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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

LVG C.VI German Service (KPM0402) 1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov Developed by the catchily titled Luft-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft (LVG) in 1917 as a two-seat artillery-spotting and reconnaissance aircraft, and having some relatively advanced features, including a send-only morse-code radio, and heated flight suits for the crew, as well as partial metal construction to add strength to the flying surfaces such as the elevator and tail fin. 1,100 of the type were made, and it reached the Western Front in time to serve as a close reconnaissance and observation aircraft, where they probably had to be regularly patched to cover bullet-holes. Unsurprisingly, the C.VI was a development of the C.V, being a little larger and more advanced, with the lower wing staggered 28cm behind the upper, and the fuselage was fully monocoque, compared to the partial monocoque fuselage of the earlier aircraft. Both aircraft had a chimney-style exhaust and a flat-panel radiator in the centre of the upper wing. The C.VI was equipped with a single LMG 08/15 7.92mm machine gun firing through the propeller on interrupter gear, with a Parabellum MG14 on a Scarff ring operated by the rear crew member. It could also carry up to 200lb of bombs, becoming an early example of armed reconnaissance. A straight 6-cylinder water-cooled Benz engine provided motive power, and that output a surprising 197hp through a two-blade wooden propeller, which gave it a maximum speed of 110mph, which seems painfully slow by today’s standards. They were advanced enough not to be scrapped the moment hostilities ceased in 1918, and some saw civilian service as mail-planes in Germany, while a few more were sold to neighbouring Poland, Finland, Czechoslovakia and a few went to the newly formed USSR, who had pulled out of WWI after their revolution, only to begin a conflict with Poland in the early 20s where they saw some action, with more airframes acquired by Poland. Switzerland also ran two airframes for almost the whole of the 20s. The Kit This is a rebox of a 2016 tooling by KP Models, and is boxed with new decals depicting aircraft in German service. The kit arrives in an end-opening box that has a painting of the subject on the front, and the decal option profiles on the rear, and inside is a resealable clear bag with a single sprue in tan coloured styrene, a small piece of printed clear acetate, decal sheet, and the instruction booklet that is printed in colour on a sheet of folded A4. Detail is good and the moulding crisp, with engraved panel lines where appropriate, restrained ribbing on the fabric-covered wings, plus well-detailed engine and machine guns, and cord wrappings on the interplane struts. Construction begins with the building and painting of sub-assemblies, starting with the curved instrument panel, moving onto the straight-six engine, which has all the cylinders moulded together and topped off by a detailed cylinder head part, and a base on which it mounts in the fuselage. Three ported intake manifolds are fixed to three cylinders each, and the exhaust with its moulded-in manifold is fitted to the starboard side, with a choice of tall or short exit pipe. This is then mounted on an oval bulkhead after the cockpit floor is detailed with a box to raise the pilot’s seat, which has a control column and rudder pedals applied to the floor in front. The Scarff ring is fitted with a pintle-mount, attaching the MG14 and its drum magazine to complete the assembly. The fuselage interior is painted natural wood to match the cockpit floor and engine mounts, adding a small part in the aft cockpit, the instrument panel in the front, and the nose machine gun in a slot in the starboard fuselage half, the back of the breech extending into the cockpit through the cut-out in the instrument panel. The fuselage is closed around the cockpit and engine assemblies, adding an optional vertical fairing around the engine, installing the Scarff ring on the rear cockpit cut-out, and a tail skid under the rear of the fuselage. The elevators slide into the rear of the fuselage, mounting the tail fin centrally over it. The upper wing is a single part, which has two Z-form cabane struts fitted at right-angles to the wing surface, and a curved reservoir structure underneath, ready for installation. The landing gear is built from a pair of V-shaped struts with an aerofoil axle linking them together, and single-part wheels on each end. These are glued under the fuselage, and the lower wings are attached to the sides on two pins, where you are advised not to use super glue, presumably because they may need adjustment to ensure the correct angle, as per the accompanying frontal profile. The two windscreens are cut from the acetate sheet and glued to the front of the cockpit cut-outs, then the upper wing is lowered onto the model, supported initially by the cabane struts, with four more individual struts per wing added from the sides, which of course ignores the rigging and painting. The prop gives you a choice of two blade-types, then the rigging diagram is shown on the following page, which should be read in conjunction with the box art and your own research. The final diagram shows the lozenge patterns that were painted on the upper surface of the wings, although decals for these are not included. They are available as an option however here, and are sold under the code KPEX026 if you want to make the task easier. Markings There are three decal options included on the sheet, which covers the National and personal markings for each option, while the rest of the camouflage should either be painted by the modeller, or as mentioned above, a decal set can be purchased to ease finishing the wings. 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 Another interesting and unusual model from KP Models, back on the shelves after a long absence. The moulding is very crisp, and includes plenty of detail to endear it to us modellers. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Zlín Z-142 Export (KPM0407) 1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov Zlín originally produced gliders, beginning operations in the 1930s, soon venturing into powered flight to build a few sports aircraft before the outbreak of WWII. After the war, they continued to produce the occasional glider, but also produced light aircraft of various types, which continued throughout the 40s and 50s, until the Z-42 single-engined trainer aircraft was introduced in 1967. Development of the type continued with several variants that led to the Z-142, which although it looks very similar to its progenitor is a larger aircraft with side-by-side seating for the two crew behind a more powerful Walter engine that benefitted from a supercharger to output 210hp from its fuel efficient inverted 6-cylinder fuel-injected motor. The Z-142 first flew in 1978, and as well as seeing extensive use as a trainer, it is commonly employed as a personal aircraft and a glider tug, having some acrobatic capabilities too, although best not done whilst towing a glider! Over 350 airframes were built, and development continued to improve the type further, the Z-242 having a Lycoming flat-four engine that necessitated a wider cowling to accommodate the engine’s extra width. The Kit This is a reboxing of the 2015 tool of this type with new decals, and it arrives in a small end-opening box with a painting of the aircraft on the front and the decal option profiles on the rear. Inside is a resealable clear bag containing a single sprue of grey styrene, canopy in its own Ziploc bag, two decal sheets, and the instruction booklet, printed in colour on a piece of folded A4. Detail is good, however there is a little texture apparent on the parts that could be attributed to over-application of release agent on the moulds, and there will be some ejector-pin turrets that need cutting off to allow some parts to fit together, although that’s not the most difficult task in the modelling world if you have a pair of nippers and a sanding stick. Construction begins with the instrument panel, which is painted and has a decal applied from the smaller sheet, which also includes a decal for the earlier Z-42. It is glued under the coaming, and set aside while two seats are painted and have their decal four-point seatbelts applied so that they can be installed on the stepped cockpit floor, adding two control columns in front of the seats, and fixing a rear bulkhead at the back of the raised portion. The completed cockpit is trapped between the fuselage halves, painting the cockpit sidewalls before applying glue, and remembering to also place the instrument panel and coaming in the front of the cut-out. The open fuselage front is closed by the nose cowling, and underneath a pair of raised panels are added, one of which has a hole in it to accept the nose gear leg, which is built from strut, separate mudguard and the wheel, which flex-fits between the yoke. The main gear legs are curved struts with the wheel added to the axle at the bottom, each one fitting into a hole in the lower sides of the fuselage. The wings are each made from two halves that butt against the fuselage, but would benefit from pinning in position to strengthen the joint, while the elevators are a single part and slot into a groove under the moulded-in tail fin at the rear. The port wing has a small cut-out in the lower half, into which is placed a clear lens, remembering to paint the space silver before fitting the clear part. The single part canopy glues over the cockpit cut-out, the two-blade prop with moulded-in spinner is inserted into a hole in the nose cowling, and a pitot probe is fitted under the port wing to complete the build. Markings There are four decal options on the main sheet, demonstrating the “export” part of the kit’s title by having four different countries as subjects. 