Background

The development of the L-410 started in Czechoslovakia in the 1960s. The first prototype, called L-410 Turbolet, flew on April 16, 1969. New versions followed, including the L-410UVP, which had an improved performance in take-off and landing, and the L-410UVP-E, the most common variant of the plane, which had an increased maximum take-off weight. The first flight of the L-410UVP-E took place in 1984. The production of this variant started two years later. The seating capacity for the different versions ranged from 15 to 19 passengers.

The Kit

The Kovozavody Prostejov (KP) kit of the L-410 Turbolet in 1/72 scale comes in a side-opening box with the front box art on top and four, color painting schemes on the back of the box. The kit includes three sprues, one of them being clear parts, an instruction sheet, and a set of decals. The instruction sheet carries a header listing three different versions of the plane: Let L-410 UVP, UVP-E, and Let L-420 “Turbolet”. The front page includes assembly symbols and a color chart. The colors are listed for Humbrol paints only.

Construction

There are 22 assembly steps in the instructions. It took me a while to figure out what light color capital letters mean in the instructions because the paint colors are also listed as capital letters but in a solid black font. It turns out that the letters designate sub-assemblies. The last two steps (21 and 22) show different configurations of the three versions, including the L-420; however, the four painting schemes provided in the box are only for the L-410UVP-E version. If one wants to build different versions, one needs to decide on using the three propeller blades vs. the five propeller blades configuration, wings with or without fuel tanks in the wingtips, and different cockpit windshield parts.

The instructions can be a bit confusing in some steps. They do not show where to put certain parts, like #38 and #48. Also, check your references to ensure your version uses certain parts. For example, in step number 6, part #54 (air intake) should not be used in the paint scheme number 4. Similarly, in step number 4, the propeller blades should be painted black, but the L-410UVP-E for the Air Inspection with the aircraft code SP-TPA had gray propeller blades on the real aircraft. Again, please check your references.

Several parts have some flash, like the instrument panel and wings. I spent some time removing flash from the fuselage windows to ensure a good fit of these clear parts. The parts fit was good, although I had to use some putty, especially after cementing the two fuselage halves together. On the other hand, the symmetry of the parts is correct. This was important when the wings were attached to the fuselage, and that configuration was good. Another positive aspect of the assembly is the note to add weight to the front of the fuselage so that the plane does not sit on its tail. I added a 10g weight per the instructions and that was perfect for the model to stand on the surface with the front wheel down.

The propeller assembly was a bit challenging as each propeller blade was molded separately. The spinner does not have deep enough grooves to receive the propeller blades and almost sits on top of the propeller hub. The propeller assembly does not offer an option to make the propellers spin. I have modified the assembly by adding a poly cap so that the propellers rotate inside the engine sections. I decided to set the propeller blades in a feathered position as indicated in step 4. Finally, part #41 was too thick, so I decided to replace it with a thin white styrene sheet that I cut into the shape of the original kit part.

Painting

The kit offers the following painting schemes:

1. Czech Air Force, 2312
2. Aerograd, Russia, RF-00858
3. LAUS AIR, Croatia, 9A-BAL
4. Air Inspection, Poland, SP-TPA

I probably chose the most challenging painting scheme, and that put my skills to the real test. I wanted to build this kit because it offered an airplane that flew for Polish air inspection. Because of its colorful scheme, the airplane was called “Papuga” or “Parrot”. The decal sheet does not offer any decals for this complex paint scheme, so all the colors must be painted. I used a paper template for the colors on the vertical stabilizer/fuselage and used extensive masking while painting the kit using kabuki tape. I also used the kabuki tape to mask the fuselage windows and the cabin windshield, and the results were very good. I don’t recall when I last performed so much masking. I primed the assembled model with Tamiya gray primer and used Tamiya paints instead of the recommended Humbrol.

The decals are thin and some of them started to fall apart during their application, but I managed to connect the broken parts. After the decals dried, they did not silver and stayed on the surface without issues. I trimmed the decals’ clear film before application. Please note that the decals will slide off the paper backing very quickly after they are submerged in water, so avoid keeping them in the water longer than 3–5 seconds. I think it was easier to apply the decals after they were placed in warm water. I used Super Set decal solution, which worked very well. The final step was to apply a clear gloss coat.

Summary

Despite some of the challenges described above during the construction as well as the painting challenges, the kit builds into a very nice representation of this aircraft. I remember building KP models decades ago when I lived in Poland and the Turbolet assembly was my first KP model since then. It has been a new and surprisingly positive experience while building this twin-engine aircraft model. I would recommend this kit to experienced modelers. The result is well worth the effort. The painting schemes are very interesting and should attract and satisfy the tastes of many modelers. I am looking forward to seeing and building more models from Kovozavody Prostejov.

My sincere thanks go to Kovozavody Prostejov for generously providing this kit to review and IPMS/USA for allowing me to review it.