This is another kit for which I have NO reference material at all. I'll have to rely on the small description given in with the instructions.

The aircraft was developed as a bomber trainer and first flew in mid-1937. Production started in 1939. 40 aircraft were ordered by the French and 22 by Finland. With the outbreak of war, the Finnish order was cancelled. The initial production aircraft was delivered in Feb 1940 for use in training Breguet 693 crews. After France capitulated, several aircraft were eventually delivered to Finland where they were used until the end of hostilities.

No word is given on any armament, so I can only conclude that it carried none. It also appears to have been powered by two air-cooled inline 6 cylinder engines, driving a small, two bladed prop. Frankly, this kit was the first I had ever heard of the aircraft. It does have a very pleasing design and appears to have a crew of two.

The kit is 'typical of Czech short run models'. It has the usual rough edges around it. However, the sprue gates are nice and thin. Unlike many of these kits, there is no etched metal fret and the resin is kept to a minimum, being only for prop blades (I hate separate blades like this) some interior bits, rear stabilizer braces and the nose pitot tube.

The rest of the kit is of the usual finely engraved detailing that is easily wiped out by sanding. There are also some large ejector stubs on the inside of the wings, fuselage and nacelles that will need removed. The exhaust stubs will have to be made by the modeler out of stretched sprue. There is no interior sidewall detail and the wheel wells are equally sparse. Unlike the Azur 1/48 VG.33 I recently built, there is only one canopy.

The instruction sheet is more than adequate to produce a fine model. There are five construction steps using the normal exploded view. No color information is given during construction, which is something I wish that would be included. There are markings for three aircraft. One French, one German and one Finnish. The French and German aircraft are in a normal French scheme of three color uppers. The Finnish one is green upper and grey lower. FS numbers are given for most of the camouflage colors.

The decals are very well printed and quite crisp. From earlier experience, they are quite thin and opaque. The various swastikas are multi-piece so as not to upset those who are upset by seeing the symbol. Like the VG.33, the blue of the French markings appears to be too light. Fixing the roundels may not be so much of a problem, but getting the tail stripes corrected will wipe out the markings on them. When I build it, I'll just use the kit decals and accept the wrong colors.

Overall, it looks as if it will be a nice kit. As with most short run kits, one cannot expect perfection so break out the sanding sticks and filler!!

Review kit courtesy of me and my wallet!

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