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. If you’ve noticed that the Canadian flag has no white background, fret not – it’s applied to a white painted tail fin. Conclusion Trainers often look similar, but the similarity is softened slightly by the variety of schemes that they will be wearing in this boxing. The texture on the styrene will be simple to remove with some light sanding, so don’t let that stop you from picking up one of these less common aircraft from Eastern Europe. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Zlín Z-126 Over Europe (KPM0408) 1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov The Z-126 started life as the Z-26, a low-wing monoplane trainer aircraft that was designed by Zlín and built by their colleagues at Moravan. Originally starting with an almost completely wooden construction, the design progressed until it had a tubular metal airframe with wooden wings that bears a passing resemblance to the de Havilland Chipmunk. The first prototype flew toward the end of the forties, replacing Bücker trainers that had been in use previously and were starting to show their age. After around 160 airframes had been produced, the wings were upgraded to metal construction, and these improved airframes went into service as the C-105 with the Czech Air Force in the early 50s. The next upgrade was to the engine, installing a 6-cylinder version of the Walter Minor engine that was previously only a four-cylinder motor, with a suitable increase in power and its product number to Z-226. There have been further variants of the type over the years, including the Z-226A, which is an aerobatic aircraft, and the single seat versions were appropriately called the Akrobat. The Kit This is a reboxing of a kit that originated in 2013 as a Z-205, the range having broadened to depict the Z-126 in between times, with its last outing in 2018 as a speciality boxing relating to a film. This new boxing has new decals to depict three colourful aircraft, and arrives in an end-opening box with two sprues in grey styrene, a clear part, decals and instruction booklet printed in colour on a folded sheet of A4. The profiles for the decal options can be found on the back of the box, which can be cross-referenced with the table on the front of the instructions that gives colours in local Czech brand Agama and the more widely available Humbrol codes. Detail is good, with engraved panel lines, detailed cockpit, plus raised and recessed features around the model. Construction begins with painting the instrument panels using the instructions provided, then doing the same for the seats, and a form behind one of the panels. The control columns and rudder pedals are painted and applied to the long cockpit floor, with a stepped rear fitted at the same time as the crew seats, which both have decal seatbelts. After detail painting the interiors of the fuselage halves, the cockpit can be fitted into the starboard side, and the fuselage closed, dealing with the seams, then moving on to the engine cowling, which is in two halves plus an internal bulkhead with radiator detail moulded-in that will be seen dimly though the tiny cut-outs in the front cowling. Four tiny exhaust pipes are glued to recesses to the cowling and painted a rusty brown for installation on the fuselage later in the build. First however, the cockpit has its two instrument panels and backing forms applied, supported by the fuselage sides, taking care to put the correct one in each station. The lower wing is single span, and is mated with the fuselage along with the separate upper wings, adding the combined fin and rudder part, and the elevators at the rear. The airframe is completed by gluing the single canopy part over the cockpit cut-out, fitting the engine cowling and two-bladed prop at the front. The model is raised from the bench by fixing the two main gear struts and their wheels under the wings on pegs, and the small tail strut with moulded-in wheel slides into a hole under the tail fin. Markings There are three decal options on the sheet, each one looking substantially different, and from a different country from the others, which should give a broader appeal. 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 To this reviewer’s eyes, the Z-126 looks like a Chipmunk with a fastback conversion, and that is quite appealing. Detail is good, the markings options disparate, and she’s a small aircraft that won’t take up much space in the stash or the cabinet. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Kovozávody Prostějov (KP) is to release, in Q1 2021, 1/48th Avia BH-9 "Boska" kits. Sources: http://www.modelarovo.cz/novinky-kovozavody-prostejov-na-1-q-2021/ http://www.modelarovo.cz/novinky-kp-az-model-na-brezen/ - ref. KPM4818 - Avia BH-9 Boska - ref. KPM4819 - Avia BH-9 Boska single V.P.

Kovozávody Prostějov (KP) is to re-release the AZmodel 1/72nd Avro 626 Prefect kit - ref. KPM0413 Source: https://www.kovozavody.cz/produkt/avro-626-prefect/ V.P.

Re-releasein December 2019 by Kovozávody Prostějov (KP) a 1/72nd LET L-13 "Blaník" kit - ref. KPM0157 Sources: http://www.modelarovo.cz/novinky-kp-az-plastikova-zima-2019/ http://ksmodel.pl/sklep/szczegoly/let-l-13-blanik-1-72-20886/ Box art + schemes V.P.

Kovozávody Prostějov (KP) is to release in 2019 a new tool 1/72nd Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19S "Farmer-C" kit Source: https://www.facebook.com/kovop/posts/924692617724588 V.P.

Kovozávody Prostějov (http://www.kovozavody.cz/) back with two 1/72nd Zlin C-205 & Z-226M kits - ref. M7201 & M7202. Source: http://modelweb.modelforum.cz/2014/04/11/kovozavody-prostejov-novinky-duben-2014/?lang=CS V.P.

Kovozávody Prostějov (KP) is to re-release 1/72nd Zlín Z-142 kits - ref. KPM0142 - Zlín Z-142 Source: https://www.kovozavody.cz/produkt/zlin-z-142/ - ref. KPM0143 - Zlín Z-142 Military Source: https://www.kovozavody.cz/produkt/zlin-z-142-military/ V.P.

Bell AH-1G Huey Cobra ‘International’ (KPM0380) 1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov The AH-1 Cobra was the first dedicated production Gunship or Attack Helicopter to see US service as a new type of weapons platform. During the Vietnam war the US Army began to see the need for armed helicopter to escort its unarmed UH-1 Hueys into combat. Fortunately, Bell Helicopters had been independently investigating helicopter gunships as early as the late 1950s, so in 1962 Bell was able to display a mock up concept to the US Army, featuring a 20mm gun pod, and a ball turret mounted grenade launcher. It was felt by the Army to be lightweight, under powered and unsuitable. Following this the US Army launched and Advanced Aerial Fire Support System (AAFSS) competition, which gave rise to the Lockheed AH-56 Cheyenne heavy attack helicopter that proved to be too technologically advanced and therefore risky for its time, eventually being cancelled in 1972 after 10 years of development (some things never change). Despite the failure of the AAFSS programme, Bell stuck with its idea of a smaller, lighter gunship and invested its own money developing the AH-1 further. They used as many of the proven components they could from the UH-1 platform, adding these to a newly designed slender fuselage that had a minimal frontal profile, making it harder to hit. When The US Army later asked for plans for an interim gunship for use in Vietnam, Bell was in a fortunate position to be able to offer the ready-made AH-1, or the Bell 209 as it was called internally. Given the work Bell had already done, the programme was completed in a relatively rapid eight months and won the evaluation battle against the competition. In 1966 the US Army signed an initial contract for 110 aircraft. Some slight modifications were made to the production airframes, replacing the heavy armoured glass canopy with Plexiglas to improve performance. Wider rotor blades were fitted and the original retracting skids were replaced by simple fixed units. The G model was the initial 1966 production model gunship for the US Army, with one 1,400shp (1,000 kW) Avco Lycoming T53-13 turboshaft. Bell built over 1,100 AH-1Gs between 1967 and 1973, and the Cobras would go on to fly over a million operational hours in Vietnam, losing approximately 300 to combat shoot-downs and accidents during the war. The U.S. Marine Corps would use AH-1G Cobra in Vietnam for a short period before acquiring more damage resilient twin-engined AH-1J Cobras. The M-35 Gun System was a single M195 20mm cannon (a short-barrelled version of the six-barrel M61A1 Vulcan) on the port inboard pylon of the AH-1G, with 950 rounds of ammunition stored in boxes faired to the side of the aircraft. The system was primarily pilot controlled, but featured dual controls so it could be either pilot or gunner controlled by an M73 sight. The AH-1 went on to serve the US Army until it was replaced by the AH-64 Apache, the last one leaving active service in 1999. The Kit This is a re-release with new parts of the original tooling from 2013, and arrives in an end-opening box with a painting of the subject on the front, and the decal profiles on the rear. Inside is one full-sized sprue in sand-coloured styrene in a resealable bag, a clear sprue in its own Ziploc bag, a sheet of decals and a folded A4 instruction booklet that is printed in colour and has a sprue diagram plus a little history of the type on the front page. Detail is good throughout, and there is no flash to speak of, with engraved panel lines and crisp raised and recessed details. Construction begins with creation of the cockpits and a few other assemblies, starting with the instrument panels, which have a highly detailed painting guide