Model Aircraft 2017-11

A

M

TO ircra ode RN ft l AD Ext O I ra DS

EXCLUSIVE - MIG MASTERCLASS

tigermeet

tornado Luftwaffe ECR

Balkans Bomber Ju-87 Stuka

R IGHT3EMODEL 32 F O R ZE ISHI A6M MITSUB

real to replica TBD devastator 01-Cover-AM-1117.indd 1

TORM S D N C TRO P SA E MK.II HUR R IC

STE G N I N LIGHT

ALTH

F-35C

AN

Combat Zone

NOVEMBER 2017 Vol 16 Iss 11 £4.75

US11.99 Can$11.99 Printed in UK

Stalin’s Kursk Surprise 16/10/2017 17:21

1:48

GLOSTER METEOR F.8 KOREA A09184 GLOSTER METEOR F.8 KOREA

The Gloster Meteor was Britain’s first jet fighter and the only Allied jet aircraft to see operational service during the Second World War. The post-war F.8 variant of the Meteor was fitted with new more powerful Derwent turbojet engines and was perhaps the definitive incarnation of this famous aircraft and was the main RAF fighter throughout the 1950s, until superseded by the Hawker Hunter. A stable and reliable aircraft, the Meteor F.8 soon became outclassed as an air superiority fighter, but the effectiveness of the basic design allowed the aircraft to be used in a variety of other roles.

GLOSTER METEOR F.8 Aircraft A77-851 flown by Sergeant George Spaulding Hale, No.77 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, Kimpo, Korea, March 1953

GLOSTER METEOR F.8 Aircraft A77-854, No.77 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, Kimpo, Korea, 1953.

GLOSTER (FOKKER-BUILT) METEOR F.8 No.327 Squadron, Ruiten Vieró (Diamonds Four) display team, Koninklijke Luchtmacht (Royal Netherlands Air Force), Commando Lucht Verdediging (Air Defense Command), Soesterberg Air Base, The Netherlands, 1952. Length 287mm Width 236mm Pieces 190

Airfix.com

and all good retail stockists

Start as you mean to finish Official Product

5356AX_AMW_A09184_ADS__July_2017.indd 1 Airfix-1017-WP.indd 1

07/06/2017 15:08 16/10/2017 17:14

Spitfire Mk.IXe

1/72

www.eduard.com

70123

LACQUER BASED PAINTS a uer

ul

la

cq

a n g e LI N

E

Or

b ased for

m

• Hataka True Colour Guarantee • Seamless painting experience • Unmatched flow control • Designed for pro modellers • Forgiving for beginners • Limited odour

BS PRU Blue BS Dark Green

HTK-CS73 Modern Royal Air Force paint set vol. 2 contains: BS Light Aircraft Grey BS Medium Sea Grey BS Dark Sea Grey BS Camouflage Beige US Army Desert Sand Silver

Try Also:

Available at your local hobby store and http://shop.hataka-hobby.com/

03-Ads-1117.indd 3

16/10/2017 17:02

4

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM

CONTENTS

37  Model Aircraft Extra - Luftwaffe Panavia Tornado IDS Baltic Defender René Van Der Hart builds the 1:48 Revell Tornado IDS in MFG.2 colours

Model Aircraft Extra 60 Heavy Metal Thunder! Andrew Root adds the 1:72 Trumpeter F-105D to a Coastal Kits blurred base!

Tonka Time!

O

ne of my many favourite aircraft, and yes, I have quite a few, is the Panavia Tornado, and a type that I have been privileged to ‘experience’ from very close quarters on a couple of memorable occasions! Colloquially referred to in the UK as the ‘Tonka’ and ‘The Flying Fin’, it has been the mainstay of the RAF, the Luftwaffe, and the Italian and Saudi strike forces for a long while. Now reaching the end of its RAF service life, the aircraft is still operating in war zones, however, the Eurofighter Typhoon is steadily replacing it in service. Never the most attractive of aircraft types, the Tornado nevertheless proved it worth in the Gulf Wars, and bore the brunt of RAF strike operations until recent times. So perhaps it’s a fitting moment to take a look at the Tornado, and in this case, in service with the German Air Force, and to that end we have two ‘takes on Tornado’ this month, both designed whet your appetite

04-05-Contents-MA-1117.indd 4

12  Casemate Competition

Brazilians at War!

for our latest Modellers Datafile on the aircraft! We have a Luftwaffe IDS from Rene Van Der Hart and a superb Tiger Meet ECR from Mike Williams, with another view of the same aircraft from Vitor Costa. Elsewhere, and once again, it’s my pleasure to bring you more incredible builds in this issue of Model Aircraft, and to welcome to our pages the talents of Jay Blakemore, and his sublime Ju-87 Stuka, and we look forward to more of his sublime works in future editions. I am also pleased to welcome Sebastian Perez with his 1:48 Kinetic Mirage 2000B diorama, and Jean-Jacques Labrot with his take on the 1:72 Tamiya Mitsubishi A6M3 Model 32. As always there is so much to enjoy in our pages, so all that remains for me to say is…… 

48  Combat-Zone - Stalin’s Kursk Surprise

Anthony Tucker-Jones recounts how Stalin tried to pre-empt Hitler’s Kursk offensive with a massive air strike

Happy modelling

Andy

16/10/2017 17:01

MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2017

5 VOLUME 16 ISSUE 11

52  Tigermeet Tornado Mike Williams builds the 1:72 Revell Tornado ECR

6  Lightning Stealth Danumurthi Mahendara details the 1:48 Kitty Hawk F-35C

14  Combat Edge Balkans Bomber! Junkers Ju-87 ‘Stuka’

Jay Blakemore delves into the archives to build Hasegawa’s classic 1:48 Stuka

32  Kai Fighter Model Aircraft Showcase - Japan’s F-4EJ - Seung-Yong Ryu builds the 1:48 Hasegawa F-4EJ with Moniko Decals

04-05-Contents-MA-1117.indd 5

62  Real to Replica ‘Torpedo Run’

René Van Der Hart builds the 1:48 Great Wall Hobby TBD Devastator

22  Sandstorm

26  Delta Flight

James Ashton builds the 1:32 Fly Hurricane Mk.IIc Trop in the colours of No.213 Squadron, Egypt 1942

Sebastian Perez adds the 1:48 Kinetic Mirage 2000B into a diorama

68  Zero Fighter

74  MIG Masterclass  ‘A Dressed Up’ British Mustang

Jean-Jacques Labrot details the 1:72 Tamiya Mitsubishi A6M3 Model 32 

Mario Serelle uses Ammo by MIG Products on the 1:48 Tamiya P-51D

16/10/2017 17:01

6

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM

F-35C LIGHTNING II F-35C Lightening II

Manufacturer: Kitty Hawk Scale: 1:48 Kit Type: plastic injection moulded with etch Kit Number: 80132

I can confidently say that this kit was extremely challenging from start to finish

06-11-F-35-JSF-MA-1117.indd 6

16/10/2017 17:04

MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2017

7

Danumurthi Mahendara details the 1:48 Kitty Hawk F-35C

LIGHTNING STEALTH

Lightning Stealth

T

he Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is one of the most expensive fifth generation fighter aircraft in the world. Politics aside, this state-of-the-art aircraft has been ordered by a dozen countries, outside the US including Australia, Turkey, Canada, the UK, The Netherlands Israel and Japan. To begin, I can confidently say that this kit was extremely challenging from start to finish. It is buildable of course, but it will test your determination, patience, and perseverance. Kitty Hawk provided this F-35C kit with some nice interior and exterior surface details, along with a small etched fret, and include a booklet type instruction with full-colour painting guide. However, there were some areas that need improvement, such as greater accuracy, mould quality, fit, and greater clarity in the instructions and painting guide. I’ll say this upfront that constructing and painting the F-35C needs planning and some clever choreography. The many interior parts meant that I had to work and paint the weapon and wheel bays, cockpit, air ducts, and engine before mating the fuselage together. I had to drill holes for the external pylons before the wing halves were assembled; and I had to figure out how to install the nice etched detail set for the clear plastic canopy. Due to the fit issues, I strongly suggest that you dry-fit every single part

Preparing the cockpit

06-11-F-35-JSF-MA-1117.indd 7

Fitting the engine parts into the fuselage

16/10/2017 17:04

8

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM

F-35C LIGHTNING II

Surface preparation for the ‘stealth-paint

before adding any cement or glue. Follow the basic principal of checking and cleaning each part before you fit and glue. Using slow curing cement was very helpful. I also took extra care when separating the rather soft parts from sprue gates using a stainless saw from Tuner-Model. Here are some solutions to the various fitting issues. They include:

Adding etched parts to the exhaust

Use epoxy putty to level out the convex surface found on the multi-part flaps and ailerons Thin down the inner wall of the retractable refueling probe and ladder as they are too thick Leave the centreline gun pod out, as the space is taken by the opened bay doors.

Remove all alignment pins on the fuselage halves as they are not correctly placed; Thin down the front lower joints of the twin vertical stabilisers so they will fit into the slot Add strips of 0.2mm sheet styrene to the joint between the wings and the fuselage Thin down the inner part of the top fuselage that closely correspond to the upper intake Detailing the wheel bays

06-11-F-35-JSF-MA-1117.indd 8

The cockpit tub went together without any fuss, except that I had to remove the framing under the dashboard that supports the front instrument panel as they don’t stack up well. The cockpit was all painted black and dry-brushed with XF-19 Sky Grey. Equally challenging was guessing how I should go to paint the model, despite the abundance of references on the subject. Internet sources say that the F-35’s main color is FS36170, rather like the ‘raptor sheen’ or ‘Have-Glass’ paint. What makes it more difficult, is the changing nature of the anti-radar coating, as the shades seem to shift depending on the time of day, and where you are in relation to the aircraft. So, after mixing a few paints, I came up

16/10/2017 17:04

MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2017

Due to the nature of the beast a patchwork of masking was needed!

LIGHTNING STEALTH

Applying the stealthcolours

9

The results postmasking were very pleasing!

I chose an aircraft from VFA-101 ‘Grim Reapers’

Detailing the JDAM ordnance……

06-11-F-35-JSF-MA-1117.indd 9

with the best combination at hand – a blend of 40% Mr Metal Color 212 and 60% Mr Color 305. The result is a very dark grey, with a slight metallic surface that can be buffed to a nice semigloss finish. The challenge was the seemingly insurmountable amount of masking work to be done, as the aircraft has RAM panels instead panel lines that are slightly lighter grey. Somehow, masking was the only way to get them painted. I tried a few approaches, but every one of them fell short of expectation. In the end, I had to wrap the aircraft in a cocoon of masking tape and cut my way through to expose the RAM panels. I then painted these panels with XF-54 Dark Sea Grey. Overall, it was tedious and slow work. But it’s all do-able if you do it in small steps at a time. The other less dominant but rather prominent colour

16/10/2017 17:04

10

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM

F-35C LIGHTNING II

…with a little care and weathering

is white – which is the choice for all the interior bays, doors and landing gear. Everything was given a thin spray of X-22 Clear Gloss so to give the already glossy surface an extra notch for the decals. The decals I chose was for a US Navy Squadron VFA-101 ‘Grim Reapers’ in a hi-viz scheme. They were thin, had solid colours, had little carrier film, and worked well with Mr Mark Setter. My only comment on the decals is that the stencils should have been white and the US roundels could have been crispier. It would also be great if they had stencils for the landing gear and various bay doors too. Being a newly operational aircraft, I didn’t go all-out crazy with the weathering, as most of these birds

06-11-F-35-JSF-MA-1117.indd 10

are very clean. I did the regular weathering using the A.MIG.7419 US Navy Grey Jets panel line washes - interchangeably using light, medium, and dark grey tones for different parts of the aircraft. As I wanted to show the F-35 with a full weapon load and all bay doors open, so they were glued in place using CA glue. I was undecided on the weapons choice so I assembled and painted all of them. The decals were lacking here, as I only had inert stripes for the JDAMs. So, I added my own ‘live’ yellow stripes by way of masking. I decided to fully weather the bombs and missiles with various Ammo by MIG products, as this was probably my only chance to weather anything or any part of the aircraft. The very last thing was to put all

the elements together by spraying a light coat of Mr Color 182 Flat Clear, before I installed the static temperature probes, and the canopy in an opened position. This has been one of the most challenging model aircraft that I have encountered recently. The kit fought to the very end but I was equally tenacious, die-hard stubborn, and muscled my way through! MA

16/10/2017 17:04

MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2017

06-11-F-35-JSF-MA-1117.indd 11

LIGHTNING STEALTH

Grim Reapers Stealth Strikers

11

16/10/2017 17:04

12

CASEMATE COMPETITION

Brazilians at War

Competition

M

odel Aircraft has got together with Casemate Publishing to bring you an exclusive monthly competition to win one of their latest military titles. Founded in 2007, Casemate UK is a major specialist publisher and book distributor in the UK, European and Commonwealth markets.

The publishing arm of Casemate is one of the leading publishers in the fields of military history, defence studies, and military science worldwide. Casemate’s publishing list covers subjects as diverse as Roman History, Napoleonic Wars and the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts of today.

So for your chance to win a copy of: Brazilians at War – Just answer this simple question:

In which World War II Campaign did Brazilian aircraft operate? A) North Africa B) Italian C) Pacific

Send your entries to... Model Aircraft/Casemate Brazilian Competition Media House, 21 Kingsway, Bedford, MK42 9BJ Or email: [email protected]

Competition Rules Employees/volunteers working for SAM Publications Ltd, Casemate Publishing and associated companies or their families are not permitted to enter. Entries are limited to one per person/household. No correspondence will be entered into. The judges’ decision is final. Winners’ names will be published in a future edition of Scale Military Modeller International. All entries must reach Media House by 24th November 2017, when the prize draw will take place.

12-13-Casemate-Comp-MA-1117.indd 12

16/10/2017 17:03

SAC-1

Scale Aircraft Conversions White Metal & Resin Aircraft Parts Since 1990

32089 F4F Wildcat Landing Gear (Trum) (replacement for 1/32 Trumpeter)

48272 F-106 Delta Dart Landing Gear (Trum)

(replacement for 1/48 Trumpeter)

48270 Panavia Tornado Landing Gear (Rev) (replacement for 1/48 Revell)

48273 F-4C/D/J Phantom II Landing Gear (R/M) (for 1/48 Revell/Monogram)

48274 F-15 Eagle Landing Gear (GWH)

(replacement for 1/48 Great Wall Hobby)

48271 Sea Harrier Landing Gear (Kin) (replacement for 1/48 Kinetic)

48275 F-35C Lightning II Landing Gear (KH)

(replacement for 1/48 Kitty Hawk)

48277 Aero L-29 Delfin Landing Gear (AMK)

(replacement for 1/48 Avant Garde Model Kits)

48276 A-37 Dragonfly Landing Gear (Trum)

(replacement for 1/48 Trumpeter)

48278 Westland Whirlwind Landing Gear (Trum) (replacement for 1/48 Trumpeter)

Landing gear for over 650 (and counting) different aircraft!

scaleaircraftconversions.com SAC-1117-WP.indd 1 12-13-Casemate-Comp-MA-1117.indd 13

16/10/2017 15:05 17:03

14

COMBAT EDGE – JU-87 ‘STUKA’

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM

COMBAT EDGE

F IG H T ING

Dive Bomber

Junkers Ju-87 ‘Stuka’

COLO U R S

COMBAT EDGE

F IG H T ING

COLO U R S

T

he Junkers Ju-87 or Stuka from ‘Sturzkampfflugzeug’ – ‘dive bomber’ was designed by Hermann Pohlmann and first flew in 1935. The Ju-87 made its combat debut in 1937 with the Luftwaffe’s ‘Condor Legion’ during the Spanish Civil War and went on to serve in World War II. The aircraft was easily recognisable by its inverted gull wings, spatted undercarriage and ‘Jericho-Trompete’ (‘Jericho Trumpet’) wailing sirens on its wings, which became a propaganda symbol of German air power and Blitzkrieg. The Stuka’s design included several innovative features, including automatic pull-up dive-brakes under both wings to ensure that the aircraft recovered from its attack dive even if the pilot blacked-out from the high g-forces.   The Stuka operated with considerable success in close air support and anti-shipping roles at the outbreak of World War II, and spearheaded the air assaults in the invasion of Poland in September 1939, and Stukas were crucial in the rapid conquest of Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium and France in

14-21-Combat-Edge-Delta-MA-1117.indd 14

16/10/2017 17:03

MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2017

15

COMBAT EDGE

F IG H T ING

COLO U R S

JUNKERS JU-87 ‘STUKA’

1940. Although sturdy, accurate, and very effective against ground targets, the Stuka was vulnerable to contemporary fighter aircraft, like many other dive bombers of the war. During the Battle of Britain its lack of manoeuvrability, speed and defensive armament meant that it required a heavy fighter escort to operate effectively. After

14-21-Combat-Edge-Delta-MA-1117.indd 15

the Battle of Britain in the Stuka operated with further success in Balkans, in Africa and the Mediterranean theatres, and during the early stages on the Eastern Front, where it was used for general ground support, in the effective specialised anti-tank role for anti-shipping strikes. Once the Luftwaffe lost air superiority, the Stuka became an easy target for enemy

fighter aircraft on all fronts. It was produced until 1944 for lack of a better replacement. By the end of the war ground-attack versions of the Fw 190 had largely replaced the Stuka, but they remained in service until the end of the war. An estimated 6,500 Ju-87s of all versions were built between 1936 and August 1944. MA

16/10/2017 17:03

16

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM

COMBAT EDGE – JU-87 ‘STUKA’

COMBAT EDGE

F IG H T ING

Balkans Bomber Jay Blakemore delves into the archives to build Hasegawa’s classic 1:48 Stuka

