Model Aircraft Magazine - April 2021: Builds & History

Counterfactual
MiG-29
Fulcrum
Corsair
100 Hour
War
F-5B
Turkish
Delight
Tamiya’s
1:48 Scale
US NAVY A-1 SKY
T ZONE RAID
A
B
ER
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Supreme
Supermarine
Vol 20 Iss 04 £4.95
Nocturnal Defender
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Potez 631
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Spitfire Mk.I
Expanded Manual – IA 58 Pucara
History
Colour Profiles
Step by Step Build
Scale Plans
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Model by David Parker
MODEL AIRCRAFT
3
APRIL 2021
VOLUME 20 ISSUE 04
An A-1J of VA-176 loaded
with ordnance for a
mission in Vietnam in
1966 CREDIT: US Navy
Out of Hibernation!
A
s I write this, it seems that there
are some really encouraging signs
that the modelling community
might soon be able to come out of
our enforced winter hibernation.
Instead of working away in our own little
spaces with the only outlet for our work and
conversations being via the ‘Zoom’, there is
finally the real possibility that the model show
circuit may start to wake up in the latter half
of 2021. Indeed, in our sister publication ‘Scale
Aviation Modeller’ the ‘Show Guide Diary’,
which has been dormant for the best part of
eight months is starting to fill up again, with
organisers beginning to tentatively advertise
their events. Of course, what we can look
forward to and what we actually
get may be two different things.
It is highly unlikely that any
shows in 2021 will be entirely
free of restrictions, as each will
need to be planned carefully to take account
of whatever Covid rules may still be in force at
the time a show takes place. Perhaps there will
be limits on the number of people who can be
in a venue at one time, or maybe there will be
a requirement to wear masks inside or perhaps
catering might be limited. We just don’t know
at this stage and may not know until just before
each event. Nevertheless, the fact that we can
start looking forward to attending a show or
two in the latter part of 2021 is enormously
encouraging!
So, what do have we in store for you in this
month’s packed issue of Model Aircraft? Well
to kick off, master modeller Vitor Costa brings
a ‘Supreme Supermarine’ with his step-by-step
build of the 1:48 Tamiya Spitfire Mk.1. We also
have another step-by-step article in our ‘Big
Build’ feature this month with some ‘Turkish
Delight’, as Ugur Kenel guides you through
building and painting the 1:48 Kinetic F-5B.
Another colourful build to look out for is Grant
Dalzell’s ‘100 Hour War Fighter’ with his take
on the 1:48 Hobby Boss FG-1D Corsair in the
markings of the Fuerza Aerea Salvadorena. Ian
Gaskell continues his Soviet centred sojourn
with a ‘Counterfactual MiG’ as he builds the
1:48 Great Wall Hobby MiG-29SMT in what
would have been Algerian Air Force colours.
Apparently, after the Algerian Air Force received
an initial batch of ‘new’ MiG-29s, they quickly
discovered that some of these ‘new’ aircraft
actually dated back to the 1990’s, so they
rejected the entire batch and returned them to
Russia! Our Model Aircraft Manual this month
features the new 1:48 Kinetic IA 58 Pucara, and
once again Ian Gaskell does a superb job on this
much anticipated and very well
received kit. So, as always there
is plenty to enjoy and to look
forward to. So all that remains for
me to say is…..
Stay safe and happy modelling!
Andy
4
CONTENTS
6
COUNTERFACTUAL MIG
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APRIL 2021
12
COMBAT ZONE – A-1 SKYRAIDER
COMBAT ZONE
FIGHTING
MiG-29SMT ‘Fulcrum’
Manufacturer: Great Wall Hobby
Scale: 1:48
Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded with etch
Kit Number: L4818
I USED A QUINTA STUDIO’S COCKPIT SET, I ALSO LOVED THE
LOOK OF THE ALGERIAN AIR FORCE CAMOUFLAGE COLOURS,
SO I DECIDED TO BUILD A ‘WHAT-IF’ VERSION
of these ‘new’ aircraft actually dated back to
the 1990’s, so they rejected the entire batch
and returned them to Russia!
I also loved the look of their camouflage
colours, so I decided to build an Algerian
version, but turned it into something of a
‘what-if’ build, as if the aircraft had been
accepted, and gone into service. The Great
Wall Hobby kit itself is very nice, with excellent
detailing, and needing little in the way of
aftermarket. I did, however, source a
cockpit set from Quinta Studio’s. The
difference with these sets, over
the likes of Eduard and Aires, is
that they are 3D printed, precoloured and are applied in a
similar way to applying decals
but have all the detail of resin.
So, the best of all worlds, in
a single product. Other
aftermarket products I
used were an Eduard
canopy mask set, the
…and really
upgrades the look of
the cockpit…
uglas
The US Navy Do
ider
A-1 Skyra
T
he Douglas A-1 Skyraider (formerly AD
Skyraider) was an American single-seat
attack aircraft that saw service between
the late 1940s and early 1980s. The
Skyraider had a remarkably long and
successful career and became a piston-powered,
propeller-driven anachronism in the jet age, and
was nicknamed ‘Spad’, after the French World
War I fighter. The Skyraider was operated by the
United States Navy, the United States Marine
Corps , and the United States Air Force , and also
saw service with the h Royal Navy, the French Air
Force, the Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF),
and others. The piston-engined Skyraider was
designed during World War II to meet United
States Navy requirements for a carrier-based,
single-seat, long-range, high performance dive/
torpedo bomber, to follow-on from earlier types
such as the Curtiss SB2C Helldiver and Grumman
TBF Avenger. Designed by Ed Heinemann of
the Douglas Aircraft Company, prototypes were
I used a Quinta
Studio’s cockpit
set….
6 A Counterfactual MiG
Ian Gaskell builds the 1:48 Great Wall Hobby
MiG-29SMT in what would have been Algerian Air
Force colours
58
L-19/O-1 BIRD DOG
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APRIL 2021
MIG-15 BIS
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Big Little MiG
The decals settled well
spent the extra time and effort dealing with
joining the front and rear section together.
Again, CA Glue and talcum powder were used
here.
Some nose weight needs to be added, but
this was tricky to hide as the front air intake
allows you to see all the way back inside the
model. So, small lead strips were used for this.
S
OUR
COL
T
he Cessna L-19/0-1 Bird Dog was a
light liaison and observation aircraft
and was the first all metal fixed wing
aircraft ordered for and by the United
States Army following the Army Air
Forces separation from it in 1947. The L-19
received the name ‘Bird Dog’ as a result of a
contest held with Cessna employees to name
the aircraft. The winning entry, submitted by
Jack A Swayze, an industrial photographer,
was selected by the Army board. The name
was chosen because the role of the Army’s
new aircraft was to find the enemy and orbit
overhead until artillery, (or attack aircraft),
could be brought to bear on the enemy. While
flying low and close to the battlefield, the
pilot would observe the exploding shells and
adjust the fire via radio, in the manner of a bird
dog, (gun dog), used by game hunters.
This is a build of Roden’s 2018 tooled
1/48 L-19/O-1 Bird Dog. Roden make some
interesting subject matter but are limited run
style kits, so I was a bit apprehensive of how
this kit would go together, especially with a
lot of windows! Speaking of windows, before
any construction began, I removed all the
clear parts for the windows from the sprue
and dipped them in Johnson’s ‘Pledge’ as they
looked a little ‘grainy’. For something a little
different, the instructions start with the engine,
and there are a lot of parts involved here, some
twenty-four pieces! I took extra care to look
at part numbers and the instruction diagrams
here, as there are a couple of call out errors, and
then painted the engine with AK Interactive
Xtreme Metal, Gun Metal. The engine attaches
to the firewall with some mounting brackets,
and this is a bit of a tricky section as the
instructions are a little vague, so time was taken
to figure out their positions. The engine bay
interior was then painted with Vallejo Model Air
Interior Green.
The cockpit and interior area would be seen
easily with all the windows, so again extra care
and time was spent here to make sure it looked
good. There is a large floor piece that has a rear
bulkhead to attach to it as well as the control
sticks, foot pedals and of course, seats. The front
seat attaches to the floor, but the rear should
attach to the fuselage sides. There are no
seatbelts in the kit, so I used some I had in my
‘spares-box’. After priming, I painted the cockpit
Vallejo Model Air Interior green and hand
painted the smaller details. The instrument
Oilbrushers were
used to add some
weathering
The wings were constructed and glued into
the fuselage and any lost detail was simply
scribed back in afterwards. Once the overall
construction was complete, the unpainted
plastic was buffed up with a Flory Models
polishing sponge. It appeared that the moulds
were showing their age and have various
scratches and imperfections, but a quick buff
up with a sponge removes most, but not all of
the imperfections.
The entire model was then given a light
coat of Tamiya XF-19 Sky Grey thinned to about
30:70 with cellulose thinner and sprayed on
in thin coats for a nice smooth surface for the
next layer of paint to come. Tamiya X-1 Gloss
Black was next, again thinned with cellulose
thinners to the same ratio was then applied and
built up in multiple layers until a gloss finish
was achieved. Once dry, a quick polish with
a polishing sponge removed any specs and
imperfections. Vallejo Metal Colour Aluminium
was my primary natural metal shade here, again
thinned and lightly built up in layers until a nice
even coverage and shine was achieved. I then
left the paint to dry overnight.
A basic, but well printed decal sheet was
provided, but the serial numbers shown in the
instructions were missing. This supposedly
A NICE PILOT FIGURE WAS PROVIDED, WHICH I DECIDED TO
MAKE THE MAIN FEATURE OF THE COCKPIT
A Navy Skyraider is given the ‘go’ as it takes a ‘cat
shot’ CREDIT: US Navy
Propeller vortices are captured as the AD-7 of VA-95 runs up on deck CREDIT: US Navy
Duplex-Cyclone radial engine, which was later
upgraded several times. Its distinctive feature
was large straight wings with seven hard points
apiece. The Skyraider possessed excellent
low-speed manoeuvrability and carried a large
amount of ordnance over a considerable combat
radius. Further, it had a long loiter time for its
size, compared to much heavier subsonic or
supersonic jets. The aircraft was optimised for the
ground-attack mission and was armoured against
ground fire in key locations, unlike faster fighters
adapted to carry bombs, such as the F4U Corsair
or P-51 Mustang, which were retired by US forces
An AD-6 Skyraider with JATO bottles carrying a simulated Mark 7 nuclear bomb CREDIT: US Navy
T
he Trumpeter MIG-15 BIS was initially
released in 2001 comprising of a
sensible parts count and a decent
level of detail, which included a nicely
detailed full engine combined with
an attractive retail price. Construction started
in a typical fashion, with the cockpit, which is
quite basic with just a decal for the instrument
panel. A nice pilot figure was also provided,
which I decided to make the main feature of
the cockpit. Considering the lack of detail,
once painted the figure does provide the
main attraction point, however, I cannibalised
some left over coloured etched parts from my
‘spares-box’ to provide some instrumentation.
These were cut into pieces and glued in place,
beginning in the mid-1960s by the Grumman
A-6 Intruder as the Navy’s primary mediumattack plane in supercarrier-based air wings,
however, Skyraider’s continued to operate from
the smaller Essex-class aircraft carriers. The
Skyraider went through seven versions, starting
with the AD-1, then AD-2 and AD-3 with various
minor improvements, then the AD-4 with a
more powerful R-3350-26WA engine. The AD-5
was significantly widened, allowing two crew to
sit side-by-side (this was not the first multiplecrew variant, the AD-1Q being a two-seater
and the AD-3N a three-seater); it also came in a
four-seat night-attack version, the AD-5N. The
AD-6 was an improved AD-4B with improved
low-level bombing equipment, and the final
and although fictitious it did liven things up a
bit. The cockpit was then painted in Tamiya XF23 Light Blue as per the instructions.
