Avis 1/72 PB.25 Scout

The Pemberton-Billing PB.25 Scout was an improved version of the PB.23 (which didn't sell). It was a single-seat single-bay biplane, with a streamlined fuselage nacelle/pod suspended on struts between the centre-sections of the wings. The pod had a rotary engine driving a pusher propeller, at the back, a pilot in the middle, and could accommodate a (optional) machinegun in the front. Its twin fin-&-rudders were mounted on a wide-span tailplane-&-elevator. The wing centre sections carried the tail sub-assembly on four independent tailbooms, and swept wings. Twenty, with Gnome Monosoupape 9 Type B-2 100 hp/75 kW (instead of 110 hp/82 kW Clerget) rotary engines, were ordered by the RNAS (Royal Naval Air Service). They were based at Hornchurch and Hendon, but they were only used in a training role.

Produced in Poland, the kit comes in a flimsy end-opening box that holds a resealable plastic bag that holds 4 sprues, two of-which are identical. The ribs and valleys of the wings (et al), are the most-subtle depictions I have ever seen. Most of the detail is crisp and petit - the ribs inside the pod being the only exception. There is no flash or mould seams, and there are alternate fin-&-rudder parts.

The instructions come on an A3 and an A4 sheet = 6 x A4 sides, of-which only 5 are used. One shows the boxart (in B&W), decal sheet (ditto) and a brief history in Russian and English. Another shows the parts diagram, and the last two shows 7 x assembly steps. The A4 is the painting guide, and is in colour.

The decal sheet is small (85mm x 66mm). It contains 4 roundels with separate centres and 8 fin flashes for both alternate fin-&-rudders.

I've never heard of this aircraft, but I bought because it looks like someone parked a Bristol Fighter too close to a De Havilland DH.2 (and I've built both, so I'll build this one too). If you want a model of this unusual aircraft, be quick, because Avis says they have produced only 500 of them.

George Oh

December 2023

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