Jump to content

KP/AZ central discussion, questions & answers


Jan Polc

Recommended Posts

Do we have any DH Hornet sprue photos available as yet? This is great news and surely a step closer to that single seat DH Venom kit, Jan! 

Cheers.. Dave 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

AaCee26 - Lithuanian Dewoitine - box is going to the printers on Monday. Nordic Fighter hawk - the same situation.

 

Rabbit Leader - according to our agreement with SAM magazine, they will get the info exclusively, follow their FB page. 

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just wanted to say somehow I am getting addicted to all your Curtiss P-36 / H75 versions.
I already have six of them but now I need the rest too.
Now do I have to contact my shrink LOL ?

They are very nice kits anyways !!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/22/2020 at 10:16 AM, Jan Polc said:

Lithuanian Dewoitine - box is going to the printers on Monday. Nordic Fighter hawk - the same situation.

Thank you Sir!

 

Maybe it is time to present the liveries? ;)

 

Cheers,

 

AaCee

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/17/2020 at 2:20 PM, KRK4m said:

Not in that list, but in whole KP MiG-19 programme.

At the moment there are three boxings available (for several months) and these new three (described above) to join them.

 

72158 - 4x Czech a/c

72159 - 1x Czech, 1x Russia, 1x GDR, 1x Indonesia

72160 - 3x Pakistan, 1x Bangladesh

72187 - 1x Russia, 1x GDR, 1x Bulgaria, 1x Poland (what if)

72188 - 3x Egypt, 1x Syria

72189 - 2x Pakistan, 1x China, 1x Vietnam

 

Which makes 5 Czech, 5 Pakistani, 3 Egyptian, 2 Russian, 2 East German, 1x Indonesian, 1x Bangladesh, 1x Bulgarian, 1x Syrian, 1x Vietnamese, 1x Chinese and 1 Polish schemes altogether.

Cheers

Michael

 

Interesting, but I fear the Syrian one is also a what-if....afaik the were never delivered to Syria but Egypt/ Uaraf if at all!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/15/2017 at 6:14 AM, Jan Polc said:

Some pictures of our coming soon project - Avia BH-9/11 in 1/72 scale. Follow the link please....

 

http://www.modelarovo.cz/avia-bh-911-kp-jak-postupuje-priprava/

Shortly after this kit came out, I bought the version of the BH-9 that had the single seat camo on the box top.  I was going to say that it was the biggest piece of crap that I ever managed to finish, but after reattaching the landing gear for the second time and it sitting in a jig, the wings started to fold up and I decided that was enough and in the trash can it went.  So Jan, did anybody do a test build on this thing?  I really tend to doubt it.  After building up the cockpit and installing it into the right fuselage half, I tried putting up the left side fuselage to check the fit.  There would have been a long gap around the cockpit area about 3/32nd of an inch, or about 2mm.  One other thing I had noticed was that the ledges to fit the bulkheads up against did not line up with the cockpit parts after assembly.  I ended up cutting out and sanding the ledges for the bulkheads on both sides and also had to cut and sand off a good portion of the cockpit floor and bulkheads in order to get the fuselage halves to mate up without any gaps.  Test build should have found this problem early on.  I also had to cut out and discard the front half of the cockpit floor, which was not a big deal since I was going to build it as the single seater which only had the aft cockpit visible.  In the meantime I painted the undersides of the wings and gloss coated them so that when I was done painting the wings I could go ahead and decal them.  Before starting to paint the upper surfaces I noticed that the tan color call out was for Humbrol 73.  Humbrol 73 is Wine, not the color needed.  I had a tin of Humbrol 83, which is Ochre which is what the color call out should have had.  I ended up using Model Master 30277 Armor Sand because I had problems with my tin of Humbrol paint.  It looked very good.  I also used Model Master Burnt Umber for the dark brown, which turned out to be pretty good.  I had a tin of Humbrol 30 for the dark green and that also worked fine.  After all of the sub assemblies were done and painted it was time to decal it.  The decals were also garbage.  Very thin, which in general can be very good, but when they want to curl up and not flatten back out no matter how much water or setting solution you use along with a brush to get them back to where they should be, it is a bad thing.  Also the decals would only give you a very short time to line them up before they decided that they just weren't going to move around any more.  I first did the left hand fuselage side.  After the problems I had with the decals I decided to put a coat of Micro Film over then so they wouldn't be so prone to curl up on me.  It helped on that front, but the short time you had to position the decals before they stopped moving at all was still there.  Also part of the decals decided they didn't like the Micro Film and part of the decal image disappeared.    Also, the decal numbers on the decal sheet DID NOT match up with the decal numbers on the instructions!  I was easily able to figure out what went where, but still, somebody should have been checking these things prior to release.  It shows sloppiness to me that mistakes like this were not found earlier.  The thing was that I had decided that I wanted something easy to build that wouldn't be all that difficult because of problems I was having with some other kits in work at the same time.  I have build some other AZ kits, particularly the early ones with butt joints for the wings and tail surfaces that did not give me the kind of problems that I had with this piece of junk.  I just hope that the Sopwith Swallow goes together a lot easier than this darn BH-9 did.  

