ALL THE INFORMATION YOU’LL EVER NEED

TO CREATE THE BEST AIRCRAFT MODELS 5 NEW BUILDS

INSIDE

FR E E MIDWAY’S
CHARGING

G I F T S U B S S
ERS
CRIBIDE
RHINO
MIKE WILLIAMS TAKES A DETAILED
LOOK AT THE ZOUKEI-MURA 1:48
F-4S PHANTOM II
FOR TAILS IN
DE

www.modelairplaneinternational.com

REPORT April 2018

IT’S £4.75 / Issue 153

SHOWTIME!
WE VISIT THE
SOUTH CHESHIRE
MILITAIRE 2018
PREVIEW

KIT
PREVIEW
AIRFIX 1:48
SEA FURY
FB.11

KIT BUILD

METEOR MAKER GREG PHILLIPS BUILDS THE AIRFIX 1:48 KIT OF THIS ICONIC POST-WAR JET

THE FLANKER THAT WENT TO SEA…

53

HUW MORGAN TACKLES THE VERY IMPRESSIVE, TRUMPETER SU-33 9 771747 504069

MAI COVER 153.indd 1 07/03/2018 11:18

 NEW in the ‘HOW TO BUILD...’ series
How to Build...
TAMIYA 1:32 F4U-1A
and F4U-1D CORSAIR
When Tamiya released their 1:32 scale Spitfire
Mk.IXc in 2009, they set a new standard for plastic
model kits. Each model since then has seen
incremental improvements. Just when you think the
series can’t get any better, Tamiya goes and proves
you wrong.
Their 1:32 scale Birdcage Corsair was released
in mid-2013. This was an outstanding kit in every
respect.
Tamiya expanded their 1:32 scale Corsair family
with an F4U-1A in late 2014. This kit included
several new sprues and offered a wider range of
camouflage and marking possibilities.
Tamiya has now completed the -1 trio with their
new 1:32 scale F4U-1D Corsair. Once again, this kit
includes a significant number of brand new sprues
to depict the unique attributes of this variant.
We can also marvel at the kit’s subtle surface
textures, high level of detail, clever parts breakdown
and accuracy.
In this new book, we provide an exhaustive step-
by-step illustrated guide to building and detailing
the 1:32 scale F4U-1D and F4U-1A, offering plenty Only
of inspiration with two different configurations and £14.95
plus p&p
colour schemes.
We have also a bonus Chapter on building Tamiya’s
1:48 scale Corsair family, offer some tips for
painting pilot figures and include a helpful walk
around of a Corsair under restoration.

ALSO AVAILABLE Visit doolittlemedia.com for details

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 How to contact us:

Contents Tel: 01525 222573

Model Airplane International. Doolittle Mill, Doolittle Lane,
Totternhoe, Bedfordshire, LU6 1QX, England
VOLUME 13. ISSUE 153. APRIL 2018
VOL.13 ISS.153 APRIL 2018
Editorial:
REGULARS P20 OPEN THOSE COCKPITS! Editor: Spencer Pollard
We visit the RAF Museum Cosford for their 100th spencer@doolittlemedia.com
P04 - IN THIS ISSUE Anniversary Of The RAF, ‘open cockpit’ evening. Publisher: Alan Harman
P06 - NEWSLINE Group Editor: Marcus Nicholls
P10 - COMMENT P22 ONE, ONE, FOUR, FOUR… Administration Manager: Hannah McLaurie
P76 - EVENTS DIARY Welcome to a new, regular feature on this Office Manager: Paula Gray
Advertising Manager: Sean Leslie
P77 - CONTACTS DETAILS increasingly popular scale.
P81 - NEXT ISSUE Art:
P82 - FINAL THOUGHTS… P25 ONE, ONE, FOUR, FOUR NEWS Editorial Design: Peter Hutchinson
New releases for fans of this very popular scale. Advertising Design: Peter Hutchinson & Alex Hall
REVIEWS
P26 IN DETAIL… Advertisement and circulation:
P64 NEW RELEASES KITS We take a look at Pensacola’s beautifully preserved Model Airplane International, Doolittle Mill, Doolittle Lane,
What will you be building in the months to come? F-8 Crusader Totternhoe, Bedfordshire, LU6 1QX.
Tel: 01525 222573
P68 NEW RELEASES ACCESSORIES 28 THE FLANKER THAT WENT TO SEA… E-mail: sean@doolittlemedia.com
What will you be using to dress up you kits in the Huw Morgan tackles the very impressive, 1:72
months to come? Trumpeter Su-33 Distribution:
Seymour Distribution, 2 East Poultry Avenue,
P70 NEW RELEASES BOOKS 38 METEOR MAKER London, EC1A 9PT.
The latest decal releases assessed. Greg Phillips builds the Airfix 1:48 kit of this iconic Tel: 020 7429 4000
post-war jet
P72 NEW RELEASES DECALS Newstrade:
Select Publisher Services, 3 East Avenue,
Some of the latest aviation books assessed. P46 MIDWAY’S CHARGING RHINO Bournemouth, BH3 7BW.
Mike Williams takes a detailed look at the Zoukei- Tel: 01202 586848 E-mail: tim@selectps.com
FEATURES Mura 1:48 F-4S Phantom II
Subscriptions:
P12 IT’S SHOWTIME! P58 PORCO ROSSO Model Airplane International, Doolittle Mill, Doolittle Lane,
We visit the South Cheshire Militaire 2018 Do you want to built something a little different? We Totternhoe, Bedfordshire, LU6 1QX. Tel: 01525 222573
may have just the thing for you… Rates: UK £47, Eire and Europe £59,
P16 KIT PREVIEW Worldwide Air £72.
Airfix release their much-anticipated 1:48 Sea Fury Website: www.modelairplaneinternational.com
FB.11. We take a detailed look…

y Subscrib
a e
SEE PA

36
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GE To d
ay Subs
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rib
e To d a y S

Model Airplane International is published monthly by Doolittle Media, Doolittle Mill, Doolittle Lane, Totternhoe, Bedfordshire, LU6 1QX. Entire Contents © 2018 Doolittle Media, Reproduction
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Doolittle Media’s standard terms of acceptance of advertising, copies of which are available from the advertising sales department of MAI.

Issue 153 - www.modelairplaneinternational.com 3

CONTENTS 153.indd 1 07/03/2018 14:14

 EDITORIAL

IN THIS
ISSUE…
Written by Spencer Pollard

Hello everyone, welcome to the

April 2018 edition of your favourite
aviation modelling magazine!
This month sees us begin a regular feature on the
increasingly popular scale of 1:144. For many years the
domain of the airliner fans amongst you, over recent years
modellers have started to realise that the scale works
equally well for those keen to build other subjects such as
military aircraft, where the quality of recent kits, their ease
of assembly, diminutive size and delicacy once finished, all
combine to create wonderfully engaging projects. This time
around Roy Kinsella kicks things off with his build of the Platz
F-8 Crusader and then a look at some new releases that you
may find interesting. Over the coming months we will build on
this initial feature to bring you others that we hope will show
you just how impressive models in this scale can be. Our
feature begins on page 22.
Jets from the immediate post-war years make for attractive
replicas, their curved lines and colourful markings allowing
some contrast to the grey jets of today. Taking this into
account, Greg Phillips has tackled the impressive Airfix
Meteor F.8, painting it in the overall Aluminium finish that so
defined aircraft from this period. His feature begins on page
38.
Zoukei-Mura have certainly created some fine kits over the
last few years, none more so that their Phantom family. We
took a look at their F-4J some months ago, well, now it’s time
for their F-4S to shine, Mike Williams taking time out to build
one of the later jets from this famous collection of fighters.
His step-by step feature starts on page 46.
It might be modelled in 1:72, but there is no denying just
how commanding the Flanker is in miniature. This month
Huw Morgan builds the Trumpeter 1:72 Su-33 Flanker D, the
navalised variant that looks so impressive with everything
folded up! Trumpeter’s kit is made all the more impressive
thanks to the inclusion of a section of carrier deck which Huw
uses to great effect as part of his in-depth feature that begins
on page 28.

AND FINALLY…
If you are looking for something different to build, how
about a fantasy aircraft from an animated film? The plot
revolves around an Italian World War I ex-fighter ace, now
living as a freelance bounty hunter chasing “air pirates” in the
Adriatic Sea. However, an unusual curse has transformed
him into an anthropomorphic pig. Once called Marco Pagot
(Marco Rossolini in the American version), he is now known
to the world as “Porco Rosso”, Italian for “Red Pig”. In the
film he flies a wonderfully attractive Savoia S-21 and it’s this
aircraft that we see built for this issue - we hope you approve!
So this is the April edition of Model Airplane International.
I hope you enjoy this issue and I hope to see you again next
month! ■

4 MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL - April 2018

IN THIS ISSUE 153.indd 2 07/03/2018 14:15

IN THIS ISSUE 153.indd 3 07/03/2018 14:15
 Newsline
TAMIYA
www.tamiya.com

1:72 KAWASAKI KI-61-ID

HIEN (TONY)
The Hien was officially adopted by the Imperial
Japanese Army (IJA) in 1943, and stood out
among its Japanese aircraft contemporaries in
the Pacific War on account of its liquid-cooled
Ha-40 engine, slimline fuselage and long,
elegant wing. A number of different variants
were produced, among them the Ki-61-Id which
featured a 20 cm-elongated nose to house 20
mm cannons, plus 12.7 mm machine guns in
the wing. In fact, with 1,360 units it was the most
prolifically produced Hien variant; its superior
performance at higher altitudes meant that it was
often given the brief of taking on incoming U.S.
B29 bombers. This new release includes the
following features:
● This is a 1:72 scale plastic model assembly kit.
Fuselage length: 125 mm, wingspan: 167 mm.
● The model accurately depicts the Ki-61-Id Type
Hien with elongated nose and slim fuselage.
● Complex underbelly air intake slats are artfully
depicted using a single part.
● Features impressive detail in cockpit interior
and landing gear bays.
● Comes with 3 marking options including 244th
Air Group.

1:72 KAWASAKI KI-61-ID HIEN (TONY)

CAMOUFLAGE DECALS
Now you can recreate with ease the complex mottled camouflage seen on some versions of the aircraft, thanks
to this handy decal sheet (sold separately). 5 decals are used, each covering a section: left/right wings, fuselage
left/right, and antenna. This set is perfect for those without the time to tackle a complex paint job.

AIRFIX
www.airfix.com
BAE SEA HARRIER FA2
Providing the Royal Navy with a capable fleet
defence fighter, the Sea Harrier FA2 was a much
upgraded version of the aircraft which had performed
so effectively during the air battles of the Falklands
War. It was prematurely withdrawn from service after
just 13 years, leaving the Royal Navy without a fixed
wing fighter.
Airfix has rereleased their Sea Harrier FA.2 with two
new colour schemes, the choices being as follows:

● ZD608/128 800NAS HMS Invincible Operation

Deliberate Force July 1995
● ZH809 899 Squadron 2004– Admirals Barge

6 MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL - April 2018

NEWSLINE 153.indd 2 07/03/2018 14:16

 ‘Europe’s Number One Model Shops’
www.hannants.co.uk

DK11114 1:48 -
Messerschmitt Bf-109G-2 in Finnish Air Force service.
Dual Combo Limited Edition. One Bf 109G-2 and one
Bf 109G-6 can be built. The kit covers wartime as well
as postwar service in Finnish Air Force. £58.20

EDK4444 1:144 -
Mikoyan MIG-15UTI Dual Combo Super 44 Edition
£15.99

A comprehensive set EDK8287 1:48 -

of decals features Supermarine Spitfire HF Mk.VIII ProfiPACK Edition
no less than three £32.30
marking options for
the modeller to choose
from.

SWORD
swordmodels.cz/en/

REGGIANE RE.2000GA FALCO

EDK8451 1:48 -
Fokker E.II Weekend Edition £14.99

H.G.Hannant Ltd,
Harbour Road, Oulton Broad, Lowestoft, Suffolk, NR32 3LZ, England.
Open from 09.00 to 17.30 Monday to Saturday.
Phone: 00 44 (0)1502 517444 (8 lines) 0845 130 72 48 local rate
from UK phones only (NOT mobiles)
Fax: 00 44 (0)1502 500521 E-Mail: sales@hannants.co.uk

NEWSLINE 153.indd 3 07/03/2018 14:16

 Newsline
ICM
www.icm.com.ua

BUCKER BU-131D WWII GERMAN TRAINING

AIRCRAFT (100% NEW MOULDS)
This particular kit is the very first attempt of ICM to release Bücker Bü 131D
plastic kit in 1:32 scale into the market. Accurate copy of the prototype.
Highly detailed chassis and cockpit interior. Four versions decal sheet is
included. This kit is on sale now and should be available Online and from all
good model shops.

EDUARD
www.eduard.com

RIDERS IN THE SKY

Limited Edition kit of WWII four-engines bomber
aircraft Liberator GR Mk.V in 1:72 scale. The kit
is focused on Liberators flown by RAF Coastal
Command in WWII. The 70 pages photographic
book tells the story of Coastal Command
Liberators GR Mk.III & V with a special focus on
No. 311 Squadron.
The kit contains two unique plastic sprues
designed by Eduard, to go with plastic parts
created by Hasegawa. A Cartograf decal sheet
allows one of 13 different aircraft and there is also
a coloured photo-etch fret and full set of canopy
masks. The final touch is a 70 page book to
accompany the kit and extras.

8 MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL - April 2018

NEWSLINE 153.indd 4 07/03/2018 14:16

 COMMENT
HOW DO YOU BUILD
BETTER MODELS?
PRACTICE, PRACTICE,
PRACTICE…
Written by Spencer Pollard
A
few weeks ago, as I was
considering a few ideas for
editorials in Model Airplane
International, I decided to post
this on my Facebook page in
order to spark a little discussion amongst
my friends. I’ll post it here in its entirety…
“A note to aspiring modellers who want to
emulate those they admire and perfect the
techniques that they wish to use.
Have a go. If you fail, have another go.
Practice. Then practice some more. Finish a
model. Learn from your mistakes. Practice
some more. Take advice. Have another go.
Build another model. Practice some more.
Read up on technique, watch videos. Practice
some more. Build another model. Perfect the
basics and then move on to something more
10 MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL - April 2018
COMMENT 153.indd 2
demanding. Walk before you can jog, jog
before you can run. Build another kit. Practice
some more. Have the desire to improve and
don’t be put off by better work than yours - we
all started somewhere. Practice. Some. More.
And then, and only then, will you be able to
achieve your goals.”
I get the idea that we all want to build great
models, I really do. Hardly anyone takes up
a hobby in order to stand still; most people
will want to begin, improve and then achieve
the same results that their idols can and do,
week in, week out. It’s just human nature.
These days it’s easier than ever to learn, with
mountains of Internet sites, magazines, books,
films and clubs to satisfy the most inquisitive
of modellers. It’s also never been easier to
succumb to the idea that what you see is easy
to recreate, after all, you only have to buy
the same products, follow the same steps
and build the same kits and bingo, you’re as
good as the next guy and you’ve cut out all of
that pesky practice and study along the way.
Well…No.
You see, though it’s easy to do all of those
things, you’ll not be able to replicate the
replicas, if you don’t put in the time to learn the
basics and then be able to put those basics
into practice. Much like the need to learn
grammatical constructs in order to speak a
new language, or rudiments to play drums,
you’ll only be able to copy parrot-fashion what
you see, not move on to creating your own
work, in your own style. In essence, you’ll not
be able to be creative and that’s the name of
the game in this hobby. When a modeller sees
a fantastic build, he may be able to understand
the fundamentals of the finish, but not the time
and route it has taken to get it there. I’m not
talking about that particular model, I’m talking
about the building blocks that the modeller has
constructed to allow them to bring together
seamlessly the techniques needed to finish
the model. That model might have taken
100 hours, but there may have been 10,000
hours of practice leading up to that moment.
What you don’t see are the failed attempts,
the missteps on the path, the binned models,
temper tantrums and moments of doubt; all
you see is the completed model.
In 2018 it is easy to simply buy a kit,
some paints and glue and then believe that
by asking questions in a Facebook group,
a modeller will be able to build something
similar, but that is simply not true - unless you
are a genius! It’s not just simple ideas either,
I’ve seen questions from modellers who I can
see clearly have not progressed beyond the
removal of parts from the runner and then
gluing them together with tube
glue, asking questions about
airbrushing, photo-etch,
or resin updates. Again, I
understand that, but when
did we get to a point where
the basics were not important
and modellers simply wanted to
be the best and were unaware of
the work needed to get there?
Part of the problem is the sheer
volume of material Online, material
that convinces you that by following
07/03/2018 14:20
 “ When a modeller sees a fantastic build, he may be able to
understand the fundamentals of the finish, but not the
time and route it has taken to get it there
systems, buying the right paints, following
the hottest modellers, you too will be able
to create similar models as simple as 1, 2,
3. Here’s what my good friend Jonathan
Mock wrote about this subject for me in this
magazine, last year:
“But the advent of modelling forums and
social media does appear to have created a
new sort of peer pressure amongst modellers.
The old adage “trying to run before you can
walk” seems to come into play a lot. People
see exquisitely made models that are the
results of maybe years (decades even) of
experience and practice - not to mention
mistakes - and they want those same results,
so they throw money at their models.”
He’s right. And though that’s created a
whole raft of talented modellers over the
years, those that don’t understand the basis
of this paragraph have fallen like dominoes
over the same period, frustrated by their lack
of progress and why they can’t achieve the
same results, when the same kits, materials
and ideas have crossed their workbenches.
I see endless pictures of modellers who’ve
spent a fortune on the latest paints, racking
up their collections like paint-pot trophies
on the walls of their hunting lodge of failed
aspirations. Surrounded by tools and
materials, they sit, hoping that the techniques
needed to use these items will hit home,
scales falling from their eyes on the road to
a modelling Damascus. But that’s not how
it works. It’s never how it works. None of us
experiences such things, the road to success
being a slow incline, where the goal is off
COMMENT 153.indd 3
”
into the distance and the only thing that gets
us there is time and missteps along the way
are simply part of the package deal. You can
buy all of the paints, tools, materials and
kits that you want (and let’s be honest, the
manufacturers will thank you along the way),
but that won’t make you better. What will
be make you better are the two things that
you can’t buy: time and practice. Time. And.
Practice.
I hate the idea of putting anyone off from
trying to achieve excellence, but I can’t help
but feel frustration when I see those training
for a marathon, who can barely lace up their
running shoes. My first reaction is seldom
“good for you, well done for having a go”; it’s
often “start with the basics, learn those and
then move on”. It’s great to be inspired (we
all are) but that is often more satisfying if the
inspiration is tempered with realism.
Modellers will be what they want to be and
will approach the hobby as they see fit - and
that’s fine, after all, I have absolutely no right
to tell them otherwise. I simply write this as
a cautionary tale that may perhaps guide
those with aspirations beyond the reach of
their personal grasp, to slow down, take a
step back and try and understand that much
like all skills, modelling takes time to master
and often, it’s the mastery of those new skills
that can — contrary to popular belief — be a
pleasure rather than a hindrance, fun rather
than pain.
See you next time. ■
07/03/2018 14:20
 SHOWTIME
WRITTEN AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY SPENCER POLLARD

SOUTH CHESHIRE MILITAIRE 2018

We visit our second model show of 2018, another taking place in the North West of the UK…

F
or years I’ve attended the South
Cheshire Militaire, my first trip to
Crewe for the show taking place
during 1984 or ’85 and I’ve missed
only a couple since then. Over the
years, the show has taken place in Crewe, but
having lost their regular venue and having a
rather sketchy event in the Heritage Railway
Centre where a lack of light and space made
things rather confined (to say the least…), the
team behind the show moved their event to
the Malbank 6th Form College, Nantwich in
2017, where it took place once more this
time around.
Despite the freezing temperatures that
seemed to encroach on the show itself, the
event was another fun gathering of modellers
and their models, with traders and displays
aplenty to part attendees with their cash and
provide much grist to the mill. As usual, Haris
and I made the trip to the show, its close
proximity to where we both live meaning that
we could be there and back in a few hours,
plenty of time to enjoy the show, see what we
needed to and in my case, buy some much-
needed supplies for the next few months.
Here you will find some of the models that
we enjoyed looking at - we hope that you
enjoy seeing them as well!
Thanks to the show organisers for their
hospitality during our visit and see you
next year! ■

You don’t often see aircraft dioramas amongst UK competition entries, so it was fun to see this one on display.

12 MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL - April 2018

SHOWTIME 153.indd 2 07/03/2018 14:22

 The SAAB Lansen certainly commands attention in 1:48! The tiny I-16 is a great subject for a model, the camouflage on this one being particularly striking!

Hawks in RAF service have often carried special schemes, this There is no getting away from how gorgeous the Airfix 1:48
one being particularly colourful… PR.XIX Spitfire looks in this scheme!

What a stunning scheme! This German RF-4E looked all the There were precious few Corsairs on display at this year’s show, Invasion stripes and overall PRU Blue camouflage - what’s not
more impressive thanks to its dynamic display. so seeing this Argentinian example was a treat. to like about this PR.XIX?!

This was a real surprise! I’m not sure if this is the original Frog
or Airfix Jaguar, but either way, seeing one built up brought back
some memories!

Another example of Coastal Kits’ impressive range of display bases, this time their wooden carrier deck.

US Coast Guard schemes are amongst the most colourful, as

can be seen here! Issue 153 - www.modelairplaneinternational.com 13

SHOWTIME 153.indd 3 07/03/2018 14:22

 Seen on the Coastal Kits stand, this Airfix A-4 looked
extremely dynamic ‘in flight’.

Such a pretty aircraft, this Hawaiian Air DC-8 looked equally attractive in 1:144. Blimey - this one had me scratching my head… I’m thinking that this is an Italian Air Force Savoia
S-59. Anyone care to correct me?

This one was a little more straightforward - Focke-Wulf Ta 152 V6, built from what looks to be the The Airfix 1:72 Shackleton shows off for the camera…
HobbyBoss 1:48 kit.

