AIR Modeller Issue 72 (2017 06 07)

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72 JUNE/JULY 2017 • £6.50 UK $15.99

MENG AIR MODELLER

JUNE / JULY 2017

www.mengafvmodeller.com

CAMEL

F.1

WE BUILD WINGNUT WINGS’ LATEST

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CONTENTS 2

Sopwith Camel Chocks away as the Editor dives straight into the latest Wingnuts release.

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Short Sterling Part 9 Megas Tsonos concludes his scratchbuilt heavy bomber in 1:48.

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Supreme Supermarine Grega Krizman shares his love for Eduard’s 1:48 Spitfire IXc.

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Fab Phantom Zoukei Mura’s 1:48 F4 modelled by Dirk Eikholt.

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The ‘X’ files Florin Claudiu Silaghi details the vintage 1:32 Revell X1.

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Air Borne New releases.

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Double Gloucester John Wilkes converts the 1:32 HKM Meteor.

Meng AIR Modeller is published Bimonthly by AFV Modeller ltd Old Stables East Moor Stannington Northumberland NE61 6ES Tel: 01670 823648 Fax: 01670 820274 email: [email protected] Editor and Designer: David Parker Deputy Editor: Mark Neville Sales Director: Keith Smith

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Meng AIR Modeller welcomes contributions from interested parties, but cannot accept any responsibility for unsolicited material. The contents of this publication including all articles, drawings and photographs originated by AFV Modeller ltd become the publishers copyright under copyright law. Reproduction in any form requires the written consent of the publisher. Whilst every care is taken to avoid mistakes AFV

ISSN 2059-5964

Modeller ltd. cannot be liable in any way for errors or ommissions.

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Sopwith

CAMEL

The Sopwith Camel, the iconic World War One fighter and if my memory serves me correctly, an aircraft Wingnut Wings said they would not model with so many kits of the Camel already available. But who else would do justice to the fighter in 1:32? Happily Wingnut Wings have reconsidered and have now released a grand total of five different Camel kits and a sixth in a duelist twin kit release along with the out of production LVG C.VI. Justice has been done to the Camel by any standards! It has been a little while since I had time to clear my cluttered bench and dive into the modelling pleasure that is a Wingnut Wings kit but the box art on this F.1 “Clerget” with its big fuselage

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F.1

graphics immediately caught my imagination although with a little over two weeks before our print deadline it would need to be a fast moving project! For those unfamiliar with a Wingnut Wings kit it is a simple but brilliant proposition. High quality precision engineered parts with crisp moulding in grey plastic are provided along with a small equally high quality photoetched fret. Cartograf are commissioned to print the highest quality decals you could imagine to allow you a choice of six different schemes and a full colour booklet. The clear and comprehensive nature of the booklet provides all the information, reference and colour guides you will need to construct the model and all you need to provide are the paints and rigging material of your choice.

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WINGNUT WINGS 1:32 “CLERGET” MODELLED BY DAVID PARKER

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The completed cockpit sides with the cabane struts moulded integrally for added strngth.

Above: The basic oil grain effects applied over the brown acrylic base. A coat of transparent Orange is used to enhance the varnished look before it is sealed with satin varnish.

The excellent instrument dial decals fit the dials and look great but are mostly hidden when the top of the cockpit is added.

With both sides of the cockpit added you can see why it is best to pre-paint these parts.

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The cockpit surround is test fitted along with the Vickers Machine guns showing the exact tollerances that the kit is designed to.

Down to work, beginning with the cockpit which is almost a stand alone model and assembles into a well detailed tub that will eventually plug into the two halves of the fuselage. The numerous wood and metal finishes that are indicated in the instructions are best applied before you get too far with the assembly as there simply is not room to work inside when everything is put together. My approach to the cockpit components is to spray a base colour of a mid brown over which oil paint is applied and dragged with a flat brush to create a wood grain effect. It is a quick and effective method and can then be sealed with an acrylic satin varnish. The other metallic details were then picked out using Gunze Mr Metal Color shades and Vallejo Air Black which brush paints superbly and has a great soft satin finnish. Some of the bigger metallic components like the fuel tank and ammunition boxes were sprayed with Alclad colours.

The pilot takes up his cosy position jammed into the cockpit. I used Magic Sculp to secure him in place and once dry he was removed for painting.

From the start of the build I had considered adding a pilot as a change from the usual open cockpit, and as the assembly of the cockpit began after painting I was able to consider some options. Dry fitting the cockpit moulding onto the cockpit tub came as a shock because of the small size of the opening in the moulding. Even without a pilot there was very little visibility for all of the cockpit details. As a consequence I decided not to bother with adding any rigging to the cockpit, and with a potential pilot I did not spend time on the seat area. After testing a few figures I chose one of the sadly out of production Wings Cockpit Figures. He was a tight fit in the opening and I cut off his lower body to position him up under the cockpit moulding which he completely filled. With better planning I could probably have saved myself the time I spent working on the cockpit as it is now obscured by the pilot but it gives I hope a good impression of the cockpit detail on offer in the kit.

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The Clerget engine is superb from the box but I chose to enhance it by replacing the push rods with Albion Alloys aluminium tube. The base of the rods were drilled out and the new rods glued in place followed by the ball connectors at the opposite end. It’s a small enhancement but the new rods are a little thinner and shrpaer than the original plastic ones.

The assembled fuselage now with the breech of the Vickers guns painted and installed

With the cockpit tub complete, at least to suit my requirements, I was able to close the fuselage where there is a big pin to securely locate the tub accurately. I followed the instructions by painting and fitting the tail skid but from there on it continually snagged on everything as I worked on the model and as it is a fragile part I went back and removed it from inside the fuselage which was possible due to the openings top and bottom. Much of the technique with a model like this is working out the best sequence to build and finish the various parts and with the addition of the pilot I needed him painted as well as the surrounding areas of wooden panelling on the fuselage. I used a

The woodgrain pattern is applied using oils over a base colour.

similar technique for the wood as used on the internal parts with a mid brown base and oil colours used to add the woodgrain. Looking at the period photos any indcation of woodgrain on these parts is very subtle so I oversprayed them with a dark brown Vallejo Air colour leaving just a hint of the grain pattern and sealed with satin varnish. The pilot was painted using Lifecolor acrylics along with some subtle oil colour work on the face and he was then glued into place inside the cockpit surround with the putty I added helping to reposition him exactly.

The panels are oversprayed with Vallejo Air brown.

The finished wooden panels with a satin varnish coat applied.

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No priming just straight on with the PC-10!

One of the more tedious jobs is masking the rib tapes on the undersides.

A base coat of Alclad Aluminium is sprayed onto the polished plastic without a primer.

AK True Metal paste is then brushed over and buffed up for a realistic aluminium finish.

Making any further progress with the assembly was now impossible without painting the remaining main components which had all been prepared and items like the undercarriage assembled. For the painting I chose some of the new WW1 colours from the MRP paint range. These colours are ready to spray, extremely airbrush friendly and pleasingly thin yet dense. They will show any flaws in your assembly so you may want to prime, but I just sprayed directly onto the plastic. The paints dry with a finish which allows decals to go straight down which is another advantage especially when time is critical. On the undersides I applied a base of the bleached linen before masking the rib tapes and overspraying with doped linen. It is a high contrast effect which was reduced by misting over the tape strips when the masking is removed. One of the challenges of this particular aircraft is the turned finish applied to the metal cowlings and something I wanted to try and recreate. I began by preparing the metal areas by buffing and

polishing the bare plastic parts as much as I could without damaging the rasied details. I sprayed a coat of Alclad Aluminium over these and then I applied a coat of AK Interactive True Metal Aluminuim. This was buffed using my finger tips and cotton buds to give an ultra-real aluminium finish. Before I moved on I carried out some tests on one of the spare engine cowlings from the kit which I had prepared to the same finish. I tried various different metallic finishes to create the turned patterns but I found Vallejo metallic acrylic Aluminium colour gave the best results. Then I simply had to paint the dots of Vallejo across the cowlings in a neat pattern, a process which took 4 hours to complete. Just as I was feeling pleased with the look of the cowlings disaster struck when I removed the fuselage masking. Parts of the top layers of the wood panels lifted off with the tape. It was lifting as a kind of skin and I was able to peel off the remaineder of the paint to at least have a uniform surface to repair. I masked the wooden panels and resprayed them so that they

The completed effect needs considered weathering as the True Metal finish will be dissolved by certain thinners. 6

Individual dots of Vallejo Aluminium were brush painted over the cowlings.

