Scale Aviation Modeller International Vol.22 Iss. 09

YOU NEED THIS MAGAZINE! Spad Dad’s

SKYRAIDER

Columbia Hot!

US NATIONALS

2016

V A T S U G E Y B D O GO Building Eduard’s original G

FIRST LOOK Kittyhawks Super Etendard

UNSUNG HERO An Albemarle in 1/72 721-Cover-0916.indd 721

A Big Albatross

BOMBER

Printed in UK

SEPTEMBER 2016

CONDOR LEGION Bf109E - Part 2

Vol 22 Issue 9

AHpHCIVIL CAMEL Tu-104

£4.50

& Tamiya’s Tomcat

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WELCOME

Scale Aviation Modeller International September 2016 • Volume 22 • Issue 9

Happy New Year!

I

know this is the September issue not January’s but for me this month is the start of my year in a number of ways. First it is the start of the 16/17 UK Ice Hockey season (For our North America readers we do play it and have won an Olympic Gold beating both Canada and USA who took the silver and bronze. Ok it was in 1936 but it still counts) and for the next 8 months I will spend most weekends at ice rinks across the country, and more importantly this month also marks the start of my modelling year after an enforced summer lay off. During the better weather a

number of outside activities take up my time like cutting hedges and actually seeing the family. The reason why this is an enforced break is that my loft becomes incredibly like a sauna from June to August severely limiting the amount of time I can carry out any meaningful modelling tasks. When I was young this was never a problem I just moved downstairs but early on in married life my wife got a little upset when I used to overspray walls and windows and occasionally left the living room with drifts of resin dust all over the place. So now all of these activities are

banned unless I am up in my loft. Finally at the end of month we have an annual pilgrimage to Prague for E Day something that I always associate now with the start of long autumn evenings and the start of my rush to get the project that has stalled across the summer ready for display in Telford a mere six weeks away. So for me September is is the start of the year and I hope as we start the autumn modelling season that all your joins are perfect, all your canopies are clear and all your mistakes are little ones - because I know in my case this is never going to happen.

So as the evenings draw in and you settle down with your latest project I hope you will take some time out to enjoy the latest issue of your magazine.

David Francis, Editor [email protected]

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Building Tamiya’s A-1J Skyraider by David Francis

774 Legion Condor

Part 2 of Eduard’s 1/48 Messerschmitt Bf 109E by Huw Morgan

US NATIONALS

2016

Show Report

SEE PAGE 744

766 Albatros B.II

Subscribe

Wingnut Wings 1/32 Albatros B.II by Guy Goodwin

see page 772

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CONTENTS

Contents 1/48

MESSERSCHMITT BF109G-6

FirsT LOOK

FirsT LOOK

A New Top Cat

First Look: Tamiya F-14 Tomcat in 1/48 Scale

A

THE qUAlITy OF THE PlASTIC IS CERTAINly UP TO THE HIGH STANDARDS THAT I HAvE COME TO ExPECT FROM EDUARD

Goodbye Gustav

Jay Blakemore bids a fond farewell to Eduard’s ‘original tool’ 1/48 Messerschmitt Bf109G-6

P

roclaimed by Eduard upon its release in 2014 as the most accurate kit of the Bf109G ever produced, the subsequent hue and cry by modellers who thought otherwise resulted in the company admitting in April 2015 that mistakes had indeed been made and that their kit was not as accurate as they had originally thought.

As the diminutive Luftwaffe fighter is my all-time favourite aircraft, it is little surprise that secreted within my stash I had the Profipak version of the Eduard kit and the mighty Royal Class boxing which contains eight fuselage halves, four sets of wings, and four large runners containing enough parts to build two complete models in any ‘G’ configuration of my choosing: As well as resin wheels, resin cannon gondolas, underwing mortars, fabric seatbelts,

canopy masks and colour etched brass. I decided however for this build to concentrate on the single model contained within the Profipak, although I will be selectively picking items from the big black box that houses the Royal’s plethora of extras . My initial impression upon opening the orange-topped Profipak box for the first time was one of extreme pleasure, for the parts in the box were exquisite. Displaying fine, recessed panel lines, delicate rivet detailing and hollowed-out intakes and gun-barrels, the quality of the plastic is certainly up to the high standards that I have come to expect from Eduard over recent years. The glossy, A4 instruction booklet features ten pages of well laid-out construction diagrams and full-colour profiles of the five colourful machines that are optioned on the Cartograph decal

sheet. Also included in the Profipak is a colour etched-fret containing most of the cockpit features and a small set of canopy masks containing exterior masks only. I usually like to decide which particular aircraft I am to model before I start construction, as this gives me a focus for the project and allows me time to do some research. Ignoring the myriad options in the Royal box, it was a dilemma initially deciding upon which of the five colour schemes in the Profipak to select, but as I was able to find several good photographs of Oblt’. Albert Grislawski’s machine, and as it was an aircraft I had not previously modelled, I decided upon ‘white 10’ of JGr50. Photographic references are essential to my builds, especially for Luftwaffe fighters, as the very nature of the mottled camouflage applied to these machines makes each one of them uniquely

different, and instruction sheets, even the excellent colour examples contained within the Eduard kits, are rarely accurate when it comes to portraying mottled camouflage. Before I concerned myself with the specifics of camouflage however, I needed to start building the model, and I decided to start with the engine.

THE ENGINE & GUN DECK I make no apologies for using this adjective again, but the Eduard/ Brassin BF109G-6 engine is exquisite. Moulded in a creamygrey resin, the main engine block is a single piece that needs separating from a substantial moulding block. Comprising over thirty resin components, several etched brass parts and a mass of wiring to be made from stretched sprue or wire that must be sourced separately, the finished

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Eduard’s ‘original tool’ 1/48 Messerschmitt Bf109G-6 by Jay Blakemore

most noticeably the English translation of the captions. The first surprise on opening the box is that it contains a full load out of AIM-9 Sidewinders, AIM-7 Sparrows and AIM-54 Phoenix missiles as well as a pair of drop tanks. This was a surprise as the original announcement said that these would be an additional cost extra that you would have to purchase. Maybe the decision to now include these was a result of the reaction from the internet and magazines when this was first announced? This kit has like many Tamiya kits been designed to enable the production of a number of variants and this first boxing represents an early A Model with the plain cut

back beaver tail and small chin pod that was found on the first US Navy squadrons ( And most colourful) as well as the only export customer Iran. Obviously this

This surprise admission led to a further surprise when earlier this year Eduard released an all-new G-6 kit with all the faults rectified. So how bad is Eduard’s original Bf109G? There is really only one way to answer that question and that is to build one and find out. And as I never do things by half, I felt that I should add one or two Brassin sets too.

THE PROFIPAK – FIRST IMPRESSIONS

726 Goodbye Gustav

mazingly it is nearly 4 years since Tamiya”s last all new 1/48 scale kit the Il-2 Stormovik but they do say good things come to those that wait. And the wait was with it when earlier this year it was revealed that an all new 1/48 scale F-14 Tomcat was to be the next subject . Now Thanks to Tamiya’s UK Importer the Hobby Company we have been fortunate to receive a sample of the kits some months before the kits release. This arrived in the familiar Tamiya test shot white box and though we have a full set of production sprue and decals the instructions are just photo copies with some areas still to be completed

will upset fans of the Low Viz era as by then most if not all Tomcats had the late beaver tail with ECM aerials added and IR seeker under the nose. But in my view this move makes economic sense and allow’s the manufacturer to get the most from the core set of moulds though knowing Tamiya it may be 2017-18 before we see a late model A. I will start my look with the cockpit and all I can say is WOW this us as good as it gets in Plastic and for most modellers their will be no need to seek out an aftermarket replacement. The moulding is first class and the decals supply details for the radar scopes and instruments and the only thing that really needs adding are some seat belts off you are not using the two nicely moulded crew and some Airscale placards. Speaking of the crew these are nicely done and even the art work for the two US navy options is supplied on the decals to add to the helmets. This kit is packed with options, open or closed exhausts nozzles or one open and one closed as seen on many closed down F-14’s. Open boarding ladders and extended or retracted refuelling probes and it is nice to see that you can also display the probe retraced but without its covers as seen on most Iranian examples after the revolution and of course you also have the option to have the wings fully extended or swept with alternative wing bags and sealing plates. The clear parts are stunning and a very clever idea is that a runner is moulded over the canopy and windscreen which protects the canopy against any chance of damage. Markings are supplied for two of three early operators with the US Navy VF-2 “Bounty Hunters”

item is a splendid representation of the DB601. The instructions are quite comprehensive and well laid out across eight pages with construction consisting of thirty two steps. I found only one minor inaccuracy in the instructions which was the miss-numbering of parts R53 and R54, which are resin representations of rubber hoses and simply need exchanging one for the other. Painting guides are given throughout the build for each component, though you wont stray very far from the path of accuracy if you paint everything black. The photographic references I used showed a wide range of differing colours for various engine components however, so there is scope to add contrasting colours to really show off some of that lovely detail. The painting method I employed was to airbrush the entire engine in Alclad white aluminium, over

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726 Goodbye Gustav

who were established with the type in 1972 and are one of the last to retire the Tomcat when the ceased operations with the F-14D in 2003. The next option is from one of the F-14s most famous operators VF-84 “Jolly Rogers” with there skull and cross bone marking on a white background first carried on the F-4. The last option is from post revolution Iran with the attractive desert scheme applied to the type from delivery until the early 2000s when a grey camouflage started to be see. The decals look to be well printed and though thinner than previous Tamiya decals are thicker than most aftermarket examples. Full stencilling is supplied and the instructions for these take up no less than three pages of the instructions

ConClusion

Typical Tamiya is how I would describe this kit well moulded, accurate and with beautiful detail with all complicated assemblies made sons straight forward even a novice modeller will get a good looking model with minimal effort. In this age of slide moulding the multi part missiles were a bit of a surprise but this is easily

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outweighed in my opinion by the amazing one piece jet pipe and thoughtful way the intakes have been reproduced to keep seam lines to a minimum. I have said before quality is never cheap and this is a quality kit and I am sure will fly off the shelf as despite the fact that the Tomcat left service over 12 years ago with the US Navy it is always a popular type and even non modellers recognise it thanks to a certain blockbuster film from the 1980s. A full build report off this test shot will appear in a future issue and I thank Peter Binger from the Hobby Company for giving us the chance to see this kit in advance of it’s worldwide release.

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742 A New Top Cat

Eduard’s ‘original tool’ 1/48 Messerschmitt Bf109G-6 by Jay Blakemore

First Look: Tamiya F-14 Tomcat in 1/48 Scale 1/32

AlBAtros B.ii

1/48

MesserschMiTT Bf 109e

“This is An excellenT incArnATion of eduArd’s Bf109e-1/3”

Legion Condor Limited Edition

Start of Something New PART TWO

Albatros B.II

Eduard’s 1/48 Messerschmitt Bf 109E. Built by Huw Morgan

Wingnut Wings 1/32 Albatros B.II by Guy Goodwin

W

ingnut Wings are fairly prolific in producing new kits, most of them are advertised months ahead of schedule, but occasionally we do get a ‘Surprise Release’ (usually around Christmas) which comes completely out of the blue. How they keep the subject of this undisclosed until the release date is a complete mystery. There’s never the least hint of what it will be, even on the conspiracy forums, and this time it was no different. I was very pleased to see a lovely Albatros B.II suddenly appear one day on their website. Quite an unusual choice and it certainly wasn’t one I was expecting or had even considered likely. Wingnut’s don’t always go with the obvious; there’s still no Fokker Dr.1 tri-plane in the line up (although a Camel has been listed as the next known release). All of this makes it a very exciting time for WW1 modellers!

History Designed by Ernst Heinkel based on his 1913 Albatros B.I, the B.II was the aircraft that brought the aircraft manufacturer Albatros Flugzeugwerke to the world’s attention. The seating arrangement was not ideal; the pilot occupied the rear cockpit, the observer sat in front over the wings which greatly reduced his downward view while the protruding engine block almost completely obscured the view over the nose. When Albatros developed the armed C.I based on their B-series, the seat positions were swapped so that the observer/gunner had a better view and clear field of fire. First flying in 1914, large numbers of the B.II were built and, though it was relegated from front-line service in 1915 following the introduction of the armed C-type two-seaters, the B.II remained in service as a trainer until 1918. It was even used post war by some other air forces. A B.II from Feldflieger Abteilung 41 was the first aeroplane (as opposed

cis

to the Zeppelin) to drop bombs on England; on April 16 1915, ten bombs were dropped by hand in the area of Sittingbourne and Faversham. Though no significant damage or casualties resulted.

The AircrAfT

tHe Wingnut Wings AlBAtros B.ii – everytHing ABout it oozes quAlity Building My usual modus operandi with Wingnut kits is to take all of the parts off the sprues and clean them up (which took a surprisingly long time as there are lots of parts!). This also allows me to group the parts into a number of efficient painting sessions. The kit also provides wood decals for the cockpit interior. I experimented with a couple of them to see if I liked the result, but in the end I’m not sure I did and I found it easier to use the oils method of representing this wood. I lightly spray all relevant parts in a Vallejo

opening tHe Box The box is full of the usual Wingnut goodies; beautifully moulded parts; a lovely decal sheet for five colour schemes including, unusually, a set of wood decals for the fuselage (more of this later); a small photo etch sheet for the seat belts and

wire wheels (more of this later too); a very impressive instruction booklet (which is more of a book really). Wingnut’s booklet as usual really excels, providing full colour coded instructions and some excellent period photographs to really whet the modellers appetite. Most other manufacturer’s could really learn something from looking through a set of Wingnut Wings instructions and after my first inspection this was looking like their best kit yet. On looking through the contents, my initial thoughts were whether to use the kit wood decals or an alternative. I was initially impressed with the kits offering but the drawback was that they are not translucent so will be difficult to personalise. Thoughtfully Wingnut’s do offer a very nice option of a

non-wooden fuselage scheme if you really don’t fancy trying the wood effect. The other welcome innovation on this kit was the option of wire-spoked wheels. The majority of B.IIs seem to have these attractive wheels fitted. Though you can get beautiful sets of custom made wire wheels on line, these are pricey and are becoming very difficult (if not impossible) to

light sand and then drag artist’s oils (umber, ochre etc) over the surface. To my mind this is a very effective way of recreating a wood effect, particularly for the interior sections. The only drawback to this method is the oils do take a few days to dry, but here I used a new quick drying additive product from the excellent Uschi van der Rosten range for reducing the drying time, to an hour or so which is very helpful, but, more importantly, it keeps the essential properties of the oils. The photo’s haven’t really captured the look but I was quite pleased with the final results. So now for the seats. I

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766 Albatros B.II

Building Tamiya’s A-1J Skyraider by David Francis In fact choosing a colour scheme to put on the model is probably the hardest thing about building this kit. So when we decided to run a competition in this month’s issue to win one of the new Datafile books on the Skyraider and with less than a month to deadline it was no surprise that the Tamiya kit was my first choice.

makes my painting so much better than it really is. I know attached the instrument panel and fuse switches and again these look far better than anything I could manage though I did my best with

the cockpit side panels which features some nice detail which is easily dry brushed to lift it out. With the cockpit complete it was time for a little destruction before the fuselage halves were joined. Tamiya have moulded all the aerials and lumps and bumps on to one of the fuselage halves. This does make these normally easily knocked off parts very strong but unfortunately the lumps are slightly anemic while the aerials do not have the profiles of the original. Fortunately

Quickboost have issued an inexpensive resin set (48-495) that replaces these parts with correctly profiles parts. But first you have to remove the kits parts using a pair of side cutters before joining the fuselages together; another benefit of this set is that it makes it far easier to clean up the fuselage joint without having to work around the moulded parts. At this point things really started to come together at a rapid pace. I painted the engine and installed this in the engine cowling I did think about adding a fuse wire engine harness but as the engine is positioned quite a long way back in the cowling and has a large paddle bladed propeller in front of it I decided not to bother. One thing I really liked on this kit is the fact that Tamiya have moulded the prominent exhausts with slightly hollowed out ends, which are very easy to drill deeper for added realism. If you choose to fit the open cowling flaps these are very visible and with prominent exhaust staining seen on many USAF Skyraiders are on obvious center of attention. I also used another Quickboost set as the Tamiya kit supplies the mechanics

of the Yankee ejection seat behind the pilot where most USAF Skyraiders had a canvass cover over this area. Quickboost have supplied this cover as a nice onepiece casting (QB 48-490) which I painted in leather brown followed by a wash to add some depth. The wings and undercarriage bays are next and again these assembled perfectly and I do like the fact that Tamiya mould the undercarriage doors as part of the undercarriage bay sidewalls. This make the doors which are normally the first thing to fall of my model very strong but the downside is this does complicate painting as on a USAF scheme these will require masking. My approach was to spare the outside of the doors in the light grey of the camouflage then once dry masking theory with masking tape. Next the undercarriage bay inside the wing and the sidewall details and insides of the doors were given a coat of white. Inline with many US Navy types the inside edge of the doors have a red warning edge. I used a fine ooo brush to apply this freehand and this was probably the most nerve racking part of this kit build as one slip would mean repainting white over red. Luckily the modelling

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(Czechoslovak Airlines) decals. I’ve paid more for lesser kits.

Based on the Tu-16 “Badger” bomber, Russia’s first jet airliner stunned the world when it entered service in 1956. After the 1954 grounding of Britain’s de Havilland Comet I, thanks to several fatal depressurization crashes, the Tu-104 was the only jet airliner in service until the Boeing 707 took to the skies in 1958. Aeroflot used them until 1979 and of the just over 200 built, 6 flew with CSA the Czechoslovakian national airline.

The hisTory

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1/72

AlbemArle mk. V

An Unsung Hero Building Valom’s Whitworth Albemarle Mk. V in 1/72 by Greg Phillips

T

he Albemarle first flew in early 1940. Designed initially to be a reconnaissance bomber, but with typical British bureaucracy and indecision the build of this airplane took time. Eventually final production planes were delivered for service but were soon converted too other duties like glider tug and special transport missions.

Just over 600 hundred Albemarle’s were produced. The Albemarle may read like a failure compared to other airplanes of the Second World War and may not have had the limelight other aircraft had at the time. However the Albemarle filled many important roles during the war. The Albemarle was the unsung hero quietly working its wonders in the background.

With the exception of the wheels the resin parts are very nicely cast

Something different The kit caught my eye with its striking image of an Albemarle in its invasion strips. Also the fact that I never knew about the existence of this airplane found the strange twin engine plane immediately fascinating. Opening the box you see the typical limited injection moulded parts along with a bag of nicely cast resin parts and a small-etched fret.

CoCkpit firSt All the plastic parts for the cockpit, floor, console and bulkhead are cleaned up and assembled. The resin detail parts are next and these take a bit of work as these delicate parts are placed so close to each other on the casting blocks that It was very hard to remove them from their blocks without breaking the brittle resin parts. To prove the point on my model I broke both

seat backs into pieces trying to remove them from their blocks. But instead of repairing the seat backs, the seat bottoms are kept and the backs replaced with sturdier brass wire and plastic card. The etched belts were then added to the seats which are then fixed to the cockpit floor and the nicely cast resin side consoles were added next. But due to the thickness of the plastic fuselages (nearly 1.5 mm in places which scaled up would make these parts over a foot in thick) both the insides of the fuselage and the resin consoles themselves had to be thinned considerably to fit.

turret woeS With the cockpit complete the Turret was tackled next. The kits glazed turret has one central slot but looking at some excellent drawings by A. Granger and photos of the actual aircraft, the turret showed four guns in two

slots. It even showed four guns on the box artwork and colour guide. (Something didn’t smell right). Now this aircraft may have had two guns at some point in its life but the photos and drawings showed four. I did think of buying the new Airfix Defiant and using the Boulton Paul turret parts to completely replace the Valom parts but being a Northerner, I looked for a cheaper solution. I sourced four guns from my scrap box; from an old sixties Airfix Halifax kit (not bad parts for their age), these guns were modified by reducing the length of the shaft to fit the new slots that I cut into the kits glazed part’s. The kits two-part circler drum for the turret sides was replaced with plastic card rolled into shape. I did add some basic detail but not too much will be seen through the kit’s clear part.

CloSing up The nose resin undercarriage bay is attached next and this required a lot of sanding before it will fit inside the fuselage. I now moved to the rear glazed parts which were cleaned up and the glued to the fuselages sides. One very notable structure behind the rear-glazed area shows the tow hooks internal framework. This is very visible through these glazed parts and so had to be added. I made these from plastic rod and after painting them added them to the inside of the fuselage. Before closing the fuselage parts the instruction says you will need 30 grams of weight to prevent tail sitting. I made a plastic container, which was then filled with Deluxe Products Liquid Gravity. This container used as much space as possible forward of the wing wheels centre and fortunately just came to 30 grams when weighed.

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With imperfections here and there, the glazed parts leave a lot to be desired

Typical limited injection parts, other than the wings, the fuselage parts don’t have much surface detail

Basic kit parts

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1/48

The KiT The Tu-104A is just one of several very nice 1/72 scale mostly resin Russian airliner kits offered by HpH Models over the past few years. And in my opinion, it is their best so far as In addition to fine molding which includes tiny flushed riveting, it also offers a full interior. The kit has about 200 resin parts in total and a thin twosided hollow fibreglass fuselage. And it was the thin fuselage sides that gave birth to my idea to build a cutaway model. As personally I could not imagine building such a finely detailed interior without providing a way to show it off. The package also includes numerous photo-etch parts, some in colour including the many instrument panels. A computer disc holds 40 pages of colour instructions which can be printed out if you want a hard copy. There are no written instructions, but plenty of step-by-step

pictures, which are fairly easy to follow. The decals are gorgeous. And there’s also a little piece of Belgian chocolate wrapped in nostalgic airline decorated foil.

The Build I began by scribing and drilling out the clearly marked passenger windows and two passenger doors, both of which have very nice resin replacements if you wish to show them in the open position. I also cut off the nose and cockpit areas, as these will be replaced by clear vacuformed replacements I now spent the better part of 3 days carefully cutting away and sanding the 200 or so resin parts. Most came away easily, but be careful with the tiny ones as they can be easily broken or lost. After spraying most of the flooring, bulkheads and fuselage interior light gray, I spent 3 days hand painting the more than

REGULARS i proBaBly spenT close To 200 hours in This Build 70 passenger and crew seats thankfully quite nice decals are provided for seatbelts and airline logo headrest trim. I then hand painted the cockpit sections, including that part of the fuselage interior, this is a typical Russian cockpit blue/green available from a number of paint ranges. While waiting for these parts to dry, I built, painted and weathered the landing gear, which contain numerous resin and PE parts before adding scratch-built brake lines.

I next assembled the cockpit section, adding several very nice pre-colored PE instrument panels and decals. Once this section was finished I did the same for the multi-part passenger compartments, galley and rear lavatories. A simple little touch was to print out downsized copies of dollhouse wallpaper from the Internet which I used to simulate the cabin window curtains, finishing off the trim around them with black decal stripes.

Instead of using the round, clear plastic kit windows, I cut and glued thin clear plastic strips along the interior of the passenger windows, which were mostly masked by the curtains and interior trim on the finished model. At all stages of construction I kept test fitting the multi-part interior sections with the fuselage sides to make sure that everything lined up properly. Because I wanted to display both passenger door open, I had to paint and decal them before the rest of the aircraft. Before attaching the inward opening doors inside the fuselage before assembling the rest of the fuselage. A fellow model builder following the progress of my model on a Facebook modeling page suggested that passengers and crew would be a neat addition, I 726 SEPTEMBER 2016 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

Here are the painted cockpit parts before assembly. As always, Eduard’s belts and instrument panel make a big difference, but note the strange colour of the latter

The build follows a very typical Eduard pattern; fine plastic parts to which is added photo etched enhancements for the cockpit, with the instrument panels, trim drive chains and seatbelts being the stand outs, although the former are offered pre-coloured in a rather strange

Building Valom’s Whitworth Albemarle Mk. V in 1/72 by Greg Phillips

Tupolev Tu-104a

The dream

The kit’s plain and pre-coloured photoetched brass is specific to this boxing

Some shrinkage marks marr the propeller

consTrucTion

784 An Unsung Hero

Building Tamiya’s A-1J Skyraider by David Francis

Ever since I first saw the old Aurora box scale (1/130) kit of this airplane cruising magnificently over the Kremlin, I’ve wanted to build one. Over the past half century, there have been several other Tu-104 kits, but all in smaller scales, like 1/144. Then two years ago, I finally saw it…a 1/72 scale version by HpH Models of the Czech Republic. Who cares that it cost me just over $200 U.S. (with shipping)? That’s because it has a FULL INTERIOR, a set of Soviet style passenger air stairs, and a choice of Aeroflot or CSA

Quite nice detail on the fuselage side walls

the AlbemArle wAS the unSung hero quietly working itS wonderS in the bACkground

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Building HpH Models’ 1/72 Tupolev Tu-104A Airliner by Paul Crawley

The four marking schemes are pretty similar aside from personal markings of their pilots, featuring RLM 63 grey uppers over RLM 76 blue undersides with black side panels to hide the exhaust stains, though these vary slightly in shape with each airframe. In line with the theme of covering the span of the conflict, I chose to go with the aircraft flown by Austrian Kurt Sochatzy of 3.J/88 as seen in late Spring 1939, and as such was one of the last Bf109’s flown by the Legion Condor before their withdrawal. The markings for this aircraft include the Falangist yoke and arrows within the fuselage roundel, and it’s possible that this was only added when the aircraft was handed over to the Spanish.