provided as step 1 and 2. The front panel has its coaming moulded-in and needs a little shaving off the bottom edge, while the rear panel has a larger separate part for the coaming, plus a choice of two styles of HUD, then the cockpit tub is decorated with crew controls, one of which is made by stretching sprue from the runners to different diameters and gluing them together to create the collective stick for the pilot in the rear. The armoured wing-back seats with decal seatbelts are then installed along with the two instrument panels, finishing the cockpit, and moving on to making the two-part fuel tanks, one for each side, and the gun turret for under the nose. Each barrel is inserted into a curved plate, which is slotted into the turret, leaving the plates inside the turret, while the barrels project from the two slots in the front. The fuselage halves are painted in two areas with black for the cockpit and gunmetal for the rotorhead area, after which the cockpit and quilted rear bulkhead are inserted into the starboard side, with a circular platform placed on a ledge inside the rotorhead area. The fuselage is joined after adding the exhaust trunk, and the rotor is made up from the blades and control arms, which locate on the circular part within the rotorhead cowling, then adding a choice of short or extended exhaust lips at the end of the trunking. The canopy is made up from the fixed roof/windscreen and two side panes on each side, with the option of leaving the openers closed or ajar, as you wish. Under the tail is a wire bumper, then your selection of fin is joined to the tail boom and has the rotors with control ‘crown’ fitted on left or right sides, depending on which tail you have installed. Stabiliser fins are inserted into slots around the centre of the tail boom, as are the winglets with tips and pylons glued to them before they are fixed in place further forward. The main gear consists of a pair of skids under the fuselage on curved supports, adding a bulkhead behind the turret before gluing that in place along with the fuel tanks and a pair of rocket pods that are each made from two halves to make the cylindrical body, plus a pair of end-caps with the nose/tail of the rockets moulded-in. Some decal options have a blade antenna under the fuselage, so check your choice and glue it in place or otherwise. Markings There are four options on the decal sheet, and you can see the profiles on the back of the box. There’s a choice of colour options between blue Spanish Navy birds and green Israeli airframes. The colours are marked out in oval swatches with names under them, showing no allegiance to any paint brand’s colour codes. From the box you can build one of the following: The decals appear to be printed using the same digital processes as Eduard are now using, and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. I mention Eduard because from 2021, 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 Another welcome reboxing of a good quality kit from KP in some more interesting schemes, with good quality decals and decent clear parts at a pretty appealing price. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

MiG-19P ‘Farmer’ Warsaw Pact (KPM0391) 1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov The project that was to become the MiG-19 started as a requirement from the Soviet Authorities for a second-generation jet that was capable of supersonic speeds in level flight, and with a higher altitude ceiling that was necessary to intercept the US balloon incursions (sound familiar?), overflights by US operated Canberras, and the rumours that America was working on the U-2 Spy plane that could fly higher than any of their then current weapons systems. To increase thrust, two engines were used, widening the rear fuselage, and adding afterburners to further improve performance. There was also a need to mount a radar to give the aircraft the capability of all-weather flight, which was mounted in the nose of some variants in a fairing small enough that it didn’t interfere with the intake. They were initially equipped with cannons that were relocated from under the nose in previous designs into the wing roots, reducing the likelihood of ingestion by the engine of the fumes that could cause dangerous surges. The early models were soon upgraded with improved aerodynamics, such as the P, which benefitted from an all-moving tail plane, a basic radar, and 30mm cannons in the wings, and later in its life it had the capability of launching the new Atoll air-to-air missiles. The PM built on this by removing the cannons completely, and replacing then with beam-riding air-to-air Alkali missiles. Further variants followed with other missiles under the wings, additonal avionics and ground-control links, day-fighters, reconnaissance aircraft, with many attempts to push the type’s altitude limits to intercept the US overflights that continued effectively unchallenged, until finally the type was relegated to use as a target drone after it was phased out of frontline service. The Kit This is the latest in a line of releases from KP that started with the MiG-19S and its numerous overseas and license-built sub-variants, and now we have the PM. The kit arrives in a medium end-opening box with a painting of the subject firing one of its missiles, as his wingman peels off to starboard. On the rear of the box are the profiles that will be of use when painting and decaling the model. Inside are two sprues in grey styrene, a clear canopy in its own Ziploc bag, decal sheet and the instruction booklet in folded A4, printed in colour. Detail is good, with engraved panel lines plus raised and recessed details, and decals provided for the instrument panel and side consoles. Construction begins with the creation of the bifurcated intake trunks down the sides of the nose gear bay and cockpit, which has decals applied to the rear portion to detail them as the side walls. The starboard side has a small bulkhead fitted to split it from the cockpit, which then allows the cockpit to be built, starting with the instrument panel that is glued against the back of the bulkhead with a decal for the dials, the floor, rudder pedals and control column are inserted, stabilised at the rear by another bulkhead, a turtle-deck behind it, and the ejection seat with decal belts on an upstand at the rear of the cockpit. With the cockpit complete, the fuselage halves are joined together, adding 10g of weight over the nose gear bay, and a choice of two styles of fin, although this boxing appears to suit part 6 as the panel lines match up. Inserts are added beneath the cockpit and to the sides of the wing root, and the nose is completed by fitting the splitter-plate, covered over by the intake lip and radome fairing. The canopy has a rear deck fitted inside, and it is then glued in place over the cockpit opening after painting the coaming and rear deck. The wings are each put together from two halves, adding a fence and two small parts to the gear bay edges, and filling a small square depression on the upper wing root, leaving the gun barrels on the wing roots, as is appropriate for this earlier model. The completed wings are slotted into the sides of the fuselage, adding the elevators to the rear, and making the exhausts by sliding the trunking into the holes in the tail fairing before gluing it into position. The next task is to make up the tricycle landing gear. The nose leg has one side of the yoke moulded-in, adding the other side around the wheel, then fitting a retraction strut at an angle before inserting it in the bay and adding the doors to the sides. The main gear legs are simpler, and have half of the wheel moulded-in, the other a separate part to prevent sink-marks. They are both glued in place after installing the captive bay doors to the outboard side. A small pitot is glued under the port wingtip, then the fuselage is dotted with a multitude of small intakes and other bumps, shown in four views to assist with placement, skipping step 11 as it relates to the Chinese variants. The next step adds a long probe to the starboard wingtip, and a choice of armament depending on which boxing you have. The P wears a pair of drop tanks with sway-braces on the outer stations under the wings, as missiles weren’t yet carried. Markings There are three options on the decal sheet, all in overall aluminium in the service of different Warsaw Pact countries. From the box you can build one of the following: The decals appear to be printed using the same digital processes as Eduard are now using, and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. I mention Eduard because from 2021, 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 MiG-19 was a step change from the first-generation jets fielded by the Soviet Union and its Pact members, and this model does the type justice, with plenty of detail and a choice of various operators. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Kovozávody Prostějov (KP) is to release in March 2023 1/72nd Let/Aero L-60 Brigadýr kits KP claim - https://www.modelarovo.cz/novinky-kovozavodu-prostejov-a-azmodel-na-brezen/ "Probably the most interesting novelty from the March offer will be the completely new model of the Let L-60 "Brigadyr" airplane. We will offer the model in the first four covers, others will follow." But previous KP/AZmodel records say it could be just a retool from the old AZmodel Let L-60 Brigadýr. Wait and see - ref. KPM0382 - Let L-60 Brigadýr https://www.kovozavody.cz/produkt/let-l-60-brigadyr/ - ref. KPM0383 - Let L-60 Brigadýr - export https://www.kovozavody.cz/produkt/let-l-60-brigadyr-export/ - ref. KPM0384 - Let L-60S „Brigadýr“ https://www.kovozavody.cz/produkt/let-l-60s-brigadyr/ - ref. KPM035 - Let L-60S/SF „Brigadýr“ https://www.kovozavody.cz/produkt/let-l-60s-sf-brigadyr/ V.P.

