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Morane-Saulnier MSAI Other Services (KPM0455) 1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov The Morane-Saulnier AI was an evolutionary development of the earlier AC, taking technical and aerodynamic cues from their Type-N monoplane fighter, but using ailerons instead of wing-warping to control direction of a parasol wing above the fuselage. Orders were forthcoming due to issues with the engine that had been selected for the competing SPAD XIII, which may lend a little credence to “unlucky 13”. It was powered by a 160hp Gone rotary engine at the front of a traditional wooden rib and fabric fuselage, topped by a distinctive swept wing and a single 7.7mm machine gun for offensive operations, later upgraded to a twin mount. Its service was brief during WWI, as technology was moving at breakneck speed as each side sought an advantage that would allow them to shift the stalemate and thus win them the war. Structural problems were identified early, shortening its front-line service to a mere three months before it was withdrawn so that the issues could be fixed. When it returned, it was used as an advanced trainer, many sold off after the war where it found favour in aerobatic displays, some owners replacing the Gnome Monosoupape 9N with a less powerful Clerget 9Ba rotary engine. America was a post-war customer for the revised aircraft, buying 50+ to use as pursuit trainers at the end of WWI. The Kit This is one boxing of four from a new tooling in 2024, so is essentially brand-new. The kit arrives in a compact end-opening box with artwork of an AI climbing over broken cloud on the front, and profiles of the three decal options on the rear. Inside is a single sprue of grey styrene (it’s a comparatively small aircraft), decal sheet, and instruction booklet printed in black and white on a folded sheet of A4. Detail is good, extending to a few engraved panel lines, lightly scalloped fabric surfaces over the wings, tail and aft fuselage, and a rendition of the Gnome rotary engine that will just be visible within the close-fitting cowling. Construction begins with the cockpit, starting with the floor, adding a seat on the raised section, fitting rudder pedals and control column before fixing a five-part framework around the sides, a frame with circular cut-out around the top, and an instrument panel, taking care to align the parts carefully before the glue has cured. The cockpit is trapped between the fuselage halves on a pair of raised guides, covering the top of the forward fuselage with an insert that has the outer cockpit cut-out, and two troughs that receive a pair of machine guns that fire through the propeller. There are no internal details to the fuselage, but there are a couple of raised ejector-pin marks that you may wish to remove if you think they’ll be seen. The tail fin is moulded into one side of the fuselage, slipping an elevator into the slots in the either side of the tail, aligning them carefully. Turning the fuselage over, the main gear axle is supported by three V-shaped struts, adding a wheel to each end of the axle, fitting a pair of support struts under the elevators. Unusually, the third step shows the addition of some cross-braces fitted to the struts that support the wings that are detailed in step four. The main supports are H-frames, adding several V- and Z-braces, plus the afore mentioned cross-braces to the sides of the fuselage, referring to the recesses under the single-part wing to ensure correct alignment when the main assemblies are brought together. The final assembly is the engine, which is a single part that is attached to a back-plate with a pin from the rear, surrounding the motor by a single-part cowling that has holes in the front, some of which will need cleaning out to remove a little flash, which can also be found in other locations. The two-bladed prop is glued into the centre of the rotary engine, and if you have been careful with the glue when attaching the pin and the assembly to the fuselage, the entire engine should rotate on the pin at the rear. Markings As usual with Kovozávody Prostějov 1:72 kits, there are three decal options that are shown on the back of the box. You can build one of the following from the decals supplied: The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion An unusual parasol monoplane from KP Models, with good exterior detail, a little flash to scrape off, and it builds up surprisingly small, like many WWI fighters at this scale. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

P-51D-5 Mustang 20th FG & 361st FG (KPM0440 & KPM0442) 1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov The P-51 was developed by the North American Aviation company as a potential fighter for Great Britain, but due to the poor performance of the original Allison engine at altitude it wasn’t suitable, especially for a specification that included combat at high altitude over Britain. In a fortuitous attempt to correct this deficiency, they decided to bolt a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine to the front of the airframe that it brought out the best of its design, which included the energy efficient laminar flow wing that gave it the potential to escort Allied bombers all the way to Berlin with the addition of drop-tanks and a lean fuel mixture when not in combat. It was flown in this guise as the Mustang III in British service, and as the P-51B/C in US service with a “razor-back” spine and scalloped rear-view windows behind the cockpit, until some bright spark took a blown hood that had been used successfully on the Spitfire and fitted it to British Mustangs, garnering the nickname Malcolm Hood after its manufacturer. The P-51D was altered to have a bubble canopy and cut-down aft fuselage that improved the pilot’s situational awareness, with an additional fin-fillet widely added later to regain some of the stability lost due to the new shape and fuel tank location. In British service it was known as the Mustang Mk.IV, and the same variant made at the Dallas factory with hollow AeroProducts props that was designated P-51K in US service was known as the Mk.IVa in RAF service to differentiate. Sadly, the hollow prop was prone to vibration thanks to some inferior quality control at the factory, so was often swapped out in the field. The most prevalent P-51D is the Mustang that most people think of when they hear the name, unless they’re more of a petrol head or a bit horsey, although us modellers are more likely to ask “which variant?”. The Kit This is a new tooling from Kovozávody Prostějov, which has been released in several boxings with different decals, of which we have two in for review. Both kits arrive in a small end-opening box with a dramatic painting of the subject matter on the front, profiles of the decal options on the rear, and inside are two sprues of grey styrene, a small clear sprue in a Ziploc bag, a sheet of decals, plus the instruction booklet that is printed on a sheet of folded A4 in black and white. Detail is good, with fine engraved panel lines, raised and recessed features inside and out, and a nicely detailed main gear bay. KP Models kits are medium run, and there is evidence of this in some panel lines that may need extending to their full length around the wing leading edges, a little flash in places, and there appears to be a very slight patina visible under magnification to some of the open areas that should be looked at after a coat of primer to establish whether it will show through, in which case a very light sanding of those areas would be advisable to ensure a good finish. Construction begins with the instrument panel, which has the rudder pedals moulded-in, and a dial decal is applied to the front after painting, adding the gunsight to the top of the coaming. Detail painting instructions are given for the cockpit sidewalls, then the floor is painted a wooden shade as indicated, adding a console on the port side, the seat and armour to the rear after applying decal belts, the control column in front of the seat, the panel with coaming, and a bulkhead at the front of the floor. To the rear, the fuel tank with radio gear on top is glued to the floor, and the completed assembly is inserted in the port fuselage side along with an insert for the tail wheel bay, and a plate that blanks off the air pathway behind the pilot. The tail gear bay roof is a single part that receives the tail-wheel and is inserted into the port fuselage before closure, dealing with the seams in your preferred manner, and fitting intake lips under the nose and on the belly intake to complete them. The lower wing is a single-span part, which has the well-detailed main bay installed and painted, mating it with the fuselage before adding the upper wing halves, ensuring there is a 5° dihedral once the glue has set. The elevators are each separate parts that are attached either side of the tail fin in the usual slot-and-tab manner, using the parts appropriate to your choice, then gluing the rudder panel into the rear of the fin. The flaps and ailerons are separate parts, affixing to the trailing edges, with the possibility of posing the flaps lowered and the ailerons deflected if you wish. The four-bladed prop with cuffs are moulded as a single part that is trapped between the front and black-plate of the spinner, inserting the short axle at the rear into the nose of your model, adding a pitot probe under the starboard wing, an aerial mast on the spine behind the cockpit, and the two-part canopy/windscreen assembly over the cockpit cut-out, with a rear-view mirror on the apex of the windscreen. A choice of two styles of exhaust stacks is offered in this boxing, so check your references to see which is appropriate for your build, then install the main gear legs and wheels into the outer ends of the main bays, with captive bay doors against the struts, and inner bay doors hinging down the centreline, with a choice of colour options for the interior. Finally, a pair of two-part drop-tanks are included with pylons to mount under the wings outboard of the main gear bays, as shown in the final instruction step. Markings There are three decal options per boxing, and from each box you can build one of the following: 20th Fighter Group (KPM0440) 361st Fighter Group (KPM0442) The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion A couple of nice 1:72 late Mustangs with some interesting transitional schemes that retain some of the olive drab in places around the airframe. Highly recommended. P-51D-5 Mustang20th Fighter Group (KPM0440) P-51D-5 Mustang 361st Fighter Group (KPM0442) Review sample courtesy of

Nieuport Ni-16 Other Services (KPM0452) 1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov The Nieuport 16 was a development of the Ni.11, Its sesquiplane configuration that was inherited from its progenitor gave the pilot a better view of the surroundings, a more powerful engine a higher top speed, rate of climb, which again found favour with air forces outside WWI France, seeing service with British RNAS, Russian, Belgian and Dutch. They were even more capable than the 11s and took part in breaking the domination of the Fokker Eindeckers towards to the end of 1916, that was known colloquially as the Fokker Scourge. The Nieuport’s speed and manoeuvrability was provided by an uprated Le Rhône 9J nine-cylinder rotary engine supplying 110hp that drove the airframe to speeds in excess of 100mph, which was impressive for the time, with a service ceiling of 16,000ft and endurance of two hours. It was superseded in 1916 in typical WWI fashion where the developments were coming thick and fast, reaching service in weeks rather than years, by the Ni.17 that had entered development concurrently with the Ni.16. The pilot’s comfort was improved by adding a headrest behind the pilot, although its bullet-stopping power was negligible, and while initial airframes were fitted with a cowling mounted machine gun that used synchroniser gear, these proved difficult in use, particularly with the Vickers Machine Gun, which suffered from a slight variation in its rate of fire. British airframes retained their Lewis gun on a more flexible Foster mounting that was originally intended to facilitate in-flight reloading, but was also used by pilots to fire upwards, in a precursor of Schräge Musik. The Kit This is a boxing of a new tool from Kovozávody Prostějov, and it arrives in an end-opening box with a painting of the subject matter on the front, and profiles of the three decal options on the rear. Inside the box is a single sprue of grey styrene in a re-sealable bag, a small decal sheet, and an instruction booklet that is formed from a folded sheet of A4, and is printed in black and white. Detail is good, with ribbing on the flying surfaces, stitching and internal structure moulded into the fuselage halves, plus a choice of rotary engines and propellers. Construction begins with the rectangular cockpit floor, which has a control stick and seat fitted, the latter on a box to give it sufficient height. The instrument panel is a curved part that has dials moulded-in, and has a painting guide printed next to the cockpit instructions, fitting the cockpit and panel between the fuselage halves after detail painting the interior ribbing and skin. After dealing with the seam, the fuselage is mated with the narrow lower wing, and the V-struts are fitted into depressions moulded into the surface, fixing two straight cabane struts and an inverted V-strut over the deck in front of the cockpit. Part 16 is used to depict the engine for this boxing, with a wiring loom added to the front, using part 3 as the cowling, then fitting the completed assembly on a peg moulded into the fuselage front. The elevator is a single part that sits atop the tail, adding the rudder perpendicular over it to complete the empennage. The upper wing is substantially larger than the lower, with flared tips and ailerons scribed into the trailing edges, fitting two reel-like parts into a pair of slots cut into the centre of the wing. A small windscreen frame is applied to the front of the cockpit cut-out, into which you will need to fit a small piece of acetate sheet to depict the screen before lowering the upper wing into position, adding a headrest fairing behind the cockpit. A choice of Lewis gun or Vickers Machine Gun is made on the instruction steps, but looking at the profiles all airframes use the Lewis Gun. The Lewis gun has a separate plate mag, and a two-part support, which is probably best left off until main painting is completed. The landing gear is built from two V-struts with an axle between them, installing it under the fuselage and mounting a wheel at either end of the axle, then choosing prop part 12 to complete the build. Markings There are three decal options on the small sheet, in Belgian, British and French service with similar camouflage schemes. From the box you can build one of the following: The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion At 1:72 the Ni.16 is a tiny model like its Ni.11 cousin, but Kovozávody Prostějov have managed to fit plenty of detail into the parts, which should build into a creditable replica with the application of some care and skill. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Nieuport Ni-11 Bébé Italian Aces (KPM0450) 1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov The Nieuport 11 was a smaller development of the Ni.10, its size engendering the nickname Bébé from air and ground crews alike. Its sesquiplane configuration and narrow lower wing gave the pilot a better view of the surroundings, higher top speed, rate of climb and better aerodynamics, which found favour with air forces outside WWI France, seeing service with British RNAS, Russian, Belgian and Dutch, the Italians building a substantial fleet of their own under license as Nieuport-Macchis. They were such capable aircraft that they were pivotal in breaking the domination of the Fokker Eindeckers during late 1915 and almost to the end of 1916, known colloquially as the Fokker Scourge. The Nieuport’s speed and manoeuvrability returned the shock to the Germans, ably assisted by the British built DH.2s, although they were more manoeuvrable than fast. Its Le Rhône 9C nine-cylinder rotary engine output 80hp and drove the airframe to speeds in excess of 100mph, which was impressive for the time, with a service ceiling of 16,000ft and a range of 160 miles. It was superseded in 1916 in typical WWI fashion where the developments were coming thick and fast, reaching service in weeks rather than years. The Ni.16 was essentially a strengthened 11 with a larger, more powerful engine in the form of the Le Rhône 9J unit that output 110hp that necessitated a larger cowling, but brought with it balance issues that were to be fixed by its own successor, the Ni.17 that had entered development concurrently with the Ni.16. The pilot’s comfort was improved by adding a headrest behind the pilot, although its bullet-stopping power was negligible. The Kit This is a new tool from Kovozávody Prostějov, and it arrives in an end-opening box with a painting of the subject matter on the front, and profiles of the three decal options on the rear. Inside the box is a single sprue of grey styrene in a re-sealable bag, a small decal sheet, and an instruction booklet that is formed from a folded sheet of A4, and is printed in black and white. Detail is good, with ribbing on the flying surfaces, stitching and internal structure moulded into the fuselage halves, plus a choice of rotary engines and propellers. Construction begins with the rectangular cockpit floor, which has a control stick and seat fitted, the latter on a box to give it sufficient height. The instrument panel is a curved part that has dials moulded-in, and has a painting guide printed next to the cockpit instructions, fitting the cockpit and panel between the fuselage halves after detail painting the interior ribbing and skin. After dealing with the seam, the fuselage is mated with the narrow lower wing, and the V-struts are fitted into depressions moulded into the surface, fixing two straight cabane struts and an inverted V-strut over the deck in front of the cockpit. Part 15 is used to depict the engine for this boxing, with a wiring loom added to the front, using part 4 as the cowling, then fitting the completed assembly on a peg moulded into the fuselage front. The elevator is a single part that sits atop the tail, adding the rudder perpendicular over it to complete the empennage. The upper wing is substantially larger than the lower, with flared tips and ailerons scribed into the trailing edges, fitting two reel-like parts into a pair of slots cut into the centre of the wing. A small windscreen frame is applied to the front of the cockpit cut-out, into which you will need to fit a small piece of acetate sheet to depict the screen before lowering the upper wing into position, and choosing a Lewis gun or Vickers Machine Gun by looking at the profiles of the option you plan to depict. The Lewis gun has a separate plate mag, and a two-part support, which is reused for the Vickers, but both are probably best left off until main painting is completed. The landing gear is built from two V-struts with an axle between them, installing it under the fuselage and mounting a wheel at either end of the axle, then choosing your prop to complete the build. Markings There are three decal options on the small sheet, all in Italian service with a green/white/red rudder in various schemes. From the box you can build one of the following: The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion At 1:72 the Ni.11 is a tiny model, but Kovozávody Prostějov have managed to fit plenty of detail into the parts, which should build into a creditable replica with the application of some care and skill. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Ansaldo SVA.10 (KPM0448) 1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov Italian aviation company Ansaldo developed the SVA as a fighter during WWI, but it was perceived to be outclassed in terms of manoeuvrability by fighters from other countries, so its reason for existence was reevaluated, as it was otherwise a solid design with a high maximum speed. Development was rapid, and it went into service in late 1917, receiving excellent responses from pilots, especially its climbing ability, shaving minutes off the time it took to get to altitude, powered by an Isotta Fraschini engine. Consequently, production was ramped up with over 1,100 made during 1918, licensing the single-seat design to other manufacturers, and beginning work on the two-seater SVA.9, which was fitted with larger wings, a different engine and served as a trainer for pilots that were to fly the SVA.10 with its more powerful (for the day) Isotta engine. The SVA.9’s highest profile use was for the Rome-Tokyo Raid, which was serious misnomer, as it was a long-distance expedition that was undertaken in a spirit of international friendship, and as a publicity exercise for the aircraft and its manufacturer, although it garnered criticism for its haphazard organisation and lavish spending of public money at a time when funds were limited. For a WWI design, it was taken on by a surprisingly large number of countries for their own use, including America, China and Argentina to name a few. The SVA.10 was fitted with a rear-mounted Lewis gun for self-defence in addition to a fixed Vickers Machine gun in the front and its higher-powered engine, seeing service as a light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft, using its climbing advantage to escape interceptors. The SVA was also used as a ground-attacker, and appeared to be able to adapt to any task that was given to it. The 6-cylinder SPA 6-2-A Super-Compressed 250hp Isotta engine gave it a high top-speed of 140mph, but over time this advantage was eroded by the march of technology, leading the type to be replaced by other more modern designs. The Kit The original boxing of this tooling was first released in 2013 under the AZ Model brand, and returns over a decade later in four new boxings, with this being one of them, differing in terms of decals and cockpit layout, plus optional parts for the chin underneath the nose. The kit arrives in a small end-opening box, and inside the re-sealable bag are four sprues of grey styrene, a separately bagged clear sprue, decal sheet and instruction booklet that is printed in black and white on a folded sheet of A4. Detail is good, particularly the wings, which have a thin, curved profile, and slender leading- and trailing-edges, plus rib-work on the fabric surfaces of the wings and tail. The wooden-clad fuselage also has a smooth change in profile from square at the nose to triangular under the tail, with a choice of a single cockpit cut-out or individual circular apertures, provided by two separate pairs of fuselage halves. Construction begins with the cockpit, starting with a two-part floor, adding bulkheads fore and aft, control column and rudder pedals for the pilot, and a bucket seat, installed on a short bulkhead, and is fixed to the join between the floor halves. An Instrument panel is fitted to the fuselage in front of the crewman, then the halves are mated and the seams dealt with accordingly, being careful to choose the correct halves for your chosen decal option. A radiator is fitted to the nose, choosing the correct part to match the chin profile required for the relevant decal option, option 2 having a deeper chin insert than the other two options, which is silver on the side profiles. A tail-skid it mounted under the rear of the fuselage, fitting the fin to the single-part elevators, gluing them to the top of the fuselage, then building the main gear from a straight axle supported by a pair of V-struts, with a wheel at each end. The completed gear is installed under the fuselage, locating in recesses moulded into the plastic, fixing a faceted windscreen to each cockpit for option 1, and to the front of the aperture for the others. The lower wings are separate and fix to the sides of the fuselage on pegs, with a fairing under the belly for options 2 and 3, bracing the wings against the fuselage with a pair of V-struts that also support the wings by adding an extra leg that turns them into an extended Z-shape, adding two more inverted V-struts to the top of the engine cowling. The upper wing is moulded as a single part with a groove in the centre. There is the option to separate the wings and remove the narrowed section, rejoining the two parts with a pair of pegs that the instructions suggest are made from stretched styrene. I’d probably use brass rod for some extra stiffness myself, but I always over-build things. It’s not massively obvious, but this boxing requires the removal of the groove from looking at the overhead drawings. The completed wing is attached to the model via the interplane and cabane struts only, at which point you’ll notice it is substantially larger than the lower, making it a sesquiplane. A pair of small fairings are glued to the upper wing on either side of the pilot’s visibility cut-out, and although there are no measurements given, counting the ribs will help with lateral placement, and the fairings are slightly further forward than the extent of the semi-circular cut-out. To complete the model, six exhaust stacks are inserted into the holes in the starboard cowling, fitting a two-bladed prop to the axle at the centre of the radiator. There’s also some rigging to do using your preferred method, but there’s no diagram included, so you’ll have to refer to the box art and markings profiles on the back of the box. Markings As is common with Kovozávody Prostějov kits, there are three decal options on the sheet, one wearing a different scheme that includes red swastikas on a white circle, used by the Latvian Air Force before this traditional symbol of joy was subverted by the Nazis. From the box you can build one of the following: It is worth noting that although decal option 1 is an SVA.10, it has the dual cut-out for the cockpit that was typical of the SVA.9, while option 2 has the mount (parts 52 & 49) for a Lewis Gun in the rear of the cockpit, but the gun itself is absent. It is also the same option that has an enlarged chin fairing and radiator insert. The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion I have to admit to never having heard of this streamlined Italian biplane, but it has a certain appeal and some unusual design traits that take it away from the ordinary. Detail is good, and the decal choices interesting. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Ansaldo SVA.9 Other Services (KPM0446) 1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov Italian aviation company Ansaldo developed the SVA as a fighter during WWI, but it was perceived to be outclassed in terms of manoeuvrability by fighters from other countries, so its reason for existence was reevaluated, as it was otherwise a solid design with a high top speed. Development was rapid, and it went into service in late 1917, receiving excellent responses from pilots, especially its climbing ability, shaving minutes off the time it took to get to altitude, powered by an Isotta Fraschini engine. Consequently, production was ramped up with over 1,100 made during 1918, licensing the single-seat design to other manufacturers, and beginning work on the two-seater SVA.9, which was fitted with larger wings, a different engine and served as a trainer for pilots that were to fly the SVA.10 with its more powerful (for the day) Isotta engine. The SVA.9’s highest profile use was for the Rome-Tokyo Raid, which was serious misnomer, as it was a long-distance expedition that was undertaken in a spirit of international friendship, and as a publicity exercise for the aircraft and its manufacturer, although it garnered criticism for its haphazard organisation and lavish spending of public money at a time when funds were limited. For a WWI design, it was taken on by a surprisingly large number of countries for their own use, including America, China and Argentina to name a few. The SVA.10 was fitted with a rear-mounted Lewis gun for self-defence in addition to a fixed Vickers Machine gun in the front and its higher-powered engine, seeing service as a light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft, using its climbing advantage to escape interceptors. The SVA was also used as a ground-attacker, and appeared to be able to adapt to any task that was given to it. The 6-cylinder SPA 6-2-A Super-Compressed 250hp Isotta engine gave it a high top-speed of 140mph, but over time this advantage was eroded by the march of technology, leading the type to be replaced by other more modern designs. The Kit The original boxing of this tooling was first released in 2013 under the AZ Model brand, and returns over a decade later in four new boxings, with this being one of them, differing in terms of decals and cockpit layout, plus optional parts for the chin underneath the nose. The kit arrives in a small end-opening box, and inside the re-sealable bag are four sprues of grey styrene, a separately bagged clear sprue, decal sheet and instruction booklet that is printed in black and white on a folded sheet of A4. Detail is good, particularly the wings, which have a thin, curved profile, and slender leading- and trailing-edges, plus rib-work on the fabric surfaces of the wings and tail. The wooden-clad fuselage also has a smooth change in profile from square at the nose to triangular under the tail, with a choice of a single cockpit cut-out or individual circular apertures, provided by two separate pairs of fuselage halves. Construction begins with the cockpit, starting with a two-part floor, adding bulkheads fore and aft, control columns and rudder pedals for both pilots, and two bucket seats, one attached to a ledge on the rear bulkhead, the front seat installed on a short bulkhead that is part 48, and is fixed to the join between the floor halves, although not noted in the instructions for the SVA.9 cockpit. Instrument panels are fitted to the fuselage in front of each crewman, then the halves are mated and the seams dealt with accordingly. A radiator is fitted to the nose, choosing the correct part to match the chin profile required for the relevant decal option, option 2 having a deeper chin insert than the other two options, which is silver on the side profiles. A tail-skid it mounted under the rear of the fuselage, fitting the fin to the single-part elevators, gluing them to the top of the fuselage, then building the main gear from a straight axle supported by a pair of V-struts, with a wheel at each end. These are glued under the fuselage, locating in recesses moulded into the plastic, fixing a faceted windscreen to each cockpit. The lower wings are separate and fix to the sides of the fuselage on pegs, with an optional fairing under the belly, bracing the wings against the fuselage with a pair of V-struts that also support the wings by adding an extra leg that turns them into an extended Z-shape, adding two more inverted V-struts to the top of the engine cowling. The upper wing is moulded as a single part with a groove in the centre. There is the option to separate the wings and remove the narrowed section, rejoining the two parts with a pair of pegs that the instructions suggest are made from stretched styrene. I’d probably use brass rod for some extra stiffness myself, but I always over-build things. It’s not massively obvious, but this boxing requires the removal of the groove from looking at the overhead drawings. The completed wing is attached to the model via the interplane and cabane struts only, at which point you’ll notice it is substantially larger than the lower, making it a sesquiplane. A pair of small fairings are glued to the upper wing on either side of the pilot’s visibility cut-out, and although there are no measurements given, counting the ribs will help with lateral placement, and the fairings are slightly further forward than the extent of the semi-circular cut-out. To complete the model, six exhaust stacks are inserted into the holes in the starboard cowling, fitting a two-bladed prop to the axle at the centre of the radiator. There’s also some rigging to do using your preferred method, but there’s no diagram included, so you’ll have to refer to the box art and markings profiles on the back of the box. Markings As is common with Kovozávody Prostějov kits, there are three decal options on the sheet, all wearing a similar scheme, although one has the words “Fray Bentos” written along the sides of the fuselage, which is a popular tinned meat company of the era that despite its association with the UK, originated in Uruguay. From the box you can build one of the following: It is worth noting that although decal option 2 is an SVA.9, it has the single cut-out for the cockpit that was typical of the SVA.10, and omits the rear seat, substituting a Lewis Gun on a mount in the rear of the cockpit. It is also the same option that has an enlarged chin fairing and radiator insert. The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion I have to admit to never having heard of this streamlined Italian biplane, but it has a certain appeal and some unusual design traits that push it away from the ordinary. Detail is good, and the decals interesting. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

AVRO 504L Float version (KPM0464) 1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov The first flight of the 504 occurred prior to the outbreak of the Great War, and marked the beginning of a long career that extended far beyond the end of hostilities and into the early 1930s. It was built in many factories over the length of production, with over 10,000 examples manufactured during this period, and many variants were developed to improve the aircraft’s performance and increase its longevity. Due to the fast pace of early aviation development, it soon left the frontline as it was outclassed by newer aircraft, but as it was taken on charge as a trainer, it found its metier and excelled in that role. By this time the J and K variants had become the most common, and the airframe had been adapted with new engine mounts to offer a wide variety of power-plant choices going forward. Many airframes were modified as home defence fighters during the later years of WWI, becoming single-seaters with a Lewis gun on the top wing to give it offensive capabilities without the need for a second crew member, with associated weight and drag penalties. Following the war, surplus airframes were sold onto the civil market, while many remained in service as trainers with the RAF, with more sold to other air forces around the world, including the newly formed Soviet Air Force and in China where they performed varied duties that included training and acting as makeshift bombers, the gunner throwing grenades or modified mortar shells at the enemy. As late as 1925 a new variant, the 504N was re-equipped with a radial engine in the shape of the Armstrong-Siddeley Lynx and revised landing gear, with more than 500 manufactured to be used by the RAF as a trainer, and sold overseas to many foreign customers. In 1932 the death knell of the 504’s service with the RAF was sounded by the adoption of the AVRO Tutor as its replacement. The remaining civilian airframes were later pressed into service with the RAF at the beginning of WWII to be used as target and glider towing tugs. The Kit This is a fresh boxing of a new tooling from Kovozávody Prostějov, and arrives in a small end-opening box with a painting of the subject matter on the front, and profiles of the decal options on the rear. Inside are two sprues of grey styrene, a small piece of clear acetate sheet with windscreen shapes printed on it, a decal sheet and the instruction booklet that is printed in black and white on a single sheet of A4 paper, which covers builds with wheels, skids and floats. Detail is good, with ribbing and scalloping where there is a fabric surface, stitching around the fuselage and under the belly, and quilting on the cushions moulded into the seats. Some aspects of the model are slightly over-scale through necessity, such as the tail fin, and other small parts that would be weakened or impossible to mould by rigid adherence to