Subject: Re: 1/72 resin Choroszy Church Midwing racer
From: "Submissions for ARC" <[email-masked]>
To: "claudio luchina" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 31 Jul 2010 15:46:00 -0700

Hi,
I just wanted to let you know your article went on ARC today.  Thanks again for sending it in.

Steve Bamford
Aircraft Resource Center
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com

Live like there is no tomorrow;
Love like you've never been hurt.
Work like you don't need the money.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening.
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: claudio luchina 
  To: [email-masked] 
  Sent: Friday, July 30, 2010 9:31 PM
  Subject: 1/72 resin Choroszy Church Midwing racer

  Gallery Article Template

  "1/72 resin Choroszy Church Midwing racer" 

  by "Gabriel Stern"
  --------------------

        Steve Bamford will insert full sized version of photo 01.jpg here  

     Choroszy has been releasing a number of good kits on civil subjects, a trend deserving applause and worth continuing.
     Among those kits is the Church Midwing, a small plane with charming and graceful lines. It was composed by a Heath fuselage and different sets of wings, depending on the use and user (it was sold as a DIY plan or kit). Some ended up as racers, which is the case of Choroszy's chosen subject. I was building this kit for a fellow enthusiast, so I was glad to be dealing with an excellent quality resin kit with very good detail and engineering. Resin is a media that doesn't require magic powers or supernatural skill, just care, the use of adequate-for-the-task tools and appropriate adhesives (in this case cyanoacrylate and epoxy glues). A mask must be used while sanding the parts to avoid inhaling the resin dust.
     The price of resin kits tends to be a tad high, just be sure that you are paying for something of reasonable quality, not for the fact that a few so-so kits were made and the costs had to be spread out on those few kits.
     The parts in Chroszy's box came in three different bags, insulating the smaller from the bigger ones, therefore preventing any breakage. The parts in my kit were absolutely bubble/pinhole-free, presented no warping whatsoever and were complete casts (no short/incomplete parts); however, the engine had a blob of resin in the intake/exhaust side fused with the cylinders.
     Choroszy's Church Midwing comes with only the race number (40) and tail regs as decals. The font used for the "40" seems to be incorrect. The scalloping that is the key of the aesthetics of the plane is conspicuously absent, which is a shame. The model is so tiny that masks are difficult to cut, so the builder may be forced to produce his/her own decals for the scalloping present in the leading and trailing edges of the upper wings and stab. I was not at all positively impressed by this omission. A museum subject at Oshkosh shows wing registrations, again absent on Choroszy's rendition, but it still to be determined if the original plane wore them. Why this manufacturer choose to make a beautiful model kit of such lovely plane and leave the modeler alone with a problem, escapes my understanding. It was a black decal, after all, could have been printed with the other images, and any savvy computer-able designer would have done them without complications.
     The two-sheet instructions, of passable printing quality, have two 3-views, one showing the decoration scheme. Rigging is depicted there, but in 1/72 and not clear enough. 
     And since we are at it, why many manufacturers insist on representing in their instructions very minute parts with very minute drawings? It doesn't help much the modeler, does it?. Do you know guys, there is a thing called blow-up, where enlarged diagrams represent small or difficult areas so the modeler won't have to pull his/her hair off trying to figure out what's going on there at that minuscule ink blob. In this case for example the drawing showing the location of the engine components is confusing, fuzzy and small. And so you suffered modelers know, there are two rows of holes on the engine side, the intake goes above and the four exhaust pipes go bellow. So, again, the instructions are unremarkable to say the least. The English used in the historical note is...puzzling; now, Choroszy has a number of English-speaking customers, wouldn't it have been much wiser to just pass around a draft on the intended text in English and have it checked? Summarizing, you get excellent parts...and that is mostly it regarding satisfaction. And yet again, one could complain, but who else will be kitting these wonders? So I guess is welcome anyway as it is.
     I have seen online reviews of other Choroszy offers, and they had the needed decals, besides again praising the quality of the moldings.

        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 03.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 03.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 04.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 04.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 05.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 05.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 06.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 06.jpg 

     Before doing anything it is a good idea to carefully wash the parts, still attached to their casting blocks. Some painting may be done at this stage too, when it is still easy to get a hold of those tiny parts. Separating the parts from their casting webs was a painless operation, helped by careful planning on part of the manufacturer in regard of how the resin is cast.
      Wings and fuselage halves even have pins and corresponding locating holes, as in injected kits. The fuselage sides have not only interior structure detail, but excellent stringer exterior detail too; besides, tiny marks for the landing gear and wing strut locations and furthermore the exit holes for the tail surfaces' control cables are already there. The headrest is part of one of the fuselage sides. What a level of detail.
     Nevertheless, care must be exercised in handling resin parts, especially the small/thin ones. In this kit, you get a number of teeny tiny parts, and when you use your tweezers and magnifier be cautious; if these parts go into the Twing and Twang dimensions, with their translucent creamy color and small size the chances of getting them back are very slim. The control horns come in cast rows and have to be carefully separated and glued in position. Now for resin mostly superglue is used, so be sure of where do you want that part to go. You may substitute with photoetched ones, or cut from a soda can, or even thin styrene sheet.
     There were two leftover minute parts that weren't in the instructions, and I have no idea what they are. Also with the kit came a piece of clear plastic, but this plane had no windshield, so again I have no idea what it was for. 
    The resin tailskid is bound to break off at the least provocation, so it may be replaced with steel wire of adequate diameter.
     The engine is supposed to be trapped by the fuselage halves, but I shaved it a bit so it could be slid in at a later stage and therefore avoiding complicated masking.
     I decided to replace the resin wheels for photoetched spokes and solder tire to match photos. White primer was necessary to provide a better background for the yellow tone. A combination of decals, masking and hand touch-ups was used for the black decoration.

          
        Steve Bamford will insert full sized version of photo 02.jpg here  

     Enter the Spider (oh, boy, here comes the rigging...)
  All control cables are mostly external -especially on the wing- and so is some bracing in the tail, undercarriage and wing struts; therefore there is a lot of monofilament to be threaded about. Compared to a complex biplane this is not big deal, but better muster some patience because of the small size of the model. One missing detail is the pulleys for the aileron cables, present on the upper side of the wing but absent underneath.
      Very good moldings, sober classy lines, and an (up to you to deal with) attractive decoration, Not bad at all.

  "Gabriel"

        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 07.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 07.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 08.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 08.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 09.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 09.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 10.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 10.jpg 

        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 11.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 11.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 12.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 12.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 13.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 13.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 14.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 14.jpg 

        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 15.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 15.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 16.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 16.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 17.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 17.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 18.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 18.jpg 

        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 19.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 19.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 20.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 20.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 21.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 21.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 22.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 22.jpg 

        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 23.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 23.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 24.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 24.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 25.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 25.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 26.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 26.jpg 

        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 27.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 27.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 28.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 28.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 29.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 29.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 30.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 30.jpg 

       

       

  Photos and text © by "Gabriel Stern"