R

eleased In 1994, Hasegawa’s Ju87B-2 ‘Desert Stuka’ was the first in a series of thirteen different releases that included minor additions to the original plastic parts and new decal sheets that enabled modellers to construct other variants of the basic Stuka B-2. These included the ski equipped B-2/ U4, the drop-tank carrying R-2, and the navalised and ultimately redundant ‘C’ variant. The famous ‘Desert Snake’ insignia of 6./StG2, made its first appearance in 1995, with the release of the Ju87R-2. This same kit was re-issued in 2004 and again ten years later, each time featuring new box artwork. In 2001, Revell, Germany, released their own version of the ‘Desert Snake’, which contained the same Hasegawa plastic but with a new decal sheet. The final release of this classic Stuka kit appeared as recently as 2016, in a limited edition, ‘Creator Works’ boxing, featuring some unusual Manga artwork on the box-top. Typical of Hasegawa kits, the 2014 release of their

Junkers Ju87R-2 Stuka ‘Desert Snake’, is well packaged and presented in a top-opening box featuring fine artwork. The substantial decal sheet includes two colour scheme options, both aircraft from StG2 and based in Libya in 1941. Both schemes feature RLM79 Sandgelb locally applied over their original dark green splinter camouflage, and one option features the writhing snake insignia painted down its flanks. In common with many kits of its vintage, however, there are plenty of after-market accessories that enable the modeller to improve on the basic kit. Happily, some of these too were secreted in my stash and will be used on this build.  The cockpit was tackled first, and it is fairly well furnished straight from the box, and certainly stands up well when compared to more recent kits. But as usual, when I squirrel away a kit for a future build I tend also to have acquired some extras to go with it, and in this case, I had the

COLO U R S

Products Used Hasegawa #07337 – 1:48 Ju-87R-2 Stuka  Eduard #EX048 Canopy Masks Quickboost #QB48499 Seats Quickboost #48376. Ju-87 Gun Barrels Guickboost #48368.Ju-87 B Exhausts  Verlinden Productions #1137. Ju87 Update Set True Details: 48050 #Stuka Wheel Set Aires: 4413 #Stuka Control Surfaces Aires: 4006 #Junkers Jumo 211 Engine Set. EagleCals #EC#144

venerable Verlinden Detail Set #1137. This boxed set includes resin details for the cockpit, a complete engine as well as an engine compartment firewall, a small cowling compartment and a wing-mounted gun bay – although the latter item is so simplistically wrought as to be unrecognisable as being anything other than a resin lump in a square box. The engine detail too is simplistic when compared to more recent resin releases, and most of the parts come on a single resin sheet and require cutting free. The set also contains the ubiquitous metal fret containing harness and instrument details. The cockpit additions were duly cut from the resin sheet, cleaned-up and used to enhance the kit parts: These included oxygen bottles, a map case, a spent cartridge bin, radios and bulkheads. Seats for both

My Stuka was going to get the full ‘Balkans’ weathering treatment

14-21-Combat-Edge-Delta-MA-1117.indd 16

16/10/2017 17:03

MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2017

17

COMBAT EDGE

F IG H T ING

COLO U R S

JUNKERS JU-87 ‘STUKA’

the pilot and the rear gunner are also included in the Verlinden set, but these were not required as I also had the Quickboost pack #QB48499, which contains beautifully moulded seats featuring integral belts. This latter set amply demonstrates the qualitative difference between old and new; the modern, Quickboost parts being moulded in a hard, grey resin featuring minute and sharply defined detail as compared to the softer-edged detailing on the creamy-yellow, resin of the aged Verlinden parts. The pilots seat was not attached to the cockpit floor at this stage but painted separately, though the rear gunner’s basket seat was. This required the removal of the raised plastic seatbase which was an integral part of the cockpit floor. With the port and starboard side-walls cemented to the fuselage sides, the cockpit could now be painted. I began the process with a light coating of Alclad Grey primer followed by an application of Alclad Aluminium. Once dry, this was covered by an enamel-coat of darkened Reichsluftfahrtministerium Grey/Green, which when partially dry was ‘washed-off’ seat and equipment corners and edges to reveal the silvercoat beneath. This was followed when dry by a black/brown

14-21-Combat-Edge-Delta-MA-1117.indd 17

enamel wash to add depth and drybrushed highlights of increasingly lighter shades of RLM02 to emphasise the raised detail and to replicate wear. The fuselage halves closed around the modified cockpit without difficulty, and the sub-assembly was put aside whilst the cement hardened and I turned my attention to the wings.  As noted above, the kits achilles heel are the very basic flap actuating arms, which are represented by crude, triangular shapes moulded directly to the lower wing halves. These were removed entirely and small holes drilled into the wings into which I would later fit actuating arms fabricated from metal rod. Whilst I was about updating the wings, I also boxed-in the rectangular opening in the port wing leading edge, which was to house the landing light transparency. The new housing would be painted with Alclad Polished Aluminium and would benefit from the addition of a reflective lens from the Little-Lenses range. Before the wing halves can be closed up, various holes need to be

opened in the lower wings, and these include those for the air brakes and the twin outer bomb racks. Whilst I was about it, I also removed the moulded-on plastic lumps that passed for navigation lights. Holes were then drilled into the wing-tips in preparation for new navigation lights to be made from stretched and shaped clear sprue. There were no issues during wing assembly. It is an ironic and little-known fact that the genesis of the Stuka dive bomber was aided by the purchase of a number of engines from Britain. To power the embryonic dive bomber, on April 19, 1934, ten Rolls-Royce Kestrel engines were bought by Junkers. Built by AB Flygindustri, the prototype first flew in Sweden, and was secretly transported to Germany towards the end of 1934. The RLM naturally displayed little interest in an aircraft powered by a British engine, however, and Junkers quickly agreed to replace the power plant with the DB600 in-line engine, with the final variant being powered by the Jumo 210.  The later ‘B’ series aircraft were powered by the Jumo 211, and it was my intention to model a stripped-down aircraft to expose the iconic Junkers power plant. Unlike the more recent releases briefly mentioned above, the vintage Hasegawa kit has no provision for an engine, and so one must be sourced from the accessories market and shoe-horned into place. Thankfully, after-market options are abundant. The resin engine contained within the dated Verlinden detail set, as already mentioned, is rather naively rendered in comparison to more up to date

16/10/2017 17:03

18

COMBAT EDGE – JU-87 ‘STUKA’

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM

COMBAT EDGE

F IG H T ING

resin products. Which meant that to bring it up to standard I either had to scratch build more detail onto the aged engine block, or source an alternative engine. Luckily, I had an alternative already in my possession. Those of you who read my ICM JU-88 build article in our sister magazine, Scale Aviation Modeller International, volume 22, issue12, may remember that I only used one of the two Aires engines that I had purchased for that build, and so the remaining engine was now sought from amongst my spares. Moulded in hard, grey resin, the Aires Junkers Jumo 211 is available to buy as a single item in one of that companies’ blister packs. It features vastly superior detail to the older item, though I did have to utilise some parts from the Verlinden detail set, such as the top-mounted oil-cooler, the chin radiator and the engine mounting frames. There was also some modification required to the Aires engine to get it to fit within the confines of the Stuka’s nose; which included the relocation of one pair of mounting points – situated on both sides of the Airies engine block. These details were carefully cut from both sides and relocated to match-up with the mounting points on the Verlinden frames. Some resin was also shaved off the cylinder heads – positioned of course on the bottom of this inverse engine, as to allow a more comfortable fit within the cowling. Additional hoses, oil and fuel lines were fabricated from lengths of fuse wire, metal rod and even an old Fender acoustic guitar string, the latter item being perfect for replicating the two ribbed hoses connecting the upper oil cooler.   Not for the first time when starting a new modelling project, I was faced with a

14-21-Combat-Edge-Delta-MA-1117.indd 18

dilemma. I wanted an exposed engine, but I did not want to totally loose the aircrafts characteristic and sinister nose-profile; which would have been the result if I had removed all of the cowling panels as recommended in the Verlinden instructions. Indeed, the after-market set was never designed to fit within the confines of the kit nose, but sit separately, perched in space on the ends of its mounting frames. I therefore determined to selectively remove some of the panels and leave others in-place – but which ones should I keep? The chin radiator housing definitely had to stay, as did those panels attached to it and which formed the contours of the lower nose. I also decided to leave one side panel in place, and so retain

COLO U R S

one bank of covered exhaust stacks. If I could have retained part of the upper cowling then I would have done so, but this was a single-piece panel that detached in its entirety, and so it had to go. The panels to be removed from the port fuselage half were therefore chain-drilled and cut free, and the modified nose section was then assembled as per the kit instructions. Once assembled, some plastic strip was used to create basic interior detailing, though this would be hardly visible after assembly. To fit the resin fire-wall that comes as part of the Verlinden detail set, the flat, forward, steppedpanel of both fuselage halves must be removed. This was done after the fuselage halves had been cemented together, by chain-drilling the panel and cutting it free. The resin fire-wall is then supposed to be butt-fitted to the open front of the assembled fuselage, and that is how it appears on the colour photograph fronting the Verlinden packaging. However, this method extends the length of the fuselage by

16/10/2017 17:04

MODEL AIRCRAFT OCTOBER 2017

19

COMBAT EDGE

F IG H T ING

14-21-Combat-Edge-Delta-MA-1117.indd 19

JUNKERS JU-87 ‘STUKA’

a couple of millimetres, which doesn’t matter if you want to simply leave your exposed engine hanging in mid-air on its mounts, but that was not my intention. As always, I was making things harder for myself, and in order to ultimately fit the engine into the modified cowling, I had fix the resin fire-wall within the fuselage and thereby retain the correct internal dimensions of the engine bay. I therefore set about thinning the plastic on the inner-face of the forward fuselage. I also had to reduce the width and depth of the resin fire-wall insert. With this done, the fire-wall tucked snuggly into the fuselage, the cowling section and the Aires engine fitting perfectly within the half-formed confines of the engine bay. With the nose-panels cemented in place, though devoid of the engine, the wings too were secured to the fuselage. The kit’s single-piece tail planes were replaced with resin items from the Aires Control Surfaces set #4413, which flight-surfaces feature separate elevators. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the kit parts, I simply feel that drooped control surfaces add to the appeal of the finished model. A resin rudder is also supplied in the Aires set though I chose not to use it, leaving the integrally moulded and nicely proportioned kit rudder in place. The characteristic undercarriage spats were also added at this stage, and these had been slightly modified so that the wheels could be retrofitted once the airframe had been painted. I had purchased the True Details wheel set #48050, to replace the simplistic kit items. The resin wheels feature weighted tyres and are noticeably smaller in size than the Hasegawa versions, though I couldn’t tell by looking at my references which size was correct.  I usually know which colour scheme I intend to use before starting a model-build, but I prevaricated over this project until I was forced to decide. The desert snake scheme, as featured on the Hasegawa box artwork and for which I had a Montex mask-set in my stash, naturally appealed to me because of the striking serpentine motif applied to the aircraft’s flanks. But with the cowling access panels removed, I would literally have to cut the head off the snake if I chose to go with that option. This seemed a little wasteful, and the finished model would certainly loose some of its impact if the writhing snakes were headless! I decided instead therefore to go with a yellownosed option featured on Eaglecals sheet EC#144. Ju-87 B-2, T6+AK, of St.G 2, was a colourful choice, featuring that units wonderful ‘Scotty dog’ motif, a red spinner and yellow identification markings as used during the Balkans campaign. I had been looking forward to doing a very weathered, Africa-based aircraft, but I felt that this option too would allow me the chance to do some heavy weathering, as would have been appropriate on an aircraft

COLO U R S

operating in the dry and dusty summer months during the Balkans campaign. The decision about colour schemes had to be made during my modification of the engine cowls, for there is a choice of supercharger intake housing to be made, as for an African-based aircraft – such as the ‘Desert Snake’ option – the larger, square intake containing a dust filter, should be used. But for an unmodified B2, the smaller, rounded intake is required. It should also be noted that the intake must be cut into two halves, and each half mounted separately to the cowlings. (I later found photographs of cowlings featuring single-piece intakes too, so check your references). When it came to painting the camouflage, I decided upon a little artistic licence. Having recently completed a Bf 109A-1 build, and having used the correct combination of RLM 70/71 in which to bedeck the upper surfaces of that model, I finished the build feeling somewhat aggrieved that the splinter pattern, which had been laboriously masked, was all but impossible to discern due to the similarity between the two greens. This may have been accurate, but I wanted the disruptive pattern on my Stuka to be more apparent. I chose, therefore, to create my own green mix, for which I apologise to all of the purists who are reading this article, especially to Jamie of Sovereign Hobbies, who I know will be fuming that I have once again faded his authentic Colourcoats, RLM70, beyond all recognition. In my defence, I can only suggest that under the harsh conditions of the Balkans campaign, certain paint

types would have faded considerably faster than did others. To begin the painting process, I again applied a basecoat of Alclad grey primer, followed by a partial coat of Polished Aluminium from the same manufacturer. This latter application was limited to the wing roots. The undersides were tackled next, being painted in RLM 65 from the Colourcoats enamel range. Once the light blue was thoroughly dry, a hard-edged mask was utilised to create the demarcation line between the upper and lower surface colours. Before applying any green paint, I dabbed a random pattern of Wilder Quick Mask, masking fluid, across the metal-coated wing roots, before preshading the airframe panel lines in black enamel.. The darker of the two greens was airbrushed first, free-hand, along the wings and fuselage, roughly following the pattern referenced on the EagleCal sheet. Once dry, the RLM71 was masked, once again utilising a hard-edge masking method, and my medium green mix was airbrushed over the un-masked areas. As is my usual technique, I began adding lighter shades of greens and greys to my paint mixes as I applied them, creating an instant weathered appearance as the splinter pattern was formed. Hints of the black enamel too were allowed to remain along panel edges to add depth and break up the uniformity of the camouflage colours. Having finally applied yellow enamel to both the rudder and the cowlings, the model was set aside for a couple of days to allow the colours to dry thoroughly before I began the heavy weathering process. 

16/10/2017 17:04

20

COMBAT EDGE – JU-87 ‘STUKA’

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM

COMBAT EDGE

F IG H T ING

The initial step was to remove the masking fluid that I had ‘spotted’ along the wing-roots. This revealed the aluminium base-coat, which looked decidedly bright and in total contrast to the remainder of the paint work. To further weather the already aged-looking upper surfaces, I now added further applications of brown and brown/green enamel mixes, paying particular attention to the areas surrounding the walkways and the walkways themselves. Here of course the airbrush came into its own, though one has to be careful not to overdo the free-hand effect and so obliterate entirely the original camouflage colours. Many aviation modellers, I know, dislike heavy weathering, but in my biased opinion is an aircraft only really comes to life when it is appropriately weathered, and my Stuka was going to get the full ‘Balkans’ treatment. Random patches of masking fluid had also been applied along the cowling edges, and this too was removed by utilising strips of masking tape – which tacky surface was pressed against the fluid, lifting off the rubberised material in stringy lengths. The yellow panels were weathered with streaks and washes of black/ brown. Highlight colours were mixed onto the cowls and rudder, using lighter shades of the original yellow. Enamels are perfect for this, and differing colours can be subtly blended whilst they remain tacky, rather like one might blend oil-paint directly on the surface of the model. It is because of this characteristic amongst others that I prefer using slower-drying enamels as opposed to using the more rapidly-curing acrylics, which are favoured by most modellers these days. With the majority of the weathering done, several coats of gloss enamel varnish were applied over-all. This was allowed to harden thoroughly before being flatted-back to a smooth finish using 3,200 grit Micro Mesh polishing cloths, and further polished using 12000 grit cloths in those areas that were to receive decals. But before adding the decals I wanted to install the engine, and I reasoned that the gloss-coat would help protect the paintwork during the handling to come. The engine had of course been dry-fitted throughout the build, but obviously now that it came to finally fitting it, it refused to sit properly within the cowling. In the end I was forced to remove the chin radiator, which meant squeezing some Delux Materials Glue

14-21-Combat-Edge-Delta-MA-1117.indd 20

Buster into the joint between the engine and radiator to dissolve the superglue holding it together. Unfortunately, this solvent also dissolves paint, and so some retouching was required on both resin components before assembly recommenced. The separate radiator was now glued into the bottom of the chin cowling, and the engine settled on top. Some further trimming was required before the engine block would settle into place, but finally everything seemed to line up. Things didn’t look quite symmetrical, however, though in the end I put this down to the fact that the engine cowlings were arrayed differently on either side, which made a considerable difference to the profile when viewed from above or from the front. The engine brackets were added next, as was the scratch-built mesh filter on the supercharger intake. This latter item isn’t exactly accurate, but I wanted something to bridge the gap between the under-sized supercharger intake and the cowl. With the engine in place, the decals were now applied. EagleCal decals are superb, and there were no issues with those used on this build. They reacted well to the Micro Set solvents which were used to soften them and so cajole them to conform to the curves and recesses of the plastic. This was especially necessary with the thin black and white strips applied to the under-wing air-brakes, which needed several applications of softening agent before they would adhere to the tight curves. The final parts to be secured to

COLO U R S

the airframe were the aileron counter-balance weights, the metal-rod aerial and pitot-tube, the tail wheel and the mounting steps under the fuselage. With the delicate protuberances added, and with a handhold screwed into one of the under-carriage legs with which to hold the model during spraying, a coat of satin varnish was applied overall. This was a generous coat, as I wanted to further flat the entire model and so achieve a perfect finish with the last varnish application. This final coat was applied sparingly, and was thinned with about 70% white spirit, so that it would dry rapidly and so prevent any dust settling and sticking onto the finished model. As always, the final touch was to remove the canopy masking before stringing the aerial wire using Uschi van der Rosten, 0.5mm elastic thread, and pushing the propeller home, to complete my build.  The Hasegawa Ju87 B-2 ‘Desert Stuka’ went together effortlessly. The detailing is sharp and the plastic fault-free, though some of that detailing is a little crude when compared to the refinement of some newer releases. As mentioned, the kit does not feature those options available in the recent Stuka kits from Airfix, Italeri and Tamiya, but with a plethora of after-market products to choose from, it is a relatively effortless task to bring this praiseworthy kit up to standard. MA

16/10/2017 17:04

SAM-H

com OON ing S

M O D E L L I N G

G U I D E

Created with

Fighters & Attack Aircraft of the Vietnam War AIRK-1IDE

MODELLING GU

£5.99 + P&P

T

he use of air power in Vietnam would change the way wars were fought in the twentieth century and beyond. New technological advances and more sophisticated weapons made the Vietnam War a testing ground for the US military, and new tactics and approaches were used and to varying degrees of success, and introduced the attack helicopter as a vital weapon. Jet bombers and fighters were used extensively for the first time in the history of modern warfare, whilst a few older propeller driven aircraft also saw a resurgence. There are many differences of opinion regarding the effectiveness of the air campaign during the Vietnam War, however, for aviation historians, enthusiasts and modellers, the conflict in Southeast Asia produced a plethora of aircraft types, camouflage schemes, marking options and weapons loads. So now some of these eclectic types are brought together in this new ‘AirKraft Modellers Guide’, created by paint manufacturer Hataka, and HobbyZone, the people behind Scale Aviation Modeller International, Model Aircraft Magazine, and the Modellers Datafile book series. This guide to ‘Fighters

AIR KRAFT 1 MODELLING GUIDE

SAM-HATAKA-01-Vietnam-Ad.indd 1 14-21-Combat-Edge-Delta-MA-1117.indd 21

M O D E L L I N G

G U I D E

Created with

Fighters & Attack Aircraft of the

Vietnam War

and Attack Aircraft of the Vietnam War’ is the first in a new series of books, and features no fewer than 20 build projects, which guide you through building such iconic aircraft as the F-4 Phantom, F-8 Crusader, B-57 Canberra, MiG-21 and F-100 Super Sabre, to name but a few. Brought to you by some of the best modellers around, each project shows you ‘how-to’ apply camouflage, add detail to the airframes, and looks at such areas as cockpits, weathering, decaling and painting ordnance, and details of the war roles of each type. This new book will be an invaluable resource for anyone interested in modern combat aircraft, and particularly those involved in the Vietnam War!

