Some
Heller kits are a source of joy, as their molds are very good and compare more
than favorable with some current “short run” offers and are most of the time
better than their Airfix cousins. While old Airfix kits convey a feeling of
chunkiness, old Heller kits feel more subtle and refined.
The
subject this time is the famous Caudron Simoun (if you happen to be unfamiliar
with the type look for it on the Internet).
I got
this kit from fellow modeler Diego Fernetti, for which my deep thanks go to him.
It is a welcome break from the scratch enterprises.
The
Heller kit has been reviewed already a few times, so I won’t repeat here what
you can read somewhere else. No flash whatsoever was present in my kit and the
parts were fine and crisp, even the transparencies.
Click on
images below to see larger images
The specific
plane represented here (F-ANRU) participated in the 1937 edition of the
Oasis Circuit race, a remarkable endeavor that started and ended at Cairo
visiting a number of other cities in Egypt. Simouns F-ANXJ and F-ANXB did
also participate in that race.
As
said the kit parts are good, but care is needed in order not to obliterate
the fine raised detail. You may protect said detail while gluing, puttying
and sanding by using masking tape on the concerned areas. I don’t know
who made the masters for this kit, but the parts are very clean. For
example the prop assembly, which is usually a group of chunky parts in
certain kits, is a fine, to scale-thickness part. The building started by
scoring the flaps and lowering them before joining the wing upper and
lower halves; the same went for the elevators, all this easy because of
Heller’s neat engraving. The interior followed –this area is
reasonably detailed, with a good instrument panel too-. By the way, all
Simoun interiors are stated as red by the sources. Wheel pants’ halves
were glued removing the pins that hold the wheels, since I wanted to add
them later to avoid messy masking or touch-ups. Besides, I don’t like
rolling wheels since a couple of times my models rolled off the building
board and had a not very successful flight that ended abruptly on the
floor.
The
only challenging part of the build might be the windshield, provided as
transparent left and right halves that represent also a section of the
fuselage. The clear areas would have to be masked and the seam neatly
glued, then the whole added to the fuselage trying to obtain a clean
transition. Some modelers just superglue those parts and then restore
clarity by sanding and polishing. I glued them carefully with the usual
styrene cement and bathed them in Future. Beware that the instrument panel
is glued to the base of the “windshield” –there are guides on the
parts- and not in the foremost position shown on the plans. Side windows
are actually left and right-handed; one clear strip has the “sliding”
pane marked; that goes on the pilot’s position.
I
removed the molded-in Pitot tube from the wing to facilitate handling of
the model and later on added one made of wire. Heller’s kit has a small
cut-out where the stab tongue is inserted in the fuselage and a stub small
piece of the stab molded with the fuselage; the real plane had those too
because the stabilizer could be adjusted, so you may choose not to putty
that area. All the built models I have seen on the Net puttied that area,
which doesn’t speak well of modelers checking references (some times I
don’t either, or do and then mercifully forget). I noticed similar small
details on other Heller kits that sometimes people think are flaws (comes
to mind a tiny notch in the PZL P.24 cowl that is meant to be there).
I
posted here at ARC a few Heller reviews. The subjects do not belong to my
current modeling agenda, but are indications of what you may expect from a
Heller kit:
http://www.arcair.com/Gal5/4401-4500/gal4411_D-510_Stern/00.shtm
http://www.arcair.com/Gal5/4801-4900/gal4883_Amiot143_Stern/00.shtm
http://www.arcair.com/Gal6/5001-5100/gal5066_Potez540_Stern/00.shtm
http://www.arcair.com/Gal5/4101-4200/gal4157_PZLP-23_Stern/00.shtm
In order to provide a bit of detail I grinded the nose part from inside and
glued there a spare engine cylinder. Beware of the tail wheel/fairing. It is a
very tiny part and mine twanged into the great beyond being recovered be a
miracle. Glue it at the very last, and mind that it has a fragile attachment. I
inserted a wire where the locating pin was.
The decals in my kit were a bit fuzzy, but nevertheless I
managed to use some for the necessary bits for this version, printing the
remaining ones particular to this model at home.
Oh, the Heller Nostalgia!
The PZL P.11 was another nice kit from Heller. It can be
built as civil register HA-NBN.
So dear reader, if you are rich and famous, why don’t you buy Heller’s
assets and issue a good Couzinet Arc-en-ciel? or perhaps a Dyle-Bacalan?
Looking forward to hear from you!
Gabriel Stern
Click on
images below to see larger images
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