DONE @p.2 +++ RWD-24 (a Polish Interwar fighter prototype)

Dizzyfugu · July 05, 2020, 01:16:45 AM

Finished the model yesterday, now for some convincing pictures...

NARSES2 · July 05, 2020, 02:23:38 AM

Quote from: Dizzyfugu on July 05, 2020, 01:16:45 AM
Finihsed the model yesterday, now for some convincing pictures...

What took you so long ? The time machine in for its annual service ?

Looking forward to it.

Dizzyfugu · July 05, 2020, 09:05:08 AM

Here it is...

1:72 RWD-24; aircraft "01(-24), 1st prototype)"; Siły Powietrzne (Polish Air Force), during service trials, Okęcie aerodrome (Warsaw), early 1937 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Some background:
RWD was a Polish aircraft construction bureau active between 1928 and 1939. It started as a team of three young designers, Stanisław Rogalski, Stanisław Wigura and Jerzy Drzewiecki, whose names formed the RWD acronym.

They started work while studying at Warsaw University of Technology. In December 1925, with some other student constructors, they set up workshops at the Aviation Section of Mechanics Students' Club (Sekcja Lotnicza Koła Mechaników Studentów), where they manufactured their first designs. From 1926 they designed several aircraft alone, in 1928 they joined forces as one team, starting with RWD-1 sportsplane. Apart from building planes, J. Drzewiecki was a test pilot of their designs, while S. Wigura flew as a mechanic in competitions. In 1930 the team was moved to new workshops at Okęcie district in Warsaw, near the Polish Air Force's Okęcie aerodrome, today's Warsaw International Airport.

1:72 RWD-24; aircraft "01(-24), 1st prototype)"; Siły Powietrzne (Polish Air Force), during service trials, Okęcie aerodrome (Warsaw), early 1937 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 RWD-24; aircraft "01(-24), 1st prototype)"; Siły Powietrzne (Polish Air Force), during service trials, Okęcie aerodrome (Warsaw), early 1937 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 RWD-24; aircraft "01(-24), 1st prototype)"; Siły Powietrzne (Polish Air Force), during service trials, Okęcie aerodrome (Warsaw), early 1937 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 RWD-24; aircraft "01(-24), 1st prototype)"; Siły Powietrzne (Polish Air Force), during service trials, Okęcie aerodrome (Warsaw), early 1937 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

At first, the RWD team designed and built light sportsplanes. Early designs were built in small series and used in Polish sports aviation, including their debut at the Challenge 1930 international contest. Their next designs performed particularly well in competitions - the RWD-6 won the Challenge 1932 and RWD-9s won the Challenge 1934 international contest. The sportsplane RWD-5 was the lightest plane to fly across the Atlantic in 1933. Three types saw mass production: the RWD-8, which became the Polish Air Force basic trainer, the RWD-13 touring plane and the RWD-14 Czapla reconnaissance plane. Other important designs were the RWD-10 aerobatic plane (1933), RWD-17 aerobatic-trainer plane (1937) and RWD-21 light sport plane (1939). Their most ambitious design that entered the hardware stage and eventually took to flight was the RWD-24, a fighter aircraft. However, World War II prevented further development and serial production of later RWD designs, and also put an end to the RWD construction bureau and its workshops.

The RWD-24 had been designed in response to a requirement for a fighter issued by the Polish Air Force in 1934. RWD responded and built a prototype of mixed materials, heavily influenced by French designs and resources, since Poland had procured several fighter, bomber and reconnaissance aircraft from France during the mid-twenties.

RWD's design team quickly projected that only a monoplane design would be capable of delivering the desired level of performance sought; other modern features were to include a fully enclosed cockpit, a variable-pitch propeller, and landing flaps. The resulting RWD-24 was a high-wing monoplane of mixed construction, with fabric-covered wooden tail and rudders. The wings were directly attached to the upper fuselage and braced. They consisted of a two-spar duralumin structure, complete with rivetted ribs to both the spars and skin. The exterior of the wing was covered by finely corrugated duralumin sheet, while the slotted ailerons had a fabric covering.

Power came from a water-cooled Hispano-Suiza Y V12 engine – a novelty among Polish fighter designs, which traditionally relied upon radial engines, e.g. the Bristol Mercury and Jupiter, imported as license builds from Czechoslovakia (Skoda). The Hispano-Suiza engine meant a considerable step forward, though, since it increased the output by almost +50%, with appreciable improvements of overall performance that promised to put the RWD-24 on eye level with other contemporary foreign monoplane fighters.

