Author Topic: Special Hobby 1/72 Lloyd CV Serie 82 (WKF)  (Read 1114 times)

Offline Brad Cancian

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Special Hobby 1/72 Lloyd CV Serie 82 (WKF)
« on: August 27, 2022, 04:46:29 PM »
Special Hobby 1/72 Lloyd C.V Serie 82 (WKF)
Reviewed by Brad Cancian



Item: 100-SH72122
Scale: 1/72
Price: 16.90 Euros each, direct from Special Hobby:


https://www.specialhobby.eu/en/our-own-production/special-hobby/lloyd-c-v-serie-82-1-72.html

Review kit kindly provided by Special Hobby - https://www.specialhobby.eu

The Lloyd C.V



The Lloyd C.V was a reconnaissance aircraft produced in Austria-Hungary during the First World War. Overall construction was non-conventional, in particular the strut layout and method of wing construction and shape. The wings were elliptical, built from ribs surrounded by longerons that stretched span-wise along the wings. This was then covered in thin plywood sheeting. While this made for a strong, light structure, construction was demanding, and repairs to damaged wings were difficult, if not impossible to carry out in the field - damaged aircraft instead needed to be sent back to depots for repair and exchange. Another problem was that moisture trapped inside the wings could have no way to escape easily and would cause the plywood skin to buckle or even delaminate.

Aircraft could carry a mixture of fixed forward armament, and armament mounted on the observer gun ring. Accordingly, some machines had a small coffin-shaped box encompassing the machine gun on their upper wing, while other aircraft added a cylindrical fuel tank in the same location.

Lloyd built 96 C.Vs in 1917, powered by Austro-Daimler engines (known as Serie 46 aircraft, by their military designation “46.XX“), while WKF built another 48 with Benz engines (known as Serie 82 aircraft, by their military designation “82.XX“). The aircraft entered front line service in September 1917. At the height of their operational use as many as 12 units (Flik) of the Austro-Hungarian Air Force were equipped with Lloyds. Though relatively manoeuvrable, the machine was still generally under-powered. The type saw only brief front-line service before being relegated to secondary duties. A number of continued in service after the war with the military forces of Poland, Hungary, and the Ukraine.

The Lloyd CV in 1/72

The Lloyd CV has seen some releases, likely spurred in part by the aircraft’s unique appearance. Kits have been released by Choroszy Modelbud in resin, Skybirds 86 in low pressure injection moulded plastic, and Sierra Scale in vacuform. Special hobby released their first mainstream kit of the Lloyd CV in 1/72 in 2006 with a Serie 46 release, joined in 2017 by the Serie 82 release reviewed here, the main difference being the different engine parts between the two kits.

The Bits and Bobs

The kit consists of two and a bit sprues of grey plastic, constituting 51 parts (12 of which are not used in this boxing), 11 resin parts, an etched fret, a decal sheet, an acetate windscreen and instrument bezels, and a small instruction leaflet.

The kit is crisply moulded in grey plastic. Sprue A contains the wings, fuselage halves, wheels, horizontal stabilisers, propeller, spinner, wing-mounted gun pod, and a few other parts.



The wings have lovely representation of the plywood ribs. Though the upper wing is moulded as a single piece, purists will want to separate this down the centre. Strut mounting points may want to be deepened slightly also for ease of construction.



There is no panel lines or indication on the exterior of the fuselage halves of the plywood fuselage panels. The interior of the fuselage halves is also bare, save for some large mould release pins that will have to be dealt with.




The sprue gates are a bit thick, as one would expect for these moulds, which were made before Special Hobby upped their game with their moulding technology. This will create some challenges for parts separation and clean up. The gun pod is nicely detailed but careful clean up will be needed if you wish to use this part. Care will also need to be taken with the propeller in order to maintain its shape around the hub. Detail on the hub is adequate.



Sprue B contains the control surfaces, some interior parts, and struts.



The fabric representation of the control surfaces is nicely done. Struts are nice and to scale. Again, there is some flash and heavy sprue gates, so part removal and clean up will be challenging here.



Sprue C is a small sprue containing a more detailed fuselage firewall and the “N” cabane struts. Sprue gates here are cleaner and smaller, suggesting these are a more recent creation.



The resin parts are very nicely done; the engine is cast integrally to its engine bearers and contains nice crisp detail. The cockpit floor, radiator, and observer’s gun are also very nice. As with any rein parts, care is needed to remove these from their casting blocks.




The etched parts contain a number of nice refinements; instrument panel, seat belts, control horns, gun ring, exterior hatches, and rigging turnbuckles. Combined with the resin, these parts will really make the finished product shine.



Instructions

The instructions are presented in an excellent 11 page colour format. Included are parts breakdown, colour callouts in Gunze colours, a logical construction breakdown which identifies which optional parts are applicable for which machines, and thankfully a rigging diagram. Be aware however that the rigging diagram misses the aileron rigging to the control horns. Markings diagrams are also in colour, which is great.






Colour schemes for four (well, technically three) machines are provided. The schemes are a bit ‘same same’ but such is the nature of the in-service markings of the Serie 82; they are all essentially wood finish all over, with linen fabric surfaces, black & white crosses and black serial numbers.



•   82.13, Fliegerkompanie Flik 3/D, Russian Front, K.u.K 2. Armee, Autumn 1917.
•   82.24, Fliegerkompanie Flik 6/f, Albanian Front, 1917, in an earlier livery with no fuselage cross or armament.
•   82.24 again, this time with fuselage cross and armament, as seen later in its service life.
•   82.27, Fliegerkompanie Flik 27/D, Russian Front, Galicia, 1918.




Decals

Decals are nicely done; the markings for this kit are fairly simple and the Aviprint decals have good opacity and register, as usual. These should present no problems.



Accuracy and Buildability

Unfortunately, I don’t have a set of 1/72 scale plans or datafiles for this particular aircraft to compare to, which means I can’t speak to the dimensional accuracy of this kit. In the true litmus test of a model, the shape certainly looks about right for a Lloyd CV to my eye. The engine is indeed the correct type, as noted. The upper wing should technically be split at the centre, but leaving as is in this scale is not going to be too noticeable, and will assist with wing alignment later.

By its nature, the Lloyd CV will be a slightly tricky build. Firstly, as this is essentially a limited run kit, care is needed in removing and cleaning up the parts from the sprues. The wing struts on the CV are all angled, which will mean that the modeller will be best served by deepening the various mounting holes, and measuring and carefully aligning parts before committing glue to plastic. A jig of some sort, or pinning of the struts, is likely going to be needed. Note the lower wing attachment pins are small; I recommend replacing these with something more sturdy, such as wire, and drilling out the corresponding holes in the fuselage sides. One should check this arrangement before the cockpit is installed to ensure minimum of fuss once the cockpit goes in. I would recommend that the lower wings go on first, then the cabane struts added, and potentially the upper wing added and aligned at this point. Interplane struts can then be slotted into the mounting holes, and rigging added afterwards. Lastly, as with many kits, checking fit of the interior parts should be done to ensure minimum of fuss in getting the fuselage together.

Conclusions

Special Hobby have put together a very nice and comprehensive package for this unique looking aircraft. It is currently the only mainstream injection moulded game in town and will build up to quite an eye-catching little model once done. As with many models of aircraft of this period, careful construction will be needed to ensure a minimum of fuss. The construction methods of the real thing will give the modeler ample opportunity to show off their wood-graining skills. Highly recommended for those fans of the slightly lesser well known yet important kites from the Great War.

Our very sincere thanks to Special Hobby for the review samples!