AIR KRAFT 1 MODELLING GUIDE

Cover: Illustration Purposes Only 00-HAK-Cover-Front-New-Vietnam.indd 1

16/10/2017 14:13

ORDER HOTLINE: 44 (0)1234 211245 ORDER ONLINE: www.sampublications.com 16/10/2017 15:49 17:04

22

HURRICANE MK.IIC TROP

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM

James Ashton builds the 1:32 Fly Hurricane Mk.IIc Trop in the colours of No.213 Squadron, Egypt 1942

A

lthough not as glamorous as its counterparts such as the Spitfire, the Hurricane nevertheless served ably throughout the War in many different theatres of operation, and with several air forces. Over the decade’s manufacturers have Hurricane produced kits in all the major scales, even in the 1:24, but strangely enough, the one scale it has been most notably missing from is 1:32 apart from the Revell kit which is now very long in the tooth. That was until 2010 when Pacific Coast Models released the Mk.1 versions with both fabric and metal covered wings and things were looking up for fans of the Hurricane

in this scale. Then in 2013 Fly joined the club with an Mk.IIc variant, the Tropical version, which is represented here. Like the Pacific Coast Models kit, this is what is known as a ‘short run moulding’, and does require experience with such kits. There are few or no locator pins, and test fitting and careful adjustment of the parts is ‘par for the course’ with this type of kit. However, this does not mean it is poor or unbuildable. The surface details consist of fine panel lines and excellent raised rivets and panels as are seen on the actual aircraft. The fabric areas are subtly represented and you also get some etched and resin parts that enhance the cockpit, wheels, wheel wells and exhausts. The overall fit of the parts is very good, notably the fuselage halves which were not hindered by the cockpit which is

Hawker Hurricane Mk.IIc Trop Manufacturer: Fly Scale: 1:32 Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded with etch and resin Kit Number: 32013

Tropical subjects lend themselves to the wear and tear, born from intense and prolonged exposure to the elements and combat

22-25-Tropical-Hurricane-MA-1117.indd 22

16/10/2017 17:03

MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2017

23 HURRICANE MK.IIC TROP

sometimes a problem on these sort of kits. The attachment of the wings particularly the wing roots can often be a challenge. Once again I was pleasantly surprised at the way they virtually dropped into place flush with the fuselage with only a moderate amount of effort and care. A very nice touch are the etched grilles for the radiator and filter, and these are a cut above the usual plastic moulded ones that you get on mainstream kits in other scales. I found the overall speed with which this model came together took me by surprise I would not call it a weekend build, but it is not too far off. My favourite part of model making is the painting and weathering hence my usual genre of subjects are World War Two. In particular, tropical

22-25-Tropical-Hurricane-MA-1117.indd 23

subjects as they do lend themselves to the wear and tear weathering born from intense and prolonged exposure to the elements and combat. The decal sheet provides options for three versions only one of which is Desert Dark Earth, Middle Stone and Azure Blue scheme. I actually settled on the Xtradecal Sheet option BE643 AK.U flown by pilot officer A.U.Hule of 213 Squadron, Edku, Egypt April 1942, as I liked the red tipped white spinner and the Wasp logo on the fuselage roundel. The decals both the kit and aftermarket set are of the highest quality with good colour saturation and in perfect register. The backing film is also thin and responds well to decal setting solution, applied to a gloss surface they look painted on. I neglected to mention that among these resin parts there are some nicely cast resin cannons. However, I had at my disposal a set of brass turned metal cannons from ‘Master’, quite simply they are perfection

16/10/2017 17:03

24

HURRICANE MK.IIC TROP

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM

and well worth the investment. They just slot neatly into place and instantly transform the look of this area, especially with the spring shock absorbers that were a highly visible feature of the Hurricanes armament. So in conclusion I have to say that despite the short run nature of these kits that can present a challenge to construction. It is good to have the Hurricane represented in this scale with a modern tooling and until one of the mainstream manufacturers responds to the plaintive cries of Hurricane fans this is the only and best game in town. As a footnote, I have noticed that Fly are now making an Mk.1 Tropical Version! MA

22-25-Tropical-Hurricane-MA-1117.indd 24

16/10/2017 17:03

Bookw

BOOKWORLD wholesale

Airframe Album 12

The Gloster Gladiator. The twelfth title in the Airframe Album series is an essential companion for anyone tackling Gladiator kits in all scales and complexity.Contents include a wealth of historical photographs; period detail images and diagrams; 3D isometric views, colour profiles by Richard J. Caruana; at least 128 pages

£17.95

Airbrushing and Weathering Techniques.

The information in this book is the result of nearly twenty years working with Vallejo acrylic colors and auxiliary products and is meant to be used as a guide and reference. Chapters include Air brushes and Airbrushing Model Air Colours, Acrylic Surface Primer, Airbrushing Model Air Techniques, Basic Weathering Techniques, Advanced Weathering Techniques, Decals and Varnishes, Diorama-Vignette Bases and Stone Textures, Creating Wet and Water Effects Gallery, FAQ with Tips and Tricks, Colour Charts.

The book is lavishly illustrated with over 300 photos, many of which have never been published. 22 illustrations are also included. This is the ultimate history of the Brewster Buffalo. Soft cover 176pages, 391 B&W photos, 22 illustrations

How to Build Airfix 1:24 Hawker Typhoon Mk.Ib

MDF 28. The Vought A-7 Corsair.

£22.99

Encyclopedia of aircraft 5.

Introducing the Fifth volume of the definitive modeling guide, Encyclopedia of Aircraft Modelling Techniques. This volume covers the following subjects in depth through its 155 pages and more than 700 high quality pictures: How to assemble, paint, and weather fuel tanks and all types of weapons including missiles, bombs, machine guns, and cannons.

£28.99

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.

£14.95

Naval Fighters 104 F2A Buffalo

£34.99

This new MDF brings the story of this iconic aircraft to life, with background details, variants, operational roles, technical diagrams, colour artwork, extensive walk arounds, scale plans and how to model the A-7 in popular scales. This is a must have for the aviation enthusiast and modeller alike.

£19.99

Bookworld Wholesale Ltd.

Unit 10 Hodfar Road, Sandy Lane Ind Est, Stourport, Worcs DY13 9QB Tel: 01299 823330 Fax: 01299 829970 web: www. bookworldws. co. uk email:info@bookworldws. co. uk

Luftwaffe - Secret Wings of the Third Reich

Hundreds of original and previously unseen documents have been used to compile this unrivalled history of Germanyís secret Second World War tailless and flying wing designs, illustrated with a host of new and period drawings, illustrations and photographs. Paperback,130 pages.

£6.99

Polish Wings 22. Bristol F.2B Fighter

The next book in the popular Polish Wings series is on the famous British WWI fighters in Polish Air Forces. Covers duty of these aircraft during Polish-Bolsheviks war and early 1920s. More than 150 photos, mostly unpublished, and many colour profiles.

£15.00

The End of the Film

The Weathering Magazine 21.Faded. The latest issue of The Weathering Magazine is entirely devoted to the effects of fading and discoloration. Within this release, you will see various examples of pale and faded finishes seen not only on tanks, trains, and submarines, but also on civilian and science fiction subjects.

Commemorating 64 years of Recce excellence the book unveils the illustrious story of 348 Squadron! Serving the Nation from 1953, 348 Squadron will cease operations on 5th of May and the last remaining Hellenic Recce Phantoms will get their place in history as some of the most beloved jets in Aviation!Full Colour

£31.99

£8.99

Allied Fighters WW2 Designs by Claes Sundin

Allied Fighters offers more than 200 highly detailed full colour profiles from world renowned artist Claes Sundin, covering all of the warís most famous single seaters - the Spitfire, Hurricane and Typhoon, the Mustang, Thunderbolt and Lightning, the Yak-1, MiG-3 and La-5, and many more

£7.99

Beeches have been used for almost every mission imaginable, from utilitarian, to VIP, to bombers, to photo-reconnaissance and surveillance to training. Some of the Beeches look really ìspookyî due to their massive antenna arrays on the ìreconnaissanceî versions. This book will give you all of the ìunclassifiedî details, data, information, and photos of these unique aircraft operated by the US Army.

£38.50

Air Modeller’s Guide to Wingnut Wings

If you are a fan of WWI aircraft then this is a book for you. Showcasing a selection of builds of the stunningly high detailed kits available from New Zealand based brand Wingnut Wings. Paperback,full colour,112 pages.

£19.50

Lockheed C-130 and it’s Variants. Second Edition

A&M 10. The de Havilland Mosquito Part 2

The Weathering Aircraft Volume 7.Interiors.

£28.99

£18.95

This revised, expanded edition chronicles the development and career of the worldís predominant military airlifter, from its origins in the depths of the Cold War through the present day. Paperback,144 pages.Close-up detail photos of several variants will be of interest to scale modellers.

£9.95

The de Havilland Mosquito Part 2 contains208 pages, 40+ pages of technical information,20+ pages of walk-around images and technical diagrams,5+ pages of camouflage and markings,25+ pages of model builds and modelling information,200+ photographs including wartime images.

£19.99

In this latest book in the Famous Russian Aircraft series, the authors describe the MiG-19ís development and its operational history at home and abroad including its involvement in conflicts in Asia and the Middle East. Over 600 black and white and colour photos, many hitherto unpublished combine with colour side views and cutaway drawings to provide a detailed insight for historians and modellers alike.

£39.95

Damaged,Weathered & Worn

Covers the historical aspects of the aerial conflict over Italy from the Allied landing at Salerno on the 3rd September 1943 through to the surrender and cessation of fighting by all Axis forces in Italy on the 2nd May 1945.Paperback,82 pages,Over 70 colour profiles by Richard J Caruana

Airframe Extra 8. Air War over Italy.

The Bulgarian Air Force in World War II

Germany’s Forgotten Ally Eduardo. M Gil Martinez.Paperback, 120 pages, 100 photos, 30 color profiles

Famous Russian Aircraft Mikoyan MiG-19

The eleventh title in the Airframe Album series is an essential companion for anyone tackling the Hasegawa (1/32nd), Tristar (1/35th), Esci or Tamiya (1/48th), Academy or Airfix/Heller kits in 1/72nd scale.Historical photo’s,full colour profiles.Paperback,130 pages.

YOU CAN VISIT OUR WEBSITE: www. bookworldws. co. uk Stockists of the following subjects: Aviation, Military, Naval, Modelling, Railway, Motoring Major credit cards accepted, UK cheques payable to Bookworld Wholesale Ltd

Bookworld-SAMI-1117-WP.indd 1 22-25-Tropical-Hurricane-MA-1117.indd 25

£14.50

Damaged is the new magazine from Abteilung 502, and also the newest member of AKís big family. This new Publication wants to show modellers how to weather any type of subject, under any circumstance with various effects. Fernando Vallejo, AKís president, takes matters into his own hands and selects all the best modellers to show their best models, creations and special curiosities.

Airframe Album 11.The Fieseler Fi 156

£17.95

U S Army Twin Beeches

Warpaint 111. Vought OS2U Kingfisher

As the mighty battlewagon ploughed through the waters of the Pacific few would have noticed the little aircraft perched on the ships stern. To many it was ‘old, slow and ugly’ while to others it was veritable life saver.Paperback, 44 pages,Black/White photos,colour profiles,line drawings

£4.75

Introducing The Weathering Aircraft, your publication of choice focused on painting and weathering techniques for aircraft models, launches its seventh issue. We should not overlook interiors, so we have decided to show you how to paint and weather cockpits, wheel and electronics bays, and radio compartments.

£8.99

MDF Scaled Down 7

The Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Front and EA-18G-Growler by Andy Evans. This new Scaled Down from SAM Publications brings the Super Hornet story to life.Paperback,Full colour,100 pages

£14.99

Aces High 11

We introduce you the 11th issue, the first number of the collection dedicated entirely to aircraft. The mythical Fw190. An indispensable issue for all lovers of aviation. For this special issue we have selected some articles of the highest quality of the best modelers in which they explain a lot of techniques on this iconic plane, with a careful layout and great photos.

£8.99

UK POSTAGE SINGLE BOOKS £2. 50 TWO OR MORE BOOKS £4. 50 OVERSEAS AIRMAIL PLEASE ADD 15% OF ORDER VALUE MINIMUM £4. 50

16/10/2017 16/10/2017 14:33 17:03

26

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM

MIRAGE 2000B DIORAMA Mirage 2000B/D/N Manufacturer: Kinetic Scale: 1:48 Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded Kit Number:48032

Delta Flight Sebastian Perez adds the 1:48 Kinetic Mirage 2000B into a diorama

F

or this build I’ll be using Kinetics’ 1:48 Mirage 2000 B/D/N and modelling the B variant. So first up was the cockpit, here I decided to change things up and remove the kit detail to make way for a photo etch set instead. The kit is nice but a little on the soft side, plus the Eduard set had all the relevant detail for the B variant. Once the cockpit had been painted and weathered it was glued into one side of

26-29-Delta-Flight-Diorama-MA-1117.indd 26

the fuselage along with the front wheel bay, which needs to be installed before closing the two halves up. Next up was the air intakes which fitted very well to the body halves with only a small smear of filler to blend them in. The lower section is made of two parts, a small forward piece and one large piece which includes the whole underside of the wings. Again, fit was excellent with only a quick dry fit and sand to ensure a perfect panel line. The two upper parts

16/10/2017 17:03

MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2017

27 DELTA FLIGHT – DIORAMA

The Kinetic Mirage 2000 needs no introduction! 26-29-Delta-Flight-Diorama-MA-1117.indd 27

16/10/2017 17:03

28

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM

MIRAGE 2000B DIORAMA

of the wings needed more attention, as there was a fair-sized gap running down each side where they attach to the fuselage. But this was easily filled with some Mr Surfacer 500 which was brushed in and smoothed down to give the illusion of a panel line. Next up was gluing the nose section, which I decided to add some weight into using lead shot (the instructions said nothing about adding weight, but it’s always best to). Then it was just a case of adding the remaining bits including the control surfaces, outer pylons

26-29-Delta-Flight-Diorama-MA-1117.indd 28

and refuelling probe. It’s around this point the instructions would have you build and install the undercarriage, but it’s best to leave them off until the very end in case you break them during painting. After the cockpit was maskedup everything was primed in Mr Surfacer 1500 Black, which gives you a lovely smooth finish for painting. The B variant has a two-tone blue grey camouflage, so after masking the pattern I sprayed the lighter grey colour using Mr Hobby H308 Grey in a ‘marbled effect’, and then sprayed H316 White into the centre on each panel that

would normally be effected by sun fading. Then I lightly sprayed the first colour over the two effects to help blend them in together, but taking care not completely cover the faded panels or the marbled effect which gives you a lovely weathered look. Next was the second colour and this was a mix of about 98% H308 Grey and 2% H042 Blue Grey. Again, doing the same as with the first colour, I achieve a nice weathered finish. Then I added a gloss coat and applied the decals, which being from Cartogarf went down beautifully. After applying a second gloss coat to seal them in, I added a panel wash using Ammo by MIG Dark Brown and Blue Black washes. Once they had dried I gave the whole model a quick coat of satin to seal and flatten everything down ready for the final stages of weathering. I applied AK interactive Streaking Grime with a small brush in direction of the airflow and using Tamiya Weathering Sets added dirt effects to the wing roots and where the control surfaces join the wings. Now it was time to attach the fuel tanks and weapons, being a trainer I had painted the two R550 missiles in an Orange shade. Then it was the turn of the undercarriage and here was the one real problem with the kit. Kinetic would have you leave the innermost doors open, but this isn’t correct as they were always shut when on the ground. Luckily, they didn’t really fit in the open position either so with some careful sanding I was able to shut them. The rest of the undercarriage went in fine with a good positive fit. Next I added the burner