14 MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL - April 2018

SHOWTIME 153.indd 4 07/03/2018 14:22

 One of the most attractive models at the show, was this UP-3C
created from the TomyTec 1:144 preassembled model. Despite its
origins, this was a stunning little replica!

One of the finest looking biplanes to be constructed during WWI,

the Nieuport 17c.

Another fine build was this 1:48 MiG-23 Flogger as built from
Trumpeter’s impressive kit.

Another ‘what if’, this Harrier PR.4 was built from the ancient A very fine collection of biplanes, all of which were,
Airfix Harrier GR.3. according to the chap I spoke to, built from vac-forms
with additional details.

The Short Stirling is a commanding presence in miniature, as

proven by this fine build of the Italeri 1:72 kit.

A fantastic ‘what if’! RAF Markings certain suit this MiG-21!

Trumpeter’s 1:32 Lightning is much-maligned, but there is no

getting away from how impressive it can look once carefully
assembled and painted…
This little Farman was a great example of what is still possible from the construction and painting of a vac-form kit. Delightful!

Issue 153 - www.modelairplaneinternational.com 15

SHOWTIME 153.indd 5 07/03/2018 14:22

 WE TAKE A LOOK AT THE BRAND-NEW
AIRFIX 1:48
SEA FURY FB.11
Arguably the ultimate piston-engined aircraft to flying in British service, the iconic Sea Fury is a perfect subject
for a new kit, as Airfix set out to prove…
M
oulded in their familiar pale
blue/grey plastic, this new
Airfix kit builds — literally, I
guess — on their recent repu-
tation for accuracy, quality
mouldings, fine detail and some frustrating
production issues. One choice of aircraft is
offered (the FB.11) along with a wide range
of underwing stores and a decal sheet
16 MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL - April 2018
PREVIEW 153.indd 2
Written by Spencer Pollard
that covers two rather innocuous looking
aircraft, more interesting choices (in my
opinion…) being seen later in the year as
part of a second release.
Given the complexity of the aircraft and the
fact that the kit offers a number of set-up op-
tions including folded wings, the parts count is
low, only hitting 123 and not all of those will be
used as construction proceeds. Careful exami-
nation of the parts on their runners reveals a
high level of detail, petit panel lines, sharp draft
angles and around the rudder and tailplanes,
the kind of raised rivets hitherto unseen since
the days of Haldane Place. I have to say that
I was initially sceptical that the rivets would
look good, but I’m warming to them, the rest
of the airframe also being decorated with such
features, elevated fasteners and rivets combin-
ing with the incised panels to create a busier
looking finish than would perhaps have been
possible with a completely smooth finish.
Construction begins with the cockpit, within
which we get a sense of the detail that the
designers have incorporated into the rest of
the kit. A bathtub is decorated with rudder
pedals, control column and ‘sidewalls’, open
frames that carry a number of the ‘pit’s more
delicate apparatus. A seat, rear bulkhead
and an instrument panel complete with decal
instrument faces complete the almost all-black
picture. Given the rather restricted view into
the cockpit, the detail seen in the kit is more
than adequate and though the detail-obsessed
will be eager to add more (including seat
belts), most modellers who build this kit will be
more than happy with what’s supplied.
With the cockpit complete, the fuselage can
be closed up and the attention turned to the
wings. As with previous kits, the Airfix design-
ers have incorporated plenty of aids to help
align everything. Gone are the days of tab and
socket joints, replaced instead with a large
spar and underwing panel, the latter holding
the Sea Fury’s capacious undercarriage bay
ready for legs and wheels, later on. Instruc-
tions here are explicit and I would strongly
suggest that you follow them to the letter. Ex-
perience has taught me that Airfix kits such as
this really must be built following the instruc-
tions, their design being such that deviation
from the prescribed path being fraught with
danger - as indeed proved to be the case with
07/03/2018 14:26
 a recent P-40 project where I went my own
way, only to find that I couldn’t get the wings
on and thus the model remains unfinished…
At this point in proceedings you will also find
some choices being offered regarding under-
wing stores, holes needing to be opened up
to allow the fitting of drop tanks and the rather
impressive camera pod that you can see in
the box-art. The instructions then move on to
the completion of the engine cowling complete
with a very simple engine blank and then
tailplanes and rudder, before returning once
more to the inner wings and more of Airfix’
clever design flourishes that allow the wings to
displayed down, or in their folded position.
As mentioned earlier, the kit supplies aids
that help with alignment and that's the case
here as well, large spars being used to fix the
wings in their extended position, the outer
panels simply wrapping around each one to
create a perfectly tight, seamless joint. Once
again, you will need to drill the lower panels
should your model need rockets, if not, leave
PREVIEW 153.indd 3
alone and move on to final construction. For
the folded wing option, the spars are ignored,
detailed inner wing panels being used instead
to replicate the open joints, large hinges being
added to fix the outer panels in position. All of
this looks to work like a charm and though we
chose to build the wings extended so as not to
break up the lines of this incredibly attractive
aircraft, it's certainly good to have the option to
do either within one kit.
Before moving on to the smaller details, it
may well be worth dealing with some of the
issues with the kit, issues that though far from
insurmountable, are rather annoying and leave
you rather scratching your head. The first is
a lack of a gunsight; much discussed on the
Internet, I too was rather surprised to see this
item omitted and yet it is, and so the modeller
will be left two either build one from scratch
(a far from difficult task) or grab one from the
aftermarket, Quickboost offering suitable items
for use. The second issue is that it seems as
though many of these kit suffer from having
Issue 153 - www.modelairplaneinternational.com 17
a section of the fin missing! At first glance
it appears that the missing area, so neatly
frame by a panel line and running around the
upper edge of the starboard fuselage half, is a
actually intentional, but no: it is a mis-moulded
section that will need to be fixed. In our case
the area will be rebuilt with Milliput, but any
filler may do the trick. Thirdly, a sink-mark was
found on the spare rudder, a mark that is all
but impossible to fill thanks to the raised rivets
to decorate this part. And finally, many of the
smaller details suffer from delicate areas of
flash, not a lot, but given their finesse, clean-
up is both difficult and frustrating. I repeat that
none of these issues are deal breakers, but
do point to a lack of care during the moulding
process. I’m all for keeping costs down, but
sometimes it’s better to pay a little more and
get it right…
With the airframe dealt with, the modeller
can turn their attention to the smaller details,
with areas such as the undercarriage, weap-
ons and canopy all coming under some form of
07/03/2018 14:26
 scrutiny, or another. The undercarriage is such
a feature of the aircraft that it would be remiss
of me not to begin with that. Airfix has dealt
with this part of the model rather well, the com-
plex nature of the legs and doors being dealt
with using little more than a handful of parts.
Detail is excellent, and assembly simple. If the
legs are more than acceptable, the wheels
are less so. Moulded in two halves each, the
delicate tread detail is rather compromised
with heavy runner gates that overlay rather
more of the detail than I would have hoped
for. Cleaning them up will be a real trial and
so I feel that aftermarket replacements should
there be some either now or in the future, will
be something of a requirement — if not neces-
sity — as part of this build.
Weapons fit is comprehensive and pleasing,
rockets, tanks, bombs and a rather wonderful
camera pod, all being present and correct. As
with the wheels, the construction of the stag-
gered rocket mounts may prove to be some-
thing of a chore, each being supplied in two
halves that will need to be carefully aligned
and then cleaned up - no mean feat given
that there are six pairs. Though I have no idea
whether or not this is the case, I’m sure that
Eduard’s designers are sharpening their col-
lective pencils at the thought of replacements,
but in the meantime, be prepared for what
looks like some time and no little effort, should
your model require these little whizz-bangs.
Along with the plastic parts, the kit is com-
pleted by a well-drawn set of instructions and
then a decal sheet offering two different air-
craft, one profile being seen here. The decals
are well-designed and printed and though the
choices are far from flamboyant, offer enough
variety to be acceptable. Should you wish to
delve deeper into the aircraft’s use around the
world, a quick flick through the Hannants list
of decals reveals options, as do a number of
the previously available kits of this aircraft in
this scale (particularly from Hobbycraft), kits
that came with plenty of exotic schemes that
could be just the thing should you wish to build
something a little out of the ordinary… ■

VERDICT
Overall, there is much to like about the new Airfix Sea Fury and so my initial question as to wether it was
worth the wait, can be answered with a resounding, yes! Detail is very good, the look of the aircraft cap-
tured well and the breakdown and approach to its construction sensible and lacking in the kind of frustra-
tion that can sometimes befall kits such as this. But there are issues as have been laid out and that re-
moves a certain degree of gloss from a package that was almost, but not quite, very good. The problems with
the moulding of the parts and the location of some of the attachment tabs is annoying, but with care can be
overcome; the missing leading edge of the fin can be filled - but in this day and age, neither should need to
be done. So I can only point them out and then confirm that the rest of the kit is sufficiently impressive to
warrant further attention and assure you, having seen this model built up, that the results of your labours
will be every inch a Sea Fury FB.11. Was it worth the wait? Definitely!

18 MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL - April 2018

PREVIEW 153.indd 4 07/03/2018 14:26

 Scale Aircraft
Conversions
White Metal & Resin Aircraft Parts Since 1990

Look for new SAC sets in the New Products Reviews

section of this publication.
Stocking over 650 sets from 1/18 to 1/144 and counting!
www.scaleaircraftconversions.com

MAI153 P19.indd 8 07/03/2018 14:12

 IN DETAIL…
Perhaps the highlight of the
event, the chance to get up close
and personal with Cosford’s
stunning TSR.2.

WRITTEN AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL

OPEN THOSE
COCKPITS!
WE VISIT THE RAF MUSEUM COSFORD FOR THE FIRST OF THEIR OPEN COCKPIT’ EVENINGS…

T
his year marks the 100th Anniversary of the Royal Air Force and as part of the celebrations, the twin RAF Museums at Hendon in London
and Cosford in Shropshire, will be holding special ‘open cockpit’ evenings where enthusiasts can see into areas of the exhibits that are
normally off-limits. But more than that, those who attend can actually sit in some of the aircraft, many of those chosen being either unique
or specially chosen for their historical significance.
Last month Haris Ali and I took the very short trip to the RAF Museum Cosford to attend the first of this year’s events. The aircraft
chosen were from the collection’s prototypes, as well as some of the Axis aircraft that they have on display. With a chance to look into the cockpit of
the TSR.2, sit in the Fairey Delta 2, or in the Messerschmitt Me163, it was too good a chance to pass up! So, off we went to spend a very enjoyable
evening with around 300 other enthusiasts of all ages to enjoy a shared interest and get a glimpse into the cockpits of some stunning aircraft. This
little feature gives you an idea of what we saw that evening.

Where else would you have the

chance to sit in a Messerschmitt
Me163 Komet?!

20 MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL - April 2018

OPEN THOSE COCKPITS IN DETAIL.indd 2 07/03/2018 14:27

 The TSR.2’s Martin-Baker Mk.8 ejection seat shows off its secrets. The original Mk.8 seat was developed in the 1960s for
the TSR-2, produced in small quantities it provided valuable experience that was carried forward to the Mk.9 and Mk.10
designs.The original Mk.8 seat was developed in the 1960s for the TSR-2. Being produced in small quantities, it provided
valuable experience that was carried forward to the Mk.9 and Mk.10 designs.

Tiny in comparison to the TSR.2’s
cavernous cockpit, the Fairy Delta
2’s ‘pit is tiny, cramped and with
the canopy closed, distinctly
claustrophobic!
The Kestrel is fitted with a Martin-
Baker Mk.6 seat, the head box and
straps from which, can be seen here.
One of Cosford’s most impressive
exhibits is their stunning Ki-100, the
cockpit from which is being examined
by Haris Ali. Large in size, this part
of the aircraft is made all the more
imposing thanks to the close proximity
of the guns and the fact that the control
column seemingly has no trigger!

Though incomplete (many of the more interesting parts seem to One thing that strikes you about the TSR.2’s cockpit is how When you first look into a Komet’s cockpit it looks spacious - don’t
have been taken by souvenir hunters over the years), the team at spacious it is and how similar it looks to the cockpit found in the be fooled: it’s incredibly cramped and for someone tall like me,
Cosford are working hard to create as accurate a TSR.2 cockpit later, Panavia Tornado family. almost impossible to sit comfortably within. Having sat in this one, I
as possible. cannot imagine how the pilots flew and fought in this aircraft…

The Kestrel is certainly a

simpler design than later
Harrier variants, but the
cockpit is very familiar
with many of the features
seen in later aircraft, being
present and correct.

The Me163’s instrument

panel is simple and
uncluttered. Dark grey
is the colour of choice
inside the Komet’s
cockpit.

No visit to Cosford would

be complete without a
look at their wonderful
Kestrel. Seeing the
cockpit and being able
to take some pictures of
it, was a real treat for a
Harrier fan such as I!
Cosford’s Ki-100. What a fantastic looking aircraft!

Issue 153 - www.modelairplaneinternational.com 21

OPEN THOSE COCKPITS IN DETAIL.indd 3 07/03/2018 14:27

 KIT BUILD
SKILL LEVEL: BEGINNER

SPECIFICATION:

ONE FOUR FOUR

Platz 1:144 F-8K Crusader
Kit No. PD-17
Materials: IM BUILT AND WRITTEN BY ROY KINSELLA
Availability: Out of Production at present
Price Guide: Approx. £10 at time of availability

BEFORE STARTING:
● Mr.Hobby Mr.Cement S
● Deluxe Rocket Rapid Cyano Glue
● Tamiya Masking Tape
● Tamiya Cutters
● Vetus Tweezers Set
● Swann Morton No.11 Disposable Scalpel
● Vallejo Plastic Putty
● RB Productions Fine Saw
● Evergreen Plastic Card
We take a detailed look at the Platz F-8 Crusader -
● Alcladd Sanding Cloths the last of the gunfighters…

P
● Norton 200 Grain Sand Paper
latz are a well-known Japanese beautifully produced 1/144 kits available to the
PAINTS USED: producer of accurate and detailed scale at that time.
Mig one-shot white primer
kits coming in various scales and Known for their accuracy in each kit, Platz
Hataka Acrylics: themes, they primarily serve the have obviously gone to great lengths in
ANA 620 Light Gull Grey
ANA 511 Insignia White domestic market in Japan but researching each kit they have produced.
Tamiya Acrylics: actively export a limited number of their From WWII subjects to modern fighter jets the
product range for worldwide distribution. builder has been spoiled with an exceptionally
XF-53 Neutral Grey
XF-1 Flat Black
Mr. Hobby Acrylics: Outside Japan they are more commonly high standard of detail, crispness and finesse
H1 White
H3 Red
known for producing exceptionally detailed in each kit. The level of quality more commonly
Alclad II Lacquer: 1/144 aircraft kits. More recently Platz expected and comparable to larger scale
ALC-101 Aluminum have teamed up with F-Toys, a well-known model producers such as Tamiya or Wing
ALC-112 Steel
ALC-113 Jet Exhaust producer of 1/144 pre-painted aircraft Nut Wings.
ALC-600 Aqua Gloss for the Japanese market. Together, they The F-8 Crusader should need no
currently produce detailed kits which introduction here, The model I have produced
ALC-312 Klear Kote SEMI-MATTE
Tamiya Acrylics for detailing
combine the basis of F-Toy designed here is from the aforementioned older range
Copicmodeller 0.02 Warm Gray Pen
coupled with Platz attention to detail, by Platz. First produced in 2006, this two kits
Mig Pigments - Smoke resulting in kits which are both detailed and found in this boxing offered the builder the
quite affordable considering each boxing chance to make two F8U-2 (Early F-8C) kits.
SOURCES: comes with two entire kits and Later in 2010 Platz released the same kit but
optional decals. in a new boxing. This kit contained an extra
Ebay

Long before Platz and F-toys teamed runner with parts and decals allowing the
up, Platz in their own right were a leading builder to not produce not just an F-8C but
producer in some of the finest and most an F-8A and an F-8K model. The latter being

22 MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL - April 2018

ONE, ONE, FOUR FOUR.indd 54 07/03/2018 14:28

 very interesting as under wing stores pylons
and Bullpup missiles were provided along with
new parts for the main fuselage and horizontal
stabilisers.
Having both of these kits in my stash I
decided to build all four kits together.
Out of the box they are simply beautiful kits
to build. Little or no cleaning was involved.
I found no flash whatsoever and the parts
lined up perfectly well. The Decals are equally
as good as the kit and I had some fantastic
options to chose from.
The Crusader featured here is a build that
I decided to add a little extra detail to. This
one is an F-8H. For anyone unfamiliar with
the H variant it was an upgraded F-8D with
Strengthened airframe and landing gear with
an AN/APQ-84 Radar. Cosmetically it is the
same as an F-8K which can be built from the
box, but it has the added raised centre spine
over the main wings section.
What I found intriguing about the H is that it
was more common than the K and was used
by one of my favourite US Navy units VF-111.
Starting out as I had before I began
assembly as normal, firstly attaching the two
fuselage halves together and constructing the
main wing unit separately.
Thankfully everything I needed was in the kit
to build a H variant. Having built the previous
three Crusaders naked under the wings I
decided to take advantage of the under wing
hard points in the later “K” kit and beef up
this Crusader.
To do this I would need some bombs and
an MER for mounting them to the under wing
hard points. Using an Arii Weapons Set “A”
kit I had in the stash I took out two of the
universal 6x6 MER parts. F-8 Crusaders more
commonly carried four instead of six when
armed Mk.82 bombs on these 6x6 MER units.
I believe they didn’t carry the entire six bombs
due to clearance problems after the bombs
were released from the MER. Finding MK.82s
wouldn’t be a problem, luckily they were found
in the same Arii kit as the MER units.
The F-8 Crusader was quite fascinating
that it could be mounted with two sets of twin
Zuni rocket pods in the same fashion that
Sidewinder missiles could be carried, on the
fuselage sides. To add to my pleasure these
were included in the kit. Care must be taken
when attaching either the sidewinders or the
Zuni pods in place here as the four units are
ONE, ONE, FOUR FOUR.indd 55
not a mirror image of each other and are
mounted in a precise if not peculiar position
arrangement on each side, the result being
that if you were looking down the fuselage
from the nose section and you could see
both sides of the fuselage at the same time,
then you would notice the top units would be
mounted at a two o’clock position and the
bottom units at a six o’clock position, on
both sides!
Putting the weapons aside for the moment
I decided to raise the outer wings to illustrate
them in the storage position. Going one step
further I decided to deploy the flaps and slats
to accurately portray the F-8H correctly in this
position. Using A new sharp scalpel and RB
Productions Fine Saw I followed the perfect
recessed line on the upper and lower wings and
cut out the flaps and slats, both front and rear
of the wings. Using some sandpaper I sanded
down the edges and repeatedly dry fitted the
flaps and slats in the deployed positions until I
was satisfied with the fit on all areas.
Moving forward of the wings and into the
cockpit I wanted to have as much detail here
as possible, starting with opening the cockpit.
Using the saw here again I carefully
dispatched the front canopy section from the
main body and sanded both ends smoothly.
The ejection seat is quite nice but lacked
little features. Having the cockpit open would
highlight this. As a result I decided to add
harnesses to the seat using Tamiya masking
tape. I also constructed the overhead ejection
handles from thin electrical wire (simply turned
and pulled around pin head tweezers).
After some careful painting and detailing
inside the interior of the cockpit, I attached
the forward clear canopy section, on which I
added the tiny IR pod which is found which
resting at the base of the forward centre
canopy plate behind the nose. To protect the
detailed interior whilst airbrushing later I then
sealed everything inside with Blue tack.
Finding myself enjoying the scratch work
so far, I decided to add a little more detail,
this time to the nose section of the aircraft. I
wanted to display the crusader with the nose
section open and the radar unit exposed. To do
this first I had to remove the nose itself. Taking
my trusty saw back into action I removed the
nose cone. I sanded back the forward fuselage
to a smooth even finish. To display this part of
the build properly I felt the nose cone would
Issue 153 - www.modelairplaneinternational.com 23
have to be hollow and to my surprise it was
not. Nor was it really workable as it looked
after being removed. Therefore I decided to
Vac-form a new nose. Using the original nose
from the kit I reshaped this and used it as the
base for the shape of the vac-formed piece. I
simply heated up some plasticard and plunged
it straight down on the original nose. With a
little sanding a cleaning later I soon had a nice
new hollow nose section. A small length of fine
stretched sprue allowed me to mount what
would be the pitot tube.
This section of the build didn’t get any
easier as I soon discovered information and in
particular photographs were almost impossible
to source showing the radar exposed I its
entirety. Looking through my vast reference
material I came across images inside the
venerable Squadron/Signal F-8 Crusader Walk
Around No.38 book. There I found images of
the early and late example crusaders with the
nose cones in the open and raised positions
exposing the interior. Both of these images
were black and white photographs and only
showed small images of the radar interior.
In both cases, the images only showed the
purpose built oval protection unit which
shielded the now very camera-shy radar.
I didn’t want to model this oval protection
cover, I wanted badly to see the radar dish
exposed in all its glory. I felt this would be
more fitting and certainly more interesting than
what otherwise looked like a boring and large
cylindrical dome protruding out from the
radar housing.
In the end I had to rely on blueprints,
drawings and even the 1:72 CMK Crusader
upgrade kit to try ensure I got this remotely
correct. I used plastic card to produce the
detail of the radar and the systems it was
mounted to at the front of the fuselage.
Moving onto the undercarriage I assembled
this straight from the box. Platz did a
splendid job of accurately producing these
crusaders when they were displayed with the
undercarriage down and parked up. They even
managed to get the position of the fuselage
correct as in real life they sat down low and
leaning back with the nose slightly raised off
the ground. To spice the undercarriage up a
little I decided to turn the nose wheel to the
starboard slightly. I carefully cut the front nose
wheel at the appropriate with a scalpel point
and simply reattached it in the turned position.
07/03/2018 14:28
 KIT BUILD
SKILL LEVEL: BEGINNER

