Choroszy Modelbud 1/72 Salmson 2A2

The plane

Salmson 2A2 was probably the most important French reconaissance airplane in the last year of WWI, and was used by French and US units. The two-seater biplane, with heavy defensive armament (Single Vickers for the pilot and twin Lewis gun for the observer), was powered by a very unusual engine: Salmson Canton-Unne water cooled radial(!), rated 230 or 260 hp (depends on version). The other unusual feature of this plane was the pilot's cockpit placement: immediately behind the engine, in front of wing's leading edge. The very similar bomber version, Salmson 2B2, was also produced. Salmsons were used by Czechoslovakia, Italy, Japan, Poland and maybe by some other countries.

The kit

Short version: this is an extremely good kit of the very complex and interesting airplane. Quality of the resin and the mouldings is very good, and apparently flawless.

The fuselage halves are very highly detailed on the both interior and exterior surfaces. The most impressive is the nose section, with all the louvres and other 'thingies' excellently rendered, but the interior structure is also very complex, and though some of the fuselage formers are missing and need replacement (which shouldn't be any problem, see the scan of the parts). The maker of the masters for this kit really did his homework. The wings and control surfaces aren't any worse: all the edges are properly thin (especially the wing trailing edges) and the surfaces are provided with the very subtle rendering of the ribs.

Other details are many and good looking. The cockpit if full of various stuff, including the spare ammo drums and a big fuel tank behind the pilot's seat, and, though in normal configuration the engine would be fully covered, the producer provided the complete engine with the exhaust pipes, allowing the modeler to build the model with the cowlings open.

The wing and cabane struts are detailed with the fabric anti-splintering tapes, and look like they are strong enough to support the wings. There are also a lot of struts for the tail section, as the control surfaces of this airplane weren't equipped with the stabilizers. Undercarriage legs are very strong and good looking. Many parts, including the fuselage and wings are provided with the pins and location holes, making the build much easier - this feature is rather unusual in the resin kits.

The decals

Kit is provided with very good and well printed decals for two airplanes, Polish and US, both in typical French 5-colour camouflage. The US Salmson is the '8' from the 1st Aero Squadron, with the American flag on the both fuselage sides, and the Polish one is a plane from the Polish-Bolshevik war, with funny fat red devil painted under the observer's cockpit.

Conclusion

Extremely good kit of the very important and interesting (especially for the US modelers!) airplane. Although this kit is a resin one, the good fit of the parts and the pins/holes facilitate the build, and make the Choroszy Salmson a very good kit even for the advanced modeler who is not especially experienced with resins. Highly recommended!

My thanks to Mr. Tomasz Choroszy, the producer, for the review kit.