Brengun 1/72 Letov Š-16 Bomber and Reconnaissance Plane
By Matt Bittner
Introduction
I've reviewed the Brengun 1/72 Letov Š-16.1 a short time ago and this time Brengun has re-released the kit as a typical, production bomber and reconnaissance aircraft. Everything between the two kits is the same, the only difference being the decals for the markings. However, there are differences on how the model is assembled and what needs to be done to it to build it as a "standard" production machine.
The Kit
As I mentioned in my earlier First Look the Brengun 1/72 Letov Š-16 consists of 83 pieces of tan, injected plastic, (some parts not used for this version), a photoetch fret with 18 pieces and a piece of clear film for the windscreens. Decals are for four aircraft, "J8", "X5", "L6" and "J9". All four aircraft consist of "green" upper surfaces and aluminum-doped lower surfaces. Decals are nicely printed and appear to be in register.
My comments for the first release hold for this one as well. However, there are some differences. First of all it's difficult to tell from the step in the instructions of where all the cockpit pieces go but study the step after this one which shows everything in place. That will definitely help.
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The underside of the nose still needs to be replaced with the separate part, #7. While the second aircraft of the first release used the gun ring for the rear cockpit the guns were left off. However, this release includes the guns. The lower wing will need sections of it removed: the rear of the wing that butts up against the fuselage. Eight millimeter needs to be removed which provided a way for the pilot to see past the wing. It appears there was a wireless radio antenna spool (at least that's what I'm guessing it was) that is built and added to the underside of the fuselage, "somewhere" under the rear gunner. Unfortunately the instructions doesn't show its exact placement, just a general, vague area.
The second to the last step of instructions show how the bombs and bomb racks go together and their placement on the underside of the lower wing. There are also three new photoetch panels (two for the rear of the fuselage sides near the horizontal tail and the other on the underside (and this would have been a good place to show where the antenna reel really goes)).
There is one part that is "kind of" shown on the instructions but not really called out. On the original release's instructions it clearly shows the placement of the pitot tube on the port strut. On this release you just "kind of" see it on the rigging instructions but its placement and part number isn't truly called out (it's photoetch part PE11).
Conclusion
As I stated in my original First Look this is truly a nice kit. Using this release you can model an actual production aircraft and while the coloring is no different there are different markings for it. If you can track down the instructions from the first release those could help with building this one as well. Couple the kit with the separate photoetch set for it and you can have an excellent rendition of the Letov Š-16 sitting on your shelf.
Huge thanks are given to Brengun for allowing us to review this kit.