horrendous and equally ancient Otaki

Happy with all the construction and sub
assembly so far I needed to move forward
and start painting various sections.
Painting And Decals
I primed the model firstly using Mig One-Shot
white primer. Then I began the main painting
using Hataka acrylic paints from the US
NAVY/USMC High Vis Set. These paints are
just a little tricky to get just right but produce
a marvellous finish when applied properly. As
per the standard USN fighters of the period
the upper surfaces are Light Gull Grey and
the Lower Surfaces Insignia White. The rear
large flaps on the main wings, along with
the rear horizontal stabilisers are also white.
The undercarriage interior along with the
area underneath the main wing on the centre
fuselage, (which can be seen when the main
wing is in the raised position) is also white.
I discovered this white appears a little
brighter than the exterior white and as a
result I used H1 Mr. Hobby White which is
particularly bright and vibrant in comparison
to Hataka Insignia White which I used on the
lower surfaces.
There are various red sections including
the lining of the undercarriage doors, I painted
these using Mr. Hobby Red I painted the
Mk.82 bombs with Tamiya XF-58 and the MER
and Zuni units with Hataka Insignia White.
At the exhaust end of the fuselage is
found natural metal sections. Early F-8A and
C models had these sections painted but
it soon became obvious that the heat from
the engines soon caused the quality of the
paint to be reduced and wear over time. The
result was to leave this section in its natural
state. To achieve this natural metal look I
used Alclad Gloss Black Base with various
applications of Aluminium and steel colours
applied over differing masking techniques.
Lastly, I finished the engine exhaust end with
Alclad Jet Exhaust paint and attached this to
the model.
Having the main painting complete I
airbrushed some Alclad Aqua Gloss over the
entire build, this would achieve a nice clean
and glossy sheen in preparation of the decal
application process.
To produce an accurate VF-111 F-8H
I would have to use aftermarket decals
alongside the general markings provided in
the kit such as the stars and bars.
I was fortunate that Microscale had
produced a limited miniaturised run of their
1:72 decal sheet in 1:144, eons ago. This
release was certainly long before Platz ever
released their F-8 range and so the decal
sheet may have originally been intended for
F-8 Crusader.
To say I was worried about the condition
and fit of the these decals was an
understatement. However on sampling a
small section that I was willing to sacrifice
before turning to a decal fixing solution, I
discovered the decals were in fact perfect.
Much to my amazement there were even
standard stencilling decals provided in this
set. On application they were remarkable and
incredibly thin and settled comfortable without
any silvering after drying. They even held
strong with using Sol decal softener.
To ensure the decals would be safe I gave
the entire build another two light coats of
Alclad Aqua Gloss and allowed everything
to dry. With the decal process complete I
could finish the sub assembly of the main
wing and the folding wing system. I attached
the loose parts including the munitions and
weapons and the rear stabilisers, Nose detail
and canopy. Lastly, I attached the main wing,
raised in the deployed position as would be
standard for this configuration.
Although VF-111 kept their aircraft quite
clean, long deployments such as those to
South East Asia took their toll on aircraft
appearances. Weathering this model would
be quite difficult, especially at this scale.
However I recently discovered a Japanese
produced pen called Copicmodeler. These
pens come in warm grey and black. The tip of
these pens is just a slight 0.02 mm and works
beautifully for panel lines. The pens are easy
to use and if you make a mistake you can
just wipe them error away with a wet cotton
stick. I used the warm grey pen to illustrate
weathered panel lines.
For deeper panel lines such as those found
between flaps and moving parts wing I used a
very thin enamel wash using humbrol thinners
and paints.
With the final detailing complete and
everything assembled and dry I gave the
entire model an application of Alclad II Clear
Coat Semi-Matt.
I finished off the weathering by applying
some Mig Smoke pigments to the Zuni
Rockets, the aligning fuselage panels and
main guns.
The result you see is my best interpretation
of an F-8H based on U.S.S. Shangri La,
during a deployment to South East Asia circa
1969/70. ■

FINAL VERDICT
Overall this was a super fun project for me, 1:144 can be such a rewarding scale. You can turn around a kit in half
the time of 1:48 kit or larger. The quality of kits in this scale today is mind-blowing compared to a decade ago.
I really enjoyed building this kit, it may look daunting but its not, anyone could build this kit straight from the
box. I built this in just a few short weeks, (the other kits were out of the box and built in just a few short days).
Although this model is a detailed scratchbuild, completing this was made a whole lot easier by the fact I was working
with such an amazing kit. I highly recommend the 1:144 Platz F-8 to anyone who can get their hands on one now. We
can only hope Platz may consider releasing these kits again some time in the future. I know I would return to build
another in a heartbeat.

24 MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL - April 2018

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 ONE, ONE, FOUR FOUR NEWS

1:144 PLATZ JASDF RF-4E PHANTOM II

The F-4 Phantom II needs no well researched liveries dating The kit is injected plastic with in 1:144 Phantom II kits over the
introduction. License built F-4E from the original 1974 Grey, right finely engraved lines. The detail past four years and this most
Phantoms with restricted weapons up to the recent and very attrac- is crisp and even contains clear recent release here looks to be
capabilities were built locally by tive Sea Camouflage scheme, sections for the photo-recon- another finely produced kit and
Mitsubishi and entered service which became the standard cam- naissance nose section. Platz one that phantom fans have been
with the Japan Air Self Defense ouflage scheme in 2015. has been the leading producer waiting a long time for.
Force from 1968 under the
designation F-4EJ (“J” for Japan).
Fourteen unarmed RF-4E variants
were also imported.
The Phantom is still in limited
service with the JASDF today
until the introduction of the F-35
sometime in the future.
Platz, already well known for
producing detailed phantom kits,
have returned yet again with
another unique F-4 Kit, this time
in the guise of the reconnaissance
variant RF-4E.
Two kits are contained in this box-
ing, which offers the builder four

1:144 AFV CLUB VOUGHT F4U CORSAIR

AFV Club entered the small world of 1:144
scale modelling just a few years ago with their
beautifully detailed, yet simple to build, P-40
series of kits.
AFV Club has now returned with yet another
outstanding WWII subject, the venerable
Vought F4U Corsair. Unlike the simply pack-
aged P-40 kit, which came in laminated card-
board sleeve, this kit comes solidly packaged
in a much larger boxing, similar in comparison
to the corsair’s brethren 1:72 kits.
The reason for the larger boxing makes com-
plete sense once you take a look inside as to
what’s on offer.
Firstly There are two entire kits here. The
builder can choose any of the mainstream
WWII Corsairs including the F4U-1, F4U-1A,
F4U-1C and F4U-1D. Each variant of corsair
can be accurately built as the kit comes with
an extensive selection of parts ensuring each
F4U has the correct weapons fit, canopy and
propellers. The sprues are cast in blue and the
external detail is exquisite with beautiful en-
graved lines and raised panels. If that wasn’t
enough the builder is spoiled with numerous
decal options including Fleet Air Arm, RNZAF
and US examples, all with variously different
color schemes and livery. To top everything off,
included here are various bombs, rockets and
optional drop tanks. This looks to be a fantas-
tic kit of a superb subject. I suspect there may
be more to come from AFV Club where the
Corsair is concerned.

1:144 AFV CLUB SH-3A/D SEA KING

AFV Club took the 1:144 scale community
by complete surprise in late 2017 when they
announced they would release their SH-3A/D
Sea King kit in early 2018. Equally surprising,
is how amazing it is! Two kits are offered to the
builder with the choice of four different liveries:
two US Navy examples, one of which includes
the legendary SH-3A “66” which is almost as
equally recognisable as the Apollo 11 capsule
it retrieved after the famous first moon landing.
A very attractive early Canadian Navy example
and instantly recognisable Indian variant, are
offered here too.
The kits are moulded in grey and the detail
is incredible, with finely engraved lines and
raised panels along the exterior hull halves.
The Interior layout is quite generous, the front
cockpit section is quite detailed and rear com-
partment has raised vertical rib sections along
the walls allowing the builder the opportunity to
leave starboard sliding door open to show of
this detail.
Incredibly, AFV Club has also added the option
of the folding rear tail unit and even the main
rotor head can be built in the folded configura-
tion. This kit should be widely available soon.

Issue 153 - www.modelairplaneinternational.com 25

144 NEWS 153.indd 3 07/03/2018 14:28

 IN DETAIL…

WRITTEN AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL

CHANCE-VOUGHT
F-8A CRUSADER
WE TAKE A DETAILED LOOK AT THE LAST REMAINING EXAMPLE OF THIS INCREDIBLE-LOOKING AIRCRAFT.

Pensacola’s Crusader
Accepted by the Navy on 20 June 1958, the Museum’s F-8A (Bureau Number 145347) spent much of its early service career at Naval Air Station
(NAS) Cecil Field, Florida, assigned to Fighter Squadron (VF) 174 training East Coast Crusader replacement pilots. In November 1960 it joined
VF-11, its first and only front line fighter squadron. While flying with the famed “Red Rippers,” the aircraft was part of an unusual deployment in
the carrier Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVA-42). Though VF-11 sailed with the carrier from Naval Station Mayport, Florida, on 15 February 1961, the
squadron spent most of FDR’s cruise shore based at the U.S. naval base at Rota, Spain. There the squadron averaged around 600 flight hours per
month while practicing tactics and gunnery. VF-11 also engaged Air Force F-104s from a nearby base in mock dogfights. Returning to Cecil Field in
August 1961, the aircraft remained with VF-11 until April 1962, at which time it rejoined VF-174. It was stricken from the Navy inventory in 1971 and
arrived at the Museum that same year. (The Naval Aviation Museum)

Pensacola’s stunning F-8A Crusader,

shows off for the camera.

26 MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL - April 2018

F8 IN DETAIL.indd 2 07/03/2018 14:29

 The museum exhibit has its refuelling probe extended, perfect for those with an eye on Along with its collection of internal firearms, the F-8A could defend itself with two Sidewinders, one
the finer details… on each side of the nose.

With the wings folded,

The nosegear is simple, utilitarian and small in size, ground the thin nature of their
clearance being somewhat limited as a result. construction is easy
to see.

Sharing the same J57

engine as the F-100,
the jet pipe is similarly
hidden within the
fuselage.

Narrow-track main gear

made the landing of
the Crusader an affair
fraught with danger,
especially at the high
speeds that this aircraft
would return to either
terra firma, or the
terrifying prospect of a
rolling carrier deck…

Drooped flaps - a nice addition to any model of this exciting jet. Note how a small section of the The inside of the open canopy is remarkably simple!
flap breaks away to deal with the change of angle as the wing raises up.

Issue 153 - www.modelairplaneinternational.com 27

F8 IN DETAIL.indd 3 07/03/2018 14:29

 KIT BUILD
SKILL LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE

BUILT AND WRITTEN BY HUW MORGAN

SPECIFICATION:
Trumpeter 1:72 Su-33 Flanker D
Kit No: 01678
Materials: IM, PE
Status: Re-issue with new parts
Availability: All good model shops
Price Guide: £ 35.99

BEFORE STARTING:
● Tamiya OF2 side-cutters
THE FLANKER T
T
●#3 and #4 scalpels with #11,#23, and#25 blades
● Deluxe Perfect Plastic filler he Sukhoi Su-27 has was developed as the Su-33
● Mr Hobby Cement S
● Loctite cyanoacrylate glue been the archetypal (NATO reporting name Flanker D
● Boots the Chemist sanding boards shape of Russian air and originally known as the Su-
● Abralon 600, 1000 and 3000 grit foam abrasive
● Micromesh polishing cloths superiority fighter aircraft 27K - Korabelnyi – ship borne) to
● Tamiya masking tape for over 30 years. form the main striking force of the
● Pacer Formula 560 canopy glue
● Bare Metal Foil Chrome
Deployed in large numbers from sole Russian carrier, the Admiral
● Plus Model 0.4mm and 0.2mm Lead wire land bases, a navalised version Kuznetsov. Around 35 airframes
● Artists’ grey and earth tone pastel chalks

ADDITIONAL BITS:
Eduard SS548 Interior PE
Eduard CX440 Masks for Trumpeter Su-33
Armory AW72034 Wheels
Dream Model DM 0713 Pitot tube
Dream Model DM 0303 K-36D ejection seat
Dream Model DM 0530 Ladder for Su series
Aires 7281 Su-27 Exhaust Nozzles

PAINTS USED:
Hataka:
Red Line Acrylic set HTK-AS58 ‘Ultimate SU-34 Fullback
set’
A-227 Dark green-Blue
A-228 Medium Green-Blue
A-229 Light Green-Blue
A-101 Traffic White

Mr. Hobby acrylic:

H30 Flat Clear
H57 Aircraft Grey
H77 Tire black

Tamiya Acrylics:
XF-7 Red
XF-57 Buff
XF-55 Deck Tan
X-19 Smoke

Alclad:
ALC-102 Duralumin
ALC-113 Jet Exhaust
ALC-114 Pale burnt metal
ALC-121 Burnt Iron
ALC-403 Transparent Blue

Halfords:
Grey primer
White Primer
Satin Black

REFERENCES:
Butowski P. Russia’s Warplanes Vol 1. Harpia. ISBN978-0-
9854554-5-3
Butowski P. Russia’s Air-launched Weapons. Harpia.
ISBN978-09973092-1-8

28 MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL - April 2018

FLANKER.indd 28 07/03/2018 14:30

R THAT WENT TO SEA We take a detailed look at this very impressive carrier-borne fighter

were built, differing from the base Su-27
in having small canards to help low-speed
handling, a larger wing with powered
folding, an arrestor hook in place of the
drag 'chute and avionics better optimised
for the air-to-surface role. The Admiral
Kuznetsov has no catapult, so take off
runs use the ski-ramp technique, and since
originally built in 1990 and commissioned
into service in 1998, lack of funding has
restricted Su-33 development, the numbers
of operational airframes being slowly
eroded, and only around 20 are thought to
be combat capable at present.
In Miniature
Trumpeter's latest Russian fighter release
extends their Sukhoi Su-27/Shenyang J-15
family by combining the 2015 Flanker D
(#01667) release with a carrier deck section
representing the starboard launch station of

Issue 153 - www.modelairplaneinternational.com 29

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 KIT BUILD
SKILL LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE
the Kuznetsov, apparently modified slightly
from the version previously included in the J-15
boxing, presumably to better represent the
detail around the blast deflector structure of
the Kuznetsov, rather than the Chinese carrier
Liaoning, (this model has a three-section
blast deflector, rather than the six sections in
the J-15 kit, although the legend 'Liaoning' is
still present on the bottom of the deck) two
deck crew and a pilot figure are included. The
inclusion of the deck components brings the
parts count to over 300, the plastic being very
nicely moulded with excellent surface detail
and alternative parts are included to allow
one to build the model with folded or spread
wings and stabilisers, and with outer wing
flaps lowered or stowed. There's a reasonable
cockpit and a rather simplified K36D seat with
moulded-on belts, and the kit includes a small
photo-etched fret with parts for the outside of
the intakes. The characteristic upward-hinging
FOD guards inside the intake ducts are shown
in the ground-running closed position, although
their detail is rather simplified, and there's no
representation of the prominent auxiliary intake
vanes on the lower face of the intake internals.
Two schemes are provided; Red 67 and
Red 80, both in the early three-tone blue
scheme, and both presumably from the
279th Naval Fighter regiment aboard the
Admiral Kuznetsov in the late 1990s, although
annoyingly, Trumpeter's colour painting guide
doesn't say so. The two schemes appear
identical to those in the earlier (#01667)
boxing.
Typical of Trumpeter's recent releases, and
a major plus point over some competitors is
that a huge range of ordnance is included.
Interior detail is quite nice, albeit rather heavy,
disappointingly there are no decals for the
panels.
The kit includes a small photo etched fret with
parts for the intakes, the nose wheel deflector
and the exhausts on the KH59 missiles.
30 MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL - April 2018
FLANKER.indd 30
Altogether, you get:
4 x KH-31 Krypton air-to-surface missiles;
4 x KH-35 Zvezda anti-ship missiles;
4 x KH-59M Ovod cruise missiles;
1 x APK-9 data link pod (for use with the
KH-59 missiles);
2 x R-77 active radar homing air-to-air
missiles;
4 x R-27ET extended range infrared homing
air-to-air missiles;
4 x R-27ER extended range semi-active
radar homing air-to-air missiles; Some of the additional parts used in this build.
2 x R-73 infrared homing air-to-air missiles;
2 x SPS 171 Sorbtsiya ECM pods
The decals look to be well printed,
although the set for the deck markings look
unrealistically bright, and the final look would
warrant some careful masking and painting
as an alternative; there are some rather dull
monochrome instrument decals. In addition to
the basic kit, I had available some add-ons in
the form of Eduard exterior masks and photo
etch for the cockpit, Dream Model ejection
seat, pitot tube and boarding ladder and Aires Hataka offer several sets of paints for Russian aircraft. In
multi-part exhaust nozzles (actually intended this case, for the Su-34 Fullback, although the blues are
for the Su-27) The canopy is commendably relevant to the Su-33. (Note that since writing, Hataka
have released a specific Su-33 set #AS83)
clear and distortion-free although the demands
of moulding to get the recurved, blown profile
means that there is a fine longitudinal seam
which needs to be eliminated. Despite the Acrylic throughout, although I had available
relatively high parts count, Trumpeter's the Hataka paint set HTK-AS58 for the Su-34
instructions are pretty simple, with only 26 Fullback which I reasoned would have the
stages including the deck, and of the 300 parts same basic blues.
offered, only around 100 relate to the airframe
itself, the others being for the weapons and Build
deck; colour call-outs are for Mr. Hobby As I usually do, before starting the build
Surface detail is excellent throughout, clean, The horizontally-split fuselage is carefully The canopy parts are accurately moulded with
sharp and holding terrific detail. packed and even in 1/72 scale is substantial. the blown, bulged profile, a downside being the
fine mould seam down the centreline.
Eduard’s etched set includes some useful parts There are loads of missile options offered, The kit nozzles are reasonable.
for the cockpit and seat, although I used a resin enough to make four of some and pairs of
item for the latter. others. Plenty here for the spares box.
07/03/2018 14:30
 A great addition is the inclusion of an enormous
section of deck, representing that on the Admiral
Kuznetsov, complete with crew and blast deflector.
I read through the instructions for the
add-on resin and brass I was planning on
using, marking the kit's instructions with a
highlighter where there is a need to modify or
replace parts. Immediately one can see the
straightforwardness of the engineering and
the relative simplicity of the build; out of the
box, only 7 parts would have the fuselage
closed up ready for the wings! Adding the
Eduard etched set does introduce a bit more
complexity however; the sides of the plastic
cockpit tub needing to be cut away to be
replaced with pre-coloured metal, together with
a characteristic multi-layer instrument panel,
some additional side detail for the throttle
FLANKER.indd 31
The Aires nozzles are a masterpiece of resin casting, being so thin as to be translucent. When
assembled they are a step up in detail compared with the kit plastic
slider, and a fine head-up-display framework.
If the Eduard set is used, there are detail parts
and belts for the kit seat, which to be honest,
would lift it to be very nearly as good as the
resin seat I used, only the etched leg restraints
being a bit better in the Dream Model version.
I painted the seat with with matt black and
various Vallejo and Citadel blues, tans and
khaki colours.
The horizontally-split fuselage closes up
around the cockpit, remembering to open up
the mounting holes for the wing glove pylons,
fit being excellent, although inevitably, some
filling will be necessary on the vertical joints
behind the wing. At this point one needs to
decide on the wing deployment, since different
parts are used at the inner/outer wing interface
for the spread or folded options; I don't get
many opportunities to fold wings, so I thought
I'd go for that one. After 24 hours for the
glue to set hard, the horizontal seam can be
cleaned up, there being no major issues,
only a bit of care needed around the rear
fuselage/jet pipe interface. There's no
reference to any nose weight being
needed, but having test fitted it, I
added around 20 gm of fishing
weights into the nose cone
just in case. The fuselage
can be completed by
adding the
seat
Issue 153 - www.modelairplaneinternational.com 31
The kit wheels (left) are pretty acceptable
although the Armory ones have better inner
face detail.
and the canopy, the seam on the latter being
dealt with by careful scraping to remove the
upstand, followed by progressive sanding/
polishing using 3000, 4000, 6000, 8000 and
12000 grit micromesh, moving at 90o to the
previous direction for each change in grit and
sanding until all the previous scratches had
been removed. A final polish with Micro-
Surface polishing compound on a cotton bud,
and dipping in Klear resulted in an acceptable
finish. I confess that restoring canopies like
this is way outside my comfort zone, but
patience and a cautious approach really
pays off.
The underslung intakes typical of aircraft
in this class have nicely-detailed external
surfaces, with a couple of photo-etched
mesh parts for the sides. The internals aren't
quite so well served, with a rather basic
representation of the foreign object grilles
which rise automatically at low speed, and
simplified interpretations of the auxiliary
intakes on the bottom of the ducts which are
completely blank on the inside, so although
they're not very visible, they were scribed
with a series of parallel grooves to represent
the inner sides of the vanes. There are basic
compressor front discs which are rather
pointless since without major surgery to open
up the ducts (unrealistic for a parked
aircraft), they're completely
invisible. The ducts fit very
well to the underside, and
I painted the insides
and the partially-
covered wheel
wells with Alclad
Duralumin before
gluing.
Having made
the decision on
wing and tail
folding, then the
Much of the cockpit internals
are invisible once the fuselage
is closed up
07/03/2018 14:30
 KIT BUILD
SKILL LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE
parts needed become clear; two complete sets
of wings and stabilisers are provided, those for
the folded wing option having the flaps in the
automatically deflected position and the wing
fold interface components have some nice
hinge, wiring and interlock detail, although the
tail hinge parts are very plain, as in real life.
The outer wing panels are simple, comprising
only three parts each, although the moulding of
the upper and lower flap parts integral with the
wing upper and lower segments does mean
that the trailing edges end up being rather
thick. Thinning the mating faces would be
something of an epic, so I relied on applying
a bead of superglue to the trailing edge, and
careful sanding to give an illusion of taper. The
ventral air brake can be added at this stage,
which I fixed closed, given the lack of internal
detail in its housing. To simplify painting I left
the outer wing and stabiliser panels separate,
and before adding the vertical fins, painted the
engine areas on the fuselage.
Painting - Part 1…
The rear deck of the Su-27 family has a very
characteristic metallic section around the
fairing leading up to the engine nozzles, I
started by applying Alclad Duralumin over a
Vallejo Gloss Black primer, and added some
variation to the colder, forward section using
Alclad Burnt Iron and Pale Burnt Metal. The
Aires three piece nozzles themselves were
The intake ducts have nice external detail, although the internal
FOD grilles are simplified.
The enormous engine nacelles fit very well.
32 MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL - April 2018
FLANKER.indd 32
kept separate for painting, grey primer then
black gloss forming the basis, then Alclad
Duralumin, Jet Exhaust and Pale Burnt Metal
being used in successive thin layers to give a
textured, mottled look. The mid section of the
afterburners seems to develop a characteristic
blued colour, so this was simulated with Alclad
Transparent blue, and the inside of the inner
nozzle had some highlighting with dry brushed
Tamiya XF-57 Buff and XF-55 Deck Tan. Some
faint drybrushing with aluminium to sharpen
the edges completed the picture. Trial fitting
showed that the resin exhausts were slightly
too large in diameter to fit inside the plastic
rear fuselage (should have checked before
painting!) so the outer surfaces were covered
with sacrificial tape and the insides of the
exhaust housings in the fuselage carefully
ground away to until the jet pipes fitted. The
body sections were masked ready for the main
painting, and the nozzles set aside until final
assembly.
More Assembly!
With the engine sections dealt with, the vertical
fins and horizontal stabiliser inner sections can
be added, the latter are configured so they're
shown in a drooped posture, - seen quite
often on parked aircraft, but with some minor
carving, the attitude could be made more
neutral if preferred. In real life, the drooped
stabilisers leave a gap between the fairings on
The mould seam on the canopy was removed by careful
scraping and polishing with Micromesh, here the windscreen
is at the 6000 mesh stage, and the main canopy has been.
polished with 8000 grit. Both will be finished with 12000 grit,
and polishing compound.
The folded wing option comes with ready-drooped flaps. The
trailing edges are consequently a bit thick.
the fuselage and movable tail which cover the
operating actuators, I added an impression of
these using wire. The canards were added to
the wing LERX, again in a slightly deflected
pose to add some interest.
Painting - Part 2…
Time now to undertake the painting of the
main airframe using the three-blues scheme. I
first painted those sections which were white,
notably fuselage and pod dielectric panels,
fins and the nose cone using Hataka Traffic
White (A101). Looking at on line forums,
there have been mixed reviews of the Hataka
paints, I took a cautious line and thinned mine
2:1 paint to Hataka's own thinner, mixed in a
separate pot rather than in the airbrush cup,
which turned out to be a mix slightly too thin
for the balance between ease of spraying and
coverage; I subsequently reduced the thinner
percentage to around 2.5:1 and sprayed at
around 12 psi (0,8 Bar) through my Iwata
Eclipse with the standard 0.36 mm nozzle.
The result was a smooth, uniform coat which
looked pretty tough, but not knowing the real
characteristics of the paint, I left it 48 hours
before masking!
After masking the white, Halfords Grey
Primer gave a smooth uniform surface,
further refined by polishing with 3000 grit
abrasive cloth ready for an overall initial coat
of Hataka Light Green-Blue (A229). These
Gluing the fuselage halves is best done incrementally to get the
alignment spot on.
The resin jet nozzles are a worthwhile addition, the rear
fuselage needs some careful grinding to get them to fit.
07/03/2018 14:30