The high contrast look of the lower wing is toned down by misting MRP-257 over the stripes.

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Unexpectedly the masking tape caused damage to the wood panels on the fuselage.

Fortunately the remaining paint could be peeled off and the panels restored

Rather than mask the overlap of the topside colour I brush painted the strip using Lifecolor.

looked as they had done previously. When I then removed the masking along the demarkation with the cowlings I discoverd that many of my dots of aluminium had lifted off with the tape as well. I had no choice but to repaint these to restore the cowlings. Sealing the cowlings may well have prevented this but would also have degraded the realism of the metalic finish. After this the decals were applied without a problem and the parts of the aircraft except the cowlings were given a coat of Vallejo satin varnish. I used oil paints to discolour the markings and given them a less stark clean appearance. I carefully fitted the top front cowling followed by the pilot and his section of fuselage, test fitting these to avoid any problems with gaps at this stage.

The engine had been given a base of Alclad at the same time as I painted the the cowlings and then the other colours were brush painted over this using a mix of Gunze Mr Metal color and Vallejo acrylic Metal Color. It was weathered using oil paints remembering that these early engines were notorious for the large

quantities of oil they threw out. With this in mind I used the excellent Vallejo Engine Oil Stains to airbrush the lower edges of the fuselage and cowlings and most especially the underside of the fuselage where the oil is blown back down the fuselage causing staining. i also used the same Vallejo paint to spatter oil stains on the engine firewall.

The discoloured markings and the oil staining on the lower edges of the fuselage taking shape.

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The gun sight and windscreen were both painted and weathered individually before they were fitted. the ends of the sight were also drilled out to improve its appearance.

Before the top wing was installed I added the rigging between the cabane struts using elastic EZ Line while they were easy to access.

The engine was fitted at last, although with time running short I chose not to wire up the spark plugs on each cylinder.

The machine gun barrels were fitted next they have a great snug locator pin so the sit true. My only modification was to drill out the ends of the barrels.

Before fixing the upper wing I drilled out part A56 and threaded it on a EZ line between the Cabane location points

Above Once the upper wing is in place I was able to thread another line through the lower holes in A56 and tension them to correctly position A56 abover the guns. Left the extensive oil staining on the underside of the fuselage. Below When gluing the top wing I managed to drip glue onto the wing. Fortunately MRP paints assisted in blending in a reasonable repair!

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The base brown has been grained with oil paints.

Tamiya clear Orange is oversprayed and polished when dry and the decals applied

Several coats of Future are applied and polished again and the hub is painted.

A little bit of planning will help ease some of the pain that is rigging! I rigged the Cabane struts first while it was easy to reach them and I pre-glued the wires into the lower wing so that the fixings at the other ends would be on the underneath of the upper wing and any mistakes less visible. I used the eleastic EZ line which I find is quite forgiving of my attempts to persuade it to stick and I like the finished appearance so there is no need to paint it. In comparison to most British designs of the time the Camel is fairly minimally

The tail rigging is the most complex area - I used a mix of regular and Gel CA glue to secure the elastic lines depending on the situation.

The undercarriage was pre-weathered before it was and rigged up.

rigged but does feature a testing cross over line arrangement above the guns. The benefit of the elastic line here is that it allowed me to tension this so that the central connector was properly positioned. When you have not done this for a while it is technique that does improve with work, and by the time I tackled the complex tail rigging I had relaxed and become quite casual about the process! I did not fit and rig the undercarriage until the rest of the rigging was complete as it is most helpful if the fuselage sits flat.

Once again the absence of the tail skid was a help in applying the rigging but once this was done it was refitted.

The dusty wheels are installed at last.

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Sopwith

CAMEL

F.1

So at the conclusion of an ambitious 11day build and hindered along the way by my own frequent mistakes how does the Camel look and feel? Well its a remarkably good-looking little aircraft which I find catches the eye with its powerful nose and compact wingspan. Wingnut Wings have an enviable reputation for kits which fall together and the Camel is no exception. I used no filler

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during my build and there are not many kits you can say that about! I like a bit of a challenge and in this case it was the turned finish of the cowlings which I think have been quite successful in replicating the look. I am pleased the Wingnut Wings have decided to release the Camel and we can only hope for some of the other ‘big name’ fighters like the Fokker Dr.1?

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SHORT STIRLING

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part nine MEGAS TSONOS CONCLUDES HIS SCRATCHBUILT PROJECT

On the wing undersurfaces of the Stirling Mk.Is the oil leaking from the oil coolers (located inside the wings between the engines) was making enormous staining. The situation was made better after the introduction of the Mk.III into service when the oil coolers were relocated under the engines. On the model, I used enamel gloss varnish to simulate the leaking oil. I directed the ‘leaking oil’ towards the fuselage as a result of the wing dihedral.

Oil dripping from the engines on the tyres was (and still is on certain types) a common thing seen on aeroplanes, the Stirling being no exception. This was done with a mixture of black artist’s oil and enamel gloss varnish, applied carefully with a fine brush.

With the aid of a small brush I made the paint scuffing and chipping caused by the ground crews stepping on the wing surfaces using Mr. Metal Color 218 Aluminium.

The fuselage roundel outer yellow circle was initially painted as a disk; then a decal roundel was applied over it. This helped weathering the yellow ring alongside the surrounding area which added to the realism of the whole roundel. Other decals used were the fuselage code letters, the fin flash, and the serial number, all coming from Xtradecal.

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The correct positioning of the fuselage roundel, codes and numbers owed everything to the faultless locating and scribing of the stringers and upper longerons (in itself a must). The dimensions of the letters and the diameter of the roundels were clearly specified in the Air Ministry Orders of the period; when correctly applied at Squadron level (exceptions do exist), they leave no allowance for errors on the part of the modeller.

As with every aeroplane, the Stirling had its own stencil data, much of it passing almost unseen in the black and white photos. I approached the matter from two directions; the first was to make the readily seen stencilling as appeared in the contemporary photos, and the second was to apply some more, technically guessing that it was there. I used custom made dry transfers, in an effort to do away with the decal film and the possible silvering that goes with it.

The fuel tanks were numbered, their number being stencilled in white. I also included a fuel octane and capacity stencil in black.

The well-known stencil (apparent in most fabric-covered control surfaces) and in this photo the one painted on the rudder, along with a photo of the real one.

The topside of the aileron is a white line, probably denoting the positioning of a protractor to check the aileron angle of movement.

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This is the starboard aileron underside and the stencil as duplicated on the model.

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A sealing compound (or tape for that reason) was applied to some fuel tank access panels. Not all panels on a single plane were thus treated, and it was not common to all planes. It added more technical interest to my model so I included it as well. It was done by masking over the already weathered topsides; I airbrushed a medium grey colour which when dry was weathered accordingly. The fuel tanks which were located in the flap recesses were painted in a reddish shade of black to differentiate them from the rest of the wings. This was done shortly after the painting of the wings. I mattvarnished the tanks the same time as the wings and added some shading with dry pastels.

