Mirage Hobby's 1/48 scale
PZL P.24B

by Bob Aikens

Mirage Hobby's 1/48 scale PZL P.24B is available online from Squadron

A small apropos is probably in order as I bought this kit on Steven "Modeldad" Eisenman's enthusiastic review recommendation. I wasn't disappointed.

Mirage Hobby's 1/48 scale PZL P.24 has a nice photo-etch fret; a few resin pieces;great decals (TechMod, I think), and is moderately priced-how could I go wrong?

Then I hit on Mike Dobrzelecki's reviews of the whole Mirage Hobby PZL fighter series(P.11c,P.24B,P.24F and P.24G).

Also helpful was Lukasz Kedzierski's review of the Warrior P.24G. With all this I was ahead of the game before the plastic hit the bench.

There are only two things that jump out as being 'finicky' , and they are the wheel housings (spats) and the engine/cowling fit.

1. The plastic at the wheel housings is very thin,so the forward edges had to be 'sculped' with filler.

2. If you want to retro-fit the engine assembly into the pre-built cowling it becomes necessary to sand down a portion of the outer cylinder edges. Of course you can always assemble it according to the kit instructions.

The color call-outs are for Humbrol and Vallejo-olive green and light blue. For the green I used Testor's Model Master 34096 Dark Green (B-52), a medium olive green; for the light blue it was Model Master Azure Blue, considerably lightened with white.

I must have waffled for three or four days on whether to use the trim decals or paint. Once I had decided to paint, things seemed to fall into place. In the end, painting was the right thing to do, especially on the tri-color rudder.

The main components - wing, fuselage, engine, cowling - were built and painted separately, as were the landing gear and wing braces. And when final assembly came, everything fitted together very well-no real problems at all !

 

A dark acrylic wash was put on the heavier surface indents, but that was about all the weathering I did-these birds were probably in fresh condition upon delivery to the Bulgarians in early '39-and besides, the little ingenue looked so neat and prim that I couldn't bear to dirty her up. She looked ever so much like a Cinderella just waiting to be asked to the fancy ball. And it is well known that most modelers allow themselves a bit of poetic license from time to time. But wait for it ! -according to Steve Eisenman the very first thing the Bulgarians did upon getting their Jastrebs , was to remove their 'slippers'.

From the beginning this modeling project had a 'serendipidous ' feel to it; a benign series of circumstances that all led to it's completion- it's this sort of almost indescribable feeling that I think I like best about modeling. It brings to mind a novel I had read a while back - The Chain of Chance - by the great Polish writer/scientist Stanislaw Lem.

If you have never read any of Lem's wonderful stories, you should do so without delay. Without him, my model may never have been built.

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Model, Images and Text Copyright © 2005 by Bob Aikens
Page Created 04 March, 2005
Last Updated 04 March, 2005

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