Amodel 1/72 Kamov A7-3A Autogyro.

[Pete in a shed]

Finished last month alongside the Yak 28 here is my Kamov A7

This little aircraft was built in the thirties and was used in Russian flying clubs and for light liaison. When war started the military acquired a number of these machines for observation duties where it was used in anger during the battle at Smolensk. The aircraft carried bombs and rockets with one pair of rockets pointed aft for rearward firing. (an idea used by 007 quite effectively a few years later!) It is quoted as being the only autogyro to see active service.

The kit went together well after cleaning up the parts which is a must for this type of kit. I did some surgery to reposition the flying surfaces and added control wires to the rotor and elevator. I also made my own windscreens from clear plastic from a choc box and put some longerons in the cockpit because it was a bit bare. The gun is a Mini World Degtyaryov DA gun and mount which nearly had as many parts as the kit. Its finished with Humbrol and Xtracolour paints and Xtracolour varnish.

Hope you like it.

Pete

As I was setting it up for photos I knocked the foresight off the gun!

                   

 

                        Stuck it on again  

 

               

 

                    

 

                                                                   

 

                        

 

                        

 

                        

 

                      

 

                        

 

                        

 

                        

 

Thanks for looking

Cheers

Pete

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 1, 2020 by Pete in a shed
photo removal

[Lightningboy2000]

That looks superb! Never seen one before or in kit form.

Always like an autogyro!

It certainly has a lot of character to it & I do like your ring mounted machine gun, that really sets off the rest of the model.

That's got me looking at Autogyro kits now! 😉

 

Martin

[RidgeRunner]

Superb and different! Just my cup of tea

 

Martin

[jarkmodels]

What a weird looking plane?...never seen one before and is really interesting. Looks great!

[JWM]

Very nice result! The MG from aftermarket do the job!

Regards

J-W

 

[Pete in a shed]

19 hours ago, Lightningboy2000 said:

That looks superb! Never seen one before or in kit form

Thanks Martin. Amodel do a civilian version as well as the military one. Fill your boots!

 

11 hours ago, RidgeRunner said:

Superb and different! Just my cup of tea

Thanks Martin, It was a bit different and not the era I usually model. Just fancied a change and this fitted the bill.

 

11 hours ago, JrivasK said:

What a weird looking plane?...never seen one before and is really interesting. Looks great!

Thanks JrivasK, I like to model something a bit different from time to time. 

 

11 hours ago, JWM said:

Very nice result! The MG from aftermarket do the job!

Thanks J-W, the MiniWorld gun was a kit in itself, I would use another if the opportunity arose, like you I think it really adds to the kits finished appearance.

[Luka]

 Not only a nice build to look at, but I also learned something new today. Inderesting history!

[SAT69]

Looking at the picture of the gun foresight on your finger and I'm thinking, "I'm doing good to see it and this gentleman not only glued it in place once but then glued it again and it looks awesome. That you can build and produce such detail is amazing to me.

[kapam]

I'm beginning to realise that Soviet aviation was more advanced and adventurous that I first thought.

This is a superb model!

I think I'd have gone mad trying to get the P/E details on the gun position to cooperate!

Awesome work!  

[Pete in a shed]

19 hours ago, SAT69 said:

"I'm doing good to see it and this gentleman not only glued it in place once but then glued it again and it looks awesome.

Many thanks. I must admit after about half an hour it nearly went in the bin.

 

15 hours ago, kapam said:

I think I'd have gone mad trying to get the P/E details on the gun position to cooperate

Thanks Kapam.  I bought a photo etch bending tool a few years back, without it I would be twitching in a darkened room by now.

 

23 hours ago, Luka said:

Not only a nice build to look at, but I also learned something new today. Inderesting history!

Thanks Luka,  Another little factoid, one of the A 7s designers was a young Mikhail Leontyevich Mil who went on to design some pretty amazing helicopters.

[Spad]

Great build there Pete - Love it and can only echo the other's comments! A little smaller than most of your Soviet stuff! Love that little gear on the front of the engine - I guess that must be a power take-off to initially spin-up the rotor? I see you deflected the ailerons - is the stick displaced accordingly!?!  😜
All the best chap!
Rick

[WildeSau75]

nice one. is there a reason for 2 rockets facing backwards?

[Sky Keg]

Wow Pete!!!!! That is certainly different.  Great results with your efforts.  

 

Mike

[Pete in a shed]

On 03/10/2020 at 11:55, Spad said:

I see you deflected the ailerons - is the stick displaced accordingly!?!  😜

Cheers Rick. Of course, the rudder pedals too .

 

On 03/10/2020 at 12:46, WildeSau75 said:

nice one. is there a reason for 2 rockets facing backwards?

Thanks very much.  After strafing , literally a parting shot to impress upon the recipients of the forward facing ones to keep their heads down while the aircraft departed.

[WildeSau75]

4 hours ago, Pete in a shed said:

Cheers Rick. Of course, the rudder pedals too .

 

Thanks very much.  After strafing , literally a parting shot to impress upon the recipients of the forward facing ones to keep their heads down while the aircraft departed.

interesting - makes sense. Cheers, Michael

[Hewy]

Great job pete on what looks to be a total  death trap😋

[Shorty84]

Wow, that's what I call looking different 👍 Never knew much about it's use in anger so thanks for sharing.

 

Cheers

Markus

[Graham Boak]

Fascinating. Rear-firing rockets seem totally futile but sometimes it takes experience to prove that.

 

Other autogyros that saw combat, at least probably, include the French Leo version of the Cierva C.30 which equipped army units immediately pre-war, and navy ones up to the Armistice, and the Japanese Kyaba Ka 1 which flew anti-submarine missions from the Japanese Army's aircraft carrier Akitsu Maru.  There is a story that one of the RAF's Avro Ciervas was doing its radar calibration job and was attacked by Bf109s - not sure about the credence to be applied here.  Something is nagging me about the US Army's Pitcairns and the Phillipines - but if this existed at all it may well have been prewar.

[Wulfman]

An excellent build and great looking model, very different and interesting choice !

 

Wulfman

[Amo Aero]

Very nice!

 

Gotta love Amodel for going where few others dare. 

[Pete in a shed]

23 hours ago, Graham Boak said:

Other autogyros that saw combat, at least probably, include the French Leo version of the Cierva C.30 which equipped army units immediately pre-war, and navy ones up to the Armistice, and the Japanese Kyaba Ka 1 which flew anti-submarine missions from the Japanese Army's aircraft carrier Akitsu Maru.  There is a story that one of the RAF's Avro Ciervas was doing its radar calibration job and was attacked by Bf109s - not sure about the credence to be applied here.  Something is nagging me about the US Army's Pitcairns and the Phillipines - but if this existed at all it may well have been prewar.

 

As you have rightly pointed out Graham there were in fact quite a few autogyros which had similar roles in military aviation to the A7, mostly observation orientated. The main difference was that the A7 was offensively armed and I have just realised I've missed the all-important word ‘armed ‘from the intro. It should have read "It is quoted as being the only armed autogyro to see active service".  (Incidentally, I’ve only found one reference to the armament being used and it is in the style of soviet propaganda, so may or may not be factual.). Also like you I did find reference to an RAF autogyro being attacked by Me 109s.

Cheers

Pete