B. A. Eagle 2 - 1/72nd Dekno resin

 

(The completed model is here:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2021/09/b-eagle-ii-england-japan-flight-dekno.html

Dekno Models is already a well-established resin kit manufacturer. Their catalog includes a wide array of very attractive civil planes, among them many appealing racers.

Over the years, Dekno has greatly improved the quality and details of the kits, and now they really look good.

This is the first one that I assemble, thanks to the kindness of a friend and fellow modeler that gifted it to me. The same kit has different boxings that include alternate decal sheets.

The kit comes in a sturdy box and all the parts are bagged in groups to protect them. Some of the pouring blocks the parts are attached to, have extra protection for the more delicate parts. First impressions are good, just a little bit of thin resin flash here and there, no bubbles or pinholes worth mentioning, and no short pours. The instructions, if small and succinct, seem in general to suffice. The decal sheet seems well printed, but I don't think I will be using it, although I certainly sympathize with the then legitimate Spanish government (eventually overthrown by seditious fascists headed by dictator Franco).

The cleaning of the parts was a simple affair, but care must be taken, and patience and a dexterous hand are highly desirable.

The breakdown looks reasonable and most parts are keyed, which is a modelers' bliss compared to the despicable "butt-joint technology" that the kit industry is plagued with.

In the distant past are the somewhat crude origins of the old Dekno, now a serious manufacturer with much to offer.

All in all, much to praise: wonderful, interesting, beautiful subjects of the Golden Age, a price that is a bit stiff, but not unheard of given the media and work involved, good level of detail, casts that look clean and resin that is not plagued with the all-to-well-known issues.

My nitpickings:

1) Some of the parts are slightly bent or a bit deformed, which will hopefully be fixed with warm water and patience.

2) The 3D printing origins of the master are still visible in some parts, in the form of those "waves" or "terrain terracing" that the process unfortunately confers to the parts being printed. That explains why, as I looked sometimes to posted models made with these kits, I thought that the poor modeler had left fingerprints on the paint. How much of this can be lightly sanded without compromising detail, or primed to obscure it, we'll see. But the masters would have surely benefited from a better surface treatment after printing.

3) The transparencies are not yet optimal, having a light yellowing and not a good clarity. The customary bath in clear acrylic may improve them a bit. Still, I think I may prefer that to a vacuformed one that is not good either.

And so we begin:

There was a slight "bananization" of the fuselage halves, compounded by some areas that needed to be lightly sanded, as explained further down the lane:

A bit of that "3D printing" effect:

The fuselage halves already cleaned up:

But those indicated areas needed careful sanding flat. NEVER overdo do it or you will compromise the build, and check frequently as you sand:

There, now it's a fair fit:

Still, on the upper side, and due to the parts being slightly deformed, those area will need clamping at the time of joining the halves:

Contents:

Nice detail overall:

Nice detail here too, but also "3D printing" "decor":

Good detail again in the small parts:

The smaller bits that will require a gentle hand, and taking the time during removal:

A bit of curvature there, and a LE that will need cleaning:

More hot bathing for these parts:

No bubbles or pinholes:

Again some "3D printing" effect that will require attention. Nice detail on that hand grab at the tip:

The parts already separated, cleaned up and readied in almost no time and with no issues:

The transparencies as mentioned show a little yellowing:

Only one part was not good, easily replaceable. Seems to be a reinforcement for the landing gear, so I am glad to substitute for metal to help with rigidity and lifespan of the model:

All ready:

Not the best clarity, but this is not uncommon with resins:

The wing panels are well keyed:

The gap is very small and some liquid putty or a bit of filler should take care of it, but bear in mind that the wings were foldable, so lines should be there. The breakdown, by the way, is optimal for adventurous modelers wanting to pose those wings folded :

The landing gear is comprised of several parts that need alignment and locking in various places. To facilitate this task, I glued the landing gear legs to their covers, as their position is clearly marked with the recess. Parts are sided, so put the right part on the right side:

There is no part's map, or parts' identification in the small instruction sheet, even if some parts are clued in the pouring blocks:

A signal that care was present at the making the masters, a little hollowing at the end of the exhaust pipe:

The floor pan was straightened under hot water, and the joystick glued in place before painting:

The other small parts are separated from the pouring block. Don't do this at this stage if you are prone to lose parts or forget what they are and where do they go. I Just clean them, check that they are ok and serve the purpose, and set them apart in a small lidded container. By the way, the small Venturi had also hollowed both ends, nice detail:

The bath in clear acrylic did improve a little the transparency as expected. I looked for aftermarket canopy masks but could find none at this time, but it shouldn't be difficult to mask the transparencies with sections of Tamiya tape or similar, as the panels are mostly flat and squarish or triangular:

As I explore alternatives for the machine I would like to represent, a saw a couple that had a long distance fuel tank inside the fuselage, so that is something to consider if you are choosing a long-distance plane (look at references, do a search if you are so inclined). Besides, and if you are one for adding details, the ailerons had mass balances, there were two navigation lights -on the fuselage top and belly-, and the tail had sometimes wire rigging and others what looks like flat wire or very thin struts. Other details, like the Pitot fairing under the right wing, may be substituted if you wish for more to-scale items.