Kovozávody Prostějov (KP) is to release 1/72nd SIAI-Marchetti S.211/Aermacchi M-311 & M/T-345 kits in late August 2022. Source: https://www.modelarovo.cz/siai-s-211-m-345-1-72-novinka-kovozavodu-prostejov/ SIAI-Marchetti/Grumman S.211 - US Navy Alenia Aermacchi M-311 Aermacchi M-345NO or T-345A SIAI-Marchetti S.211 - I-RAIX V.P.

KP (Kovozávody Prostejov) is to release a 1/72nd family of Lavoshkin La-5 fighters: La-5, La-5F, La-5FN & ULa-5 (La-5UTI). Release expected in February 2015. (updated) Source: http://modelweb.modelforum.cz/2014/09/06/nova-la-5/?lang=CS V.P.

Aero L-159A/E Alca Special Markings (KPM0386) 1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov The L-39 was a fast jet trainer that was designed and manufactured in Czechoslovakia (as was) as a direct replacement for the earlier L-29 Delfin. It had success in its roles, and received numerous upgrades that resulted in new designations, and since the dismantling of the Soviet Union, some have found their way into private hands throughout the west, and they are often seen at airshows. It first flew in 1971, and was hoped to become the standard trainer across the Union, and following numerous upgrades by 1977 the ZA variant was put into service, fitted with a cannon and four hard-points for mounting various weapons in the Light Attack role. With the Soviet Union gone, the orders began to dry up, and an updated L-159 was produced in partnership with Boeing, using more modern avionics. To differentiate, it was called the Alca and first flew in 1997, with an order for 150 from the Czech government, deliveries starting at the beginning of the new millennium. The order was cut back due to budgetary issues, and the aircraft went into storage, eventually to be resold to Iraq where it has seen action against IS, and to Draken International, to be used for aggressor training. Following success with its new owners, the production line was restarted with modified airframes in single and two-seater guises. The Kit This is a reboxing of a 2018 tooling of the two-seater that has had additional parts to create a single-seat variant in previous boxings, but this version includes new decal options to warrant the “Special Markings” suffix. The A variant is the single seat Alca, while the E designation refers to the export version of the A. Like many of KP Models’ 1:72 kits, it arrives in a small end-opening box with a painting of the subject flying alongside a Spitfire in similar WWII livery, and on the rear are the profiles of the decal options in full colour. Inside are two sprues in grey styrene, a small clear sprue in a Ziploc bag, decal sheet, and the instruction booklet, which is printed in colour on folded A4 paper. Detail is good, with raised and recessed features throughout, including finely engraved panel lines and rivets, and a well-appointed cockpit. Construction begins with the landing gear for a change, starting with the nose gear leg, fitting the wheel between the legs of the yoke, and adding a detail part behind the pivot. The main gear legs are angled to the rear and have their wheels applied over the brake discs, then these assemblies are put to the side for later use. The ejection seat is next, adding sides to the seat, plus a bulky headbox, and an undocumented seatbelt decal to add extra interest. The cockpit is standard across boxings, having space for two seats moulded into it, as well as the side consoles, and a location for the separate control column and a pair of bulkheads that fix at the back of the forward cockpit and at the very rear. The seat and instrument panel are installed in the front, adding rudder pedals to the rear of the panel before you glue it in place, then building an avionics rack to fill the rear space, which is then mostly hidden by installing a three-sided cover over it, so judge for yourself how much will be seen. The exhaust for the single Honeywell/ITEC F124 turbofan engine is made from two halves with a rendition of the rear of the engine covering the forward end, and this too is put to the side while the two fuel tanks are built from two halves each, and a gun pod is made from two vertically split halves plus the twin muzzles. The fuselage halves are closed around the cockpit and exhaust, then the two intakes with separate splitter plates are fixed to the front of the sponsons on the sides of the fuselage, where a bit of dark paint will hide the dead-stop of the air-flow. A spine part covers the top of the fuselage, and coaming plus HUD glazing is added to the front of the cockpit cut-out over the instrument panel. The lower wings are full span and have the upper wing halves laid over the top before they are mated to the underside of the fuselage, adding the elevators to butt-joints either side of the moulded-in fin, which would benefit from pins to strengthen the joint. The canopy is glued over the cockpit, and two clear domes are added to the wingtips, inserting a pitot in each wing’s leading-edge 10mm from the tip fairings to complete the upper portion of the model. Underneath, the nose gear leg is inserted into a hole between the closed bay doors, and the main gear legs with additional captive doors fit into holes in the underside of the wings, adding three pylons outboard, the fuel tanks fitting to the innermost one. The gun pod fits on a small pylon on the centreline behind the nose gear, then it’s a case of adding a blade antenna under the nose, and a blister under the tail to complete the model. Markings There are three options available on the decal sheet, with full profiles on the back of the box, surrounded by oval colour swatches that show the colour names in English and Czech. From the box you can build one of the following: The decals appear to be printed using the same digital processes as Eduard are now using, and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. I mention Eduard because from 2021, 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 nicely detailed model with three interesting decal options, especially the retro WWII choice, but the aggressors are both attractive alternatives. It’s a shame there’s no open canopy option, but not everyone likes those anyway. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

AGO C-IV Late (KPM0398) 1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov The C-IV was a two-seat German reconnaissance biplane from WWI that was introduced in 1916, but wasn’t well-received due to some negative characteristics, namely being unstable in flight. The initial orders were large from German and overseas customers, but these were scaled back appreciably in light of the early experiences of the flight crews. An attempt to solve the instability was made by installing a fin in front of the small comma-shaped rudder amongst other improvements, but despite this the orders weren’t reinstated, resulting on fewer than 100 being built overall. It was powered by a Benz straight-6 water-cooled engine that produced a respectable (for the day) 220 hp, and had a distinctive vertical exhaust that pushed the fumes over the heads of the crew and away into the slipstream at a relatively spritely 120mph maximum speed. The Kit This is the third boxing of a brand-new tooling from Kovozávody Prostějov, and like most of their 1:72 kits, it arrives in a small end-opening box with a painting of the type on the front, plus the decal options on the rear of the box in full colour. Inside are two sprues of grey styrene, a small sheet of clear acetate with the shape of the windscreens printed on it, a decal sheet and the instruction booklet, which is printed in colour on a sheet of folded A4. Detail is good, and includes plenty of raised and engraved features, plus a well-detailed engine and internal details moulded inside the fuselage. Construction begins with painting the instrument panel according to the first drawing, then creating the cockpit on its floor, adding the two seats on raised cylinders, the steering wheel (yes, it’s a wheel) and a pair of rudder pedals in front of the pilot, then applying the decal lap-belts on both seats. The engine is moulded as a single part, but is well detailed considering its size, and has the exhaust “horn” added overhead before it is trapped between the fuselage halves along with the cockpit, instrument panel and the tail skid. Inverted-V cabane struts are fitted each side of the engine, adding an MG08 machine gun to a pair of pegs on the port side strut. The rear gunner’s ring is installed over the opening and his Parabellum MG14 is fixed to the rear after adding a large magazine to the right side of the breech, with a single inverted-V strut and rectangular frame placed between the two circular cockpit openings. At the rear, the full-span elevators are placed on a recess in the deck, the part helpfully marked with the word “bottom” on the underside, unless someone was just feeling naughty? The comma-shaped rudder and fin are glued over the groove in the centre, and a pair of struts hold the fin vertical, with a mirror image pair under the elevators that do the same for them in the horizontal. The lower wings are full-span and fit in a recess under the fuselage, fixing Z-shaped vertical struts near each tip and a single strut around mid-span, taking care to line the holes up with those in the upper wings. The Z-struts are made from a V-strut with a straight strut glued to the flat front of it, and should be allowed to cure before installing it on the wing. The upper wings are two separate halves that butt-join together, and our usual advice of adding pins for strength applies here. A small tube is fixed under the starboard wing in the centre of an engraved radiator on the lower surface and you should add the two feeder hoses as you join the wings, which will doubtless be a delicate task. It would be a good idea to fit the two acetate foil windscreens before installing the upper wing for convenience’s sake, using a glue that won’t fog or melt the acetate to secure them. Under the wings, a pair of V-struts hold the aerofoil shrouded axle in position, fitting the two wheels on the ends, and adding a mechanism that looks to be some kind of latch or arrestor to the centre of the aerofoil. The last part is the two-bladed prop with moulded-in spinner that glues to the flat front of the fuselage. Markings There are two decal options on the sheet, both wearing the same camouflage scheme of brown and two shades of green over a light blue underside. From the box you can build one of the following: The decals appear to be printed using the same digital processes as Eduard are now using, and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. I mention Eduard because from 2021, 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 It may not have been a particularly good aircraft, but the tapered wings give it a more modern look, and it’s a little bit different from the norm, which is an automatic tick in the appeal box from my point of view. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Let L-60B Brigadýr Agro 1 (KPM0393) 1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov Strangely, the L-60 was a Post-WWII replacement for the German Fiesler Storch, which was license-built in Czechoslovakia during WWII as the K-65 Čáp. The initial Aero design was plagued with problems that were remedied by an extensive re-design that became the Brigadýr, which unsurprisingly stands for Brigadier in English. The re-designed aircraft first flew in 1954 with an improved flat-6 M-208B engine manufactured by Praga Doris, outputting just 190hp, but sufficient to give it the flight characteristics that made it an excellent STOL aircraft along the same lines as the Storch, with an incredibly low 32mph stall speed. An improved version with an all-metal tail was given the designation L-160, with a grand-total of fewer than 300 across all variants made by the time the production lines closed in 1960. For a relatively short-run aircraft, it was utilised in many areas of aviation, such as crop-dusting, armed trainer for the Czech Air Force, glider tug, observation aircraft and as a communications hack. The Kit This is a reboxed release of the original kit that first hit the shelves in 2008 under the AZ Model brand. There have been new parts since then, and even a radial-engined offering that was known as the L-60S, with improved power output. This edition arrives in an end-opening box with a painting of a blue-and-white Brigadýr on the front that’s spraying some unknown chemical pesticide as it goes, and the profiles for the four decal options on the back. Inside the resealable clear foil bag are two sprues of grey styrene that appear to have been moulded as one, but were nipped in half to fit inside the box. A separate Ziploc bag contains the canopy, which is moulded as a single-part blister, despite the aircraft being a high-wing monoplane. A decal sheet and instruction booklet that is made from a folded sheet of A4 and printed in colour completes the contents. The detail is good, having lots of raised and recessed elements, especially on the wings and fuselage, but the cowling for the radial engine option can be seen on the sprues too, although they aren’t needed for this boxing. Construction begins with the cockpit, with a flat floor that has four rudder pedals moulded into the front, with spaces for the individual front seats and the rear bench seat, which are marked by a scribed rectangle with an X running through it, which is replicated on the raised front seat bases. The two-part pesticide container drum takes up a portion of the rear cockpit, and despite the instructions telling you to fit the rear seats, I suspect the two components will be incompatible, so perform a test-fit before getting gluey. A control column is inserted in front of each pilot, and the front seats also have four decal seatbelts per pilot. There appears to be a firewall at the front of the floor in the instructions, although this is misleading, as the well-detailed instrument binnacle is attached directly to the front of the cockpit cut-out during closure of the fuselage, with just the addition of a rear bulkhead preventing a view into the tail. Once the seams have been dealt with, the single-part canopy is glued over the cut-out, and a drum-top with filler valve moulded-in is glued to the rear of the canopy, which is also painted over during the later stages. At the rear, the full-span elevator and tail fin are installed together, taking care to ensure they are perpendicular to each other and the rest of the airframe. An additional triangular part can be used to create a fin-fillet for two of the decal options, but the top two don’t require it. The nose is made from two halves that have the upper louvres moulded-in, and have the intake under the chin added as a separate part, with a pair of exhausts made from rod or tube from your own stock. A bulkhead is inserted into the nose on a ledge, then the intake lip closes the front of the fuselage, adding a stepped square fairing under the front of the cockpit. A pair of optional two-part bombs are depicted fixed to the underside of the fuselage, but these are for other military variants, so can be put in the spares for this boxing. The wings are moulded individually, adding the two flying surfaces to the curved trailing edges and a long pitot near the tip of the port wing. They butt-fit onto flat spots on either side of the canopy top, and would benefit from adding pegs to strengthen the joint, perhaps a single brass rod that passes through the entire canopy. The wing support struts also form part of the main gear leg arrangement, linking the sides of the fuselage to the undersides of the wing, the locations marked out in red. The gear struts are each braced by a V-support, and the wheels are fitted to the axles, with a single part for the tail-wheel and its yoke under the fin. A crew step is glued to the port fuselage side under the side window, with a scrap diagram showing the angle from the front, which also helps with the locations and angles of the wing and gear supports. The penultimate task is to add the pin to the rear of the two-bladed prop, then glue it in place in the nose of the model, fixing a landing lamp in an aerodynamic fairing under the port wing, just inboard where the supports meet the wing. It’s a styrene part, so you’ll need to either replace the front with a clear lens, or paint it silver. Under the rear of the cockpit, a drum with a groove around its circumference is installed, with a flared diffuser housing fixed into the groove at the rear to complete the build, although for the sake of painting it’s best left off until later. There is a scrap diagram showing the model from below that will help with aligning the diffuser with the airflow. If you check the profiles, you’ll also note that there are some small supports and actuators leading to and from the mechanics below the fuselage, which you could consider replicating with some stretched sprue or fine wire. Markings There are four decal options depicted on the rear of the box, all wearing different liveries, although one option doesn’t appear to have a diffuser fitted. From the box you can build one of the following: The decals appear to be printed using the same digital processes as Eduard are now using, and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. I mention Eduard because from 2021, 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 It’s a curious little post-Storch aircraft, and looks quite appealing as an airborne tractor. Detail is good with just a hint of flash here and there, and the more colourful agricultural schemes make a change from the drabness of military models. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Yokosuka D4Y2-S Judy Night Fighter (AZ7843) 1:72 AZ Model by Kovozávody Prostějov Intended as a replacement to the ageing Aichi Val, the Suisei, or Comet in English, was delayed by development issues that meant the Val had to soldier-on in service, where it racked up a substantial tally of Allied ships and other assets in the dive-bomber role. Initially powered by a license-built Daimler Benz DB601 engine, the aircraft had a high top-speed that gave it an advantage when avoiding defensive fighter screens on the way to the target, but like many Japanese designs, it lacked armour and self-sealing fuel-tanks that meant one burst of fire stood a good chance of turning it into a flaming wreck. It wasn’t until the later radial-engined 4 variant that such niceties as armoured glass and cockpit armour were introduced, too little, too late, as all the experienced pilots had already met their doom. Although it was intended as a dive bomber, its speed led to its use as reconnaissance aircraft, as well as a night fighter, and late in the war it was also used in kamikaze attacks, having the unfortunate distinction of being the aircraft used in the last attack of the kind of WWII, ironically just after the Japanese surrender documents had been signed. It was equipped with a pair of forward-firing .303 machine guns throughout its service, and a rear machine gun for the gunner in the back of the long greenhouse canopy, which was upgraded to a more powerful 13mm weapon in later variants to improve its destructive capability, firing upward through the canopy at the bomber streams overhead. Its bomb load was only 500kg, often stored in the internal bomb bay, or as two 250kg bombs under the wings. The Kamikaze variant carried 800kg, as it wasn’t expected to make a return journey. The D4Y4 was the last version, configured to the unique requirements of kamikaze attacks, having its rear gun removed, the bomb load increased, plus windscreen and cockpit armour added, along with some protection for the fuel tanks. The end of the war curtailed the development of the D4Y5 that mounted a more powerful 2,000hp radial engine and a four-bladed prop. The Kit This is a reboxing of a kit that was originally tooled in 2012, although additional parts have been added since then, and a new decal sheet is provided for this issue. It