Mark’s Model Plane Miscellany
Elf 1/72 Kit

by Mark Davies

The ungainly Floh did not progress beyond prototype stage, which is perhaps not surprising given its unorthodox appearance! In fact it was quite fast for 1915 at 180 km/h, but was a difficult aircraft to land. From my point of view it was even more like a Dick Dastardly & Mutly cartoon plane than my 1/72 Breguet Br 27 from Azur, so once I came over the kit of this aircraft, I had to build it!

Elf is a new brand of kit manufacturer from the wonderful land for modelling, the Czech Republic. I think it has links to Eduard, and they seem to be specialising in infrequently kitted WW1 subjects in 1/72 scale. So far I’m aware of the DFW T.28 Floh, Albatross Dr 1 tri-plane (an Eduard Albatross D. V with parts to make the Dr 1), and Bristol MC.1 monoplane scout which is yet to be released.

To my knowledge, the DFS Floh had previously been kitted in 1/72 scale as a resin kit by Czech Master resin, and a vacform kit was by Classic Plane.

Construction Notes

Suffice to say that Elf’s Floh is a typical modern Czech limited run product with quite reasonable mouldings and generally good fit. A choice of control surfaces is provided to enable both versions of the prototype to be built. A photo-etched fret provides for smaller details.

It was a straightforward build. Unfortunately in my eagerness it was only after I had rigged it that I realised it should have slight dihedral on both wings. But, as I have a policy of moving on to the next project if I can live with the error, I moved on. With about 1,100 unbuilt 1/72 kits and over half my life lived I need to follow such policies!

© Mark J Davies, 2007

This article was originally published in IPMS Stockholms Magazine in August 2007