Later,

Dave

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, e8n2 said:

I ended up cutting out and sanding the ledges for the bulkheads on both sides and also had to cut and sand off a good portion of the cockpit floor and bulkheads in order to get the fuselage halves to mate up without any gaps. 

Had the same problem with my AZ Martin-Baker MB.5. Had to chop up a bunch of the interior and create a scaffolding from underneath to support the cockpit as it would not sit level. I like the subjects and plan on purchasing many of the catalogue in the future. So i accept the headache to get the subject matter. 
 

Dennis

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

38 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Had the same problem with my AZ Martin-Baker MB.5. Had to chop up a bunch of the interior and create a scaffolding from underneath to support the cockpit as it would not sit level. I like the subjects and plan on purchasing many of the catalogue in the future. So i accept the headache to get the subject matter. 
 

Dennis

How strange . The cockpit in my MB5 fitted absolutely fine.  In fact , the only issue I had with that kit was the well-known problem with the canopy , which simply won't fit since the base of it is at a different angle to the aperture on the fuselage . This , incidentally , is easy to fix . If you saw the canopy in half and mount the sliding part open you can't really see that the back edge of the screen and the front edge of the sliding canopy aren't at the same angle .

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

e8n2 - not easy reading... Well I am here to discuss with you, let us discuss that horrible kit of BH-9...

Test builds - we are everytime doing the test builds, even three, one is done by Petr Muzikant, the second by Petr Safra, our distribution manager and the last by me...

These builds did not discover the fit problems you are writing about. The complete build, with no paints applied, took some 20 minutes.

Here is the link to the test build report - http://www.modelarovo.cz/avia-bh-11-kp-172-dily-a-zkusebni-sestaveni/

 

I know, that building this kit needs some skills and careful assembling. But I think that some percentage of the problems you had  was based on the fact that your skills did not meet the kit needs. 

I am not saying that you are not clever big enough please, just saying that kit of BH-9 is not your cup of tea, it can happen time to time, for me it is Fi 156 by Heller.

It is buildable, some examples are here - 

http://www.modelarovo.cz/kolekce-bosek-1-72-kp/

http://www.modelarovo.cz/avia-bh-11-172-kp-petr-muzikant/

http://www.modelarovo.cz/avia-bh-9-kp-1-72-dusan-vrazel/

 

To the rest of probs now - wrong colour number - it is simply wrong typing. Wrong decal numbers in the instructions - I had to look into instructions

and you are right - numbers are another on the decal sheet and in instructions. It is my personal mistake with no excuse. I am very sorry for that.

 

Quality of decals, problems with handling - we know about this problem, we were trying to ask the change of the technology with our printer and in the end

we changed decal technology at all.

From the point of view of producer is Bh-9 history but with the feedback to our the next kits. We are trying to reach better quality with every our new kit.

Try Swallow, which is fine little aircraft and I did not notice any building problem.

 

Edited by Jan Polc
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/27/2020 at 5:26 AM, Homebee said:

New boxing

 

- ref. KPM0180 - Dewoitine D.510 "International"

 

 

Sans-titre.png

 

- ref. KPM0186 - Dewoitine D.510 "Japan" 

100846587-2490109494633324-2263849791110

 

V.P.

 

I definitely need that Spanish D.510!

Peter

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 hours ago, Jan Polc said:

I know, that building this kit needs some skills and careful assembling. But I think that some percentage of the problems you had  was based on the fact that your skills did not meet the kit needs. 

Try Swallow, which is fine little aircraft and I did not notice any building problem.

