Mirage Hobby 1/48 PZL P-23B Karas
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Introduction
Few lines on the historical background.
When in 1918 Poland reemerged on the map after many years of partition,
times were rough. The territorial changes induced by the Versailles treaty
were not welcome everywhere, violent border disputes with powerful neighbors
like Russia and Prussia were the result. On the other hand Poland issued
quite robust demands against it's weaker neighbors, not actually improving
the stability.
 When
in 1920 the Polish-Russian war finally happened (by accident, as they
say), Poland faced a large Bolshevik Army, and the strange situation of
being denied arms deliveries from British and French Allies due to protests
of their union workers sympathizing with the communists. Poland, being
the last "white" (or anti-communist) block in central Europe
was more or less left on its own. By a miracle, the battle at the Vistula
turned the tide, and that time Poland actually managed to defeat the Soviet
Union.
This experience left a bitter taste, and a sense of self-dependence
which lingers up until today. The more proximate effect was a focus on
miniaturization and technological development, which led to a remarkable
peak at the early thirties. Polish designs displayed at shows like Le
Bourget during early thirties acquired many respectful glances, and many
orders from south-eastern Europe, too. Performance airplanes allowed to
win international aviation challenges like the 1934 "Challenge".
The military industry was working at a good pace, churning out a considerable
range of equipment for the armed forces, of which most was introduced
in early to mid thirties. Yet when in 1939 Germany struck, with their
gear - some five to ten years younger - was a technological leap ahead.
History of the Aircraft design
 In
1932 a specification was issued for a reconnaissance plane with bombing
capability, which was then later to become the PZL P23 Karas. The PZL
in Warszawa picked up the task, and under the lead of chief engineer Stanislaw
Prauss a design of a single-engine full metal, three man crew, fixed gear
airplane, with internal bomb load was conceived.
The first prototype was issued in 1934, which had the draw-back of poor
visibility due to a large engine cowling in front of the pilot, and heavy
buffeting on the tail. Since this alignment was not very satisfactory,
modification for the following prototypes were introduced by (just to
mention the key ones) lowering the engine axis, changing the wing root
geometry, adding automatic wing slats, and - last but not least - moving
the bomb load outside.
 This
version - featuring the 590 HP Pegasus IIM2 engine - went into production
as Karas A. Since the license built engine did not fully satisfy, the
series was modified into the Karas B after some 40 units. The new version
featured the 710HP Pegasus VIII engine and a number of additional modification,
like the deletion of slats. The machines were introduced into the units
until 1938.
Overall some 300 Karas were built in different versions - most of them
for the Polish Air Force - and some 50 of them were export version were
sold to Bulgaria.
Operational Use
 The
tactical concept for this plane was derived from a WWI tactical consideration
of a "line" aircraft, which would patrol the static front line,
and engage enemy forces with bombs upon detection. The dynamic "Blitzkrieg"
made this approach obsolete.
When reading this plane's operational record, it appears to be a flying
lighter: many planes went in flames due to light arms fire. The crux of
the matter was a change in the overall strategy of the war. Since there
was no fixed front line, a static target to be attacked from safe altitude,
the plane had to be used in ground attack missions similar to later IL-2,
to which it was absolutely not provisioned (similar to the P11c, too,
and later the Me 262 on the other side). While providing vital intelligence
from the recon-missions, the lack of armor and it proper fighter cover
resulted in a nightmarish battle score: 87% of the units used in military
operations during the few weeks of the "Blitz" were lost.
The Particular Plane
 The
featured airplane is a PZL P-23 B Karas, Number 3, Serial number 44.67,
under-wing number K-34 of the 22 squadron (eskadra) flying initially out
of Cracow (Kraków), and belonging during the September 1939 campaign
to the bomber brigade. While I could not pin-point the actual fate of
this plane, the squadron stats are as follows: of the 10 airplanes available
on September 1st, five were shot down by September 11th, and five transferred
to VI division, so there's a theoretical chance that this aircraft made
it to Romania in one piece.
