Avia B.21
My stab at faux wood.
Interior parts are quite thick and had to be thinned and sanded properly.
I used the thin black EZ-Line to simulate the interior bracing.
Some bits from the left-over PE set were used for controls. The kit’s resin seat with harness looked better to me than Brengun’s PE version, so I went with that.
Cockpit is ready to go.
I wish I moved the block the seat "sits" on back a bit...
Instrument panel is the Brengun's PE part over the celluloid, with the kit's sanded part serving as a base.
I glued in some backing for the exhaust stubs.
There is no provision for anything the resin armament can sit on, so I created a styrene “floor”…
… so that the machine guns have something to rest on.
I made a jig to glue the lower wings and to achieve the proper dihedral.
Small details added to the airframe.
Kit’s cabane parts are too rough for my taste, so I made my own from styrene. The piece running in the center served as a height gauge.
Kit’s skis are too thick IMHO (top) so I tried to make my own from styrene (bottom). After I spilled a bottle of glue on them, I started over with brass… (they were warping anyways…)
I added few bits to the ski assembly. The drilled holes will be plugged later (I hope…).
Assembled and ready for priming.
New engine exhaust pipes were made from brass tube.
After first coat of Mr. Surfacer and sanding.
I am trying a new technique for rigging: thin wire that will serve as attachment for the rigging line. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Rigging attachments on the upper wing. The loops will be cut off prior to rigging line installation.
The wing ribbing on the actual aircraft is not represented in the kit.
I decided to simulate it using 8/0 Uni-Thread superglued to the leading and trailing edges at appropriate intervals.
I first held the thread in place using tweezers, and then applied thin superglue.
The plan was to airbrush the "ribbing" with several layers of Mr. Surfacer to hold it in place. This worked for about 80% of the ribs: I had to superglue the remainder, no doubt due to an uneven application of Mr. Surfacer.
Here is the ribbing after Mr. Surfacer and top color application.
Horizontal stabilizer with "ribbing" in place, before…
… and after Mr. Surfacer and top color application.
The edges of the "ribbing" had to be treated with superglue and a toothpick to ensure adhesion and proper flattening.
I utilized a simple jig for the upper wing "ribbing" application.
Very dilluted black enamel was airbrushed over the top color to break up the monotony of the khaki paint.
Lowel wing and tail surfaces have a distinct visual "feel" as well, again not represented in the kit.
I simulated this effect by applying thin strips of kabuki tape where the ribs are…
…and then airbrushing with highly dilluted black enamel. Here is the resulting effect.
Agama C4P "light khaki" (alcohol) was airbrushed on the upper surfaces (thinned 1pt paint to 4pts Agama alcohol thinner).
The lower surfaces received a mixture of Testors "Silver" (3 parts) with a bit of "Light Ghost Grey" added (1 part).
Gunze Sangyo "Gloss" was applied overall, straight from the can. Kit's decals (very good) went on next, with little help from MicroSet and MicroSol.
The prop hub needed some serious cleanup.
I sanded off the hub detail (the kit's PE piece will replace it), and added a brass shaft (corresponding brass tube was installed in the fuselage). To simulate the propeller's wood layers, I used fine brown Sharpie to draw the dark layers.
A very thinned Testors Acryl "Wood" was then brushed on in several layers, until I was happy with the level of opacity. Thinned Burnt Sienna oil paint was used to accent the prop.
Coat of Gunze Sangyo Gloss was applied next. After allowing to dry overnight, I masked and applied the khaki and other detail. The hub PE piece is glued on and sludge-washed.
The radiator was weathered with very thinned artist's oil Raw Umber and Black.
The radiator needed a slight curvature to "hug" the fuselage properly.
The guns were painted with lightened Testors Acryl Black and highlighted with Silver. The fuel lines were installed next (a thin strand wire, blackened with Sharpie pen).
I started the rigging next. I used 8/0 "gray" UNI-Thread for the rigging. It's relatively thin and very strong. It's designed for tying flies for fly-fishing. I began by gluing one end to the metal "studs" I installed, after cutting the loop off.
The other end was then glued to the corresponding opposite stud. The problem was that the stud is made from an electrical wire strand, which is thin and deforms easily. There was just too much bending.
In the end, with the superglue in place, the studs are just too visible and, well, yucky. I may need to learn to stretch spue before attempting another stringbag...
And now for the finished pics
Comments
13 April 2017, 01:59
David AndrsAbout 25 years ago, I built this airplane, but it was from Kovozavody Prostejov and it was the wheeled version. This is some serious nostalgia. I like it a lot 😉
13 April 2017, 03:24
Alec KThanks mates! @David: I did the same, 30 years ago😉. Serious nostalgia indeed, glad you like it.
