Miku Models 1/72 L-60 (L-160, 60S) Brigadyr

MIKU MODELS 1:72 AERO (ORLICAN) L-60 (L-160, 60S) BRIGADYR
'INBOX Review'

Reviewer: Johan De Wolf (rec.models.scale)

Aircraft: Aero (Orlican) L-60, L-60S, L-160 Brigadyr
Kit: Miku #72 032
Scale: 1/72
Parts: 64 resin, 3 vacuform (canopy), 1 photoprint (instrument panel)
Decals: NVA
Surface detail: engraved
Accuracy: good
Price: 250 Kc (approx 8 USD)

History
The origins of the Brigadyr can be traced back to the Fieseler Fi 156 Storch. In 1943 and '44 some 130 Storch's where built at Leichtbu Budweis and Benes-Mraz in Chozen in what is now the Czech republic. After the war production continued at Benez-Mraz who renamed the Storch to K-65 Cap. In 1950 the Czechoslovak defence ministry requested the design for a successor of the K-65. The project got underway in '51, and the first prototype had its maiden flight in '53. A revised second prototype had its first flight in early '55 with a third fully military prototype following soon after. After much testing series production of the L-60A finally started in '56. When production ended in '68 a total of 273 machines in several versions had left factory. There was also an updated version designated L-160 which had a slightly larger all metal tail wing and single wing struts instead of the "V" struts of the L-60. However I can't find any references to its production, so it is quite possible it didn't progress beyond prototype stage. The CSAF used the military version of the L-60A designated K-60. This version had provisions for a single flexible machine gun and light bomb load. From 1960 till the end of '62 the East German airforce (NVA) also used 20 examples for training and liaison duties. After military use many L-60's found their way into civilian service as glider tugs, para droppers, crop dusters and for forestry duties. It got exported to at least 15 countries. The L-60 proved itself to be a rugged, reliable and easy to fly machine. By 1975 an ever increasing number of aircraft where running out of engine hours. So a conversion was designed to replace the Praha M-208B "Doris" engine with a Polish PZL AI-14R engine (the same engine that powers the PZL Wilga). Airframes thus converted became known as L-60S. Even today, almost 40 years after production stopped, there are still many airworthy examples being operated by aero clubs and private owners.

The kit
The cream coloured resin parts are divided over 8 wavers that are all separately sealed into plastic bags. This greatly reduces the chance of breakage of the small parts. Thanks Miku! Except for a few pinholes the parts are bubble free. Its easy to break the parts free from the thin wafer, and a quick swipe with fine grade sandpaper will make them ready for use. The kit can be built as a standard L/K-60 but also as a L-60S or L-160, for which the parts are on separate wafers making them easily identifiable. Instructions are on two A4 sheets and are in Czech only. One handles part numbering and naming and contains a list of other Miku kits. The other sheet handles construction. The construction diagram consists of 3 exploded views that are rather ambiguous about the placement of most of the small parts.

It is a pity that Miku did not include a 3 view scale drawing. It would have helped greatly with the placement of the struts. Instead you have to make do with the side view of the colour schemes. The canopy of my example has a rough surface and I hope it can be polished smooth. There is no spare given. Decals for one aircraft are printed by MPD and are of excellent quality.

Accuracy
Span is a bit difficult to determine when only dry fitting an aircraft kit like this, but after some fiddling around I think it can be built with the correct span. In 1/72 this should be 19.4 cm. Length is 1 mm too much but this can easily be corrected by placing the tailplane 1 mm further forward. This seems more correct in regard to alignment with the tailcone and vertical fin too. Pictures I saw of a finished model show that it captures the looks and stalky sit of the original very well.

Construction
Fuselage breakdown is rather odd at first sight but actually works out very well. The cockpit area is treated with a total of 14 parts. The only things that I will add are seatbelts (no shoulder harness), and the prominent trim wheel on the centreline in front of the seats. Don't worry about the simple control columns, the real thing really looks like a much enlarged sewing pin! The instrument panel is slightly to large and needs to be trimmed.

Please note that the panel provided is not for a dual control machine. As resin is prone to deforming, especially under prolonged stress, I will scratchbuild the framework to which the wing will be fitted, and make the wing spars out of metal wire. The way the canopy is divided into 3 parts seems to suggest it had the same kind of upward hinged doors as the Storch, however the L-60 had car type doors. The louvres on nose part (#2) are a bit soft edged and I will gently scribe them so they will look more crisp. For the exhaust you have 2 choices: 3 separate stacks, or a collector tube ending in a single stack. The single stack arrangement is seen on most military/early machines. It will be wise to make a jig when attaching the wings and struts. Although the resin struts are perfectly usable I will only use them as templates for struts made from plastic. Plastic won't deform in time, but I'm not so sure about thin resin. It would be a shame if my model developed wobbly legs and hanging wings after a few years. Note that the fin fillet part #42 is not exclusively for the L-60S, as suggested by the instructions. Earlier on in production the fillet was introduced. While the Czech K-60's didn't have it yet, the East German L-60A's did. Parts not included in the kit that you might want to add are flap actuators (5 per wing), A large pitot boom under the left wing and, a landing light also under the left wing and various antennae and steps.

Painting and decals
No colours are given for the interior. Light grey for the interior and frames and cream or light/mint green for the seat cushions are a safe guess. Three side views are given for Czech machines but there are no decals for them. These sideviews look like poor copies out of a L+K magazine. There are only decals for an NVA machine however for this machine there are no painting instructions. The Czech machines are:

The first series production machine converted to prototype for the cropduster version. It was used by the VZLU (aviation testing establishment) and coded V-06. It was painted in chocolate brown, cream and white, with a CSAF roundel on the tail.
An armed machine of the CSAF coded U-03. After 1957 when letter codes where abandoned this machine became white 0205 (5th machine from the 2nd batch). It was painted brown green (Czech equivalent of olive drab) on top and had light blue undersides.
Prototype for the L-60S registered as OK-MTI. It was painted orange with red and white bands on the fuselage and tail. East Germany (NVA) had two flights of L-60's, 20 machines in total. They belonged to the transport pilots school at Dessau. After they moved to Garz together with a An-2 flight they formed transport pilots school squadron 27. These machines where dark green on top and bright light blue below. They had a roundel on the rear fuselage followed by the code, #250 being provided on the decal sheet. On the rudder there was another roundel, with the remaining 4, slightly larger, roundels going on the wings. Usually rendition of NVA roundels on decal sheets is pretty poor, but that cannot be said for these MPD decals which are one of the best I've seen so far.

Conclusion
The only let down of this kit are the instructions really, and in my case the mediocre quality of the canopy. While no easy kit to built because of the complex struts, it certainly is not impossible to build a very nice model out of it (see references). I bought this Miku kit at a Brno hobby shop for the equivalent of less than 8 USD. This is excellent value for money. I suspect it will cost you twice as much in a western model shop but even then it will still be good value for money. Thanks to Miku for bringing us these much overlooked east European aircraft in model form.

References
Die andere Deutsche Luftwaffe, Wilfried Kopenhagen
Flugzeuge und Hubschrauber der NVA von 1956 bis 1970, Wilfried Kopenhagen
Tschechoslovakische Flugzeuge, Hans-Joachim Mau

On the web
http://www.flugzeugforum.de/gallery/album09/aac
http://www.piteraq.dk/flight/storch.html
http://www.luftfahrtmuseum.com/htmd/dtf/l60.htm

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