I'd determined the Model to be showing the aircraft on September 3rd,
1939 as it was standing on the auxiliary airstrip Kamien (next to to Bialobrzeg),
ready for take-off on a bombing mission to attack a group of German armored
vehicles and transports in the region of Radomsko – Plawno –
Gidle.
The Box
 The
kit is a VIP-version of Mirage Hobby's 1:48 PZL P23B Karas offering (Kit
number 134803). Featuring a "limited number" counter on the
box, it claims to be sold only in Poland. As compared to the regular package,
it contains some additional resin parts, being the crew, a load of Polish
WWII bombs and a large plaque showing a dragon. The dragon was a symbol
of the 22nd squadron which was located close to the city of Cracow. In
this city stands the royal Wawel hill with a castle on top, and a cave.
According to a legend well-known in Poland (and highly popular with children),
it is said that the cave has been inhabited by such a beast (which was
killed by a smart shoemaker, serving it a sheep-skin filled with sulfur).
Therefrom the link between the location and it's emblem - and a drive
to build this particular version, since two others are included.
 The
model is a multi - media kit containing three regularly sprues of soft
gray styrene with 119 parts, as well as another clear one with 15 more
parts. Additionally there are five bags with the resin parts (one per
crew member, one with the bombs, and one with cabin detail). Two frets
of photoetch-parts are included, one of them being alone the slats for
version A, since there's the option to build also that variant, too. A
large sheet of decals, and finally the resin plaque with the 22nd squadron
emblem complete the set. The 12 page full color instruction is quite well
done, yet due to the very elaborate engineering of the kit not quite adequate.
It really takes original photographs from the PZL operating manual to
understand what Mirage Hobby wanted with all the tidbits of parts inside
the cabin.
I allowed myself another goodie - set of Polish Montex masks for this
kit (SM 48207). They come on black vinyl, with two sets of masks as provisions
for masking the inside and outside of the clear parts.
The Kit
 The
"limited version" counter on my box says 0420, indicating some
type of limited batch. The quality of the injected parts, unfortunately
also shows features of a short run kit: some sink marks, in particular
in the ring of the engine cowling, and a rough orange-peel surface (known
from other Mirage Hobby kits) are not what one would hope for. On the
other hand, with the very careful (or maybe even somewhat over-enthusiastic)
engineering of the kit, the manufacturer managed to compensate for many
flaws in the production process. The result are extremely thin walls,
and many tiny parts. What is good for the injection process and later
for the reality of the model, puts considerable demands on the dexterity
of the modeler.
 The
clear parts are quite perfect, no roughness, smears blurs or such. The
resin offering is cast in a light-gray material, with little flash. The
resin is reasonably soft, and can be decently cut or sanded. Unfortunately
the stabilizers on the bombs have in certain spots "zero thickness",
where the walls in the silicone mold touched. The PE-parts are etched
in two steps from a large yellowish brass sheet, and show decent quality,
too. The decal sheet is printed by Techmod, allowing for four different
versions. They look well printed, with perfect register, and on a thin
dream of a carrier film. Their handling is again a different story.
Tools
 For
the build I used number of purchased and self-prepared tools and consumables.
Cutting was taken care off using a regular carpet knife with beak-away
blades, small scissors and a side-cutting pliers for electronics. On top
of that a whole range of tweezers, pliers and laundry pins. For sanding
a set of squadron sanding sticks does a faithful duty. One cool gadget
I used is a micro-saw from a Czech manufacturer, which is manufactured
from razor-blades. Sometimes I used also a small powered high-speed drill/grinder
with an flexible shaft and a number of small milling heads (5mm ball,
cylinder and cone), to re-shape larger volumes of plastic.
 Among
the consumables, I used a very thin cyanoacrylate industrial super-glue
from the Dutch company OLBA, and a self mixed brew of acetone, ethyl-
and butyl acetate as welder. I put high emphasis on strong capillary action.
(For setting a part I generally make sure that the part is fastened by
metal pins, if the contact surface is insufficient). Tamiya tape in 18
and 6mm were also indispensable. Putty in use was the regular Tamiya,
and the whole range of Mr. Surfacer, mostly 500 for filling the large
gaps, and the 1000 and 1500 for surface preparation. Last but not least,
a hoard of toothpicks and a roll of toilet paper went for applying glue,
mixing paint and cleaning the mess up afterwards.