16/10/2017 17:03

MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2017

29 DELTA FLIGHT – DIORAMA

can which was an Aires resin replacement (the kit part was a bit soft in detail), the inside of the fuselage needed to be thinned out to insure a good fit. Then it was the turn of the smaller details and attaching the RBF tags, all that was left to finish her off was to unmask the canopy and install it in the open position. For the base, I used a Trumpeter display case for the for the plinth, and a cheap pack of fine grit sandpaper, which has just the right texture for tarmac and concrete. Then I then cut the sandpaper into 4x4cm squares for the concrete slabs. Using PVA glue I stuck down the squares leaving a 1mm gap between each one, this was so I could use Tamiya Texture paint for the Bitumen that goes around the slabs. This dried rock hard and had a grainy look to it, perfect for what I wanted. Afterwards it was primed ready for painting using Mr Surfacer 1500 Black, I had decided to use the same method as I’d done of the Mirage and marble each slab slowly building up the tones with each coat. Next using a piece of static grass mat, I applied a small grass verge to one side of the base, while this was drying I decided to have a go at painting some markings onto the concrete. For this I got out every book that had pictures of taxiways or runways, not knowing what any of the markings meant I settled with what I thought was a set showing a parking area on a taxiway. This was masked up and sprayed using Tamiya XF-3 Flat Yellow and Mr Hobby H316 White, after ten minutes they were unmasked and I was left with simple but effective markings. The

26-29-Delta-Flight-Diorama-MA-1117.indd 29

whole process to this point had taken me no more than four maybe five hours at the most. After leaving that to completely dry I sprayed over a coat of satin varnish to seal everything in ready for weathering. The first stage was applying a dot filter effect using oil paints to each slab, this helped to uniform the painting as it was looking a bit patchy. Also, it helped to bring out the Bitumen to define each concrete square, the next step was to add mud to the edge of the static grass where it met the concrete and in the corners of selected slabs. I did this using AK interactive Earth, Fresh Mud and Dark Mud effects plus their Wet Effects for the wet muddy areas. The last weathering stage was to put fuel stains onto the concrete, this is one of those effects where less is more. So, with that I mind I pick out areas that would have the aircraft sitting over them the most and this was done using Ammo of MIG Fuel Stains, Engine Grime and Fresh Engine Oil effects. It was at this point I wanted

to add more of a human element to the diorama and add some bits to make it look more like a taxiway. So, I brought a set of taxiway lights and a tow bar from L’Arsenal, plus a pilot and ground crew set from PJ Productions. Both the uniforms of the ground crew and pilots were painted in Tamiya XF-58 Olive Green and picking out the details using XF-51 Khaki Drab. Reference pictures showed the taxiway lights having a yellow body with a blue lens, so these were painted In Tamiya XF-3 Flat Yellow and X-23 Clear Blue. Lastly the tow bar was painted in XF-54 Dark Sea Grey. The only thing missing now was to find something to display the training R550 missiles on, lucky I remembered I had a ready built NATO Missile Cart from Skunkmodels Workshop. So, with everything fully built it was just a case of sorting out where everything went and it was finished. MA

16/10/2017 17:03

OU T

Modellers Datafile Scaled Down

Boeing F/A-18E/F and EA-18G Growler

NOW

SUPER HORNET MDFSD 7

SUPER HORNET

By Andy Evans

£14.99 + P&P

B

uilt on the success of the F/A-18C and D ‘Legacy Hornets’, the F/A-18E singeseat and the F/A-18F two-seat Super Hornet, and the unique EA-18G Growler give the US Navy an unparalleled seaborne strike and electronic warfare capability. The newer Super Hornet is about twenty-five percent larger than its predecessor, but contains fortytwo percent fewer structural parts, and can fly greater ranges with heavier payloads, has more powerful engines and provides greater survivability, and the brand new electronic warfare variant, the EA-18G adds tactical jamming to the aircrafts already impressive abilities. Entering service in 1999, the Super Hornet replaced the mighty F-14 Tomcat in the fleet defence role and also works in conjunction with the ‘Legacy’ Hornets in the strike role. The forward fuselage remains unchanged

THE BOEING F/A-18E/F

SUPER HORNET and EA-18G Growler By Andy Evans

M DF

7 SCALED DOWN

000-CoverFront-MDFSD-OUTPUT-FRONT_MDFSD-07-Cover.qxd.indd 1

M DF 7

SCALED DOWN

30-31-Superhornet-Ads-MA-1117.indd SAM-MDFSD-07-Superhornet-Ad.indd 30 1

from the earlier aircraft, but the remainder of the Super Hornet shares little with the F/A-18C and D models. In July 2002, the F/A-18E/F began its maiden operational deployment on board USS Abraham Lincoln, and in November 2002, the aircraft made its combat entry, striking air defence sites in Southern Iraq with Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs). The aircraft was also deployed as part of Operation ‘Iraqi Freedom’ in March 2003, and has since been used in action over Afghanistan, Libya and Syria and continues in operational deployments around the globe. This new Scaled Down from SAM Publications brings the Super Hornet story to life.

11/09/2017 15:17

ORDER HOTLINE: 44 (0)1234 211245 ORDER ONLINE: www.sampublications.com 16/10/2017 18/09/2017 17:06 12:19

17 12:19

New & Collectible Model Kits

Hobby s ’ n a e STOP D

We Buy Model Collections

FREE 15 PAGE CATALOG AVAILA

BLE

116 N. WASHINGTON ˚ OWOSSO, MI 48867 ˚ 989-720-2137

www.deanshobbystop.com e: [email protected]

30-31-Superhornet-Ads-MA-1117.indd 31

16/10/2017 17:06

32

MODEL AIRCRAFT SHOWCASE

32-35-Showcase-Phantom-MA-1117.indd 32

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM

16/10/2017 17:06

MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2017

33 JAPANESE F-4EJ

Japanese

Kai Fighter

Seung-Yong Ryu builds the 1:48 Hasegawa F-4EJ with Moniko Decals

F

or this project, I used the excellent 1:48 Hasegawa F-4EJ and painted and weathered the model with Mr Color paints and Ammo by MIG products. You will notice the heavy paint fading on the aircraft, which was done to match the photographic references I have on this particular aircraft. MA

F-4EJ Phantom Manufacturer: Hasegawa Scale: 1:48 Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded Kit Number: 07396

The JASDF received a total of 154 F-4EJ’s originally equipping six squadrons

32-35-Showcase-Phantom-MA-1117.indd 33

16/10/2017 17:06

34

MODEL AIRCRAFT SHOWCASE

32-35-Showcase-Phantom-MA-1117.indd 34

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM

16/10/2017 17:06

MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2017

35 JAPANESE F-4EJ

Japans F-4EJ

J

apan selected the F-4 Phantom II as its new fighter at the end of the 1960s. On 1 November 1968, this choice was made public and Japan became one of the few countries that license-produced this aircraft. The JASDF received a total of 154 F-4EJ and RF-4Es. While the F-4EJs were built almost entirely by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the RF-4Es were bought directly from McDonnellDouglas. Due to Japanese military limitations prohibiting air-to-ground ordnance, the F-4EJs were delivered without the AN/AJB-7 bombing computer system and did not have an airrefuelling probe or receptacle. The F-4EJ entered service with the JASDF in August 1972 with a total of six Hikōtai (Squadrons) operating the aircraft: the 301, 302, 303, 304, 305 and 306th. To upgrade the Phantom, fleet the JASDF planned the F-4EJ Kai (Japanese for modified) program. This involved 110 aircraft, later reduced to ninety-six, which were upgraded with the smaller and more lightweight AN/APG-66J pulse Doppler radar and a heads-up display resulting, ground attack capabilities, and most importantly, ASM-1 or ASM-2 anti-ship missiles (two mounted under the wings). This boosted their capabilities in the antishipping role, taking over from the Mitsubishi F-1 and P-3 Orion. The central computer was

also updated, as well as the J/APR-6 homing and warning system, IFF system and the inertial navigation unit. The F-4EJ Kai upgrade added several other air-to-surface weapons to the F-4, including bombs and rockets. The F-4EJ Kai first flew on 17 July 1984, and first F-4EJ Kai was delivered on 24 November 1989 to the JASDF 306th Squadron. The first F-4EJ Kai aircraft were delivered to the 306 Hikōtai at Komatsu, but within a few years they were replaced by F-15Js. In April 1994, the F-4 strength was reduced to three squadrons.

32-35-Showcase-Phantom-MA-1117.indd 35

16/10/2017 17:06

com

THE PANAVIA

MDF 29

TORNADO

£19.99

OON ing S

TORNADO A COM PREHENSI VE GUI DE

IDS, ECR and ADV Versions

+ P&P

By Andy Evans

B

Aircraft, but the arrival of the jet age brought a plethora of y today’s exacting military standards, the new aircraft into the skies. Many designers clung to the success of the Panavia Tornado is quite ‘traditional’ one-aircraft-one mission thinking, and therefore achievement, and one that made its tri-national air forces found themselves with numerous specialised programme one of the greatest feats of international fighters, bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. As budgets military and political co-operation of the 20th century. became tighter, many promising projects began to be Rather than being the proverbial ‘camel’ (otherwise discarded through financial or political pressures, and known as a horse put together by a committee), the several countries began to see the sense in committing to Tornado has proved itself to be a true thorough-bred, bi-national or tri-national military projects, or alternatively able to deliver ‘as advertised’ in all weathers. The were persuaded to ‘buy American’. In Europe, the growing latter has been the cornerstone of the Tornado’s Soviet threat post-War, led Britain, Germany and Italy to performance, when at its peak, it was one the NATO agree to produce a single aircraft type, that could fly a wide that could function by night, by day, in fog, in rain variety of combat missions, and yet still be tailored to meet or snow, and mount realistic offensive operations. the needs of the individual user nations. So was born the Tornado was conferred with an excellent radar, ‘MRCA’ - later Tornado - and a management company, powerful engines, the ability to carry a large warCover: Illustration Purposes Only Panavia Aviation, was created to oversee the project, which load at both low-level and medium altitudes, had a was for a swing-wing, low- level ‘bomb truck’, capable of defence suppression, superb short field ability, which offered a compromise between traditional stand-off laser designation, anti-shipping and reconnaissance tasks, with further runways and STOL performance. Many historians would doubtless say consideration for a dedicated interceptor variant. The programme was a triumph that the famous De Havilland Mosquito was the original Multi-Role Combat of co-operation, which incredibly faced few hitches and produced perhaps the greatest aircraft of its type. Proven in battle from the deserts of Iraq to the skies of Europe, as well as in keeping the peace, the Panavia Tornado has a singular history, and up-date programs has kept it flying onto the 21st Century. Now in the last years of its service life, was perhaps a good time to look back on what is, and remains a very fine aircraft, and this new Datafile from SAM Publications brings the Tornado story to life!

M DF 29

TORNADO

SAM-MDF-29-Tornado-Ad.indd 1 36-47-MA-EXTRA-Pan-Tornado-MA-1117.indd 36

ORDER HOTLINE: 44 (0)1234 211245 ORDER ONLINE: www.sampublications.com 18/09/2017 16/10/2017 12:15 17:05

MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2017

37

N

LUFTWAFFE PANAVIA TORNADO IDS

Model Aircraft Extra

7 12:15

Luftwaffe Panavia Tornado IDS

T

he Tornado prototype made its first flight on 14 August 1974 from Manching airbase, in what was then West Germany, and deliveries of production Tornadoes began on 27 July 1979. The total number of Tornadoes delivered to Germany was some 247, including thirty-five unique ECR variants. Originally Tornadoes equipped five fighter-bomber wings with one tactical conversion unit and four front line wings, replacing the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. When one of the two Tornado wings of the German Navy was disbanded in 1994, its aircraft were used to re-equip a Luftwaffe’s reconnaissance wing formerly equipped with RF-4E Phantoms. As many as fifteen German Tornadoes undertook combat operations as a part of NATO’s campaign

over Bosnia. his was the first combat operation for the Luftwaffe since World War II. The Tornadoes, operating from Piacenza Italy, flew reconnaissance missions to survey damage inflicted by previous strikes and to scout targets

The German Tornadoes were withdrawn from Afghanistan in November 2010

36-47-MA-EXTRA-Pan-Tornado-MA-1117.indd 37

for other aircraft to strike. These reconnaissance missions were reportedly responsible for a significant improvement in target selection throughout the campaign. In 1999, German and Italian Tornadoes participated in Operation ‘Allied Force’, NATO’s military operation against in Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War, where ECR aircraft would escort various Allied aircraft while carrying HARM ant-radar missiles to counter attempted use of radar against the

16/10/2017 17:05

38

MA EXTRA- PANAVIA TORNADO

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM

friendly aircraft. During the Kosovo hostilities, Germany’s IDS Tornadoes would routinely conduct reconnaissance flights to identify both enemy ground forces and civilian refugees within Yugoslavia. In 2007, a detachment of six Tornadoes of the AG51 were deployed to Mazari-Sharif in Northern Afghanistan, to support NATO forces. The decision to send Tornadoes to Afghanistan, and in support of these missions, improvements to the Tornado’s reconnaissance equipment were accelerated. The German Tornadoes were withdrawn from Afghanistan in November 2010. Defence cuts announced in March 2003 resulted in the decision to retire ninety Tornadoes from Luftwaffe service. This

36-47-MA-EXTRA-Pan-Tornado-MA-1117.indd 38

16/10/2017 17:05

MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2017

39 LUFTWAFFE PANAVIA TORNADO IDS

in the anti-shipping and marine reconnaissance roles, again replacing the Starfighter. These equipped two wings, each with a nominal strength of forty-eight aircraft, carrying the AS.34 Kormoran missile, BL755 Cluster Bombs and AGM-88 HARM missiles, and recce-pods fitted with panoramic optical cameras and an infrared line scanner. The end of the Cold War gave rise to a requirement for Germany to reduce the size of its armed forces, including the number of combat aircraft. To meet this need, MFG.1 was disbanded on 1 January 1994, its aircraft replaced the Phantoms of a Luftwaffe reconnaissance wing. MFG.2 was enlarged and continued in the antishipping, reconnaissance and anti-radar roles until it was disbanded in 2005 with its aircraft and duties passed on to the Luftwaffe. led to a reduction in its Tornado strength to four wings by September 2005, however, despite further reductions the type expected to remain in service with the Luftwaffe until 2025. Aircrew training takes place at Holloman AFB in New Mexico. Beginning in 2000, German IDS and ECR Tornadoes received the ASSTA 1, 2 and 3 (Avionics System Software Tornado in Ada) upgrades. This involved a replacement weapons computer, new GPS and Laser INS, and the ability to carry the latest HARM missiles, the Taurus cruise missiles, Paveway III LGBs, JDAM and the Rafael Litening designator pod. In addition to the order placed by the Luftwaffe, the German Navy’s Marineflieger also received 112 of the IDS variant

36-47-MA-EXTRA-Pan-Tornado-MA-1117.indd 39

16/10/2017 17:05

40

MA EXTRA- PANAVIA TORNADO

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM

WALK AROUND ASSTA Tornado Photos by Jens Schymura

36-47-MA-EXTRA-Pan-Tornado-MA-1117.indd 40

16/10/2017 17:06

MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2017

41 ASSTA TORNADO WALKAROUND

36-47-MA-EXTRA-Pan-Tornado-MA-1117.indd 41

16/10/2017 17:06

42

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM

MA EXTRA- PANAVIA TORNADO

Baltic Defender René Van Der Hart builds the 1:48 Revell Tornado IDS in MFG.2 colours

W

ith this build I used the CMK resin cockpit set as a replacement of the kit parts. The cockpit detail in the kit would be quite sufficient for most builders, but since the cockpit is quite large I wanted it to be a bit more detailed. The resin ejection seats with etched seat belts really stand out, and a bit of copper wire was used to detail the monitors in the navigator’s cockpit. One of my favourite parts of this kit are the beautiful engine exhausts. The engine assembly is made up from seven parts and a thrust reverser, which you can build opened or closed, is made up from another eight parts. I used several different Alclad metal shades for the exhaust and ‘buckets’ to make it look more interesting, and a light dry brushing with Aluminium showed all the details even more. Now, building the fuselage is a bit strange. Unlike most kits where the fuselage is built up from two halves, this one is totally different. You start with a long baseplate on which you build up the airplane. The fit of the parts is surprisingly good but all the parts need cleaning of seam lines. This is a lot of work, especially with the large

36-47-MA-EXTRA-Pan-Tornado-MA-1117.indd 42

Tornado IDS Manufacturer: Revell Scale: 1:48 Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded Kit Number: 03987

amount of small parts. The instructions are quite overwhelming and it’s easy to miss something - I forgot to drill several holes for the pylons under the fuselage and refuelling probe and had to use another kit in my stash as a guide to drill them from the outside! There is a choice of how to pose the flaps, slats and airbrakes in the extended or

retracted position. I choose to lower the flaps but close the speed brakes and slats. The flaps are built up of several parts, leaving quite a heavy seam line after gluing them together. This seam was filled with putty and re-scribed when the filler hardened. The poseable wings were glued in place in the extended position, so I wouldn’t accidentally knock off the flaps when touching one of the wings. Up to this point the fit was good. The fit of the jet intakes, speed brakes, tail and wing sleeves unfortunately is not so good and some filler was needed to make everything flush. This also meant a few panel

16/10/2017 17:06

MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2017

43 BALTIC DEFENDER

Getting the fuselage into shape

Working on the wing slats

You do need to add some nose-weight

Adding details to the landing gear

This kit has loads of amazing details

36-47-MA-EXTRA-Pan-Tornado-MA-1117.indd 43

16/10/2017 17:06

44

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM

MA EXTRA- PANAVIA TORNADO Appling the Black base coat

Adding the camouflage

All set for final assembly

Ready for the decals

Washes made the details stand out

The decals settled very well

A crew platform…… ….makes a great addition

36-47-MA-EXTRA-Pan-Tornado-MA-1117.indd 44

16/10/2017 17:06

MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2017

45 BALTIC DEFENDER

lines needed re-scribing which, as mentioned earlier, is a bit difficult with this light-coloured plastic. All parts received a Black Primer with Microfiller from Alclad. With the Black coat, it is easy to see if any additional filling or sanding is needed and, for me, is the best method to make a realistic paint job. By slowly building up thin layers of paint, airbrushed randomly thicker or thinner in places, you get a slightly mottled effect, like on the real plane, with just one colour. Adding a few drops of white even more variations in colour or a sun-bleached

effect can be achieved. All the small parts like the pylons, flaps, landing gear and underwing stores were painted separately and left off until after painting and weathering. I painted the fuel tanks grey and wetting them with water and a bit of salt sprinkled on top of the tanks, followed by a slightly darker coat of grey. The tanks looked heavily weathered after the salt was removed.