Part 2 of Eduard’s 1/48 Messerschmitt Bf 109E by Huw Morgan

using the brass belts but then found that I had a True Detail Yankee seat from a previous build (You get two in the pack). This I painted first by spraying overall in Halford’s primer before painting the cushions in love dear and khaki, the belts were now picked out in a canvas shade with buckles picked out with silver paint. The moulding also has a representation of a Remove Before Flight banner draped across the seat this was painted in a dark matt red, all of the seat was painted using Tamiya acrylics so I could apply a diluted wash of Mig dark wash which is oil based and settles in to all the detail beautifully and

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A Russian ‘Camel’ Cutaway

Unfortunately, the open or closed nose options also cause some confusion in the instructions. When following Eduard’s instructions for the closed nose instead of going from stage 9 to 10 you actually have to jump to Page 15, then once completed go back to Page 10. Not earth shattering, but the original 2013 instructions were also formatted like this, and Eduard could have taken the opportunity to make the instructions more straightforward using a bit of hindsight. For those who want more detail and are prepared to spend the money, Eduard have released two Brassin sets, DB 601 A/N engine (648059) and cowl gun mount (648060) for detail fiends, this is a much better option than the kit plastic. Aside from the question over the engine, the rest of the moulding is typically first-class Eduard, marred only by some minor sink marks in the propeller and over the wing root tabs. Surface detail is sharp and restrained and corresponds with the drawings in the MDF Datafile. Colour callouts are for the Mr Hobby range of paints.

everything fits where it should with virtually little or no input from the modeler

ConstruCtion

SPAD DAD

The KiT The Bf109E-1/3 issued in this boxing uses the plastic from Eduard’s 2013 E-3/E-4 Weekend kits (#84165 and 84166) with new photo etched frets which are not the same as the previously released Zoom sets available for those earlier kits, together with a new combined mask sheet for the Bf109 and the He-51. The 144 plastic parts are nicely moulded, but slightly simplified in comparison with this year’s new tool Bf109G-6, and without the latter’s multiple parts options. A slightly clunky aspect of the kit results from Eduard’s ambition to allow the engine to be displayed with almost all the nose panels removed. The limitations of plastic moulding technology means that scale thickness of the cowl panels isn’t possible, so it’s an either/or scenario if the engine and external contours are to be made to scale. Tempting though it may be to expose the engine, what’s on offer isn’t really detailed enough to warrant it, although there’s quite a good depiction of the engine mounts and the rear face.

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a-1J skyraider

ver the years I have built at least four Tamiya’s Skyraider from the two boxing’s released to date, and I can honestly say I do not remember building any of them. This is a tribute to the Tamiya mould makers as everything fits where it should with virtually little or no input from the modeler.

Kit: Messerschmitt Bf 109E Legion Condor Limited Edition Manufacturer: Eduard Scale: 1:48 Product code: 1140 Panel lineS: Recessed no of PartS: 144 plastic plus 6 clear, and 47 photo etched parts plus masks tyPe: Injection moulded Plastic StatuS: Reissue decal oPtionS: 4

774 Legion Condor

Wingnut Wings 1/32 Albatros B.II by Guy Goodwin

Open box, glue parts, paint is all I really needed to write as this just about covers all you need to know. But in fact as I knew how painless the build was my model was going to be I decided to add some of the upgraded parts that have become available since the kits original release, which amazingly is nearly eighteen years ago. I started unsurprisingly with the cockpit out of the box this make a nice representation of a USAF A-1J fitted with the Yankee ejection seat system. Though full resin cockpits are available I went for the simpler (cheaper) option of adding details with one of Eduard’s Zoom sets. These are more basic sets and in the Skyraider’s case provides coloured etched for the instrument panel, fuse switches on the foot well side wall and a set of seat belts as well as chaff dispensers (missing from the kit parts) and detail parts for the tail wheel yoke. I did build and detail the kit seats

the advanced thinking which so startled the aviation world in the late 1930’s. The -E Emil was the first of the mass-produced variants of the ubiquitous fighter, external differences between the E-1 and E-3 being limited to the wing guns, - MG17 on the E-1 and MG FF cannon in the E-3.

source. The kit offers three options; a moulded plastic wire wheel, finer photo etch wire wheel or standard (non spoked) wheel with covers. I have used aftermarket wheels before on previous builds and I was considering robbing these before I realised they were the wrong size. So I decided I would make a start on the kit before I made any firm decisions.

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The birth and evolution of the Messerschmitt Bf109 have been exhaustively explored elsewhere, suffice to say here that it emerged, rather surprisingly given Messerschmitt’s previous experience with the Bf108 light utility aircraft, and epitomised

found several passenger and crew figures in my stash, most produced by Preiser for use in model railway dioramas. I had to do some modifications to turn some into pilots and also to produce some varied poses for the passengers. Rather than fill all the seats with 70 passengers, I only added about half that many as if they were just boarding the plane. This helped display the nice details of some empty seats, as well as giving a sense of action to the completed diorama. And of course this also saved me some extra work! I also made the cockpit busier looking as the crew is preparing for takeoff. (Just for kicks, I added a little humor with a be-medalled Khrushchev figure in the “can”, and some rowdy drunks sitting in the rear, and a stern looking KGB man

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790 A Russian ‘Camel’ Cutaway Building HpH Models’ 1/72 Tupolev Tu-104A Airliner by Paul Crawley

734 News 736 Czech Out 739 Creative Times 740 First Look 744 Show Report 746 Accessories 750 Decals 754 Reviews 796 Books & Media 802 Back Page

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MESSERSCHMITT BF109G-6

Goodbye Gustav Jay Blakemore bids a fond farewell to Eduard’s ‘original tool’ 1/48 Messerschmitt Bf109G-6

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roclaimed by Eduard upon its release in 2014 as the most accurate kit of the Bf109G ever produced, the subsequent hue and cry by modellers who thought otherwise resulted in the company admitting in April 2015 that mistakes had indeed been made and that their kit was not as accurate as they had originally thought.

This surprise admission led to a further surprise when earlier this year Eduard released an all-new G-6 kit with all the faults rectified. So how bad is Eduard’s original Bf109G? There is really only one way to answer that question and that is to build one and find out. And as I never do things by half, I felt that I should add one or two Brassin sets too.

THE PROFIPAK – FIRST IMPRESSIONS As the diminutive Luftwaffe fighter is my all-time favourite aircraft, it is little surprise that secreted within my stash I had the Profipak version of the Eduard kit and the mighty Royal Class boxing which contains eight fuselage halves, four sets of wings, and four large runners containing enough parts to build two complete models in any ‘G’ configuration of my choosing: As well as resin wheels, resin cannon gondolas, underwing mortars, fabric seatbelts, 726 SEPTEMBER 2016 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

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“THE QUALITY OF THE PLASTIC IS CERTAINLY UP TO THE HIGH STANDARDS THAT I HAVE COME TO EXPECT FROM EDUARD”

canopy masks and colour etched brass. I decided however for this build to concentrate on the single model contained within the Profipak, although I will be selectively picking items from the big black box that houses the Royal’s plethora of extras . My initial impression upon opening the orange-topped Profipak box for the first time was one of extreme pleasure, for the parts in the box were exquisite. Displaying fine, recessed panel lines, delicate rivet detailing and hollowed-out intakes and gun-barrels, the quality of the plastic is certainly up to the high standards that I have come to expect from Eduard over recent years. The glossy, A4 instruction booklet features ten pages of well laid-out construction diagrams and full-colour profiles of the five colourful machines that are optioned on the Cartograph decal

sheet. Also included in the Profipak is a colour etched-fret containing most of the cockpit features and a small set of canopy masks containing exterior masks only. I usually like to decide which particular aircraft I am to model before I start construction, as this gives me a focus for the project and allows me time to do some research. Ignoring the myriad options in the Royal box, it was a dilemma initially deciding upon which of the five colour schemes in the Profipak to select, but as I was able to find several good photographs of Oblt’. Albert Grislawski’s machine, and as it was an aircraft I had not previously modelled, I decided upon ‘white 10’ of JGr50. Photographic references are essential to my builds, especially for Luftwaffe fighters, as the very nature of the mottled camouflage applied to these machines makes each one of them uniquely

different, and instruction sheets, even the excellent colour examples contained within the Eduard kits, are rarely accurate when it comes to portraying mottled camouflage. Before I concerned myself with the specifics of camouflage however, I needed to start building the model, and I decided to start with the engine.

THE ENGINE & GUN DECK I make no apologies for using this adjective again, but the Eduard/ Brassin BF109G-6 engine is exquisite. Moulded in a creamygrey resin, the main engine block is a single piece that needs separating from a substantial moulding block. Comprising over thirty resin components, several etched brass parts and a mass of wiring to be made from stretched sprue or wire that must be sourced separately, the finished

item is a splendid representation of the DB601. The instructions are quite comprehensive and well laid out across eight pages with construction consisting of thirty two steps. I found only one minor inaccuracy in the instructions which was the miss-numbering of parts R53 and R54, which are resin representations of rubber hoses and simply need exchanging one for the other. Painting guides are given throughout the build for each component, though you wont stray very far from the path of accuracy if you paint everything black. The photographic references I used showed a wide range of differing colours for various engine components however, so there is scope to add contrasting colours to really show off some of that lovely detail. The painting method I employed was to airbrush the entire engine in Alclad white aluminium, over

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which I sprayed a coat of black enamel. Before it had completely dry, the black was delicately ‘washed off’ using a soft brush loaded with white spirit to reveal the areas where I wanted the silver to show through,. Once dry, the black areas were dry-brushed with shades of dark grey and brown to add subtle highlights. Decals are provided within the Eduard/Brassin set to number the engine, but I chose to leave mine anonymous. The engine cowl covers supplied within the set are finely moulded in a brittle, medium-grey resin, and care should be taken when separating them from their moulding blocks. These were cleaned up and then set aside to be painted along with the exterior of the airframe. The gun mounting platform and bulkhead are also well detailed, and made up of a dozen resin and brass parts. Both of these areas were base-coated in a mix of dark brown and Grey 02, over the top of which I dry-brushed more Grey 02 in increasingly paler shades to pick out the moulded detail. It is of course necessary to cut away the existing engine cowl

covers from the kit fuselage halves if you are to display the engine, and the areas to be removed are clearly indicated in the engine instruction sheet. I decided to deviate slightly from the instructions, leaving the areas immediately beneath, in front of and behind the exhausts in place. I felt this would allow for a much firmer base onto which I would later glue the etched brass exhaust shrouds.

THE COCKPIT I had already built the kit’s own cockpit, which is adequate straight from the box. But even after adding stretched sprue wiring and an electrical box or two, I was unhappy with its overly simplistic look. I decided it was pointless skimping on the cockpit having already made provision for the resin engine, and so I ordered the Eduard/Brassin cockpit set. It turned out to be a good decision as it is a vast improvement over the kits own cockpit. The main resin components of the set are minimal, consisting of just two wall-panels, a single piece floor and

rear bulkhead and a separate front bulkhead. There are also a couple of etched frets, one containing such details as the head-armour, the other in colour and featuring the control-panel and various clocks and plaques. A separate resin fret contains two versions of the Revi gun-sight and other small items. To the cabin floor I initially attached the front bulkhead, the resin seat-base, cannon shroud and numerous pieces of brass, including some very effective foot pedals. The joy-stick, I decided, would be attached later after painting. Everything went together easily enough, though the two brass frets offered some annoyingly small parts. Patience is definitely the order of the day where Eduard/ Brassin sets are concerned, and that goes doubly so with the fabric seat belts that come with the Royal boxing but are not included with the cockpit set. These looked very nice indeed, but proved to be a burden. I actually lost count of the hours that slipped by, as using two pairs of tweezers, I attempted to thread the delicate belts through the tiny, etched buckles. A third

hand would definitely have been useful as buckles dropped to the floor left right and centre. Miraculously though I managed to find each and every stray buckle, and bit by bit each belt was completed. Then I lost a completed belt and could not find it anywhere. The fabric belts themselves tend to stretch if they are handled too aggressively and they are impossible to curl into a pleasing, seat-hugging shape because of their propensity to stretch rather than bend. A colour etched fret is included within both the Royal boxing and the Profipak, and the pre-painted, etched seat belts were looking ever more appealing as I struggled with the fabric examples. In the end, having still not found the missing belt, I settled for a combination of both; using fabric items for the lap-belts and coloured etched examples for the shoulder straps. It should be noted that the colour printing on the etched parts has a tendency to crack or peal off when those items are bent or rolled into shape. Both types, therefore, come with their associated frustrations. Whilst on the issue of the colour printing on the Eduard etched frets, it is worth noting that the three part instrument panels contained in both boxing’s are printed in a rather inaccurate blue-grey colour, and will need painting over in the appropriate shade of RLM66 to match the rest of the cockpit interior. The cockpit was painted using Xtracolor’s RLM66, matt enamel, which mixes nicely with white-spirit for use in an airbrush. There were a couple of fit issues during the construction of the cockpit tub, and although these are mentioned in the next section, I believe in hind-sight that they were due mainly to paint buildup around the mating surfaces.

THE EDUARD KIT The kit, as already stated, exudes fine detail, though oddly it lacks any locating pins and great care is needed throughout the build when lining-up and matching mating surfaces. The wings in particular, with every slot and flap absent, need careful lining up. My first task was to remove the cockpit side-wall detail from inside the fuselage and cut away the moulded engine covers and upper decking section from the fuselage sides. I did not follow the instructions exactly here, and left in-place the areas immediately surrounding the exhaust outlets – see the yellow painted areas in the accompanying photograph. The wing-tip navigation lights are non existent, being merely impressions on each 728 SEPTEMBER 2016 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

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wing-tip scribed into the surface plastic. These areas were also removed to be filled in later with gel super glue. At this stage the oversized pitot tube was also removed and a small hole drilled into the wings leading edge in readiness for the metal pitot tube from Polish company Master Models which would be added at the end of construction. The kit also contains a metal fret which includes various radiator grill covers, and these were now added to wings and nose in readiness for painting before these areas were enclosed within their housings. Despite the high parts count for such a small aircraft, basic construction progressed quickly. Indeed, there are a lot of parts contained within the kits which are superfluous to the build, including three types of propeller and various bombs and racks.

LEGS AND WHEELS The Eduard Brassin wheels that come as part of the royal Class boxing were somewhat disappointing in that they do not feature weighted tyres, which seems a strange omission. They were duly cleaned up however, and were treated to a painting process similar to that of the engine. The brass legs were an extravagance that I felt necessary because of the extra weight that would be adding to the finished model with the inclusion of the engine and resin cockpit. The brass legs are

nicely cast with no unsightly seams to remove, these items certainly appear more substantial than the kit options – indeed, they are noticeably larger. The legs were wiped over with white spirit and sprayed with Alclad black primer, after which the oleos were sprayed in Alclad Aluminium. These areas were then masked and the legs themselves under-coated in dark brown before being given a light coat of RLM02 Grey. Once dry, more RLM02 was dry-brushed over the raised detail to create highlights. Time would reveal that I had not prepared the brass legs sufficiently, and paint flaked from them like shedding skin during handling. It occurred to me too late that some kind of etching primer should have been used, or perhaps I should have rubbed them over with a Micro Mesh cloth to better key the surface. I didn’t do either of those things however, and both legs needed some re-touching before the end of the build. They later fitted into their respective slots in the wheel bays with no difficulty and required no adjustments. Indeed, the fit is so tight, that any over spray on the attachment lugs at the top of the legs must be removed, otherwise they will not fit into the recesses within the wheel wells.

IT ALL COMES TOGETHER – OR DOES IT? Dry fitting of the Brassin subassemblies had suggested that the

best way of getting everything to fit was to cement the fuselage halves together, and slide the resin engine and cockpit up through the hole in the lower fuselage before the wings were attached. The modified fuselage was therefore completed. It quickly became evident following some dry fitting of these subassemblies however, that the engine and cockpit were not both going to fit if built exactly as described in the instructions. Placed end to end within the confines of the fuselage they were obviously too long, and by a considerable margin. The fault, I decided, was that with both the engine firewall and the cockpit forward bulkhead fitted, the resultant bulkhead area was too thick, which forced the engine too far forward or indeed the cockpit too far back. The solution I chose was to remove the forward bulkhead (part R70 of the cockpit set) that I had already glued to the front of the cockpit floor, and to further reduce the thickness of the engine firewall (part R47 of the engine set) by sanding it back. In this way the reverse side of the engine firewall would become the forward fuselage bulkhead. It meant that I lost the moulded detail of the original cockpit front bulkhead, but that really didn’t matter too much as the area would be all but invisible on the finished model. This simple fix allowed the engine and cockpit to sit in their correct positions within the fuselage – almost. The cockpit tub still sat

slightly too far to the rear, but I could think of no other remedy, and decided I would have to live with things the way they were. Another issue was that the beautifully finished instrument panel was too big to fit in the slots provided for it in the resin cockpit walls and the joy-stick refused to slot into the recess in the cockpit floor. Both required fettling, which marred the painted detail I had painstakingly applied. Once all of the painted and finished sub sections came together for a final dry fitting, there were obvious gaps along the edges of the cockpit tub and fuselage wall that would need later filling and re-painting. My reserves of patience were by this time being sorely tested. The final order of assembly is crucial if you want it all to fit together, and this is where logic dictates progress. With the fuselage halves already glued together and tided up and the cockpit rear bulkhead (part H40 of the cockpit set) glued in place against the upper-spine of the fuselage, each sub assembly can now be inserted through the gap in the lower fuselage. First the engine mounting brackets (R48 and R49) must be glued to the side of the engine. These are very thin and fragile resin components that are integral to the final positioning of the engine, I Decided to strengthen the points at which they attach to the engine, I first drilled holes into the attachment points on either side of

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MESSERSCHMITT BF109G-6 the engine-block and then inserted metal pins. During the dry fitting stage I also found that the upper arms of the mounting brackets were too short to reach the firewall when held in place against the engines sides, which may have been down to over zealous trimming on my part when removing them from their moulding blocks. As firm attachment points here are crucial to prevent the engine from moving, I found it necessary to fabricate small arm extensions from Albion Alloy’s metal tubing, which I slid onto the trimmed ends of the mounting bracket upperarms, now I drilled locating holes to receive the extensions on the front-face of the firewall. With these modifications in place, the resin mounting brackets were now super-glued onto the metal pins protruding from the engines sides. The machine gun platform, minus the guns, was then glued to the top of the firewall (parts R29 and R47). Now the engine can be attached to the firewall assembly using the interconnecting cannon (motorkanone) casing (part R25). This is a snug fit that requires no glue and allows fine adjustment of the engine’s position when within

the confines of the fuselage. The metal tubing modifications on the ends of the mounting brackets also slid comfortably into their reciprocating holes in the firewall. During the dry-fitting stage it had seemed prudent to drill a hole into the front of the engine, into which the propeller would later fit. This allowed me now to insert a cocktail stick through the hole in the nose of the fuselage and into the engine on which to hold the engine assembly on an even keel whilst I glued everything together. With the engine, mounting brackets and firewall now lined up and held in place within the fuselage by the cocktail stick, it was possible to make minor adjustments to the engines’ position before glue was applied. Once everything was glued in place, I attached the instrument panel onto the rear-end of the gun platform. Finally the cockpit tub was pushed, back end first, up through the gap in the lower fuselage and into the rear of the fuselage, then eased up and forward into place, paying attention not to catch the instrument panel. The cockpit walls were held firmly in position against the fuselage sides with clamping tweezers as more

super glue was applied to secure the joints. Everything at this stage looked good, although the engine was sitting a little low at the back. To adjust the engines height I made a wedge-shaped shim from plastic sprue, and squeezed this between the bottom-rear of the engine and the lower fuselage, and when the engine was level, the shim was glued in place using liquid poly’. The engine mounting bracket joints with their metal collars were so firm by this stage that they accepted the adjustment without cracking. With everything packed into the fuselage, I could now fit the wings. Despite the previously mentioned refinements of Eduard’s kit, it has to be said that the wings are a very poor fit. Dry fitting at this stage revealed that the wing profiles did not match those of the wing roots, and a gap was evident running the entire length of both wing-roots. The front of the wing assembly also popped out of position every time I pressed the rear end into place and vice versa. I assumed that it was the bottom of the engine firewall, which sits low in the fuselage, that was forcing the wings out of position, and although it appeared not to be the case, I set about filing

away the lower portion of the bulkhead hoping this would make a difference – it did not. In the end I resorted to plastic sprue shims again. These were wedged within the wings to alter their shape so that they matched the profile of the wing roots. The wings were then secured to the fuselage in two stages: firstly the front section of the lower fuselage was glued in place and allowed to set, then the rear section was pushed into place and glued. Finally an elastic band was stretched across the span of the wings and over the fuselage to hold the wings in place and bridge the gaping hole at the wing-roots while the liquid-poly’ set. All pretty basic modelling techniques, but not what you’d expect would be required in a state of the art kit from a major manufacturer. With the basic airframe now complete and all of the seams sanded and tidied up, the fore and aft canopy sections were fitted to the fuselage using PVA adhesive. The transparencies had already been painted in RLM66, using the pre-cut masks that are supplied in both versions of the kit. Only exterior masks are provided however, so I used two sets, one

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1/48 externally and a modified set for thee insides. The cockpit opening was now masked off to protect the cockpit interior from over-spray, as was the engine. I constructed a rather elaborate cardboard ‘tent’ around the engine in a bid to protect all of my hard work, and sealed the edges using masking tape and Humbrol masking fluid. Finally, before painting the airframe, I attached the Brassin cannon-pods to the lower wings, utilising the etched tool supplied as part of the kit which allows you to line them up in the correct position. There is also a circular inspection hatch that needs scribing into the lowerwing surface if you are choosing the ‘Kanonenboot’ option, for which you get a scribing-plate.

SHADOW-COAT My usual practice is to begin the painting process by airbrushing the entire model with a solid dark enamel base-coat, onto which I gradually build up the top colour. I call this initial application of dark enamel the shadow-coat, as it is used to create shadows and depth that remain visible at the end of the painting process. The shade of the base coat can be varied in accordance to the finish required, and under lying shadows can therefore appear as differing colours. This time around I just used a solid, single shade of dark brown. Onto the shadow-coat I now airbrushed RLM 76 Lichtblau, from the Xtracolor enamel range. In common with most Luftwaffe fighters of the period, the fuselage sides as well as the undersides were painted in this pleasing, pale, blue-grey. Indeed, photographs of Grislawski’s machine show the Lichtblau continuing to the very top of the fuselage just aft of the cockpit. I began the colouring process by subtly building up the Lichtblau within the centre of each panel of the airframe. Once each panel was filled, or not as required, I worked my way around the model again, creating depth of colour within each panel, working from the centre out. Finally a dusting of RLM 76 overall created a uniform, though segmented colour. The edges of each panel now appeared slightly darker than their centres, representing either shadow, staining or wear, depending upon ones interpretation. Having left the RLM 76 to dry thoroughly, I could now begin to apply the upper surface camouflage. Using a thinned mix of Xtracolor’s RLM 75 Grauviolett, I proceeded to airbrush the fuselage spine. Here I utilised roughly

torn paper masks to achieve a feathered, wavy edge along the upper fuselage, matching the photographic references as closely as I could. The upper wings and tail-planes were also sprayed in the lighter of the two camouflage greys, one panel at a time, using the same method as used for the Lichtblau. With the masks left in place, the model was put aside again to dry. The one down side of painting in enamel is the prolonged drying time, but it is a medium I have been using for decades and one with which I am eminently comfortable. Once the Grauviolett was dry, I added further torn-paper masks across the upper surfaces to create the disruptive pattern used for the RLM 74 Graugrun. As this darker grey almost matched the shade of the brown base-coat, I proceeded to spray a solid coat of this colour, with the intention of later adding highlights and pickingout individual panels as required. I have been intending to paint

my own markings for a while now, and decided that the German national markings on this project would be a good and simple place to start. To this end I purchased the Resin Improvements set which contains masks for all of the marking options contained in Eduard’s Profipak, which will no doubt be useful for later builds too. I decided this time around to paint only the upper wing and fuselage Balkenkreuz and utilise the superb Cartograph decals for the remainder of the markings. The masks worked as intended, with the white sections being applied first to the fuselage sides and upper wings, and the black fill on the fuselage sides some days later. Humbrol matt enamels were used for the national markings as well as for the tail and rudder, which were also now painted an off-white with white highlights. Other areas that were masked-up and sprayed at this time were the under carriage bays, flap inner surfaces and

the interior of the open cannon pod, which were all painted in matt RLM 02.

