1/72 PZL-50 Jasztrzab by KPL

 

        I got this kit from Ebay for a few bucks, it came in a ziplock bag (the box being lost to the ages) mostly to fill out the list of Polish aircraft. It is a kit of extreme simplicity. My copy was molded in a weird semi-translucent plastic that made assembly interesting. The kit has a host of questionable details (or lack of them) and the fit was dodgy at best. The kit does date back to 1979 so I am willing to cut it some slack.

       The PZL 50 was to be the replacement for the PZL 11 but was delayed by changing government requirements and problems with engine development. Only one prototype ever flew and it wasn't armed or equipped with a radio. If it had been possible to equip the PZL 50 with a more powerful engine the performance would have been a near-match for the early versions Bf-109. As it stands the aircraft is just an interesting side-note in the history of pre-war fighters.  Of course there is a Wikipedia page

 

I forgot to snap a picture of the kit before I started so I had to steal this from Britmodeller forum

 

detail was primitive and the strange translucent plastic made judging the seams difficult 

I had to work by feel while filing and sanding the joints

 

the instructions were rudimentary, but the kit is too so it mattered little

 

the three-view drawing was nice

 

 

it looks like a P-35 and an I-16 had a child 

the biggest problem became apparent when I tried to install the canopy,

 it was about 3mm wider than the fuselage

 

as I started to paint it the model looked even more toy-like

 

 

the decals seemed utterly impervious to water 

so I tried Mirco-Sol, to no avail

 

 

so I poked through my spares box and was luck enough to find some decent replacements

 

 

I glossed the areas where decals were going with floor polish

 

the decals were from an ancient Revell/Takara PZL-11 kit but they worked just fine

 

 

after they had dried I shot it  with Vallejo Matte

 

       I didn't build this as a gaming piece as it never saw combat. I stuck with my rule of building the model straight out of the box (or bag in this case) as there are only four photos of the original aircraft which would make detailing the model an exercise in conjecture.