Lighting the cockpit helped to bring out the less visible details and help the viewer to more clearly get the sense of the depth of the fuselage. I avoided scale lighting as I considered it was out of purpose. Additional lighting was added to the lower compartment so the detailed nose section could be seen from the opened emergency exit and the bomb aimers’ windows. A CR2032 3V dc battery and an on/off switch are encapsulated in a small container which can be plugged to two almost invisible holes and to a socket, located below the port horizontal stabilizer fillet. All equipment including the LEDs was purchased from www.smallscalelights.co.uk ([email protected]).

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EPILOGUE The construction of the Stirling spanned 23 months. It was a rewarding build with a few setbacks during the process. As these lines were written and the finished model was photographed for this most detailed account, small corrections were still being worked on. As a model of such a large aircraft, the Stirling was always asking for more, and the best of my ability was sometimes not enough; not in terms of difficulties faced, but in the quantity and quality of the work that went into it. Weighing close to 2.5 pounds or 1.1 kilos, it was at times quite tiresome to handle in one hand and work with the other. Thankfully its hefty brass-based structure prevented parts cracking (or breaking away altogether) during the build. As is the case with all scratchbuilt models, I ‘stopped’ it rather than ‘finished’ it and you can always add something here or there. This long term build finally came to a happy end. In this construction I tried to achieve, in scale, not only what the Short Stirling looked like, but to breathe on my model the aura of aeroplane technology of a bygone era. If I succeeded, then this model is a tribute to the people who built and maintained her, as well as to the men that went to war in her, many of them destined to pay the ultimate price in doing so.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to record my appreciation for the considerable help, which I have received from the R.A.F. Museum Department of Research and Information Services, for the manual extracts and drawings of the Short Stirling, which I was provided with. Also, to Mr. Michael Skoularikos and Mr. Yiannis Sagiadinos; their valuable expertise in their respective fields of occupation is a great asset to the conduct of my work.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Short Stirling remembered, Wingspan Publications 1974. 2. The Stirling File, Bryce Gomersall, Air Britain/ Aviation Archaeologists Publications, 1979. 3. The Stirling Bomber, Michael J.F. Bowyer, Faber & Faber Ltd., 1980. 4. Short Stirling in Action, Ron Mackay, Squadron/ Signal Publications No1096, 1989. 5. Stirling Wings, Jonathan Falconer, Sutton Publishing, 1997. 6. The Stirling Story, Michael J.F. Bowyer, Crecy Publishing Ltd., 2002. 7. Stirling in Combat, Jonathan Falconer, Sutton Publishing, 2006. 8. Short Stirling, Warpaint No15, Alan W. Hall. 9. The Aeroplane Bomber Command Special Souvenir Issue, August 2002. 10. The Aeroplane Magazine: Collectors’ Archive Series: British Bombers of WWII, 2011.

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11. Remember the Stirling (DVD), Bryan Harris, DD Home Entertainment, 2007.

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MEGAS TSONOS’S SCRATCHBUILT

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y first modelling related memory is building a Matchbox Spitfire with my dad when I was about five years old. I remember admiring dad’s patience and the finished model, which survived intact for about half an hour before being destroyed in an “accident” caused by me. My dad eventually quit scale modelling but I was infected by then and took up this hobby later on in my life.

M

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In my opinion Eduard’s Spitfire Mk.IX is one of the top five kits ever produced in 1:48 scale. Even built OOB, the amount of detail is just incredible. But I’ve decided to go ‘full monty’ on this kit, with flaps, engine, radio compartment and gun bays opened. Offerings from Aires (Cockpit and gun bays), Brassin (engine and radio compartment) Eduard (PE flaps) were chosen for this build, as well as some HGW seatbelts and Department of correction spinner and blades. Armed with a great reference WWP book it was time to start this build.

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SUPERMARINE

SPITFIRE

One of the best 1:48 aircraft kits ever? Grega Križman thinks so.

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The build started with cleaning resin parts and cutting out all the openings where they would eventually go. I cracked on with interior, with Aires cockpit and Brassin radio compartment. Brassin (Eduard’s in house resin production) set fitted perfectly into fuselage, but Aires cockpit proved a bit more difficult as some sanding and cutting was required to set it in place. After priming the interior parts with Mr. Surfacer 1000, cockpit was sprayed with Mr. Color C364 Aircraft gray green and the radio compartment with Alclad ALC101 Aluminum. Wires, boxes and other cockpit parts were then picked out with Vallejo acrylics and washed with different MIG

panel line washes. (dark grey for metal and green brown for gray-green). Just when I was about to glue the fuselage together, I’ve decided to add even more details, so some of the access panels were cut out and inside details were produced using lead wire and thin strips of plastic card. Wing assembly followed, I spent most of the time thinning down the kit plastic in order to fit the resin parts correctly. After that, the installation of the Aires gunbays was straightforward. Flaps proved a bit more of a challenge as the brass parts are extremely delicate and fragile. With the wings done, I could move on to the engine. Engineprovides the complete Rolls Royce

engine with main engine mountings, cowling and it is packed with details. One could easily display it on its own as the detail is just incredible. Still, there were some wires and piping missing and this was created using lead wire. I disregarded the instructions and glued the firewall and engine mounts at this stage of the build instead at the end and I regretted it later as I had real hard time matching the engine to the mounts. Sometimes it is smart to follow the instructions! Final construction was a breeze as no filler and just a minimal amount of sanding was required.

Resin cockpit and radio compartment are easy to install, although some trimming was needed. They were glued with 5minute epoxy, which gives enough time for minor adjustments.

Completed radio equipment is almost invisible when installed.

Completed instrument panel, a combination of resin and pre-painted photo etched parts.

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Some of the access panels were opened. After thinning the plastic part paper thin, Eduard photo etched parts , plastic rods and lead wires were used to build the inside details.

Photo etched flaps proved to be the hardest part of the entire build.

Brassin RR engine was a pleasure to build. Some extra wiring was added to enhance it even more.

Department of Correction resin spinner with all 176 rivets

A coat of primer is used to check any imperfections and ensure proper adhesion of the following layers of paint.

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I decided not to use kit markings, so Gunze H74 sky was sprayed as a base.

And white (C62)for under roundel decals. White under decals prevents the possibility of underlying camouflage to bleed through the decal.

Masks were cut out from Tamiya masking sheet.

Mr.Color CS RAF Standard color set was sprayed freehand using airbrush with 0.2mm nozzle.

Leading edge ID stripes were sprayed at the end. After masking, it is essential to spray a coat of white before final yellow otherwise the camouflage colours will bleed through.

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Brassin engine painted and weathered ready for installation, a major focal point of the finished model.

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Kit decals performed great with some Micro sol help.

HGW wet transfers require a bit more work than standard decals, but the end results are well worth it!

at the end, individual panels were highlighted using base color lightened with white.

I decided to build Spitfire flown by Otto Smik, CO of B Flight, No. 312 (Czechoslovak) Squadron. The camouflage and marking of this Spitfire is typical for No. 312 Squadron. The unit badge is painted on both sides of the engine cowling, and the Czechoslovak national insignia under the canopy. Vintage photos do not show the rudder. MJ296 could have had both the rounded or pointed types. I’ve decided to go with the later, as it just looked better to my eye. After coat of Mr. Surfacer 1000 as a primer I could start with painting. I choose not to use kit decal

markings and ID band, so I cut masks out of the masking tape and sprayed them. I also sprayed white under where the roundels would eventually be placed to prevent camouflage paint bleeding through decals as they looked really thin. For camouflage I used Mr. Color RAF range of paints – only available as a set (CS684). I lightened them with a bit of white for a scale effect and sprayed them freehand using 0.2 mm nozzle on my airbrush. Final airbrushing was done spraying lighter shades of base camouflage colors in the center of the panels to disrupt the

uniformity of the paint. Being semi gloss, there was no need for clear coat before decals. The only decals used were the roundels and serial number, all the stencils came from HGW. Called Wet transfers, they are essentially decals with carrier film placed over the stencil data removed after stencil dries out. You are left with painted on appearance as there is no carrier film left on the model as with regular decals. They do require some extra work and time, however the end result is miles ahead of regular decals.

