IAR 81C
Great Air Battles of 1944

IBG Models, 1/72 scale

Reviewed by Brett Green

The IAR 80 was a Romanian World War II low-wing monoplane, all-metal monocoque fighter and ground-attack aircraft.

When it first flew in 1939 it was comparable to contemporary designs being deployed by the air forces of the most advanced military powers such as the Hawker Hurricane and Bf 109 E.

Production of the IAR 80 started immediately, although the armament proved to be a serious problem. The prototype had mounted only two Belgian-made Fabrique Nationale 7.92 mm machine guns, a licensed modification of the Browning .30 cal.

This armament was not heavy enough against modern aircraft, and the production model was expected to mount six.

The initial batch of fighters was well received by the Romanian pilots, but they found the aircraft underpowered and lacking firepower. In order to address this, the aircraft mounted the 960 hp (720 kW) K14-IV C32 engine in the 21st through 50th examples, but the firepower concern could not be resolved at the time.

The supply of the 13.2 mm guns was clearly limited, and in a further attempt to increase the firepower of the design the Romanians signed a deal with Ikaria in Germany for a supply of 20 mm MG FF/M cannon. These were a licensed version of the Swiss Oerlikon FF, which had been in use in various German aircraft.

The new gun also required a redesign of the wing. Initially 60 IAR 81Bs were intended to be dive bombers, but these were delivered without the centerline bomb rack as fighters and designated IAR 80C.

After the first 10 were completed, self-sealing tanks were added along with improved seat-back armor. The first 10 were delivered in December 1942 and the entire order was completed by April 1943

The IAR 80 remained in frontline use until May 1945.

IBG has released an all-new 1/72 scale IAR 80/81 family. Today I will review the early version IAR 81C.

IBG's 1/72 scale IAR 80 Early comprises 90 parts in grey coloured plastic, 17 parts on a single photo-etched fret, seven parts in clear plus two decal sheets with three marking options and full stencil data.

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Thumbnail panels:

IBG has not taken any shortcuts with the unique characteristics of the IAR 81C. The cockpit is well detailed with 14 plastic parts and seven photo-etched pieces, including harness straps.

The instrument panel is plastic with a decal overlay for the dials.

The bottomless floor with its footrails are accurately depicted. I like the tubular frame of the cockpit too.

The inside of the fuselage is treated to nice raised detail and realistic texture.

The fuselage is split into port and starboard halves with separate fin and cowl sub-assemblies.

Also included is the well-detailed Mistral Major engine, made up from 15 plastic parts and one photo-etched brace.

Surface texture is made up from fine recessed panel lines and rows of rivets. I think this is finer than the recent IBG Dora series, but my big studio lights and close-up photos also probably don't do the rivets justice. From the natural viewing distance with the unaided human eye, the rivets are fine and almost invisible from some angles.

The fabric texture on the control surfaves looks good too.

The wheel well and undercarriage are simply broken down but nicely detailed.

The lower wing halves are attached via a stout wing spar on each side.

The vents and recessed detail on the engine cowlings look great.

The canopy parts are clear and acceptably thin.

Options are available to pose the canopy open or closed.

Markings

Four marking options are included on the small decal sheet.

Registration and colours look great.

The decals are printed by Techmod.

Stencil markings are provided on a separate sheet.

This is a very well-detailed small-scale IAR 81C kit.

Surface textures are crisp and fine.

The inclusion of 17 photo-etched parts adds to the fine detail.

This is not a kit for the beginner, but any average modeller with some experience working with photo-etch won't have any trouble with IBG's new 1/72 scale IAR 81C.

Recommended

Thanks to IBG for the sample

Review Text and Images Copyright © 2024 by Brett Green
Page Created 18 December, 2024
Last updated 18 December, 2024

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