As moulded, the tailplane fairings force a fixed downward
angle, they can the trimmed to allow a less extreme
position.
The kit comes with a serious weapon loadout, - here
from upper left: the Kh-59, KH-31 and the APK-9 pod,
the R-73E, R-27ER. The R-771 in the foreground were
not used.
First stages of painting, with
the overall Light Blue and initial
masking.
FLANKER.indd 33
days I tend to be a bit ambivalent about the
use of pre-shading, - in this instance I decided
to use some of Hataka's own Dark Green/
Blue (A227) in an attempt to add subtlety
but not harshness, deliberately making the
shading relatively broad across the panel lines.
Hataka's light blue needed several coats to
look reasonably solid over the grey primer, - if
I was doing this again, I'd be tempted to flash
over the airframe with white, to reduce the
challenge. After the initial base coat of Light
Blue, I added some patchy highlighting with
the same blue lightened with around
25% white.
One of these days, I'll be brave enough
to spray soft-edged camouflage freehand…
One of these days... In the meantime, in-
service photos of the Su-33, like the Su-27,
show a quite tightly bordered pattern, and
in 1:72 scale, I was more comfortable using
the standard Blu Tack worms technique
which whilst more time consuming has the
advantage of consistency. Before masking, I
hedged my bets and gave the airframe a light
coat of Citadel Purity Seal varnish to protect
the surface.
Medium Green (A228) and Dark Green
(A227) were applied successively and
highlighted with lightened versions of the base
colour; I did find that the Hataka paint needed
Issue 153 - www.modelairplaneinternational.com 33
several coats to get a consistent coverage, - I
suspect I wasn't brave enough in leaving it
a bit patchy, and have ended up with rather
solid colours in quite thick layers. Before
removing the last set of masking I realised I'd
forgotten to paint the white dielectric panels
on the wing leading edges and spine; masking
and spraying them with A101 was reasonably
successful, although I did get a bit of bleed
under the tape which needed touching up.
With the masking removed, the airframe
looks rather startling! The colour demarcation
worked pretty well, but the colours looked
distinctly dark and err...., a bit too green!
Trawling through what references I had and
the Internet suggested that although Su-33s
have appeared in a whole range of hues and
patterns for the three-blue scheme, and in
particular recent images of aircraft off the
Kuznetsov operating in Syria show quite dark
colours, then my assumption that the blues in
the Su-34 paint set would work for the Su-33
appears a mistake, especially because I notice
that since this build, Hataka have released a
Su-33 specific set (HTK-AS83) with what look
to be more appropriate faded blue shades.
Anyway, it was time for the decals; I'd
already tried some of the smaller placards on
the weapons, so was happy with the way they
behaved and decided to forgo the usual gloss
07/03/2018 14:30
 KIT BUILD
SKILL LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE

Final colours on, - it’s looking a bit green!

With the masking removed, the airframe looks a bit

bright, - it will need some significant toning down.

The undercarriage is straightforward and was dressed up

with lead wire brake lines

No, it’s not broken already,

but this is what the
spread wing option would
look a bit like…

coat, given the smoothness of the Hataka
paint, although I did allow the paint to harden
for several days before applying the decals.
In the event, the main markings went on
without a hitch - in the past I've been wary of
Trumpeter decals, finding them thick and hard
to get to settle but in this case they proved
very quick to release, but quite tough and thin,
and settled well with MicroSol. The typically
bright colours used by Trumpeter aren't too
much of an issue here, since the whole aircraft
is pretty vibrant, and the rather glossy finish
is easily toned down with matt or semi-matt
varnish.
With the decals settled, I set about toning
down the finish using heavily-thinned Mr.
Hobby greys thinned with Mr. Color Levelling
thinner which gave no problems over the Purity
Seal varnish coat, together with a thin Paynes
Grey oil paint wash to pick up the surface

34 MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL - April 2018

FLANKER.indd 34 07/03/2018 14:31

 detail. Ground up artists' pastel chalks
in grey and earth tones added some
stains. The airframe is finished with the
undercarriage and doors, and a few
antennae, either from the kit's plastic
and photo etch, or the Eduard set.
The undercarriage is straightforward,
although the ResKit wheels do
provide some finesse and I added a
representation of the complex triple
hydraulic piping around the scissor
links using lead wire. The main legs
were painted H308 Grey (although
many machines show them blue) with
Bare Metal foil Chrome for the oleo
sections and dark red for the inside
of the doors. I carefully cut away the
canopy, and having mounted the seat,
was able to fix the canopy back in the
opened position. The Dream Models
metal pitot completed the front end.
Weapons
A very positive aspect of recent
Trumpeter kits is the inclusion of a
generous weapon option. Spoiled
for choice in this case, I decided to
go for a mixed ground-attack and air
self-defence load-out, using two KH-59
television-guided missiles with their
associated APK-9 telemetry pod and
a KH-31 high-speed anti-radar missile
for the former role, and pairs of R-73E
and R-27ER for self-defence, topped
out with SPS-171 Sorbtsiya ECM pods
on the wing tip stations. I appreciate
that having all these hung on the wings
at once is an unlikely scenario!
The weapons are generally well-
produced, the only issue I had was
with the KH-59 (and actually the
KH-35 included in the kit that I didn't
use) which are depicted with the
control fins/wings fully deployed, not
unreasonable for open pylons on the
wings, but needing to be folded for
fuselage centreline mounting. The
weapons and pylons were treated
as mini kits in themselves and they
and the pylons were all painted
and decalled according to the kit
instructions, albeit substituting the
A229 Blue for the Mr. Hobby H67
called up, and using Mr. Hobby H308
for some of the grey components.
At this stage the outer wings are
still separate, so with the weapons
attached, they can be fixed in the final
folded position.
Finals
The deck section included in the kit
is straightforward, I chose to cut the
raised blast shield into three separate
leaves to add a bit of dynamism and
painted the aperture, lifting arms and
hold-back chocks Tamiya XF-7 Red
over a black primer to dull it down and
leave traces of black in the corners.
I sprayed the deck itself patchily with
black and grey and added some
random streaking. The areas for the
yellow, red and orange stripes were
masked and given a patchy primer of
white before the final colour, which I
wasn't too precise about. The whole
lot had some more brown staining
and heat tinting on the raised flaps
and I dripped some black oil paint on
to represent fluid stains and puddled
some Tamiya X-19 Smoke to represent
wetter areas. ■

FINAL VERDICT(S)
Trumpeter’s modern Russian series are worthwhile, rewarding
kits which build into decent models. True, they’re not
as complex as some of the alternatives, resulting in some
simplification of the detail, but the overall packages remain
highly credible. As with other Trumpeter kits I’ve built recently,
my main gripes are with the lack of historical and airframe information
in the instructions and the colours of some of the decals, which are far
too bright and garish; ironically, in this case, the monochrome instrument
panel decals are very dull.
As far as the Hataka paints are concerned, once I got the dilution ratio about
right they sprayed very well, although next time I’d hold my nerve and use thinner
coats. I confess I was not entirely convinced about the colours but I think that’s
my error in assuming the Su-34 set would be relevant, certainly the new HTK-AS83
colours look much better suited to the typical appearance of the type. The kit definitely captures the predatory look
of the original, and the weapon selection is a substantial benefit, - the deck section is pretty good too!
In terms of overall experience, I imagine that most modellers find that occasional project which doesn’t go quite as
smoothly as expected; this was one of mine – no fault of Trumpeter’s or Hataka’s, it just didn’t click for me, with
the result that the finished product isn’t as good as I’d like it to be.
As an interesting side story, during the build I had an ‘accident’ with some cellulose thinners which rather
seriously damaged the weapon pylon sprues. (N) A couple of emails to Trumpeter’s spares website contact quickly
produced replacements, shipped from China for the grand sum of £6 in 21 days. Excellent customer service!
Thanks to Pocketbond and Trumpeter for the review sample (and the spares) and to Hataka for the paint.

Issue 153 - www.modelairplaneinternational.com 35

FLANKER.indd 35 07/03/2018 14:31

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MAI153 SUBS OFFER REV.indd 3 05/03/2018 12:24

 KIT BUILD
SKILL LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE

BUILT AND WRITTEN BY GREG PHILLIPS

SPECIFICATION:
Airfix 1:48 Gloster Meteor F.8 Korean War
Kit No: AX09184
Materials: IM
Available From: Hannants
Price Guide: £36.99

YOU WILL NEED:

MATERIALS USED:
METEOR
● Mr. Cement S
● Micro Sol decal solution
● Squadron Green Putty
● Flory Models Dark Dirt wash MAKER
● Boots multi-nail sanding stick
● Mr. Color Leveling Thinner We take a detailed look at the Airfix
PAINTS USED: Gloster Meteor F.8
Tamiya Acrylics:
Black XF-1
White XF-2
Medium sea Grey XF-83
Flat Yellow XF-3
Flat Red XF-7
Clear Green X-25
Clear X-22
Red X-27
AS-12 Bare Metal Silver.

Vallejo Metal Color

Aluminium

Mr. Metal Color Super Metallic.

AIRBRUSH USED:
Iwata eclipse HB- SBS

ACCESSORIES USED:
Pavla: Resin Seat. S48022
Hannants: Gloster Meteor F.8 part 1. X48158

38 MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL - April 2018

METEOR MAKER.indd 38 07/03/2018 14:33

 T
he Meteor F.8 was a
modified F.4 featuring
a new tail unit, ejection
seat and extended and
revised forward fuselage
to eliminate ballast problems. This
variant was the backbone fighter of
the RAF in the 50s following a long
line of Meteors. Although designed
as a fighter, it proved no match for
the MiG-15 in combat but proved its
worth as a ground-attack aircraft
not only with its rockets, but also
napalm bombs. With strong export
sales to many foreign air forces the
F.8 was a great export success for
Britain, with just over 1000 aircraft
built. With a maximum speed of just
under 600 mph and armed with four
20 mm cannons and hard points
under each wing, the Meteor could
certainly pack a punch!

Cockpit Construction
So let’s start as per the instructions,
with the cockpit. The parts that make
up this area are well thought through
with fine surface detail. The cockpit
assembly also includes parts for the
nose wheel bay and both fuselage
cannon housings. These parts were
cleaned up and painted with Tamiya
black and once dry, the detail was
picked out with a drybrush using
Mr. Metal’s Aluminium. The painted
areas were then sealed with a coat of
Tamiya Clear and when dry, Tamiya’s
Black Panel Wash was used to bring
out the highlighted details.
For the front console panel Airfix
supply two options; one is to pick
out the nicely raised detail with paint
or alternatively, sand off this detail
and apply the very good instrument
decal supplied. I decided to use
both options, so after picking out the
surface detail with paint, the dials
on the decal are cut out and placed
on the panel’s dials. This does take
patience to cut out the small gauges,
but is well worth it. This part was then
left off and the attached later, just to
keep it out of harm’s way.
The wheel and cannon bays were
painted with Vallejo’s Aluminium. The
whole assembly fits together with no
issues and is a joy to assemble. At
this point parts D21 and D3 — the
nose landing gear structure — were
painted and attached to the cockpit
assembly. These are supposed to be
attached later in the instructions, but
because of the way the fuselage nose
parts will be attached later on, these
need to be attached now.
The ejector seat is next. There
are two options for the cushion
part of the seat; either one with a
moulded harnesses or one without.
Neither option however was chosen.

Issue 153 - www.modelairplaneinternational.com 39

METEOR MAKER.indd 39 07/03/2018 14:32

 KIT BUILD
SKILL LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE
The only additional items used on the Meteor were Hannants
decals and Pavla’s resin seat; it’s all you really need. Oh and
maybe some replacement rockets.
Main reason being that the harnesses on
the seat had an unrealistic pose, which
was disappointing as the seat looked very
good straight from the box. A Pavla resin
replacement seat was used instead, being
beautifully detailed with the harnesses in a
more natural position.
The cannons were next. After considering
40 MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL - April 2018
METEOR MAKER.indd 40
The whole cockpit assembly is a joy to build and the detail is more than enough in what is a very small cockpit, anyway.
these once built up, I decided to leave them
out. Although the bays looked fine, the
cannons themselves looked basic…
Wings And Things…
Next the wing and decision time here; either
rockets or tanks. The rockets looked good
until I noticed some very bad sink marks on
all of the warheads. You could try and fill
these blemishes in, or better still, replace the
rockets altogether. However, I decided to go
for the fuel tank layout which was the easier
option. So the holes for the fuel tanks were
drilled out.
The rear wing spar, along with the
second front spar, is fixed to the wing as
07/03/2018 14:32
 The front console is small but with what Airfix’s offers
in the box you can create a nicely detailed panel.
Airfix offers you a choice in how you want to approach
the ejector seat. Nice idea but I chose to replace the
kits parts with a reasonably priced superior resin one.
Some paint and a good wash will bring out those
beautiful resin details and we are good to go.
Earlier in the build I was intending to add the cannons.
But after looking at them built up they just looked a bit
too basic for me.
The detail on both spars is very good along with the
other parts that make up the undercarriage bay. These
not only look good, but are a superb fit.
METEOR MAKER.indd 41
The completed cockpit tub ready for its seat…
per instruction. These two spars have some
beautifully moulded detail, especially the rear
spar with its engine frames, which will look
nice with those engines shown off.
The undercarriage bays are jam-packed
with fine detail. Once painted and given a
wash, these details really pop out. The parts
were then assembled, the fit being spot-on
with the side and upper parts just clipping into
place. These parts were all secured with a
small amount of glue.
Rear Exhausts
The rear exhaust tubes are next. These were
painted a burnt metallic colour, using Tamiya
black, brown and a small drop of Vallejo’s
aluminium, before the two halves were
glued together. After gluing the exhausts in
place, the internal seams have paint dripped
down them to help hide each one. The rear
exhausts were then fixed to the rear spar on
the wing. The exhausts are a very good fit,
literally ‘clipping’ into place.
The upper halves of the top wing were then
glued onto the bottom wing. The fit is good
but the internal engine bay has some large
gaps on each side. These may not show
As many ancillary parts that were to be painted silver are cleaned up and painted in one go.
Issue 153 - www.modelairplaneinternational.com 41
when the engine is in place, but just in case
I cut out some plastic strips and glued them
over the seams. This just tidies up the internal
look; if you are not showing the engines off,
this step can be skipped.
Fuselage
With the cockpit assembly ready to fix in place,
the fuselage halves can be joined but not
before attaching the two separate fuselages
nose parts C9 and C8 to these halves. These
nose parts are a very good fit to the fuselage
and require no sanding. This approach just
leaves me with one central join to worry
about when the fuselage sides are closed,
remembering of course to add that essential
nose weight.
Next I added the two wing fillets (B13 and
B12) to the fuselage. The fit is pretty good,
but before the glue had set on these, the main
wing assembly was offered up to the fuselage.
This was to see if any adjustments were
required on the fillets. I found that a minor
gap ran all the way along one of the sides. To
solve this, the fuselage had to be forced out
slightly. This was accomplished by adding two
pieces of plastic rod either end of the fuselage
07/03/2018 14:32
 KIT BUILD
SKILL LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE

opening. This helped force the fuselage sides

to mate with the wing, eliminating the gap
altogether.

Moving On…
Before fitting the wing to the fuselage
permanently, the intakes need adding to
the wing. You are supplied with two types of
intake, long and small for the early Meteor
and short and wide for the mid to late Meteor
The kit’s instructions show you to build the two part nose
F.8s. The intakes come in two parts, outer and section after the main fuselage is closed up. This is OK, but I
inner housings. These parts fit nicely but there found it easier to attach these parts to the main fuselage first, The two part intakes are a good fit. But because the real
is a circular seam that needs filling, which as less chance of any misalignment by this approach. However, Meteor’s inner intakes look seamless, the circular seam
usual, took time to get flush and remove any you do have to add the nose struts earlier in the build. requires attention.
blemishes.
The next stage is to attach the built intakes
to the wing; these had been painted internally
first as well as the splitters on the wing. The
intakes didn’t fit that well to the wing, with a
lip at the bottom and the intake side fillets not
fitting flush either. These fit issues are only
slight, but as I’ve have mentioned earlier, silver
paint will show every imperfection.
The sanding of the wing and the intakes
took more time than expected; you think you
have all the marks gone, then a coat of paint
says no you haven’t! Once happy with the wing
and intake joints, this assembly was attached
to the fuselage. Here the fit wasn’t 100% true
and took time to perfect.
Whilst sanding the fuselage I spotted a
strange sunken rectangle under the nose. I
looked at references but couldn’t see anything
that would call for this odd discrepancy, so
it was filled! The external central fuel tank
was then fitted, some trimming along the mid With the upper wings fixed to the bottom there are large The intakes are now added to the wing assembly. This
section being needed to get this to fit flush, but seams showing in the engine bays. This is an easy fix; strips isn’t a perfect fit and left a lot of work to smooth out the
of plastic card are used to cover these. imperfections.
nothing too major.

One for the X-Files here: a strange rectangle depression under It has its faults, but with care the undercarriage comes together My world of silver paint. All sorts of silver paints out there, some
the fuselage. Hope I was right in filling this in! very nicely. good, some tricky. The biggest issue really is that silver will not
let you hide from your model’s imperfections…

With the white tail painted ready for the yellow later. The first
coat of black helps show any imperfection that I’ve missed. With
these sorted, the white tail was painted yellow and masked-off
ready for the silver.
The first silver coat - Tamiya’s excellent AS-12, thinned down
with Mr. Color Leveling Thinner. After leaving this overnight to
dry and looking at it again with fresh eyes, I wasn’t happy with
the tone even though I’d added some Tamiya white to the AS-12
to tone it down.

42 MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL - April 2018

METEOR MAKER.indd 42 07/03/2018 14:32

 These main external parts
were painted in the same
silver. The rear tail parts are
painted yellow.

The Meteor is decalled up using a

combination of Hannants’ and Airfix decals.
Micro sol was used on the Hannants decals
as the coloured areas looked thick. Once dry,
The undercarriage was next. The parts the Meteor is then given a panel wash.
looked pretty good out of the box, just
needing careful cleaning up. The wheels
could be more defined in detail, but The surface still looked
too clean (not that Meteors
are usable.
were ever that dirty) but I
Two choices of ailerons are offered here wanted to try and create
to, so check your references. The rivets are that used aluminium look,
too much on these parts and also on the if possible with pencils
and pastels.
rear tail elevators; you could sand them off
if you wish, but nothing to lose sleep over
by leaving them on. The rear tailplanes fit
snugly to the tail fin requiring no filler. The
ailerons and rudder were left off to paint
separately and added at the end of the build.

