Bellanca 28-70 MacRobertson racer - Dekno 1/72 scale, resin and 3D-printed parts + Arctic Decals

 

Dekno’s Bellanca 28-70 "The Irish Swoop" is a much welcome addition to any modeler’s racers/record planes stable, or for the ones that just love civil airplanes in general. Looking elegant yet powerful, this Bellanca design piloted by the Irish Fitzmaurice arrived at Croydon but was not allowed to participate in the MacRobertson England to Australia famous race for reasons that may have not been the right ones (see the building post). In any case, with some mods after a bad landing, later on and as the “Flash” crossed the Atlantic proving its worth at the hands of Mollison.

For more information please refer to the step-by-step building post:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2024/10/bellanca-28-70-macrobertson-racer-dekno.html

Now the Bellanca 28-70 can be added to my growing collection of MacRobertson racers, and one day I should photograph them together “at Croydon”:

Ye ole Airfix Comet kit:

Pander Postjager, Execuform + scratch:

SBS Comet resin kit:

Miles M2F Plastic Passion/SBS kit:

Granville QED, Plastic Passion/SBS kit:

KP kit:

Heller + scratch parts DH89 "Tainui":

Dekno’s kit comes in the format of its later releases: main parts in cast resin with good surface detail and smaller parts 3D-printed. A sheet produced by Arctic Decals and a vac canopy (with spare) accompany the set together with well-printed instructions. If you have followed the building process you have seen that the model was built in a fairly short time (even shared with other modeling projects) only necessitating a few adjustments. If you are building it, again the step-by-step post may help you sort out some minor interventions to smooth the ride.  Every new release of Dekno is a joy, and I now just pre-order them as I am confident of their quality, which has greatly improved over time. Still, they need a modelers’ touch, but nothing uncomfortable or beyond average experience. Dekno should be congratulated for their commitment to present modelers with beautiful designs of the Golden Age, an area practically dismissed by most manufacturers, with some honorable exceptions.

With just a bit of care this Dekno kit will be turned into an appealing model to enhance your collection.

 

You often discover something you have forgotten after taking the photos of the "completed" model. In this case wires associated with the LG mechanism:

De Havilland DH88 Comet - Clear Prop! from Ukraine 1/72nd scale injected plastic

Very nice boxart.

For many years, decades even, we have been treated to Airfix’s and Frogs’ (and its clones) DH88 Comet in 1/72^nd scale. Recently we had the superb resin from SBS Model and the injected KP (Kovozávody Prostějov) version for those not comfortable with resin. As we all know, when it rains it pours, so now we have the Clear Prop new iteration of this truly iconic plane. I have built all the former, more than once actually, and have just acquired the latter. This release caught my attention when I saw images of the sprues, which looked very sharp and detailed. Besides the kit, you can buy separately a 3D-printed DH Gipsy Six engine perfectly matched to it, and a mask set (in paper and not in vinyl, fortunately). They are not included in the kit. Surely the final cost was a concern, but they could have released two boxings, one standard (as it is) and one of those so-called “pro” including the mentioned extra items. That way it wouldn’t be needed to pay three times for separate S&H. I think it is not an unreasonable observation. The kit has one of the engine nacelles especially molded for that extra engine (with a plug part in case you opt-out of the aftermarket engine). The kit decal sheet covers just one scheme: G-ACSS, yes, the red one. It is possible that modelers would have appreciated more choices, like those offered by the rest of the manufacturers.

Now, how’s the kit? Well, it looks very nice, so we’ll see how things go as we build it. The kit comes in an ingenious, sturdy and practical box, with a separate lid (with beautiful box art) covering a good gage cardboard packing that has to be opened in turn. Contents are bagged separately in re-sealable sleeves. A photo-etched set is included, very clear transparencies, and sharply molded parts with a good level of detail. All-in-all impressions are really good. Everything looks very “professional”.

Clear Prop Models is a Ukrainian manufacturer, and as such it deserves all the support it can get. These guys have to endure the attacks of their Neanderthal neighbor, and the unhelpfulness of our local Neanderthals. If I am not mistaken this is Clear Prop’s first civil kit. I wish they would release more of those, and perhaps something equally beautiful and interesting, either already kitted before but below current standards or not already kitted.

