Scale aviation modeller international

The Polish Pride

Arma Hobby 1/72 PZL P.1/II (Second Prototype) by Robert Podkonski (In memory of Wojciech Butrycz)

MANUFACTURER: Arma Hobby

KIT NO: 73002

SCALE: 1/72

PARTS: 32 light grey and light tan resin, 11

photo-etch, 2 on clear acetate film

TYPE: Resin multimedia kit

DECAL OPTIONS: 1

T

he characteristic high wing

fighters, P.11c and P.7a, built

by PZL (Państwowe Zakłady

Lotnicze, or National Aircraft

Factory), are as legendary in

Poland as Spitfires and Hurricanes

are in Britain. Although

obsolete (at least compared to

Bf-109s), at the beginning of

the Second World War, Polish

pilots flying them recorded a

quite impressive number of

shot-down enemy aircraft.

Jedenastka (“The Eleventh”)

and the P.7 were both developments

of the first all-metal monoplane

fighter designed by the young

and talented engineer Zygmunt

Puławski, and built in 1929 as

the first product of the newly-

established PZL factory. The

airframe proposed by Puławski

included all the cutting-edge

technologies and aerodynamic

inventions of its time. The most

important, and also the most

recognizable feature of all his

subsequent fighters, was the

gull-shaped wing that gave the

pilot an almost unrestricted

field of vision, thanks to its

thin, narrow roots that met the

fuselage at the pilot’s eye level.

This so-called “Polish-” or

“Puławski-wing” design was later

copied by several manufacturers

around Europe, including the

Yugoslavian Ikarus, French Loire

and Mureaux, and the unorthodox

Arsenal-Delanne 10 type. Wings and

empennage of the P.1 were covered

with corrugated skin that gave

additional structural strength.

The shape of the V-type

engine cover ”cooperated”

aerodynamically with the

wings and flat-sided fuselage.

Puławski also included in his

design the ingenious system of

shock absorbers, buried inside

the fuselage and connected

with the undercarriage by

levers and steel wire ties.

Some of the above-mentioned

aerodynamical advantages

were lost when, after the

Polish government decided to

produce only high-output radial

engines in Poland, Puławski

had to reconstruct his design to

accept engines of that kind.

Sometime after, in 1931,

Puławski designed another

beautiful airframe, the PZL P.8,

this time equipped with the V-type

Hispano-Suiza 12Mc engine. It did

not, however, gave a discernibly

better performance and flying

characteristics compared to its

contemporary radial-engined P.7

type. Development of this variant

was not pursued after Puławski lost

his life in the fatal accident of his

own design, the light amphibious

aircraft PZL.12 (PZL-H).

Nevertheless, the radial-

engined incarnations of the

Puławski’s designs, the P.11s

and P.24s, were either bought or

licence-built by Turkish, Greek,

Romanian, and Bulgarian air forces.

The indigenous Romanian fighter,

the IAR-80, was also developed

around the PZL P.24 fuselage.

THE KIT

Among other attractive products

in their ever-expanding range,

Polish manufacturer Arma Hobby

offers 1/48 and 1/72 scale models

of almost all the early aeroplanes

that feature the Puławski wing.

With regard to the PZL P.1 type,

one can choose either the first,

unpainted prototype or – as I did

• the second prototype, sporting
  civilian registration and a smart red
  and white paint scheme. There were
  other differences between these
  two prototypes, most discernibly
  the shape of the fin and rudder and
  the location of the oil coolers.
  The kit comes in a small, sturdy
  cardboard top-opening box,
  adorned with a computer-generated
  picture of the plane in flight. Parts
  are packed in three string bags
  and are protected with a piece of
  bubble foil. The instruction sheet
  gives a short description of the
  plane in Polish and English, as
  well as clearly drawn assembly
  steps, depicted as exploded
  views. A full-colour painting and
  decalling scheme is also included.
  Resin parts are perfectly cast
  and even the smallest details
  are accurately represented. The
  characteristic corrugated skinning
  and ridges on the wing and
  empennage surfaces are straight
  and in true-to-scale dimensions. I
  found only three (!) tiny air bubbles
  on the model’s parts, which I
  immediately filled with drops of

CA glue and sanded smooth.

The resin itself is of very good

quality, workable and modeller-

friendly. Casting blocks are

generally well thought out and,

save for the smallest parts, easy

to remove. The main parts’ fit

is perfect and the joints need no

filling at all. There are adequate and

perfectly dimensioned depressions

and louvres that make the joints

strong enough that they do not

need strengthening (however,

I recommend putting pieces of

wire into them, especially with

the wing/fuselage joints).

Photo-etched parts include

safety belts, the windscreen, pitot,

instrument panel (also resin),

some levers and wheels that go

inside the cockpit, and a tiny

eyelet that should be attached to

a landing skid (myself, I quickly

managed to offer the eyelet to my

carpet monster...). There is also a

piece of acetate film, with flying

instruments and windscreen

glazing represented. The decals

are well printed, but are a bit too

thin and there are only red areas

on them. More about this later.

CONSTRUCTION

As usual with resin kits, the

construction starts with removing

the model’s parts from their casting

blocks. With the main parts, the

process posed no problem at

all. A razor saw, a flat jeweller’s

file, and a piece of fine sanding

paper are the only tools needed.

Painting the cockpit and gluing

all the tiny bits inside can be a little

problematic, as the walls and floor

are cast as a whole. One can try

to cut off one of the cockpit walls

along panel lines, but with some

patience, a steady hand, and drops

of white glue (or thick transparent

74 • JANUARY 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

KIT REVIEWS

072-79-Reviews-0118.indd 74 08/12/2017 17:05