Avia B-534 by RS Models

1/72 scale
Kit No. 92079
Retail: $22.00
Decals: Seven versions- Five Czech, One German, One Slovak
Comments: Engraved panel lines and recessed rivet detail, optional spats for main landing gear

History

The Avia B-534, while it did not see extensive combat, is a widely recognized fighter airframe of 1930’s design, in part because it has the distinction of fighting both for and against Nazi Germany during WWII.  Its first combat might have been against the Germans in 1938, when the Czech government ordered a general mobilization in response to Hitler’s demand that the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia be handed over to Germany outright. But the failure of the British and French governments to back Czechoslovakia’s stand for independence at the Munich Conference of September 1938, while preventing war, flushed Czech sovereignty down the toilet; Hitler was able to take the Sudetenland without a shot being fired. Nazi Germany gobbled up the remainder of the country within less than six months.

The first B-534 prototype flew in late May 1933. The first deliveries of the B-534 to the Czechoslovakian Air Force began in late 1935, and had been completed by 1937. One major variant was introduced in this initial production run. The B-534 was designed to carry one 20mm cannon firing through the nose and two 7.92mm machine guns on the sides of the fuselage.

Developmental problems prevented the cannon from ever being used and, desperate to get more aircraft into the air, Avia opted to fit a third machine gun in the nose only weeks before the German annexation of Czechoslovakia. Only three machines with this configuration were completed for the Czech Air Force, and the remaining production block was finished for the Germans. The B-534 was first employed in combat by the Slovak Air Force and was quickly deployed against Hungary during the border war of 1939.

Later, two squadrons of B-534’s assisted the Luftwaffe during the invasion of Poland in September 1939. The same squadrons served with the Germans in the Ukraine during the Summer of 1941, with one squadron returning in 1942 for anti-partisan duty. This would have been the last of the B-534’s in Slovak colors if not for the Slovak national uprising of September-October of 1944. The rest of the Slovak air assets did not turn-coat as expected and the leaders of the uprising were forced to use a rag-tag collection of leftover aircraft, including several B-534’s at Tri Duby airfield.

On September 2, 1944, Master Sergeant Frantisek Cyprich, just after testing a repaired B-534, downed a Junkers Ju 52 transport flying under Hungarian colors. Bulgaria had purchased 78 B-534’s in 1939, well after the partition of the Sudetenland. On August 1, 1943, seven of these aircraft were able to make two passes at American B-24 Liberator bombers returning from the raid on the Ploesti oil fields in Rumania. After the anti-German coup of September 9, 1944, Bulgaria switched sides overnight and its B-534’s were often used in ground attacks against German targets.

The Kit

RS Models Avia B-534 is injection molded in grey plastic and consists of 63 parts including one clear part for the windscreen. The cockpit is basic with a seat, control yoke, rear bulkhead and main instrument panel bearing recesses for the dials, along with a floor with integrally molded rudder pedals. The fuselage is in three parts with two main halves and a third part for the upper decking above the engine just forward of the cockpit.

Construction is generally well thought out and straightforward, with a critical element of this biplane, the bottom wing, being presented as a single piece that forms part of the belly of the aircraft — RS Models have avoided the pitfall of separate parts for the bottom wing, which is inherently less structurally sound and has provided many a modeler with unnecessary headache. The tail assembly consists of four parts, with a separately mounted rudder.

Two small and two large “N” struts, the former attaching to the fuselage and the latter comprising the interplane struts, support the upper wing. Parts are provided for separate machine gun barrels, to be cemented into recesses in the forward fuselage, two on each side. A one-piece propeller and a three-part radiator complete the fuselage assembly.

The main landing gear have the option for spats or uncovered wheels. While no ordnance is provided, the B-534 was capable of carrying small bombs, so six brackets are included which can be attached, three on the under surface of each wing. Finally, a single front view schematic of the finished kit is provided in the instructions, mainly to help with placement of the support wires.

Markings

The instructions themselves do not reference the markings at all. RS Models rely on a series of illustrations on the bottom of the box that function as color plates and provide guidance on placement of decals for the various versions. All versions are painted in overall khaki green (to my eye it appears to be Dunkelgrun) with aluminum under surfaces, the exception being the German version bearing the German cross and swastika along with a yellow rudder and yellow forward fuselage or nose. All versions also have an unusual scheme for the propeller which is not called out, but appears to consist of a wood propeller painted with khaki green stripes.

Four of the Czech versions each bear what appear to be different coats of arms on their fuselage sides, representing different units. White N3, flown by Capt. Josef Duda, had a yellow spinner and uncovered landing gear and served with the 3rd air Regiment, 45th Squadron, 1938; White V4 had a green and white spinner with spats on the main landing gear, and served with the 3rd Air Regiment based at Olomouc, 1938; White D5 had a green spinner along with spats on the main landing gear and served with the 4th Air Regiment, 1938; White E5 also had spats on the main landing gear and a white spinner and served with the 4th Air Regiment based at Hradec Kralove in 1937. The Fifth Czech version bears no call letters on its fuselage and instead has a yellow arrow in their place; it has a blue and red spinner and uncovered main landing gear. Each of these aircraft bear Czechoslovakia’s tri-color roundel in six positions, both fuselage sides and upper and lower wings.

This profile photo provides an excellent sense of perspective and a clear sense of just how small the B-534 actually was.

The lone Slovak Air Force Aircraft bears a red and blue spinner and a slightly smaller German cross on its fuselage sides, along with the Slovak cross in roundel form on its rudder. Both sides of the top upper wing and undersurface of the lower wing bear the Slovak cross together with the German cross, and its wheels are uncovered.

Conclusion

This is a limited run kit of simple construction that offers a fair amount of detail representing a fairly well known fighter of the 1930’s that curiously, never saw much combat.  Highly recommended.

Reference

wikipedia.org