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This kit is nothing less than a little miracle, from the works of Master Matías Hagen of Argentina. That a kit of this incredible quality can be produced within the severe financial and market limitations that the economy and the general conditions of the country imposes, is indeed miraculous. A fragile economy exposed to recurrent changes of policy, many times making imports/exports a challenge, is not the best environment to practice modeling in any form. Supplies, tools and imports often reach inexplicable high prices (if and when available) and the lack of incentives combined with very limited average income make the modeler's life anything but easy. Ten years ago I acquired and built one of Matías' first endeavors, another resin jewel posted here: And I am now the proud owner of the first of many projects that are soon to be released. What a pleasure when I opened the box! The exquisite quality of the masters and casting, the care put into every single part, the unbelievable level of detail, a subject that is charming and significant for the local history, all made me very happy. The box contains groups of resin parts in several bags, assembly instructions, a parts' map, historical notes (in Spanish, more on that later), a decal sheet (more on that later), detailed decoration drawings and color calls, vacuformed transparencies (two sets, for different variants) and one of those codes you point your smart phone to access a large group of reference images of the plane on Google Drive. The decal sheet is printed on clear stock with continuous carrier (i.e. you have to cut and trim individually the separate subjects), and you are advised that you have to provide the white backgrounds for some of the images that may need it (white decal stock may do, or painting the area white where required). Two different sets of props and wheels are provided, to cover different variants. This is a translation of the historical context provided with the kit instructions: The "Boyero" (a bird found in Argentina that takes its name from an oxen -"buey" in Spanish- driver) was born from the necessity of the aero clubs for a civil training plane, affordable, modern and easy to maintain. During the 30's the Dirección de Aeronáutica Civil (Civil Directorate of Aeronautics) was the authority that regulated the civil private activity and also provided the planes for the country's aero clubs. Although the Fleet 2 and 10 accomplished the role of basic training, towards the end of the decade a more up-to-date plane was required. It was recommended to the FMA (Fábrica Militar de Aviones, Military Airplane Factory) the study of a project with those characteristics, but limited to consider products from the US to shorten development times. Because of the predilection for the side-to-side configuration, it was decided to utilize as the base for the design the already known Taylorcraft B. Although the Boyero would be strongly inspired by it, it was a local development with characteristics and solutions of its own. The Boyero had a larger span and fuselage length, of rectilinear and simplified shape, wingtips with washout to delay stall and loss of lift, and single joystick that could be located in the other position. The "FMA 20" (as it was originally called) flew for the first time in the province of Córdoba in November 1940, and the second prototype followed on January 1941. After successful tests it is approved for manufacturing, the rights being ceded to the private company "Sfreddo y Paolini", but WW2 thwarted the plans. As the US entered the war, all strategic material like the Continental A50/A65 engines and chromoly tubes were no longer available. In 1942 production is suspended, the prototype goes back to Córdoba, and the second prototype is sold to the private market by Sfreddo and Paolini in 1944. Things will have to wait until 1948, a reorganization of the FMA -that will incorporate an "Instituto Aerotécnico" (IAe) -Aero-technical Institute- and the resumption of the delivery of parts, and a new license for series production. The company "Petrolini Hnos." (Petrolini Bros.) will be now in charge of revitalizing the production of the now called "IAe.20 El Boyero" that will be produced until 1952, when the last batch is delivered. The total production of the Boyero was of 129 units between 1940 and 1952. Two prototypes fabricated by the FMA, and 127 by Petrolini under license, of which 24 were assigned to the Air Force, 1 bought by a private person, and 104 assigned to diverse aero clubs through the Dirección General de Aeronáutica (General Directorate of Aeronautics). In 1965 the last Boyeros under military service were sold to the private market. Currently 24 of them survive in flying condition. Span: 11,50 mts. Lenght: 7,10 mts. Height: 1,80 mts. Weight, empty: 325 kg. Maximum take off weight: 550 kg. Engine: Continental A65 of 65 HP (Continental C75 of 75HP) Maximum speed: 158/167 kph. Cruise speed: 138/140 kph. Ceiling: 4,000 mts. Range: 650/630 km.

A little Dujin resin from a couple years ago: We modelers are truly grateful for the small/cottage kit industry. They release kits that are a joy, different, out-of-the-beaten-path and frankly delightful -and civil-. They do not posses or have access to all the resources that big industry has, so they do their best. Many times their standards are really high, and sometimes they are not really quite there. But without them, we may be condemned to a dull, repetitive endless stream of the same-old-same-old. So, to all of them, and in this case the late Monsieur Dujin, our gratitude, admiration, and support. Now, all that been said, please accompany me in another tongue-in-cheek kit adventure... The French not only created Film Noir, they also developed the Kit Noir "genre". This is a kind of kit surrounded by darkness and mystery, cast -as fate is indelibly cast- in resin, where the parts are not quite defined, as if immersed in a resin fog; their location is imprecise, and the instructions vague, arcane or nonexistent. Since French also invented Champagne, they like to give this kind of kit a "bubbly" feeling, full of little bubbles of gas; something that may have made them uplifting, but instead, when you start to fill-in all those pin holes and air bubbles, it feels more like a bad Champagne hangover. In any case, no one else would probably release those designs. So, you have to pull your sleeves up, and get at it. This little thing came in the mail courtesy of Keith Hudson, so to him my gratitude (and under-the-breath grunts). When I opened the package, I got the impression that this was a better Dujin kit than the ones I have seen or built...but it happened to be just partially so. Prop, main wheels, tail-wheel, and something indefinable that could be the landing gear legs, were so mismatched in the resin web that they merited the guillotine. The same device could have been used to separate some of the parts from the occasional resin tree. But once done and cleaned-up, most of the shapes were there, and if not perfect, seemingly pretty buildable. I got a spare seat. The prop was repaired, the tail-wheel and main wheels were replaced by Aeroclub items (from an ever-dwindling stock). The strange undefined elements will be replaced by wire, solder, or styrene rod, once their function is determined, if ever. Since Dujin kits do not have a parts' diagram, exploded view, or equivalent, you are left to enjoy the suspense. A length of wire, vacuum-formed windshields (two!) and decals are also included. Most likely the vac windshields will be replaced. I deem the decals, as usual with old Dujin kits, trash can fodder. I got new ones from Arctic Decals. The Fairey Tipsy Junior, built in Belgium by a Fairey subsidiary, was designed by (you would have never guessed) Mr. Tips. It falls outside the scope of my time-driven subject envelope, but we'll make an exception, since it is so cute. Oh le petit coochee-coochee!