A coat of semi gloss clear is essential prior to any weathering.

Small scratches were made using watercolor pencils.

Coat of Mr.Paint semimatt clear was sprayed before washes were applied. First step in weathering was adding small metal chips using a 0/10 brush and Vallejo Air Aluminium paint. Second step was applying washes; Mig Blue grey for undersides and Dark Green grey and Deep grey for the upper sides. Third step was producing small scratches (ones that didn’t go all the way to the metal) using various

watercolor pencils. And the final step was recreation of dirt, fuel and grime stains, using pigments and washes (MIG Dark brown and Engine grime) With main assembly completed, It was time to finish small parts, wheels, cabin transparencies, cabin door, guns and fantastic looking propeller from Department of Correction. They were glued on to the model with CA Gel glue.

Vallejo Model air aluminum and fine pointed brush was used to create metal chipping.

I really enjoyed this build, actually so much that I bought another Eduard’s Spitfire as this one is going to grace my dad’s living room. And I have to thank my modeling friend “Pepa” Blažek for providing me fantastic reference photos of Czech spitfire being restored.

General dirt and grime is applied for the most worn areas.

IPunched out the rear view mirror from kitchen foil.

Two shades of washes (Mig 1602 and 1608) are used for the upper surfaces, one for the lower one (Mig 1613). Remove the excess wash with dry cotton swab after 15 minutes.

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SUPERMARINE

SPITFIRE

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modelled by Dirk Eickholt

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Z

oukei-Mura (Z-M) presented this kit last year and had a special offer at Scale Model World.

Z o u k e i - M u r a ’s

Since there are already good 1:48 Phantom kits

on the market, I was curious what, if anything, they could have done better. I didn’t want to do the box-art aircraft NG-100 "Showtime 100". It's a nice scheme and the particular F-4 has an interesting history. I decided to another Vietnam war F-4J with a less glorious story. It's the WT-10, BuNo 155811 from the VMFA-232 "Red Devils". 155811 was the only Marine jet shot down by MiGs during the Vietnam war. It was downed by NVAF MiG21 ace Nguyen Duc Soat with an Atoll AAM on Aug 26 1972. Crew of pilot 1LT Sam Cordova and RIO 1LT D L Borders. Lt.Cordova spoke to U.S. aircraft in the area over his survival radio while safely parachuting from his aircraft. He later radioed that he had fallen into a ravine and heard his pursuers approaching. According to a member of Cordova's squadron, Sam Cordova's last transmission stated that he was going to be captured if he wasn't picked up immediately.

PHANTOM

Cordova's backseater was rescued, but rescue attempts for Cordova were hampered because of heavy ground fire. Sam's emergency radio beeper was traced to Ban Na Ca Tay, a Viet Cong village. Attempts to contact him through the device failed. This seemed clear indication that Cordova was captured, but he was classified Missing in Action (later KIA). I didn’t only want to use a different scheme, but also use some aftermarket goodies. Z-M offered some add-ons, but I thought I would try to use photoetch and Resin parts designed for the Hasegawa/Academy kits instead. Wish me luck! 31

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Starting off with the ejector seats I had to

foot rest. But the more interesting parts for

instrument panels I took the lazy option

decide what to do about the missing seat

me came with the Eduard set # FE712 and

and used the decals provided in the kit.

belts. Z-M didn’t´t provide any. So, either

49712. The pre-coloured panels for the

They are from Cartograf and need decal

Eduard PE ones or the HGW ones. I

cockpit were used and just received a

setter, especially over the raised detail. I

decided on the later. The HGW PE parts

slight dark grey wash so the colour would

used my trusty eight year old bottle of Mr.

are very small and it's not easy to see how

match with the rest of the cockpit. I only

Mark Softer. A layer of matt varnish and a

they are going to be attached to the seat

used the ones for the starbord RIO cockpit

little dry brushing finished the job.

but the finished effect is good. Different

(circuit breaker panel) and 2 for the middle

I also used the rails that are both left and

sizes of lead wire and some spare decals I

console

right on the front cockpit from the Eduard

found were added to the seats to make

What Z-M have done is supply two sets of

set #49712.

them look busy.

instrument panels and starboard side

Now I encountered my first problem, to get

The front gear as well received a fair

panels for the RIO cockpit. So you either

the cockpit into the fuselage. In my case it

amount of wires in different sizes. My

build a J version before AFC-506

wouldn’t fit as it should. I had to sand

favourite paint of choice for the white areas

(Airframes change) or after. The

some thickness away from the sidewalls of

was Alclad white primer. A slight oil wash

instructions only show you how to build the

the cockpit. The problem, which I figured

completed this step before heading on to

pre AFC-506 version. (Bureau numbers

out way afterwards, was that I hadn´t

the cockpit. The cockpit was painted with

158355 upwards are after AFC-506 with

taken care to fit the walls of the front wheel

Model Air Dark Grey. Now was the time to

the controller mounted in the center).

well perfectly together. Since the cockpit is

use some of the aftermarket products.

Now since I had no intention to scrape the

placed on top of the wheel well the fit was

From the Eduard PE set # 49712 I used the

nice details away that Z-M put on the

tight into the fuselage.

As a side step I built the engine which came with the kit. The engine stand is built out of The kit’s cockpit is good but as always, benefits by some aftermarket seat belts and extra detailing.

parts that Z-M also provide. Here I added some wiring and plumbing. Not having the second engine installed and one exhaust now missing, I got new ones from Eduard, designed for the Hasagawa kit. They are a touch smaller than the Z-M versions, but too slight to be noticed and fitted well. Getting the fuselage together was, besides the small problem with the cockpit, an easy task. It came together very nicely without any seams that needed to be filled. Also the underside was a great fit to the fuselage. Everything went well until I went to

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attach the outer wings.

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Full engines and ducting are a nice feature of the kit and everything fits well.

The outer-wings should have an angle of

added a much overlooked detail. The

With the use of photos I found and book

12 degrees, relative to the main wing. This

shortening rods or shrink link/shrink rod you

about the Marines F-4s in Vietnam, I came

didn’t look correct. I had to sand away

see on every Phantom, but not on every

up with Mk82, Napalm and Zunis. The

around 2mm from the outer wing so that I

model. Their main purpose was to limit the

Bombs and the Napalm are from Eduard,

could attach them with the correct angle

extension of the oleo with the weight off

together with the MER/TER. The pylon for

resulting in some lost detail. I discussed it

the wheels. So the torque links don't over-

the outer MER is scratch built. Same with

with a good friend, then other modellers;

centre and collapse against the oleo leg

the Zuni tubes. Here I used pen ink refills.

we all came to the conclusion that the

on landing as the weight comes back

angle is indeed slightly out when studying

on. It also keeps the tyre and lower

the real F-4.

oleo in proper alignment, or

With all the ‘big’ parts assembled I started

orientation when extended.

with the landing gear. Its nicely detailed but

Having the landing gear

I used wheels from Eduard designed for

done, I had to decide what

the Hasegawa kit but with a Dremel you

load this bird will get.

can open up the hole so they fit to the Z-M

Scanning the internet

struts. I added some more wiring and

this seems to be a

placards I found in the spares box. I also

can of worms.

