Kovozávody Prostějov (KP) 1/72 Salmson Sal.2 A2 “Silver Wings” Reviewed by Brad Cancian
Item: KPM0328
Scale: 1/72
Price: 16.95 Euros each, direct from Kovozávody ProstějovReview kit kindly provided by KP Models at
https://www.kovozavody.cz/The Salmson 2.A2The Salmson 2 came from a requirement to replace the Sopwith 1½ Strutter and Dorand A.R. reconnaissance aircraft in the A.2 (tactical reconnaissance) role. Salmson had built the 1½ Strutter under license, and the Salmson 2 took design points from the Strutter design. The aircraft was of conventional construction with a two-bay biplane configuration, powered by the company's own 230 hp (170 kW) Salmson 9Z water-cooled radial engine. Some minor control problems were quickly resolved in early testing, but the main defect of the Salmson 2, shared with the contemporary Airco DH.4, was that the pilot and gunner were widely separated, making communication difficult. Production was ordered after trials on 29 April 1917, and deliveries were underway by October of that year. Around 3,200 Salmson 2s were built in France, 2,200 by Salmson and the remainder by the Latécoère, Hanriot, and Desfontaines, companies. The aircraft served with both the French and US air serviced during the war. After the war, the Salmson was used by a number of militaries. The Kawasaki firm produced around 300 Salmson 2.A2s as the Otsu 1. Around 300 aircraft were produced by this firm.
The Salmson in 1/72The Salmson has been relatively well served by kit manufacturers in 1/72. Releases have been produced by Pegasus (injection moulded), RVHP, CMK, Choroszy Modelbud (these three in resin), and now, KP. Though this is a completely new release for 2022, this kit appears, at least on face value, to have been derived from at least one of these other kits. See below for more…
The Bits and BobsThis is the fifth boxing of this kit, which continues KPs approach of releasing additional boxings with the same plastic and different marking themes.
This boxing represents the early French Salmsons; early machines were silver doped with bare metal cowling panels. Later machines adopted the standard French multi coloured camouflage schemes.
The kit consists of two sprues of grey plastic, constituting 62 parts, a decal sheet, an acetate windscreen, and a small instruction leaflet. There is no etch or resin included. The plastic parts are the same for all five kits.
We previously reviewed two of these boxings here –
https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=13228.0As such, this review will be a tad more abbreviated than usual. Check out the above link for the more detailed review of the plastic, including comments regarding accuracy and buildability.
To give you an overview of the plastic, here are some shots of the main sprues.
Instructions
The instructions are the same for all kits. They are printed in a nice little folded A4 sized leaflet, and are printed in colour. The instructions contain a description of the aircraft’s history, some specs, a parts breakdown, and construction sequence. A nice touch is the provision of rigging instructions through construction. Paint callouts are clear and concise, and Humbrol paint references are used throughout.
Colour schemes for three French machines are provided in each boxing. Colours and decal placement are called out on the rear of the box.
• Sal 2.A2, SPA 122, flown by Colonel Hamonic, late 1917 / early 1918
• Sal 2.A2, SPA 102, 1918
• Sal 2.A2, Black “8”, 1918
Unfortunately not a lot of detail or historical information is provided on each of these schemes, so some research may be worthwhile.
Be mindful also that the kit colour schemes don’t make it clear that the metal nose panels should be bare metal.
DecalsThe decals are very nicely printed with solid colour and excellent register. The decal film looks nice and thin. These should go down nicely. We do get seatbelts and instrument decals, but there are no stencils. The black stripes on the third colour option will have to be painted by the modeller.
Accuracy and BuildabilityIn regards to accuracy and buildability, I refer you to the aforementioned review linked above. There are a couple of things just to be mindful of, as discussed therein.
ConclusionsKP are to be applauded for putting out this kit. Again, they have done a solid job in putting together a very nice package, whilst keeping a modest parts count. Though the kit has some vices, and may prove a little tricky to construct, the challenges are more than made up for in the solid basis that this kit provides. The multiple boxings of this kit provide many different and interesting colour schemes. I intend on enjoying building these in due course. Highly recommended for those fans of the slightly lesser well known yet important kites from the Great War.
Our very sincere thanks to KP for the review samples!
