FoW: Slovak Air Force - Avia B-534

So, this time I thought it may be time to get our feet off of the ground and up into the sky with the second of my Slovakian aircraft; the Avia B-534 fighter plane.

Quite an interesting little plane this one. World class in its day... which incidentally was a mere three years before the Second World War began

Avia B-534

The prototype of the Avia B-534 flew for the first time on 25 May 1933. It utilised an imported French-produced Hispano-Suiza HS-12Ybrs engine to power it and not an intended HS-12Ydrs, which was to be used in the series-production, licence manufactured in Czechoslovakia.

It was first displayed to the public on 10 September 1933 at a national Army Air Day, five days after the first flight of the second prototype.

The first procurement order for the B-534 was issued from the Ministry of National Defence to the Avia Company on 17 July 1934 and was for 147 aircraft’s. The first machines were delivered to the Air Force in autumn of 1935. 

The Ministry of National Defence then ordered the second procurement batch of 46 aircraft in 1936. The first 26 belonged to version three and were received by the units allocated to use them in March and April of 1937. 

Before the end of 1936 the Ministry of National Defence awarded the third, and largest order yet for the B-534. The contract was originally for 134 aircraft (s/n B-534.194 to B-534.327), but owing to the growing German menace it was increased by another fourth contract for a further 50 machines (s/n B-534.328 to B-534.377). The fifth, and last procurement order was placed in August 1938 and was for a further 68 machines (s/n B-534.378 to B-534.445). 

The number of Avia B-534’s produced for the Czechoslovak Air Force, thus reached a total of 445 machines. 

Version 1 of the Avia B-534 included s/n B-534.2 to B-534.101. 

Version 2 of the Avia B-534 included s/n B-534.102 to B-534.147. 

Version 3 of the Avia B-534 included s/n B-534.148 to B-534.173. 

Version 4 of the Avia B-534 included s/n B-534.174 to B-534.445.

Avia Bk-534

The Avia Bk-534 was to be a cannon armed version of the B-534 with a license manufactured Hispano-Suiza HS-12Ycrs engine with the cannon barrel projecting through the hollow airscrew reduction gear shaft. 

In 1937, fifty of the Bk-534 were ordered, with a supplemental order for a further four machines issued shortly thereafter (s/n Bk-534.501 to Bk-534.554). A further 66 (s/n Bk-534.555 to Bk-534.620) were ordered shortly before the Munich crisis. 

Teething troubles with the cannon armament were not solved by the time the production of the first batch was begun in late summer 1938 and so a third 7.92mm machine gun was installed in place of the cannon initially. The same was repeated when production of the second batch was started early in 1939. As a result, the Bk-534 was the weaker-armed instead of being the more powerfully armed variety of the original fighter. 

More Avia Bk-534’s were made for the Nazi Luftwaffe than for the Czechoslovak Air Force. With the exception of the three first machines, the Bk-534’s from the second batch procured were taken over by the German occupants when they occupied the rump of Czechoslovakia. 

The Avia Bk-534's that were manufactured included s/n B-534.501 to B-534.620

The Slovak Air Arm and its use of the Avia B-534 and Bk-534 during WW2

The SVZ (Slovenské Vzdusné Zbrane - Slovak Air Arm) of the Slovak republic used at least 79 B-534’s and 11 Bk-534’s during its existence.

The Avias came from the former 3rd Air Regiment of the Czechoslovak Air Force. They were organised into three Stihacia Letky (Fighter Squadrons), the 11th, 12th and 13th Stihacia Letka. A number of machines were also allocated to the Letecká Skola (Air School) and the Letecký Park (Air Depot). 

The base of the 11th and 12th Letka was Piestany whereas the 13th Letka was based at Vajnory (Bratislava) airfield.

The combat career of the Avias in the SVZ begun before the break up of Czechoslovakia and continued a time afterwards with minor clashes with the Hungarian Air Force, when Hungary tried to expand its territory in eastern Slovakia.

In Poland during the September 1939 campaign, the SVZ was the only official combat ally of the Luftwaffe. The SVZ committed three squadrons to the operations of which two were fighter squadrons. The Slovak units limited themselves to the occupation of parts of northern Slovakia, which had been seized by Poland in 1918 with the tacit support of the Entente powers and in a further land grab in 1938 with an unwritten political collaboration with Nazi Germany. 