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For the upper surfaces I decided to use Lifecolor Light Dull Grey UA 025. The underside is painted with Alclad white primer. The topside received, prior to the final light grey, a dark grey base with a white mottling effect to avoid a lifeless and flat finish. Before applying the decals a fine coat of Alclad Aqua Gloss was sprayed on. The decals I used came from Furball, the kit sheet and the wet transfer stencils from HGW. Since I wanted to represent a certain Phantom I used the suitable ones from Furball. The kit decals I used performed very well. The HGW wet stencils (the carrier film is removed after setting) were a first for me and presented a learning curve. I Finally used two sets, developing a technique that worked for me. My advice would be to use hot water, patience and time. It took me around five days to get them all on but I was very pleased with the end results.

HGWs ‘wet’ transfer system was eventually mastered! The sheer amount of stencils made this a lengthy process.

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Finally, the whole model got a layer Alclad Aqua Gloss mixed with a drip (!) Model Air Dark Yellow 71.025 to tone down the white radome, flaps and rudder and also to give the whole surface a subtle variance. The panels and rivets received an oil wash, a mixture of white, black and brown heavily diluted.

Oil paint washes stand-out well against the white undersides and add to the delicate detail of the pylons.

The same wash mixture was used for the streaking on the underside. The area around the exhaust was first painted with Alclad aluminium and enhanced with Uschi van der Rosten metallic powder. The last bits and pieces were the canopies, ladder (scratch built) and the refueling probe. This one was slightly modified and received an additional hydraulic arm. All in all this is a good, enjoyable kit. With all the unused parts on the sprues (for the "S" and "B" version), Zoukei-Mura will release additional variants soon. I hope they correct the outer wings with the release of the new variants as, apart from this small detail, there’s very little to complain about.

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fter the euphoria that comes with finishing another model vanished I sat and thought about what I should do next. One day earlier the choice was between a Romanian MiG 29 and a Spitfire Mk.IXc. They say that when two fight the third wins, so the contest was finally won by a Bell X-1. I wanted to build one for a long time and its time had come. I could only hope that I would finish it well and it would not take too long.

A

On 14 October 1947 Captain Charles “Chuck” Yeager was the fastest man on earth when he reached the speed of 1127 km/h (700 m/h) in his Bell X-1 nicknamed "Glamorous Glennis", in honour of his wife. Three X-1 planes were built. The plane that broke the speed record, is on display at the National Air & Space Museum in Washington D.C. The second plane, which was later modified and renamed X1-E, is on display at Edwards AFB. The third plane exploded on the ground in 1951 and was destroyed.

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This model required a lot of work, especially a lot of scratch-built work in the cockpit. The interior needed the most work because what Revell offered in the kit was basic and gave me a lot of headaches when I tried to bring it closer to reality. In the cockpit I modified the instrument panel that lacked some detail with the help of the Airscale bezels and Airscale dial decals, based on many photos. The control yoke could only be described as a joke, but after a lot of work and scratch-building it looked a lot better. I rebuilt the back rest and I added the canvas cover for the control yoke cables. The side panel also received some small additions. The most obvious visual improvement were the RB Productions seatbelts, which represented the focal point of this otherwise sparse cockpit. The cockpit detail was completed

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with the help of a decal sheet by MH Models that produced the most comprehensive sheet of X-1 stencils. All the exterior panel lines of the model were entirely rescribed. The exhaust area was modified also. I wonder why Revell left it like that and did not improve it in the second iteration of the kit. The piece that was meant to represent the exhausts was smaller than the opening where it was supposed to fit, so I replaced it with a piece of styrene cut to the necessary dimensions, to which I added the original kit exhausts. The end result looks exactly as it should. I changed the Pitot tube with one that I made from hypodermic needles. The wheels were coated with Tamiya Epoxy Putty in order to bring them to the profile used on this type of plane.

Afterwards I concentrated on the landing gear leg, on which I replaced the axle, and then I modified the main landing gear in order to replicate the real thing. The interior of the model was painted with Model Master paint. For the exterior I used a mix of 60% Humbrol 62 and 40% Humbrol 46 and a few drops of Italian Red. The model was coated with Gunze H 30 gloss clear varnish. The decals were provided by the MH Models sheet and for the national insignia and the serial number I used the kit decals. The entire model was sealed with Gunze Mr. Hobby 181 acrylic varnish. A small aircraft requiring a lot of work to bring it up to my standards!

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new releases

Wingnut Wings ‘The Duellists’ Sopwith F.1 Camel & LVG C.VI

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If you’re a fan and collector of the WNW range this new release in the exciting ‘Duellists’ series offers the chance to bag one of the early kits, which has been long out-of-production, the LVG C.VI, and one of their brand new Sopwith F.1 Camels both boxed together with rather splendid packaging. Wingnuts always do the homework and research and the ‘duel’ in question took place on 9th October 1918 when two Clerget engined camels of the Australian Flying Corps set off on a special mission only to encounter an LVG of Flieger Abteilung 13 on a reconnaissance flight behind enemy lines. New decals are supplied to create either of the Camels (similar schemes to the Editor’s project in this very issue) and the LVG of Sgt. Greyer and Lt. Kohnke in the excellent light wood fuselage and lozenge-pattern wings. The lozenge patterns are supplied as decals and you may want to source some of the excellent wood grain decals available through several aftermarket companies. As well as the four large decal sheets there’s a small photoetched fret and we’re always so

impressed with WNW instruction manuals, more like a softback book they’re packed with colour illustrations and historical images to allow even the most novice of Great War enthusiasts an excellent understanding of the subjects. The quality of Wingnut Wings design and moulding has stayed constantly superb over the years setting standards very high and satisfying the needs of the most demanding modellers Worldwide, only rigging material is absent from the package, most modellers having their own preference (look back though our numerous full-features or our Guide to Wingnut Wings book for simple tutorials). A mightily impressive package combining these two beautiful kits, it could be time to treat yourself! Our thanks to Wingnut Wings for our samples. Go to www.wingnutwings.com where you can buy direct via Weta Workshop who are also part of the New Zealand network of companies.

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Revell 1:32 Spitfire Mk.IXc Any Spitfire from any major manufacturer is going to attract attention, and in turn a fair amount of flack due to the army of fans and wealth of information available. We built the first incarnation of this large-scale spit’ when it was first released several years back and remember it wasn’t without it’s faults which have been discussed at length ever since. Something not to forget though, with or without a few corrections and tweaks here and there, the finished kit is a pretty impressive model by any standards if given a nice paint and weathering job. It would be unfair to compare the Tamiya Mk.IXc to this kit, yes, the Tamiya kit has gained legendary status but is three to four times the price of this new Revell release. New parts are obviously included to create this version and moulding is very nice throughout; very typical of Revell’s newer toolings with some nice finesse in places

and good levels of detail. Separate control panels include option tail and stabilisers for early and late versions and nicely rendered optional bombs and racks. At around 150 parts this is a swift and simple build with levels of detail throughout which will please most modellers and generally regarded good for overall shape. If you want to go the detail route many aftermarket upgrades are available for the original MkIIA and dealing with the heavy rivet detail on the fuselage is no big deal (look back to our build of the MkIIA kit in issue 54). Revell decals are always top-quality (usually by Cartograf)and two marking schemes are offered, RAF 601 Squadron, Fano, Italy 1944 and RCAF, Tangmere 1944. Very good throughout and outstanding value. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model stores. For details visit www.revell.de/en

MRP Scribers Manufacturers of the excellent MR.Paint range have produced these very useful and reasonably priced scribing tools, ideal for the inevitable re-working of surface details and additional panel lines. The black handle produces a narrow 0.16mm ‘cut’ with constant square edges and bottom, the blue handle is a wedge shape producing a ‘V’ cut with a 0.4mm gap at the wide end. The red handled tool is a general, fine pointed scriber for precision line work. These are an excellent addition to the workbench and perform precisely for constant width cuts in both plastic and resin and should last a lifetime if treated properly (not used to open crusty old tins of enamel!). www.mrpaint.sk has more details on their excellent range.

