|
Seversky P-35
"Upgraded Kit" by MPM
S u m m a r y
|
| Catalogue
Number: |
No.72138 |
| Scale: |
1/72 |
| Contents and Media: |
1 sprue in "limited run"
injected plastic, 1 injected plastic canopy, 8 resin parts, 1 sheet
of decals, 1 photoetched sheet, 1 instrument panel film. |
| Price: |
USD $13.96 from
www.squadron.com |
| Review Type: |
FirstLook |
| Advantages: |
Finely engraved wing and
fuselage detail. Some poorly detailed injected parts now replaced by
resin pieces. |
| Disadvantages: |
Small areas of flash that will
need removing. No locating pins on parts. Some small molding
imperfections. Very fragile undercarriage. |
| Recommendation: |
Recommended to more
experienced modellers due to the parts fitting requirements, flash
removal and very fine fit of some of the parts. |
Reviewed
by Dale Smith
In
response to a USAAC Materiel Division contest for a new single seat
fighter, designer Alexander Kartveli and Maj. Alexander P de Seversky of
the Seversky Aircraft Corporation entered a 2 seat aircraft during 1935
designated the SEV-2XP, that they felt would outperform any other single
seat designs then available.
Unfortunately, this prototype was damaged in an accident en-route to
the contest. Upon rebuilding the aircraft at the factory, the original
design was re-worked into a single seat configuration and designated the
SEV-1XP. Initially powered by the Wright R-1670 14 cylinder radial
developing 735hp, the AP-1(Army Pursuit No.1) as it was now designated,
eventually achieved acceptance by the USAAC and production powered by
the Pratt & Whitney R-1830-9 Twin Wasp rated at 950 hp.
The aircraft model covered in this review is actually the Republic
EP-1 (Export Pursuit No-1) that differed only slightly to the AP-1 in
that it was powered by the Pratt & Whitney R-1830-S1C1-G 14 cylinder
Twin Wasp that developed 1050 hp, had an armament of 2 cowl mounted 7.9
mm KSP M/22 and 2 wing mounted 13.2 mm AKAN M/39 machine guns, and had a
lengthened rear fuselage.
60 of these aircraft were supplied to Sweden and utilised designated
the J-9 fighter. Many of the design innovations in the P-35 were passed
on to the later Republic (As Seversky became known) P-43 and P-47
fighters.
Conclusion
|
Supplied in MPMs' usual style grey "limited
production" plastic, most of the parts will require cleaning up with
small amounts of flash.
The gates on all the parts is also quite large, so
careful removal of the parts and cleaning up will be required before
construction.
Detail is of the engraved variety and very finely done
on all the parts. There are no location pins, so careful dry fitting
is strongly recommended. A number of injected kit parts are duplicated
in resin and these include a cockpit tub, sidewalls, pilots seat,
control column, engine and undercarriage cowlings. These resin parts
are a real improvement over the injected items. The detail on the
aircraft engine is superb!
Photoetch parts by "Eduard" covers items such as the
instrument panel, rudder pedals, seat harness as well as a number of
cockpit boxes and levers. You'll need to be careful with these etched
parts as some are really small and I can see them going into orbit and
disappearing into the shag pile carpet.
A small film is also supplied to cover the flight
instruments and dials in the cockpit.
Decals are provided to cover 3 aircraft:
-
P-35 A of the USAAC, 34th Pursuit Sqd, Philippines,
Dec. 1941 in Olive Drab and Medium Grey.
-
P-35A of the USAAC, 17th Pursuit Sqd, Nichols Field
early 1941 flown by the first American Ace of the War, Pilot Lt.
Boyd D "Buzz" Wagner in Overall Aluminium.
-
Seversky J-9 Royal Swedish Air Force F-8 Unit 1943
in a Overall Sand with Green blotches and Light Blue undersurfaces
scheme.
The decals are printed by "Propagteam" and are up to
their usual standard. They are in perfect register and demostrate good
colour density. Painting instructions are given during construction
with reference to the Humbrol range of paints.
With care and patience, this kit should build up to a
convincing little replica of the P-35. The flash and parts fitting
issues aside, I can recommend this kit to the more experienced modellers
out there.
Recommended.
Many thanks to
'Squadron Mail Order' for supplying the review kit.
MPM's
1/72 scale Seversky P-35 is available online
from Squadron.com
Review Copyright © 2001 by
Dale Smith
Page Created 06 September, 2001
Last updated
22 July, 2003
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