Luxurious spark
Arma Hobby from Poland was so far known as a manufacturer of resin accessories and models of somewhat obscure subjects. The newest kit released still tackles a rather niche topic, but it's a standard long run plastic model. Is it any good? Let's see.
Soltyk's Spark
TS-11 Iskra (Polish for Spark) was conceived in a response to a Polish Air Force requirement for a jet trainer. Work started in 1957 with the leadership of Tadeusz Sołtyk (hence the "TS"), who just designed the piston-engine TS-8 Bies trainer.
Maiden flight of the first Polish jet aeroplane happened at February 5th, 1960. Further tests validated the design and the mass production begun in 1962 at WSK Mielec plant. Initially manufactured aircrafts weren't all-Polish design however. They were equipped with WSK HO-10 engine, which was a copy of British Armstrong Siddeley Viper 8. Locally designed jet engine WSK SO-1 was introduced to production in 1966.
First version manufactured, designated TS-11 Iskra bis A, was dedicated to training missions. Iskra bis B, with enhanced armament, introduced the expanded attack capabilities. Next was Iskra bis C- single seat reconnaissance version, with only 5 machines produced (later converted to standard two-seaters). There was also an attempt to design a single-seat attack version (TS-11 Iskra BR 200) in 1972, but only one prototype was made and project was cancelled. TS-11 Iskra bis D from 1973 was improved training and attack version, and Iskra bis DF was subsequent reconnaissance-trainer. The latter was also modified to meet the Polish Navy requirements, and in small number (6 aircrafts) entered the naval service as Iskra R Novax.
In 1961 TS-11 competed in the contest for a standard jet trainer of the Warsaw Pact, but lost to the Czechoslovak Aero L-29 Delfin. Some argue that this was a political decision, which didn't reflect real value of Sołtyk's design. In result Poland became the only Warsaw Pact member which uses Iskras and inevitably the plane wasn't an export hit. Only one other country bought it- India, to where 50 TS-11 Iskra bis D were exported in 1975.
Well over four hundred TS-11s of different versions were manufactured until 1987, when the production ceased. Used both by Polish Air Force and Navy, made significant impact in the Polish aviation history and are one of the most recognizable aeroplanes in its homeland. But probably the most notable role of a TS-11 is the aerobatic one. From 1969 this is a standard machine of Polish Air Force aerobatic team "White-Red Sparks" and still can be seen at various shows.
1:72 Background
It's not a surprise that such iconic (at least for Poles) aircraft was available in a model kit form for years. If I'm correct, the first TS-11 plastic miniature (although very simplified) was released in 1960' by Ruch. However the most known and still widely available is the ZTS Plastyk kit. Re-boxed many times, also by others manufacturers like Aeroplast and Mastercraft, was (and still somewhat is) a very popular model despite its shortcomings. Don't get me wrong- it was a pretty nice kit, when it was released (in the nineties). But it's not up to a modern standards and years of production clearly made an impact on its overall quality. Therefore Arma Hobby announcement of a new plastic model in 1:72 was a nice surprise and the kit was eagerly awaited.
Deluxe Set
First they cunningly released "Deluxe Set" (cat. no. 70001), similar in concept to Eduard's "Dual Combo" editions. Two models with addition of resins, photo-etched parts and masks. Packed in sturdy, top opening box with a relatively mediocre box-art. I personally prefer traditional drawings instead of photographs, but this time the picture used is quite nice, so I won't complain anymore.
Inside- two light grey plastic sprues, a transparent one, two photo-etched details sets, masks, resin seats and wheels. Times two of course. Other than that- decals, assembly instruction and short thank you letter from the manufacturer.
Ordinary plastic
Transparent elements looks pretty nice- clear and moulded without any flaws. Little bit thick maybe, but completely acceptable.
However the gray plastic raises somewhat mixed feelings. Overall, parts looks pretty good.
But under close inspection- here and there you find some little flaws that give almost short-run like impression of the moulds. For example- close surroundings of a certain panel lines on a fuselage halves or a left (only!) wing socket.
