We meet on the second Wednesday of every month at The Den, Cunningham Road, Westhoughton, BL5 2AN. 7:30pm until 10:00 pm.
I mainly model aircraft of the 1930s, often called The Golden Age of aviation; a time when airframe and engine design were advancing rapidly. Within my larger collection, I have smaller, themed collections and this is one of them.
By the late 1920s it was becoming obvious that the biplane’s days were numbered and Zygmunt Puławski, working for PZL in Poland, designed a monoplane fighter around an innovative gull-wing, the ‘Puławski Wing’. This was the PZL P.1. When its derivative the PZL P.7a entered service in 1932, Poland’s air force was the first in the world to be wholly equipped with monococque, all-metal fighters.
The success of the PZL P.7a led to a derivative design, the P.24, that achieved export success and inspired other nations to make their own versions. The final version to see service was the PZL P.11C.
P.7a Arma Hobby (kit No. 70006)
A great little kit from this manufacturer. I built it straight from the box and didn’t encounter any problems, a very pleasant build. For the Polish khaki I used Extracolor ‘Faded olive drab’, which is a good match, and RLM 65 for the pale blue undersides.
P.24A Azur (kit No. A102)
I’ve made two versions of this kit and enjoyed building both of them. This is the Turkish version, I wanted to make it as ‘silver wings’, Turkish subjects aren’t that thick on the ground… The model was sprayed with ‘white aluminium’, representing a silver lacquer, with a gloss red rudder. By using plenty of decal softener, the decals ‘snugged down’ over the wing corrugations nicely.
IK-2 Guano Aeroplane & Zeppelin Works
This kit is from 1979 and is a treasured possession. This was one of the very first short-run kits ever made. In 1979 the available plans were not that accurate and so, when I refurbished the model, I had to reshape the trailing edge of the wing, rescribe the detail and add mass balances, wingtip lights etc. The canopy is thick, so I only added a seat and control column to the cockpit. That was pretty much it… The camouflage was masked and painted using Humbrol colours.
If you’re inspired to build an IK-2, this kit is hard to find nowadays but Azur-Ffrom also kitted this aircraft in 2010.
Loire 46 Azur (kit No. A005)
This kit was an early from Azur and was a straightforward build. I detailed the cockpit and replaced smaller parts with 20 thou strip and rod. The only care needed was in attaching the engine to the fuselage. Unfortunately, I only found Frank Richter’s superb build review on Modelversium after I’d finished my model.
I wanted to model an aircraft from 1e Escadrille GC I/6 at Chartres. It had a natural metal finish and so only the roundels and fin stripes supplied with kit could be used; the remaining markings were made from decal film and the gallic warrior badge was hand painted.
By 1930 it was obvious that the biplane fighter’s days were numbered and, briefly, the Puławski winged fighters attracted a lot of interest.
With hindsight, their revolutionary wing wasn’t the way forward and their main relevance was the way in which they were an important step in replacing the biplane as a frontline fighter.
In consequence, they are mostly remembered for the Polish PZL P.11c in 1939, obsolescent and overmatched in their valiant fight against the Luftwaffe.
Finally, I offer this article as an idea for building a small, themed, collection of models, as an alternative to larger collections.
Happy modelling.