FLASH! New Kits from the Czech Republic
Sword's 1/72 Chance Vought V-173 'Flying Pancake' &
Octopus' 1/72 Vought OS2U Kingfisher

By Chris Banyai-Riepl

Literally the day this issue went up these two kits arrived on the doorstep, so this is just a quick overview rather than a full inbox (which will be in the October issue).

1/72 V-173 'Flying Pancake'

This kit was a complete surprise to me, as I didn't even know Sword was working on this. This kit complements the Hasegawa Flying Pancake by being the early version. The kit comes with one sprue of gray plastic parts, a handful of gray resin parts (the color of the resin matches the plastic almost perfectly and I initially thought they WERE plastic parts!); vacuformed canopy parts (two parts, only one copy of each), and a simple decal sheet (it may be simple, but this plane didn't have many markings to begin with). The resin is crisp and the plastic, while not Sword's best, is of decent quality. A more detailed look next month.

Octopus' 1/72 Kingfisher

Here's another pleasant surprise that was unexpected. The brand name threw me, too, as it was a new one to me. Inside the box, though, the instructions and decal sheet both say Pavla, so perhaps this is a new marketing thing for Pavla aimed at creating water-based aircraft (a whole line of float planes & flying boats? Cool!). The kit comes on one sprue of gray plastic parts, a small handful of resin parts, vac canopy, and a good-sized decal sheet. A choice of either float or wheeled version is included. As for how it compares to the other 1/72 Kingfishers out there, well, come October you'll know. I'll dig up an Airfix kit and a Lindberg kit and see how they all compare.

Conclusion

These two kits are a nice addition to the 1/72 world and I'm sure that the Kingfisher will sell like hotcakes. The Flying Pancake is a bit more esoteric, but if you like yellow and silver paint schemes how can you pass it up? Parts scans and more detailed reviews will be coming in October, but for those of you who see these on the shelves before then, feel comfortable in knowing that you'll be getting decent kits for your money.