Fuselage construction was typical for most
aircraft, bringing the two front fuselage halves
together after setting in the cockpit. The
seamlines were taken care of with sanding and
filling using a mixture of CA Glue and talcum
powder and sanded down flush. The model
can be displayed with the front half separated
from the rear, allowing the engine to be on
full display. The engine although nice, would
benefit from some extra detailing with copper
wire to represent the various hoses and tubes
found on the real thing. However, I wanted my
MiG in one-piece, so I salvaged the engine and
MiG-15 Bis
Manufacturer: Trumpeter
Scale: 1:32
Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded
Kit Number: 04556
12 Combat Zone - Spad Stinger
22 Big Little MiG
Stuart Barry builds the 1:32 Trumpeter MiG-15
64
CORSAIR MK.III
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MODEL AIRCRAFT
65
APRIL 2021
Grant Dalzell builds a 1:48
Fuerza Aerea Salvadorena
FG-1D Corsair
70
BF 109E-3 WEEKEND EDITION
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APRIL 2021
The interior of the
fuselage and cockpit
painted up
‘WHITE 13’
Sky Spotter
NATO Black,
I cut the larger
gauge decals out
and set them onto
the raised discs.
The fuselage halves needed some tidying
up and once complete I primed them with AK
Interactive Black Primer and then painted the
insides with Vallejo Model Air Interior Green.
The cockpit parts and engine then received
a clear coat using Mr Color Gloss Super Clear
III. Attaching the cockpit section and the
engine was not straightforward and required
I rescribed any lost panel lines
100 HOURS WAR FIGHTER
I needed to remove some rough
texture from the bottom of the
fuselage
I find white ids the best
primer when using red
E
COMBAT ZON
NG
HTI
FIG
23
APRIL 2021
Stuart Barry builds the 1:32
Trumpeter MiG-15
The engine built up
well from several
pieces….
The panels behind
cockpit were not a
great fit
James Bamford
builds the 1:48
Eduard 1:48 Bf
109E-3 Weekend
Edition in the
markings of Oblt.
Helmut Henz
panel was then attached to the reverse side of
the engine firewall. It wasn’t a brilliant fit and
required some putty to fix a couple of gaps.
This panel is devoid of any
detail and although there is a
decal to show the instrument
details, I added some circular
discs with the use of an RP Toolz
punch and die set. I did this to
give the instrument panel depth,
and after painting it Tamiya XF-69
MODEL AIRCRAFT
An A-1H Skyraider of VA-165 ‘Boomers’ in flight. VA-165 was assigned to Carrier Air Wing 10 aboard the
USS Intrepid for a deployment to Vietnam from 4 April to 21 November 1966 CREDIT: US Navy
The finished engine
painted up
The engine was made up of a large
number of small parts
22
COLO U R S
A colourful Skyraider of VA-122 CREDIT: US Navy
ordered on 6 July 1944 as the XBT2D-1. The
XBT2D-1 made its first flight on 18 March 1945
and in April 1945, the USN began evaluation of
the aircraft at the Naval Air Test Center (NATC).
In December 1946, after a designation change
to AD-1, delivery of the first production aircraft
to a fleet squadron was made to VA-19A. The
AD-1 was built at Douglas’ El Segundo plant in
Southern California, coming off the assembly
line at a rate of two aircraft per day for delivery
to the Navy in 1949 and 1950. The low-wing
monoplane design started with a Wright R-3350
13
COMBAT ZONE
Grant Dalzell Builds the 1:32 Trumpeter A-1H
Skyraider in the famous markings of VA-176
‘Thunderbolts’
SKY SPOTTER
THE BUILD STARTED WITH THE
ENGINE, AND THERE ARE A LOT
OF PARTS INVOLVED HERE, SOME
TWENTY-FOUR PIECES!
Grant Dalzell
builds the 1:48
Roden L-19/O-1
Bird Dog
APRIL 2021
before the 1960s. Shortly after Heinemann began
designing the XBT2D-1, a study was issued that
showed for every 100lb of weight reduction, the
takeoff run was decreased by 8ft, the combat
radius increased by 22mi and the rate-of-climb
increased by 18ft/min. Heinemann immediately
had his design engineers begin a program for
finding weight-saving on the XBT2D-1 design,
no matter how small. Simplifying the fuel
system resulted in a reduction of 270lb, 200lb by
eliminating an internal bomb bay and hanging
external stores from the wings or fuselage,
70lb by using a fuselage dive brake and 100lb)
by using an older tailwheel design. In the end,
Heinemann and his design engineers achieved
more than 1,800lb of weight reduction on the
original XBT2D-1 design.
The Navy AD series was initially painted in
ANA 623 Glossy Sea Blue, but during the 1950s
following the Korean War, the colour scheme
was changed to Light Gull Grey FS26440 over
White FS 595 27875. Initially using the grey and
white Navy scheme, by 1967 the USAF began to
paint its Skyraider’s in a camouflaged pattern
using two shades of green, and one of tan. Used
by the US Navy over Korea and Vietnam, the A-1
was a primary close air support aircraft for the
USAF and RVNAF during the Vietnam War. The
A-1 was famous for being able to take hits and
keep flying thanks to armour plating around the
cockpit area for pilot protection. It was replaced
BIG LITTLE MIG
R
eaders of this esteemed magazine
will probably know by now that I
have a thing for MiG’s in general,
especially the MiG-21’s. But Take
the ‘21’ out of the equation, and
my next favourite is the MiG-29. But of all
the variants, the one I really liked the look
of is the SMT. There’s something about that
‘hunchback’ profile, which gives this aircraft
a somewhat menacing presence. So, for this
build I am using the 1:48 Great Wall Hobby
kit, however, the schemes on offer were very
limited, but I did find and Algerian version on
a Begemot decal sheet. After some research,
it turns out that in 2008, the Algerian Air Force
received an initial batch of ‘new’ MiG-29s.
However, they quickly discovered that some
MODEL AIRCRAFT
FIGHTING
An A-1H preparing for
launch from the USS
Hancock CREDIT: US Navy
COMBAT ZONE – A-1 SKYRAIDER
Ian Gaskell builds the 1:48 Great Wall Hobby MiG-29SMT in what would have been
Algerian Air Force colours
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COLO U R S
COUNTERFACTUAL MIG
A Counterfactual MiG
aforementioned Begemot decals and a pair of
Res-Kit KAB-500L bombs.
I then started with the cockpit area, and
the seat. The seat detail is very good, and
rather than using the supplied seat belts I used
some Fine Molds ones instead, sourced from
their MiG-29 and Su-27/33 set. These belts are
plastic, are very well detailed and easy to work
with. Once the seat was completed, I set about
assembling and painting the cockpit itself
and here is where the Quinta Studio’s cockpit
set came into play. As mentioned earlier, they
are like 3D decals, and only need a brief dip in
warm water to loosen the panel. Once placed
in their required position a small spot of PVA
glue helped to secure the panels in place.
All the cockpit sections were glued together
and fitted into the upper fuselage section. I
now assembled the rest of the main fuselage,
along with the intake and engine sections. The
windshield was then masked
off and glued into place.
The main canopy was also
masked off, both outside
and inside, and appropriately
painted. Although the main
canopy will be positioned
open, I applied a few small
spots of Kristal Klear glue to the
lower edges. This was enough
to hold the canopy in the closed
position while the painting
and weathering are completed.
The wings, vertical and horizontal
stabilisers were now cemented
I added some
seatbelts from my
‘spares-box’
IT SHOULD COME AS NO SURPRISE TO YOU
WHEN I SAY THAT THE FIT OF THIS EDUARD
KIT WAS STELLAR!
…and fitted nicely into
the fuselage
Ready for
priming
fuselage, along with the cockpit and I was able
to build the rest of the kit.
It should come as no surprise to you when
I say that the fit of this Eduard kit was stellar!
The two fuselage halves mated with ease and
without use of filler. The wings were also glued
together at this point, again with no problems,
just a little sanding to sort the
join seams out. I also
Very little of this will be
seen, and note the guns are
too short
L-19/O-1 Bird Dog
Manufacturer: Roden
Scale: 1:48
Kit Type: plastic injection moulded
Kit Number: 409
100 Hours
War Fighter
I
like looking at aftermarket decals, some
weird and wonderful schemes for all sorts
of aircraft can be found. A point in case
is Aztec Decals who have a great set for
fighters from the 100 hours war, a fourday conflict fought between El Salvador and
Honduras in 1969, covering several different
aircraft and schemes. This build is of an FG-1D
Corsair, a version built by Goodyear and to
the best of my knowledge there is no kit of
this particular model, so I used Hobby Boss’s
Mk.III kit, which would suffice with a couple
of modifications with the antennae and was
a straight-from-the-box build except for the
decals and some Reskit resin wheels.
The cockpit build is quite busy, built up in
two stages in the instructions. Unfortunately,
HobbyBoss do not have a colour call out for the
main cockpit colour so I used MRP-131 Interior
Green. I used a spare etched harness for the
seat as there isn’t one in the kit. I then painted
the cockpit up in sections as there is a double
floor to which the bulkheads attach. There are
decals for the instrument panel and the side
consoles, but I only used the decal for the main
instrument panel, and dry brushed the rest with
Vallejo Natural Metal. I also dry brushed the
floor where the pilot’s feet would wear into it. I
then gave the cockpit a coat of Mr Color SemiGloss and used some Tamiya Brown Panel Liner
Accent to add a wash. The engine is nicely
represented, and made up of sixteen
parts including the pipework, although
most wouldn’t be seen once inside the
cowling. Seeing as this was the case, I
painted the majority of the engine with
Vallejo Metal Color Burnt Iron.
The fuselage halves required the cockpit
‘White 13
13’’
sidewalls to be painted as well as some
framework that attaches to them. The rear
wheel and tail hook system must also be fitted
before the fuselage halves glued together. It
AK Interactive Grey
Primer and Microfiller
was applied
Corsair Mk.III
Manufacturer: HobbyBoss
Scale: 1:48
Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded
Kit Number: 80396
is a bit of a complex system with options for
tail hook up and down requiring a different
actuator. I left the tail hook up, but I’m not sure
if the El Salvadorian Corsairs had them or not.
With the fuselage now fixed, I then glued on
the centre wing section. However, I found the
fuselage was a bit too wide, so I had to glue
the wings on in sections to get a good fit. The
engine cowling and cowling flaps came as twoparts, which I glued together and painted the
insides with Interior Green before fixing them
onto the fuselage. There are two panels that
go behind the cockpit and make up part of the
fuselage that needed a bit of attention.
HobbyBoss give you the option to have the
wings folded, which is a very nice touch, but as
this is a land-based aircraft, I set wings in flight
position. The wings come as a centre section
lower piece with two upper sections and the
outer wing sections, plus control surfaces
and engine supercharger air intakes. The
outer wing sections are made up of two
T
he Bf 109 needs no introduction, and
the aircraft I am going to be depicting
in this project is ‘White 13’, a Bf 109E-3
of 4./JG77 as seen in the September
of 1944 and flown by Oblt. Helmut
Henz from Mandal, Norway. Eduard has never
disappointed with their fantastic availability of
Bf 109 kits over the years (we won’t talk about
their first Bf 109G6 effort though) and this is
certainly no different with the Bf 109E series.
This specific moulding has been presented to
us in some fourteen boxings since 2012 and
the mouldings themselves are still probably
the best 109E you can get on the market. The
excellent panel line and rivet detail coupled
with the basic, yet very well detailed plastic
engine and guns are incredible.
To begin the build, we start, as always in
the cockpit. This was made up of roughly
twelve pieces ranging from the usual control
panel to the two gear wheels on the side of
the cockpit. These were all glued in place and
were given a primer coat ready for the interior
colour. Hataka’s RLM02 was used in this case
and provided a very nice-looking base colour
to work from. All the smaller details were then
picked out with their respective shades with
a small brush, and then I was able to come in
with some washes. This unified all of the paint
layers and was able to give the cockpit a bit of
interest in the form of highlights and shadows,
with the use of black and light grey washes.