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Revell 1:48 Junkers Ju88 A-4 A welcome re-box of ICM’s tasty Ju88 is out from Revell with the A4 version being a popular variant. It appears from the way the kit is packed the moulding is still produced by ICM and simply repacked by Revell with new-style (very nice) instructions and new decals. As this is a new tooling from ICM anyway the quality is first rate, clean and sharp detail with good surface detail throughout and well designed parts breakdown with a reported better build than other manufacturers’ 1:48 Ju88s. This is one of those kits that should keep most modellers happy with multi-part cockpit, two full Jumo 211 engines, detailed wheel wells and landing gear and separate control surfaces. The design of the upper and lower

wing parts allows for a good sturdy support to aid with everything lining up correctly and separate nacelles and panels wrap around the engines to allow plenty choices with your final display. Reveal re-boxes inevitably offer some new quality decal options, Cartograf have printed this sheet with two options of the typical RLM 70 /71 upper splinter scheme Stab I/KG51 ‘Edelweiss’ and 12./KG1 ‘Hindenburg’. Decals are excellent including stencils rounding off a excellent value Revell re-box. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model stores. For details visit www.revell.de/en

x

Defense Now; Russian Military Air Power Today Piotr Butowski / Salvador Mafé Huertas Published by Pla Editions Softback format, 160 pages. ISBN 97884 946221703 www.plaeditions.com www.facebook.com/DefenseNowBooks

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New from Pla Editions in Spain is this bang up-to-the-minute book which focusses on the might of Russia's air power from sources both inside and outside Russia. After many years of decline the book outlines the steps taken to restore Russia's air power featuring the order of battle and a very comprehensive gallery of serving aircraft including a chapter detailing air operations recently in Syria. Further chapters focus on specific

machines including Il-76, Mi-28N, PAK FA and T-160. This book is really well presented and absolutely packed with some superb photography; mostly images of the 'full' aircraft but close-ups also offering good detail reference, especially for weathering and camouflage colours. An excellent general overview and a musthave for modern Russian aircraft modellers, look out for more to follow in the series.

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Barracuda Studios “When ‘Good Enough’ isn’t Good Enough” states Barracuda’s packaging, and obviously Monogram’s B-1B Lancer just isn’t up to scratch for these guys with a bumper selection of beautiful upgrades in 1:72. Starting with the largest set BR72298 providing two rear nacelles, two styles of oil cooler, four late burner cans, two wing root corrections, two APU exhaust ducts, four flame holders, guide vanes and radius rods. Moving up front of the B1B is set BR72300 with two nacelles, two intake fairings, boundary layer faces, compressor faces, baffles and intake

doors. The quality of the masters and casting of the resin is superb, beautifully crisp and clean with delicate detail and waferthin edges. It doesn’t stop there; BR72296 is a nose and tail correction set for late aircraft and BR72301 which provides an accurate wing glove set to deal with the gaps created if the wings are posed swept forward. Finally for your small scale Lancer is a wheel set featuring superb detail with accurate tyre tread pattern and a set of self adhesive painting masks. www.barracudacast.com

Revell 1:100 SH-60 Navy Helicopter Now we have no bias towards certain scales; beautiful models are beautiful models whatever the scale or size, indeed some of our 1:72 features could easily pass for larger scales such is the skill of some modellers. 1:144 and 1:100 scales used to be reserved for giants such as B-52s and the likes but there's a growing market for these 'braille-scale' miniatures. Here Revell have popped their neat little Sea Hawk (first released in the '90s and perhaps originally an Accurate Miniatures tooling?) into a new box with new

decals which hints at the popularity of their range of rotor aircraft in this scale. As you'd expect, with around 50 parts this is a simple kit and cleanly moulded but as with most helicopters some photoetched finesse goes a long way, we're not sure of any upgrades available for this kit. Decals are finely printed providing two US Navy schemes from 2009. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model stores. For details visit www.revell.de/en

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new releases

Italeri 1:48 H-21C Shawnee 'Flying Banana'

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The H-21 is never going win any beauty contests (and didn't!) but there's something undoubtedly appealing about it's quirky design and fans of early rotor-powered aircraft are going to love this brand new kit from Italeri. The first impressions are that this allnew tooling is typical of the brand, simple construction to allow more novice builders the chance of finishing a good replica or a basis for the detail junkies to work with. Four large grey sprues (two of which are duplicates) fill the box along with the clear glazing and some photoetch which is a welcome extra. Decals come on a large sheet and are very nicely produced. The banana is split (!) vertically providing two rather large fuselage halves to join, panel and fastener detail is pretty sharp albeit a touch overscale and by no means complete, the airframe is heavily covered in rivets on the actual aircraft. Optional tail parts are included for different versions. Assembly starts as usual with the cockpit and interior which is all there including bulk-heads, radio gear and rear seating. Photoetched front seatbelts are included but some

modellers will want to add some more finesse to the front pedals and controls as this area is quite visible through the glazing and there's the option of the side sliding windows being left open. A nice touch is the inclusion of the radial engine and option to leave the inspection panels open with good levels of detail. Landing gear is well detailed with nice weighted tyres on the wheel rims and the rotor heads and blades are well rendered. An indication of the lifting gear is detailed in the instructions which suggest stretched sprue should be used for the cable; a little bit of a cop-out on Italeri's part. The rotor heads look nice and the blades appear suitably thin with moulded-in 'droop'. As already mentioned, decal quality is top-notch and three diverse options are included with a full quota of stencil markings; French all-over blue, Algeria 1956 an all-over olive drab US Army version (Vietnam 1963) and a fetching orange and aluminium USAF Rescue scheme. If you picked up any of the Italeri Wessex releases this kit should appeal.

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Italeri 1:32 F-35A Lightning II This brand-new kit from Italeri certainly has the 'wow' factor, if not just from the sheer size of the box and the immediate impression of the size of the fuselage. The Italian manufacturer has been very quick off the mark with this premium kit of the F-35A as the actual aircraft have only recently been declared combat ready, this being the conventional take off and landing version, the sprues hint at other variants to come. The box is packed with light grey sprues, excellent tinted yellow-clear parts, photoetched fret, pre-cut painting masks and large decal sheet. You cant ignore the huge upper fuselage with very nicely done RAM (Radar Absorbing Material) areas with their distinctive zig-zag patterns in different shades of grey, the self adhesive masks help the modeller here with other areas supplied as decals. A hefty instruction booklet is very clear and well laid-out, with close to three hundred parts not including almost thirty photoetched parts this is no quick build and good instructions are key. Moulding looks very nice throughout with some fine and delicate parts and good design such as full length intake trunking and complete engine with nicely done

exhaust. All of the landing gear bays are busy with plumbing and detail moulded into the side walls with the legs well detailed and weighted plastic tyres on open spoked wheels (thankfully vinyl tyres don't make an appearance). The engine and gear bays are all assembled into the bottom half of the fuselage whereas the cockpit tub is built into the top half; once married together the wings and tail are added to some very positive looking attachment points. Control surfaces are all supplied separate and a good selection of pylons and stores are included for the different versions with full decals and colour instructions. For finishing options we're a little restricted to grey…with grey markings, no matter which of the six options you choose from; two USAF, one Italian AMI, one RAAF, one RNLAF and one Israeli Air Force. The Cartograf sheet is printed perfectly. These recent big-scale productions from Italeri are expensive by their standards but we think still offer good value creating some very large and impressive display pieces.

