Monday Oct. 16, 1995 - part 1 of 3 (I think)
Somebody wanted an in the bag review of the 1/48 Sierra Vac Roland C.II so
here it is (along with some 1/72 Sierra Vac. kits.)
NOTE: I have not yet built most of these yet, so this is simply a
commentary on accuracy and contents & features. . .
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Sierra Scale 1/48 Vacform Roland C.II Walfisch:
This is (as far as I am aware) the "only" 1/48 Walfisch currently
available. (Merlin's humerous example doesn't count!)
NOTE: there was an earlier (and less accurate) version of this kit.
The kit's contents include 1 Vac-form sheet, injection details, metal
engine, strut material, and instructions. The Vac sheet includes the
fuselage, upper and lower wings (wings are full span and molded in top &
bottom sections), tail parts, wheels, interplane and landing gear struts,
spinner, and interior; injection parts include airscrew, 'ocarina' exhaust,
guns, and radiators; the engine is a three part moulding (cylinder w.
uppper crankcase, lower crankcase & intake manifold); two pieces of
contrail strut & one rod are provided; decals are NOT included (although
Blue Rider sheet #500 has markings for three aircraft.)
Wing details are very nicely done with lightly raised rib tapes top and
bottom as well as wing walk and compass detail. The fuselage is molded in
left and right halves with a very soft detail of the louvres around the
engine. Interior detail (all in Vac) is limited to the floor (with fuel
tank), pilot seat, and bulkheads. The injected detail parts are all a
little on the rough side, but should clean up nicely. The engine castings
are very nice.
The kit captures the Walfisch shape very nicely. The wheels (I HATE
vac-formed wheels), guns, roll-bars, interior & some external details
"need" to be scratchbuilt, enhanced, or replaced with aftermarket parts to
do justice to this fine looking aircraft (Windsock datafile 49 is a big
help, particularly for the interior.) The wing halves should be thinned
very carefully before joining to produce the characteristic thin wing (you
may wish to just use the top halves and scribe the underside, but the
plastic is probably too thin to do it justice in this scale.)
The instructions are limited to a textual description with a rough cockpit
layout drawing and a scale 3-view with color notes for one aircraft
(included on B.R. decal sheet.)
The kit scales out very well with the 3-views in the Datafile.
HITS: good outline, looks right.
MISS: soft detail on fuselage, lack of interior structure.
Sierra Scale
1/48 Roland C.II Walfisch: kit # 48-06
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Sierra Scale 1/72 Vacform Phonix C.I:
The kit's contents include 1 Vac-form sheet, injection details, and
instructions. The Vac sheet includes the fuselage, upper and lower wings
(wings are full span and molded in one piece), tail (top and bottom
halves), tailskid, wheels, all struts, claw brake, and interior; injection
parts include airscrew, engine, exhaust stubs, Schwarzlose, and radiator;
decals are NOT included (although Americal Gryphon sheet #70 provides
several markings.)
Wing and horizontal tail details are very nicely done with lightly raised
rib tapes. The fuselage is molded in left and right halves (rudder molded
on right half) with a good detail various panels and access covers.
Interior detail (all in Vac) is limited to the floor (with fuel tank),
pilot seat, and bulkheads. The injected detail parts are very rough (lotsa
chunky 'flash'), but salvageable.
The kit makes an accurate model of the Austro Hungarian 2-seater with
relatively little work, although. . . The wheels, guns, interior & some
external details must be scratchbuilt, enhanced, or replaced with
aftermarket parts to build a really detailed example. The wing parts should
be thinned very carefully and scribe the underside rib positions. The
horizontal tail halves should be sanded very thin before joining (or you
could just use the 'top'.) Use Contrail or your preferred strut material
instead of the provided vac. parts.
The instructions are limited to a textual description with a rough cockpit
layout drawing and a scale 3-view with color notes for one aircraft (the
one that claimed Baracca - included on A.G. decal sheet.) The "Austro
Hungarian Army Aircraft of World War One" book by Grosz, Haddow, & Shiemer
(Flying Machines Press) makes a very good reference.
The kit scales out very well w.r.t. published dimensions.
HITS: good outline, looks right.
MISS: lack of interior structure, annoying vac-form struts (good as
templates only.)
Sierra Scale
1/72 Phonix C.I: kit # 72-08
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Sierra Scale 1/72 Friedrichshaven G.III
The kit's contents include 2 Vac-form sheets, white metal details, and
instructions. The Vac sheets includes the fuselage, upper and lower wings
(wings are half span and molded in top and bottom halves), tail (Horiz.
top/bottom - two styles, Vert. left/right halves), wheels, all engine
cowlings (in halves), and interior; metal parts include airscrews, engines,
exhausts, guns & gun rings, and landing gear assembly; neither strut
material nor decals are included (although Americal Gryphon provides
several sheets of individual aircraft markings as well as night lozenge
'fabric'.)
Wing and horizontal tail details are very nicely done with very lightly
raised rib tapes (almost vanish under A.G. 'fabric'!) The wings are
designed to overlap in the center section - this makes alignment easy & the
wing much stronger. Both different styles of G.III horizontal tails are
provided. The fuselage is molded in left and right halves with some panel
detail. Cowling details are slightly soft but have the 'right' shape.
Interior detail (all in Vac) is limited to the floor, pilot seat,
instrument panel and bulkheads. The cast detail parts are very nice (they
should have stuck with these rather than shifting to injected plastic.)
The kit makes a very attractive Friedrichshafen. The wheels, interior &
some external details must/should be scratchbuilt, enhanced, or replaced
with aftermarket parts to build a really detailed example (wot, no bombs!).
The wing halves should be thinned very carefully before joining to produce
a nice thin airfoil (this can be a pain so you may wish to just use the top
halves and scribe the underside rib positions.) Use Contrail or your
preferred strut material as none is provided (strange. . .), although there
are templates on the instructions (as in old Pegasus kits.)
The instructions are limited to a textual description with a rough cockpit
layout drawing and a scale 3-view with some exterior detail drawings.
Windsock 7/5, 8/1 & 8/2 are all usefull references as are the A.G. decal
sheets.
The kit scales out very well w.r.t. the drawings in Windsock 7/5 - this is
long out of print but (for a price and a polite request) the fine staff at
Albatros may be willing to photocopy the article for you like they did for
me.
HITS: good outline, looks right.
MISS: lack of interior structure, lack of struts & bombs.
Sierra Scale
1/72 Friedrichshaven G.III: kit # 72-09
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To Come:
1/72
HB W.18
PH D.1
Gotha WD.7
HB C.1
Short Bomber
AEG G.IV
_____________________________________________________________________
Mark (From Kites & Other Delights in West Edmonton Mall)
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mnelson@compusmart.ab.ca