Here is a link to the aftermarket engine post:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2024/10/clear-prop-172nd-3d-printed-photo.html

So, let’s see what we got:

Sturdy box:

There is an errata sheet:

Nice instructions:

The molding is very clean with just a smidgen of flash in a few small spots:

Subtle ribbing:

 The molding includes the mass balances, they are a bit off-scale, but perhaps welcome by those modelers that rather don't have to scratch them:

One of the wings as mentioned is prepared to lodge the aftermarket engine, but if you don't want to use it, there are plugin parts (the one at the bottom left is with no A.M. engine, the ones to the sides are with A.M. engine):

Clear transparencies, the P.E. fret, what looks like well-printed decals:

Some of the detail on the other side of the sprues:

After a wash with soapy water, rinse and let dry, separation of some of the parts begins. The sprue gates are a sweet deal, small, unobtrusive, their remnants easy to clean. The fuselage has some little tabs that go on slots, and the result is frankly superb, a perfect match, an almost invisible seam that will probably not need the usual putty. Kudos to Clear Prop!

Now, this is a different matter. I get it that they wanted to render a sharp trailing edge and a thin wingtip, but I am not sure this is good way to do it:

Why not?, well, first this created a step, quite visible, that will need adjusting by careful sanding and repeated checking, needless extra work...:

...And most importantly, because that is the area where the ribbing effect is. Now tell me, how do you fill that seam and still preserve the ribbing? Much careful work will have to be done here. BUT, if instead of in the middle of the ribbing, the part line would have been where my pencil line is, voila, much easier to deal with, n'est pas?:

The tip seam is very easy to hide, no problem there:

The overall quality of this kit is evident, and much care has been put into details that we will be reporting on as we go.

Now a weird thing. You get two sets of ailerons. They second set is not depicted on the instructions:

But it is there:

And here is the other set in a different sprue:

They are not exactly the same, and the "phantom" set has a beveled LE, while the other has two prongs (with tiny notches matching on the wing). Surely one of those sets will be a good fit anyway.

The seats have their edges a bit thick:

They are sanded thinner:

The impressive level of precision and clean molding is evident in the parts:

Here are the components of the landing gear:

I am trying to assemble them in a practical sequence (you don't have to follow this, you may find a better way). The parts are very good, but care is of course needed in spite of the good fit and clean molding:

Assembly proceeds without a single problem. Parts are cleanly molded, the fit is good, the engineering sound:

Good, clear, well-sized instructions, cleanly molded parts, god fit. Many manufacturers could take a page from that book. Notice the part (A8) at the back of the nacelle intended to resemble the front of the oil tank. Nice detail:

It's nice for a change to build a kit that is so well behaved.

Now to the step created by the approach to the wing halves engineering. I had to remove quite a bit of material to eliminate the step, and more work will be necessary to hide that seam. The kit overall is fantastic, pity this misstep on part of the designer:

The sub-assembly comprising spinner, prop, the small disk related to the change of prop pitch, the back of the spinner and the axle went together well too. Had to shave the prop a little where it contacts the spinner, to get a good fit for the back plate. The little plastic disk will benefit from some thinning (it's off scale) and could have been better rendered as a photo-etched part in their fret. In fact, if you have a couple of the right size PE disks in your spares, that could be a better option:

We already mentioned that some aftermarket articles were released by the manufacturer to complement this kit. Among them is a very nice 3D-printed + PE parts engine (link to that article at the beginning). The instructions are very small and quite vague regarding the exact positions of some of the parts:

The kit's instructions do not mention the possibility of the A.M. engine, in spite that the parts are molded to cover the eventuality:

In fact, some of the parts needed to be able to install the engine are rendered as "not for use" (see below*). The engine bearers are also included in the sprues, but again not mentioned in the instructions. True, you do not need to acquire the engine, all the parts are there to complete the model without it, but wouldn't be in Clear Prop's best interest to include it in the instructions as an option?:

*This is the reverse of the "errata" slip. Notice that it includes those spare ailerons missing in the booklet instructions.

The kit has a flat plastic part for the nose light representing the light and diffuser lens. I will be replacing it with a home-made "light", although the difference will be negligible. This below is how the arrangement was:

To be continued...