arrives in an end-opening box, with a painting of the type on the front firing on a high-flying B-29 Super Fortress that’s part of a bomber stream, but isn’t taking it lying down, firing back from both the remote turrets on the underside. A full set of profiles can be found on the rear of the box, using Gunze paint codes to call out painting instructions. Inside the box are two sprues of grey styrene, a sprue of clear parts in its own Ziploc bag, decal sheet and instruction booklet, all tightly wrapped in a resealable clear foil bag to prevent chaffing of the parts. The instructions consist of an A5 booklet of two pages of folded A4, with spot colour on the front page, and a set of stencil profiles on the rear. Detail is good, with crisp engraved lines on the surface, and plenty of raised and recessed details incorporated on the sprues. Construction begins with the cockpit, which is assembled on a long flat floor with a raised portion in the middle that accepts the pilot’s seat and decal seatbelts, adding the control column in front, and painting the moulded-in rudder pedals. In the rear section, a single tall bottle and a rack of three more squat bottles are inserted into depressions, as is a box, and later on the rear crew seat on a rotating gun-mount frame with more decal belts applied is fitted in front of the box, and is shown facing forward. In between the crew are two radio boxes that are fixed to the upstand behind the pilot’s seat and on the floor just behind it. There is mention of Photo-Etch (PE) parts in the cockpit, but this is a generic Judy instruction sheet, and refers to another boxing. The instrument panel is blank, and has two decals applied to depict the dials instead of PE, and these should be applied after painting the panel, as the dials are printed on a clear carrier film. The cockpit and instrument panel are sandwiched between the two fuselage halves along with the tail wheel, and here there is some ribbing and other detail moulded into the interior that will benefit from some careful painting to accentuate them. The lower wing is a single-span part that incorporates part of the lower fuselage, and this has the two gear bays inserted from within along with a clear window in the cockpit floor before it is joined to the upper wings and mated with the fuselage. The gear bays also have some ribbing moulded-in to add detail to your model, as well as sockets for the gear legs that are installed later. First, a choice of large or small tail fins is butt-jointed with the fuselage, as are the elevators, and all these would benefit from pinning for extra strength, even at this scale. The larger fin is appropriate for this boxing, so toss part 8 into the spares bin early on to avoid confusion. Both cowling types are included on the sprues, but you can ignore step 9 for this issue, as the early Judies had in-line engines. The cowling is made from two halves, into which the exhaust stacks are slotted into grooves at the sides, adding the three-part chin intake below, then applying the spinner to the three-bladed prop and inserting the shaft into the hole in the nose. The diagrams all have their appropriate variants included in text on the left, so making a mistake would require some effort to ignore them, which is good. The main gear is next to be made, fitting the wheels to the end of the struts, and adding the captive bay door over the open side to trap the wheel in place, doing the same in mirror-image for the other leg. It is worth noting however that the upper end of the bay door should be cut off to create a small additional door that rests almost flat against the wing once installed, so cut those before you glue them to the legs. A few scrap diagrams help you with the correct alignment of the landing gear parts, and show the angle for the inner bay doors. A small pair of doors are fitted to the tail gear bay, with an arrestor hook only fitted to certain options, due to a dwindling number of carriers the Japanese navy had nearer the end of the war. There is a common roll-over bar with V-brace support fitted between the cockpits, then a choice of guns for a couple of specialised sub-variants of which this is one. The night fighter has a forward-angled upward firing 13mm machine gun mounted on the floor in the rear cockpit in a similar manner to the German’s Schräge Musik that was intended to take down bombers from beneath their poorly defended undersides, as evidenced on the box art. Three of the four canopy steps can be ignored, taking note of step 17, which has the canopy installed in the front of the cockpit cut-out with a telescopic sight projecting through a hole, and you must also drill in the main canopy to accommodate the machine gun in the rear cockpit. The canopy is a single part depicting the rest of the greenhouse, adding a radio mast around the mid-point of the framework, for which you’ll need to provide your own wire/thread to connect it to the top of the tail fin, as per the top diagram of the stencil profiles. Drilling the hole in the clear canopy may sound terrifying, but if you take care, make a pilot mark with a needle or awl to avoid slipping, and don’t press too hard with your drill bit, filling the canopy interior with a piece of Blutak to help prevent damage, it shouldn’t be too scary. Markings There are three options on the decal sheet, and although they all wear the same green over grey camouflage with a wiggly demarcation, their tail codes will separate them in a line-up. From the box you can build one of the following: The decals have been designed by Rising Decals, and appear to be printed using the same digital processes as Eduard are now using, having good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. I mention Eduard because from 2021, 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 welcome re-release of this initial version of the night fighter Judy that is well-detailed, and from my own point of view is a more attractive option than the later radial-engined options. What amounts to carrier-free decals also adds to the appeal. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Let L-60 Brigadýr Export (KPM0383) 1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov Strangely, the L-60 was a Post-WWII replacement for the German Fiesler Storch, which was license-built in Czechoslovakia during WWII as the K-65 Čáp. The initial Aero design was plagued with problems that were remedied by an extensive re-design that became the Brigadýr, which unsurprisingly stands for Brigadier in English. The re-designed aircraft first flew in 1954 with an improved flat-6 M-208B engine manufactured by Praga Doris, outputting just 190hp, but sufficient to give it the flight characteristics that made it an excellent STOL aircraft along the same lines as the Storch, with an incredibly low 32mph stall speed. An improved version with an all-metal tail was given the designation L-160, with a grand-total of fewer than 300 across all variants made by the time the production lines closed in 1960. For a relatively short-run aircraft, it was utilised in many areas of aviation, such as crop-dusting, armed trainer for the Czech Air Force, glider tug, observation aircraft and as a communications hack. The Kit This is a reboxed release of the original kit that first hit the shelves in 2008 under the AZ Model brand. There have been new parts since then, and even a radial-engined offering that was known as the L-60S, with improved power output. This edition arrives in an end-opening box with a painting of a blue-and-white Brigadýr on the front, and the profiles for the three decal options on the back. Inside the resealable clear foil bag are two sprues of grey styrene that appear to have been moulded as one, but were nipped in half to fit inside the box. A separate Ziploc bag contains the canopy, which is moulded as a single-part blister, despite the aircraft being a high-wing monoplane. A decal sheet and instruction booklet that is made from a folded sheet of A4 and printed in colour completes the contents. The detail is good, having lots of raised and recessed elements, especially on the wings and fuselage, but the cowling for the radial engine option can be seen on the sprues too, although they aren’t needed for this boxing. Construction begins with the cockpit, with a flat floor that has four rudder pedals moulded into the front, with spaces for the individual front seats and the rear bench seat, which are marked by a scribed rectangle with an X running through it, which is replicated on the raised front seat bases. A control column is inserted in front of each pilot, and the front seats also have four decal seatbelts per pilot. There appears to be a firewall at the front of the floor in the instructions, although this is misleading, as the well-detailed instrument binnacle is attached directly to the front of the cockpit cut-out during closure of the fuselage, with just the addition of a rear bulkhead preventing a view into the tail. Once the seams have been dealt with, the single-part canopy is glued over the cut-out, then at the rear the full-span elevator and tail fin are installed together, taking care to ensure they are perpendicular to each other and the rest of the airframe. An additional triangular part can be used to create a fin-fillet for some versions, but the decal options for this boxing don’t require it. The nose is made from two halves that have the upper louvres moulded-in, and have the intake under the chin added as a separate part, with a pair of exhausts made from rod or tube from your own stock. A bulkhead is inserted into the nose on a ledge, then the intake lip closes the front of the fuselage, adding a stepped square fairing under the front of the cockpit. A pair of optional two-part bombs are depicted fixed to the underside of the fuselage, but these are for other military variants, so can be put in the spares for this boxing. The wings are moulded individually, adding the two flying surfaces to the curved trailing edges and a long pitot