Time To Paint…
At last the paint job could be started.
Personally, the Meteor never looks good

The whole Meteor

was lightly sanded
and then cleaned up
ready for another
silver application.
This time Mr. Color’s
Super Matallic was
used, mixed this time
with some grey. Much
better!

METEOR MAKER.indd 43
59
Issue 152 - www.modelairplaneinternational.com 07/03/2018 14:32
 KIT BUILD
SKILL LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE

in camouflage; silver is the only colour that

shows the Meteor’s beautiful curves. Silver
paint finishes are a pain, not because of
the application, but because they show the
slightest of imperfections.
With many silver schemes possible,
Hannants offer a number of great decals
scheme for the F.8, available at the time
of writing this article and so was spoilt for
choice. In the end I went for the Meteor Decal
Collection Part One, which offers a number of
schemes, two of which I liked, the red and blue
chequer tail or the yellow tail offering. Having
already recently built an aircraft with a red and
blue tail it was a no-brainer to have a crack at
the aircraft trimmed in yellow.
The kit’s surface has a rough texture all over
and this doesn’t bode well for a silver paint job.
This needs sanding as smooth as possible The joystick and ejector seat are now added, going in with
before starting to mask and apply the would show any remaining imperfections. And ease unlike the nightmare instrument panel, which was
black coat. there were still a few. It never seems to end! entirely my fault!
Before masking can begin, the front Once the black coat was hard enough, the
windscreen needed to be fitted in place (I surface paint was sanded and polished ready
almost forgot about this). At this point I knew for the silver. The choice of silver paint is wide
that the main instrument panel had to be and varied. Vallejo Metal Colors are brilliant for
located first. Then that sinking feeling hit me; a water-based acrylic, but the fleck is just a tad
let’s just say that it took me a couple of hours too large. AK Xtreme Metals are superb, no
to manoeuvre and trim some of the internal need to thin and easy to use. The only issue
side consoles to fit this small instrument panel. with them is that you can’t mix other paints to
All I can say is that I should have followed the add different tints to them.
instructions… So I went to my many decanted silver paints
With the relevant areas masked the tail and and picked out Tamiya’s AS-12. This is mixed
The two Rolls Royce Derwent engines are nice little units,
fin could be primed in Tamiya white ready for with a small amount of Tamiya white. After although adding some wiring wouldn’t go amiss.
the yellow coat later. This was then masked- several light coats this is left overnight to dry.
off ready to paint the rest in Tamiya black that Looking at the overall finish the next day, it

Airfix gives you a nice little stand to put one of these

engines on display if you wish, which is a nice touch.
44 MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL - April 2018

METEOR MAKER.indd 44 07/03/2018 14:32

 looked too bright and so it is lightly sanded
and then cleaned with a damp cloth.
Mr. Color’s Super Metallic was then
chosen and mixed with a medium Tamiya
grey. This time the finish looked dull
enough for me to move on to the
decalling stage.
The Hannants Meteor decals are rich
in colour with a thin gloss carrier film;
these went on with no issues with the
aid of some Micro sol. Some of the Airfix
decals were also used and were superb
and went down very well. These are left
to dry overnight night before a wash was
applied. This was then wiped off ready for
the weathering process; hopefully give
that used look, using graphite pencils
and pastels.
Final Assembly
Once happy with the — to a point —
weathering process, the ancillary parts
were added. All these parts, undercarriage,
ailerons, rudders and so on, fit perfectly.
Finally, Airfix supply two Dewent
engines. These make into nice little units,
although the engine oil tank parts had bad
sink marks on their faces. However, once
painted and built up they looked the part
and you also have the option of displaying
one of these on a nicely detailed engine
stand. ■

FINAL VERDICT
This is a nicely detailed kit, although unfortunately has quite a few sink marks over various parts. The fit is good
and nothing too much to worry about. The idea of riveting the parts did cross my mind, but if you look at many meteor
photos they always look clean so far as surface detail is concerned. The only main visual fault with this kit are the
intakes, with them not being meatier and more rounded on the front end in both small and large types. Nevertheless,
an enjoyable kit with more versions in the future I’m sure.

Issue 153- www.modelairplaneinternational.com 45

METEOR MAKER.indd 45 07/03/2018 14:33

 KIT BUILD
SKILL LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE

BUILT AND WRITTEN BY MIKE WILLIAMS

SPECIFICATION:
Zoukei-Mura 1:48 McDonnell Douglas F-4S Phantom II

MIDWAY’S
CHARGING
Kit No. SWS 4805
Materials: IM
Availability: www.radubstore.com
Price : £79.00

BEFORE STARTING:
● Tamiya Extra Thin Cement Quick setting
● Vallejo Plastic Putty
● Tamiya masking Tape
● Swann-Morton Scalpel No.3 handle with no.11 blades
● Wilder pointed tweezers
● Modelsforsale.com sponge sanders
● Micro drill and bits
● Super glue
● Roket Blaster

AIRBRUSH:
Iwata Revolution CR

PAINTS USED:
Mr.Color Lacquer: Has Zoukei-Mura come up with the goods of the best 1:48 scale Ph
315 Light Gull Grey
that the ultimate model Phantom is seen in some quarters of the
GSI Aqueous: For many years the best 1:48 Phantoms came from Hasegawa, then a
when it came to the short nosed Phantom family, now Zoukei-Mura
H77 Tire Black

Tamiya Acrylics:
XF-1 Matt Black
XF-2 Matt White
XF-7 Matt Red
X-2 Gloss White
X-22 Gloss Clear

46 MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL - April 2018

CHARGING RHINO.indd 46 07/03/2018 14:34

NG RHINO
8 scale Phantom kit? That is the $64,000 question, given
rs of the modelling world as the holy grail of kits.
wa, then along came Academy who raised the bar considerably
ukei-Mura seem to have raised that bar higher still…
Issue 153 - www.modelairplaneinternational.com 47
CHARGING RHINO.indd 47
B
efore we get started,
let’s indulge in a few first
impressions; the details are
amazing with one of the best
out-of-the-box cockpits I’ve
ever seen, the only details missing being
a set of seat belts for the ejection seats,
heck, it even includes the often overlooked
details such as canopy mirrors and locks!
The undercarriage legs are excellently
designed and fit positively into their
locating points. You get two complete
engines and even an engine stand
should you wish to display one out of the
fuselage, although it would have been
cool to have it removable but the way it is
engineered to fit does not facilitate this.
07/03/2018 14:34
 KIT BUILD
SKILL LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE

All cockpit parts were removed

from their runners, cleaned up
and attached to wooden stirrers
for painting. A coat of Alclad
Black primer was sprayed first
to key the surfaces and add a
shadow base coat, followed by
the respective base colours for The seat on the left is assembled from the sum of parts
the cockpit and nose gear bay, seen on the right. They are good representations of the
which forms an integral part Martin Baker H-7 unit fitted to the Phantom, only missing
of the subassembly. Of note seatbelts and their harnesses. Each part was lightly dry
are the separate seat cushions brushed in light grey to add some tonal variation as well as
and seat frame parts, enabling highlighting the details on the seat frames.
easier painting.

The main cockpit and nose

gear bay components ready for
assembly. Seatbelts were added
from painted strips of masking
tape, a wash was applied to
all the internal recesses on
the cockpit and nose gear bay
adding some depth and lifting
the details. The instrument
panels and side consoles had
their details picked out with
acrylic paint using a wooden
cocktail stick.

There really are lots of well- enable them to be displayed

thought-out sub-assemblies, the
intakes and their respective tunnels
being particularly noteworthy in this
respect. The canopy is supplied as
either a single piece with everything
closed up, or separate parts that
opened. One innovative piece of The radar scope in the
design is the use of an insert for rear cockpit was painted
chrome silver followed
the top of the fuselage to take the by clear orange to impart
hassle out of eliminating the long that glassy depth of a
seam along the fuselage spine. switched off screen. The
Rather strangely for such an upper framework forms
part of the cockpit sill and
seats directly on the edge
of the fuselage. The rear
cockpit instrument panel
affixes to the upper frame
to help its alignment.
The completed cockpit, ready for
installation. The seat belts were simply
painted strips of Tamiya masking tape cut
and glued into place. The rest of the cockpit
was drybrushed with light grey to add some
highlights and lift the details. It looks a bit
overdone on the photo, but once ensconced
within the fuselage, not a huge amount can
be readily seen.

Despite that amazing moulded

detail, Zoukei-Mura supply decals for
the instrument panels and side
consoles. Out of fairness for
this review they were tried for
fit, they would take a lot of
persuasion to settle over the
details. I even gave them
the DACO Strong treatment
which had no effect after
half an hour! They were
removed and the details
were painted as normal.
Nice idea ZM, but no cigar
this time.

48 MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL - April 2018

CHARGING RHINO.indd 48 07/03/2018 14:34

 The insides of the fuselage halves are not forgotten as regards cockpit details. There are some The completed cockpit and nose gear bay subassembly clicks positively into place with the
canopy locking levers and panels to be fixed in, all of which received a coat of gull grey and a excellent recesses moulded into the fuselage halves. Of note here is the modular tongue and
wash, some dry-brushing and picked out details to add some interest. groove joints used on the sub-assemblies, making for very neat and trouble-free assembly, with
perfect alignment.

exceptional kit is the inclusion of a single
marking option, though obviously there are a
aftermarket decals available for you to choose
from should you want a different scheme than
that offered.
For the main, I followed the instructions to
the letter and the instructions are certainly
worthy of mention as they are fantastically
annotated throughout, clearly illustrating the
parts needed, their assembly sequence and
position once installed. I also really liked the
way they give details throughout as to why
things should be assembled at certain times
and places, with notes on details from the real
aircraft. Each page has a little panel along
the top with a list of paints required for the
stages covered on that page, a very useful
idea that other manufacturers could take note

Zoukei-Mura has an innovative way of hiding the upper
fuselage seam line. Separate inserts for the rear cockpit
surround and the top panel are dropped in to line up along
panel lines, a small amount of putty being needed just to
ensure the seams met up.
The fuselage closed up around the cockpit
with consummate ease. The tape strip around
the nose was to ensure the small contact area
just forward of the cockpit orifice did not prise
itself open while the glue cured.

The nose cone will only fit

one way round, there are
moulded in lugs to help with
alignment. It was a very good
fit and only required a small
amount of sanding to ensure
a seamless appearance,
although there should be
a join line as the nose
does open up on the real
aeroplane to allow access to
the radar.
Without any glue, you can see just how neatly those panels
fit along the fuselage spine. The panel line details and rivets
are all exceptionally well-moulded and it would have been
a shame to have to sand them away and then re-scribe the
detail. There is a small blade antenna that needs removing for
the Sierra model, but this is clearly noted in the instructions.

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 KIT BUILD
SKILL LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE

Differing tail-top fairings are

included in the kit, make sure
you follow the instructions
carefully to select the correct
part for the model. Though a
fairly decent fit, I found a little
sanding of all mating surfaces
ensured the snuggest fit
possible.
on the finished model and can hardly be
The assembled engines are attached
to the cleverly designed intake trunks,
which received some matt white
paint inside. These have some seams
that may bother you, I left them as is,
however, as they are buried quite deep
seen once enclosed within.

Despite my best efforts, small

gaps were evident. With the
surrounding areas carefully
masked off, Vallejo putty was
smoothed into the gap with a
moistened cotton bud. With the
tape removed there was only
the smallest amount of sanding
needed, with no loss of detail.

Before assembling the wings,
there are a few holes to drill
out, all of which are carefully
noted in the instructions. A
1 mm drill was needed for
these holes on the forward
lower fuselage to allow the
ECM fairings to fit later in the
build. Also visible here are
the recesses for the carrier
launch hooks and the fins for
the fuselage mounted Sparrow
missiles.
With the holes drilled through,
take care with a new blade
to remove any excess plastic.
They were carefully sliced
off horizontally avoiding any
unnecessary clean-up.
of. It saved that annoyance fuselage. The outer
of having to keep referring wing sections that
backwards or forwards needed to be set at the
throughout the instructions to correct angles were a
find which colours are needed little sloppy and were set in
for each stage. place with a blob of Blu Tac
The build throughout was under each wing as the glue
very easy and threw up no dried. The wing leading edge
problems or issues at all. Of slats are neatly moulded with
course there were a few little great details and fitted easily
niggles here and here, the into place, I was not sure they
intakes were a VERY tight fit would be strong enough
and needed a little persuasion but they confounded
to seat correctly into the my expectations.
fuselage, the flip side to this All the smaller
was they were an excellent parts such as
fit and only needed a small
amount of putty along the top
to make good the fit to the

The intake and engine assembly

seat perfectly onto the lower
fuselage/wing section. The
distinctive downward slant of the
J79’s is nicely captured as can
be seen here. The afterburner
exhaust cans are fitted later on
Two complete engines are
in the build.
included in the kit and will need
their insides painting as the
compressor faces at the front
and the exhausts at the rear
can be seen in the finished
model. The exterior of the
engines won’t be seen on the
completed model so time and
paint was saved here by leaving
them as bare plastic.

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 Despite my previous thoughts that the engines can be left unpainted, there are small sections
that WILL be seen through the undercarriage bays and under fuselage engine vents. These
then were carefully sprayed with Alclad Magnesium.

The roof sections of the undercarriage bays also need

painting before the wings are assembled, there are
clearly defined areas moulded in to ensure you
paint the correct areas.

undercarriage legs, doors, weapons

and tanks were assembled, painted
and weathered separately so they
could be set aside until later.
I must say that everything fitted
together with consummate ease
and in fact some of the design and
engineering was superb.
The tailplanes can be fitted in their
launch position i.e. tilted downwards
The main undercarriage and the nose leg can also be fitted with
bays have neat inserts the extended oleo if you so wish, though if
for their sidewalls, you choose to use this option you will need
which drop into
to source suitable crew figures to furnish the
moulded recesses and
need painting before the cockpit with as none are supplied.
wings are assembled.
Also, you can see here the
holes that have been drilled
out for the weapons pylons,
these are called out in the
instructions.

The wings and engines are fitted before the fuselage comes together. Note
the small fairings on top of the wings; these have feint mould lines on the
wings to make certain they are fitted in the correct place.

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 KIT BUILD
SKILL LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE

These small sections on both

sides of the fuselage halves
need painting matt white before
assembling the fuselage to the
wings, these form part of the
undercarriage bays.
With the fuselage built and the wings
assembled, you then have two large
sub-assemblies which simply need
bringing together. They need care
to line up, but once they are there it
is an almost perfect fit. All joints fall
along natural panel lines which is
great as it negates the need for any
filling and sanding.

The distinctive nose gear door retraction arm is very delicate and
I managed to snap off the small arm section removing it from
the runner. I carefully drilled out a 0.5 mm hole and added
a small length of aluminium tube which can be removed,
shortened to suit and fitted later when the gear doors
go on, saving any more damage during the rest of
construction and painting.

When it came to start painting the Phantom

it was a simple affair consisting of overall Light
Gull Grey (LGG). I used the one-piece closed
canopy as a way of masking off the cockpit
openings, as it clicked into place without the
need for any additional adhesive. This allowed
me to mask and spray the open canopy parts
The air intakes are
The two-part intakes need their assembled and the
insides painting gloss white outer faces were
before assembly. Although they airbrushed light gull
are handed for left and right, grey beforehand. This
they will not fit on the wrong negates the need to try
sides so you cannot get them and mask off the intakes
wrong. There are a couple of once they are attached
small ejector pin marks on the to the fuselage. Note
inside faces, though they will the neat demarcation by
not be seen on the finished spraying the interior of
model. the intakes side walls
before assembly.

Before attaching
the intakes to the
fuselage, I masked
The outer forward sections
off the cockpit
of the intake plates needed
opening and sprayed
painting Light Gull Grey before
the fuselage sides
assembly. This would ultimately
that would be behind
save some very awkward
the intake plates. It
masking later in the build.
could prove to be
very difficult to get
in and around the
air intake with the
airbrush once they
are in place.

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 Despite their delicate nature, the leading edge slats are an exceptionally good fit with
very good locating points. Take care to line them up correctly as they will sit too far
forward if you don’t get them quite right and will look most odd.

Unfortunately, there were some rather large gaps

apparent once the intakes were attached to the fuselage.
They were easy enough to remedy with a small bead of
Vallejo putty, but were an annoyance nonetheless.

This was to prove an interesting assembly. Those little

formation and landing lights fit into the nose gear door
recess perfectly, but they needed painting with clear
acrylics first.

Zoukei-Mura supply a one-piece canopy as well as the separate parts to have the canopies opened. The fit here is also very good
and it almost clips into place. To that end I used this one-piece canopy as a mask for the cockpit when painting, allowing me to paint
the opening parts separately.

Once in place, the lights fit flush to the back of the door
into a small recess. Care was needed when handling this
with tweezers to makes sure they didn’t ping off into the
far corner of the room.
along with the canopy mirrors. The two black
cheat lines running from the nose up to the
black tail are supplied as one-piece decals
should you wish to pursue this route, for me
this was a hugely optimistic ask from Zoukei-
Mura. With that in mind, I opted to spray the
nose, tail and cheat lines in black, before
masking each off in readiness for the LGG.
I chose to use a lacquer based Mr. Color
H315 which sprays exceptionally well when
thinned with Mr. Color Leveling Thinners
in 60:40 ratio of thinners to paint with the
compressor set at 20psi. The joy of lacquer
paint is that they dry quickly to a tough,

The nose antiglare section

is matt black tracking
back along both sides of
the fuselage to the tails,
all of which was sprayed
first before masking them
off. Decals are supplied if
The back of the small lights were carefully airbrushed
you prefer, but getting very
with chrome silver lacquer paint to give them a reflective
long, one piece decals in
quality when viewed from the front.
place can be difficult.

With the electrical cover plate fitted over the lights, the entire
nose gear door could be airbrushed flat white, eliminating
any sign of the clear paints and silver backing coats.

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 KIT BUILD
SKILL LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE

After the main paint job had

been completed in Mr. Color
Light Gull Grey, the main
undercarriage bays and
airbrake bays needed
lightly re-spraying gloss
white due to overspray
from the main paint job.

The rear ‘hot’ sections

aft of the exhausts is one
of those areas that allows
the modeller to get creative
with the metallic effects. A
base coat of Mr. Color Super
Metallic Chrome was laid down
before various shades of Alclad
lacquers were airbrushed on.
Using Magnesium, Exhaust
Manifold and Steel along with
hot metal sepia and blue, a
scorched metal look can be
achieved.

All undercarriage doors on USN

aircraft normally have their
edges painted bright red as a
warning aid to avoid bumps on
the head and the like. I have
found the easiest way to do
this is simply brush paint them
with a good quality brush and
slightly thinned Vallejo red
acrylic paint. It just needs a
little patience.
To bring out all that finely moulded
details like the panel lines and
rivet details, a wash is used
using artists oils thinned with
good quality mineral spirits. After
applying it liberally to the entire
airframe, leave for an hour or two
and then it can be polished up with
kitchen paper leaving the wash in
the recesses and adding a busy
look to the model. The beauty of
oils is they take a long time (48hrs)
to completely dry, thus giving you
a long working time.
Using neat artist oils applied
with a toothpick and blended
with various soft brushes
to achieve oil and fluid leak
streaks. It is all too easy to
overdo this part, I always do
some then leave it for a few
hours or overnight and come
back to it. Less is more in this
section as it can be subtle with
the staining and allows you to
build up the effects.
smooth and durable finish that is almost decal
ready, though I did opt to give it a light coat of
Tamiya X-22 Gloss Clear after it had had 24
hours to cure just to make sure.
The decals performed very nicely, settling
down well with Micro Set and Sol solutions,
though some of the larger ones took a little more
persuading. As usual with Phantom models,
there were a myriad of stencil decals to apply all
over the wings and undersides. Some were very
small and I did wonder if they would really add
to the finished model, but I persevered
and they all brought the model
to life.
Another quick coat of
X-22 sealed the decals
in place in readiness for
some weathering with
oils, used both neat and
thinned for a panel line
wash.
The airbrakes,
undercarriage and doors and
then weapons and tanks, were all treated to
the same weathering processes before they
were all fitted. It must be said that all the small
parts like aerials, canopies and undercarriage
legs and doors all fit perfectly into their holes
or recesses. The best piece of advice I could
give when building the Phantom from Zoukei-
Mura is to follow the instructions. They really
are exceptionally detailed and will make the
build as pain-free and easy as possible. The
open canopies fit very easily and positively,
not something that can always be said about
canopies that hinge upwards on models. ■

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 The main undercarriage units are excellently detailed, separate wheel hubs make
painting so much easier. Their locating points into the undercarriage bays are some of
the best I have ever seen: solid, easy and positive.

With the undercarriage in place, the underwing stores can be sorted and fitted. Also of note are the neatly
detailed airbrakes .The undercarriage doors have positive locations onto their respective gear legs and fit
without issue. The Sparrow missiles neatly tuck into their underfuselage recesses.

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 KIT BUILD
SKILL LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE

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CHARGING RHINO.indd 56 07/03/2018 14:35

 Delicate handling with pointed tweezers is needed for the centre
section of the canopies. I masked the insides as well as the
outside sections as they all need to be black for my chosen
scheme. With care, the grey parts can be fixed in place with
quick drying liquid cement; apply it sparingly though.
The canopy parts are all painted and ready for installation. Of
note are the small rear view mirrors, a detail often missing from
Phantom kits. The small hydraulic rams that hold the canopies
open are another small but necessary detail, care will be needed
with tweezers to install everything correctly here.
The stores selections include Sparrow missiles (seen here)
and Sidewinders missiles as well as fuel tanks. The decals for
the missiles stripes were very reluctant to wrap around the
tight curves of the missile bodies, but with a little patience and
persuasion they settled down.

FINAL VERDICT
Exceptional. Not a word used lightly in model review builds I grant you, but this really was how I felt after
building this Phantom. Everything from the detail in the mouldings to the fit of major and minor components and the
wonderfully written and illustrated instruction manual was of the highest calibre. I feel the team at Zoukei-Mura are
making models for modellers, by modellers. Thanks to Zoukei-Mura for the review sample built for this feature.

