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Ardpol 1/72 Halberstadt C.V

By Matt Bittner

History

The Halberstadt C.V was considered the best of its type and was well liked by its aircrews.  It was first flown during the fall of 1917, and there were approximately 192 flying at the front during the fall of 1918.  For its intended role of short-range reconnaissance it was considered the best in its field.  It only drew complaints when the crews took it out on longer reconnaissance patrols.

The Kit

The Ardpol Halberstadt C.V consists of approximately 47 resin pieces and a decal sheet for two schemes, one German and one Polish.  There are no lozenge decals in this kit. The resin is exquisite and is definitely the best I have ever seen.  While there are some pin/air holes, they are few and far between.  I think the Poles have the edge in resin kit design.  Ardpol, Silesian Eagle and Choroszy Modelbud all are producing the best resin aircraft kits seen to date.

Construction naturally starts with the cockpit and the addition of the engine.  Ardpol has put a lot of effort – and detail – into the cockpit.  There are a lot of wonderfully molded in details, better than any injected kit I have seen.  To the fuselage halves you add the floor, the pilot’s and observer/gunner’s seats, along with the control column and instrument panel.  With the right amount of washes and dry brushing the detail will definitely come to life.

From here one follows the normal course of model construction.  The lower wings are added next followed by the tailpieces.  As with all resin kits, I will replace all struts that support the upper wing because I feel that resin struts don’t offer the strength of either injected plastic or brass.  Now the model can be painted.

Unfortunately, here is where I have my biggest complaint with Ardpol kits – the packaging.  Everything is packaged in two zip-lock bags, one for the major parts, the other bag containing all the smaller details.  This means that the smaller parts can “bang around” each other, with the possibility of breakage.  If Ardpol can correct this, then I would have no complaints at all.

Conclusion

This is a stunning kit.  Ardpol is to be commended with the amount of detail they add into their kits.  If the Halberstadt C.V was ever one you wanted to model, then this is the kit for you.  Highly recommended!