The fighters’ participation was restricted to escorting German Ju 87s during their eight missions from Vinné airstrip near Michalovce. After these operations the fighters duties were shifted to patrolling the border.

During these operations Catár (Sergeant) Viliam Grun was shot down and forced to make an emergency landing in Polish territory, but managed to avoid capture, eventually making it home after a very treacherous journey.

Another pilot, Desiatnik (Corporal) Viliam Jaloviar was killed in a landing accident near Presov on 9 September after returning from a sortie.

On 26 September a two-aircraft patrol attacked a Polish RWD-8 which was fleeing to Hungary and it was shot down by Catár Grun. The Polish aircraft was forced to land near Presov.

The SVZ fighter squadrons were more involved in the German attack on Soviet Union in June 1941. It was originally planned that the II. Stihacia Perut was to have been deployed there in 1941 with a full complement of three fighter squadrons. But the 11th Letka did not progress beyond the East-Slovakian airfields.

On 1 May 1941, the II. Stihacia Perut’ (IInd Fighter Wing), was established as an ‘umbrella’ organisations over the Fighter Squadrons. From 1 June 1943, the 13th Letka was removed from its establishment, as it was to form the basis for the IIIrd Fighter Wing, which was eventually never formed. The 13th Letka was by this time flying German supplied Messerschmidt Bf109’s on the Eastern Front and the Avias of the 11th and 12th Letka had to be superseded by Junkers Ju87 'Stukas'. On 1 August 1943 there were only 43 B-534’s and Bk-534’s surviving, with only 34 of them flyable.

On 7 July 1941, the 12th and 13th Letka, with just 11 machines each, left for the Ukraine. The Slovak fighters were assigned missions escorting German Ju 87s and Hs 126s of 3.(H)/Aufkl. Gr. 32 and 4.(H)/Aufkl. Gr. 32 operating in the northern areas covered by Luftflotte 4.

On 16 July, a Slovak Avia B-534 ’roj’ (a three aircraft combat formation) encountered heavy flak while escorting a Luftwaffe Henschel Hs.126. J. Svejdik’s fighter was hit, forcing him to return. While attempting to land his stricken aircraft he crashed, but managed to survive the accident.

On 20 July 1941, the first ground-attack raid, a strafing one, was executed against retreating Soviet columns on the Vinnica-Niemirov road.

Due to the severe fuel shortage of the special BiBoLi fuel mixture (an alcohol-benzol-petrol mixture, a carry-over from the pre-war Czechoslovak Air Force, for which the engines were adjusted) needed for Slovak aircraft, all Letov Š-328 were grounded on 21 July, in order to save the dwindling fuel stock for the Avia B-534 fighters. 

On the same day, a pair of B-534s of the 13th Letka was hit by machine gun fire while flying at 50 metres over enemy lines. One of the pilots, Rotnik L. Zatkonak, had to force-land behind enemy lines. His machine, struck by 40 bullets, was repaired on the spot by technicians flown in, so he was able to return to his unit the next day.

On 23 July, the 12th Letka moved from Proskurov to Vinnitsa.

In the early morning on 25 July, the B-534s moved again. This time to Tul’chin, located 70km from Vinnitsa. 

Soon after their arrival, at 07:15, a fighter trio took off to escort an Hs.126 of 4.(H)/Aufkl. Gr. 32. While flying over the front line, the aircraft received heavy ground fire over Trotsianov (30km south of Gaysin). The Avia of Catník (Sergeant) Frantisek Brezina’s (total 14 victories in WWII) was damaged by the Soviet AA fire and he was forced to land behind enemy lines, 4km north of Trotsianov and a stones throw from a retreating Soviet column. The stranded pilot was then rescued by Catník Stefan Martiš (total 5 victories in WWII) who, despite strong fire, landed near Brezina’s stricken machine and brought him home clinging to the biplane’s wing struts!. Martiš was wounded by bullets, but could fly B-534 no. 181 back to Tul’chin.