For spraying I use the marvelous Iwata HP-CH airbrush, and a set of
fine red marten hair brushes.
The paints which were applied, were across the range of what's out there:
Tamiya, Vallejo, Xtra-Color, Revell, Humbrol, Alclad and Future. But more
of that later.
Construction
First Steps
 In
the first step the whole set was washed with water and mild detergent.
It's a good practice, in particular for the resin parts. That way adhesion
of the glue or paint is assured.
I started off refurbishing the stabilizers on the bombs - parts
which would be applied to the kit at the very latest stage. Initially
I planned to replace only the defective stabilizers with aluminum sheet,
but then decided to re-do all of them. I used the robust foil of tea light
cups, and pre-cut the bits with small scissors to more-or less resemble
the required shape, then butt-glued them to the stump of the bomb shell.
It was flimsy work, but after a while I got it right. The excess superglue
was sanded-off, the stabilizers trimmed to proper shape with scissors.
The finish came with a number of coats of Mr. Surfacer. The 500 covered
all unwanted grinding traces, and the 1000 provided the required smooth.
The color came from Revell 76, with a cover of Xtra-Color flat clear to
seal if off. In the end I decided not to use these, and will wait for
the release of injection molded WWI+II bombs announced by Mirage-Hobby.
 The
next step was the crew: Since the gates were larger than the guys, it
took cleaning, to make them appear in the correct shape. The observer,
lying prone, had all of his bottom attached to the resin block. After
the block was sawed-off, It took some carving with the milling cutter
to bring the shape of legs and arms out of the solid. It was necessary,
because the bottom part of the observer can be seen in the gondola.
The pilot was cast with his rear unified with the seat, which I didn't
like too much, so the seat was cut off, and his rear part sanded round,
to fit into the regular seat. Looking at his arms, I presumed they would
not obstruct with the cabin, so I glued them on.
 The
gunner was a tricky one: one of his arms is supposed to hang nonchalantly
over the border of the gunners station. Since the positioning here was
not clear, I decided, to leave that off for now. Just his legs were glued
on.
The crew got a Mr. Surfacer 1000 grounding, and then a first color:
The skin tone, for which I just used Tamiya XF-57 (buff). After masking
with Tamiya tape, I applied a coat of Revell 86 (olive-green) for the
uniform. I presume the flight overalls were some type of olive, and the
paint represents well the olive uniform fabrics I've seen in Poland. Revell
84 (brown) went for the boots and caps, the scarves were painted white,
the goggles black. The belts and rigging were brush-painted in Revell
45 (gray-green). The figures got a coat of future, then weathering with
black and burnt umbra "Schmincke" artists oils, thinned in turpentine.
Everything was sealed off with a coat of Xtra-Color flat clear. To give
the figures some more life, I painted the goggles with gloss, and dry-brushed
elevated corners and ridges with Revell 45. And finally, the whole crew
received the that-time-and-place fashionable moustaches applied with a
sharp pencil.
Starting Fuselage Subcomponents
 The
next step was actually the first one concerning the aircraft itself :
the pilot's "throne". In the P23B, the seat is elevated to improving
the forward visibility. That way the chair and the foot support including
side rudder pedals, are on small pedestals. And there's space below for
a number of bottles, levers and wheels.
The pedals had loops for arresting the pilot's feet, but the positioning
of them did not fit the figure. Finally, I ended locating the whole pedal
set onto the pilot's feet, after he was safely set and strapped to his
seat.
An intermezzo: The Polish khaki
 The
floor below the pilot's seat is indicated to be painted in Polish khaki.
And this hue requires an extra explanation: The color itself seems to
be quite to pinpoint, since no originally painted aircraft survived up
until today. The best in terms of historical research were chunks of paint,
which were retrieved from a deeper layer of paint of the lone surviving
PZL P11c in Cracow. Now, as it appears to be, the paint was prone to drift
in shade, once subject to environmental weathering. An extremely helpful
article going into significant depth on this topic has been posted on
IPMS
Stockholm by Andrzej Boniukiewicz. It sheds some light on the mysterious
matter. Apparently the elusive color was closest matched by FS 34088 (slightly
greenish tint), but depending on the weathering condition (or the light)
it could be also FS 30118 (more olive) or even FS 30097 (brownish).
