Thursday, January 5, 2023

BFW M.18d -Dekno 1/72nd resin+3D-printing+Arctic Decals, ready for takeoff


The recent Dekno release of the Messerschmitt BFW M.18d is a definite step upwards and forwards on a long line of attractive Golden Age kits that this manufacturer has created for the joy of civil modelers that favor racers, sport planes and passenger transports of that wonderful period of aviation.

The kit was relatively easy to build -although I don't think it is for beginners-, the parts are of good quality (especially the high-resolution 3D-printed ones), the interior and exterior detail well achieved, and the decal sheet -provided by Arctic Decals- is of course of high quality. Based on photos of this particular plane (that went through some modifications during its life)...

(Photos from ETH Zurich Bibliothek Bildarchiv)

...I changed the engine (from Walter Mars to Armstrong Siddeley Lynx), exhaust, prop, and a part of the color scheme to reflect them. I opened the luggage compartment hatch and replaced the resin Pitot with metal tube. 

At a previous point in its career:

 

To know more about the type and to see the step-by-step building develop, please refer to this post:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2022/12/bfw-m18d-dekno-172-resin-and-3d-printed.html

Dekno has been in the market for a while now, I have built several of its kits (they are posted on this blog), and it's a joy to watch this manufacturer grow, perfecting its kits, and regaling us with more flying wonders of the Golden Age of Aviation.

Now we can admire the elegant lines of the M.18d with its high aspect ratio wings and stab and its compact fuselage, serenely posed on the lawn of a dream airfield. 




 













 





The Palmer Cord wheel lettering and the specs placard that I forgot to add are applied:



3 comments:

  1. Looks awesome as usual! I too have this exact, same boxing. So, we can't correctly build the Swiss Air version without the Lynx engine? Does Dekno know of this issue? Thanks, Gabe!

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    1. Thanks, Matt! The Walter Mars engine (that comes in the kit) covers many German machines. I have not been able to spot a photo of the Swiss machine using it, but CH-191 went through changes during its service, perhaps at some point it used it?. Dekno knows now of this. I just matched the photos I had, as it was not difficult.

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  2. Thanks for that. Definitely looking forward to the book being put out by European Airlines. Maybe that has more in it; I just contacted the author to see if he knew more.

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