My only addition to this weekend kit was one
of Eduard’s fine etched seat belts, which were
bent into position and secured in place with a
few dabs of superglue. The belts were then also
given a wash and the main cockpit section was
complete. Before sealing the fuselage halves
together however, I was intrigued to see what
the provided kit engine was like over a resin
one. This built up well with multiple pieces
to give it its shape and attachment points to
Bf 109E-3 Weekend Edition
Manufacturer: Eduard
Scale: 1:48
Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded
Kit Number: 84157
decided to drop the flaps and that was made
easy for the fact Eduard gives you both flap
options in the box with little attachment points
which fit snugly into the rear of the wings. The
tail and stabilisers were also added on at this
point. Before starting the painting, I
had to mask the canopy and place
that into position but as I wanted
to display the canopy open to
see into the cockpit, the front
and rear pieces were glued but
the main part was gently blu-tacked
into place so I could still paint everything
at once.
With now everything glued into place and
the smaller parts like landing gear all built and
ready, I was able to come in with the primer.
For this I used a basic Humbrol 33 Matt Black
rattle can as it gives me easy, quick and even
coverage. This also dries very quickly, and I was
able to commence the first batch of painting.
The first thing to do was to spray the RLM04
yellow areas on the wings, tail and stabilisers
and to mask this off.
Hataka’s RLM65
was then used and
my method for this
build was to fill in all of the
panels where I could, as per my
references, and then do a few
light coats over the top to give
the bulk colour. This way, I
could control the final look
of the paint with the thin
coats to my liking. Once
finished to my liking, I
started with the lightest of
greens. Hataka’s RLM71
the firewall/bulkhead in front of the cockpit.
The top mounted MG17s were also attached
at this point and everything was given a coat
of matte black paint for a starting point. From
here I was able to pick out areas of colour
using silver, RLM02 and gun metal
colours. It then received multiple
washes of blacks and greys to
give it a slightly dirty and used
look, but I didn’t want to go
too far as the German’s looked
after their engines fairly well and
were always pretty clean. Once I
was happy with the finish, the engine
was snuggly fitted into one half of the
58 Sky Spotter
64 100 Hours War Fighter
70 ‘White 13’
Grant Dalzell builds the 1:48 Roden L-19/O-1 Bird
Dog
Grant Dalzell builds a 1:48 Fuerza Aerea
Salvadorena FG-1D Corsair
James Bamford builds the 1:48 Eduard 1:48 Bf
109E-3 Weekend Edition in the markings of
Oblt. Helmut Henz
52 THE BIG BUILD - Turkish Delight
Uger Kenel guides you through building the
Kinetic F-5B in the colours of the Turkish Air Force
MODEL AIRCRAFT
SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE MK.I
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MODEL AIRCRAFT
27
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APRIL 2021
MODEL AIRCRAFT
45
APRIL 2021
Model Aircraft Manual
The IA 58 Pucara
History
Colour Profiles
Scale Plans
Step by Step Build
Alclad ALC-119 Airframe
Aluminium was used on the
undersides
Supermarine
T
he Spitfire is probably one of the
most replicated aircraft in plastic,
and most modellers will have built
at least one during their life time. For
me, after forty-five years modelling
I’m really not sure how many I have built, but I
would say that at least nine, maybe ten! I think
the first was a 1:72 Revell Spitfire kit that I build
in an afternoon, and I can clearly remember
some 1:48 Tamiya kits and the 1:72 offerings
from Airfix. So, when I received the recent 1:48
Tamiya Mk.I kit, it was like I was building my
first Spitfire again, as I was so excited to get
started. Being a self confessed fan of Tamiya,
I was pretty sure that I would be getting
probably the best 1:48 Spitfire Mk.I around,
and I was not wrong! The Tamiya Spitfire is
characterised by some superb innovation and
some amazing engineering that makes it a
class apart. The way the cockpit perfectly fits
into the fuselage is unique and there are many
other highlights that I will mention during this
build.
The first thing to note is the huge amount
of parts dedicated to the cockpit, and at some
point it was difficult to understand how all
that plastic is going to fit in such a small space!
But I had no doubt that everything would fit
used Alclad ALC-119 Airframe Aluminium.
Once dry, I applied a coat of gloss varnish to
protect the paint and to prepare the area for a
wash. On the green areas I used a home made
oil wash, and for this I used very dark brown,
almost black thinned oil paint that I remove
using cotton buds. For the aluminium painted
areas I used thinned Tamiya X-19 Smoke. This
enhanced all the details making some perfect
shadows, yet keeping the metallic look of the
original painted surface! With everything dry
it was time to apply a coat of matt varnish.
While the green painted parts were drying,
I started working in the
control panel. This was
painted with gloss
varnish as there
The Papas Polecat
W
are a few decals to apply here to simulate the
instruments dials. These are divided in such
a way that is really easy to use. Some decal
solution was also needed to ensure they stayed
in their desired places! I then used a cotton bud
soaked in water to press them onto the surface.
With the decals in place and completely dry a
matt coat was applied! To simulate the glass of
the dials, a drop of gloss varnish
was applied, plus a little dry
brushing around their
edges.
With the varnish
dry, it was time to put
all the small parts
into place. As I said
earlier there are
ith the 40th Anniversary of
the Falklands War, in 2022, I
wanted to do something to
commemorate this occasion.
So last year, I put together
a list of aircraft examples, which I would
build. Chief amongst those was the IA 58
Pucará, an aircraft type I had long admired,
a can only be described as the poor mans
A-10 Warthog. Kinetic’s announcement, in
2018, that they were going to produce a 1:48
version had already piqued my interest, so
it was only natural that with the kit’s release
in early 2021, it was going to be one of the
first builds of my Falklands Collection. The
markings are for Major Carlos Tomba, who
was shot down a RN Sea Harrier FRS.1, flown
by Commander ‘Sharkey’ Ward. Major Tomba
survived the attack, having ejected at low
level. The kit itself looks fantastic. The surface
detail is plentiful, and the kit cockpit looks
quite well detailed, which is just as well, as
there no aftermarket yet. Before I get into the
Supermarine Spitfire Mk.I
Manufacturer: Tamiya
...and the
other half in
white
Kit Number: 119
Turkish
Delight
MODEL AIRCRAFT
53
APRIL 2021
Here I created an instrument panel base on the filed off
sections and made all the required gauges by cutting
pieces of Evergreen sheet to size
All of the parts were
painted separately
and sealed under a
clear coat
Ian Gaskell builds the 1:48 Kinetic IA 58 Pucara
Then I painted half
the undersides in
black....
Scale: 1:48
Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded
WWW.MODELAIRCRAFTMAG.COM
Ugur Kenel guides you
through building the Kinetic
F-5B in the colours of the
Turkish Air Force
his step-by-step project features the
1:48 Kinetic F-5B, built as a Turkish
Air Force version. The kit is for a
Canadian version, so I modified it
to suit. The kit has some very nice
detailing and all of the panel lines and rivet
details are finely engraved, with positionable
flying surfaces. I also used Aero Bonus pilots
with ejector seats and Reskit wheels, and
decals from my ‘spares-box’, and rocket
pods from a Hasegawa Weapon Set.
So lets start building. MA
THE TAMIYA SPITFIRE IS CHARACTERISED
BY INNOVATION AND AMAZING ENGINEERING
THAT MAKES IT A CLASS APART
perfectly. There are a number
of options available so I
recommended you to take
a look to the instructions
before you start the
kit! So, all the parts
are painted with
the characteristic
British interior grey
green colour, for
this I used Alclad II
Mil-Spec ALCE012, which was really spot on! Its
possible to paint the majority of the parts still
on the sprues, as the way the parts are shown
allows them to be removed without ruining the
paint! Once the green was done some areas
needed to be masked as there are some places
that need to be painted with silver, and for that I
F-5B FREEDOM FIGHTER
T
The cockpit, ready to be added
into the fuselage
Supreme
52
TURKISH DELIGHT
MODEL AIRCRAFT – IA 58 PUCARA
The cockpit, and
it was difficult to
understand how
all that plastic was
going to fit in such
a small space
MODEL AIRCRAFT
SUPREME SUPERMARINE
Vitor Costa builds the 1:48
Tamiya Spitfire Mk.I
IA 58 Pucara
Scale: 1:48
Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded with etch
Kit Number: XXX
THE BIG BUILD
Hobby LAU-60 rocket launchers. Secondly it
was the propeller assembly. The entire unit
is very well thought out, and looks good, but
there is nothing to hold the propellor and
spinner assembly into the front of the engine
I added decals to the switches
and used the nice ANYZ Decals
for that. I also used some spare
decals as warning placards
build description, in my opinion, there are a
couple of disappointments, the first being a
lack of included weaponry! Are Kinetic going
the way of Hasegawa? Or perhaps with future
production runs, they could be included. To
the end, some aftermarket weapons were
sought. These being a set of Eduard Brassin
Mk.81 bombs, a Brassin Multiple Ejector Rack
(MER) for the centreline pylon, and some KASL
Each gauge was
placed according
to my references
of the cockpits of
the Turkish
F-5Bs
F-5B Freedom Fighter
Manufacturer: Kinetic
Scale: 1:48
Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded
THE MARKINGS ARE FOR MAJOR CARLOS TOMBA, WHO
WAS SHOT DOWN A RN SEA HARRIER FRS.1, FLOWN BY
COMMANDER ‘SHARKEY’ WARD. MAJOR TOMBA SURVIVED
THE ATTACK, HAVING EJECTED AT LOW LEVEL
Kit Number: 48021
The instrument panels are nicely detailed, but location and gauges were designed for Canadian F-5B.
These are not the same for a Turkish aircraft. So, that I decided to make my own instrument panel.
I first deleted the all gauges with a file; however, I didn’t touch the switches as they are almost the
same for all F-5B types
Here is the result. Note that there are
also differences between front and rear
instrument panels
26 Supreme Supermarine
35 MA Manual - The Papas Polecat
52 THE BIG BUILD - Turkish Delight
Vitor Costa builds the 1:48 Tamiya Spitfire Mk.I
Ian Gaskell builds the 1:48 Kinetic IA 58 Pucara
Ugur Kenel guides you through building the
Kinetic F-5B in the colours of the Turkish Air Force
74
POTEZ 631 FRENCH NIGHTFIGHTER
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MODEL AIRCRAFT
75
APRIL 2021
…and sidewalls….
78
CHECK YOUR REFERENCES
Nocturnal
Defender
T
he Potez 631 was the principle
French night fighter during the
Battle of France. However, a lack of
any useable system for intercepting
German raiders meant that it saw
little nocturnal combat. The Potez 63 family
was developed in response to a specification
issued in October 1934 for a twin-engined
aircraft capable of acting as a day fighter, a
night fighter and a fighter direction aircraft.
Potez put forward two versions of their design
- a Hispano-Suiza powered Potez 630 and the
Gnome-Rhone powered Potez 631. The first
prototype was of a Potez 630, but this was
soon followed by the Potez 631-01, which
made its maiden flight in March 1937. Official
trials began in November 1937 (having been
delayed after the aircraft made a belly landing
during its maiden flight). These successful trials
were followed by an order for ten evaluation
aircraft, including two new Potez 631s and the
refurbished prototype.
In June 1937 the French government issued
a letter of intent in which it ordered forty Potez
631s - ten two-seat conversion trainers and
thirty three-seat fighters. Although the GnomeRhone powered Potez 631 was expected to be
the main production version of the aircraft, a
shortage of available engines meant that this
first order also included eighty Potez 630s. In
May 1938 an order for 125 Potez 633 two-seat
bombers was cancelled and replaced with one
Potez 631 French Nightfighter
Manufacturer: Azur
Scale: 1:48
Kit Type: lastic injection moulded with rein and
direction flights. This unit became ECM I/16
(Escadrille de Chasse Multiplace) on 29 January
1940. In October a fifth night fighter unit
was formed around the Potez 631. Originally
designated as ECN 2/562, on 1 January 1940
this was redesignated as ECN 5/13. This was
part of a wider reorganisation of the French Air
Force, which saw the Escadres split into their
component escadrilles and the smaller units
formed into more flexible groupments.
In the case of the night fighters
Ecscadre de Nuit 13, which
etch
Kit Number: A058
for the same number of Potez 631s. A third
order, for fifty-two aircraft, was placed in June
1938, bringing the total of aircraft on order up
to ten conversion trainers and 207 operational
aircraft. Two small export orders were also
received, for one aircraft from Yugoslavia and
four aircraft from China. Neither of these orders
were fulfilled, although the aircraft destined for
China did reach the Far East. They were then
seized by the French in Indo-China at the start
of the war in Europe. In September 1940 they
took part in the short three-day conflict after
the Japanese invaded Tonkin.