1:72 RWD-24; aircraft "01(-24), 1st prototype)"; Siły Powietrzne (Polish Air Force), during service trials, Okęcie aerodrome (Warsaw), early 1937 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 RWD-24; aircraft "01(-24), 1st prototype)"; Siły Powietrzne (Polish Air Force), during service trials, Okęcie aerodrome (Warsaw), early 1937 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 RWD-24; aircraft "01(-24), 1st prototype)"; Siły Powietrzne (Polish Air Force), during service trials, Okęcie aerodrome (Warsaw), early 1937 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 RWD-24; aircraft "01(-24), 1st prototype)"; Siły Powietrzne (Polish Air Force), during service trials, Okęcie aerodrome (Warsaw), early 1937 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

In order to improve performance further, much effort was put into aerodynamic effectiveness, despite a rather conservative structure with bracing struts for the wings and stabilizers. For instance, the ventral radiator could be retracted manually, adapting the frontal area to the engine's cooling needs. The RWD-24's landing gear was fixed but covered with aerodynamic fairings and spats.

Armament consisted of a 20 mm (0.787 in) Hispano-Suiza HS.404 cannon with 60 rounds from a drum magazine, mounted as a "moteur canon" between the cylinder banks and firing through the propeller hub, plus two pairs of 7.92 mm (0.312 in) KM Wz 33 machine guns with 450 RPG in the wings outside of the propeller disc. The prototypes only carried the cannon and a single pair of machine guns, though.

First flown by RWD-founder Jerzy Drzewiecki himself, the first prototype demonstrated the type's favorable flying characteristics from the onset – even though the poor field of view for the pilot ahead and downwards during landing and taxiing was criticized. Another critical point was the retractable radiator; while it allowed a remarkable boost in top speed for short periods, the manual temperature management – esp. during combat situations – turned out to be impractical and an automated solution was requested. The firepower of the 20mm cannon received praise, too, despite its limited ammunition capacity. After 80 hours of test flights, in January 1936, the prototype was delivered with all military equipment fitted to the Polish Air Force at Okęcie aerodrome to participate in service trials, while a second prototype was built in parallel and joined the program in May. It differed from the first RWD-24 through a different tail section, which was covered with a bonded metal/wood material (Plymax) skin fixed to duralumin tubing.

1:72 RWD-24; aircraft "01(-24), 1st prototype)"; Siły Powietrzne (Polish Air Force), during service trials, Okęcie aerodrome (Warsaw), early 1937 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 RWD-24; aircraft "01(-24), 1st prototype)"; Siły Powietrzne (Polish Air Force), during service trials, Okęcie aerodrome (Warsaw), early 1937 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 RWD-24; aircraft "01(-24), 1st prototype)"; Siły Powietrzne (Polish Air Force), during service trials, Okęcie aerodrome (Warsaw), early 1937 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Despite its good handling qualities and impressive performance (the contemporary Polish standard fighter, the PZL P.11, had a top speed of 390 km/h (240 mph, 210 kn), while the RWD-24 surpassed 440 km/h (273 mph, 240 kn) at ideal altitude), both the shape and basic configuration of the RWD-24 were hotly contended, particularly between 'traditional' advocates of biplane aircraft and supporters of 'modern' monoplane with retractable landing gear. The RWD-24 would not satisfy either party, and the high wing layout offered no real development potential, together with the field of view issues. Only a complete redesign of the RWD-24 into a low-wing configuration with a retractable landing gear would have been a viable solution. RWD engineers deemed this task to be feasible, but the Polish Air Force did not want to wait any longer for a new fighter aircraft. In consequence, the RWD-24's development was officially stopped in early 1938, after only two airframes had been built. In the meantime, RWD had also started work on a dedicated low-wing fighter powered by a 800 hp (597 kW) Gnome-Rhône Mars radial engine, the RWD-25, but until then only a mock-up of this alternative type had been built.

However, the two RWD-24 prototypes remained based at Okęcie and were further tested by both the company and by the Polish Air Force. During these test in 1938, the RWD-24s were, among others, evaluated against a Hawker Hurricane Mk.I and a Dewoitine D.520 that had been delivered to Poland for trials (and eventual sales). In the meantime, driven by rising political tensions and threatened by neighboring Germany, the Polish Air Force had started to follow the idea of importing fully developed monoplane fighters in order to quickly boost the country's air power and deterrent potential. This eventually led to the procurement of Hawker Hurricanes from Great Britain in 1939. But this decision came too late: the fighters were not delivered before 1 September 1939, when Germany invaded Poland, and the Polish Hurricanes on order were alternatively sent to Turkey instead.

