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Mark's Model Plane Miscellany
Go
With the Floh
Elf 1/72 Kit
The ungainly Floh did not progress beyond prototype stage, which is perhaps not surprising given its unorthodox appearance! In fact it was quite fast for 1915 at 180 km/h, but was a difficult aircraft to land. From my point of view it was even more like a Dick Dastardly & Mutly cartoon plane than my 1/72 Breguet Br 27 from Azur, so once I came over the kit of this aircraft, I had to build it!
Elf is a new brand of kit manufacturer from the wonderful land for modelling, the Czech Republic. I think it has links to Eduard, and they seem to be specialising in infrequently kitted WW1 subjects in 1/72 scale. So far I’m aware of the DFW T.28 Floh, Albatross Dr 1 tri-plane (an Eduard Albatross D. V with parts to make the Dr 1), and Bristol MC.1 monoplane scout which is yet to be released.
To my knowledge, the DFS Floh had previously been kitted in 1/72 scale as a resin kit by Czech Master resin, and a vacform kit was by Classic Plane.
Construction Notes
Suffice to say that Elf’s Floh is a typical modern Czech limited run product with quite reasonable mouldings and generally good fit. A choice of control surfaces is provided to enable both versions of the prototype to be built. A photo-etched fret provides for smaller details.
It was a straightforward build. Unfortunately in my eagerness it was only after I had rigged it that I realised it should have slight dihedral on both wings. But, as I have a policy of moving on to the next project if I can live with the error, I moved on. With about 1,100 unbuilt 1/72 kits and over half my life lived I need to follow such policies!
© Mark J Davies, 2007
Additional images, click to enlarge
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