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SCRAPPER HobbyBoss 1/48 A-7D
SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND
Building the new Airfix 1/72 Messerschmitt Bf 110C
ModellBrno 2017
ZERSTÖRER
Eduard’s Bf 110C in 1/48 Scale
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Silver Wings 1/32 Reggina Re.2000
AUGUST 2017
• Eduard F-8E Crusader • HpH Aviatik (Berg) D.I Engine • Kittyhawk SU-35S • Alley Cat Prototype Spitfire
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Scale Aviation Modeller International August 2017 • Volume 23 • Issue 8
WELCOME A
re you a lone wolf? I was for many years a modelling lone wolf. My hobby was done in my bedroom with all my techniques learned from the original Airfix magazine and Scale Models. (This was many years before the Internet). Then after a few years, I got my first car and started going to model shows and then the big adventure - leaving North London on my first long drive in my first car to the International Plastic Modelling Society Nationals in Peterborough. This was to be my first encounter with model clubs from all over the country and Special Interest Groups something I had not realised existed until then and it was at this show that I enrolled in the I.P.M.S but for many more years I carried on as a lone wolf with all my finished models only being seen by my family and friends. Then in 1988 I got married and left London for the country delights of Bedfordshire, but my modelling carried on
important the club has been to me, is that one of our former members moved t’up north! And in this issue, you can find Mick’s story about how he went about setting up an all-new model club in his local area. I hope that this editorial and Mick’s story may inspire some of our readers to try and get together and discover the world outside the Internet. Go on give it a try it might just change your life, and you will be a lone wolf no more!
learnt many of the modelling skills and later how to photograph my models (still working on that one though!). It was at the model club that I entered my first competition, though it would take many years for me to win anything. It was the club that allowed me to meet like-minded individuals on a regular basis and have many happy days displaying at various model shows around the Midland which eventually led to us deciding to do our own model show in one room of the local leisure centre. From small beginnings, that little one room show has grown to become the largest one-day show in the country, ModelKraft. But the biggest thing that being a member of a model club has done for me is the large number of friends that I have made over the last 20 years and though over time many have moved out of the area we still meet up at shows around the country or at the IPMS Nationals at Telford. What made me think of how
though now on the kitchen table as I think my new wife would have objected to me sticking bits of plastic in the bedroom. Then a letter came out of the blue from a couple of modellers trying to set up a new model club in the modelling wasteland of Milton Keynes. Trying to recruit enough modellers to form a club they had asked the IPMS to send this letter to all modellers living within a 30-mile radius. That first meeting about ten modellers attended at the home of Alan Hall, a name that many in the UK will be familiar with thanks to his editorship of a number of modelling magazines over 40 years. That meeting led to the formation of Milton Keynes Scale Model Club and I can honestly say it changed my life. It was Alan Hall and another modeller Richard Franks, a former Editor of SAMi who got me into writing my first simple reviews back in the days before laptops and digital photography! It was at club nights that I
David Francis, Editor
[email protected]
76 Bf-109H-1 Nachthoehenjaeger
AZ Models 1/72 Bf-109H-1 Nachthoehenjaeger by Adam Rehorn
20 A Pair of Crocodiles
Revell and Trumpeter’s 1/48 Mil Mi-24D Hind by Peter Marshall
A retro 1/144 Airbus schemes me a bit confused at first
SHOW REPORT
Sam
NEW ARRIVAL OUT NOW!
F-5 TIGER
£14.99 + P&P
A Mitten for Winter
F-5 TIGER
Freedom Fighter, Tiger II and Tigereye
By Andy Evans
Building the new Airfix 1/72 Messerschmitt Bf 110C
One of the most enduring military aircraft designs ever produced, the F-5 series has served for more than four decades since its initial flight on July 31, 1963. The F-5 remains an agile, highly manoeuvrable, reliable supersonic fighter; lead-in trainer and ‘aggressor’, combining advanced aerodynamic design, engine performance and low operating costs. More than 2,600 were built by Northrop and with even more built under co-production and licensing agreements with Canada, the Republic of China, the Republic of Korea, Spain and Switzerland. From the F-5’s first delivery in 1964 to its final one in 1989, every aircraft has delivered the performance as promised, and approximately two-thirds of the original production F-5’s remain operational in twenty-six countries, including the United States. Being smaller and simpler than contemporaries such as the F-4, the F-5 cost less to both purchase and operate, making it a popular export aircraft. The F-5A ‘Freedom Fighter’ entered service in the early 1960s, and although the USAF at the time had no acknowledged need for a light fighter, it did procure roughly 1,200 T-38 Talons, which were directly based on the F-5 design. After winning the International Fighter Aircraft competition in 1970, a program aimed at providing effective low-cost fighters to American allies, Northrop introduced the second-generation F-5E ‘Tiger II’ in 1972. The F-5 was also developed
R
ussian manufacturer Zvezda have announced a new 1/72 scale tool of the Russian Air Forces new primary trainer the Yak-130. This type has been given the rather unglamorous NATO reporting name of Mitten. Over 100 aircraft have been produced for Russia and Bangladesh and development is continuing of future variants including a Ground Attach version to replace the Su-25 Frogfoot and an Electronic Warfare version. The CADs show a very good level of detail in the cockpit and a number of optional parts including weaponry for under the wings.
Cover: Illustration Purposes Only
into a dedicated reconnaissance version, the RF-5 ‘Tigereye’ and the ill-fated F-20 ‘Tigershark’. For the F-5 it has been a fast ride into aviation history! The story of the F-5 is brought to life in this new MDF Scaled Down from SAM Publications, and the types background; operators, colour schemes and roles are all included, along with colour profiles, technical diagrams and extensive walk arounds. This is a must have book for the enthusiast and modeller alike.
M DF
5 SCALED DOWN
Brno, very two years in June, Czech the second city of the Republic holds a major the Czech model show. Unlike this shows Nationals in Prague, that you southern location means from Austria, get a lot of visitors as well as Hungary and Slovakia country. from the North of the was This year the show who along sponsored by Eduard put a lot with KPM (IPMS) Brno
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got
SAMI Scrapbook
PHOTO SCRAPBOOK
internal detail The working lights and amazing stand out made this 1/72 scale Spectre
of work into the organisation with one of and were rewarded history busiest in the show’s models with in excess of 1500 tables. on the competition picked For this report, I have that a selection of the models show rather caught my eye at the winners. than just the medal
Hard to believe this MH-60 diorama is in 1/144 scale
A Sweet ME-410 Hornisse in 1/48 scale
Show Report from ModellBrno 2017 see page 54 Loved this attractive early 109 Racer in 1/48 scale
WNW A very nice finish on this Fokker Eindecker this IL-2 The nice water effect on diorama caught my eye.
A tiny 1/72 scale Mig-15 UTi in Algerian markings
Surprisingly large this Mistel towered above it’s rivals
HpH’s large scale Helldiver dominated the table
Everything with Stripes?
A selection of under 12-year old JUNIOR models!!!!
A nice clean build of Kinetics AMX 1/48.
The Tu-104A almost as attractive as a DH Comet in 1/144
52 • AUGUST 2017 • SCALE
A lovely Modelsvit Be-12 Seagull in 1/72 scale
this 1/48 Aftermarket engines made Do-335 stand out
Mura A great way to display Zoukei 1/48 Ho-229
www.sampublications.com
that The CH-53 was massive and base really helped set it apart
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• AUGUST 2017 • 53
AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
AIRFIX: ALL NEW 1/72 WELLINGTON!
A New Boot for 2018 W
MDF Scaled Down #5
14 Something for the Weekend
E
August 2017 WORLD’S BEST MODEL NEWSPAPER ‘FREE’
The Northrop
MDFSD 5
ModellBrno 2017
THE
ith no fanfare Airfix have made the surprise announcement that
they will be producing an all new Wellington tooling in 1/72 scale in 2018. Early CAD drawings show a really good level of
detail that would not look out of place in a larger scale. The first version released will be a Wellington 1.c but I am sure we will see many more boxings of other versions in due course.
Can I have slats with that? Z
okui Mura released their 1/48 scale F-4J Phantom last year and announced at the US Nationals that they will also be releasing the upgraded F-4s. The most noticeable external difference between a J and the S version is the leading edge slats and these have been beautifully reproduced. The release of the F-4S is now imminent and I would expect to see it on sale at the US Nationals at Omaha. Also at Omaha to go with the new F-4S we will
have a new addition to their pre-finished base range. This new base will feature the catapult of a modern US Navy carrier and on the shots published by the manufacturer also includes the launch shuttle and bridle. A separate, wooden surround will also be available as an optional extra. I am sure many other U.S.N subjects will end up posed on one of these bases.
Fighter’s Hide A
t most current and former military bases that house fighter and bombers there are a selection of Hardened Aircraft Shelters scattered around the base to protect aircraft from both air attack and the elements. Due to the peace dividend, many of these heavy duty structures can also now contain less aggressive civil aircraft. Noy Pines is well known for his card bases and this the latest is made from three parts. A back plate which show the HAS itself with the door wide open and a two part tarmac base on which you can display
The SAM
All the latest news from around the world
the model of your choice from the 1970s to the present day. This set will be produced in all four major scales and will be available from Hannants in the UK by the time you read this.
WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM
WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM • AUGUST 2017 • 43
4 • AUGUST 2017 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
004-05-Contents-0817.indd 4
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CONTENTS 1/32
RE.2000 FALCO
“IT’S A LOVELY LITTLE KIT AND HIGHLY RECOMMENDED”
THE ITALIAN
FALCON INTRODUCTION
Reggiane built 186 of the highly manoeuvrable aluminium stressed skin fighters, which featured Curtis Wright style retractable undercarriage. However, the Regia Aeronautica, the Italian Air Force, was not taken with the design. Most of the airframes went to Sweden and Hungary, and some machines were also then built under license. The Re.2000 did see some limited combat use with the Italians, mainly during their attacks on Malta, and one is even reputed to have shot down a Bristol Blenheim.
THE KIT Silver Wings have produced an impressive range of all resin models in 1/32nd scale of
aeroplanes from the interwar era which have not been featured by mainstream manufacturers. The kit comes in a surprisingly small box, about A4 size and is tough enough to survive the postal service. The parts are cast in grey polyurethane resin, with the canopy produced in very clear resin. The main kit parts, the fuselage, wings, tailplane and fin /rudder assembly, these look just like you would expect any mainstream injection moulded model kit to be done. There are no pour plugs on the fuselage and wings, though there is a noticeable mould seam along the wing leading edge that requires careful cleaning up. The fuselage halves have the engine cowlings cast integrally and the cockpit interior has some detail moulded in situ while the surface detail features some finely recessed panel lines. The box also contains an etched metal fret, a small decal sheet, and a twelve page, colour instruction booklet. The
Cockpit interior features some very fine moulded on detail, onto which numerous other parts are added assembly instructions are in the standard exploded view format featuring line drawings which clearly show where everything fits. There are three full-colour painting and decaling guides, plus three bonus colour profiles of different variants of the Re.2000 that possibly will be released in a second boxing? In all, it comes across as a very professionally produced and packaged kit that looks like it will be a quick and easy build.
CONSTRUCTION Assembly begins with the Piaggio P.XI RC 40 fourteen cylinders, twin bank radial engine, each cylinder is cast separately, with very fine cooling fin detail. These are attached to the crankcase, and care is needed to ensure they are aligned correctly. Each cylinder has a pair of push rods. These are
supplied as resin pieces, but in my sample, a number were broken so I used wire to replace them. I cut away the resin “V” shaped end from the broken rods and attached them to my wire replacements. Obviously, as it is a resin kit you will need to use Cyanoacrylate glue and I used thin and medium thickness glues depending on what I was attaching. Thin is hotter and attaches quickly and medium gives you a few seconds wiggle room. The engine is a very highly detailed item which includes the exhaust collectors, and an accessory pack that attaches to the rear of the cylinder banks, and is completely hidden on the complete kit, as is the engine mounting frame. The mounting frame is made up from six parts, and I experienced some problems here, as some of the parts were damaged and I struggled to get them to fit together, as shown in the instructions
Revell 1/48 Stearman Aerobatic Biplane by Michael Chilestone
Bulkheads and frames are added to the interior
The cockpit floor showing the shortfall. It is meant to touch the front bulkhead, and rear frame
The kit part is short by about 4mm
perseverance and some trial and error meant I succeeded in the end but this stage was probably the hardest part of this build. The propeller was assembled next though it was attached much later in the build, this is made up from three blades (Though I had four in my kit) with the hub as a separate part. There is no key between the
hub and blades, just a simple butt joint which means you will need to take extreme care to ensure the correct alignment of the parts. Moving on to the cockpit, the front bulkhead and a number of fuselage frames are added to the fuselage walls, along with a number of junction boxes, conduits, and the throttle quadrant.
6 • AUGUST 2017 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
84 Stearman Aerobatic Biplane
Sponsored by Airfix
www.airfix.com
1/72
“FROM START TO FINISH IT TOOK JUST EIGHT HOURS TO COMPLETE”
Building the new Airfix Messerschmitt Bf110C
S
Silver Wings Reggiane Re.2000 Falco In 1/32nd scale by Angelo Picardo At first glance, there is a noticeable similarity between the Reggiane Re.2000 and the Seversky P35. This is hardly surprising though when you realise that one of the Reggiane’s designers, Roberto Longhi, visited the United States between1936 and 37 to study American aircraft manufacturing. Alexander de Seversky gave Roberto information and technology during a meeting and this was used in the development and design of the Re.2000.
MESSERSCHMITT BF110C
SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND
WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM • AUGUST 2017 • 7
6 The Italian Falcon
probably built at least twenty of the original version in my youth and featured in one of my first attempts at scratch building to produce a Bf110D. On opening the box, I was confronted by what I now think of as a typical new Airfix product. The grey plastic features engraved detail that is quite deep and wide by modern standards, but very easy to fill with a corrector pen if you want to make it look a bit more subtle. The detail in areas like the cockpit looks quite good for a basic beginner’s kit. And if you want to super detail you have an accurate base on which to start. There are also a number of parts included in the box for future issues including the long tail and 900-gallon underwing fuel tanks of the D variant that I had crafted out of balsa so many years ago.
CONSTRUCTION Well, this is not going to take long I thought! And for a change I was right. One thing that I do like about Airfix is that their plastic is quite soft so a couple of swipes with a sanding stick is normally all that is needed to clean up after removing the parts from the sprues. For its scale, the kit cockpit is adequate being made up from eleven parts plus a decal for the instrument panel. A rarity today is the inclusion of two figures for the cockpit. These are nicely detailed for the scale but I do wish they had moulded them in different poses. The
only detail I added to the cockpit were some of Eduard’s new pre-coloured steel belts. I have not used the steel version before and I must say I am impressed, they can be scrunched up to and then shaped to give a realistic draped look but without the precoloured finish flaking off. Unfortunately, though the cockpit detail is adequate most of it will be all but invisible through the thick one-piece canopy. For the target market this canopy will be fine but if you do invest time and money on detailing the cockpit you will want to add a Falcon Vac Form canopy or plunge mould your own. Where most of the cockpit details will be invisible on completion the detail in the undercarriage bay may be seen quite easily. So Airfix has reproduced a level of detail that would put many larger scale
kits to shame. One trick I used was to assemble the multipart undercarriage on the undercarriage bay roofs before attaching it into the wings. I then dry fitted the main legs before attaching the retraction links and scissor links in place to the main leg with Tamiya thin cement. Once the glue had set firmly I removed the legs and then painted
them and the inside of the bays in Tamiya RLM02, the leather gaiters over the oleos were now picked out in a leather colour in my case Tamiya Red Brown before an overall light brown wash was applied to lift out all the moulded detail on the legs and in the bays. Though I left the wheels off till later in construction I will mention them now! They are keyed so they will only fit
Parts for both short tail C and long tailed D are in the box as well as a few other extras
The fit of parts is very good
14 • SEPTEMBER 2017 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
Masking is simple but time consuming
WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM • SEPTEMBER 2017 • 15
14 Something for the Weekend
Silver Wings 1/32 Reggiane Re.2000 Falco by Angelo Picardo
Building the new Airfix 1/72 Messerschmitt Bf110C 1/48
MIL MI-24D HIND
ometimes I just want something a bit different on my workbench, as a change from my normal large scale models. Normally this takes the form of a Science Fiction model or an Armoured Vehicle and this little break normally means I return refreshed and eager to start work on the next big project. But with the late May Bank Holiday approaching and my latest large project just finished I was looking for something to build that would be quick and fun. And with perfect timing, Airfix released the latest version of their new tool Messerschmitt Bf110 first released in 2010 to replace their original 110 which had been in the catalogue since 1958. Now I love the 110 there is something about its shark like shape that to me makes it far more attractive than the 109 or Spitfire. I have
A PAIR OF
CROCODILES
1/72
DORNIER 17Z-10
LEAD IN ITS PENCIL
“A STRAIGHTFORWARD BUILD, WITH VERY GOOD DETAIL IN THE VISIBLE COCKPIT”
ICM 1/72 Dornier 17Z-10 by Huw Morgan Building Revell’s and Trumpeters Mil Mi-24D Hind in 1/48 by Peter Marshall
W
ell, I think it’s fair to say this a blast from the past. Apparently first released in 1987, nearly 30 years ago! It’s possible I made my first example of this about then, I had started a vacform of the Mi-24 a little earlier because in those days who would expect an injection moulded kit of something from behind (see what I did there? Be-Hind? Suit yourselves) the Iron Curtain. I never did finish that vacform (ID Models?) but I did finish the (pretty sure it was Monogram in those days) injection kit. I was a long time ago and I can’t actually remember the build or the markings or anything else to be honest so let’s try to do it properly. My database told me I had an example of the Trumpeter Mi-24P and the Czech Master Mi-24V upgrade set in the stash so I thought I would do a twofer and got things out of the loft for a look. And very interesting it was too! I was rather expecting the Trumpeter kit to be a little more modern than the Revell kit as it was released in 2003 but to my surprise what is in the box is a modified knock off of the Revell kit. A little searching on the web found me a statement on HJL’s website that “Though handled by Trumpeter’s importer here in Japan, this is definitely not a Trumpeter kit. The box brand is “Mini Hobby Models.” I’ve come across “Mini Hobby Models” before. To be fair they’ve done
some interesting stuff with it, adding different (but generally crude) external surface detail, different weapons (separate from the pylons but of questionable use, frankly), some mating pins and some other changes but it’s the Revell kit underneath. And the general detail of the Revell kit is noticeably superior to the Trumpeter moulding; as examples, in the front cockpit the “Trumpeter” kit has a part the same shape as the Revell kit but no surface detail for the cockpit instruments and the chin pod has virtually no surface detail at all. Interestingly both kits seem to have been crammed into boxes too small for them, the ends of the fuselage/ vertical stabiliser were damaged on all four fuselage parts. The Revell kit is moulded in medium grey plastic with fine raised panel lines and a bit of flash evident on things like the main gear legs, possibly a sign of the moulds getting old or maybe just a limitation of the original ones, 30 years ago. There are three schemes provided for East German, German Air Force post- reunification and a late Polish example; the decals are designed by Syhart, which is nice to see, and printed in Italy so I’m assuming Cartograf. But to be honest the standard camo scheme that all three are in doesn’t really do it for me, I thought about looking for something more interesting. The Trumpeter kit is moulded in light grey plastic
and has one standard Russian scheme and the decals appear all but unusable, having looked at them I really considered looking for third party decals! The CMK resin set contains replacement wings (shorter and more detailed than either kit) and pylons, a tail extension (implying both kits are too short), some flare dispensers, underwing tanks, wheels and some other details. I chose to use the majority of the resin on the “Trumpeter” kit and decided I would build the Revell kit straight from the box. I also decided I would do both kits with the rear troop compartment closed up, neither have compelling detail in there and I wasn’t in the mood to detail and accuratise (is that a word?) them. And so on to the build. But before I do maybe I
should say that given the large number of variants of the Mi-24 and the many years it has been in service I also decided that I wouldn’t sweat too much about whether “this” detail or “that” bit of resin would have been on “that” particular airframe at the time it may have been (or may not have been) painted in “that” scheme as I felt it unlikely I could get definitive references. Call me a hypocrite. I do.
THE BUILD There are a few sub-assemblies you have to make before you can get the two fuselage halves together, and a few of these you can do while you’re waiting for other essential ones to dry. I fitted as much as I could in the relevant fuselages
(cockpit parts, nose gear bay, main rotor mount, clear cabin parts) and made the rear compartments and rotor heads, both kits have very similar assemblies, as you might expect. Neither set of cabin doors fitted very well, the Revell kit is better in this respect but I suspect the designers didn’t really expect the doors to be fitted closed and in hindsight, I did not spend as much time on them as perhaps I should have. It’s worth noting that the fit of the Revell kit is better in every area (though neither are up to modern standards), some of the Trumpeter parts are quite rough and with the better detail in the Revell kit, I started to wonder whether I would bother finishing the Trumpeter one at all. But I pressed on. I painted the rear troop compartment and
20 • AUGUST 2017 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
the cockpit areas, I didn’t spend too much time picking out every detail as with everything closed up I was hoping that not much would be visible. Actually, that’s a good time to mention that the Trumpeter clear parts are quite strange, I really struggled to get Tamiya tape to stick to the cabin windows when I was masking the inside for spraying, something I don’t remember ever having this happen with clear plastic bits before. They felt sort of waxy and even after having taken the main canopy parts and washed them on the basis of this experience they also shrugged off repeated attempts to coat them with Klear. Very strange, but as I hoped you’re not seeing much of
WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM • AUGUST 2017 • 21
20 A Pair of Crocodiles ICM 1/72 Dornier 17Z–10 by Huw Morgan
The 179 plastic parts are very cleanly moulded, with no ejector marks in embarrassing places, and only a couple of very minor sink marks to contend with. As the kit goes together fit is excellent and only the slightest amount of filling is needed, in my case due to lack of care rather than fundamental moulding shortcomings. The engineering of the cockpit and wheel bays is notably good. The relatively few references I have alluded to there being two MG FF cannon fitted to the -10 (along
with the four MG17) although the kit nose has only a single cannon aperture. It may be that the model is in fact based on the -7 interim night fighter developed to test the concept, only one of which was converted from a -2 bomber using a modified Junkers 88-G nose. Multiple canopy options are provided, although from my references I couldn’t determine what for? But the mouldings are very clear and thin and offer a good view of the interior.
REFLECTIONS OF THE PAST of war, and in particular, those machines that fought in the skies over England during the Battle of Britain. Doubtless Sigmund Fraud would have
MAIN WHEELS.
QUICKBOOST QB48163: BF110C EXHAUSTS
had something intuitive to say about my childhood obsession with the aircraft of the Luftwaffe as opposed to those of the RAF, for I spent many a happy hour drawing them and pouring over photographs of them. One colour photograph in particular was and remains a most potent symbol of the Battle of Britain. It features a Bf110 flying low along the White Cliffs of Dover, which stand beyond the dappled flanks of the German heavy fighter like the walls of a besieged fortress. The Bf110, with its slender fuselage and forked tail became a particular favourite of mine, and I remember well the 1/72nd scale Airfix Bf110’s that I built as part of my earliest model collections, followed some years later by the Matchbox example, with its three-colour plastic and wasp nose artwork. My fascination with the zerstörer has never really waned, and as so often happens when building a model these days, those memories come flooding back.
THE KIT – INITIAL REACTION Eduard launched their series of Bf110 kits with the release of the ‘E’ variant in 2007, which was quickly followed by the Bf110C, and it is the latter version of the twin-engined heavy fighter that is synonymous with the Battle of Britain. It seemed appropriate for my first quarter scale 110’ to be a ‘C’, and I say my first because when I looked
into the box and saw the quality of the plastic for the first time, I knew that it would not be my last. The Eduard ‘Profipak’ kit oozes quality, and that quality begins with the box-top artwork and the colour-printed, twenty-page instruction booklet. The plastic to
overflows with fine detail; from the subtly recessed panel lines and the barely visible rows of sunken rivets to the precise and meticulously wrought raised detail on the cockpit components. On the downside, some of that recessed detail is overly subtle, and there is a fair amount of flash evident on the smaller parts that suggests that the moulds have been worn out with overuse. Another thing that you notice when you examine the six grey runners is the massive amount of small parts which make up the vast majority of the approximately 210 pieces within the box. The breakdown of those parts is a good initial indication as to the wealth of detail crammed into every area of the kit, and which further suggested that the Eduard 110’ would be anything but a quick and simple build and perhaps one that is best avoided by inexperienced modellers. There is barely a component in the kit that isn’t broken down into a myriad of smaller parts, and that includes, for example, such details as the
1/48
A-7D CORSAIR
“THE KIT PROVIDES YOU WITH MORE ARMAMENT THAN YOU CAN SHAKE A STICK AT”
is a major feature of the SLUF, particularly in its ‘bomb truck’ role. HobbyBoss have now come into the fray with their new tool ‘Corsair’ series, the latest being an A-7D. As usual the box is bursting with plastic sprues, most notably a very comprehensive weapons loadout. The surface details are superbly rendered with engraved
H
obbyBoss have become a prolific contender in the plastic kit market, and in a very short space of time they have proven themselves to be a producer of quality, reasonably priced kits and often surprise us with models of subjects that other manufacturers tend to shy away from. The main contender for the A7 Corsair in 1:48th has been the Hasegawa kit, which has been around for quite sometime now. This is an accurate kit but is not an easy kit to build, and lacks in the weapons department, which
rear machine gun and its mounting bracket, which is made up of a staggering eleven individual parts.
CONSTRUCTION BEGINS Because of the complexity of the parts breakdown, it pays to work on several construction stages at once, rather than sticking rigidly to the construction sequence suggested in the instruction booklet, which naturally enough begins with the cockpit. The interior, which incorporates the forward armament bay, the cockpit and the rear gunner’s position, comprises of approximately one hundred parts, which in the Profipak package includes several etched brass components and a multitude of colour etched additions. If you choose to use the colour-etch in
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James Ashton builds the 1/48 HobbyBoss A-7D 1/48
STEARMAN BIPLANE
Sponsored by AK Interactive
SUPERMARINE SWIFT F.R. MK.5
SHINY TWO
STEARMAN AEROBATIC
BIPLANE
moulded onto each fuselage half, and the tailwheel is also moulded on the port fuselage half: I was a bit wary that this put them at risk of being broken, but as the build progressed this risk proved minimal. The instructions are comprehensive and understandable, and include a rigging diagram, but strangely do not feature colour indications on the marking scheme diagrams. Instead colour indications for all components, even the main airframe bits like fuselage, wings etc, are given within the various stages. This may seem unusual, but I realised it reflects how I usually approach biplane builds, painting various subassemblies like the completed fuselage and wings before
bringing it all together. In another departure from the norm, each part is listed and identified, something that improves understanding of the subject. Decals are provided for two US-registered civilian aircraft; one with red trim and one with blue, over a basic white or cream airframe.
“REVELL’S STEARMAN IS A WELL-FITTING KIT WHICH BUILDS INTO A GOOD REPRESENTATION OF THIS CLASSIC BIPLANE”
KIT DETAILS:
MANUFACTURER: REVELL (USA) SCALE: 1/48 TYPE: INJECTION MOULDED STATUS: NEW EDITION OF EXISTING PT17 KIT WITH REVISED AND NEW PARTS.
PANEL LINES: RECESSED PARTS: 67 GREY PLASTIC, 3 CLEAR (1 UNUSED)
it is important to remember to add the control columns (part 16) before the front seat. The seats include mouldedon harnesses. I would normally remove these and replace with
From aft, painted
tape or aftermarket (assuming it’s available), but in this case I elected to paint them. The whole assembly was sprayed US interior green, with details picked out in appropriate colours – I decided on
a medium-dark blue for the seat belts – and then I moved on to the fuselage halves themselves. Having removed them from their sprues and cleaned them up, the first job was to drill out
Cockpit detail provided in the kit.
CUTTING PLASTIC The first assembly is the cockpit, which is built onto an internal fuselage framework. The cockpit is basic, as it is on the real thing, and is furnished with seats, a storage box, dual controls including sticks, rudder pedals and throttles, and an instrument console. Assembly was straightforward, although
Assembled and drying: note holes drilled in tail for rigging.
Interior framework and cockpit ready for painting
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the venturi tube on the port front cabane strut: it is not in the instructions to do this, but it improves the look a lot. Whilst the drill was out I also drilled out the exhaust (part 53), and there were a couple of holes to open for an intake (starboard) and lift handle. I also drilled a number of holes ready for rigging: one thing I have learned over the years is that biplane models generally require more planning ahead than monoplanes. The interiors of the main fuselage halves were now painted the exterior colour, then the stringers were picked out by dry brushing with aluminium. Following that it was time to add the firewall, a fire extinguisher, and the cockpit assembly, after which the fuselage halves are closed. I was a bit puzzled at the third stage of step 3: this shows two intakes, part 52, to be installed. In fact, the lower one appears to go where the lift handle should. After examining a number of photos of real machines, I decided to omit the lower intake and only add the upper one. You may be wondering why I’ve not mentioned instrument
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SWIFT
1/72
www.ak-interactive.com
“THIS KIT IS AN EXAMPLE OF THE ABUNDANCE OF RICHES AVAILABLE TO THE MODELLER THESE DAYS”
SPONSORED FEATURE
S
and dry brushing the instrument panel relief details turn out well. As I suspected this was an easy build as the parts are simple in their breakdown and well engineered, for example the fit of the wings to the fuselage was especially noteworthy. I will say at this point that I thoroughly enjoyed this build and it is a great kit,
72 ANG ‘Grey Scrapper’
Eduard 1/48 Battle of Britain Bf110 C by Jay Blakemore
This particular kit originates from Revell (USA), and is of a civilian post-war version. It differs from its military counterpart (from Revell Germany, kit no 03957) in representing an aircraft with some approved postwar modifications. The most visible and obvious are a fully-cowled Wasp Junior engine; a fuselage spine with a headrest for the rear seat occupant; wheel spats; and an additional strut on each wing pair linking the ailerons. Just one bit of equipment is not provided, and that was by no means fitted to all these aircraft, namely the wingwalker’s rig on the top wing. Whilst I’ve not had a chance to examine the Revell Germany kit in detail, it appears (and would be perfectly logical) that there are some common sprues. First impressions on looking inside the topopening box are good. The fabric covering is wellrepresented and does not “sag”. The cabane struts and undercarriage legs are
panel lines and subtle riveting, and the single piece non-folding wings hint that this will be an easy and quick. Other fine details are the nicely rendered avionics bays and wheel wells. The cockpit is well represented, however, I chose not to use the supplied decals as they are basic and seem to be over scale. With careful painting
KIT DETAILS:
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32 Zerstörer
tearman aircraft designed and built a number of aircraft types before being absorbed by Boeing in 1934. They are best remembered for the Model 75, known under various designations by the US services, and universally as the Stearman. This could be said to be the US equivalent of the Tiger Moth – a two-seat biplane, produced in large numbers, and trained a great many aircrew of all services during WWII. Like the Tiger Moth, the type enjoyed an honourable “demob” in civilian hands, and a great many are still flying. When this came up for review I jumped at the chance, and totally forgot what was drummed into me at school, namely “read the question”! Hence as a die-hard military aviation fan I found myself with the civilian version to review; but I also realised that I was rather pleased with the prospect of doing something different and colourful for a change.
