Kovozávody Prostějov (KP) 1/72 AVRO 504K and 504LReviewed by Brad Cancian
Item:
KPM0461 Avro 504K “Japanese Users” (not reviewed here)
KPM0462 Avro 504K “Over Europe”
KPM0464 Avro 504L “Float Version”
KPM0465 Avro 504K “European Users” (not reviewed here)
Scale: 1/72
Price: 14.20 Euros each, direct from Kovozávody ProstějovReview kit kindly provided by KP Models at
https://eshop.kovozavody.cz/en_search,6.html?sVyhledat=AVROThe Stalwart TrainerThe Avro 504 was extensively used throughout the First World War and beyond, being manufactured by the parent Avro aircraft company, and under licence by others. Production commenced in 1913. Over the course of the war, some 8970 examples were produced, making it the most-produced aircraft of any kind that served in any military capacity during the First World War. More than 10,000 were built from 1913 until production ended in 1932.
Small numbers of early aircraft were purchased by the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) prior to the start of the First World War, and were taken to France when the war started. One of the RFC aircraft was the first British aircraft to be shot down by the Germans, on 22 August 1914. The pilot was 2nd Lt. Vincent Waterfall and his navigator Lt Charles George Gordon Bayly (both of 5 Sqn RFC). The RNAS famously used four 504s to form a special flight to bomb the Zeppelin works at Friedrichshafen on the shores of Lake Constance on 21 November 1914.
Soon obsolete as a frontline aircraft, it came into its own as a trainer, with thousands being built during the war, with the major production types being the 504K, designed with modified engine bearers to accommodate a range of engines to cope with engine shortages. A float plane version, named the 504L, was also produced for shore and ship board operations. This version was equipped with floats and a fixed vertical stabiliser for stability.
In the winter of 1917–18 it was decided to use converted 504Js and 504Ks to equip Home Defence squadrons of the RFC, replacing ageing B.E.2cs, which had poor altitude performance. These aircraft were modified as single-seaters, armed with a Lewis gun above the wing on a Foster mounting, and powered by 100 hp (75 kW) Gnome or 110 hp (82 kW) Le Rhône engines. 274 converted Avro 504Js and Ks were issued to eight home defence squadrons in 1918, with 226 still being used as fighters at the end of the First World War.
Following the end of the war, while the type continued in service as the standard trainer of the RAF and other Commonwealth nations (usually as “Imperial Gift” aircraft), large numbers of surplus aircraft were available for sale, both for civil and military use. More than 300 504Ks were placed on the civil register in Britain. Used for training, pleasure flying, banner towing and even barnstorming exhibitions; civil 504s continued flying in large numbers until well into the 1930s.
The Avro 504K and 504L 1/72The Avro 504 has seen a few kit incarnations over the years, though not as many as one would think, given its widespread use. The first mainstream release was from Airfix, way back in 1967. This kit was a product of its time, with fairly crude detail, and some simplifications. It’s biggest flaw, however, was that it’s fuselage was too shallow, giving the model an odd ‘pointed’ look. None the less, this kit was the main one available to modellers for almost 40 years, up until around 2005, when HR models produced a more accurate resin 504K and 504L float plane version. Being in resin, this was not a main stream release, and is thus rare and hard to find. AModel also released a plastic 504K around the same time; this was a better shape than the older Airfix kit, but still crude in terms of details.
KPs 2024 releases of the 504K and 504L are completely new tool releases, breathing fresh life into the Avro as a modelling subject.
The Bits and BobsRecently, KP have been utilising previous releases of other manufactures as the basis for their kits. This is not the case here – we get a completely new tool version of the 504. In the box, we get two plastic sprues containing a total of 75 parts, to acetate windscreen parts, decals, and instructions, all contained within a box with some evocative box art. The plastic and instructions appear to be the same for all of the boxings so far.
The first sprue gives us the upper wing, horizontal stabiliser, engine cowling, some cockpit details, the float parts, and what appears to be skis, presumably for a later version.
Overall, moulding is crisp, but there is some flash to deal with. This is not unusual for KP, given they use lower pressure moulding techniques. The wings are nicely done, with reasonably sharp trailing edges, and what appears to be rib tapes and stitching moulded into the surface. This stitching looks good, but the purist may wish to tone these down a little more to scale with a light sanding.
