AZ Model HA-1112M-1L Buchon The Movie Star (AZ7669) & The Air Show Star (AZ7670) 1:72

[Mike]

HA-1112M-1L Buchon

The Movie Star (AZ7669) & The Air Show Star (AZ7670)

1:72 AZ Model

 

 

The Hispano Aviación HA-1112 was a licence-built version of the Messerschmitt Bf 109, manufactured in Spain but fitted with a variety of different powerplants. The M-1L was the final variant of the type and was named Buchón (Rock Dove). It was fitted with the Rolls Royce 27 Litre Merlin V12 and Rotol propeller, both readily available from UK postwar surplus. The new engine further altered the appearance of the HA-1112, giving it a prominent chin intake and intakes at the top of the cowling instead of the bottom for the inverted V of the DB engines originally used in wartime 109s. Although hopelessly outdated at the time of its introduction into service in the mid-1950s, the Buchón was considered to be perfectly adequate for its intended role helping to police Spanish territories in Africa. The availability of the anachronistic Buchón was a boon for postwar film makers however, who were famously able to use it in place of the Bf.109 in films such as Battle or Britain and Dunkirk, although many of us can spot one a mile away.  They’re also sometimes seen at air shows in warbird guise, as they are a lot more readily available than Bf.109s, and the support infrastructure for Merlins is more common.

 

 

The Kit

These two kits are reboxings of the 2021 new tooling from AZ, and they depict the Buchon in either Movie guise or as an air show participant with identical plastic in both boxes, just the decals and the boxes that set them apart.  They arrive in a small end-opening box with a painting of the subject on the front, and decal options on the rear, while inside are two sprues of grey styrene, a small Ziploc bag containing the clear parts, instructions and decals, all within a resealable clear foil bag.

 

 

 

Construction begins with the cockpit, which is made up from a floor part with rear bulkhead and rear deck, plus instrument panel with raised details, sidewall details moulded into the fuselage, the control column, rudder pedals, trim wheel and separate base to the seat.  The completed assembly fits within the fuselage halves along with the exhaust stacks and backing plate inserted from within before closure.  The top cowling and chin intake are inserted into their slots, then it’s time to make up the wings, which have an almost full-width lower and two upper halves with the wingtips moulded-in.  You have a choice of arranging the split flaps behind the radiator fairings according to the scrap diagrams, and a pair of fences are glued on the upper wing along an engraved guide line.  The main gear legs are each single struts with separate wheels and bay door covers, and a scrap diagram shows the correct angle for them to be set.  The tail-wheel is a single part, and there is a separate rudder, plus the four-blade prop with two-part spinner slipped into the hole in the nose.

 

 

 

If you are portraying a movie star, the wingtips should be trimmed slightly according to a scrap diagram, and the cannon fairings on the leading edge of the wings should be removed and smoothed over, drilling a hole to insert a simple rod and adding two supports under the elevators.  The movie version also has a WWII-style antenna added behind the canopy.  For the Spanish version the wings are left as-is and the cannons are attached to the fairings with a choice of twin-rail unguided rockets under the wings.  The horn balances on the ailerons are applied to both the movie and in-service airframes, although this isn’t made abundantly clear on the instructions.  The canopy is moulded as a single part, but is clear and thin, as is the head armour part that installs in the cockpit behind the pilot.

 

 

Markings

Each boxing has three decal options on their sheet, with the layout printed on the rear of the box and reproduced below.  From each box you can build one of the following:

 

The Movie Star (AZ7669)

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Air Show Star (AZ7670)

 

 

 

 

The decals are well-printed with good registration, colour density and sharpness.  The carrier film is thin and glossy, and although it extends perhaps a little further than usual, it’s thin enough not to make a difference.

 

 

Conclusion

The Buchon is an attractive variant of the Bf.109, and modelling a Warbird or Yellow-Nosed Bleeper from The Battle of Britain movie is a popular subject.  The other markings options are unusual and interesting too.

 

Highly recommended.

 

Review sample courtesy of