KIT DETAILS:
MANUFACTURER: ICM SCALE: 1/72 PRODUCT CODE: 72303 PANEL LINES: RECESSED NO OF PARTS: 179 PLASTIC (26 NOT USED) PLUS 12 CLEAR (4 NOT USED) TYPE: INJECTION MOULDED PLASTIC STATUS: NEW TOOL DECAL OPTIONS: 2 (BOTH 2.NACHTJAGDGESCHWADER 2, GILZERIJEN 1940)
A-7D CORSAIR MANUFACTURER: HOBBYBOSS SCALE: 1:48 KIT TYPE: PLASTIC INJECTION MOULDED KIT NUMBER: 80344
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INTRODUCTION
other minor internal details: be prepared for research, or the use of imagination! Two decal options are supplied, - differing only in the codes, and both in overall black. At the time of writing, there’s very little available in the aftermarket: Yahu do what looks to be a very nice instrument panel, and I found an old set of True Details wheels in my just in case box.
James Ashton builds the 1:48 HobbyBoss A-7D
ITEMS USED:
EDUARD BRASSIN 648052: BF110 C/D
Revell 1/48 Stearman Aerobatic Biplane by Michael Chilestone
The kit instructions are reasonable, although they’re not very clear on some aspects of alignment and orientation, particularly concerning the engines and nacelles, compounded by sometimes indistinct location tabs in the mouldings. Typically for ICM, paint colours are referred to Vallejo Model Air, although there are virtually no detail painting instructions for the cockpit and
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ANG ‘GREY SCRAPPER’
To celebrate Eduard’s 25th Birthday, Jay Blakemore delves into the Czech manufacturers back-catalogue to build a 1/48th scale Battle of Britain Bf110 C
eing slightly older than twenty-five myself, I tend to ignore my birthdays these days. It did seem appropriate, however, to begin this celebratory article by taking a moment to delve into my own history. The decade into which I was born was a time of change that has become known as the Swinging Sixties. Yet despite its veneer of modernity, Britain remained very much a country overshadowed by memories of World War Two. Most families knew someone who had served in the military during the war, and many households still proudly displayed photographs of those who had not returned from war ravaged Europe. Growing up in the city of Coventry meant that we were constantly reminded of those dark days, for despite the local council having long-since torn down the standing skeletons of buildings destroyed during the Coventry Blitz of 1940, much of the land where they had once stood remained derelict: weed covered and brick-strewn adventure playgrounds for young boys like myself and my brother to explore. If a more potent symbol were needed to remind us of just how our city had suffered in the Blitz, then a trip to the nearby ruined cathedral with its gaping arched windows and preserved, blackened roof-timbers, was a stark lesson in the consequences of war. Even our daily walk to school took us past several rusting Anderson shelters; their arched, corrugated steel shells having become rusting monuments to the bombing. It was little wonder then that we two boys grew up fascinated by the war and the machines
THE KIT Arguably, the Z-10 is a strange variant for ICM to choose to model, - with only 13 built, all of which appear to have been operated by 2.NJG 2 in a black overall scheme, there is limited scope for aftermarket marking expansion. The kit itself appears to be a scaled-down version of the recently-released 1/48 model, and regrettably, carries over some of the problems apparent in that issue, most prominently with the depiction of the cowling supports at the front of the engines.
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1/48
“ONE COLOUR PHOTOGRAPH IN PARTICULAR WAS AND REMAINS A MOST POTENT SYMBOL OF THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN”
ZERSTÖRER
emerged, incorporating a redesigned cockpit based on lessons learned in Spain, and 1000hp Bramo Fafnir 323 radials in place of the DB 600’s that were desperately needed for fighters. Whilst the standard Bomber Z-2 dominated production, there were a number of specialist types produced, the Z-10 Kautz II (Screech owl) night fighter/intruder being one, 13 airframes being produced with a solid nose housing four MG 17 and two MG FF cannon surrounding the infra-red illuminator of the SpannerAnlage IR night vision system, the detector for which was mounted in front of the pilot in the port windscreen. On 3 September 2010, the RAF Museum announced that a Do 17 had been discovered in 15m of water on the Goodwin Sands off the coast of Kent, although the aircraft had been discovered in September 2008 and the discovery kept a closely guarded secret. The Dornier Do 17Z-2, Werknummer 1160, built under licence by Henschel with the full Geschwaderkennung (combat wing aircraft ID code) of 5K+AR, was operated by 7 Staffel, III Gruppe, Kampfgeschwader 3 (KG 3). The airframe is currently undergoing restoration at RAF Cosford.
ICM 1/72 Dornier 17Z–10 by Huw Morgan
BF110 C
B
esigned originally against a Lufthansa requirement for a fast passenger and mail carrier, the Dornier Do17 first flew in 1934, with the first three pre-production airframes passed to the airline for trials. The slim fuselage resulted in an unusual arrangement of cramped, split cabins which didn’t appeal to Lufthansa and the prototypes languished unused until according to an apocryphal story, a former Dornier test pilot acting as liaison with the Air Ministry flew one and was seriously impressed by the type’s handling and agility, commenting that it had potential as a fast bomber. Six further prototypes followed, introducing an internal bomb bay, improved directional stability courtesy of twin endplate fins, defensive armament and various nose configurations. With development proceeding satisfactorily, the fledgeling Luftwaffe quickly adopted the first production Do17E-1, establishing four Kampfgruppe and sending the aircraft to Spain as part of the Legion Condor. Early models were powered by the BMW V1 radial, and after a couple of experiments with the inline Daimler-Benz DB 600, the definitive Do17Z
26 Lead in its Pencil
Revell and Trumpeter’s 1/48 Mil Mi-24D Hind by Peter Marshall
26 Lead in its Pencil
D
KIT DETAILS: SUPERMARINE SWIFT F.R. MK.5 MANUFACTURER: AIRFIX SCALE: 1:72 KIT TYPE: PLASTIC INJECTION MOULDED KIT NUMBER: A04003
Vitor Costa uses AK Interactive Products to replicate RAF Camouflage on the 1/72 Airfix F.R. Mk.5
T
his kit is an example of the abundance of riches available to the modeller these days. Once you open the box you realise that Airfix has done great job with this kit. Lots of parts, good engraved panel lines, nice details, and some very nice decals but, and there is always a but, there are a lot of sink marks, which need addressing. As usual work started in the cockpit, and this is very well detailed for the scale, even the seat looks good and there is no need to resort to a resin aftermarket one. The instrument panels have decals, which make for a faster sub-assembly. Two options are provided to represent an aircraft with or without cameras, I opted to build one with no cameras. The two halves of the fuselage fit well, however, the wings don’t fit that well into the fuselage and I even had to add some Evergreen strip to correct a gap. There are also a
couple of errors on the fuselage that needed little bit of more work but nothing too bad. So, first thing to be painted, after the cockpit, was the engine, using AK Extreme Metal Aluminium #479 as the base shade, and AK484 Burnt Metal to simulate the heat stained area of the exhaust. AK Aluminium was also the chosen colour for the lower area of the aircraft, unfortunately the grainy finish of the plastic made the paint look strange, so I remove the
The undersides needed sanding and repainting!
Blu-Tac ‘sausages’ were used for the camouflage pattern
AK Extreme Metal is ideal for the exhaust
Working on the cockpit
The topside Grey being applied
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colour, sanded down the surface and repainted it. Time now for the camouflage, and here I used AK2013 RAF Medium Sea Grey as the base colour, and to give more depth I applied some extra coats to make the Grey a touch darker. Also as a change of direction for me I chose to use a camouflage mask rather than freehand airbrushing. So, I used some Blu-Tac ‘sausages’ and applied AK2011 RAF Dark Green, using the same technique as the Grey. Instead and overall oil wash I decided this time to go with a pin-wash, and first the model was covered with a generous coat of gloss varnish. Then I used
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84 Stearman Aerobatic Biplane 90 Shiny Two Swift 32 Zerstörer
Eduard 1/48 Battle of Britain Bf 110 C by Jay Blakemore
Revell 1/48 Stearman Aerobatic Biplane by Michael Chilestone
ALSO INSIDE 43 The SAM news 52 Photo Scrapbook: Show Report from ModellBrno 2017 54 First Looks • Eduard’s F-8E Crusader • HpH Aviatik (Berg) D.I Engine • Kittyhawk SU-35S • Alley Cat Prototype Spitfire
Vitor Costa uses AK Interactive Products to replicate RAF Camouflage on the 1/72 Airfix F.R. Mk.5 60 Accessories 64 Decals 68 Reviews 76 Quick Build of AZ Models 1/72 Bf-109H-1 Nachthoehenjaeger 94 Books & Media
98 Back Page
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RE.2000 FALCO
“IT’S A LOVELY LITTLE KIT AND HIGHLY RECOMMENDED”
THE ITALIAN
FALCON Silver Wings 1/32 Reggiane Re.2000 Falco by Angelo Picardo
INTRODUCTION At first glance, there is a noticeable similarity between the Reggiane Re.2000 and the Seversky P35. This is hardly surprising though when you realise that one of the Reggiane’s designers, Roberto Longhi, visited the United States between1936 and 37 to study American aircraft manufacturing. Alexander de Seversky gave Roberto information and technology during a meeting and this was used in the development and design of the Re.2000.
Reggiane built 186 of the highly manoeuvrable aluminium stressed skin fighters, which featured Curtis Wright style retractable undercarriage. However, the Regia Aeronautica, the Italian Air Force, was not taken with the design. Most of the airframes went to Sweden and Hungary, and some machines were also then built under license. The Re.2000 did see some limited combat use with the Italians, mainly during their attacks on Malta, and one is even reputed to have shot down a Bristol Blenheim.
THE KIT Silver Wings have produced an impressive range of all resin models in 1/32nd scale of
aeroplanes from the interwar era which have not been featured by mainstream manufacturers. The kit comes in a surprisingly small box, about A4 size and is tough enough to survive the postal service. The parts are cast in grey polyurethane resin, with the canopy produced in very clear resin. The main kit parts, the fuselage, wings, tailplane and fin /rudder assembly, these look just like you would expect any mainstream injection moulded model kit to be done. There are no pour plugs on the fuselage and wings, though there is a noticeable mould seam along the wing leading edge that requires careful cleaning up. The fuselage halves have the engine cowlings cast integrally and the cockpit interior has some detail moulded in situ while the surface detail features some finely recessed panel lines. The box also contains an etched metal fret, a small decal sheet, and a twelve page, colour instruction booklet. The
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assembly instructions are in the standard exploded view format featuring line drawings which clearly show where everything fits. There are three full-colour painting and decaling guides, plus three bonus colour profiles of different variants of the Re.2000 that possibly will be released in a second boxing? In all, it comes across as a very professionally produced and packaged kit that looks like it will be a quick and easy build.
CONSTRUCTION Assembly begins with the Piaggio P.XI RC 40 fourteen cylinders, twin bank radial engine, each cylinder is cast separately, with very fine cooling fin detail. These are attached to the crankcase, and care is needed to ensure they are aligned correctly. Each cylinder has a pair of push rods. These are
supplied as resin pieces, but in my sample, a number were broken so I used wire to replace them. I cut away the resin “V” shaped end from the broken rods and attached them to my wire replacements. Obviously, as it is a resin kit you will need to use Cyanoacrylate glue and I used thin and medium thickness glues depending on what I was attaching. Thin is hotter and attaches quickly and medium gives you a few seconds wiggle room. The engine is a very highly detailed item which includes the exhaust collectors, and an accessory pack that attaches to the rear of the cylinder banks, and is completely hidden on the complete kit, as is the engine mounting frame. The mounting frame is made up from six parts, and I experienced some problems here, as some of the parts were damaged and I struggled to get them to fit together, as shown in the instructions
Cockpit interior features some very fine moulded on detail, onto which numerous other parts are added
Bulkheads and frames are added to the interior
The cockpit floor showing the shortfall. It is meant to touch the front bulkhead, and rear frame
The kit part is short by about 4mm
perseverance and some trial and error meant I succeeded in the end but this stage was probably the hardest part of this build. The propeller was assembled next though it was attached much later in the build, this is made up from three blades (Though I had four in my kit) with the hub as a separate part. There is no key between the
hub and blades, just a simple butt joint which means you will need to take extreme care to ensure the correct alignment of the parts. Moving on to the cockpit, the front bulkhead and a number of fuselage frames are added to the fuselage walls, along with a number of junction boxes, conduits, and the throttle quadrant.
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RE.2000 FALCO
The new part was made from plastic card The new part in place
Kit seat with the Eduard coloured etched seat belt harness
Interior fitted, just waiting for a matt coat A lot of the etched parts are used here, and some of them, especially the levers added to the throttle quadrant, are very small and fine, I must admit struggled to get them all in the right place. Now I tried to attach the cockpit floor the instructions show it
Interior parts fitted to the fuselage with the instrument panel
The cockpit was painted Humbrol enamel interior green with Tamiya smoke added to shade the parts connecting with the front firewall, and rear cockpit frame, but there was too big a gap It seemed to be too short, by about 4mm. I ensured all bulkheads and frames were correctly
attached, they were, but the floor would not fit. Twenty minutes later I had a solution. I made a new longer floor from plastic card using the kit part as a guide. Fortunately, it’s a simple part to replicate, just ae floor, two footboards and a mounting for the control column. There were no colour indications for the interior so I went to the internet and all I could discover was that it was possible interior green with black details, so I used Humbrol’s interior green and then shaded it with Tamiya’s smoke. This gives a gloss finish so a matt cote was now applied to flatten it down. The instrument panel is made by sandwiching clear acetate film with the instrument dials printed on it, between an etched metal front, and a resin back plate onto which the rudder pedals are mounted. (Small tip If you paint the rear of the acetate film white first you will find the dial details will really pop out, Ed) Two resin gun breaches now fit on top of the panel, along with the reflector sight which is made up from a folded etch bracket, a resin sight, and a clear resin lens. The plans also show that the tail wheel should be fitted now, but. I left it out as you can attach it at the end of the build. Next, the pilot’s seat needs to be built. The seat has a number of lightening holes moulded in the base and these are flashed over, a couple of minutes with a sanding stick and they were
opened up. The seat is now fitted to a mounting frame that also needs two support rods added. The etched parts do include the seat belts, but the editor provided me with a set of Eduard’s new pre-coloured steel Italian seat belts which I used instead. With all the internal parts fitted, the fuselage halves were now brought together, I found the fit to be as good as, if not better than many injection moulded kits I have built, requiring only minimal amounts of filler in a few places At this stage, I also fitted the tail fin and rudder. These are a butt join to a moulded fairing on the fuselage part, but with some careful cleaning up and sanding a
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near perfect join can be obtained. The instructions also recommend fitting the canopy now, but I again added this to the parts fitted later in construction to avoid damage. The wings are produced as a one-piece moulding, except for the lower inboard portion where the undercarriage bay is located. The wings attach to the fuselage using pegs moulded into the wing roots that fit into recesses in the fuselage. I had to enlarge these recesses a bit to get the pegs to fit, but there was still a noticeable gap along the join. Some Humbrol model putty and a sanding stick soon sorted this out. It was now that I reached another tricky bit, the instructions show two etched parts (PE33) being added to the fuselage. These are the canopy rails and they need to be folded into a “U” shape track. In an unfolded state they are about 3mm across, and they have two fold lines along their length. Despite all my efforts, including using a folding tool, I was not able to fold then as required. In the end, I decided to abandon
these parts and replaced them with lengths of thin wire to simulate the rails on my model. More etched parts are also added to the aileron hinges to the ailerons before attaching them to the wings. There are also some very small, etched parts to be added on to the wings in the forms of brackets and hooks. These are very small and I decided to add them before painting as I did not want to risk damaging the paint scheme by adding them afterwards. But you do have to be careful handling the model as it is easy to forget that they are there. I now assembled the undercarriage and this was very straight forward but again I left them off until after the painting stage.
The kit’s engine with the push rods replaced with wire
Tamiya’s smoke settles into the recesses to give depth to the part
PAINTING AND DECALS Three schemes are supplied, all from the Regia Aeronautica, and all featuring some rather complex camouflage schemes. I opted for an aeroplane from the 377a Squadriglia Autonoma Caccia Terrestre, from October 1941. This features red brown and green splotches over a sand yellow base, with grey
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RE.2000 FALCO
A small gap is present when the wing is fitted, top view
The gap is also present on the lower side
The etched hooks that fit to the wings. They are very small, and delicate
The hooks in place on the wing, and the filler can be seen along the wing join
undersides and a yellow nose. The instructions do not refer to any specific paint brands; it just lists the Italian names for the colours, Giallo Mimetico3 for the sand, Marrone Mimetico2 for the red- brown, Verde Mimetico2 for the green and Grigio Mimetico for the grey. Here the Editor came to my aid. He provided enamel paints from the Colourcoats range, which are a perfect match for the original colours. Using the manufacturers own thinners I applied the camouflage, after first painting and masking the white fuselage band and the white cross on the rudder. The yellow nose was also painted first followed by the camouflage. I was very impressed with Colourcoats paints as they airbrushed perfectly and I believe helped me make a reasonable job
of the complicated scheme. When the paints dry they also have a satin finish which is a great aid when applying the decals. The kit provides a small decal sheet featuring four Fasce markings for the upper and lower wings, along with the coat of arms for the tail cross, and various other data panels and worked perfectly. To weather the model, I applied a wash of raw umber oil paint to the panel lines, followed by Tamiya smoke to create post shading as well as exhaust and gun stains. Some aluminium chipping was now added where the paint would be scraped by daily usage before the decals and paint were sealed under a cote of Xtracolor’s matt varnish.
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FINAL BITS Once the painting was complete, it was time to add the undercarriage, aerial, and pitot tubes. I didn’t use the kit’s resin parts for the pitot’s, replacing them with Telescopic steel tubing from Albion Alloys. It was also now time to add the resin cast canopy. Both parts feature some pouring lugs that
require careful removal. The frames were then masked with Tamiya tape before being painted, and I left the masking tape on until after I had glued them in place to help protect the clear parts from the Cyanoacrylate glue’s fumes which can cause staining.
The assembly is virtually complete. The join along the air intake was filled with Cyanoacrylate glue
Lower surface with the undercarriage clipped in place temporarily
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RE.2000 FALCO CONCLUSION
Though it is not a mainstream plastic injection kit, this RE.2000 goes together fairly easily. So much so I would say that it could be considered as an entry level model for someone wanting to try a resin kit. The plans were a bit vague in places, especially regarding the placement of smaller parts in the cockpit but most modellers would be able to work out what fits where using reference material available online. I was really pleased with my finished model, it’s a lovely little kit and highly recommended. My thanks to Silver Wings for supplying the review sample and also to Colorcoats for the accurate colours to finish it in.
The fuselage band and tail cross was painted and sprayed, along with the nose, prior to the camouflage being applied
“I WAS REALLY PLEASED WITH MY FINISHED MODEL” The tail cross was masked as the decals only supply the coat of arms
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SAC-0
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MESSERSCHMITT BF110C
SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND Building the new Airfix Messerschmitt Bf110C
S
ometimes I just want something a bit different on my workbench, as a change from my normal large scale models. Normally this takes the form of a Science Fiction model or an Armoured Vehicle and this little break normally means I return refreshed and eager to start work on the next big project. But with the late May Bank Holiday approaching and my latest large project just finished I was looking for something to build that would be quick and fun. And with perfect timing, Airfix released the latest version of their new tool Messerschmitt Bf110 first released in 2010 to replace their original 110 which had been in the catalogue since 1958. Now I love the 110 there is something about its shark like shape that to me makes it far more attractive than the 109 or Spitfire. I have
probably built at least twenty of the original version in my youth and featured in one of my first attempts at scratch building to produce a Bf110D. On opening the box, I was confronted by what I now think of as a typical new Airfix product. The grey plastic features engraved detail that is quite deep and wide by modern standards, but very easy to fill with a corrector pen if you want to make it look a bit more subtle. The detail in areas like the cockpit looks quite good for a basic beginner’s kit. And if you want to super detail you have an accurate base on which to start. There are also a number of parts included in the box for future issues including the long tail and 900-gallon underwing fuel tanks of the D variant that I had crafted out of balsa so many years ago.
CONSTRUCTION Well, this is not going to take long I thought! And for a change I was right. One thing that I do like about Airfix is that their plastic is quite soft so a couple of swipes with a sanding stick is normally all that is needed to clean up after removing the parts from the sprues. For its scale, the kit cockpit is adequate being made up from eleven parts plus a decal for the instrument panel. A rarity today is the inclusion of two figures for the cockpit. These are nicely detailed for the scale but I do wish they had moulded them in different poses. The
only detail I added to the cockpit were some of Eduard’s new pre-coloured steel belts. I have not used the steel version before and I must say I am impressed, they can be scrunched up to and then shaped to give a realistic draped look but without the precoloured finish flaking off. Unfortunately, though the cockpit detail is adequate most of it will be all but invisible through the thick one-piece canopy. For the target market this canopy will be fine but if you do invest time and money on detailing the cockpit you will want to add a Falcon Vac Form canopy or plunge mould your own. Where most of the cockpit details will be invisible on completion the detail in the undercarriage bay may be seen quite easily. So Airfix has reproduced a level of detail that would put many larger scale
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“FROM START TO FINISH IT TOOK JUST EIGHT HOURS TO COMPLETE”
kits to shame. One trick I used was to assemble the multipart undercarriage on the undercarriage bay roofs before attaching it into the wings. I then dry fitted the main legs before attaching the retraction links and scissor links in place to the main leg with Tamiya thin cement. Once the glue had set firmly I removed the legs and then painted
them and the inside of the bays in Tamiya RLM02, the leather gaiters over the oleos were now picked out in a leather colour in my case Tamiya Red Brown before an overall light brown wash was applied to lift out all the moulded detail on the legs and in the bays. Though I left the wheels off till later in construction I will mention them now! They are keyed so they will only fit
Parts for both short tail C and long tailed D are in the box as well as a few other extras
The fit of parts is very good
Masking is simple but time consuming
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MESSERSCHMITT BF110C
This seemed to take more time than building the rest of the model one way which means that the slightly weighted tyres sit correctly once the model is on its feet. Everything in this kit fits perfectly with only small amounts of filler on the upper and lower spine. In fact, construction only took a couple of hours with just short breaks while the acrylic paints I used dried. So I was quickly at the point where I could start applying my chosen colour scheme.
Cut sponge filled the undercarriage bay
More masking this time for the splinter camouflage
PAINTING AND DECALING The kit supplies markings for two options, the first is rather a plain Jane from Staffel II Zerstsreegeschwader 1 in Norther France in 1940-41. This aircraft is in the classic RLM 65 blue lower surfaces and 70/71 dark green and black green splinter camouflage. The only point of interest on this aircraft is the three bee markings on the nose. The second option is far more interesting featuring an aircraft being used as a night fighter by the Regia Aeronautica in Italy during 1943. This aircraft has had the
Masks removed and no touch up needed standard splinter scheme lower surfaces over painted in black which has also been used to block out the original German markings. Italian unit markings in blue have been added to the fuselage and the white Italian cross marking added to the rudder. Though
Decaling underway outline Luftwaffe crosses have been reapplied to the upper surfaces. I had found a colour photograph of this aircraft and my interpretation is that the nose and engine are also over painted in black or from a black painted aircraft and that
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is how I finished my model. All of the RLM camouflage colours were painted using the Mr Hobby range of acrylics with masking from Shesto yellow Kabuki tape of various sizes. The canopy was masked before attaching it to the model using masking tape and I really wished that I had purchased Eduard’s masks for this kit (EDCX277) a very tedious
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task thanks to the multi panel hood. However, once painting and the weathering was completed and the masks removed the nice sharp panel lines made all the effort worthwhile. I also masked off the undercarriage bays but for this I used small sections of sponge cut slightly larger than the openings they are going to fill. A simple, and quick way to mask off
intakes, cockpits and wheel bays. The decals are very comprehensive featuring over fifty individual stencils though I decided to leave most of them off. As on my photograph of the real aircraft showed only a few visible on what was by this point in the war and old aircraft that had been repainted a number of times. After applying a coat of Alclad’s satin varnish I used Flory’s dark weathering wash to add a little detail, and this is where Airfix’s deep lines was a benefit. This clay based wash is added to your model like a sludge wash and then left to dry for 20 minutes. Next, a lightly
“THE DECALS ARE VERY COMPREHENSIVE FEATURING OVER FIFTY INDIVIDUAL STENCILS” WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM • SEPTEMBER 2017 • 17
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MESSERSCHMITT BF110C
On this dark scheme, I used a dark wash
The clear landing light slips into place at the end
dampened kitchen towel is used in a circular polishing motion to rub off any excess wash. I must say I had forgotten how easy this wash is to use and how effective it looks. I must remember to restock my dwindling supply at Telford in November. And after a coat of Alclad flat varnish, the masks were removed and my model was finished.
CONCLUSION
I really liked this kit. From start to finish it took just Eight hours to complete helped by the use of acrylic paints and the clay weathering wash. The fit is very good and it looks every inch a Bf110 and the Italian scheme certainly makes it stand out from the crowd. I am sure we will see many more versions of this kit in due course and I wonder if it will be in production for 50 years like its predecessor and will any of us till be here in 2060 to find out? Our thanks to Airfix for retooling this and many other golden oldies to modern standards and I am sure I will be producing another 1/72 scale weekend wonder next time I get jaded with a big project.
“THE FIT IS VERY GOOD AND IT LOOKS EVERY INCH A BF110”
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MIL MI-24D HIND
A PAIR OF
CROCODILES Revell and Trumpeter’s 1/48 Mil Mi-24D Hind by Peter Marshall
W
ell, I think it’s fair to say this a blast from the past. Apparently first released in 1987, nearly 30 years ago! It’s possible I made my first example of this about then, I had started a vacform of the Mi-24 a little earlier because in those days who would expect an injection moulded kit of something from behind (see what I did there? Be-Hind? Suit yourselves) the Iron Curtain. I never did finish that vacform (ID Models?) but I did finish the (pretty sure it was Monogram in those days) injection kit. I was a long time ago and I can’t actually remember the build or the markings or anything else to be honest so let’s try to do it properly. My database told me I had an example of the Trumpeter Mi-24P and the Czech Master Mi-24V upgrade set in the stash so I thought I would do a twofer and got things out of the loft for a look. And very interesting it was too! I was rather expecting the Trumpeter kit to be a little more modern than the Revell kit as it was released in 2003 but to my surprise what is in the box is a modified knock off of the Revell kit. A little searching on the web found me a statement on HJL’s website that “Though handled by Trumpeter’s importer here in Japan, this is definitely not a Trumpeter kit. The box brand is “Mini Hobby Models.” I’ve come across “Mini Hobby Models” before. To be fair they’ve done
some interesting stuff with it, adding different (but generally crude) external surface detail, different weapons (separate from the pylons but of questionable use, frankly), some mating pins and some other changes but it’s the Revell kit underneath. And the general detail of the Revell kit is noticeably superior to the Trumpeter moulding; as examples, in the front cockpit the “Trumpeter” kit has a part the same shape as the Revell kit but no surface detail for the cockpit instruments and the chin pod has virtually no surface detail at all. Interestingly both kits seem to have been crammed into boxes too small for them, the ends of the fuselage/ vertical stabiliser were damaged on all four fuselage parts. The Revell kit is moulded in medium grey plastic with fine raised panel lines and a bit of flash evident on things like the main gear legs, possibly a sign of the moulds getting old or maybe just a limitation of the original ones, 30 years ago. There are three schemes provided for East German, German Air Force post- reunification and a late Polish example; the decals are designed by Syhart, which is nice to see, and printed in Italy so I’m assuming Cartograf. But to be honest the standard camo scheme that all three are in doesn’t really do it for me, I thought about looking for something more interesting. The Trumpeter kit is moulded in light grey plastic
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and has one standard Russian scheme and the decals appear all but unusable, having looked at them I really considered looking for third party decals! The CMK resin set contains replacement wings (shorter and more detailed than either kit) and pylons, a tail extension (implying both kits are too short), some flare dispensers, underwing tanks, wheels and some other details. I chose to use the majority of the resin on the “Trumpeter” kit and decided I would build the Revell kit straight from the box. I also decided I would do both kits with the rear troop compartment closed up, neither have compelling detail in there and I wasn’t in the mood to detail and accuratise (is that a word?) them. And so on to the build. But before I do maybe I
should say that given the large number of variants of the Mi-24 and the many years it has been in service I also decided that I wouldn’t sweat too much about whether “this” detail or “that” bit of resin would have been on “that” particular airframe at the time it may have been (or may not have been) painted in “that” scheme as I felt it unlikely I could get definitive references. Call me a hypocrite. I do.
