Czecho engineers and traffic controllers

Having established a probable need for more Warpact bridging kit I had a rummage in some boxes to see what was in stock.  Quite a bit as it happened, including a Skytrex set with Zil lorries, pontoons and roadway sections.  I painted them up a Czechs as I have plans for a couple of games where they might have a role.  I used the roadway sections to form a deployed bridge and couldn't resist adding a traffic control detachment with an H&R UAZ-469, a motorcyclist and of course a man pointing!

 

Awful Avia CS.199 - part 4 - it's finished!

The pile of plastic unpleasantness is finally complete.  It probably weighs about twice as much as it should due to the amount of filler I had to use, but given the poor quality of the kit it doesn't look as bad as it might.

As far as I can tell, these two seaters were usually left in bare shiny metal while the single seat fighter versions (the S.199) often had a dark olive over pale grey finish.  Not being one to be constrained by reality, I decided on olive/grey paintwork.  The decals came with the kit and are actually OK, although they required nearly ten minutes in water before they could be applied.

 As there was no internal detail I decided to paint over the canopy.  Lazy but effective.

The propellor with it's huge comedy paddle-type blades makes me laugh each time I see it.

UPDATE 16/11/2015.  In the spirit of international comradeship this horrid model has now been passed on to Bertrand.  It will thus further lower the tone of his Cold War forces....

Awful Avia - part 3

It's assembled at last.  A coat of spray primer will follow when the glue is dry.

Awful Avia - part 2

I managed to squeeze in a bit more work on the CS.199.  I say 'squeeze' as the work consisted mostly of squeezing filler from its tube into the many gaping voids in this small model.  The gap twix wing and fuselage was so big they might have belonged to different air forces...
Once the filler has been sanded down its out with the spray primer...

Awful Avia - part 1

This pile of ill-fitting poor quality plastic is the KP Models kit of the Avia CS.199.  For those of you unfamiliar with the S.199 aircraft it was basically a Bf-109G airframe built in postwar Czechslovakia.  It was fitted with a Junkers Jumo engine and a comical paddle bladed propeller.  The former lacked some of the power and responsiveness of the DB-605 engine fitted to the '109G while the latter exacerbated the already dodgy ground handling characteristics caused by the '109's narrow undercart.  The CS.199 was the two-seat trainer version.

Anyway, back to the kit.  First the good bit.  It only cost £0.50. 

The bad bits.  It's a complete horror.  So far no two parts have fitted together properly, even after extensive cleaning up and de-flashing. Even the two parts of the bloody stand didn't fit.

I shall press on bravely and keep you posted.

The only combat user of the S.199 was the fledgling Israeli air force. They didn't like it either.