Introduction

The RWD-8 was a Polish designed and built mono-plane used for training pilots. The aircaft was first flown in 1933, entering service in 1934. The PWS variant was build by Podlaska Wytwórnia Samolotów build out of the Podlasie Aircraft Factory. At the start of World War 2 there were approximately 350 RWD-8's in service, with many captured during the war and put to use.

A recent release from IBG Models is the RWD-8 PWS built aircraft with markings for from some of the countries that obtained and flew these aircraft as trainers.

Contents

2 Plastic sprues
1 Clear plastic sprue
2 Decal Sheets
1 Instructuion booklet

Review

Opening the box for the first time, I noticed there is not a lot in the box, two sprues for the kit. The molding look really nice with little to no flash, no sink marks, and it looks like no ejector marks will show after assembly.

The surface details look good on the outside of the aircraft, with nice looking linen effect over ribs. Possibly in some areas, like the tail wings, it may be a a little over done. There is also some fine parts for the wing struts, that should add to the look. What is really missing is photo-etched parts, as there are external controls arms for the rear tail surfaces that would look a lot better in a thinner material.

As for the cockpit, it is very spare, there is a pair of seats and control sticks, and that is all. While there is some ribbing details inside, they look a chuncky and there are no details for the instrument panel including no decals. Being an open cockpit aircraft, it would have nice to have a little more detail here.

The instruction booklet is in color, but while is it six pages, assembly is only the first two pages. The remainder is an advertisement for other IBG kits and the painting and marking schemes. The kit does include markings for four captured aircraft, to include:

- Latvian Service, 1939
- Soviet Service, 1940, captured in Latvia
- two different schemes for German Service

The kit does include two sets of decals, that are well printed and look nice. But looking at the marking schemes, I don't see where the second set are used.

Overview

The does look to be a decent kit from IBG Models, while there are nice looking moldings and some good details, it lacks some of the finer details, including any details in the cockpit. The kit could definitely benefit from some photo-etched parts and decals for the instrument panel. Overall it should be a relatively easy kit to assemble, not a lot of parts, and the markings make for an interesting subject.