THE BUILD There are a few sub-assemblies you have to make before you can get the two fuselage halves together, and a few of these you can do while you’re waiting for other essential ones to dry. I fitted as much as I could in the relevant fuselages
(cockpit parts, nose gear bay, main rotor mount, clear cabin parts) and made the rear compartments and rotor heads, both kits have very similar assemblies, as you might expect. Neither set of cabin doors fitted very well, the Revell kit is better in this respect but I suspect the designers didn’t really expect the doors to be fitted closed and in hindsight, I did not spend as much time on them as perhaps I should have. It’s worth noting that the fit of the Revell kit is better in every area (though neither are up to modern standards), some of the Trumpeter parts are quite rough and with the better detail in the Revell kit, I started to wonder whether I would bother finishing the Trumpeter one at all. But I pressed on. I painted the rear troop compartment and
the cockpit areas, I didn’t spend too much time picking out every detail as with everything closed up I was hoping that not much would be visible. Actually, that’s a good time to mention that the Trumpeter clear parts are quite strange, I really struggled to get Tamiya tape to stick to the cabin windows when I was masking the inside for spraying, something I don’t remember ever having this happen with clear plastic bits before. They felt sort of waxy and even after having taken the main canopy parts and washed them on the basis of this experience they also shrugged off repeated attempts to coat them with Klear. Very strange, but as I hoped you’re not seeing much of
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MIL MI-24D HIND
the interior through THESE parts! With the cabins and the engines installed I could close up the fuselages, fit was again less than stellar but with some brute force and strong glue and Mr Surfacer along all the main joints and it looks like I was making progress. I was now able to add some of the other large fuselage parts like the main undercarriage section and the engine intakes. While I’ve said it before, the Trumpeter kit has fit issues and this area had some of the worst. As a result of modifying the intake area (I assume so you can show off the uninspiring engines), there were some large gaps between various parts, I filled them to an extent but I have to admit I wasn’t going to knock myself out making it perfect. So it isn’t perfect. Not even close. It’s probably worth mentioning that neither kit represents one of the more interesting features of the Hind; apparently the whole fuselage aft of the cockpit section is canted 2.5° to the right to help counteract the rotor torque with the result that when on the ground a Hind always seems to be leaning to one side. I’ve seen builds
where this is addressed. Sorry It’s not happening here, I don’t even rescribe panel lines. Moving on. Much filler and sanding down later the canopies and then the crew doors were fitted and they’re starting to look like Hinds. I fitted the chin pod and the wings, the CMK resin on the Trumpeter and the kit parts on the Revell, the plastic wings are considerably longer than the resin, I understand the resin ones are more accurate in span but they didn’t fit the fuselage stubs very well. I aligned them with the top surface and ignored the step underneath, it really didn’t seem worth the hassle to address it. I fitted a few other of the Trumpeter parts, the canon pod and two little stubs each side of the fuselage behind the cockpit. Again, they don’t fit well and
aren’t particularly good likenesses of the real thing. It was starting to bug me, to be honest and I would suggest that if you want a decent looking Hind you need to consider the Revell kit and
some serious aftermarket; Cobra Company (Now being produced by Lone Star Models) and CMK both do suitable parts. I persisted with what I had, I’d got this far! It was at this point that your editor supplied me with a set of
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Caracal Models decals, CD48104 “Last Hinds of NATO”. Finally, some interesting markings! However, being the “last” they are fairly late model -Vs, not really the earlyish -D the kit represents. But I DID like the three colour Czech scheme, I had already found pictures of that on the web and thought how cool it looked. But the kit would need some updating after all! I was unwilling to buy more aftermarket and frankly, it was a bit late in the build to incorporate some of it anyway; I should have stuck all the resin on the Revell kit really… Anyway, it was too late for that so I made a “disco light” mount (but left it empty as I have seen pictures of that configuration) and knocked together a few of the more obvious -V features without spending too much time stressing over
finding sufficient references. I had already seen two different antennae fit on the tails of two different Czech airframes in the markings I was going to do so I didn’t sweat it, added antennae and tail skids to both kits and thought about paint. For the Revell “-D” I had now decided on the Czech example and the Caracal Models sheet thoughtfully has colour callouts with FS numbers rather than referencing any particular paint maker, I do prefer that. But did I have FS36118 (Gunship Grey, very appropriate), FS34096 (Dark Green) and FS36270 (Neutral Grey)? The greys were in my paint box, Xtracolor X130 and X133 respectively, but the green wasn’t, and it seems it’s not in the
Xtracolor range, my usual paint of choice. The IPMS Stockholm colour chart says that Tamiya do it (XF-61) but I wasn’t about to go out and buy another shade of green! Correlating different manufacturer’s ideas of certain colours with FS numbers is often a bit iffy anyway so I went with FS14079, Xtracolor X110,
Forest Green. It looks to be quite close from the limited info I have. Now for the Trumpeter kit! I had resigned myself to a (relatively) boring, two colours over light blue Soviet scheme when, after some more searches, I came across a couple of REALLY striking schemes. There was this bright green/dark green/tan with a huge shark mouth Peruvian example (and following the Peruvian theme they have some other fabulous schemes on their helos, Mi-24s in light tan/brown with a huge colourful shark mouth, low viz wraparound dark green/ grey with green/grey shark mouth, digital camo on a Mi-8, great stuff) and a Hungarian example which caught my eye because… The
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picture I found looks like a three colour scheme (tan/green/bluegrey) over light blue but I suspect it’s actually a very weathered standard green/tan over light blue and, rather nicely, the Caracal sheet had a Hungarian option which gave me the general pattern for both sides and the tail rotor warning markings, all I needed was some bort numbers (the Caracal decals are for “719” on a -V and the picture I found on the web was for “336” on a -P) and we’ll see what we can do about that later. And with both schemes decided I was about to hit paint when I was presented with the Master Models set, AM-48-126 “Hind D/E JakB 12.7 Machine Gun and DUAS Probe”. Goodness me! How DO they make something like that, the detail was incredible! I’m guessing this is my first 3-D printed aftermarket part, I can’t see any other way
this could have been made. So, I incorporated them onto the Revell kit and moved onto the painting (though the phrase “lipstick on a pig” did keep popping into my head during this build).
PAINTING I pre-shaded all the panels with black, my usual approach, and then to the main colours. Both schemes are hard edged so it was another masking job, both kits got the lightest colour first, FS36270 (Neutral Grey) for the Revell kit (undersides and one of the main upper surface colours) and for the Hungarian scheme (which calls for FS35550, a colour apparently similar to one used by the RAAF, Sky Blue K3/195) I mixed X149 FS15622 Israeli Pale Blue and X606 Hind Blue Grey as nothing I had
really came close and at least one of those colours mentioned Hinds. Then after some blu-tack masking, it was time for the X110, Forest Green on the Revell kit and X145 FS10400 Tan on the Trumpeter. The instructions on the Caracal sheet say FS33434 but I couldn’t find that and 10400 looks pretty close given the pictures I had. Then, after some more blu-tack masking (other reusable adhesives may be available) I sprayed X130 Gunship Grey on the Revell kit and a mix of X116 Green and X121 Gloss Sea Blue patchily on the Trumpeter, followed by the same mixed with some Humbrol 47 (a light blue shade) followed by more patches of mostly Humbrol 47. It doesn’t even get close to doing justice to the worn pattern I was aiming for, to be honest, but it looks quite interesting. I struggled to find convincing references for the rotor blade colours, the Revell instructions say light grey upper and dark grey lower but in the pictures I had you can see the blade tops (usually in flight so no good static pictures) they look to be green. So I went with a shade of green similar to the pictures I had and did the undersides a sort of medium/dark grey. I used the same grey for the tail rotors, with red tips as per the paint instructions.
About now I figured I should get both kits on their undercarriage, neither of the main gear offerings have stellar fit or detail but the Revell looks (and fits) a lot better than the Trumpeter. If there were aftermarket parts for this area I would recommend them for both but I can’t find anything. I had already given up on my early idea of using the resin on the Trumpeter kit, it really doesn’t deserve it, so I used the resin wheels on the Revell and handed the Revell ones down to the Trumpeter kit. I cut the rocket pods off the Revell pylons (they’re a bit old fashioned really) and fitted the resin tanks to the outboard ones, leaving the inner ones empty. If I had had something more worthwhile I would have fitted it but you often see some of the pylons bare so I didn’t spend too much time looking. And so on to the decals. The Caracal decals provide the main, obvious markings for six examples, including the two I was going to do, more or less, but no stencilling. The Revell kit decals provide a fair number of stencils and I dug out a set of Linden Hills stencil data but to be honest, given that they probably aren’t appropriate to either of these two aircraft as I can’t see any stencils on the pictures I have I just went with the main decals. The colours on the Czech markings don’t really match the paints I used, often a problem with this sort of scheme. The light grey numbers were too light to be the Neutral Grey and the darker grey lion motif on the side of the cockpit was too light for the Gunship Grey I had used. Hey ho, moving on. No such problems with
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THE END
Conclusions? Nice though the Revell kit is with extra bits added and some good, new decals, we are still waiting for a decent 48th scale Mi-24. Given its production numbers (something like 2,300 when you count Mi-24/ Mi-25/Mi-35), widespread usage (30+ operators) and the number of variants and the service it’s seen I think it’s very surprising there aren’t more kits available in this scale. The best we have is a thirty year old kit which still builds pretty well and has some reasonable internal detail and a twelve year old knock off with worse fit and less detail that I really the Trumpeter scheme, just those bort number to worry about. And I worried about them for a while, looked through my decal stash and searching the web. Then I realised that my chance of finding those numbers, in that style/size/colour were so small as to be pointless and applied the ones from the sheet. Just one more thing that’s not right in this build, just add it to the list.
staining, fit the (poorly detailed) Trumpeter rocket pods, a couple of clear parts on the tail painted clear red and then the tail rotors and they think it’s all over. Well, I was willing to say it was anyway.
(REALLY) strongly suggest you steer clear of (I have read comments on the web along the lines of “it’s not that bad”. Sorry It is.). And while the Revell/Monogram kit is pretty good, to make anything that closely represents a Hind as seen in service in the last 20 years is going to take a lot more research, time, aftermarket, scratch detailing and more patience than I expended here; every time I looked at these kits in the closing stages I noticed something else that was wrong. I think it’s very strange the Hind isn’t better served in plastic, especially considering what a wicked looking shape it is. Surely It’s only a matter of time before we get an all new kit (especially now I’ve finished these two).
FINAL BITS Now we’re into the endgame, and I can’t say I was sorry. The wingtip weapons were fitted (I used the Trumpeter Spirals on the Revell kit and the Revell Swatters on the Trumpeter kit), A coat of XDSS, Xtracolor Satin Varnish, over both kits, remove the masking, apply exhaust
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DORNIER 17Z-10
LEAD IN ITS PENCIL ICM 1/72 Dornier 17Z-10 by Huw Morgan
D
esigned originally against a Lufthansa requirement for a fast passenger and mail carrier, the Dornier Do17 first flew in 1934, with the first three pre-production airframes passed to the airline for trials. The slim fuselage resulted in an unusual arrangement of cramped, split cabins which didn’t appeal to Lufthansa and the prototypes languished unused until according to an apocryphal story, a former Dornier test pilot acting as liaison with the Air Ministry flew one and was seriously impressed by the type’s handling and agility, commenting that it had potential as a fast bomber. Six further prototypes followed, introducing an internal bomb bay, improved directional stability courtesy of twin endplate fins, defensive armament and various nose configurations. With development proceeding satisfactorily, the fledgeling Luftwaffe quickly adopted the first production Do17E-1, establishing four Kampfgruppe and sending the aircraft to Spain as part of the Legion Condor. Early models were powered by the BMW V1 radial, and after a couple of experiments with the inline Daimler-Benz DB 600, the definitive Do17Z
emerged, incorporating a redesigned cockpit based on lessons learned in Spain, and 1000hp Bramo Fafnir 323 radials in place of the DB 600’s that were desperately needed for fighters. Whilst the standard Bomber Z-2 dominated production, there were a number of specialist types produced, the Z-10 Kautz II (Screech owl) night fighter/intruder being one, 13 airframes being produced with a solid nose housing four MG 17 and two MG FF cannon surrounding the infra-red illuminator of the SpannerAnlage IR night vision system, the detector for which was mounted in front of the pilot in the port windscreen. On 3 September 2010, the RAF Museum announced that a Do 17 had been discovered in 15m of water on the Goodwin Sands off the coast of Kent, although the aircraft had been discovered in September 2008 and the discovery kept a closely guarded secret. The Dornier Do 17Z-2, Werknummer 1160, built under licence by Henschel with the full Geschwaderkennung (combat wing aircraft ID code) of 5K+AR, was operated by 7 Staffel, III Gruppe, Kampfgeschwader 3 (KG 3). The airframe is currently undergoing restoration at RAF Cosford.
THE KIT Arguably, the Z-10 is a strange variant for ICM to choose to model, - with only 13 built, all of which appear to have been operated by 2.NJG 2 in a black overall scheme, there is limited scope for aftermarket marking expansion. The kit itself appears to be a scaled-down version of the recently-released 1/48 model, and regrettably, carries over some of the problems apparent in that issue, most prominently with the depiction of the cowling supports at the front of the engines.
The 179 plastic parts are very cleanly moulded, with no ejector marks in embarrassing places, and only a couple of very minor sink marks to contend with. As the kit goes together fit is excellent and only the slightest amount of filling is needed, in my case due to lack of care rather than fundamental moulding shortcomings. The engineering of the cockpit and wheel bays is notably good. The relatively few references I have alluded to there being two MG FF cannon fitted to the -10 (along
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“A STRAIGHTFORWARD BUILD, WITH VERY GOOD DETAIL IN THE VISIBLE COCKPIT”
with the four MG17) although the kit nose has only a single cannon aperture. It may be that the model is in fact based on the -7 interim night fighter developed to test the concept, only one of which was converted from a -2 bomber using a modified Junkers 88-G nose. Multiple canopy options are provided, although from my references I couldn’t determine what for. But the mouldings are very clear and thin and offer a good view of the interior.
The kit instructions are reasonable, although they’re not very clear on some aspects of alignment and orientation, particularly concerning the engines and nacelles, compounded by sometimes indistinct location tabs in the mouldings. Typically for ICM, paint colours are referred to Vallejo Model Air, although there are virtually no detail painting instructions for the cockpit and
other minor internal details: be prepared for research, or the use of imagination! Two decal options are supplied, - differing only in the codes, and both in overall black. At the time of writing, there’s very little available in the aftermarket: Yahu do what looks to be a very nice instrument panel, and I found an old set of True Details wheels in my just in case box.
KIT DETAILS:
MANUFACTURER: ICM SCALE: 1/72 PRODUCT CODE: 72303 PANEL LINES: RECESSED NO OF PARTS: 179 PLASTIC (26 NOT
USED) PLUS 12 CLEAR (4 NOT USED) TYPE: INJECTION MOULDED PLASTIC STATUS: NEW TOOL DECAL OPTIONS: 2 (BOTH 2.NACHTJAGDGESCHWADER 2, GILZERIJEN 1940)
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DORNIER 17Z-10
THE BUILD Construction starts with the assembly of the various subcomponents of the cockpit; I painted mine Tamiya XF-22 RLM Grey as I went along, picking out detail with Vallejo and Citadel colours. Unsurprisingly, no seatbelts are provided, so I added a full harness for the pilot, and lap belts for the radio operator and navigator using a generic Eduard Luftwaffe set; leather brown for the seat webbing and a thin wash of burnt sienna oil paint completed the effect. The fuselage halves closed up very neatly, and although the instructions would have you add the bomb bay frames to one half first, I left mine out until the fuselage was closed up, avoiding the potential alignment difficulties. I chose to model the bomb bay open, with bombs in the rear half - in line with a night intruder mission) and a fuel tank in the forward bay, painting the latter dark yellow for some variety. The wing and tail assemblies are trouble-free, and again typical
of ICM’s recent releases, have all the control surfaces separate and easily poseable; I couldn’t resist having them all slightly displaced. The fit of the wing to the fuselage is excellent, although it repays dry fitting and minor trimming, the tail surfaces likewise fit without drama. The design of the wheel wells and nacelles is very clever, with the former each being made up of four parts which fit superbly into the lower wing, with the nacelles wrapping around the inner wheel wells with location pegs to help alignment. The instructions suggest fitting the rather spindly rear undercarriage struts at this point, but it is clear that they would be very vulnerable to damage, and be a nightmare to mask. Fortunately, careful assembly of the nacelle bays allows the undercarriage to be fitted at a later stage. The port wing leading-edge landing light doesn’t fit very well, so after painting the back silver, I fixed it using white
glue and sanded and polished it to match the leading edge. It is at this point that one needs to decide how to treat the engines, and particularly their cowlings and supports. The engines themselves are pretty good; cleanly moulded cylinder banks and separate parts for the pushrod tubes, a
representation of the rear face and two exhaust manifolds. These can be painted with various shades of aluminium/silver/iron/rust and given a black wash to highlight the detail. So far so good. There’s a
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neat engine mounting framework which fits inside the nacelle and attaches to the engine backplate, and the cowling itself slides over the engine, located only by the centre ring of the cowl support disc. Not unreasonable engineering, except that the cowl support disc bears no resemblance to the real thing, and has so much plastic that it completely obscures the engine behind it. Scrutiny of contemporary photographs shows the support structure to be a spindly arrangement of five isosceles triangles arranged asymmetrically and sitting in front of the engine, it appears to me that ICM’s pattern makers may have studied head-on photographs, and been confused by the overlapping arrangement of
pushrod tubes and support frames, replicating the whole lot in a single plane in the cowl support disc. The origin of the confusion notwithstanding, to make a more realistic model requires scratch building a new support structure, involving a new way of locating the cowling. Discarding the kit’s cowl support disc, I made a new inner ring from a slice of aluminium tube to fit over the engine reduction gearbox and supported the rear of the cowling by adding tiny pieces of plastic strip to three of the engine cylinders. Working from photographs, I cut individual struts from plastic rod to build up the support structure. The end result may not be wholly accurate but looks much better than the kit version. No doubt the aftermarket manufacturers will soon
oblige us with a more professional option. With the main airframe parts complete and joints fettled the large clear parts can be added and masked, the framing is very distinct and masking with Tamiya tape wasn’t difficult, fit is very good but the unusual crosssectional shape of the fuselage means that distortion as a result of excessive clamping forces is to be avoided. Typically, the defensive machine guns are fitted through the canopies and can be very vulnerable during painting. I cut the barrels off and fixed the inner parts in place with white glue. I drilled a second cannon aperture in the nose, accepting that it probably wasn’t in the absolutely correct place, and having blanked off the
inside added blast tubes from some brass tube. (When I removed the masking at the end of the build, I realised that I’d probably left too many panels clear, since the area where the cannon breeches would normally be looks a bit empty...) Painting started with the ubiquitous Halfords grey primer which was polished with 1000 grit abrasive cloth ready for the black final coat. Black is a notoriously difficult finish to look right and in scale, so I used a number of
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DORNIER 17Z-10 shades, based on Tamiya XF-1 but with additions of white, red and brown, and using differential masking along panel lines to give an overall patchy, off-black finish. I deliberately made the upper surfaces lighter than the lower to simulate fading and used dilute Tamiya XF-1 as a post-shade to emphasise panel lines. I then used a 50:50 mix of Mr Hobby H20 clear and H30 Matt clear to protect the surface during further handling and sprayed straight H20 locally where the decals would go. Having had some recent bad experiences with visible decal film, I cut as much of the infill decal film as possible away before application. The decals worked quite well, being reasonably thin, but did tend to stretch as they were removed from the backing, so distortion is a risk. I used some white swastikas from a generic Xtradecal sheet since none are included in the kit. A finishing coat of 10% H20/90% H30 created a slightly satin end result. After touching up the ends of the stub pipes, some minor exhaust staining was applied using a mix of browns and tans, enhanced with some pastels to add texture. The overall effect is deliberately subtle, since overdoing the staining and colour patchiness would tend to look artificial; these airframes didn’t have a long life!
THE END BIT With the painting complete and masking removed, the final appendages can be added; the undercarriage, gear and bomb bay doors fit without fuss, and I replaced the lower port side dipole aerial with wire. The undercarriage was dressed up with lead wire brake lines on both sides of the struts and Uschi van der Rosten thread used for the radio aerial. The Infra-red searchlight lens was fixed to the nose using white glue.
CONCLUSIONS
An unusual subject for a mainstream kit, given the rather limited options for aftermarket alternatives, although the kit breakdown is such that other variants are likely. Excellent engineering and fit throughout means a straightforward build, with very good detail in the visible cockpit. Highly recommended to anyone with an interest in non-mainstream Luftwaffe types and I look forward to seeing what the aftermarket manufacturers come up with. Thanks to ICM for the review sample.
REFERENCE NachtJäger und Bomber – Deutsche Luftwaffe 1935-1945. (in German) Herbert Ringlstetter. Geramond. ISBN 978-3-86245-326-9
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“HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO ANYONE WITH AN INTEREST IN NONMAINSTREAM LUFTWAFFE TYPES” WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM • AUGUST 2017 • 31
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BF110 C
ZERSTÖRER
To celebrate Eduard’s 25th Birthday, Jay Blakemore delves into the Czech manufacturers back-catalogue to build a 1/48th scale Battle of Britain Bf110 C
REFLECTIONS OF THE PAST
B
eing slightly older than twenty-five myself, I tend to ignore my birthdays these days. It did seem appropriate, however, to begin this celebratory article by taking a moment to delve into my own history. The decade into which I was born was a time of change that has become known as the Swinging Sixties. Yet despite its veneer of modernity, Britain remained very much a country overshadowed by memories of World War Two. Most families knew someone who had served in the military during the war, and many households still proudly displayed photographs of those who had not returned from war ravaged Europe. Growing up in the city of Coventry meant that we were constantly reminded of those dark days, for despite the local council having long-since torn down the standing skeletons of buildings destroyed during the Coventry Blitz of 1940, much of the land where they had once stood remained derelict: weed covered and brick-strewn adventure playgrounds for young boys like myself and my brother to explore. If a more potent symbol were needed to remind us of just how our city had suffered in the Blitz, then a trip to the nearby ruined cathedral with its gaping arched windows and preserved, blackened roof-timbers, was a stark lesson in the consequences of war. Even our daily walk to school took us past several rusting Anderson shelters; their arched, corrugated steel shells having become rusting monuments to the bombing. It was little wonder then that we two boys grew up fascinated by the war and the machines
of war, and in particular, those machines that fought in the skies over England during the Battle of Britain. Doubtless Sigmund Fraud would have
ITEMS USED:
EDUARD BRASSIN 648052: BF110 C/D MAIN WHEELS.
QUICKBOOST QB48163: BF110C EXHAUSTS
had something intuitive to say about my childhood obsession with the aircraft of the Luftwaffe as opposed to those of the RAF, for I spent many a happy hour drawing them and pouring over photographs of them. One colour photograph in particular was and remains a most potent symbol of the Battle of Britain. It features a Bf110 flying low along the White Cliffs of Dover, which stand beyond the dappled flanks of the German heavy fighter like the walls of a besieged fortress. The Bf110, with its slender fuselage and forked tail became a particular favourite of mine, and I remember well the 1/72nd scale Airfix Bf110’s that I built as part of my earliest model collections, followed some years later by the Matchbox example, with its three-colour plastic and wasp nose artwork. My fascination with the zerstörer has never really waned, and as so often happens when building a model these days, those memories come flooding back.
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“ONE COLOUR PHOTOGRAPH IN PARTICULAR WAS AND REMAINS A MOST POTENT SYMBOL OF THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN”
THE KIT – INITIAL REACTION Eduard launched their series of Bf110 kits with the release of the ‘E’ variant in 2007, which was quickly followed by the Bf110C, and it is the latter version of the twin-engined heavy fighter that is synonymous with the Battle of Britain. It seemed appropriate for my first quarter scale 110’ to be a ‘C’, and I say my first because when I looked
into the box and saw the quality of the plastic for the first time, I knew that it would not be my last. The Eduard ‘Profipak’ kit oozes quality, and that quality begins with the box-top artwork and the colour-printed, twenty-page instruction booklet. The plastic
too overflows with fine detail; from the subtly recessed panel lines and the barely visible rows of sunken rivets to the precise and meticulously wrought raised detail on the cockpit components. On the downside, some of that recessed detail is overly subtle, and there is a fair amount of flash evident on the smaller parts that suggests that the moulds have been worn out with overuse. Another thing that you notice when you examine the six grey runners is the massive amount of small parts which make up the vast majority of the approximately 210 pieces within the box. The breakdown of those parts is a good initial indication as to the wealth of detail crammed into every area of the kit, and which further suggested that the Eduard 110’ would be anything but a quick and simple build and perhaps one that is best avoided by inexperienced modellers. There is barely a component in the kit that isn’t broken down into a myriad of smaller parts, and that includes, for example, such details as the
rear machine gun and its mounting bracket, which is made up of a staggering eleven individual parts.
CONSTRUCTION BEGINS Because of the complexity of the parts breakdown, it pays to work on several construction stages at once, rather than sticking rigidly to the construction sequence suggested in the instruction booklet, which naturally enough begins with the cockpit. The interior, which incorporates the forward armament bay, the cockpit and the rear gunner’s position, comprises of approximately one hundred parts, which in the Profipak package includes several etched brass components and a multitude of colour etched additions. If you choose to use the colour-etch in
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the cockpit area, then some of the raised clock and lever details will need to be removed from several of the pilot and gunners secondary instrument panels. For the main instrument panel a smooth panel option is included amongst the kit parts should you decide to use the multi-part, colour-etched as well as an alternative with raised clock faces and details if you choose to paint it. As well as working my way through the forty-five stages required to construct the interior, I also made a start on the wing assemblies. Construction of the wings actually begins with the assembly of some incredibly delicate struts that penetrate the lower wing halves, and need cementing in place before the wings can be closed-up. These delicate struts will eventually be incorporated into the wheel bays, but until those assemblies are constructed around them, they stand proud of the wings and so remain very prone to damage. Extreme care needs to be taken
therefore when securing the wing-halves with elastic bands or clamps once they have been cemented together. Care should also be taken when cementing the wings due to the lack of locating pins on the mating surfaces of the wing-halves – a feature I am becoming accustomed to with earlier Eduard releases. I also found that the fit of the wings was not perfect, particularly at the trailing edges. Here, the upper wing trailing edge wraps around to meet the rear edge of the lower flaps, and once the cement had hardened there was a noticeable ridge that required filling. Once filled, these join-lines took a considerable amount of scraping and sanding to tidy-up before the flap trailing edges looked passable. As already noted, there is flash evident on many of the smaller components, but there are moulding seams too that need removing from the mating surfaces of many of the larger components including the engine nacelles. The breakdown of pieces
that make up the nacelles is such as to allow Eduard to produce alternative versions of the twin engined Messerschmitt fighter, and the mating surfaces in the area of the chin intakes required a small amount of filler once assembled. The nacelles of course also house the wheel bays, and the bay walls are appropriately thin in this area. There are separate bay-wall inserts that feature some nice rib and wiring details, and there are small curved rib inserts to add to the rear of each bay that feature the sunken impression of holes, which really benefit from being drilled out. As there are no locating pins on the four nacelle and wheel bay halves, and due to the delicate nature of the plastic in these areas, construction of the nacelles proved rather fiddly. Once cemented in place, however, they proved to be solid enough to withstand the force of the clamps that were required to hold them in place against the wings whilst the cement hardened. A smear of filler was required along the entire length of the wheel-bays once the cement had hardened, and yet more filler was required along the upper, rear edge of the engine cowls. Finally, before the wings could be set aside, etched metal grills were added to the front and rear faces of the large underwing radiators, before the radiator housings themselves could be cemented into place. Yet more filler was required along the edges of the housings to blend them into the wings, particularly along the edges that face the nacelles.
THE AIRFRAME COMES TOGETHER I partially constructed the cockpit prior to painting, cementing the forward section and the bulkhead complete with radios and the gunner’s station, to the starboard wall panel. The port wall section was cemented directly to the port fuselage half, and I then airbrushed a coat of darkened Colourcoats RLM02 enamel over the entire cockpit area. Once thoroughly dry I applied washes using a black/brown/red brown enamel mix, which I streaked down the cockpit walls to suggest an aged appearance, and which I allowed to build-up within the engraved detail to add further shade and depth to the cockpit structures. Once
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the wash had dried, I dry brushed several, subtle and increasingly lighter shades of RLM02 on any areas that I felt would have suffered from extreme wear due to crew use and abuse on the real aircraft. Due to the complexity of the interior and the richness of detail included in the kit, there are by necessity many small details that need painting before being added to the cockpit. These include a multitude of ammunition drums and magazines, which were given a coat of Alclad Aluminium before being finished in black and then ‘washed’ with a brush dampened with white spirit to partially expose
the aluminium underneath. The pair of cannons situated under the cockpit floor were similarly painted and cemented in place when dry, though they are in fact hidden from view once the fuselage halves are closed up. Once everything was painted to my satisfaction, I added the photo etched harness before applying a coat of matt varnish and setting the cockpit components aside to dry. The slender fuselage halves closed around the packed cockpit without difficulty, and once the vertical fuselage join-line was cleaned-up and the panel lines restored, the wings and tail planes were attached. The tailplanes come as two separate items, as opposed to the normal practice amongst model manufacturers of moulding a single piece tailplane that crosses the fuselage at its centre. The latter, single moulding,
would certainly have proved stronger than the delicately moulded, Eduard items, which seemed very fragile once cemented to the fuselage sides. This proved to be the case, and one of the tailplane joints cracked during later handling. The very visible join lines along the tailplane roots were filled using thin lengths of stretched sprue, which I hoped would further strengthen these joints. Whereas the noticeable gap along both the upper and lower main wing root joints required filling with a smear of Milliput, once the cement had hardened. To mount the nose armament I utilised more of this malleable putty, pressing a ball of Milliput into the separate upper nose cowling (part B14), and into which the rear ends of the Aber metal MG barrels were pressed. This was a crude but simple method of mounting the two machine guns that protrude from the nose. For the two recessed machine guns mounted within the nose, I cut the barrels from two of the kit MG17’s and simply cemented them to the inner sides of the cowling. Both mounting methods were crude, but as very little is visible through the machine gun apertures in the nose, I saw little point in using the multi-part kit mounting assemblies provided in the kit. Before the Milliput had hardened fully, I pulled the two metal MG barrels from the nose and put them aside to re-attach after painting – another good reason for not using the kits plastic machine guns, which would certainly have been broken had they been left
protruding from the nose. The cowling was not a great fit, and more Milliput was required to fill the noticeable gap that remained after cementing it to the fuselage. The final job on the airframe once all of the assembled sections had hardened was to re-scribe the panel lines obliterated during the filling and sanding stages.
BITS & BOBS Alongside the airframe, several sub-assemblies were nearing completion at this time too, including the undercarriage. Each of the main undercarriage units consists of six parts, including some very thin actuating rods which are delicately moulded with very little in the way of moulding seams or flash. The detailing on the wheels is however rather disappointing and not particularly representative of the real things. Eduard’s resin replacements which must be sought separately, are far superior. I chose to purchase the Eduard/Brassin replacements, but these like the kit wheels lacked weighted tyres, which seemed an odd oversight. They also required their locating holes drilling out before they would fit onto the kit spindles, and whilst I was at it, the tyres were flattened-off as well. I decided to replace the kit exhausts too, as the kit items each consist of a back-plate and six separate exhausts stubs, the ends of which require hollowingout. The Quickboost items that I chose to replace them with come as four complete, resin units with hollow exhaust ends. Though these required some work before they would fit comfortably into the
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recesses in the kit nacelles they are far superior to the kit parts. The long greenhouse canopy comes in seven sections, allowing you to pose the pilot and the rear-gunners access panels in the open position. There are framing sections included on the etched fret for the inside faces of the two forward access panels that hang down the fuselage sides in the open position, and I chose to use PVA adhesive to secure these to the transparencies. The PVA glue was not up to the task, however, and the etched frames fell off during handling. In the end, Super glue was used, taking particular care not to let it stray onto the transparent sections. Masking of the canopy is made stress-free with the inclusion in the Profipak of an exterior masking sheet, and once masked, the main centre section of the canopy complete with the aerial was attached to the fuselage. The windscreen section too was cemented in p[lace, and the open areas then masked off in preparation for the painting of the airframe. Remember when painting canopies, to initially paint the framing in the appropriate interior colour, before painting over them in the exterior colour.