13 April 2017, 11:10
Alec K@David: 👍 @Christian: I appreciate that Christian. Coming from an experte such as yourself, doubly so.
13 April 2017, 15:47
Łukasz GlińskiNice build and nice project description. However I decided to stick to KP's kit and hope to build it one day😉
14 April 2017, 06:26
Alec KThanks Lukasz. I have the KP kit in my stash (I grew up with the brand) and seriously considered it. And then I remembered how fun it was to build the Matchbox Helldiver 😄. As KP kits go, however, the BH-21 is one of the nicer ones 👍
14 April 2017, 12:34
Łukasz GlińskiI fell the same nostalgia, therefore I plan to build all KP kits in 72nd once again😉
14 April 2017, 12:38
Alec KLooks like you are well on your way, Lukasz. Looking forward to seeing your work 👍
14 April 2017, 13:40
Alec KSince my initial post, I have been wrestling with wing and tail surface detailing. The kit does a poor job representing the visual effect of these surfaces. After reading a very lively discussion regarding this on Modelforum, I decided to simulate the ribbing according to contemporary photos of the actual aircraft. Here is my result...
21 May 2017, 23:15
David AndrsI bet gluing those threads in place needed some serious mental powers 👍
22 May 2017, 01:23
Alec KThanks guys. It's getting close! Working with the thread was not too bad, but I know I don't have to do THAT again for a while 🙂... and the rigging is yet to come 😄
22 May 2017, 17:09
Christian BruerHehe, adding all the threads seems to have a meditative touch. I imagine sitting in front of the wing and add the first thread, second thread ........ 😄
Joking apart, adding all the ribs is an excellent and detailed work. Very very nice and inspiring work to add these extra detail to get a unique model 👍
Cheers, Christian
22 May 2017, 18:12
Łukasz GlińskiI admire you patience too, Alec. Always wondered whether those "ribs" on old kits make sense, took it for a trick to hide flat wing surface, but it's more to it than meets the eye 🙂 Thanks for that lesson.
22 May 2017, 18:50
Alec KThanks Lukasz: I went down this path only after I saw how "boring" the wing surface was without anything. I wonder if I should have done this with stretched sprue (I have never mastered stretching sprue, so not sure how well this would have worked for me).
Christian: yes, meditating while modeling is all the rage: it's called "zen modeling". However, I strongly recommend placing a small pillow on the bench, in case one's forehead makes sudden contact with the benchtop whilst meditating... 👍😉 🙂
22 May 2017, 21:28
Łukasz Gliński😄 I have the same problem with those famous stretched sprues, thus I also tend to use some kind of nylon thread
23 May 2017, 05:44
Alec KWell, at least I am not alone 🙂. I wonder if anyone thought of selling thin stretched sprue (maybe someone did, I just never came across it). I sure would buy some.
23 May 2017, 11:41
Christian BruerZen modeling hahaha great, seems to be the next step to AMS 😄
Yep, head impact on the bench isn't that good with a lot of WIP on the bench😉 Let us all take care of it!
Cheers, Christian
P.S. about streched sprue I can highly recoomed to take a look to us ship modellers and especially the master of working with streched sprue Mr. Jim Baumann
shipmodels.info/mws_...php?f=4&t=37536
Enjoy 🙂
23 May 2017, 17:52
Alec KDone with the decals, rigging, and details. The rigging was definitely an educational process. I'll have the "completed" pics up in a week or so.
2 June 2017, 20:00
Jay Mountain GoatLooks really good. Especially impressed with the details under the fuselage. Great propeller too.
28 June 2017, 09:10
Alec KMany thanks mates for your kind words. I wish that I had done a better job with the rigging. Until next time...
29 June 2017, 01:57
Album info
One of the last models I put together as a teen before coming to the US was a BH-21 by Kovozávody Prostějov. When Fly came up with its short run version of this aircraft, I had to have it.
The 72020 boxing includes a version with skis, of which Avia built several. Despite the importance of this type to the Czechoslovak pre-war air force, there is paltry reference available, and I was unable to find anything but few pictures of this variant.
The kit contains nice resin details to appoint the cockpit and the ski undercarriage. There are additional resin details to build the BH-21J version, of which only a prototype was build (this type was the precursor to the later BH-33). I believe that the 72020 can produce the standard BH-21, although a separate boxing was released for this version (72012).
I also secured Brengun's PE set for this kit. In the event, I only used less than half of the parts from the fret (the kit's resin seat, for example, is superior to the fret's PE version IMO).
The kit overall is go
