Subject: Re: Breguet 27
From: "Submissions for ARC" <[email-masked]>
To: "Clarence Wentzel" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2007 14:02:28 -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: Clarence Wentzel 
  To: Steve Bamford 
  Sent: Monday, March 05, 2007 7:52 PM
  Subject: Breguet 27

  1/72 Azur Breguet 27 Liaison 

  by Clarence "Clare" Wentzel
  --------------------

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

  People who know me know that I like to build strange looking aircraft (along with special markings, shark mouths, biplanes, aces planes etc.). I first encountered this airplane at a museum in Maracay, Venezuela. Venezuela had purchased a few of the aircraft from France in the '30s and one still existed and was on display. It looked impressive (and different) in person. When Squadron had a sale on this kit, I decided to add it to the stash. Unfortunately, the kit that I purchased was different from the version in Venezuela so I filed the box at the rear of my shelves. Late last year, a group at Scale Modeling World decided to have a challenge build and I thought that this Breguet might qualify as my "gem".

  Background

  The Breguet 27 or 270 was built in 1928 to an official French Government requirement for a two-seat observation aircraft. The prototype Bre.270.01 made its maiden flight on 23 February 1929.

  This two-seat all-metal sesquiplane introduced a number of interesting design features. High-tensile steel replaced aluminum alloys, and the short fuselage, engine, lower wing and tail boom were all attached to a steel chassis, resulting in a very tough aircraft. Two of them were displayed at the 1930 Paris Salon de I'Aeronautique.

  Over 100 of the basic models were produced for the French Armee de I'Air and for export to Brazil, China and Venezuela. Most of the models were two seater versions with a machine gun mounted behind the pilot. A few, however were subsequently modified to add a faired-in rear cabin and an extra seat for use as a reconnaissance aircraft only. 

  At the outbreak of World War II a number of the French Aerial Observation Groups (manned largely by reserve pilots) still had Bre.27s active. A number of Bre.27s were shot down while on reconnaissance patrols across the Rhine before being withdrawn from service at the end of 1939.

  Click on images below to see larger images

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       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 
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  This Azur kit covers the reconnaissance version of the Breguet 27. A different kit covered the two-seater. The kit is typical of a low volume production and contains a number of injection molded plastic parts, a number of resin parts and a vacuformed canopy/windscreen. The injected parts have reasonable surface detail but lack assembly alignment provisions and offer somewhat crude details of such items as the main and tail wheels. The resin parts are well molded and without flaws. Their shapes do not necessarily fit into the injection molded parts so lots of test fitting is required. Decals provide markings for three aircraft of the Armee de I'Air. The box cover shows in interesting airplane with the upper portion of the fuselage colored natural metal. Unfortunately, the painting instructions do not show this version. I ended up following the kit directions although I eventually found a photo of the natural metal topped version and could have modified the decals to represent that one if I had known soon enough.

  Assembly starts with the cockpit. Resin seats for the two observers and the pilot are well molded and feature realistic looking seat belts. They are mounted to a resin portion of the steel chassis as it runs through the cabin. The control stick and rudder pedals are also attached to this and it is mounted into the fuselage. Also included are resin panels inside the observer portion of the fuselage. The rear panel needed to be tapered slightly in order to fit into the fuselage. Additional interior resin components are included. In most cases, the modeler must guess the location of the parts. No location provisions are included. With everything in place, the interior of the fuselage is a busy place. The rear seat occupants had very little legroom and the pilot's area was also crowded. I ended up not being able to install a couple of the resin parts but I don't think that they are missed. Before the fuselage is closed, two resin parts need to be installed in the engine area. These parts are numbered part 30 and require careful sawing to remove them from the pouring stems. Next they require much clean up to fit into the slots at the front of the fuselage. The parts look like exhausts for a Bf-109 but in fact are air intakes and should be mounted with the vanes aimed forward. My model has them mounted backwards. When I realized this, they were super glued in place and since I had broken them two or three times during clean up and assembly, I decided to leave them as they were.

  The lower wing is molded in two pieces and includes very shallow mounting locations for the landing gear. The two-piece upper and lower wings both require some sanding on the inside surfaces to remove prominent mold ejection marks etc. I also slightly sanded the exterior surfaces to reduce the heavy surface detail. No locating provisions are provided but the two wings assemble easily. The empennage consists of two rudder/rear fuselage halves and a one-piece horizontal stabilizer. These parts fit together and required, surprisingly, little filler.

  Following assembly of the fuselage, I mounted the lower wing. This fit well. Next, I added the rear fuselage/empennage. Mounting provisions in this case consisted of two sort of flat surfaces. Lots of care is required for this step because if this one small joint is off, it is apparent either from the side, the top or the front view. At this point, you have a cute little airplane sort of like some of those taxi-trainers.

  Next, the main landing gear and tail wheel are mounted. The main landing gear is crude. The wheel is molded integral with the struts and wheel pants. Kind of like the old Frog Fokker D.21.

  Final Assembly

  I chose to paint and decal the model before the final assembly steps. When everything was dry, I added the greenhouse and windshield. It appears that Azur originally provided these parts in molded plastic but this was replaced with vacuformed versions. I was reasonably pleased with the vacuformed parts and was able to easily mount the main greenhouse. Next, the two parts of the windshield were mounted.

  I have started using small fixtures to ensure proper alignment of upper wings on biplanes. First, I find a suitable 3-view drawing of the airplane then I produce two 1/72 scale copies of the drawing. I apply these to sheets of foamcore and cut out portions that will accurately locate the top wing relative to the bottom wing. When these are fitted in place, the wing position is defined and the inverted "V" strut, behind the windshield can be fitted in place so that it properly supports the rear of the wing. At this point, I applied glue to the top of the greenhouse and windshield and the inverted "V" strut and fitted the top wing in place. When the glue dried, with the fixtures still in place, I installed the large "V" shaped interplane struts. Some very small dimples are available on the lower wing to help with the positioning. When everything was dry, the fixtures were removed and the tripod struts were installed in front of the windshield.

  The remaining assembly items were the propeller and the radiator below the nose. The propeller on this kit is one of the poorest designs that I have seen. It consists of a resin hub and two injection molded blades. The ends of the blades are spherical shaped and fit into hemispherical openings in the hub. There is nothing to key this assembly. After four or five attempts, I finally achieved a reasonable looking prop. The radiator mounts under the nose of the model. No alignment provisions are provided so it was eyeballed in place. In retrospect, it appears that the radiator is oversize. If I were to build the model again, I would probably thin the part and also taper it in the front view.

  I scratch built some small lights on the upper wing tips to correspond to photos of the aircraft (and the kit box) and also added some bent wire to form steps for the fuselage.

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  The kit is typical of low volume kits. Some of the detail is very good and some of it is only fair. The modelers have to utilize more of their skills to achieve a reasonable model however, with care, a unique subject can be produced. While the kit did not represent the aircraft that I saw on display in Venezuela, I am pleased that I persevered and added this unique airplane to my collection.

  Reference material

  Scale Aircraft Modelling Volume 24, Number 10 - December 2002. Great three view drawings