SPOILT FOR CHOICE: DECAL OPTIONS Before exterior paint could be applied to the airframe, I had to decide upon a subject matter. The kit decal sheet is printed by Eduard, and features five interesting scheme options, including W.Nr.2831, 2N+GN of 5./ZG1, flown by Fw. Manfred Dahne. Battle of France, 1940. And W.Nr.3602, M8+AC, of Stab II./ZG76, flown by Maj. Erich Groth. Both machines are in a RLM70/71 splinter scheme: 2N+AP of 9./ZG76, flown by Obl. Urban Schlaffer. August 1940. W.Nr.3102, U8+BB of Stab 1./ZG26, flown by Oblt. Rudiger Proska. August 1940. Both aircraft finished in the toned-down fighter scheme of RLM 71 and 02 over 65, that was introduced during the battle for France and finally, a black night fighter of 1./NJG3, based
in North Africa in the summer of 1941, and featuring that units owl and crescent moon badge. The sheet looked to be in register, but as usual with Eduard’s own decals, the colours, in my opinion, looked a little pale, and I resolved not to use them. I had, of course, already decided that my 110’ was going to be of Battle of Britain vintage, and although two of the aircraft optioned on the kit decal sheet would have been appropriate, my decision about which aircraft to model was made doubly complicated by the fact that I also possessed the excellent Aims, Stab Bf110 sheet, which featured a Battle of Britain era aircraft that appealed to me because of its white-painted nose. Temporary white paint was applied to the noses of both Bf110 and Bf109 fighters during this period to enable pilots to quickly identify friendly aircraft in the whirl of aerial combat, and a photograph I managed to find of Oberst Huth’s, 3U+AA, showed it to have had a very weathered white nose that contrasted greatly with the pre-war style white chevron that streaked the aircraft’s flanks. It was the challenge of effectively recreating the contrasting white-painted surfaces that really appealed to me, and with my decision on the colour scheme made and a reference photograph of 3U+AA to hand, I set about applying paint to the exterior of my Zerstörer.
SHADOWS, SPLINTERS & WHITE NOSES Because much of the recessed surface detail is incredibly subtle – in some places being so shallow as to be almost invisible to the naked eye – I decided against a heavy base-coat for fear of losing the detail altogether. I, therefore settled for a very light initial shadow-coat. The darkbrown shadow-coat revealed no joint or surface problems that required further attention, and so once the dark enamel had dried thoroughly, I gave the model’s surface a quick wipe over with a Micro-Mesh sanding cloths, before applying the camouflage colours. I began in this instance with the lighter of the three shades as opposed to my preferred method of starting with the darkest shade first. The RLM65 Hellblau covers the majority of the airframe including the fuselage sides and wing leading edges, and so I set about methodically airbrushing each panel of the airframe one at a time, leaving subtle traces of the shadow-coat visible at the panel edges. Having allowed the light blue to dry over night, I utilised torn paper masks to create the demarcation line for the upper fuselage colours. This masking method is simple and extremely effective for obtaining a soft-edge to your airbrushed camouflage patterns. For a wavy edged demarcation line, simply tear a ragged mask from a sheet of paper to the dimensions required. Whilst for a straight, soft-edged mask, make a straight fold in the
paper and then tear the paper along the fold-line. For a slightly sharper soft-edged mask, simply cut your paper masks out with scissors. I utilised the second method to obtain the long, soft-edged masks for the fuselage sides, and simply attached these to the model with masking tape. I then masked the fuselage sides at the wing roots with more flexible, plastic tape to create a sharp, curved edge at those points, and then masked the remainder of the fuselage with tape to protect the RLM65 from over-spray. I then applied a slightly darkened, Colourcoats RLM 02 to the upper fuselage and wings before using RLM02 directly from the tin to add subtle highlights. Once dry, I again used paper masks cut to shape with scissors and taped these along the upper wings and along the fuselage, spine to replicate the splinter camouflage pattern. Spraying away from the edges of the masks so as not to blow paint beneath them, I finally applied the RLM71, once again allowing hints of the shadowcoat to remain visible along panel edges and so create an instant but subtle weathered appearance. Once the camouflage colours were dry I turned my attention to masking-off the nose section in
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preparation for the temporary white finish. Initially I added random patches of masking fluid to the upper nose and to the tip of the nose, before dusting the entire nose with a light application of dark brown – no brown-nosing jokes, please. Onto this dark base coat I sprayed a coat of off-white enamel, once again leaving hints of the brown base-coat visible at the edges of panels and to the rear of the spent cartridge ejection chutes. Once the enamel was touch-dry I removed the masking tape and fluid, revealing patches of the camouflage beneath the off-white. The dark brown base coat now appeared as a subtle line that edged the off-white, separating it from the camouflage colours beneath and lending the white a more three-dimensional, temporary appearance, which effect can be clearly seen in the pictures. Having set the airframe aside to dry thoroughly overnight, I continued to further weather the nose with brush applied washes of brown and black enamel and
streaks of pure white to replicate the much-worn identification wash applied to the real aircraft. Further streaking and washes were applied to the airframe, emphasising inspection hatches, cowls, control surfaces and fuel filler caps. I next tackled the heavy mottle that completely covered the actual aircraft’s flanks, engine cowls and the wing leading edges. Using my Harder & Steinbeck Evolution airbrush filled with a thin mix of RLM71, I set about applying the mottle by initially pre-setting the needle travel on the airbrush and then using jerky yet subtle finger movements to control the paint flow. Using a stabbing, almost jittery movement of the hand, I then moved the airbrush
slowly from nose to tail until the blue-painted fuselage sides were virtually hidden by the green mottle, as on the real aircraft. A more controlled method was used to apply the wavy camouflage along the wing leading edges. The entire mottling process took some considerable time, and it should be remembered that during a prolonged application like this, it will become necessary to repeatedly remove the end-cap from the airbrush and wipe the inevitable build-up of dried paint regularly from the needle’s tip and so allow a free-flow of thinned paint. This expedient will prevent particles of dried paint splattering onto the model’s surface which would spoil the ‘soft-edged’ appearance of the mottle. To complete the weathering process I added random highlights across the
camouflaged surface using lighter shades of the original colours, before applying a gloss-coat overall in preparation for the decals. It should be noted that in the Eduard instruction booklet, the toned-down temperate European camouflage scheme is described as being a splinter application of RLM71 and 02 over RLM76. I would suggest that the lower surfaces should, in fact be finished in RLM65 and not RLM76 as described. But as always when applying Luftwaffe camouflage, be guided by your references.
DECALS & FINAL TOUCHES There are some very delicate, etched-metal aerials that need adding to the lower fuselage, and these require that you drill six holes in which to fit them. I had neglected to do so earlier in the build, and so the holes were drilled now. However, before adding the aerials, which I guessed would be flattened during later handling, I added the undercarriage. I had taken the precaution of strengthening the tail wheel by
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replacing the delicate plastic oleo with lengths of metal rod, which slotted into the metal tube tunnel that I had earlier inserted into the fuselage. The main undercarriage was a bit fiddly, comprising of several thin plastic actuating arms and struts, which buttfitted to the undercarriage legs. These attachment points were not very positive, however, and later needed re-cementing having broken apart due to handling. After adding the undercarriage doors, the wheels, the aerial masts and the delicate under-wing pitot and aileron counterbalance weights, the airframe was given a coat of satin varnish to give
everything a uniform sheen. The final job, once the varnish had dried thoroughly, was of course to remove the many squares of masking tape that had protected the greenhouse glazing throughout the painting process, taking great care not to break off the delicate items I had so recently added to the airframe. There remained five individual sections of glazing to attach to the model, those being the entrance and exit points for the crew. The transparencies are delicately moulded and therefore quite fragile, and I had actually cracked the starboard section of the pilots glazing when initially removing it from the sprue. I
thought I would be able to live with it, but having held the damaged section of glazing in its open position against the dark mottle of the fuselage, the crack was very obvious. Luckily the crack happened to dissect only the forward section of glazing, which on the real aircraft slides back, and which in wartime photographs was very often left open. I therefore simply removed the cracked section of glazing by carefully chaindrilling holes around the edge of the frame and cutting the jagged plastic away with a fresh scalpel. With the surgery complete and the frame re-painted, the drop-down glazed panels were added to the fuselage sides, and short lengths of stretched sprue glued across the obvious join-lines to replicate hinges. The final job, of course, was to string the aerial wires using Uschi van der Rosten rigging thread and press the propellers into place, and my Zerstörer was finished.
FINAL THOUGHTS
It occurred to me during the painting process, that despite the surface detail being more than acceptable, it is perhaps not up to the standards that I have come to appreciate in more recent Eduard releases. Much of the engraved detail is subtle and in places so subtle as to be practically invisible, and would be easily lost beneath a heavy coat of paint. The Bf110C is, I would suggest, an example of Eduard’s evolution, and in the years since this kit’s initial release, the Czech manufacturer’s products have matured to such an extent that their earlier mouldings are beginning to look a little naive. That does not mean that I think this is a poor kit, far from it, it simply means that in this, the Czech manufacturers 25th anniversary year, there can be little doubt that Eduard has come a long way since their inception. And I will one day definitely build another of their Bf110’s, but in the meantime, I would like to join with my colleagues at SAMI to wish Eduard a very happy 25th birthday and long may they continue to produce masterful model kits.
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SEKSU & HEMSWORTH
BIRTH OF A CLUB What is the definition of a Model Club?
T
he answer is very simple. It is a gathering of people with a common interest of assembling, scratch-building, modifying and painting models of various materials. It is also a hub of knowledge consisting of various techniques, experience and genre of themes. For some of us, it is a form of help group where we can share our addiction of plastic, bringing our newest purchases of the box of wonderful plastic sprues, whether it isa a recent or old release. It is also the stage for us to show off our latest completed projects and current builds. A club is an essential part of this great hobby of ours, for promoting the art of model building and encouraging the younger generation to take up this activity. This is the story of the birth of SESKU & Hemsworth Scale Model Club.
THE START Before I moved up to West Yorkshire, I was an active member of Milton Keynes SMC. During my time at MKSMC, I discovered how the hobby had changed from when I was last involved in model building. In 2014, we decided as a family to move northwards to Yorkshire and I joined a local
club near Barnsley. After a couple of years, the numbers in the club had dropped and a decision between the remaining active members that the club would be ceased in its current form. In the meantime, I had started to chat on Facebook to another model builder called Mark Andrews who lived in the neighbouring town and one day, the conversation moved onto the subject of clubs. He explained that he would love to be part of a model club, but the hours of his job prevented him from joining one. The conversation continued over the next few days and we agreed to meet up one Sunday evening to discuss setting up a new club. During this meeting around, Mark told me about another friend he knew called Alastair who was interested in being part of the new club too, thus the foundations of the new club were laid. From the initial outset, we decided that the club would hold its meetings at the weekend, making it accessible for modellers that could not attend meetings held on weekdays. Saturday was the ideal choice for the meeting day, as this allowed Sundays to be kept clear for us to visit model shows if required. The following weekend happened to be the Bolton Model Show, so all three of us arranged
to drive over together and discuss more about setting the club up.
THE BIRTH So, this was the initial list of items for us to sort out. We needed to find a meeting venue, a date to start holding meetings and come up with the club’s name. Firstly, we came up with the club’s logo, then the name was the next item on our list, after a little chat, we finalised the name of the club and SESKU & Hemsworth Scale Model Club was born. I will admit, I did not know what “SESKU” meant and had to look it up online. It turned out that it was the communal name for
the area of South Elmshall, South Kirkby and Upton, which are three towns just south of Hemsworth. A new piece of information about this area I have now learnt! Now that we had the club’s name and logo sorted out, it was on to the job of finding a venue to hold the club meetings in. The original plan, as it is with most clubs as they start up, was to hold the meetings at the founding member’s houses, taking a turn from one meeting to the next. But we also started looking around our local areas for any suitable venues to meet at. As a lot of clubs are finding these days, suitable premises are hard to come by and the fees that they are charging can be extortionate. So, it was not looking too good for us to find a room to use for meeting in at a reasonable price on a Saturday but we came up trumps again and found us a meeting location in the library right here in Hemsworth. Yes, I did say the local library. Hemsworth like many libraries hosts various activities during the week and Saturday mornings were free, so we grabbed the slot. This is a first in my knowledge, a model club holding their meetings on a Saturday and in a library. Now the items on our list were all being ticked off. We had the club’s name and logo. We had the meeting venue at the library and a start date of Saturday 4th February 2017. Colin from our
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local model shop, Janco Toys in Worsbrough, was also giving us his support by advertising the new club and we had also set up a Facebook group to get the word out about the new club. Next, it was out with the laptop and after an hour or so, I came up with a design which could be used as a general A6 flyer to hand out at shows and leave in model shops. In addition to the flyers, I came up with a poster that advertised the club, venue and start date. I had also designed and printed off a selection of stickers in various sizes and styles. We had to come with different things just to advertise the new club and the stickers were a great idea.
A CLUB The day of the first meeting arrived. The three founder members went to the library to set up just before it opened to the public. Now we just had to wait and see if anyone was going to turn up. As the time rolled on, people started to turn up, friends I knew from the hobby and my previous club, Colin from Janco Toys and a few people that had found the Facebook group. At the end of our first meeting, we had nine new members sitting around the tables chatting away about our models and experiences. The following weekend we had another chance to promote the club at the Huddersfield Model Show. They had allowed us some display space for our first model show as a club, just one week after it’s first official meeting.
Now let us jump a few months further along to the beginning of May when I am writing this. We have now had seven meetings, all held at the library in the main area in full view of the public visiting there to change their books. The membership has grown to fifteen signed up members, including our first junior member who came with his father at the last meeting. Each meeting, visitors to the library come across to see what we are doing and have a chat with us. A few have commented about building models themselves as kids, so we try to entice them back to the “Plastic Side”. In our membership, we have many subjects covered. The usual ones, automotive, aircraft, armour and figures. But we also have members who cover other subjects including Sci-fi, Warhammer and converting die-cast model vehicles. As a club, we like to include all of these areas of modelling under the club’s banner and it has created a variety of models and conversation at the club meeting. So, what are our plans for the future?
THE FUTURE Well, we are being booked up to attend more model shows, which are added to the club’s Facebook group events calendar once the bookings are confirmed. Another activity, which we have started, is the “Workshop Days” that are being held at Janco Toys in Worsbrough. The idea of these days is to allow the club members to do demonstrations and activities that we cannot do in the library.
The Workshop Days are being held on a Sunday and we plan to hold them about four times a year. Some of the activities planned are airbrush demonstrations, diorama/display base making and other noisy or smelly modelling techniques, which would not be allowed to be held at the library. Members will also be bringing a selection of completed models to put on a club display in the shop on these days. Another thing about this club activity, members of the public will be welcome to visit and join in on these workshop days to chat, learn new techniques and see what can be created from these wonderful boxes of plastic that we all buy. Hopefully, some of them might like to come along on a Saturday to join us in the library as prospective club members.
CONCLUSION
It is hard to believe, that from that first little chat on Facebook back in January and the very first meeting in February, how the club has already grown. The members and visitors to the meetings think that we have created a new concept to the model club. The practicality of holding the meetings on a Saturday and twice a month is ideal for modellers that do shift work or late finishes. The added openness of holding the meetings in a library, in full view of the visiting public, not shut away in a room at some pub or hall is refreshing and creates interest. Maybe, this might be the future of clubs for them and the hobby to survive. At your next club meeting, just look around at your members and work out the
youngest age group in it? This is not just confined to our hobby, the model railway scene has been going through the same problems for many years now. I think that bringing our hobby out from the closed meeting rooms, making it more open and accessible to the younger generation to encourage them into the hobby. Show them there is more to life than the fantasy world in a computer game. So how can I finish this article off? By just putting a simple invitation out to you, the modeller that is reading it. If you live in the little area of Yorkshire between Wakefield, Barnsley, Pontefract and Doncaster, pop along to our meetings in Hemsworth Library. Joins us for a chat and a cuppa with other model builders, even bring along one of your models to. Look for our Facebook group, which is the club’s name and join it. On the calendar section, you will find the dates of the upcoming meetings, shows the club is visiting, workshop days and other events that we plan. On the other hand, if you live in an area where there are no clubs nearby or one that you cannot attend because of work commitments, do what we did, start your own club up. It is easier then you think! Just do it.
AN OFFER FROM THE EDITOR If you are inspired to follow Mick and start a new model club and want to advertise the fact in the UKs best selling aircraft modelling magazine send the Editor the details to david@sampublications. com and we will mention in the next issue that goes to press.
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NEW ARRIVAL OUT NOW! The Northrop
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A retro 1/144 Airbus schemes got me a bit confused at first
SHOW REPORT
Sam
ModellBrno 2017
THE
E
very two years in June, Brno, the second city of the Czech Republic holds a major
model show. Unlike the Czech Nationals in Prague, this shows you southern location means that get a lot of visitors from Austria, as Hungary and Slovakia as well from the North of the country. This year the show was sponsored by Eduard who along lot with KPM (IPMS) Brno put a
detail The working lights and amazing internal made this 1/72 scale Spectre stand out
A Sweet ME-410 Hornisse in 1/48 scale
Hard to believe this MH-60 diorama is in 1/144 scale
than just the medal winners.
Show Report from ModellBrno 2017 see page 54 Loved this attractive early 109 Racer in 1/48 scale
A very nice finish on this WNW Fokker Eindecker The nice water effect on this IL-2 diorama caught my eye.
A tiny 1/72 scale Mig-15 UTi in Algerian markings
Surprisingly large this Mistel towered above it’s rivals
HpH’s large scale Helldiver dominated the table
Everything with Stripes?
Aftermarket engines made this 1/48 Do-335 stand out
A selection of under 12-year old JUNIOR models!!!!
A lovely Modelsvit Be-12 Seagull in 1/72 scale
A great way to display Zoukei Mura 1/48 Ho-229
A nice clean build of Kinetics AMX 1/48.
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The CH-53 was massive and that base really helped set it apart
The Tu-104A almost as attractive as a DH Comet in 1/144
52 • AUGUST 2017 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER
A Mitten for Winter
SAMI Scrapbook
PHOTO SCRAPBOOK
of work into the organisation of and were rewarded with one busiest in the show’s history with in excess of 1500 models on the competition tables. For this report, I have picked a selection of the models that caught my eye at the show rather
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2017 • 53
INTERNATIONAL
AIRFIX: ALL NEW 1/72 WELLINGTON!
A New Boot for 2018 W
R
ussian manufacturer Zvezda have announced a new 1/72 scale tool of the Russian Air Forces new primary trainer the Yak-130. This type has been given the rather unglamorous NATO reporting name of Mitten. Over 100 aircraft have been produced for Russia and Bangladesh and development is continuing of future variants including a Ground Attach version to replace the Su-25 Frogfoot and an Electronic Warfare version. The CADs show a very good level of detail in the cockpit and a number of optional parts including weaponry for under the wings.
ith no fanfare Airfix have made the surprise announcement that they will be producing an all new Wellington tooling in 1/72 scale in 2018. Early CAD drawings show a really good level of
detail that would not look out of place in a larger scale. The first version released will be a Wellington 1.c but I am sure we will see many more boxings of other versions in due course.
Can I have slats with that?
Z
okui Mura released their 1/48 scale F-4J Phantom last year and announced at the US Nationals that they will also be releasing the upgraded F-4s. The most noticeable external difference between a J and the S version is the leading edge slats and these have been beautifully reproduced. The release of the F-4S is now imminent and I would expect to see it on sale at the US Nationals at Omaha. Also at Omaha to go with the new F-4S we will
have a new addition to their pre-finished base range. This new base will feature the catapult of a modern US Navy carrier and on the shots published by the manufacturer also includes the launch shuttle and bridle. A separate, wooden surround will also be available as an optional extra. I am sure many other U.S.N subjects will end up posed on one of these bases.
Fighter’s Hide A
t most current and former military bases that house fighter and bombers there are a selection of Hardened Aircraft Shelters scattered around the base to protect aircraft from both air attack and the elements. Due to the peace dividend, many of these heavy duty structures can also now contain less aggressive civil aircraft. Noy Pines is well known for his card bases and this the latest is made from three parts. A back plate which show the HAS itself with the door wide open and a two part tarmac base on which you can display the model of your choice from the 1970s to the present day. This set will be produced in all four major scales and will be available from Hannants in the UK by the time you read this.
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Fat Albert RFC Heavyweight and the Dart B N ext release from Caracal decal in both 1/48 and 1/72 will be sheets for the C-130 Hercules in use by the Air National Guard all in the current overall grey finish. And in most case the only colour is the band on the tail containing the state name though one example thinks it is a P-51 complete with yellow and red check cowlings and D day stripes.
As an antidote to all that grey we also have one of the most colourful Air Guard aircraft ever in the shape of an F-106 in 1/48 scale. Based in Florida this Delta Dart was painted with the colours from the national flag and name City of Jacksonville on the flanks . This aircraft become one of the iconic images from the bicentennial celebrations of 1976.
ig news from Copper State models is that their next release will be a 1/48 scale Handley Page 0/400. The real aircraft had a wingspan of 100ft so this model will have a wingspan of 17 inches which will make it the centrepiece of any World War One collection. The
detail seen in the photos looks typical of Copper State Models, in a word, outstanding. This is truly a golden age for World War One modellers and I would expect to see this state if the art kit on sale at Telford in November.
It’s a Wing thing The new Stringbag Z okui Mura have decided that after producing their super detailed Horten Ho.229 in both 1/32 and 1/48 scale. They are going to complete the set by releasing a scaled down version of the 1/48 scale kit as well as a 1/144 scale example in the same box.
W
ATTENTION!
e have eagerly been following the progress of Airfix’s new 1/72 scale Fairy Swordfish in 1/72 scale. And Airfix have now supplied us with the box art. Yet again this is another stunning piece of art work showing a Pre-war Swordfish just at the point of take off. Look for this kit flying off the shelves in the Autumn.
Manufacturers
If you would like your companies forthcoming projects in this column please send the information to
[email protected]
DRAGON SLAYER
Why so Long?
F
irst announced at the US Nationals in 2016 the Ki-45 Nick will be the next 1/32 scale release from Zokui Mura. Though I think this will be a 2018 release we may just see it in time for Telford hopefully we will have more news after the US nationals in next months issue.
O
ne of big success stories of the British aviation industry the English Electric Canberra was exported around the world with even the United States buying the type as they could not build a better aircraft.
So why has it taken so long for a new tool 1/72 scale Canberra to be released? Well now S+M Models have taken up the challenge by announcing they will be releasing both a B.2 Bomber and T.4 Trainer variants. This is a series that could run and run and a USAF B-57A seems a logical choice for a future boxing?
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Sukhoi’s Fighters
07/07/2017 10:43 09:49 07/07/2017
News CZECH
By Tim Upson-Smith
W
ell, ModellBrno has been and gone and by all accounts it was a good show! I know the Editor certainly enjoyed the show and his visit to Brno. He even visited the Zetor tractor factory museum and took some pictures for me as he knows I have a soft spot for tractors! (Strangely it was quite interesting Ed.) The biggest news from the show in terms of physical size was definitely from HpH, and Fly had news of some new releases in the more manageable 1/72 scale! If your company or product is not featured and you would like it to be, please contact us at the editorial e-mail address.
Hello big boy!
H
pH is well known for their larger scale models/models of larger subjects, but I think this may be their largest yet! Announced at Modellbrno was a 1/32 scale Messerschmitt Me323
Gigant the powered version of the Me321 glider, and it is huge! The Editor had hoped the Tigercat in 1/32 scale would be ready, but was disappointed, perhaps for Eday! In this month’s first look
section we take a closer look at the 1/18th scale Aviatik Berg DI nose section and next month we will bring you a look at the 1/32 scale full kit of the Berg DI.
Sabre Dance
Transport to France A
Z/KP are cooperating with Smer to rerelease the 1/72 scale Potez 540, previously boxed by Smer and Heller. This new boxing will have some extra conversion parts so that you can build the transport version of the type. Markings for three schemes will be included, a civil, a Vichy and Free French versions.
A
s mentioned last month the 1/32 Scale Tempest has been released as a high-tech version with a partial Sabre engine; but if you want to go further Special Hobby under their CMK label, will be releasing a full resin Napier Sabre, with firewall, air intake and mountings. Like the Eduard 1/32 scale, Brassin Merlin’s the addition of this Sabre to your model will really take it to the next level. In 1/48 scale news, Special Hobby has released some images of the test short for the new Siebel/ Aero C-3, which will include a separate fuselage mouldings for either version. The Air Museum at Prague, Kbely, has the fuselage of an Aero C-3 and a recreation of a C-3 based on a post-war French built version. So I can feel a visit coming on! In other 1/48 scale news, Special
Hobby is continuing to upgrade and re-release the old Classic Airframes kits. The next to receive their treatment is the IMAM (Romeo) Ro-37bis, which will feature a new interior, by Special Hobby. In 1/72 scale news, the CASA 212s are progressing with further test shots on display at ModelBrno and this may be ready for the Czech Nationals in September. Last but by no means least, although it is not an aircraft, I will mention that Special Hobby is preparing a 1/72 scale German Midget Submarine ‘Biber’. It was only a couple of days ago that I was looking at the preserved example at the Imperial War Museum Duxford, unfortunately, I didn’t take many photos, so a return visit may have to be made!
Big Aircraft, Tiny Model M
ark 1 has been releasing some very nice 1/720 scale First World War Zeppelins and they have just announced a foray into the interwar period with the iconic ‘Graf Zeppelin’ LZ127, one of the true liners of the air. In 1/720 scale it will be a lot more manageable than the huge Testors version I built a few years ago!
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Apache out from the ‘Shadows’ A
n unexpected announcement is an Apache from Brengun, not the helicopter gunship though, but the North American A-36. This is the ground attack/dive bomber version of the more famous P-51 Mustang.
SUKHOI UPGRADED
K
P have announced their next 1/48 scale release in the shape of a SU-7BM Fitter, this will be a re-boxing of the old OEZ kit with some simple to fit resin upgrades/corrections to bring it up to more modern standards. Markings will include options for two Soviet, one Polish and one Czechoslovak aircraft.
The Boys are Back in 1/72 A
ugust new releases from Eduard sees a very special limited Edition 1/72 scale kit, this will be a triple boxing of the Eduard Spitfire MkIX entitled ‘Naši se vracejí’ ‘the Boys are back’. This kit commemorates the return to Prague of the Czech fighter pilots who flew with the RAF during the Second World War. The markings options will be the same as the 1/48 scale release with no less than 39 different schemes to choose from. Also in the box will be the second edition of the ‘Naši se vracejí’ book, Brassin exhaust and a postal first day cover. This like the 1/48 scale version released in 2013 will be limited to just 2000 examples and is bound to sell out very quickly. In 1/48 scale Spitfire news Eduard will re-release the ProfiPack MkIXc late version. Also, being released is another version of the Messerscmitt Bf-109 this time a ProfiPack of the Bf 109G-4, the box art features a Romanian example for something a little different. The 1/48 scale Hellcat is also reissued in August in the
Weekend line. I do not usually mention Eduard’s accessories in this section but, In the Brassin range Eduard has released a set of 1/48 scale wheels for their SE5a, which are a great improvement over the kit parts and one of my major complaints on the original kit. The Eduard Artline is expanding with more of the great Eduard box art getting the frameable A2 print
treatment. The latest being the artwork for the new Avia BK534. As ever a nice varied selection from Eduard, with something for most modellers! As well as the kits there are lots of photoetch and Brassin sets to tempt as well! www.Eduard.com.
LOT’S OF SMALL FLY’S
P
lenty of news this month from Fly, especially if 1/72 scale is your thing. We can look forward to a Fiat G.50bis, an Ilyushin IL-10, in three versions, Russian, PostWar service and China/Korea
and a PZL-37A Los and 37B Los, all in 1/72 scale with an expected release date of autumn this year. If you like bigger things, then at Modellbrno we had a new version of their 1/32 scale Hurricane, this time the cannon
armed Mk.IId version. Finally, in 1/48 scale news Fly are releasing an Ansaldo S.V.A. 9 and S.V.A. 10.
