Pavla 1/72 Siebel Fh 104 Hallore
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Overview
The Siebel Fh 104 was first designed as a small, fast mail transport
in the 1930s, and it rapidly developed into a great general liaison aircraft
and squadron hack, with such personalities as Adolf Galland and Ernst
Udet flying them. Those who wanted to build a model of this interesting
plane had to resort to tracking down an obscure vacuform and build one
from that. Well, not any more. Pavla Models has put out an incredible
example of this plane, and it is full of detail. This kit originally came
out in 1998, but this release has an all new decal sheet, a revamped photoetch
fret, and new resin accessories.
The Kit
 The
parts are all on one tree (except for the vacuformed canopy and photoetch
parts), and are molded in a nice light gray. There is very little surface
detail present, and what is there is recessed. The interior is a combination
of resin and photoetch, which is a change from the original. The original
used only photoetch for the interior, while this one has some nice (but
fragile) resin seats, a resin and photoetch instrument panel, and resin
rudder pedals. The detailing is well done and will be quite visible through
that greenhouse canopy.
 The
engines are improved over the original, with a resin insert providing
the engine face. The exhaust ports are provided in photoetch. The propellers,
while reasonably accurate, are difficult as they are provided as individual
blades and hubs, with no locating pegs or holes. It's entirely up to the
modeler to make sure that the blades are set properly when gluing them,
both in front and side alignment and in pitch. This will be much easier
with a simple jig.
 The
landing gear is done very well, being a well thought out blend of plastic
and photoetch. The struts and mudflaps are plastic, with the mudflap supports
being photoetch, along with the oleo scissors. This results in a very
sturdy gear assembly, with plenty of sharp detail. It will take a little
work to build, but it will really pay off. Assembly of the model is very
straightforward, once past all this fine detailing. The fuselage is split
in halves, with the wings butt-joining to the sides. A quick test fit
shows that, with careful dry-fitting, this could go together with minimal
filling.
 The
decals are a big change from the original release. While the original
had a small selection of options, this release has five aircraft, all
German. The first is Galland’s famous DT+CL. Finished in RLM 70/71/65,
this plane has squadron badges on both sides of the nose, as well as General
Galland’s Mickey Mouse on the engine nacelles. The second option
is equally interesting, this being Ernst Udet’s overall red D-ILFR
that he flew in an air race in 1938. It has the race number on the engine
nacelles. The third option is one based in Greece in 1942 and it features
a desert camouflage over its standard 70/71/65. The penultimate decal
option is an overall RLM 63 and is coded White 39. This plane was based
in Norway and has skis on the gear. The final choice is also overall RLM
63, with a black lightning bolt running down the fuselage sides. The decals
are nicely printed and any one will make into an interesting scheme.
Conclusion
Overall this is a very nice kit, and it looks like it will go together
very well. Sitting next to the KP Siebel Si-204, you can have a very interesting
display of general transport aircraft from the Siebel design house.
My thanks to Pavla Models for
providing the review sample. |
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