On 28 July, the Slovak airmen fighting on the Eastern Front made their first claim when an unidentified pilot of a ’roj’ (three-aircraft basic formation) of the 12th Letka, led by Squadron CO Nadporučík (1st Lieutenant) Josef Pálenicek, damaged a Soviet ’Curtiss’ biplane fighter in a dogfight east of ‘Gaysina at 18:22.

The following claim was made in combat with fighters from 168 IAP, which took off from Grushka airfield to provide fighter escort to bombers attacking Gaysin. Over the target, two reportedly Rumanian ’polutoraplan’ (i.e. ‘1-1/2-wing’) fighters jumped one of the I-153s, damaging it. The I-153 had to make an emergency landing in the Yuzefpol area.

Slovak sources gives the date for this combat to 29 July, but the details match with Soviet data on this date.

At 18:22 on 29 July, a ’roj’ of three Avia B-534 of 12th Letka, led by Nadporučík (1st Lieutenant) Josef Pálenicek, tangled with a mixed group of Soviet fighters, made up of I-16s, I-153s and Mig-3's. The presence of the modern MiG-3's – besides their numerical superiority – offered a decisive advantage to the Soviet side. Therefore, Pálenicek ordered his men to break combat and return home, flying at tree top level.

On 30 July, the Commander of the 12th Letka received orders from the German 17th Army to strafe Soviet columns retreating towards Uman with bombs and machine gun fire. During the mission, Avia B-534 No. 242 flown by Catník Martin Danihel was hit by ground fire. Danihel force-landed in enemy territory, near Babanka. He was however rescued by his comrade Catník Jozef Drlicka, who landed nearby and brought him home clinging to the wing struts! 

They were both awarded the Eiserne Kreuz II.Klasse (Iron Cross 2nd Class) for this bravery on 8 September together with their colleague Augustin Kubovic. 

On 15 August 1941, the 13th Letka returned to Piestany.

On 17 August, the Slovak Air Force’s 13th observation Letka, equipped with Letov Š-328 biplanes, was withdrawn from the front due to attrition. As the 13th fighter Letka had earlier left for Slovakia, only two Slovak combat units, the 12th Fighter Squadron and the 1st Observation Squadron (Letov Š-328s), remained. They now operated in the Kiev area, far from Odessa.

At 18:15 on 7 September 1941, Catník Jozef Drlicka of 12th Letka claimed one victory while flying his Avia B-534, when during dogfights over the bridge near Gornostaypol (about 70km south of Kiev) he shot down a Soviet Polikarpov I-16. An unknown Slovak pilot claimed a second I-16 at the same time.

At 07:55 on 8 September 1941, Catník J. Kocka of 12th Letka claimed one more I-16 during dogfights over the bridge near Gornostaypol (about 70km south of Kiev).

On 3 October, Slovak anti-aircraft units mistakenly fired on a friendly aircraft. The B-534 of Frantisek Hanovec from the 12th Letka was damaged, although the pilot was unhurt. The aircraft was repaired but not until 15 October, which indicates the precarious state of the Slovak expeditionary air unit’s field repair capability.

On 16 October, the 12th Letka returned to Slovakia. 

The 12th and 13th Letka’s flew 1119 front-line missions during 1941, including 58 air combats, 14 strafing missions, 14 bombing missions, 383 patrol missions, 91 escort missions escorting Slovak aircraft and 88 escort missions escorting German aircraft. The remaining missions were various ferry flights.

On 1 June 1942, the 11th Letka was sent to the Soviet Union for anti-partisan operations in the hinterland. This tour lasted fourteen months and they lost two aircraft to enemy ground fire.

The front-line career of the Avias was curtailed primarily by the supply problems associated with both the spare parts and the BiBoLi fuel. Above all however, the obsolescence and the general wear and tear caused by the combat operations was the main cause of problems. In early February 1942, the first Slovak pilots were sent to Denmark for conversion training on the Bf109, which from then on started to be used by the Slovak pilots at the front and from the bases at home.

Four Avias were among the 27 machines whose escape and landing on the Red Army-controlled territory on 31 August 1944 meant the end of the short history of the SVZ.

So, I would hope that most people should be wondering where in hell can they lay their hands on one of these 1/100 Avia B-534 just like this one. Well, at present ladies; you can't! 

