Pegasus 1/72 Junkers Cl-1 By Chris Banyai-Riepl

Overview

To quote the kit box: "The two seater Junkers Cl-1 was a development of the revolutionary all metal Junkers D-1 monoplane fighter. These aircraft were years ahead of their time, in an age of wooden framed and fabric covered biplanes; they featured a system of an internally braced metal skeleton with corrugated duralumin surface sheeting. At the time of the Armistice, only 47 examples had found their way to the front. This fast and agile two seater would have made a marked impact on the course of the war had it been introduced earlier. After the hostilities had ended, a civil version was designed, and helped pave the way for the post-war civilian aviation boom."

The Kit

This latest release from Pegasus is one welcomed by many in the WWI modeling community. A combination of injection plastic and white metal makes up the contents of the package, with a small decal sheet rounding out the model. Like other Pegasus kits, this is a short-run kit, so much more cleanup is required. There is flash around nearly all the parts, which should pose no problem for the skilled modeler. The only challenge will be restoring the corrugated metal look once the cleanup is finished.

Starting with the interior, this is made up of white metal. The engine is simply beautiful and will look outstanding once painted. The rest of the innards consists of two bulkheads, a seat, a rear bench, anda control stick. Pretty simple, but then again, so was the original. Once that's finished, the rest of the assembly is very straighforward. The fuselage is split into right and left halves, and onto this assembly fits the one-piece horizontal stabilizer. The wings are split into upper and lower halves, with a butt-joint to the fuselage. Finally, the landing gear is made up of individual struts that need to be cut from strut material.

The decals are nicely printed and consist of four large wing crosses and four smaller crosses for the fuselage and tail. The only other decal on the sheet is the serial number. This is for a Cl-1 camouflaged with a tan base that has an irregular olive green pattern painted over the top of. The undersides are light blue.

Conclusion

This is a simple kit to construct, but the short run nature means that only experienced models should give it a try. The interesting camouflage and unique Junkers corrugated construction will definitely set this one apart from the typical WWI biplane out there.

My thanks to Squadron for the review sample.