PZL TS-11 'Iskra' bis DF
Expert Set

Arma Hobby, 1/72 scale

Reviewed by David Couche

As a part of efforts to preserve Poland's ability to independently develop aircraft in an era of political and economic subservience to the neighbouring Soviet Union, during the 1950s, Polish engineers at the Poland's Aviation Institute (IL) commenced early work upon the design of what would become the first jet aircraft to be developed in Poland. Following the death of Joseph Stalin, work on the initiative could be performed more openly and government officials became supportive of such a venture. The fledgling design was heavily influence by the requirements specified by the Polish Air Force, who had formalised a requirement for a jet-propelled aircraft for training purposes. On 5 February 1960, the first prototype conducted its maiden flight, powered by an imported British Armstrong Siddeley Viper turbojet engine.

The PZL TS-11 Iskra (English: Spark) is a Polish jet trainer, developed and manufactured by aircraft company PZL-Mielec. It has been used by the air forces of Poland and India. It is notable as being the first domestically-developed jet aircraft to be produced by Poland, its service for over 50 years as the principal training aircraft of the Polish Air Force, and as the oldest jet-propelled aircraft still in service in Poland.

The PZL TS-11 Iskra is an all-metal jet-propelled trainer aircraft. It is relatively conventional in layout, featuring a trapezoid-shaped mid-wing arrangement. These wings, which only had a gentle angle of sweep along the leading edge, feature air intakes embedded into the wing root. The TS-11's single turbojet engine is accommodated with the main fuselage, its exhaust is located beneath the boom-mounted tail fin, which provides the aircraft with a fairly unusual silhouette. Both of the crew, typically being the student in the front and instructor in the back, are provided with ejector seats for emergency egress.

Some models of the TS-11 can be armed; armaments have consisted of a single nose-mounted forward-firing 23 mm machine gun, along with a total of four underwing hardpoints that were compatible with a variety of different weapons, including bombs and rockets.

Most models of the aircraft lack a radar set; however, the specialised TS-11R reconnaissance variant is provided with such equipment. The TS-11 can also be outfitted with various cameras for the purpose of performing aerial photography missions.

Arma Hobby is a new player in the modelling world, having released their first kit in 2014, and that being the PZL P.1. Their early releases were all Polish aircraft but in the last couple of years they have gone more mainstream with Hurricanes and now Wildcats. Here in Australia we saw nothing of them until later in 2018 and into 2019. I am a sucker for esoteric types of aircraft and spied this one whilst wandering at our local Scale Model Expo in Adelaide and snapped it up. The basis for this kit was first released in 2014 with this version upgraded with new parts in 2014 but this was the first I had ever seen in Australia.

The kit comes in a fairly study end opening box containing 2 grey injected moulded sprues containing 67 parts, a single clear sprue with 4 parts, a sheet of 56 photo-etched parts in brass, masks and a clear, well printed instruction book and decals for 4 different aircraft.

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Thumbnail panels:

Also of note is that, as you can see above, I found reference photos of each of the 4 aircraft (and many more) in the schemes Arma have supplied which is good for the modeller when painting and building this kit.

Now let’s have a look in more detail:

Sprue A

This sprue contains 32 grey injected plastic parts. The main parts here are the right and left fuselage halves, the cockpit tub, intake combined with wheel well sections, seats, landing gear, rudder as well as other sundry parts. Detail reasonable fine with a mix of recessed details along with some raised details. There is some minor flash and a few mould seam marks to clean up.

Sprue B

Sprue B has the upper and lower wing sections, one piece tail planes, rocket launchers, instrument panels and wheels. This sprue also gives you the option of having dropped flaps and supply you with a set of lowered ones. You will have to remove the raised ones from the wing section with a couple of straight cuts. Again, detail is very nice.

Clear Sprue

Here we have the clear sprue of 4 parts. The canopy is shown in the instructions as only in the down position but appears to have the ability to be raised. There are also a number of lights provided as well as gunsight parts. All parts are very clear with nice detail where supplied.

Photoetched Fret

There is a very nice brass photoetch sheet of 56 parts included in this kit which seat belts and instrument panels as well small additions to the cockpit. There are numerous small aerials on this sheet as well. Take care as they are very fine and small. The carpet monster is just waiting to be fed with these!

Masking Sheet

Instructions and Marking Options

The instructions for the kit are printed on glossy paper in a folder A4 format.

The instructions are high quality detailed instructions, with copious colour call outs throughout, using the Hataka paint range and FS numbers, so there should be no issues using other brands of paint.

The decals appear to be in perfect register giving the options for 4 different aircraft.

Included is a comprehensive set of stencils and data decals, with a separate page in the instructions for their placement.

I have included a scan of the 4 aircraft profiles but briefly, they are:

• TS-11 Iskra bis DF, BuNo 3H-1722, 22nd Tactical Aviation Air Base, Malbork, 2011

• TS-11 Iskra bis DF, BuNo 3H-1918, 41st Training Aviation AB, Deblin, 2011

• TS-11 Iskra bis DF, BuNo 3H-2013, 7th Special Aviation Regiment Polish Navy, 2nd Section 1st Aviation Squadron, Siemierowice Air Base, August 1993

• TS-11 Iskra bis DF, BuNo 3H-1411, 41st Tactical Aviation Squadron, Stupsk-Redizikowo Airbase, May 2004

This is a very nice, well detailed little kit. The Arma Hobby TS-11 'Iskra' bis kit ticks all the right boxes, a great choice of schemes covering a range of schemes used in Polish service.

The kit will be most relevant to modellers of the Polish Air Force and for those, like myself, looking for that different model to put on the table or cabinet. I am really looking forward to building this very soon and will highly recommended it to my fellow modellers.

Purchased from Red Roo Models

Review Text and Images Copyright © 2020 by David Couche
Page Created 20 January, 2020
Last updated 6 February, 2020

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