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JUST LANDED
A list of model kits that have arrived on the Hobby shop shelves in the UK over the last month SCALE MANUFACTURER 1/32 1/32 1/32 1/32 1/32 1/32 1/32 1/32 1/32 1/48 1/48 1/48 1/48 1/48 1/48 1/48 1/48 1/48 1/48 1/48 1/48 1/48 1/48 1/48 1/48 1/48 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/72 1/144 1/144 1/144 1/144
AZUR DRAGON EDUARD HASEGAWA HPH MICRO MER REVELL SPECIAL HOBBY TRUMPETER A&A MODELS COPPER STATE MODELS EDUARD EDUARD HASEGAWA HASEGAWA HOBBYBOSS HOBBYBOSS HOBBYBOSS HOBBYBOSS ITALERI RUG RAT RUG RAT REVELL SPECIAL HOBBY SPECIAL HOBBY WOLFPACK A MODEL AIRFIX AZ MODEL AZ MODEL AZ MODEL AZ MODELS AZ MODELS CZECH MASTER ENCORE MODELS EDUARD EDUARD HASEGAWA HASEGAWA HASEGAWA HASEGAWA HASEGAWA HASEGAWA HELLER HELLER HELLER IBG IBG ITALERI KP KP LF MODELS LF MODELS LF MODELS MICRO-MIR PJ PRODUCTIONS PJ PRODUCTIONS PJ PRODUCTIONS PJ PRODUCTIONS RPM RS MODELS REVELL R.V AIRCRAFT RVHP SPECIAL HOBBY SPECIAL HOBBY SPECIAL HOBBY SPECIAL HOBBY TRUMPETER TRUMPETER VALOM WELSH MODELS MICRO MIR WELSH MODELS WELSH MODELS WELSH MODELS
NAME
POLIKARPV I-16 MESSERSCHMITT BF109E-4B CURTISS P-40N WARHAWK SPITFIRE MK.IIA WITH D BADAR FIGURE AVIATIK-BERG D-1 FOKKER E.V/D.VIII FOCKE WULF F190A-8A /A-8R11 YAK-3 ONWARDS TO BERLIN MIG-29 FULCRAM YAK-11 WHITWORTH ARMSTRONG FK.8 MID PRODUCTION FOKKER DR.1 PROFIPACK MESSERSCHMITT BF-109F-4 WEEKEND MESSERSCHMITT BF-109G6/14 HARTMANN MITSUBUSHI A65C/M7 SUKHOI SU-30MKK BAE HAWK MK.200/208/209 MIG-31BM FOXHOUND SU-17MF-4 FITTER-K HAWKER HUNTER F.6/FGA.9 AEROBATIC TEAMS CESSNA 310A/B CESSNA U-3 MIG-25RBT BREWSTER 329 BUFFALO BUCKER BU-181 NORTHROP T-38 NASA BEECH 1900C DHL SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE MK.XIX SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE T.9 MESSERSCHMITT ME-1106T “MARINE” MESSERSCHMITT BF-109F-4 DASSAULT SUPER MYSTRE FAIRY FULMER MK.I GOPPINGEN GO-3 GLIDER NA T-6 HARVARD AVIA BK-534 SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE XVI PROFIPACK MIG-25PD FOXBAT F-35A JASDF P-38 DUAL BOXING F-15J 306SQ 35TH ANNIVERSARY KUGISHO P1Y1 FRANCES UP-3C ORION SAAB J29 TUNNAN LOCKHEED CONSTELLATION L749 BLOCH MB.174 PZL.23A KARAS PZL.42 BAE HARRIER GR.3 MIG-21MF WARSAW PACT MIG-21MF CZECH FOKKER C.VD NORWAY FOKKER C.VD NETHERLANDS/LUFTWAFFE FOKKER C.VE DENMARK MILES M.57 AEROVAN DASSAULT MIRAGE IIIE DASSAULT MIRAGE 5BA/5R DASSAULT MIRAGE IIIR DASSAULT MIRAGE IIIBE/DS/DZ/5BD MESSERSCHMITT BF109E-3 BELL AIRACOBRA MK.1 DH VAMPIRE MK.3 DASSAULT MIRAGE IIICJ N.A T-39D SABRELINER USNTPS LLOYD C.V BREWSTER BUFFALO 339 LET L-13 GLOSTER METEOR F.4 SU-34 FULLBACK MIG-31B/BM FOXHOUND HEINKEL 119V-5 BOEING P-8A POSEIDON MD-11 VARIG DC-8-72 NASA BRISTOL 172 FREIGHTER NZAF BRISTOL 172 FREIGHTER SAFE AIR
TYPE
REISSUE REISSUE EX HASEGAWA UPGRADED NEW DECALS NEW TOOL REVISED TOOL REVISED TOOL NEW DECALS NEW TOOL NEW TOOL REVISED TOOL NEW DECALS REVISED TOOL NEW DECALS NEW DECALS REVISED TOOL REVISED TOOL REVISED TOOL REVISED TOOL NEW DECALS EX ACADEMY NEW TOOL NEW TOOL EX ICM REVISED TOOL NEW TOOL KINETIC UPGRADED REISSUE REVISED TOOL REVISED TOOL REVISED TOOL REVISED TOOL NEW DECALS NEW TOOL NEW TOOL ACADEMY UPGRADED REVISED TOOLING NEW DECALS NEW DECALS NEW DECALS NEW DECALS NEW DECALS NEW DECALS NEW DECALS REISSUE REISSUE REISSUE NEW TOOL NEW TOOL REISSUE NEW TOOL NEW TOOL NEW TOOL NEW TOOL NEW TOOL NEW TOOL REISSUE REISSUE REISSUE REISSUE NEW TOOL NEW TOOL EX SPECIAL HOBBY NEW TOOL NEW DECALS NEW TOOL EX SWORD NEW TOOL NEW DECALS NEW TOOLS NEW TOOL NEW TOOL REVISED TOOL NEW TOOL NEW DECALS NEW DECALS NEW DECALS
PRICE
£40.50 £34.99 £106.80 £59.99 £139.99 £31.99 £36.99 £35.99 £125.99 £31.99 £49.99 £25.99 £19.40 £44.99 £39.99 £49.99 £33.99 £63.99 £49.99 £35.99 £62.55 £62.55 £49.99 £44.99 £14.99 £34.99 £31.99 £9.99 £12.60 £14.99 £12.60 £14.99 £14.99 £19.99 £54.99 £16.20 £16.20 £46.99 £39.99 £42.99 £42.99 £44.99 £79.99 £7.99 £27.99 £13.99 £10.40 £10.40 £19.99 £11.60 £11.60 £24.30 £24.30 £24.30 £25.99 £32.40 £32.40 £32.40 £32.40 £7.99 £15.80 £12.99 £19.99 £36.40 £16.99 £15.80 £12.40 £16.99 £48.99 £39.99 £27.70 £119.80 £48.70 £42.99 £47.50 £47.50
48 • AUGUST 2017 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
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SHOW REPORT
ModellBrno 2017 E
very two years in June, Brno, the second city of the Czech Republic holds a major model show. Unlike the Czech Nationals in Prague, this shows southern location means that you get a lot of visitors from Austria, Hungary and Slovakia as well as from the North of the country. This year the show was sponsored by Eduard who along with KPM (IPMS) Brno put a lot
PHOTO SCRAPBOOK
of work into the organisation and were rewarded with one of busiest in the show’s history with in excess of 1500 models on the competition tables. For this report, I have picked a selection of the models that caught my eye at the show rather than just the medal winners.
A very nice finish on this WNW Fokker Eindecker The nice water effect on this IL-2 diorama caught my eye.
Everything with Stripes?
HpH’s large scale Helldiver dominated the table
A selection of under 12-year old JUNIOR models!!!!
A nice clean build of Kinetics AMX 1/48.
The Tu-104A almost as attractive as a DH Comet in 1/144
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A retro 1/144 Airbus schemes got me a bit confused at first
The working lights and amazing internal detail made this 1/72 scale Spectre stand out
Hard to believe this MH-60 diorama is in 1/144 scale
A Sweet ME-410 Hornisse in 1/48 scale
Loved this attractive early 109 Racer in 1/48 scale
A tiny 1/72 scale Mig-15 UTi in Algerian markings Surprisingly large this Mistel towered above it’s rivals
Aftermarket engines made this 1/48 Do-335 stand out
A lovely Modelsvit Be-12 Seagull in 1/72 scale A great way to display Zoukei Mura 1/48 Ho-229
The CH-53 was massive and that base really helped set it apart
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FIRST LOOK!
The Last Gunfighter A First Look at Eduard’s F-8E Crusader MANUFACTURER: EDUARD KIT NUMBER: ED11110 SCALE: 1/48
E
duard have specialised in taking already good Hasegawa kits and then upgrading them with resin and brass to make something better. The latest kit to get the treatment is Hasegawa F-8E Crusader, I built this kit when it was first released and remember it as a nice simple build that certainly looks the part and of course coming from one of the most colourful periods of US Navy history there are plenty of attractive unit markings to put on it. I am not going to go into details of the Hasegawa kit as the plastic is unchanged except to say the only
area that needs some TLC is the prominent intake under the nose which is in two parts. Being in such a prominent position it is important that you need to make sure you remove the join seam totally. Unfortunately, Eduard have not replaced this part with a seamless replacement and it doe surprise me that no one has produced one for this kit since the demise of Cutting Edge and Seamless Suckers range has left a bi gap in the market. So, what have Eduard added well I will start with the Martin Baker Ejection seat which is far superior to the kits plastic example and is completed by the addition of pre-painted belts and pull handles from one of the etched fret. The second set of resin parts supplies new resin tyres with the main wheels featuring separate drum discs which with some washes will look amazing on the model. Next, we have the etched frets I have already mentioned the pre-coloured brass set that as well as belts also supplies a new instrument panel and side wall detail. A second uncoloured fret supplies internal details for the canopy as well as other details for the fuselage. This boxing also includes a set of pre-cut yellow Kabuki tape masks for both the canopy and windshield as well as the wheel hubs which should make painting the tyres simple. But the highlight of this boxing has to be the decal sheet that has
been designed by Furball decals and lives up to the reputation this company has established for well researched and perfect fitting decals. The sheet supplies full stencil details for one airframe and options for five colourful markings for both Marine and Navy examples all from the Vietnam War. •1 V ought F-8 Crusader, BuNo. 149190, VMF(AW)-235, “Death Angel´s“, Da Nang Air Base, Republic of Vietnam, 1968. •2 V ought F-8 Crusader, BuNo. 150909, VF-194 “Red Lightnings, USS Ticonderoga, 1966. •3 V ought F-8 Crusader, BuNo. 149159, VF-162 “The Hunters“, USS Oriskany, September 1966. •4 V ought F-8 Crusader, BuNo. 149150, VF-211 “Fighting Checkmates“, NAS Miramar, August 1967. •5 Vought F-8 Crusader, BuNo. 150326, VF-191 “Satan´s Kittens“, USS Ticonderoga, 1967.
CONCLUSION
If you are like US Navy subject I would seek out this Eduard boxing out sooner rather than later as they tend to sell our fast and are never reissued and though some may think that £49.99 is a high price to pay. It is actually only £5.00 more than the current price for the basic Hasegawa kit in the UK bear in mind that the extra parts supplied are worth approximately £35 if purchased separately.
ERRATA Eduard noticed that some errors were present in the decal guide included in the instructions so a separate correction sheet was included in the box. If you do purchase this kit and the correction sheet is missing it is available to downloaded from the Eduard website.
54 • AUGUST 2017 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
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FIRST LOOK!
Aviatik (Berg) D.I
A First Look at HpH models 1/48 Aviatik (Berg) D.I Austro Daimler 160HP Engine by Tim Upson-Smith KIT DETAILS
40 LASER CUT WOOD PARTS, PLUS VARIOUS WOOD PROFILES 30 PHOTO -ETCH STEEL PARTS RESIN 44 PLUS PARTS (AS SEVERAL ARE DUPLICATED) 1 BRASS ROD AND 1 BRASS TUBE
T
his kit was released simultaneously with the 1/32 scale full resin kit of the Aviatik (Berg) D.I, which we will preview next month. The first show outing for both kits was the ModelBrno show, which SAMI attended and as I couldn’t attend this year the editor very kindly picked up both kits for me! This kit is a true multi-media kit, as what is wood on the real aeroplane is wood in this kit and a lot of the fittings are etched steel, with resin supplying the engine, propeller, fuel/oil tanks and struts. The resin engine is a work of art and will really repay careful assembly and painting, to get all of the various metal tones required, steel, brass and copper being the main ones. The propeller is cast in resin, so will
need to be carefully painted in wood tones or used as a pattern to carve your own, from real wood. To assemble the fuselage and upper wing centre section you will need to be comfortable with working with wood. Luckily, I used to build and fly balsa and tissue free flight models and now enjoy making wooden boats to sail on my local boat pond, so that aspect doesn’t bother me, that said some scale plans would be really useful as the instruction booklet is just illustrated with colour photos showing the step by step construction process. As the wooden parts have been laser cut the edges are burnt so they will need to be carefully cleaned up before assembly. The instructions suggest staining the
wooden parts, which will help to give them a uniform colour (the real thing had the cockpit interior woodwork varnished in a reddish-brown shade). HpH provide you with the basics, unfortunately they do not give you the engine data plates which are present in the 1/32 scale kit. Also, the decals for the instrument faces and dials are a lot more detailed in the 1/32 scale full kit. Two resin Schwarzlose machine guns are provided in the kit, however you will need to source some suitable diameter Albion Alloys tube to produce the barrels. Ammunition belts are also provided on the photo-etched fret, but these are a little too two dimensional for this scale, so I think they are best omitted or replacements sought. This kit made from the box will make a very interesting conversation piece and an attractive display model, however it could also be the basis for a fantastic super detail project. Back in 2012 I was lucky enough to be able to visit the Vienna Technical museum which houses one of the
two surviving examples of the D.I (the other is now in America at the Museum of Flight in Seattle). The example in Vienna, 101.37, was built by Thone and Fiala in September 1918 and is displayed as a cutaway in an unrestored state, so is an ideal source of reference for this kit. Interestingly the woodwork in the engine bay on the Vienna example is finished in a grey/aluminium dope. This example also has some extra bracing struts in the engine bay which are not present in the kit, these should be easy enough to add though if you wish. So, to conclude, this is a model designed for the modeller who is very happy to work with mixed media and who is happy to scratch-build a few parts. As I have mentioned, HpH give you the basics and it is up to you to add as much or as little extra detail you wish. I can feel another trip to Vienna coming on, to take some more photos of the real thing! My thanks to HpH and my wallet the review sample.
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FIRST LOOK!
SU-35S
A First Look at Kittyhawk 1/48 SU-35S by Peter Marshall
I
f you like Flanker variants in 48th scale then the last year or so has been very kind to you. The Kinetic Su-33, the Hobbyboss and Kittyhawk Su-34s and now the Kittyhawk Su-35S. In the compact box, there are eight sprues of light grey plastic, upper and lower fuselage halves, one clear sprue, a small sheet of etch, a rather nice looking instruction booklet and three decal sheets. Four of the main sprues are devoted to weapons, which gives you some idea of how much ordnance is in the box. The clear sprue has a two-part canopy and various small lights and HUD parts. The etch has some seatbelts, some grills and some parts for the pylons plus the centres for the main wheels. The instruction booklet is a typical line drawing stages with fold out colour painting and markings guides in the middle. The largest decal sheet is for the weapons, the second decal sheet is the airframe markings covering three Russian
and three Chinese aircraft, and the third and final small decal sheet containing rather nice unit markings for one of the Chinese aircraft, the cockpit side consoles and main instrument panel and four other large markings that aren’t on any of the schemes shown. As is normal the decals show the instrument panels multifunction display turned on which
would only be accurate if there was a pilot or engineer in the cockpit. Turning to the plastic, the detailing looks very good, the surface is smooth and the details (on the whole) sharp
but restrained. The cockpit is well detailed with a multi-part ejector seat with etch belts which looks the part. The wheel bays have some reasonable detail and there are options for displaying
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an open gun bay and a pretty nicely detailed radar assembly. The exhaust sections have reasonable depth and a well moulded afterburner ring but here we have a problem. If the real aircraft can be considered to have a defining feature it would be that at rest the thrust vectoring nozzles droop and point inwards when the aircraft is powered down. The only time you get the exhaust nozzles as provided is when the engines are running. So this is going to require some serious and (I suspect) difficult modifications, or some aftermarket resin. And this is probably as good a place as any to mention the other obvious problem, the tail boom/stinger. The chaff/
flare dispensers are depicted on the upper surface, which is where they started off, but apparently, testing showed underneath was better and so most Russian and all Chinese aircraft have/will have these fairings on the bottom of the boom. The good news is that if you plan to do two of the marking options Red 05 or Black 902 the boom is right. Anyway, back to the plastic. A lot of the parts that you might expect to be made up from two halves, like the horizontal and vertical tails, the rudders, front and rear wing flaps, that sort of thing, are moulded as a single part. These parts give you optional positions for the control surfaces, in the case of the trailing edge flaps they are
designed to be drooped, I suspect you could fit them in the neutral position if you wanted to though. The rest of the plastic looks good, the undercarriage appears well detailed, the intakes have some PE grilles and optional position auxiliary louvres for the underside and there are enough pylons to fit the spaces provided. And there’s a lot of weaponry supplied in the box to fit on them.
CONCLUSION
Overall the new Kittyhawk Su-35 is a really nice looking package. I think it’s fair to say that there
are some issues with the plastic provided which can be mostly worked around, and some issues with the instructions which can be read around. Actually, final thought, buy a nice resin seated Russian pilot figure like the ones produced by PJ Productions or Aerobonus and stick him in the cockpit. You can then use the powered up MFD decal provided and have the nozzles as they are. It’s a thought. My thanks to Kittyhawk for supplying this sample before the kits release and a full build will appear in a future issue.
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FIRST LOOK!
Not another Spitfire? A First look at Alley Cat 1/48 Prototype Spitfire K5054 by David Francis MANUFACTURER: ALLEY CAT SCALE: 1/48 KIT NO: ACRK48-19
Y
ou would not expect nowadays that there would still be a large gap in the family tree of the Spitfire in 1/48 scale? That was until Alley Cat released their Prototype Spitfire as a multimedia kit as no one had produced this important variant in kit form before. Unsurprisingly it sold very well and so fast that we never actually managed to obtain a sample but now it is back and on opening the box I was immediately impressed with the quality of the resin castings. The main parts are the onepiece fuselage and one piece wings these feature some very refined detail including all the ribs and stringers inside the cockpit. As with all resin kits, there is some flash to be removed as well as casting blocks. But these have been designed so that this can be done with minimal effort and just a few basic tools. Three clear sealable bags contain all the smaller parts including a basic cockpit as well as undercarriage legs and pitot tubes that have a metal core for added strength. This is not going to be a complicated kit to assemble with less than forty parts. But that does not mean you have not got a couple of options. The kit enables you to build the prototype as she appeared in 1936 but between the roll out in March and the end of the year the type was continually being developed leading top quite dramatic changes in the appearance of the nose. All of these variations are catered for by Alley Cat supplying three different noses and a pair of different style carburettor intakes. Other changes were also made to the undercarriage doors at roll out there were none but by May a new
design that totally enclosed both the legs and wheels was fitted this did not last long as by December the small half moon door covering the wheel was removed to produce the appearance that stayed for most of the Spitfires production run. Finally, the other main change was to the canopy the for most of 1936 the type featured a nice streamlined windshield but this was replaced in December by the production style with its flat panel. As well as the physical changes the colour scheme applied to the prototype also changed and
there has been much debate about exactly what the paint colours were applied Alley Cat have gone with the latest theories. •1T he first option is on the roll out scheme on the 5th of March. An overall natural metal with a highly polished upper cowling, fabric control surfaces in Aluminium dope. Serials painted in black type. •2B y May the aircraft had been painted in High Gloss Sky Blue
with the tip of the spinner in natural metal. Serials now black with white outline and the white outline to the fuselage roundel. •3A s Option 2 but with the addition of a black number 2 ahead of the roundel. •4A change of colour to Supermarine Sea Grey happened in December 1936. All of these markings are included on the high-quality decals which have the white areas for the serial and roundel surround as a separate decal to prevent any change of registration issues.
CONCLUSION
This is a significant aircraft in British history and it is fitting to see it so well reproduced. In fact, Alley Cat has done such a good job that I would suggest that this would be a great choice for a first multi-media kit but do not delay because production runs of this type of kit can be quite short and you never know if there will be a third production run. Our thanks to Alley Cat for the sample which can be purchased from their website at www.alleycatmodels.co.uk.
58 • AUGUST 2017 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
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ACCESSORIES
Eduard Brassin
T
his month, we see some more new Brassin releases for the 1/48 scale Eduard SE5a, this time the Hispano Suiza engine version. Also In 1/32 scale, Eduard have given us multiple and triple ejector racks with some very fine detail for your latest fast jet build.
1/48 SCALE 648 317 KI-61-ID WHEELS (FOR TAMIYA KIT) 648 318 SE.5A PROPELLER FOUR-BLADE (FOR EDUARD KIT) 648 319 SE.5A RADIATOR-HISPANO SUIZA FOR 4 BLADE PROP (FOR EDUARD KIT) 648 320 SE.5A RADIATOR-HISPANO SUIZA FOR 2 BLADE PROP (FOR EDUARD KIT) 648 321 KI-61-ID GUN BARRELS (FOR TAMIYA KIT)
1/32 SCALE
632 102 MER 632 103 TER
632 101 SNIPER ATP
CONCLUSION
A ever, some really nice multimedia sets from Eduard, that will enhance your model. The SE.5a radiators are very nice and are a recommended addition for anyone with this kit the to do pile. My thanks to Eduard for supplying these review sample www.eduard.com
AZ Models/KP Models A
Z/KP have now introduced a range of paint masks to complement their kits. The ones we have received for review are a mix of yellow kabuki tape and grey vinyl. The set for the Siebel with its rather extensive glazing will be very welcome for anyone building this kit.
Paint Masks
1/72 SCALE AZA 7027 MARTIN BAKER MB-5, MASK FOR CANOPY AND WHEEL DISCS (FOR AZ KIT) KPEX 014 SIEBEL 204D/C-3A, MASK FOR CANOPY AND WHEEL DISCS (FOR KP KIT) KPEX 015 MIG-21 MF/R/BIS, MASK FOR CANOPY AND WHEEL DISCS (FOR KP KIT)
1/48 SCALE KPEX 401 SU-25 UB/UBK/UTG, MASK FOR CANOPY AND WHEEL DISCS (FOR KP KIT)
CONCLUSION
If you have any AZ/KP kits in your stash it may be worth a visit to their webpage to check out the selection of masks available to see if your kit is covered! www. kovozavody.cz / www.azmodel.cz
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ACCESSORIES
Lifecolor Paints
T
o anyone who wishes to place their models in a diorama setting the latest release from Lifecolor may be of interest.
CS38 White Wood This set supplies six different paints to enable you to reproduce the look of
worn and weathered look and some of these colours may also be of use in reproducing plywood fuselages seen on World War One aircraft.
THIS SET INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING COLOURS UA774 OLD PEELED DECK UA775 OLD LIGHTENED WOOD UA776 ROUGH LIGHT GREY UA777 ROUGH LIGHT BROWN UA778 STRIPPED WOOD UA779 WOODEN GREY UMBER
Arctic Decals
This set supplies all the various types of grime and damp stains often seen on walls and ground in western Europe. UA746 LIME GREEN UA747 DIRTY GREEN UA748 BROWN GREEN UA749 VEGETABLE DAMP GREEN UA750 VEGETABLE DAMP YELLOW UA751 DAMP MOULD
CONCLUSION
This is a nice set of acrylic paints and by buying them in these boxed sets you can save money over buying them separately. Our thanks to the Airbrush Company for supplying the review samples which can be bought from their web site at wwww.airbrushes.com
ARC 72-FR03 MACCHI C.94 ARC 72-FR04 FARMAN F.190
M
any readers will be familiar with Arctic Decals from their range of decals covering aircraft based in the Northern areas of Europe. But now they have released four sets that supply masks and chrome window surrounds for four classic airliners in 1/72 scale. Each set supplies one sheet of vinyl masks while the second sheet is in bright chrome and supplies pre-cut frames that go around the windows which can be applied after painting to produce a very realistic effect.
CS-39 Leaking Grime, Stains and Damp
CONCLUSION
1/72 SCALE
The masks will be really handy as all four types have quite complicated framework around the canopies. While the chrome metal surrounds will look amazing and I would like to see these produced for other aircraft types. These as well as the rest of the Arctic Decals range can be purchased from their website at www.arcticdecals. com and we thank them for supplying us with the review samples.
ARC 72-FR01B DE HAVILLAND DH.89 DRAGON RAPIDE ARC 72-FR02 DE HAVILLAND DH.90 DRAGONFLY
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ACCESSORIES
Q-M-T Quick Model Detail
I
t was good to catch up with Q-M-T at Brno and see what this company has been up to! Q-M-T have a bit of a thing for Phantoms and these latest releases will please 1/32 scale modellers with either the Revell or Tamiya Phantom kits in their stash.
1/48 SCALE QMT R48006D F.O.D. F-15 EAGLE USAF RED WITH DECAL
Q-M-T I. R32001 RF-4C Exhaust Nozzles for REVELL kits 1-32 Q-M-T R32004 F-4E,F,G RF-4C-,E Weighted Wheels for REVELL 1-32
1/32 SCALE QMT R32001 EXHAUST NOZZLES FOR EARLY VERSIONS RF-4C PHANTOM (FOR REVELL KITS) QMT R32002 EXHAUST NOZZLES FOR LATE VERSIONS F-4E/F/G, RF-4E PHANTOM (FOR REVELL KITS) QMT R32004 LATE WEIGHTED WHEELS FOR F-4E/F/G, RF-4C/E (FOR REVELL KITS) QMT R32005 LATE NOT WEIGHTED WHEELS FOR F-4E/F/G, RF-4C/E (FOR REVELL KITS) QMT R32006 LATE WEIGHTED WHEELS FOR F-4C/D/E (FOR TAMIYA KITS) QMT R32007 LATE NOT WEIGHTED WHEELS FOR F-4C/D/E (FOR TAMIYA KITS) QMT R32008 EARLY NOT WEIGHTED WHEELS FOR F-4C/D/E (FOR TAMIYA KITS) QMT R320120 F.O.D. VERSION I. F-4 PHANTOM (FOR REVELL KITS)
Q-M-T R32002 for F-4E,F,G RF-4E 1-32
CONCLUSION
If you have any of the relevant kits in your stash then these wheels, exhausts and F.O.D. covers will certainly enhance your build. The wheels also come with masks, which are always handy! Next month we will bring you
Q-M-T R32003 F-4E,F,G RF-4C,E EARLY Wheels for REVELL 1-32
a look at some of the new masks that Q-M-T have released. The company is working on their webpage, but in the meantime if you wish to enquire about these products you can email Q-M-T admin@q-m-t. cz . My thanks to Martin Rychlý for supplying these samples for review.
Q-M-T R32008 F-4C,D,E EARLY Wheels for TAMIYA 1-32
Q-M-T R32005 F-4E,F,G RF-4C,E Wheels for REVELL 1-32 Q-M-T R32006 F-C,D,E Weighted Wheels for TAMIYA 1-32
Q-M-T R32007 F-4C,D,E Wheels for TAMIYA 1-32 Q-M-T R32013 F.O.D. version II. WITH DECALS for F-4 Phantom for REVELL kits
Q-M-T R32009 Weighted Wheels LATE for F-4J for TAMIYA kits
QMTR32008 F-4C,D,E EARLY Wheels for TAMIYA kits
Q-M-T R32010 Not Weighted Wheels LATE for F-4J for TAMIYA
QMTR48005 F.O.D. F-15I Eagle IAF RED with decal
Q-M-T R32011 I. Not Weighted Wheels EARLY for F-4J for TAMIYA
QMTR48006 F.O.D. F-15 Eagle USAF RED with decal
Q-M-T R32014 F.O.D. version III. for Phantom for REVELL kits
QMTR32012 F.O.D. for F-4 Phantom for REVELL kits
62 • AUGUST 2017 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
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ACCESSORIES PRODUCT OF THE MONTH
Tweezers and Pick-up tools T
ake a look at this month’s Shesto product of the month, which is a range of tweezers and pick up tools. Every modeller needs at least one pair of tweezers in their tool box, and it is useful to have several different pairs for different jobs. Reverse action and locking tweezers are really useful if you are rigging models as I often find I could do with an extra pair of fingers to hold a loose end! The pair of tweezers with a built-in magnifier and light are also handy for rigging too. The picture on the packet for these ones show threading a needle, quite often the rigging process feels like this! The plastic tweezers, whilst not good for fine work, are great for holding parts when painting. For fine work, you need the straight or curved end pointed tweezers. To help with picking up those tiny photo-etched parts the three different sizes of tacky ended pick and place tools do just the job. For larger parts, there is the pick-up tool with steel grips. If you are just starting out in model making, a selection of these tools
will be a useful addition to your tool box. If you have been modelling for a while, take a look at Shesto’s website to see what useful tools are out there! www.shesto.com
DESCRIPTION: FINE SERRATED LOCKING PRODUCT CODE: PTW1093/FR DESCRIPTION: LED MAGNIFIER TWEEZER PRODUCT CODE: PTW1124 DESCRIPTION: REVERSE ACTION BLUNT
END TWEEZERS
PRODUCT CODE: PTW1126 DESCRIPTION: PICK UP TOOL WITH STEEL GRIPS PRODUCT CODE: PTW1129 DESCRIPTION: PICK & PLACE- SMALL PRODUCT CODE: PTW1131 DESCRIPTION: MEDIUM- PICK & PLACE TOOL PRODUCT CODE: PTW1132 DESCRIPTION: PICK & PLACE TOOL (LARGE) PRODUCT CODE: PTW1133 DESCRIPTION: PLASTIC TWEEZERS X2 PRODUCT CODE: PTW1150/2
DESCRIPTION: SUPER FINE -STAINLESS STEEL TWEEZERS PRODUCT CODE: PTW2185/5 DESCRIPTION: EXTRA FINE CURVEDSTAINLESS STEEL TWEEZERS PRODUCT CODE: PTW2185/7
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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DECALS
Print Scale Decals A
nother month and another package from Ukrainian manufacturer Print Scale with samples of there latest 1/72 scale decal sheets. This time we only have one World War One sheet covering the French SPAD S.VII most of the options but not all have linen fuselage and camouflaged wings with a few examples were the camouflage has been extended onto the fuselage. What all of the aircraft have in common is the very attractive French unit artwork on the fuselage side. Next, comes the second and third part of this manufacturers coverage of the T-33 Shooting Star, seven nations are covered from Canadian Low Viz greys to an Italian aircraft in NMF with plenty of dayglo orange.
•9
SPAD S.VII, BLACK 13, JACQUES ORTOLI, 11 KILLS. •10 SPAD S.VII, S4236, JACQUES GERARD, 8 KILLS. •11 SPAD S.VII, WHITE 5, ANDRE MARTENOT DE CORDOU, 8 KILLS. •12 SPAD S.VII, S1416, ALFRED AUGER, 7 KILLS. •13 SPAD S.VII, S5325, ANDRE BOSSON, 7 KILLS.
72-269 T-33A SHOOTING STAR PART 2
•1 LOCKHEED T-33A, FAB-635, GRUP AEREA DE CAZA 32, BOLIVIAN AIR FORCE, 1987. •2 LOCKHEED CT-133A SILVER STAR, 1333572/572, 434 SQUADRON, CANADIAN AIR FORCE. •3 LOCKHEED T-33A, J-314, FUREZA AEREA DE CHILE, CERRILLOS, LATE 1950S. •4 LOCKHEED T-33A, 4311, 2/1 G.AV.CA, FORCA AEREA BRASILERIA.
1/72 SCALE
72-259 SPAD S.VII ACES OF WW1
72-270 T-33A SHOOTING STAR PART 3
•1 LOCKHEED T-33A, 14349, 314-UQ, 314 GROUPMENT ECOLE. ARMEE DE I’AIR. •2 LOCKHEED T-33A, 35396, 51-81, 651 SQUADRIGLIA, COLLEGAMENTO E BERSAGLI, 51 STORMO, AERONAUTICA MILITARE ITALIANA. •3 LOCKHEED T-33A, JA-396, 2/JG.71, LUFTWAFFE. •4 LOCKHEED T-33A, 9447, AG-51, LUFTWAFFE, BREMGAREN, 1968. •5 LOCKHEED T-33A, 71-5231/231, 302 SQUADRON, JAPANESE AIR SELF DEFENCE FORCE.
CONCLUSION
•1 SPAD S.VII, S115, GEORGES GYNEMER, 53 KILLS. •2 SPAD S.VII, S392, RENE DORME, 23 KILLS. •3 SPAD S.VII, S113, ALFRED HEURTAUX. 21 KILLS. •4 SPAD S.VII S172M ALBERT DEULLLIN, 20 KILLS. •5 SPAD S.VII, RED 8, JEAN CHAPUT, 16 KILLS. •6 SPAD S.VII, BLACK 13, OMER DEMEUIDRE, 13 KILLS. •7 SPAD S.VII, S1165, HECTOR GARAUD, 13 KILLS. •8 SPAD S.VII, RISQUE TOUT VI, ANDRE HERBELIN, 11 KILLS.
These are typical Print Scale sheets that combine good quality printing with informative instruction sheet and I do like the use of black and white thumbnail period photographs as well as the normal colour profiles. Our thanks to Print Scale for the review samples, the full range and worldwide dealers can be seen at printscale.com.ua.
