Pavla

1/144 RAF Airfield Set For any 1/144 RAF aircraft

Stock Number: 144-01

Reviewed By  Jim Pearsall, IPMS# 2209

MSRP: $16.95 Website: www.pavlamodels.cz In the past, if you wanted scenery or background for a 1/144 scale aircraft, you could go with N Gauge railroad (1/160 scale), a few carrier decks, and not much else. Pavla has now given me a place to display my 1/144 Spitfire, and maybe someday my Hurricane. Assembly Parts are all resin, molded in dark grey. All the parts were cleanly molded except for the starter cart which had some flash on the handle. The flash didn't matter much, though, as the T on the handle was broken, as well as the U where the handle connects to the cart. I manufactured a new handle using CA and a staple, cutting the wire to length and shape. There was also a leg broken off the "No Smoking" sign, but it was in the package and I fixed it.

Assembly was not difficult, with only the cart wheels to be added, and the maintenance stand and sign to be assembled. I used gel-type CA and accelerator for a solid assembly. Painting Since I recently did a PR Spitfire in 1/72, I had a bottle of PRU Blue, which is the color called for on everything except the fire extinguishers, the tires, the tie downs and chocks and the steel drum. I airbrushed the base Floquil Coach Green, and then added some accents with Testors 34092 and 34127 to break up the solid green. There are rocks on the field, and these were painted black. There are tire tracks, and I used Tamiya Acryl red-brown for the dirt showing through the turf. Finish I set the aircraft on one of the tire tracks, and added the chocks and the maintenance stand. I then put the starter cart near the aircraft, as well as the fire extinguishers and the tie-down weights. I put one of the boxes on the stand, and the other on the ground. The "No Smoking" sign is printed on the instruction sheet. There are 10 possible versions of the sign. I used the medium size in a stencil font. Overall Assessment Highly Recommended: The whole project took less than 2 hours. This including drying time for the paint and making a new part for the starter cart. All of the parts came off the pour sprues fairly cleanly, only needing a little attention with a sanding stick. Also, this is well designed, as almost none of the cut-off areas show when the part is assembled or glued down, like the steel drum which attaches at the bottom, and then sits on that point, making cleanup very easy.