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new releases

Wings Over Sinai Tom Cooper, David Nicolle, Air Vice Marshal Gabr Ali Gabr Published by Helion Softback A4 format, 112 pages ISBN 9781 911096610 www.casematepublishers.co.uk Documenting the 'Other side's' account of the Suez War, this new release in the Middle East At War series tells the battle for survival of the Egyptian Air Force. The political and historical background is explained in a concise manner and very informative, as the saying goes ' There's two sides to every story' and in the West we're told the British, French and Israeli version of the Suez 'Crisis' of 1956. All of this will be of particular interest to post-war modellers with a large selection of images from private collections of British and Soviet early jets including MiG 15s and 17s, Vampires and Meteors

as well as a good selection of propeller aircraft. Images are in black and white (a few in colour) and vary in quality due to the origins; interesting more as historical images than modelling reference. Six pages of colour profiles offer some interesting options for modellers covering Meteors, FIAT G.55s, early MiGs a Fury and Spitfire F Mk22, all certainly take on a different look in the green roundels. A good compact history of the period which will be of particular interest to modellers of early jet aircraft in combat.

Gator on the rise Alexander Mladenov Published by Helion Softback A4 format, 144 pages ISBN 9781 911096450 www.casematepublishers.co.uk

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If Russian rotors are your thing this recent release from publishers Helion and Company should grab your attention illustrating the development of the Kamov attack helicopters from 1977 to 2015. With private investment after the end of the Soviet Union models such as the fearsome Ka-52 Alligator were developed, if you've one of the many Ka-52 kits on the market on your to-do list this book should prove an excellent reference; it's packed with quality colour images and detailed information. As well as the usual

historical and development information there's some great colour schemes illustrated with a selection of colour profiles and although no specific 'walk-around' section is presented there's still enough close-up images to provide good reference for super-detailing. Everything is very nicely presented with some very eye catching images, a must for modern Russian aviation fans but at 144 pages expect to pay a little more than similar soft-backed reference books.

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Zvezda 1:48 Me.Bf-109 G6 A few issues back we featured an F4 version of the Zvezda '109 and it showed what a beautiful kit the Russian manufacturer has produced and why it's held in high regard by Luftwaffe modellers who will surely welcome this Gustav version. Much of the kit shares parts with the earlier F kits but without any compromise it appears, full new fuselage (with a more traditional bulkhead to tail, the F versions being split into sections) new upper wings and late version landing gear show why Zvezda have the reputation for accurate 109's in 1:48. There's no denying these kits are quite an involved build with close to forty parts to assemble the engine and MGs and over twenty parts to the cockpit it's not a kit for beginners although we've herd many reports of excellent fit of parts there is

some very delicate assembly required in places. Moulding and detail is superb throughout with some beautifully restrained surface detail, a choice of two canopies is offered (nice and clear) and four options on the stores with underwing cannons, a 250 kg bomb or drop tank, or SD 50 bombs on an ETC 50/VIII rack. If we really have to nit-pick it would be that the ailerons appear void of some underside detail and the same gear legs are used whether depicting raised or lowered which might suggest the oleos aren't compressed and the decals are good if not great. The markings offered are 'white 10' of 1./JG 50, Hartmann's 'yellow 1' and a Swiss Air Force version. Another great '109 from Zvezda offering incredible value, a must-have Gustav for sure.

Revell 1:72 Vampire F Mk.III Not a new kit but new to Revell's catalogue is the pretty little DeHavilland Vampire, originally released a few years ago by MPM / Special Hobby this kit will now be easier to get your hands on and at a very good price. Moulding is really nice with some sharp surface detail and restrained panel lines with the short fuselage split horizontally the well detailed cockpit is assembled into the lower section along with some internal detail of the turbo-jet engine. Engine intakes are very nicely moulded but we have heard mention of the openings appearing too small, the nose section is separate so ideal for adding some weights and the part follows the panel lines of the actual aircraft avoiding the need for filling.

Tail booms and stabiliser are well rendered with some positive locating points to help with alignment. Wheel wells and landing gear is well detailed without being too fiddly and a couple of optional rockets and fuel tanks are included. Glazing is crystal clear with the wing tips provided as clear parts to allow realistic light lenses if masked. Two marking options are included on the excellent decal sheet, both of the Royal Auxiliary Airforce. Simple but well executed kit which now has the benefit of Revell's excellent decals and new-style instructions. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model stores. For details visit www.revell.de/en

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Eduard 1:48 SE.5a Wolseley Viper

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A pretty hot release here from Eduard with an all-new kit of the Viper powered SE.5, other versions are imminent with unused parts already carried on the two grey sprues. This Profi-pack release has pre-printed photoetch, pre-cut masks and a beautiful decal sheet with five marking options. The sprues are instantly impressive with a very delicate feel essential for these WWI machines, not only are the stringers, rib tapes and stitching superbly rendered but on close inspection there's a very subtle texture to the fabric (most probably this will all but disappear under a coat of paint but commendable nevertheless!) Eduards usual 'clear carrousel' of transparent parts is also very sharp. Assembly starts with the cockpit and accounts for a large percentage of the kit with plenty of photoetched parts and very fine moulding, this should look superb when complete. The cockpit is built-up inside a frame which is then attached to the

lower wing, coloured photoetch is provided for the seat belts and gauges resulting in fantastic levels of detail. A very comprehensive Wolseley Viper engine is provided but little will be seen unless you want to resort to surgery and remove panels. Separate control surfaces are nice and the struts have deep locating pins to help with assembly and alignment and clear rigging plans are included in the excellent full colour instructions. The colour schemes are quite restrained in green and cream but an all red fuselage of a post-war SE.5 would look really striking. British and U.S. options are offered on the Cartograf printed sheet rounding off a beautiful little kit from Eduard which is great value considering the extras in this boxing. www.eduard.com is the place to go for the very latest news on all things Eduard.

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32900

EX546

32901

82131

49813 648298

EX547 648296

648299 Eduard The detail masters at Eduard never slow down with their rapid rate of releases. First up are some photoetch upgrades for the mighty HKM 1:32 B-17 E/F, if you followed our build of this monumental kit (some copies of our book on the subject are still available from our web-shop) you’ll know these are details worth adding. 32900 is the interior set covering cockpit and bulhead details including beautiful pre-coloured instrument panels and 32901 extensively details the bomber / navigators positions in the nose, again, pre-coloured parts are included (check www.eduard.cz for more sets for the big B17 from HKM). The Hobby Boss Su-27 is next for the treatment with 48917 providing external details, 49813 covers all aspects of

x

the cockpit and 49814 is a set of pre-coloured seat belts. A ‘Zoom’ set is also available for the cockpit (EX546). More superb seatbelts in 1:48 with FE817 for USAAF aircraft and FE818 for late RAF subjects. Right up-to-date for Italeri’s H-21C Shawnee is EX547 providing pre-cut masking for all that glazing! Eduard’s own SE.5a comes in for some options of detail enhancements in their Brassin range of resin and photoetch. The three sets we have samples of are 648296, two blade propeller, 648298 is an ultra-detailed radiator and 648299 is a set of MGs and ammo drums; superb! Finally for the SE.5a is a photoetched fret 82131. www.eduard.cz will keep you up to date.

