I now have the two kits side by side. They are both pretty similar in overall shape and broad detail, except where the AZ one wanders off into 2-seat fantasy land. On the other hand, as a kit it it more crisply moulded and has better detail. Its decal sheet has some imaginary unit markings, but the Luftwaffe crosses are in white only, despite the artwork on the instruction sheet depicting black ones.
The Huma kit closely matches the original GA drawing of the revised design, published by Sharp, and may be regarded as decently authentic and accurate. But some skill is required, especially with the main u/c legs and intake ducting,to smarten it up a little.
There is after all a known reference to a proposed two-seat night-fighter derivative, but it is just a one-liner in a British intelligence report following debriefing of Junkers staffers. For more, see the main thread at
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/junkers-ef128.6257
For my money the AZ fuselage extension is too short to accommodate the radar, while the second crew member must eat severely into fuel tankage. For example the nose of the Gotha P.60C was significantly longer and bulkier than that of the A and B single-seat day variants. Then, the EF 128 was up against the B&V P 212. When B&V revisited it for the night-fighter requirement, the resulting P 215 was a vastly bigger aircraft. Both Gotha and B&V began with a two-seat design but had to upgrade to 3-seat when the night/all-weather requirement was published, but there is no evidence whatsoever the EF 128 got that far. As far as size goes, the EF 128 and P 212 were comparable. The P.60 was of significantly larger span, only modestly eclipsed by the huge P 215. There can be no doubt that the two-seat "variant of the EF 128" would in fact have needed to be substantially bigger than the single-seater, and that the AZ kit is therefore unrealistic. One might conceive of the AZ vision as comparable to the postwar two-seat Folland Gnat trainer variant, except that the Gnat had a much-developed engine and no need for all that radar. Another metre on the fuselage and 20% or so on the wing area would have been nearer the mark. I'd see the AZ design as more of a two-seat conversion trainer with no radar, an altogether better match to the role of the two-seat Gnat. Now, that
would be worth a what-if model or two. In fact, come to think of it, AZ do an alternative boxing as a trainer variant. Nice one, guys!
Or, you could cut the nose back a few mm to make it blunter and rounder, leave out the rear seat, and remodel/paint over the rear half of the canopy to get rid of the silly uplighter and restore the air outlet. Possibly an easier task than making the Huma u/c legs look convincing.
www.modelarovo.cz
