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Silver Wings PZL P.11c - Shelved


Basilisk

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I am new here and this is my first post. I read along for a while and when I noticed this GB, I just had to participate as I have this kit in my stash fitting the bill nicely.

 

PZL-11-1.jpg

 

I am not 100% sure in which colours I will finish the model, but most likely as white 64 from 142 Squadron, Polish Air Force June 1938.

PZL-11-2.jpg

PZL-11-3.jpg

Does anyone know of a better picture of white 64?

 

This will be my first build in 1/32 and my first resin kit, so I will surely ask a lot of questions. I am not a fast builder, but I try my best to get it finished by the end of the year.

 

Cheers, Peter

Edited by Basilisk
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Welcome aboard, Peter!

 

:post1:

 

And welcome to the Group Build, too. I reviewed this kit a while back, and would love to find the time to build it. Alas, I'll have to settle for doing so vicariously through your build. Model on!

 

Kev

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Thank you Kev for your welcome. Yes I read your review and some on other sites and they all had been very positive about this kit.

 

But I was a bit disappointed after having a closer look. Yes it looks great in the box and most of the resin casts are exquisite. But I feel more could have been done with the surface finish. The real air frame is covered in dome head rivets on the fuselage and wings and none are represented on the model. Fly managed that on their recent Hurricane release.

 

But what really looks wrong to me is the overdone effect of the corrugated sheet metal on the flying surfaces. Here is a comparison of the original and the same section on the kit.

PZL-11-4.jpg

 

PZL-11-5.jpg

The model has 12 corrugations between the dividers and the original has close to 50! And the rivets are as noticeable as the corrugation but missing.

 

Not much can be done about this and the "effect" is most likely ok from a distance. But I will add HGW positive rivets at least to the fuselage. I am sure an attractive model can be made from this kit and I do my best to achieve this.

 

Maybe it is appropriate to introduce myself first. I am originally from Switzerland, but made Australia my home for the last 33 years. Aviation was part of all my live, starting making scale models in my teens during the early seventies. In Australia I worked as a free lance aviation photographer traveling the world doing work with many air forces.

 

But unfortunately I don't get younger so I discover scale modelling a year ago after a brake of 33 years. I finished my first two models last year - a 1/48 scale Spitfire and Hurricane (both new tool Airfix kits) which was appropriate as it was the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.

Mixed-4.jpg

 

Both models are riveted and I used the HGW rivets on the Hurricane

P3039-158.jpg

 

Currently I am working on a 1/48 Hawker Typhoon, P-47M, P-40K and Yak-1b plus several 1/72 scale kits.

Typhoon-R7752-44.jpg

P-47M-421108-44.jpg

But as I said, this will be my first 1/32 scale model which will be an "in between" build of the several builds I have going, so updates may be a bit infrequent.

 

One thing is sure. There are lost of peaces just to build the Mercury engine and cockpit.

PZL-11-6.jpg

 

So I better get cracking.

Cheers, Peter

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Welcome to the forum :hi:

 

 

As for the wing rivets:

 

You could draw a pencil line, make interval markings, drill out the corrugation at the marked locations and add a small rivet at the spot.

Yes, I know, a lot of work if you want to go this way... :hmmm:

 

Regards

- dutik

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Your 1/48 scale builds look superb, Peter! I can't believe they're your first two in over 3 decades. I'm struggling to make mine look that good now!

 

Kev

Thanks Kev. I was surprised myself. It was a steep learning curve using all these new materials, new paint types and an airbrush for the first time - things have changed a lot in 33 years and making models now is so much more fun.

 

 

Welcome to the forum :hi:

 

 

As for the wing rivets:

 

You could draw a pencil line, make interval markings, drill out the corrugation at the marked locations and add a small rivet at the spot.

Yes, I know, a lot of work if you want to go this way... :hmmm:

 

Regards

- dutik

Thanks dutik. I do love rivets, but there is a limit - even for me. I also feel that rivets added to the surface as it is now have to be way too large to make them work.

 

As the wing corrugation is four times larger as it should be it looks more like a Junkers style corrugation :shrug:  Not only do I like to add the rivets, but also make the corrugation look more to scale. And I have a plan which may work. This involves sanding town the surface of the corrugation and then scribe a new line into the flat part the sanding has created. Still a lot of extra work. I may try a section on an aileron if this brings the sought after improvement.

 

In the meantime I cleaned up the engine block and cylinders. But there is a problem in the engine assembly.

PZL-11-7.jpg

How do you fit the cone over the assembled engine without cutting it in half :doh: And aligning the exhaust tubes with the exhaust collar looks like a fun task.

I have to say that the instruction booklet is a big let down - it looks pretty, but doesn't provide any information in assisting assembly at all. And no information in telling which of the colour schemes are 2 or 4 gun versions.

 

The more I get involved with this kit the more disappointing I am with it - there is maybe a reason why no work in progress info can be found on the web...

 

I start to think that it is maybe not the best resin kit to do as a first :hmmm:

 

Cheers, Peter

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I think Ernie may have the right approach looking at those instructions diagrams. Paint and then insert the crankcase into the nose cone and then add the cylinder heads to it after. If you cut it in half, you could end up with a challenging seam between each cylinder head.

 

Carl

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I came to the same conclusion with mine, the alternative being to cut away the rear ring of the cone (behind the cylinders' openings) although that would still leave a seam to clean off afterwards.