The Potez 631 was introduced into service
slightly before the Potez 630. On 1 January
1939, only twenty-seven Potez 631s had been
79
APRIL 2021
REFERENCES
Models Aircraft’s Monthly Look at New Books
THE INTERIOR IS VERY GOOD, EVEN IF YOU WANT TO
BUILD THE MODEL STRAIGHT-FROM-THE-BOX
II/13 had thirty-nine aircraft. Four were
in Djibouti, four were at Ajaccio and seventy
were with the Escadre de Chasse (alongside
a number of Potez 630s). A small number had
also gone to GC II/8 where they replaced the
Morane-Saulnier MS 225 and Dewoitine D.510
single-seat fighters. The allocation of Potez
631s changed significantly during the ‘Phoney
War’ period. At the very start of the war a new
Escadrille de Guet (warning) I/16 was formed
using aircraft from GC
II/8 and from the fighter
MODEL AIRCRAFT
CHECK YOUR
…then suitably
painted these areas
accepted by the French Air Force,
rising to sixty-seven aircraft on 1 April,
and 206 in August, completing the production
run. The Potez 631 entered service with the
fighter director flights that were attached to
each single-engine fighter wing (Escadre de
Chasse), and with the night fighter groups
(GCN or Groupes de Chasse de Nuit). At the
start of the Second World War a total
of 206 aircraft had been accepted
and 117 had reached front line
units. GCN. I/13 and GCN
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CHECK YOUR REFERENCES
NOCTURNAL DEFENDER
I added a few details
to the cockpit floor…
Rob van Dodewaard builds
the 1:48 Azur Potez 631 French
Nightfighter
Valkyrie –
The North
American
XB-70
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Author: Graham M Simons
ISBN: 978147322856
Format: Softback
Price: £14.99
T
he concept was born as
a result of General Curtis
LeMay’s desire for a heavy
bomber with the weapon load
and range of the subsonic B-52
and a top speed in excess of the
supersonic medium bomber,
the B-58 Hustler. If LeMay’s plans
came to fruition, there would be
250 Valkyries in the air; it would
be the pinnacle of his quest for
the ultimate strategic bomber
operated by America’s Strategic
Air Command. The design was a
leap into the future that pushed
the envelope in
terms of exotic
materials, avionics
and power
plants. However,
in April 1961,
Defense Secretary
McNamara
stopped the
production
go-ahead for the
B-70 on grounds
of rapid cost
escalation and
the USSR’s newfound ability of
destroying aircraft
at extremely
high altitude by
either missiles or
the new MiG-25
fighter. Nevertheless, in1963
plans for the production of three
high-speed research aircraft
were approved and construction
proceeded. In September 1964
the first Valkyrie, now re-coded
A/V-1 took to the air for the
first time and in October went
supersonic. This book is the
most detailed description of the
design, engineering and research
that went into this astounding
aircraft. It is full of unpublished
details, photographs and
first-hand accounts from those
closely associated with the
project. Although never put into
full production, this giant sixengined aircraft became famous
for its breakthrough technology,
and the spectacular images
captured on a fatal air-to-air
photo shoot when an observing
Starfighter collided with Valkyrie
A/V-2 which crashed into the
Mojave Desert.
www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
A-7 Corsair Units
1975-91
Publisher: Osprey
Author: Peter Mersky
ISBN: 9781472840639
Format: Softback
Price: £14.99
Mosquito
Menacing the Reich
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Author: Martin Bowman
ISBN: 9781473846609
Format: Softback
Price: £14.99
O
n 15 November it came
suddenly out of nowhere
inches above the hangars
with a crackling thunderclap of twin
Merlin’s. As we watched, bewitched,
it was flung about the sky in a
beyond belief display for a bomber
that could outperform any fighter.
Well-bred whisper of a touch down,
a door opened and down the ladder
came suede shoes, yellow socks and
the rest of Geoffrey de Havilland. The
memories of Sergeant (later Flight
Lieutenant DFC) Mike Carreck who
was an observer with 105 Squadron
when he first laid eyes on the new
de Havilland Mosquito. This was an
aircraft that would prove itself to be
one of the most versatile and revered
aircraft to fly with the RAF in World
War II. This book is full of first-hand
accounts from the crews that flew
the ‘Mossie’ in its roles as a bomber,
long-range reconnaissance and
low-level strike aircraft. The author
has gathered together many of the
most exciting operational reports
that cover the period from the type’s
introduction until the end of World
War II. The text is interwoven with the
background history of the personnel
and squadrons, the purpose of the
operations undertaken and their
often-devastating results.
www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
The Falklands
Naval Campaign
1982
Publisher: Osprey
Author: Edward Hampshire
ISBN: 9781472843012
Format: Softback
Price: £15.99
T
he Falklands Conflict was
remarkable for many reasons:
it was a hard fought, bloody
and short conflict between a
leading NATO power and one of
the most capable armed forces in
South America; it demonstrated
the capabilities of a range of
cutting-edge technologies
including nuclear-powered attack
submarines, Exocet missiles and
Sea Harrier VSTOL aircraft; and it
was fought many thousands of
miles away from the Royal Navy’s
home bases. In this illustrated
study, renowned historian Dr
Edward Hampshire draws upon the
latest available sources to offer a
comprehensive examination of the
Falklands naval campaign. Blow-byblow accounts of key engagements,
such as the sinking of the General
Belgrano, the loss of HMS Sheffield,
and the landings at San Carlos Bay,
are presented alongside lesser
known but equally important naval
operations that helped shape the
outcome of the conflict.
A
t the A-7 Corsair II’s peak in
the mid-1980s, some 30 US
Navy squadrons flew various
versions of the aircraft, including
six Naval Air Reserve units, and
these many of these units saw
action across the Middle East. By
the time the jet saw combat in
Operation Desert Storm (1991),
there remained only two fleet
squadrons - many fleet squadrons
having either disestablished or
transitioned to the F/A18 Hornet
- but both of these units (VA-46
and VA-72) played a major role in
the campaign to free Kuwait. The
book details the technological
development and improvements
that were introduced to the
airframe post-Vietnam (the FLIR
targeting pod from 1979 and AGM88 HARM missile from 1983 being
the most important), and how they
shaped operational employment
of the aircraft. The jet’s combat
experiences in conflicts during the
1970s (Cambodia), 1980s (Lebanon,
Grenada, Libya and Iran), and 1990s
(Iraq) are explained in detail, and
Peter Mersky’s expert analysis is
supported by numerous first-hand
accounts from naval aviators that
saw action with the A-7 during
these campaigns.
www.ospreypublishing.com
Special Forces
Pilot
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Author: Richard Hutchings
ISBN: 9781473823174
Format: Softback
Price: £12.99
T
he author, who served
throughout the Falklands War
with 846 Naval Air Squadron
flying Sea King helicopters, has
waited over twenty-five years to
tell his story. The sensitive nature
of his experiences not only made
this a sensible course but today
provides the reader with some
fascinating insights into the
conduct of operations. The role
of Dick Hutchings was to insert
Special Force units onto the enemy
occupied islands, either to gather
intelligence or conduct offensive
operations, such as the SAS’s
sensationally successful Pebble
Island raid. Without doubt the most
dramatic task he undertook was
the ambitious but ill-fated SAS raid
into mainland Argentina. Operation
‘Mikado’, as it was known, has been
little discussed but, as Captain of
the Sea King involved, the author
gives a first-hand account of what
went wrong both in the air and
on the ground. He describes the
circumstances leading up to the
crash-landing and destruction of
his helicopter, encounters with
the Chilean authorities and British
diplomats in Santiago, as well as the
debriefing in an M16 safe house on
return to the UK. As well as being
the fullest description of Operation
‘Mikado’ Special Forces Pilot is a
gripping account of the War from
the flying and SF angles.
www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
RAF Tornado Units of Gulf
War 1
Publisher: Osprey
Author: Michael Napier
ISBN: 9781472845115
Format: Softback
Price: £14.99
W
hen the Gulf Crisis of
1990 was triggered by
the Iraqi invasion of
Kuwait, the RAF responded by
sending Tornado F 3 fighters to
Saudi Arabia to help defend the
country against further aggression.
These aircraft were followed by
the deployment of Tornado GR.1
strike/attack aircraft to Bahrain.
Eventually three wings of Tornado
GR.1s were established in Bahrain,
Tabuk and Dhahran, as well as a
detachment of Tornado GR.1A
reconnaissance aircraft. At the start
of hostilities in January 1991, the
Tornado GR.1 wings carried out
night-low-level attacks against
Iraqi Main Operating Bases using
the JP233 runway denial weapon.
Meanwhile, Combat Air Patrols
from the Tornado F.3 wing ensured
the integrity of Saudi airspace.
Once air supremacy had been
established, the Tornado GR.1 force
moved to medium-level operations,
initially by night and later by day, to
attack the Iraqi oil production and
storage infrastructure. The arrival
in theatre of a laser designation
capability with Pave Spike/
Buccaneer and TIALD/Tornado
enabled precision attacks against
the Iraq transport system to cut off
the frontline troops from resupply
and reinforcement and then to
carry out a systematic destruction
of the airfield facilities. Tornado
GR.1A reconnaissance operations
played a major role in the location
of Scud missile launchers and in the
planning and execution of the land
offensive. Throughout the conflict,
the Tornado F.3 wing at Dhahran
carried out defensive counter-air
operations to ensure the safety
of the base areas. This volume,
publishing thirty years after the
conflict to free Kuwait, provides
detailed first-hand accounts of
the missions undertaken by the
Tornado crews. It is illustrated by
photographs taken by aircrew
involved in the operation and
includes newly commissioned
profile artworks and detailed nose
art views of the aircraft ranged
against Iraq.
www.ospreypublishing.com
www.ospreypublishing.com
78 Check Your References
Latest Book reviews.
CO
M
74 Nocturnal Defender
Rob van Dodewaard builds the 1:48 Azur Potze
631 French Nightfighter
RAIDER
Y
K
S
1H
A
ONE
Z
T
BA
VOLUME 20 ISSUE 04
26
5
APRIL 2021
6
COUNTERFACTUAL MIG
WWW.MODELAIRCRAFTMAG.COM
A Counterfactual MiG
Ian Gaskell builds the 1:48 Great Wall Hobby MiG-29SMT in what would have been
Algerian Air Force colours
R
eaders of this esteemed magazine
will probably know by now that I
have a thing for MiG’s in general,
especially the MiG-21’s. But Take
the ‘21’ out of the equation, and
my next favourite is the MiG-29. But of all
the variants, the one I really liked the look
of is the SMT. There’s something about that
‘hunchback’ profile, which gives this aircraft
a somewhat menacing presence. So, for this
build I am using the 1:48 Great Wall Hobby
kit, however, the schemes on offer were very
limited, but I did find an Algerian version on a
Begemot decal sheet. After some research, it
turns out that in 2008, the Algerian Air Force
received an initial batch of ‘new’ MiG-29s.
However, they quickly discovered that some
MiG-29SMT ‘Fulcrum’
Manufacturer: Great Wall Hobby
Scale: 1:48
Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded with etch
Kit Number: L4818
I USED A QUINTA STUDIO’S COCKPIT SET, I ALSO LOVED THE
LOOK OF THE ALGERIAN AIR FORCE CAMOUFLAGE COLOURS,
SO I DECIDED TO BUILD A ‘WHAT-IF’ VERSION
I used a Quinta
Studio’s cockpit
set….
of these ‘new’ aircraft actually dated back to
the 1990’s, so they rejected the entire batch
and returned them to Russia!
I also loved the look of their camouflage
colours, so I decided to build an Algerian
version, but turned it into something of a
‘what-if’ build, as if the aircraft had been
accepted, and gone into service. The Great
Wall Hobby kit itself is very nice, with excellent
detailing, and needing little in the way of
aftermarket sets. I did, however, source a
cockpit set from Quinta Studio’s. The
difference with these sets, over
the likes of Eduard and Aires, is
that they are 3D printed, precoloured and are applied in a
similar way to applying decals
but have all the detail of resin.
