Scale Plastic & Rail

1/72 Kamov Ka-56 "Osa" (Wasp) from Armory

1/72 Kamov Ka-56 "Osa" (Wasp)
Armory
Catalogue #  AM72102
Available in the UK from Hannants for £15.99

Only occasionally does a reviewer receive something that is genuinely different, that makes them sit up and realise that they have something ground-breaking in their hands. I think the only time it has previously happened to me in the 18 months I have been writing for this site was when Eduard released their first 1/35 pre-coloured etched plants for diorama builders. Now, sitting in front of me is a subject hat I never thought would be kitted in any scale, let alone 1/72nd......

I have a great love of autogyro-type aircraft – indeed, as I have written in my profile, my favourite kit ever to be released is Airfix's old 1/24 Wallis WA-116 "Little Nellie" from the James Bond film "You Only Live Twice". Generally, kits of autogyros and micro-copters are very rare, not only because of the general lack of interest but because their structure makes them very difficult to represent in any scale smaller than 1/32nd.

The Soviet Kamov Ka-56 "Osa", or Wasp, was a military ultralight reconnaissance helicopter project worked on early in the 1970s to a pre-requisite that it had to be able to be packed inside a tube of only 50cm (20 inches) diameter; this was because the Soviet Navy wished to be able to carry a helicopter within the torpedo tube of a submarine! It also had to be able to be assembled completely in 15 minutes. The powerplant was to be a 40 hp air-cooled rotary piston engine. Unfortunately, although a mock-up (which had several different parts fitted in its development, including different styles of foot controls and rotor heads) was built to test the structures and ease of assembly, no flying prototype was ever made, due to a suitable engine not being available. However, as a piece of engineering, it was an outstanding concept for its time (below).

Credit and copyright: Blogspot

Just looking at the photo above, you can appreciate how difficult this subject would be to realize in a smaller scale commercially. However, Armory, a new product contributor to our site from the Ukraine, has done just that. In their small white box, they have provided the modeller with a remarkable little multimedia kit of this incredible aviation project.

The actual parts are composed of resin and etched brass and come in a single zip-loc bag (below). A single resin block with very delicate parts is further protected by being packed separately within a second bag along with the etched fret.

The major resin parts, if they can be described as "major" (above) are relatively cleanly moulded in a pale olive resin (there was a small amount of resin flashing on a couple of parts). They consist of the main sub-frame, a beautiful seat, instrument control console, vertical support, tailplane and endplates, undercarriage struts and wheels. I could not identify part 8 from the instructions.

The other resin items are shown along with the etched fret in the photo below. These resin parts are for control handles with their cabling; Armory should be applauded for thinking of the extra protection they require. The etched fret is well produced and holds good detail. Its contents include the rotor head, rotor linkages and rotor blades, foot controls, instrument panel and seat belts. Only the belts look slightly overscale, particularly in the width chosen.

The instruction sheet is easy to follow; a small error has crept into the final stage, where the assembled instrument console should have a stage number rather than a part number.

No colour indications are given, but the prototype appears to have been a very dark Russian green in colour, with lighter grey tyres and olive belts. No markings were carried.

The model is priced at just under £16.00, which I think is about 20% overpriced, even for the unique nature of this little kit.

So What Do We Think?
Modellers often look for something new to whet the appetite; for the helicopter or 1/72 aviation modeler, this lovely little kit ticks all the boxes. It has a wonderful touch of "James Bond" about it, despite it being an actual airframe. Even being slightly overpriced, I would definitely have gone out and bought one myself once I became aware of it because of its individual nature. It will take some skill to construct properly but a fantastic little helicopter will be the result.

Genuinely different

Our thanks to Armory for the review sample. To purchase directly, click THIS link.

Robin Jenkins.