WAR PAINT AND YELLOW NOSES JGr50 was originally created for the sole purpose of chasing and destroying high flying reconnaissance Mosquitoes which by 1943 were plaguing the Reich. To facilitate this the units’ ground crews cleaned and even polished their Messerschmitts to ring every last kilometre of speed from them. However, when the unit failed to shoot down any of the high-speed bombers, JGr50 reverted to defence of the Reich duties, which meant the pilots were now flying up to three interception missions a day to counter the high-flying USAAF ‘Viermots’ (Four motors). By this time those once pristine BF109’s were getting pretty grubby, and it was in this state of wear that I wanted to portray Grislawski’s

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machine. I therefore set about weathering the 74/75 camouflage utilising lighter shades of Humbrol grey as filters to approximate fading, and mixes of black, brown and dark grey enamels to create staining and depths along some panel lines. I do not emphasise every panel line in this way as I feel most are already over-scale. So I tend to add dark washes only to those panel lines that delineate hatches or covers that are opened regularly on the real aircraft, or along the edges of control surfaces. Thinning the Humbrol enamels with approximately 90% white spirit creates a wash that easily runs along the panel lines, and any excess can be wiped away in the direction of the airflow. Or washed off with a dampened brush. The underside was further treated to red-brown washes to create staining, and airbrushed shades of blue/brown to emulate exhaust staining. The painting instructions in the Profipak, show each of the five defence of the Reich options with yellow lower nose panels, which left me with a dilemma. It has long seemed to me that model manufacturers suggest this option on Luftwaffe aircraft by default – indeed, I found several very good photographs of option ‘O’ in the Royal Boxing and which may feature in a future build, that clearly show the aircraft from 19./ EJG 2 did not have a yellow nose or a yellow rudder as depicted in the kits instructions. This of course does not disprove Eduard’s assertion that Grislawski’s machine should have a yellow nose, but it does prove that researching your subject is essential if you require a

reasonably accurate model. There are no existing photographs that I am aware of that show Grislawski’s white 10’ from the front, and colour profiles in the various reference books I used show it both with and without a yellow lower nose panel. I decided therefore to go against the advice of the instructions yet again and not apply yellow paint to my model. Other matters were soon to consume my thoughts however, for it was at some point during the weathering process that I noticed subtle cracks along the wing-root joints. After uttering an appropriate expletive or two, I sanded some of the paint away from the joint and again used masking tape stretched across the fuselage from wing tip to wing tip to close the gap. Stretched sprue, melted with liquid poly’, was then firmly pressed into the cracks. Once set, the joints were sanded and the areas re-sprayed with the appropriate colours. Unfortunately the resultant joints were not as good as they had been, and they will remain a distraction each time I view the model. Several coats of Humbrol gloss enamel varnish were now sprayed over the entire model to seal and protect the paintwork. Having left the varnish to dry for several days, it was time to flat and polish the surface with Micro Mesh cloths prior to decal application. The Cartograph decals responded to Micro Sol and Micro Set solutions without problems, though the under-wing Balkenkruez did seem rather thick and needed several applications before they would conform to the panel lines. The Cartograph decals contained within the Profipak were in perfect register, though

the Eduard produced stencilling sheet was not. I resorted to using the sheet from the Royal Boxing, which were in better register than those of the Profipak, and they too settled nicely into place without silvering. With the decals in place and all excess solution cleaned away, weathering was applied over the markings to blend them into the paintwork. This entailed airbrushing further light filters over the Balkenkruez and walkway stencilling on the wings, and heavy exhaust staining along the fuselage sides and lower surface. I also used Micro Mesh cloths to age the edges of the painted fuselage Balkenkruez. Once done, further sealing coats of satin varnish were sprayed over the entire model to protect the paintwork and decals during the handling to come.

damage during handling had they been attached when building the engine. The resin MG17 machine guns (R22 and 23) were now fitted to the top deck as was the arm that spans the engine and onto which hinge the cowling covers. Because it was important that this arm remain firmly in place to act as a solid base for the raised covers, I first drilled a small hole into the front tip of the arm and drilled a corresponding hole into the top of the engine. A small, metal pin was then glued in place to create a solid join at this point. The rear of the arm was simply super-glued into its locating recess on the rear-top of the engine. As part of the Brassin engine set, each of the twelve exhaust stacks come as separate items mounted on two resin moulding blocks. You actually get fourteen in total, and it was excellent planning on the part of Eduard to provide two spares. These had already been painted, and the mounting stubs on the reverse of these small, fiddly items, now proved too large for their individual locating holes either side of the engine. Each of them needed trimming. I had been prudent, or so I thought, when kitting out my new studio, as I had purposely avoided laying any carpet into which little pieces of resin like these might disappear, and fitted laminate flooring instead. I can now reveal the existence of the laminate flooring monster – equally as ravenous for aircraft parts as is the carpet monster. Modellers beware! Both of my spare exhaust stacks were soon swallowed by

IT ALL FINALLY COMES TOGETHER Having already applied Grislawski’s impressive scoreboard to the painted rudder, I now fitted it to the tail at a jaunty angle on hinges made of fuse wire. Next I removed the cardboard ‘tent’ covering the engine compartment. It was good to see the engine again, with no damage and no unsightly over-spray to remove. The spent cartridge chutes that come as part of the engine set and which I realised I had forgotten to attach to the firewall earlier in the build, twisted into place with little effort, and in hindsight I was rather glad that I had left them off as they protrude from the fuselage sides to such an extent that I’m certain they would have sustained some

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1/48 the laminate floor monster before I had finished fitting them, and so it was with a huge sigh of relief that I eventually managed to fit the final one of the remaining exhaust stacks in place without further loss. Along the top of the exhaust stacks I now secured the previously painted etched-brass exhaust shrouds, (PE8 and PE14 of the engine set) the left hand one having been bent into a right-angle prior to painting. Before attaching the open cowling covers I strung the aerial wire using invisible mending thread which was super-glued in place. The gull-wing cowls were simply butt-fitted to the supporting arm on the engine, and supported in their upright position by lengths of metal rod, again from Albion Alloys. Belatedly I decided to make a hinge for the canopy hood from Evergreen Strip and stretched sprue. This I decided would allow for a much stronger attachment point to the fuselage than the simple butt-joint suggested for the open canopy in the instructions. The canopy, with its exposed glazing, was attached to the model after the final coat of egg-shell varnish was applied, and when the varnish had dried thoroughly, the propeller was slipped onto the aircraft’s nose and my Eduard BF109G-6 was finished.

FINAL THOUGHTS

As I re-write my final thoughts on Eduard’s ‘old’ G-6, the newly tooled ‘re-make’ has already hit the shelves, which leaves those of us who still have unmade examples of the ‘old’ kit in a dilemma. Do we buy-up the old Eduard stock

Alfred Grislawski now so that all our Gustav’s look the same when the are built? Or do we accept that future finished models will be of a slightly different appearance if we choose instead to buy the re-tooled version? As for my final thoughts on the ‘old-tool’ G-6: Unless you are adding the after market accessories, the Eduard kit goes together quite simply despite the excessive parts-count. Care must be taken during construction due to the lack of locating pins, especially with the wings, and this is certainly an area where the newly tooled version could be improved. At the end of the day the only real question that needs answering of the finished model is:

Does it look like a Bf109G-6? And the answer is a resounding yes it does! With the beautifully rendered surface detail and open-ended scoops and guns, I would hazard to say that despite the inaccuracies, it is probably one of the best looking G-6 kits on the market today. The inaccuracies that so many people made so much fuss about are not noticeable unless you are fitted with a bionic eye, and Eduard are to be applauded for going to the extremes of destroying the moulds and producing new ones. I have two more ‘old-tool’ G-6’s to build and a lot of resin and metal extras awaiting me within the confines of that big black, Royal Class box, and

I am looking forward to building them. I look forward equally to building one of the newly tooled versions and comparing the two. So I won’t say goodbye to Gustav just yet, I’ll simply say Au Revoir.

Postscript Alfred Grislawski survived the war. In the post war years he declined an invitation to join the Bundersluftwaffe because of the many injuries he had sustained during his combat flying. He passed away in September 2003. The rudder of his Messerschmitt, white 10, can be seen today at the Technick Museum in Speyer, Germany.

“IT IS PROBABLY ONE OF THE BEST LOOKING G-6 KITS ON THE MARKET TODAY”

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NEWS

in association with www.spruebrothers.com

Kittyhawk Kittyhawk have supplied us with pictures of their next two 1/48 scale releases. First will be the Banshee due about the time you read this followed by the F-101B Voodoo. This of course is probably the most wanted version of the Voodoo due to it’s long use by the Canadian Air Force as well as the Air National Guard leading to some very attractive markings. At the US Nationals Kittyhawk announced their plans for the rest of 2016 and early 2017 in 1/32 scale we will have new kits of the Mirage 2000, Jaguar family and F-5 family. In 1/48 scale we will have at long last an accurate Vought Cutlass as well as a

Revell USA the Banshee test shots their will be some changes between this and the production examples but they do look quite promising. Sukhoi S-17/22 family. Finally in 1/35 we will have a Vietnam era long bodied UH-1D\E with lots of input from Werner Wings so we know that they will also be releasing some updates for this kit in due course. We have some photographs of

Announced at the US Nationals in December is a reissue of the F-102B in December and the original single seat F-18E Super Hornet will be released as the two seat F-18F due in the US in November. Both of these kits will be on sale from Creative Models in due course.

Revell Germany On display at Columbia is a very early test shot of the new Revell 1/32 scale Me262. This looks to be very nice and will have a similar level of detail as the recent Fw-190. Sadly we were asked not to take photographs as the kit is still at very early stage of development. Unfortunately their was no sign of the F/A-18E Super Hornet.

Airfix The release of the new P-40 has been delayed until around September this is slightly later than expected as a number of aftermarket manufacturers had new items for this kit ready in July and Xtradecals new decals are reviewed else where in this issue. However Airfix have released a picture of really gorgeous art work featuring a P-40 at Pearl harbour. that will be used for the box art.

Model collect If you are going to produce you first ever aircraft kit why not make it a whopper. Modelcollect have been releasing a wide range of 1/72 Russian soft skin and armour kits for four years and now they are taking the leap in to model aircraft. Their first release will the Boeing B-52G and this will be the first new tool kit of this type for over 30 years. Only

the box art has been seen to date but this is certainly one to watch out for. Pricing is expected to under $100 US dollars and can be ordered direct from the manufacturers web site at www.modelcollect.com

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NEWS

Italeri

Zoukei-Mura

Following on from their earlier 1/32 scale Mirage IIIC Italeri have now released details of their Mirage IIIE which bearing in mind the wide range of users for this model was bound to be popular. But what we were not expecting was that the kit will also include parts for the camera equipped reconnoissance RF variant. You also have the option to display the camera bays doors open to show off the full fit of cameras inside. Markings will include fighters from France, Spain and Australia and reconnoissance aircraft from France, South Africa and Switzerland.

Fundekals

Nothing really new as the show from this manufacturer as far as kits go. But they did have two new additions to their base range. One of which features rail tracks alongside a runway section as seen on German airfield at Gottingen, perfect for your Ho-229. The second based is a section of hardstand during winter with snow on the adjacent grass area. This base is being produced in two versions, the first has a plain concrete area while the second has a yellow hold line painted on the hardstand.

HK Models On display in Columbia was the test shot of the new B-17E/F and this is a major upgrade to their original tooling. All new turrets and 3 different style of noses are just a few of the changes plus some very attractive marking options.

At Columbia Fundekals had their full range on display and announced some stunning sheets for both the Spitfire and F-102 which will should be available by the time you read this.

Roden

Barracudacast Arriving just in time for the show was three sets to correct the Kittyhawk Mig-25 Foxbat, the nose receives one of correct shape while the exhausts and wheels have even replaced with detail that is far superior than the original. Also released at the show

were replacement wheels for the Airfix Meteor with a accurate tread detail and a set that supplies rocker covers for the Tamiya Mosquito which includes the manufacturers

nameplate a detail which is missing on the kit engines.

No images yet but Roden’s latest 1/32 subjects will be an Cessna O-1 Bird Dog and it’s replacement the O-2 Skymaster a type that I have wanted to have on my bench for a long time thanks to its push-pull twin engines.

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CZECH NEWS

in association with www.specialhobby.eu

Czech Out September 2016

W

ell it has been a busy few weeks in the UpsonSmith household, as I write I am in the middle of a house move, which has meant sporadic internet availability and stuff everywhere!... the news that really caught my eye this month is from Mark 1, who would have thought we would ever see injection moulded World War 1 Zeppelins! Hopefully I have managed to round all the news this month, so here it is as I have it…

Mark 1 Mark 1 are having a very busy time at the moment, by the time you read this there should be three versions of the Gloster Gladiator in 1/144 scale on the model shop shelves! But the announcement that really caught my eye this month is the release of three P-Class Zeppelins in 1/720 scale: • Zeppelin P-class LZ38/ LZ40 ‘First Attackers’ • Zeppelin P-class LZ47 ‘Spotted Cow’ • Zeppelin P-class LZ45/ LZ58 ‘Naval Raiders’ These will certainly make an eye catching display or dioráma despite the small scale. Hopefully available for release at Telford in November will be three versions of the Arado 96b in 1/144 scale. So plenty to look forward to from Mark 1 in the second half of the year!

Fly The 1/32 scale Mk 1 Hurricanes will soon be with us. I have a MkIIc progressing well on the bench and this should appear in the next issue. I can say that I am really enjoying this build and can recommend this kit.

So far 2016 has been a very good year for Fly and I wonder what announcement they will have in September at Prague.

HpH To go with their recently released 1/32 scale Helldiver, HpH have released the Wright R2600 engine from this kit as a separate detailed accessory, this would make a nice stand-alone display piece mounted on an engine stand.

AZ News this month is that the 1/72 scale Messerschmitt Bf 109F is on the way, sprue shots have been shared and the internal detail looks very good for this scale. I am looking forward to seeing it in the plastic at Eday in September.

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CZECH NEWS

Brengun As well as the new 1/72 scale Yak 1s which should be available by the time you read this. Brengun have announced their first 1/48 injection moulded kit. I must confess I was unaware of the OKB Chelomey 16KhA ‘Priboy’. The ‘Priboy’ was a Soviet, winged missile based on

reverse engineering of the German V-1 but powered by two Argus looking pulse jets. We will bring you more news as we have it.

Special Hobby

Eduard The releases from Eduard over the coming months will have a British theme, by the time you read this the re-released 1/48 scale Lysander will be available. For many the hot news is the brand new 1/72 scale Spitfire MkIx late model which is now available. Released at the US Nationals was the Harrier GR.7/9 in 1/48 scale this is the Hasegawa Harrier kit reissued with brass and resin. Further resin detail and weaponry parts are also being released in the Eduard BrassIn range for this kit and of course the original Hasegawa kit. Also released ay Columbia is the second in the EduArt line ‘The Sound of Silence’ a duel boxing featuring the Eduard Mig 21PFM and Hasegawa’s A4E in 1/48 scale, during the Vietnam conflict. This special release comes with an A2 size print of the attractive box art by renowned artist Koike Shigeo. With Eday getting ever

nearer speculation is growing in the editorial office as to what the free entry kit given to all attending the show will be and as normal this is a closely guarded secret. I got my wish last year… so will the editor get his in 2016? (109G in 1/144 is my bet Ed) We shall see! As ever a busy month from Eduard, to keep up to date with all of the accessories released by Eduard visit their webpage at www.Eduard.com.

As mentioned in last month’s issue, the 1/48 scale Bucker Bu 181 Bestmann is now available. Included in the kit are a resin engine and exhausts, as well as photo etch details. Hot on the heels of the 1/32 Tempest, we now have some images of the sprues of the 1/32 Yak-3 and it is looking very nice! I am not sure if it will be ready for Eday but here’s hoping!

As ever keep an eye on the Special Hobby website www.specialhobby.eu.

Kovozavody Prostejov (KP) KP have released some photos of a full size Fouga Magister, can we expect to see one in 1/72 scale soon? We will let you know as soon as we know for sure… Meanwhile it is looking like the new LVG C.VI will be available at Eday. www.kovozavody.cz

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SAM-MDF26-Skyraider-Ad_Layout 1 08/07/2016 11:10 Page 1

6 F2 W! MDT NO OU

THE DOUGLAS A-1

SKYRAIDER

By Andy Renshaw and Andy Evans

A

ble to carry a greater payload than a four-engine B-17 Flying Fortress, the single-engine A-1 Skyraider was considered one of the finest attack and close air support aircraft ever built. Skyraider’s proved critical during the Korean War and over the jungles of North Vietnam. The airplane that became the AD Skyraider (redesignated A-1 in 1962) evolved from a 1943 Navy decision to combine the dive-bombing and torpedo mission into one aircraft. First flown in 1945, the Skyraider entered US Navy service the following year. Later nicknamed ‘Spad’ for its ‘old-school’ design and appearance, reminiscent of the famous World War I aircraft, the Skyraider earned a reputation for ruggedness that not only packed a punch, but also brought back many an airman, despite taking heavy damage from enemy fire. Some AD pilots also trained for an atomic war, practicing long-range flights to deliver nuclear bombs at low altitude. A-1s were also part of the first attacks against North Vietnam following the Tonkin Gulf Incident, and in June 1965, a pair of Skyraiders even shot down a North Vietnamese MiG-17 in air-to-air combat. It was perhaps in the ‘Sandy’ Combat Search And Rescue role the USAF Skyraider earned most respect, and its heavy payload and long loiter time proved vital in rescue of downed airman in Southeast Asia. The Skyraider was also used by the air forces of South Vietnam, France, Cambodia, Chad and Gabon, and the Royal Navy operated a dedicated airborne early warning version from her aircraft carriers, and the Swedish Air Force used the Skyraider as a target tug. All told, 3,180 Skyraiders rolled off the Douglas Aircraft Company assembly line, and in this new Datafile by Andy Renshaw and Andy Evans; the Skyraider story is brought to life. Packed with many never before seen images, concise text, colour profiles, technical diagrams, scale plans and how to model the Skyraider in popular scales, this book is a must have for the enthusiast and modeller alike.

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CREATIVE TIMES

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A Selection of new releases now available from Creative Models

Eduard Lysander Mk.III Profi Revell Being 727 Germania Pack SCALE: 1/48 KIT NO: ED8290 DECAL OPTIONS: 5 STATUS: Ex Gavia

SCALE: 1/144 KIT NO RV3946 DECAL OPTIONS: 1 STATUS: New Decals

Hobbyboss Bae Hawk Mk.127 SCALE: 1/48 KIT NO HBB81736 DECAL OPTIONS: 2 STATUS: Revised Tool

Hobbyboss A-1A Ground attack Trumpeter J-7C/J-7D Chinese aircraft Fighter Trumpeter Su-33UB Flanker D SCALE: 1/72 KIT NO TRU01669 DECAL OPTIONS: 2 STATUS: Revised tooling

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SCALE 1/48 KIT NO HBB1742 DECAL OPTIONS: 2 STATUS: Revised Tooling

SCALE 1/48 KIT NO TRU02864 DECAL OPTIONS: 2 STATUS: Revised Tooling

Eduard Spitfire Mk.IXc ( Late) Profi Pack SCALE: 1/72 KIT NO ED70121 DECAL OPTIONS: 6 STATUS: Revised Tool

Hobbyboss J-29B Flying Barrel Scale 1/48 Kit No HBB1746 Decal options: 2 Status: Revised Tooling

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FIRST LOOK

Super Sue in 1/48 Scale

First look at Kittyhawk’s Dassault Super Etendard

A

fter the sinking of the Atlantic Conveyor during the 1982 Falklands War the Dassault Super Etendard and the Exocet missile it carried became a household name. Where previously most people had never heard of this rather obscure French Naval attack aircraft. With only 86 examples produced and despite its 38 years of service with the French Navy (which is just ending as I write this) it is unlikely to have drawn the attention of no less than 3 major kit manufacturers over the last 30 years without it’s use by the Argentine Navy on that day in May 1982.

THE KIT On opening the normal large Kittyhawk box you will find it crammed with plastic runners, quite a surprise as the Super Etendard is not a very large aircraft. As is becoming normal the plastic parts features some nice engraved detail and I like the way the airbrakes have been moulded with all the holes seen on these items being cleanly moulded. But after looking through the spurs I thought I was missing something, where are the fuselage parts? A quick look at the sprue map and instructions quickly showed that Kittyhawk have designed this kit with the fuselage made up from

no less than 10 parts though I am not sure why thought it will take producing an Etendard IV easy. Other optional parts include open or closed airbrakes, extended refuelling probe and positionable control surfaces as well as an optional pilots boarding ladder. Though surprisingly as the outer folding wing sections are separate parts knowing fold option is supplied. A small sheet of photo

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FIRST LOOK

etched brass provides a number of details including the seat belts for the very nice ejection seat. The kit enables you to model the Super Etendard at any stage of the types long service with French as parts are included to model the SEM modernised variant. It is this modernised version that saw the most action with French over

Serbia, Afghanistan and Libya. So it is not surprising that given the type’s long service that we are going to get a few things to hang under the wings. You can choose from the following ,Magic 2 AAM, Barracuda ECM pod, Phimat chaff dispenser pod, rocket pods, AS.30 AGMs, GBU-12 LGBs, external fuel tank, ATLIS targeting pod, buddy refuelling pod and a CRM-280 reconnaissance pod and of course you also get an example of the AM-39 Exocet.

THE DECALS Kittyhawk have not stinted on the decal options with no less than

six French Navy options off which 4 feature some commemorative paint jobs 3 of which have some Tiger connection. And we also get markings for the only two foreign users of the type Iraq and Argentina with the latter carrying markings from its service in the Falklands. These look to be quite nice but do have one glaring error. As far as I am aware the Argentine Navy

carried this nations light blue and white roundel on one side with a navy anchor on the other. Though you get the anchor the instructions show a French Navy roundel on the wings and the correct Argentine marking is not supplied.

CONCLUSION

This is a far superior kit to the original Heller/Airfix kits from the 80s though the multi part assembly will need some careful assembly. The finished model will be very attractive especially with some nice tiger stripes and a full weapon load added. Our thanks as always to Kittyhawk for supplying the review kit which will be available from your local stockist by the time you read this.

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12/08/2016 16:38

FIRST LOOK

A New Top Cat

First Look: Tamiya F-14 Tomcat in 1/48 Scale

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mazingly it is nearly 4 years since Tamiya”s last all new 1/48 scale kit the Il-2 Stormovik but they do say good things come to those that wait. And the wait was with it when earlier this year it was revealed that an all new 1/48 scale F-14 Tomcat was to be the next subject . Now Thanks to Tamiya’s UK Importer the Hobby Company we have been fortunate to receive a sample of the kits some months before the kits release. This arrived in the familiar Tamiya test shot white box and though we have a full set of production sprue and decals the instructions are just photo copies with some areas still to be completed

most noticeably the English translation of the captions. The first surprise on opening the box is that it contains a full load out of AIM-9 Sidewinders, AIM-7 Sparrows and AIM-54 Phoenix missiles as well as a pair of drop tanks. This was a surprise as the original announcement said that these would be an additional cost extra that you would have to purchase. Maybe the decision to now include these was a result of the reaction from the internet and magazines when this was first announced? This kit has like many Tamiya kits been designed to enable the production of a number of variants and this first boxing represents an early A Model with the plain cut

back beaver tail and small chin pod that was found on the first US Navy squadrons ( And most colourful) as well as the only export customer Iran. Obviously this

will upset fans of the Low Viz era as by then most if not all Tomcats had the late beaver tail with ECM aerials added and IR seeker under the nose. But in my view this move makes economic sense and allow’s the manufacturer to get the most from the core set of moulds though knowing Tamiya it may be 2017-18 before we see a late model A. I will start my look with the cockpit and all I can say is WOW this us as good as it gets in Plastic and for most modellers their will be no need to seek out an aftermarket replacement. The moulding is first class and the decals supply

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FIRST LOOK

details for the radar scopes and instruments and the only thing that really needs adding are some seat belts off you are not using the two nicely moulded crew and some Airscale placards. Speaking of the crew these are nicely done and even the art work for the two US navy options is supplied on the decals to add to the helmets. This kit is packed with options, open or closed exhausts nozzles or one open and one closed as seen on many closed down F-14’s. Open boarding ladders and extended or retracted refuelling probes and it is nice to see that you can also display the probe retraced but without its covers as seen on most Iranian examples after the revolution and of course you also have the option to have the wings fully extended or swept with alternative wing bags and sealing plates. The clear parts are stunning and a very clever idea is that a runner is moulded over the canopy and windscreen which protects the canopy against any chance of damage. Markings are supplied for two of three early operators with the US Navy VF-2 “Bounty Hunters”

who were established with the type in 1972 and are one of the last to retire the Tomcat when the ceased operations with the F-14D in 2003. The next option is from one of the F-14s most famous operators VF-84 “Jolly Rogers” with there skull and cross bone marking on a white background first carried on the F-4. The last option is from post revolution Iran with the attractive desert scheme applied to the type from delivery until the early 2000s when a grey camouflage started to be see. The decals look to be well printed and though thinner than previous Tamiya decals are thicker than most aftermarket examples. Full stencilling is supplied and the instructions for these take up no less than three pages of the instructions

CONCLUSION

Typical Tamiya is how I would describe this kit well moulded, accurate and with beautiful detail with all complicated assemblies made sons straight forward even a novice modeller will get a good looking model with minimal effort. In this age of slide moulding the multi part missiles were a bit of a surprise but this is easily

outweighed in my opinion by the amazing one piece jet pipe and thoughtful way the intakes have been reproduced to keep seam lines to a minimum. I have said before quality is never cheap and this is a quality kit and I am sure will fly off the shelf as despite the fact that the Tomcat left service over 12 years ago with the US Navy it is always a popular type and even non modellers recognise it thanks to a certain blockbuster film from the 1980s. A full build report off this test shot will appear in a future issue and I thank Peter Binger from the Hobby Company for giving us the chance to see this kit in advance of it’s worldwide release.

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SHOW REPORT

Columbia Hot! The US I.P.M.S Nationals 2016

I

write this on my way home from Columbia in South Carolina where the 2016 US Nationals has just finished. I will come back with many memories of the show especially the heat and humidity of a South Carolina summer which as I stepped off the plane at Heathrow made the UK in summer feel like a freezer. This was Columbia’s first time organising the national convention and I kept hearing the comment that though this was not the busiest Nationals - it was one of the best. Next year the US Nationals return to Omaha, Nebraska

and announced at the show were the hots for the following 2 years. In 2018 the Show will return to Phoenix, Arizona and in 2019 another new destination Chattanooga in Tennessee will host the show. My immense thanks to all the organisers at Columbia that was one hot show and I hope we will be back in a couple of years’ time. Here is a selection of models at the show that caught my eye from a 1/144 scale Corsair racer to a whopping 8ft diorama of the first refuelling of a C-5 Galaxy by a KC10 Extender with accompanying F-4 chase plane flying above.

