Pantera (Heller) 1/72 Fieseler Fi-156A-1 Storch

PANTERA (HELLER) 1:72 FIESELER FI-156A-1 STORCH
'INBOX Review'

Reviewer: Carlos Giani (carlos_giani2002@yahoo.de)
- A Built up review of the HELLER kit exists on this site - see the respective fully built kit review index to locate review

Kit: Pantera 1/72^nd scale Fieseler Fi-156 A-1 Storch (Kit N° 7209 ). Produced in Poland.

Aircraft: The Fi-156 is Fieseler´s best know design, due to its really intensive use during WW2. It was an excellent STOL plane, which had its first flight in 1936. It was a shoulder wing monoplane of mixed construction with tail skid and fixed landing gear, being propelled by an Argus As-10 engine delivering some 240HP. Its wide, extensive glazed cockpit could accommodate 3 crew, offering an excellent observation field. The secret of its fabulous STOL performance was the use of Handley Page-type slats and fowler flaps all along the wings, a system which proved very reliable in the forerunner Fieseler Fi-97. The first tests exceeded all expectations, with the plane capable of taking of from just 60m (!) and landing, at some 50 Km/h, on 20m (!!). Series production of the Fi-156 A-1 began in 1937, with some 2900 being produced all along the conflict. After WW2, it kept in production at Morane Saulnier in France and Mraz in the Czech Republic.

Parts: The kit comes in a small and sturdy top-opening box and, after lifting the lid, some familiar feelings invade you. Just a minute and you know that this is the elder Heller kit. In a bag you get three sprues with 48 light grey styrene parts, one sprue with 7 clear parts, a small decals sheet and the instructions. The styrene parts are cleanly molded, flash free and showing very good quality. The surface detail is raised with engraved control grooves, which I think is good enough since I cannot imagine the Storch having lots of panel lines. The clear parts are transparent but rather thick, which is understandable considering that they have to carry the wing's weight.

Apologies for blurriness of the photos - however it still provides a good idea of the kit contents and what is on each sprue - Ed

For the cockpit you get a floor, two seats, a control stick and even a tiny instrument panel with some dials represented on it[*]. All these are trapped between the fuselage halves. The canopy consists of 5 parts, which must be carefully but firmly glued together, avoiding any glue blotches which could look like a ketchup blot on a white shirt. The are two alternative clear roofs, the other one being for the Fi-156 C-3 version (boxed by Pantera separately, of course with exact the same content as this kit). The canopy also gets a styrene tubing part on the roof's inner side, and is then glued onto the fuselage. Next, the one-piece tailplanes go on, each having one strut which connects to the fin. Each wing is two-halves plus an extra slat, and is mounted on a protrusion molded onto the upper edge of the side glazing.

Next the large V-struts are glued on, together whit smaller auxiliary “Vs”. The landing gear legs also get two V-struts each, and must be aligned carefully, due to the lack of detailed diagrams (a MPM-Group product surely would have included them). The last bits to add are the wheels, tail skid (wheel for the Bulgarian version), engine's front, propeller, ailerons balance weights, pitot tube and antenna.

[*] One thing I admire on Heller kits is the fact that even in the 70´s they mostly tried to put some business in their cockpits, in the days when the others were just placing alien-like pilots on side protrusions. Heller's 1930's French clunky bombers are also a good example to this statement.

Instructions: One A4 piece of paper folded to an A5 leaflet, with history/data in Polish and English, colour callout codes for the Humbrol range, nine construction steps and colouring/decaling 4-view diagrams for two versions. No detail painting guide.

Versions:

1) Finnish Air Force, ST-112, liaison flight of Air Force HQ, Helsinki1942

2) Royal Bulgarian Air Force, eastern front, 1942. Both upper RLM71, lower RLM65 with RLM04 underside wing tips (also upper side on the Bulgarian plane).

Decals: Printed by Techmod, they look good on the small sheet. Just code numbers and insignia.

Detail: Very good for 70´s kit. Nevertheless, the wide glazing enforces the addition of some extra inner detail, using strips and bits or an aftermarket set (e.g. Airwaves AEC72103).

Options: Flat roof or bulked one (version C-3), tail skid or rear wheel, maybe opened right gull-wing door.

Impressions: Looks very good on the sprue, although the 5-parts canopy and the fiddly struts will guarantee for a delicate job.

Recommendations: Still an unpretentious but nice kit, which holds up good through the years. Not recommended for the beginner, due to the complicated struts/canopy/wings assembling. The only other real option out there is the Academy kit, which seems to be strongly based on this one. Please don't be ashamed to like a Heller kit!

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