Upon the German invasion the RWD-24 prototypes were, together with most other active Polish combat aircraft, dispersed to secondary airfields and allocated to the so-called Pursuit Brigade, deployed in the Warsaw area, where both served until they became unserviceable after a week, due to their exotic nature. Their fate remains unclear, though, since both machines disappeared. But most likely they were both destroyed within two weeks, like 70% of the Polish Air Force's aircraft.

1:72 RWD-24; aircraft "01(-24), 1st prototype)"; Siły Powietrzne (Polish Air Force), during service trials, Okęcie aerodrome (Warsaw), early 1937 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 RWD-24; aircraft "01(-24), 1st prototype)"; Siły Powietrzne (Polish Air Force), during service trials, Okęcie aerodrome (Warsaw), early 1937 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 RWD-24; aircraft "01(-24), 1st prototype)"; Siły Powietrzne (Polish Air Force), during service trials, Okęcie aerodrome (Warsaw), early 1937 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

General characteristics:
Crew: One
Length: 8.17 m (26 ft 10 in)
Wingspan: 10.72 m (35 ft 2 in)
Height: 3.05 m (10 ft)
Wing area: 21 m² (240 sq ft)
Empty weight: 1,328 kg (2,928 lb)
Gross weight: 1,890 kg (4,167 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 2,000 kg (4,409 lb)

Powerplant:
1× Hispano-Suiza 12Ybrp V-12 liquid-cooled piston engine,
delivering 565 kW (785 hp) for take-off at 2,520 rpm at sea level
and driving a two-position variable pitch three blade metal propeller

Performance:
Maximum speed: 443 km/h (275 mph; 239 kn) at 2,000 m (6,600 ft)
Landing speed: 102 km/h (63 mph; 55 kn)
Range: 1,100 km (680 mi, 590 nmi) at 66% power
Combat range: 720 km (450 mi, 390 nmi)
Endurance: 2 hours 20 minutes 30 seconds (average combat mission)
Service ceiling: 9,400 m (30,800 ft)
Time to altitude: 4,500 m (14,764 ft) in 6 minutes 16 seconds
Take-off run: 100 m (328 ft)
Landing run: 275 m (902 ft)

Armament:
1x 20 mm (0.787 in) Hispano-Suiza HS.404 cannon with 60 rounds, firing through the propeller hub
4x* 7.92 mm (0.312 in) KM Wz 33 machine guns with 450 RPG (*projected for production aircraft,
the prototypes only carried two of these weapons)

The kit and its assembly:
This spontaneous submission was originally spawned by the idea of retrograding a Morane Saulnier MS.406 into a biplane with a fixed landing gear, a kind of French Gloster Gladiator. However, this changed when I found a surplus Mistercraft PZL P.7 kit in the stash, which had been part of a combo deal some time ago. Why not use it for a kitbashing and create a late interwar period Polish fighter prototype from the MS.406...?

The MS.406 fuselage comes from the simple Hobby Boss kit, even though some serious bodywork had to be done in order to make the low wing attachment points and the respective large wing root fairings disappear – on the simple Hobby Boss kit, wings and lower fuselage are one integral part, so that some major cutting and PSR were necessary to create a new, "clean" lower fuselage. For the new wings a piece of the cowling in front of the windscreen had to be cut out, the result looks very natural, though, the P.7 wing literally fell into place. The P.7 wings were taken, together with their respective support struts, wholesale from the Mistercraft kit, I just added flaps and lowered them, and I added fairings under the wings for the machine guns – OOB the kit comes with shallow holes that look a bit strange?

1:72 RWD-24; aircraft "01(-24), 1st prototype)"; Siły Powietrzne (Polish Air Force), during service trials, Okęcie aerodrome (Warsaw), early 1937 (Whif/kitbashing) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 RWD-24; aircraft "01(-24), 1st prototype)"; Siły Powietrzne (Polish Air Force), during service trials, Okęcie aerodrome (Warsaw), early 1937 (Whif/kitbashing) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The empennage was taken over from the MS.406, but the stabilizers were replaced with the P.7's, because they were bigger and their shape matches the fin so well. The fixed landing gear is a donor from an ICM Heinkel He 51 floatplane (surplus parts), it was just shortened by about 2mm in order to avoid an exaggerated nose-up stance due to the high propeller position.

The cockpit was taken OOB, just a pilot figure was added to hide the Hobby Boss kit's rather basic interior.