 The
instruction recommends for that matter Vallejo 970 (deep green) and 70982
(cavalry red) in a 1:1 mixing ratio. The shade looks OK. Unfortunately,
the paint has a consistency which is good for painting with a hair brush.
I tried to thin the paint with about 30% to 50% of water, to prevent sputtering
of the airbrush. Now the strange thing happened: The red pigments in the
paint fell out of the suspension, and collected on the bottom of the container,
leaving a translucent, shiny green carrier fluid.
And all that happened in a matter of about five seconds. I managed to
get a go at the small part, giving it the desired painting. Unfortunately,
on larger parts, which need to be sprayed slowly, there was a significant
drift of shade from reddish to plainly green then the airbrush cup was
running empty. I tried different solvents (pure alcohol - it coagulated,
original Vallejo thinner: it was too thick for spraying). Since it was
also clogging the airbrush every few seconds, I had had enough.
 Finally,
I decided to go and mix my own paint, by gut feel. I took Humbrol 155
(olive green) and Humbrol 170 (brown bass) in a 1:1 ratio. Compared to
the FS templates on the web, the shade looked perfect to me. The paint
was then thinned with turpentine, and - as usual - it sprayed like marvel.
I used that paint for the rest of the project.
End of intermezzo - Back to fuselage sub-components
The upper part of the pilot's floor as well as all other decks was painted
with the khaki.
The instrument board is decent quality. The board was spayed flat with
the Vallejo 008 blue-gray, like all the rest of the fuselage inside. I
then used the original part with the decals and plenty of softener. The
instruments got highlights with gloss lacquer. A khaki-painted sun-shield
made from PE was added on top.
 The
instruction claims that both parts of the radio are supposed to be glued
directly to the radio deck. The pictures show though, that the sensitive
lamp-powered radio-equipment was suspended by some type shock absorbers
or springs. Therefore I mounted the upper box on pieces of wire.
The other decks were arranged as far as possible in accordance with
the photographs of the original operation manual.
The resin photo-camera has four support points, which are unfortunately
very flimsy. They had to be replaced with wire pins. The camera is mounted
in the fuselage on two rails. As it came out, the  bottom
of the camera was too low, and collided with the window. I had to cut-off
about 3mm off of the camera. Additionally, I added the lens, made from
a clear piece of plastic, and several cables, as seen on pictures.
The assembly of radio-operator's seat and foot support was not explained
clearly in the instruction. I left off the plastic piece of the foot support,
and used only the metal part.
At this point of time I did not yet include the rear gunner, since he
had to be aligned with his elbow to the rim of the final post. He was
fixed to his chair, and received a machine gun, on which he's leaning
nonchalantly.
Machine Guns
 I
selected the "Vickers F" guns. The ammo drums unfortunately
also had plenty of sink marks, which I filled up as good as I could. Folding
the gun sights was tricky to fold, but with few tweezers the required
3D foldings are possible. That way two machine guns for the ventral and
dorsal stations were prepared. The guns were painted with Humbrol 59,
and after an acrylic coat, generously washed with thinned black artist
oil.
The Fuselage
After a black wash where necessary, the fuselage inside was assembled
as a separate unit, including the pilot and all equipment, which is helpful
for later handling. The walls are so thin, that they fit nicely into the
outside-shell of the fuselage.
 To
make the complex PE inside structure fit into the roof between the gunner
and the cabin, I cut it symmetrically into a left and right half, and
glued them into the fuselage halves prior to joining them.
The fit of the body parts was surprisingly nice, and after a dry-fitting,
I applied the capillary glue with a brush into the joints. The center
body was finished off by attaching the wing central parts to the bottom,
and the wing stubs to the top part of it. The wing center part had to
be pre-painted from inside, since it is well visible. Here already the
masks came into use, to provide the proper shape for the windows in the
part.
