Avia B.534 III.serie
ProfiPACK Edition

Eduard, 1/72 scale

Reviewed by Mark Davies

Eduard's 1/72 Avia B.534 III serie Profipack Edition is available online from Squadron.com

The Avia Company was a leading supplier of military aircraft to the Czechoslovak Air Force as well as various export customers. It had designed a long line of fighter types, and the B.34 that was to lead to the 534 series, first flew in 1932 using a licence-built Hispano-Suiza V-12 of 650hp. Its designer was Ing Novotny who had spent time in Britain with Hawker. This experience was put to use with construction methods that followed Hawker practice, although the chin radiator installation was somewhat ungainly compared to the sleek lines of the Hawker Fury it otherwise resembled.

The B.34 was a bit of a stopgap design, and developments with other engines, including a radial, were tested (B.134 & B.234) without being adopted for production. Meanwhile, the licence-production of the latest and more powerful Hispano Suiza 12-Ydr of 860hp meant that Avia could adopt this engine and produce a state of the art biplane fighter. It was known as the B.534 and first flew in September 1933.

Various changes were made over the life of the design, with four main variants, serie I to IV.

The B.534 did not to see combat service with the Czechoslovak Air Force, but a few would serve with the First Slovak Republic that had become a puppet state of Nazi Germany following the Nazi invasion and division of Czechoslovakia. (Having already occupied the Sudetenland in 1938, Germany renamed the remaining Czech lands as the Protectorate of Bohemia & Moravia.) In fact, Germany and Bulgaria were to be the largest operators of the B.534, although a few aircraft were also acquired by a number of other countries including Greece (two bought privately and gifted to the Greek government), Croatia, Romania, Hungary and apparently the Soviet Union.

Previous 1/72 B.534 Kits

The Avia B.534 is a subject which seems to challenge Czech companies to raise their own standards, regardless of how good they may already be.  This applied to all three brands I am aware of having previously released B.534 kits in “The One True Scale”.

There is the old but still credible Kovozávody Prostejov* kit from 1971 (also re-boxed under KP, Kopro, Aeroteam and Flugzeug Publikations brands), and much more recent releases from two Czech companies, HR Models and RS Models.

HR Models offer several boxings of a very nice modern limited run kit with extensive PE details and vac-from clear parts. Of similar high quality, but with an injected canopy although no PE parts, is the series of kits from RS Models. Both companies covered the four main production variants and numerous markings options, and were just that bit better than their regular products in my opinion.

Eduard was the obvious contender as a brand likely to better either of the Czech limited-run releases; especially as they have already released a superb B.534 in 1/48 scale. And so they did, with the release of their B.534 Quattro Combo Royal Class release mid-2015, followed by Weekend Editions later in the same year.

However, Eduard has only issued III & IV serie kits so far, which means RS Models and HR Models still lead with kits for I & II serie options.

* The original Czechoslovakian communist-era brand which has also known as KP and Kopro, and re-boxed by Mastercraft/Mistercraft. Not to be confused with the same name recently registered as a trademark by Petr Muzikant, owner of AZ Models, Admiral and Legato brands. I understand that “Kovozávody Prostejov” had never been registered, and so was “up for grabs” so to speak. Kovozávody Prostejov, as owned by Petr Muzikant, has begun releasing a number of good quality modern new-tool kits, and has nothing to with the original Kovozávody Prostejov toolings. 

The Kit

The moulding of the airframe parts is simply superb. It is very clean, crisp, has commendably narrow sprue gates, and thoughtfully placed ejector pins. Transparencies are thin and clear, although only the small windscreen is applicable to this boxing.

The moulded detail is very good, and in some areas is exquisite; as evidenced by the tyre logos and the machinegun barrel jacket perforations. The fabric surface detail captures the original’s very prominent rib tapes, and includes little bumps that presumably represent where the fabric is knot-stitched to the metal wing-ribs. The tiny bumps may be a fraction over-scale, but I do not feel that they detract from the surface finish at all, and will be barely detectable under paint.

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Thumbnail panels:

Cockpit detail is very good with what is provided in plastic alone; but is greatly enhanced by Eduard’s colour PE instrument panel and seat harness, whilst regular PE supplies the rudder pedals. Eduard is to be commended for giving three choices of instrument panel finish; raised detail painted or decaled, or coloured PE.

The remaining main airframe parts are conventional for a biplane kit, and include separate elevators and rudder.
The use of PE for airframe detailing is modest, with radiator matrix and straps, oil-cooler matrix, strut-mounted pitot, gun-sight, and a choice of PE or plastic boarding step.

Whist the quality of the parts suggests that the kit will build very well, I can add an endorsement after reading a build article by Tim Upson-Smith in the April 2015 issue of SAMI. He wrote that Eduard’s B.534 was “the best fitting and engineered 1/72 scale kit it has ever been my pleasure to assemble”. High praise indeed, especially when you consider that the subject is a biplane!

Also available separately for this kit are the Big Sin detail set (reviewed here on HyperScale in November 2015), Resin wheel spats, and PE rigging wires.

Marking Options

The colours and markings guide is nicely done in full colour and covers four markings options; two Czechoslovak Air Force, one Slovak Air Force, and one Luftwaffe:

The decals are printed by Eduard and appear to be of excellent quality.

Painting is made easier by the inclusion of a single-sheet pre-cut Kabuki tape mask. This provides masks for the windscreen, wheels, and also for the wrap-around of upper surface colour on the underside of the tailplane and wings (the modeller must use masking-tape for the remainder of the wing leading and trailing edges in these cases).

The quality of the kit’s contents is superb. In my view the plastic is as good as a Tamiya kit’s is, the decals are somewhat better, plus of course you get the coloured and regular PE detail as well.

And if you dislike PE there is the Weekend Edition of this kit with Superfabric seatbelts, two decal options and no paint mask for several dollars less.

Eduard’s are clearly the best B.534 serie III & IV kits in “The One True Scale”; but sadly, do not offer I & II serie machines. For now at least we must rely on the still very good HR Model and RS Models kits for these earlier versions.

Thanks to Eduard for the sample

Review Text Copyright © 2016 by Mark Davies
Page Created 29 February, 2016
Last updated 29 February, 2016

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