15.12.2010, 18:42
This is not that infamous old Airfix "Dora" kit you can read about in most modeling sites, but another release (still in the economy zone though).
Now that the work is over, I can give you a brief review.
OUT OF THE BOX
This kit comes in two grey plastic sprues plus a transparent canopy. Panel lines are mostly raised, not much remarked actually, but a few parts are engraved. There is a lot of flash to remove (but it comes away easily).
Speaking of details, they are quite basic. The pitot tube is molded with the wing (and so are cannon barrels). The cockpit is... well, it's missing, in fact. No gauges panel, just the seat and a pilot figure. Anyway, this is not a serious flaw, because the cockpit is so cramped that no further detail would be visible. Besides, the kit is intended to be built with the canopy closed: in fact, the rear part of the canopy is molded with the fuselage halves, so you'll have to slice it off if you want to build it open.
Unlike most kits from other producers, this one includes two different landing gear sets, either for extended (full gear legs and wheels) or retracted position (front gear panels with mock wheels, "half" tail wheel).
The only external load option is a centerline rack with an attached droptank.
Decals for two planes are provided: Yellow 10 from JG26 "Schlageter" and Red 1 from JV44 "Papagei Staffel". But I'll say more about decals later.
The instruction sheet is pretty simple, with 8 building passages plus painting references for both versions.
BUILDING
I must say I was positively surprised with this. The small number of pieces makes it easy, OK, but what surprised me was the fitting among parts. I found it very good, expecially for an economic kit. Even the fuselage-wings joint was nearly perfect, without the need for filler. The only flaw in this sense was the nose MG cowling which, on the contrary, left a gap all around itself, but nothing that couldn't be fixed.
(P.S. You won't see the underwing antenna in the pics. There is one, but I realized I had forgotten it only AFTER taking the photos :oops: ).
PAINTING AND DECALS
This is a different experience for everybody, depending on each one's own techniques. Anyway, I messed up so much in painting this one that now, probably, the paint layer alone is heavier than the model inside it!
Since I'm painting by hand brush, I knew the thicker paint would partially hide the already thin panel lines, so I chose to paint the JV44 "Papagei" livery, to compensate the lack of details with vivid colors. No problems with the red belly but, after finishing the upper camo, I realized that the green I had used to paint lighter areas was really too much light. So I made a better mixture and painted a second layer over the first, redrawing accurately every single spot of the mottling.
Once this was done, I thought "Phew! At least, there are decals for the white stripes on the belly, so I don't have to paint them one by one!" This is where bad news came...
![[Image: e7b877bc48b87432ed3e407b51f3f746a2e4d57d...8a786g.jpg]](http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/e7b877bc48b87432ed3e407b51f3f746a2e4d57d6dd7cbf8518c1598f87a8a786g.jpg)
Maybe you can't see it from the pic, but there was something wrong with the decals sheet. I don't know if mine was a single flawed sheet or if all kits are the same. The fact is, the upper film had been printed misplaced by 3-4 millimetres, thus leaving every single decal partially uncovered by its own protective transparent layer. This made the white stripes almost impossible to place, as they broke and crumbled at any attempt to adjust them. After breaking the third stripe, I threw the decal sheet away, repainted with red the stripes I had already put on (which really sucked) and submitted to paint them all by hand ;dd ...
![[Image: d0182307cb78693cd80a33252f9525bc247cb54f...cca06g.jpg]](http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/d0182307cb78693cd80a33252f9525bc247cb54ff5974204f1e6a2fcb52dcca06g.jpg)
...And, yes, I know, I painted 9 stripes on each wing while they should be 8, but I just couldn't stand repainting them again
, so that's it!
Applying the remaining decals without breaking them required such a precision job that a surgeon would be proud of me.
