1:72 PZL.23A/B Karaś

The light bomber of 1939

This angular low-wing machine with fixed landing gear and a radial engine formed the backbone of Polish bomber and reconnaissance aviation in the late 1930s. Under the fuselage it carried a retractable gondola for the bombardier, a detail that sets the type unmistakably apart from the other machines of its class. The A version received a weaker powerplant and served mainly in training, while the more capable B version went straight to the combat escadrilles. About two hundred and fifty were built before the war broke out, and in the first days of September their crews sent them against advancing columns from low altitude, where their own slowness exposed them to fire from the ground.

Five subjects, three roles

The set of markings is aimed at three different chapters of the type's history. First the machines of the combat escadrilles of 1939, specifically the 24th Reconnaissance, the 21st Bomber and the 12th Line Escadrille. Then an aircraft of the training version from the air cadet school at Deblin in 1938. The last subject is a machine of the Romanian Air Force from the 73rd Squadron in 1942, that is the period when some of these aircraft went beyond the borders of their country of origin and ended their days in foreign colors. Three different roles on one sheet is practical for a collector, because it covers the whole arc of the type's career from training to foreign service.

A practical note on building

The sheet is printed for 1:72 scale. The tactical numbers on this subject are large and fall on the curved side of the fuselage, so it pays off to work over smaller areas and settle the film gradually. Before applying them it is good to check that the camouflage underneath has fully cured, otherwise the film can ripple while being shifted. The set holds the printed sheet only.