A few parts are airbrushed:

Preparing the console to add the kit's inst. pan. decal. The decal sheet seems to be full carrier, meaning you have to separate and trim the subjects individually. This is not stated anywhere, and may lead to a unpleasant surprise of an unaware modeller that does not closely trim the carrier:

The decal behaved well, and is conveniently thin:

The console is glued to the fuselage, it was a good fit:

The transparencies as said above are so-so. Care is needed separating them from their pouring blocks, as they are thick and the resin is very hard:

Once separated they only need a few passes with the sanding stick to fit in place. A good fit is necessary, as some of the frames are very thin and will crack if excessive pressure is exerted:

All in place now, but, as you may notice, the 3D printing of the masters also left its mark here, as you can see faint "striations" under magnification:

The interior goes in. Check the fit, as in my case it wasn't good and had to sand the floor a couple times to be able to properly close the fuselage sides. Notice I did not glue the back seat, as I am leaning towards a long distance version, and will include a supplementary fuselage tank seen in some photos:

The supplementary fuel tank is scratched and its position tested:

The other transparencies are carefully separated:

I like the fact the Dekno provides separated doors, as they can be posed open, as seen in many photos of the plane on land:

Applying the masking tape and trimming it:

The artisanal process of manufacturing means that the parts sometimes have slight deformations, and halves do not exactly coincide. This was the case with the fuselage halves. I used 10 minute epoxy to glue them together, as I needed time to try to adjust as much as possible during curing to get even seams. Some modelers use superglue for this, but epoxy allows adjustments.

One half was slightly shorter than the other, and the cockpit/cabin area was a bit out-of-kilt. Again, during curing this was tweaked as much as I could. As it happens sometimes with resins, if you align one feature, another one on the opposite side of the fuselage may miss-align, thus compromises are made, and a couple panel lines may need sanding and re-scribing:

The "tongue" bit on the fuselage top that separates the doors and meets the windshield was molded bent downwards in the two halves, and sat about 2mm bellow the windshield line. You can see a piece of toothpick put there temporarily propping it upwards; perhaps a day or two in position and/or some cautious heat application can fix the problem:

A dry-run of the main components can be staged now, to contemplate the beautiful lines of the plane. How much I do appreciate the locating devices on kits, instead of those horrid butt-joints. It helps the build greatly, as in this case:

Another airbrushing session takes care of some "metal" parts -including the scratched additional fuel tank), the interior color of the doors, and the "burned" exhaust:

Compare the size of the fuselage with the wing of an in-progress Fokker F.32, in the same scale:

The vertical tail goes into its slot without problems and perfectly aligned, the masked canopy front is glued in place and the fit was very good, the doors, having been painted from inside, are now masked to paint the outside. The added fuselage fuel tank is already glued inside:

The wings are added, again with a solid and good fit thanks to the locating devices, once more I stress how important this is to any model builder, instead of the usual butt joint that you have to metal-pin and somehow make coincide with the help of the modeling gods:

After filling the interior with saran-type food wrap and then with damp paper tissue to protect it from spray, the model will be ready for the first primer coat:

The primer revealed quite a bit of work needed at the fuselage seams, which I expected given some issues with the fit of these parts. Once it's dry, I will see what happens to the 3D-printing effect -that is visible on close inspection- after sanding:

The kit's Pitot (to the right) is replaced by a home-made item. It will go at the end, in order no to interfere with the wing registration decals:

The horizontal tail halves are glued in place as well as some of the smaller parts (airscoops, etc). After the corrections are made to the surface another coat of primer is applied:

Very fine springy steel wire is used in conjunction with a minute blob of white glue to make the three balances (2 for the ailerons and one for the rudder). Their locations have been already drilled so they can be added later, after all painting and masking is done:

The model is given a coat of Alclad gloss grey base, in preparation for the aluminum color. The kit's Venturi will be replaced by a Croco resin aftermarket item, a bit more refined (the row of Venturis still in their pouring block can be seen just painted):

All ready now for the main color, but I will wait for the Arctic decals set to arrive:

The Arctic Decals set arrived, so I can proceed now with the build. The set covers the Japanese and British registrations that this plane wore:

A coat of aluminium color. Then masking and application of the red on the nose:

The aluminum color is masked and the red applied on the nose. The other red areas (fuselage sides, vertical tail scalloping) are included in the Arctic Decals sheet, as well as the necessary silver motifs:

Masks off and array o parts to be added:

Landing gear parts and exhaust on. The main landing gear is comprised of five parts per leg:

Starting with the decals. The Arctic Decals set as usual is superb:

The wing and rudder regs and walkway decals are applied. Tail rigging is added. Still to go are the fuselage regs and the fin red scallops, and then adding the final bits (prop, doors, Pitot, mass balances, etc.):

Almost there. The aileron and rudder mass balances were added, plus the open doors, prop, Venturi, Pitot and the remainder of the decals. Photo session over the weekend if weather allows:

To be continued...