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 KIT BUILD
SKILL LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE

SPECIFICATION:
Fine Moulds 1:72 Savoia S. 21 F Late Production Porco
Rosso
Kit No. FJ-4
Materials: IM
Availability: Online stores and all good model shops
Price : £20.95

BEFORE STARTING:
● Tamiya Extra Thin Cement Quick setting
● Vallejo Plastic Putty
● Tamiya masking Tape
● Swann-Morton Scalpel No.3 handle, with no.11 blades
● Wilder pointed tweezers
● Modelsforsale.com sponge sanders
● Micro drill and bits
● Super glue
● Roket Blaster

58 MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL - April 2018

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 PORCO
BUILT AND WRITTEN BY ANDRÉS FONSECA WILDER
ROSSO
We build an unusual little model based on a famous Japanese animated movie…
T
o build scenes that are part of
our personal history is one of
the most beautiful aspects of
modelling. In my opinion, those
moments can turn a simple
handicraft into something closer to art, with
its own history and life.
This is the the case of this model kit, part
of one of my favourite animated films, ‘Porco
Rosso’. The work of the Japanese animation
master Hayao Miyasaki, it tells the story
of a former Italian fighter pilot that under
mysterious circumstances, turns himself into
an anthropomorphous pig. In that way he
PORCO ROSSO.indd 59
will fly (and float) over a romantic Adriatic
sea, mounted on his loyal aircraft, a stunning
Savoia seaplane painted in a wonderful scarlet
scheme. He will pass his days bumping into
and duelling with, gangs of air pirates and
struggling with ghosts of his own past, over an
infinite background of blue and emerald.
The model
Replicating the Savoia S.21 in 1:72 scale,
this kit, released by Fine Molds, continues the
well-known quality this Japanese firm is known
for (they also released a 1:48 version of this
aircraft as well as the Curtiss aircraft flown by
Issue 153 - www.modelairplaneinternational.com 59
the antagonist of Porco Rosso). These are
kits with few pieces but are finely detailed,
capturing perfectly, the true essence and
character of the aircraft being modelled.
Building the Savoia S.21
The simple building process begins as usual
with the cockpit. It was primed in black, and
then successive coats of wood tones were
airbrushed on, using paints from the chilean
company K4. Finally, the wood grain was
painted by brush with Vallejo acrylics, as were
the rest of small details. The pilot’s seat was
painted with Model Master Silver enamel.
07/03/2018 14:36
 KIT BUILD
SKILL LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE
For the instrument dials the decals provided
were cut to size and carefully placed onto the
plastic panel, individually.
The pilot figure deserves a special mention,
being so well sculpted, regarding less of the
material and the scale of the kit. A careful
painting process will bring easily to life this
beautiful miniature.
The rest of the build was completed without
any problem. You get three main structures:
The cockpit is very simple to build and paints up nicely.
60 MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL - April 2018
PORCO ROSSO.indd 60
fuselage, wing and engine, which will be kept
separate until final construction in order to
ease the painting process. The only relative
difficulty would be the installation of two struts
for each float.
Painting
I had in mind to reinterpret the plane color.
I think that a machine under such a level
of stress wouldn’t stay always exhibit a
The simple instrument panel shows off for the camera. This is a
veery small model so very little can be seen inside the cockpit -
especially with the pilot in place!
shimmering red color as a racing car would.
For that reason, I chose a duller tone, RLM
23, over a black preshading. Progressively, I
airbrushed light coats on to the model, trying
to modulate the finish with lighter tones,
mixing the base with ivory, for the areas that
receives light more directly. National insignia
are supplied as decals, but I preferred to paint
them using masks.
The fuselage undersurfaces are in natural
The fuselage halves have been closed up and await cleaning up.
The major
sub-assemblies
ready for painting
and in this case,
weathering.
07/03/2018 14:36

Test-fitting all of the major sub-assemblies reveals the classic lines of this classic seaplane.
From every angle, the S-21 looks like a winner!
wood. Multiple techniques have been designed
by experienced modellers, most of them very
effective, so I won’t extend much more on this
topic. In this case I used a method described
by J.M. Villalba, based on the construction of a
‘grain stencil’ made with fine wire attached to a
plastic frame. First, you paint a base tone, over
which you place the stencil and paint again
with different tones. The multiple possibilities
of the shape of the stencil wires, the variety of
tones you can use and the different positions
you can give to the tool lets you obtain a very
quick and convincing looking wooden finish.
Rather than painting the model in glossy red plumage,
the author went for a more weathered finish.
PORCO ROSSO.indd 61
A few areas of the model needed to be tidied up, Mr
Surfacer being used to deal with some fine gaps.
The underwing float glued in place. Fit is excellent.
Fine wire was used to ‘rig’ the floats, a nice detail that
looks great in this scale.
Naturally, you can achieve better results with
more tonal variety using varnishes, washes,
etc., if you want to.
Metal parts of the engine were painted with
lacquer based metal tones (automotive paints).
Finally, I applied a gloss coat, which provides
an ideal surface for panel washing and for
applying the few decals used on the model.
The base
I always thought of displaying the model As mentioned in the text, preshading, highlighting and
over its natural environment: water. With that thin layers of paint were used to create the weather
objective in mind, I used a cheap photo frame. red finish.
A wire handle was used to hold the wing during painting.
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 KIT BUILD
SKILL LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE
Viewed from below, the shading on the wing becomes
more apparent.
The little engine in detail. Washes helped bring out the
detail.
Lower wing in place - it’s all starting to come together
now…
The tail fin was masked and painted rather than
decorated with the decals supplied in the kit.
The larger sub-assemblies all painted and weathered.
PORCO ROSSO.indd 62
The lower wing surface shows off its floats and large
Italian panels.
I modelled the sea with a thin layer of Das
modelling clay, making sure to seal any gaps
inside the frame. Once the clay was dry, I
painted it with an airbrush, trying to achieve a
progressive variation of tones, from sand to a
dark green. This process accentuate the idea
of depth.
Once the paint had dried, I prepared a
small amount of polyester resin, mixed with a
very tiny bit of turquoise acrylic. This quantity
should be very little, as it has the property of
darkening too much our future area of sea.
Once happy with the colour, I poured the first
Having painted the engine nacelle in red, the metal areas were
picked out.
As with the lower
surfaces of the fuselage,
the undersides of the
floats are natural wood
in finish.
layer of resin layer of about 3 mm and let it dry
for at least 6 hours, over a flat surface. When
dried, I repeated the application of the resin
one or two more times, but now without tinting
it, until I almost reached the border of the
frame. Before the last resin layer had dried I
carefully placed the aircraft in its final position,
letting the whole thing dry for about 24
more hours.
We could call the work done at this stage
if we just want to achieve totally calm waters,
but in this case I was looking for a softly
undulating sea. To achieve this, I used Water
The upper surfaces were masked ready for the lower surfaces
to be painted in their wooden finish.
07/03/2018 14:36
 As discussed in the text, the wood grain was painted with the The lower surfaces are certainly colourful!
help of this homemade tool.

Effects by Woodland Scenics, directly from the

container and then spreading it with a brush.
After waiting for 24 hours I could work on the
sea foam. This was simulated with a bit of
grey and white paints, avoiding exaggeration.
Finally, I mixed Still Water from Vallejo with
microballoons, and apply this mix carefully to
The use of the little stencil template seen earlier, makes The basis of the display base: a cheap wooden frame, some
the base, trying to give volume to the foam. painting the wood grain super-easy! modelling clay and then several layers of resin (not seen in
Finally, I applied a coat of acrylic floor varnish this shot).
(your local version of Future) by brush to
create a shinier surface. ■
FINAL VERDICT
Finally, I can only recommend this model, simple but very fun to build and paint. Not only that, those who haven´t
seen the movie, watch it - especially the aviation lovers with a child’s soul. More than one of those might be
reading these lines, that’s for sure!

PORCO ROSSO.indd 63
59
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 NEW RELEASE - KITS

AVIA B-534 III.SERIE WEEKEND EDITION

Scale: 1:48, Eduard, The Czech Republic/Materials: IM/Kit No: 8478/Availability: Eduard/€22.45

E
duard’s love affair with the
Czechoslovak Air Force’s most
famous Second World War
fighter continues with another
boxing of the Avia B-534, here
the early III series machine. The impres-
sive looking plane, very much in the
mould of pre-war fighters such as the
Hawker Fury is boxed with two sets of
markings, a classic Czech machine from
1937 in the markings of the 40th Fighter
Squadron, and a captured machine in
German markings used by one of the
training units, overpainted with a yellow
nose and rudder.
The kit is lovely with accurate, well
moulded parts in grey plastic. As the
frames are standard across the range of
options that Eduard have offered over the
years, there are a number of redundant
parts that include undercarriage, propeller
and canopy so it pays to follow the de-
tailed instructions. The full cockpit is very
good with full separate sidewall detail
though as is common with the weekend
editions, seat straps are supplied in the
form of decals so alternatives might be
sourced by the modeller. Spatted and
open wheels are supplied for the versions
depicted here, and the well printed Carto-
graph decal sheet contains full stencilling,
referenced in the coloured instruction
booklet. If you wish to invest in the extra
detail that a photo-etched set can offer,
Eduard supply a Zoom set available sep-
arately (FE886, €11.25) which includes
various cockpit parts, radiator grilles and
finer airframe details.

VERDICT
This is a welcome re-release of this kit, that in ‘Weekend’ mode will please modellers looking for something a little simpler to build. Recommended. (Haris Ali)

SE.5A HISPANO SUIZA PROFIPACK EDITION

Scale: 1:48/Eduard, The Czech Republic/Materials: IM, PE/Kit No: 82132 /Availability: Eduard, €29.95

F
ollowing on from their excellent Wolsey Viper
release, Eduard follow it up with a Hispano Suiza en-
gine version of the classic SE.5A. This is essentially
the same kit as the previous release as the frames
contain parts for both aircraft types, and together
with a colour photoetched fret and masks, there is an additional
photo-etch fret containing leader’s streamers for one of the
options, which are:
● D5969, Lt. C. H. R. Lagesse, No. 29 Squadron, St. Omer,
France, June 1918
● C5303, Lt. L. N. Franklin, No. 56 Squadron, Baizieux,
France, March 1918
● D3511, Maj. R. S. Dallas, No. 40 Squadron, Bruay Airfield,
France, May 1918
● F5910, Lt. W. G Claxton, No. 41 Squadron, Lealvillers,
France Feb 1918
● C9539, Capt. H. G. Forrest, No. 2 Squadron, Australian
Flying Corps, Savy - Berlette, France, March 1918
The finishes are in PC10/Clear Doped Linen, whilst Major
Dallas’ No.40 Squadron machine sports a brown and sand
camouflage scheme applied on top of the PC10.
The kit parts themselves are a joy, bearing a very crisp level
of detail and no flash whatsoever. The smallest of parts are
very well formed, and the level of surface detail is exceptional.
The Hispano Suiza engine looks great and there is a very full
cockpit, enhanced further with the inclusion of photo-etch parts.
The pre-painted control panel looks a little odd being of a similar
cream colour to the straps, but it should act as a primer for
your wash of choice that might be used pick out the wooden
elements in the cockpit, for example oil colour, or a mix based
upon Tamiya Clear Orange. Both Lewis and Vickers guns are
well rendered, as is the Lewis guns upper wing mount, and
wing pulley details can be seen behind the clear transparencies.
Particularly noteworthy is the fuselage where the fine
stitched detail and raised metal panel surfaces are accentuated
very convincingly. The only feature that I have a slight
reservation about is the level of wing rib detail, which for me is
slightly heavy but I really don’t think it detracts too much from
the finish of the overall model. A useful feature are the location
points for the rigging stretchers that will need drilling out with a
small 0.35 mm drill. These stretchers can be bought separately
from Eduard, or alternatively you can use your own method
of fixing. Full rigging diagrams are of course included in the
instruction booklet.

VERDICT
As with their previous Wolsey Viper release, this is a fantastic kit, absolutely crammed with detail and a
wonderful overall package, and undoubtedly the best SE.5a’s on the market. Building the Wolsey Viper version
proved to be quite an involved build considering its relative size, and out of the box there’s little that needs
adding to produce an excellent model which is great fun to put together. All modellers have their preferences,
but for me the boxlike SE.5a is every bit the iconic WW1 aircraft and Eduard have done a great job in capturing
its lines. Very highly recommended. (Haris Ali)

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NR KITS 153.indd 64 07/03/2018 14:37

 FOKKER DR.I PROFIPACK EDITION
Scale: 1:72/Eduard, The Czech Republic/Materials: IM, PE/ Kit No: 7039/ Availability: Eduard, €14.95

E
duard continues to re-release and re-package
some of the older kits from their back cata-
logue, in this case their very nice diminutive
Fokker Dr.I first released around seventeen
years ago. Although small in scale it comes in
the same standard sized boxes provided for their 1/48
scale kits, dictated by the size of the frame that contains
the neatly moulded grey parts and also interestingly
the wing spars and tyres for their strip-down version.
This is a common sprue across the range of 1:72 scale
Dr.I’s, but not referred to on the parts list diagrams in
the instructions and needs to be ignored for this kit. To
supplement the plastic parts this Profipack kit contains a
comprehensive photo etched fret containing parts for the
cockpit, engine and guns, together with masks for the
wheels, and of course a broad selection of colour op-
tions. There is plenty of extra detail for the tiny cockpit,
and my only gripe about the photo etched additions
is that items such as the control column look very flat
so you may wish to bulk it out with some white glue or
replace it altogether. No shortage of colour possibilities
here, and for this boxing there are five:
● 450/17, Lax Lt Jacobs, Jasta 7, Rumbeke, Belgium
March 1918
● 545/17 Lt Weiss, Jasta 11, Cappy, France April 1918
● 425/17 Rttm Von Richthofen, JG1, Lachelle,
France March 1918
● 404/Hptm Von Tutschek, JG2, Toulis, France Feb 1918
● 454/1 Lt Von Richthofen, Jasta 11, Avesnes-le-
Sec, France March 1918
Eduard has put Jacobs’ famous black machine
sporting a winged devil on the box, and apart from the
inevitable inclusion of a red Richthofen machine it’s nice
to see some lesser known aircraft appear in this kit.

VERDICT
This is probably the best Dr.1 on the market in whatever form it is released, and the extra items contained in this Profipack
version make it a very worthwhile purchase, particularly with decals to spare for another if you wish. A welcome re-release
that comes highly recommended. (Haris Ali)

FOKKER E.III WEEKEND EDITION

Scale: 1:72, Eduard, The Czech Republic/Materials: IM/Kit No: 7044/ Availability: Eduard, €12.75

A
nother reissue from a few years back, and a
reminder that Eduard were producing beauti-
ful little Eindeckers before Airfix produced
their excellent E.II.
A relatively simple kit, all the parts are
contained on one grey plastic frame. Moulded detail
is very good, with the internal structure of the aircraft
included on the inside of the fuselage parts, some of
which will be seen through the relatively large cockpit
aperture. Whereas the Profipack version included
plenty of photo-etch enhancements for the cockpit, the
plastic alternatives here are adequate in the form of a
seat, stick and rudder pedals though you may wish to
add a little more if you have access to references. The
cockpit area wasn’t the most crowded with instrumenta-
tion so this isn’t really a problem, but the decal seat
straps provided here would benefit from replacement,
even if fashioned from paper or masking tape. Another
hangover from the Profipack kit are the tyres provided
for the spoked wheels, redundant here for the two
options available, they being Max Immelmann’s grey-
green machine 246/16, and an overall clear doped Aus-
tro-Hungarian machine, 03.42 flown by Mathias Bernath
of Flik. 4. Neither machine is particularly colourful but
Eindecker’s generally weren’t very decorative, though
there’s plenty of scope for some very heavy weathering
as a result of oil
spillage from the
rotary engine.

VERDICT
A nice little kit, and if you do miss those photo-etch extras, Eduard produce a Zoom set (SS620) for the kit, providing
parts for the engine, guns and cockpit. (Haris Ali)

PFALZ D.IIIA WEEKEND EDITION

Scale: 1:48/Eduard, The Czech Republic/Materials: IM /Kit No: 8417/Availability: Eduard, €18.75

A
nother reissue, this time of one of WW1’s more
elegant fighters, the Pfalz D.IIIa. This has ap-
peared quite a few times over the years in both
Weekend and Profipack forms, all making use
of the many colourful schemes that the aircraft
sported. This Weekend addition is no different with von
Alvensleben’s smart black and white Jasta 21machine on
the box, and Walter Ewars red and blue striped Jasta 77
aircraft offered as a striking alternative, the latter familiar to
collectors of Wingnut Wings kits as it appeared as one of
their kit options.
The parts are typically crisp in grey plastic, and in keeping
with other kits when released around twenty years ago have
restrained undulated wing texturing and fine engraved panel
lines where appropriate. In fact the smooth bodied Pfalz has
very little detail along its length adding to its characteristic
sleekness, and Eduard have captured the lines well with this
excellent model. A well printed, if rather modest Cartograph
decal sheet contains all the necessary crosses and stencil-
ling, emphasising the need for the colourful parts of the
scheme to be painted.
Straight out of the box this would make a relatively
straightforward build for the biplane novice, and whilst the
more experienced may build the kit as provided, it might
be tempting to improve upon that simplified propeller hub
or replace the decal seat straps with alternatives from the
spares box. However, a word of note about the lower wings,
where the instructions indicate that it is necessary to reshape
the tips of the wings to provide the correct outline for the
later D.IIIa, the more pointed type a hangover from the
earlier D.III. There is no need to do this as the correct wings
for this boxing are also included as part of the kit. Eduard
some years ago issued a D.III version based upon this kit
where the older pointed lower wings and parts for a modified
body (with shrouded guns) were substituted. Somewhere
during the evolution of the reissue of the D.IIIa both sets of
wings were added as part of the same sprue but the instruc-
tion sheet drawings and the parts map here have not been
updated accordingly.
A small problem
but I am sure that
most will note the
difference.

VERDICT
Not the most complex of kits, this is a welcome reissue of a lovely aircraft that Eduard have done full justice to. (Haris Ali)

NR KITS 153.indd 65 07/03/2018 14:37

 NEW RELEASE - KITS
FOKKER E.V EXPERT SET
Scale: 1:72/Arma Hobby, Poland / Materials: IM, PE / Kit No: 70012/ Availability: Hannants, £14.99
H
aving noted Arma Hobby’s
small but interesting range of
Polish subjects, the release
of a Fokker D.V in Polish and
German markings caught my
e ye. This wonderful looking plane never
eye.
lived up to its post-war name of the ‘Fly-
ing Razor’. After glowing reports during
its’ testing, a couple of fatal crashes due
to wing failure grounded all machines
that had reached the front line, and
the subsequent modifications with the
re-designation of the machine as D.VIII
meant that it arrived far too late in the
war to be truly tested in combat. Only
one kill has been attributed to the type,
but it later went on to serve the Poles
against Russian and Ukrainian forces,
as well as equip the Dutch Air Force and
being used by a number of civil users.
Arma Hobby have produced a wonderful
kit here, the tiny model packed with plenty
of plastic and photo-etched detail. The
light grey parts are quite fine with excellent
surface detail and the smallest amount of
flash here and there. There are some ejec-
tor pin marks on the inside of the fuselage
VERDICT
The odd Airfix release aside and not counting Eduard’s reissues, it’s been a long time since a new German-based subject appeared in this scale with this level of
injection moulded detail, and whilst it fits well into Arma Hobby’s portfolio of Polish based subjects, I can only encourage them to produce more! This is a very
well researched and presented kit and comes highly recommended. Maybe one for the Wingnut Wings wish list? (Haris Ali)
66 MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL - April 2018
NR KITS 153.indd 66
that may not be seen, but will possibly
require filling if you want an even surface to
apply the interior linen and plywood decals
supplied. At this point it’s worth mentioning
the two excellent Cartograph decal sheets
that are very clear and sharp, providing full
lozenge plus the aforementioned plywood
decals and some for the laminated propel-
lers (both Axial and Heine are provided).
The quality of the four-colour lozenge is
pretty good, close in colour to what many
perceive as being “acceptable” these days
compared with some of the very fine prod-
ucts now available in larger scales. Four
decal options are supplied, two well-known
Polish finishes for the 7 Aviation Squadron
and two German for Jasta 6 and 36. A
busy photo-etch frame supplies parts for
the cockpit, guns, engine and airframe, but
straight from the box without these parts
the model will look very impressive. Indeed,
a second “Junior” version is to be released
without the photo-etch. The instruction
booklet is very clear, complete with colour
profiles, and I for one am really looking
forward to putting this together.
07/03/2018 14:37
 NEW FROM DOOLITTLE MEDIA

The Modeller’s Guide

Superdetailing, Painting and Weathering
Aircraft of WWII, with airfield accessories, ordnance and diorama

Aleksandar Pocuc

‘
SCALE MODELLING:
A LOVE STORY READY Modeller’s guide to
TO ASSEMBLE superdetailing, painting and
weathering aircraft of WWII’
TOOLS AND MATERIALS
book is intended for both
TECHNIQUES beginners and advanced
modellers as it covers wide variety
BUILDING THE AIRCRAFT of modelling tasks ranging from
■ SPITFIRE MK. IXC basic detailing, scratch-building,
■ P-47D THUNDERBOLT painting, weathering, machining
■ JU-87D ‘STUKA’ custom parts using resin as well as
scratch-building part from brass and
MAKING A DIORAMA
aluminium and of course, diorama
making. Basics about tools, paints
and modelling materials have
been covered as well. The book
revolves around three subjects,
P-47D Razorback, Spitfire Mk.IXc
and Junkers Ju-87D Stuka, all in
32nd scale. Step by step concept
will provide a good reference and
ideas to all WWII aircraft modellers

ORDER NOW: regardless of their experience.

 www.doolittlemedia.com
✆ 01525 222573
✉ enquiries@doolittlemedia.com

FOR ONLY

£18.95 PLUS P&P

DOOLITTLE MEDIA, Doolittle Mill, Doolittle Lane, Totternhoe, Bedfordshire, LU6 1QX. United Kingdon.
TEL: +44(0)1525 222573. FAX: +44(0)1525 222574. ONLINE: www.adhbooks.com

P001 - WWII AIRCRAFT BOOK copy.indd 1 23/11/2016 12:37

 NEW RELEASES - ACCESSORIES

EDUARD
www.eduard.com

SE 5A HISPANO SUIZA WITH 2 BLADE PROPELLER BIG SIN

BRASSIN ACCESSORY SET
To accompany their plastic kit, Eduard have produced a Big Sin accessory set that includes some
excellent resin replacement parts of exceptional quality. Purchased together this makes a consider-
able saving against the items being bought separately. They are as follows

● 648 296 SE 5a propeller two-blade (left). Very crisp replacements for the kit propellers that include
photo-etched bosses.
● 648 320 SE 5a Hispano Suiza radiator. A full radiator and louvres in resin with a photoetch grille.
● 648 299 SE 5a guns. As you would expect photo-etch and resin combine to produce highly
detailed replacements for both the Lewis and Vickers guns. The wing mount in particular is very fine
and will need careful removal from its casting block.
● 488 333 SE 5a wheels. A considerable improvement on the kit wheels where the rendering of the
fabric is surprisingly crude and simplified.
● FE8843 SE 5a seatbelts early, steel. Two sets are supplied

With the exception of the seatbelts that already come with the kit, all of these additions will guaran-
tee to make a difference to your model.