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SHOW REPORT

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ACCESSORIES

Barracudacast

Yahu Only a few new sets of instrument panels from Yahu this month most are in the pre assembled Justick range where you just have to stick it to your cockpit and you are done. Their is one set is designed for Hasegawa’s recent Nakajima E8N1 Dave kit that is multi part set that will need assembling with PVA or similar.

1/72 Scale PT-17 KAYDET Product number: YMA7270 DORNIER DO-17 Product number: YMA7271 CAC BOOMERANG Product number: YMA7274

1/48 Scale N.A P-51D LATE Product number: YMA4820 NAKIJIMA E8N1/2 DAVE Product number: YML4801

CONCLUSION

I do like this manufacturers approach with these pre-assembled panel so simple to use and at very reasonable pricing. Also in 1/72 scale they look so much better than kit decals or painted moulded kit detail. Our thanks to Yahu for supplying us with the samples which are available from Hannants in the UK.

supplied in resin and these are complemented by the inclusion of Master turned brass barrels.

1/32 Scale BR32168 BF-109G UNDERWING CANNON GUNBOATS This set provides handed gondolas in resin with turned brass metal barrels BR32223 BF-109G-2 TO G-10 SEAT - NO BELTS This set supplies a seat with accurate pan detail and the rear bulkhead.

Linden Hill To accompany the release of their Mig-29 sheets reviewed elsewhere Linden Hill have released a nice little etched brass set to reproduce the stiffeners seen on many current Mig-29s in service today. During the early part of the century the Russian Air Force suffered a number of catastrophic failures of the tail fins of aircraft serving in Siberia. Eventually the cause was found to be internal corrosion not helped by the lack of proper servicing following the break up of the Soviet Union and the fact that most aircraft were kept outside due to a lack of shelters. This simple set is designed to be added to the Great Wall Hobby 1/48 scale kit as this is currently the most accurate available though it can of course be added to any Mig-29 kit that you have in the stash

The Messerschmitt Bf109G is one of the most favourite types for both modellers and aftermarket manufacturers. In the last few months the new Eduard Bf109G has dominated the aftermarket accessories market but now BarracudaCast has released not only some new decals but also some very nice resin sets aimed at the recent Revell kit but also suitable for the older Hasegawa kit if you can find one at a reasonable price. All of the sets are cast in beautiful cream resin with only minimal preparation needed before use. We start with two sets that replace the rear bulkhead and seat these are really nice castings and the seat is so thin that you can see through it. The kit seats provides some basic moulded seat belts but they are not a patch on the castings produced by BarracudaCast. The second set supplies a plan seat so you can add your own aftermarket ones and I would recommend Eduard or HGW fabric belts as they can be made to drape very realistically. The third set supplies a pair of the large underwing 20mm cannon gondolas which are

1/48 Scale LHP48-001 RUSSIAN MIG-29 TAIL STIFFENER Two pairs of etched brass stiffeners.

CONCLUSION

A must have etched sheet for anyone using Linden Hills beautifully researched decal sheets and the Great Wall Kit and the accompanying plans and photographs make it easy to position the parts accurately. Our thanks to Guy Holroyd for supplying the sample which can be purchased online with the rest of the Linden Hill range from their website at www.lindenhillimports.com.

BR32224 BF-109G-2 TO G-10 SEAT WITH BELTS This set is the same basic parts with the addition of moulded belts which with some basic painting and an oil wash will look very nice for all of this who do not want the hassle of aftermarket belts.

CONCLUSION

These are simple upgrades that are supported by minimal instructions though in the case of the gunboat gondolas you still get a selection of colour thumbnail photographs to insure you know exactly where everything fits. Our thanks to Roy Sutherland for supplying the review samples which can be purchased from www.barracudacast.com.

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ACCESSORIES

Maestro Models

Scale Aircraft Conversions

This month we have another selection of sets for upgrading the SAAB Viggen using either the Esci/Airfix version or the recent and superior Tarrangus/ Special Hobby kit from last year. As is normal from this manufacturer the resin is beautifully cast with minimal clean up before use and where needed instructions are supplied to tell you what modifications are required to the kit parts and the assembly sequence for the resin parts.

This month SAC are again concentrating on new release with their latest white metal leg’s . Though we also have a set for last years Wingnut Wings Roland C.IIA and I always think these World war One aircraft with their thin legs really suit the use of white metal legs.

1/48 Scale EJECTION SEAT FOR SAAB 37 VIGGEN Product No: K4813 Designed for: Any SAAB 37 ENGINE AND TAIL SECTION Product No: K4836 Designed for: Esci/Airfix

RB04E ATTACK MISSILES X 2 Product No: K4897 Designed for: AJ37 Viggen

CONCLUSION

A nice selection of upgrades for either SAAB Viggen kits but I am particularly pleased to see the Rb40E missiles as ever since I built the original Airfix 1/72 Viggen in the 1970s which came with these weapons I have associated them with the Viggen but have never had the opportunity to fit them in 1/48 scale until now. Our thanks to Max Nyvkist for supplying the review samples which can be ordered from www.maestromodels.com.

1/32 Scale MITSUBISHI A6M2 ZERO LANDING GEAR Product No: 32108 Designed for: Hasgawa Price: $16.95 ROLAND C.II LANDING GEAR Product No: 32109 Designed for: Wingnut Wings Price: $16.95

1/48 Scale F-16 ( LIGHT BLOCK 1-20) LANDING GEAR Product No: 48312 Designed for: Kinetic Price: $16.95 F-16 (HEAVY BLOCK 25 TO 52 BUT RETROFITTED TO SOME EARLY) LANDING GEAR Product No: 48313 Designed for: Kinetic Price: $16.95

F/A-18 A/B/C/D LANDING GEAR Product No: 48310 Designed for: Kinetic Price: $17.95 BOULTON PAUL DEFIANT LANDING GEAR Product No: 48311 Designed for: Airfix Price: $14.95

CONCLUSION

As always these samples were provided by Scale Aircraft Conversions and will be available to purchase in the UK from Hannants and www. oxonianplasticfantastic.co.uk the manufacturers also have their own website at www. scaleaircraftconversions.com. Our thanks to Ross McMillan for supplying the review samples.

Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated The Rebirth of an Iwata Eclipse. Last month I detailed the circumstances of my own making that I thought had killed my beloved Iwata Eclipse and led to it’s replacement by a new Iwata HP-BH. But after talking to the UK importer Airbrush Company I was informed that all was not lost and that they offered a service were they can resurrect my Eclipse to full working order. So I packaged it off and sent it in fully expecting them to say that it was beyond hope. A few weeks later I received a box contacting a nice shiny new

airbrush, in fact it was my 12-year old Iwata cleaned and polished. Well it looked good but how did it work? In a word “amazing just like when it was new” and I soon remembered why I fell in love with this brush originally. The best thing was that the cost of a refurbishment was a lot less than the cost of buying a new brush. So now I have two Iwata brushes and my plan is to use the Eclipse as my general use brush while the HP-BH thanks to its MAC Valve is better at doing very small detail an spraying consistent thin

lines and mottles perfect for Luftwaffe camouflage and Italian smoke rings. So if you have an Iwata airbrush that just needs a little love and care or is like mine caked in paint and bent and battered it may be worth contacting the airbrush company and see what their

technical wizards can achieve. So my thanks to the ladies and gentleman at the Airbrush Company for giving me back an old friend and to see if they can perform a similar resurrection on your airbrush they can be contacted on 01903 767800 or via email at [email protected].

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ACCESSORIES PRODUCT OF THE MONTH

Modelcraft Precision Masking Tapes The range includes: • 1mm by 18m- Twin pack £1.25 • 2mm by 18m- Twin pack £1.50 • 3mm by 18m- Twin pack 1.75 • 6mm by 18m- Twin pack £1.99 • 10mm by 18m- Twin pack £2.75 • 18mm by 18m- Single pack £2.65

FEATURES & BENEFITS • Precise & intricate masking • No paint bleed or annoying paint lines • Super-flexible, even suitable for narrow curves • No tedious cleaning is required • U.V protected for masking in direct sunlight The 1mm masking tape is popular in demand due to modellers insisting and suggesting that if the tape was smaller they can use it to create curvier lines and get around those hard to reach areas! Shesto then created the smallest size and can honestly say it

does what has been requested! No more time wastage on attempting to cover those corners, the 1mm is so flexible you can create mostly any shape you desire. The masking tapes are ideal for modelling, airbrushing, craft, hobby and even those smaller DIY tasks. They are

U.V. protected for masking in direct sunlight and are sold in singular or twin packs which are competitively priced. The 1mm tape for me is especially useful as it makes masking canopies so much easier as it will easily go round curves, the remaining areas can be in filled with masking fluid. The smaller size tape can also be used

for easy cheat lines. All in all this tape from Modelcraft is a good value, I have been using it now for a while with no issues at all.

For more information on this and other products go to the Shesto website

www.shesto.com

or contact them directly via email at [email protected] or telephone

0208 451 6188

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Mastered-Adverts-AV-0916_AV-0606 12/08/2016 17:08 Page 749

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DECALS

Xtradecal Xtradecal are probably the most productive manufacturer in the world as far as new decal releases go. And this month we have a bumper seven new sheets covering all time periods. Most of the sheets are in 1/72 scale including a nice selection of markings for the new Airfix kit of the Bristol Beaufighter and the ICM kit of the Tupolev SB-2. In 1/48 scale we have two sheets aimed at another Airfix product this time the new P-40C which at the time of writing has still to be released. And in both scales we have sheets covering RAF Anniversary Aircraft between 2014 and 2016 and this includes one of the finest representations of gold paint I have seen printed from any manufacturer.

1/72 Scale X72-233 RAF ANNIVERSARY UPDATES 2014/2015/2016(7) Eurofighter Typhoon GR.4 ZK315 41® Squadron 100th Anniversary, Wg/Cdr S.A. Berry 2015 RAF Coningsby. Boeing Chinook HC.4 ZA683 27 Sqn 100th Anniversary Maj G.J. Malcolm RAF Odiham 2015. Tornado GR.4A 12 Sqn 100th Anniversary Flt/Lt S.A. Jenkins/Wg/Co Nikki Thomas RAF Lossiemouth 2015. Tornado GR.4A ZA548 31 Sqn 100th Anniversary Wg/Co J. Freeborough/Flt/ Lt Lamb RAF Marham 2015. Tornado GR.4A ZG750 VX® Sqn 25 Years on Operations from Op Gradby, Desert Pink with shark mouth RAF Lossiemouth 2016. Tornado GR.4A ZD788 40 Years of Tornados Gp Capt H. Smyth/Wg/ Co R.A. Connor RAF Marham 2014. Bae Hawk T.1 XX188 or XX256 208 Sqn 100th Anniversary Wg. Co. C. Kidd/Sqn. Ldr Arlett RAF Valley 2016 Plus Stencil Data for 2 Tornados.

Burma 1944. Beaufighter TF.Mk.X RD76 OB-B 45 Sqn RAF Tengah Operation Firedog 1949 overall silver. Beaufighter TF.Mk.X RD816 QB-D 45 Sqn RAF Tengah Operation Firedog 1949 camouflaged. X72-245 TUPOLEV SB-2 Russia 13th SBAP 1941 Green/Lt Grey. 41st SPAB in Finland 1939 Overall grey. Chinese Nationalist AF 1939. Finnish AF 2 /LeLv 6 1942 SB-13 White/blue. SB-14 Olive green/blue. Spanish Republican AF 1936-37 No 2 Spanish Nationalist AF 1939. Avia B.71 Luftwaffe KG200 Rangsdorf SE+DP 1940. Czechoslovak Army III Sqn 6 L.P. 10K 1938. Slovak Air Force, Vzdusne zbrane V3 1943. X72-248 HEINKEL HE 111H-5/H5Y/H-6 H-5 or 6 1B+OH Wekusta 5 Spitzbergen 1941. 1G+KL 3/KG27 Poltawa 1942. H-5y A1+AH 1st Staffel Russia 1942/3.

X72-244 BRISTOL BEAUFIGHTER MK.VI/ TF.MK.X THIMBLE NOSE Beaufighter Mk.VIF No. 308 Dominican AF 1948. Beaufighter TF.Mk.VIF No. 308 Dominican AF 1948. Beaufighter TF.Mk.X RD427 EO-O 404 (RCAF) Sqn Coastal Command RAF Dallachy 1945 standard nose. Beaufighter TF.Mk.X RD515/Q 22 Sqn RAF

H-6 1H+1K 2/KG26 Bardufuss, Norway, Fw Otto Beau ship victories on rudder. 1H+GP 6/KG26 Italy, white engines, rudder and fuselage band. 1H+BB Stab 1/KG26 Bardufuss Norway 1942 Maj Werner Klumper. G1+DC Steb II/KG55 France 1942 Lt Thross. 5J+ER 7/KG4 Nth Africa 19426N+DG Stab V/KG 100 Kalamaki 1942. A1+FN 5/KG 53 Lt Erich Horn 1942.

1/48 Scale X48-161 RAF UPDATE 2015-16 Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4 ZK315 41® Sqn 100th Anniversary Wg/Com S.A. Berry RAF Coningsby 2015. Tornado GR.4 ZA548 31 Sqn 100th Anniversary Wg/Com J. Freeborough/ Flt. Lt Lamb RAF Marham 2015. BAe Hawk T.1A XX188 or XX256 208 Sqn 100th Anniversary Wg. Com Kidd, S/Ldr Arlett RAF Valley 2016. X48-162 CURTISS P-40B TOMAHAWK PT 1 RAF Tomahawk Mk.IIA AH893 RM-D 26 Sqn RAF Gatwick 1941.

AK960 73Sqn S/Ldr P. WykehamBarnes, Egypt 1941. USAAC P-40B 20P100 55th PS 20th PG Hamilton Field CA 1940. P-40C 9184 X-804 Advanced Aerobatic Unit Luke Field AZ 1943. Russia P-40C 41-13390 53 20th Guards Fighter Regt Murmansk 1942. AH965 Moscow Air Defence Capt R.S. Grigorievch 1941-2. X48-163 CURTISS P-40B TOMAHAWK PT 2 RAF AK578 Tomahawk Mk.IIB GA-V P/ Off Neville Duke 112 Sqn Egypt 1942 with shark mouth. AH940 Tomahawk Mk.IIA XV-U 2 Sqn RAF Sawbridge 1941. AH822 PB-F 1683 (Bomber Defence Training) Flight RAF Bruntingthorpe 1944. USAAC P-40C 9754P 54 Pursuit Sqn 1942. Turkish AF P-40B White 6 1942. R.Egyptian AF Tomahawk Mk.IIb 1942.

CONCLUSION

Another inspiring selection from Xtradecal and I am having to be strong not to invest in a Revell Tornado GR.4 to put that striking gold and black scheme on. Though the Chinook with the large Elephant on the rear rotor pylon comes a close second. And it is the instructions for the Chinook option that I have the only problem with. They say that to represent the Chinook HC.4 some scratch building is required but fail to tell you what exactly is needed! Fortunately, the Internet will be your friend but I really think this information should have been provided. Our thanks to David Hannant for the review samples which of course can be purchased from both branches of Hannants.

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DECALS

Linden Hill Decals It has been a while since we had any new sheets from Linden Hill but they are always worth the wait. Now they have turned their attention to the Mig-29 and what an interesting selection of markings they have found. The first sheet covers the Mig-29 currently in use by 3624th Air Base at Erbuni in Armenia. What sets this unit apart is that all of their aircraft carry individual names and most accompany this with nose art or in one case tail art that looks to be inspired by a very famous US Navy Skyraider squadron. The next two sheets cover the Mig-29 from nine different nations as well as both the USSR and Russian republic in 1/72 scale. Again there are many interesting options and of course some nice weathering which can been in the thumbnail colour photographs that are part of the instructions.

1/72 Scale LHD72036 MIG-29 PART 1 THE LATE 9-12 SERIES MiG-29 9-12 ‘ERAF 508’ Eritrean Air Force. No. 8 Squadron, Asmara International Airport, 2001-6. MiG-29 9-12 ‘Red 10’ VVS of Kazakhstan, 800th Air Base, Zhetgen AB, 2006. MiG-29 9-12 ‘Red 20’ VVS of Kazakhstan, 602nd Air Base, Shyment International Airport 2013. MiG-29 9-12 ‘Blue 32’ WD of Russia, 4th GTsPAV VI, Tastrkhan-Privolzhky AB, Souther, MD, Russia 2011. MiG-29 9-12 ‘Red 24’ VVS of Russia, 871th IAP, Smolensk North AB, Moscow MD, Russia 1997. MiG-29 9-12 ‘Red 08’ VVS USSR, 2nd Squadron 1521th Air Base, Maryy-1 AB,

Turkestan MD, USSR, 1991. MiG-29 9-12 ‘White 27’ VVS of Russia, 120th GvIAP, Domna AB, Trans-Bakai MD. Russia 2007. MiG-29 9-12 ‘Blue 07’ VVS of Russia, 28th GvIAP, Andreapol AB, Moscow MD, Russia 2005. MiG-29 9-012 ‘Blue 55’ VVS of Russia, 343th IIAP, Bagai-Baranovka/Sennoy AB, Moscow MD, Russia 1993. LHD72037 MIG-29 PART 2 THE 9-13 SERIES MiG-29 9-13 ‘White 03’ 61st IAP, Kakaydy AB, Uzbekistan 1995. MiG-29 9-13 ‘White 30’ 60th Independent Mixed Aviation Brigade, Karshi-Khanabad AB, Uzbekistan 2009. MiG-29 9-13 ‘Blue 39’ VVS of Ukraine, 62nd IAP, Belbek AB, Ukraine mid 1990’s. MiG-29 9-13 ‘Blue 40’ VVS of Ukraine, 168th GvIAP, Starokostiantniv AB, Ukraine, mid 1990’s. MiG-29 9-13 ‘Blue 40’ VVS of Ukraine, 204th ‘Sevastopolska’ Tactical Aviation Brigade, Belbek AB, Ukraine 2010. MiG-29 9-13 ‘Blue 20’ VVS of Ukraine, 9th Tactical Aviation Brigade, Pzemoye/ Zhitomir AB, Ukraine 2006. MiG-29 9-13 ‘Blue 20’ VVS of Ukraine, 204th ‘Sevastopolska’ Tactical Aviation Brigade, Belbek AB, Ukraine 2011. MiG-29 9-13 ‘Blue 27’ VVS of Ukraine, 62tyh IAP, Belbek AB, Ukraine 1990’s. MiG-29 9-13 ‘Red 28’ Turkmen Air Force, 67th Mixed Aviation Regiment (SAP), Maryy-2 AB, Turkmenistan 1998. MiG-29 9-13 ‘Red 19’ Turkmen Air Force, 67th Mixed Aviation Regiment (SAP), Maryy-2 AB, Turkmenistan 2009. MiG-29 9-13 ‘Blue 18’ 67th Mixed Aviation Regiment (SAP), Maryy-2 AB, Turkmenistan, March 2013. MiG-29 9-13 ‘Yellow 07’ Moldovan Air Force (FARM) Marculesti AB, Moldova 2000. MiG-29 9-13 ‘Red 44’ VVS USSR 2AE,

115th GvIAP, Kolkaldy AB, deployed to Termez AB, Turkestan MD, Uzbek SSR 1990. MiG-29 9-13 ‘Blue 31’ VVS of Russia, 28th GvIAP, Andreapol AB, Moscow MD, Russia 2005. MiG-29 9-13 ‘White 31’ VVS of Russia, 412th Aviation Base, Domna AB, TransBaikai MD, 2011. MiG-29 9-13 ‘Blue 03’ Azeri Air Force, Zeynaiabdin, Azerbaijan 2012. MiG-29 9-13 ‘Black 52’ VVS Republic of Belarus (WSRB)m 61st Air Base, Baranovchi AB, Belarus 2009. MiG-29 9-13 ‘Red 17’ VVSRB, 61st Air Base, Baranovichi AB, Belarus 2012.

1/48 Scale LHD48039 RUSSIAN MIGS OVER ARMENIA 2016 VVS OF RUSSIA MIG-29S MiG-29UB RF-93774 ‘Red 90’ ‘Knayiginya Olga’ (Princess Olga of Kiev), 3624th Air Base, 102nd Russian Forces Base, Erebuni, Armenia. MiG-28 9-13 RF-93752 ‘Red 30’ ‘Ioann Voin’ (John the Warrior), 3624th Air Base, 192th Russian Forces Base, Erebuni, Armenia. MiG-29 9-13 RF-91926 ‘Red 29’ ‘Andrea Bogolyubski’ (Andrew the

Gold-Loving), 3624th Air Base, 102nd Russian Forces Base, Erebuni, Armenia. MiG-29 9-13 RF-92238 ‘Red 07’ ‘Danii Moskovskii’ (Daniel of Moscow), 3624th Air Base, 102nd /Russian Forces Base, Erebuni Armenia. MiG-29 9-13 RF-93720 ‘Red 11’ ‘Georgeii Pobedonosetz’; (Saint George), 3624th Air Base, 102nd Russian Forces Base, Erebuni, Armenia. MiG-29 9-13 RF-29152 ‘Red 04’ ‘Sergei Radonezhskii’ (Sergei of Radonezh), 3624th Air Base, 102nd Russian Forces Base, Erebuni, Armenia.

CONCLUSION

As always from Linden Hill some very impressive and extensively researched sheets for a very attractive aircraft, and I still find it hard to believe that they can get the kind of detail that their sheets have from nations which are more than a bit secretive about their front line aircraft. Our thanks to Guy Holroyd for supplying the samples which can be purchased online with the rest of the Linden Hill range from their website at www.lindenhillimports.com.

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DECALS

BarracudaCals Two new decals sheet this month both are the first in a promised series to cover the Bf109G-6 and -14 and the Supermarine Spitfire VIII. Each sheet comes with a comprehensive instruction sheet while the decals are well printed and provide enough stencils to produce any of the two from the kit options. Both sheets supply five options but each in is in very different schemes so no need to get bored reproducing loads of identical camouflage patterns with just minor marking changes with these sheets.

1/72 Scale BC72227 SPITFIRE MK.VIII PART 1 Spitfire Mk.VVVI, JF476 QJ-D. 92 Squadron RAF, Desert Air Force. Pilot unknown. Based at Taranto, Italy, September 1943. Spitfire Mk.VIII, JF835, UM0T. 152 Squadron RAF, SEAC. Flown by Flying Officer Paul “Gus” Ardeline. Sinthe Airstrip, Burma 1945. Spitfire MK.VIII, MT982, UM-C. 152 Squadron flown by Warrant Officer Eric Clegg, Sinthe Airstrip, Burma 1945. Spitfire Mk.VIII, A58-517 (RAF serial MT594) IP-F. 79 Squadron RAAF. Flown by Flt. Lt. Normal Turnbull (surname legally changed in August

to Smithells). Based at Morotai, Indonesia. Late Spring 1945. Spitfire Mk.VIII, Serial unknown HL-K. 308th Fighter Squadron, 31st Fighter Group, 15th Air Force, USAAF. Pilot – CO of 308th FS. Flown by Lt. Leland P. Molland, Castel Volturno, Italy, February 1944. BC72232 BF109G-6 AND G-14 PART 1 Bf109G-6, Black 10 of IV./JG54, Dorpat, Russia, early 1944. Bf109G-6, Yellow 20 of 3./EKG(J), Ansbach, Germany, March 1945. Bf109G-6, <<+ of H./JG11, flown by Gunther Specht, Germany, February 1944. Bf109G-14 White 21of Franz Wienhusen, Gruppenkommandeur IV./JG4, autumn 1944. Bf109G, White Chevron of III./JG1 flown by Friedrich Eherle at Felde, Germany, Oct 1943, Bf109G-6, Yellow 6, of 9.JG3, Normandy, July 1944. Bf109G-6, Blue 62 of JG 110, Finow, Germany. Early Spring 1945.

1/32 Scale BC32230 BF109G-6 AND G-14 PART 1 Exactly the same as listed for in 1/72 scale.

1/48 Scale BC48231 BF109G-6 AND G-14 PART 1 Exactly the same as listed for in 1/72 scale.

CONCLUSION

It has been a while since we have had new decals from BarracudaCals and I had forgotten how good they are. Well researched beautifully produced and most importantly and interesting selection of schemes. - What’s not to like! Our thanks to BarracudaDecals for supplying the review samples which can be purchased from a number of retailers as well as their own web site at www. barracudadecals.com.

Steelwork-Models The latest decal sheet from Steelwork is their second sheet covering the aircraft of the Spanish civil war. This sheet is interesting as it not only covers the sexy fighters like the Bf-109 and both sides but also the more unusual like the Fokker D.XXI and Tiger Moth. Of course you can not make every option as the ten Bf-109s use a number jungle for the individual markings and you will need to make a decision as to which option you wish to build though with a little forward planning you can build two as long as you do not use to many 6s and 9s.