Tail Assembly
 The
assembly of the rudder required removing of material from the inside of
the vertical stabilizer, which is best accomplished with a small ball-point
milling cutter. I decided for some deflection on all controls, so the
rudder got a few degrees to the side.
I remembered my own flight classes, and the instructions I got for a
tail - dragger: always pull the stick, otherwise you may hop and kill
the prop. I decided to attach the elevators deflected upwards. For that
purpose the leading beam of the rudder has to be sanded-off somewhat,
otherwise the surface will be arrested in a horizontal position.
Wings
 The
assembly of the wings is straight forward. The surface required some smoothing,
but that's all. The ailerons consist of upper and lower part, with a PE-trim
tab in-between. The mounting to the wings requires the assembly of the
some PE-hinges first. The wings are then attached to the stubs on the
fuselage, and refined with a number of PE-extras, like a number of portholes
and "stitches" on the wingtips.
At this point, the basic body of the aircraft is finished.
Front Gun Openings
 These
two spots, left and right on top of the fuselage behind the engine seem
to have been forgotten by the designers. The aircraft had one MG on the
right side, the right side was supposed to maybe get one later, but actually,
this opening was closed. Even the hole for the MG was too big. I closed
them off with pieces of sheet metal and plenty of putty. It was actually
rather late in the assembly process: it's really better to do it upfront.
Landing Gear
The assembly is complex, and consists of four thin parts for the fairing
alone. These parts had in my case even tiny casting defects, where the
wall had no thickness. Nothing though, which could not be fixed with some
Mr. Surfacer. I painted the inside silver, but that is actually not necessary,
since this area is not visible after the assembly.
 The
wheels were painted using the masks provided in the Montex set, with Revell
9 and Alclad 2. After the assembly into the landing gear legs, the area
was masked with Tamiya tape.
One interesting thing is the bubble-shaped landing light. Initially
I was wondering, what the strange star-shaped PE bit was supposed to do
on it. Old photographs showed though, that the lamps were covered by a
leather or canvas cap, reinforced by leather straps arranged in this funny
way. I decided to apply this variant, but that would follow later. In
the first step I closed the hole with plasciline.
 The
location is well established with two pins per leg, so it's nearly a no-brainer.
It should be only noted, that the left leg has the pilot's light.
The tail spur consists of too many flimsy parts, and requires a reinforcement
of the main skid to the axle with a wire pin. On top it gets two threads
as return springs.
Engine Assembly
The cowling and the spinner were most affected by sink-marks, required
of a lot of filling. I did not do much about the engine itself, and the
assembly went straight from hand. The hub and cylinders were painted silver
and washed with thinned black artist oils. The front ring was on the real
aircraft from a metal which used to rust after a time in service. To get
the effect, I painted the ring with Humbrol 53 natural metal, and then
rubbed it with MIG brown pigment. After fixing the paint with flat varnish,
the surface looks quite authentic.
 In
order to make the prop spin nicely, I attached a thick syringe to the
back side of the spinner, and a drilled-out piece of thick sprue frame
into the engine. After feeding the syringe through the engine hub, I fixed
it at the back with a small piece of plastic. That way the prop had its
bearing, and would spin freely in moving air.
Further Steps
The cabin was carefully installed and masked. The open area of the canopy,
as well as the gunner's post was masked off with Tamiya tape. The windows
below the fuselage with got their masks, too.
 At
this point, the ventral gunner's / bomber's tub was prepared. This part
is bent in U-shaped from a flat part. It's tricky to get the proper angle,
without breaking the outside wall. I'd rather have it from 3 separate
parts. The bomber / observer figure was then glued into the tub, and the
whole assembly applied to the opening in the fuselage.
For painting the clear parts I decided to coat the only from the outside,
so I attached the tub, and masked it on the outside. The rear of the tub
was then closed with Tamiya tape, the rear fairing would be attached later.
To get the inside color on the canopy frames inside, all the (clear)
window frames were first painted with the inside color (blue-gray) from
outside.
 Now
was time for a complete priming with Mr. Surfacer 1000!
