Fairchild Metro III

RVHP Models, 1/72 scale

Reviewed by Brett Green

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I live a few minutes drive away from Sydney's regional Bankstown Airport. The Fairchild Metro III is both a visitor and a resident here. With its slim wings, long fuselage and stalky landing gear, the Metro offers a graceful contrast to the surrounding Pipers and Cessnas.

Regional Express (abbeviated to Rex) operates these small turboprop commuter airliners. I like the large informal script on the rear fuselage, and the red and blue trim on their clean white airframe.

Much to my surprise and delight, RVHP of the Czech Republic has released a 1/72 scale Fairchild Metro III in these relatively obscure Antipodean markings.

RVHP's 1/72 scale Fairchil Metro III comprises 70 parts in cleanly cast, cream-colored resin, three white metal parts and a vacform sheet with one canopy and a spare.

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

Casting quality is excellent. I have not found any imperfections so far. There is a little flash to clean up (especially inside the windows), but this should not be a difficult task. It is very impressive that the major parts are presented with no casting blocks. The smaller parts are cast onto blocks, but they are generally connected by thin strips of resin that should be easy to cut off with a razor saw and tidy up with a hobby knife.

Kit detail is equally good. Surface detail takes the form of incredibly fine, evenly recessed panel lines, supplemented with vents and a few raised panels as appropriate. RVHP has even included cockpit detail - floor, bulkhead, seats, side consoles, control columns and instrument panel. While you are working on the interior, keep in mind that you will need to add plenty of weight to the forward fuselage to keep the nose wheel on the ground.

The canopy area is supplied as a vacform part. A second canopy is thoughtfully provided in case of mishap. The resin fuselage features a recessed ridge to help positively locate the clear canopy part - a nice engineering touch.

Clear windows are not included, but the openings are small enough that they may be depicted using white glue or Krystal Kleer.

Decals are included for a single Rex Metro, Kilo Echo Uniform. They look great, with thin carrier film and good colour saturation.

The instructions are offered on a single sheet of double-sided A4 paper, with a decent history and full-page markings guide. However, construction is described in a single exploded-view diagram which leaves makes no mention of avionics, antennae etc. You will need to check reference photos to confirm the configuration. Fortunately, RVHP provides a mass of optional aerials and antennae as delicate resin parts.

In common with most short-run kits, you won't find locating pins or tabs on this model. I would suggest that you spend a few minutes reinforcing major joins such as the tailplanes with metal pins. The biggest join, the full-span wing to the fuselage, has been designed as a saddle join, so this will not require any additional support.

In recent months we have seen a number of companies step up from the cottage industry with some remarkable products. RVHP certainly falls into this category.

This is a very attractive, well detailed model of an interesting niche airliner wearing unique markings. Modellers with some previous experience of resin kits should be able to deliver a good looking result.

Highly Recommended.

Review sample kindly supplied by DMC Models

Review Text Copyright © 2006 by Brett Green
Page Created 30 October, 2006
Last updated 21 February, 2007

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