Interestingly, one notes that whilst the wings have these rib stitching, they are lacking from the horizontal stabiliser and rudder components. This is an odd omission. It is also odd that the horizontal stabiliser and rudder parts also appear thick, which is in contrast to the wings. One almost gets the impression that these were done by different master makers.
The control horns are also a bit thick and chunky; again purists will likely remove these and replace them with finer parts.
The engine cowling has pronounced stiffening ribs, but this is not unlike the real thing. This will look a treat under some drybrushing and washes.
Floats come in two separate pieces each, with some crisp detail adorning the tops of these parts. As usual, the modeller will need to take care in removing and cleaning up the struts for the floats; these are long and thin, so will no doubt be prone to bending and snapping in clean up. Perhaps consider replacing these with metal rod.
The second sprue contains the lower wing (thankfully moulded in one piece), fuselage halves, the fuselage underside, fuel tank, seats, instrument panels, the engine, engine firewall, wheels, propeller, seats, struts, landing skid for the land based version, a gun for a future night fighter version perhaps, and some other details.
Again, we get crisp detail combined with flash that will need cleaning up. The wings show the same rib tape detail as the other sprue. The engine is a bit blobby and generic, presumably resembling a Clerget of some kind. This is probably one of the other weaker points of the kit, and will be better served by a replacement part.
The fuselage halves have crisp detail, including panels, rivets, and stitching. Again, some may consider the stitching a tad over done, but I have seen far worse. This should look the part under a wash and some dry brushing.
The interior also has some crisply done framing, which will also look nice under some paint and a wash. We get some large mould release pins, the rear of which will be tucked away out of sight, but the forward one will require removal to allow the fuel tank to fit. This will be a tad tricky to do without affecting the surrounding internal structure.
Thankfully we get a comprehensive interior, including the aforementioned fuel tank, instrument boards, seats, rudder bars, control columns, and floor frames. Throttles are moulded into the port side fuselage half.
Another highlight is the wheels; these have some nicely moulded detail and inflation valves. KP have noted that the Avro usually had its wheels fitted inside out, to create a slightly wider track (quite useful in the training environment when dealing with pilots learning to land).
The propeller and hub are nicely moulded, however the astute modeller will also note somewhat of an error in the above photograph– the propeller is moulded backwards. Accordingly, a replacement propeller will probably be required.
Lastly, we get the acetate windscreen – careful painting of the fixed part of the frame will be required.
InstructionsThe instructions are printed on a single folded A4 sheet and are printed in black and white. The instructions contain colour call outs (in Humbrol paints), a parts breakdown, and construction sequence consisting of 12 steps (including variations for both the 504K and 504L). Thankfully a rigging diagram is provided, but it requires careful study; it doesn’t show the double flying wires between the wings, nor does it show the rigging for the float plane version, which had rigging between the floats. Accordingly, I recommend you carefully study the boxtops and your references for rigging wires.
Colour schemes for three machines are provided in each boxing; they all provide some interesting variations for the modeller:
KPM0462 Avro 504K “Over Europe” provides us with post-war versions:
• Avro 504K “13”, Belgian Air Force, 1929
• Avro 504K “6”, Portuguese Air Force, 1925
• Avro 504K AV-57, Finnish Army Corps, 1926
KPM0464 Avro 504L “Float Version” also provides us with post-war float plane versions (no guesses which one is of most interest to this Aussie!):
• Avro 504L, R-613, Kasumigaura Kokutai, Japan 1925
• Avro 504L, HL3034, on board HMAS Australia, 1925
• Avro 504L “2”, Chilean Navy, 1920
All four boxings to date have post-war schemes included. It would have been nice for there to have been some war time schemes, but I suspect that these are soon to follow.
DecalsThe decals are produced in house. They have solid colour and relatively good register. Unlike previous releases, seat belts are not included as decals this time around. The decal film looks nice and thin, with minimal carrier film. The biggest problem with these is that they appear out of register; the roundels in particular on the float plane version are not properly centered within their outer white ring. Accordingly, replacement items will likely be needed if you are modelling this aircraft (indeed from what I can tell, this specific aircraft did not carry roundels with the white ring around their edges in any case).
