Robinson R.44 Raven - Stransky 1/72nd scale + Arctic Decals

 

Wild beasts surrounded the chopper during my friend David excruciating experience on the African savanna.

 He has an easily-upset stomach, so there were consequences:

The wildlife accompanying the chopper in some photos is providing proper context for David’s African adventures. The animals eventually run away from David, as he was suffering from digestive issues (both ends) during the flights…As for his depiction… the story needed to be told.

Stransky’s 1/72^nd scale Robinson R-44 is a very nice little kit (also released by KP) that builds relatively easily and has very good detail for the scale. The fit was excellent, a surprise for this size of kit. I wish Stransky would produce more civil kits of this quality… (golden age? wink-wink, nudge-nudge?)

The step-by-step building article can be seen here:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2026/08/robinson-r44-raven-stransky-also-kp.html 

I adapted mine to represent a machine that flew a friend of mine and wife over the African savanna. The pilot had a hard time cleaning the mess my friend produced after they landed. Yet another company that won’t fly him.

Although not strictly necessary, I replaced the following elements:
- the kit’s tail rotor guard with metal tube

- kit’s antennas for home-made ones

- kit’s molded beacon for a clear part

- kit’s molded-in engine vents (represented solid in the kit) for styrene slats, following photos

- kit’s vinyl masks for paper ones, which behave much better, as the former tend to lift and are difficult to see when you are applying them (translucent)

- also added two landing lights (home-made lenses) at the front, following photos

- added two small metal fittings on the back of the skids

The beautiful custom decal sheet was commissioned from Arctic Decals in Finland.

 

Ciroen 2CV - FPW Model 3D-printed

My first car was a really used-up 1958 Citroën 2CV. It made me happy and the poor thing rendered good service considering its age then. I was elated when I saw this "kit" offered online, and had to have it. It will handsomely accompany some French civil airplane model down the lane. 

The process of liberating the parts from their printing cradle was super easy, and because of the non-brittle nature of the resin used and the intelligent location of the pips, nothing broke:

They also offer 3D-printed engines of great detail (1/72nd scale here):

Lockheed Vega Wikins Antarctic Expedition - Special Hobby 1/72nd + Arctic Decals

 Finally completed is this Antarctic Vega, the second plane used by the Wilkins expedition backed by W. R. Hearst.

Both flew on skis, wheels and floats, but the momentous Antarctic flight that produced much relevant data was made by this Vega on wheels, taking off from a cinder field. 

More historical information, related miscellanea and the rationale behind some modeling decisions can be found on the step-by-step building article:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2026/05/lockheed-vega-1-antarctic-expedition.html

A really beautiful model of the other Vega in the expedition (in the guise of its previous Arctic flight) -a highly modified airframe- was not long ago presented to the modeling community by modeler extraordinaire Tim Nelson. To him and Tim Kalina (should we call them a helping Tim's Team?) I owe a debt of gratitude for their contribution to this build. Needless to say, without the set from Arctic Decals no model would have been possible, so my thanks also to Mika Jernfors. 

In rigor, this model should have been presented on a surface resembling the cinder field it took off from, or at least an Antarctic landscape where it stood for weeks, but that is a job for another day. 

Gloster III Schneider racer - Modified Karaya 1/72nd scale resin

Here is Karaya’s Gloster III racer finally completed. As expressed in the step-by-step building article, Karaya offers an extremely attractive rage of racers, with very good and detailed molded parts, usually free of defects. On the other hand, Karaya’s research is rather poor, sometimes based on inaccurate plans (why they do not look at photos?), and you have to do your own research and modify the parts to obtain an accurate replica. Karaya’s engineering is not good, with no locating devices or even marked locations for some of the kit components, and their decal sheets again reflect poor research and are not consistent in quality.  So, if you want an easy build, these are not for you. But if you really want a model of a particular subject, you will have to work for it.

The whole tale con be followed here, where the corrections and additions (also noticed and performed by other modelers) can be seen:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2026/05/gloster-iiia-schneider-cup-karaya-172nd.html

Other Karaya builds on this blog with exactly the same pros and cons are here:

Supermarine Sea Lion:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2020/07/supermarine-sea-lion-schneider-trophy.html

Their Savoia S.65 that has some visible inaccuracies that must be corrected, and its engineering could use some help:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2020/02/savoia-s65-schneider-cup-modified.html

And the Brown racer, a nice little kit, to which a couple minor details can be added:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2025/12/brown-b-2-racer-karaya-172nd-resin.html

If you build some of the Karaya kits out of the box, your model unfortunately will not be accurate.

In the same niche, in the same media and in a similar price range are SBS Model kits. They are a sort of gold standard for resin kits, regarding accuracy, molding, details, engineering, accessories and decal sheets. Therefore, they provide a much better building experience, and do not need modifications to be accurate.

Still, in spite of the needed corrections, the modifications and additions and having to sort out shortcomings, I am happy I built this Karaya Gloster III, as it really looks the part.