Kovozávody Prostějov Let L-60 Brigadýr Export (KPM0383) 1:72

[Mike]

Let L-60 Brigadýr Export (KPM0383)

1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov

 

 

Strangely, the L-60 was a Post-WWII replacement for the German Fiesler Storch, which was license-built in Czechoslovakia during WWII as the K-65 Čáp.  The initial Aero design was plagued with problems that were remedied by an extensive re-design that became the Brigadýr, which unsurprisingly stands for Brigadier in English.  The re-designed aircraft first flew in 1954 with an improved flat-6 M-208B engine manufactured by Praga Doris, outputting just 190hp, but sufficient to give it the flight characteristics that made it an excellent STOL aircraft along the same lines as the Storch, with an incredibly low 32mph stall speed.  An improved version with an all-metal tail was given the designation L-160, with a grand-total of fewer than 300 across all variants made by the time the production lines closed in 1960.  For a relatively short-run aircraft, it was utilised in many areas of aviation, such as crop-dusting, armed trainer for the Czech Air Force, glider tug, observation aircraft and as a communications hack.

 

 

The Kit

This is a reboxed release of the original kit that first hit the shelves in 2008 under the AZ Model brand.  There have been new parts since then, and even a radial-engined offering that was known as the L-60S, with improved power output.  This edition arrives in an end-opening box with a painting of a blue-and-white Brigadýr on the front, and the profiles for the three decal options on the back.  Inside the resealable clear foil bag are two sprues of grey styrene that appear to have been moulded as one, but were nipped in half to fit inside the box.  A separate Ziploc bag contains the canopy, which is moulded as a single-part blister, despite the aircraft being a high-wing monoplane.  A decal sheet and instruction booklet that is made from a folded sheet of A4 and printed in colour completes the contents.  The detail is good, having lots of raised and recessed elements, especially on the wings and fuselage, but the cowling for the radial engine option can be seen on the sprues too, although they aren’t needed for this boxing.

 

 

 

 

Construction begins with the cockpit, with a flat floor that has four rudder pedals moulded into the front, with spaces for the individual front seats and the rear bench seat, which are marked by a scribed rectangle with an X running through it, which is replicated on the raised front seat bases.  A control column is inserted in front of each pilot, and the front seats also have four decal seatbelts per pilot.  There appears to be a firewall at the front of the floor in the instructions, although this is misleading, as the well-detailed instrument binnacle is attached directly to the front of the cockpit cut-out during closure of the fuselage, with just the addition of a rear bulkhead preventing a view into the tail.  Once the seams have been dealt with, the single-part canopy is glued over the cut-out, then at the rear the full-span elevator and tail fin are installed together, taking care to ensure they are perpendicular to each other and the rest of the airframe.  An additional triangular part can be used to create a fin-fillet for some versions, but the decal options for this boxing don’t require it.  The nose is made from two halves that have the upper louvres moulded-in, and have the intake under the chin added as a separate part, with a pair of exhausts made from rod or tube from your own stock.  A bulkhead is inserted into the nose on a ledge, then the intake lip closes the front of the fuselage, adding a stepped square fairing under the front of the cockpit.  A pair of optional two-part bombs are depicted fixed to the underside of the fuselage, but these are for other military variants, so can be put in the spares for this boxing.

 

 

The wings are moulded individually, adding the two flying surfaces to the curved trailing edges and a long pitot near the tip of the port wing.  They butt-fit onto flat spots on either side of the canopy top, and would benefit from adding pegs to strengthen the joint, perhaps a single brass rod that passes through the entire canopy.  The wing support V-struts also form part of the main gear leg arrangement, linking the sides of the fuselage to the undersides of the wing, the locations marked out in red.  The gear struts are each also braced by a smaller V-support, and the wheels are fitted to the axles, with a single part for the tail-wheel and its yoke under the fin.  A crew step is glued to the port fuselage side under the door, with a scrap diagram showing the correct angle from the front, which also helps with the locations and angles of the wing and gear supports.  The final job is to add the shaft to the rear of the two-bladed prop, then glue it in place in the nose of the model, fixing a landing lamp in an aerodynamic fairing under the port wing, just inboard of where the supports meet the wing.  It’s a styrene part, so you’ll need to either replace the front with a clear lens, or paint it silver.

 

 

Markings

There are three decal options depicted on the rear of the box, all in civilian service, hence the lack of need for the bombs.  From the box you can build one of the following:

 

 

 

The decals appear to be printed using the same digital processes as Eduard are now using, and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas.  I mention Eduard because from 2021, the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film.  It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain.

 

 

Conclusion

It’s a curious little post-Storch aircraft, and will likely cause some misidentification from the unwary.  Detail is good with just a hint of flash here and there, and the more colourful civil schemes make a change from the drabness of military models.

 

Highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of