1/72 Scale SD-7203 SPANISH CIVIL WAR PART 2 Focke-Wulf Fw56A-0, White C-1 DH -82A Tiger Moth, EP-003C Fiat CR.32, CX-001

Fiat CR.32, El Carmoll School Fokker D.XXI, FD-322 Polikarpov I-15, CA-108 Polikarpov I-15, CA-108 Captured Polikarpov I-15, CA-058, Nightfighter Polikarpov I-15, CA-205 Polikarpov I-15, CA-155 Messerschmitt Bf-109B-1, Captured Ex 6-15 Messerschmitt Bf-109B-1, 6-10 “ Pass uff” Messerschmitt Bf-109B-2, 6-6 Messerschmitt Bf-109B-2 6-44 Messerschmitt Bf-109B-2, 6-47 Messerschmitt Bf-109B-2, 6-24 Messerschmitt Bf-109C-1, 6-60 Messerschmitt Bf-109C-1, 6-64 Messerschmitt Bf-109, 6-73 Messerschmitt Bf-109, 6-66 Messerschmitt Bf-109E-3, 6-89 Messerschmitt Bf-109E-3, 6-91 Messerschmitt Bf-109E-3, 6-92 Messerschmitt Bf-109E-3, 6-93 Messerschmitt Bf-109E-3, 6-104

Messerschmitt Bf-109-3, 6-107 Messerschmitt Bf-109-3, 6-124 Messerschmitt Bf-109E-3, 6-129

CONCLUSION

A really nice sheet for a reasonable price and this along

with Part 1 are well worth seeking out if you have an interest in this rarely covered conflict. Our thanks to Uwe Borchert for supplying the review samples which can be ordered from the Aviation Megastore in the Netherlands.

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DECALS

Foxbot Decals The Ukraine has always had a number of well known modelling companies like ICM and Mini Art and now we have a new name producing aftermarket decals called Foxbot. Their first releases are very topical covering aircraft from the Russian Ukrainian War, and as they put it 20-03-14 to ? The two types covered are the Su-27 Flanker and the Su25 Frogfoot, what makes this particularly interesting is that both types have been repainted in a digital camouflage which could be a modelling nightmare. But Foxbot have thought of that as each of the sheets can be purchased in two forms. The first supplies you with just the decals which supply you with a number of options including some with artwork. For slightly more money you can have the decals plus sheets of pre cut masks which will make this initially daunting task quite easy especially when combined with the comprehensive instructions and plans that Foxbot have supplied.

1/32 Scale 32-001 DIGITAL SU-25M1 FROGFOOT This sheet supplies markings for five aircraft all finished in a grey digital scheme. Sukhoi Su-25M, Blue 6, 299th Aviation Brigade, Kiubakino Airfield, Nikolaev, 2014. Sukhoi Su-25M, Blue 7, 299th Aviation Brigade, Kiubakino Airfield, Nikolaev, 2014. Sukhoi Su-25M, Blue 8, 299th Aviation Brigade, Kiubakino Airfield, Nikolaev, 2014. Sukhoi Su-25M, Blue 38, 299th Aviation Brigade, Kiubakino Airfield, Nikolaev, 2014. Sukhoi Su-25M, Blue 40, 299th Aviation Brigade, Kiubakino Airfield, Nikolaev, 2014.

1/48 Scale 48-008 DIGITAL SU-27 FLANKER Sukhoi Su-27, Blue 100, Air Show “Aviasvit 2012” September 2012 Sukhoi Su-27, Blue 101, Air Show “Aviasvit 2012” September 2012

Sukhoi Su-27, Blue 45, Zaporozbye, April 2013 Sukhoi Su-27, Blue 46, Zaporozbye, April 2013 Sukhoi Su-27, Blue 54, Mirrhorod, 2015 Sukhoi Su-27, Blue 33, Ozernoge, January 2015 Sukhoi Su-27, Blue 37, Ozernoge, January 2015

CONCLUSION

I was very impressed with these sheets and I really like the fact that you have the option to purchase the masks (Indicated by an A after the decal number) as part of the package though I cannot imagine many modellers will buy just the basic package without masks. These decals are available in the UK from Hannants.

Scale Aircraft Conversions 35002 Horsa Glider Landing Gear (Bro)

48308 Saab J-29 Tunnan Landing Gear (HB)

(replacement for 1/35 Bronco) MSRP $21.95

(replacement for 1/48 Hobby Boss) MSRP $16.95

White Metal & Resin Aircraft Parts Since 1990

48309 Gloster Meteor Landing Gear (Ax)

72129 C-130 Hercules Landing Gear (Ita/Tes)

(replacement for 1/48 Airfix) MSRP $18.95

(replacement for 1/72 Italeri/Testors) MSRP $12.95

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KIT REVIEWS

Fouga CM170 Magister “Exotic Air Forces”

Special Hobby 1/72 Fouga CM170 Magister “Exotic Air Forces” by Bruce Leyland-Jones MANUFACTURER: Special Hobby  PRODUCT NUMBER: SH72284 SCALE: 1/72 TYPE: Injection moulded STATUS: New tool w/new decals PANEL LINES: Recessed PARTS: 115 Plastic 17 Clear 5 Resin DECAL OPTIONS: 4 Ugandan Peoples Defence, Algerian, Lebanese and Royal Morocco Air Forces.

F

or decades, modellers had soldiered on with the old Airfix and Heller Fouga Magister kits. Both excellent products for their time, with many a debate as to which of the two was the better kit. Both had great levels of detail and both were fairly accurate, with no real vices to be had during a build. The Airfix kit was issued in 1975, with the Heller following on some 5 years later. Given the number of these important training and ground attack aircraft there are, scattered around all corners of the globe, it had always bemused me that it remained for Airfix and Heller to keep us supplied for over a quarter of a century. Besides, what’s not to love about that wide wing and cute butterfly tail? Two years ago, Valom began to produce kits of the Magister and, whilst a nice enough kit, it’s short-run characteristics made it more of a challenging build for the novice, especially when the good old stalwarts could still be easily had from the ‘pre-owned’ market. Now Special Hobby have entered the fray and their kits are, in my opinion, quite superb pieces of kit. Furthermore, as is typical of Special Hobby getting the most out of their toolings, there are many boxings available, offering most, if not all, of the variants made, including the CM175 , the naval Zephyr. As I’ve said, this training aircraft found its way into many air forces around the world, often being recruited as a cheap ground attack aircraft, being easy to fly and maintain, by the worlds less-affluent countries and it is these that this particular boxing caters for. This boxing also lacks any photoetch, so no brass

origami-skills are required and the only resin pieces are a few aerials. (It’s worth pointing out at this early stage that there are some subtle differences between the four options on offer, so it’s worth, as usual, paying attention to the very clear instructions. Work begins in the cockpit. The transparencies are very clear and there’s an option to display these as open, so any work in here will be well worth the effort. Decals are provided for the main instrument panels. The detail on

these is raised, so the modeller would either have to use lashings of decal softener, or sand this exquisite detail off, to facilitate decal placement. I went for the former option, marvelling at the fact that Special Hobby even moulded the backs of the panels correctly. Within the cockpit, there are some very small pieces, that might better have been provided by an etch sheet, or even resin, as some seemed swamped by their respective sprue attachment points and I confess to giving up on trying to clean up a few and simply scratched my own bits from some stretched sprue. One detail missing that I did find irksome was the absence of any

harnesses for the ejection seats. I fashioned my own from strips of tape and I’m sure the aftermarket will provide, soon enough. Whilst my cockpit paint was drying, I turned my attention to the rest of the internal detail, consisting of intake trunking, intake fans and rear jets for the twin Turbomeca Marbore engines. Assembling these I was confronted with just how tiny these little engines were. Of course, the Magister was derived from what was essentially a powered glider,

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“THE MAGISTER IS A TAIL-SITTER AND YOU NEED TO ADD NOSE WEIGHT” so any powerplant used needed to be somewhat diminutive in size. Whilst I had the fuslelage halves to hand, I set about embellishing them with an assortment of very tiny intakes, vents and some aerials. Again, some of these proved tricky to remove from the sprue and effectively clean up, so once again I used some fine plastic tubing to fashion some replacements. (Again, keep an eye on that aftermarket). In spite of the internal subassemblies, the fuselage halves came together very well. This was fortunate, given the plethora of small external details. Some minor sanding was needed, to ensure a nice, clean seam and care was needed to avoid obliterating that aforementioned detail. To calm the nerves, some simple sub-assemblies for the tail cone and nose gear bay and next on the agenda…NOSE WEIGHT! I can’t shout this out loud enough and it is NOT mentioned anywhere in the instructions, but the Magister is a Tail-sitter and YOU NEED TO ADD NOSE WEIGHT. To be honest, there’s not a lot of room, forward of the cockpit, especially

if you want to avoid fouling the nose gear bay. However, I have an excellent product called Deluxe Liquid Gravity, which is marvelous for adding mass to the tiniest of spaces. There is also a bigger space, immediately aft of the rear seat and below that radio equipment you cemented in place a while back. As long as you add the weight forward of the main gear, you should be okay. In building up the nose .I had the option to fit twin machine guns, or use a piece with blanking plates fitted. My own option, chosen before the build began, was to be an ex-Israeli aircraft and so the guns were appropriate. So, after a pleasant evening, fettling the styrene, my fuselage was complete and then I promptly managed to knock off some of those tiny details! Learn from my mistake and leave off all of the tiny stickyout bits until the very end. Fuselage complete, (with nose weight added), the wings are built up and I had the option

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of having the airbrakes raised or lowered. For the sake of display, I chose to have mine raised. Pay close attention at this point to the orientation of the airbrakes and ensure that they are appropriately symmetrical, when viewed from the front, top and bottom. At this point, the final details relating to my chosen option were set to one side, to be fitted post-painting, as were the transparencies, having been carefully masked.

PAINTING

spares to my decal bank. Decal printing has certainly evolved. The final stage involved adding the open canopies and those remaining small aerials and suchlike.

CONCLUSION

Whilst maybe not a kit for an absolute beginner, due to having to leave off some assemblies until the end of the build and so deviating from the instruction sequence and because of the difficulties encountered in handling some of those

I chose my subject because it had some rather superb fluorescent decals and I wanted to see if these worked as well on the model as they did on the decal sheet. But first I had to deal with the paint call-outs which are exclusively for Gunze Sanyo’s range and I use only Humbrol. Further, even when using the many paint conversion charts available, the suggested colours just did not look right. Whilst the pale brown was okay, the blue would have been way too dark for my tastes. I was also aware that my particular subject was an extremely second-hand example, given to Uganda after extensive service with the Israeli Air Force. In the end, I opted for a camouflage of Humbrol H110 Natural Wood Matt and H96 RAF Blue Matt, with Humbrol H129 US Gull Grey Satin and I got the look I wanted. Decals were applied, using Johnson’s Klear and they were superb in every way. The fluorescent decals met my highest expectation and I’ve added the

“I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS KIT TO ANYONE WHO FEELS THEY HAVE GOT THEIR BASIC MODELLER BADGE” smaller parts, I would certainly recommend this kit to anyone who feels they have got their Basic Modeller badge. Some work is required, but nothing too complex and I found this an easier build than the Valom kit. If you want a Fouga Magister,

of any flavour, then I’d suggest that the Special Hobby is the one to go for in this scle. All that said, now is not the time to dispose of those old Airfix and Heller kits. After all, you might want something to stick your surplus Special Hobby decals onto! Special Thanks to Special Hobby for the modelling fun…but DO NOT FORGET THE NOSE WEIGHT!

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Nomad Mk 1 Special Hobby 1/72 Nomad Mk 1 by Carmel J.Attard MANUFACTURER: Special Hobby KIT NO: SH72292 SCALE: 1/72 TYPE: Injection Moulded STATUS: Revised tool PARTS: 2 Resin MARKING OPTIONS: 5

T

he Special Hobby Nomad Mk1 comes in a standard SH box having a striking and colourful picture of two yellow and black striped coloured Nomad Mk1 as they bank towards a landing approach upon returning from a target towing mission in an otherwise blissful, clear Canadian sky, These carry the markings of No9 Bombing and Gunnery School, No 3 Training Command RCAF, Mount Joli, Quebec, Canada 1943. This is a later version of the Northrop type the main difference from the early models in that it has a retractable undercarriage. The Nomad had an excellent performance and was not an exceedingly expensive aircraft. The first version produced was the A-17 with fixed undercarriage. The aircraft was quite heavily armed for the time with deliveries commencing December 1935 and lasted until January 1937. The A-17A was deemed as the most effective ground attack plane deployed in the 1938 – 39 War Games but the USAAC by

then had decided to invest in twin-engined attack aircraft. Export version of the Northrop type were designated Douglas DB-8A when contracts were placed subsequent to 1939 as the Northrop Corporation was a subsidiary of the Douglas Aircraft Corporation. France had ordered 93 of the by

the then redundant USAAC A-17A’s but by the time the aircraft has been refurbished France had fallen to the Germans and the British Purchasing Commission took up the order naming the A-17A the Nomad. But it was too deemed to be obsolescent by the RAF and was never put into operational service. Part of the RAF’s order was transferred to the South African Air

Force training units, and thirty-four were sent to Canada to serve in training and target-towing duties. This kit comes sealed in separate bags containing 35 grey styrene parts and a clear canopy part. There are also two resin detail parts consisting of a propeller hub and a longer style of the exhaust with a heat exchanger fitted to the Canadian and South

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African machines. A beautiful five-option decal sheet and a 12page instruction all colour booklet that is now standard with SH kits. This contains a brief history of the Nomad, colour equivalent information, eleven stagers of

construction and six pages of 4-view colour plans showing camouflage and markings for all there is on offer. The most colourful machines are the two liveries depicting the Canadian Target-tug types mentioned earlier. The other examples are all in dark earth and dark green top camouflage with

a choice of underside colours you can chose from Sky type S, half white and half black or yellow.

CONSTRUCTION Basically the kit consists of five main wing parts, tail planes which has a separate central under-wing area piece with moulded in wheel wells. A cockpit floor in two parts,

“IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO ANY CATEGORY OF MODELLING KEEN ON MILITARY TYPES”

instrument panel and coaming, control stick, two crew seats, interior fuselage side embossed detail. The propeller comes as three separate blades that will fit into the resin hub. I used a ‘Paul Fisher’ jig to position blades at 120 degrees before applying the glue. Other parts are a detailed 9-cylinder radial engine that snag fit into a two-part engine cowling. Surface detail on all mouldings is excellent and the panel lines and dive brakes perforations are there and very fine and right to scale. The canopy is very clear and the only addition I made was to add seat straps to both seats. Not much information on the interior could be found if you wish to super detail the cockpit. And if you did add detail the canopy could be cut to give a good view of the inside. When the five wing parts are assembled and fitted to the now closed fuselage good design means that it easily gives the correct wing dihedral. There are then two separate inserts rectangular in shape parts 31 and 32 that can slot in at wing root leading edge. There is a large side air intake to forward fuselage and this really could have benefited from being moulded in resin to give a hollow intake. One thing to note is that the larger engine intake under the forward fuselage is stepped at the rear and this is correctly portrayed by the kit parts so do not fill it in. Very little filer is required to wing joints or anywhere else on this kit..

PAINTING AND DECALS The decal sheet covers markings for five aircraft. The only drawback is that they are somewhat on the

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thin side and therefore easily curl. Great care is required when transferring the decal part from the backing carrier sheet. A good tip for anyone making the target towing scheme is that when it comes to apply the under-wig serial registration each number has to be cut and applied separately since the black cross lines of the target tow colour scheme could be slightly wider or narrower. In that case one applies the first and last number to conform to the yellow/black arrangement and then space correctly the other two central numbers. I used Humbrol paints for this kit and applied a coat of future prior to applying the decals. I also found that using the 1mm masking strips RB-M32004 from RB Productions I got very sharp demarcation between the two contrasting

colours and for wireless and guard wires I used invisible thread which was coloured with ink marker.

CONCLUSION

In general the kit is a graceful addition, it is highly recommended to any category of modelling keen on military types. Personally the only downside I found was that I needed to research details regarding the protective wire guides around the tail on the target-towing version. I did enjoy building the Nomad and it is yet another addition to my Canadian model subjects. My thanks to Special Hobby for supplying the review kit for me to build.

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“Reich Defence” AZ Models 1/72 BF109G-6AS by Kevin Shaw MANUFACTURER AZ Models PARTS: 86 Gray Clear 2 TYPE: New decals MARKING OPTIONS: 3

M

y second Luftwaffe project for the boss, and this time in the more comfortable surroundings of 1/72 scale, following on from my Ta-152’s in 1/144. I have made a fair few 72nd Luftwaffe subjects in the past so was chomping at the bit to start this little beauty. What didn’t hit home to me in years past when I mass-produced Luftwaffe hardware was just how small the 109 was as an aircraft. Putting the completed product up against an adversary of its time, the excellent Special Hobby boxing of the 56th FG P-47N, demonstrated this in a graphic way. Opening the box provides three sprues, and a separate bagged clear parts sprue. Lots of 109 spares for the regular 109 modellers here as there are multiple fin types as well as props, engine cowlings, tail wheels, and radiators, a real haul

for the Luftwaffe spares box included as an added bonus! Instructions are well produced, using Humbrol colours throughout for all colour referencing both inside and outside the airframe. I used 247 light blue grey (RLM76) for the main colour, with 240 Grey (RLM02) and 241 Black green (RLM70) for the camouflage. Tamiya weathering kit of soot and rust at the ready, time to kick off.

BUILD Patrick Mizgala reviewed this kit in its “special colours” guise in the February 2016 issue, and this proved to be a very useful reference for my build. Everything he mentioned came true, but the most useful ‘early warning’ was around the cockpit fitting into the fuselage, and the need to detach (in my case an awful lot) of the interior cockpit structure to allow the fuselage fit. As with the Academy / Special Hobby P-47, I

just can’t understand this with the current technology that is available for kit creation in place. Enough of my pet hates, let’s move on. I started as always by painting internal parts and internal fuselage, as well as wheel wells, under carriage doors and the like on the sprues. Using Humbrol 67 for the interior, and the listed colours to pick out the detail, I kitted out the interior. A great addition, and one I think should be made as standard, were decals for the seat straps and buckles. In this scale, it makes a cockpit look all the more realistic. It is a great shame to have to destroy a lot of work to ensure you get a correct fuselage fit, but the external fit is, in the end, the more important

part of an aircraft in this scale. Moving on, fuselages fitted without locating pins, the threepiece wing fitted into place, but did leave scope for a small amount of filler between the tops of the wings and the fuselage. A slight requirement for more filler around the engine cowling before being ready for painting. A total coat of 247, then Tamiya tape to allow the camouflage work to begin. A solid coat of 240 on the tops of the wings and fuselage, followed by more Tamiya tape to allow the ‘splintering’ to be complete with 241 over the grey, and along the top of the fuselage. I then dry brushed more 240 down the sides of the fuselage and around the tail to create the ‘mottled ‘effect.

DECALS AND FINISHING The decals are quick to leave the carrier, and are thin, so will wrap around if allowed. I used Humbrol decal fix after they were

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applied, and they bedded down onto the surface, and over surface raised detail very well indeed. I chose the colourful option of an aircraft of 9./JG1 out of La Fere in July 1944, opting for the interesting decals depicting old codes and numbers painted out underneath the new yellow numbering. The colour match on the decals to Humbrol 241 was spot on, allowing the hastily applied covering ‘artwork’ of the decals to blend in with the colours already painted on the model. Decals complete, a coating of Humbrol clear 49 to ‘matt and tone’ everything into the same layer, then Tamiya weathering along panel lines and exhaust staining, as well as some ‘rust’ weathering on the undersides to give an oil appearance.

CONCLUSION

A lovely little kit yet spoilt for the novice modeller by its few vices, but the overall result is a great looking 109 G, matching up well to the old Revell offering that had everyone running to their local model stockist in the mid 90’s. My huge thanks to AZ Model plastic kits for this review sample, and as always to Wicor Models of Portchester, ever trusted supplier of all my accessories.

“THE OVERALL RESULT IS A GREAT LOOKING 109 G, MATCHING UP WELL TO THE OLD REVELL OFFERING”

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Mansyu KI-98 Fighter Meng 1/72 Mansyu KI-98 Fighter by Patrick Mizgala MANUFACTURER: Meng KIT NO: DS-002 TYPE: Injected molded plastic STATUS: new tooling 2015 SCALE: 1/72 PARTS: 46 grey/2 clear MARKINGS: 3 decal options

O

ne morning before going to work I came across this nifty kit on Sprue brothers. I had never heard of “Meng” before, but I really like off the wall aircraft. So, with the wife sleeping, a stealthy purchase ensued. When the kit arrived I was extremely tickled with the very robust box with a pretty good painting of the plane on the box top. Upon opening, the instructions, decals, two grey sprues and 1 clear all doubled bag. The instructions are 9 pages with 12 steps for the build. The build instructions are black and white with colour call outs using Vallejo paints and are very simple to follow. There are three colour options on the last page. And to round off the instruction a neat little history of the aircraft. IJA ‘46. as I was checking out the goods I noticed that the Sprue attachment points were on the gluing edge of the parts... not on the side. ‘bout time. Much less cleaning and filling.

CONSTRUCTION The cockpit is up first and with only six parts this goes together rather quickly. The instrument panel and side consoles are nicely detailed. The stick of joy, seat and back plate/former all attach to the cockpit tub. Painted in my version with Atake blue, slightly weathered, the nose gear bulkhead and sidewalls are attached to the bottom of the cockpit tub. The gun sight was supposed to be attached later in the build but I promptly lost it to the void. Once dry, the completed tub was fitted into the fuselage halves and I must say that the fit

of these was excellent. I skipped stages three to five. as these have you putting the two twin booms together. I moved onto the wings these are built up from five pieces; three on the bottom and two on

top. Instructions show the central bottom wing attached to the fuse first. Then the outer wing panels next and they do kind of clip into place. I next glued the outside edges of the wings starting from the tips to the boom point. This left a little wiggle room for the final gluing at the wing root. Much easier to do than to write about. Now to match up the fuselage, booms and horizontal stabilizer. I used a few light clamps to keep everything together while I applied plastic welder. I find this dries just fast/slow enough to keep everything straight and aligned if set aside to dry overnight. It was time to commence with the propeller and landing gear. The propeller assembly consists of four parts; nosecone, back plate, spinner body and the propeller itself these assembled nice and tidy. I painted the nose cone and back plate yellow for the version I

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KIT REVIEWS picked and while I had the yellow out I painted the leading inboard edges of the wings. The propeller is shown in the instructions as brown I am not sure if it is painted brown or a wooden prop stained and sealed. I went with wood option as this looked quite attractive. I painted the propeller dark brown then dry brushed tan before sealing it with a varnish coat of Humbrol clear orange. The landing gear is pretty basic, as is the plane itself. The main gear is short and robust and the nose gear is very spindly but these look good once painted and gently weathered. Back to our story the booms and fuselage each have a nose cone these were attached and left to dry. The only place I needed filler was on the booms to wing join. These at first look like huge gaps but with a little putty and some gentle sanding blended in very easily.

PAINTING AND DECALS The Cockpit and wheel wells were sealed off before the model was sprayed overall in grey primer. I now masked the underside and

sprayed the upper surface silver. Once dry I used the salt technique to produce wear and tear. (damp model then apply table salt after painting use a damp cloth to remove the salt and reveal the chipped areas.) I over did it a bit but, I like the results. I painted the gun bay hatch separately as this gives you a chance to put in the nose weight. The upper surface colour I used was a darkish green. This is followed by coat of future and then the model is set aside to dry overnight. Next day I ran a heavily thinned black watercolour into the panel lines. before applying the 6 national markings and 4 markings on the tail from the decal sheet. Everything was sealed with a flat varnish from a spray can. Now on the home stretch, prop, gear and doors, guns, pitot and canopy were attached. The guns are very well

moulded but sadly, I lost the 2 machine guns into the void that already had the gunsight luckily the cannon survived.

CONCLUSION

I really enjoyed building this kit. Very stress free and basically being an IJA ‘46 you can have a

good time with the markings. The parts fit is very good and you have some neat decal options and it certainly makes for an interesting addition to my collection. My thanks to Meng for moulding this interesting subject.

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Avia B534

Eduard 1/72 Avia B534 IV. serie by Bill Bunting MANUFACTURER: Eduard SCALE: 1/72 KIT NO: 70102 PARTS: 71 Plastic, 21 PE, Masking set STATUS: New Tool/revision DECAL OPTIONS: 6 The Avia B534 represented the height of Czechoslovakian aircraft development in the 1930s and could be considered the equal of other current biplane fighters from Western Europe. With graceful lines and reasonable armament, the little Avia was the Czech Republic’s main defensive fighter when the Germans partitioned the country in 1938. In the next few years the Avia fighters were used by the Czechs, Slovaks, Luftwaffe and Bulgarians. In 1944 the B534 saw action again during the Slovak National Uprising. There is no doubt that this is one of the finest 1-72 kits I have ever made. Eduard obviously loves the Avia B534, having previously released a series of kits in 1-48 and now in the “gentleman’s scale”. They have really made a great effort on this kit with excellent fine mouldings with crisp detail, restrained panel lines, plenty of detail and options for the builder. A total of 6 colourful marking options are available covering Czech, Slovak Bulgarian and Luftwaffe examples. The PE fret is excellent and the pre-cut masks top off this Profipack edition.

CONSTRUCTION This is fairly straightforward and starts with the pilot’s office and radiator section. Finely moulded parts and coloured PE build up into a nicely detailed interior. Care should be taken removing plastic parts from the sprues as many pieces are very small. To your advantage are the very fine attachment points on both the plastic and PE parts, thanks to Eduard’s excellent engineering. After closing the fuselage up, Eduard would have you add the tail section and then the lower wings. I decided to leave the tailpieces off for now as a trial fitting showed they would fit perfectly later. This meant that no tricky masking was needed around the fin and horizontal stabilizers. Before adding the lower wings, I took the time to drill out all of the points where rigging would be added later. There are very tiny dimples moulded into

each location to show where to drill but also small enough to be hardly noticeable if you don’t want to do rigging. The lower wings are a solid gap-free fit and the instructions provide a guide for setting the correct dihedral. Once the wings were dry and solid, the canopy was masked and attached. White canopy glue was used for the sliding hood section so it could be removed after painting.

