Dark Horse
04-10-2012, 19:18
I got this model earlier this year from ebay for about $15.00. AB Model is a Czech company, which as far as I can tell, makes an intermittent small range of kits. Apparently they are quite hard to come by. I think that many would consider this a good thing...
Despite the apparent horror :eek: of removing delicate pieces from really chunky resin sprue, it all came away okay. Painting it was straightforward & I carved a Reviresco pilot to fit, bringing lead tears to his little eyes. There were two main problems with the build:
1. Brass etching. I hate brass etching. I can't see the point of it on 1/72 vehicles and that causes me to groan, but on 1/144? All the wing & undercarriage struts were in brass etching as was the axle - a long narrow rectangular flat bit to fold over along its length, of all things! I spent half a day (or so it seemed) trying to get the wing struts correct. They bent every way imaginable being so thin. They had to be glued to the bottom wing, threaded through the middle wing on each side & glued to the top wing - on both sides simultaneously and superglued :mad: This may not have been so bad if there was a clear indication of the centre point for the lower wing attaching to the fuselage but there wasn't - it had to be basically guessed at and super-glued in place. Get it wrong and all the wings & struts are going to be out of line. :mad:
Then came the undercarriage. :confused: I could have attempted the whole process again but I cheated & used a spare set of Reviresco struts, cut brass wire to length for the axle & the original wheels from the kit. The brass etching went into the bin... :thumbsup:
Problem 2: Decals. These were mostly Okay. I think that the serial number is overlarge. The thing I did not notice was that the fuselage roundels were the same size as the wing ones - and really too large for the fuselage. I didn't have smaller ones to hand so moved them further forward along the fuselage to the cockpit to get them to fit. Now the poor pilot is covered by a large target symbol for his enemies to aim at. :surrender:
All in all, an "interesting" experience, one which I will not repeat. No more AB Model kits for me...
I might see if I can take some more pix & add them to my album.
Despite the apparent horror :eek: of removing delicate pieces from really chunky resin sprue, it all came away okay. Painting it was straightforward & I carved a Reviresco pilot to fit, bringing lead tears to his little eyes. There were two main problems with the build:
1. Brass etching. I hate brass etching. I can't see the point of it on 1/72 vehicles and that causes me to groan, but on 1/144? All the wing & undercarriage struts were in brass etching as was the axle - a long narrow rectangular flat bit to fold over along its length, of all things! I spent half a day (or so it seemed) trying to get the wing struts correct. They bent every way imaginable being so thin. They had to be glued to the bottom wing, threaded through the middle wing on each side & glued to the top wing - on both sides simultaneously and superglued :mad: This may not have been so bad if there was a clear indication of the centre point for the lower wing attaching to the fuselage but there wasn't - it had to be basically guessed at and super-glued in place. Get it wrong and all the wings & struts are going to be out of line. :mad:
Then came the undercarriage. :confused: I could have attempted the whole process again but I cheated & used a spare set of Reviresco struts, cut brass wire to length for the axle & the original wheels from the kit. The brass etching went into the bin... :thumbsup:
Problem 2: Decals. These were mostly Okay. I think that the serial number is overlarge. The thing I did not notice was that the fuselage roundels were the same size as the wing ones - and really too large for the fuselage. I didn't have smaller ones to hand so moved them further forward along the fuselage to the cockpit to get them to fit. Now the poor pilot is covered by a large target symbol for his enemies to aim at. :surrender:
All in all, an "interesting" experience, one which I will not repeat. No more AB Model kits for me...
I might see if I can take some more pix & add them to my album.