MiniArt Liore-Et-Oliver LeO C.30A Early Prod. (41007) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd

[Julien]

Liore-Et-Oliver LeO C.30A Early Prod. (41007)

1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd

 

 

There was a time when the Autogyro was looked at with great promise but the never materialised,  The Avro licence built the Cierva C.30 designed by Juan de la Cieva. This was built from the fuselage of the Avro Cadet biplane and used an Armstrong Siddeley Genet Major engine. Lift was provided by an 11.3m diameter 3 bladed rotor.  In Germany the Air Ministry thought as well that the Autogyro was the future for aviation and it was licence built Bu Forke Wulf.. Twenty-five aircraft were built in France by Lioré-et-Olivier as the LeO C.301 with a 175 hp (130 kW) Salmson 9NE 9-cylinder radial engine for the French and Belgian armed forces. 

 

The Kit

Until now I don't think there has been a kit of this in 1.35 scale. The kit is upto Minart's modern standards; there are 4 main sprues, 4 smaller sprues, a small clear spure and a sheet of photoetch in the box. Even in 1.35 scale this is not a large kit. Construction starts with the front mounted radial engine. The cylinder banks are made up with the exhaust and collector ring being added. Ancillary parts are then attached to the engine and it is put aside for later. 

 

 

Construction then moves to the interior/cockpit. The two seats are made up complete with PE seatbelts. These then attach to their mounting frames.  Onto the cockpit floor are mounted the rudder pedals and control column.  Additional controls are added to the side frames and then these frames can be attached to the cockpit floor. Front and rear control panels are then added. The seats are added in and then the side frames added.  The cockpit can then be closed up inside the main fuselage,

 

 

Next up the mount for the rotor blades is made up and attached to the fuselage. The tail wheel assembly is added as are the tailplanes. At the front the engine cowl are is made up. The engine and its propeller are then added. The landing gear struts are made up and the wheels are added.  Lastly the rotor blades are made up and added, these can either be in the flying or stowed positions.

 

 

Markings

There are two decal options provided on the sheet   From the box you can build one of the following:

 

• F-407 French Air Force Late 1930s
• Belgian Army Artillery Observer Aircraft, Many 1940
• 352.8 352 Sqn French Naval Aviation, 1940
• 352.1 352 Sqn French Naval Aviation late 1930s

 

 

Decals are printed by DecoGraph and have good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. 

 

Fished model picture from Miniart

 

Conclusion

This is a really nice rendition of this unusual but important civil aircraft. Very highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of