I always liked the German Navy heavy weathered look of the Tornado. Unfortunately, there is only one version in the kit and this is a brightly painted Luftwaffe aircraft. A spare set from an older Italeri kit came to the rescue. Gunze Aqueous paint numbers 56, 309 and 317 were used for this camouflage. To my eye the blue grey number 56 is too light and must be darkened with a few drops of Black. With the method described above, all the colours were airbrushed in various shades of the base colours. After painting, all was sealed with a coat of Alclad Aqua gloss, followed by a dark wash. I prefer putting on a wash before the decals are put on. Usually the decal film becomes more visible with a wash on top. Only the larger decals like the crosses and squadron emblems were dulled with the same wash. A flat coat was airbrushed on after all the pre-painted parts were carefully glued in place. The bright yellow boarding ladder came from Flightpath, which was shaped using the included template. This kit has loads of amazing details and is easily the best Tornado kit available at the moment. Thanks to Revell for the build sample. MA

www.revell.de/en

36-47-MA-EXTRA-Pan-Tornado-MA-1117.indd 45

16/10/2017 17:07

46

MA EXTRA- PANAVIA TORNADO

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM

Tornado IDS 46+11 of MFG.1 of the German Navy finished in the Marine Standard F scheme of RAL 5008, RAL 7009 and RAL 7012 disruptive

Tornado IDS 45+76 of JBG38 ‘Friesland’, and finished Luftwaffe Standard scheme of RAL 7021, RAL6003 and FS 34079 disruptive

Tornado IDS 45+44 of JBG33 and finished in a Luftwaffe Standard 1995 scheme of FS36375, FS36320 and FS35237 disruptive

Tornado ECR 45+51 of AG51 ‘Immelmann’ finished in a scheme of FS36375, FS36320 and FS35237 disruptive

Tornado IDS 43+54 of Marinefliegergerschwader 1 (MFG1) of the German Navy and finished on Grey RAL 7012 upper surfaces and White RAL 7035 lower surfaces

36-47-MA-EXTRA-Pan-Tornado-MA-1117.indd 46

16/10/2017 17:07

36-47-MA-EXTRA-Pan-Tornado-MA-1117.indd 47

16/10/2017 17:07

48

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM

STALIN’S KURSK SURPRISE

COMBAT-ZONE

Stalin’s Kursk Surprise

Anthony Tucker-Jones recounts how Stalin tried to pre-empt Hitler’s Kursk offensive with a massive air strike

Petlyakov Pe-2 tactical dive-bomber known as ‘Peshka’ by the crews

I

n the summer of 1943 Stalin’s Red Air Force had numerical superiority, with twice as many fighters as the Luftwaffe and many times the number of ground-attack aircraft. This was largely due to Marshal Zhukov’s insistence that their fighter strength be substantially increased to meet Hitler’s anticipated Operation Citadel. Only Stalin’s day bomber force was inferior with about half the number of aircraft available. Overall co-ordination of Soviet air operations, as at Stalingrad, was the responsibility of Air Marshal Novikov aided by his deputy General Vorozheikin and his newly appointed Chief of Staff, General Khudyakov, subordinate to Zhukov as Stalin’s deputy supreme commander. The deputy air army commanders were posted to the ground armies HQs and a network of secondary command and control centres was established inside the Kursk salient. Both the Soviet 16th and 2nd Air Armies were commanded by men who had fought at Stalingrad. General Rudenko kept command of the 16th, with General Kravovski replacing

48-51-Combat-Zone-Kursk-MA-1117 copy.indd 48

The Pe-2 was vulnerable to German fighters as this example testifies

16/10/2017 17:05

MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2017

COMBAT-ZONE

Smirnov in command of the 2nd, after handing over the 17th Air Army on the Southwestern Front to General Sudets. They were backed by Goryunov’s 5th Air Army which had been reconstituted after its move from the North Caucasus. Combined with the flanking 17th Air Army up to 3,000 Soviet aircraft were ready to meet Hitler’s offensive. The Luftwaffe operated from airfields about 20km from the frontline, but on the eve of Citadel, some fighter squadrons flew into advanced airstrips just five kilometres from the front. The Red Air Force partly out of respect for the Luftwaffe’s skill at hitting forward airfields operated its tactical fields much further back. Soviet fighters were placed up to 40km away, ground-attack aircraft 70kms and bombers up to 130kms. On the night of 4 July and on into the early hours there was no rest for the Luftwaffe. Citadel was to start at 03.30 on 5 July and the Luftwaffe was to put 1,700 aircraft into the air to bomb and strafe Soviet defences. To the north Field Marshal Model was to be supported by the 1st Air Division with 730 aircraft based around Orel under Major General Paul Deichmann. He

This was the fate of many of the aircraft involved in Stalin’s Kursk surprise

bombers would take off first and circle around while they waited for their fighter escorts to get airborne. However, the Red Air Force had other ideas. Its intelligence showed that Seidemann’s 8th Air Corps, with its extensive experience of flying close air support, had redeployed from

Remains of a Red Air Force SB-2 bomber

was responsible for the 6th Air Fleet’s combat operations. While to the south General Hans Seidemann with 1,100 bombers, ground attack and fighter aircraft drawn from the 4th Air Fleet were to fly from airfields around Kharkov and Belgorod. The Luftwaffe’s radio eavesdroppers had picked up heightened chatter from the Red Air Force in the Kursk salient. There was a sudden surge in communication amongst the Soviet air regiments that indicated something was going to happen. The operators peered at their screens being fed information from the Freya radar units in the region. They revised their initial count up from 100, 200, 300 to finally over 400 aircraft coming in their direction. This was not a normal raid. An entire Soviet air army was on its way. In a panic one of the men picked up the field telephone and frantically called Mikoyanovka, which was the location of the 8th Air Corps HQ 27km south of Belgorod. The Luftwaffe bases were scenes of organised chaos as row upon row of aircraft stood at cockpit readiness. The plan was that the slower

48-51-Combat-Zone-Kursk-MA-1117 copy.indd 49

49

the Crimea to the Kharkov-Belgorod sector. This confirmed that Hitler was planning to attack. After taking the call from the Freya stations the duty officer at Mikoyanovka hasten to find Seidmann and the Luftwaffe’s Chief of Staff General Hanns Jeschonnek who happened to be visiting. On hearing the news both men looked ashen faced. Their heavily laden bombers were about to take off, but if they did they would run straight into enemy fighters. If they did not they would be smashed on the ground or as they lumbered skyward. The five main airfields around Kharkov were now packed with aircraft. A signal immediately went out for the bombers to stand down. Men then ran out across the airfields with thumbs up for the fighter squadrons to go first. Pilots buckled up and the Messerschmitts began taxing through the ranks of waiting bombers to reach the runways. The Soviets were clearly up to something. Earlier Deichmann’s command post near Orel airfield reported that Soviet artillery and rockets had started pounding Model’s 9th

More remains of shot down Soviet aircraft

16/10/2017 17:05

50

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM

STALIN’S KURSK SURPRISE Army in the darkness. They were not hitting much but something had spooked them. News filtering into Model and Field Marshal von Manstein’s headquarters suggested some sort of spoiling attack or worse the Red Army was going to go on the offensive first. Zhukov noted “On 4 July I was at Central Front Headquarters. … I learned about the outcome of an engagement with advanced enemy detachments near Belgorod. I was also told that information received earlier that day from a captured soldier of the [German] 168th Infantry Division – to the effect that the enemy offensive would be launched at dawn on 5 July – had been confirmed and that, in accordance with the plan of Supreme Headquarters, the Voronezh Front was ready to open fire with its artillery and air units preliminary to the counterattack.” The prisoner’s division, belonging to General Breith’s 3rd Panzer Corps, was deployed north of Belgorod and to the south of Shopino. On its left was the 3rd SS Panzergrenadier Division. In response to this intelligence orders had been issued to Rudenko and Krasovski’s HQs who in turned signalled their air corps commanders – the mission was a go. The Red Air Force was prepared to take on this daring attack because of its new found confidence. During the early part of the year it had fought to gain dominance over the Kuban region to the east of the Crimea. Throughout April and May at a time when the Luftwaffe should have been resting and re-equipping ready for Citadel it had been required to fly up to 400 sorties every 24 hours. Due to Hitler’s insistence on holding the Kuban the Luftwaffe was forced to sacrifice precious resources needlessly. During the third week of April Soviet pilots claimed almost 190 German aircraft this would increase to nearly 370. Such was its mauling that the Luftwaffe was obliged to half its sortie rate and Hitler’s hold on the Kuban was

This Russian farm had a very close shave

greatly weakened. At Mikoyanovka Seidmann and Jeschonnek watched anxiously as Soviet aircraft formations droned overhead toward the Luftwaffe’s network of airfields around Kharkov. Had they been quick enough reversing the take-off orders or was Stalin about to devastate Hitler’s air support before Operation Citadel had even started. If the Red Air Force succeeded with its surprise attack then Citadel would be stillborn. To make matters worse the forward airfields were overflowing with munitions. Seidmann’s forces had enough stored ammunition for ten missions, while Deichmann had bombs for fifteen days of major operations. Tense moments passed until it was confirmed that the 3rd and 52nd Fighter Groups were safely airborne. It was now a case of waiting to see if the Luftwaffe’s superior tactics and skill could prevail. The Soviet attacking force included 285 fighters and 132 ground-attack aircraft from the 2nd and 17th Air Armies. Their pilots were caught

out as they assumed they would pounce on an unsuspecting Luftwaffe. Instead they found themselves under attack by angry swarms of Messerschmitts that having climbed darted out of the haze of the early dawn. The Soviet formations tried to press on toward their targets and as they did so their ranks were thinned by German fighters and flak. Over the air corridor between Belgorod and Kharkov it turned into a turkey shoot. Soviet tactics were simply not flexible enough to fight an air battle and bomb ground targets at the same time. The Soviet Lavochkin and Yakolev fighters were outclassed, though the newer version of Lavochkin had a much improved climb rate. Those bombers that did reach the Kharkov area scattered their bombs over a wide area achieving little damage. The sky filled with swirling vapour trails as aero engines were pushed to their limit. Desperate dogfights took place as aircraft scattered in all directions. It became a case of everyman for himself. Pe-2 aircrew with a visiting American airman

48-51-Combat-Zone-Kursk-MA-1117 copy.indd 50

16/10/2017 17:05

MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2017

HAND PICKED FO Rpicked 2017 Hand

Soviet bombers were caught out over Kharkov – with the Red Air Force losing at least 120 planes

8 03925 o F.3 ADV, 1:4 Tornad

Available from all good model stockists and online from Amazon

Visit our website

W W W. R E V E L L . D E /E N facebook.com/Revell

Wreckage of another SB-2 bomber, note the cannon holes punched in the fuselage

48-51-Combat-Zone-Kursk-MA-1117 copy.indd 51

File Name:

03932 rmovik , 1:48 IL-2 Sto

Latest Issues

5

Insert Date:

’, 1:72 ftwaffe

s ‘Lu 03929 A400M Atla Airbus

Job Number:

4547

5

SAM

took precious time. Likewise the shaken pilots had to be debriefed and prepared for their next sorties. Zhukov was not pleased that the preemptive air strikes had been botched ‘The air force made an insignificant, and to be quite honest, ineffective contribution; raids on enemy aerodromes at dawn did not fulfil their purpose in any way at all as the German Command had its aircraft in the air by that time to assist its ground forces.’ All the Red Air Force achieved was to delay the Luftwaffe very slightly. The loss of so many aircraft from Rudenko and Krasovski’s air armies meant the Red Air Force was unable to challenge the Luftwaffe over the Kursk salient during the opening stages Operation Citadel. It was a major setback for the Red Air Force committing so many fighters to this abortive pre-emptive strike. The result was that it was not in a position to contest Luftwaffe supremacy on the southern flank of the Kursk salient and in the north its response to Luftwaffe attacks were often completely ineffectual. Stalin’s Kursk surprise had failed – luckily for him his ground defences did not. MA

Publication:

Wingmen tried to stay together but were often separated in the confusion. Those bombers and ground-attack aircraft still with their bombs were separated from their squadrons and picked off. General Seidemann could not believe his luck. Not long before his bomber units had been threatened with obliteration. Jeschonnek was equally thankful their fighters had saved the day. The Führer would have been furious if the Luftwaffe had been caught napping. He could just imaging how the conversation would have gone if he had to personally report to Hitler the loss of an irreplaceable air corps on the very brink of Citadel. Jeschonnek hoped that the rest of the operation went as well. The Red Air Force had no choice but abandon the mission and its remaining aircraft, many of them damaged turned and headed for home. The Messerschmitts gave chase and the German flak batteries kept firing. The surrounding countryside became littered with the broken remains of Soviet aircraft. Those crews lucky enough to survive being brought down were swiftly rounded up and taken prisoner. Those aircraft that got back had to be patched up, refuelled and rearmed and all that

Date:

Signed-off by:

5

REVELL_SAM_1-3_27-07-17_VERT_65x290_aw.pdf

Andrew Rawlinsom

for 2016

@RevellGermany

Revell GmbH, Unit 10, Old Airfield Industrial Estate, Cheddington Lane, Tring, HP23 4QR Tel: 0845 459 0747, Fax: 01296 660041, Email: [email protected] ©2017 Revell GmbH. A subsidiary of Hobbico, Inc. All rights reserved. Trade enquiries welcome.

16/10/2017 17:05

52

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM

PANAVIA ‘TIGERMEET 2011’

TIGERMEET TORNADO

Mike Williams builds the 1:72 Revell Tornado ECR

R

evell have released their 1:72 Tornado in many guises over the years, and have included almost all the Luftwaffe ‘Tiger Meet’ special schemes. The standout elements are always the decals for the special schemes, as the kit is widely regarded as the best rendition of the ubiquitous Tornado in 1:72. As this build was more or less going to be a ‘clothes horse’ for the Tiger scheme it was decided early on that it would be a ‘straightfrom-the-box’ build so as not to complicate or compromise things as regards the decals and painting. To that end, the instructions were followed from the outset and as is nearly always the norm it starts with the cockpit and seats. The supplied ejection seats are decent enough renditions of the Martin-Baker Mk.10 units fitted to the Tornado and being that it was to have the canopy closed they were used as supplied simply needing nothing more than some careful painting. If the canopy was going to be open then the seats could do with swapping with some detailed resin replacements. The cockpit tub as supplied is neat and tidy with decals supplied for the side consoles and instrument panels which were used as opposed to painting the details. The decals settled well

52-59-Tigermeet-Tornado-MA-1117.indd 52

and conformed to the raised details with little help needed from setting solutions. Once dried, a wash was applied to the entire cockpit interior to add some depth and signs of wear and tear. The instrument panels simply clicked into place before the cockpit ‘tub’ was fitted to the top of the nose gear bay and this subassembly was brought together inside the two fuselage halves completing the cockpit and forward fuselage unit. The seats were dropped into place later having had their small warning decals applied to their head boxes and a matt varnish to finish them off. Attention was now turned to the rest of the main fuselage assembly along with the wings, which need to be trapped between the upper and lower fuselage haves allowing them to sweep back and forth if so desired. The main undercarriage bays were nicely detailed but needed painting before being fixed into place to save trying to get paint inside them once they were fixed in place. They were sprayed Mr Hobby H21 Off-White which imparted a suitably

Panavia ‘Tigermeet 2011’ Manufacturer: Revell Scale: 1:72 Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded Kit Number:  04847

dirty hue, which would only be enhanced with a wash of Alclad Warpigs Dirt and Grime later. The wings were assembled before they could be fitted within the fuselage upper and lower halves, and they needed nothing more than a small amount of clean up and gluing together before being set to one side while the interior bracing bars for the swingwing mechanism were attached.  The speed of the build really ramped up once the wings were in place and the large fuselage parts were assembled and the nose section was attached to the rear section. Two wing glove and the seals were then fitted and allowed to dry to before the main upper and lower fuselage sections were brought together. They fit nicely but could have possibly caused issues and might have fallen

16/10/2017 17:05

MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2017

53 TIGERMEET TORNADO

The kit decals were applied to the side consoles and instrument panels with plenty of setting solution. They bedded down excellently into the details, and a wash was added using Alclad Hogwash Dirt and Grime

If you fancy a challenge, grab yourself one of these Tornado’s and have some decal fun

inside if they were not fully dried. The all moving tail planes were painted before being fitted as it was intended to leave them off to ease painting and decaling, however, a dry run of the main parts showed that it would not be easy to do this without some surgery and maybe some drilling and pinning. Not wishing to compromise the integrity of the finished model they were added in situ as per the instructions. One deviation from the instructions sequence was leaving the air intake units until the main fuselage had been assembled and had been allowed to dry. The intake units are a very tight fit and needed a little sanding along the outer surfaces to allow them to seat correctly without the need to force them into place and risk splitting any seams or damaging the surrounding plastic. Once in place they were sealed with Tamiya Extra Thin Quick Setting cement to speed things up. The top seams along the intakes needed a small application of Mr Surfacer to help get a smoothly blended transition; these were then gently sanded back with fine sanding sponges. The Tornado is one aircraft that is notorious for being a tail sitter without any