 

Jan, I've been in this hobby nearly 60 years now, back in the days where the cockpit consisted of a blade molded into the back of the pilot that fit into a slot on the rear cockpit bulkhead.  I have also built vacuform kits of KC-135s and C-141s in addition to biplanes and late 30s U.S. Army attack aircraft.  I also completed the Eduard Junkers J.1 which was another piece of junk, nothing like their newer kits.  If something seems to be beyond my capabilities it is more in the area of scratch building something, and I have scratch built small assemblies before, such as an air intake for the central engine on a C-79, a.k.a. Junkers 52.  Otherwise poorly designed kits are the bane of my existence.  I have come across similar problems with some Special Hobby kits and it took a long time before I was finally get one to turn out half way decent.  I have built numerous AZ kits and did not have nearly the problems as I did with the BH-9, which was very disappointing because I was really looking forward to doing it in the single seat version.  It's just so damn cute!  I did the AZ Letov S.20 (? can't remember for sure the actual designation on it) with the Lithuanian markings and that was a joy to build.  The previous biggest piece of junk that I actually finished was the A-Model Tu128 Fiddler.  I plan on buying a couple more AZ/KP kits, like the UC-78.  I plan on starting the Swallow next week but have to clear some stuff off my work bench so I can get to some of the paints that I need (I have a large space underneath the bench top that I use to store my paints. 

Later,

Dave

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I received a pair of KP La-5 kits this morning - hurray! I've only taken a very quick peek so far, but they look very good, IMHO. So good, in fact, that I think if I was asked, I'd choose the KP La-5 over the Clear Prop one - nicely detailed, and appears much easier to build. I'm just waiting for the La-5F to drop before I fire off an order to Martola, although a Czech source might be quicker.

 

John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Richard Kiss - MiG-19PM is not planned for this year, there is free production window. We have June in calendar, but company is in November today

when looking at work schedule. 19PM will be complex project and we are close to Messerschmitt Bf 109E line, which will make us very busy.

Another HQT project is Lavochkin La-5, also very complex. We will start to distribute La-5F version in a few days and La-5FN is waiting.

I am not counting short run projects....

The next year we expect 19P/PM. But, there are two more WWII aircraft in the pipeline from "mainstream" category, so.... 🙂

 

Working on one rebox now, see the link - http://www.modelarovo.cz/suchoj-su-22m4-1-72-kovozavody-prostejov/

  • Thanks 2
  • Sad 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/21/2020 at 8:10 AM, Gazontipede said:

Hi Jan,

 

Just wanted to thank you for the upcoming DH Hornets.

I hope they sell like the proverbial hot cakes!

(Although not too fast for me to get some!)  ;)

 

Cheers!

Wot 'e sed, Jan!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/29/2020 at 1:00 AM, Jan Polc said:

Try Swallow, which is fine little aircraft and I did not notice any building problem.

Hi Jan,

Is the Swallow done on short run technology?  Some of the details seem a little soft.  The Roden Nieuport 27 kit comes with the K sprue for their Sopwith Camel kit.  I raided the fuel tank from that sprue for the Swallow since it isn't needed on the Nieuport anyway.  The Roden parts seem a bit crisper and I will be using the Roden fin and rudder since they are thinner than what is in your kit.  Not a complaint mind you.  If you are doing short run tech for this kit, that would explain it as your HQT kits have some very nice detail and are also quite crisp as well.  I haven't started putting things together yet, but expect to by the end of the week.

Later,

Dave

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

e8n2 - yes, Swallow is shoet run kit, and this technology brings some limitations of course. 

We have to choose the technology of the moulds according to the expected sales. 

But do not be afraid of building the Swallow, it is pretty nice kit and there are no major problems during the build.

It is not a nightmare like BH-9....

 

The next HQT kit is Messerschmitt Bf 109E, which is on the way...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Jan,

I've just bough La -5 and Curtiss P 36. Both looks in box really great!

How is the progress with Aero 304? It is not released yet I think...

Regards

J-W

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 hours ago, Jan Polc said:

e8n2 - yes, Swallow is shoet run kit, and this technology brings some limitations of course. 

We have to choose the technology of the moulds according to the expected sales. 

But do not be afraid of building the Swallow, it is pretty nice kit and there are no major problems during the build.

It is not a nightmare like BH-9....

I completely understand the reason for going short run on it.  One thing I noticed that you did on this kit, and I wish other manufactures of biplanes and parasol monoplanes would do is that the forward cabane struts are one piece and already set at the angle necessary for a good fit.  I hope you can continue this with any future biplane/parasol monoplane kits that you may do.  Way back when, Monogram had the cabane struts on their P-6E, F11C-2, and F4B-4 molded into the fuselage sides.  Heller did the same thing.  Matchbox had the cabane struts as two pieces that fit together and the forward upper fuselage would go over that assembly, again to make sure that the struts were set at the proper angle and would fit correctly.  If only Roden would have learned to do that with their SE5a kits.  Where the forward cabane struts are supposed to mate on the upper wing, there are NO locating holes!  It is the same way with their 32nd scale SE5a.

Later,

Dave

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The same way - looking at ease of assembly - we used with our new Sopwith Triplane and it seems that to install three wings wil be very easy assembly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...