Broplan's 1:72 Piaggio P.136L

By Chris Bucholtz

History

Piaggio's first post-war aircraft, the P.136L was a compact twin-pusher amphibian that was used primarily for patrol and search-and-rescue operations around the Italian coast. The plane had a two-step, all-metal; hull, but its distinguishing features were the high-mounted gull wing and the two pusher prop engines, driven by Avco Lycoming GSO-480 flat six engines, each of 340 horsepower. These powerplants delivered a top speed of 208 mph, not a high speed for a military aircraft but useful for a patrol plane.

The P.136L made its first flight in 1948, and a prototype was taken into hand by the Italian Air Force for evaluation in 1949. Eventually, the Italians ordered 24 of these planes, and Tracker Aircraft Corporation of the U.S. built 47 under license for the private market.

Slow, small, odd and overlooked, the P.136L is a plane that would be forgotten if not for people like Janusz Brozek, the owner and patternmaker of Broplan. Janusz insists on kitting the odd, the forgotten and the under-appreciated aircraft of the world, partly because he knows there's little competition in this arena but mostly because he has an affection for these planes with personality. And when seen as a 1:72 kit, between the gull wing, the pusher propellers and the bulbous nose, the P.136L has plenty of personality.

The Kit

The kit provides the major airframe components of the plane as vacuformed pieces, which have well-rendered panel lines and are almost blemish-free. There are a few scratches and bumps, however, and these will need to be cleaned up, since the plane was left in a natural metal scheme. The cockpit floor, rear bulkhead and instrument panel coaming are all provided as vacuformed pieces and are fairly nice; the floor contains the seat cushions, but not the backs for the pilots' seats. These are included on two identical sprues of injection molded parts, which have some flash and soft detail but which provide a much nicer start than vacuformed detail parts would. The sprues include the pieces for the wingtip floats, the control yokes, control panel, main gear, nose gear, wheels, propellers and engine facings. The latter are especially important, as the nacelles look like they may be a challenge. The injection-molded parts replicate the intake faces and the fronts of the engine.

The landing gear is provided as a pair of four-part assemblies, not including the wheels. This area could stand a bit of extra attention; the photos point out the complexity of this area, necessarily omitted in this kit.

The clear parts are provided in two forms: a half-dome that includes the windscreen and side doors which requires you to cut away the entire top front of the fuselage, and separate doors. If you're a superdetailer like me, you might be tempted to detail out the interior and pose one of the doors open; this arrangement of transparent parts makes this temptation very easy to succumb to!

As is the case in all Broplan kits, there are no decals, but there is a drawing of one P.136L's markings: natural metal or aluminum lacquer, with a black hull up to the step, black float bottoms, anti-glare panel, Italian roundels and large codes on the fuselage sides – and a dramatic eight-ray design on red on the upper wing! You want personality? There's some for you!

Conclusion

Once again, Broplan has provided another truly unique subject and has executed it in very nice style. The gull wing, nacelles and large expanse of glass make this a poor choice for neophytes, but are well within the abilities of more experience modelers. Floatplane fans, Italian aviation buffs and, in the case of the Tracker aircraft, civilian aircraft fans will find this a challenging but rewarding project.