Azur's 1/72 NA-57

By Chris Banyai-Riepl

History

The NA-57, also known as the BT-9, was the predecessor to the predecessor to the venerable T-6 Texan, and this plane does have a vague T-6 look to it. The BT-9/NA-57 flew with many air forces around the world, including France, Honduras, China, Sweden, Germany and Japan, as well as in the US. Many pilots in World War Two got their first taste of flight in the BT-9/NA-57 and after the war started many of the French examples flew on in Luftwaffe training squadrons, proof that this was an outstanding design and an excellent primary trainer.

The Kit

Since this is an Azur kit you pretty much know that the markings are going to be French and there's no disappointment here. A set of German markings is also included for variety, though. The parts are nicely molded and are a bit better in quality than the last Azur kit I saw, with the fabric ribbing on the fuselage being very subtle.

The interior is mostly plastic, with the instrument panel and control sticks being resin. There is no sidewall detail at all and this is a major oversight in my opinion as the canopy is large and clear and the outside fuselage clearly shows that stringers need to be present. This shouldn't be too hard to add in with stretched sprue, though finding references on the cockpit of a BT-9 might be difficult.

The wings look like a typical T-6 wing with different wingtips and in fact that's pretty much the story in real life. A one-piece lower section and two upper halves make sure that the proper dihedral is present, but some care will be needed to make sure the wings line up properly with the fuselage. Once the wings are on the rest is downhill, with the resin engine being trapped between two cowl halves, wheels in a two-piece spat, and the one-piece vacuformed canopy rounding out the assembly. Resin exhaust stubs and venturi tubes add that little bit of detail.

The decals are a nice spot in this kit, being printed by Propagteam. These are very thin and in excellent register. A total of three examples are included. The first one is that of the boxtop, a Vichy France NA-57 finished in blue-gray over light gray. The Vichy red and yellow stripes are on the cowling and tailplanes, adding quite a bit of color to this plane. The second choice is that of a French Navy NA-57, this time silver overall. The final choice is a Luftwaffe example finished in RLM 02 gray overall with a yellow cowling. Decals for the swastika are provided, although the centers are separate and will require assembly on the model.

Conclusion

If you're a T-6 fan (and who isn't), this is a great little kit to get a hold of. With the release of Academy's 1/72 T-6 this kit will look great parked next to it and will show off the beginnings of that lineage quite well. The interesting decal choices given in the kit as well as others out there will provide you with plenty of opportunity to fill your shelves with several BT-9/NA-57s.