scale, but that’s something that happens with every model, not just the delicate early “string bags”. Construction begins with the cockpit, fitting two seats on the floor, and noting that there is a little mould damage on the corner of the cushion that should be cut away and made good if you think it will be seen. A pair of rudder bars and a linked dual control column are also installed, carrying out detail painting on this assembly, the instrument panels, a two-part tank in front of the cockpit and the moulded-in fuselage interior before closing the fuselage. A forward bulkhead and a circular insert are fitted to the front during closure, slotting the underside of the fuselage into position after fixing the lower wing in place, which is trapped by the underside insert. The engine provided in this boxing is a generic-looking nine-cylinder radial that will be mostly hidden by the cowling, attaching it to the fuselage via a circular adaptor, with the cowling placed over it after painting, following which the two-bladed prop is glued into position, which has inadvertently been moulded in reverse in this instance, although many folks probably won’t notice. Ignoring the rigging for our purposes, the upper wing is mated to the lower by eight interplane and four cabane struts, all individually numbered to assist with correct placement. The elevators are a single part that is supported on both sides by a pair of struts, adding a three-part tail skid underneath, and the rudder at the rear. The various actuators around the flying surfaces are moulded as triangular shapes, and would benefit from thinning down or replacing with scratch-built alternatives, but injection-moulding has limits. This boxing depicts the 504L with floats, which is the third option on the instruction sheet, comprising a closed-A-frame strut at the front that spreads out to the ends plus a spreader bar and two V-shaped supports at the rear that has a strake under the tail, and an anti-wing-over skids under the outer struts. If you intend to use aftermarket decals that use skis or wheels however, the parts and instruction steps are included, as mentioned earlier, but it’s probably easier to just pick up one of the other boxings, as appropriate. Markings There are three decal options on the sheet, all depicting aircraft in Japanese, Australian and Chilean service, wearing two basic colour scheme. From the box you can build one of the following: The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion As one of the most widely used biplanes during the early days of aviation, the AVRO 504 should find favour with many modellers, with plenty of detail on which to base your modelling exploits. Those that are waiting for the British variants have a little longer to hold fire, but this is the first of many variants we will likely see. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

AVRO 504K European Users (KPM0465) 1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov The first flight of the 504 occurred prior to the outbreak of the Great War, and marked the beginning of a long career that extended far beyond the end of hostilities and into the early 1930s. It was built in many factories over the length of production, with over 10,000 examples manufactured during this period, and many variants were developed to improve the aircraft’s performance and increase its longevity. Due to the fast pace of early aviation development, it soon left the frontline as it was outclassed by newer aircraft, but as it was taken on charge as a trainer, it found its metier and excelled in that role. By this time the J and K variants had become the most common, and the airframe had been adapted with new engine mounts to offer a wide variety of power-plant choices going forward. Many airframes were modified as home defence fighters during the later years of WWI, becoming single-seaters with a Lewis gun on the top wing to give it offensive capabilities without the need for a second crew member, with associated weight and drag penalties. Following the war, surplus airframes were sold onto the civil market, while many remained in service as trainers with the RAF, with more sold to other air forces around the world, including the newly formed Soviet Air Force and in China where they performed varied duties that included training and acting as makeshift bombers, the gunner throwing grenades or modified mortar shells at the enemy. As late as 1925 a new variant, the 504N was re-equipped with a radial engine in the shape of the Armstrong-Siddeley Lynx and revised landing gear, with more than 500 manufactured to be used by the RAF as a trainer, and sold overseas to many foreign customers. In 1932 the death knell of the 504’s service with the RAF was sounded by the adoption of the AVRO Tutor as its replacement. The remaining civilian airframes were later pressed into service with the RAF at the beginning of WWII to be used as target and glider towing tugs. The Kit This is a new tooling from Kovozávody Prostějov, and arrives in a small end-opening box with a painting of the subject matter on the front, and profiles of the decal options on the rear. Inside are two sprues of grey styrene, a small piece of clear acetate sheet with windscreen shapes printed on it, a decal sheet and the instruction booklet that is printed in black and white on a single sheet of A4 paper, which covers builds with wheels, skids and floats. Detail is good, with ribbing and scalloping where there is a fabric surface, stitching around the fuselage and under the belly, and quilting on the cushions moulded into the seats. Some aspects of the model are slightly over-scale through necessity, such as the tail fin, and other small parts that would be weakened or impossible to mould by rigid adherence to scale, but that’s something that happens with every model, not just the delicate early “string bags”. Construction begins with the cockpit, fitting two seats on the floor, and noting that there is a little mould damage on the corner of the cushion that should be cut away and made good if you think it will be seen. A pair of rudder bars and a linked dual control column are also installed, carrying out detail painting on this assembly, the instrument panels, a two-part tank in front of the cockpit and the moulded-in fuselage interior before closing the fuselage. A forward bulkhead and a circular insert are fitted to the front during closure, slotting the underside of the fuselage into position after fixing the lower wing in place, which is trapped by the underside insert. The engine provided in this boxing is a generic-looking nine-cylinder radial that will be mostly hidden by the cowling, attaching it to the fuselage via a circular adaptor, with the cowling placed over it after painting, following which the two-bladed prop is glued into position, which has inadvertently been moulded in reverse in this instance, although many folks probably won’t notice. Ignoring the rigging for a moment, the upper wing is mated to the lower by eight interplane and four cabane struts, all individually numbered to assist with correct placement. The elevators are a single part that is supported on both sides by a pair of struts, adding a three-part tail skid underneath, and the rudder at the rear. The various actuators around the flying surfaces are moulded as triangular shapes, and would benefit from thinning down or replacing with scratch-built alternatives, but injection-moulding has limits. This boxing depicts the 504K with traditional undercarriage, which is the second option on the instruction sheet, comprising a pair of struts that spread out to the ends of the axle and wheels, with a V-shaped support at the rear that is joined by a longer support under the nose that suspends the single skid under the centre of the fuselage that the crews referred to as the ‘toothpick’, and helped to avoid nose-overs during rough landings. If you intend to use aftermarket decals that use skis or floats however, the parts and instruction steps are included, as mentioned earlier. Markings There are three decal options on the sheet, all depicting aircraft in foreign service, wearing the same basic colour scheme. From the box you can build one of the following: The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion As one of the most widely used biplanes during the early days of aviation, the AVRO 504 should find favour with many modellers, with plenty of detail on which to base your modelling exploits. Those that are waiting for the British variants have a little longer to hold fire, but this is the first of many variants we will likely see. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of https://www.britmodeller.com/reviews/kpmodels/72/kpm0465-avro.504k.european.users/boxtop.jpg

Messerschmitt Bf.109E-0 ‘First Emils’ (AZ7869) 1:72 AZ Model by Kovozávody Prostějov With almost 34,000 examples manufactured over a 10-year period, the Messerschmitt Bf.109 is one of the most widely produced aircraft in history and it saw active service in every theatre in which German armed forces were engaged. Initially designed in the mid-1930s, the Bf.109 shared a similar general arrangement with the Spitfire, employing monocoque construction and a V12 engine, albeit an inverted V with fuel injection rather than the carburettor used in the Spit. Initially designed as a lightweight interceptor, like many German types during WWII, the Bf.109 evolved beyond its original brief into a bomber escort, fighter bomber, night fighter, ground-attack and reconnaissance platform. The E variant, or Emil as it was more affectionately known was the first major revision of the original design, including an uprated engine and the attendant strengthening of the airframe that was required. It first saw service in the Legion Condor fighting in the Spanish civil war on the side of Nationalist forces of Military Dictator Franco, and then in the Battle of Britain where it came up against its nemeses the Supermarine Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane during the critical fight for the survival of the RAF, which was key to halting Operation Seelöwe, the invasion of Britain by the Nazis. As the Spitfire it fought was improved incrementally through different marks, the Emil was similarly tweaked to keep pace, with the E-7 having additional long-range tankage, plus structural improvements and a simpler squared-off canopy with clear frontal armour, but apart from various field modifications and a few low-volume sub-variants, it had reached the end of its tenure, and was phased out in favour of the Friedrich. The Kit This is an Emil from KP Models’ 1:72 line of Bf.109s, which is quite broad already but is still growing steadily. We have seen some of the plastic already, and this boxing represents the earliest Emils to reach service, which must have been quite a treat for the pilots lucky enough to fly them, as the Emil was quite an improvement over the Dora. The kit arrives in a small end-opening box with a painting of the aircraft on the front, and four-way profiles of the markings on the rear. Inside are three sprues in grey styrene, a tiny sprue of clear parts, two small decal sheets and the instruction booklet, which is printed in black and white on a folded sheet of A4, with the stencil locations in a diagram on the rear page. Detail is good throughout, including sidewall and gear bay roof detail, plus instrument and seatbelt decals to add detail into the cockpit. Panel lines and rivets are finely engraved, as are other raised/recessed details that all add visual interest. Construction begins with the cockpit, with detailed painting instructions provided in colour, giving the modeller plenty of detail plus the decals for the instrument panel and seatbelts, and a clear gunsight. The cockpit and platform for the chin radiator are sandwiched between the fuselage halves, the flush exhaust exits moulded into the sides of the fuselage. The lower wing is single span, and is joined to the two upper wing halves after adding radiator details in the fairings and painting the cooling pathway. It is joined to the fuselage, and a scrap diagram shows that the dihedral should result in a 10mm gap between both wingtips and the surface when the model is laid flat on its belly. The narrow-track landing gear is made up from the strut, wheel and captive bay door on each side, locating in sockets in the upper wing halves, while the tail-wheel is a single part that slots into the underside of the rear fuselage. The cannon troughs on the upper engine cowling are a separate insert that receives a pair of cannon stubs from within before it is glued in, while one decal option has the guns removed and the troughs faired over, so a little filling will be needed here. The prop has a clipped spinner that slips over the three-bladed prop, enclosing it by adding the back-plate that has a peg moulded into the rear to attach it to the nose. A tubular supercharger intake is applied to an outline on the port side of the engine cowling, and the single-part canopy is glued down, adding an aerial to the rear. At the rear the elevators are fixed in their slots and are supported by a pair of diagonal struts, then you can choose to load a bomb or additional fuel tank on a pylon on the centreline, adding a pitot and two horn balances to the ailerons while the model is inverted. A scrap diagram shows the correct placement for each carrier, although the diagram is a little on the small side for us older folks, so don’t forget your magnifier glass. Markings There are three decal sheets in the box, the stencils covered on the instruction sheet, and each of the decal options are wearing a similar dark green camouflage scheme, as shown on the rear of the box. From the box you can build on of the following: The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. There are seatbelts and an instrument decal on the sheet, which should add a little realism to your finished cockpit. Conclusion If you’re a WWII modeller and like the Bf.109, the E-0 is an unusual option for your collection, with the red fuselage bands adding a bit of colour. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Avia B-10 ‘Military’ (KPM0422) 1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov Designed and manufactured in Czechoslovakia in the mid-1920s, The BH-10 was a civilian aircraft that was intended as an acrobatic sports plane, and unusually for the era, it was a monoplane. It was developed from the earlier BH-9, adding a tall anti-roll bar behind the pilot, as the aircraft had been known to nose-over, resulting in injury or death to the pilot in the open cockpit. Only twenty-one examples were built, ten of which were bought by the Czechoslovakian army and used under the designation B.10 as trainers for their newly formed air arm, the rest being used by civilian owners and flying clubs. It was powered by a small Walter NZ 60 engine that output 60hp through a two-bladed wooden propeller with a maximum speed of 100mph, below that of a modern passenger car, although granted that was in three dimensions, rather than just two. Of the small number that were built in the 20s, a few still survive in museums and collections around the world, which is quite surprising, considering that WWII was waiting in the wings only a decade later. The Kit This is the second boxing of a recent new tool from Kovozávody Prostějov of this little aircraft, and the kit arrives in a small end-opening box with a painting of a camouflaged B-10 being followed by another on the front, and the decal options on the rear. Inside the box is the same sprue of grey styrene as the civil BH-10, a small clear sprue, a decal sheet, and the instruction booklet printed in black and white on a folded sheet of A4, with a line drawn set of profiles on the back page. Despite the small size of the kit, detail is good, and includes a cockpit, some nice rib and fabric detail on the flying surfaces, and a representation of the five-cylinder Walter radial engine. Construction begins with the sub-assemblies, starting with painting the instrument panel, which has a staggering total of three whole instruments, typical of aviation’s early days. The engine is a single part, and benefits from being painted four contrasting shades, then the pilot’s seat is painted and has four-point decal seatbelts applied, before it is glued to the rear bulkhead of the cockpit, which has the floor added at a right angle. The cockpit is completed by a straight control column that inserts in a hole at the forward end of the control lines moulded into the floor. The fuselage has a little internal detail moulded-in, despite being only 6cm long, so after detail-painting, it is trapped between the fuselage halves along with the semi-circular instrument panel, inserting the elevators and tail fin into slots in the rear of the fuselage, adding a skid under the tail. The main gear is made from three V-shaped struts, linking them with an aerodynamically faired axle, which has the wheels applied to each end, allowing the model to stand on its own wheels (and skid). Each of the two wings are moulded as a single part, and have a lot of nice detail moulded-in, depicting the ribs, flying surfaces and fastenings, attaching to the fuselage sides on a pair of short pins. They are supported by a pair of thick struts, two on each side of the fuselage, and the instructions advise that there should be a small gap at the trailing edge of the wing, illustrated by a scrap view from above. The engine is exposed, and simply glues directly to the front of the fuselage on a large peg, showing off your work on painting it earlier. It is finished off by a two-bladed prop, and the model is completed by adding a choice of two styles of windscreen in front of the cockpit, and the highly visible triangular roll-over bar that is covered for aerodynamic reasons behind. Markings There are three decal options included on the sheet, two in more typical military colours, one in silver with a crest on the sides of the fuselage. From the box you can build one of the following: The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion The BH-10 was a new one on me, and its small stature was quite appealing, something that follows on with the militarised B-10, which other than the painting and decaling is identical to all intents and purposes. The surface detail is nicely done, and if you really want to push out the boat, you could add the exhaust stacks behind the engine from brass rod or tube. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Avia BH-10 (KPM0421) 1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov Designed and manufactured in Czechoslovakia in the mid-1920s, The BH-10 was a civilian aircraft that was intended as an acrobatic sports plane, and unusually for the era, it was a monoplane. It was developed from the earlier BH-9, adding a tall anti-roll bar behind the pilot, as the aircraft had been known to nose-over, resulting in injury or death to the pilot in the open cockpit. Only twenty-one examples were built, ten of which were bought by the Czechoslovakian army and used under the designation B.10 as trainers for their newly formed air arm, the rest being used by civilian owners and flying clubs. It was powered by a small Walter NZ 60 engine that output 60hp through a two-bladed wooden propeller with a maximum speed of 100mph, below that of a modern passenger car, although granted that was in three dimensions, rather than just two. Of the small number that were built in the 20s, a few still survive in museums and collections around the world, which is quite surprising, considering that WWII was waiting in the wings only a decade later. The Kit This is the first boxing of a recent new tool from Kovozávody Prostějov of this little aircraft, and the kit arrives in a small end-opening box with a painting of a bright blue BH-10 on the front, and the decal options on the rear. Inside the box is just one sprue of grey styrene, a small clear sprue, a comparatively large decal sheet, and the instruction booklet printed in black and white on a folded sheet of A4, with a line drawn set of profiles on the back page. Despite the small size of the kit, detail is good, and includes a cockpit, some nice rib and fabric detail on the flying surfaces, and a representation of the five-cylinder Walter radial engine. Construction begins with the sub-assemblies, starting with painting the instrument panel, which has a staggering total of three whole instruments, typical of aviation’s early days. The engine is a single part, and benefits from being painted four contrasting shades, then the pilot’s seat is painted and has four-point decal seatbelts applied, before it is glued to the rear bulkhead of the cockpit, which has the floor added at a right angle. The cockpit is completed by a straight control column that inserts in a hole at the forward end of the control lines moulded into the floor. The fuselage has a little internal detail moulded-in, despite being only 6cm long, so after detail-painting, it is trapped between the fuselage halves along with the semi-circular instrument panel, inserting the elevators and tail fin into slots in the rear of the fuselage, adding a skid under the tail. The main gear is made from three V-shaped struts, linking them with an aerodynamically faired axle, which has the wheels applied to each end, allowing the model to stand on its own wheels (and skid). Each of the two wings are moulded as a single part, and have a lot of nice detail moulded-in, depicting the ribs, flying surfaces and fastenings, attaching to the fuselage sides on a pair of short pins. They are supported by a pair of thick struts, two on each side of the fuselage, and the instructions advise that there should be a small gap at the trailing edge of the wing, illustrated by a scrap view from above. The engine is exposed, and simply glues directly to the front of the fuselage on a large peg, showing off your work on painting it earlier. It is finished off by a two-bladed prop, and the model is completed by adding a choice of two styles of windscreen in front of the cockpit, and the highly visible triangular roll-over bar that is covered for aerodynamic reasons behind. Markings There are three decal options included on the sheet, two in a cream colour, one in blue as shown on the box art. From the box you can build one of the following: The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion The BH-10 is a new one on me, and its small stature is quite appealing. The surface detail is nicely done, and if you really want to push out the boat, you could add the exhaust stacks behind the engine from brass rod or tube. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Aero Ae-45 (KPM0430) 1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov Designed by Czech company Aircraft Industries, who traded as Let, the Aero-45 was intended as a civilian utility aircraft, and was first flown in 1947, with the first production airframes completed after uneventful testing of the prototypes. Some say it could be based upon the Siebel 204, which was built in Czechoslovakia during WWII, but the likeness is purely from the front, and the sizes of the aircraft are substantially different. The fact that it has an aerodynamically smooth nose with flush glazing and twin engines slung under low-mounted wings probably led at least partially to those musings. Around 200 of the initial variant were made before the -45S was released, improving on the base model and altering the engine cowlings, with almost 230 built before the next variant came into existence. The -145 was larger than its predecessors, with seating for an extra passenger, bringing the total to 5, briefly toying with tricycle landing gear, and initially with a new 6-cylinder Walther Minor 6-III and then a newer M332 engine by Walther, who had by now changed their name to Motorlet, and were later produced by Avia. Almost 150 of those were built with other options in mind that never reached fruition, and an unlicensed copy of the 45S from China by the name of Sungari-1. The Kit This is the earliest variant of a new tooling that has been released by Kovozávody Prostějov in numerous boxings and a smattering of variants of this little aircraft. It arrives in a small end-opening box with a painting of the subject on the front, and the decal option profiles on the rear in full colour. Inside the box are two sprues of grey styrene, a clear sprue in a separate Ziploc bag, decal sheet, and the instruction booklet printed in black and white on a sheet of folded A4. Detail is good and typical of KP’s output, with a few options visible on the sprues and in the instructions, a well-detailed cockpit, and fine engraved panel lines on the exterior. Construction begins with the cockpit, which sits two abreast, mounting the seats on raised blocks and giving them decal seatbelts, adding trapezoid control columns and a dial decal to the instrument panel that is fixed in a slot near the front of the floor. Behind the crew, a two-part bench seat with more decal belts is glued over a cross-hatched area of the floor, installing the rear bulkhead behind, detail painting the completed assembly and putting it to one side while the engine nacelles are made. The two are built identically, using the halves that have no gills on the starboard cowlings, and using a cranked exhaust underneath, then setting them aside too. There is no detail within the gear bay sides in the rear of the nacelles, but there is some moulded into the upper wing depicting the roof, so if you have references to hand, a little strip styrene should improve matters on the walls if you think it will be seen. Attention shifts back to the fuselage, trapping the cockpit between the halves, adding a coaming, two quarter-lights behind the canopy, a landing light in the nose, and the canopy itself, which for this variant has more side frames than its successors. The tail fin is moulded into the fuselage, but the rudder is a separate part, and can be posed deflected if you wish. The elevators are each moulded as a single part that butt-joins to root fairings on either side of the tail, and would benefit from some pins to give the joints extra strength, helping to keep then perpendicular to the tail fin. The main wings are made from two halves that create the upper surface, and a single underside that extends out to the mid-wing, leaving the tips moulded in their entirety in the upper wings. There are a couple of ejector-pin marks on the underside of the outer panel, but they are in the middle of an open area away from panel lines and are raised, so shouldn’t take much effort to remove, which is always nice. The wings are mated with the fuselage, then the engine nacelles are brought in from below, taking care to align them as well as you can to reduce clean-up of seams. The main gear legs are simple struts with a cross-axle at the lower end, which accommodates the wheel, and is braced from behind by a long diagonal strut that is a separate part, bracketed by a pair of doors running down the sides of the gear bays. The tail wheel is fixed, and has the wheel moulded into the strut, slotting into the fuselage from below, then the two-blade props with blunt spinners applied to the front, one plugging into a hole in the front of each nacelle. An extended T-shaped pitot-probe is fitted into a hole in the underside of the port wing to complete the structural work on the model. If you're getting a little deja vu about the text, there are only so many ways you can describe putting 90% of the same parts together in the same order, so we didn't Markings There are three decal options on the small sheet, all wearing differing schemes, and based in different countries. From the box you can build one of the following: The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion A sleek and interesting little aircraft that has been well-depicted by Kovozávody Prostějov for you to create a nice model that has plenty of appeal, with a large range of options between the various boxings. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Aero Ae-145 Special Markings (KPM0434) 1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov Designed by Czech company Aircraft Industries, who traded as Let, the Aero-45 was intended as a civilian utility aircraft, and was first flown in 1947, with the first production airframes completed after uneventful testing of the prototypes. Some say it could be based upon the Siebel 204, which was built in Czechoslovakia during WWII, but the likeness is purely from the front, and the sizes of the aircraft are substantially different. The fact that it has an aerodynamically smooth nose with flush glazing and twin engines slung under low-mounted wings probably led at least partially to those musings. Around 200 of the initial variant were made before the -45S was released, improving on the base model and altering the engine cowlings, with almost 230 built before the next variant came into existence. The -145 was larger internally than its predecessors, with seating for an extra passenger, bringing the total to 5, briefly toying with tricycle landing gear, and initially with a new 6-cylinder Walther Minor 6-III and then a newer M332 engine by Walther, who had by now changed their name to Motorlet, and were later produced by Avia. Almost 150 of those were built with other options in mind that never reached fruition, and an unlicensed copy of the 45S from China by the name of Sungari-1. China sold three airframes to the Vietnam People’s Air Force, where they operated at the K-75, which was the same designation used by Czechoslovakia for their aircraft, which were used as police and army liaison aircraft post WWII and into the 50s. The Kit This is another boxing of a new tooling that has been released by Kovozávody Prostějov with several boxings and a smattering of variants of this little aircraft yet to come. It arrives in a small end-opening box with a painting of the subject on the front, and the decal option profiles on the rear in full colour. Inside the box are two sprues of grey styrene, a different clear sprue in a separate Ziploc bag, decal sheet, and the instruction booklet printed in black and white on a sheet of folded A4. Detail is good and typical of KP’s output, with a few options visible on the sprues and in the instructions, a well-detailed cockpit, and fine engraved panel lines on the exterior. Construction begins with the cockpit, which sits two abreast, mounting the seats on raised blocks and giving them decal seatbelts, adding trapezoid control columns and a dial decal to the instrument panel that is fixed in a slot near the front of the floor. Behind the crew, a two-part bench seat with more decal belts is glued over a cross-hatched area of the floor, installing the rear bulkhead behind, detail painting the completed assembly and putting it to one side while the engine nacelles are made. The two are built identically, using the halves that have gills on the starboard cowlings, and using a cranked exhaust to the starboard side of each one, then setting them aside too. There is no detail within the gear bay sides in the rear of the nacelles, but there is some moulded into the upper wing depicting the roof, so if you have references to hand, a little strip styrene should improve matters on the walls if you think it will be seen. Attention shifts back to the fuselage, trapping the cockpit between the halves, adding a coaming, two quarter-lights behind the canopy, a landing light in the nose, and the canopy itself, which for this variant has fewer frames than its predecessors. The tail fin is moulded into the fuselage, but the rudder is a separate part, and can be posed deflected if you wish. The elevators are each moulded as a single part that butt-joins to root fairings on either side of the tail, and would benefit from some pins to give the joints extra strength, helping to keep then perpendicular to the tail fin. The main wings are made from two halves that create the upper surface, and a single underside that extends out to the mid-wing, leaving the tips moulded in their entirety in the upper wings. There are a couple of ejector-pin marks on the underside of the outer panel, but they are in the middle of an open area away from panel lines and are raised, so shouldn’t take much effort to remove, which is always nice. The wings are mated with the fuselage, then the engine nacelles are brought in from below, taking care to align them as well as you can to reduce clean-up of seams. The main gear legs are simple struts with a cross-axle at the lower end, which accommodates the wheel, and is braced from behind by a long diagonal strut that is a separate part, bracketed by a pair of doors running down the sides of the gear bays. The tail wheel is fixed, and has the wheel moulded into the strut, slotting into the fuselage from below, then the two-blade props with longer spinners applied to the front, one plugging into a hole in the front of each nacelle. An extended T-shaped pitot-probe is fitted into a hole in the underside of the port wing to complete the structural work on the model. Markings There are three decal options on the small sheet, all wearing differing schemes, and based in different countries. From the box you can build one of the following: The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion A sleek and interesting little aircraft that has been well-depicted by Kovozávody Prostějov for you to create a nice model that has plenty of appeal. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Messerschmit Bf.109S ‘Shule Emil’ (AZ7871) 1:72 AZ Model by Kovozávody Prostějov With almost 34,000 examples manufactured over a 10-year period, the Messerschmitt Bf.109 is one of the most widely produced aircraft in history and it saw active service in every theatre in which German armed forces were engaged. Initially designed in the mid-1930s, the Bf.109 shared a similar general arrangement with the Spitfire, employing monocoque construction and a V12 engine, albeit an inverted V with fuel injection rather than the carburettor used in the Spitfire. Initially designed as a lightweight interceptor, like many German types during WWII, the Bf.109 evolved beyond its original brief into a bomber escort, fighter bomber, night fighter, ground-attack and reconnaissance platform. The E variant, or Emil as it was more affectionately known was the first major revision of the original design, including an uprated engine and the attendant strengthening of the airframe that was required. It first saw service in the Legion Condor fighting in the Spanish civil war on the side of Nationalist forces of Military Dictator Franco, and then in the Battle of Britain where it came up against its nemeses the Supermarine Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane during the critical fight for the survival of the RAF and Britain, which was key to halting Operation Seelöwe, the invasion of Britain by the Nazis. Like the Spitfire it fought against, it was improved incrementally through different marks, the Emil was similarly tweaked to keep pace, with later variants having additional long-range tankage, plus structural improvements and a simpler squared-off canopy with clear frontal armour, but apart from various field modifications and a few low-volume sub-variants, it had reached the end of its tenure, and was phased out in favour of the Friedrich and later the Gustav. It’s known that the Gustav had a two-seat trainer variant, extending the cockpit to the rear to make space for another crew member, offsetting other equipment as necessary, but an Emil variant of the type isn’t so well documented. It’s possible that the origin of the Gustav’s trainer came from experience with a field modified Emil at some point, but it’s also very possible that this isn’t the case. The Kit This boxing is based on a 2020 tooling from AZ Model with a new fuselage sprue, and it arrives in a small end-opening box with three sprues of grey styrene, a small separately bagged clear sprue, two decal sheets, and instruction booklet that is printed on both sides of a folded A4 sheet. Detail is good, and extends into the cockpit and wheel bays, as well as finely engraved panel lines with judicious use of riveting where they are most prominent on the real airframe. You may have noticed that