Two Bobs Aviation Graphics
T
he latest sheet from Two Bobs could not be more up to date as it features two F-16 Block 32s from the 64th Aggressor Squadron based at Nellis AFB in March 2017. Both aircraft have been painted in schemes similar to those applied to modern Russian aircraft. The first scheme mimics the eggplant grey/purple over blue scheme seen on a number of frontline Russian types like the Su-33 Fullback. This scheme is described as Shark while the second is called Splinter and is similar to the scheme applied to a number of Su-35S Flanker-E aircraft. Not satisfied with just copying the colours of Soviet aircraft both options also feature Russian stars in
all 4 positions on the wing as well as low viz US markings. The full colour instructions are easy to follow with a painting guide to a number of colour schemes though only the Mr Paint range has all the colours you need. A nice little addition for the Shark scheme is a set of masks to make it easier to reproduce the grey areas on the fin wings and upper fuselage.
1/48 SCALE
TB48-256 F-16C BABY GOT FULLBACK AGGRESSORS
•1 F-16C BLOCK 32, SHARK, S/N 86-0272, 57TH WING, 64TH AGGRESSOR SQUADRON, NELLIS ARB, NV, MARCH 2017. •2 F-16C BLOCK 32, SPLINTERHAWK, S/N 83-0159, 57TH WING, 64TH AGGRESSOR
SQUADRON, NELLIS ARB, NV, MARCH 2017.
1/72 SCALE TB72-104 F-16C BABY GOT FULLBACK AGGRESSORS DETAILS AS ABOVE IN 1/48 SCALE.
CONCLUSION
Another great addition for fans of the Aggressors, and along with the Bulldog sheets featured elsewhere in this issue I am sure Tamiya will be rubbing their hands with glee thank to the large boost in sales of their F-16C Block 32 kit on which to put them. These decals are already
available from www.twobobs.net as well as from Hannants in the UK by the time you read this.
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DECALS
Moose Republic Decals
T
he latest sheet from the Moose Republic is the third in their series covering the SAAB J29 Tunnan. This time they are covering a selection of Tunnan marks that were finished in camouflage over the natural metal undersides. Though in one case the upper surface colour has been heavily worn away. Most of the schemes feature either a black or dark blue base as well as the green on the upper surfaces, most also have a coloured nose ring. As is normal the instructions supply all the information you need in a comprehensive manner supported by illustrations which clearly show the complicated splinter scheme from all angles.
SCALE 1/48
MRD 49-021 SAAB J-29A/B/C/F TUNNAN PART 3
•1 SAAB J29C, 29952, YELLOW 11, F11, YELLOW F ON THE TAIL. DARK GREEN/ BLUE CAMOUFLAGE. •2 SAAB J29A, 29114, YELLOW 13, HEAVILY WEATHERED GREEN FINISH GREEN UPPER SURFACE CHOICE OF YELLOW BAND ON THE NOSE OR YELLOW M ON UPPER NOSE.
•3 SAAB J29F 29484, YELLOW 47 RED NOSE BAND, BLACK AND GREEN CAMOUFLAGE. •4 SAAB J29F, 29547, YELLOW 15, RED NOSE BAND, GREEN AND BLACK CAMOUFLAGE •5 SAAB J29F, 29660, YELLOW3, RED S ON TAIL RETOUCHED GREEN UPPER SURFACES IN TWO SHADES OF GREEN •6 SAAB J29F, 29643, YELLOW 3, RED H ON THE TAIL, RED NOSE BAND, BLACK AND GREEN CAMOUFLAGE. •7 SAAB J29C, 29940, RED 11, WHITE 40 ON THE TAIL, YELLOW NOSE BAND.
CONCLUSION
Moose Republic decal sheets look good while the instructions supply everything you need to know in fact the hardest part as always will be finding a Pilot Model kit though we also have the Hobbyboss version though this is not as accurate. You can find this range at Hannants and also at www. mooserepublic.se. and we thank them for supplying the review samples.
Red Roo
R
ed Roo have re-released a previously out of print simple set of decals in 1/72 and 1/48 scales for a striking looking RAAF Kittyhawk. As later models arrived, the earlier models of the 841 Kittyhawks acquired were relegated to training units. A29-28 was a P-40E Kittyhawk allocated to 2 Operational Training Unit during 1945. The aircraft was stripped back to natural metal, but retained the white New Guinea theatre markings. The spinner was yellow and the leading edge of the radiator intake was finished in black. The aircraft had a matt black anti dazzle panel. National markings consisted of 28 inch diameter roundels in the normal six positions, although the fuselage roundels were slightly different in style to those carried on the
wings. The remains of the serial were black. A thin fuselage band and the code letters were red. The ailerons were fabric covered and thus had aluminium dope applied. If you are looking for a colouful and unusual finish for your P-40 this will appeal to you.
Begemot
L
ast month we covered a new sheet from Begemont covering the Su-24M is service over Syria in the conclusion I wondered if it would be scaled up to 1/48 scale and literally the day after we went to press the 1/48 scale sheet arrived. At the start of operations over Syria the first SU-24S had their national insignia and Russian markings overpainted with a slightly different shade of the normal camouflage colour. Begemot has thoughtfully included masks for these areas as the first option features an aircraft with this anonymous/deniable finish. But another five options use these masks as the national insignia and BBC POCCNN markings on the tail were reinstated on top of these grey areas. All of this adds interest to an aircraft that is not well known for its colour scheme and further interest can be added by choosing one of the options that has mission marking scoreboards, including one aircraft with no less than 100 red stars.
1/48 SCALE
BE48-037 SUKHOI SU-24M FROM THE RUSSIAN SVKS IN SYRIA
•1 SUKHOI SU-24, WHITE 83, SERIAL 0615326, KHMEIMIN AIR BASE, SYRIA, OCTOBER 2015. PLAIN FINISH. •2 SUKHOI SU-24, WHITE 83, SERIAL 0615326, KHMEIMIN AIR BASE, SYRIA, NOVEMBER 2015. WITH RUSSIAN MARKINGS RESTORED. •3 SUKHOI SU-24, WHITE 05, UNKNOWN SERIAL, KHMEIMIN AIR BASE, SYRIA, OCTOBER 2015. •4 SUKHOI SU-24, WHITE 72, UNKNOWN SERIAL, KHMEIMIN AIR BASE, SYRIA, OCTOBER 2015. •5 SUKHOI SU-24, WHITE 04, UNKNOWN SERIAL, KHMEIMIN AIR BASE, SYRIA, OCTOBER 2015.
•6 SUKHOI SU-24, WHITE 79, UNKNOWN SERIAL, KHMEIMIN AIR BASE, SYRIA, NOVEMBER 2015. •7 SUKHOI SU-24, WHITE 04, UNKNOWN SERIAL, KHMEIMIN AIR BASE, SYRIA, AUTUMN 2016, SIMILAR TO OPTION 5 WITH SMALL VARIATIONS. •8 SUKHOI SU-24, WHITE 08, UNKNOWN SERIAL, KHMEIMIN AIR BASE, SYRIA, OCTOBER 2015. •9 SUKHOI SU-24, WHITE 78, UNKNOWN SERIAL, KHMEIMIN AIR BASE, SYRIA, DECEMBER 2015. •10 SUKHOI SU-24, WHITE 49, UNKNOWN SERIAL, KHMEIMIN AIR BASE, SYRIA, OCTOBER 2015. 100 COMBAT MISSIONS. •11 SUKHOI SU-24, WHITE 76, UNKNOWN SERIAL, KHMEIMIN AIR BASE, SYRIA, OCTOBER 2015. •12 SUKHOI SU-24, BLUE 53, UNKNOWN SERIAL, KHMEIMIN AIR BASE, SYRIA, MAY 2016. •13 SUKHOI SU-24, WHITE 75, UNKNOWN SERIAL, KHMEIMIN AIR BASE, SYRIA, OCTOBER 2015. •14 SUKHOI SU-24, WHITE 14, UNKNOWN SERIAL, KHMEIMIN AIR BASE, SYRIA, NOVEMBER 2015. •15 SUKHOI SU-24, WHITE 74, UNKNOWN SERIAL, KHMEIMIN AIR BASE, SYRIA, SUMMER 2016.
CONCLUSION
I really hope that Begemot will now produce a similar sheet covering the use of the Su-25 Frogfoot over Syria s it has a wider range of camouflage colours to choose from. In the UK, the range is available from Hannants and I thank Begemot for supplying us with the review sample.
RRD4832 1/48 SCALE 2 OPERATIONAL TRAINING UNIT RAAF P-40E KITTYHAWKS LATE WWII RRD7233 1/72 SCALE 2 OPERATIONAL TRAINING UNIT RAAF P-40E KITTYHAWKS LATE WWII
These items are available from the Red Roo web site www. redroomodels.com or from Blackbird Models in the UK at http:// www.blackbirdmodels.co.uk/ WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM • AUGUST 2017 • 65
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SAM-M
DECALS
Model Maker Decals
Bullseye Models
et more new products from this Polish manufacturer and we will start with a very unique sheet. Most decals tend to concentrate on a specific aircraft type or squadron. This is the first sheet that supplies markings for a number of types currently preserved by a group of enthusiasts at the 32nd Tactical Air Base in Lask, Poland. As you would expect many of the aircraft served at Lask and these include a selection of Mig’s as well as training aircraft and a Mil-2 and Mil-24 helicopter. Most are preserved in the last scheme they flew in and for aircraft that are mostly stored outside are in very good condition as can be seen in the photographs on the instruction sheet. The second sheet covers the Mirage and Dagger in Argentinian service and nearly all of the aircraft feature some form of special artwork applied over their standard camouflage colour scheme.
ou can never have enough Aggressor decals? If you agree with that statement you should seek out the latest sheet from Bullseye models that supplies markings for no less than eighteen Aggressors F-16s. These are all early C models from blocks 25 and 32 which were engined with Pratt and Whitney F100 and of course this is the version Tamiya have released as kit number 61101. Amazingly most of this block are now withdrawn from frontline squadrons and are being converted into drones or in use be aggressor squadrons which really makes me feel old. What makes Aggressors such popular subjects are the wide range of colour schemes carried by the type most but not all mimicking schemes applied to Russian built aircraft with names like Flanker, Fulcrum and Flogger as well as the more descriptive Splinter and Blizzard. All of these schemes are fully illustrated on the comprehensive instruction sheet as well as Federal Standard colour numbers to help match the colours to your chosen paint range. The colour plans are supplied on seven double sided A4 sheets with a further two sheets supply detailed notes for the modeller as well as a guide to all the stencils. The decals are printed by Cartograf so enough said as far as quality goes and as well as all the individual aircraft markings you also get all the major stencils for eight aircraft. But if you wish to build all 18 the kits stencils are perfectly usable though not as thin as the Bullseye sheet.
Y
1/72 SCALE
MMD72084 ARGENTINA MIRAGE FAREWELL
•1 IAI DAGGER, C-408, GRUOO 6 AEREO DE CAZ , VI BRIGADA AEREA. •2 DASSAULT MIRAGE IIIEA, 1-011 ESCUDON II DEL GRUPO 6, AERO DE CAZA, 43 YEARS OF MIRAGES. •3 DASSAULT MIRAGE IIIDA, I-002, ESCUDON II DEL GRUPO 6, AERO DE CAZA, MIRAGE 1972-2015. •4 DASSAULT MIRAGE 5A MARA, C-630, IV BRIGADA AEREA, TANDIL AIR BASE. •5 DASSAULT MIRAGE IIIE, C-426, VI BRIGADA AEREA, TANDIL AIR FORCE BASE. •6 IAI DAGGER, C-426, ESCUDRON 1 DEL GRUPO AEREO 6 DE CAZA, VI BRIGADA AEREA, TANDIL AIR BASE, LAST FLIGHT NOVEMBER 2015.
Y
D72088 ARCHEO LASK COLLECTION
•1 LIM-2 (MIG-15BIS) RED 708 SN 1B00708. •2 MIG-21PF, RED 1801, SN 761801. •3 MIG-21MF WHITE 6715, SN 966715 THREE GREYS CAMOUFLAGE. •4 MIG-23MF, RED 021, SN 0390224121. •5 MIG-29A, RED 41112, SN 2960525118. •6 PZL I-22 ‘IRYDA’ BLACK 0406. •7 PZL-130 “ORLIK” ORANGE 012. •8 TS-11 ISKRA, RED 1229, SN 3H-1229. •9 MIL-2 HOPLITE, WHITE 4604, SN544604016. •10 TS-8 BIES, RED 0510 SN 1E-0510 THE MOST DERELICT AIRCRAFT AS IT IS MISSING ITS AILERONS AND FLAPS AS WELL AS MOST OF THE INTERIOR. •11 MIL-24 HIND, WHITE 016 SNA1016. ALSO INCLUDED IS THE LARGE DRAGON AND LIGHTING BOLT INSIGNIA OF THE GRUPA ARHECO LASK A PERFECT CENTREPIECE FOR YOUR DISPLAY.
1/48 SCALE
MMD48084 ARGENTINA MIRAGE FAREWELL AS LISTED ABOVE FOR 1/72 SCALE. D48088 ARCHEO LASK COLLECTION AS LISTED ABOVE FOR 1/72 SCALE.
CONCLUSION
Another very interesting selection of schemes from Poland making this manufacturer one to watch out for. Our thanks to Model Maker Decals for supplying these decals for review and you can see the full range at www. ModelMaker.com.pl.
1/48 SCALE
BU48-003 AGGRESSOR VIPERS
•1 F-16C BLOCK 25, 85-1418, 64 AGRS, 2016, ‘SPLINTER’ •2 F-16C BLOCK 32, 86-0269, 64 AGRS, 2014, ‘BLIZZARD’
•3 F-16C BLOCK 32, 87-0321, 414 CTS, 2001, ‘FLOGGER’ •4 F-16C BLOCK 32, 84-1277, 64 AGRS, 1990, ‘FLOGGER •5 ‘F-16C BLOCK 32, 87-0267, 64 AGRS, 1990, ‘FLOGGER •6 ‘F-16C BLOCK 32, 87-0307, 64 AGRS, 1997, ‘BANANA’ •7 F-16C BLOCK 32, 86-0269, 414 CTS, 1999, ‘SAND’ •8 F-16C BLOCK 32, 87-0267, 414 CTS, 2001, ‘FLANKER’ •9 F-16C BLOCK 32, 86-0220, 64 AGRS, 1990, ‘FULCRUM •10 F-16C BLOCK 32, 87-0333, 64 AGRS, 1991, ‘FULCRUM’ •11 F-16C BLOCK 32, 86-0271, 64 AGRS, 1988, ‘FULCRUM •12 F-16C BLOCK 32, 86-0271, 64 AGRS, 1990, ‘FULCRUM’ •13 F-16C BLOCK 32, 86-0273, 64 AGRS, 1990, ‘FULCRUM’ •14 F-16C BLOCK 32, 86-0281, 64 AGRS, 1990, ‘FULCRUM’ •15 F-16C BLOCK 32, 86-0269, 64 AGRS, 1990, ‘FULCRUM’ •16 F-16C BLOCK 32, 86-0250, 64 AGRS, 1990, ‘FULCRUM’ •17 F-16D BLOCK 32, 86-0041, 64 AGRS, 1990, ‘FULCRUM’ •18 F-16C BLOCK 32, 86-0269, 414 CTS, 1994, ‘FULCRUM’
CONCLUSION
This is the first sheet I have seen from Bullseye and I will now be actively searching for the ones I have missed due to the quality shown by this set. If you wish to purchase this sheet it is exclusively available from Sprue Brothers who will be on the stand next to us at the US Nationals in Omaha. This could get expensive! Our thank to Bullseye Models for the review samples.
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SAM-MDF26-Skyraider-1|2 Ad_Layout 1 13/01/2017 14:24 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.
MDF 26
SKYRAIDER
£19.99 +£3.00 P&P
ORDER HOTLINE: 44 (0)1234 211245 ORDER ONLINE: www.sampublications.com
M DF 26
A-1 SKYRAIDER
1/32 scale WWI British RFC Pilot & Lewis Gunner
KINGKIT THE ORIGINAL KIT DEALER (Est. 1983)
MC32024 $22.50 USD
MC32025 $22.50 USD
Also sold as a combo set (MC32026) $41.00 USD
THE
Model Cellar PLEASE NOTE: all our figures and accessories are unassembled and unpainted
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07/07/2017 10:42
KIT REVIEWS
KIT DETAILS
MANUFATURER: EDUARD SCALE: 1/72 KIT NUMBER: 70122 NUMBER OF PARTS: OVER 100 PARTS IN BOX (THOUGH SOME ARE OPTIONAL OR COVER OTHER VERSIONS) PLUS ETCHED SET AND PAINT MASKS DECAL OPTIONS - 4 OPTIONS, THREE RAF AIRCRAFT AND ONE USAF TYPE - RE-ISSUE WITH EXTRA PARTS.
Spitfire F MK.IX Eduard 1/72 Spitfire F MK.IX by Jon Howes
T
he Spitfire needs no introduction and is by far the most famous and iconic aircraft to ever fly. This kit covers the Mk.IX version of the Spitfire, powered by a Merlin 61 engine to combat the dominance of the FW 190A, this was one of the main versions of the of the Spitfire assembled during the early part of 1943. Now Eduard’s first 1/72 Spitfire was brought to us midway through 2016 and the boxing has seen a couple of versions before the subject of this review was released, most of the parts for other versions are still in the box with just a different instruction sheet and the odd part are the main differences. There will be a good amount of leftover parts once your model is completed. Once opening the box there is a treat inside due to the extremely detailed parts, plus the additional
etched brass and paint masks. There is really the full package included and only anyone looking to take a further step in detailling would need any more extras.
CONSTRUCTION With the construction, everything starts with the cockpit. The modeller is given choices between using the plastic kit parts or etched brass throughout the build, this way you can choose which parts to detail and which to not, depending on your personal skill levels. I started off by painting the cockpit seat leather brown and adding the etched seat belts. I then painted the interior cockpit green using Tamiya XF-71, a colour I find closely matches RAF interior green. I painted the detail areas of the cockpit NATO black XF-69 and used the etched control panel to add the extra detail.
The interior parts of the cockpit are sealed between two parts that represent the cockpit side walls and these are attached to the fuselage half and then sealed when you the close fuselage. The wings are a multi part assembly with the wheel wells consisting of 3 parts for each well. These are attached to the lower wing component which represents the entire lower wings. Two upper wing halves are then attached to the lower wing and enclose the
assembled wheel well. The flaps are next to be added. Once these are fixed in place the wing tips are attached to the ends of the wings. The fact that the kit covers multiple version there are several wing tips in the box, so make sure you use the correct ones for the model you are building. Once the wings are assembled they are attached to the fuselage and they have an extremely good fit with no filler needed. The tail fin and horizontal stabilisers are now
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KIT REVIEWS
added and the main construction of the aircraft is complete. Now, this lucky modeller was blessed with the inclusion in his review sample of the Eduard Brassin top cowl, this glorious little optional extra fits perfectly on the kits and adds that amazing extra detail to the kit. The kits plastic top cowling is a two-part assembly and would have required some work to remove the seam completely in this obvious area. So, this extra saves you some time and work and is well worth the minimal extra cost in my view. With the cowling attached, the kit was ready for painting.
PAINTING AND DECALING The four marking options provided with the kit offer two aircraft in ocean grey/dark green over medium
sea grey and two aircraft in middle stone/dark earth over azure blue. I decided to go with the aircraft flown by Stanislav Skalski of the Polish Combat team in northern Africa which was in the desert scheme. With Azure Blue there are some contradicting views on what paint brand actually has it correct, I mainly use Tamiya Acrylics, I chose to mix than experiment with other brands. My mix was based on Tamiya XF-8 blue with a small touch of XF-7 red to give it a purple tint, this was then lightened with XF-2 flat white until I had something that matched my references. At the time this felt like I was making potions over a cauldron, I now test sprayed my mix and compared to my reference photographs and once I was happy sprayed the lower parts of the aircraft, this was done in two coats and then masked once dry for the camo. For the middle stone/Dark Earth, I used Tamiya XF-60 dark yellow and Tamiya XF-52 dark earth. This was sprayed using the dark yellow first, once dry I masked off using rolled up blu tak
to mask and give those soft lines. I then sprayed the dark earth, gave that some time to dry and then removed my masking. Once the kit was given plenty of drying time I then gave the kit two coats of Tamiya X-22 clear to give the gloss finish needed to apply the decals, the decals settled really well on to the kit and were great to work with, they only needed a light coat in setting solution to set. The decals were then sealed in with another gloss of X-22 and given a day to dry before a final coat of XF-86 flat clear to produce a matt finish.
FINAL STAGES I now added all the small parts I had left off including the undercarriage and propeller which I assembled and painted separate, removed the masking off the clear parts and the kit was pretty much finished. I decided to add some weathering to the model, using Tamiya weathering sets, focusing on the engine exhaust and using white weathering powder to add
some fading to the paint and that sun-faded look. I then use a metallic silver prismacolor pencil which I find is great for applying small amounts of paint chipping, if you really sharpen the pencil. I marked the aircraft in a few areas where there would have been some sand blasting that could have chipped the paint away and around the wing roots. With my weathering completed, the stunning kit was complete.
CONCLUSION
Small 1/72 scale fighters are not usually my cup of tea, as I like to build these subjects in larger scales, but this kit has completely changed my mind. This was the first Eduard kit I have had the chance to build, and it was a glorious, beautiful and stunning kit to work with. The etched that are included in this version just make the kit that much better. So, I would like to thank Eduard for providing everything for this review. I am sure this will not be my last Eduard kit and I look forward to building many more, very highly recommended.
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KIT REVIEWS
KIT DETAILS MANUFACTURER: REVELL SCALE: 1/48 KIT NO: 03958 PARTS: 40 DECAL OPTIONS: ONE
Bf109G-10
Revell 1:48 Bf109G-10 by Kevin Shaw
A
nother Luftwaffe offering from me, another 109 from me, but this time in 48th scale. My first ever 48th Luftwaffe project started with what I can only describe as a disappointment. Why? Well, I opened the colourful Revell box to discover a kit that comprised 40 parts. To top it all, this was an item I could have put on a well-known auction site for a substantial price had it been in its original box and shrink wrapped, for this was a vintage 1979 Revell moulding, proven by the fact that “Revell Inc 1979 China” was stamped on the underside of the starboard elevator. Not knowing anything about the potential quality of this kit, my expectations moving into the build phase couldn’t have
been farther from the truth. The 40 parts come attached to three sprues, and 1 clear sprue bagged separately, with zero flash throughout included at no extra cost. Instructions are well produced, clear and concise, and in full colour throughout, with wonderful full colour profile views of the one and only decal option. One decal option always seems a little sparse in this day and age, but the wealth of aftermarket sheets for the 109 G-10 must be plentiful in 48th, and as I discovered, this kit forms a more than capable baseline to build from. I assembled 247 light blue grey (RLM76) for the undersides, with 245 Grey (RLM74) and 252 green (RLM82) for the camouflage. Tamiya weathering kit of soot and rust for weathering and it was time
to embark on what I thought would be a ‘bit of a nightmare’ build.
BUILD Cockpit and detail? Very nice actually with side wall detail moulded on the fuselage halves, and the first inkling that this might be better than I’d first assumed. All components went together very well, and those who have read my articles before will be extremely pleased to know the cockpit fitted into the fuselage halves perfectly, no need for any
adjustments, slicing, cutting, or general throwing and swearing on this one. Don’t forget to install the exhausts and radiator duct backing before putting the fuselage halves together, which, as the cockpit did, fitted snuggly into place without affecting the fuselage join. The wings are three pieces, with two top sections and a one piece lower section. No problems here, fit was perfect without any warping. The fit of the main wing section onto the underside of the sealed fuselage then went perfectly as well. This kit was dated 1979, this kit was falling together, this wasn’t what I expected. Moving on to the undercarriage was four piece, consisting of two halves for each wheel, the main undercarriage strut, and wheel door, all coming together (yes you guessed it) perfectly without issue to form two units. The only other buildable components now were the prop with three parts comprising back, props, and the spinner. The fuel tank came in two halves and was put together and painted before being put to one side for attaching at the end. And that, as
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KIT REVIEWS
HAND PICKED FO Rpicked 2017 Hand
Andrew Rawlinsom
5
Job Number:
:48
03935 s Ju88 A-4, 1 Junker
File Name:
4
SAM
1:32
Latest Issues
hter, 03926 A-8 Nightfig 0 Fw19
4547
CONCLUSION
Don’t be fooled by your own assumptions and a date on a kit moulding. When this kit was originally moulded, it was right, very right. It goes together better than some modern-day offerings, looks every bit the streamlined German Thoroughbred it is intended to represent and has stood the test of time VERY well. As I stated at the start of this article, if it’s a baseline 109 you’re looking for, and don’t want to spend out on the big Japanese and other large company offerings, here’s your port of call. This kit retails on average around a tenner, good value for a 48th scale piece of plastic. Look up a Hasegawa offering of this type in the same scale and you’ll understand the point. Now I know the latter will be far superior, not a question. But if it’s a 48th representation of a Gustav you want, and don’t want an option for every detail from open flaps down to throttle position, then this is a wonderful offering (colour scheme’s a cracker too as most late war 109’s tended to be). A great re-box of a kit that just wants to keep giving. My huge thanks to Revell for this review sample, and of course, Wicor Models of Portchester, ever trusted supplier of all my accessories.
Available from all good model stockists and online from Amazon
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Date:
Signed-off by:
03927 Mk.IXc, 1:32 Spitfire
REVELL_SAM_1-3_11-05-17_VERT_65x290_aw.pdf
5
Publication:
DECALS AND FINISHING One colour option here, an airframe of IV./ JG301 based out of Stendal in the Spring of 1945. Decals are extensive, with a large flurry of stencilling included (always a good thing in this scale), and all national and unit markings well printed and sharp. What I didn’t find overly enjoyable was the ‘window of opportunity’ between the decals not yet ready to come off their backing paper, and the ‘floating in the saucer’ stage. These decals took a long time to get to removal stage, and care must be taken not to try to force movement, as they are thin, and will break if asked to do something they don’t want to do. For the majority of the decaling, it was easy to adapt and overcome, until one of my top 10 in the ‘I don’t want to do this’ stakes, the spinner spiral. I hate these things but knew that hand painting it freehand in this scale wouldn’t cut it. 72nd you can pull it off, but I knew that it wouldn’t look right in ‘the next scale up’. It was tough, and with the aforementioned decal and backing paper love affair never to diminish, damaging the decal was a real possibility, and ever so nearly happened. Perseverance paid off. Possibly not the most perfect example viewed from every angle, but effective none the less on the black spinner. I matt varnished overall after the Humbrol decal fix had worked its magic and dried overnight, and prepared for weathering.
I started with exhaust streaks running back from the stubs, along the lower fuselage to just behind the wing trailing edges. I then highlighted all panel lines with a light touch of soot, then used a silver pen to simulate paint chipping around panel edges, port wing root, cockpit edging, and all leading edges that were affected by airflow. Once dry I dulled the silver down with more soot weather powder, then added some ‘rust’ weathering powder along the exhaust weathering, and on the undersides to represent oil streaks. Final actions were to add the breakable carpet monster food such as pitot head and radio aerials together with the undercarriage, fuel tank, and canopy in the open position, and this one was ‘in the books’.
Insert Date:
they say, was that, all together, no filler, no stress, no assumptions made anymore, the build was complete and ready for painting. As I do with all Luftwaffe projects of the era, I painted the whole airframe in 247. This basecoat formed the canvas for the straight edged camouflage (245 and 252) stretching a third of the way down the fuselage from the top, and in solid ‘splinter’ pattern on the upper surfaces of the wings. Both colours are then used to dry brush the Luftwaffe ‘mottled’ effect down the rest of the light blue fuselage. An overall coat of gloss varnish and the decaling process could begin.
-
for 2016
07/07/2017 10:47
A-7D CORSAIR
ANG ‘GREY SCRAPPER’ James Ashton builds the 1:48 HobbyBoss A-7D
H
obbyBoss have become a prolific contender in the plastic kit market, and in a very short space of time they have proven themselves to be a producer of quality, reasonably priced kits and often surprise us with models of subjects that other manufacturers tend to shy away from. The main contender for the A7 Corsair in 1:48th has been the Hasegawa kit, which has been around for quite sometime now. This is an accurate kit but is not an easy kit to build, and lacks in the weapons department, which
KIT DETAILS:
A-7D CORSAIR MANUFACTURER: HOBBYBOSS SCALE: 1:48 KIT TYPE: PLASTIC INJECTION MOULDED KIT NUMBER: 80344
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“THE KIT PROVIDES YOU WITH MORE ARMAMENT THAN YOU CAN SHAKE A STICK AT”
is a major feature of the SLUF, particularly in its ‘bomb truck’ role. HobbyBoss have now come into the fray with their new tool ‘Corsair’ series, the latest being an A-7D. As usual the box is bursting with plastic sprues, most notably a very comprehensive weapons loadout. The surface details are superbly rendered with engraved
panel lines and subtle riveting, and the single piece non-folding wings hint that this will be an easy and quick. Other fine details are the nicely rendered avionics bays and wheel wells. The cockpit is well represented, however, I chose not to use the supplied decals as they are basic and seem to be over scale. With careful painting
and dry brushing the instrument panel relief details turn out well. As I suspected this was an easy build as the parts are simple in their breakdown and well engineered, for example the fit of the wings to the fuselage was especially noteworthy. I will say at this point that I thoroughly enjoyed this build and it is a great kit,
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A-7D CORSAIR however, it does have some shape issues, most notably the intake is a little too wide and flat when compared to the actual aircraft. This is not a deal breaker, as the finished model ‘looks’ every bit a Corsair. This was one of the two reasons I decided to add a FOD cover. The second reason is that the large and visible intake trunking seams of the SLUF are notoriously difficult to hide. The other solution would be to find a seamless resin replacement, which would possibly correct the shape issue at the same time. However, at the time of writing I can only find one that has been designed for the Hasegawa
kit. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to make a FOD cover, in the case of this aircraft it required a fabric cover. Firstly I made a plastic sheet template to fit over the intake and then stuck foil to this to give it rigidity. The advantage of foil is that it creases and conforms to compound curves giving a natural fabric appearance. It was then trimmed with a sharp blade and painted before fixing into position. The treble two’s were sourced from a set of decals I found in my spares drawer. Talking of spares, I also
found that one of the prominent features of the A7 were missing from both the instruction sheet and the sprues, these were the two nose pitot’s, and once again I found some in my ‘spares-box’. While I was delving into my not inconsiderable amount of bits and pieces I noticed a set of etched mirrors that I also added to the kit canopy. It was at this stage before adding the weapons loadout that I realised how pitiful and forlorn the Corsair looks without the pylons and armament attached. This is the best feature of the HobbyBoss kit and it
leaves the competition standing when it comes to these options. You can while away many minutes of research time looking at all the different configurations that are available to you. I settled on long-range fuel tanks with a complement of twelve Mk 82’s two AIM-9’s and two Mavericks’, and the transformation was immediate. In conclusion I have been very impressed with this kit both from the excellent levels of engineering and the simplicity of its construction, this kit is streets ahead of the competition and a thoroughly satisfying and enjoyable build.