near the tip of the port wing. They butt-fit onto flat spots on either side of the canopy top, and would benefit from adding pegs to strengthen the joint, perhaps a single brass rod that passes through the entire canopy. The wing support V-struts also form part of the main gear leg arrangement, linking the sides of the fuselage to the undersides of the wing, the locations marked out in red. The gear struts are each also braced by a smaller V-support, and the wheels are fitted to the axles, with a single part for the tail-wheel and its yoke under the fin. A crew step is glued to the port fuselage side under the door, with a scrap diagram showing the correct angle from the front, which also helps with the locations and angles of the wing and gear supports. The final job is to add the shaft to the rear of the two-bladed prop, then glue it in place in the nose of the model, fixing a landing lamp in an aerodynamic fairing under the port wing, just inboard of where the supports meet the wing. It’s a styrene part, so you’ll need to either replace the front with a clear lens, or paint it silver. Markings There are three decal options depicted on the rear of the box, all in civilian service, hence the lack of need for the bombs. From the box you can build one of the following: The decals appear to be printed using the same digital processes as Eduard are now using, and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. I mention Eduard because from 2021, 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 It’s a curious little post-Storch aircraft, and will likely cause some misidentification from the unwary. Detail is good with just a hint of flash here and there, and the more colourful civil schemes make a change from the drabness of military models. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Bell AH-1G Cobra Early/Late (KPM0378) 1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov The AH-1 Cobra was the first dedicated production Gunship or Attack Helicopter to see US service as a new type of weapons platform. During the Vietnam war the US Army began to see the need for armed helicopter to escort its unarmed UH-1 Hueys into combat. Fortunately, Bell Helicopters had been independently investigating helicopter gunships as early as the late 1950s, so in 1962 Bell was able to display a mock up concept to the US Army, featuring a 20mm gun pod, and a ball turret mounted grenade launcher. It was felt by the Army to be lightweight, under powered and unsuitable. Following this the US Army launched and Advanced Aerial Fire Support System (AAFSS) competition, which gave rise to the Lockheed AH-56 Cheyenne heavy attack helicopter that proved to be too technologically advanced and therefore risky for its time, eventually being cancelled in 1972 after 10 years of development (some things never change). Despite the failure of the AAFSS programme, Bell stuck with its idea of a smaller, lighter gunship and invested its own money developing the AH-1 further. They used as many of the proven components they could from the UH-1 platform, adding these to a newly designed slender fuselage that had a minimal frontal profile, making it harder to hit. When The US Army later asked for plans for an interim gunship for use in Vietnam, Bell was in a fortunate position to be able to offer the ready-made AH-1, or the Bell 209 as it was called internally. Given the work Bell had already done, the programme was completed in a relatively rapid eight months and won the evaluation battle against the competition. In 1966 the US Army signed an initial contract for 110 aircraft. Some slight modifications were made to the production airframes, replacing the heavy armoured glass canopy with Plexiglas to improve performance. Wider rotor blades were fitted and the original retracting skids were replaced by simple fixed units. The G model was the initial 1966 production model gunship for the US Army, with one 1,400shp (1,000 kW) Avco Lycoming T53-13 turboshaft. Bell built over 1,100 AH-1Gs between 1967 and 1973, and the Cobras would go on to fly over a million operational hours in Vietnam, losing approximately 300 to combat shoot-downs and accidents during the war. The U.S. Marine Corps would use AH-1G Cobra in Vietnam for a short period before acquiring more damage resilient twin-engined AH-1J Cobras. The M-35 Gun System was a single M195 20mm cannon (a short-barrelled version of the six-barrel M61A1 Vulcan) on the port inboard pylon of the AH-1G, with 950 rounds of ammunition stored in boxes faired to the side of the aircraft. The system was primarily pilot controlled, but featured dual controls so it could be either pilot or gunner controlled by an M73 sight. The AH-1 went on to serve the US Army until it was replaced by the AH-64 Apache, the last one leaving active service in 1999. The Kit This is a re-release with new parts of the original tooling from 2013, and arrives in an end-opening box with a painting of the subject on the front, and the decal profiles on the rear. Inside is one full-sized sprue in sand-coloured styrene in a resealable bag, a clear sprue in its own Ziploc bag, a sheet of decals and a folded A4 instruction booklet that is printed in colour and has a sprue diagram plus a little history of the type on the front page. Detail is good throughout, and there is no flash to speak of, with engraved panel lines and crisp raised and recessed details. Construction begins with creation of the cockpits and a few other assemblies, starting with the instrument panels, which have a highly detailed painting guide provided as step 1 and 2. The front panel has its coaming moulded-in, while the rear panel has a larger separate part for the coaming, plus a choice of two styles of HUD, then the cockpit tub is decorated with crew controls, one of which is made by stretching sprue from the runners to different diameters and gluing them together to create the collective stick for the pilot in the rear. The wing-back seats with decal seatbelts are then installed along with the two instrument panels, finishing the cockpit, and moving on to making the two-part fuel tanks, one for each side, and the gun turret for under the nose. Each barrel is inserted into a curved plate, which is slotted into the turret, leaving the plates inside the turret, while the barrels project from the two slots in the front. The fuselage halves are pre-painted in two areas with black for the cockpit and gunmetal for the rotorhead area, after which the cockpit and quilted rear bulkhead are inserted into the starboard side, with a circular platform placed on a ledge inside the rotorhead area. The fuselage is joined after adding the exhaust trunk, and the rotor is made up from the blades and control arms, which locate on the circular part within the rotorhead cowling, then adding a choice of short or extended exhaust lips at the end of the trunking. The canopy is made up from the fixed roof/windscreen and two side panes on each side, with the option of leaving the openers closed or ajar, as you wish. Under the tail is a wire bumper, then two choices of fin are joined to the tail boom and have the rotors with control ‘crown’ fitted on left or right sides, depending on which tail you have installed. Stabiliser fins are inserted into slots around the centre of the tail boom, as are the winglets with tips and pylons glued to them before they are fixed in place further forward. The main gear consists of a pair of skids under the fuselage on curved supports, adding a bulkhead behind the turret before gluing that in place along with the fuel tanks and a pair of rocket pods that are each made from two halves to make the cylindrical body, plus a pair of end-caps with the nose/tail of the rockets moulded-in. Markings There are three options on the decal sheet, and you can see the profiles on the back of the box. There’s a wide range of colour options from a blue Navy bird through green Marines to an Army airframe in Vietnam camo. The colours are marked out in oval swatches with names under them, showing no allegiance to any paint brand’s colour codes. From the box you can build one of the following: The decals appear to be printed using the same digital processes as Eduard are now using, and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. I mention Eduard because from 2021, 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 welcome reboxing of a good quality kit from KP in some interesting schemes, good quality decals and decent clear parts at a pretty good price. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

