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Potez 25 B2 Polish Jupiter "Against The Tide" (SH72416) 1:72 Special Hobby


Julien

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Potez 25 B2 Polish Jupiter "Against The Tide" (SH72416)

1:72 Special Hobby

 

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The Potez 25 was a French single engined, two-seater biplane designed in the interwar period and used widely by air forces around the world. A flexible design, the Potez 25 was used in a variety of roles, including as a fighter, bomber escort, light bomber and reconnaissance platform. The A2 variant was primarily a reconnaissance aircraft, powered by either a 520hp Salmson 18Cmb radial engine, a Lorraine 12Eb inline engine or a Hispano Suiza 12Jb engine. The Potez 25 had a range of 373 miles and a maximum speed of 132 mph. Armed with 7.7mm machine guns, it was also capable of carrying 200kg of bombs. Curiously, the aircraft could quite easily be converted from biplane to parasol-winged monoplane and served with the Romanian Air Force in this configuration. In total, over 4,000 examples were built, including many under licence. The Aircraft was license built in Poland for the Polish Armed Forces. 47 aircraft were powered by a 313 kW (420 hp) Gnome-Rhône 9Ac Jupiter radial, as the original engines were unavailable in Poland. They were in service at the time of WWII where they were outclassed by more modern German Aircraft. 

 

 

The Kit

The Potez 25 has not been brilliantly represented by kit manufacturers over the years. The last time I remember reviewing one was a fancy mixed media kit released by Grand Models around three or so years ago. Now Azur Frrom have stepped up to the plate with a modern, injection moulded kit of the type that offers both Hispano and Lorraine engined versions, this is now followed by is new boxing from Special Hobby featuring the Jupiter engined aircraft as used by Poland. Inside the box are five frames of grey plastic and a single clear frame, as well as photo etched parts and decals. The plastic parts are all nicely moulded and have plenty of fine detail. 

 

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Construction starts with the well-detailed cockpit. This sub-assembly is made up of the floor detail, seats, instrument panels, control columns, rudder pedals and the podium and machine gun for the observer/gunner. The cockpit sidewalls are packed with detail too. Once complete, the cockpit detail is sandwiched between the fuselage halves and the underside of the fuselage, which is separately moulded. The engine cowling is next. The inner struts fit inside this structure and tiny holes must also be drilled in pre-marked points in order to accommodate the rigging. Once complete, the cowling/forward fuselage can be joined to the main section of the fuselage which, in turn, can be joined to the lower wing (or blanking piece if building one of the Romanian parasol-winged monoplane versions).

 

The upper wing joins to the fuselage and lower wing via a system of struts. There are different struts for the monoplane version. No jig is provided to help with alignment, so this model may be better suited to experienced biplane builders. The landing gear uses a similar system of individual struts. The instructions recommend making pins from brass rod to strengthen these parts and you will need to source this yourself as none is supplied. The main wheels benefit from some photo etched detail to represent the spoked wheels. More photo etched parts are used to represent the elevator control parts and the locating points for the rigging. Finishing touches include auxiliary fuel tanks and four small bombs. A choice of three different propellers is included, with helpful notes to explain which belongs to which of the different aircraft represented on the decal sheet. 

 

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Decals

Three decal options are provided;

 

  1. White 26 - Training Sqn, 1st Air Regiment Polish Air Force, Deblin 15th September 1939. Captured by the Germans.
  2. White 188, Polish Air Force. This Aircraft was damaged and subsequently captured by the Germans. 
  3. Probably 42-285 Damaged at Torun Airfield during a German Air Raid on the last day of the war with Poland. Later captured by the Germans. 

 

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The decals are nicely printed in house, and the colours look nice and bold. 

 

Conclusion

The kit is very nicely detailed indeed, although I have to say it probably isn't ideally suited to biplane virgins. That said, if you take your time and pay attention to the instructions, you should be rewarded with a really appealing model. Recommended.

 

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Review sample courtesy of

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