Here followed the lengthy process of riveting the model. I was not too
sure, if it's not through the roof on this scale, but I was rather happy
with the result. For applying the tiny indentations I used the Czech micro-saws
on curved surfaces, and a needle plus a straight metal template to get
a straight line of points of flats.
The model received a pre-shading with Tamiya black. Then, the areas
like wing leading edges, part of which will be later aged by stripping
off the top paint, received a coat of Alclad 2.
Painting
 The
bottom was painted with the recommended mix of Vallejos: 901+844+919 in
equal parts. While this mix did not separate into layers as quickly as
the khaki, fast action is also required. Additionally, I think the color
came out too dark. It I did it again, I'd add more white, and probably
stay away from the mixed Vallejos.
The model was then masked off where necessary, and the top coat of enamel
khaki was applied. Still fresh, I used strong tape to strip off some paint
in the previously silvery painted areas. The effect is quite nice.
The next step was a thorough coat of future, and the decals.
 As
mentioned, the decals are quite good, maybe with the exception that they
did not respond to softener too well. The virtue can be sometimes a vice,
though: Once positioned, the decal can be hardly moved, and dries rather
quickly. Attempts to move - or remove - them result in cracks and a destruction
of the decal. Swimming them up on a pool of water is not a good idea,
since the decals below the wing consist of large transparent areas and
that could lead to silvering. Removing the clear parts is not really a
good idea, since the carrier film is sensitive and easily damaged, so
handling (and in particular aligning) only the intransparent frames would
be extremely difficult. All I can recommend is to use plenty of water,
and make sure that the pieces are as small as possible, and as well placed
as possible from the very beginning.
I managed to locate one sign in wrong position, and re-location was
not possible anymore. All that was left was to grind it out, over-spray
new, and replace them. Luckily I had some from a different kit, so I could
keep on with the build. Kindly, Mr. Mrozowski from Mirage/WCM sent a replacement
sheet.
Post-shading
 The
pre-shading turned out to be much too strong after the future, so I over-sprayed
the top once again. Then the results proved to be insufficient. Three
time's the charm, so the last coat proved to be sufficient.
Afterwards the model was washed with black and brown thinned artist
oils, and fixed with some more Future, which was applied in a way to create
a slightly "dusty" appearance. Since the real aircraft looked
rather glossy on the pictures I did not apply any flat coating, just Future
in different manners, to create sometimes more, sometimes less shiny appearance.
Finishing
 I
prepared the exhaust pipes the same way as the cooler ring on the engine.
They were drilled out, and attached with metal pins to the fuselage. An
array of small PE bits and pieces were furnished to the model, the gunner
inserted, and the fairings of the ventral tub added.
The motor assembly was then applied, and the Towned's ring closed. In
order to align it properly, I aligned it with cable binders and fixed
with superglue. The superglue was applied into the joints, and can be
wiped off easily from the "Futured" surface with some tissue.
After removing all the masks, the remaining part of the canopy was added.
The masks were not bad in terms of shape, but in my opinion they were
too thick and rigid, resulting on corners detaching from curved areas.
 The
oil cooler was slightly dry-brushed after the painting, and superglued
to the fuselage. The pilot's gun was fixed from a PE element rolled around
a needle. It was attached at this point of time, which was a bit tricky
- it would be better to do it before attaching the engine. I've scratch-built
the hourglass-nozzle on the left side of the fuselage front, as well as
the filler cap on top in front of the canopy.
At the very end I added some dirt spray from the wheels on the underside
of the wings, since the planed more often than not operated from muddy
airstrips. A final tender touch was provided by attaching pieces of scale
grass from railway model supply to parts of the wheel fairing and the
skid.
I used the provided large resin squadron symbol on a base I prepared
for the model. It was done using a hard plastic foam board, and railway
model grass.
Conclusion
 This
was probably my most ambitious project so far. While the model is well
engineered and excellently researched, it has not only some shortcomings
concerning the manufacturing, but it also implies significant modeling
skills as prerequisite, on hands of the aspiring modeler. All in all,
this demanding kit rewards with an excellent model of an aircraft with
plenty of character, and another exotic kit, which is not seen on every
other club meeting or hobby show.
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