Azur PZL.24 B/E - Part II

Well, I'm pretty sure I'm getting the hang of the concept of 'short run kits' by now. In simple terms, there's nothing 'short' about them, except perhaps the short fuse one developes while working with them! Everything else is a never-ending battle.

Don't get me wrong, this is actually a very nice kit. The fit, if you use the term loosely is pretty decent and overall detail varies between subtle and acceptable. Multitude of photoetch and resin parts add that little extra, if you manage to stick them in place - many of the parts are so tiny that chances are about 50/50 you'll loose them to carpet monsters.

But then there are the frustrating parts... and there is a lot of them. First and foremost, instructions are pretty vague at a couple of critical steps, forcing one to guess the correct positions of parts. Engine sub-assembly is the one hit hardest by this problem. Its resin-cast piping section needs to be glued to the engine block - how far 'over' the cylinders it is glued will dictate how far from the fuselage the engine will 'stick out', which in turn will decide the position of engine cover. In other words, if this sub-assembly is messed up, the shape of fuselage will be 'out of wack'. Since I had to pretty much guess the right position of componens, I can only hope that the model will resemble the original.

Once the engine sub-assembly was guestimated together, it was time for another battle - a dry-fit showed immediately that there is no chance in hell that it would fit into its cover. The diameter of engine assembly is a good 3mm too large. I'm never a patient man when it comes to such issues and my solutions to them are usually crude and ugly. This time around was no different - I filed down the details of the engine and rasped out the inner sides of the cover until rough fit was achieved. Once I was done, the engine detail was completely butchered, but at least I can now stick the parts together.

Another critical assembly step that suffers from 'loose instructions' is how the wing is to be alligned with the fuselage. PZL 24's gullwing configuration is its most prominent feature, but it also presents a rather unique challenge for the model designers. In this case the solution is to fit the wing 'root' into rectangular hole in front of the cockpit. The fit between the parts is decent, but not crisp enough to know instinctively when the allignment is correct. In my case, I'm pretty sure that I managed to mess things in with this step, giving the kit a 'lopsided' appearance.

Just to add insult to injury, while wrestling with the problems listed above I've discovered that I was missing one of resin-cast radiators. The part broke off the moulding block and was nowhere to be found. Improvisation time - I cut off a rectangle of 2mm thich polyester sheet, glued it in place, softened it with plastic glue and did my best to enscribe the radiator ribs. The final result is nowhere near satisfactory, but it's either this or tossing the kit.

The chain of one challenge after another made the build process into far bigger challenge and something of a chore. In the end, it is a basic fighter and one should have to struggle so much with such simple kit. Still, once all the major assembly steps were finished and first coat of primer was in place, I have to say that the result isn't half bad after all.