100-SH48182
Fiat CR.32 Freccia/Chirri 1/48
The Italian Fiat CR.32 Freccia was the pinnacle of Italian biplane fighter plane design of the early 1930´s. Because of its flying qualities, it saw service with air forces on four continents. Despite being rather obsolete by the time the war broke out, the Freccia went on flying in the first line service well up to 1942. They also managed to make a name for themselves during the Spanish Civil War where they flew with Italian volunteer units as well as piloted by Spanish nationalists. In Spain, Fiat CR.32 fighter planes enjoyed their finest hour and they were even licence-built there and known as the Chirri. However, the Fiats saw their very first combat action in faraway China as this country had bought the first series of the fighter. Yet another countries bought this type as well, these were South-American countries of Paraguay or Venezuela, in Europa the aicraft was used by Austria (and following the Anschluss or Annexation by Nazi Germany they continued their service with the Luftwaffe) and also by Hungary. Italian Freccias saw service in their homeland as well as in the Balkans or in the hot skies of Africa, where, flown in an attack role, they were characterized by having an enlarged radiator and bomb racks fitted.
The Fiat CR.32 model (ex-Classic Airframes) consists of two sprues of grey styrene, a set of detailed resin parts and two photo-etched frets (one is pre-coloured). The decal sheet and instruction leaflet offer a choice of two Italian machines, the first of which was flown over Greece, the other in Africa. Amongst another options the modeller can choose between a Hungarian machine which took part in so called “Little War” between Slovakia and Hungary in March of 1939 and a machine flown by the fourth highest scoring Spanish nationalist pilot Ángel Salas Larrazábal.
100-SH72346
MD-500E helicopter 1/72
The MD 500E is one of the World´s most commonly used helicopter type and we have taken over the kit of this aircraft from already non-existing Profiline company. The plastic parts that are in our offer now come with decal options covering machines of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, Finnish Air Force and a Chilean machine.
100-SH48187
Zlín Z-181 / C-6 1/48
The Bücker Bü 181 was of similar design and construction to its predecessors, the famous and successful German sporting and training aircraft the Bücker Bü 131 and 133, the difference however being in that the type 181 was a low-wing monoplane with enclosed cockpit. The airframe was of wooden construction with plywood and fabric skinning while the fuselage mid section consisted of tubular steel framework covered wth fabric and the rear fuselage was a wooden shell. The crew of two sat side by side. The prototype bearing a civil registration D-ERBV was taken aloft for the first time in February 1939 with Arthur Benitz at the controls. The flying qualities were found to be excellent and, following thorough flight testing by the German Ministry of Aviation, the type was introduced into service with the Luftwaffe as their standard training aircraft with official name Bestmann. Production commenced in 1940 and there were two main versions, the B and C, which differed due to their powerplant being either a Hirth HM 500 A or B. The need for training aircraft grew as the war progressed so the type was not only produced by the parent Bücker company in Rangsdorf but Fokker in the Netherlands and Zlin in the then Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia also set up production lines too. After the end of the war, the Bestman continued to be produced in liberated Czechoslovakia for the military and also civil aviation markets, with several different powerplants installed. The type with the original powerplant was known as the Zlin Z-181 in the civil aviation or as the C-6 in the military. They kept on serving until the end of the 1950s.
This kit contains the same plastic parts, PE fret and resin parts as the earlier model with cat.no. SH48181, the decals provide for a civil Zlin Z-181 machine with OK-ZZE registration flown by a famous character of Czechoslovak aviation, a female aerobatic pilot Božena Krajčová (who, in 1949, fled her homeland for the fear of communist persecution and settled in Australia) and the second scheme option is a military C-6 type bearing UA-46 fuselage code which flew in Prostějov Aviation School.
100-SH72289
Mirage F.1CE/CH 1/72
re-issue – limited quantity
The Mirage F.1C came about as a private venture by the French Dassault company. The French Air Force, or the Armée de l´Air, had ordered two prototype aircraft named Mirage F.2 and Mirage F.3 which were to be equipped with a JTF10 engine. However, Dassault built on their own expenses yet another prototype, smaller than the two previous and fitted with an Atar 9K power plant. This machine, which was eventually chosen, took off for its maiden flight on 23 December 1966 and production aircraft were put on strenght of the Armée de l´Air in single-seater fighter version known as the F.1C and two-seater F.1B trainer version. During their service, number of the machines were upgraded by fitting of IFR probes which gave the F-1C-200 version. The French Air Force used also a dedicated reconnaissance and a ground-attack version, designated the F.1CR and CT respectivelly, the latter being converted from F.1-200 machines. In total, 246 of all versions served with the French, the type was exported abroad and enjoyed success with foreign air forces. In Europe, the Greeks and the Spanish flew the Mirage F.1C, in South America there was only a sole operator, the Fuerza Aerea Ecuatoriana, but in Africa and Asia the Mirage F.1C an B were put on strenght of air forces of Gabon, South Africa, Morocco, Libya, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar and Kuwait and were used in many clashes around the world, including mock combats between Greek pilots and their Turkish adversaries, as well as French military actions in Chad, Ecuadorian cross-border skirmishes with Peru, battles of South African Mirages against Angola-based Cuban fighters and the list might end with mentioning the Iran-Iraq war in which the Mirages were used by either side. And even nowadays the type keeps on flying in several countries.
Nicely detailed model kit of the Mirage fighter come on six styrene sprues and one clear plastic sprue accompanied by detailed resin parts depicting the differences specific for Spanish and Moroccan Mirage F.1 machines as were the weapon pylons or chaff dispensers. The decal sheet is printed by Italian Cartograf and offers a wide choice of as many as five machines, each of the three Spanish Mirages wearing a different camouflage scheme and there are also two Moroccan options.
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