A
D
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SAM-M
A-7 CORSAIR
£19.99
CORSAIR
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1/48
A COM P REHENSI VE GUI DE
By Andy Evans with Andy Renshaw
D
A-7C and the new two-seat TA-7C followed on. The USAF eveloped as a successor to the A-4 Skyhawk, also realised the value of the A-7 as a strike platform, and the A-7 Corsair II entered service with the THE VOUGHT A-7 ordered its own batch from Vought as the single seat A-7D, United States Navy in 1966 and began and two-seat A-7K, fitted with the license-built Rolls-Royce operations over Vietnam in 1967. Some 1,569 Spey turbofan engine. Many of these aircraft were handed examples of the A-7 were ultimately produced and to Air National Guard units, and saw their combat debut operated by the United States, Greece, Portugal, and over Vietnam in 1972. The US Navy followed the USAF and Thailand, and the Hellenic Air Force retired the last adopted the A-7D as the A-7E, with modifications to suit operational A-7s in 2014, while the US relinquished its carrier-based operations, and later used some modified aircraft after the Gulf War. Dubbed the ‘SLUF’ – ‘Short two-seaters as the EA-7L electronic aggressor aircraft. Little Ugly Fella’ in polite conversation, the origins The A-7G was a proposed export version for Switzerland, of the A-7 hark back to a 1962 USN initiative, which the A-7H and TA-7H were sold to Greece, and Portugal produced the ‘VAX’ program, where the US Navy was operated the A-7P and TA-7P, and Thailand operated a looking for a follow-up design to replace the aging small number of A-7s until 2007. As a combat platform, the A-4. Key industry powerhouses put forward various Cover: Illustration Purposes Only A-7 exceeded its expectations, and of the nearly 13,000 submissions, and the Vought design, based on their sorties flown over Vietnam just six aircraft were lost during the entire war, successful F-8 Crusader was selected in February of 1964. The aircraft and the SLUF proved itself one of the most accurate bomb-delivery platforms was then assigned the designation of ‘A-7’ with the name of ‘Corsair of the conflict. The A-7 saw additional combat service in the 1983 Grenada II’ - honouring the successful World War Two Vought F4U ‘Corsair’. invasion, and in actions over Lebanon, and during 1986, the aircraft was Development of the A-7 platform was relatively fast, and the A-7A was used against Libyan SAM missile positions. The aircraft then featured in the taken into Navy service in 1966 with VA-147, and the upgraded A-7B, 1991 Gulf War, and saw some of its final service in the training role for the Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk program. This new MDF brings the story of this iconic aircraft to life, with background details, variants, operational roles, technical diagrams, colour artwork, extensive walk arounds, scale plans and how to model the A-7 in popular scales. This is a must have for the aviation enthusiast and modeller alike.
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BF-109H-1
QUICKBUILD
BF-109H-1 NACHTHOEHENJAEGER AZ Models 1/72 Bf-109H-1 Nachthoehenjaeger by Adam Rehorn
H
igher, faster, farther. This mantra has been applied to aircraft since the first barely-powered kites struggled off the ground in the early years of the twentieth century. Since then, amazing strides have been made; today, thousands of people cover thousands of miles at tens of thousands of feet every hour of every day. However, a lot of this progress has come during, or as a result of, war. World War II, in particular, provided a massive impetus to the development of many of the aircraft technologies that we still use today. Swept wings, jet engines and high-altitude flight are just some of the technologies that resulted from that global conflict. Of those, high-altitude flight seemed to pose the biggest problems. While today we consider it hum-drum to fly higher than 30,000ft in shirtsleeves, back during the War this was no trivial matter. Considerable importance was attached to developing ever-higher altitude engines, aircraft and pressurisation system. Germany, in particular, was very involved in this area of endeavour. As the war dragged on and it became apparent that the superiority of the Luftwaffe was no longer guaranteed,
German high command and engineers looked for ways to re-establish control of the air over the Reich. As the intensity of the bombing raids increased, as did the technical capabilities of Allied bombers and their escort fighters, it was felt that one way of doing this was to reclaim the “high ground”. To do this, a new breed of “high altitude” fighter was necessary. This was given increased importance by the debut of the American B-29 Superfortress which operated at much higher altitudes than the B-17s and B-24s pounding Germany on a daily basis. To this end, all kinds of projects were conceived and some, like the Fw-190based Ta-152H, actually did make it into limited service. One project that was more or less stillborn, though, was Messerschmitt’s attempt to produce a high-altitude version of the venerable Bf109. The first attempts were relatively simple; the first Bf-109H was basically an “F” with longer wings. By the time the project was finished, the BV.155 high-altitude fighter was almost ready to go, but almost no trace of its forebear could be seen in its design. There is an intense, and seemingly increasing, interest in German secret project aircraft. These “Luft ‘46” (as
KIT DETAILS:
MANUFACTURER: AZ MODELS PRODUCT NUMBER: AZ 7543 SCALE: 1/72 MAKE: MESSERSCHMITT TYPE: BF-109H-1 STATUS: IN PRODUCTION PANEL LINES: RECESSED PARTS: 79
they are called) designs can vary from mild to completely off the wall, and do tend to capture the imagination of a certain segment of the modelling population. I count myself among the growing army of Luft ‘46 devotees and I am overjoyed at the number of excellent kits that have found their way to production in the last decade or so. One company that has helped drive this forward is AZ Models from the Czech Republic. While not a large producer compared to many, AZ has a fascinating range, including a tonne of Luft ’46 aircraft in a number of variants. One such kit is the Bf-109H-1 Nachthoehenjaeger.
This is a theoretical Wilde Sau night fighter variant of the initial high-altitude fighter proposed by Messerschmitt! You want to talk about “What If”…?
THE BOX AZ Models come in an end opening box very similar in weight to those of Revell Germany kits. On the front of the box is a close up of most of a Bf-109H-1 turning away from the silhouette of a Mosquito. The Messerschmitt is clad in typical night fighter dark grey “squiggle” camouflage and cuts an imposing figure against the sunset (or sunrise?) accented mountains in the
This is what’s in the box. Two racks, two sheets of decals and even a different tail!
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“IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A DECENT KIT OF SOMETHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY, THEN THIS IS AN EXCELLENT INVESTMENT!”
Here’s the odd wing bend that I’m talking about. It is essential to bend the red-shaded section down, but it’s not simple! This is the full colour painting scheme on the back of the box. The all black is very slick, but loses all its effectiveness due to those Reich Defence Bands!
background. While not as gritty or as action-packed as some older box art, it is a very nice piece of work. It certainly harkens back to the days of “action” box-art, as opposed to a sedate picture/ painting of the subject just flying around taking up space. After all, this is a warplane, and it should be seen doing what it was built for! The artists at FROG and Matchbox would be pleased, I think. On the back of the box is the full colour painting plan. Again taking a page from the old days, AZ has decided to use the oft-ignored “other side” of the box to present
This is what happens if you don’t bend the wings. See, they’re not kidding around on this point!
the three different schemes for which decals are provided. They are all different, and include a “squiggle camouflage” machine in grey with a black underside, a splotchy coloured plane in different greys with a black underside, and a stunning all-black with red/ yellow tail band scheme! I will admit the all-black looks awfully racy and sinister. The RLM colours are all called out along the bottom, along with the Humbrol numbers. Interestingly, the aircraft are called out as being flown by specific pilots in specific places at specific times, all outside of WWII’s normal time-span. This
This is the result of the first few scoring passes. It’s necessary to thin out the wing skin so it will bend without buckling.
is an interesting piece of WhatIffery, but in all honesty, I think it may take things a bit too far. I worry about less-educated people getting confused and blurring the lines between fact and fiction. Still, the schemes are nice, I must say.
THE KIT Opening the box, one finds three sprues of medium grey plastic, one clear canopy in a separate bag (THANK YOU, AZ!) and two sheets of decals. There’s also a very simple, albeit colour, instruction sheet. The parts look very nice, with surprisingly fine engraved panel lines and lots of smaller details like the small access hatches under the wings and in various places on the fuselage. There’s no flash on any of the parts, and the plastic quality seems right up to par with that used by more mainstream makers. There’s a good amount of
interior detail as well, and the kit has moulded cockpit detail on the walls of the fuselage. The cockpit is made from a number of welldetailed parts and looks like it will build up nicely. A dry fitting of the fuselage indicates no major issues fit-wise, although the long wings do have a very peculiar feature that must be addressed during the build (more on this later). One thing I did notice, though, was that the panel lines do tend to get a bit soft, and almost fade out, in certain places. This is common for this kind of shorter-run kit, though, and it means that there will be some scribing or re-scribing to do. There are around 79 parts, but if you look at the instructions, you’ll see that you don’t need quite a few of them. This model is based on the other AZ Bf-109 kits, and as such comes with pretty much all the wings, rudders, gun-decking and even wheels and tires to do whatever variant you wish, to a point. Thus, while there are a lot of parts in the box, there aren’t all that many that will go into the airplane itself. Still, it leaves a lot of nice extras for the spares box! The instructions are wellrendered and visually clear. However, they are, like other AZ and Brengun instructions, a bit confusing. There are specific parts to be used for various different (and equally “what-iffy”) variants (such as a “Trop” version) that are called out, so you have to know what version you want to, or can build. Overall, the instructions are very good, but this method of calling
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BF-109H-1 This is the cockpit “tub” finished and ready to go into the plane. The detail is good for the scale of the kit. Note the tape seatbelts!
“THE COCKPIT IS A VERY NICE PIECE, WITH GOOD DETAIL ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL AND CABIN WALLS” out options is a bit confusing. The full-colour paint plans on the back of the box are handy, and all of them look equally interesting. However, adding to the confusion is the fact that the plane on the box front doesn’t match those on the back. The box front shows an aircraft with Bf-109G-style gun breech bulges, but the profiles on the back don’t show that at all. In addition, nowhere does it show
the -109G with the style of canopy hood that this particular kit comes with. All the profiles and art show a standard “square” -109 canopy with all its flat plate windows. However, the Kit comes with a “Galland”-type of hood, as seen on the BF-109K. While this may add to the “What-Iffy charm” of the kit for some, it may cause problems for less experienced modellers. The decals look nice and include barely-broken Hakenkreuzen as well as many small unit/ aircraft markings and numerous stencils. Everything’s in register
The sidewalls of the cockpit have nice detail on them too. A dark wash and some silver pencil crayon brings these details to life. and there’s not a lot of carrier film, but I’d never used AZ’s decals before, so I wasn’t sure how well things were going to go on the decalling front.
BUILDING THE BF-109H I’m sure it comes as no surprise that the first steps in this model are to assemble, paint and ready the cockpit for insertion. The cockpit is a very nice piece, with good detail on the instrument panel and cabin walls. There’s no PE in this kit, nor resin, so the detail might not be up to the standards of some, but it’s definitely going to be good enough since you can’t pose the canopy open. That having been said, there are no seatbelts; neither moulded in nor extra. Thus, I went “old school” and used
some made out of thin strips of masking tape. I think sometimes we forget about the easy ways of doing things as we get more caught up in perfection; sure, they may not be perfect, but through a 1/72 canopy, a strip of tape is 95% as good as an aftermarket seat belt, and a heck of a lot easier to use! I painted the cockpit in RAF interior green and gave it a wash of Citadel Nuln Oil. While this might not be a perfect interior colour, again, you can’t see much when everything’s buttoned up, so it did just fine. I added some scraping with a silver pencil crayon too, so it looked worn and used. I decided to put the seat in before installing the cockpit, but to leave the instrument panel out, as well as the control stick and the armoured headrest. In retrospect, I would put the instrument panel in at this point; getting it in afterwards was neither clean nor entertaining. While the AZ kits are not up to “shake and bake” level, they are, by and large, fairly well-fitting kits. The Bf 109H is no exception, and the fuselage went together easily. The gun deck on the nose isn’t a perfect fit, but you have to remember that this fuselage is set up to build so many variants of the -109 that you can’t expect perfection. A bit of light sanding on the seams takes care of most
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of the ills on this kit. The undernose intake fit’s beautifully too. Next up are the wings, and this is where it got weird. I’m sure most of us have had the experience of having to modify a kit to make parts fit; let’s face it, that’s sort of the name of the game, right? However, in this case, AZ TELLS YOU that you have to modify a part to make it fit. The amazing thing is that the part you have to modify is the ENTIRE UPPER WING! In Step 12 of the instructions, it shows the innermost section of the upper wing in red, and it shows that you have to bend it downwards so that it meets the lower wing skin/fuselage plate. I have no idea why AZ had it so that the wing was at the wrong angle; it must have something to do with their moulding processes, I guess. This angular mismatch is clearly intentional, since they tell you to correct it in the instructions. This undertaking may not sound too difficult, but remember that the wing is a 3-D shape, with curvature across and down its profile. You can’t just grab the wing and bend, because the leading and trailing edge curvatures will just buckle, and you’ll make a mess of things! To bend the wings, I first scored the panel line outboard of the mid-wing fillet with my scriber and a razor saw. I then more aggressively began to scrape away at it, especially on the leading edge curvature using a broken-tipped knife. (I find taking a #11 blade and snapping the tip off creates a really great material removal tool.) Eventually, I’d thinned the leading edge curve enough, and had scribed the joint thin enough, that I was able to bend the wing as desired. I glued the fuselage pan/underwing piece in place first, and then attached the upper wings, thereby minimising any other fit issues with the wing/fuselage interface. I was amazed at how good a fit the upper wings were, actually; very little filler was needed! Despite the kit being a pretty
good fit, there was a lot of detail sanding and filling to be done. This was necessitated by the fact that most of the kit did have to be rescribed. AZ’s panel lines are nice, and their amount and fineness is excellent. However, they are inconsistent when it comes to sharpness and depth. This is what you expect in a specialised shortrun kit, though, so its’ no surprise. There are places where the panel lines are very faint, almost simple ghosts of themselves, and these need attention. However, I found it was a good idea to just rescribe everything; the deeper lines take little effort, and when I was done I had a plane with consistent scribing all around. The problem was that when I was rescribing, I had many “slips”. To fill these, I used to use CA. However, CA is hard and doesn’t sand easily. I will also sometimes use Tamiya Putty thinned with acetone; this allows it to flow better. However, I find that this always shrinks a bit, and when I sand it down, I still see a bit of a line. The best way, I’ve found, to fill scratch marks like those from an “etching oopsie” is to use Testors Model Master Acrylic (MMA) Flat White. Yep. Paint. I fill the scratch with straight-fromthe-bottle white paint using a filed-down toothpick, and when
it’s dry, I sand it down. The paint is tough, chemically neutral and won’t shrink. I discovered this method when I was working on a car kit years ago, and I’ve been using it ever since. Once I had my “extra” panel lines filled in and everything was ready, I attached the tailplanes. These fit well, but the location isn’t quite positive. Getting them aligned properly takes some fiddling, and they have a tendency to break off if you’re not careful. I would have preferred a bit more of a gluing surface, or to have the tabs be a tighter fit. One thing I’ve found about this kit, and others like it, is that there is often confusion due to optional parts and instructional/ pictorial inconsistencies. For example, the instructions show a DF loop aerial on the spine, but the box illustration shows the classic “mast”, and this isn’t shown on the instructions. I opted to go with neither. Also, the instructions show an air filter for a “Trop.” version, although that’s not used here. I used the kit parts for
everything except the exhausts. There are only the standard kind of ejector-type stacks given. This is fine for a day fighter, but for a night fighter, it’s nonsense. The pilot would be blind nearly instantly! Instead, I fashioned some tube-type exhaust suppressors from some styrene rod. I cut the rod to length and then drilled out each end. I painted them with MMA steel and gave them a light rusting treatment with some chalk pastels. This is a considerable improvement, and one I would suggest you make if you’re building this bird as a night fighter.
PAINTING AND FINISHING I started by painting the wheel wells with a coat of Testors Chrome Silver enamel and then overcoating it with MMA Steel. I gave this a wash of Nuln Oil and did the same for the gear doors and legs. I then filled the wheel wells with Silly Putty (Play Do in UK). I masked the cockpit with Tamiya tape; this was a surprisingly easy job. I found that, even though the canopy frames were fine, they were good enough to easily trace through the tape. With the canopy protected, I stuck it onto the airframe with some blue-tack.
The white on the underside is MMA Flat White over other filler. This method is useful for both seam filling and taking care of rescribing slips, both of which feature in this photo!
As we say at work: “It can’t.” The wing displays my considerable lack of success at doing the fine squiggle with my airbrush. The tailplanes, though, show how it looks done by hand. Time to repaint that wing…
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This is what the fuselage looked like after doing all the squiggle by hand. This is before touching up, so you can see there are some less than perfect areas. I toned the purpleness down with a light overcoat of the Neutral Grey, too.
The light grey smudges are chalk pastel applied with Varsol and then left to dry. I used a medium grey to highlight the panel lines and act as a filter for the stark black underside.
The touch ups are visible as a slightly lighter grey around the purple squiggles. While the difference in colour looks significant, it’s actually not. Once Futured, they will be the same colour as the rest of the plane. This is why I left the control stick out; it would have been easily broken by the blue tack “slug” I used to hold the cockpit in place. At this point, I think a note about the canopy is required. The fit is only so-so. The back sticks up a bit from the contours of the plane, but this could be due to the sanding I did on the spine. However, the fit with the nose and fuselage contours at the front of the canopy is not great. In retrospect, I should have finished the cockpit fully, and glued the canopy on before painting. Then, I could have filled and sanded the contours much better, and the end effect would have been far superior. Live and learn, though! With the cockpit on, I applied a light coat of Rustoleum grey primer. This is a very dark grey primer, unlike the light-grey one I usually use. I chose it because this is a night fighter, and I wanted a darker base coat. It turns out the Rustoleum paint, while it looks thick, is actually an excellent primer. It’s tough and dries very fast and quite smoothly, better than the now-discontinued “Colourplace” from Walmart. Of course, it’s also more expensive. The first colour to be applied was the black on the underside. I used MMA Aircraft Interior Black for this, and just airbrushed it on without a care. Once dry, I masked the underside of the
wings and stabilisers, and cut a wavy pattern (as seen on the box’s paint schemes) for the sides of the fuselage. I just used a straight demarcation line south of the exhaust ports for the nose. The fuselage was painted in MMA Neutral Grey, just airbrushed on “spray gun” style. I then tried to replicate the tight squiggle as
seen on the painting instructions. For this, I used MMA F-15 Dark Grey. This has a slightly purple tinge and is perfect. Sure, neither of these are official RLM colours, but they look right, and that’s all I care about. When it came to spraying it on, though, well, how can I put this… “No.” That was what my airbrush was telling me. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get the lines consistent enough or tight enough. Overspray was a problem… it was a disaster. I know many people with skills and tools enough to do this; I am not one of them. Thus, I made a decision to once again go “old school” and do the squiggle by hand. This was accomplished using a #0 brush and some non-thinned paint. The results were far, far superior to anything I could do with an airbrush. I also found the process incredibly enjoyable. Yes, I had fun modelling! Can
you believe it!? The result was a very tight grey squiggle that only needed a bit of touching up. Thankfully, MMA colours stay the same when you airbrush and hand brush, so touching up was easy. In case you’re wondering: yes, this process does lead to much rougher paint work. However, with some Future and light sanding, this roughness is obliterated. After doing a few passes with Future the plane was ready for decals. The AZ decals are very nice, but be warned! They curl on themselves very easily, and they cannot be recovered. They’re very thin and fragile, too, but tend to conform to panel lines only somewhat; even coaxing them with Future only worked so-so. I wanted to use the hollow white outlines for the upper wing crosses, but I destroyed the second one, so I had to sand the first one off and go with the higher-vis black and white ones. I applied a few more light coats of Future over the decals and sanded them in to integrate them. By this point, the roughness from hand brushing the camouflage was largely a thing of the past! To do the panel lines, I opted to use dark grey chalk pastels. I applied these liberally over the topside of the entire airframe, using Varsol as the carrier. For the underside, I used a slightly lighter “medium grey” pastel. The glossy finish allowed them to run into the panel lines well, and after two applications things looked good. After each application, I wiped the excess off in the direction of airflow using a paper towel. However, this leaves behind a thin layer of pastel over the entire plane, and this acts as a filter, evening out the paint tones. The next step was to apply a matte top coat. For this, I used Delta Ceramcoat Indoor/Outdoor Matte Urethane Varnish, thinned with water and isopropyl alcohol. This dries to a DEAD matte finish, perfect for doing panel highlights with chalk pastels. I applied a light dry brushing of dark grey overall the panel lines, and then re-flatted the plane to lock them in. The
Compare the rather workmanlike Bf-109H to the Ta-152H, and you can see why the Luftwaffe chose Tank’s design! The AZ model makes an interesting contrast to the ancient Frog kit of Germany’s actual high-altitude fighter.
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1/72 effect is very subtle, but it’s there and I think it might be one of my better pastelling jobs to date. To highlight the panel lines on the underside I used the same approach. Usually, I use a very light colour (white+grey+purple) pastel to highlight black. However, this can be stark, especially in photographs, even though it’s toned down by matte coating. Thus, I used a medium grey pastel for this on the -109H. The result is extremely subtle, but again, right what I was looking for. I will certainly be using that combination again since Luft ‘46 night fighters are something of a passion of mine! I finished off the kit by applying a low-shine semi-gloss finish, made from the matte coat fortified with some Future. This is insanely tough and delivers a nice finish that also protects the kit from UV and mishandling once dry. I unmasked the canopy, added in the few cockpit details that were missing, and glued the canopy in place with Tacky Glue (i.e. thick white glue). Now the less-than-perfect fit was unfortunately quite obvious. All I can say is for people to learn from my mistakes! The landing gear when on without issue, although getting the angles right is a troublesome problem familiar to anyone who’s built either a Bf-109 or a Fw-190 in the past!
CONCLUSIONS
The folks at AZ have come up with a neat kit of a mysterious aircraft. There were real -109Hs, but these were only built in tiny numbers, and a few were used as recce birds. There was never a night fighter, so this kit is purely a “What If”. However, it’s a bit of a shaky “what if”, since the -109H was determined to be unsatisfactory and development was terminated early on. I do like that they used the K variant canopy since all H models were based on earlier, “square windowed” G and F models. The kit itself is quite good and is enjoyable to build. It’s not overly
“THE FOLKS AT AZ HAVE COME UP WITH A NEAT KIT OF A MYSTERIOUS AIRCRAFT”
complicated to construct and with a bit of work can be made to look pretty good. The less than perfect fit of the canopy is they only real detractor on this kit, actually. The rest of the kit is a great treat for those who like What-Iffing. The model is also a great treat for the spares box as there are extra wings, props, air intakes, radiators and even gun pods left over! Heck, it’s almost worth it just for the spares you get! Granted, the kit is not perfect, and it is not as troublefree as the superb Academy -109 family, but if you are looking for a decent kit of something out of the ordinary, then this is an excellent investment! You will have to work at it a bit, though, especially
on the wings, so be prepared. For anyone who likes -109s, night fighters and the imagination of What-If, this model is highly recommended. It looks great on display and it’s one of those
kits that people will think they recognise (it IS a -109 after all) but then have to give a second look when they see those big wings. Thanks to the Editor, and AZ, for passing this one on to me.
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Faster-Lower-Longer
JUST LANDED!
MDFSD 6
BUCCANEER
£14.99 + P&P
The Blackburn
BUCCANEER S.1. S.2 and Mk.50
MDF Scaled Down #6 By Andy Evans
Built by Blackburn at Brough, the Buccaneer epitomises the very essence of the fast, low-level ground attack concept, coupled with an inherently stable ride. The Buccaneer was designed in the late 1950’s as a low-level, long range, high speed, strike/attack/recce aircraft for carrier operations. It was produced in two main variants, the S.1 and the much improved and more powerful S.2, serving with both the Royal Navy and later the RAF from 1965 to 1994. Having enjoyed a successful, albeit relatively uneventful, career with the Royal Navy, the Buccaneer realised its true potential with the RAF and South African Air Force where it soon proved itself to be an immensely strong, manoeuvrable and reliable aircraft with a better speed, range and weapons carrying capability than many others. This was borne out during the many NATO exercises but came to public attention during Operation ‘Granby’ in the Gulf War. Here twelve Buccaneers were dispatched at three days notice, initially to laser designate targets for Tornado bombers, and later in the campaign, they acted as both Tornado designators and bombers in their own right whilst carrying out missions dropping their own 1000lb LGB’s. In total the type flew 216 Gulf sorties, destroying numerous bridges, aircraft shelters, Cover: Illustration Purposes Only
runways, command bunkers, ammunition stores and even other aircraft. The Buccaneer was prematurely withdrawn from service in 1994 as a result of arms reduction talks and the subsequent rationalisation of RAF assets, being replaced in the maritime strike role by more modern Tornado IDS aircraft. This new MDF Scaled Down from SAM Publications takes you into the heart of the Buccaneer, as we go faster, lower, longer!
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STEARMAN BIPLANE
STEARMAN AEROBATIC
BIPLANE
Revell 1/48 Stearman Aerobatic Biplane by Michael Chilestone
INTRODUCTION
S
tearman aircraft designed and built a number of aircraft types before being absorbed by Boeing in 1934. They are best remembered for the Model 75, known under various designations by the US services, and universally as the Stearman. This could be said to be the US equivalent of the Tiger Moth – a two-seat biplane, produced in large numbers, and trained a great many aircrew of all services during WWII. Like the Tiger Moth, the type enjoyed an honourable “demob” in civilian hands, and a great many are still flying. When this came up for review I jumped at the chance, and totally forgot what was drummed into me at school, namely “read the question”! Hence as a die-hard military aviation fan I found myself with the civilian version to review; but I also realised that I was rather pleased with the prospect of doing something different and colourful for a change.
This particular kit originates from Revell (USA), and is of a civilian post-war version. It differs from its military counterpart (from Revell Germany, kit no 03957) in representing an aircraft with some approved postwar modifications. The most visible and obvious are a fully-cowled Wasp Junior engine; a fuselage spine with a headrest for the rear seat occupant; wheel spats; and ailerons on the upper wings as well as the lower. Just one bit of equipment is not provided, and that was by no means fitted to all these aircraft, namely the wingwalker’s rig on the top wing. Whilst I’ve not had a chance to examine the Revell Germany kit in detail, it appears (and would be perfectly logical) that there are some common sprues. First impressions on looking inside the topopening box are good. The fabric covering is wellrepresented and does not “sag”. The cabane struts and undercarriage legs are
moulded onto each fuselage half, and the tailwheel is also moulded on the port fuselage half: I was a bit wary that this put them at risk of being broken, but as the build progressed this risk proved minimal. The instructions are comprehensive and understandable, and include a rigging diagram, but strangely do not feature colour indications on the marking scheme diagrams. Instead colour indications for all components, even the main airframe bits like fuselage, wings etc, are given within the various stages. This may seem unusual, but I realised it reflects how I usually approach biplane builds, painting various subassemblies like the completed fuselage and wings before
bringing it all together. In another departure from the norm, each part is listed and identified, something that improves understanding of the subject. Decals are provided for two US-registered civilian aircraft; one with red trim and one with blue, over a basic white or cream airframe.
CUTTING PLASTIC The first assembly is the cockpit, which is built onto an internal fuselage framework. The cockpit is basic, as it is on the real thing, and is furnished with seats, a storage box, dual controls including sticks, rudder pedals and throttles, and an instrument console. Assembly was straightforward, although
Interior framework and cockpit ready for painting
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“REVELL’S STEARMAN IS A WELL-FITTING KIT WHICH BUILDS INTO A GOOD REPRESENTATION OF THIS CLASSIC BIPLANE”
KIT DETAILS:
MANUFACTURER: REVELL (USA) SCALE: 1/48 TYPE: INJECTION MOULDED STATUS: NEW EDITION OF EXISTING PT17 KIT WITH REVISED AND NEW PARTS.
PANEL LINES: RECESSED PARTS: 67 GREY PLASTIC, 3 CLEAR (1 UNUSED)
it is important to remember to add the control columns (part 16) before the front seat. The seats include mouldedon harnesses. I would normally remove these and replace with
From aft, painted
tape or aftermarket (assuming it’s available), but in this case I elected to paint them. The whole assembly was sprayed US interior green, with details picked out in appropriate colours – I decided on
a medium-dark blue for the seat belts – and then I moved on to the fuselage halves themselves. Having removed them from their sprues and cleaned them up, the first job was to drill out
Cockpit detail provided in the kit.
Assembled and drying: note holes drilled in tail for rigging.
the venturi tube on the port front cabane strut: it is not in the instructions to do this, but it improves the look a lot. Whilst the drill was out I also drilled out the exhaust (part 53), and there were a couple of holes to open for an intake (starboard) and lift handle. I also drilled a number of holes ready for rigging: one thing I have learned over the years is that biplane models generally require more planning ahead than monoplanes. The interiors of the main fuselage halves were now painted the exterior colour, then the stringers were picked out by dry brushing with aluminium. Following that it was time to add the firewall, a fire extinguisher, and the cockpit assembly, after which the fuselage halves are closed. I was a bit puzzled at the third stage of step 3: this shows two intakes, part 52, to be installed. In fact, the lower one appears to go where the lift handle should. After examining a number of photos of real machines, I decided to omit the lower intake and only add the upper one. You may be wondering why I’ve not mentioned instrument
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Masked and ready for a coat of white.
Firewall from the front. Turns out the oil tank is not needed as it’s not visible once the engine is completed. panels yet. Wonder no more: these are now fitted to the underside of the cockpit top decking (part 8), having sprayed the interior of this the same colour as the exterior is going to be. The panels have raised blank dials, and decals are provided, which settled down into the detail well with Micro Sol/Set and looked effective. The tail assembly comes next, but before adding the tailplane, I found a copyright mark moulded on the underside of one of the elevators. This proved easy to
remove, but what was not so easy was restoring the fabric detail afterwards: I do question why this could not have been moulded where its removal would not cause such a problem, eg inside the rear of one of the fuselage halves. The fuselage assembly was now set aside to dry, while I started on the engine.
POWER PLANT The first step in the instructions relating to this would have you add a frame (part 69) and an oil tank (part 68) to the front of the firewall; but once the engine is installed these are invisible from outside, so unless you are planning to open the cowling up, or you just like to know it’s there, you might as
A little work still needed on a couple of seams here. well omit the latter and put it in your spares box. Meanwhile I jumped ahead a couple of stages in the instructions, and after assembling the cowling halves built up the engine itself. This is a reasonably well-detailed replica, though some modellers may wish to add further details. Assembly was trouble-free, although to avoid damaging part 46 when cutting it off the sprue great care is needed. The assembled engine was painted in various shades of aluminium, steel and grey. There are now some further parts you may wish to omit, as they too will be invisible on the finished model. Part 35 is needed, as it joins onto the engine mounting, but part 36 (of which there are two) can safely be left out for a closed-up build. The front cowl ring completed the engine assembly: the locating pins for this are set so that it can be fitted only one way, making life slightly easier. I left the prop, as I usually do, to be fitted as one of the very
last items before completion. With the engine and lower cowling attached, the fuselage is basically complete bar a few details. As an added bonus for the lazy modeller like me, the additional spine (part 45) on this version of the Stearman means that there is no visible upper fuselage seam to deal with. The mainplanes are each in two parts. After drilling more rigging location points, I added the lower wings, which fitted beautifully, like everything on this kit. So I left the upper wings to be added later.