So, the best of all worlds, in
a single product. Other
aftermarket products I
used were an Eduard
canopy mask set, the
MODEL AIRCRAFT
7
APRIL 2021
COUNTERFACTUAL MIG
…and really
upgrades the look of
the cockpit…
aforementioned Begemot decals and a pair of
Res-Kit KAB-500L bombs.
I then started with the cockpit area, and
the seat. The seat detail is very good, and
rather than using the supplied seat belts I used
some Fine Molds ones instead, sourced from
their MiG-29 and Su-27/33 set. These belts are
plastic, are very well detailed and easy to work
with. Once the seat was completed, I set about
assembling and painting the cockpit itself
and here is where the Quinta Studio’s cockpit
set came into play. As mentioned earlier, they
are like 3D decals, and only need a brief dip in
warm water to loosen the panel. Once placed
in their required position a small spot of PVA
glue helped to secure the panels in place.
All the cockpit sections were glued together
and fitted into the upper fuselage section. I
now assembled the rest of the main fuselage,
along with the intake and engine sections. The
windshield was then masked
off and glued into place.
The main canopy was also
masked off, both outside
and inside, and appropriately
painted. Although the main
canopy will be positioned
open, I applied a few small
spots of Kristal Klear glue to the
lower edges. This was enough
to hold the canopy in the closed
position while the painting
and weathering are completed.
The wings, vertical and horizontal
stabilisers were now cemented
8
COUNTERFACTUAL MIG
WWW.MODELAIRCRAFTMAG.COM
…and looks
really good….
...when in situ
Etched slime light
frames needed to be
glued into place
Masking off the canopies….
…and I was ready to
add some paint
onto the fuselage.
However, before the vertical
stabilisers were fixed, the etched slime
light frames needed to be glued into place with
CA glue. There are five for each stabiliser, and an
etched template is provided, so the light frames
can be positioned correctly. A nice touch. I also
assembled the pair of Res-Kit KAB-500L’s, and
I can’t recommend their bombs and missiles
enough. The fuel tanks were also put together
at this point.
Next comes the priming stage, and here,
I used Alclad II Black Primer, and when fully
dry I gave it a light rub down. Hataka Gunship
Grey was used for the sensor panels and nose
cone, and these were masked off once the
paint was dry. For the camouflage, the light
blue was applied first using Hataka C321 Extra
Light Sea Blue, with some subtle post-shading
afterwards. After this had dried, the required
areas were masked off using masking putty
and then Hataka C140 Extra Dark Sea Grey was
applied, and again, some subtle post-shading
done. The paint was left to dry, and then
given another light rub with a polishing cloth.
This was then followed with a coat of Alclad’s
excellent Aqua Gloss. The chosen missiles then
received a white primer and were finished with
Hataka Traffic White. Their respective pylons
were then painted in Extra Light Sea Blue. After
some masking off, the exhausts were painted.
Until now, I had only used Vallejo’s acrylic
Metal Colours, for my metallic shades, but here
I decided to try out Alclad II for the first time.
Wow! They were brilliant, and I don’t really
know why I haven’t tried them sooner. I did a
small amount of weathering on the exhausts,
at this stage, and they would be finished at the
main weathering stage.
Now it was time for the decals. All the
stencils were included in the Begemot set,
so none of the kit decals were used. The
Begemot decals were very good, and laid
down easily, with a little help from some
Ammo by MIG Decal Fix. At this point, I
decided to do a small amount of extra postshading. Not too much, but it helped to tone
I used some Plus Model Lead Wire on
the landing gear…..
the decal colours down a bit and was just
subtle enough to accentuate the panel lines.
After drying, more Aqua Gloss was added to
help seal the decals and prepare the surface
for a panel line wash. The wash I used was an
Abteilung 502 Oil wash, thinned with their
Fast Dry Thinners. This was allowed to run into
all the panel lines, and rivet detailing. After
about forty minutes, the excess was removed
using a lint-free polyester wipe, making sure
that the excess was wiped in the direction of
the airflow. Cotton buds were also used for
cleaning up the wash from the more awkward
places. The missiles, pylons, and fuel tanks
also had a wash applied. Once dry the entire
model was given a coat of Hataka Matt. The
MODEL AIRCRAFT
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APRIL 2021
COUNTERFACTUAL MIG
…and some Bare
Metal Foil on the
oleos
Working on the
armament
After a Black
Primer coat, I
added Hataka
C321 Extra Light
Sea Blue….
…followed by
Hataka C140
Extra Dark Sea
Grey
The exhausts were detailed
with Alclad metallic shades
Adding a little
paint fading
10
COUNTERFACTUAL MIG
WWW.MODELAIRCRAFTMAG.COM
MODEL AIRCRAFT
11
APRIL 2021
…for the Algerian Air Force
using various ‘dirty’ shades of thinned oils
paints, fuel/oil staining was applied to the
undersides, especially where the engines
are, and to the underwing fuel tanks. Other
weathering included some staining on the
airframe and finishing off the exhausts.
All the missiles, bombs, and pylons were
then cemented into their positions under
the wings, along with the fuel tanks.
The undercarriage struts
were also added, and the wheels attached.
All the masking was then removed from the
windshield and main canopy. The main canopy
has seals around its frame, so I replicated
these using 0.4mm Aizu masking tape, which
once in place, was carefully painted pink. The
canopy was then glued in the open position.
The Great Wall Hobby MiG-29 is a really nice kit.
The cockpit is very well detailed, and had I not
had the Quinta Studio set, I would have used
that. The rest of the build went together nicely,
with just the intakes needing some care. The
end result, I think, was a much more attractive
alternative scheme to that of the standard
three-tone Russian splinter one that normally
adorns the SMT. MA
COUNTERFACTUAL MIG
Adding the decals….
12
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COLO U R S
An A-1H preparing for
launch from the USS
Hancock CREDIT: US Navy
s
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The US Na
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1
A
T
he Douglas A-1 Skyraider (formerly AD
Skyraider) was an American single-seat
attack aircraft that saw service between
the late 1940s and early 1980s. The
Skyraider had a remarkably long and
successful career and became a piston-powered,
propeller-driven anachronism in the jet age, and
was nicknamed ‘Spad’, after the French World
War I fighter. The Skyraider was operated by the
United States Navy, the United States Marine
Corps , and the United States Air Force , and
also saw service with the British Royal Navy, the
French Air Force, the Republic of Vietnam Air
Force (RVNAF), and others. The piston-engined
Skyraider was designed during World War II
to meet United States Navy requirements for
a carrier-based, single-seat, long-range, high
performance dive/torpedo bomber, to followon from earlier types such as the Curtiss SB2C
Helldiver and Grumman TBF Avenger. Designed
by Ed Heinemann of the Douglas Aircraft
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COL
A colourful Skyraider of VA-122 CREDIT: US Navy
Company, prototypes were ordered on 6 July
1944 as the XBT2D-1. The XBT2D-1 made its first
flight on 18 March 1945 and in April 1945, the
USN began evaluation of the aircraft at the Naval
Air Test Center (NATC). In December 1946, after
a designation change to AD-1, delivery of the
first production aircraft to a fleet squadron was
made to VA-19A. The AD-1 was built at Douglas’
El Segundo plant in Southern California, coming
off the assembly line at a rate of two aircraft per
day for delivery to the Navy in 1949 and 1950.
The low-wing monoplane design started with
a Wright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone radial engine,
which was later upgraded several times. Its
distinctive feature was large straight wings
with seven hard points apiece. The Skyraider
possessed excellent low-speed manoeuvrability
and carried a large amount of ordnance over
a considerable combat radius. Further, it had a
long loiter time for its size, compared to much
heavier subsonic or supersonic jets. The aircraft
was optimised for the ground-attack mission
and was armoured against ground fire in key
locations, unlike faster fighters adapted to
carry bombs, such as the F4U Corsair or P-51
Mustang, which were retired by US forces before
the 1960s. Shortly after Heinemann began
MODEL AIRCRAFT
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A Navy Skyraider is given the ‘go’ as it takes a ‘cat
shot’ CREDIT: US Navy
COLO U R S
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designing the XBT2D-1, a study was issued that
showed for every 100lb of weight reduction, the
takeoff run was decreased by 8ft, the combat
radius increased by 22mi and the rate-of-climb
increased by 18ft/min. Heinemann immediately
had his design engineers begin a program for
finding weight-saving on the XBT2D-1 design,
no matter how small. Simplifying the fuel
system resulted in a reduction of 270lb, 200lb by
eliminating an internal bomb bay and hanging
external stores from the wings or fuselage,
70lb by using a fuselage dive brake and 100lb)
by using an older tailwheel design. In the end,
Heinemann and his design engineers achieved
more than 1,800lb of weight reduction on the
original XBT2D-1 design.
The Navy AD series was initially painted in
ANA 623 Glossy Sea Blue, but during the 1950s
following the Korean War, the colour scheme was
changed to Light Gull Grey FS26440 over White
FS 595 27875. Initially using the grey and white
Navy scheme, by 1967 the USAF began to paint
its Skyraider’s in a camouflaged pattern using
two shades of green, and one of tan. Used by the
US Navy over Korea and Vietnam, the A-1 was
a primary close air support aircraft for the USAF
and RVNAF during the Vietnam War. The A-1 was
famous for being able to take hits and keep flying
thanks to armour plating around the cockpit area
for pilot protection. It was replaced beginning
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An A-1H Skyraider of VA-165 ‘Boomers’ in flight. VA-165 was assigned to Carrier Air Wing 10 aboard the
USS Intrepid for a deployment to Vietnam from 4 April to 21 November 1966 CREDIT: US Navy
Propeller vortices are captured as the AD-7 of VA-95 runs up on deck CREDIT: US Navy
An AD-6 Skyraider with JATO bottles carrying a simulated Mark 7 nuclear bomb CREDIT: US Navy
in the mid-1960s by the Grumman A-6 Intruder
as the Navy’s primary medium-attack plane in
supercarrier-based air wings, however, Skyraider’s
continued to operate from the smaller Essex-class
aircraft carriers. The Skyraider went through
seven versions, starting with the AD-1, then AD-2
and AD-3 with various minor improvements, then
the AD-4 with a more powerful R-3350-26WA
engine. The AD-5 was significantly widened,
allowing two crew to sit side-by-side (this was not
the first multiple-crew variant, the AD-1Q being
a two-seater and the AD-3N a three-seater); it
also came in a four-seat night-attack version, the
AD-5N. The AD-6 was an improved AD-4B with
improved low-level bombing equipment, and
the final production version AD-7 was upgraded
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COLO U R S
A formation of VA-42 Skyraider’s CREDIT: US Navy
to a R-3350-26WB engine. For service in Vietnam,
USAF Skyraider’s were fitted with the Stanley
Yankee extraction system, which acted in a similar
manner to an ejection seat, though with twin
rockets extracting the pilot from the cockpit. In
addition to serving during Korea and Vietnam as
an attack aircraft, the Skyraider was modified to
serve as a carrier-based airborne early warning
aircraft, replacing the Grumman TBM-3W
Avenger. It fulfilled this function in the USN and
Royal Navy, being replaced by the Grumman E-1
Tracer and Fairey Gannet, respectively, in those
services. Skyraider production ended in 1957
with a total of 3,180 having been built. In 1962,
the existing Skyraider’s were redesignated A-1D
through A-1J and later used by both the USAF
and the Navy in the Vietnam War.