PAINTING AND DECALS From the six options I chose the Bulgarian in RLM 71/65 with yellow nose tapering to points on the sides, yellow wing tips and tails. I thought matching the yellow paint to the decals might be tricky so being clever I cut the

point decals out, carefully trimmed them and then used them as templates to cut masking tape to the right shapes. It was then that I was even cleverer and looked at the masking sheet provided by Eduard and of course there were appropriate pre-cut masks already there! The entire model was now painted using Tamiya white surface primer, next the yellow areas were painted Tamiya XF3. After masking the yellow areas, Tamiya XF23 was used for the undersides and Gunze Sangyo H64 RLM71 for the uppers. All paints were thinned with lacquer (cellulose) thinners. Two coats of Future were used as a gloss coat and then the decals were applied. The instructions have excellent full colour, four-view painting guides

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KIT REVIEWS

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sizes; 0.25mm x75mm and 0.22mm x 65mm. The latter size was used for this kit. These needles are very thin, maintain their straightness and are easily cut using sprue/side cutters. The needles were cut slightly longer than the exact length needed so that when placed into the pre-drilled holes they stayed in place until a drop of CA glue was added. In closing, I must repeat that this is a most excellent kit from Eduard and having followed this manufacturer from their beginnings it is amazing to see that they have become perhaps the best aircraft kit maker in the market today. (All derisive letters to the Editor please). If biplanes are not your thing, then get one anyway it is that good! Thanks to Eduard for supplying me with the sample kit.

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ALBATROS B.II

Albatros B.II

Wingnut Wings 1/32 Albatros B.II by Guy Goodwin

W

ingnut Wings are fairly prolific in producing new kits, most of them are advertised months ahead of schedule, but occasionally we do get a ‘Surprise Release’ (usually around Christmas) which comes completely out of the blue. How they keep the subject of this undisclosed until the release date is a complete mystery. There’s never the least hint of what it will be, even on the conspiracy forums, and this time it was no different. I was very pleased to see a lovely Albatros B.II suddenly appear one day on their website. Quite an unusual choice and it certainly wasn’t one I was expecting or had even considered likely. Wingnut’s don’t always go with the obvious; there’s still no Fokker Dr.1 tri-plane in the line up (although a Camel has been listed as the next known release). All of this makes it a very exciting time for WW1 modellers!

HISTORY Designed by Ernst Heinkel based on his 1913 Albatros B.I, the B.II was the aircraft that brought the aircraft manufacturer Albatros Flugzeugwerke to the world’s attention. The seating arrangement was not ideal; the pilot occupied the rear cockpit, the observer sat in front over the wings which greatly reduced his downward view while the protruding engine block almost completely obscured the view over the nose. When Albatros developed the armed C.I based on their B-series, the seat positions were swapped so that the observer/gunner had a better view and clear field of fire. First flying in 1914, large numbers of the B.II were built and, though it was relegated from front-line service in 1915 following the introduction of the armed C-type two-seaters, the B.II remained in service as a trainer until 1918. It was even used post war by some other air forces. A B.II from Feldflieger Abteilung 41 was the first aeroplane (as opposed

to the Zeppelin) to drop bombs on England; on April 16 1915, ten bombs were dropped by hand in the area of Sittingbourne and Faversham. Though no significant damage or casualties resulted.

OPENING THE BOX The box is full of the usual Wingnut goodies; beautifully moulded parts; a lovely decal sheet for five colour schemes including, unusually, a set of wood decals for the fuselage (more of this later); a small photo etch sheet for the seat belts and

wire wheels (more of this later too); a very impressive instruction booklet (which is more of a book really). Wingnut’s booklet as usual really excels, providing full colour coded instructions and some excellent period photographs to really whet the modellers appetite. Most other manufacturer’s could really learn something from looking through a set of Wingnut Wings instructions and after my first inspection this was looking like their best kit yet. On looking through the contents, my initial thoughts were whether to use the kit wood decals or an alternative. I was initially impressed with the kits offering but the drawback was that they are not translucent so will be difficult to personalise. Thoughtfully Wingnut’s do offer a very nice option of a

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“THE WINGNUT WINGS ALBATROS B.II – EVERYTHING ABOUT IT OOZES QUALITY” BUILDING My usual modus operandi with Wingnut kits is to take all of the parts off the sprues and clean them up (which took a surprisingly long time as there are lots of parts!). This also allows me to group the parts into a number of efficient painting sessions. The kit also provides wood decals for the cockpit interior. I experimented with a couple of them to see if I liked the result, but in the end I’m not sure I did and I found it easier to use the oils method of representing this wood. I lightly spray all relevant parts in a Vallejo

non-wooden fuselage scheme if you really don’t fancy trying the wood effect. The other welcome innovation on this kit was the option of wire-spoked wheels. The majority of B.IIs seem to have these attractive wheels fitted. Though you can get beautiful sets of custom made wire wheels on line, these are pricey and are becoming very difficult (if not impossible) to

light sand and then drag artist’s oils (umber, ochre etc) over the surface. To my mind this is a very effective way of recreating a wood effect, particularly for the interior sections. The only drawback to this method is the oils do take a few days to dry, but here I used a new quick drying additive product from the excellent Uschi van der Rosten range for reducing the drying time, to an hour or so which is very helpful, but, more importantly, it keeps the essential properties of the oils. The photo’s haven’t really captured the look but I was quite pleased with the final results. So now for the seats. I

source. The kit offers three options; a moulded plastic wire wheel, finer photo etch wire wheel or standard (non spoked) wheel with covers. I have used aftermarket wheels before on previous builds and I was considering robbing these before I realised they were the wrong size. So I decided I would make a start on the kit before I made any final decisions. WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM • SEPTEMBER 2016 767

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ALBATROS B.II

opted for an acrylic paint base, some oil work followed by a wash and some gentle buffing to get that final worn leather look before adding the kit’s photo etch belts. I generally prefer fabric aftermarket belts, but these looked just fine. To finish the cockpit there’re a few control wire runs

to add, but nothing too daunting, and if they’re overlooked, they really won’t show unless you know what you’re looking for. The engine was next and this is a mini kit in itself and can look good straight from the box though they can also be enhanced with a little detailing. I chose to add some coiled fuse wire springs to the rockers to make better

representation of the springs than Wingnut’s have made in plastic. I also added some more fuse wire to produce the ignition leads. For painting I used a combination of Alclad metallics followed by a gentle dry brushing with Humbrol Metalcote before a final application with Uschi metallic polishing powder (iron) on the end of a cotton bud. This can then be buffed up to produce a satisfying metallic sheen. A final twist was

to add a light oily wash which gives it that little extra touch of realism. So now the interior was complete I could get the fuselage together. This was a super fit as usual. I really like the way they’ have produced the fuselage with separate top and bottom panels eliminating noticeable seams along the centre, and as seams are my Achilles heel, this was particularly welcome for me. Another nice design touch with the modeller I mind.

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WOOD! With the fuselage closed up I turned my attention to how I wanted to finish the fuselage. I was initially tempted to use the kit decals, but on reflection, I wasn’t sure I liked the opaque nature of these. Although I have stated I like the oils method, on a larger, more obvious surface, decalling can really come into its own, so I turned again to the superb Uschi van der Rosten range of wooden decal sheets. They come in numerous shades and patterns to reflect the natural differences of wood, and they have the added benefit of being largely translucent; allowing for personalising the final colour by allowing pre shading. I’d also decided on the option ‘B’ colour scheme, which showed a light plywood fuselage as opposed to a rich, varnished look on the other options. Which is the colours Wingnut have supplied with the kit decals so to dark for my chosen scheme. Now I’d finally made up my mind I could concentrate on how to achieve the look I was after. The base colour of the fuselage was painted in Tamiya deck tan lightened with white and diluted with their lacquer thinners (this is a lovely combination for airbrushing and produces a very smooth finish). I then masked off various panels and sprayed some subtle variations finishing up with some very light shading of panel lines. It’s probably worth mentioning that the decals are very translucent, so everything really shows through. You definitely

want to be understated here. Too much and it will look unrealistic. If you haven’t used them before, I would recommend some degree of experimentation to gauge the finished look as the decal’s colour and shade change fairly dramatically depending on the base colour you are applying them over. Although I’d opted not to use the kit decals they still came in very useful. I cut them out and used them as templates for the Uschi decals. This proved to be a very effective and easy way of getting a custom-made ‘cookie cut’ set of decals. The decals themselves are very thin which allows them to really hug the surface of the plastic (the kit decals are noticeably thicker and may obscure some of the finer moulded detailing). Once in place I gave them a gentle burst of hot air with a hairdryer which encourages them to really nestle down into the fine surface detail. However, the thinness of the decals also means they are delicate and care has to be exercised in handling as you would expect. I did have one mini hiccup here, completely of my own doing. I was fixing the cowlings on at a later stage and used masking tape to hold them firmly in place, but removing the tape stripped off some of the wood decal on both sides. Once sealed, they can be masked, but care must be taken and a low tack mask used. Fortunately, they are surprisingly easy to fix. I used a new scalpel blade and lightly scored a square shape around the damage - removed the rest of the decal within the

square, then it’s straightforward to cut a replacement. Phew. To be fair to the product - I did really press the tape on firmly - I just, stupidly, forgot about the decals! Once on, the wood finish was sealed in with a brushed layer of Johnson’s Klear. I then did some subtle shading with oils before misting over with a semi matt sheen varnish. At this point I was super pleased with the result, I then gave it a final unplanned dark wash, but now felt like I’d gone too far and spoilt the look slightly with that last step - sometimes less is more! Another one for the experience locker. However, I decided I could now put the fuselage to one side and make a start on the wings.

WINGS Recreating linen is always a bit of an issue for me. I think it’s quite hard to represent. Looking at period photography shows a huge range of variations from see through to opaque, clean to very dirty and stained, glossy to matt. So at least it offers a subjective view and certainly isn’t prescriptive. Some excellent linen decal sheets are now being produced by Aviattic, but I shied away from this option on this occasion wanting to create something individual. On a previous build in this magazine I finished a Hansa Brandenburg W.12 with a translucent look (at

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ALBATROS B.II

least that was what I was trying to achieve) but for this, I wanted to try for more of a dirty, mottled look so often seen in close up photography of the time. To achieve this I needed a good base colour. I went to my local model shop and looked through a number of manufacturers’ paints. I had an idea of what I wanted a pale, almost white colour, but not too beige. I found what I was looking for in the Lifecolor range as their Dust no.1 and Dust no.2 looked just the job. So this is what I used as the basis for the wings. I started by putting down a deliberately patchy base, lighter colour on the top surfaces, darker below. The next stage was to mask the rib tapes then mist over a lighter colour again, hopefully keeping the irregularities to subtly show through. I kept the rip tapes underneath a couple of shades darker than the top to show the shadowing effect of the light shining through the wing. The top ribs were lighter supposedly reflecting the light. The masking is not as time consuming as you’d think using 1mm & 2mm tape rolls and it really adds to the overall effect. If the wing is simply painted a uniform colour it tends to look a little model like and lacks the depth of the real thing. I now gave the wings a thin diluted coat of the light dust no.2. I wanted to make it subtle

but there’s always the risk of being too subtle and wasting the time masking. It’s probably worth gently lifting one of the masking strips to check for this before stripping the whole lot off. Overall it looked ok, but I probably should have gone a teeny bit further as, in retrospect, some areas of the ribs are hard to see. I added some extra mottling with a thin paintbrush, then masked off the white marking backgrounds and sprayed these with Tamiya white with hint of buff mixed again 60/40 with Tamiya Lacquer Thinners. I finished off with a dusting of Tamiya Smoke for some shadowing effects. This is really easy to overdo (which I probably did in places), it’s worth doing a very light mist and then standing back to assess the look - once again, less is more. I then sealed the finish with another brush coating of good old Klear. The markings on this version are very straightforward - just the basic black crosses on the top and lower wings and a smaller version for the tail. I’m a big fan of painting the markings and I ordered up a set of these from the excellent ‘Mal’s Miracle Masks’ these are finely cut vinyl masks that are very easy to use and produce great results. Like the wings, you can subtly mottle the paint to produce a very realistic look, rather than the solid colour found using the

kit decals. I don’t want to give the impression the kit decals aren’t good enough - in fact they are as good as I’ve seen, but you still in my opinion you can’t quite beat that painted on look in this scale. I finally felt like I was getting somewhere now as the wings and tail clicked into place. As usual the wings and struts fitted beautifully, but you definitely need to exercise caution here - the struts themselves are super thin (being perfectly to scale) and very susceptible to breakage. I had quite a few near misses, bending them agonisingly close to breaking point whilst handling. I became very anxious to get the top wings in place to give the whole thing some rigidity and stop any chance of me breaking off a strut by accident!

RIGGING But before I could do this it was time for the rigging. The more you can get done before fixing in the top wings, the easer it will be. I always rig with 0.14mm monofilament (fishing line) and a combination of the excellent ‘Bob’s Buckles’ eyelets and brass tube. This is easier than it looks but it is fiddly and time consuming, but

also very satisfying. I rigged this slightly differently to my normal method. By fixing the struts in place first - then loosely rigging before attaching the top wings. But that’s as a consequence of the rigging being attached to the struts themselves and not the wing in this instance. This also allows me to cheat a little (I’m never one to overlook an easy option!). By drilling all the way through the struts I’ve used one long length of fishing wire from one wingtip to the other zigzagging along the wing through the holes. I’ve represented the turnbuckles by adding 2mm brass tubes superglued adjacent to the strut. This makes the structure relatively strong considering the fragility of the individual pieces. It also saves a lot of rigging time. For a complexly rigged aircraft, it really didn’t take me long at all as you soon get in the flow. I can imagine this would put off a lot of modellers who haven’t tried it before, but all I can say is, don’t be. As long as you have a couple of pairs of good quality tweezers, a 0.5mm drill bit and some magnification (I use off the shelf 3.0 strength reading glasses) it’s absolutely fine. It was definitely beginning to look like a aeroplane now and

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next up was the undercarriage. I have mentioned earlier the spoked wheels, and I was looking forward to this option. However, in the end I decided against them and used the standard wheel covers instead. This was for two reasons; Firstly, although the Wingnut wheels will look good, when I compared them to my bespoke wire wheels from earlier builds they still really didn’t compare. This is not a criticism of the kit wheels as the custom wheels are an expensive

luxury, and secondly, I’d seen a photo of an identical aircraft with a white cover on the wheels with a black cross. I just thought this looked like a really nice choice that would make the model a little different to other builds. This just left the finishing touches, the exhausts, brass engine pipe, the metal wing-root foot plate (photo etch toned down with another Uschi product - Burnishing Agent) and the (rather modern looking) windshield. A little oil

shading on the wheels with a light dusty coat of pigments brought the project to a conclusion.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The Wingnut Wings brand continues to go from strength to strength with a steady stream of exciting new releases and an evolving quality of product. The Albatros B.II is no exception and everything about it oozes quality. The best instructions on the market, high quality Cartograf decals, flawlessly refined surface detail and very

cleverly engineered to make what is a complex aircraft a straightforward build. They’re also pushing the boundaries with the wood decals and the innovative wire spoked wheels. The fact that I didn’t end up utilising them was just a personal preference. Wingnuts should be commended for giving us the option. I think the only difficult part is being careful not to break the finely tooled parts during the build. There aren’t too many early war aircraft out there for modellers but with Wingnut Wings you’re always assured of a surprise! Highly recommended.

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MESSERSCHMITT BF 109E

Legion Condor Limited Edition

Start of Something New PART TWO

Eduard’s 1/48 Messerschmitt Bf 109E. Built by Huw Morgan

THE AIRCRAFT The birth and evolution of the Messerschmitt Bf109 have been exhaustively explored elsewhere, suffice to say here that it emerged, rather surprisingly given Messerschmitt’s previous experience with the Bf108 light utility aircraft, and epitomised

the advanced thinking which so startled the aviation world in the late 1930’s. The -E Emil was the first of the mass-produced variants of the ubiquitous fighter, external differences between the E-1 and E-3 being limited to the wing guns, - MG17 on the E-1 and MG FF cannon in the E-3.

KIT: Messerschmitt Bf 109E Legion Condor Limited Edition MANUFACTURER: Eduard SCALE: 1:48 PRODUCT CODE: 1140 PANEL LINES: Recessed NO OF PARTS: 144 plastic plus 6 clear, and 47 photo etched parts plus masks TYPE: Injection moulded Plastic STATUS: Reissue DECAL OPTIONS: 4

THE KIT The Bf109E-1/3 issued in this boxing uses the plastic from Eduard’s 2013 E-3/E-4 Weekend kits (#84165 and 84166) with new photo etched frets which are not the same as the previously released Zoom sets available for those earlier kits, together with a new combined masking sheet for the Bf109 and the He-51. The 144 plastic parts are nicely moulded, but slightly simplified in comparison with this year’s new tool Bf109G-6, and without the latter’s multiple parts options. A slightly clunky aspect of the kit results from Eduard’s ambition to allow the engine to be displayed with almost all the nose panels removed. The limitations of plastic moulding technology means that scale thickness of the cowl panels isn’t possible, so it’s an either/or scenario if the engine and external contours are to be made to scale. Tempting though it may be to expose the engine, what’s on offer isn’t really detailed enough to warrant it, although there’s quite a good depiction of the engine mounts and the rear face. 774 SEPTEMBER 2016 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

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1/48 “THIS IS AN EXCELLENT INCARNATION OF EDUARD’S BF109E-1/3”

Unfortunately, the open or closed nose options also cause some confusion in the instructions. When following Eduard’s instructions for the closed nose instead of going from stage 9 to 10 you actually have to jump to Page 15, then once completed go back to Page 10. Not earth shattering, but the original 2013 instructions were also formatted like this, and Eduard could have taken the opportunity to make the instructions more straightforward using a bit of hindsight. For those who want more detail and are prepared to spend the money, Eduard have released two Brassin sets, DB 601 A/N engine (648059) and cowl gun mount (648060) for detail fiends, this is a much better option than the kit plastic. Aside from the question over the engine, the rest of the moulding is typically first-class Eduard, marred only by some minor sink marks in the propeller and over the wing root tabs. Surface detail is sharp and restrained and corresponds with the drawings in the MDF Datafile. Colour callouts are for the Mr Hobby range of paints.

The four marking schemes are pretty similar aside from personal markings of their pilots, featuring RLM 63 grey uppers over RLM 76 blue undersides with black side panels to hide the exhaust stains, though these vary slightly in shape with each airframe. In line with the theme of covering the span of the conflict, I chose to go with the aircraft flown by Austrian Kurt Sochatzy of 3.J/88 as seen in late Spring 1939, and as such was one of the last Bf109’s flown by the Legion Condor before their withdrawal. The markings for this aircraft include the Falangist yoke and arrows within the fuselage roundel, and it’s possible that this was only added when the aircraft was handed over to the Spanish.

Quite nice detail on the fuselage side walls

The kit’s plain and pre-coloured photoetched brass is specific to this boxing

Some shrinkage marks marr the propeller

Here are the painted cockpit parts before assembly. As always, Eduard’s belts and instrument panel make a big difference, but note the strange colour of the latter

CONSTRUCTION The build follows a very typical Eduard pattern; fine plastic parts to which is added photo etched enhancements for the cockpit, with the instrument panels, trim drive chains and seatbelts being the stand outs, although the former are offered pre-coloured in a rather strange WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM • SEPTEMBER 2016 775

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MESSERSCHMITT BF 109E The partially assembled engine block is used to mount the exhausts and oil tank.

The built up and installed cockpit before closing the fuselage. Fit is excellent

The engine mock-up installed in the fuselage, although it’s only the exhaust stacks which align it at this stage. Some plastic from the top and sides needs to be removed to allow the cowling to fit

blue/grey colour, nothing like the RLM 02 quoted in the painting instructions (Eduard’s version of RLM 66 which is correct for the instrument panel, Ed). As might be expected from Eduard, all of this goes together smoothly, and if care is taken with the relative angles of the instrument panels and floor, the fit into the fuselage halves is exemplary. I painted most of the interior with Tamiya XF-22 although for a change, the seat pan was painted aluminium. Before the fuselage is closed up a decision is needed on the open or closed nose option. If the engine is to be displayed, there’s work to do in building and painting this before installing it and the firewall. If the nose is to be closed up, then the basic engine block is used merely as a structural

member from which to hang the nose oil tank and the exhausts, if you go with the closed option the front of the engine will also need carving away slightly to allow the upper cowling to fit correctly. Wing construction is straightforward with the upper and lower parts fitting well, sandwiching the wheel well liners and the Photo Etched radiator faces. Rather than fit the wing gun muzzles at this stage and risk their destruction during handling. I glued in some plastic blocks, which will support the inboard ends of the muzzles

when added later. I also left off the separate flaps, ailerons and slats, which can all be added to the wings at the end of construction. The fit of the tailplane is very good thanks to the two halves interlocking, although I did forget to fit the incidence jack (part D23) before closing the fuselage, so there’s a bit of a void there. I chose not to fit the tailplane

bracing struts at this stage to simplify masking, since dry fitting suggested they’d go on without a problem after painting. The undercarriage was built up separately, and although plastic parts are supplied to simulate the brake lines, they’re a bit straight and regular, so I substituted lead wire, allowing the characteristic lower loop to be formed. The wheel

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“WEATHERING WAS RESTRICTED TO SOME PASTEL STAINING OF THE WHEELS AND UNDERCARRIAGE”

parts are very nice, with separate two-piece hubs which allow the hollow construction of the original to be replicated. After painting the legs with Tamiya XF-22 and the hubs in XF-1 black I painted the tyres using the new XF-85 Rubber Black followed by an oil wash to lift out the moulded detail. Finally small strips of Bare Metal Foil chrome was applied to the oleos sections.

The painted and weathered undercarriage parts with lead wire brake piping

PAINTING The four schemes offered are essentially identical: RLM 65 undersides, RLM 63 upper surfaces, white wing tips and rudder and black lower side panels, with some variation in spinner colours. There has been significant discussion over the exact shade of the upper surface paintwork, with RLM 02 being proposed in some references (and Eduard’s colour profiles are quite suggestive of this) but the pre-war RLM 63 grey seems to be the favourite. That said, I have some personal doubts about Eduard’s suggestion of Mr Hobby H308 to represent this colour, it being rather too blue to my eye, but I stuck with it for convenience. Painting itself was straightforward: pre shading with Tamiya XF-69 Nato Black, Mr Hobby H11 for the white and H67 for the RLM 65, masking the undersides and wing tips, and H308 for the RLM 63. Tamiya XF-85 Rubber Black was used for the side panels. Mr Hobby gloss prepared the surfaces for decaling which went smoothly. Given that the Bf109 in Spain were pretty new machines,

as many of the stencils as eyesight allowed were applied. The airframe was finished off with a thin coat of Mr Hobby flat to seal the decals.

FINALS Undercarriage, prop and spinner, aerial mast and tailplane struts fitted without drama, with the

aerial wire being rigged with Uschi elastic thread. Finally all the parts left of earlier flaps; ailerons, slats and wing guns were added to the model. Since the aircraft I was modelling is pictured relatively soon after delivery, weathering was restricted to some pastel staining of the wheels and undercarriage and gun stains. On this model I chose not to add any panel washes since I considered that this would overwhelm the scheme, and in any case, the rivet and fastener detail remains completely visible under the paint if you look closely.

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MESSERSCHMITT BF 109E

CONCLUSION

This is an excellent incarnation of Eduard’s Bf109E-1/3 although the exposed-engine option is perhaps a bit retro in the current climate given the availability of far superior aftermarket parts which you can add to the basic kit. However close the nose and choose your marking scheme and this is a great model of an important 109 variant out of the box. Especially when displayed next to its predecessor the Heinkel He-51 included in this boxing. I am now looking out for a Classic Airframes Fiat Cr 32 and have already started the Polikarpov I-16 type 10 to carry on the story! My thanks to Eduard for supplying the review kit for me to build.

No panel wash was used to highlight the detail, which still shows up under paint

References • Lynn Ritger. The Messerschmitt Bf109. Part 1; Prototype to “E” Variants. Modellers’ DataFile #9. ISBN 0-9551858-0-7 • Christopher Shores. Spanish Civil War Air Forces. AIRCAM/ AIRWAR Series #3. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 0 850451353. • Ian Westwell. Condor Legion, The Wehrmacht’s Training Ground. Spearhead #15. Ian Allen publishing. ISBN 0-7110-3043-X • Uwe Feist. The Fighting Me109. Arms and Armour Press. ISBN 1-85409-209-X. • Mark Beckwith, Jakub Plewka. Bf109 E-4. Kagero Topshots 11007. ISBN 83-89088-74-6.

“THIS IS A GREAT MODEL OF AN IMPORTANT 109 VARIANT OUT OF THE BOX”

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A-1J SKYRAIDER CONSTRUCTION

SPAD DAD

Building Tamiya’s A-1J Skyraider by David Francis

O

ver the years I have built at least four Tamiya’s Skyraider from the two boxing’s released to date, and I can honestly say I do not remember building any of them. This is a tribute to the Tamiya mould makers as everything fits where it should with virtually little or no input from the modeller.

In fact choosing a colour scheme to put on the model is probably the hardest thing about building this kit. So when we decided to run a competition in this month’s issue to win one of the new Datafile books on the Skyraider and with less than a month to deadline it was no surprise that the Tamiya kit was my first choice.