52-59-Tigermeet-Tornado-MA-1117.indd 53

With the cockpit finished the seats were assembled, painted and dropped into place before the fuselage was closed around the whole unit. The fit was excellent with minimal clean up needed

The main undercarriage bays were airbrushed Gunze H21 Off White before being installed, giving a suitably used and dirty grey-white effect. They fitted from the inside easily after painting

16/10/2017 17:05

54

PANAVIA ‘TIGERMEET 2011’ weight added forward to the centre of gravity, to that end some lead shot was superglued into the nose cone. The nose and all other peripherals fitted easily into their respective positions, these include the lower ECM moulding that sits flush on the lower fuselage as well as the large tail fin, which fits pretty much perfectly into the recess on the upper fuselage half, needing nothing more than a light smear of Deluxe Materials Perfect Plastic Putty to ensure a decent seam join. The last job before heading to the paint booth was to mask and fit the canopy in the closed position sealing it in place with white glue which dries clear should any seep inside underneath the edges. Preparations could now be made for painting, and therein lies the biggest job with this model. The first areas to tackle were the Black sections including the nose cone and wing tip fairings along with the RWR fairings on the tails, all of which could be painted and masked off, before the main paint job could be tackled. In fairness to Revell they do give a paint guide as to what areas should be which colour before you tackle the decals, and on closer inspection it really was the simplest of paint jobs. The overall airframe is Luftwaffe Grey which equates (near enough) to FS36320. To that end H307 from Mr Hobby was the paint used. The lower fuselage corners, from just forward of the intakes to the nose cone needed to be painted White with a soft edged demarcation to the Grey. It was with some trepidation that the decals were brought into play next, so a sealing gloss varnish was airbrushed over the entire model to ensure a smooth surface for the decals to adhere to and bed down onto the details.  The paint guide for the large underwing fuel tanks is perfect and if it is followed to the letter the decals finish them off to perfection, much to my amazement as these were troubling me from the outset. The decals would be the make or break for this model so

52-59-Tigermeet-Tornado-MA-1117.indd 54

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM

The wings, swing mechanism and tail planes were all fitted inside the main fuselage before it was closed. It looked complex but was relatively easy to assemble

The intakes are fitted after the main fuselage and wings have been assembled. They were a tricky fit but had with a resounding ‘click’ when seated correctly, and needed little clean-up

16/10/2017 17:05

MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2017

Same Aircraft - Different builder - Vitor Costa

52-59-Tigermeet-Tornado-MA-1117.indd 55

TIGERMEET TORNADO

Tigermeet ECR - Another View

55

16/10/2017 17:05

56

PANAVIA ‘TIGERMEET 2011’

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM

There was not a lot of room for adding nose weight, however, lead shot and solder were squeezed into the area forward of the cockpit and into the nose cone

careful adherence was needed to the placement instructions which were confusing to say the least. Once the numbers had been deciphered from the placement guide to the decals sheet itself it was decided to start from the centreline spine decal from behind the cockpit to the tail and then work outwards in a symmetrical pattern to ensure they matched each side and would meet up with each corresponding decal section, one piece at a time opposite each other. It took several evening sessions and plenty of strong decal solvent on some of the larger decals, such as the tail design with that amazing Tiger head, to ensure they all settled properly and snuggled down into the fine recesses and rivet details. Also, some decals had to be applied over others once they had dried, such as the slogans and web address on the tail. To be perfectly honest, all that was needed was plenty of patience and care.  Curiously, there were no specific decals supplied or mentioned for the BOZ pod on the starboard outer pylon, so they were cobbled together from the spare decal sheet using my downloaded reference images. After the marathon decal sessions, all the smaller details

52-59-Tigermeet-Tornado-MA-1117.indd 56

The windscreen and canopy were fitted and masked off before getting a coat of Black, acting as a primer as well as the interior colour for the cockpit. Note the wing tips, RWR’s and nose were also masked off

16/10/2017 17:05

MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2017

57

Photos by Jens Schymura

52-59-Tigermeet-Tornado-MA-1117.indd 57

TIGERMEET TORNADO

Tiger Meet Tornadoes in Camera

16/10/2017 17:05

58

PANAVIA ‘TIGERMEET 2011’

The decals were beautifully printed with excellent opacity and register. Lots of strong setting solution was employed to ensure they snuggled down over the details

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM

like the undercarriage legs, wheels and lights were relatively easy to paint, weather and install before a light wash was added to pick out the details in the panel lines and rivet detail which really bought it to life adding a sense of realism over the toy-like look of the model in just paint and decals. The exhausts were sprayed in Alclad Steel and fitted with small dabs of slow setting superglue. A finishing satin varnish was sprayed over the entire model and the canopies were unmasked before setting her down on her wheels to admire the completed build. This model is certainly an easy enough build and should present no problems for all but the very novice modeller. The only caveat I will add is that the decals could try the most experienced modeller as they did me at times. If you fancy a challenge, grab yourself one of these Tornado’s and have some decal fun and games. MA

N

A methodical approach was needed when applying the decals to ensure everything matched up along the upper centreline

000-

MDF • 27

The SEPECAT Jaguar

SAM Publications

52-59-Tigermeet-Tornado-MA-1117.indd 58

16/10/2017 17:06

SAM B

SAM Bookshop COMING SOON!

OUT NOW!

THE BOEING F/A-18E/F

SUPER HORNET

COMING SOON!

M O D E L L I N G

and EA-18G Growler

G U I D E

Created with

By Andy Evans

Fighters & Attack Aircraft of the

Vietnam War AIR KRAFT

M DF

1

7 SCALED DOWN

MODELLING GUIDE

MDSD 7 Boeing Super Hornet £14.99

000-CoverFront-MDFSD-OUTPUT-FRONT_MDFSD-07-Cover.qxd.indd 1

AIRK-1 Modelling Guide £5.99

00-HAK-Cover-Front-New-Vietnam.indd 1

11/09/2017 15:17

16/10/2017 14:13

MDF 29 Panavia Tornado £19.99

Visit us at Scale ModelWorld 2017 and quote ‘SAM17’ to get £5 off your order! MDSD 6 Blackburn Buccaneer £14.99

(terms and conditions apply).

MDF SD 5 F5 Tiger £14.99

000-CoverFront-MDF27_MDF10-Cover.qxd 27/10/2016 16:51 Page 1

MDF • 27

COMBAT EDGE

COMBAT EDGE • 2

PROWLER

MDF 28 Vought A-7 Corsair £19.99 THE SEPECAT

JAGUAR A C O M P R E H E N S I V E G UI DE

British, French & International Versions

2

The SEPECAT Jaguar

THE US NAVY & MARINE CORPS EA-6B PROWLER

by Andy Evans

Warfighters in Detail

The US Navy & Marine Corps EA-6B

SAM PUBLICATIONS

SAM Publications

M DF

PROWLER

27

JAGUAR

Combat Edge 2 US Navy & Marine Corps EA-6B Prowler £9.99

00-Cover-Front-CE2-Prowler.indd 1

MDF 27 Sepecat Jaguar £19.99

MDF SD 4 Hawker Sea Fury £9.99

MDF 26 Douglas Skyraider £19.99

18/10/2016 10:57

Combat Edge 1 US Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier £9.99

ORDER HOTLINE: (01234) 224993 For more information on all our products please visit

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM SAM Book Store.indd 2 52-59-Tigermeet-Tornado-MA-1117.indd 59

16/10/2017 16/10/2017 15:55 17:06

60

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM

F-105D THUNDERCHIEF

HEAVY METAL

Thunder! Andrew Root adds the 1:72 Trumpeter F-105D to a Coastal Kits blurred base!

T

o be honest, the idea for this project was totally stolen from Jezz Coleman and his brilliant A-4 Skyhawk build, that was featured in a previous issue of MAM. This was the first time I’d seen a Coastal Kits blurred base, and I was hooked! So, to be a little different, I decided to go for a natural metal aircraft, as I thought this would be a good contrast to the base, and having looked around I went for the 1:72 Trumpeter F-105 Thunderchief, which turned out to be a great choice. The kit itself was pretty simple, and as I was planning a ‘in-flight’ diorama, I was soon ready to paint! I used the Uschi Van Der Rosten polishing powders on a few small panels, and I was amazed at the results. So, I decided to try to cover this whole aircraft with the powders, to see if a good metal could be achieved without an airbrush. This process started with an Alclad Gloss base coat, which provided a nice gloss finish for the powders to work on. Then I jumped straight in with the powders. First I used the Chrome Powder for the main colour, I just dipped a cotton ball in the powder, and rubbed it onto the model, and buffed it for a superb metallic finish. The more you buff, the shinier the look! The next stage was to paint some of the airframe panels in various shades of metal, this

60-61-Heavy-Metal-Thunder-MA-1117.indd 60

is where large choice of Alclad paints came into their own, as there are so many metal types and shades to pick from. A few shades were used just to create a few panel variations.  With the kit and painting complete, the attention turned to the decals, I decided to use the decals supplied with the kit, this being an example from the 334th Tactical Fighter Squadron of the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing. The decals went on very well, and pulled down nicely with a little Micro-Sol. A final coat of Alclad Gloss was then applied to seal the paint and decals, and the kit was finished. I decided on a very simple method to fix the aircraft to the Coastal Kits base, a short piece of wire, fitted into a small hole on the underside of the fuselage, then a small hole drilled into the base, with a simple push fit. It worked superbly! For those modellers without an airbrush, the Uschi Van Der Rosten polishing powders offer a very real possibility for creating a good metal finish, by using a Gloss Black base, either brush painted or perhaps from an aerosol, and I’m sure a variety of base colours would alter the final tones of the powder for even more panel variations. MA

16/10/2017 17:11

MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2017

61 HEAVY METAL THUNDER!

I decided to go for a natural metal aircraft, as I thought this would be a good contrast to the base

F-105D Thunderchief Manufacturer: Trumpeter Scale: 1:72 Kit Type: plastic injection moulded Kit Number: 01617

60-61-Heavy-Metal-Thunder-MA-1117.indd 61

16/10/2017 17:11

62

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM

DOUGLAS TBD DEVASTATOR

REAL TO REPLICA

TBDs and SBDs on the flight deck of the USS Enterprise

The Douglas TBD Devastator

T

he Douglas TBD Devastator was an US designed torpedo bomber, which first flew in 1935 and entered service in 1937. At that point, it was the most advanced aircraft flying for the Navy and possibly for any navy in the world. However, the fast pace of aircraft development quickly caught up with it, and by the time of the attack on Pearl Harbour it was already outdated. The Devastator however, performed well in some early battles, but earned notoriety for its catastrophically poor performance in the Battle of Midway, in which the forty-one Devastators launched during the battle produced zero torpedo hits, and only six survived to return to their carriers. Vastly outclassed in both speed and manoeuvrability Japanese Zero, most of the force was wiped out with little consequence except to distract the Zeros from the much more capable and survivable SBD Dauntless Dive Bombers that

62-67-Real-Replica-Devastator-MA-1117.indd 62

Their slow speed made the Devastators easy targets for marauding Zeros

16/10/2017 17:11

MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2017

63 REAL TO REPLICA

aircraft carrier Shoho on 7 May, but failed to hit another carrier, the Shokaku the next day. Faults were discovered with the Mark 13 Torpedo at this point, as many were seen to hit the target yet fail to explode, and there was also a tendency to run deeper than the set depth. It took over a year for the defects to be corrected, and were not fixed by the time of the Battle of Midway on 4 June 1942. The Devastator also proved to be a death trap for its crews, being slow and hardly manoeuvrable, with poor armour for the era. Its speed on a glide-bombing approach was a mere 200mph, making it easy prey for fighters and defensive gunners alike. The aerial torpedo could not even be released at

A TBD-1 of VT-5

eventually sank four Japanese carriers and a heavy cruiser. The aircraft was quickly withdrawn from frontline service after Midway, being replaced by the Grumman TBF Avenger. In the early days of the Pacific war, the Devastator acquitted itself well during February and March 1942, with aircraft for the USS Enterprise and Yorktown attacking targets in the Marshall and Gilbert Islands, and the Wake and Marcus Islands, while TBDs from Yorktown and Lexington struck Japanese shipping off New Guinea on 10 March. In the Battle of the Coral Devastators helped sink the Japanese

TBDs in formation over Florida

speeds above 115mph, and delivery required a long, straight-line attack run, making the aircraft more vulnerable, and the slow speed of the aircraft made them easy targets for marauding Zero. Surviving Devastators in VT-4 and VT-7 remained in service briefly in the Atlantic and in training squadrons until 1944. Many were relegated to training duties for pilots and mechanics or were destroyed following use as instructional airframes for firefighting training. By late 1944, no TBD Devastators were left in the US Navy inventory. None survived the war and there are none known to exist on dry land today. In fairness to the Devastator, the newer TBF Avengers were similarly ineffective in 1942, losing five out of six aircraft without scoring a hit during the Battle of Midway. MA

Devastators on the deck of the USS Ranger in 1942

62-67-Real-Replica-Devastator-MA-1117.indd 63

16/10/2017 17:11

64

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM

TBD-1 DEVASTATOR

‘Torpedo Run’

René Van Der Hart builds the 1:48 Great Wall Hobby TBD Devastator

N

owadays we modelers are, in my opinion, very fortunate to have an incredible range of available kits on the market. Esapecially the smaller firms with only a relative small range of models like AMK, Zoukei Mura, and Great Wall Hobby produce kits to a very high standard that you won’t find in the ‘big league’ catalogues. In 2012, Great Wall Hobbies released the long overdue 1:48 TBD Devastator, and even a prototype floatplane version is available. Great Wall Hobby ‘s kit includes optional opened or closed canopy, a nice set of decals, a set of masks and two etched frets. The detail is exceptional but a bit sparse in the rivet department, and if I were to build this kit again I would definately add loads of rivets on the fuselage and wings. As usual the build begins with the cockpit, and with the addition of the etched parts, like seatbelts and decals for the dials, the level of detail is more than sufficient. With the main cockpit parts complete, the entire assembly received a coat of Alclad Black Primer, followed by Gunze Interior

62-67-Real-Replica-Devastator-MA-1117.indd 64

Green. The seatbelts, fire extiguisher, headrest and buttons were all brush painted with Vallejo shades. A dark wash and a light drybrush created more depth and made the details stand out. The highlight of this kit for me was the radial engine. Sparkplug cables are provided on the etched fret, and I brush painted all the parts separately with Vallejo colours over Black Primer. The exhaust was painted with the Lifecolor rust effect set. A dark wash again was used and as a final touch, and the nuts and bolts were painted Silver. Unfortunately most of the engine will be invisible once the engine cowling is in place! The rest of the build was straightforward. The wings, wing fold mechanism, and recess for the torpedo all drop perfectly into place, and a drop of glue and some light sanding was all that was needed to complete this part of the build. I opted to put the wings in folded position, and to secure the wing in the correct place, two white metal hinged pieces are provided. The torpedo was painted with Alclad Steel on the rear section, with the forward being painted with Alclad Jet Exhaust.

TBD-1 Devastator Manufacturer: Great Wall Hobby Scale: 1:48 Kit Type: plastic injection moulded with etch Kit Number: L4812

Now for the glazing, and as previously noted, you can choose between a closed cockpit with one large piece of glass or put them all in the open position. Here you will encounter the only problem with this kit. On the real aircraft the aft four windows slide all over each other. In the kit this is phisically impossible beacuse of the thickness of the parts. My solution was to just use the ones you can make fit. Another small problem is the masking set, as its totally

16/10/2017 17:11

MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2017

w ‘TORPEDO RUN’

The engine is well represented…..

….and builds very nicely

The cockpit parts ready for painting……

…and were fixed into place ….and detailing…..

The wings, wing fold mechanism, and recess for the torpedo all drop perfectly into place

62-67-Real-Replica-Devastator-MA-1117.indd 65

useless, so I resorted to some traditional masking Tamiya tape and a sharp blade. The paint on naval aircraft in the Pacific used to weather quite severly in the humid salty air. This is what I wanted to recreate on this model. So, first a Black Primer coat was applied, and then a 50:50 mix of Gunze Aqueous 53 and 54, airbrushed on in thin random layers, and finally I added a little White to the mix. The outer wings look like corrugated metal, and I didn’t dare to use the decals here, fearing they wouldn’t

16/10/2017 17:11

66

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM

TBD-1 DEVASTATOR

The first paint job was to add a coat of Alclad Black Primer….. The wings can be shown in the folded position

….followed by a 50:50 mix of Gunze Aqueous 53 and 54, and then I masked off the White for the roundel…..

Salt was used on the walkway….. ….and added the centre ‘star’ …..to create a faded, worn look

Adding, and blending in some oil dots…..

sink into the recesses. So, I decided to paint-in the blue circles and white stars. So first I cut some circles from Tamiya tape, and airbushed Flat White in the masked parts on wings and fuselage. Then I used the stars provided on the masking set. After a gloss coat the few remaining decals were put in place, and these conformed without the use of decal setting medium. MIG Productions Dark Wash was then brushed all over the model, to pick out the panel lines and add a little weathering. Now it was time to put the final smaller parts in place, like the machine guns and antennae. The radio wire was made from stretched sprue, and painted Flat Black. A final coat of Alclad Flat brought everything together,

62-67-Real-Replica-Devastator-MA-1117.indd 66

…to further fade the paintwork

and then the masks from the glass parts were removed. On each side of the fuselage there are four small windows, which I filled with White Glue, which dries clear and looked better than the kit parts. All in all, this is a very enjoyable, high quality kit that literally falls together. Highly recommended for modellers with experience of using etched parts.

