Czech Master Resin 1/72 Fokker S.14 Mach Trainer By Chris Banyai-Riepl

Overview

The Fokker S.14 definitely did not win any awards for most attractive aircraft. Its short, straight wings, with its wide fuselage and bulbous canopy give it an odd appearance, to say the least. Built in the 1950s, roughly 20 were built, with Fairchild expressing interest in building it for the U.S. military (which never materialized). Through some web searching, it appears that only one survives to this day.

Type: S-14
Country: The Netherlands
Function: trainer
Year: 1951 Crew: 2 Engines: 1 1574kg R.R. Derwent VIII
Wing Span: 12.00m Length: 13.30m Height: 4.70m Wing Area: 31.80m2
Empty Weight: 3765kg Max.Weight: 5350kg
Speed: 730km/h Ceiling: 11125m Range: 900km

The Kit

While this is not a new kit for Czech Master Resin, it is being cast in new resin with a new process and includes newer, more detailed parts, which results in a much better kit. There are few parts to this kit, with straightforward construction. With roughly 20 original aircraft manufactured, there are not many options to worry about, with the only notable one being an underbelly gun pack. In addition to the quality resin featuring finely recessed panel lines, the kit comes with a nice decal sheet providing markings for a few of the S.14s in Dutch service.

Like most kits, construction starts with the interior. This kit features a one-piece floor, with a separate rear bulkhead and instrument panel. Two nicely cast ejection seats are included, and a pair of control sticks finish the interior. The fuselage is split into right and left halves, with both the intake and exhaust sections blanked off. A separate nose intake ring and exhaust pipe finish off the main fuselage assembly, with the only other addition being separate air brakes that can be posed either open or closed.

The remaining construction will go quite fast, as the wings are molded as solid right and left pieces. The horizontal stabilizer is also molded as one piece, fitting into a notch on the upper fuselage. The vertical fin rests atop that, finishing the main assembly of the kit. The landing gear is all that's left, with the nose gear molded as one piece. The main gear has a separate strut and wheel, and all the gear doors are separate as well.

The decal sheet is sparse, reflecting on the original. A complete set of national markings is included, along with a handful of stenciling and trim markings. The Fokker S.14 had a simple finish, being overall natural metal, with dayglo panels in various places. L-20 had dayglo wingtips, nose, and rear fuselage stripe, as did L-6 and L-13. L-8 had a much larger nose section in dayglo, and a much broader rear fuselage stripe and the entire vertical fin in dayglo. A different option for L-13 has the nose dayglo outlined in black pinstriping in a single scallop. This is repeated on L-2, which also features dayglo wing stripes inboard of the roundels, and an abbreviated rear fuselage stripe. The decals are nicely printed by MPD with perfect registration.

Conclusion

If you are looking for something very different for your modeling shelves, this kit definitely fits the bill. The odd shape coupled with the attractive silver/dayglo finish will make it stand out next to other aircraft from the 1950s.