold them. Take care to ensure you glue them carefully and adequately so they don’t push in when it comes to painting. With the interior complete, the two fuselage halves are closed up and mounted onto the lower wing. Surface detail on the exterior is a combination of fine recessed panel lines and raised fabric effect and access panels. Mounting the tail and tail planes looks to be simple by way of the design of both aircraft and kit. What I think will be the most difficult part will be mounting the upper wing to the lower one via the struts. This isn’t a skill that I’ve readily mastered, so I’ll let someone else off advice on this step! (Edit: See Christopher's comment below ) One thing to be aware is that the location points for the struts in the wing are very shallow and a few are marginal, so it might be worth drilling them out with a suitably sized micro drill. With the feathers on, the engine comes next. The assembly is quite a complicated affair and Azur have replicated this superbly. The resin engine is sandwiched between the exhaust manifolds and the exhausts mounted to the sides of the fuselage. There are no location pins for the exhausts to mount to the fuselage, so care will have to be taken when gluing them, especially if you prefer to fit these parts after painting. The undercarriage has two options; spatted or non-spatted so at this point you will have to choose your scheme to suit. According to the instructions, there’s a hook mounted to the starboard unit but it’s not clear how it’s stowed. As with the wing strut points, the holes for the undercarriage mounting points are either fine or non-existent, so take care. It might be worth doing this before you even build the model as a dry fitting exercise. The final major step is fitting the weaponry. The aircraft was armed with bombs and a central fuel tank. The bomb racks are each comprised of a plastic body with two etch clamps to support the bomb. These look very fine indeed. The bombs themselves are made of resin with separate fin sections. Each wing holds 4 bombs. Various etch parts are finally added to the wings and fuselage such as control linkages, mass balances, access ladder etc. There are very delicate so probably better to fit after painting if you’re clumsy like me! The rear facing gun gets an equal treatment of detail from the etch fret to supplement the plastic main components. Decals One of the things I like about the Azur kits is the great selection of schemes that you get straight from the box. 4 options are included, two RAF and two RNZAF. The colour on the decals look excellent, the register spot on although the small placards look a little under defined compared to some I’ve seen, but this is me trying to be balanced in my observations. The schemes included are: K4712 - 8 Sqn RAF based at Khormaksar, Aden, August 1940 – 6 colour shadow scheme K6363 - 244 Sqn RAF based at Sharjah, 1942 – Mid stone / Dark Earth / azure scheme NZ344 – 30 Sqn RNZAF, Gisborne, May – July 1943 – Dark earth / dark green / grey scheme NZ322 – 2 SFTS, Woodbourne, 1940/41 – Dark earth / dark green / aluminium high level demarcation scheme Conclusion Bi-planes are typically more difficult to build than monoplanes. Couple this with the some of the issues like strut location points I’ve mentioned and the small etch parts, it’s not going to be one of the easiest kits to put together. That said, the quality of the kit is certainly worthy of praise, the moulding is superb and the detail is very well catered for, so I’m very pleased that Azur have chosen this subject as part of their range. Clearly, a lot of research has gone into its design. In a nut shell, I think this kit is a little gem! Review sample courtesy of

Savoia Marchetti SM79 JIS / JRS B & SM79 JRS B1 Azur 1:72 Kit FR004 - SM 79 JIS/JRS B Kit FR005 - SM 79 JRS B1 This famous trimotor Italian workhorse started out as a proposed passenger aircraft in the mid 30’s. With a good pre-war performance, it was also envisaged to be capable of air racing and did in fact set several air speed records in 1935. It was constructed out of wood and metal, with a wooden wing including the spars with a welded steel tubular frame, plywood and duralumin fuselage. Powered by three Alfa Romeo radials of 780hp, the aircraft could endure at over 220mph and had good low speed handling thanks to the flaps and slats fitted to the wings. Indeed, it could land in 200m and take off in just 300m! The aircraft took a crew of 5 or 6 of whom it was popular with and operated in the bomber and torpedo role. The SM.79 first saw combat in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War and went on to serve with several air forces including the RAF in the Middle East. In 1937 Romania ordered a twin-engine version of the SM.79 to serve with the Aeronautica Regala Romania. An initial order for 24 aircraft powered by 1000hp Gnome-Rhone Mistral radial engines proved to be underpowered so a new power plant was sourced in the guise of the Junkers Jumo 211 engine with 1200 hp. The first 8 aircraft were built in Italy as the JIS.79B (JIS standing for Jumo Italia Savoia, B standing for Bimotor), however subsequent aircraft were license built in Romania. This included the JRS 79B (R indicating Romanian built) and the JRS 79B1 which had the more powerful Jumo 211F engines of 1380hp. As well as having only two engines, the cockpit arrangement was changed from a side-by-side arrangement to a tandem set up. Production continued in Romania until 1946 with 72 license built machines being produced in total. Romanian combat was initially against the Soviet Union, but as the war progressed, attention was turned to Germany and its allies. The kit Presented in a top opening box that judging from our review samples seems to be the standard for their newer kits, you are welcomed by three bags, one containing f grey sprues, one