Category: French aircraft
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Potez 63-11 – Part Four – The Fishbowl Of Sadness
I refer to this rather sleek French aircraft in this way as it was witness to the failures of its own armies in the spring of 1940 – from an elegant vantage point. The design is deliberately biased toward the primary mission – reconnaissance – with the pilot up above like a hansom cab driver…
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Potez 63-11 – Part Three – The Problem
Solved. Until the next one crops up. The fuselage, wings, and tail of the Potez observation aircraft are together and the amount of filler is absolutely minimal. I have undercoated and smoothed it, and could not be happier. In the intervals of waiting for things to set or dry I tackled the engines, wheels, landing…
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Potez 63-11 – Part Two – Having A Fit
A tight fit. The Azur model of the Potez 63-11 is probably fairly old in the Czech modelling world. I think the firm that makes these models has retired the name in favour of their ” Special Hobby ” marque. This one is from the multi-media days of styrene/resin/brass. So far the fit of the…
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Potez 63-11 – Part One – Smooth Potez
As opposed to lumpy Potez. The designs of interwar and early-war French aircraft form a fascinating subdivision of aeronautical insanity. From the angular designs of the late twenties and early thirties to the sleek over-designs of the forties, they seem to have decided to over-run the buffer stops every time they drew up to the…
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Koolhoven Fk 58 – Part One – One Of The Few
Not the RAF Few – the Dutch few – few made and few supplied. An export order from France. This Azur kit has fallen into my eager hands through a stash sale and is everything that the proper Czech short-run kit should be; obscure, and composed of styrene plastic, acetate, brass and polyester resin. The…
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” Model Not Recommended For Novices “
I have seen this on reviews and appended to the end of kit boxes. It warns the unwary that the designers have exceeded their dosage again and moulded up something that is near-on impossible to build. It is even more poignant when it appears next to a completed model – making you wonder if somewhere…
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LeO 45 – Part Four – Art Deco Bomber
People who google images of this French early-war bomber may see something stuck underneath it. There is a dust-bin turret that drops down from a position just aft of the cockpit to allow an unfortunate crew member to fire a single short machine gun at attackers under the plane. It is included in the kit,…
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LeO 45 – Part Three – The Unseen Hand
Ooh. Sounds like the title of a Sax Rohmer novel, doesn’t it? Well no, but don’t let me stop you from suspecting villains lurking in the dark. Some of them were responsible for this kit. The idea of masking off the canopy and nose area with the clear plastic parts that would eventually be cemented…
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LeO 45 – Part Two – This Is Fine…
The initial burst of admiration for this Heller kit has been tempered by building it. The wings are on, and at a reasonable dihedral – set by the internal tab on each wing sliding all the way across to the opposite side of the fuselage and locking itself in place. This is admirable. Less so…
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LeO 45 – Part One – The French Fish
This title is prompted by the shape of the Liore et Olivier 45 bomber – the last time you will see the entire name in this report. It is a fish – a codfish or salmon, by the look of it – attached to two streamlined wings, two streamlined nacelles, and two inverted rudders. This…
The Little World 