Also, KP continue to print rudder serial numbers and details on a single decal designed to go over the whole rudder; It would have been better to have printed these separately, so that the modeller could paint the rudder stripes rather than having to use the decals. In my experience, rudder stripe decals never work rightly, and one can never really colour match the paint around the edges of the rudder.
Accuracy and BuildabilityI compared the parts to Datafile 25 on the 504K, by J M Bruce. This clearly has been used as the primary reference for the kit, and as such, the parts scale very nicely. The wings have the correct number of ribs (which is a sigh of relief, given that KP got this wrong on their recent Nieuport 11 kit). There are only two gripes I have with the wings. First, they they are about 1-2mm too long in span, but this shouldn’t be too noticeable on the finished model. Second, the prominent panel lines separating the wing outer panels and centre section panel on the upper wing is missing. Thankfully, this can be scribed and the small attachment brackets added from fine strip plastic.
The fuselage and other major components also scale excellently to the drawings in the datafile. Well done, KP!
As noted above, we do get a little bit of over done stitching here and there, but I have certainly seen worse, so I would be inclined to leave these as is. Purists may decide to replace these with other stitching options.
We also get the oddity of the rib tapes only being moulded into the wing pieces, and not the horizontal stabiliser and rudder pieces, as noted previously. This is slightly odd and will leave the modeller with a bit of a choice about how best to tackle this, i.e. replicate new wing ribs, or sand off the ribs on the main wings. I would also recommend thinning the rudder and horizontal stabiliser, as these seem a tad thick for this scale.
Also, as noted there are some more refinements that I would recommend to modellers; namely replacement of the propeller with one that faces the right way (sigh), replacement of the kit engine with a more accurate piece (as it is quite prominent on the finished model), and removal and replacement of the control horns with more refined items.
The last oddity pertains to the fuselage halves. The Avro fuselage was made of a box structure, with two length wise ribs fixed to the outside of this frame, with fabric covering the entire assembly. This should lead to a slightly convex shape to the fuselage sides. Instead, we get square sides with length wise protrusions, representing those length wise ribs. If you want an example of how this area should look (at least to my mind), I recommend you have a look at the Blue Max 1/48 Avro 504 fuselage halves. Again, the modeller is left with a choice; leave these as is (as it isn’t too big a distraction in 1/72), or sand these off and re-skin the fuselage halves with thin card (or, perhaps more simply, use careful shading whilst painting to give the impression of ribs). This approach is in no way a deal breaker, and there are a number of ways to deal with it if the modeller so chooses.
In terms of buildability, many of the finer parts will require care in removal from the sprues, and in clean up. The mould release pins inside the forward fuselage will also be a pain to remove, but a necessary pain if one wants to fit the instrument panel and fuel tank into the fuselage.
I would (as always) recommend deepening the strut mounting holes, as there are quite a few struts to deal with. Thankfully the lower wing is moulded as a single piece, which will help alignment immensely. Same with the horizontal stabiliser piece. Thanks KP!
The only other aspect to watch out for when it comes to buildability is alignment of the floats, if modelling the float version. I would also recommend considering adding some weight into the floats, to keep everything on the level (noting that this will introduce another challenge when handing the model; those long spindly struts may be prone to breakage, so consider replacing these items with a tougher material).
ConclusionsThis is an excellent release of a true workhorse of the first world war. Thankfully, KP did not repeat the mistakes of their recent Nieuport 11/16 kits; here we get a model that is accurate in shape and outline, with plenty of nice detail, but offset a little by some odd design choices, incorrect parts (namely the propeller), and out of register decals. Whilst we do get some flash here and there, and some fragile pieces that will take some care to deal with, we also get some crisply moulded details, and a comprehensive interior. Irrespective, none of these vices will be hard to deal with, and a fine replica can be built out of the box for those not too inclined to fuss over the little details.
With the varied and colourful colour schemes worn by Avros both during war time and after, the modeller will have plenty of choices, and one can only hope we get some colourful or historically significant wartime marking boxings soon.
In short, even with its vices, this kit is likely the best 1/72 Avro 504 on the market in terms of overall accuracy and buildability. KP should be commended for its release; and future releases of this type!
Our very sincere thanks to KP for the review samples!