containing the clear parts and one containing the resin supplements. These kits were first released in 2009. First impressions are of a very good quality limited run kit; typical of such kits is a lack of location pins. Surface detail across the kit is a mixture of fine recessed panel lines for the metallic & plywood area and subtle raised fabric effect where it would be stretched across the stringers along the fuselage sides. They have got the effect spot on in my opinion given the scale we are dealing with. The instruction booklet comes in an A5 folded form with text in English, French and Romanian. Whilst the parts on the sprues aren’t numbered, there are suitable drawings in the booklet giving the part numbers to refer to. Paint references are to Gunze colours. The assembly diagrams are quite straight forwards to follow and include where to fit the rigging & aerials wires if you choose to fit them. Assembly starts with the interior of the aircraft. The tubular steel framework is represented on the interior of the fuselage halves and is more than adequate for the scale considering what will be seen once closed up. The interior is very well catered for with the tandem cockpit, nose area, rear gun and rear fuselage areas getting suitable attention to the detail fairy! Using a wash when painting the interior will give much opportunity to reveal the detail in most places. Unfortunately, there is no option to have the rear facing gunner position open immediately behind the cockpit which would show off some of the interior detail; however I’m sure this could be done by cutting out the sliding panels and replacing with some thin sheet plastic bent to the correct profile to simulate them in the opened position. As there are no location pins, I’d strongly suggest plenty of dry fitting as you build up the interior to ensure that it all goes together as planned. With the fuselage closed up, the tail planes and rudder go on next. The tail planes are secured by two struts below for each side; however there is no locating tab so making your own out of some thin steel rod would be advisable. This is the type of thing that would differentiate the kit from being suitable for beginners. There are a lot of windows on this aircraft. The glazed nose comes supplied in two halves which inevitably leaves a seam down the middle to take care of, so care will need to be taken to get this assembled without glue marks. The JRS B1 kit (FR005) only has one nose type, although both boxings come with the same clear sprue containing two options. The earlier JIS variant contained in set FR004 utilises the second option. Apart from the nose seam as just mentioned, the clear parts are thin and free from distortion. Many kits that provide side windows suffer from concave profiles resulting from the moulding process, but the windows in these kits are beautifully flat. A quick attempt at locating one of the windows into the rear fuselage indicated that some fettling will be required to get them to fit, however a snug fit should be achievable as a result. The wings are a straight forwards affair and the wing spars are simulated by plastic strips that sit within the gear bays before joining the top and bottom parts together. The full wing section fits into t5he completed fuselage section. The gear bays are quite basic other than the wing spars, so you may choose to add some detail in here. With the wings on, the next major assembly is the engines. The cowlings are simply two halves with the exhausts attached. Again, detail in the surfaces and the exhausts are very refined. The large radiator housings are mounted below the cowlings and have resin radiators that locate inside. The undercarriage mounts across the wing spars inside the gear bays. I suspect these will be fiddly to assemble as the trailing links don’t have locating pins to attach them to the main legs, so patience and your best set of tweezers will be necessary here. The gear doors are lacking in any interior detail. What the real items looked like, I couldn’t say, but you may want to add some creative detail through scribing or plastic strip to add some interest. Finally the props are added. These come moulded as complete units that then sit on a back plate with the hub fitted over the top. Good photos of these variants are few and far between. If they had the same props as the Ju-87, the leading edge roots of the props where they enter the hubs look a little too straight, but this could be corrected (or at least improved) by filing the plastic away if it bothered you. Someone may be able to comment on this better than I can. Decals The decals are printed by Aviprint. Register of the colours is excellent and the colours vivid. The decals have a glossy finish to them. The schemes included are as follows: Kit FR004 – SM.79 JIS / JRS B JIS 79B ‘155’ - ‘Yolanda’, Escadrila 71, Grupul 1 Bombardament, Stalingrad, October 1942 JRS 79B ‘4’ – Escadrila 75, Grupul 2 Bombardament, gruparea Aeriana de Lupta, July 1941 JRS 79B ‘134’ – Escadrila 72, Grupul 1 Bombardament, October 1942 JIS 79B ‘120’, summer 1942 Kit FR005 – SM.79 JRS B1 ‘216’ – Trencin, Slovakia – April 1945 – Dark Green ‘154’ - Trencin, Slovakia – April 1945 – Dark Green ‘219’ – Markings prior to coup 23rd August 1944 – dark green / light brown / light blue camouflage Conclusion These are very fine kits and great to see such unusual variants being produced. Due to the limited run features, they aren’t kits for beginners; care has to be taken with some of the inherent features such as lack of locating pins if this is something new to you. It would of been good to have the rear gunner position with an optional 'open' position from the box, but this shouldn't be too difficult to scratch build. The quality of the moulding is excellent and with average skills a stunning and rare model may be built. Review sample courtesy of