As American involvement in the Vietnam
War began, the A-1 Skyraider was still the
medium attack aircraft in many carrier air wings,
although it was planned to be replaced by the
A-6A Intruder as part of the general switch to jet
aircraft. Skyraider’s from USS Constellation and
Ticonderoga participated in the first US Navy
The rugged nature of the ‘Spad’ meant it could
soak up punishment and keep flying! CREDIT: US Navy
A pilot doing his pre-flight checks prior to launch
CREDIT: US Navy
An A-1H Skyraider of VA-152 ‘Friendlies’ in 1966 CREDIT: US Navy
strikes against North Vietnam on 5 August 1964
as part of Operation Pierce Arrow in response
to the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, striking against
fuel depots at Vinh, with one Skyraider from
Ticonderoga damaged by anti-aircraft fire, and
a second from Constellation shot down, killing
its pilot, Lieutenant Richard Sather Despite a
performance not even comparable to those
of other assets on hand, Navy Skyraider’s still
managed to shoot down two MiG-17s during
the early part of the Vietnam War thanks to
their four M3 20mm cannons capable firing
800 rounds per minute. The first of these
engagements took place on June 20, 1965,
when a flight of Skyraider’s from VA-25 took off
from the USS Midway supporting the rescue of
A US Navy AD-5W Skyraider of Airborne Early Warning squadron VAW-11 Det J
‘Early Eleven’ on the deck of the USS Kearsarge AD-6s from U.S. Navy Attack
Squadron 42 CREDIT: US Navy
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COMBAT ZONE – A-1 SKYRAIDER
a downed USAF pilot in the northwest corner of
North Vietnam were attacked by a flight of MiG17s. The two jets launched missiles and fired
with their cannons against the two A-1Hs, but
both Skyraider pilots, Lt Charles W. Hartman III,
flying A-1H BuNo 137523, callsign ‘Canasta 573,’
and Lt. Clinton B. Johnson, flying A-1H BuNo
139768, callsign ‘Canasta 577, evaded them
before and manoeuvred to shoot down one of
the MiGs with their guns. The second victory
took place on Oct. 9, 1966 and involved four
A-1Hs of VA-176 launched from the USS Intrepid
in the Gulf of Tonkin flying as ‘Papoose Flight’
on a RESCAP mission. Led by Lt Cdr Leo Cook,
with Lt Wiley as his wingman, whilst Lt Peter
Russell with Lt William T. Patton as his wingman
led the second section when they were attacked
by four MiG-17s. This engagement ended
with one MiG confirmed as being shot down,
a second as a probable and a third heavily
damaged. The confirmed MiG kill was awarded
to ‘Papoose 409,’ the A-1H BuNo 137543, flown
by Lt Patton who, after having gained a position
of advantage on one of the MiGs, opened fire
with his four guns, hitting the tail section of
15
COMBAT ZONE
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The sheer power of the A-1 is evident here CREDIT: US Navy
the enemy jet. Patton followed the MiG, which
descended through the clouds, and when
‘Papoose 409’ emerged he spotted the enemy
pilot’s parachute. In October 1965, to highlight
the dropping of the six millionth pound of
ordnance, Commander Clarence J Stoddard
VA-25, flying an A-1H ’Paper Tiger II’, dropped
a special, one-time-only object in addition to
his other munitions – a toilet. As one of the
toilets aboard ship cracked the crew planned to
dispose of it. However, Stoddard, the executive
officer of VA-25, came up with a novel way to get
rid of the toilet. Stoddard had the toilet painted
with the ‘Fist of the Fleet’ emblem of his unit,
and duly dispatched the special store on the
unwary North Vietnamese.
The infamous ‘Toilet Bomber’ CREDIT: US Navy
An A-1H launching from the starboard ‘cat’ CREDIT: US Navy
16
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WWW.MODELAIRCRAFTMAG.COM
COLO U R S
Skyraider
Spad Stinger
Grant Dalzell Builds the 1:32 Trumpeter A-1H Skyraider in
the famous markings of VA-176 ‘Thunderbolts’
T
his build is of Trumpeter’s A-1H
Skyraider. I used some aftermarket
accessories including Aires cockpit
set, AMS resin propeller blades, Aires
resin wheels and Master Models brass
gun barrels with flash hiders and pitot. You can
choose to do either the US Air Force version,
or the one I did, the Navy version, as I have
always wanted to do the VA-176 Thunderbolts
with the stinging bee tail art. The build started
with the engine, there is a large parts count
TRUMPETER GIVE YOU THE OPTION FOR WINGS FOLDED UP OR DOWN,
AND AS THIS IS THE CASE, THE WINGS WERE BUILT IN SECTIONS
A-1H Skyraider
Manufacturer: Trumpeter
Scale: 1:32
Kit Type: plastic injection moulded
Kit Number: 02253
for the engine, but you are really only going to
see in the front of the engine cowl once it is in
position unless you are making the option with
cowl panels open for engine access. I painted
the engine Vallejo Metal Color Burnt Iron and the
exhaust pipes Vallejo Metal Black. There is a twopiece engine bracket mount that has to be glued
into the back of the engine, this was painted
interior green as was the engine bay bulkhead.
As a lot of the cockpit was being replaced
with resin, I took some time to compare kit
pieces to the resin pieces and dry fitted both to
MODEL AIRCRAFT
APRIL 2021
17
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The kit parts are not far off the mark
Instrument panel pieces and combing
The cockpit painted
up, weathered and
glued together
The etched
harnesses took
a while to glue
together
Getting the engine
together
Adding
in the
bulkheads
check everything would sit where it needed to.
Although the kit details were fine, the Aires set
certainly added extra details, especially the foot
pedals. The resin pieces were straight forward, the
most involved part of the Aires cockpit was the
harnesses. A lot of etched pieces! The main colour
call out for the cockpit was Mr Hobby 317 Grey.
The instrument panel and combing were painted
Tamiya XF-69 NATO Black. Other colours required
were hand painted in. A bit of dry brushing with
Vallejo Natural Metal, and the entire cockpit
received a coat of Mr. Color Semi-Gloss Super
Clear followed by a wash of custom mixed smoke
oil paint and enamel thinner. The fuselage has
sections of bulk heads in it as well as the tail wheel
bay. I glued in these parts on one side of the
fuselage. There are side wall cockpit details that
need to be removed as well because I used the
resin cockpit. I used a stone piece in a Dremel to
remove the bulk of the raised detail, then sanding
sticks to make it level. There are antennae that
are to be glued in before gluing the fuselage
together, but I cut in some slots, so I knew where
they sat and added them after. The fuselage
halves went together relatively well, with a bit of
manoeuvring needed up front to fit the cockpit
and engine sections. There were more parts to
go on up around the engine area, including air
cooling intakes and side panels. A lot of these
required some sanding down to get good fits. I
gave thought to doing the open cowl for engine
display but decided to do the closed cowl. The
interior of the engine cowl was white which I used
Tamiya XF-2. I glued on the cowling and cowling
flaps. Cleaning up seam lines on the fuselage, I
used Tamiya White Putty where required and
re-scribed the panel lines that were sanded away.
I also noticed that some panels had rivets down
one side but not on the opposite, so I used a 1mm
Rosie the Riveter to put in missing ones.
Trumpeter give you the option for wings
folded up or down, and as this is the case, the
wings were built in sections. Several questions
come to my mind here, being 1:32 with a large
wingspan the model will take up a lot of room,
both wings folded up and you lose some view
of the fuselage, and finally, a manufacturer
gives you all these options, don’t you want to
display as much as you can? So, I went with a
combination of one wing folded up displaying
the underside and one wing down with the
COMBAT ZONE – A-1 SKYRAIDER
The Aires cockpit
was quite easy to
work with
18
COMBAT ZONE – A-1 SKYRAIDER
WWW.MODELAIRCRAFTMAG.COM
The engine painted
up on its frame
Getting the
cockpit and
engine in the
fuselage
Gluing up the
fuselage
Adding the
landing gear bay
Interior green was used for the
landing gear bays and gun bays
The gun, now painted and
installed. I added the barrel
later on to avoid damaging it
gun bays open. Of course, this is not how the
real aircraft would be positioned, but I want to
display the options. The centre section which is
part of the bottom fuselage and has the landing
gear bays, and there is a gun on each side in this
section. All the interior was painted with interior
green, I put in the guns but left off the brass
barrels for later as I did not want to break them
off cleaning up the seam lines etc. I glued on
the centre section, overall a good fit. The outer
wing sections have a gun in them as well, as I
was having one wing folded up and one down,
I put the gun covers on the wing folded up and
displayed the wing down gun bay open. There
are clear parts that go on the leading edges,
these are radar warning antennae and are just
painted the aircraft colour. The outer wing
sections were left off for ease of painting. As with
the fusleage, any filling was done with Tamiya
White Putty. I added the horizontal stabilisers,
flaps, front wind screen and most other parts
that were required, I left off the tail static head for
now as I would surely break it off handling it.
I painted the interior of the air brakes red and
masked them off as well as masking any other
areas required ready for paint. I primed using AK
Interactive Grey Primer/Microfiller, pre-shaded
with black and mottled in some brown and blue
randomly. For the white I use AK Interactive Real
Colour RC222 Insignia White and the grey, Mr
Hobby H315, making sure I left some pre-shade
Adding some rivet details
Working on the
outer wing sections
showing. I then lightened the grey with some
white and randomly sprayed panels. I painted
up the rudder and fitted it to the tail. The landing
gear and resin wheels were prepared and painted
and also glued in place. There are decals for the
wing walkways, but I masked these off as well
as the antiglare panel and painted them with
Tamiya XF-69 NATO Black. I then added a touch
of grey to the black and randomly sprayed these
areas to suggest slight fading. The model was
MODEL AIRCRAFT
19
APRIL 2021
Pre-shading with
black, brown and blue
…and Mr. Hobby
H315 Grey were
used for camouflage
colours
Tamiya NATO Black was
used for walkways and
anti-glare panel
AK Interactive Grey
Primer and Microfiller
was used
AK Interactive Real
Colour Insignia
White…
The landing gear and resin wheels fitted
The rudder fitted
The decals set well with Micro
Sol, although the ‘bee’ took some
manoeuvring to get right
Wing sections completed
Add some exhaust with Tamiya Smoke mixed with other colours to get a
dirty oily look
COMBAT ZONE – A-1 SKYRAIDER
Painting the air
brake housings red
20
COMBAT ZONE – A-1 SKYRAIDER
WWW.MODELAIRCRAFTMAG.COM
A Flory Dark Dirt
wash applied
The air braked glued on
then protected with Mr Color Gloss Super Clear III.
I then started doing decals. I got caught out a few
times with Trumpeter’s call out sheet and where
they showed the decals sitting and the reality
of where they would actually sit on the model.
There are not that many and they performed well
with Micro Sol. Once dry, I coated again with gloss
clear to prepare for weathering.
First part of the weathering was the engine
exhaust stains. If you have ever seen images of
Skyraider’s, you would have seen that unique
staining that curves up over the wing on the
bottom exhausts, and a
straighter stain up top. I
mixed different colours
in with Tamiya Smoke to simulate this. The whole
model was given a wash with Flory Dark Dirt and
wiped back with paper towel. I also used some
oil paints in selected areas to create staining or
‘wear’ like wing walkways. For the weapons load
out, I went for four 500lb bombs, four Mk.82
bombs and something I would need to make
from scratch, two napalm bombs. These looked
quite different to what you would normally see in
a napalm canister, in the photographs they were
red and quite large, almost like a drop tank. These
were made up from parts from my ‘spares-box’.
I also added a centre line drop tank. Now that
everything was prepared, all that remained was
to put on all the remaining parts. Trumpeter’s
1:32 Skyraider is quite a good build, this one
was improved with the aftermarket accessories,
although these are not necessary. It is quite a
large model in this scale and ticks
off a bucket list build for me. I can
highly recommend this kit if you
want this Vietnam warrior in your
collection! MA
Spitfire Mk.I early
1/48
Cat. No. 82152 @ www.eduard.com
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MIG-15 BIS
WWW.MODELAIRCRAFTMAG.COM
Big Little MiG
Stuart Barry builds the 1:32
Trumpeter MiG-15
T
he Trumpeter MIG-15 BIS was initially
released in 2001 comprising of a
sensible parts count and a decent
level of detail, which included a nicely
detailed full engine combined with
an attractive retail price. Construction started
in a typical fashion, with the cockpit, which is
quite basic with just a decal for the instrument
panel. A nice pilot figure was also provided,
which I decided to make the main feature of
the cockpit. Considering the lack of detail,
once painted the figure does provide the
main attraction point, however, I cannibalised
some left over coloured etched parts from my
‘spares-box’ to provide some instrumentation.