BARRACUDA CAST
www.barracudacast.com
Roy Sutherland has sent over an impressive collection of new items from his ever-expanding range of resin upgrades, the bulk of these being
designed for the Spitfire in a variety of scales and to suit a number of different base kits. The quality of the detail and excellence of the casting is
everything that you might expect from this company, all of the different items adding gloss to their respective kits. The list of new items being as fol-
lows, all being available either direct from Barracuda, or from your local stockist. Our thanks go out to Roy for the samples seen this month.

P-40B/C Mainwheels With
Smooth Tire. BR72331
Designed For: Airfix, AML,
Academy, Trumpeter
Material: Resin
Price Guide: £4.99
P-40B/C Mainwheels With
Smooth Tire. BR48330
Designed For: Airfix,
Monogram, Trumpeter, Bronco
Material: Resin
Price Guide: £6.99
P-40B/C Mainwheels With Spitfire Mk.IX Seat W/Backpad
Smooth Tire. BR32329 & Armor. BR32326
Designed For: Trumpeter Designed For: Revell
Material: Resin Material: Resin
Price Guide: £8.99 Price Guide: £7.99

Spitfire Four-Slot
Mainwheels - 3 Pack
BR72341
Designed For: Universal
Material: Resin
Price Guide: £11.99

Fw190A-1 Thru A-9, F,

G Exhausts
BR48355 Spitfire Late Cockpit Door Spitfire Mk.IX Cockpit Snapshot Upgrade
Designed For: New-Tool BR72342 BR32339
Eduard Designed For: Universal Designed For: Revell
Material: Resin Material: Resin Material: Resin/Decal
Price Guide: £7.99 Price Guide: £5.99 Price Guide: £15.99

68 MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL - April 2018

NR ACC 153.indd 2 07/03/2018 14:38

 NEW in the ‘HOW TO BUILD...’ series
NEW How to Build
Hawker Typhoon Mk.Ib
New and revised for 2017
now including the Car Door
and Bubbletop builds.
The complete guide to building the amazing
Airfix 1:24 scale Hawker Typhoon, written
by Brett Green of HyperScale and Model
Military fame.

This new book features an exhaustive

step-by-step guide to construction with
modelling contributions by James Hatch,
Brett, and Chris Wauchop.

Hundreds of construction photos, reference

images, a museum walk around, and how to
get the very best from your big Typhoon kit
a must have before you build the model!

NOW SHIPPING

Only
£14 .95
s p&pplu

ALSO AVAILABLE Visit doolittlemedia.com for details

PLACE YOUR ORDER NOW ON TEL: 01525 222573 FAX: 01525 222574
✁
The Airfix 1:24 Hawker Typhoon Mk.Ib P&P: UK; £2.00
Europe; £4.00
World-Wide airmail; £6.00
HOW TO BUILD... TYPHOON Please debit my credit/debit card for £ ....................................... Cheques payable to: Doolittle Media Ltd.

Visa Mastercard Maestro other ............................. Please be aware that all credit/debit cards are processed
through PayPal and this may appear on your bank statement
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Post/zip code ................................................................................................... Issue No (if applicable) ........................................................................... Date ...............................................................................................

Please mail this form to;
Country ................................................................................................................
Doolittle Media, Doolittle Mill, Doolittle Lane, Totternhoe, Bedfordshire, LU6 1QX, United Kingdom
Telephone Number....................................................................................... Tel; +44(0)1525 222573 Fax; +44(0)1525 222574 Online; www.doolittlemedia.com
(Photocopies of this form are acceptable)

www.doolittlemedia.comwww.doolittlemedia.comwww.doolittlemedia.com

p 63 Typhoon Book 139.indd 8 13/09/2017 11:35

 Books
Samples for review
Please send all items for review to the following address:
Model Airplane International, Doolittle Mill, Doolittle Lane,
Totternhoe, Bedfordshire, LU6 1QX, United Kingdom.
Companies in the European Union should also add our VAT number,
which is GB 789 7020 84

SAVOIA-MARCHETTI S.79 SPARVIERO BOMBER UNITS – COMBAT AIRCRAFT 122

● By Marco Mattioli air war in the Mediterranean theatre and was
● Published by Osprey Publishing Ltd. especially a threat to allied shipping moving
● Guide Price £13.99 men and materials to North Africa and Egypt
● ISBN: 978-1-4728-1883-6 in the early years of the war. S.79s would sink
● 96pp softback, 250 x 185mm or damage many allied ships until allied fighter
cover became more of a deterrent to their
another Ju88 or He111 someone could think,
why not a S.79 for a change? Should that ever
happen, this book would be handy to have
around. In the meantime, it is an excellent read
on a topic that does not attract much coverage
and is an excellent addition to Osprey’s

T
he Italian S.79 was one of the most
distinctive aircraft shapes of WWII
with its three engines and hump-
backed profile. Originally conceived
as a fast transport aircraft to carry
eight passengers, taking its first flight in 1934,
the S.79 was flying bombing missions in
Spain only two years later. The design was
very successful, breaking several records in
its early years. In 1938 three flew from Dakar
in West Africa across the Atlantic to Brazil, a
distance of 6,200 miles at an average speed
of 250 mph.
Taking on the role of a medium bomber, the
S.79 would be a successful participant in the
operations. Between 1936 and 1944 almost
1,400 were built.
Osprey’s book is set out in their familiar
style with interesting and informative copy with
many photos of the S.79s and the personalities
involved with their operations. As usual,
this book includes a set of pages showing
excellent colour profiles of around thirty S.79s
and three pages of S.79 unit badges. Most of
the schemes are those that tax the skills of
modellers with more examples of the Italians
use of tight mottled patterns on their planes.
Sadly, the S.79 has not been looked too
kindly upon by the modelling industry. Maybe
when someone is looking at producing yet
lengthening list of Combat Aircraft titles.
NEW AIR CAMPAIGN SERIES
Here we have the first three books in a new
series from Osprey. This new series will
describe those famous air campaigns down
the years. These first titles look at two WWII
campaigns and one from the Vietnam War.
There is plenty of scope for such a series and
can cover campaigns from those over the WWI
trenches to modern conflicts in the Middle
East. We will see what comes as the series
develops.

MALTA 1940-42
● By Ryan K. Noppen and the aircraft available to both attack and
● Published by Osprey Publishing Ltd. defend Malta. This is illustrated with maps,
● Guide Price £13.99 tables, diagrams and photos. Some of the
● ISBN: 978-1-4728-2060-0 photos include recent photos of preserved
● 96pp softback, 250 x 185mm aircraft. The next chapters detail the progress
of the Italians to suppress the defences of

T
he first title we are looking at tells
the story of the attacks on Malta
during the first years of WWII. Italian
dictator Mussolini knew that Malta
stood in the way of his designs
on North African territory and would do all
he could to render Malta useless as base
from which his progress could be disrupted.
In May 1940, Malta’s only air defence was
six Gloster Sea Gladiators. Italy would not
declare war on Britain and France until the
10th June 1940 but at this time the Italian air
forces were well equipped and in substantial
numbers. A small force of Gladiators in theory
would not stand a chance against the Axis air
forces. The following day Italy launched major
bombing raids against targets on the island.
The books first chapters look at the
capability of the Italian and British forces
Malta. It quickly became obvious that their
own aircraft were achieving poor results and
the next chapter tells of how the Luftwaffe
became involved in order to assist the
Italians. During this time, RAF reinforcements
were arriving to both defend the island and
shipping in the area and begin attacks on
Axis airfields from which bombers launched
against the Allies. The book concludes with
Axis plans to take Malta and how these would
be put on hold as the Allies turned the tide of
the war in the Mediterranean.
Again, Osprey produces a great book
with a concise history of the Malta campaign
during the first couple of years of WWII. As
well as the copy, there are some good photos
that would provide some great inspiration for
diorama builders.

70 MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL - April 2018

BOOKS 153.indd 2 07/03/2018 14:39

 RABAUL 1943-44 AVAILABLE FROM
● By Mark Lardas
● Published by Osprey Publishing Ltd.
This book describes the American tactics to
eliminate the threat of the Rabaul base. An all-
DOOLITTLE MEDIA
● Guide Price £13.99 out attack was not possible. Ground had to be
● ISBN: 978-1-4728-2244-4 taken, island by island, ever nearer to Rabaul.
● 96pp softback, 250 x 185mm The captured islands would provide forward
airfield locations from which attacks could be

T
he process of taking the war back
to the Japanese was difficult for
the Americans. The war was being
fought thousands of miles from home
against established Japanese bases
on the islands in the Pacific. One Japan’s
largest bases was at
the port of Rabaul in
the Solomon Islands,
near New Guinea.
This was a major
base for both naval
and air forces and
had to be neutralised
before the Allied
forces would be able
to drive the Japanese
back to their
home islands.
Japan had a
staggering
100,000-strong
garrison at the
base.
launched on the Japanese, laying siege to the
base. Gradually, supply lines would be cut-off
to Rabaul and the Japanese garrison ground
into submission but not until the end of the war
in the Pacific.
At the beginning of the book, there is a
timeline showing the almost daily action taking
place by both the Rabaul defenders and the
Allied progress to suppress the Japanese
base. It was not until September 6th 1945
that the Japanese surrender the base to the
Australians. It took almost a year to repatriate
the huge number of Japanese troops captured
in the area back to Japan.
Mark Lardas tells the fascinating story of
the battles in the air, at sea and on the land to
drive the Japanese out of the South Pacific.
There are many maps showing the locations
of the action, combat camera photographs
with a handful of Mark Postlethwaite’s superb www.doolittlemedia.com
artwork scattered throughout the pages.
This was the first campaign to use
airpower to gradually drive an enemy to
surrender and makes a fascinating read.

ROLLING THUNDER 1965-68

● By Richard P. Hallion prepared to conduct a close-in conventional air
● Published by Osprey Publishing Ltd. war. It is amazing, with the benefit of hindsight,
● Guide Price £13.99 to read that between 1954 and 1962 the USAF
● ISBN: 978-1-4728-2320-5 carried out minimal air-to-air combat training.
● 96pp softback, 250 x 185mm This skill would have been invaluable against
the small and agile aircraft such as the MiG

O
ver 40 years have passed since 21s in the skies over North Vietnam. Starting
the end of the Vietnam war and from a position of ill preparedness, the author
still the post-mortems continue into takes us through those three years of Rolling
how a small, poorly armed nation Thunder. Air Force commanders were also ill
managed to defeat some of the prepared to conduct the battle and suffered
best equipped forces in the world. The Rolling from their political masters constant changes
Thunder air campaign was one of contributing of policy and direction. As well as fearsome air
factors to the list of where it all went wrong. defences over North Vietnam, Vietcong troops
The author is an eminent American aviation were becoming very good at infiltrations www.doolittlemedia.com
academic and historian and well qualified to in the South and carrying out raids on
write this analysis of how Rolling Thunder American airfields to blow up aircraft
went so wrong. Adam Tooby is the illustrator of and installations. This all made for a
this book. Many will be familiar with his work very difficult battle environment. As the battle
that often appears on the lids of new Airfix continued, the Americans gradually developed
aircraft kit releases. Adam’s work appears the means to counter the North Vietnamese
on the cover and several pages within the defences with anti-radar missiles that would
text. As well as the illustrations, we see many take out SAM sites and other means of
maps, diagrams and photos from those days jamming North Vietnamese defences.
in the last half of the 1960s of the aircraft and At the end of the book, the author
the personalities summarises the results of the Rolling
involved. Thunder campaign and the war in general.
We don’t have to The treatment of captive airmen by the North
look far before we Vietnamese is particularly repugnant as are
read the author’s the totals of those killed above and below the
damning words border between the north and south. The facts
on how the United are surprising and just go to show the futility
States carried out of some wars and as current newscasts show,
the campaign. To we still have a lot to learn. Many of us buy
begin with, we see and build kits from this time, great aircraft and
that following the many great schemes on offer and this book
Korean War, the US opens our eyes to take a look at a relatively
Air Force, Navy short period of time and just one campaign
and Marine amongst the many. This is a great read and
Corps were all
equipped and
gives a fascinating look at a crucial time
in military aviation history. Thoroughly www.doolittlemedia.com
trained to fight recommended.
a nuclear Thanks to Osprey for sending
conflict and their four new books for review. (Alan
was ill- Firbank)

Issue 153 - www.modelairplaneinternational.com 71

BOOKS 153.indd 3 07/03/2018 14:39

 NEW RELEASES: DECALS

BLACKBIRD MODELS
www.blackbirdmodels.co.uk

We have three new 1:72 sheets from local Yorkshire producer, Blackbird Models. Two have interesting WWII subjects and one is a second sheet of Vietnam War subjects. Blackbird show colour profiles of
each subject and provide references for upper surface camouflage patterns.

USAAF AT WAR PT: 3 AIR WAR OVER VIETNAM PT:2

(SHEET NO. BMD72040) (SHEET NO. BMD72043)
● P-51D Mustang ‘Dixie Boy’ ‘1056’ with the 529th Fighter ● EE RB-57E Canberra ‘BA-245’ with the 460th TRW USAF in
Squadron at Sian, China. The Mustang is in overall natural metal overall Night Black.
with a yellow tail fin and large Olive Drab anti-glare panel on the ● de Havilland U-6 Beaver ‘41694’ with VNAF all in Olive Drab
upper nose. with Light Grey wings.
● Junkers C-79 (Ju 52) ‘252883’ with 20th TCS with the 6th ● Bell UH-1H Huey ‘363’ with VNAF Medical Evacuation Flight
Air Force in 1942. The original Luftwaffe colours are gone and at Bien Hoa in 1971. The finish is overall Olive Drab with Red
replaced by a pattern of Dark Earth and Dark Green on the upper Cross insignia on both fuselage main doors.
surfaces with white undersides. ● Douglas C-47A Dakota ‘45939’ with VNAF. This Dakota is
● Douglas C-49C ‘17721’ also with the 20th TCS in 1942. A in overall natural metal with white upper fuselage and a wide
camouflage scheme in the same colours as the Ju 52 above Dayglo band around the rear fuselage.
applies to this Dakota too. ● North American F-100D Super Sabre AF63-403 with the
● Curtis P-40F ‘Renee’ ‘114315’ with the 59th FS, 33rd Fighter 309th TFS USAF. The camouflage scheme is the standard SE
Group at Port Layautey in Morocco at the end of 1942. A pattern Asia colours of two green (FS 34012 and FS 34079) and tan
of Dark Earth and Mid Stone was applied to the upper surfaces (FS 30219) on the upper surfaces and Light Gray (FS 36622)
with Azure Blue undersides. undersides.
● Lockheed AP-2H Neptune Gunship with VAH-21 US Navy
operating out of Cam Ranh Bay. This aircraft is finished in a
camouflage pattern of three shades of grey.
● Republic RF-10C Voodoo AF56-119 with the 45th TRS USAF
based at Tan Son Nhut in late 1969. The camouflage scheme is
standard USAF SE Asia pattern.
Thanks to Blackbird Models for supplying their three new
releases for review this month. For prices and availability, check
Blackbird’s web site on blackbirdmodels.co.uk.

FAR EAST AIR WAR

(SHEET NO. BMD72042)
● Douglas C-47A ‘232836’ Ambulance Plane No. 1 with the
803rd Air Evacuation Squadron. The finish is Olive Drab over
Neutral Gray undersides with Red Cross insignia carried on
the fuselage and wings.
● Northrop P-61A Black Widow “I’ll Get By” ‘25615’ with the
426th NFS. This Black Widow was finished in the appropriate
overall Night Black.
● North American PBJ-1 Mitchell ‘26’ with the US Marines
near Espirito Santo in February 1944. This Mitchell was
finished in US Blue-Gray on the upper surfaces with Light Gray
undersides.
● Republic P-47D Thunderbolt “Lippy IV” with the 333rd FS
at Saipan in 1944. The scheme is Olive Drab over Neutral Gray
with a yellow cowling ring, wing tips and bands around the
fuselage and on the tail fin.
● Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat ‘22’ with VMF-221 at Sand Island
on Midway in 1942. The upper surfaces were painted US
Blue-Gray with Light Gray undersides.
● Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat ‘211-F-11’ with VMF-211 at Wake
Island in 1941. The scheme is the same as the Wildcat above.

72 MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL - April 2018

DECALS 153.indd 2 07/03/2018 14:40

 WERNER’S WINGS
www.wernerswings.com

VIETNAM ACE CAPT. STEVE RITCHIE AND FRIENDS (SHEET NO. 32-01)
If you have one of Tamiya’s magnificent 1:32 F-4C/D or their F-4E Phantom kits in the loft, this great decal set may spur you into action. This superb double sheet set of markings for the big Phantoms
provide decals for thirteen aircraft, all finished in USAF SE Asia camouflage schemes. One set is for a F-4C with a FG tail code, two are for F-4Es with LC and ED tail codes and the rest are F-4D models.
With the exception of one F-4D carrying the WR tail code of RAF Bentwaters in Suffolk all are Vietnam War veterans.
Both sheets are packed with beautifully printed markings and worthy of note, printed on blue backing sheets. We see blue sheets occasionally. They are great for helping the markings stand out, better
than white in our opinion.
Thanks to Werner’s Wings for sending this new set for review. See their web site, wernerswings.com for details. If you want to get your hands on this set, you need to get your skates on; it is a limited
edition of 200 sets.

XTRADECAL
www.hannants.co.uk

More lovely decal sheets from Lowestoft this month. After all the eye-straining stencil sets for the
1:72 Phantom, we have more sets of RAF Phantom squadron markings. Those Phantom builders
are being spoiled for choice. Just to show that other builders are being looked after, we have a very
colourful sheet for Jet Provosts and a wide selection of US Navy Reserve types in 1:72 and 1:48.

USN RESERVE AIR WING 91 (SHEET NO. X72284)

This is a very tightly packed sheet with the
markings for nine aircraft from US Navy and
Marine Corps units from the 1950s and early
1960s.
● Grumman TBM-3E Avenger ‘Z-141’ with (VA)
Attack Squadrons RAW 91 at NAS Squantum in
1950. The paintwork is overall Glossy Sea Blue
with a wide band of International Orange around
the rear fuselage.
● Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat ‘Z-15’ with the VF
Fighter Squadrons RAW-91 at NAS Squantum in
1953 in the same scheme as the Avenger.
● Chance Vought F4U-4B Corsair ‘Z-55’ with
the VF Fighter Squadrons RAW-91 at NSA
Weymouth (USA) in 1954. Glossy Sea Blue is
the scheme.
● North American SNJ-6 Texan ‘Z-960’ with
the Support Squadrons, RAW-91 at NAS South
Weymouth in 1950. The scheme is overall
aluminium with a wide International Orange
band around the fuselage and an Olive Drab
anti-glare panel on the upper nose.
● Grumman F9F-6 Cougar ‘Z-128’ with the
Fighter (VF) Squadrons, RAW-91
at NAS South Weymouth
in the mid-1950s. The
Cougar is in overall
Glossy Sea Blue with
an International Orange band around the rear
fuselage.
● Grumman F9F-6 Cougar ‘7Z-9’ with the
VF and VMF Squadrons, RAW-91, NAS South
Weymouth in the early 1960s. This Cougar is
branded as belonging to both the Navy and
Marine Corps. The finish is overall Insignia White
with about half the airframe painted International
Orange.
● Lockheed TA-4B Skyhawk ‘7Z-23’ with the
Attack (VAJ) Squadrons, RAW-91 in the early
1960s. Again, this aircraft is carrying both Navy
and Marine Corps wording. This Skyhawk is
in the scheme that would last many years of
Light Gull Gray on the upper surfaces and White
undersides.
● Douglas R5D-J Skymaster ‘7Z-526 with the
Transport (VR) Squadrons, RAW-91 at NAS South
Weymouth in 1963. Much of the airframe is
painted silver with a Gloss White fuselage top
and large areas of Fluorescent Red/orange on
the fuselage and outer wings.
● Douglas C-54Q Skymaster ‘7Z-487’ with
the Transport (VR) Squadrons, RAW-91 at NAS
South Weymouth in 1965. The top half of the
fuselage is painted Gloss White with Silver on
everywhere else.

