1/700 Avro504K/Soviet MU-1 Floatplane
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by Martin J Quinn |
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| HISTORY | |
| The Avro 504 was a World War I biplane aircraft
made by the Avro aircraft company and under licence by others. Production
during the War totalled 8,970 and continued for almost 20 years, making
it the most-produced aircraft of any kind that served in World War I, in
any military capacity, during that conflict. Over 10,000 were built from
1913 to the time production ended in 1932. Post World War I,
it was used by the Soviet Air Force, primarily as a trainer.
For more on this aircraft, check out the Wikipedia entry for it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_504, which is where this history comes from. |
| The
Combrig Avro 504K/Soviet MU-1 Floatplane
The package is a soft white cardboard, which opens on the ends. Inside are parts to build two aircraft. There is a resin fuselage and floats (two of each) on one resin runner, along with photo-etch for the wings, tail planes, struts and propellers. |
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| THE RESIN PARTS | ||||
| These are basically smaller versions of their 350th scale big brothers, and boy, are they tiny! The casting is good, though, as with the larger version, there are some faint lines on the aircraft fuselages. Looking at pictures, the real aircraft seems to be fabric, but smooth sided, so I'm not sure this is byproduct of 3D printing or an attempt to replicate the frames. Either way, you'll never see it under a coat of paint. | ||||
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| PHOTOETCH | ||||
| There is a small photo-etch set - produced by North Star Models - included in the box, with the wings, tail planes, struts and propellers. It's bland, with some etching to show the ailerons on the main wings and the elevators on the tailplanes, but nothing else. | ||||
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| INSTRUCTIONS | ||||
| The instructions are a small piece of paper, with an exploded view of the parts, and a small image of the assembled aircraft. There are no color instructions. Nor are there any decals. | ||||
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| CONCLUSIONS | ||||
| This is another interesting little
(emphasis on little) modeling accessory from Combrig, this time
for the "divine scale" modelers. While I can't find much information
on it in Soviet service (the photo-etch says "1925" on it), perhaps it
can be used in a between the wars diorama, with other Combrig aircraft,
or with one of Combrig 700 scale Russian/Soviet ships. Between
the wars Soviet Navy fans might find this interesting, but it's a shame
there are no decals or information on colors and markings.
This is Combrig’s 1/700 Avro 504K/MU-1 Floatplane, kit A70102. The kit lists for $9.95 and is available from many of our fine sponsors. This is an in-box review, your mileage may vary once you commence construction. Thanks to Combrig Models for the review sample. |
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