These were cut into pieces and glued in place,
and although fictitious it did liven things up a
bit. The cockpit was then painted in Tamiya XF23 Light Blue as per the instructions.
Fuselage construction was typical for most
aircraft, bringing the two front fuselage halves
together after setting in the cockpit. The
seamlines were taken care of with sanding and
filling using a mixture of CA Glue and talcum
powder and sanded down flush. The model
can be displayed with the front half separated
from the rear, allowing the engine to be on
full display. The engine although nice, would
benefit from some extra detailing with copper
wire to represent the various hoses and tubes
found on the real thing. However, I wanted my
MiG in one-piece, so I salvaged the engine and
MiG-15 Bis
Manufacturer: Trumpeter
Scale: 1:32
Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded
Kit Number: 04556
MODEL AIRCRAFT
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APRIL 2021
BIG LITTLE MIG
I find white ids the best
primer when using red
I rescribed any lost panel lines
The decals settled well
spent the extra time and effort dealing with
joining the front and rear section together.
Again, CA Glue and talcum powder were used
here.
Some nose weight needs to be added, but
this was tricky to hide as the front air intake
allows you to see all the way back inside the
model. So, small lead strips were used for this.
Oilbrushers were
used to add some
weathering
The wings were constructed and glued into
the fuselage and any lost detail was simply
scribed back in afterwards. Once the overall
construction was complete, the unpainted
plastic was buffed up with a Flory Models
polishing sponge. It appeared that the moulds
were showing their age and have various
scratches and imperfections, but a quick buff
up with a sponge removes most, but not all of
the imperfections.
The entire model was then given a light
coat of Tamiya XF-19 Sky Grey thinned to about
30:70 with cellulose thinner and sprayed on
in thin coats for a nice smooth surface for the
next layer of paint to come. Tamiya X-1 Gloss
Black was next, again thinned with cellulose
thinners to the same ratio was then applied and
built up in multiple layers until a gloss finish
was achieved. Once dry, a quick polish with
a polishing sponge removed any specs and
imperfections. Vallejo Metal Colour Aluminium
was my primary natural metal shade here, again
thinned and lightly built up in layers until a nice
even coverage and shine was achieved. I then
left the paint to dry overnight.
A basic, but well printed decal sheet was
provided, but the serial numbers shown in the
instructions were missing. This supposedly
A NICE PILOT FIGURE WAS PROVIDED, WHICH I DECIDED TO
MAKE THE MAIN FEATURE OF THE COCKPIT
24
MIG-15 BIS
having a different
colour and font than
the rest supplied. In the end I
made up a totally fictitious serial
number. The decal themselves
performed perfectly, with the zigzags
on the fuel tanks only needing some Micro Sol
to help them conform. The rear tail section had
the same gloss treatment, but this time with
Tamiya X-2 Gloss White. This was to give a good
foundation for the red colour to come for the
tail. I have found using any other colour primer
for red just results in a darker red, no matter
how many layers of paint is applied. Again, this
was left overnight to dry. Tamiya Gloss Varnish
was used to seal everything in to make it more
durable for the weathering to come.
Tamiya Black Panel Line Accent was used
as a pin-wash on the panel lines and rivet
details to give a pleasing but not overly dark
distinction. Then an Ammo by MiG Natural
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Metal Oil Brushers set was used to give variation
and an oxidisation effect to the paintwork.
This was simply dotted in various places and
stippled with an old brush. However, it does
take a day or two to dry enough, so as not to
rub off when handling the model. Ammo by
MIG Starship Filth was then applied in a similar
fashion around the crevices, surface hatches
and such, and anywhere where dirt would
accumulate. The landing gear and flaps were
now tacked into place with CA Glue. The tyres,
being the rubber pushover type provided the
convenience of not needing masking. The gear
doors had good solid attachment points that
didn’t flop over whilst I was trying to glue
the parts into position. All internal
surfaces were painted with Tamiya
XF-23 Light Blue.
A Master Models Gun Barrel set
was used to replace the very basic plastic
renditions, and Tamiya Gun Metal was used
to colour these and were a must upgrade in
my opinion. The main blade aerial antenna
appears to be located in the wrong spot, so
this was relocated using a hot scalpel blade
to melt in a new slot for the aerial, and EZ Line
was used for the antenna wire. Although this is
one of Trumpeter’s earlier kits and is a bit more
agricultural than their later releases, it does
provide excellent value and was one of my
most enjoyable builds to date. MA
26
SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE MK.I
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Vitor Costa builds the 1:48
Tamiya Spitfire Mk.I
Supreme
Supermarine
T
he Spitfire is probably one of the
most replicated aircraft in plastic,
and most modellers will have built
at least one during their life time. For
me, after forty-five years modelling
I’m really not sure how many I have built, but I
would say that at least nine, maybe ten! I think
the first was a 1:72 Revell Spitfire kit that I build
in an afternoon, and I can clearly remember
some 1:48 Tamiya kits and the 1:72 offerings
from Airfix. So, when I received the recent 1:48
Tamiya Mk.I kit, it was like I was building my
first Spitfire again, as I was so excited to get
started. Being a self confessed fan of Tamiya,
I was pretty sure that I would be getting
probably the best 1:48 Spitfire Mk.I around,
and I was not wrong! The Tamiya Spitfire is
characterised by some superb innovation and
some amazing engineering that makes it a
class apart. The way the cockpit perfectly fits
into the fuselage is unique and there are many
other highlights that I will mention during this
build.
The first thing to note is the huge amount
of parts dedicated to the cockpit, and at some
point it was difficult to understand how all
that plastic is going to fit in such a small space!
But I had no doubt that everything would fit
Supermarine Spitfire Mk.I
Manufacturer: Tamiya
Scale: 1:48
Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded
Kit Number: 119
MODEL AIRCRAFT
27
APRIL 2021
Alclad ALC-119 Airframe
Aluminium was used on the
undersides
The cockpit, ready to be added
into the fuselage
THE TAMIYA SPITFIRE IS CHARACTERISED
BY INNOVATION AND AMAZING ENGINEERING
THAT MAKES IT A CLASS APART
perfectly. There are a number
of options available so I
recommended you to take
a look to the instructions
before you start the
kit! So, all the parts
are painted with
the characteristic
British interior grey
green colour, for
this I used Alclad II
Mil-Spec ALCE012, which was really spot on! Its
possible to paint the majority of the parts still
on the sprues, as the way the parts are shown
allows them to be removed without ruining the
paint! Once the green was done some areas
needed to be masked as there are some places
that need to be painted with silver, and for that I
used Alclad ALC-119 Airframe Aluminium.
Once dry, I applied a coat of gloss varnish to
protect the paint and to prepare the area for a
wash. On the green areas I used a home made
oil wash, and for this I used very dark brown,
almost black thinned oil paint that I remove
using cotton buds. For the aluminium painted
areas I used thinned Tamiya X-19 Smoke. This
enhanced all the details making some perfect
shadows, yet keeping the metallic look of the
original painted surface! With everything dry
it was time to apply a coat of matt varnish.
While the green painted parts were drying,
I started working in the
control panel. This was
painted with gloss
varnish as there
are a few decals to apply here to simulate the
instruments dials. These are divided in such
a way that is really easy to use. Some decal
solution was also needed to ensure they stayed
in their desired places! I then used a cotton bud
soaked in water to press them onto the surface.
With the decals in place and completely dry a
matt coat was applied! To simulate the glass of
the dials, a drop of gloss varnish
was applied, plus a little dry
brushing around their
edges.
With the varnish
dry, it was time to put
all the small parts
into place. As I said
earlier there are
Then I painted half
the undersides in
black....
...and the
other half in
white
SUPREME SUPERMARINE
The cockpit, and
it was difficult to
understand how
all that plastic was
going to fit in such
a small space
28
SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE MK.I
I then added a
little fading and
weathering
several options available here, so be sure you
are using the correct parts for the version you
are building. With all parts now in place, I added
a final coat of matt, and began work on the
seat. This was suitably painted and weathered
using, ABT502 Shadow Brown for the shadows,
and Buff for the highlights. Time now to add
the etched seat belts! These were annealed in
order to break the metallic tension, thus making
it easier to bend them to the desired shape. So,
after almost fifty parts being painted and fitted
into place, it was time to close the fuselage!
Once the two halves were glued there is
another part to be glued on the nose. I didn’t
understand the reason why this area was not
included on the main fuselage parts, however,
Tamiya must have had a reason to make it this
way. But as expected, the parts fitted perfectly,
with only a minor amount of putty needed to
hide the line where the parts came together. I
skipped the step where I was supposed to add
the exhausts, as these can be fitted at the end
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On the upper
surfaces i used
Alclad II ALCE021
Dark Earth...
...and ALCE013,
Dark Green
of the build, making the paint
job easier. With the fuselage
done it was time to glue
the wings, and as before
no difficulties were found.
With the wings ready, I did a
dry fit and found that I needed
to do a little bit of manoeuvring
to avoid any type of filling, thus preserving the
original panel lines. With the wings and fuselage
in place it was time to add all the parts required
onto the wings, and once more Tamiya have
made it easy to fit the etched radiator grilles.
Another innovation (at least I one I have not
seen before) is how the landing gear fits into
place, thus assuring you get the correct angles
and perfect symmetry, as both landing gear legs
were made as a single part! These were then
suitably painted, and put to one side.
Now with all of the construction
complete I was ready to add
some paint. As there were three
different colours to add on the
undersides, I began with a coat
of ALC-125 High Speed Silver, the
idea being was to take advantage of a
metallic base coat to add some scratches
MODEL AIRCRAFT
29
APRIL 2021
SUPREME SUPERMARINE
The decals
settled perfectly
I suitably
faded the
paintwork
on the black painted wing, but in the end I
used a metallic pencil. I then painted half the
undersides with Alclad White and the other
half with Alclad Black, and then added a little
weathering to suit. Once this had completely
dried, I added the upper surface camouflage
colours using Alclad II ALCE021 Dark Earth and
ALCE013, Dark Green. With the camouflage
done I started the weathering process using a
variety of homemade washes, both light and
dark that were applied and
then removed with a soft cloth in
the direction of the airflow. On the green areas
I used a little Tamiya XF-4 to simulate worn
and faded paint. Once I was happy with the
look I added a coat of gloss and let the model
dry for twenty-four hours before applying the
decals. A further coat of gloss then sealed them
in. I then added some pigments, along with
....along with
a Tamiya
Weathering
Master Grey shade
to add some fading
and depth
I used na airbrush stencil on the propellor.....
30
SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE MK.I
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Adding the antennae wire
Adding some paint
chips around the
cockpit.....
...along with some weathering
on the panel lines...
...and rivet details
scratches and chips around the
areas where the aircrew and maintenance
personnel would be working, and along some
of the panel lines.
Almost done and it was time to finish the
smaller parts. The exhausts were painted with
Alclad II Aluminium AL-101A, after which I
applied a light coat of ALC-419 Hot Metal Burnt
Carbon to impart the characteristic look on
these parts! AK Interactive Burnt Jet Engine was.
then applied in the recessed areas, to create
some depth. Some Dark Rust was then applied
to show the burnt texture, giving it a really nice
look! Once in place I simulated the exhaust
fumes with some Tamiya Weathering Master
Set B. I also now added the landing gear and
the gear doors.
I then added the characteristic Spitfire fuel
and lubricant streaks and stains using various
AK Interactive products, thinned to give
a ‘wet greasy’ look. The propellor on
this Spitfire was metal, so after painting
it black I used an airbrush stencil to add
some ‘marbling’ and then added a
Tamiya Weathering Master Grey shade to add
some fading and depth! And with that the build
was complete.
So, what can I say about this amazing kit?
Well, it was a joy to build, I have nothing more
to add! MA
Applying some soot on the shell ejector ports
ON SALE NOW!
Scale Aviation Modeller International – APRIL 2021
In the first of a two-part feature
Huw Morgan builds the 1/72
Academy OV-10D+ Bronco
S
1/48
P-39N AIRACOBRA
Adding some extra surface details to the fuselage…..
