Kovozávody Prostějov Cessna U-17A Skywagon (KPM0231) 1:72

[Mike]

Cessna U-17A Skywagon (KPM0231)

1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov

 

 

Cessna have a history of producing civil aircraft with the occasional military variant forthcoming now and again.  The C-185 was a development of their own 180 series, which was a 4-6 passenger light aircraft although the last two passengers would have to be children or headless.  It had a strengthened fuselage and more powerful motor from Continental (with some exceptions) that allowed it to fly at a maximum speed of almost 180mph.  It first flew in 1960, with production beginning the next year and continuing well into the 80s, with a hiatus after which a reduced selections of variants were available of both the 185 and the 180 from which it was developed.  The military U-17 was sold in numbers and a few variants by America to various overseas customers, many from South America but also other parts of the world where cost was a major consideration.

 

Like many Cessna aircraft it was a jack of all trades, but the back seats are particularly cramped, and only just qualify as back seats because of children needing less headroom, so many operators and owners removed them and used the space for baggage or equipment.  Its rugged engineering and fuel-injected engine led to a light maintenance burden, and it was a relatively easy aircraft to fly although it is known to be somewhat tail heavy at times.  Its low stall speed of just under 60mph was particularly useful when landing in very cramped fields in remote places, which could be advantageous, especially if carrying out clandestine missions.  Although production finished to all intents and purposes in the early 80s, there are still a good number of the civilian variants pottering around, although not so many of the militarised version survive.

 

 

The Kit

This is a new tooling from KP, and it’s the initial military boxing.  The Skywagon is a relatively small aircraft even in 1:1, but at 1:72, it’s about the size of a WWII fighter, so arrives in the same style of small end-opening box, with a single sprue of parts in grey styrene, plus a separately bagged clear sprue, a sheet of decals and a short instruction booklet.  Staring at the solitary sprue, there is a little flash in evidence on the sprues, a modicum of which has strayed onto the parts themselves, but it’s quick work getting rid of it and is always preferable to short-shot parts.  The surface of the aircraft’s skin is moulded with finely engraved panel lines and a few rivets, with a choice of two rudder fins, wheel types and a two- or three-bladed prop, as either could be fitted at the owner or operator’s preference.  One of the tails and an underslung stowage locker aren’t used on this edition of the kit, but will doubtless come in useful for other boxings.

 

 

 

Construction begins with the cockpit, which is based around the floor, which has moulded-in rudder pedals and a shallow centre console, plus bases for the twin front seats, and the bench-style rear seats, then a bulkhead behind where the fifth and six seats would otherwise be.  The seats have decal shoulder straps, and the instrument panel has a decal included to add some detail to the area before inserting the yokes in the left, right or both as befits your decal choice.  The fuselage halves are prepped by adding three window panes in each side, and upon joining the halves together around the cockpit, a front bulkhead is inserted too, but you are advised to adjust this by sanding in order to get a good fit with the fuselage and the rounded windscreen part.  The fuselage is completed by adding the front of the engine cowling with the two mirrored D-shaped intakes and central hole for the prop shaft.

 

The elevators are both single parts each and have the prototypical corrugated flying surfaces moulded-in, as does the full-width wing, which has curved tips moulded-in, but they can be cut off and replaced by a pair of straight tips that are on the sprues.  A pair of strakes are added to the half-way joint on the topside, and a clear lens is inserted into the leading edge of the port wing, then the wing is glued to the top of the cockpit to form its roof, so remember to paint inside.  The wing supports stretch from holes in the underside of the wing to the sides of the fuselage, and the landing gear struts are mounted in more holes nearby, with two-part tyres at the end of each.  The instructions include mounting twin rocket-launchers under each wing for the military variant, as it was capable of carrying light armament if necessary, although this was by no means its primary role.  The tail-wheel with integral strut is mounted under the rear.  You have a choice of three props, two blades with or without spinner, and a three-bladed unit with a different spinner for obvious reasons.  Adding the rudder finishes the structural part of the build, then you have a choice of three sensor fits on the top of the fuselage. The first option has a single blade antenna on the spine, the second has a raised blister in the same place, while the third has twin blades over the cockpit, and another two on the starboard fuselage just next to the tail fillet.  There may also be some additional antenna fits for the various decal options, so check the profiles on the back of the box and your references if you want to get it as accurate as possible, as I spotted one under the belly that’s not mentioned in the instructions.

 

 

Markings

There are three decal options on the sheet, all of which are camouflaged for their role in the military.  From the box you can build one of the following:

 

1. Cessna U-17A, 291, Greek Air Force
2. Cessna U-17A, 721, South African Air Force
3. Cessna U-17A, Jamaica Defence Force, Jamaica

 

 

The decals are well-printed in good register, with a thin glossy carrier film close to the printed edges for the most part, but with a few that are a little larger.  This shouldn’t cause too much of an issue however, as the film is thin and has a relatively soft edge.  There are seatbelts and an instrument decal on the sheet, which should add a little realism to your finished cockpit.

 

 

Conclusion

This is the first group of kits in injection moulded plastic of this type in any scale, so if you’re in the market for one and you find some unusual military operators in camouflage attractive, you now have what you’ve been waiting for!

 

Highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of

[Eric Mc]

Great to see some 1/72 light aircraft being produced by a mainstream manufacturer. It's a sadly neglected genre in scale modelling.

[Mike]

3 hours ago, Eric Mc said:

Great to see some 1/72 light aircraft being produced by a mainstream manufacturer. It's a sadly neglected genre in scale modelling.

I was surprised to see that it's not been done in 1:72 before, and I'd be interested in seeing it in 1:48 too.  Whether there's a market for the larger scale, I'll leave that up to KP

[kapam]

Keen to get one of these!  Is there any chance a civil version is coming?

 

[Mike]

8 hours ago, kapam said:

Is there any chance a civil version is coming?

There already is!  We reviewed it here, but don't compare the test of both reviews, as they'll be very similar

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Thanks for this!  As discussed elsewhere, there are mixed reviews on this kit, but that certainly did not prevent me from buying one.  It needs some TLC and some correcting, but will look good when done.