Issue 153 - www.modelairplaneinternational.com 73

DECALS 153.indd 3 07/03/2018 14:40

 NEW RELEASES: DECALS

XTRADECAL
www.hannants.co.uk

HUNTING JET PROVOST T.3/T.4/T.51/T.52 (SHEET NO. X72291)

A colourful and crowded sheet for the 1:72 JP with a range of export customers as well as RAF units
represented.
● Jet Provost T.3 XN577, ‘45’ with the RAF College Cranwell in the 1960s. The airframe is Silver with large
Fluorescent Red-Orange areas on the fuselage and wings. Cranwell’s aircraft’s Blue band is supplied on the
decal sheet.
● Jet Provost T.51 CJ711 with No. 6 Squadron, Royal Ceylon Air Force/Sri Lankan Air Force in 1971. This JP is
painted overall Silver with a Red nose.
● Jet Provost T.4 XR679, ‘04’ with No. 79(R) Squadron on the Tactical Weapons Unit at RAF Brawdy in 1984. A
camouflage pattern of Dark Sea Grey and Dark Green was applied to the upper surfaces and Light Aircraft Grey
on the undersides.
● Jet Provost T.52 ‘101’ with the South Arabian Air Force in Iraq, 1965. This JP had a pattern of Dark Green and
Dark Earth on the upper surfaces and Light Aircraft Grey undersides.
● Jet Provost T.4 XR679, ‘04’ with No. 79(R) Squadron on the Tactical Weapons Unit at RAF Brawdy in 1989. At
this time, ‘04’ was painted Medium Sea Grey on the upper surfaces with Barley Grey undersides. A broad band
of yellow was painted around the rear fuselage, as was the tip of the tail and wing tip tanks.
● Jet Provost T.3 XP629 with the Manby College of Air Warfare at RAF Colerne in July 1968. This JP was in the
marking of ‘The Macaws’ Display Team, painted overall Light Aircraft Grey with a Red tail fin and tip tanks.
● Jet Provost T.52 E040 with the Venezuelan Air Force at Palo Negro in 1964. The overall Silver scheme had a
large area of Fluorescent Red-Orange on the rear fuselage and coloured bands on the rudder.
● Jet Provost T.3 XN554, ‘60’ with the Central Flying School at RAF Little Rissington in 1968. The overall Light
Aircraft Grey scheme carried numerous Fluorescent Red-Orange bands on its airframe.
● Jet Provost T.52, ‘103’ with the Kuwait Air Force. The finish is overall Silver with a Black nose and tip tanks
and Light Blue tail planes and tail fin.
● Jet Provost T.3 XN605, ‘9’ with No. 6 Flying Training School at RAF Acklington in September 1967. Light
Aircraft Grey was applied overall with dayglo bands on the fuselage and tip tanks.

ROYAL AIR FORCE MCDONNELL DOUGLAS FG.1

AND FGR.2 PHANTOMS PT4 (SHEET NO. X72293)
Here we have a further nine RAF Phantoms to keep the 1:72 Phantom ‘Phans’ happy.
● Phantom FGR.2 XV490 ‘R’ with No. 74 Squadron at RAFG Guttersloh in April 1992.
The finish is the later RAF Phantom low-viz scheme of three greys; Camouflage Grey on
the fuselage and outer wings, Medium Sea Grey wings and Light Aircraft Grey under the
fuselage.
● Phantom FGR.2 XV419 ‘G’ with No. 29 Squadron at RAF Coningsby in 1981 in the low-viz
scheme.
● Phantom FGR.2 XT901 ‘J’ with No. 17 Squadron at RAFG Bruggen in 1973. This one is in
the early camouflage scheme of a pattern of Dark Green and Dark Sea Grey on the upper
surfaces and Light Aircraft Grey undersides.
● Phantom FGR.2 XV498 ‘U’ with No. 92 Squadron at RAFG Wildenrath in 1992 in the
low-viz grey scheme.
● Phantom FGR.2 XV393 ‘A’ with No. 228 OCU/No. 64 Squadron at RAF Coningsby in 1979.
The scheme is the old camouflage pattern.
● Phantom FGR.2 XV419 ‘AA’ at this time with No. 19 Squadron at RAF Wattisham in 1991.
The low-viz grey scheme applies with a Roundel Blue painted tail fin.
● Phantom FG.1 XV582 ‘M’ Black Mike with No. 111 Squadron at RAF Leuchars in 1989.
As the name suggests, the special was presented in overall Gloss Black with yellow
squadron markings. Black Mike has been saved from the scrapman and is being prepared
for display this summer at the RAF Cosford museum. I’m guessing it may be on static
display at the airshow.
● Phantom FGR.2 XV499 ‘I’ with No. 23 Squadron at RAF Leeming in 1993 in the low-viz
scheme.
● Phantom FG.1 XV574 ‘B’ with No. 43 Squadron at RAF Leuchars in 1970. The old
camouflage pattern applies to this Phantom.

74 MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL - April 2018

DECALS 153.indd 4 07/03/2018 14:40

 ROYAL AIR FORCE MCDONNELL DOUGLAS FG.1 AND FGR.2 PHANTOMS PT5 (SHEET NO. X72294)
Eight more RAF Phantom schemes to choose from on this great set
of decals.
Phantom FGR.2 XV401 ‘B’ with No. 228 OCU/No. 64 Squadron at RAF
Wattisham in 1987 in the later triple grey low-viz scheme.
● Phantom FGR.2 XV399 ‘P’ with No. 29 Squadron at RAF Coningsby
in 1980. The old camouflage scheme was applied to this Phantom.
● Phantom FGR.2 XV491 ‘491’ with No. 31 Squadron at RAFG
Laarbruch in 1971 in the old scheme.
● Phantom FGR.2 XT903 ‘X’ with No. 56 Squadron at RAF Wattisham
in 1988. This Phantom is in the low-viz scheme with a Signal Red tail
fin that had been zapped with a (sort of) maple leaf by the Canadians.
● Phantom FGR.2 XV418 ‘S’ with No. 92 Squadron at RAFG
Wildenrath in 1979. This Phantom was painted in a rare overall Light
Aircraft Grey scheme.
● Phantom FG.1 XV579 ‘R’ with No. 43 Squadron at RAF Coningsby
in 1979. The finish is the old camouflage scheme with a black and
white chequered rudder.
● Phantom FGR.2 XV406 ‘CK’ with No. 228 OCU at RAF Wattisham in
August 1987 wearing the low-viz grey colours.
● Phantom FGR.2 XV485 ‘P’ with No. 23 Squadron at RAF Wattisham
in 1981 in the low-viz grey scheme.

ROYAL AIR FORCE MCDONNELL DOUGLAS FGR.2 PHANTOMS PT5 (SHEET NO. X72295)
Phantom FGR.2 XV423 ‘R’ with No. 6 Squadron at RAF Coltishall
in 1974 in the old camouflage scheme.
● Phantom FGR.2 XV403 ‘403’ with No. 6 Squadron at RAF Luqa
in Malta in 1969. The original camouflage pattern applies with
full colour roundels and fin flashes.
● Phantom FGR.2 XV422 ‘J/Jaguar Killer’ with No. 19 Squadron
when on detachment at RAF Decimomannu in Sardinia in
1989. The colours are the final three-grey low-viz scheme. This
Phantom accidentally shot down a RAF Jaguar over Germany in
May 1982.
● Phantom FGR.2 XV464 ‘464’ with No. 14 Squadron at RAF
Coningsby in 1974 in the old camouflage pattern.
● Phantom FGR.2 XV401 ‘B’ with No. 228 OCU/No. 64 Squadron
at RAF Wattisham in 1988 in the low-viz colours.
● Phantom FGR.2 XV474 ‘F’ at RAF Aldergrove in 1978. This
Phantom is finished in an experimental scheme of Medium Sea
Grey upper surfaces and Light Aircraft Grey undersides.
● Phantom FGR.2 XV498 ‘U’ with No. 92 Squadron on
detachment at RAF Akrotiri in 1989. The low-viz scheme applies
with a Roundel Blue tail fin.
● Phantom FGR.2 XT891 ‘Z’ with No. 43 Squadron at RAF
Wattisham in May 1978. This Phantom is in the old camouflage
scheme.
● Phantom FGR.2 XT865 ‘U’ with No. 111 Squadron at RAF
Leuchars in 1980. The low-viz scheme carried a zap on the tail
fin applied by Danish Air Force visitors to Leuchars.

USN RESERVE AIR WING 91

(SHEET NO. X48184)
This is another very tightly packed sheet; three of the subjects have come from
the 1:72 sheet with the addition of a Shooting Star. Someone could build a good
display of models from this sheet.
● Grumman TBM-3E Avenger ‘Z-141’ with (VA) Attack Squadrons RAW 91 at NAS
Squantum in 1950. The paintwork is overall Glossy Sea Blue with a wide band of
International Orange around the rear fuselage.
● Chance Vought F4U-4B Corsair ‘Z-55’ with the VF Fighter Squadrons RAW-91
at NSA Weymouth (USA) in 1954. Glossy Sea Blue is the scheme.
● Grumman F9F-6 Cougar ‘7Z-9’ with the VF and VMF Squadrons, RAW-91, NAS
South Weymouth in the early 1960s. This Cougar is branded as belonging to both
the US Navy and Marine Corps. The finish is overall Insignia White with about half
the airframe painted International Orange.
● Lockheed T-33B Shooting Star ‘7Z-088’ Support Squadrons, RAW-91 in the
1960s. This aircraft is carrying both US Navy and Marine Corps wording and is
again finished in overall Insignia White with areas of International Orange.

Thanks to Hannants for supplying their new Xtradecal releases. Keep an eye on
their web site (www.hannants.co.uk) for new releases and reprints of popular
sheets. (Alan Firbank)

Issue 153 - www.modelairplaneinternational.com 75

DECALS 153.indd 5 07/03/2018 14:40

 EVENTS DIARY
Model shows for 2018
17th March 2018
Southern Expo to be held at
Hornchurch Sports Centre, Hornchurch
Sports Centre, Harrow Lodge Park,
Hornchurch Road, Hornchurch, Essex
RM11 1JU. Entry: Adults £3.00,
Children £1 & Senior Citizens £2.
Open Competition (Sunday only) – the
Senior competition is being sponsored
by Models For Sale
(http://www.modelsforsale.com).
Contact: Peter Bashaw.
Tel: 01708 726102.
Email: SouthernExpo@tiscali.co.uk
24th March 2018
Yeovil Model Show 2018 to be held
at Bucklers Mead Academy, Bucklers
Mead Academy, 1 St Johns Road,
Yeovil, BA21 4NH. Ample free parking.
Hot and cold refreshments available.
Free children’s activities.
Contact: Ken Bugler.
Tel: 07759 137000.
Email: yeovilmodelshow@gmail.com
31st March -1st April 2018
“Airfix 24 hour Squadron Scramble”.
Special groups of young modellers
along with modellers from local
model clubs, Air Cadets and other
organisations will be undertaking a
76 MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL - April 2018
EVENT & CONTACTS 153.indd 2
challenge to construct as many Airfix
1:72 Spitfires in a marathon sponsored
24 hour modelling session taking place
from 10.15 am, Saturday 31st March
to 10.15 am Sunday 1st April 2018.
This event is part of the nationwide
celebrations to mark the centenary of
the formation of the Royal Air Force 1st
April 1918 Sponsorship raised will be
shared between The Royal Air Force
Benevolent Fund (RAFBF) and Rainbow
Ward, Children’s Unit, Margate.
Along with the challenge there will
be displays by local model clubs and
groups, including a collection of over
350 1:72 model Spitfires, along with
a collection point for Modelling For
Heroes (any subject, any make of
unmade model kits welcome) model
making charity.
Public entry on Saturday only 10.00am
to 4.30pm at the Hornby Visitor Centre,
Westwood Industrial Estate, Margate,
Kent, CT9 4JX.
Further Information:
Email: visitorcentre@hornby.com
Tel: 01843 233524
12th May 2018
Lancing Model Show to be held at
Lancing Parish Hall, 96 South Street,
Lancing, BN15 8AJ. Doors open to
the Public from 10.00am - 4.00pm.
Free entry, donations welcome. Club
Displays and Exhibits, Competition,
Traders and Refreshments.
Please see
www.lancingmodelshow.org.uk or
email info@lancingmodelshow.org.uk
for further information
Sunday 8th July 2018
North Somerset Modellers Society
Model Show to be held at The
Helicopter Museum, Weston Heliport,
Locking Moor Road, Weston-Super-
Mare, North Somerset, BS24 8PP,
from 10am to 5.30pm. See Museum
website for admission charges. Free
parking, light refreshments only due to
building work. Raffle for a Helicopter
Flight (not on the day) .
For more information please contact:
John Annegarn on 01934417742 or
john.annegarn@sky.com
October 19th - 21st 2018
The Military Miniature Society of
Illinois will host its ‘44th Annual
Chicago Show’ at the Chicago Marriott
Schaumburg. All miniature artists and
enthusiasts are invited! Talented artists
will display their miniature sculptural
art and vendors will fill the hall with
an amazing selection of merchandise
for the hobbyist, artist and collector!
The show will also be filled with the
unparalleled hospitality of our events
(most recently at the last World Model
Expo Chicago last July and the 43rd
MMSI Chicago Show last October).
You an find links to room and exhibit
reservations on the MMSI website,
www.military-miniature-society-of-
illinois.com.
So mark your calendars now, book
your air and train fare and start
planning your next project or product
that you’ll be bringing to Chicago. We
look forward to see you in October.
Hotel: Chicago Marriott Schaumburg
50 N Martingale Road in Schaumburg,
IL. Phone: 847-240-0100. Make your
reservations now with our special
group rate by mentioning MMSI!
Schedule: Vendor & Exhibit areas open
to the public 3 to 8 p.m. Friday and 9
a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. Saturday
activities include a free modeling
seminar, MMSI Figure Auction and
Awards Presentation at 5:30 p.m.
Sunday is a modeling seminar
at 10 a.m..
For More Information, contact Show
Chairman Pat Vess at pat@livezey.net
07/03/2018 14:41
 CONTACTS
✆ ✉
Contact details for companies featured in MAI this month...

Azur/Frrom ICM Holding Revell GmbH Wydawnictwo Stratus s.c.

**See Special Hobby Ltd** Borispolskaya 9, Building 64, Unit 10, Old Airfield Industrial Estate, PO Box 123,
Kiev 02099, Cheddington Lane, 27-600 Sandomierz 1,
Albion Alloys Ukraine Tring Poland
518 Wallisdown Rd, Bournemouth, Tel/Fax: (+380 44) 369 54 12 HP23 4QR Tel: 0-15 833 30 41
Dorset BH11 8PT Email: icm@icm.ua Tel: 0845-459-0747 Email: office@stratusbooks.biz
www.albionhobbies.com Fax: 01296-660041 www.stratusbooks.com.pl
Tel. 0044 1202 511232 Italeri S.p.A Email: ukbranch@revell.de
Fax. 0044 1202 539967 Via Pradazzo 6/B, www.revell.de/en Trumpeter
I-40012 Calderara di Reno, Wa San Development (Macau) Ltd
Creative Models Ltd (Bologna), Revell GmbH & Co., KG Rampa Dos Cavleiros No.9,
Unit 6/10, Honeysome Road Industrial Italy Abteilung X, Block 5, Floor 16, Flat AS EDF,
Estate, Tel: +39 051 72 60 37 Henschelstr 20-30, Jardim Sun Yick Garden,
Honeysome Road, Fax: +39 051 72 64 59 D-32257 Bünde, Macaua
Chatteris, Email: italeri@italeri.com Germany China
Cambridgeshire www.trumpeter.com
PE16 6TG Lela Presse S.A.R.L. Special Hobby Ltd
Tel: +44 (0)1354 760022 29, rue Paul Bert, Mezilesi 718, Wingnut Wings Ltd
Fax: +44 (0)1354 760037 62230 Outreau, Prague 9 193 00, PO Box 15-319,
Email: info@creativemodels.co.uk France. Czech Republic Miramar,
www.creativemodels.co.uk Tel: 03 21 33 88 96 www.cmkkits.com Wellington 6022,
Fax: 03 21 32 00 39 New Zealand
Eduard M.A., www.avions-bateaux.com. www.wingnutwings.com
170 Obrnice, Email: info@avions-bateaux.com.
Obrnice,
435 21, MARK I Ltd.
Czech Republic PO Box 10,
Tel: 420 35 6 11 81 86 CZ-100 31 Prague 10 – Strasnice,
Fax: 420 35 6 11 81 71 Czech Republic
Email: info@eduard.cz Tel: +420-241 765 158

Hannants
Fax: +420-241 765 158
Email: mark1@cmail.cz Available in the ‘HOW TO BUILD...’ series
Harbour Road,
Oulton Broad, Master Model
Lowestoft, 71-126 Szczecin,
Suffolk ul. 26 Kwietnia 49/44,
NR32 3LZ Poland
Tel: 01502 517444 Tel: +48 0 503 072 624
Fax: 01502 500521 Email: info@master-model.pl
www.hannants.co.uk www.master-model.pl

Hasegawa Corporation, Mushroom Model

3-1-2 Yagusu Yaizu, Publications
Shizuoka 425-8711, 3 Gloucester Close,
Japan Petersfield,
Tel: 81 54 6 28 82 41 Hants.
Fax: 81 54 6 27 80 46 GU32 3AX
Tel: +44 (1)1730 265014
Historie & Collections Email: rogerw@mmpbooks.biz
5 avenue de la Ræpublique www.mmpbooks.biz
F-75541
Paris Cédex 11 Pocketbond Ltd.
Tel: 01 40 21 18 20 POCKETBOND
Fax: 01 47 00 51 11 Bachmann Europe PLC
www.historieetcollections.fr Moat Way HOW TO BUILD...
Barwell
The Hobby Company Limited Leics LE9 8EY
Tamiya’s 1:32 Mosquito FB.IV
Garforth Place, Tel 01455 841756 by Brett Green
Knowlhill, info@pocketbond.co.uk
Milton Keynes

Visit www.doolittlemedia.com
MK5 8PH
Tel: 01908 605 686
Fax: 01908 605 666
Email: sales@hobbyco.net
or enquiries@hobbyco.net
www.hobbyco.net

Issue 153 - www.modelairplaneinternational.com 77

EVENT & CONTACTS 153.indd 3 07/03/2018 14:41

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 Subscribe
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s c r i b e To d

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SO WHAT’S PLANNED FOR THE NEXT ISSUE?

ARMED TO THE TEETH… HURRIBOMBER

Delayed from last month, the editor takes an extended look at Wingnut Wings’ Alan Price tells the story of Bert Newman’s Hurricane, as he converts the
Sopwith Dolphin. Airfix 1:48 kit…

CALLING A
SPAD, A SPAD…
Greg Phillips builds the superb
Tamiya 1:48 A-1 Skyraider,
completing it in the attractive colours
of the Vietnamese Air Force.

Issue 153 - www.modelairplaneinternational.com 81

NEXT MONTH 153.indd 3 07/03/2018 14:41

 FINAL THOUGHTS
AVIATION’S ONE-OFFS: UNIQUE AIRCRAFT, UNIQUE MODELS
I
n this issue you will find a little feature on our visit to the ‘Open
Cockpit’ evening at the RAF Museum Cosford. During this event
visitors were able to examine in detail most of the exhibits that
Cosford has on show, many of which are unique, one-off prototypes.
Taking a look at these aircraft, seemingly for the millionth time and
then, this morning, flicking through a copy of International Air Power
Review in which was a feature on the Myasishchev M-50 Bounder, got
me thinking about these aircraft as subjects for models…Interesting,
stunning subjects for models.
Though it could — and often is — argued that service aircraft are
released simply because they are popular money makers for the
companies involved (which I’m firmly in favour of…) I can’t help but
yearn for releases that cover some of the also-rans that litter the history
of aviation. For instance, though I’m a massive fan of the F-18 Hornet,
I would love to see a state of the art kit of the YF-17, the lightweight
aircraft from which the Hornet found faim and a lengthy service
life. Similarly, the Harrier is another aircraft that often captures my
imagination and I can build all manner of service versions, but building
the P1127 or Kestrel is difficult, if not impossible unless I choose to
either convert a large-scale kit, or track down the ancient and extremely
basic Airfix offering.
Of course companies have tackled some of these aircraft over the
“ One-off prototypes are often wonderful aircraft that look great in miniature.
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FINAL THOUGHTS 153.indd 2
years. Recently, HobbyBoss released a 1:48 kit of the sensational-
looking YF-23 Black Widow II, an aircraft that is so beautiful to look at
that you forget that it was designed to compete with the Raptor as the
USAF’s next-generation fighter. Similarly, we’ve seen 1:72 prototypes
from many of the world’s smaller kit companies, the AZ Model SR.53
that we looked at last month being just one such kit. So it’s not all bad,
so long as you are happy with the work that is involved with building
resin or short-run injection moulded kits where the effort needed to
complete the kits is rewarded with models that are as interesting, as
they are unique.
Of course there is another choice should the desire to build one of
these aircraft overwhelm your senses: scratchbuilding. In the IPMS
Scale Model World competition last year there was a wonderful, 1:48
scratch build of the Fairey Delta 2 that you can examine at Cosford. This
was a beautiful model that perfectly captured the look of the aircraft and
showed what was possible from the hands of those with the drive and
determination to have a go at building one of these machines.
One-off prototypes are often wonderful aircraft that look great in
miniature. They may not have the cache of the more famous types, but
there is no doubting that amongst a collection of famous types, they can
certainly stand out! Now, which one-off will you build?
See you next time!
07/03/2018 14:42
 No. 2779

RAF CHINOOK HC.2 CH-47F

SUPER DECALS SHEET FOR 3 VERSIONS - COLOUR INSTRUCTIONS SHEET
The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is one of the most famous heavy-lift helicopters in military aviation history. Characterised by its two-engine tandem rotor
configuration (one over the cabin and one in the tail section), it was specifically developed to meet the U.S. Army’s transportation needs and to replace the
obsolete H-21. The CH-47 Chinook has been manufactured in several versions and it has been in service in many countries all over the world. The CH-47C
was widely used by the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War to perform tactical deployment of troops and equipment. A newer variant CH-47D was developed
on a more robust and reliable airframe and equipped with more powerful engines. The most significant improvements were on the electronics, flight
control systems and avionics. In more recent years, new electronic countermeasure systems have been installed to further enhance operational flexibility.
This version of the CH-47F replicates the version now in service with the RAF

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