1/72 scale Polish PZL P-7

       Having finished the Messerschmitt BF-110 I was looking for something to do, the weather wasn't right for priming minis (well, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it) I decided to venture into The Vault and once again confront the Heap of Embarrassment (the collection of unbuilt plastic models, not to be confused with the Mountain of Shame - my pile of unpainted minis). As I stood there soaking in the self-reproach that I always feel when contemplating the sheer size of the task that those models represent I let my eye wander into the darkest corner and there I saw my next project. I had purchased this kit as a "filler" in an order on Ebay, it bumped my purchase over the "free shipping" amount and at five dollars was far cheaper than what shipping would have cost. It is from a company that I had never heard of and the battered box gave little hope of an easy build. To my delight this was a great kit, parts fit was excellent, almost devoid of flash, no warpage and superb decals.

 

the box art was the reason I bought this kit 

 

 

when almost everyone else was flying biplanes this really caught the eye

 

as usual there was no pilot so I was forced to recruit one from the spares box 

the off-set national markings on the top wing is correct

 

the profile view emphasizes the approach,

 a light maneuverable airframe behind a brute of an engine

 

the gullwing almost eliminated blind spots for the pilot

 

 

front view, the aircraft is barely visible behind that massive engine

 

bold markings on the underside, they didn't want any blue-on-blue fire from the ground

 

 

with a belly full of finishing nails the model was much heavier than the kit designer had contemplated, I replaced the usual thread rigging with stretched sprue, it is surprising how much stronger that little bit of plastic can make the undercarriage

 

       Now I find myself scouring Ebay looking for more of these!