The torpedo was painted with Alclad Steel on the rear section, with the forward being painted with Alclad Jet Exhaust

16/10/2017 17:11

SAM-A

YOU NEED THIS MAGAZINE!

PA GES

!

SILVER KINGS SPOOK 1/48 Eduard F-4J Phantom

PHOTO REPORT From E Day 2017

WIN !

Door

NOVEMBER 2017

SPECIAL FEATURE Birth of a S.I.G

FIRST LOOKS • HpH Tigercat • ICM Mig 25 • Airfix Walrus • SBS MC.72 • Eduard Fw-190A-4

THE FLYING BARCODE Wingnut Wings Early Fokker VII

Vol 23 Issue 11 £4.75

The 1/24 scale Airfix Super Kit

Printed in UK

A 1/24 Car Typhoon Kit from Airfix!

EXCLUSIVE - MIG MASTERCLASS

TO R

NA

DO

IDS

el tra od Ex

M raft c Air

tigermeet

tornado Balkans Bomber

es

Ju-87 Stuka

id

how

4

to

e

ex

Luftwaffe ECR

usiv cl

gu

NOVEMBER 2017

R 32 FIGHTE ZERO ISHI A6M3 MODEL

Vol 47 Iss 560 £4.75 Printed in UK

MITSUB

real to replica TBD devastator

SAM-Ad-Pocketmags-ALL-Nov-2017.indd 1 62-67-Real-Replica-Devastator-MA-1117.indd 67

M STOR.IIC TROP SAND CANE MK HURRI

Combat Zone

NING LIGHT

STEALT

H

F-35C

NOVEMBER 2017 Vol 16 Iss 11 £4.75 Printed in UK

Stalin’s Kursk Surprise

16/10/2017 14:31 16/10/2017 17:11

68

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM

MITSUBISHI A6M3

ZERO Fighter

O

Jean-Jacques Labrot details the 1:72 Tamiya Mitsubishi A6M3 Model 32

ver the last few years there has been a resurgence of interest in the Zero family in 1:48 and 1:72, with many new models appearing on the market. After releasing their all-new A6M5 and A6M2 back in 2012, I was very surprised to see this new 1:72 A6M3 in the Tamiya catalogue. The A6M3 is the version with squared wings, that saw action in the South East Pacific Theatre. The canopy is very clear and is supplied in three parts. As with all other 1:72 Zeros in the Tamiya Range, this one is moulded in a high-quality light grey plastic, and will be a real joy to build. You get three options, Tainan Air Group, New Guinea, Buna Airbase,1942, 2nd Air group, New Guinea, Buna Airbase, August 1942 and Oita Naval Air group, Oita Airbase, 1944, and the decal sheet carries Hinomaru and individual aircraft markings, instrument panels, and a printed harness seatbelt for the seat. This A6M3 is not a complicated model but is finely reproduced, and I

68-71-Zero-Fighter-MA-1117.indd 68

Mitsubishi A6M3 Model 32 Zero Fighter added an Eduard etched set for an extra level of detailing, which includes parts for flaps, (you can choose between open or closed), the cockpit, the landing gears, and for the engine.

Manufacturer: Tamiya Scale: 1:72 Kit Type: plastic injection moulded Kit Number: 84

Cockpit

Eduard A6M3 Detail Set #73494 Berna Decals #BD72043

The seat is very thin and the lightening holes are all correct. Although this may be the reproduced cockpit, nevertheless, I choose to upgrade it with an Eduard seat, part of Set #73494. All sidewall details are accurate with the various quadrants and boxes added from separate parts. The instrument panel with the gun breeches were also upgraded with etched parts. Finally, I added some wiring inside the cockpit and miscellaneous details. Prior to adding instrument panels, the seat belt and side consoles, I painted the cockpit

Tamiya IJN Cockpit Green XF-71. Some of the Eduard parts are already painted, and I kept them in their original colour.

Engine

Next, I worked on the Nakajima Sakae engine which was particularly nice, and I just added a wiring loom and other miscellaneous details. The engine is made up of only five parts, but its engineering simplicity does not compromise its accuracy.

16/10/2017 17:10

MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2017

69 ZERO FIGHTER

….as were the sidewalls

The cockpit was a real joy……

Fuselage and Wings

The main colour was Tamiya IJN Grey-Green

The fuselage halves were then closed-up and the cockpit section added. The wings were assembled and fitted to the fuselage, requiring a

I added an Eduard etched set for an extra level of detailing just smear of Tamiya Putty and some sanding to blend them in. Finally, I added the tail planes, and the undercarriage legs, wheels, tail wheel and drop tank, were assembled and painted. I simply added hydraulic hoses on the gear legs.

Painting

At the beginning of the war, the A6Ms were painted in IJN Light Grey-Green, and I wanted to reproduce a fighter based on the New Guinea Airbase, so I didn’t want to chip the paintwork too heavily, as after studying many Japanese books about the story and the development of the A6M Zero, it was clear for me that most of the A6M3s in service at the time were lightly weathered. Whilst in service, the Zero was in a glossy finish. That is why the IJN Grey-Green colour was sealed with a coat of acrylic semi-gloss clear in the readiness for the decals. So, I carefully masked-up with Tamiya masking tape, and I sprayed and applied coat of Tamiya Grey Surface Primer. I then applied The IJN Grey-Green using my Iwata 0.2mm airbrush, which is a perfect tool for this kind of job. For the correct IJN Grey-Green shade, I used Tamiya XF-76 which is more accurate than the XF-12. After the paint dried, I sprayed on a thin coat of Prince August Clear to create a semi-gloss surface before applying the decals. Once dry, the undercarriage bays were masked using Tamiya masking tape and painted in metallic Blue/Green, and the same colour used for wheel wells. I then started the detail painting with the engine cowling and the

68-71-Zero-Fighter-MA-1117.indd 69

A panel line wash pops out the details

Adding the decals

16/10/2017 17:11

70

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM

MITSUBISHI A6M3

landing gear with X-18. The engine is first painted with X-11 and later the cylinders were sprayed using X-18. The crankcase was painted Grey. The next step was to apply an oil wash on the engine parts using H-33 Humbrol plus Raw Umber. The model is now ready for a panel line wash.

Weathering

To augment the recessed panel lines, AK Interactive Black Wash was applied roughly, and wiped with a soft cloth before it dried. To start the weathering process, I chose AK interactive Wash Black Enamel paint, which was applied in the recessed lines to make them pop out. Again, any excess was removed with a soft cloth. You can also create very subtle weathering by sliding you finger along the airflow lines. I also added some chips along the wing roots and I recreated some exhaust stains on the underside. Then, using various shades of Tamiya colour acrylics thinned with X-20A, I applied some very fine streaks near the engine bay and the undercarriage. Finally, AK interactive Black and Brown washes were used to oil and grease effects, and I also add some CMK Black Pigment on the tyres and near the cowling flaps.

68-71-Zero-Fighter-MA-1117.indd 70

Decals

I used the kits decals and I can thoroughly recommend. I was a little disappointed with the lack of marking choices available in the kit, so decided to use a 1:72 Berna Decals set, which provides decals for and aircraft of the first Kokutai, based in Rabaul in 1942. With the decals dry, the propeller, engine cowling, and drop tank were then simply pressed into place, followed by the undercarriage and canopy, and the build was complete. The Tamiya kit is beautifully detailed, with perhaps the best 1:72 cockpit I have ever seen, and a real pleasure to build. MA

16/10/2017 17:11

68-71-Zero-Fighter-MA-1117.indd 71

16/10/2017 17:11

to our ma leading ma YOU NEED THIS MAGAZINE!

a xtr t E DS af O I cr AD Air RN

Mo de l

PA GES

!

EXCLUSIVE - MIG MASTERCLASS

TO

Su

SILVER KINGS SPOOK

OC

1/48 Eduard F-4J Phantom

PHOTO REPORT From E Day 2017

tigermeet

tornado Luftwaffe ECR

• HpH Tigercat • ICM Mig 25 • Airfix Walrus • SBS MC.72 • Eduard Fw-190A-4

THE FLYING BARCODE Wingnut Wings Early Fokker VII

Balkans Bomber

es

ex

NOVEMBER 2017

FIRST LOOKS

Vol 23 Issue 11 £4.75

Birth of a S.I.G

Ju-87 Stuka

gu

R FIGHTE EL 32 ZERO ISHI A6M3 MOD

NOVEMBER 2017 Vol 47 Iss 560 £4.75

MITSUB

Printed in UK Printed in UK

SPECIAL FEATURE

4

to

id

how

The 1/24 scale Airfix Super Kit

usiv cl

e

WIN !

A 1/24 Car Door Typhoon Kit from Airfix!

real to replica TBD devastator

TE ING S LIGHTN

HURRICA

ALTH

F-35C

M STOR IC TROP K.I SAND NE M

Combat Zone

NOVEMBER 2017 Vol 16 Iss 11 £4.75 Printed in UK

Stalin’s Kursk Surprise

www.sampublications.com Order hotline +44 (0)1234 211245 Secure online ordering at

SAM-Subscription-DPS-Nov-2017.indd 1

16/10/2017 14:31

Entr

Magazine Subscriptions Scale Military Modeller

Scale Aviation Modeller

Please indicate the length of subscription required and for which magazine you wish to subscribe by ticking the appropriate box



Model Aircraft

UK

EUROPE WORLD

3 MONTHS +1 FREE ISSUE £10 £15 £15 6 MONTHS +1 FREE ISSUE £20 £30 £30 12 MONTHS +­­2 FREE ISSUES £40 £60 £60 18 MONTHS +4 FREE ISSUES £55 £95 £95 24 MONTHS £75 £115 £115 BINDER­­ £10 Available to all readers, strong, robust ‘Cordex’ binders to hold 12 issues of Scale Aviation Modeller (in green) or Model Aircraft (black) or Scale Military Modeller (Blue).

Scale Military Modeller Scale Aviation Modeller Model Aircraft

RRP based on UK prices.

Order Form DELIVERY and PAYMENT

our market ing magazines...

Subscribers’

OCTOBER PRIZE DRAW WINNERS Mr Hill, UK Mr Monaci, ITALY Mr Klooster, ESTONIA

Entry to the monthly prize draw is FREE to all subscribers

Mr/Mrs/Ms Initials

Surname

Address

Postcode/Zip

Country

Subscription Reference

Daytime Telephone Number

A

I enclose a £ Sterling cheque made payable to ‘HobbyZone Limited’

B Please charge my

Visa

Valid From

Mastercard Expiry Date

American Express

Maestro (Switch/Solo)

Maestro (Switch)/Solo Iss No

Card Number Security Code

Signed

Last 3 digits (4 for Amex) of the Security Number on reverse of card

Today’s Date

Payable by • Cheque • Credit/Debit Card • via PayPal to [email protected] Please note we now accept US Dollar and Euro cheques made payable to HobbyZone Limited When paying by credit/debit card, please ensure you include your Security Number as payment cannot be taken without it. Please quote your Sub Ref No if known. Please allow 28 days for delivery.

Send to: HobbyZone Limited, Media House, 21 Kingsway, Bedford, MK42 9BJ, UK Tel: +44 (0) 1234 211245 • Fax: +44 (0) 1234 325927 email: [email protected]

www.sampublications.com SAM-Subscription-DPS-Nov-2017.indd 2

16/10/2017 14:31

74

WWW.MIGJIMENEZ.COM

P-51D MUSTANG

MIG Masterclass

‘A Dressed Up’ British Mustang Mario Serelle uses Ammo by MIG Products on the 1:48 Tamiya P-51D

B

uilding a P-51D Mustang ‘dressedup’ in Grey/Green camouflage has long been in my plans, not only because it’s different from the familiar metal finished aircraft, but the RAF camouflage with US paint should look nice! Yes, Mustang IVs were painted in factory with US made colours ‘similar’ to those used in England. That information really caught my attention and I had to see how this would look like! So, armed with a Tamiya kit, an Eduard Zoom etched fret and Aeromaster decals, the fun began. Before spraying any paint onto the cockpit parts, some raised details had to be sanded off in preparation for the etched items to come. I also added the side frames missing on the seat using thin plastic

74-79-MIG-Master-Mustang-MA-1117.indd 74

strip. The interior was airbrushed Interior Green, Black and Rubber Black before the etched details were added. These parts were a considerable improvement over the original ones especially the instrument panel, which really makes a difference. After brush painting various details with acrylic colours and coating the interior with a gloss varnish, Ammo by MIG Dark Brown wash was used to add depth to the structural details and a Neutral Grey dry brushing helped to ‘illuminate’ the black areas. Ammo by MIG Rubber and Tyres and Aluminium was applied with a sponge to give some chipping effects to the seat and side walls. The cockpit of this over twenty-year old kit still holds up nicely when finished!

North American P-51D Mustang Manufacturer: Tamiya Scale: 1:48 Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded Kit Number: 25147 Eduard #FE216 P-51D Aeromaster #48670 RAF P-51 Mustang Part II

16/10/2017 17:10

WWW.MIGJIMENEZ.COM

75 MIG MASTERCLASS

With all the etched parts in place, the cockpit detail is taken to another level

The Eduard etched instrument panel is a huge improvement over the original part

A Dark Brown wash gave depth to the cockpit

Weathering the seat started with a Rubber and Tyres applied with a sponge to simulate paint chipping.

The cockpit was easily installed in the fuselage

The darker shades of the US colours and the Black and Yellow details really make this build special The gun muzzles and exhaust stacks were drilled with a manual tool for a better representation of the real thing and soon I was ready for painting. After filling the wheel wells with Silly Putty and securing the canopy in place with Pritt-Tak, the whole model was coated with Black primer. As mentioned, camouflaged Mustang IVs were painted in US with American colours, these reported to be ANA 602 Light Grey for the underside and ANA 603 Sea Grey and ANA 613 Olive Drab for the upper surfaces. Using lighter shades of these colours I applied the ‘marbling’ coat, playing with tonal variation to add some interest to the incoming camouflage. To make masking work easier I decided to paint the Sky fuselage band first and

74-79-MIG-Master-Mustang-MA-1117.indd 75

then proceed with the camouflage colours. I started on the underside, followed the upper surfaces, always working slowly in thin layers to make the ‘marbling’ effect subtly show through the camouflage. With the first layer applied, Off-White was then ‘dabbed’ with a sponge on the wing roots and then blended with another thin layer of the camouflage colours. A very thin coat of Off-White was sprayed over the rudder for a faded effect, as the fabric covered surface tends to fade faster than the rest of the airframe. To represent the stressed fabric over the rudder ribs, each frame was carefully masked and clear Smoke paint airbrushed on the edges of the masks creating a shadow effect. The Yellow leading edges, nose and spinner were then

A manual drilling tool was used to carefully open the gun barrels

masked and painted, with the spinner receiving its Black stripes. Painting completed, the Aeromaster decals were applied over a coat of Gloss varnish, but even using setting solution some of them refused to conform in the recessed details. I then used a sharp knife to cut the decals along the panel lines and a second application of setting solution solved my problem. Weathering started by the propellers with some paint chipping being represented by Black and Aluminium colours being applied with a sponge on the leading edges of the blades. The same technique was used on the spinner as well, but this time using Ammo by MIG Yellow and Rubber and Tires colours. To create subtle dirt marks on the blades,

16/10/2017 17:10

76

WWW.MIGJIMENEZ.COM

P-51D MUSTANG

The painting process started with Black Primer

Light Grey was used on the underside to create a ‘marbling’ coat

Medium Grey shade was used on the ‘marbling’ coat for the upper surfaces

Medium Grey and Dark Earth shades were used on the upper surfaces

perpendicular lines of Ammo by MIG Rainmarks were painted on the propellers and then blended with a flat brush moistened with Mineral Spirits. After adding some Aluminium chippings on the wing roots using the same sponge technique I moved to accenting the panel lines. I used different wash colours according to the desired effect. A Blue Grey wash was used on the underside and a Deep Brown on the upper camouflage. The moveable surfaces received a stronger contrast with Deep Grey on the underside and Black on the upper side. A Dark

74-79-MIG-Master-Mustang-MA-1117.indd 76

Wash was used in the wheel wells for depth and dirt effect. I then moved onto Ammo by MIG Streaking products for different effects. First some leaking fluids were represented on the underside with Streaking Grime for Panzer Grey, a very dark tone. These were applied mainly on the centreline of the aircraft, close to the landing gears. Ammo by MIG Streaking Grime and Ammo by MIG Dark Streaking Grime were used to add some

16/10/2017 17:11

WWW.MIGJIMENEZ.COM

77

The RAF’s Ocean Grey was replaced by Sea Grey

With all the postshading now applied, it was time to blend-in the effects

MIG MASTERCLASS

Light Grey was used to match RAF’s Medium Sea Grey

After masking the rudder ribs with thin strips of masking tape, clear Smoke was airbrushed on close to the ribs to create a light effect over them

After a careful masking work, the wing leading edges and nose were painted in Yellow

Some decals refused to conform into the panel lines, and had to be persuaded with a sharp knife

For a deeper effect around the movable surfaces I choose the darker Deep Grey panel line wash.

The Green/Grey camouflaged areas received a Deep Brown wash to accent the panel lines, and Black was used around the control surfaces and air scoops

74-79-MIG-Master-Mustang-MA-1117.indd 77

16/10/2017 17:11

78

WWW.MIGJIMENEZ.COM

P-51D MUSTANG

A paste of Dark Earth pigments diluted mixed with Mineral Spirits was applied to the tyre treads

Leaking fluids and some grime were represented on the underside with a very Dark Streaking Grime from Ammo by MIG range

dirt aspect to the wing roots and some panels around the engine. The technique was basically the same, first the product was applied with a fine brush where desired and once it was dry to touch, the effect was blended and softened with a clean brush. The same method was used to fade the roundels, but this time using Light Blue and Light Red shades of oil paints. These aircraft usually operated from un-paved runways in England, and to represent some mud splattered by the landing gear on the underside I used the Ammo by MIG Earth Effects, just flicking a moistened brush with a toothpick where I wanted. This was also applied to the gear covers, and then complemented by some Ammo by MIG Dark Earth pigments. To put the tires on the same unprepared runaways’ context, I mixed the Dark Earth pigments with Mineral Spirits and the resulting paste was applied to the tires thread. Once dried, the excess was removed with a cotton swab. More Ammo by MIG Earth coloured pigments were added to the wing roots as well and some Rust and Black products were used on the exhausts to give them a rusty and worn appearance. The exhaust soot was also created with pigments, first using the Light Dust colour followed by some Black powder close to the stacks. This was easy, and effective. The final touch on the airframe was done with watercolour Silver pencil, adding small scratches to the many bolts around the engine panel.