Oh yes, panel lines. Somewhat hot topic these days. Yeah, they are kind of Airfix-like in this case, but not even close to Spitfie Mk.I level. No reason to despair in my opinion.
There's a lot of ejection pin marks on the parts, but mostly in areas where you don't need to bother. Mostly, not always (e.g. flaps).
Cockpit interior is pretty OK, the PE and resin parts will of course improve that area quite a bit.
Which is welcomed, especially in case of the instrument panels, which are irreversibly destroyed by sinkholes. Those particular moulding flaws are sadly present on couple of other parts too. Some in places easy to deal with, other (e.g. one inside of the engine exhaust)- not so much.
Rest of the details looks rather nice. Not gorgeous, but acceptable for sure.
Except of the rocket launchers- those doesn't make a particularity good first impression, at least on me. Resin casts would be welcomed.
But enough about plastics, after all this is a fancy edition stuffed with goodies. Maybe those will improve our mood.
Luxuries
Masks for the canopy and wheels were cut from black foil, like Montex products. Looks OK, but can be properly judge only when used, so let’s move on.
Better replacements for plastic seats and main wheels were cast from resin. The latter are somewhat peculiar choice, cause the plastic ones aren't so bad either and in the finished model wouldn't be exposed very much. I would rather see resin rocket launchers than these, but I repeat myself.
Apart from the selection, the elements look quite nice, especially the seats (the wheels I like a little less). You can clearly see that Arma Hobby has more experience in the production from this material.
Additionally we have two sets of photo etched details. First, oddly named "interior", with essential elements- mostly cockpit parts plus air intakes covers. Second, "exterior", with additional details like air brakes or front wheel bay walls (there is no plastic equivalent of these on the sprues).
Pretty good, although again with some controversial selection of details. For example shutters at the trailing edge of the wing-fuselage joint would be much appreciated.
Anyway, those detail sets can be purchased separately from manufacturer’s web shop, if you decided to buy more bare-bones kit and kind of regret it now.
Decals
Sheet contains markings for six different aircrafts: two camouflaged, two in natural metal finish and two in special shark-themed schemes. There are also two set of stencils provided. One for camouflaged TS-11s and one for NMF machines (aircrafts in special paint schemes didn't carried any stencils).
Overall print quality is pretty nice, without any colour displacement or any similar flaws. On the other hand, the level of detail clearly lags behind the best on the market.
Some modellers reported couple of minor inaccuracies in certain emblems, but I didn’t check this and therefore cannot confirm.
Painting options
As was mentioned earlier, kit contains markings for six different aircrafts. Five TS-11 from Polish Air Force and one belonging to Polish Navy.
Marking options (Arma Hobby)
Each of the schemes is presented in instruction on four colour profiles with decals arrangement explained. Recommended colours are given only as FS numbers, which is a little bit disappointing.
Papers
Instruction manual is printed in colour, all on thick paper. Completely unnecessary if you ask me, but whatever. Assembly diagrams made with traditional outlines of parts are clear and easy to read. My only objection is that the instruction doesn't show one straight-forward build with all of the accessories from set, but is divided in modules which forces you to jump back and forth. Not a real issue, probably caused by unification between different kit versions, but some may find this annoying.
Erratum (Arma Hobby)
There is also information about erratum published on Arma Hobby website, which reveals some small errors in panel lines overlooked during the kit design. Nice to see a manufacturer which doesn't afraid to admit to some mistakes.
Summary
So here you have it- first plastic model from Arma Hobby. Is it a "great little kit"? Well, in my opinion- no. Numerous moulding imperfections clearly reveals its maiden nature. Which is unfortunate, because without these flaws would be really nice. However it's still a solid kit, which simply needs some more attention, and with added PE and resin parts can be probably turned into a very nice miniature of TS-11.
I hope that Arma Hobby will quickly overcome any production problems and next plastic models will be better. Especially that they recently announced another interesting kit- PZL P.7 in 1:72 scale.
MMXVI