I believe that this may currently be the single existing 1/100 example in the world. However it does represent an object lesson in how obsession can lead you to 'get what you want!'

I habitually spend months scouring the interweb to find the bits and pieces that I want in order to put together my weird and wacky playthings and whilst a lot of the time I can claim moderate success where the Slovak air force in 1/100 was concerned I came up with an absolute brick wall. 

I had to consider other options. I have no ability to sculpt these aircraft myself as in all truth I wouldn't even know where to start. I had no 3D sculpting skills either so I couldn't rig one up by myself and I also couldn't find any examples in any 3D library that I scoured... this only left me with two options; forget it (not bloody likely) or whip out the big guns! 

So whip them out I did!

I decided that a small home run business selling a range of rare and/or impossible to get a hold of models was the way forwards in order to recoup some of my losses that this venture would no doubt cause. In line with this idea I struck up a conversation with a producer who I had been keeping an eye on for a while and whose stuff was impressing me. We discussed relative costs of sculpting and production and once we agreed prices and business arrangements I contracted an attached 3D artist to begin work. A bit of back and forth to make sure the final design would be as I wanted, it was finally printed off and it made quite the impression. Took a bit of effort to clean up but the results cant be argued with in my opinion.

The painting came next and for the most part I have to say was a relatively simple affair.

The whole aircraft was primed with a standard grey primer from a rattle can and left to dry.

Once dry the plane was airbrushed with a uniform layer of MIG 058 Light Khaki Green.

Once this was dry the most painstaking part of the process needed to be done. 0.5mm wide masking tape strips were applied along the rib lines of the upper wings, fuselage, and tail planes. Once this was done the leading edge of the upper and lower main wings had a thin 2mm wide contour tape strip applied to it.

Once secure the airbrush was used to spray a light covering of MIG 059 Khaki Green over the top of the light khaki green. It is important that you do not spray too heavily in this step as it will leave the contrasts between the two layers two pronounced and will look weird. Use a bit of discretion and leave it at a level where the highlighted areas are left apparent but not overpowering.

Once done and dry the masks can all be removed and you should have quite an effective overall feel to the aircraft.

The next colour to be applied is the Vallejo's 993 Flat Aluminium on the underside of the wings and the fuselage. Due to the fact that this colour is so high key I opted not to waste time with contrasting on an area of the plane that will barely be seen. This paint needs to be treated with care and if it wasn't the fact that it is the perfect colour I would opt to ditch it in favour of another colour as the Vallejo paint just seems to be far too thin to be used with the brush and I didn't want to have to go through the grief of masking everything off again.

The next step was the yellow, for which i did have to mask everything off. I applied the masks leaving clear the areas to be airbrushed and mixed up Vallejo's 953 Flat Yellow highlighted with Vallejo's 915 Deep Yellow with a touch of white.

Again all masks were removed and the fine details were now tackled.

A coat of Varnish was applied and then pin lining was done on all of the fuselage panel lines and aileron and flap joints with AK Interactive's Wash for Nato Camo Vehicles. 

Once dry the excess was rubbed away just leaving the profiling.

All metal parts were painted with Molten Metal Steel mixed with Vallejo Black. The tires were painted Vallejo Black followed by Lifecolor's UA733 Tyre Black as the highlight...

...and so we come to the very last thing that I needed to do for this addition to my Slovak army... the decals.

Now, I am capable of making my own decals BUT the experience that I have had so far has led to decals that are uncomfortably thick and ones that cannot include white unless as an overall substrate to the total image and so one of my Polish friends suggested I approach a gentleman in Poland that both he and his father had used to produce specialist decals.

I thus contracted one Bogdan Zolnierowicz through Facebook to produce for me a decal sheet with enough Slovak aircraft and tank markings to polish off everything that I thought I would need. Along with a couple of sheets of numbers and letters I had enough to produce the exact representation that I wanted and Bogdan's decals were exactly what the doctor ordered.

Incidentally if you want to approach Bogdan for help with decals he says you are all welcome to do so. He may not respond quickly but he will eventually and he is the only one on Facebook with the name.

So there we have it ladies and gents. Another fine Czechoslovakian asset to add to the Slovak pantheon.

Another project finished, so on to the next!

Fix bayonets!