During the interwar period aircraft evolved rather quickly. As engines generated more power and speeds increased, the need to get rid of heat from not only the engine coolant (in the case of liquid cooled engines), but also from the engine oil became more and more of a problem. This was solved for a while by simple oil coolers that operated much like a standard radiator with the oil pipes running through finned sections that gave off the excess heat to the passing air before returning the cooler oil back to the engine.

These coolers stuck out into the airstream and in many cases looked very much like an afterthought than something purposely designed into the airframe. You can see these coolers while looking at photos of the Hawker Hart family, the Aero 101 and Letov S.331 to name a number of aircraft. This design was something mostly seen in Europe.

Steelwork has provided an etched cooler for the modeler who likes 1/72 aircraft of this era and wants something closer to reality than the usual lump of plastic or resin that is often provided in kits. This etched fret has both the finned sections and the spacers in between them. A section of .3mm wire is included to connect them all together. Due to the size of these parts, some sort of magnification is highly recommended during construction.

The result, however, will look absolutely superb on your next project that requires such an addition. October 2010

My thanks to Uwe Borchert of Steelwork for the review kit, and you can find this at www.steelwork-models.de

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and fairly quickly, please contact the editor or see other details in the Note to Contributors.

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