Here is the final result:
![[Image: 8bf1d0bc66e4ea112ccd82017bed81a439788130...44726g.jpg]](http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/8bf1d0bc66e4ea112ccd82017bed81a43978813016c296c4f766c81925d244726g.jpg)
![[Image: ee58ec4838dbc91e79eaaae3779962269a997b2f...12f96g.jpg]](http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/ee58ec4838dbc91e79eaaae3779962269a997b2f32ff236831a5309c3c9412f96g.jpg)
![[Image: fa5167991d891961ca772a1bac887e84139e5bf3...9b6e6g.jpg]](http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/fa5167991d891961ca772a1bac887e84139e5bf38a1274341d995042481f9b6e6g.jpg)
CONCLUSIONS
In the end, this kit is not that bad, and will eventually result in a decent looking Dora for a cheap price. But, unless I've been particularly misfortuned, you'd better get an extra decals set.
EDIT: A second kit provided a better decal sheet, so it's just a matter of luck
Now that the work is over, I can give you a brief review.
OUT OF THE BOX
This kit comes in two grey plastic sprues plus a transparent canopy. Panel lines are mostly raised, not much remarked actually, but a few parts are engraved. There is a lot of flash to remove (but it comes away easily).
Speaking of details, they are quite basic. The pitot tube is molded with the wing (and so are cannon barrels). The cockpit is... well, it's missing, in fact. No gauges panel, just the seat and a pilot figure. Anyway, this is not a serious flaw, because the cockpit is so cramped that no further detail would be visible. Besides, the kit is intended to be built with the canopy closed: in fact, the rear part of the canopy is molded with the fuselage halves, so you'll have to slice it off if you want to build it open.
Unlike most kits from other producers, this one includes two different landing gear sets, either for extended (full gear legs and wheels) or retracted position (front gear panels with mock wheels, "half" tail wheel).
The only external load option is a centerline rack with an attached droptank.
Decals for two planes are provided: Yellow 10 from JG26 "Schlageter" and Red 1 from JV44 "Papagei Staffel". But I'll say more about decals later.
The instruction sheet is pretty simple, with 8 building passages plus painting references for both versions.
BUILDING
I must say I was positively surprised with this. The small number of pieces makes it easy, OK, but what surprised me was the fitting among parts. I found it very good, expecially for an economic kit. Even the fuselage-wings joint was nearly perfect, without the need for filler. The only flaw in this sense was the nose MG cowling which, on the contrary, left a gap all around itself, but nothing that couldn't be fixed.
(P.S. You won't see the underwing antenna in the pics. There is one, but I realized I had forgotten it only AFTER taking the photos :oops: ).
PAINTING AND DECALS
This is a different experience for everybody, depending on each one's own techniques. Anyway, I messed up so much in painting this one that now, probably, the paint layer alone is heavier than the model inside it!
Since I'm painting by hand brush, I knew the thicker paint would partially hide the already thin panel lines, so I chose to paint the JV44 "Papagei" livery, to compensate the lack of details with vivid colors. No problems with the red belly but, after finishing the upper camo, I realized that the green I had used to paint lighter areas was really too much light. So I made a better mixture and painted a second layer over the first, redrawing accurately every single spot of the mottling.
Once this was done, I thought "Phew! At least, there are decals for the white stripes on the belly, so I don't have to paint them one by one!" This is where bad news came...
Maybe you can't see it from the pic, but there was something wrong with the decals sheet. I don't know if mine was a single flawed sheet or if all kits are the same. The fact is, the upper film had been printed misplaced by 3-4 millimetres, thus leaving every single decal partially uncovered by its own protective transparent layer. This made the white stripes almost impossible to place, as they broke and crumbled at any attempt to adjust them. After breaking the third stripe, I threw the decal sheet away, repainted with red the stripes I had already put on (which really sucked) and submitted to paint them all by hand ;dd ...
...And, yes, I know, I painted 9 stripes on each wing while they should be 8, but I just couldn't stand repainting them again
, so that's it!Applying the remaining decals without breaking them required such a precision job that a surgeon would be proud of me.
Here is the final result:
CONCLUSIONS
In the end, this kit is not that bad, and will eventually result in a decent looking Dora for a cheap price. But, unless I've been particularly misfortuned, you'd better get an extra decals set.
EDIT: A second kit provided a better decal sheet, so it's just a matter of luck