1:72 RWD-24; aircraft "01(-24), 1st prototype)"; Siły Powietrzne (Polish Air Force), during service trials, Okęcie aerodrome (Warsaw), early 1937 (Whif/kitbashing) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Painting and markings:
Prototype liveries tend to be dry affairs, and therefore my RWD-24 received a standard pre-WWII livery for Polish aircraft in a uniform brownish-green khaki ("Light Polish Khaki") over light blue wing undersides. For the very unique khaki tone I used Modelmaster 1711 (FS 34087, a rather yellowish interpretation of this tone), while the wings' undersides were painted with Humbrol 65 (Aircraft Blue). The khaki tone was - on Polish high wing aircraft of the time - typically carried on the whole fuselage, including the undersides, so I adopted the tone for the complete landing gear and the wing struts, too. For a little more variety, I gave the engine a cowling in a bare metal finish (Humbrol Polished Aluminum Metallizer) and the airframe parts that are covered with fabric were apinted with Humbrol 155 - FS 34087, too, but a morre greenish and darker interpretation of this tone.

1:72 RWD-24; aircraft "01(-24), 1st prototype)"; Siły Powietrzne (Polish Air Force), during service trials, Okęcie aerodrome (Warsaw), early 1937 (Whif/kitbashing) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 RWD-24; aircraft "01(-24), 1st prototype)"; Siły Powietrzne (Polish Air Force), during service trials, Okęcie aerodrome (Warsaw), early 1937 (Whif/kitbashing) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The kit received a black ink washing and some post-shading through dry-brushing of single panels with lighter tones. The cockpit interior was painted in a medium grey, the propeller blades became Revell 99 (Aluminum) with red tips, a black spinner and partly blackened back sides (in order to avoid light reflections that could blind the pilot).

Most markings come from a Polish aircraft aftermarket sheet. The red lightning cheatline on the fuselage and on the wings were borrowed from Indonesian MiG-21Fs (from two Begemot sheets). The contrast to the khaki is not strong, but I thought that some decoration would suit a prototype fighter well. The tactical codes consist of single white and black letters (both TL Modellbau stuff).

1:72 RWD-24; aircraft "01(-24), 1st prototype)"; Siły Powietrzne (Polish Air Force), during service trials, Okęcie aerodrome (Warsaw), early 1937 (Whif/kitbashing) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

After some exhaust and gun soot stains the model was finally sealed with matt acrylic varnish, just the metallic cowling and the spinner received a light shine.

1:72 RWD-24; aircraft "01(-24), 1st prototype)"; Siły Powietrzne (Polish Air Force), during service trials, Okęcie aerodrome (Warsaw), early 1937 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 RWD-24; aircraft "01(-24), 1st prototype)"; Siły Powietrzne (Polish Air Force), during service trials, Okęcie aerodrome (Warsaw), early 1937 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

While the outcome looks rather unsuspicious, this kitbashing was a lot of work – esp. the landing gear and the cosmetic surgery to remove the MS.406's lower wings was more demanding than I had thought at first. But the fictional RWD-24 looks very conclusive, a wild mix between outdated and modern features, so typical for many interwar designs. And the Polish colors and markings suit the model well, too.

NARSES2 · July 06, 2020, 07:05:20 AM

That really does look right, tremendous build

PR19_Kit · July 06, 2020, 07:09:31 AM

Very 1930s, yes indeed.

It looks particularly good in this view.

Does the under belly radiator retract? Quite a few 30s aircraft did that IIRC.

Dizzyfugu · July 06, 2020, 07:17:25 AM

Yes, it does (as mentioned in the background info...

).

Glad you like it - this kitbashing idea turned out better and more palusible than expected. From certain angles thsi thing looks really fast and racy, buts esp. on the ground there's a certain archaic look to it - very Thirties-esque indeed!

NARSES2 · July 06, 2020, 07:33:53 AM

Quote from: Dizzyfugu on July 06, 2020, 07:17:25 AM
From certain angles thsi thing looks really fast and racy, buts esp. on the ground there's a certain archaic look to it - very Thirties-esque indeed!

Absolutely, typically thirties

PR19_Kit · July 06, 2020, 08:21:48 AM

Quote from: Dizzyfugu on July 06, 2020, 07:17:25 AM

Yes, it does (as mentioned in the background info... ).

Oooer, I need to read more deeply.

jcf · July 06, 2020, 09:03:46 AM

Brilliannt.

Did PZL sue over the theft of their wing design?

Old Wombat · July 06, 2020, 11:03:56 AM

jalles · July 06, 2020, 11:40:18 AM

Sweet build and very convincing. Before I read the build portion of the post I thought it was just a kit repaint. Awesome job

kitbasher · July 06, 2020, 01:08:07 PM

Top notch, Dizzy

63cpe · July 06, 2020, 01:31:08 PM

That's looking really good Dizzy! Top notch work!

David aka 63cpe

Dizzyfugu · July 06, 2020, 11:41:13 PM

Thank you all, glad you like it!