L&M and Aeropoxy 1/72 UTVA-75

Reviewer: Johan De Wolf (rec.models.scale)
Kit Review submitted: 3 October 2002

Kit Details - L&M UTVA-75	Kit Details - Aeropoxy UTVA-75
Aircraft: UTVA-75 Scale: 1/72 Kit: L&M #72-02 Parts: 49 resin, 3 clear vacuform Decals: none Surface detail: finely engraved Accuracy: good Price: 18 euro	Aircraft: UTVA-75 Scale: 1/72 Kit: Aeropoxy Parts: 25 resin, 1 clear vacuform Decals: 1 option Surface detail: engraved Accuracy: good Price: 20 euro

Aircraft History: When the existing training and liaison aircraft in the Yugoslav air force started nearing the end of their service life, it became clear that a replacement would be needed. In 1975 a contract was signed with the UTVA factory for the development of a new two seater. They came up with a low wing, all metal aircraft powered by a 180 Hp Lycoming engine, in which the student and instructor sit side by side. The first flight took place in may 1976 with satisfying results. A further six pre production machines where built and tested, after which series production started. Flight training at the air force academy on the UTVA-75 started in 1980. In all 139 machines where produced of which the majority was delivered to aero clubs all over, then still, Yugoslavia. When the Yugoslav federation started breaking up in separate republics the civil UTVA's where quickly impressed into military service by the warring factions.

Although primarily designed as a trainer and glider tug the UTVA is standard equipped with two underwing hard-points and provision for a PKI-1 gunsight. Either two unguided 57mm rockets, or up to 200Kg bombs or two 7.62mm gun-pods can be carried. As such it saw much use by some of the emerging new countries that used to be in the Yugoslav federation. Now the conflicts are over the UTVA's return to their role as primary trainer in the new air forces set up by the now independent republics.

The L&M Kit: The kit comes in an attractive full colour box. The resin parts are divided over four trees. A few bubbles need fixing but nothing nasty. Moulding is crisp without flash. Surface detail is very finely engraved. The vacform canopy is very clear but the frames are a bit soft edged. The two rear windows are separate parts. The instruction sheets are in Croatian only except for the paint scheme. They include a short history, six very helpful detail pictures, a scale drawing, a drawing identifying all the parts, a single exploded construction diagram and a colour scheme. There are no decals with this kit, and paint masks are provided for the registration code only.

The Aeropoxy Kit: The kit comes in a bland box with a monochrome drawing on top. The resin parts are virtually bubble free, with the smaller parts contained in a single wafer. This wafer is rather thick making it difficult to remove the parts without breaking them. Surface detail is engraved but a bit crude in places. The canopy is very clear but has no frame lines at all. This makes it difficult to cut it out correctly. Construction notes are in English and Serbian and are supported by a single exploded view. Colour schemes/scale drawings are provided for two aircraft. A small decal sheet with registration codes and numbers is provided. They look to be of the type that fragments into a million pieces upon contact with water so a coat of microscale decal film is advisable. Also included as a sheet of "cool frame" for the canopy with separate instructions on its use.

Accuracy: Length and span for both models is within 1mm. Both capture the look of this stubby aircraft well. When it comes to details the L&M kit is much better, both in finesse and accuracy. There is one hard to rectify error though but on the finished model it won't be very noticeable.

All movable surfaces and the vertical tail are made out of corrugated aluminium. In pictures this is very visible however this detail is missing from the Aeropoxy kit. On the L&M kit this detail has been very nicely reproduced. Except for the vertical tail. On the left side it is depicted correctly, being in line with the flight axis. On the right side it is at a slight angle to the flight axis though. The drawings and pictures do not support this. Fortunately you can't see both sides of the tail at the same time so I'll leave the filling and rescribing of this detail to the true masochists out there.

Construction of the Aeropoxy kit: It is probably easiest to join the fuselage halves first. They don't match very well so quite a bit of filler will be needed. Put some lead in the nose to prevent a tailsitter. The wing that also acts as cockpit floor can be joined with the fuselage now. Again fit is poor and more filling and sanding is needed. Same goes for the tail plane and vertical fin.

Attention can then be turned to the cockpit. I would use a thin piece of plastic sheet as a floor to cover the joins inside the fuselage. For detailing the cockpit there are two seats and a bench. Do not use the bench as the UTVA-75 is a 2 seater (a rear bench would be needed for a 75A). The padding detail on the seats has been moulded vertically instead of horizontally. The "dent" in the seating for the stick is missing. The detail on the instrument panel is rather soft. The two sticks look nice. There is also a centre console. This is for the engine controls of the instructor. The control box on the left side of the cockpit for the student has to be scratch built. Other items that could be added are simple seatbelts (no shoulder harness), rudder pedals and a fire extinguisher in between the seats.

