Today we have a big reason for joy and satisfaction. The first test mouldings of the 1/72 scale Curtiss H-75 have arrived from the tooling workshop and they look very good! 

I have to say it: never before have our first test sprues been so close to the final product.

Of course, these are still test injections, and only the first ones. The purpose of making them is to check how the mould injects, where there is a risk of short shots or excess flash, how the moulding comes out (or doesn't come out) of the mould. Usually at this stage the mouldings are not yet suitable at all for test assembly of the model to see how the fit is. And this time - as you can see from the photo - the quality is already sufficient to put the model together quite decently! 

This is very pleasing. The parts of the model are fine, we have a lot of nice small details, correct shapes, thin and even panel lines, the trailing edges do not cause any problems with moulding despite being realistically thin. The glazing is also very thin and beautiful. Although we injected at low pressure, there is hardly any sink marks at the initial testing stage. The test assembly showed that the fit of the parts is very good. 

Now we still have to complete the mould with many of the so-called convex engraving elements, i.e. what on the model are small, sharp details protruding from the surface - such as the hinges, the ribs on the control surfaces, the convex air intakes, the screw heads, the walkway on the wing, the instrument panel details, the rails of the sliding canopy, the mounting and positioning pins, the ribs of the engine cylinders.... This will take some time, as it requires precision, but is a normal and usually trouble-free stage of the work, where there are unlikely to be any surprises. 

In the meantime, the tooling workshop will also be working on technical issues, such as the final adjustment of the injection pressure and the fine-tuning of ejectors to ensure that the finished moulded part can be pulled out smoothly, so that production can proceed quickly and without disruption. 

We are very pleased with the quality of these test mouldings. It took a lot of work on our part and on the part of the tooling shop to achieve this, which is why the model is a slightly delayed one, but we have taken to heart your feedback, which you have shared with us in emails and here on Facebook - that it is better to wait a little longer to have a good model than to rush, risking that the quality will be inferior. We are already seeing this strategy was correct. 

All this gives us hope that we will be able to start production by the end of March, and in the meantime, we will gradually show more aspects of this wonderful model of a beautiful aircraft!

You can pre-order this 1:72 scale kit over at Arma Hobby now

70080 - Curtiss H-75A A1/A2 – 1:72

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