Scale Aviation Modeller International – April 2019

American Gyro AG-4

Crusader

Avis 1/72 American Gyro AG-4 Crusader reviewed by Robert Podkoński

AMERICAN GYRO AG-4 CRUSADER

MANUFACTURER: Avis

KIT NO: BX72023

SCALE: 1/72

PARTS: 37 light grey, 2 clear

TYPE: Short run/Limited Edition

DECAL OPTIONS: 1

BACKGROUND

I

must confess that I am

simply enchanted with

‘Golden Age’ od civil

aviation, with its undeniable

elegance, so when a new kit

of any such plane is produced,

I am always exceited. The kit

reviewed here has been issued

by an Ukrainian manufacturer

Avis, and represents one of the

less known passenger planes

from the thirties, American

Gyro AG-4 Crusader. It was an

all-metal, ixed-undercarriage,

four seat, low-wing monoplane.

The Crusader had a twin-boom

construction with central

drop-shaped gondola and it

was powered by two small,

in-line Menasco C4-S engines.

The copper coloured prototype

made its maiden light in 1935,

However, to the bankruptcy,

this plane remained the only

example of the Crusader. The

AG-4 kit comes in a small, side-

opening cardboard box adorned

with a picture of the plane in

light. Inside the box one inds

a black-and-white instruction

sheet and a bag with light grey

and clear polistyrene sprues

containing all the parts. Also,

there is of course a decal sheet

and thin vinyl pre-cut mask for

the windows.

The latter are a

very thoughtful

and welcome

addition, taking into account

that the passenger gondola

is wisely made out of clear

polistyrene. The parts feature

some small, easy to remove

ridges and imperfections. The

clear gondola sides are thin

and transparent. Decals are

perfectly in register, opaque

and thin – more on them later.

CONSTRUCTION

Construction began with the

passenger compartment,

which consists of a loor, a

rear wall, four seats with

supporting blocks and frames,

an instrument panel, control

stick and rudder pedals. In

fact the frames are unusable,

as they are of wrong height.

Taking into account that none

will be seen after closing and

painting the gondola, they can

be just thrown away. There

are some decals representing

the instruments (thoughtfully

doubled on a decal sheet) but I

left them of for later use with

other models, as none would

be seen after inishing the

model. Appropriately painted

and completed compartment

its satisfactorily inside the

gondola’s sides. The lower part

of the wing is given in full span

while the upper pieces feature

moulded ailerons and laps, so

the trailing edge is sharp. The

completed gondola needs to be

adjusted and some puttying and

sanding is necessary to keep

all streamlined and lush. Each

of the booms consists of four

parts, these bing the engine

compartment face, two main

pieces that represent engine

casing and wide main wheel

fairings sides, and the rear

end of the boom with vertical

empennage and rudder. The

main sides are appropriately

signed inside with moulded

letters ‘R’ and ‘L’ and are

designed in such a way that

after gluing them together

they embrace the wing. The

it is not very good here and

a lot of attention is needed

to keep them parallel to the

main axis of the plane, not

mentioning repetitive itting,

54 APRIL 2019 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

KIT REVIEWS