74-79-MIG-Master-Mustang-MA-1117.indd 78

Light Dust pigment was used to represent exhaust soot, being first applied with a small brush to create the peculiar curve of the soot

Before gathering all parts together, the drop tanks fuel lines were made with cooper wire and bended according to my references. The tanks were then glued in place with the new lines being inserted in the previously drilled holes on the wing. The Mustang is one of the most

built subjects all around the globe and I just love building the P-51. Natural metal finishes are great and eye-catching but when you dress it up with a camouflage she still looks beautiful. The darker shades of the US colours and the Black and Yellow details really contributed to make this build special to me and I’m really pleased with my choice! MA

16/10/2017 17:11

WWW.MIGJIMENEZ.COM

79 MIG MASTERCLASS

The finished Mustang, ready for assembly

74-79-MIG-Master-Mustang-MA-1117.indd 79

16/10/2017 17:11

Promote your company here and appear in all 3 titles – Scale Aviation Modeller International, Model Aircraft and Scale Military Modeller International – with a total 126,000 circulation. Contact Mark Willey on +44 (0)1234 224992 [email protected]

OXONIANS

GINTER BOOKS NAVY / AIR FORCE

PLASTIC

TEL: (805) 584-9732  FAX: (805) 584-6604  WEB: www.ginterbooks.com 1754 Warfield Circle, Simi Valley, CA 93063, USA NFAF 217 Curtiss X-55 Ascender ............................................. $24.95 NFAF 218 Lockheed F-94 Starfire ............................................ $39.95 NFAF 219 Republic XF-84H Thunderscreech....................... $14.95 NF 97 Martin PBM Mariner.......................................................... $52.95 NF 98 Douglas AD/A-1 Skyraider Part One............................ $52.95 NF 99 Douglas AD/A-1 Skyraider Part Two........................... $55.95 NF 100 “Blue Goose” Command Aircraft............................... $35.95 NF 101 Grumman S2F/S-2 Tracker Part One............................ $46.95

48 YEARS

FANTASTIC

SCALE MODELS

Sheffield’s Specialist Model Shop ( 0114 2449170

www.marcway.net

Vast selection of plastic kits - Aircraft - Tanks - Military - Ships - Cars - Bikes - Space - Trucks etc

HUNDREDS OF RARE & OBSOLETE KITS

MOTOR BOOKS The world’s oldest motoring bookseller

WORLDWIDE MAIL ORDER

• AVIATION • BUSES • TRAMS • COLLECTABLES • MARITIME • MILITARY • MISCELLANEOUS • MOTORCYCLES • MOTORING • MOTORSPORT • RAILWAY • WORKSHOP MANUALS •

Dioramas - Scenic Materials - Plastic, Metal & Wood sheet and sections - Modelling Tools, Paints, Brushes, Airbrushes & Compressors Also Model Railways, Die Cast Models and Scalextric

598-600 Attercliffe Rd, Sheffield S9 3QS 0114 2449170

Open 10am - 5pm, 6 days •Situated 2 miles from M1 (junc 34) • 200 yds from Attercliffe Tram Stop

Your one stop toy soldier, games & hobby shop Open 7 Days a Week

Resin kits, conversions and upgrades

www.alleycatmodels.co.uk Distributors of Hobbyboss, Vallejo, MiG, AK Interactive, Miniart, Model Master and many more…

Hobby Bunker, Inc. 33 Exchange Street Malden, Massachusetts 781-321-8855 781-321-8866 (fax) [email protected] www.hobbybunker.com

01354 760022

Friendly service & advice - Mail Order Open Tuesday – Friday 10 – 5.30. Saturday 9.30 – 5.00. Closed Sunday and Monday.

www.thehobbybox.co.uk

121 HIGH STREET, UCKFIELD, TN22 1RN

01825 765296

MATADOR MODELS and

Based in the Midlands since 2001 with worldwide shipping available

Web: www.models2u.co.uk Email: [email protected] Phone: 01543 433999

xxx-ShopWebGuide-0717.indd 96

Scale Aircraft Conversions

Units 6-10 Honeysome Ind Est, Honeysome Road, Cambridgeshire, PE16 6TG www.creativemodels.co.uk

KITS • PAINTS • GLUES • AIRBRUSHES • TOOLS • STYRENE ETC

At least 5-10% discount off manufacturer’s prices Fast and friendly service Easy to navigate webshop Large range of over 3500 models, figures, tools and accessories from Revell, Airfix, Italeri, Tamiya and many more, ready for immediate despatch

www.motorbooks.co.uk

Airfield Accessories ranges

EXTENSIVE 1/76TH ARMOUR AND WHEELED VEHICLE KITS AND CONVERSION RANGES, FROM WWI TO THE 2000’S

and Airfield Accessories 1/48th. 1/72nd. 1/76th. 1/144th scale ranges of British and German airfield vehicles and equipment including ambulances, refuellers, tractors, G.S. and specialist vehicles, figure sets etc.

B W MODELS RANGE OF MILITARY TRANSFERS

www.matadormodels.co.uk

Specializing in white metal landing gear 3795 Shady Hill Drive, Dallas, Texas 75229, USA +1 (214) 477-7163

www.scaleaircraftconversions.com

52 Holdings Road, Sheffield S2 2RE South Yorkshire England

Tel: [0114] 2761587 www.blackbirdmodels.co.uk

12/06/2017 15:17

Promote your company here and appear in all 3 titles – Scale Aviation Modeller International, Model Aircraft and Scale Military Modeller International – with a total 126,000 circulation. Contact Mark Willey on +44 (0)1234 224992 [email protected]

y

y





STANG U M

1/350 Kit

HO

www.oldmodelkits.com

If you are looking at this...

then it’s working!

Promote your company here and be seen in all 3 of our quality titles – Scale Aviation Modeller International, Model Aircraft and Scale Military Modeller International – with a combined circulation of 126,000!

B BIES

Mustang-Hobbies.com

Models, Decals, Books, and Much More ! UP TO 20% OFF ALL KITS ONLINE AND MAIL ORDER Incorporating 1,000’s of deleted and new kits.

303 The Broadway, Bexleyheath, Kent DA6 8DT Tel/Fax: (020) 8298 7177 ONLY OPEN ON TUESDAYS, THURSDAYS & SATURDAYS 9.30-5.30

PLASTIC & METAL KIT RETAILERS HOBBY & PASTIME MATERIALS

www.kitkrazy.com

Email: [email protected]

NEW MAIL ORDER LISTS – SEND 70p SAE

www.halifaxmodellersworld.co.uk Shop Hours: Mon, Tues, Thurs 10.30-17.30, Fri 10.30-17.00, Sat 9.30-17.00, Sun 10.30-16.30, Closed Wednesday HALIFAX MODELLERS WORLD 25 Horton Street, Halifax HX1 1QE YORKSHIRE

01422 349157

+30+2%%,(6 ZZZKSPKREELHVFRP 6HFXUHRQOLQHRUGHULQJ 5HDOWLPHVWRFNOHYHOV :RUOGZLGHVKLSSLQJ )$/&21-$<62=02'65('522 3-352'8&7,216)&0'(&$/6

To be seen in our next issue, contact Mark Willey on mark@sampublications. com or Call 01234 224992

City Cycle Centre We have a large selection of Plastic Kits from Airfix, Revell, Tamiya, Italeri, AFV Club, Academy and more. Also Paint and Sprays from Humbrol, Tamiya, Revell, Vallejo and Games Workshop

CITY CYCLE CENTRE 7 Market Street, Ely, Cambs, CB7 4PB [email protected] www.citycyclecentre.com CAMBRIDGESHIRE

01353 663131

www.mjwmodels.co.uk

ALBION ALLOYS Precision metals for industry www.albionalloys.co.uk

xxx-ShopWebGuide-0717.indd 97

Discounted Prices and Many Special Offers Orders despatched within 1 working day

MJW Models ONLINE MODEL SHOP

Stockists & Suppliers of Model Aircraft Kits, Accessories and Paint Sets by :Eduard, LifeColor, MPM, Special Hobby, Sword, Vallejo, and many more

Email us at: [email protected]  Like us on Facebook

12/06/2017 15:17

82

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM

VOLUME 16 ISSUE 11

Produced by HobbyZone Limited under licence from SAM Publications 21 Kingsway, Bedford MK42 9BJ Telephone: +44 (0)1234 211245 Fax: +44 (0)1234 325927 Email: [email protected] PUBLISHER SAM Publications GROUP EDITOR Andy Evans EDITOR Andy Evans HobbyZone Limited, 21 Kingsway, Bedford MK42 9BJ Email: [email protected] ASSISTANT EDITOR David Francis ASSOCIATE EDITOR Andy Renshaw EDITORIAL CONSULTANT Mario Serelle EDITORIAL CONSULTANT Jezz Coleman EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENT Alan Kelley EDITORIAL CONSULTANT (EUROPE) Vitor Costa The above editorial email is ONLY to be used for editorial submissions. It is NOT for subscription payments or queries, back issues or Modellers Datafile orders. Please send all of these to [email protected] STUDIO MANAGER / DESIGN Jonathan Phillips SAM PUBLICATIONS EMAIL [email protected] Use this address for back issue orders, subscriptions or subscription enquiries or book orders. Note that we cannot undertake research into specific or general aviation queries and that there may be some delays in responses from the contributors, as they are not based at the editorial address. CONTRIBUTORS James Ashton; Jay Blakemore; René Van Der Hart; Jean-Jaques Labrot; Danumurthi Mahendra; Sebastian Perez; Andrew Root; Seung-Yong Ryu; Mike Williams ADVERTISING SALES Mark Willey Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 (0)1234 224992 PRE-PRESS PRODUCTION HobbyZone Limited PRINT PRODUCTION Stephens and George Print Group, UK DISTRIBUTION Warners Group Publications Plc The Maltings, West Street, Bourne, Lincolnshire, PE10 9PH Telephone: 01778 391000 NORTH AMERICAN DISTRIBUTION BY disticor 695 Westney Rd South, Suite 14, Ajax, Ontario, Canada L1S 6M9 Tel: + 1 (905) 619 6565

And Finally...

New F-16 Aggressor Colours

H

aving debuted the latest ‘splinter’ scheme on an aggressor F-16, the USAF’s 18th Aggressor Squadron recently fielded a flat black Viper at a recent Red Flag Alaska exercise. Looking like the scheme applied to the Chinese Shenyang J-31, the all black aircraft was reportedly just waiting for its grey and white camouflage to be applied, matching the other ‘Arctic’ painted aircraft.

Contributions and photographic material are welcome, but must be accompanied by adequate postage to cover return. HobbyZone Limited accept no responsibility for loss or damage to materials supplied. © HOBBYZONE LIMITED 2017 Articles, photographs and drawings published in Model Aircraft Monthly are protected by copy­right. Reproduction in whole or in part is forbidden without prior author­ity of the publishers. Opinions expressed by contributors and advertisers are not necessarily those of the editor or publisher. HobbyZone Limited reserves the right to suspend or refuse any advertisement without giving reasons. Whilst every care is taken to avoid mistakes HobbyZone Limited cannot be liable in any way for any errors or omissions. Nor can the publisher accept respon­sibility for the bona fides of advertisers. ISSN: 2046-5386 HobbyZone Limited is a member of The paper used in this magazine is made from timber sourced from sustainable managed forests; the pulp is ECF (elemental chlorine free); the manufacturing mill is accredited with ISO14001 and EMAS for their environmental controls. SUBSCRIPTIONS Cheques/Money Orders in Sterling only made payable to HobbyZone Limited and sent to the address above. Credit card payment accepted by phone. Subscription Hotline +44 (0)1234 211245 AMERICAN SUBSCRIPTIONS Wise Owl is no longer selling subscriptions on behalf of HobbyZone Limited. Current Wise Owl customers can renew their subscriptions at the current rates directly with HobbyZone Limited: Subscription hotline +44 (0)1234 211245 – we are happy to call you back to take your order! Email ordering and customer support: [email protected] Website secure online ordering: www.sampublications.com Model Aircraft, Volume 16, Issue 11, November 2017 (ISSN: 2044-737X) published monthly by HobbyZone Limited, 2221 Niagara Falls Blvd, Niagara Falls NY 14304-5709. Periodical postage pending Niagara Falls NY. U.S. Postmaster. Send address corrections to Model Aircraft Monthly, PO Box 265 Williamsville, N.Y 14231 QUESTIONS TO CONTRIBUTORS If you have a question or query you wish to raise with any of the contrib­utors to this magazine, they should be made IN WRITING to the HobbyZone Limited address. Neither the Group Editor nor any of the contrib­utors are at HobbyZone Limited on a daily basis and the Group Editor asks for all enquirers to appreciate this fact and be patient. Please understand that the staff at HobbyZone Limited do not have access to the information you require and therefore cannot answer your questions on the phone. Please enclose a stamped SAE with all enquiries, if you anticipate a reply. Thank you. SAMPLES FOR REVIEW Model Aircraft Monthly is always happy to review new books within its pages. Any item which you feel is appropriate will be given due consideration for inclusion in the title. Any company, trade representative, importer, distributor or shop which wishes to have books reviewed within Model Aircraft Monthly should send them directly to the editorial address and clearly mark them for the attention of the Group Editor. Confirmation of receipt of the samples will be supplied if requested. For all international companies etc the above applies, but please ensure that the package is clearly marked for customs as a ‘sample, free of charge’ to reduce the risk of unnecessary delays. Thank you. COMPANY/SUPPLIERS ADDRESS DETAILS & GENERAL ENQUIRIES Please note that the Group Editor and staff at HobbyZone Limited cannot help with general enquires about contact details for companies, importers or model shops whose products may be mentioned in Model Aircraft Monthly if the address information is not included with the review etc. Please check the advertisements in this journal for all suitable UK sources and only contact the firm directly if it is noted that there is ‘No UK stockist’. We are sorry, but we cannot help with details of companies which do not advertise in this magazine. Also note that neither the Group Editor nor contributors will undertake specific or general research for enquirers. Thank you. COPYRIGHT WARNING Due to the growing misuse and breach of copyright apparent on the web, HobbyZone Limited hereby gives notice that no-one is permitted to reproduce in any way, (in original form or ‘modified’), anything published in this, or previous editions of this magazine. All design, layout and studio photography is the copyright of HobbyZone Limited. All profiles, scale plans and supporting photographs are the copyright of the individual authors. None of these may be used without prior written agreement from both the author/artist and HobbyZone Limited. Infringement is a breach of international law, so if you see items posted on the web from this magazine other than on the official HobbyZone Limited website (sampublications.com) please advise the publisher immediately.

Next Month in Model Aircraft – December 2017 ‘Snake Charmer!’ - Jezz Coleman builds the classic 1:32 Revell Sea Venom FAW.53 in Royal Australian Navy service. 

‘Big Silver Jug’ - Andrew Root builds the 1:32 Trumpeter P-47D ‘Razorback’ Thunderbolt

Combat Edge – ‘Storm Bringer’ - Danumurthi Mahendra builds the 1:48 Hasegawa F-16I

COMBAT ZONE - ‘Sky Pirates’ - Andy Evans looks at the role of the RAF Buccaneers in the 1991 Gulf War

Airframe Guide - Painting Wing Tanks and Weapons Mario Serelle shows you a few handy tips

‘Delta Dagger’ - Jezz Coleman uses Hataka products to paint and weather the 1:72 Meng-Model F-102

‘Nightfighting Schwalbe’ - Garry Prettyman builds the 1:32 Revell Me262 B-1/U-1 

Seafire – Andrew Root adds the Freightdog Conversion Set to the 1:32 Revell Spitfire Mk.22

MODEL AIRCRAFT EXTRA - The Grumman F4F Wildcat Clayton Ockerby paints and weathers the 1:72 Airfix F4F-4

‘A Magnificent Mustang’ - Jay Blakemore builds the  ‘classic’ Tamiya 1:48 RAF Mustang III

MIG Masterclass – ‘Stuka Over Spain’ - Mario Serelle uses Ammo by MIG products to paint and weather the 1:72 Airfix Ju-87B-1 ‘Ground-Pounding Gunslinger’ - Sebastian Perez builds the 1:48 Eduard F-8 Crusader 

Malaysian ‘Golden Cobra’ Su-30MKM - Kitti Tatsumaki converts the 1:72 Trumpeter kit, and adds his own decals!  Photo Recce - On Board the George HW Bush - Garry Prettyman visits one of the US Navy’s big ships, as she makes a stopover in the UK

© HOBBYZONE LIMITED 2017 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted (including posting to a website) in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. MODEL AIRCRAFT IS PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY HOBBYZONE LIMITED NEXT ISSUE ON SALE 23RD NOVEMBER 2017.

82-Finally-MA-1117.indd 82

16/10/2017 17:10

U KN LT IF IMA E SE TE TS For details of your nearest stockist, call or e-mail today! (Trade Enquiries Welcome) Sunley House, Olds Approach, Watford WD18 9TB +44 (0) 20 8451 6188 +44 (0) 20 8451 5450 [email protected] www.shesto.com

Shesto-1117-WP.indd 1

16/10/2017 17:14

Zvezda-SAMI-1017-WP.indd 1

16/10/2017 17:13