FlyPast 12.2018

78 FLYPAST December 2018

Spotlight

Spotlight in miniature

Schneider

Trophy

FlyPast editor Chris Clifford describes current and

previous model kits of Schneider Trophy aircraft

Right

Hungary’s SBS Model

offers two superb

1/72 resin kits of

the Macchi MC.72,

representing Early

and World Speed

Record versions. Just

the main parts are

displayed here, but

there are many more.

ALL KEY PUBLISHING

Below right

Airfi x’s original 1/72

Supermarine S.6B,

from 1957, has been

re-packaged many

times by different

manufacturers,

including Eastern

Express.

Kits

Porco Rosso; this kit can easily be

finished to replicate a Schneider

contender from 1921. The most

modern releases are last year’s 1/72

Early and World Speed Record

versions of the MC.72, in resin,

by Hungary’s SBS Model. The

company offers sublime detail on

all parts, and provides separately

available wing/pontoon bracing

struts in photo-etched metal.

C

onsidering the importance

and attractiveness of the

more successful Schneider

racers, it’s surprising no

mass-market or modern plastic

kits exist.

Arguably the most famous type,

the Supermarine S.6B, was moulded

in 1/72 scale by Airfix in 1957, and

has never been updated although

it has been re-packaged by other

manufacturers such as Ark Models,

Chematic and Eastern Express. It is

inexpensive, and a fair replica can

be achieved ‘out of the box’ by the

novice or younger modeller, but

those seeking more detail must add

it from scratch.

An even older example is the 1/48

plastic S.6B from Hawk (issued

in 1948), re-released by Testors

in 1991, then Czech firm Pavla

launched a 1/72 mixed-media

S.6A/B in 2009.

There was a pleasing styrene 1/72

Macchi Castoldi MC.72 produced

by Delta in 1973 and re-released

since, and Smer also employed

plastic for its 1/48 rendition of

this aircraft.

For those with deeper pockets,

the S.6B can be built in 1/32 scale

from a mostly resin and white

metal kit by Aerotech, which

costs £179 and is available from

online retailer Hannants. The same

manufacturer also offers the Macchi

C.39 and M.52, Piaggio Pegna Pc7,

Supermarine S.4 and the S.5 in

the same scale. At an even greater

price point (€240 plus) are the 1/24

mixed-media Macchi M.39 and

Gloster IV from France’s Profil24.

More experienced modellers

certainly have the lion’s share

of better Schneider-centric kits,

‘Coppa Schneider’

Hannants mail order:

http://www.hannants.co.uk

Karaya: http://www.karaya.ceti.pl

Pavla: http://www.pavlamodels.cz

SBS Model: http://www.sbsmodel.com

Profi l24: http://www.profi l24-models.com

Useful websites

especially in 1/72, mainly via

Polish firm Karaya – which has

issued the Short-Bristow Crusader,

Supermarine Sea Lion II flying

boat, Gloster IIIA and IIIB and the

unorthodox Savoia-Marchetti S.65.

A more off-the-wall option lies

with Fine Molds, which produced

a 1/72 Savoia S.21 to emulate the

aircraft flown by the titular hero

from 1992’s Japanese anime film