MiG-19PM ‘Farmer’ over Europe (KPM0389) 1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov The project that was to become the MiG-19 started as a requirement from the Soviet Authorities for a second-generation jet that was capable of supersonic speeds in level flight, and with a higher altitude ceiling that was necessary to intercept the US balloon incursions (sound familiar?), overflights by US operated Canberras, and the rumours that America was working on the U-2 Spy plane that could fly higher than any of their then current weapons systems. To increase thrust, two engines were used, widening the rear fuselage, and adding afterburners to further improve performance. There was also a need to mount a radar to give the aircraft the capability of all-weather flight, which was mounted in the nose of some variants in a fairing small enough that it didn’t interfere with the intake. They were initially equipped with cannons that were relocated from under the nose in previous designs into the wing roots, reducing the likelihood of ingestion by the engine of the fumes that could cause dangerous surges. The early models were soon upgraded with improved aerodynamics, such as the P, which benefitted from an all-moving tail plane, a basic radar, and 30mm cannons in the wings, and later in its life it had the capability of launching the new Atoll air-to-air missiles. The PM built on this by removing the cannons completely, and replacing then with beam-riding air-to-air Alkali missiles. Further variants followed with other missiles under the wings, additional avionics and ground-control links, day-fighters, reconnaissance aircraft, with many attempts to push the type’s altitude limits to intercept the US overflights that continued effectively unchallenged, until finally the type was relegated to use as a target drone after it was phased out of frontline service. The Kit This is the latest in a line of releases from KP that started with the MiG-19S and its numerous overseas and license-built sub-variants, and now we have the PM. The kit arrives in a medium end-opening box with a painting of the subject firing one of its missiles, as his wingman peels off to starboard. On the rear of the box are the profiles that will be of use when painting and decaling the model. Inside are two sprues in grey styrene, a clear canopy in its own Ziploc bag, decal sheet and the instruction booklet in folded A4, printed in colour. Detail is good, with engraved panel lines plus raised and recessed details, and decals provided for the instrument panel and side consoles. Construction begins with the creation of the bifurcated intake trunks down the sides of the nose gear bay and cockpit, which has decals applied to the rear portion to detail them as the side walls. The starboard side has a small bulkhead fitted to split it from the cockpit, which then allows the cockpit to be built, starting with the instrument panel that is glued against the back of the bulkhead with a decal for the dials, the floor, rudder pedals and control column are inserted, stabilised at the rear by another bulkhead, a turtle-deck behind it, and the ejection seat with decal belts on an upstand at the rear of the cockpit. With the cockpit complete, the fuselage halves are joined together, adding 10g of weight over the nose gear bay, and a choice of two styles of fin, depending in which decal option you have chosen. Inserts are added beneath the cockpit and to the sides of the wing root, and the nose is completed by fitting the splitter-plate, covered over by the intake lip and radome fairing. The canopy has a deck fitted in the rearmost section, and is glued in place over the cockpit opening after painting the coaming and rear deck. The wings are each put together from two halves, adding a fence and two small parts to the gear bay edges, and filling a small square depression on the upper wing root, nipping off the gun barrels from the wing roots, and making good. The completed wings are slotted into the sides of the fuselage, adding the elevators to the rear, and making the exhausts by sliding the trunking into the holes in the tail fairing before gluing it into position. The next task is to make up the tricycle landing gear. The nose leg has one side of the yoke moulded-in, adding the other side around the wheel, then fitting a retraction strut at an angle before inserting it in the bay and adding the doors to the sides. The main gear legs are simpler, and have half of the wheel moulded-in, the other a separate part to prevent sink-marks. They are both glued in place after installing the captive bay doors to the outboard side. A small pitot is glued under the port wingtip, then the fuselage is dotted with a multitude of small intakes and other bumps, shown in four views to assist with placement, skipping step 11 as it relates to the Chinese variants. The next step adds a long probe to the starboard wingtip, and a choice of armament depending on which boxing you have. The PM weapons include a pair of optional drop tanks with sway-braces on the outer stations under the wings, plus four RS-2U (AA-1) Alkali missiles, which have separate perpendicular fins and a pylon with overhangs fore and aft. Markings There are three options on the decal sheet, one in camouflage, the other two in overall aluminium. From the box you can build one of the following: The scanner has imparted a slightly pinkish tone to the reds on the sheet, but they're not like that IRL The decals appear to be printed using the same digital processes as Eduard are now using, and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. I mention Eduard because from 2021, 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 MiG-19 was a step change from the first-generation jets fielded by the Soviet Union, and this model does the type justice, with plenty of detail and a good depiction of its fat butt. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Aermacchi M.416 (KPM0374) 1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov After WWII, Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker was keen to get back to work designing and building aircraft that would be of use post war. They developed the S-11 prop trainer, and by as early as 1948 it was showing promise after numerous issues had been dealt with. It was demonstrated widely to European air forces, and others further afield, such as the nascent Israel and some Southern American countries. Italy obtained a license to build 180 airframes of the S-11-3 variant themselves as the Macci M.416, which became Aermacchi as a portmanteau of Aeronautica Macchi. It was powered by a Lycoming O-435A flat-six engine that output 190hp and propelled it to a top speed of 130mph, although a cruising speed of a shade over 100mph was more fuel efficient, giving it a range a hair short of 400 miles on a good day. They were widely used by the Netherlands, Brazil, Israel and Italy, but today only a few are airworthy in private hands around the world, the rest of the remaining airframes relegated to museums, and it should be no surprise that there is an M.416 in an Italian museum, with another being restored. The Kit This boxing is based on a new tool from 2022, with new decals to suit its Italian operators, and it arrives in an end-opening box with a painting of the subject on the front, and the decal profiles on the rear in full colour. Inside is a single sprue of grey styrene, a clear sprue, decal sheet, and instruction booklet printed in colour, with line drawn profiles in black and white on the rear page. Detail is good, with crisp recessed panel lines, raised and recessed surface features, and well rendered scalloping on the aft fuselage. There has been a small amount of mould damage to one of the wheels that will be used, just where it meets with yoke, but this should be easy to repair with a sharp blade or micro-chisel if you have one. Construction begins with the cockpit floor, which has the rudder pedals and a centre console moulded-in, adding the twin control columns to marks on the floor, plus the two crew seats and their decal seatbelts on shallow raised boxes. The two main wheels are prepped by painting them up, as is the rear wheel, then the wings are made by inserting the short inner panel underneath, the landing light in the leading edges, and a cranked pitot probe in the port wing, with an optional straight version you must make yourself from plastic or brass rod. It’s a strange build order, but when do we ever stick rigidly to the instructions? The cockpit is inserted into the fuselage during closure, remembering to paint the internal details that are moulded into the fuselage halves, and adding the instrument panel under the coaming. With the fuselage closed, the front of the engine cowling is glued to the flat nose, and a pair of short lengths of rod from your own supplies are used underneath the cowlings to depict the exhausts. The tail fin is moulded into the fuselage with a separate rudder, then the elevators are butt-joined to the sides, adding the support braces beneath them. The wings are also butt-joints, and even at this scale it might be sensible to add some brass pegs to these and the elevators to give the joints extra strength during handling, especially if you’re a clumsy modeller like me. The final construction phase involves fitting the canopy over the cockpit aperture, and installing a choice of prop with or without a spinner. Speaking of the canopy, if you are feeling brave you should look at the box art and consider adding some of the various grab-handles and other details you can see there. Markings There are three options on the decal sheet, the profiles on the rear showing them all as silver finished aircraft in Italian service. From the box you can build one of the following: The decals appear to be printed using the same digital processes as Eduard are now using, and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. I mention Eduard because from 2021, 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 It’s a cute little trainer that I’d never heard of before this kit arrived, and now I want one in my preferred scale. Detail is good, and the removable carrier on the decals will be useful on a silver finish. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

When a couple of sets of etched and resin parts came back into stock from my Hannants watchlist, I accidentally bought a second reconnaissance Spitfire. In my defence, it could happen to anyone! It started out because I thought that it might be easier to sell the concept of a pink Spitfire to my other half, as my two small girls might be intrigued by it. Then I did some more research and found out that PRU pink was in fact very, very pale - almost white in fact - but I'd already latched onto the idea so bought it anyway! I'll be doing it as the well-known MK716 - I know loads of other models have been made of it, but I don't own one so I'm not that fussed that it's not uncommon A very minor bit of research shows it to have had some bleed-through of the stripes through the paint once it was overpainted again with pink later in 1944, so I might try to replicate that. The photos here also show it to be relatively mucky with some staining around the ejector ports as well as exhaust staining, so I'll try and replicate that too. It's planned to be another straight out of the box build, although I've got a couple of resin RAF pilots to hand (visible top left) and might use one of those...