Pavla 1/72 Robinson R-22

PAVLA 1:72 ROBINSON R-22

Reviewer: Paul Wherran (rec.models.scale)
Kit Review submitted: 7 March 2003

Aircraft History:

I really had to delve into the banals of my archives to find much out about this tiny little chopper that kind of reminds one of a smaller version of the two-seater Bell Model 47! It's primary role is as a helicopter flight trainer and has actually sold in the thousands, being part of the inventory of many air forces and civil helicopter training schools right around the world. It's small compact size has also made it popular amongst private pilots being a cheaper alternative than some others, and is also known as the R-22 "Beta".

The Kit:

I saw three of these kits on the shelf heavily marked down in price, and couldn’t resist picking one up for what is quite clearly a steal. However, I assumed that the reason for the heavy mark down probably had something to do with the kit’s popularity and perhaps its ability to be put together, having been pitted against some rather challenging Pavla subjects in the past. So I was a bit wary even before I snipped open the end opening box and peered inside. What greeted me was a single heavily moulded limited run plastic sprue containing about twenty parts. There is little surface detail on these parts, but what is there is engraved very finely. The plastic makes up the main structure of the helicopter and is a bit brittle with some flash and a seam line on most parts which will require removal with a sharp hobby blade. The sprue lugs are thick, with some parts seemingly moulded integrally with the sprue, so a lot of care must be taken when removing the parts from the sprue, and some of the smaller parts are in real danger of being broken. There are two vacform parts which make up the whole forward fuselage section, with faint but identifiable frame lines for painting, along with some 18 etched parts which make up most of the smaller detail parts on the kit.

Instructions:

These come on one double sided A4 sheet. On one side a sprue map is provided, since the parts are not numbered on the actual sprue as well as the first few stages of the assembly covering cockpit, engine, rotors and tailboom. On the otherside you will find the remainder of the construction process plus the exterior markings and decalling guide. There are additional small inset type line drawings to help with painting and positioning, the former keyed from the Humbrol range.

Construction:

A lot of cleaning up of the parts is required before you can affix them together, and as already stated a lot of care must be taken when removing the parts from the sprue. This process is needed throughout the full construction phase which is a bit frustrating in areas but totally expected before delving into the project.

The interior is adequately detailed and can be constructed on the floor serving as a main base for the parts. The etched set provides a lot of the detail and at the same time one can also assemble the engine parts together. These are small and extremely fiddly and a lot of patience and care is needed in assembling this area. The kit provides an adequate amount of detail for the scale, but some stretched sprue was used to help spice up the area as on the real aircraft one can see small amounts of hydraulic cables and tubes which is not otherwise depicted in the kit.

The tail boom is supplied in plastic but other parts such as the tail bumper are from the etched set, so a combination of hobby and super glue is required in these parts. Again, a bit of patience and care is needed in organising these sub assemblies.

Vacform halves are affixed together for the forward fuselage and cockpit area with the frame lines for the doors and windows just enough to be identifiable for painting later. A fair bit of test fitting is needed when cutting the halves to size to ensure the fit will be as perfect as possible, because any blemish will be easily spotted later. The halves fit together quite well, bringing together the interior and engine sub assemblies, but of course a fair bit of care and test fitting is needed for a reasonable finish. A large amount of time was invested in this area to get the halves together and the assemblies fit, which did provide a fair source of frustration.

The main rotor assembly was not particularly easy and required the modeller to open up a hole and provide a rotor shaft themselves, which I did from stretched sprue. A small locking pin was also added to strengthen the bond of this area which was rather fiddly and needed some time invested again to get all the parts fitting together nicely. This main rotor assembly was then installed on the forward fuselage section with super glue.

The final assembly stage includes attaching the landing skids and the metal framework around the engine. This is mainly supplied from the etched fret so the assembly is very fiddly and can be a real source of frustration and annoyance for those who do not like working with etched parts. I have mixed success and feelings for these as I prefer them left for the cockpit details and just the smallest of external details when applying them to the model. However, with that all said and done I did manage to get the parts together and bonded them with super glue with very careful positioning and placement.

Overall I found the construction of this kit to be incredibly fiddly if nothing else and the heavy mouldings of the parts meant that a lot of cleaning and preparation was needed before glueing the parts together. However, having gone into this project this mindset already established, apart from a few frustrating areas, the construction was relatively simple for a limited run and mainly etched part project.

Versions/ Decals:

The decal sheet is small but the colour register is excellent with sharp printing, minimal carrier film and a satin appearance. There are three options to choose from, all with a splash of colour to make the aircraft display cabinet look a little more appealing to those looking for anything other than the drab greens, greys and browns that is often associated with military camouflage and the boxart providing sideview profiles helps with choosing the example you want to depict. The choices are a US civil example, a Turkish Air Force flight trainer and one in striking red with blue decals from Heli Services, Czech Republic. On that note it is not hard to work out which one I chose and I finished the model in overall gloss red and then applied the decals. The decals responded very well to the setting solution, however, the main fuselage side Heli Services decal surrounding the window etc did not match the framework precisely and thus I found it necessary to carefully cut the decal and apply it in four sections to fit the outline of the framework better. This of course needed a fair bit of care and attention, and it is possible to see that I have separated the decal into different parts.

Accuracy:

I have very little information on this little chopper, but did pick up the dimensions off the internet as well as some photos. The model appears to scale out almost spot in, perhaps a millimetre undersized, compared to quoted dimensions. The model captures the look compared to photos very well.

Overall:

Pavla should certainly be congratulated for bringing modellers a wide variety of interesting aircraft subjects, but the nature of their kits means they are out of the scope of anyone other than those attuned to putting limited run kits of this ilk together. I would highly recommend this kit to those who are very adept at putting challenging kits together and would like this aircraft in their display cabinet, but anyone inexperienced should get their skills up to speed before attempting! It is not for the faint hearted but a good result is very rewarding.

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