Gavia's PO-2

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
1

Hey guys,

Just got Gavia’s PO-2 kit in 1/48th. Not a bad looking kit. (Like I can judge…I’m a tread head normaly) Saw a real one over at Fantasy of Flight in Lakeland Florida (along with a very early FLYING B26) and had to build it. Especially since one of my German Shepard’s registered name is Night Witch after the pilots.

Anyone have anything good or bad to say about the kit before I get into it? Anything to look out for etc.

thanks in advance

Mike

2

Can’t tell you how she goes together, but she sure do look perty in the box, huh? I did a quick search for reviews but came up with nada as to actual builds. Lessee some photos when she’s done!

Oh, have fun rigging! (If you decide to, that is…)

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3

I’ve often wondered about Gavia kits. I’m curious to see how it builds, keep us posted will you? Is there photoetched or resin parts in the kit?

4

Sure will,
There is a small sheet of pe included. The decals are ok but I think I may replace them with some transfer or something a little thinner.
The molding and casting looks fairly tight and clean, edges are sharp and I don’t see alot of ejector pin marks or sink holes.
As I do this build I’ll be sure to keep you guys updated. I’m going to head over to the museum and shoot some more detail pics of their’s.

Mike

5

Thanks for the info Mike. I’ll be looking forward to your progress.[swg]

6

there are some comments taken by a gavia u-2 step by step build guide, taken from a greek magazine.

  1. take care at wing upper lower and mid section assembly.
  2. take care of the non existent locating pins.
    3.Wing struts have problems of alignement.
  3. the builder used scratched built landing legs.
  4. take care of the wheel(tyre halves)
    6.clear dont fit well, same for PE windshield
    refs
    www.jiop.fi/ksimuseo/p_u2.html
    www.ctrl_c;iu.se/misc/ram/u-2html
    magazine is late 2001 so dont know about site connection.
    best of luck.
7

Thanks thyamis, I’ve printed this out for reference. I had already figured that I would be doing some work on this, especially after seeing a real one over in Lakeland. There are a few things that I want to do in regards to detailing that the kit doesn’t cover real well.
I appreciate the info guys.

Mike

8

I have found out that the lines on front are wrong. Also in wrong position are lines at the belly of the airframe. All that can be re-scribed, so no problem. I use as a reference “POLIKARPOV U-2/Po-2” by Martin Velek, MBI publications, Praha, 2002. This book is the perfect reference for U-2s.

9

Mike,

Here’s some pics of a Po-2 that’s in a museum in Russia. They might be a good comparison for the one near you.

I may have more to add to this page soon.

Polikarpov Po-2

Also, heres a link to a page with some shots of the restoration of a ‘sewing machine’ to flying condition. The images are kinda small, but still useful.

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