there are two sets of fuselage halves, because the main sprue holds many of the parts that will be needed to complete the model, while the correct fuselage parts with two cockpits are moulded on a new sprue with more parts that are needed for the rear cockpit. Construction begins predictably with the two almost identical cockpits, adding decals to the instrument panels and detail painting the sidewalls that are moulded into the fuselage interiors. A double trim wheel and gunsight are made up for the forward pilot, the control column details painted with three colours, then the seats are inserted on the rails in the two cockpit rears, mounting the adjustment mechanism on the port side of the forward cockpit, which also has the trim wheels sited there. The forward instrument panel is fitted to the front bulkhead, while the rear panel is fitted to the divider between them and glued in place along with the control column, painting and installing the gunsight to add to the centre of the front coaming. The propeller is moulded as a three-bladed part that is sandwiched between the spinner and back-plate ready for closing of the fuselage. The cockpits are glued together into the starboard fuselage half after painting the interior and inserting the two airway parts in the nose for the chin-mounted oil-cooler before bringing the fuselage halves together, taking care that the inserts line up properly. The lower wings are full-span, and have radiator faces fitted, while the upper wings are in halves and have bay detail moulded-in, requiring a little detail painting as you go, sliding them into the cut-out in the lower fuselage, ensuring that there is the required dihedral on both sides, which should leave both wingtips 10mm from the ground when the model is placed upright on a flat surface. The main wheel legs are each single parts with a wheel placed on the axle at the bottom, and a captive gear bay door glued to the inner face, plugging into the inner end of the gear bays under the wing, which was a source of the type’s instability on the ground, leading to many nose-overs and much embarrassment. An insert over the engine cowling is installed along with a C-shaped carrier of two gun barrels and the prop, a supercharger intake fairing on the port side of the engine cowling, plus a tail-wheel with moulded-in strut. A belly-mounted fuel tank can be fitted, and the instructions note that its mount is offset to one side, making the tank from two halves if you intend to use it. If not, the underside is completed by a pitot-probe under the port wing, and mass-balance horns on the ailerons. With the model on its wheels, the single-part double-length canopy should be installed with a non-fogging glue, adding an aerial to the rear, and the elevators are slotted into the sides of the tail fin, supporting them with diagonal struts from underneath. Markings There are three decal options on the sheet, and the profiles can be found on the rear of the box, one in RLM02 greenish grey, the others in camouflage, all wearing a swastika on the tail. If the kit has been dispatched to a locale where that symbol is frowned upon under law, the corner of the sheet will have been snipped off, otherwise it’s up to you whether you apply them for historical accuracy or not. From the box you can build one of the following: The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion Those that complain about “another 109” might find their interest piqued by this one, having an extra seat and a different side profile from the usual. Detail is good, the decal choices interesting, and the number etched from the yellow-nosed option fetching, if a little modern and stylised. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Aero K-75 Military (KPM0429) 1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov Designed by Czech company Aircraft Industries, who traded as Let, the Aero-45 was intended as a civilian utility aircraft, and was first flown in 1947, with the first production airframes completed after uneventful testing of the prototypes. Some say it could be based upon the Siebel 204, which was built in Czechoslovakia during WWII, but the likeness is purely from the front, and the sizes of the aircraft are substantially different. The fact that it has an aerodynamically smooth nose with flush glazing and twin engines slung under low-mounted wings probably led at least partially to those musings. Around 200 of the initial variant were made before the -45S was released, improving on the base model and altering the engine cowlings, with almost 230 built before the next variant came into existence. The -145 was larger than its predecessors, with seating for an extra passenger, bringing the total to 5, briefly toying with tricycle landing gear, and initially with a new 6-cylinder Walther Minor 6-III and then a newer M332 engine by Walther, who had by now changed their name to Motorlet, and were later produced by Avia. Almost 150 of those were built with other options in mind that never reached fruition, and an unlicensed copy of the 45S from China by the name of Sungari-1. China sold three airframes to the Vietnam People’s Air Force, where they operated at the K-75, which was the same designation used by Czechoslovakia for their aircraft, which were used as police and army liaison aircraft post WWII and into the 50s. The Kit This is another boxing of a new tooling that has been released by Kovozávody Prostějov with several boxings and a smattering of variants of this little aircraft yet to come. It arrives in a small end-opening box with a painting of the subject on the front, and the decal option profiles on the rear in full colour. Inside the box are two sprues of grey styrene, a clear sprue in a separate Ziploc bag, decal sheet, and the instruction booklet printed in black and white on a sheet of folded A4. Detail is good and typical of KP’s output, with a few options visible on the sprues and in the instructions, a well-detailed cockpit, and fine engraved panel lines on the exterior. Construction begins with the cockpit, which sits two abreast, mounting the seats on raised blocks and giving them decal seatbelts, adding trapezoid control columns and a dial decal to the instrument panel that is fixed in a slot near the front of the floor. Behind the crew, a two-part bench seat with more decal belts is glued over a cross-hatched area of the floor, installing the rear bulkhead behind, detail painting the completed assembly and putting it to one side while the engine nacelles are made. The two are built identically, using the halves that have gills on the starboard cowlings, and using a cranked exhaust to the starboard side of each one, then setting them aside too. There is no detail within the gear bay sides in the rear of the nacelles, but there is some moulded into the upper wing depicting the roof, so if you have references to hand, a little strip styrene should improve matters on the walls if you think it will be seen. Attention shifts back to the fuselage, trapping the cockpit between the halves, adding a coaming, two quarter-lights behind the canopy, a landing light in the nose, and the canopy itself, which for this variant has more side frames than its successors. The tail fin is moulded into the fuselage, but the rudder is a separate part, and can be posed deflected if you wish. The elevators are each moulded as a single part that butt-joins to root fairings on either side of the tail, and would benefit from some pins to give the joints extra strength, helping to keep then perpendicular to the tail fin. The main wings are made from two halves that create the upper surface, and a single underside that extends out to the mid-wing, leaving the tips moulded in their entirety in the upper wings. There are a couple of ejector-pin marks on the underside of the outer panel, but they are in the middle of an open area away from panel lines and are raised, so shouldn’t take much effort to remove, which is always nice. The wings are mated with the fuselage, then the engine nacelles are brought in from below, taking care to align them as well as you can to reduce clean-up of seams. The main gear legs are simple struts with a cross-axle at the lower end, which accommodates the wheel, and is braced from behind by a long diagonal strut that is a separate part, bracketed by a pair of doors running down the sides of the gear bays. The tail wheel is fixed, and has the wheel moulded into the strut, slotting into the fuselage from below, then the two-blade props with longer spinners applied to the front, one plugging into a hole in the front of each nacelle. An extended T-shaped pitot-probe is fitted into a hole in the underside of the port wing to complete the structural work on the model. Markings There are three decal options on the small sheet, all wearing differing schemes, and based in different countries. From the box you can build one of the following: The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion A sleek and interesting little aircraft in military service that has been well-depicted by Kovozávody Prostějov for you to create a nice model in some unusual schemes that has plenty of appeal. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Messerschmitt Bf.109T-2 Toni over the North Sea (AZ7873) 1:72 AZ Model by Kovozávody Prostějov The Messerschmitt Bf.109 was certainly the most numerous, and probably the best known of all the aircraft used by the Luftwaffe during the Second World War. Almost 34,000 examples were produced between 1937 and 1945, and the type saw active service in every theatre in which German armed forces were engaged. Driven initially by the relatively low powered Junkers Jumo engine, and later by various iterations of the more powerful Daimler Benz DB600 series of inverted V-12 engines, the later variants of the Bf.109 could achieve speeds of up to 400mph. When Germany first laid down the ill-fated Aircraft Carrier DKM Graf Zeppelin in 1936, the question of its complement of aircraft was already settled. It would carry a variant of the Bf.109 as a fighter, and the doughty Ju.87 Stuka as bomber, and as such was engineered with those airframes in mind, averting the need to have folding wings that add weight to an aircraft. The 109 was given the variant T for Träger, which mean Carrier in English. It had extended wings with larger flying surfaces, plus a tail-hook and catapult launch gear for taking off and landing on carriers. The T-1 was the first airframe to be completed, and underwent catapult tests before it was ordered in small numbers. With the cancellation of the carrier, those airframes were apportioned elsewhere, and a T-2 variant was created without the carrier specific components. Some of the T-1s were cross-graded to T-2 standard, which found their way to Norway with 11./JG 11, and when the carrier project was temporarily re-started it was decided that the T was outdated by then, so an alternative was sought. That too was re-assigned in a remarkable chronologically close case of history repeating itself, while the T-2s continued in service in Norway until mid-1944, flying from Lister Base, after which time any remaining airframes were used as trainers. As far as we know none of them survived the war or the culling of Axis hardware that followed it, but if you extended the wings of a full-sized Bf.109E-4/N that you happened to have lying around with the DB601N engine, you’d be 90% of the way there. The Kit This boxing is based on a 2020 tooling from AZ Model, and it arrives in a small end-opening box with three sprues of grey styrene, a small separately bagged clear sprue, two decal sheets, and instruction booklet that is printed in colour on both sides of a folded A4 sheet. Detail is good, and extends into the cockpit and wheel bays, as well as finely engraved panel lines with judicious use of riveting where they are most prominent on the real airframe. You may have noticed that there are two sets of wings, because the main sprue holds many of the parts that will be needed to complete the model, while the correct wing parts with longer span are moulded on a new sprue on their own. Construction begins predictably with the cockpit, adding decals to the instrument panel and detail painting the sidewalls that are moulded into the fuselage interiors. A double trim wheel is made up, the control column detail painted with three shades, then the seat with decal seatbelts is inserted on the rails in the cockpit rear, mounting the adjustment mechanism on the port side, which also has the trim wheels sited there. The instrument panel is fitted to the front bulkhead and glued in place along with the control column, painting and installing the gunsight to add to the centre of the coaming. The propeller is moulded as a three-bladed part that is sandwiched between the spinner and back-plate, with a choice of two spinner types, one without the centreline cannon installed. The cockpit is glued into the starboard fuselage half after painting the interior and inserting the two air-path parts in the nose under the exhaust stubs for the chin-mounted oil-cooler before bringing the fuselage halves together, taking care that the inserts line up properly. The lower wings are full-span save for the tips, and have separate radiator faces fitted inside, while the new upper wings are in longer halves and have bay structure moulded-in, requiring a little detail painting as you go, sliding the completed assembly into the cut-out in the lower fuselage, ensuring that there is the required dihedral on both sides, which should leave both wingtips 10mm from the ground when the model is placed upright on a flat surface, although whether this remains true given the longer wingspan, I don’t know, as it’s a standard diagram. You could use the standard wings as a marking guide to place supports for measuring near the tip of the extended parts. The main wheel legs are each single parts with a wheel placed on the axle at the bottom, and a captive gear bay door glued to the inner face, plugging into the inner end of the gear bays under the wing, which was a source of the type’s instability on the ground, leading to many nose-overs and associated embarrassment. A scrap diagram from the side shows the forward canting of the gear legs once installed. An insert over the engine cowling is prepared by adding a pair of gun barrel stubs linked together on a carrier from inside the troughs, with the option of drilling out the barrels to add realism. The cowling is installed over the engine along with the prop to the front, plus the air-intake fairing on the port side of the cowling, and a tail-wheel with moulded-in strut. A pair of wing-mounted cannons are slotted into holes in the leading-edge, just outboard of the prop’s rotation. A belly-mounted fuel tank or bomb can be fitted, and the instructions note that its mount is offset to one side, making the tank or bomb from two halves if you intend to use either option. If not, the underside is completed by a pitot-probe under the port wing, and mass-balance horns on the ailerons. With the model on its wheels, the single-part canopy is installed with extra armour externally using a non-fogging glue, adding an aerial to the aft portion, and slotting the elevators into the sides of the tail fin, supporting them with diagonal struts from underneath. Markings There are three decal options on the sheet, and the profiles can be found on the rear of the box, in variations that make heavy use of mottling. If the kit has been dispatched to a locale where that Swastika symbol is frowned upon or forbidden under law, the corner of the sheet will have been snipped off, otherwise it’s up to you whether you apply them for historical accuracy or not. From the box you can build one of the following: The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion Those that often complain about “another 109” might just like this one, as it’s not a standard ‘Yellow-Nosed Bleeper’ option, and its longer wings will be evident when positioned next to a more standard 109 in the cabinet. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Aero Ae-45S (KPM0431) Super Aero Part.1 1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov Designed by Czech company Aircraft Industries, who traded as Let, the Aero-45 was intended as a civilian utility aircraft, and was first flown in 1947, with the first production airframes completed after uneventful testing of the prototypes. Some say it could be based upon the Siebel 204, which was built in Czechoslovakia during WWII, but the likeness is purely from the front, and the sizes of the aircraft are substantially different. The fact that it has an aerodynamically smooth nose with flush glazing and twin engines slung under low-mounted wings probably led at least partially to those musings. Around 200 of the initial variant were made before the -45S was released, improving on the base model and altering the engine cowlings, with almost 230 built before the next variant came into existence. The -145 was larger than its predecessors, with seating for an extra passenger, bringing the total to 5, briefly toying with tricycle landing gear, and initially with a new 6-cylinder Walther Minor 6-III and then a newer M332 engine by Walther, who had by now changed their name to Motorlet, and were later produced by Avia. Almost 150 of those were built with other options in mind that never reached fruition, and an unlicensed copy of the 45S from China by the name of Sungari-1. The Kit This is the first of a new tooling that has been released by Kovozávody Prostějov in numerous boxings and a smattering of variants of this little aircraft. It arrives in a small end-opening box with a painting of the subject on the front, and the decal option profiles on the rear in full colour. Inside the box are two sprues of grey styrene, a clear sprue in a separate Ziploc bag, decal sheet, and the instruction booklet printed in black and white on a sheet of folded A4. Detail is good and typical of KP’s output, with a few options visible on the sprues and in the instructions, a well-detailed cockpit, and fine engraved panel lines on the exterior. Construction begins with the cockpit, which sits two abreast, mounting the seats on raised blocks and giving them decal seatbelts, adding trapezoid control columns and a dial decal to the instrument panel that is fixed in a slot near the front of the floor. Behind the crew, a two-part bench seat with more decal belts is glued over a cross-hatched area of the floor, installing the rear bulkhead behind, detail painting the completed assembly and putting it to one side while the engine nacelles are made. The two are built identically, using the halves that have gills on the starboard cowlings, and using a cranked exhaust to the starboard side of each one, then setting them aside too. There is no detail within the gear bay sides in the rear of the nacelles, but there is some moulded into the upper wing depicting the roof, so if you have references to hand, a little strip styrene should improve matters on the walls if you think it will be seen. Attention shifts back to the fuselage, trapping the cockpit between the halves, adding a coaming, two quarter-lights behind the canopy, a landing light in the nose, and the canopy itself, which for this variant has more side frames than its successors. The tail fin is moulded into the fuselage, but the rudder is a separate part, and can be posed deflected if you wish. The elevators are each moulded as a single part that butt-joins to root fairings on either side of the tail, and would benefit from some pins to give the joints extra strength, helping to keep then perpendicular to the tail fin. The main wings are made from two halves that create the upper surface, and a single underside that extends out to the mid-wing, leaving the tips moulded in their entirety in the upper wings. There are a couple of ejector-pin marks on the underside of the outer panel, but they are in the middle of an open area away from panel lines and are raised, so shouldn’t take much effort to remove, which is always nice. The wings are mated with the fuselage, then the engine nacelles are brought in from below, taking care to align them as well as you can to reduce clean-up of seams. The main gear legs are simple struts with a cross-axle at the lower end, which accommodates the wheel, and is braced from behind by a long diagonal strut that is a separate part, bracketed by a pair of doors running down the sides of the gear bays. The tail wheel is fixed, and has the wheel moulded into the strut, slotting into the fuselage from below, then the two-blade props with longer spinners applied to the front, one plugging into a hole in the front of each nacelle. An extended T-shaped pitot-probe is fitted into a hole in the underside of the port wing to complete the structural work on the model. Markings There are three decal options on the small sheet, all wearing differing schemes, and based in different countries. From the box you can build one of the following: The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion A sleek and interesting little aircraft that has been well-depicted by Kovozávody Prostějov for you to create a nice model that has plenty of appeal. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Bf.109T-2 Toni over the North Sea (AZ7874) 1:72 AZ Model by Kovozávody Prostějov The Messerschmitt Bf.109 was certainly the most numerous, and probably the best known of all the aircraft used by the Luftwaffe during the Second World War. Almost 34,000 examples were produced between 1937 and 1945, and the type saw active service in every theatre in which German armed forces were engaged. Driven initially by the relatively low powered Junkers Jumo engine, and later by various iterations of the more powerful Daimler Benz DB600 series of inverted V-12 engines, the later variants of the Bf.109 could achieve speeds of up to 400mph. When Germany first laid down the ill-fated Aircraft Carrier DKM Graf Zeppelin in 1936, the question of its complement of aircraft was already settled. It would carry a variant of the Bf.109 as a fighter, and the doughty Ju.87 Stuka as bomber, and as such was engineered with those airframes in mind, averting the need to have folding wings that add weight to an aircraft. The 109 was given the variant T for Träger, which mean Carrier in English. It had extended wings with larger flying surfaces, plus a tail-hook and catapult launch gear for taking off and landing on carriers. The T-1 was the first airframe to be completed, and underwent catapult tests before it was ordered in small numbers. With the cancellation of the carrier, those airframes were apportioned elsewhere, and a T-2 variant was created without the carrier specific components. Some of the T-1s were cross-graded to T-2 standard, which found their way to Norway with 11./JG 11, and when the carrier project was temporarily re-started it was decided that the T was outdated by then, so an alternative was sought. That too was re-assigned in a remarkable chronologically close case of history repeating itself, while the T-2s continued in service in Norway until mid-1944, after which time any remaining airframes were used as trainers. As far as we know none of them survived the war or the culling of Axis hardware that followed it, but if you extended the wings of a full-sized Bf.109E-4/N that you happened to have lying around with the DB601N engine, you’d be 90% of the way there. The Kit This boxing is based on a 2020 tooling from AZ Model, and it arrives in a small end-opening box with three sprues of grey styrene, a small separately bagged clear sprue, two decal sheets, and instruction booklet that are printed on both sides of a folded A4 sheet. Detail is good, and extends into the cockpit and wheel bays, as well as finely engraved panel lines with judicious use of riveting where they are most prominent on the real airframe. You may have noticed that there are two sets of wings, because the main sprue holds many of the parts that will be needed to complete the model, while the correct wing parts with longer span are moulded on a new sprue on their own. Construction begins predictably with the cockpit, adding decals to the instrument panel and detail painting the sidewalls that are moulded into the fuselage interiors. A double trim wheel is made up, the control column detail painted with three shades, then the seat with decal seatbelts is inserted on the rails in the cockpit rear, mounting the adjustment mechanism on the port side, which also has the trim wheels sited there. The instrument panel is fitted to the front bulkhead and glued in place along with the control column, painting and installing the gunsight to add to the centre of the coaming. The propeller is moulded as a three-bladed part that is sandwiched between the spinner and back-plate, with a choice of two spinner types, one without the centreline cannon installed. The cockpit is glued into the starboard fuselage half after painting the interior and inserting the two air-path parts in the nose for the chin-mounted oil-cooler before bringing the fuselage halves together, taking care that the inserts line up properly. The lower wings are full-span save for the tips, and have separate radiator faces fitted inside, while the new upper wings are in longer halves and have bay structure moulded-in, requiring a little detail painting as you go, sliding the completed assembly into the cut-out in the lower fuselage, ensuring that there is the required dihedral on both sides, which should leave both wingtips 10mm from the ground when the model is placed upright on a flat surface, although whether this remains true given the longer wingspan, I don’t know, as it’s a standard diagram. You could use the standard wings as a marking guide to place supports for measuring near the tip of the extended parts. The main wheel legs are each single parts with a wheel placed on the axle at the bottom, and a captive gear bay door glued to the inner face, plugging into the inner end of the gear bays under the wing, which was a source of the type’s instability on the ground, leading to many nose-overs and associated embarrassment. A scrap diagram from the side shows the forward canting of the gear legs once installed. An insert over the engine cowling is prepared by adding a pair of gun barrel stubs linked together on a carrier from inside the troughs. The cowling is installed over the engine along with the prop to the front, plus the air-intake fairing on the port side of the cowling, and a tail-wheel with moulded-in strut. A pair of wing-mounted cannons are slotted into holes in the leading-edge, just outboard of the prop’s rotation. A belly-mounted fuel tank or bomb can be fitted, and the instructions note that its mount is offset to one side, making the tank or bomb from two halves if you intend to use either option. If not, the underside is completed by a pitot-probe under the port wing, and mass-balance horns on the ailerons. With the model on its wheels, the single-part canopy is installed with extra armour externally using a non-fogging glue, adding an aerial to the aft portion, and slotting the elevators into the sides of the tail fin, supporting them with diagonal struts from underneath. Markings There are three decal options on the sheet, and the profiles can be found on the rear of the box, in variations that make heavy use of mottling. If the kit has been dispatched to a locale where that Swastika symbol is frowned upon under law, the corner of the sheet will have been snipped off, otherwise it’s up to you whether you apply them for historical accuracy or not. From the box you can build one of the following: The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion Those that often complain about “another 109” might just like this one, as it’s not a standard option, and its longer wings will be evident when positioned next to a more standard 109 in the cabinet. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Messerschmitt Bf.109V-13/14 (AZ7870) 1:72 AZ Model by Kovozávody Prostějov The Messerschmitt Bf.109 was certainly the most numerous, and probably the best known of all the aircraft used by the Luftwaffe during the Second World War. Almost 34,000 examples were produced between 1937 and 1945, and the type saw active service in every theatre in which German armed forces were engaged. Powered initially by the relatively low powered Junkers Jumo engine and later by various iterations of the more powerful Daimler Benz DB600 series of inverted V-12 engines, the later variants of the Bf.109 could achieve speeds of up to 400mph. Soon after the type was first shown off by the Nazi administration as part of their re-armament project, the 109 attended a meeting in Zurich where various aircraft from different countries attempted the world speed record, with three specially adapted airframes sent that were extensively tuned for speed. Other preparations included a fully puttied and polished airframe to streamline airflow, a lack of gunsight and armament, plus fairing-over of the gun troughs, all in the pursuit of more speed. On the 11th November 1937 V-13, converted from a D-series airframe and with a highly tuned engine that could output an impressive (for the time) 1,200hp for short periods, flew at almost 380mph, winning the record for Germany for the first time, although it was soon taken by a Heinkel He.100 before Messerschmitt could win it back just before WWII with an Me.209 that flew at an astonishing 469mph, a totally new design that was designed from the ground-up to break records, and shouldn’t be confused with the wartime Me.209/410. That speed record remained standing until long after WWII. The Kit This boxing is based on a 2020 tooling from AZ Model, and it arrives in a small end-opening box with three sprues of grey styrene, a small separately bagged clear sprue, two decal sheets, and instruction booklet that printed on both sides of a folded A4 sheet. Detail is good, and extends into the cockpit and wheel bays, as well as finely engraved panel lines with judicious use of riveting where they are most prominent on the real airframe. You may have noticed that there are two sets of fuselage halves, because the main sprue holds many of the parts that will be needed to complete the model, while the correct fuselage parts with flush exhausts are moulded on a new sprue with only two more parts that appear to be intended for the carrier-borne T series. Construction begins predictably with the cockpit, adding decals to the instrument panel and detail painting the sidewalls that are moulded into the fuselage interiors. A double trim wheel is made up, the control column detail painted with three shades, then the seat is inserted on the rails in the cockpit rear, mounting the adjustment mechanism on the port side, which also has the trim wheels sited there. The instrument panel is fitted to the front bulkhead and glued in place along with the control column, painting and installing the gunsight to add to the centre of the coaming if it is to be used. The propeller is moulded as a three-bladed part that is sandwiched between the spinner and back-plate, removing a small area at the tip from the spinner as per the accompanying diagram. The cockpit is glued into the starboard fuselage half after painting the interior and inserting the two airway parts in the nose for the chin-mounted oil-cooler before bringing the fuselage halves together, taking care that the inserts line up properly. The lower wings are full-span, and have radiator faces fitted, while the upper wings are in halves and have bay detail moulded-in, requiring a little detail painting as you go, sliding them into the cut-out in the lower fuselage, ensuring that there is the required dihedral on both sides, which should leave the both wingtips 10mm from the ground when the model is placed upright on a flat surface. The main wheel legs are each single parts with a wheel placed on the axle at the bottom, and a captive gear bay door glued to the inner face, plugging into the inner end of the gear bays under the wing, which was a source of the type’s instability on the ground, leading to many nose-overs and much embarrassment. An insert over the engine cowling is prepared by adding filler to the gun troughs to obliterate them, and removing a U-shaped raised area at the rear of the insert. Once the putty is cured, it can be installed along with the prop, a raised fairing on the port side of the engine cowling, plus a tail-wheel with moulded-in strut. A belly-mounted fuel tank can be fitted, and the instructions note that its mount is offset to one side, making the tank from two halves if you intend to use it. If not, the underside is completed by a pitot-probe under the port wing, and mass-balance horns on the ailerons. With the model on its wheels, the single-part canopy is installed with a non-fogging glue, adding an aerial to the aft portion, and the elevators are slotted into the sides of the tail fin, supporting them with diagonal struts from underneath. Markings There are two decal options on the sheet, and the profiles can be found on the rear of the box, one in bright red, the other in light grey, both wearing a swastika on the red tail band. If the kit has been dispatched to a locale where that symbol is frowned upon under law, the corner of the sheet will have been snipped off, otherwise it’s up to you whether you apply them for historical accuracy or not. From the box you can build one of the following: The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion Those that moan about “another 109” might even like this one, as it’s not a standard airframe, and isn’t covered in splinter camouflage or mottle. Detail is good, the decal options interesting, and the red one especially should stand out in a crowd. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Gloster Gauntlet Mk.II ‘Special Markings’ (AZ7868) 1:72 AZ Model by Kovozávody Prostějov The Gauntlet bears a family resemblance to the Gladiator from the same stable because it preceded it, entering service earlier after an extended development process that would be worthy of a modern defence project. Its development began as early as 1929, but it wasn’t until 1933 that it was given the name Gauntlet, and another two years before it started to enter service with the RAF in small numbers. It was intended as a replacement to the Bulldog, which it outpaced by 50mph thanks to its Bristol Mercury engine, with heavier armament that included two machine guns in troughs in the fuselage sides, firing through the cowling and propeller. Only twenty-four of the initial airframes were made before there were improvements made, which were give the designation Mk.II, resulting in the initial batch being retrospectively named Mk.I. The Mk.II made up the majority of production, with over 200 manufactured in the UK, plus more built overseas. At its peak there were fourteen squadrons equipped with Gauntlets, but as the storm clouds of war began to gather, it was already outdated. By the time war finally broke out, only one squadron was left in frontline service, the rest having transitioned to more modern fighters such as the Hurricane, which was created by Gloster’s new owners, Hawker, still carrying over some design traits from the Gauntlet through the Gladiator to the Hurricane, particularly in the rear fuselage and tail areas. Fortunately for the Hurricane pilots however, the speed and armament of their new aircraft was much improved and gave them a fighting chance against the enemy. The Gauntlet lingered on as a trainer in the UK and abroad for a while, with a single Mk.II preserved in airworthy condition in Finland, one of its former operators, although the engine has been replaced by something a little more modern for practical reasons. The Kit This is a reboxing of a 2008 tooling from AZ that has been re-released with new decals that depict special markings of the Gauntlet in RAF and Finnish service. It arrives in a small end-opening box with a painting of a Gauntlet over a battlefield engaging with a Soviet i16 on the front, and profiles for the decal options on the rear of the box. Inside are three sprues of grey styrene, a decal sheet, a small sheet of clear acrylic with two windscreens printed on it, plus the instruction booklet that is printed on a folded sheet of A4, with a series of rigging profiles on the rearmost page. Detail is good, with just a wisp of flash here and there, and a good representation of the fabric covered framework over the majority of the airframe. Construction begins with the simple cockpit that is based on a well-detailed flat section of floor, onto which the seat, control column and rudder pedals are fixed, applying four-point decal seatbelts to the pilot’s position for a little extra detail. There is cockpit sidewall detail moulded into the insides of the fuselage halves, and once these and the cockpit are painted and weathered, the fuselage halves can be joined together, adding a two-part instrument panel at the front of the cockpit cut-out. The engine is supplied as a single part with nine cylinders arranged around the core, which is surrounded by a three-part cowling due to the teardrop fairings around the perimeter, finishing the cowling off with a separate lip at the front. The tail fin is moulded into the fuselage halves, adding the individual elevator fins to the sides in small slots, and a tail-wheel with moulded-in strut underneath. The lower wing is a single part that is inserted into a slot under the fuselage, and once the seams have been dealt with, the landing gear can be built, made from two triangular struts that are linked by the axle that has wheels mounted on each end, positioning the assembly on the underside of the fuselage using the small recesses that are moulded into the model to locate them accurately. Four cabane struts are similarly fitted to the fuselage in front of the cockpit using more guide recesses, which supports the upper wing that is also moulded as a single part. Four interplane struts are fitted between the wings, and a scrap diagram gives details of the tensioner rods that are suspended in the rigging, which is dealt with over the page. A pair of exhausts are mounted under the cowling, cutting the windscreen from the acetate sheet and folding it to shape before gluing it to the front of the cockpit, then slotting the two machine gun barrels in the troughs on each side of the fuselage. The final task (if we ignore the rigging for now) is the three-blade propeller, with a moulded-in spinner to the front. Speaking of rigging, there are four diagrams on the rear of the booklet, detailing the location of the wiring, which should assist with the process along with the box art for a three-quarter view. Markings There are three options on the decal sheet, two RAF, and one in Finnish service, which comes with the reversed Swastikas they used at the time, confusing the uninitiated for many years. The British subjects are away from the usual silver dope, including desert and night fighter schemes From the box you can build one of the following: The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion The Gauntlet was a well-used interwar fighter that in its day was an impressive improvement over those that it replaced, but was soon to be left in the wake of the next generation of fighters due to the speed of development at the time. The kit depicts its fabric covering well, with a detailed cockpit, and it comes with some interesting decal options. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Spitfire Mk.Vc Trop ‘Over Yugoslavia’ (KPM0418) 1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov The Spitfire was the champion of the Battle of Britain alongside the Hurricane and a few other less well-known players, and it’s an aircraft with an amazing reputation that started as a bit of a damp squib in the shape of the Supermarine Type 224. This gull-winged oddity was the grandfather of the Spitfire, and despite losing out to the biplane Gloster Gladiator, designer R J Mitchell was spurred on to go back to the drawing board and create a more modern, technologically advanced and therefore risky design. This was the Type 300, and it was an all-metal construction with an incredibly thin elliptical wing that became legendary, although it didn’t leave much space for fuel, a situation that was further worsened by the Air Ministry’s insistence that four .303 machine guns were to be installed in each wing, rather than the three originally envisaged. It was a very well-sorted aircraft from the outset, so quickly entered service with the RAF in 1938 in small numbers. With the clouds of war building, the Ministry issued more orders and it became a battle to manufacture enough to fulfil demand in time for the outbreak and early days of war from September 1939 onwards. By then, the restrictive straight sided canopy had been replaced by a “blown” hood to give the pilot more visibility, although a few with the old canopy lingered on for a while. The title Mk.Ia was given retrospectively to differentiate between the cannon-winged Mk.Ib that was instigated after the .303s were found somewhat lacking compared to the 20mm cannon armament of their main opposition at the time, the Bf.109. As is usual in wartime, the designers could never rest on their laurels with an airframe like the Spitfire, as it had significant potential for development, a process that lasted throughout the whole of WWII, and included many changes to the Merlin engine, then the installation of the more powerful Griffon engine, as well as the removal of the spine of the fuselage and creation of a bubble canopy to improve the pilot’s situational awareness. Its immediate successor was the Mk.II that had a better Merlin engine and higher octane fuel to give it a healthy boost in performance. The IIa was armed identically to the Mk.Ia with four .303s in each wing, while the IIb carried the two 20mm cannons of the Ib and two .303s in each of the wings. The Mk.II was followed by the Mk.V that had yet another more powerful Merlin fitted, which returned the fright of the earlier marks’ first encounters with Fw.190s by a similar increase in performance from an outwardly almost identical Spitfire. The C-wing was also known as the Universal Wing, and could carry different armament types without modification, cutting down on manufacturing time, whilst offering easy armament changes depending on the task at hand. The Kit This variant of the beloved Spitfire is a reboxing with additional parts of the 2016 tooling, and arrives in a small end-opening box with a painting of the subject on the front and the decal options on the rear. Inside are three sprues in grey styrene, a tiny clear sprue, two decal sheets and the instruction booklet, which is specific to the Mk.Vc. Looking inside, the sprues are very nicely detailed with two sets of wings that have different gun fairings as separate parts for the topsides, so care will need to be taken when snipping them from the sprues. The interior is similarly well detailed, with raised and engraved detail on the sidewalls and instrument panel, plus the typical ladder of strengthening ribbing on the roof of the gear bays, which is moulded into the underside of the upper wings. Construction begins with the cockpit, with a decal provided to apply over the black panel to enhance the details, the control column, red-brown Bakelite seat, the seat frame with an armoured panel between the seat and its frame. This is attached to the floor section, then the stick and seat join them along with the instrument panel where the rudder pedals pass through the footwell cut-out. The completed cockpit is glued into the starboard fuselage half, and the two exhaust slots are backed by some styrene sheet from your own stock, with a drawing of a template given to assist you with this. If you have some 3.5mm wide strip to hand, you’re half way there already. The fuselage is then closed after adding the twin bottles in the port side, and the clear gunsight is fitted to the top of the panel, ideally after you’ve finished with the fuselage seams. The lower wing is full-width as you’d imagine, and this more modern tooling is detailed with the oil cooler and radiator fairing that has textured front and rear radiator surfaces, plus a pair of teardrop shaped blisters outboard of the gear bays, which also has the narrow tunnel that accommodates the gear strut when retracted. The upper wing halves are glued over the lower, and once dry it is joined to the fuselage, has the gun barrels installed in the leading edges, the elevators and rudder fixed to the tail, and the chin insert added to the front, followed by the two-part chin intake, exhausts, and tail-wheel with moulded-in strut. The landing gear is simple and made from a single strut, captive bay door and single part wheel on each side. The prop is moulded as a single three-blade part that is trapped between the front and rear spinner, the latter having an axle moulded to the rear that is inserted into the front of the fuselage. The canopy is a single-part, and has a rear-view mirror fitted to the top of the windscreen, and an antenna just behind the cockpit. The back page of the instructions shows the location of the aerials and all the stencils, including the flare-port decal on the side of the canopy. Markings There are three options on the main decal sheet, while the separate sheet contains all the stencils, which is good to see at this scale. From the box you can build one of the following: The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion A well-detailed replica of Britain’s favourite fighter from WWII as it flew with Yugoslavian pilots, and in the Yugoslavian Air Force after WWII ended and before the Iron Curtain came down. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Heinkel He.162B-5 Volksjäger ’46 (AZ7855) AZ Model by Kovozávody Prostějov As the tide of war turned against Nazi Germany, defensive action became more important than attack and expansion of the Reich, and aviation designs were called for under the jingoistic Volksjäger project, which translates to “People’s Fighter”. It was a specification that called for a jet engine point-defence fighter that was cheap to produce, used few strategic materials, could be piloted by a relatively unskilled pilot, and could be built in large numbers to break-up the Allied bomber streams that were pounding military production facilities and cities into rubble on a daily basis. Heinkel’s submission to the programme was the diminutive He.162 that was barely as large as a Bf.109, with short wingspan, a small fuselage that was low to the ground on squat landing gear, which assisted in repair and maintenance of the single jet engine mounted on top of the fuselage just behind the pilot’s canopy. This unfortunate juxtaposition resulted in an early ejection seat being fitted in the tiny cockpit, which would push the pilot clear of the engine intake, but with no anti-flail protection, it was as likely to injure or kill the pilot as save him. The slender fuselage meant that a low fuel load also contributed to a short 20 minute flight time, and there was also little room for armament, which consisted of two 20mm or 30mm autocannons mounted under the cockpit’s side consoles, firing through troughs under the nose. Once the initial issues were resolved, the aircraft was found to be an excellent and quick light fighter, but it wasn’t really simple enough to be flown by a novice pilot. Although it was simply engineered and was partly made of laminated wood, the parlous state of the German aviation industry meant that production was slower than anticipated, and only around 1,000 of the A-series type were completed or under construction by the end of the war, many of which remained grounded due to shortages of spares, fuel, pilots or any combination of the three, so very few saw action at squadron level before the end of the war, reaching service in April 1945, barely a month before the end. The training airframes were sometimes pressed into service in emergencies and racked up some kills, although ejection was highly dangerous, and the structure of the aircraft was known to have some issues, especially with the rudders. The B-series designs were intended to see action in 1946, but the end of the war curtailed development, so they remained predominantly paper-projects. The B was to have a longer fuselage to accommodate more fuel, larger wings, and a more powerful Heinkel designed jet engine, and straight wings with a lower dihedral. Pulsejet power units of the type used in the V-1 flying bomb were briefly considered, but their lack of power and need for a pre-existing airflow to start the engines meant that they were dismissed as a viable source of motive power. The Kit The war ended in 1945, but this kit assumes that hostilities had continued, and pulsejets were used as an alternative form of propulsion. It is based on the 2021 tooling of the A-2 Salamander kit, adding new parts for the engines and their mounts, plus a revised fuselage without the jet engine fairings. The kit arrives in an end-opening box with two sprues of grey styrene, a clear canopy part, decal sheet and the instruction booklet inside, the latter printed in colour on a sheet of folded A4 that covers all six of the B-series variants, so you’ll need to follow the instructions carefully to ensure you built the correct B-5 version with a single pulsejet and straight wingtips. Detail is good with crisply engraved panel lines throughout, a well-appointed cockpit, landing gear bays and even RATO pods for take-off assistance. Construction begins with the nose gear bay, which is built from two halves that have the rudder pedals mounted on each side, as the fuselage is that cramped. The simple ejection seat has decal belts, and a strip that joins the control column to the base, fitting the seat to the sloped bulkhead at the rear. The instrument panel and coaming are joined together and a decal is applied to the dials, adding a gunsight to the centre, and here you could nip off the styrene “glass” and replace it with a piece of acetate sheet for a little extra realism if your hands are steady enough. The main gear bay is built as a single assembly from five parts, which is inserted in the lower fuselage, while the cockpit, nose gear, instrument panel and two side consoles are added to the nose, painted and then the fuselage can be closed, making sure to add at least 10g of nose weight. The pulsejet engine is built from halves with a mesh panel in the front, and is mounted on a short pylon on the fuselage centreline, as marked in red on the instructions. As the engine is mounted further forward than some installations, an extension tube is added to the rear so that the jet efflux clears the tail of the aircraft. The V-tail is made from a one fin moulded into the rear fuselage insert, and this is joined by the other fin that is a separate part, as depicted in small scrap diagrams nearby. This variant has forward raked wings without anhedral wingtips, which are single parts that butt-join to the sides of the fuselage in the location picked out in red. Another scrap diagram shows the configuration from the front along with the other possibilities. Each variant shares the same landing gear, the nose strut equipped with a single wheel that is trapped by the two-part yoke, and the bay door opens down to the port side. The main gear struts have trailing scissor-links and forward-facing retraction jacks that have a single wheel on a stub axle perpendicular to the strut. They are shown fitted in the bare bay assembly so you can see all the location points properly. The bay doors open up and outward, and are each a single part, with detail moulded into the interior. An optional gun pack can be added under the centreline, and a pair of two-part RATO pods can be glued to the sides of the fuselage behind the main bay doors, their locations again marked in red. The final part is the canopy, which is moulded as a single part and glues into the cut-out over the cockpit. Markings There are three decal options on the sheet, with four-view profiles on the back of the box in full colour that have colour names rather than any maker’s paint codes to guide you. From the box you can build one of the following: The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion Luft’46 is interesting to some and not to others, which is fine, as life would be dull if we all liked the same thing. I like it, and forward swept wings with a pulsejet is definitely out of the ordinary. A nicely detailed model that won’t take up much room in the cabinet, and with some interesting decal options. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Heinkel He.162B-3 Volksjäger ’46 (AZ7853) AZ Model by Kovozávody Prostějov As the tide of war turned against Nazi Germany, defence became of greater importance than attack and expansion of the Reich, and aviation designs were called for under the jingoistic Volksjäger project, which translates to “People’s Fighter”, but was also known as the Emergency Fighter Programme. It was a specification that called for a jet engine point-defence fighter that was cheap to produce, used minimal strategic materials, could be piloted by a relatively unskilled pilot, and could be built in large numbers to break-up the Allied bomber streams that were pounding military production facilities and cities into rubble on a daily basis. Heinkel’s submission to the programme was the diminutive He.162 that was barely as large as a Bf.109, with narrow wings, a small fuselage that was low to the ground on short landing gear, which assisted in repair and maintenance of the engine mounted on top of the fuselage just behind the pilot’s canopy. This dangerous juxtaposition resulted in an early ejection seat being fitted in the tiny cockpit, which when triggered would push the pilot clear of the engine intake by an explosive cartridge, but with no anti-flail protection, it was as likely to injure or kill the pilot as save him, which sometimes happened. The slender fuselage meant that a low fuel load also contributed to short range and flight time, and there was little room for armament, which consisted of two 20mm or 30mm autocannons mounted under the cockpit’s side consoles, firing through troughs under the nose. Once the initial issues were resolved, the aircraft was found to be an excellent light fighter, but it wasn’t simple enough to be flown by a novice pilot. Although it was simple to produce and was partly made of laminated wood, the parlous state of the German aviation industry meant that production was slower than anticipated, and only around 1,000 of the A-series type were completed or under construction, many of which remained grounded due to shortages of spares, fuel, pilots or any combination of the three, so very few saw action at squadron level before the end of the war, reaching service in April 1945, barely a month before the end of WWII. The airframes of the training groups were sometimes pressed into service in emergencies, and racked up some kills, although ejection was dangerous, as was the structure of the aircraft, which was known to have some issues, especially with the rudders. The B-series designs were intended to see action in 1946, but the end of the war curtailed development, so they remained predominantly paper-projects. The B was to have a longer fuselage to accommodate more fuel, larger wings, and a more powerful Heinkel designed jet engine, and straight wings with a lower dihedral. Pulsejet power units of the type used in the V-1 flying bomb were briefly considered, but their lack of power and need for airflow in order to start the engines meant that they were dismissed as a viable source of motive power. The Kit The war ended in 1945, but this kit assumes that hostilities had continued, and pulsejets were used as an alternative form of propulsion. It is based on the 2021 tooling of the A-2 Salamander kit, adding new parts for the engines and their mounts, plus the revised fuselage without the jet engine fairings. The kit arrives in an end-opening box with two sprues of grey styrene, a clear canopy part, decal sheet and the instruction booklet inside, the latter printed in colour on a sheet of folded A4 that covers all six of the B-series variants, so you’ll need to follow the instructions carefully to ensure you build the correct version with twin pulsejets and anhedral wingtips. Detail is good with crisply engraved panel lines throughout, a well-appointed cockpit, landing gear bays and even RATO pods for take-off assistance. Construction begins with the nose gear bay, which is built from two halves that have the rudder pedals mounted on each side, as the fuselage is extremely cramped. The simple ejection seat has decal belts, and a strip that joins the control column to the base, fitting the seat to the sloped bulkhead at the rear. The instrument panel and coaming are joined together and a decal applied to the dials, adding a gunsight to the centre, and here you could nip off the grey styrene “glass” and replace it with a piece of acetate sheet for a little extra realism if your hands are steady enough. The main gear bay is built as a single assembly from five parts, which is inserted in the lower fuselage, while the cockpit, nose gear, instrument panel and two side consoles are added to the nose, painted, after which the fuselage can be closed, making sure to add at least 10g of nose weight. Two pulsejet engines are built from halves with a mesh panel in the front, and these are mounted on short pylons on either side of the fuselage centreline, as marked in red on the instructions. The H-tail is made from a shallow V-shaped elevator that fits on the rear fuselage insert, and has the fins with moulded-in rudders fixed at right-angles to the elevators, as depicted in small scrap diagrams nearby. As already mentioned, this variant’s wings have anhedral wingtips, which are single parts that butt-join to the sides of the fuselage in the locations picked out in red. Another scrap diagram shows the configuration from the front along with the other possibilities. Each variant shares the same landing gear, the nose strut equipped with a single wheel that is trapped by the two-part yoke, and the bay door opens down to the port side. The main gear struts have trailing scissor-links and forward retraction jacks that have a single wheel on a stub axle perpendicular to the strut. They are shown fitted in the bare bay assembly so you can see all the location points properly. The bay doors open up and outward, and are each a single part, with detail moulded into the inside face. An optional gun pack can be added under the centreline, and a pair of two-part RATO pods can be glued to the sides of the fuselage behind the main bay doors, their locations again marked in red. The final task is the canopy, which is moulded as a single part and glues into the cut-out over the cockpit. Markings There are three decal options on the sheet, with four-view profiles on the back of the box in full colour that have colour names rather than any maker’s paint codes to guide you. From the box you can build one of the following: The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion Luft’46 is interesting to some and not to others, which is fine, as life would be dull if we all liked the same thing. I like it, and twin pulsejets sounds like a heap of fun. A nicely detailed model that won’t take up much room in the cabinet, and it comes with some interesting decal options. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Bücker Bü.181 Bestmann (KPM0404) 1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov The Bücker Bü 181 Bestmann was intended to be a light trainer with reconnaissance capability, and first flew in early 1939 before WWII began in earnest. It was similarly laid out to the Bf.108, with the pilot and copilot sitting side-by-side in an extensively glazed cockpit, and with its low wing offering good all-round visibility that made it well-suited as a trainer, the role for which the Luftwaffe used it extensively, although it was also used as a hack for communications, and occasionally as reconnaissance where its small size and good view from the cockpit came in useful. In March 1945, orders were given to convert some airframes to mount pylons above and below the wings to carry two pairs of Panzerfaust anti-tank weapons that carried a shaped-charge to defeat enemy armour. The weapon had a very short effective range however, so the pilot would need to follow an almost suicidal course directly toward the tank, often at low level, leaving it until the last second to launch his weapon and pull out, in order to give the charge any chance of even hitting the mark, let alone penetrating the armour. Unsurprisingly, they achieved only minor success for extreme losses, but it was a sign of the desperation of the Nazis to stop the Soviets and Allies from rolling towards Berlin. Production of all types during WWII extended to over 700 airframes, but the Bestmann’s career did not end when the war did. Further variants were built by Zlín in Czechoslovakia after the war, and as the Gomhouria in Egypt, while the Swedes built theirs as the Sk 25 under license from Bestmann, bringing the overall total of all variants to over 4,000, of which only a handful remain. The Kit This is a reboxing of a kit that was launched in 2021 by a company called Stransky, although the copyright on the sprue is marked as 2019, before the fan became covered in Covid virus bacteria. The kit arrives in a small end-opening box with a painting of the plucky Bestmann in action against Soviet T-34s, flying very low to the ground in amongst the dust and flames. On the back are the decal profiles in colour, and inside is a resealable bag that contains a single sprue in grey-white styrene, a clear sprue of five parts, decal sheet in its own Ziploc bag, and the instruction sheet, which is printed on folded A4 paper on all sides. Detail is good, with raised and recessed features all-over, and a well-appointed cockpit, which should be visible through the crystal-clear canopy, especially if you leave the side access doors open. There are however some very slight layer marks visible on parts such as the elevators and the rear of the fuselage that gives away the fact that this is likely to have been developed initially from 3D printed masters. They are nigh-on invisible however, and if they can be seen after priming, a light sanding will be all that is needed to render them invisible. Construction begins with the cockpit, adding the seat backs to the moulded-in bases, and fitting this and a rear bulkhead into the fuselage during closure, after the detail painting of the cockpit and sidewalls are complete. The lower wing is full-span, and the uppers are separate halves, mating to leave a gap for the fuselage between them, and with the underside of the forward fuselage moulded into the lower. Two panels are slipped into the cockpit sides after painting brown, and the elevators are glued to the sides of the tail onto butt-joints that would be stronger with the addition of some brass pegs. The cockpit has two pairs of rudder pedals inserted into the front, and a single part that depicts the two control columns on a central base in front of the pilot seats. A scrap diagram shows these parts from the side and from an angle to assist with placement. Decals are supplied for the seatbelts, which are shown on a very faded see-through diagram of the cockpit, which could easily be missed while you are wondering what the two-part assembly to their left is. It turns out to be a pair of bulkheads spaced apart by two tapered cylinders, and these are inserted into the engine cowling before installation of the main canopy part, which includes a portion of the upper fuselage, the windscreen, roof panel, and the rear screen. The instrument panel is glued into the front of the canopy before installation, and the side doors are shown in closed position, as well as hinged open at the forward edge, much like the American P-39 Airacobra. A pair of small curved rear-view quarter-lights insert in the rear of the cockpit sides, or blanking plates can be used instead, although all decal options show the clear parts in use. The Hirth HM 500 engine is not included in this kit, but the exhausts are, and here you must open up the pinholes in the underside of the fuselage before inserting them from inside, test-fitting to ensure you don’t oversize them. Three pipes are moulded on one carrier, with another separately on its own carrier. A central divider is installed in a bracket moulded into the lower, and painted black, after which you can add the upper cowling and the nose fairing, with asymmetrical intake slot, with the prop sited on a pin that projects from the fairing. Sights for the Panzerfausts are fitted on the top cowling in front of the windscreen, along with the venturi sensor, with a pitot probe under the wing. The fixed landing gear is made up from strut with moulded-in oleos, and a separate wheel, one for under each wing leading edge, with a scrap diagram showing their orientation from the front, plus a pair of actuators for the flying surfaces are also sited under the trailing edges. The tail wheel is fixed in a hole under the rear, then it’s a case of fitting the four Panzerfausts with moulded-in pylons, which are mounted under and over the wings, with a flashed-over hole visible on the inside of each part. It would be best to open these up before closing the wings, and take careful note of how the redundant manual sights on the weapons should be oriented, using the scrap frontal diagrams to aid you. Markings There are four decal options on the sheet, and they have managed to include profiles for all angles on the rear of the box, along with swatches of the paints used and their colour names, having no allegiance to any particular brand. From the box you can build one of the following: The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion The Bestmann is a small aircraft that has a certain elegance to it, which is portrayed nicely by this kit. The juxtaposition of the Panzerfaust armament is at odds with the overall design, but it shows the insanity of war eloquently. A nicely detailed kit with some interesting decal options, not all of which are armed. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

AVRO 626 Prefect (KPM0413) 1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov Developed from the AVRO 621 Tutor, the 626 was intended to be a jack-of-all-trades for training pilots of smaller air forces, and was structurally almost identical to the Tutor, save for the fact that there was an additional crew position behind the second cockpit. The third opening had a scarff ring installed for gunnery training, but could also be used to seat a wireless operator or a navigator, as well as riding with two crew for pilot training, hopefully without the gunnery training going on that could well have deafened the instructor, and possibly rained hot brass cartridges down the back of his flight suit. Although it first flew in 1930, it was entirely fabric-covered, resembling a WWI biplane more closely than the Spitfires and Hurricanes that first flew only a few years later. Early incarnations had a tail skid, but were later fitted with a tail-wheel for reliability and comfort, and many were sold to overseas air forces as originally envisaged. The RAF took a handful on charge, and these saw service at home throughout WWII, although its Armstrong Siddeley Lynx IVC 7-cylinder radial engine with a maximum speed of 112mph would mean it would be easy prey if had the misfortune to be intercepted by an enemy fighter. The British gave it the name Prefect, but it served in greater numbers in countries around the world, including Commonwealth Allies such as Canada and New Zealand, several South American nations, European and Eastern European countries, and China, some of which may have been pressed into operational service. Only one Prefect survives today, and that can be found in flying condition in New Zealand. The Kit This is a reboxing of the original release from 2007, but with a pair of new fuselage halves moulded in a different colour on my example, as the original boxings had two-seat cockpits and a smoothly faired-over rear training cockpit. The kit arrives in a small end-opening box that has a nice painting of a Spanish airframe on the front, and the decal options on the rear. Inside is a resealable bag that contains two sprues and two separate parts in grey styrene, plus the new fuselage halves in a tan colour. The package is rounded out by a large decal sheet, a small slip of acetate film with the windscreens printed on it, and the usual folded A4 instruction sheet that is printed in colour. Detail is good for the scale, including interior ribbing on the fuselage, fabric effect on the flying surfaces, and a representation of the seven-cylinder radial engine. Studying the sprues 'Forensically' shows that the two grey parts were originally part of the larger sprue above, but were removed with nippers to fit the box. Construction begins with painting of the two instrument panels according to the diagram, then building the engine from front and rear halves, which also has a painting guide. The two crew seats are simple parts that are detailed with decal four-point seatbelts, installing them on the flat cockpit floor and adding control columns for both crew members, then a two-part cowling is made, painted interior green and slipped over the engine. The interior of the fuselage halves are painted interior green before the instrument panels are fitted into the starboard side, inserting the cockpit assembly and then closing the fuselage. This edition’s tan fuselage halves have the third cockpit faired over with a raised flat cowling that is otherwise identical to the grey fuselage halves, so it’s a straight forward substitution. The main gear legs are then fixed underneath, starting with a triangular strut that is supported by adding another strut behind it, then mounting the wheel on the short stub-axle. This is repeated on the other side, followed by the tail-wheel and the engine, which is glued to the front of the fuselage after installing the exhaust ring on a peg at the top to ensure the exhaust pipe is correctly oriented. The lower wings mount on flat root fairings on the fuselage sides, and would benefit from brass rod spars to strengthen the bond, but the elevators are moulded as a single part that fits into a depression at the rear of the fuselage, fixing the fin and integrated rudder on the rear once complete, then supporting the elevators with a strut under each side. Before the upper wing is considered, the two windscreens are cut from their acetate sheet, folded at the lines, and are glued to the front of the cockpit openings. There is a third windscreen printed on the sheet, which could be used as a backup, and might be fitted on future boxings with the third cockpit opened for training. The upper wings are separated from the lower by two wing-mounted Z-struts with additional straight struts behind them, and another two cabane Z-struts mounted on the cowling in front of the forward cockpit. Before the upper wing is mated to the tops of the struts, the fuel-tank must be laid over the centre of the wing, which can thankfully be done without cutting the centre out, although the join may need a little work to get it to seat neatly, possibly removing the ribbing to let the tank sit closer to the wing. Ignoring the rigging for a moment, the leading-edge slats on the upper wing are glued in place, then the two-blade prop is slipped over the drive-shaft on the front of the engine. Rigging of the model is depicted in the final diagram in red, and should be viewed in conjunction with the box painting, and as many photos of the real aircraft that you can find. The technique you use however is entirely up to you. Markings There are four decal options on the sheet, and the back of the box covers three views, although the right-side, top and bottom profiles are necessarily smaller and with shorter wings as you can see below, but it shouldn’t cause any issues. From the box you can build one of the following: The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion Many interwar aircraft aren’t as well known as they might have been due to WWII, and trainers even less so. This is a nicely detailed model of one of AVRO’s unsung heroes that trained some of the future pilots that later fought in the war, and flew many hours all over the world. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of