Open box, glue parts, paint is all I really needed to write as this just about covers all you need to know. But in fact as I knew how painless the build was my model was going to be I decided to add some of the upgraded parts that have become available since the kits original release, which amazingly is nearly eighteen years ago. I started unsurprisingly with the cockpit out of the box this make a nice representation of a USAF A-1J fitted with the Yankee ejection seat system. Though full resin cockpits are available I went for the simpler (cheaper) option of adding details with one of Eduard’s Zoom sets. These are the more basic sets and in the Skyraider’s case provides coloured etched for the instrument panel, fuse switches on the foot well side wall and a set of seat belts as well as chaff dispensers (missing from the kit parts) and detail parts for the tail wheel yoke. I did build and detail the kit seats

using the brass belts but then found that I had a True Detail Yankee seat from a previous build (You get two in the pack). This I painted first by spraying overall in Halford’s primer before painting the cushions in Olive drab and khaki, the belts were now picked out in a canvas shade with buckles picked out with silver paint. The moulding also has a representation of a Remove Before Flight banner draped across the seat this was painted in a dark matt red, all of the seat was painted using Tamiya acrylics so I could apply a diluted wash of Mig dark wash which is oil based and settles in to all the detail beautifully and

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1/48 “EVERYTHING FITS WHERE IT SHOULD WITH VIRTUALLY LITTLE OR NO INPUT FROM THE MODELLER”

makes my painting so much better than it really is. I now attached the instrument panel and fuse switches and again these look far better than anything I could manage though I did my best with

the cockpit side panels which features some nice detail which is easily dry brushed to lift it out. With the cockpit complete it was time for a little destruction before the fuselage halves were joined. Tamiya have moulded all the aerials and lumps and bumps on to one of the fuselage halves. This does make these normally easily knocked off parts very strong but unfortunately the lumps are slightly anemic while the aerials do not have the profiles of the original. Fortunately

Quickboost have issued an inexpensive resin set (48-495) that replaces these parts with correctly profiled parts. But first you have to remove the kits parts using a pair of side cutters before joining the fuselages together; another benefit of this set is that it makes it far easier to clean up the fuselage joint without having to work around the moulded parts. At this point things really started to come together at a rapid pace. I painted the engine and installed this in the engine cowling I did think about adding a fuse wire engine harness but as the engine is positioned quite a long way back in the cowling and has a large paddle bladed propeller in front of it I decided not to bother. One thing I really liked on this kit is the fact that Tamiya have moulded the prominent exhausts with slightly hollowed out ends, which are very easy to drill deeper for added realism. If you choose to fit the open cowling flaps these are very visible and with prominent exhaust staining seen on many USAF Skyraiders are on obvious center of attention. I also used another Quickboost set as the Tamiya kit supplies the mechanics

of the Yankee ejection seat behind the pilot where most USAF Skyraiders had a canvass cover over this area. Quickboost have supplied this cover as a nice onepiece casting (QB 48-490) which I painted in leather brown followed by a wash to add some depth. The wings and undercarriage bays are next and again these assembled perfectly and I do like the fact that Tamiya mould the undercarriage doors as part of the undercarriage bay sidewalls. This make the doors which are normally the first thing to fall of my model very strong but the downside is this does complicate painting as on a USAF scheme these will require masking. My approach was to spare the outside of the doors in the light grey of the camouflage then once dry masking theory with masking tape. Next the undercarriage bay inside the wing and the sidewall details and insides of the doors were given a coat of white. As with many US Navy types the inside edge of the doors have a red warning edge. I used a fine ooo brush to apply this freehand and this was probably the most nerve racking part of this kit build as one slip would mean repainting white over red. Luckily the modelling

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A-1J SKYRAIDER

gods smiled and I nailed it on my first attempt so it was out with the Mig dark wash but this time heavily thinned to lift out the detail again. With all the major parts constructed I decide it was time to choose me scheme and there was one I had always wanted to do and this seemed the perfect opportunity.

PAINTING AND DECALS Spad Dad had one of the most attractive schemes applied to the Skyraider and that includes the many colourful USN examples. The tail section was painted as a tribute to the World war One SPAD fighter used by the United Sates with its scalloped trailing

edge rudder painted with red, white and blue stripes. The same colours were used for the SPAD Dad nose art and some sources say also for the propeller warning stripes though I can find no evidence to support this. I started by painting the tail gloss white the Microscale sheet I was using (48-993) supplied the red blue and white areas as decals but due to the beacon on the upper tail I decided it would be easier to mask and spray the red area using the kit decals as guide to the width. Once the tail section was painted the Vietnam camouflage using an Iwata HP-BH airbrush that we reviewed last month, I was very impressed with this brush as by using the precision

adjustment screw it was possible to get a nice tight spray pattern with only minimal overspray. With base colours laid down I next applied an overall coat of Alclad’s gloss varnish ready for decaling. I used a mix of the microscope and the kit decals this was mainly because both the stencils and insignia were slightly out of register. The Microscale sheet also supplies red white and blue propeller stripes but I decide to go with the normal red/white/ red stripes. I had a photograph of an aircraft from the same unit that had one propeller with a yellow tip and I thought this looked interesting so added to my model though this is probably not accurate for Spad Dad.

With the decals added it was time to add some weathering, I used AK interactive dark grey as I thought this looked a little less stark than pure black. Now I added the exhaust staining starting with Tamiya smoke and then a heavily thinned black acrylic closer to the exhaust stacks. Finally some chipping and wear was applied to the leading edges of the propeller and wings using Humbrol aluminum filled by a dusting with AK interactive earth weathering powders.

THE FINAL BITS The aerials and lumps and bumps I removed earlier were now replaced with the Quickboost resin items

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and I also used this manufacturers gun barrels (48-561), as I can never drill out barrel ends in this scale. The wing lights and tail beacon were also now tinted with Tamiya clear red and dark blue for the starboard wing tip. I thank who ever gave me the mnemonic “ Port is Red “ as this has saved me from painting the navigations lights the wrong colour on many occasions. Now I could add the weaponry and buy do you get a lot of options in the kit, I was really drawn to one of the kit options with a large fuel tank on one wing. But as I had photographs of Spad Dads laid out I decided to go with a mix of rocket pods and gun pods. The latter are mounted on the larger wing pylons not as shown

in the kits instructions. Finally remove before flight tags from the Eduard pre painted range were added to all the ordinance and each was manipulated slightly to make them look like a slight breeze was catching them.

CONCLUSION

This was another quick and easy build of the Tamiya Skyraider and by adding a few aftermarket extras I think it looks better than buy originals built straight from the box. The only downside is that when I came to write this article I realised that I taken only two photograph of the build progress.

“I DECIDED TO GO WITH A MIX OF ROCKET PODS AND GUN PODS” This was mainly down to the fact that I normally photograph and corrections, faults or modifications I make to the kit parts as I go, andof course this kit does not have any of them! Fortunately I had received permission to use the few photographs I had found of the Spad Dad plus a few more by Master Sergeant J Ludwig (retired) who worked on the original aircraft at Phu Cat, Vietnam. The originals and

many more can be seen at www.skyraider.org . This is still one of my all time favourite kits but I did miss that little bit of a challenge that come with most of my kit builds. But I did find this a nice distraction from editor’s duties and at least I have built and finished a kit something that I have not managed much in the last 18 months.

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ALBEMARLE MK. V

An Unsung Hero Building Valom’s Whitworth Albemarle Mk. V in 1/72 by Greg Phillips

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he Albemarle first flew in early 1940. Designed initially to be a reconnaissance bomber, but with typical British bureaucracy and indecision the build of this airplane took time. Eventually final production planes were delivered for service but were soon converted too other duties like glider tug and special transport missions.

Just over 600 hundred Albemarle’s were produced. The Albemarle may read like a failure compared to other airplanes of the Second World War and may not have had the limelight other aircraft had at the time. However the Albemarle filled many important roles during the war. The Albemarle was the unsung hero quietly working its wonders in the background.

SOMETHING DIFFERENT The kit caught my eye with its striking image of an Albemarle in its invasion strips. Also the fact that I never knew about the existence of this airplane found the strange twin engine plane immediately fascinating. Opening the box you see the typical limited injection moulded parts along with a bag of nicely cast resin parts and a small-etched fret.

COCKPIT FIRST All the plastic parts for the cockpit, floor, console and bulkhead are cleaned up and assembled. The resin detail parts are next and these take a bit of work as these delicate parts are placed so close to each other on the casting blocks that It was very hard to remove them from their blocks without breaking the brittle resin parts. To prove the point on my model I broke both

seat backs into pieces trying to remove them from their blocks. But instead of repairing the seat backs, the seat bottoms are kept and the backs replaced with sturdier brass wire and plastic card. The etched belts were then added to the seats which are then fixed to the cockpit floor and the nicely cast resin side consoles were added next. But due to the thickness of the plastic fuselages (nearly 1.5 mm in places which scaled up would make these parts over a foot in thick) both the insides of the fuselage and the resin consoles themselves had to be thinned considerably to fit.

TURRET WOES With the cockpit complete the Turret was tackled next. The kits glazed turret has one central slot but looking at some excellent drawings by A. Granger and photos of the actual aircraft, the turret showed four guns in two

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“THE ALBEMARLE WAS THE UNSUNG HERO QUIETLY WORKING ITS WONDERS IN THE BACKGROUND”

With the exception of the wheels the resin parts are very nicely cast

slots. It even showed four guns on the box artwork and colour guide. (Something didn’t smell right). Now this aircraft may have had two guns at some point in its life but the photos and drawings showed four. I did think of buying the new Airfix Defiant and using the Boulton Paul turret parts to completely replace the Valom parts but being a Northerner, I looked for a cheaper solution. I sourced four guns from my scrap box; from an old sixties Airfix Halifax kit (not bad parts for their age), these guns were modified by reducing the length of the shaft to fit the new slots that I cut into the kits glazed part’s. The kits two-part circler drum for the turret sides was replaced with plastic card rolled into shape. I did add some basic detail but not too much will be seen through the kit’s clear part.

CLOSING UP The nose resin undercarriage bay is attached next and this required a lot of sanding before it will fit inside the fuselage. I now moved to the rear glazed parts which were cleaned up and the glued to the fuselages sides. One very notable structure behind the rear-glazed area shows the tow hooks internal framework. This is very visible through these glazed parts and so had to be added. I made these from plastic rod and after painting them added them to the inside of the fuselage. Before closing the fuselage parts the instruction says you will need 30 grams of weight to prevent tail sitting. I made a plastic container, which was then filled with Deluxe Products Liquid Gravity. This container used as much space as possible forward of the wing wheels centre and fortunately just came to 30 grams when

With imperfections here and there, the glazed parts leave a lot to be desired

Typical limited injection parts, other than the wings, the fuselage parts don’t have much surface detail

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ALBEMARLE MK. V

Additional plastic rod allows frame work to be seen through the rear glazed parts

The kit’s cowls looked on the verge of being elliptical and so added a strip of plastic card to round them off

Resin side console added along with the wheel bay. Some cleaning of these parts was required to sit properly

Tail plane finished remembering that the two tail fins tow inwards

The beautiful delicate resin seats were damage when removed and so had to rebuild these

The cockpit area is ready for paint; a reasonable amount of detail here for this scale

weighed. With the fuselage parts closed, the cockpit and nose glazed parts are attached. The fit of the front glazed parts here are one word terrible. After getting as close as fit as was possible the larger gaps were filled with shards of plastic and the smaller ones with filler. The plastic glazed parts were not the clearest and so with that and the poor fit I decided to sand the whole glazed area even though this meant losing most of the moulded framework. Once I had achieved the best fit possible the glazed areas were micro polished using the Micro Mesh system before being given a couple of coats of Future floor polish to restore the shine. The clear parts now looked a lot better but what you gain in one hand you lose in the other. With all the framework gone it was going to be quite hard to mask these areas. The solution that I used was to cut millimetre lengths of Tamiya tape and then used these as substitute frames that would act as a guide. Once happy with the dummy framework I could now start masking the clear areas. Making the frames and masking took a couple of nights at a leisurely pace but the final result was worth all the work.

TAILS AND WINGS The rear tail unit is made up next. This is supplied as a butt joint so I drilled into the fins and tail plane part before adding some Albion Alloys brass rod to act as a spar, remembering that the fins tow inwards. Even with this reinforcement lots of filler was required around the joins. The wings were tackled next by starting making the wing trailing edges a bit more realistic. The wing’s inner surfaces were sanded on a flat sheet of 400 grit until I had a thin trailing edge, remembering to check the fit frequently to prevent any unevenness. I now attached the two-part wheel bays are fixed to the lower wings and painted natural metal. With the wing parts prepared they were now attached to the fuselage. Here we have a centre spar that should fix the wing’s dihedral and splay the wings top and bottom to fit flush with the flared wing roots. Well that’s supposed to be the idea but of course in reality it wasn’t as easy as that. I ended up trimming the spar to get the wings dihedral looking right. I then attached the lower and upper wing parts over the spar lining up the wing tips first when

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The kit’s propellers were cut and shut to bring some interest to these focal points

gluing the top and bottom parts. This left a gap between the wing and the root fairing and this was filled with plastic card and a lot of filler. Especially around the rear flared root so it runs smoothly from the wing in to the fuselage. To this point there had been a lot of “let’s put this back in the box” but the worst should be over with now?

ROUGH LEGS

A lot of effort to bring the kit’s propeller parts to life

Turret painted; a vast improvement on the kit’s parts

The cockpit area painted. Not much will be seen though the kit’s glazed parts anyway

The rear tail attached and the frame work detail can be seen

There were fit issues with the all front glazed areas

Fitted the glazed parts as best I could then sanded them flush

With the moulded fame work sanded off the masking took more time to apply

a rummage through my spare box for replacements but nothing was found and I didn’t want to pinch from a complete kit. So the only fix was to cannibalise the kit parts, these needed to be thinned and made sharper at the end. Then the blades are cut off at the base and the hub cleaned up. Next three small plastic discs are cut for the base of the blades and holes drilled into the hub, discs and blades.

Lengths of Albion brass rod will now hold all these individual parts securely. Finally twelve small lengths of brass rod are cut and added to give the impression of the prominent bolts seen on photographs of the hubs. Though a lot of work this does vastly improve the look of the model. So on to the engine cowls. These are made from two parts but when put together didn’t make a perfect circle, so I added a strip of

plastic in between the top joins and this rectified the problem nicely. With the engines painted, they can be attached in to the cowls and I also added some brass rod to represent the cowl struts. Now with the construction complete I could finally move on to the painting stage.

The two undercarriage parts look nothing like the actual legs on the Albemarle but would have to do. These parts needed a lot of cleaning up and while dry fitting these parts to the wheel bay I found that part 28 (a support strut) needed trimming down considerably to fit. The resin wheels lacked definition which is a shame as the rest of the resin parts, especially the exhausts, are very nicely done. Although to be fair the wheels on the real airplane are very simple.

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ALBEMARLE MK. V PAINT Once primed and any blemishes removed I applied some pre shading. Next the white invasion striped areas on the wings and rear fuselage were painted with Tamiya white. Next strips of Tamiya masking tape was cut into widths of eight millimetres and wrapped around the white areas. Five strips in all are applied as I find this is the easiest way to get create equal and parallel stripes. Next two strips are removed from the wing and fuselage and the exposed areas painted with Tamiya matt black. Once dry the removed stripes are but back on so I could start on the camouflage scheme. As there are some discrepancies on the paint guide I used photos of the real thing rather than the kit’s guide. Dark Earth Gunze H72 was applied in a rough pattern and left overnight to dry. I then rolled lengths of White Tac to mark out the camouflage pattern. The Dark Earth areas are then masked by placing cut up plastic food bags placed on top of the White Tac. Dark Green Tamiya XF-81 is now applied on the exposed top areas and once this was dry all the white tac and bags are removed. The undersides were painted using Tamiya Black toned down with a hint of grey. The edges between this and the upper camouflage colours was masked with Tamiya tape as the demarcation needs to be sharp to match my refrences. All of the paints I applied had a few drops of Tamiya clear added to them so the paints dried with a satin sheen rather than matt to help with the application of the Decals.

Pre shaded the relevant areas

Painted the white areas first, then masked for the black stripes

Invasion strips covered and dark earth applied

Bagged up ready for the dark green

De-bagged

The rear tow hook guard frame work was made from brass rod

Ready to apply the decals

MARKINGS

model was given a flat finish using Xtracrylix flat varnish. The last piece to tackle is the towing hook guard. I left these to last because of the frailty of the framework and with my clumsy hands I couldn’t guarantee that it would survive the painting stage. The kit’s plastic parts are chunky and would be difficult to clean up and would not look convincing in this scale. I replaced the kit parts 1mm brass rod

cut and bent into shape using the plastic parts as a guide. With these parts added my model; was finally finished!

Ready for the first coat of primer and any blemishes removed

The decal sheet with the kit is basic, not that I’m complaining as I am not a big fan of large decal sheets! These decals are not very opaque so the unless the area your placing them on is white they kind of lose their impact which is a shame because they settle down beautifully. Once the decals were applied the whole

CONCLUSION

For a small kit, this build felt like ‘War and Peace’ to me and is definitely not for the beginner or faint heated. Even with all my work my model doesn’t bare close scrutiny. But standing a few feet away it certainly looks very much the part. For all its minor faults at every stage I must remember and be thankful that Valom have produced a kit of the Albemarle and I hope that they carry on producing such interesting subjects as no one else will.

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GET THE

‘COMBAT EDGE’

A NEW SERIES FROM SAM PUBLICATIONS COMBAT EDGE Warfighters in Detail

Combat Edge Warfighters in Detail #1 US Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier The incomparable AV-8B Harrier is one of the most iconic aircraft to have served with the US Marine Corps. This new book looks at the background of the Harrier in US service, and details the AV-8B, AV-8B Night Attack variant, the radar equipped Harrier II Plus and the TAV-8B two seat trainer. The book looks in at the role of the Harrier in the US Marine Corps, its use in combat from Operation ‘Desert Storm’ to current employments in Afghanistan and beyond. Using top quality photography, walk arounds, in-detail images and colour artwork the Harrier is shown in detail, making this a unique guide to the aircraft for both the enthusiast and the modeller alike. 84 Pages | 200mm x 240mm | Full Colour | £9.99

Chapter 1

AV-8B Origins

The original AV-8A, based on the RAF Harrier GR.1, was a major success story in Marines manoeuvre warfare

T

military as ‘not being able to carry a matchbox across a football field’ had matured into a very capable aircraft which the US Marine Corps saw as a highly valued asset. The need for a new generation of VSTOL galvanised studies undertaken by McDonnell Douglas, following their abortive collaborative AV-16 ‘Advanced Harrier’ effort with the UK. These studies came under the aegis of the AV-8A Plus, a much less ambitious programme than the AV-16, which delighted the Marines who wanted the Harrier to be simple and survivable. In turn this became the AV-8B Program, which was originally proposed in 1973 and formalised by the Defence Armed Services Committee in March 1976. Central to this new breed of Harrier was an advanced ‘big-wing’, originally proposed by Hawker and later derived from NASA-based technology of supercritical aerofoils, where the drag was reduced and the lift increased. To achieve the maximum benefits in terms of weight saving, advanced structural materials were used instead of traditional metal, and a unique graphite epoxy construction gave the AV-8B the first carbon-fibre technology wing fitted to a military aircraft. At the rear of the wing a large, single-slotted flap was integrated to support the jet efflux from the engine nozzles, which increased take-

he operational success of the earlier AV-8A/C had confirmed the US Marine Corps’ belief in VSTOL technology and its advantages for their particular type of warfare. What was needed now was a follow-on aircraft that met the Corps’ future requirements for a ‘light attack’ aircraft that carried a big punch. The unique Harrier, previously much maligned by the US

Chapter 8

The latest incarnation of the ubiquitous Harrier family is the radar-equipped Harrier II Plus

off lift and helped to arrest the loss of performance during vertical landings. The cockpit would be raised and the outrigger wheels moved inboard the better to facilitate rough field work, and the `elephant’s ear’ engine intakes were also redesigned and increased in size, initially with a double row of ‘blow-in’ suction relief doors (later revised to a single row) and reshaped forward cold-air nozzles with a `zero-scarf’ design; these two features alone added an amazing 800lb of thrust.

Harrier II Plus in Scale Following on from the AV-8A came the upgraded AV-8C

COMBAT

4

An AV-8B(NA) Night Attack Harrier comes in to land

The AV-8B was an entirely new animal and packed a mighty punch

EDGE

COMBAT

5

EDGE

Test fitting the Aires cockpit

The painted Aires cockpit ready for installation

Work being undertaken on the underside of the Harrier

Black Sheep Shooter

The first paint job was a black undercoat

James DiCesare builds the Hasegawa 1:48 Harrier II Plus

I

’ve always been fond of the Harrier, and while I like each variant, the US Marines version of the Harrier II Plus is my favourite. For this build I chose the 1:48 Hasegawa kit along with an Aires resin cockpit and Superscale decals. Surveying the instructions my initial concern with the build was the fit of the main components of the airframe. Hasegawa has engineered the fuselage into several parts with the intent of making other version of the airframe possible. Though it’s not something I usually do, I decided to mock up the pieces to see just what I’d be dealing with. First, I joined the two fuselage halves since getting them together was fairly straightforward. The only concern here was the insert that makes up the belly of the airframe. I was able to test fit this piece to determine that with some careful alignment and gluing I’d have a rather good fit. I was able

COMBAT

78

to apply glue from the inside of the fuselage tub using my fingers to move the piece into place for careful alignment. Fortunately, the seams left behind fall on natural panel lines, so clean up was minimal. The piece fit perfectly. Next I wanted to work on the Aires resin set, and I was entirely blown away with the test fit here. I didn’t need to even remove the casting block from the main tub. Removing some moulded ribbing on the fuselage sidewalls of the kit pieces was all that was needed. The forward fuselage and nose consists of two assemblies brought together by two pieces each. The nose was weighted with a few grams of lead for good measure and assembled. The forward fuselage sections were taped up, and a mock-up of the wing and nose assemblies promises a rather straightforward assembly. Not so easy is getting

EDGE

Blending the underside colours

COMBAT

79

EDGE

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12/08/2016 17:11

TUPOLEV TU-104A

A Russian ‘Camel’ Cutaway Building HpH Models’ 1/72 Tupolev Tu-104A Airliner by Paul Crawley

THE DREAM

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ver since I first saw the old Aurora box scale (1/130) kit of this airplane cruising magnificently over the Kremlin, I’ve wanted to build one. Over the past half century, there have been several other Tu-104 kits, but all in smaller scales, like 1/144. Then two years ago, I finally saw it…a 1/72 scale version by HpH Models of the Czech Republic. Who cares that it cost me just over $200 U.S. (with shipping)? That’s because it has a FULL INTERIOR, a set of Soviet style passenger air stairs, and

a choice of Aeroflot or CSA (Czechoslovak Airlines) decals. I’ve paid more for lesser kits.

THE HISTORY Based on the Tu-16 “Badger” bomber, Russia’s first jet airliner stunned the world when it entered service in 1956. After the 1954 grounding of Britain’s de Havilland Comet I, thanks to several fatal depressurization crashes, the Tu-104 was the only jet airliner in service until the Boeing 707 took to the skies in 1958. Aeroflot used them until 1979 and of the just over 200 built, 6 flew with CSA the Czechoslovakian national airline.

THE KIT The Tu-104A is just one of several very nice 1/72 scale mostly resin Russian airliner kits offered by HpH Models over the past few years. And in my opinion, it is their best so far as In addition to fine molding which includes tiny flushed riveting, it also offers a full interior. The kit has about 200 resin parts in total and a thin twosided hollow fibreglass fuselage. And it was the thin fuselage sides that gave birth to my idea to build a cutaway model. As personally I could not imagine building such a finely detailed interior without providing a way to show it off. The package also includes numerous photo-etch parts, some in colour including the many instrument panels. A computer disc holds 40 pages of colour instructions which can be printed out if you want a hard copy. There are no written instructions, but plenty of step-by-step

pictures, which are fairly easy to follow. The decals are gorgeous. And there’s also a little piece of Belgian chocolate wrapped in nostalgic airline decorated foil.

THE BUILD I began by scribing and drilling out the clearly marked passenger windows and two passenger doors, both of which have very nice resin replacements if you wish to show them in the open position. I also cut off the nose and cockpit areas, as these will be replaced by clear vacuformed replacements I now spent the better part of 3 days carefully cutting away and sanding the 200 or so resin parts. Most came away easily, but be careful with the tiny ones as they can be easily broken or lost. After spraying most of the flooring, bulkheads and fuselage interior light gray, I spent 3 days hand painting the more than

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“I PROBABLY SPENT CLOSE TO 200 HOURS IN THIS BUILD” 70 passenger and crew seats thankfully quite nice decals are provided for seatbelts and airline logo headrest trim. I then hand painted the cockpit sections, including that part of the fuselage interior, this is a typical Russian cockpit blue/green available from a number of paint ranges. While waiting for these parts to dry, I built, painted and weathered the landing gear, which contain numerous resin and PE parts before adding scratch-built brake lines.

I next assembled the cockpit section, adding several very nice pre-colored PE instrument panels and decals. Once this section was finished I did the same for the multi-part passenger compartments, galley and rear lavatories. A simple little touch was to print out downsized copies of dollhouse wallpaper from the Internet which I used to simulate the cabin window curtains, finishing off the trim around them with black decal stripes.