The main landing gear is rather crude and bears no resemblance to the real thing. The main wheels look nice but the detail is wrong. The nose-gear leg is ok but the moulded on wheel is too small. The instructions show a separate spinner and prop blades but it is one part in the kit. Did I hear a sigh of relief? The prop diameter is 2mm too large. The UTVA has a 1.93m variable pitch Hartzell prop. Last parts shown on the drawing are four exhaust stubs and a pitot. If you want more detail you can also ad the L shaped steps, a whip antenna and the mass balances under the elevator.

Construction of the L&M kit: The drawing suggests gluing the fuselage halves together and then fix all small detail parts in to the cockpit. In this scale placing the rudder pedals will be hard in such a small area. So I suggest making a floor of thin plasticard and fixing everything to that. This floor will nicely cover the seam left by joining the fuselage halves. Don't worry about the seam behind the seats. In the real aircraft the space behind the seats is closed of with canvas. To reach the luggage area behind it this canvas is divided into two halves by a zipper than runs from the top to the bottom. So before closing the fuselage paint the rim of the seam black and don't apply glue to this area, bye bye seam... hello zipper.

As with the Aeropoxy kit the nose needs to be weighted down to prevent a tail sitter. Cockpit detail consists of two correct seats, four rudder pedals, two sticks, a fire extinguisher, a nice instrument panel, throttle quadrant for both the student and the instructor, a compass and a radio? box. Only thing left to add are the seatbelts. The main canopy fits very well, but the small rear windows are very fiddly to fit into place. I would have preferred a one piece transparency including the rear windows as per Aeropoxy kit. The stabiliser simply slides into the slot between the vertical tail and the fuselage. Mass balances for the elevator need to be scratch built. L&M captures the shape of the thick wing better than Aeropoxy but both fail to depict the correct dihedral. Only the wing panel outside of the landing gear has a dihedral, the centre section should be flat. While Aeropoxy has them moulded on, L&M provides the flap hinges as separate parts. The landing gear has been accurately reproduced. The prop diameter is 1 mm too small. The remaining parts are the L shaped steps, a blister under the fuselage, a pitot, a whip antenna and the landing light on the nose.

Painting and Finishing of the Aeropoxy kit: The instructions give basic colours for the interior in general terms and as an FS number. Colour schemes are copies out of Yasig magazine. They only state the colours in general terms. One scheme is for a white and dark blue UTVA-75A (YU-BRJ). The other scheme is for the second prototype (02, YU-DFG) in a striking white, red and blue paintjob. The small decal sheet is for this last machine only. It includes the codes and JRV serial but not the flag on the tail.

Painting and Finishing of the L&M kit: There are no colours given for the interior. Pictures I found show that the instrument panel is dark sea grey with black instrument faces, its coaming is dark green. The seats are a light gull grey colour. The cockpit side walls are lined with light brown coloured fake leather. The floor is carpeted with a mid grey carpet that often is very smudgy. The canvas behind the seats has a very light cream colour. In contrast to what most people are used to the fire extinguisher is mainly black with red details and a white band with instructions. One colour scheme is given for a Croat machine (9A-DHF). The paint mask is for the registration only. The Croatian flag on the tail has to be found elsewhere. This machine is overall white with and attractive red trim and red checker bands around the wings near the tip.

Aftermarket Decals: Insignia magazine produced two specials on the air forces of former Yugoslavia (1991-1999) In part one decals can be found for Bosnian and Croatian UTVA's, including the machine shown on the L&M boxart. Part two includes decals for Slovenian and Macedonian UTVA's.

Conclusion: Although rather more fiddly to build the L&M kit is clearly the winner where accuracy and detail is concerned, and I am looking forward to getting my hands on L&M's next kits. On the side of the box the following kits are announced: Ikarus S-49C, Sim-X and a Fizir FN.

Other Comments: Upon opening the sealed L&M box I found the instructions missing and the landing gear broken. So you might want to check the contents of the kit in the shop. On the side of the box there is an email address. I scanned the tree with the broken parts and I sent it in an email to that address. I never got an answer to the email though. But after four weeks I found a letter in my mailbox from Croatia. I was very pleasantly surprised to find the instruction sheets inside. And neatly packed inside the folded instructions there where replacement
parts for the broken ones in my kit. Great service!!