Seeking Info On Bulgarian Air Force PZL P.24

[Old Man]

I picked up an old bagged Polish kit of the PZL P24, which meets 'looks like one to me' standards for a P24F. There's far better kits to build a Greek one from, and this kit would not look good in silver, so Turkish ones are right out. I saw Bulgaria used the type. They bought the P.24B and later the P.24F. The 24Fs were being delivered right up until WWII began. All photographs I've seen of Bulgarian P.24s are B models. These have a noticeably different cowling, and conversion is possible, but....

 

So I am hoping someone knows of a photograph or decent drawing of a PZL P.24F in Bulgarian markings prior to July, 1940 (when the service went over to the 'X on White field' marking. And in general, any information at all on the topic.

 

Thank you for your time.

[Ray_W]

You may find a lot of what you ask in this WIP of mine:

 

Ray

[303sqn]

Never seen any mention of Bulgaria receiving P.24Fs apart from Wiki which looks like a confusion with the P.43s they received June/|July 1939. There was a P.24J intended for Bulgaria, the prototype was destroyed by bombing in Sept 1939.

[TheKinksFan]

2 hours ago, Ray_W said:

You may find a lot of what you ask in this WIP of mine

Your build of that aircraft in that scheme looks so sweet it puts a smile on my face. IBG just announced that they will release a 1/72 version, 'Bulgarian Service'. I've got Exotic Decals for Bulgarian Emils (for the Special Hobby kit), so I plan to build a similar Bulgarian pair, but in 1/72.

[Old Man]

4 hours ago, Ray_W said:

You may find a lot of what you ask in this WIP of mine:

 

Ray

 That is flat beautiful, Sir!

 

Reference quality stuff. I expect I will make this a 24B. 'White 11' has its canopy on in a photograph, so that will do. I've already for the fuselage closed, and am counting on the bottle-bottom clear piece in regards to any interior.

[Old Man]

4 hours ago, 303sqn said:

Never seen any mention of Bulgaria receiving P.24Fs apart from Wiki which looks like a confusion with the P.43s they received June/|July 1939. There was a P.24J intended for Bulgaria, the prototype was destroyed by bombing in Sept 1939.

 

That you. I expect I'll manage making this model resemble a 24B, it has a neater look, and in a pinch I prefer something photographed.

[Old Man]

2 hours ago, TheKinksFan said:

Your build of that aircraft in that scheme looks so sweet it puts a smile on my face. IBG just announced that they will release a 1/72 version, 'Bulgarian Service'. I've got Exotic Decals for Bulgarian Emils (for the Special Hobby kit), so I plan to build a similar Bulgarian pair, but in 1/72.

 

Thanks for the tip. I ought to look into more of these new companies.

[Roger Holden]

24 minutes ago, Old Man said:

 

Thanks for the tip. I ought to look into more of these new companies.

There is a good 1/72 kit currently available from FRROM/Azur (Special Hobby):

 https://modelingmadness.com/scott/preww2/p24b.htm

 

(The quoted Kagero book is a wonderful reference also...)

[TheKinksFan]

7 hours ago, Old Man said:

Thanks for the tip. I ought to look into more of these new companies

Your original post didn't mention the scale, but I assume it's 1/72 too. IBG is also Polish company, mostly armour but had started to release aircraft too. Nice kits. The Special Hobby Emils are also very high quality. 

As @Roger Holden mentioned there's already the Azur kit available, I dont have personal experience, but it's a multimedia kit with resin and photo etch. 

[Old Man]

14 hours ago, Roger Holden said:

There is a good 1/72 kit currently available from FRROM/Azur (Special Hobby):

 https://modelingmadness.com/scott/preww2/p24b.htm

 

(The quoted Kagero book is a wonderful reference also...)

 

Thanks for the reminder. I saw they came out with one. I like the old Azur short-run kits, still have some. This is a kind of 'growed like Topsey' project. I had to put down scratch-build for the holidays, and was having trouble picking up the threads. So I started rummaging about for something quick and fun, and this old bag appealed....

 

 

I expect it's the kit previously built by the author at that link, but the plastic on mine isn't bad to work with, and mine has an exquisite little instrument panel decal I am saving for use elsewhere, it's far too good for the company it came with. I piled in and was having fun (I've seen lots worse fit, and at least they tried to provide an interior) when I made my usual mistake --- I started looking into the aeroplane in some detail....

 

So I'm going to make it a 'B', it looks doable, at least in a 'strikes the eye about right' sense.

[Old Man]

7 hours ago, TheKinksFan said:

Your original post didn't mention the scale, but I assume it's 1/72 too. IBG is also Polish company, mostly armour but had started to release aircraft too. Nice kits. The Special Hobby Emils are also very high quality. 

As @Roger Holden mentioned there's already the Azur kit available, I dont have personal experience, but it's a multimedia kit with resin and photo etch. 

 

IBG is new to me, as is Arma. Did recently get a Dora P-43 Lancer in 1/72, and am seriously impressed.

 

Does the Special Hobby 109E have a Yugoslav option anywhere?

[TheKinksFan]

Your kit seems to be a kit originally from Airmodel, released in the 1970s, never heard of them before. https://www.scalemates.com/kits/airmodel-pzl-p-24-f-g--210987

 

12 minutes ago, Old Man said:

IBG is new to me, as is Arma. Did recently get a Dora P-43 Lancer in 1/72, and am seriously impressed.

 

Does the Special Hobby 109E have a Yugoslav option anywhere?

Arma Hobby kits are lovely, but a bit pricey. But that applies to IBG and Dora Wings too. Dora Wings kits look good on the sprue, but it's a pity that their instructions are often very bad. I've got the Lysander, I know that the build is going to be challenging. Fortunately I found two articles that might help during the build. I was tempted buy the Lancer too, I like that natural metal scheme. I noticed that in their instructions they have totally forgotten the step where you attach the instrument panel, that's quite typical.

 

No, there's no boxing with Yugoslav schemes, and they haven't announced such for 2023. There's a sheet from Exotic Decals: https://www.mojehobby.pl/products/Royal-Emils-Me-109-in-Yugoslav-service.html

[Old Man]

Thanks again for the assistance, Gentlemen.

 

The project is now well underway.

 

 

Here's the WIP thread for anyone curious.

 

 

[tempestfan]

On 2/5/2023 at 5:13 PM, TheKinksFan said:

Your kit seems to be a kit originally from Airmodel, released in the 1970s, never heard of them before. https://www.scalemates.com/kits/airmodel-pzl-p-24-f-g--210987

 

I have grave doubts about this being an Airmodel original. They (or he) included some short run parts in some early kits, and may have done a few short run kits too apart from the large vacu range and later resin/mixed, but I only know this kit as PSW. But he well may have imported it and sold it with an "Airmodel" sticker on the header or similar.

[KRK4m]

It is exactly as you suspect. This is a kit of some semi-anonymous Polish multi-branch cooperative, i.e. a company that had injection molding machines and styrene granulate at its disposal during the communist era. There were several (if not a dozen) such companies in Poland, and one of them started developing this P.24 in the mid-1970s. But some tiny cooperative from behind the Iron Curtain had no access to the US market, so a local official on a business trip to Germany persuaded Airmodel to represent them in the Squadron network. The price was the Airmodel logo. That's all...

Cheers

Michael

[Old Man]

Did this become the Encore P.24, then?

[Asmodai]

31 minutes ago, Old Man said:

Did this become the Encore P.24, then?

Yes, it is the Encore kit. When they first appeared in the 90s, a lot of Encore’s lineup was reboxed old East European kits, in  Encore’s  black & white boxes. 

Edited February 17 by Asmodai