Heller 1/72 P.23 'Karas'

 The Panstwowe Zaklady Lonicze (National Aviation Establishment) PZL P.23 ‘Karas’ (crucian carp) was a single engine reconnaissance / light attack bomber designed and built in Poland in the mid 1930’s.  The ‘A’ model was powered by a Bristol Pegasus ll engine with the ‘B’ model powered by the Pegasus III.  The PZL P.23 operated with the Polish and Rumanian air forces during WWII.  The Bulgarian air force operated a variant known as the P.43. The crew compliment was 3 and a bomb load of 1,500 lbs. could be carried.  It was armed with 2 machine guns. 

 The wingspan of the completed model is 19 cm (7.5”) with a length of 13 cm (5”).  No crew members are provided.

 There are 42 light grey injection molded styrene parts on 4 runners.  External surfaces have fine raised panel lines.  There little to no flashing on the parts.  The kit has a minimal amount of detail in the cockpit and rear gunner’s compartment.  An instrument panel, seat, control stick and machine gun are provided.  There is some structural airframe detail molded into the sides of the fuselage. There are 5 injection molded clear parts: 1 canopy, 2 for the ventral positions and 2 landing light covers.  The canopy frames are raised, which will make for easy masking when painting.

 Decals are provided for both the Polish and Rumanian Air Forces.  They have a flat (matte) finish.  Carrier film extends beyond the color, so some trimming around the decal will be required when applying.  The color registration is misaligned, resulting in off centered red rings at the center of the yellow Rumanian crosses.  It is noticeable. (Your editor also noticed that the Romanian rudder stripes are missing the yellow). The Polish emblems are not affected. There is a single sheet (4 page) instruction sheet printed in 10 languages. 

 This looks to be a nice kit of an uncommon subject. 

Combat aircraft of the world: (John Taylor)

 Mike Kleber

April 2012

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