ICM 1/72: Avia B-71 bomber - Bulgarian Air Force
ICM 1/72: Avia B-71 bomber - Bulgarian Air Force
My first build for 2018.
Aircraft History
The Czech Avia B-71 is a license-built version of the Soviet Tupolev SB bomber. The SB was designed in the early 1930's and saw full production, in the Soviet Union, in 1936. Czechoslovakia produced the B-71 from 1937-38. Following the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, Avia B-71 bombers were pressed into service with the Luftwaffe and allies of Nazi Germany. The Bulgarian Air Force received several for its use in WWII.
The twin engine B-71 bomber had a max speed of 280 mph, and a max ceiling of 30,500 feet. It was armed with three 7.62 ShKAS machine guns (nose turret, dorsal and ventral gun positions) and could carry a maximum bomb load of approx. 1300 pounds. It carried a crew of three (pilot, nose gunner, and rear gunner (who operated both dorsal and ventral guns).
The Kit
This is ICM Avia B-71 kit # 72163 and is in 1/72 scale. You get several sprues of parts (many of which you will not use), instructions, and a sheet of decals for three different aircraft (two German Luftwaffe and one Bulgarian Air Force). The instructions a okay and do offer nice profiles of each aircraft for painting. However, some of the assembly instructions are not very clear as to part placement so be aware you may need to do some dry-fitting first. The decals were nothing special and are of dubious quality. Even though the parts were wrapped in plastic, I had several key components which were broken (landing gear, for example). The parts for the fuselage and wings had nice and very subtle raised details / panel lines. The plastic seemed to be of good quality. All the other parts were brittle and great care needs to be used to cut them from their sprues! No wonder so many parts were broken. The clear parts were not especially clear, but were still serviceable.
The Build
As I began building the model I found, to my despair, that this would be one of those kits where assemblies would be needlessly over-engineered. Whereas most model aircraft might use two halves for a fuselage, this kit used six. The engines were, likewise, a jumble of parts that need not have been designed for assembly in such a manner.
Because you will need to use filler and, consequently, have to sand / smooth the filler, you risk destroying a lot of the nice exterior details I mentioned earlier.
Oh well. On to fuselage assembly and priming.
No crew members are included in this kit. Interior details are spare (no control panel or cockpit details, nothing in the bomb-bay, etc) as well. Because of the broken parts I mentioned earlier, I opted for a wheels-up display. Of course I need a crew so I raided my parts box. There are lots of spare bombs (included in the kit, but not meant to be used with this aircraft) in the kit so I decided to have the bomb-doors open and build racks for the extra bombs I had. Online research showed the B-71 dropped bombs vertically from the bomb-bay (think German He-111) so it wasn't to hard to build racks for them inside.
I also decided upon making a Bulgarian Air Force bomber as I like different subject and did not have one from that Axis power in my collection. To me there is something cartoonish about the big X as a national insignia. The decals worked okay, but the release from the carrier paper almost instantly upon getting wet. They are delicate and very thin too.
Conclusions
Overall a decent kit marred by over-engineering, brittle parts, and lack of internal details. However, you do get a bunch of extra parts for your spares box. I hope you enjoy the results of my build. Please let me know of any improvements I can make.
Aircraft History
The Czech Avia B-71 is a license-built version of the Soviet Tupolev SB bomber. The SB was designed in the early 1930's and saw full production, in the Soviet Union, in 1936. Czechoslovakia produced the B-71 from 1937-38. Following the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, Avia B-71 bombers were pressed into service with the Luftwaffe and allies of Nazi Germany. The Bulgarian Air Force received several for its use in WWII.
The twin engine B-71 bomber had a max speed of 280 mph, and a max ceiling of 30,500 feet. It was armed with three 7.62 ShKAS machine guns (nose turret, dorsal and ventral gun positions) and could carry a maximum bomb load of approx. 1300 pounds. It carried a crew of three (pilot, nose gunner, and rear gunner (who operated both dorsal and ventral guns).
The Kit
This is ICM Avia B-71 kit # 72163 and is in 1/72 scale. You get several sprues of parts (many of which you will not use), instructions, and a sheet of decals for three different aircraft (two German Luftwaffe and one Bulgarian Air Force). The instructions a okay and do offer nice profiles of each aircraft for painting. However, some of the assembly instructions are not very clear as to part placement so be aware you may need to do some dry-fitting first. The decals were nothing special and are of dubious quality. Even though the parts were wrapped in plastic, I had several key components which were broken (landing gear, for example). The parts for the fuselage and wings had nice and very subtle raised details / panel lines. The plastic seemed to be of good quality. All the other parts were brittle and great care needs to be used to cut them from their sprues! No wonder so many parts were broken. The clear parts were not especially clear, but were still serviceable.
The Build
As I began building the model I found, to my despair, that this would be one of those kits where assemblies would be needlessly over-engineered. Whereas most model aircraft might use two halves for a fuselage, this kit used six. The engines were, likewise, a jumble of parts that need not have been designed for assembly in such a manner.