Instead of using the round, clear plastic kit windows, I cut and glued thin clear plastic strips along the interior of the passenger windows, which were mostly masked by the curtains and interior trim on the finished model. At all stages of construction I kept test fitting the multi-part interior sections with the fuselage sides to make sure that everything lined up properly. Because I wanted to display both passenger door open, I had to paint and decal them before the rest of the aircraft. Before attaching the inward opening doors inside the fuselage before assembling the rest of the fuselage. A fellow model builder following the progress of my model on a Facebook modeling page suggested that passengers and crew would be a neat addition, I

found several passenger and crew figures in my stash, most produced by Preiser for use in model railway dioramas. I had to do some modifications to turn some into pilots and also to produce some varied poses for the passengers. Rather than fill all the seats with 70 passengers, I only added about half that many as if they were just boarding the plane. This helped display the nice details of some empty seats, as well as giving a sense of action to the completed diorama. And of course this also saved me some extra work! I also made the cockpit busier looking as the crew is preparing for takeoff. (Just for kicks, I added a little humor with a be-medalled Khrushchev figure in the “can”, and some rowdy drunks sitting in the rear, and a stern looking KGB man

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TUPOLEV TU-104A

in a suit watching them from the front of the rear passenger cabin). Once I glued the hand painted and weathered figures in place, I glued the interior sections to the port fuselage half and began carefully measuring and cutting away the starboard side to produce the cutaway. After sanding the rough cutaway edges, I attached the cutaway side to the complete fuselage half. I then used use super glue to fill the seams and any remaining small blemishes or holes were filled with brush applications of Mr. Surfacer 500.

The solid-molded engines, wings and tail surfaces came next. My only fit problem was the alignment of the pre-drilled holes through the engines and fuselage for the metal wing spar. I had to re-drill the moulded holes in the fuselage to line everything up properly. Other than this all the other parts fit perfectly. I now cut the vacuform cockpit canopy down the middle; leaving just a tad extra on the top starboard half to accommodate the nice photo etch controls on the ceiling console. I also cut the navigator’s nose blister in half as well, but then changed my mind as I thought it looked better complete. Thank goodness the kit had a spare nose cone just in case of accidents. Another nice

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touch is that HpH provides a full masking set for all the windows, cockpit and nose sections which makes painting a lot easier. After masking the clear parts, I sprayed a base coat of Alclad gray primer and microfiller. This highlighted any areas were further work was needed. I had to re-fill a few seams and a couple of surface imperfections (again, with Mr. Surfacer 500). As I usually do, I made a photocopy of the window line decals and then attached it gently with a few patches of double-sided scotch tape to the fuselage. I then used a pencil to lightly mark the delineation line between what would be the white upper and metal lower halves of the port fuselage. I now masked and painted the white upper fuselage and red tips on the wings and rear stabilizers with Testors enamels. Once these were completely

dry, I re-masked and painted the remaining sections with Alclad metal lacquers using Post-it notes to help mask and spray different shades for the flaps, ailerons and a few wing panels. I now added the previously completed landing gear and several tiny Photo Etched lower side antennas. Then I flipped her over to add the topside antennas and a radio wire made of elastic EZ line. While waiting for those paint sessions to dry, I built, painted and decaled the excellent self-propelled Soviet style passenger stairs which also come with the kit. Theses are a beautiful model kit in their own right. I really wish HpH would offer these 1/72 passenger stairs separately so I could get more to go with my other Russian airliners! Finally I made an airfield base; I used an unfinished wooden hobby plaque with stained edges as a

base. I applied a few coats of Mr. Surfacer to add texture followed by light gray spray paint, hand drawn concrete sections before adding lots of weathering including a few oil stains and stray grass.

CONCLUSION

I probably spent close to 200 hours in this build, but every

minute of it was made enjoyable by this finely produced kit. Now I finally have a 1/72 scale Camel both inside and out. In fact I enjoyed building this model so much I have just bought a second kit as I still want to build one with those beautiful CSA decals.

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BOOKS & MEDIA

The Aviation Department of the Le Junkers Ju 52 Royal Army Museum in Brussels

Collection Profils d’Avion No 28

De La Lufthansa a la Luftwaffe

144 Civil and Military Aircraft AUTHOR: Charlie de la Royere YEAR: 2016 PUBLISHER: Editions pat.H ISBN: 978-2-930639-26-0 FORMAT: 210pp Hardback This book is trilingual – presented in French, Dutch and English. It opens with a history of the museum before moving on to catalogue the museum’s collection of 144 civil and military aircraft. I have wanted to visit this museum now for many years and this book takes you through the collection type by type in alphabetical order, with each entry having a colour photo of the subject, a summary of its specifications and then a longer history of the type and the exhibit itself. The museum has quite a few sole survivors as well as one-off builds. Not all of the aircraft in the book are on display - several are in the reserve collection awaiting restoration. With so many interesting types covered it is difficult to pick my favourites, but here goes! For rarity and originality it has to be the unique surviving

Halberstadt C.V and for obscurity perhaps the SABCA Poncelet Vivette (a motor glider which participated in the Lympne Trials of 1923). I am amazed how many of these aircraft survive from the trials - the Shuttleworth Collection, holds at least 3! This book makes me want to visit the museum all the more, especially as it is actually nearer to my house than some UK air museums… My thanks to the publisher for kindly supplying the review copy

AUTHOR: Gregory Almeras YEAR: 2016 PUBLISHER: Ella Presse ISBN: 978-2-914018-93-0 FORMAT: 174pp Hardback This volume is solely in French, but even with my schoolboy grasp of the language I could get the gist of most of the photograph captions. The book takes us through the development of the type, before looking at its Lufthansa service, then moving on to look at its service with the government of the Reich as an executive transport. The following chapters outline its military career, starting with the Spanish Civil War, before moving onto the Second World War. The final part surveys some surviving relics, before detailing the restoration of the example that is with the Salis collection in France. This chapter has some very useful colour interior photos for the modeller. The book is rounded off with a

chapter detailing available model kits of the Ju 52. Illustrated throughout with black and white and contemporary colour images and supplemented by numerous colour profiles. If you like the Ju 52 you will enjoy this one regardless of your linguistic skills - and if you can read French I am sure your enjoyment will be even greater. My thanks to the publisher for the review copy.

Detail and Scale Digital Volume 3

F2H Banshee

AUTHORS: Bert Kinzey and Rock Rozak With the release of the Kittyhawk Banshee due about the time you read this a good refrence on the type is going to be needed. This is not a good refrence on the type it is an amazing refrence on the type

with the digital format being used to its best advantage. For newcomers there is a simple guide to using this type of refrence explaining how to scroll through the pages and enlarge photographs to see every detail and there is a lot of detail to look at. That is mainly down to the fact that the digital format has allowed this book to expand to over 283 pages packed with high quality images and useful information for the modeller. To give you an idea the walk around section alone covers 65 pages while details of the types squadron service take up another 47. The final chapter is as normal devoted to modelling the Banshee and feature many rare and hard to find kits as well as the newest releases from Sword Models in 1/72 scale. Sadly the Kittyhawk kit was not far enough developed at

the time of writing to be featured. At my model club I have had a number of debates about the value of digital reference books, many modellers cannot see the point or do not want to risk taking an expensive tablet or laptop in to the modelling environment. But as I have now discovered it is easy to take a screen shot of an enlarged detail photograph then print this

off for the workshop. Another advantage is that I read this book on a train journey not something I would have wanted to do in paper format due to weight alone. This is the perfect introduction on to the digital format so if you have any interest in the Banshee visit www.detailandscale.com which also gives you access to a number of useful resources. Now can we please have the same on the Tomcat please?

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The Douglas A-1 Skyraider

MDF • 26

Modellers Data File 26

01-Chapter-01-Evolution-Design-MDF26-Skyraider_Layout 1 24/06/2016 11:49 Page 6

THE DOUGLAS A-1

SKYRAIDER

Evolution of Design The Genesis of the AD

1

Chapter

A CO MPREH EN SIVE GUIDE by Andy Renshaw and Andy Evans

A Comprehensive Guide

SAM Publications

This latest addition to the ever popular Modellers Datafile series is by two authors who will need no introduction to readers of Model Aircraft: Associate Editor Andy Renshaw and Editor Andy Evans. The foreword is written by Capt. John Donnis, USN (retired), and a former Skyraider pilot, who describes the type as ‘my first love’. The volume starts with the development of the type from the rather ungainly gull winged BTD-1, to the Dauntless II and finally the Skyraider. The next section looks at the types introduction into service. Reading this chapter made me aware that there were more variants of the type than I had previously thought, including two and three seat versions, with a crew access door

behind and below the pilot’s cockpit! The next section looks at the Skyraider in the Korean War, with plenty of images to inspire a diorama for your model. This is followed by a look at the type in Vietnam and its role carrying nuclear weapons. This chapter contains one of my favourite anecdotes - the dropping of a toilet during the Vietnam War. If you wish to know more you will need to read it for yourself! Now come chapters looking at the type’s service with the French Air Force and with the Royal Navy (which used the AD-4W version, designated by the Royal Navy as the Skyraider AEW MK 1). This version had a large bulge on the underside for the radar equipment. There are two pages of colour photos of the AEW Mk.1 in the reserve collection of the Fleet Air Arm Museum, along with walk-round photos of two other examples: an A-1H and an EA-1E. There are 9 pages of colour profiles by Andy Evans, showing

The Douglas A-1 Skyraider

AUTHORS: Andy Renshaw and Andy Evans YEAR: 2016 PUBLISHER: SAM Publications ISBN: 978-1-906959-41-8 FORMAT: 168pp Softback

The ungainly looking XSB2D1 in flight. With twin turrets, gull wing, and internal weapon bay it was as much of a beast as the aircraft it intended to replace. Credit: NNAM

E

ven though the famed Skyraider is best known for its never ending ordnance load on ground attack missions, and supporting Search Air Rescues over the jungles of Vietnam, it was born with neither of those in mind. Conception of the ‘AD’ began from a quest to find a replacement for the SBD Dauntless. At the start of 1943 the US Navy was at the height of World War II and doing battle with the pre-War designed Dauntless that was by now showing its age, and the SB2C Helldiver, which continued to have troubles. The Navy wanted a new Scout Dive-bomber, using the new Wright Cyclone R-3350 that was under development producing 2,500 horsepower vs. the 1,200 from the engine of the SBD. Douglas, who had brought about the SBD Dauntless, took on the task of designing a worthy successor to the now famous ‘Slow But Deadly’. Initial results stemming from the US Navy

requirements for a two-place dive-bomber with torpedo attack capability birthed the XSB2D-1. This ungainly looking machine had tricycle landing gear, twin turrets each sporting two .50 calibre machine guns, an inverted gull wing, and carried a gunner along with the pilot. Offensive armament included two 20mm cannon in the wings, as well as an internal weapons bay with maximum payload of 4,200lbs. Torpedoes would have been carried externally on special pylons. The prototype flew on April 8th, 1943 and showed the top speed to be 345mph, which was 64mph faster than the Curtis SB2C Helldiver. However, the XSB2D-1 had overall poor performance and was overweight by 4,000lb. The Navy continued with the troublesome SB2C while putting in a tentative order for 358 SB2D-1’s. However, by the autumn of 1943, the Navy was revising its needs. The War in the Pacific had matured and so had the

SPECIFICATION OF DOUGLAS XBT2D-1 Engine: One Wright R-3350-24W Duplex Cyclone 18-cylinder, air-cooled radial engine, rated at 2,500hp for take-off, 2,200hp at 11,000 feet. Performance: Maximum speed: 375mph at 13,600 feet, 357mph at sea level clean. Cruising speed: 164mph. Initial climb rate: 3,680 feet/minute. Service ceiling: 33,200 feet. Range: 1,430 miles carrying 1 torpedo. Weights: 10,500 pounds empty, 15,000 pounds normal loaded, 17,500 pounds maximum. Dimensions: Wingspan 50 feet 0 1/4 inches, length 39 feet 5 inches, height 9 feet, wing area 400.33 square feet. Armament: Two 20mm cannon in the wing, 400rpg. three external hard points for up to two tons of bombs, torpedoes, rockets, drop tanks, or an APS-4 radar pod.

M DF

26 A-1 SKYRAIDER

6

the variants of the type as well as the numerous colour schemes it wore in US service and with other operators. Strangely the most famous scheme from US Navy squadron VA-176 with the large wasp on the tail has been omitted - perhaps to fit in some less well-known schemes! There are four kit builds covered in the book: the 1/72 scale Hasegawa kit, the 1/32 scale Trumpeter kit, the 1/48 scale Monogram kit, (with the Wasp!) and - last but not least - the 1/48 scale Tamiya kit. As we have come to expect

Chapter 1

from this series, there is a section of Technical diagrams giving you that extra detail, and a section on weapons load outs. Looking at some of them I am amazed the plane could take off! The authors have included a list of available kits and accessories and pullout scale plans of the AD-6/A-1H to 1/72 and 1/48 scales, which round things off nicely. If you have a Skyraider on your bench or plan to this would be the ideal companion volume to your build! My thanks to SAM Publications for supplying the review copy.

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BOOKS & MEDIA Combat Aircraft 115

Fw 200 Condor Units of World War 2

De Havilland Comet 149-97 (all marks) Owners’ Workshop Manual An insight into the design, construction and operation of the world’s first jet airliner

AUTHOR: Chris Gos YEAR: 2016 PUBLISHER: Osprey Publishing ISBN: 978-1-4728-1267-4 FORMAT: 96pp Softback To my mind the Fw 200 Condor was a rather elegant looking airliner, which was turned into a ruthless hunter-killer with the addition of gun turrets, bomb bays and the long gondola underneath. This latest volume in the Combat Aircraft series by Osprey looks at the aircraft and the units who used it during the Second World War. The book is well illustrated throughout with contemporary black and white images and no less than 11 pages of colour profiles (2 to a page). These include captured examples in both British and Soviet

markings, if you fancy tackling something a little different! I particularly like this series from Osprey, as they offer a concise and very readable introduction to the topic, which as modellers is sometimes is all we need, a bibliography points to further reading if you so wish. If the subject appeals I am sure you will enjoy this book. My thanks to Osprey Publishing for supplying the review copy.

Commercial Wings n.1

Airbus A320 AUTHOR: Luca Granella YEAR: 2016 PUBLISHER: IBN Editore ISBN: (13) 9788875652609 FORMAT: 112pp softback

It is good to see civil aircraft getting coverage as they are often forgotten, with a lot of modellers concentrating on fighters. I find it is like comparing buses to sports cars in the popularity stakes! However, airliners are an important part of our lives, with many of us using the budget airlines to get to our holiday destinations. The Airbus A320 featured here is one of the most popular airliners used by many carriers across the world. The text of this book is in Italian with an English translation and comprehensively covers the background and development of the type, before moving on to look at the type in service with Meridiana Fly. There follows a selection of colour photos showing the many liveries worn by the type, followed by a section which

looks at the A320 in service with Italian airline companies. The book is rounded off with a look at available models of the type, including a 1/100 scale kit by a company new to me - ‘Spoto Aerei’ - as well as kits from the more wellknown manufactures. Build notes are also included! This book is illustrated throughout in colour and I can only hope that as this book is number 1 in the Commercial Wings series that more will soon follow. If airlines are your thing this first in the series is worth checking out. My thanks to the publisher IBN Editore for the review copy.

AUTHOR: Brian Rivas YEAR: 2016 PUBLISHER: Haynes Publishing ISBN: 978-0-85733-832-7 FORMAT:172pp Hardback The Comet has for a long time been a favourite of mine. I remember when I was very small playing with a model of it my Dad had made but not painted (it must have been the old Airfix Comet 4b). In my stash I have the F-RSIN Comet 1 in BOAC markings. This book may be the inspiration I need to finally tackle it! This comprehensive look at the Comet opens with the development of the type and its construction, before moving on to a detailed look at its internals. This section makes use of contemporary diagrams and cutaways. The next section looks at flying the Comet, before moving on to describe the Comet in service. No book on the subject is complete without descriptions

of the Comet’s darkest days the fatal accidents they suffered and the subsequent research carried out to fully understand the reasons behind them and how this information was made public and shared with the world so that similar incidents would not happen again. The next section looks at the types rebirth as the Comet 3 and then 4, before moving on to look at its development into and service as the maritime sub chaser the Nimrod and its subsequent retirement. If you like the Comet or have a kit in your stash then this Haynes treatment of the subject will be of interest! My thanks to Haynes for supplying the review copy.

No Echo in the Sky AUTHOR: Harald Penrose YEAR: This Edition 2016 PUBLISHER: Fonthill Media ISBN: 13: 978-1-78155-487-6 FORMAT: 128pp Softback Harald Penrose was Chief Test Pilot at Westland Aircraft Ltd from 1931 to 1953. This volume contains a collection of short sketches of his experiences in aviation from the days of ‘stick and string’ via the ultimate piston fighter and through into the jet age. If you are looking for a well written, entertaining, easy read to take your mind off the news

of late then this book could be the light relief you are after! My thanks to Fonthill Media for supplying the review copy.

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www.ModelCellar.com

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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]

Specializing in white metal landing gear

OXONIANS

3795 Shady Hill Drive, Dallas, Texas 75229, USA +1 (214) 477-7163

FA N TA S T I C

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GINTER BOOKS NAVY / AIR FORCE

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

MOTOR BOOKS The world's oldest motoring bookseller

SCALE MODELS

48 YEARS

Sheffield’s Specialist Model Shop ( 0114 2449170

www.marcway.net

• AVIATION • BUSES • TRAMS • COLLECTABLES • MARITIME • MILITARY • MISCELLANEOUS • MOTORCYCLES • MOTORING

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www.motorbooks.co.uk

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

HUNDREDS OF RARE & OBSOLETE KITS Dioramas - Scenic Materials - Plastic, Metal & Wood sheet and sections - Modelling Tools, Paints, Brushes, Airbrushes & Compressors Also Model Railways, Die Cast Models and Scalextric WORLDWIDE MAIL ORDER

598-600 Attercliffe Rd, Sheffield S9 3QS

Your one stop toy soldier, games & hobby shop

0114 2449170

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

Open 7 Days a Week

KITS • PAINTS • GLUES • AIRBRUSHES • TOOLS • STYRENE ETC Friendly service & advice - Mail Order Open Tuesday – Friday 10 – 5.30. Saturday 9.30 – 5.00. Closed Sunday and Monday.

www.thehobbybox.co.uk

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

Distributors of Hobbyboss, Vallejo, MiG, AK Interactive, Miniart, Model Master and many more…

121 HIGH STREET, UCKFIELD, TN22 1RN

01825 765296

01354 760022 Units 6-10 Honeysome Ind Est, Honeysome Road, Cambridgeshire, PE16 6TG www.creativemodels.co.uk

MATADOR MODELS and

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 Based in the Midlands since 2001 with worldwide shipping available

MegaHobby offers over 35,000 hobby products, from plastic model kits to detail sets, from a fully-stocked paint store to all the tools and accessories. Browse our website to see the amazing selection of products we have to offer. Place an order and we guarantee you will be a customer for life.

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.

Email: [email protected]

www.megahobby.com

B W MODELS RANGE OF MILITARY TRANSFERS

Phone: 01543 433999

YOUR FAVORITE ONLINE HOBBY SHOP

www.matadormodels.co.uk

Web: www.models2u.co.uk

Shipping goods online since 2000!

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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]

STANG U M

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

HO

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Mustang-Hobbies.com

52 Holdings Road, Sheffield S2 2RE South Yorkshire England

Models, Decals, Books, and Much More !

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!

Tel: [0114] 2761587

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

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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 3 29 Union Street, Halifax. HX1 1PR p 01422 349157 YORKSHIRE

HPM HOBBIES www.hpmhobbies.com Secure online ordering Realtime stock levels Worldwide shipping FALCON - JAYS - OZMODS - REDROO PJ PRODUCTIONS - FCM DECALS

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 3 7 Market Street, Ely, Cambs, CB7 4PB Q [email protected] $www.citycyclecentre.com CAMBRIDGESHIRE

To be seen in our next issue, contact Mark Willey on [email protected] or Call 01234 224992

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p

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www.mjwmodels.co.uk 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

BACK PAGE

Show Diary

Scale Aviation Modeller International September 2016 • Volume 22 • Issue 9

September/October/November 2016 September 3rd

SCALE SCOTLAND 2016

Venue: Hilton Edinburgh Airport, Edinburgh International Airport, Edinburgh, EH28 8LL

September 4th

EAST RIDING OF YORKSHIRE MODEL SHOW Venue: The Rix Pavilion, Driffield Showground , Kellythorpe, Driffield, East Yorkshire, YO25 9DN

September 10th

CORNWALL IPMS & WEST CORNWALL SCALE MODELLERS

Venue: Penhaligon Building, Cornwall College, Trevenson Lane, Pool, Redruth, TR15 3RD

September 11th

SUTTON COLDFIELD EXPO 2016

Venue: Shire Oak Academy, St Marks Road entrance, Walsall Wood, Walsall, WS87AQ

September 18th

WINGS AND THINGS 2016

Venue: University Academy, Holbeach Park road, Spalding, Leics, PE12 7PU SAMI ATTENDING

September 24th to 25th

October 15th

Venue: Gallery Butovice, Radlicka 117, Praha 5, Czech Republic SAMI ATTENDING

Venue: Fleet Air Arm Museum, RNAS Yeovilton, Somerset, BA22 8HT

E-DAY PRAGUE 2016 IPMS CZECH REPUBLIC

September 25th

ST IVES MODEL SHOW

Venue: Burgess Civic Hall, Westwood Road, St Ives, Cambridgeshire, PE27 6WU SAMI ATTENDING

October 1st

ABINGDON IPMS MODEL SHOW

Venue: Larkmead School, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 1BB

October 2nd

FLEET AIR ARM OCTOBER MODEL SHOW October 23rd

NOREX HOBBY SHOW 2016

Venue: William Loveless Hall, 85-87 High Street, Wivenhoe , Essex, CO7 9AB

October 28th to 30th

IPMS GREECE SHOW

Venue: Technopolis Centre, 100, Pireos str., 118 54 Gazi - Athens, Greece

November 12th to 13th

SCALE MODELWORLD 2016

NORTH SHROPSHIRE MODEL SHOW Venue: Market Hall, Scotland Street, Ellesmere Shropshire, SY12 OED

Venue: Telford International Centre, Telford, Shropshire, TF3 4JH SAMI ATTENDING

October 8th to 9th

November 20th

PLASTIC & STEEL 2016

Venue: Bellebouter, Affigem, Belgium.

October 9th

LINCOLN AND NEWARK MODEL EXPO

Venue: The Grandstand, Southwall racecourse, Rolleston, Newark, NG25 0TS

October 15th to 16th

MODEL BAUMESSE REID, AUSTRIA

MUSEUM OF ARMY FLYING MODEL SHOW

Venue: The Museum of Army Flying, Middle Wallop, Hampshire , SO20 8DY

November 26th

PLASTIC WINTER IPMS BRATISLAVIA Venue: Dom Kultury RuzinovRuzinovska 28, Bratislava, Slovakia SAMI ATTENDING

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] Use the above address for back issue orders, subscriptions, 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. PUBLISHER SAM Publications GROUP EDITOR • Andy Evans [email protected] EDITOR • David Francis [email protected] ASSOCIATE EDITOR • Tim Upson-Smith [email protected] The editorial emails are ONLY to be used for editorial submissions. They are NOT for subscription payments or queries, back issues or Modellers Datafile orders. Please send all of these to the Media House address detailed at the top of this column. STUDIO MANAGER • Jonathan Phillips PAGE DESIGN & LAYOUT • Andy Folds PRE-PRESS PRODUCTION • HobbyZone Limited PRINT PRODUCTION • Stephens & George Ltd SAMI TEAM • Andy Renshaw • Paul Bradley • Andy Evans • Tim Upson Smith • Dick Clark CONTRIBUTORS THIS MONTH • Jarad Demes • Patrick Mizgala • Huw Morgan • Guy Gododwin • Greg Phillips • Paul Crawley • Kevin Shaw • Carmel Attard • Bill Bunting • Bruce Leyland Jones ADVERTISING SALES • Mark Willey [email protected] DISTRIBUTION • COMAG Tavistock Road, West Drayton, Middlesex UB7 7QE Tel: 01895 433777 NORTH AMERICAN DISTRIBUTION • Disticor 695 Westney Rd South, Suite 14, Ajax, Ontario, Canada L1S 6M9 Tel: + 1 (905) 619 6565

Venue: Messe Reid GmbH, Brucknerstrasse 39, A-4910 Ried i.I., Austria 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.

Coming Next Month

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Maple Leaf Mustang

Cheques/Money Orders in Sterling only made payable to HobbyZone Limited and sent to the address above. Major credit card payment accepted by telephone. Subscription Hotline +44 (0)1234 211245

An unusual scheme for the Tamiya 1/3.2 P-51

Colorful Albatross

AMERICAN SUBSCRIPTIONS

A pretty scheme for Special Hobbies L-29 in 1/48 scale

A Royal Fw-190 Eduard’s 1/72 scale masterpieces

Copyright Warning Due to the growing misuse and breach of copyright apparent on the web HobbyZone Limited 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.

© HobbyZone Limited 2016 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.

Scale Aviation Modeller International is published monthly by HobbyZone Limited and is distributed to the news trade on the second last Thursday of each month.

Next on sale 29th September 2016

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 American shops and trade may obtain copies from Kalmbach Publishing Toll Free 1 800 558 1544 Canadian shops and trade may obtain copies from Disticor Tel: + 1 (905) 619 6565 Scale Aviation Modeller International, Volume 22 Issue 9, September 2016 (ISSN 1356-0530) published monthly by: Media House, 2221 Niagara Falls Blvd, Niagara Falls, NY, 14304-5709. Periodicals postage pending: Niagara Falls, NY. US Postmaster: Send address corrections to: Scale Aviation Modeller International, PO Box 265, Williamsville, NY 14231

802 SEPTEMBER 2016 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

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