Scale Aircraft Conversions Texas’s SAC have a few additions to their vast catalogue of white metal cast upgraded landing gear sets. Starting in 1:72 is 72139 for the Airfix Victor and in 1:48 is set 48326 for Bobcat’s Yak-28 Firebar. In 1:32 are two

sets for the excellent Wingnut Wings kits; 32116 for the Albatros B.II and 32117 for the new Sopwith Camel. Keep up to date at www.scaleaircraftconversions.com

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T

here has been a long established vac form kit of

two sets of the Superb Eduard cockpit, HGW seat Belts,

the HK models kit it was the only game in town

Brassin Wheels and for me the first time of using MR

catering for the F8 version. Having built the HK models

Paint products too. Having built a few of Fisher models

Mosquito a while ago I was keen to build another kit

kits in the past there were no surprises with this

from their range, so when Fisher created this two seat

substantial conversion. The method of presenting

T7 conversion the decision was made for me. Modern

the instructions as a sequence of images

kits come in a variety of standards and the HK is quite

of the actual parts being assembled

reasonable, allowing a good replica to be build from the

works well, each section is

box. Add to this an excellent resin conversion plus

well explained in text too.

some aftermarket parts and the whole package can create a real head turner. Building a large kit with a big resin conversion takes lots of forward planning and thought on how to crack all of the engineering challenges. Fisher has given us a nice

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simple solution and I added to the conversion by using

the Meteor from Tigger Models, until the advent of

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D o u b le

GLOUCESTER John Wilkes converts the HK Models Gloucester Meteor into the two-seater T7

From the outset of the build the nose section of the plastic needs to be removed and discarded, this is replaced with the new extended resin nose which ends up being an almost drop in fit. Some small tweaks here and there will make it all match, once I had the parts taped in place I used a long metal ruler aligned with the centre fuselage joint line to ensure the new nose was straight. I did the same on the fuselage side to get it set correctly, again lining up panel lines to the ruler. Once everything is ready I ran medium superglue along all of the joints, when fixed enough I reinforced the joints from the inside with more superglue mixed with Talcum powder. Unfortunately the lower section of the fuselage was slightly underside when compared to the resin, this was as a result of the lower profile being slightly pinched, this is a direct result of having removed a substantial section and this makes it weak. In order to fix this anomaly I inserted a section of cut sprue to wedge it open and when I had the right amount of spread I secured it with Superglue.

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The new rein nose is a very good fit requiring only minor tweaks.

cut and shut

Steel rules ensured alignment while the joints were strengthened with CA glue mixed with talcum powder.

There are a couple of small differences in the cockpit between the MK4 of the kit and eduard parts and the MK7 trainer, to facilitate these alterations I used a mix of the kit conversion and Eduard altered to suit. Any instrument got a coat of clear gloss tape before the front instrument panel was attached. Here, I decided to try a new accessory which is in the form of a light activated clear glue. It comes in a small tube with a UV light at the other end. You simply drop the clear liquid where you need it and remove any excess with a tooth pick. Once happy its just a matter of shining the UV light over the clear glue for a few seconds and it sets hard! I used this material when it came to the windscreen in order to replace the clear parts as they were so thin that the frame distorted the material. I have spoken to Fisher models who acknowledge this issue and are doing everything possible to fix this. Within the cockpit I added just about everything that is available, this included the HGW seat bels although some thought needs to go into their assembly as the instructions leave a little to be desired. At the end of the day the results outweigh this annoyance though. The rest of the construction went well as did the addition of the new engine intake rings which would have probably been a better fit if I had cut in the right place! Despite this it all worked out without any real build issues and very little filler being needed. I replaced parts of the undercarriage with resin wheels from Brassin and these are simple drop in replacement parts which really do look the bees knees. Probably the biggest headache I had with this conversion was the windscreen and canopy. What it seems like is that the clear resin has been cast so thin that any handling of the parts, especially the windscreen, distorts the clear panels and I thought this would not do for my build. I was able to carefully cut and remove the clear flat panels and replace them with some PETG 0.5mm sheet. This was attached with the clear Bondic glue which is activated with the UV light. On the main canopy I found lots of tiny scratches which I could not polish out successfully. I chose another route here and made a female mould in plaster over the original part then vac formed into that again with 0.5mm PETG, the end result is a much easier part to work with as well as being somewhat clearer too.

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The HK Models kit is quite robust and easy to handle. Corrected intake sections and Eduard photoetched flaps add finesse to the finished model.

Eduard wheels and cockpit details; a very worthwhile upgrade.

New cockpit units ready to install, lots of dryfits and checks are the order of the day.

Eduard offers a fab set of external details and the biggest part is the flaps, so armed with the brass I set about their assembly. Superglue was used throughout construction but I went over the whole lot with superglue debonder to remove any excess, this was done with a cotton budd and it worked well. The distorted clear resin conversion parts were replaced by 0.5mm clear sheet and the Bondic adhesive which is cured by UV light. A process often used in the plastics industry but readily available now for hobby use.

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time to prime With the vast majority of the construction phase out of the way I was now working towards my favourite part, the painting. After the model was scrubbed with fine scotchbrite scouring pad it was wiped down with a kitchen towel and pure alcohol. This degreases the parts before a final wipe with a tac rag. As several materials were used I went over the resin with Mr Resin primer from Gunze. Next, the whole model was primed with Tamiya Fine surface primer. This paint was left over night to harden off and Tamiya AS-12 silver which was decanted from the spray can was airbrushed on to represent Mr Resin Primer from Gunze was laid down first followed by the old favourite Tamiya Surface Primer.

the silver underside colour of the 1950's RAF jets. This was the first time I had used this paint and it definitely will not be the last either.

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MR Paint was another first for me, the lacquer based colour sprays very well and dries very quickly allowing masking in no time.

Kip produce a wide range of professional masking tapes, many are excellent for modelling.

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A round of masking with Tamiya and Kip tape before the first top

underlying details. Another sealing coat gave a high gloss finish

colour and in this case another first for me in the form of MRP

and where there was any edges of decals I sanded them back

Paint WWII RAF Dark Sea Grey. This paint is a lacquer paint and

flush with 3600 micro mesh, then another coat of the clear sealed

as such is dry very quickly and goes nice and hard too. This

it all. Weathering was kept to a minimum as befitting of the

allowed handling almost immediately and I could move onto the

original aircraft. I achieved this with several mediums such as the

next paint. Mr Colour C330 Dark Green thinned with Mr Levelling

AK dark panel liner, Tamiya smoke and Paynes Grey oil paint.

thinners did the trick. This was all applied over hard edge masking

When happy with the final result the whole model was given a

made with a mix of Tamiya flexible tape and Kip tape to fill in the

sealing coat of Vallejo satin clear with some gloss added to get a

large spaces. It took much longer to mask than to actually apply

nice not too shiny finish. I replaced the kit spine areal with one

the colours. Again these paints are Lacquer and dry quickly to a

made from an acupuncture needle and painted it yellow.

rock hard finish. Knowing that the roundels would be over a demarcation between the grey and green I made some simple masks from the Kip tape and Vinyl masking film and sprayed discs of white . I took a measurement from the decals and made the

Ready thinned (1K) clear lacquer used by automotive body shops provides a touch, quick drying finish for decals and weathering.

masks just slightly smaller. Once painted I left the model to harden off for a couple of days before I applied a fairly heavy coat of Acrylic Clear lacquer car paint, this is ready thinned and goes rock hard in 30 minutes. I would warn that using all of these noxious paints you definitely need a good respirator! All of the markings came from the Fisher conversion and they worked flawlessly, just needing a little setting solution to get them to settle down into the

The decals supplied in the conversion are excellent, weathering has been kept minimal following reference of the real aircraft.

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GLOUCESTER

MeteorT7

Ultimately this conversion was easy to use despite the issues with the clear parts. The finished model looks good in its place in the display cabinet. Thanks go to Paul Fisher at Fisher models for the update/conversion set.

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