Because you will need to use filler and, consequently, have to sand / smooth the filler, you risk destroying a lot of the nice exterior details I mentioned earlier.
Oh well. On to fuselage assembly and priming.
No crew members are included in this kit. Interior details are spare (no control panel or cockpit details, nothing in the bomb-bay, etc) as well. Because of the broken parts I mentioned earlier, I opted for a wheels-up display. Of course I need a crew so I raided my parts box. There are lots of spare bombs (included in the kit, but not meant to be used with this aircraft) in the kit so I decided to have the bomb-doors open and build racks for the extra bombs I had. Online research showed the B-71 dropped bombs vertically from the bomb-bay (think German He-111) so it wasn't to hard to build racks for them inside.
I also decided upon making a Bulgarian Air Force bomber as I like different subject and did not have one from that Axis power in my collection. To me there is something cartoonish about the big X as a national insignia. The decals worked okay, but the release from the carrier paper almost instantly upon getting wet. They are delicate and very thin too.
Conclusions
Overall a decent kit marred by over-engineering, brittle parts, and lack of internal details. However, you do get a bunch of extra parts for your spares box. I hope you enjoy the results of my build. Please let me know of any improvements I can make.
- gnomemeansgnome
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Re: ICM 1/72: Avia B-71 bomber - Bulgarian Air Force
Looks good.
Ego no habeo consilium.
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Re: ICM 1/72: Avia B-71 bomber - Bulgarian Air Force
Nice
Been modelling for years, still learning . . . .
Model kits are meant to be assembled . . . . . . . . . . eventually.
Model kits are meant to be assembled . . . . . . . . . . eventually.
- VickersVandal
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Re: ICM 1/72: Avia B-71 bomber - Bulgarian Air Force
Yep, I hated building this kit for that reason. I was glad to see the back of it.As I began building the model I found, to my despair, that this would be one of those kits where assemblies would be needlessly over-engineered. Whereas most model aircraft might use two halves for a fuselage, this kit used six. The engines were, likewise, a jumble of parts that need not have been designed for assembly in such a manner.
Yours is looking top notch!
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Re: ICM 1/72: Avia B-71 bomber - Bulgarian Air Force
Interesting subject and scheme, and very nicely built.
Best wishes
Jim
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Jim
If you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it's an outstanding landing
"Never put off till tomorrow, what you can do the day after tomorrow"
- bobblelink
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Re: ICM 1/72: Avia B-71 bomber - Bulgarian Air Force
That is certainly something different- very nice work.
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completions in 2012:8, completions in 2013: 13, Completions in 2014:10, Completions in 2015: 9, Completions in 2016: 8, Completions in 2017: 9, Completions in 2018: 12, completions in 2019:7, completions in 2020: 17
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Re: ICM 1/72: Avia B-71 bomber - Bulgarian Air Force
Nothing wrong with that model: an interesting colour scheme and markings. Considering the problems that you have mentioned you have made a good model. Perhaps the old Frog Tupolev might stand up well against this kit.
Re: ICM 1/72: Avia B-71 bomber - Bulgarian Air Force
A real eyecatcher. Very nicely done.
Regards, Paddy.
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Fujimi 1/72 A-7E Corsair II
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Fujimi 1/72 A-7E Corsair II
Re: ICM 1/72: Avia B-71 bomber - Bulgarian Air Force
I see what you meen by over engineered,but you done a great job.Well tidy mun.
Regards
Ken.
Regards
Ken.
Re: ICM 1/72: Avia B-71 bomber - Bulgarian Air Force
Thank you all for your kind comments about the build. I was almost glad to see that someone else shared my frustration with the complexity / over engineering of fairly simple assemblies (thanks Vickers Vandal).
- Spaceowl
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Re: ICM 1/72: Avia B-71 bomber - Bulgarian Air Force
Ukrainian kits of that era were notorious for being over-complicated. Well done you for turning out such a nice finish.
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THK 1939-2023
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Re: ICM 1/72: Avia B-71 bomber - Bulgarian Air Force
Great looking build, thanks for sharing.
George B.
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Re: ICM 1/72: Avia B-71 bomber - Bulgarian Air Force
Great job with a fairly difficult kit. I've built ICM kits and agree with your assessment - overly engineered, fragile parts, and somewhat hard-to-use decals.
Great to see you are still building the weird and unusual stuff Brett. You made a striking model. I love your added touches. Well done sir.
pmmaker
Great to see you are still building the weird and unusual stuff Brett. You made a striking model. I love your added touches. Well done sir.
pmmaker
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Re: ICM 1/72: Avia B-71 bomber - Bulgarian Air Force
Thanks, Allan. I appreciate it.
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Re: ICM 1/72: Avia B-71 bomber - Bulgarian Air Force
That is a great result and a type I have not seen before. Very well done.
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East German Air Force (1956-90)
South African Air Force (1958-93)