 

Btw, my engine "cone" was badly warped, although I am sure I can fix it with hot water. It looked to me as if SW rushed through the production to fulfill the orders, with a slight "relaxing" on QC. Still love the kit as a whole, don't misread me ;)!

 

Hubert

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I wondered about the engine as well. Short of trying to build the engine around the nose cone...

Yep, that is how it should be done. I wrote an email to Simon from Silver Wings and he sent this back, showing the assembly sequence.

PZL-11-7b.jpg

But why not drawing the instruction manual so that it shows this to start with :doh:

 

As I stated in my first post, this will be my first build in 1/32 and my first resin kit - and I came to the conclusion that this kit isn't the best to build as a first.

 

I like to build a 1/32 scale kit for the additional details possible and for creating a model with an authentic look close to the original. Unfortunately I can't do this with this kit due to the external finish - just doesn't look right and it is nearly impossible to correct this.

 

In addition, several of the control surfaces have very thick trailing edges which again can't be easily thinned down due to the corrugation.

 

I like to make a model of the PZL 11c, but I feel I can make a more authentic looking model with the 1/48 scale Mirage kit.

 

I still like to participate in this GB and I will build the Alley Cat Dewoitine D.510 instead. I did have a close look at the kit and I feel it is a much better stepping stone to achieve my goal in this scale.

 

But I hope Clunkmeister is having a go at this kit as I will certainly follow his progress.

Cheers, Peter

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I have nearly finished this kit as a review for a future issue of AMW magazine. This was just one of the problems I came up against during construction. I got around it by cutting the rear parts of the nosecone away. I thought to build it in the sequence suggested in the photo above, but you can't do it that way because the inlet manifolds are 'Y' shaped....

 

It was an incredibly frustrating and extremely challenging build all the way through, but ironically few of the challenges arise because of the scale or the chosen medium!

 

Jen.

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I came to the same conclusion with mine, the alternative being to cut away the rear ring of the cone (behind the cylinders' openings) although that would still leave a seam to clean off afterwards.

 

Btw, my engine "cone" was badly warped, although I am sure I can fix it with hot water. It looked to me as if SW rushed through the production to fulfill the orders, with a slight "relaxing" on QC. Still love the kit as a whole, don't misread me ;)!

 

Hubert

Sorry Hubert, I missed your post when I composed mine. Interesting to see the variation in quality. My cone was cast fine, but the wings are warped instead.

 

I have nearly finished this kit as a review for a future issue of AMW magazine. This was just one of the problems I came up against during construction. I got around it by cutting the rear parts of the nosecone away. I thought to build it in the sequence suggested in the photo above, but you can't do it that way because the inlet manifolds are 'Y' shaped....

 

It was an incredibly frustrating and extremely challenging build all the way through, but ironically few of the challenges arise because of the scale or the chosen medium!

 

Jen.

Thank you Jen for sharing your experience you are having with us. This confirms that I made the right decision to shelf this build. But I look forward seeing your model when finished. Maybe you can show some pictures here.

 

That's a shame, Peter. I hope you're able to return to it later. In the meantime, the Dewoitine sounds like a good choice, and I look forward to you opening a new build thread on it!

 

Kev

Maybe, but I doubt it - just too many much better made kits to build in 1/32.

 

Regarding the nosecone, mine looks fine, but it lacks lots of detail possible in 1/32.

PZL-11-9.jpg

 

And note the blanked off slots on the aircraft in Krakow. These are open in the period pictures I have seen.

PZL-11-8.jpg

 

And here a comparison of the horizontal stabilizer.

PZL-11-10.jpg

Isn't it a lovely blob representing the trim mechanism.

 

These two pictures show well how delicate the corrugation is on the PZL 11c and how thin the trailing edges are.

pzl-4.jpg

 

dsc05966.jpg

 

There is currently an interesting thread regarding rivets on models - and it can be argued, if you don't represent the rivets on the PZL 11c, then there shouldn't be any corrugation either as the rivets are more noticeable than the corrugation.

 

I love improving a kit with scratch building parts and correcting oversized trailing edges. I spent some time last night doing this on a ModelSvit Yak-1. and if it is a one part piece, I do it this way as done on my Hurricane build.

 

The more I look at this kit the more things I find done poorly. The finish is ok for a 1/72 model, but in 1/32 I expect more detail which this kit unfortunately doesn't deliver. I knew very little about the PZL 11c a week ago, but after reading the Mushroom book and looking at many pictures, at least I learned a lot about the type.

 

If I would review the kit now, I would say:

Knowing nothing about the type and just looking at the content in the box - a score of 90 as it looks marvelous.

Knowing about the type and are not concerned about the details - a score of 60 due to poor brakedown of assembly and instruction.

Knowing about the type and want an accurate model with a finish appropriate for a 1/32 model - a score of 20 as just not possible.

 

It will be interesting to see how many of these kits will get completed over the years - I think very few which is a real shame as it is such an interesting aircraft.

 

Cheers, Peter

Edited by Basilisk
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Is it possible to get that many corrugations in 1/32 in scale? 

I think there were more corrugations on the master work in progress pictures...perhaps it was not possible to cast?

edit: Nope. But I think that's the reason. More corrugations would be a pain to cast without bubbles all over.

Edited by AndersN
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