PAINTING AND MARKINGS I selected the second option, for no better reason than it was not the one on the box art. This consists of a white or cream airframe with blue wings, trimmed with blue and blue/white (or cream) checks. The instructions are not entirely clear which version should be cream and which should be white, so I settled on white for two reasons:
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the version on the box-top appears to be cream, and I wasn’t doing that one; and I have a pot of white paint (several in fact) whereas cream would require mixing. So I masked the cockpit, the engine and the wheels, which had been fitted already: having to do this is one disadvantage of a spatted undercarriage! The first coat of white, as is usual, showed up a number of imperfections in seams which needed dealing with, after which a second coat was sprayed. After letting this cure for a few days I masked up for the blue areas, which had its complications. This included masking the glazed areas of the windscreens, as the framing is blue. Because these are commendably thin I again had to take great care not to break them. I said above that one advantage of white over cream was that it would not require mixing. The same cannot be said of the blue! The blue trim on the decals provided a reference, and after a bit of experimentation I found that Mr Hobby Aqueous H25 Sky Blue, mixed with Tamiya XF2 white, was an almost perfect match. Just please don’t ask the ratio! I kept adding white a little at a time until it looked right, painted a small patch on the decal sheet next to the blue trim, and compared it after a minute or so drying time. Not very scientific, but it only took two or three tries, and it worked! After the main colour had dried, I lightened the colour with a little more white, and highlighted the wing ribs with a light dry-brushing. I could have masked and painted the wing walkways at this point, but decals are provided, and I decided to see how they performed. Fortunately, like the rest of the decals, they performed very well, with no adverse reaction to Micro
Some complex masking for the blue Comparing and matching paint mix to the decal colour. The darker blue is unmixed Gunze sky blue; the second, with added white, is getting close.
… and off with the masking
And underneath Sol and Set decal solutions. The decals are thin, but not so thin they are difficult to handle; they soak away from the sheet quickly; and have an adequate amount of “wiggle time” to allow them to be adjusted and positioned accurately. Even the markings I was most concerned about, namely the checks on the spine and undercarriage legs, went on easily and conformed to the curves. The long flashes down
The blue has been sprayed …
each side of the fuselage were easily aligned along one of the stringers. Some stencilling is provided, and
is legible under a magnifying glass, but I confess I did not bother with some of the smaller items. Once the decals were dry, I added a little light weathering, mainly a slight grubbiness underneath with pastel chalks. After a coat of semi-gloss varnish it was time to bring it all together.
RIGGING AND FINISHING Before attaching the top wing, I consulted the rigging diagram in the instructions and a number of photos I had. For each rigging wire I superglued a length of fine EZ Line (my current rigging material
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STEARMAN BIPLANE
The interplane struts have a tab of plastic which must be removed before fitting, but which indicates the top of the strut.
Installing rigging wires
Installing tail rigging
of choice) to an appropriate hole. No need to get the length accurate at this point, just make sure it will be long enough with some to spare. Fortunately, the length of each wire is noted on the rigging diagram, which should be helpful to those who use material like fine wire or stretched sprue; although I did not measure and verify the stated lengths, I have no reason to believe they’re not correct. The top wing was now attached, and was a good, strong positive fit. The interplane struts have a “tab” of plastic on one end. This will need cutting off, but do note which end it is on because it indicates the upper end of the strut. The previously-fixed rigging wires were now brought through the appropriate hole – an operation which was somewhat fiddly – pulled taut and superglued. Once dry the excess length was trimmed off flush, and the remaining hole filled with a small dab of
white glue, followed when dry by a spot of paint. This left the holes virtually invisible to quick examination, although they are not perfect. Next time I’ll pay more attention to trimming the drilled holes completely flush with the surface before painting and rigging. The two tail rigging wires were each done as a continuous run from just above the tailwheel on one side, through each tailplane and the fin, attaching to the
corresponding point above the tailwheel on the other side. Finally, I added the prop and my civilian Stearman was done.
CONCLUSION
Revell’s Stearman is a well-fitting kit which builds into a good representation of this classic biplane. Whilst civilian subjects are not as popular as military with modellers generally, they make a pleasant and colourful change from more warlike subjects, and I certainly enjoyed this one. Highly recommended. Grateful thanks to Tim UpsonSmith for the reference photographs,
Rigging secured while the glue dries.
and to Revell USA for the review sample. In the UK this version is stocked by Creative Models. Finally, a personal note: I have been modelling for roughly fifty years, and only a small proportion of my output has been biplanes involving rigging. So I am still learning, evolving and improving my technique. Hopefully the next one will be better. You’re never too old to learn and improve.
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BOOKWORLD wholesale
Airbrushing and Weathering Techniques.
Aces High Hind Special
As an addendum to the regular Aces High Magazine issue devoted to the military helicopters, we offer you a special publication focused on one of the most famous military helicopters used around the world, the Mil Mi-24 Hind. Paperback,full colour,140 pages
£14.99
Encyclopedia of aircraft 5.
The information in this book is the result of nearly twenty years working with Vallejo acrylic colors and auxiliary products and is meant to be used as a guide and reference. Chapters include Air brushes and Airbrushing Model Air Colours, Acrylic Surface Primer, Airbrushing Model Air Techniques, Basic Weathering Techniques, Advanced Weathering Techniques, Decals and Varnishes, Diorama-Vignette Bases and Stone Textures, Creating Wet and Water Effects Gallery, FAQ with Tips and Tricks, Colour Charts.
£22.99
Dornier Do215 Luftwaffe and Other Operations 1938-45
Introducing the Fifth volume of the definitive modeling guide, Encyclopedia of Aircraft Modelling Techniques. This volume covers the following subjects in depth through its 155 pages and more than 700 high quality pictures: How to assemble, paint, and weather fuel tanks and all types of weapons including missiles, bombs, machine guns, and cannons.
Most comprehensive account of this often overlooked and misunderstood aircraft ïDescribes covert operations and development into night-fighter ïContains hundreds of rare photographs, colour artwork, technical data, camouflage and markings.
The Weathering Magazine 19 Pigments
Commemorating 64 years of Recce excellence the book unveils the illustrious story of 348 Squadron! Serving the Nation from 1953, 348 Squadron will cease operations on 5th of May and the last remaining Hellenic Recce Phantoms will get their place in history as some of the most beloved jets in Aviation!Full Colour
£28.99
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MDF 27 The Sepecat Jaguar.
£31.99
Allied Fighters WW2 Designs by Claes Sundin
Allied Fighters offers more than 200 highly detailed full colour profiles from world renowned artist Claes Sundin, covering all of the warís most famous single seaters - the Spitfire, Hurricane and Typhoon, the Mustang, Thunderbolt and Lightning, the Yak-1, MiG-3 and La-5, and many more
£7.99
Wave-Off!
This book tells the story of LSOs from the first carrier operations in 1922 through World War II, the early jet era, Korea, Vietnam, and up to today’s nuclear-powered leviathans. Hardback,208 pages,250 photographs.
£23.95
Tel: 01299 823330 Fax: 01299 829970 web: www. bookworldws. co. uk email:info@bookworldws. co. uk
Over 200 original wartime photos Approx 12 combat maps 3 Specially commissioned combat scenes by Piotr Forkasiewicz, one of the worldís leading digital aviation artists. 6 new colour profiles.
Sea Vixen XP924
Hawker Hunters at War
£19.99
A brief history of the de Havilland Sea Vixen.100 pages and 271 photographs, mainly in full colour, the author Lewis Gaylard creates a unique behind the scenes look at the most recent events in the history of ‘Foxy Lady’ as she is affectionately known.
£22.99 Hardback £13.99 Paperback
Airframe Album 11.The Fieseler Fi 156
The eleventh title in the Airframe Album series is an essential companion for anyone tackling the Hasegawa (1/32nd), Tristar (1/35th), Esci or Tamiya (1/48th), Academy or Airfix/Heller kits in 1/72nd scale.Historical photo’s,full colour profiles.Paperback,130 pages.
£17.95
£8.99
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This new Datafile from SAM Publications is not only an account of the Jaguar’s airframe, operators, roles and systems, but also a celebration of a much-loved aircraft, and one sadly missed in our skies. Includes full details of the aircraft in service, comprehensive walk arounds, colour profiles, scale plans and how to model the Jaguar in popular scales.
The End of the Film
The Weathering Magazine is the only magazine devoted entirely to the painting and weathering techniques of scale models and figures.
1/48
X Planes 4. Luftwaffe Emergency Fighters
Using stunning three-view illustrations of each prototype along with full colour artwork, aviation expert Robert Forsyth traces the history of the extraordinary aircraft of the ëEmergency Fighter Competition’, Hitler’s last throw of the dice in the air war against the Allies.
£12.99
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Battle of Britain Combat Archive Volume 5
£25.00
Profusely illustrated with well over 100 photographs and 15 colour profiles showing all aspects of camouflage, markings and various equipment, Hawker Hunters at War is the ultimate profile of Hunterís colourful and actionpacked service in Iraq and Jordan during a period when this legendary type formed the backbone of local air forces.
£19.95
RF-4E & F-4E Phantom II Volume 2
Airframe Extra 7
The Suez Crisis.This new Publication wants to show modellers how to weather any type of subject, under any circumstance with various effects. Fernando Vallejo, AKís president, takes matters into his own hands and selects all the best modellers to show their best models, creations and special curiosities.
£9.95
Messerschmitt Bf109 E
An illustrated history of the evolution of the ‘Emil’ version of Germany’s most famous World War Two fighter aircraft. How the Bf 109 E changed during production from 1936 to 1941. How to recognise the different versions from the E-0 to the E-9. Documenting the engine variants which led to design changes. Introduction of fuel injection.
£19.00
Avro
The Weathering Aircraft 5 In this issue, we will show you how to create realistic metallic finishes. Although these attractive surfaces can be a bit intimidating at first, we are going to show you tips and tricks as well as painting and weathering techniques and products that will make your life much easier when dealing with the dreaded metallic paints.
£8.99
Damaged,Weathered & Worn
The History of an Aircraft Company in Photographs.In this new and redesigned edition, Avro historian Harry Holmes brings you a complete history in photographs of this much-loved manufacturer, from the earliest years to the revival of the Avro name by BAe. Paperback,black/white photo’s.
£19.99
100 pages and hundreds of photographs captured by one of the worldís leading aviation photographers illustrate in extreme detail every corner of the jet. External details, walk-around, cockpits, photo equipment, APQ-99 and APQ-120 radars, engines, access panels and all the weapons, AIM-7E/F, AIM-9P/L, Mk-20, Hobos and much more are thoroughly described down the last detail.
Damaged is the new magazine from Abteilung 502, and also the newest member of AKís big family. This new Publication wants to show modellers how to weather any type of subject, under any circumstance with various effects. Fernando Vallejo, AKís president, takes matters into his own hands and selects all the best modellers to show their best models, creations and special curiosities.
Russian Tactical Aviation since 2001
British Secret Projects Volume 1
The Squadrons and Units of the Fleet Air Arm
EASTERN FRONT as the Germans called it or the GREAT MOTHERLAND WAR as the Russians knew it, the FRONT OF THE EAST was the biggest and main front of the Second World War in Europe where giants such as Hitlerís Germany and Stalinís Russia faced each other. ACES HIGH dedicates its 10th issue to this Front with the most mythical and unique planes of both sides with an interesting variety of decorations and scales.
£26.99
The book includes appendices that list all the British fighter projects and specifications for this period. There are also a number of specially commissioned colour renditions of ëmight-have-beení types in contemporary markings, plus photographs and general arrangement 3-view drawings ñ over 400 illustrations in total.
£27.50
£4.75
The result of unparallelled research using information gathered from a wide range of sources, including Museum and National Archive records, Squadron and Flight diaries.Illustrated throughout by more than 800 photographs and, for the first time in one volume, over 180 squadron, ship and unit badges, mostly in colour.
£47.50
The book, companion to the highly successful Soviet Tactical Aviation, illustrates the current state of the Russian Air Forceís tactical aviation as well as its recent history in various overseas conflicts.Hardback,over 600 photographs
£34.99
Aces High 10. Eastern Front
£8.99
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SUPERMARINE SWIFT F.R. MK.5
SPONSORED FEATURE
SHINY TWO
SWIFT
KIT DETAILS: SUPERMARINE SWIFT F.R. MK.5 MANUFACTURER: AIRFIX SCALE: 1:72 KIT TYPE: PLASTIC INJECTION MOULDED KIT NUMBER: A04003
Vitor Costa uses AK Interactive Products to replicate RAF Camouflage on the 1/72 Airfix F.R. Mk.5
T
his kit is an example of the abundance of riches available to the modeller these days. Once you open the box you realise that Airfix has done great job with this kit. Lots of parts, good engraved panel lines, nice details, and some very nice decals but, and there is always a but, there are a lot of sink marks, which need addressing. As usual work started in the cockpit, and this is very well detailed for the scale, even the seat looks good and there is no need to resort to a resin aftermarket one. The instrument panels have decals, which make for a faster sub-assembly. Two options are provided to represent an aircraft with or without cameras, I opted to build one with no cameras. The two halves of the fuselage fit well, however, the wings don’t fit that well into the fuselage and I even had to add some Evergreen strip to correct a gap. There are also a
couple of errors on the fuselage that needed little bit of more work but nothing too bad. So, first thing to be painted, after the cockpit, was the engine, using AK Extreme Metal Aluminium #479 as the base shade, and AK484 Burnt Metal to simulate the heat stained area of the exhaust. AK Aluminium was also the chosen colour for the lower area of the aircraft, unfortunately the grainy finish of the plastic made the paint look strange, so I remove the
AK Extreme Metal is ideal for the exhaust
Working on the cockpit
90 • AUGUST 2017 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
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Sponsored by AK Interactive
1/72
www.ak-interactive.com
“THIS KIT IS AN EXAMPLE OF THE ABUNDANCE OF RICHES AVAILABLE TO THE MODELLER THESE DAYS”
The topside Grey being applied
Blu-Tac ‘sausages’ were used for the camouflage pattern
The undersides needed sanding and repainting!
colour, sanded down the surface and repainted it. Time now for the camouflage, and here I used AK2013 RAF Medium Sea Grey as the base colour, and to give more depth I applied some extra coats to make the Grey a touch darker. Also as a change of direction for me I chose to use a camouflage mask rather than freehand airbrushing. So, I used some Blu-Tac ‘sausages’ and applied AK2011 RAF Dark Green, using the same technique as the Grey. Instead and overall oil wash I decided this time to go with a pin-wash, and first the model was covered with a generous coat of gloss varnish. Then I used
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SUPERMARINE SWIFT F.R. MK.5
Adding depth to the panel lines
The decals went on with AK Decal Adapter Solution…
…and settled nicely
oils were used for weathering effects AK2027, Grey and Blue Camouflage Paneliner, concentrating on the panel lines. Then after this was thoroughly dry, I added another coat of varnish, and applied the decals using AK Decal
Adapter Solution. For further weathering I again deviated from my usual method of airbrushing, and chose to use oil paints. Abteilung 001 White, ABT005 Smoke, ABT010 Yellow, ABT030 Faded Navy Blue, AB050
Olive Green and ABT094 Green Grass were chosen, the Blue and the Olive Green for the shadows on the Green camouflage and the Smoke for the Grey. For the highlights I used Yellow, White and
Green Grass. Small dots were added in the desired places and with a white spirit moistened brush, they were worked to the required finish. The model was then left to dry for forty-eight hours. I then
92 • AUGUST 2017 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
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Sponsored by AK Interactive
www.ak-interactive.com
1/72
Fuel and lubricant stains being added to the undersides
added some fuel and lubricant spills and streaks, again using oil paints, and on the undersides, I added AK2029 Landing Gear Wash. Once this was dry, several thinned coats of the excellent AK183 Ultra Matte Varnish was added, and to finish off more streaks were applied using AK084 Engine Oil and AK082 Engine Grime.
Ready for final assembly
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BOOKS & MEDIA
Hawker P.1127, Kestrel and Harrier Developing the world’s first jet V/STOL combat aircraft AUTHOR: TONY BUTLER YEAR: 2017 PUBLISHER: THE HISTORY
T
into RAF service as the GR1. If you are a fan of the Harrier (and let’s face it who isn’t?) or enjoy prototypes and development aircraft then this book will be a very welcome addition to your bookshelf. I always find myself tinged with sadness when reading about the Harrier, as I very fond memories of seeing them display, especially at the Shuttleworth Collection and then latterly watching them play circuits and bumps at RAF Wittering. My thanks to the History Press for supplying this book for review.
McDonnell Douglas
F/A-18 Hornet An insight into the design, construction and operation of the US Navy’s supersonic, all weather multi-role combat jet
T
he authors love of the Hornet grew from the original 1/72 scale Airfix kit of the type, and he mentions in his introduction he has been lucky enough to fly in the back of both the Hornet and Super Hornet (I’m not sure my stomach would be up to the manoeuvres he describes). This is a jet that looks fast and the author’s affection for the type comes through. Unlike my old Haynes manual for my first car (an Austin Allegro), which took me on an illustrated step by step journey on how
Empire’s End
AUTHOR: STEVE A. EVANS YEAR: APRIL 2017 PUBLISHER: VALIANT WINGS ISBN: 978-0-9935345-7-7 FORMAT: 74PP SOFTBACK must confess that the Suez Crisis is one of those shorter wars that I knew very little about. The Airframe Extra series of books from Valiant Wings, offers the perfect introduction to this and other lesser known conflicts. This latest title takes us through the history of the conflict, on a day by day basis (it only lasted 10 days), before moving on to no less than 47 colour profiles and seven model builds. The profiles are superb and show the variety of aircraft used in the conflict by all sides, British, French, Israeli and Egyptian. We have Egyptian and British Gloster Meteors and Israeli B17s and Mustangs, to name just a few. Although Britain and Egypt both had Meteors in the conflict there are no recorded incidents of them facing each other in combat. The seven model builds cover Meteors in 1/72 and 1/48 scale, an Israeli Piper Cub in
1/72 scale, an Israeli Mustang in 1/48, a French RF-84F in 1/48 and 1/72 scale builds of a Hawker Sea Hawk and Beagle. The builds as we have come to expect from this publisher are top notch and feature informative build sequence photos. If this is a period of history that is of interest then this book forms the ideal starting point to learn more! Recommended along with the other titles in this series. My thanks to Valiant Wings for supplying this book for review.
Civil Collection No.5
And Super Hornet 1978 onwards (all marks) Owners’ Workshop Manual
AUTHOR: STEVE DAVIES YEAR: 2017 PUBLISHER: HAYNES PUBLISHING ISBN: 978-1-78521-054-9 FORMAT: 172PP HARDBACK
The Suez Crisis I
PRESS ISBN: 978-0-7509-6530-9 FORMAT: 152PP SOFTBACK
his new book from the History Press, pretty much does what the title says, which is always a good start. The text takes us through the development of the Kestrel and Harrier, but the real bonus for this book are the illustrations. The book is richly illustrated throughout with some stunning images of the various prototypes and early development airframes. The book also has illustrations from contemporary technical manuals and contemporary plans of proposed versions which unfortunately never got off the drawing board. As this book is about the development of the type it ends with the Harriers introduction
Airframe Extra No.7
SERIES: CIVIL SERIES PUBLISHER: AERO RESEARCH CO. CAT. NO. 5011 FORMAT: CD-ROM
to dismantle and rebuild my car, though I was never brave enough to do so. This title takes us on a written and photographic journey of the type, with plenty of general and detailed images to satisfy the enthusiast and modeller. So, if you are looking for an introduction to the type or a general one stop shop then this latest title from Haynes could be just what you are looking for. As with all of the books in this series, this is a recommended read for those interested in the type. My thanks to the Haynes for supplying the review sample.
L
et me start by saying how much I enjoyed the images on this disc. Over the last few years, my interest in civil aviation has been growing and this disc has some photos of some real rarities. Normally when I review these discs I pick out a few images that caught my eye, from this disc I almost wanted to mention every photo! What I liked about this disc was the variety of aircraft featured, some are in derelict condition and some are just very unusual, such as the Curtiss TA-4000, altered to resemble a Fokker DVII. There is one image of a Bowers Fly Baby, taken in 1975 at a fly in, at my local airfield Sywell in Northamptonshire.
There are a variety DH Moths and DHC types too including a very odd looking Beaver with what looks to be a turbo prop conversion! Several images got me Googling to find out more about the type including the Bacon Super T-6, a very wrong looking updated Harvard! If you are interested in civil types then this disc will be a real treat, not many of the types featured have kits, but we can live in hope! My thanks to Jay Sherlock of Aero Research for supplying this disc for review. www. AeroResearchCDs.com
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BOOKS & MEDIA
Cocardes
Cross and Cockade International the First World War Aviation Historical Society in association with The Australian Society of World War One Aero Historians
Les Avions, Les Hommes, Les Maquettes Hors Série No1 Mirage F1
Wings Over Mesopotamia
AUTHORS: JOFFREY SEGUIN, RODOLPHE GIRE, HERVÉBRUN
YEAR: 2017 PUBLISHER: SAS EDITIONS DRAGOON ISBN: N/A FORMAT: 124PP SOFTBACK WEB: WWW.COCARDES.COM
Air War in Iraq 1914-1918
AUTHORS: MARK LAX, MIKE O’CONNOR AND RAY VANN
YEAR: 2017 PUBLISHER: CROSS AND COCKADE
INTERNATIONAL ISBN: 978-0-9555734-8-4 FORMAT: 138PP SOFTBACK
I
first became aware of the air war in this region, as a lad, whilst reading Biggles Flies East, where Biggles first meets his arch enemy von Stalhein. Over the years as my reading moved away from fiction to factual accounts of the First War in the Air, this part of the war seemed overshadowed by the Air War over the Western Front. This new book sets that right and it is likely to become the definitive text on the subject, written as it is by some very well-known names in First World War aviation history. As ever with conflicts in this region, it came down to oil, as British ships were being converted from coal to oil the reserves had to be protected from the Turks and Germans. The book takes the
reader through the background to the conflict and then through the various actions. The appendices take up the last 40 or so pages of the book and include short biographies of some of the pilots involved, as well as roster of the personnel, including ground crew which are listed by Squadron. The book is richly illustrated throughout with contemporary black and white photographs as well maps. The photos show all aspects of life in the middle east during the war, including a rather unflattering photo of Capt H. de Havilland and Lt C.J. Chabot in their swimming gear wearing Pith Helmets. If you are looking for different ways to display your new Airfix BE2c then this book also has lots of diorama ideas! So, if the subject appeals this book will not disappoint, my thanks to Cross and Cockade for supplying this copy for review.
Aces High Magazine
Hind Special
Air Combat 1945
AUTHOR: DONALD NIJBOER YEAR: 2015 PUBLISHER: STACKPOLE BOOKS ISBN: 978-0-8117-1606-2 FORMAT: 230PP SOFTBACK
YEAR: 2017 PUBLISHER: AK INTERACTIVE ISBN: N/A FORMAT: 140PP SOFTBACK
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colour four view plans (with reference to FS codes for the colours) and at least one image of the aircraft in service. The next section is a photographic walk around in colour of a Mirage F1c. The last section takes a look at the available kits of the Mirage F1 in 1/48 and 1/72 scale and then to finish we have a build of the new 1/72 scale Special Hobby Mirage F1. If you have the Special Hobby kit in your stash and you can read French this will be a fantastic reference book, if like me your French is not great it is still a really good reference book for the photos and colour scheme information alone! Thanks to Cocardes for the review sample.
The Aircraft of World War II’s Final Year
Walkaround, step by step guide on construction, painting and weathering
his new Special from AK Interactive, says it’s a magazine but what you really have a is the most fantastic photographic reference book on the Hind, with pretty much every aspect of the airframe covered by large colour photos. The second half of the book features a build of the Trumpeter 1/35 scale Hind and its diorama setting. This has step by step detailed photographs of the modelling processes undertaken, so if you wish you could build along. The last build shows you how to paint a Hungarian Hind, which features a paint job to make it look like
I
must start by mentioning that this book is entirely in French (apart from some photo captions which are bilingual French/English) and that my GCSE grade C is not up to anything other than a very general translation! That said the book opens with the development of the type, followed by its use in combat, before looking at the various production versions. This section has 1/72 scale plans for each version and there is a set of fold-out 1/48 scale plans for the F1c. The middle section of the book looks at the colour schemes worn by the Mirage F1 in its service with 12 different Air Forces around the world. This section is illustrated with
I an eagle, which would certainly make your model stand out! The book also has four colour profiles, two of which are Czech Tiger Meet schemes. If you have any of the available Hind kits in your stash then this magazine/ book will be very much worth your while to seek out! See page 20 of this issue for Peter Marshall’s build of Revell’s and Trumpeters 1/48 Hinds. My thanks to AK Interactive for supplying this copy for review.
f you’re looking for photographic inspiration for a late-war subject, this book will probably be able to provide it. It is quite simply full of photographs and other relevant illustrations of aircraft from 1945. There is no text apart from the comprehensive and informative captions against each picture; and a bibliography and acknowledgements section. The book is divided into sections which each cover one of the major combatants in World War II: Great Britain, Germany, Italy, the USA, the Soviet Union, and Japan. While the middle of the book features a section of colour
illustrations and photographs. The value of the book is that many of these photos have not been seen before – at least, not by your reviewer. Examples of particular interest include: an in-flight photograph of a PB4Y-2 Privateer; Italian aircraft of the Co-Belligerent Air Force; British Pacific Fleet Corsairs and Seafires; and B-29 gunners under training in a ground simulator. A great set of photographs which will be of great interest to those interested in World War II aviation; recommended.
Book Review by Michael Chilestone
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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
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Show Diary
September 16th – 17th
EURO MINITURE EXPO 2017
From July 2017 to September 2017 July 23rd
MIDLAND EXPO THE LAST HURRAH
LEASOWENS SPORTS CENTER, KENT ROAD, HALESOWEN B62 8PJ July 26th-29th
US NATIONALS 2017 GOING DOWNTOWN
LAVISTA CONFERENCE CENTER, 12520 WESTPORT PARKWAY, LA VISTA, OMAHA, NEBRASKA
August 20th
NORTH WEST KIT SWAP FROM IPMS LANCASHIRE THE CANEBERRA CLUB, SAMLESBURY AERODROME, BALDERSTONE, LANCASHIRE BB2 7LF August 26th
SCALE SCOTLAND 2017 SAMI ATTENDING
July 29th
CARMARTHEN MODELLERS SUMMER EXHIBITION CARMATHEN TOWN LIBRARY, KING STREET, CARMARTHEN SA31 1LN July 30th
HILTON EDINGBURGH AIRPORT, EDINGBURGH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT EH28 8LL September 3rd
EAST RIDING MODELS SHOW
THE RIX PAVILION, DRIFFIELD SHOWGROUND KELLEYTHORPE, DRIFFIELD, EAST YORKSHIRE YO25 9DN September 3rd
IPMS CHILTERN SHOW
THE ESSEX MODEL SHOW
HANNAKINS FARM COMMUNITY CENTRE WEST BILLERICAY COMMUNITY CENTRE, ROSEBAY AVENUE, BILIERICAY , ESSEX CM12 0SY August 6th
BOSCOMBE DOWN MODEL SHOW
THE WEATHERLEY CENTRE, THE WEATHERLEY CENTRE, EAGLE FARM ROAD , BIGGLESWADE, BEDFORDSHIRE SG18 8JH September 9th
SOUTH WEST CORNWALL IPMS SHOW
OLD SARUM AIRFIELD, OLD SARUM, WILTS SP4 6DZ
PENHALIGON BUILDING, CORNWALL COLLEGE, TREVENSON LANE, POOL , REDRUTH, CORNWALL TR15 3RD
August 13th
September 10th
IPMS AVON MODEL SHOW
THORNBURY LEISURE CENTER, ALVESTON HILL, THORNBURY BS35 3JB
SUTTON COLDFIELD MODEL SPECTACULAR 2017 SAMI ATTENDING
SHIRE OAK ACADEMY, SHIRE OAK ACADEMY, ST MARKS ROAD, WALSALL WOOD , WALSALL, WS8 7AQ
THE LEAS CLIFF HALL, THE LEAS CLIFF HALL, FOLKESTONE, KENT CT20 2DZ
SAMI ATTENDING
September 16th
IPMS FARNBOROUGH MODELFEST 2017 KINGS INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE, KINGS INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE, WATCHETTS DRIVE , CAMBERLEY, GU15 2PQ September 17th
IPMS FENLAND & SPALDING WINGS & THINGS 2017
UNIVERSITY ACADEMY HOLBEACH, PARK ROAD HOLBEACH , LINCS, PE12 7PU
SAMI ATTENDING
September 23rd
ABERDEEN MODELLERS SHOW 2017 HILTON ABERDEEN TREETOPS, 161 SPRINGFIELD RD , ABERDEEN, AB15 7AQ September 23rd
E-DAY 2017 IPMS CZECH NATIONALS ( NEW VENUE)
TOP HOTEL BLAŽIMSKÁ 1781/4, 149 00 PRAGUE 4. WWW.EDAY.CZ
SAMI ATTENDING
September 24th
ST IVES MODEL SHOW
BURGESS CIVIC HALL, BURGESS CIVIC HALL, WESTWOOD ROAD , ST IVES, CAMBRIDGESHIRE PE27 6WU September 30
IPMS ABINGDON MODEL SHOW 2017 LARKMEAD SCHOOL, LARKMEAD SCHOOL , ABINGDON, OX14 1BB
...COMING NEXT MONTH
Scale Aviation Modeller International August 2017 • Volume 23 • Issue 8 PRODUCED BY HOBBYZONE LIMITED UNDER LICENCE FROM SAM PUBLICATIONS
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[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
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•S nowy Owl, ICM Fw-189 in 1/72 • I talian Thunderbolt Eduard/Hasegawa Mc.202 in 1/48 Scale •A Civil Mustang a different look for Italeri’s P-51
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Next on sale 24th August 2017
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 23 Issue 8, August 2017 (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
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An ideal 9 piece set for plastic modelling & other craft and hobby applications (PTK1009).
For details of your nearest stockist, call or e-mail today! (Trade Enquiries Welcome) 3 Century Court, Tolpits Lane, Watford WD18 9RS +44 (0) 20 8451 6188 +44 (0) 20 8451 5450
[email protected] www.shesto.com
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