Rene Van Der Hart
builds the 1/48 Eduard
P-39N Airacobra
SNAKE ON A PLANE
NORTH AMERICAN ROCKWELL OV-10D+ BRONCO
HUNTER, KILLER
1/72
UNDER NEW
ALL THE LATEST
OWNERSHIP!
NEWS & REVIEWS
….and to the wings
There’s some surgery
needed to fit the CMK rear
compartment, the tail cone
needs removing, and the
sponson section needs
reducing in height
Cutting out the
aperture for the
Quickboost resin
engine
Creating an internal
structure for the
engine block to fit into
SPANISH TRIPALA
Some aftermarket extras help update
the Academy kit, here seen are the Reskit
wheels, Master pitot and Eduard masks
PART
ONE
SURFACE DETAILING
The CMK interior comprises a resin tub, seats and
consoles, and a folding brass rear compartment.
Note the extensive addition of lead!
KILLER
KIT TYPE: Injection moulded
plastic
KIT NUMBER:
46
rom the 1920’s right through to the
current day, the US Marine Corps has
placed great emphasis on its ability
to offer Air-to-Ground support to its
troops, developing an air arm which specialised
in this low-level, teeth of the enemy action.
The ability to identify imminent threats,
and to call in air strikes to neutralise them
has become intrinsic to the Marines’ modus
operandi and the use of light aircraft in the
forward spotter and strike control role has
become the norm. Throughout the Korean war,
MANUFACTURER: Eduard
duard’s Airacobra kit was first released
over twenty years ago, this being a
P-400 version, and many variants
with new decals and/or parts have
been released ever since. The kit used in this
build is a P-39 in Soviet markings, released
in 2012. A resin cockpit set from Pavla and
an engine by Quickboost were used.
E
KIT NUMBER: 84163
ASSEMBLY
First step was cutting out the access panel for
the engine. After that, several plastic strips
were glued inside the fuselage to support the
resin engine, just to be sure it would not come
loose after the fuselage was all buttoned up.
This was also done for the resin cockpit parts.
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F/A-18D ATARS
47
RECCE
STINGER
52
After I was happy that all parts fitted correctly
inside the fuselage, they parts cleaned with
acetone, primed and painted. The cockpit is
mainly, Mr Hobby H56 Interior Green, with a
black instrument panel. The smaller details
were then brush painted, according m reference
photographs. A dark brown wash then gave
some depth and a shadow effect. Then some
subtle dry brushing with silver on the edges of
the seat and the floor simulated damaged paint.
The engine was then painted black and also
dry brushed with silver, and the exhaust stacks
were painted gunmetal. Now all the painting
was done, the fuselage was assembled and any
errant seam lines were filled, sanded smooth
and rescribed where necessary. Also, a few
rivets were restored with a small drill bit.
ALSO INSIDE!
1/32
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BRISTOL F.2B
Getting the
fuselage halves
together
Sam Elkington builds the 1/32 Wingnut
Wings Bristol F.2b Fighter ‘32004’
53
YELLOWJACKS
GNAT – AIRFIX’S 1/48
FOLLAND TRAINER
Kinetic’s 1/48 F/A-18D ATARS
In addition, you must remove the IFF antennas located in front of the
windshield
RECCE
Adding some colour
to the fuselage…..
KIT DETAILS
Vini Pompeo builds the 1/48 Kinetic
F/A-18D ATARS as the CAG bird of
VMFA(AW)-224
…and wings
THE EXHAUSTS
WERE THE DRILLED
OUT AND PAINTED
WITH XF-9 HULL RED
SCALE: 1/48
KIT NUMBER: 48033
F
AUSTRALIAN FLYING CORPS
MAGPIE
With the main
build complete
the canopy
was masked
off ready for
painting, we
have the model
ready to receive
a primer layer
in preparation
for the painting
process
The interior is very detailed, but
purists will note a missed MFD on
the rear instrument panel, which
exists on the ‘D’ version operated
by the Marines. I scratch built
this part
BACKGROUND
rguably one of the finest British
World War One and interwar
workhorse aircraft was the
Bristol F.2b Fighter. This British
twin seater was in service from 1916
to 1936 serving on the Western front,
Mesopotamia and Palestine, and also during
the Polish-Soviet War and the imperial
policing during the Interwar period in India,
Egypt and the middle east. The F.2b was
used by nineteen countries including, the
UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand,
Greece and Poland, and some round 5329
aircraft were built during its lifespan.
A
Regardless of the type of paints used it is important to use a primer.
Here I am using Ammo by MIG One Shot Black Primer
With the interior is
complete I glued the fuselage
halves together and started
the modifications for the ATARS
(Advanced Tactical Airborne
Reconnaissance System) version.
The ATARS system required the
M61A1 Vulcan gun to be removed so
that the nose was completely free
for ATARS optical camera systems.
So, I puttied over the gun port on
the nose
GETTING STARTED
I then added a base shade of Ammo by MIG Light Compass Grey on the lower parts
and Dark Compass Ghost Grey for the upper parts. I then created some random
dark and light tones using various colours
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This particular kit was passed to me already
started, as the builder didn’t think he could
finish it to a good enough standard. The
cockpit was underway, and I replaced the
seat. My next action was to sand down
The exhausts were painted using Ammo/Alclad Burnt Iron and Silver
SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
59
62
the top and bottom of the fuselage and
following this I decided to knock out of the
more tedious jobs right away by drilling
holes in the wings in order to fit the ailerons
without having to glue them in place. They
were instead held in place by 0.5mm brass
rod, which was be bent in
order to allow the posing
of the ailerons later. The
same process would have been
applied to the rudder and tailplane; however,
they were too thin to accept any brass rod.
After the wings were drilled, I started on
the engine. This went together very well,
but I did have trouble fitting it onto the
model as one of the holding struts snapped
off. For this reason, I decided to have the
engine completely covered up. I then found
the fit of the engine cowlings was also not
great, but in the end, I got the cowling to go
together well enough so as to not detract
from the finished look. Once the cowling was
fuselages, white wings and other markings to
be seen. I decided to go with a design known as
‘Magpie’. This aircraft was likely destroyed by its
crew during an incident, where upon landing to
pick up the crew of another aircraft, it hit a rock
on take-off, breaking the wheel and eventually
leading to both crews being captured by the
Ottomans. I started by painting the olive drab
sections of the fuselage and tail plane. The
underside of the fuselage was also likely to have
been all olive drab along with the rear of the
fuselage and tail. These were painted Tamiya
XF-62 Olive Drab. Once this had dried, I masked
the areas that I wanted to remain olive drab and
sprayed the white sections of the paint scheme
using Tamiya XF-2. Th smaller details, such as
the stitching that framed the white sections
were then picked out using a fine paint brush.
Finally, the forward section of the fuselage,
including the engine cowling were painted
BRISTOL F.2B
MANUFACTURER: Wingnut
Wings
SCALE: 1/32
KIT TYPE: Injection moulded
plastic
KIT NUMBER: 3052
Printed in UK
I built the cockpit straight-from-the-box, first
applying Ammo by MIG Black Primer. I then painted
all the details with Ammo by MIG Light Grey, Black,
Yellow, White and Red. The instrument panel
was detailed with a dry brushing of the
Light Grey and I sed Airscale decals for
the instrument, with placards
from Anyz Decals
or this build I chose the Kinetic ATARS
F/A1-18D, and aircraft exclusively
operated by the US Marine Corps. The
kit is produced in light grey styrene
with etched parts and was built straight-fromthe-box. I would advise you take care when
it comes to fixing the nose and windshield
section of the kit, but otherwise I had no issues
with construction. So, let’s get started.
STINGER
KIT DETAILS
F/A-18D ATARS
MANUFACTURER: Kinetic
KIT TYPE: Injection moulded
plastic with etch
58
HUNTER KILLER
– ACADEMY’S 1/72
OV-1D+ BRONCO
THE SURFACE DETAIL IS VERY NICE
WITH RECESSED PANEL LINES AND
PLENTY OF FASTENER DETAILING
SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
AUSTRALIAN MAGPIE
1/48
THE KIT
SCALE: 1/48
KIT TYPE: Injection moulded
plastic
• ICM 1/32 DH.82A Tiger Moth
• Airfix 1/72 Dominie T.1
• Brengun’s 1/144 Douglas SBD-3
Dauntless ‘Midway’
APRIL 2021
MANUFACTURER: Academy
SCALE: 1/72
F
FIRST LOOKS
of the rivets was marked, then using
several sizes of rivet tools the rivets
were added. After sanding the surface
smooth, another pass with the rivet tools
cleaned out all the tiny holes so that the
upper and lower wing halves could be
glued together. Next, the completed
wings were fitted to the fuselage,
followed by the horizontal
stabilisers. The canopy was
masked next. The doors
are made from one-piece
clear parts, which is quite
clever, and the windows were masked on
both the inside and outside, and the doors
put in place without glue, to be posed
in the open position later.
ON A PLANE
P-39N AIRACOBRA
the use of Cessna O-1’s and North American
LT-6 were common but in 1959 the Marines
concluded that a purpose-designed airframe
would be preferable, capable of being used
in the observation and light attack roles and
complementary to the then developing Marine
Helicopter capability. Coincident with this was
the realisation amongst the US military that
the most significant short-term threat to world
stability was the emergence of small insurgentled bush wars and the need to be able to
counter these with small-scale, precision strikes
capable of being mounted from local bases,
PART 1 – THE BRONCO
NORTH AMERICAN
ROCKWELL OV-10D+
BRONCO
The surface detail is very nice with recessed
panel lines and plenty of fastener detailing. The
wings, however, could benefit from some extra
rivet details, especially on weathered paintwork,
where the rivets on the real aircraft are quite
visible. Again, reference images proved to be
invaluable here. Then with a pencil, the location
SNAKE
KIT DETAILS
HUNTER,
KIT DETAILS
Tamiya’s 1/48 Bf 109G-6
Conversion
Adding the
Pavla cockpit
THE ACADEMY BOX ART
DEPICTS A OV-10D AS
SEEN IN DESERT STORM
Vol 27 Issue 4 £4.95
The kit decals offer markings for two
Marines airframes, one in Sand/Brown and
one in the alternative Green/Grey
RECCE STINGER
cale Aviation
Modeller
International
provides a unique
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experience for all types
of modeller, from the
complete beginner to
the most experienced.
Each month we offer
a wide range of news,
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fitted, any gaps were plugged with
packing foam and painting began.
PAINTING THE BIRD
I decided to build this Bristol as
an Australian Air Corps machine
based in Palestine during 1918. These
aircraft were quite unique with their
camouflage, with a spattering of all white
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AUSTRALIAN MAGPIE
SNAKE ON A PLANE
Wingnut Wings 1/32 Bristol F.2b
Eduard’s 1/49 P-39N
63
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Scale Military Modeller International – APRIL 2021
world war II
RESEARCH
Scale 1:35 / Armoured Fighting Vehicle
Tiger 1 Depicted in
Transport Mode
MATT EDWARDS BUILDS THE 1:35 AFV CLUB TIGER I
afg club
came across some images
of Tigers in use before
they had time to change
their ‘transport tracks’
into ‘field tracks’ and so that’s what I
decided I would depict here.
On opening the box, I was met
with several sprues of a bright
orange/yellow colour and checking
over the detail I noticed that I may
have to replace a few of the tools as
Tiger 1 Transport Mode
Manufacturer: AFV Club
Scale: 1:35
Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded with etch
Kit Number: AF35S25
shilka
Part 2 – Faun SLT-56 Franziska Tractor Unit
Franziska
SNORRE SANDVIKEN COMPLETES HIS ‘BIG BUILD’
trumpeter
T
he heavy transporter Faun
SLT56 ‘Franziska’ is a thirdgeneration transport
vehicle designed for and
C
100 it was in fact a completely new vehicle. The
best way to tell the SLT56 apart from the
Elefant are the tandem lights in the front
bumper, while the Elefant only has single
lights. Technically though, the differences
are many, most notably in the drive train and
the engine. The trailer is also different, as is
the configuration of the winches and boxes.
The SLT56 is equipped with two winches
for pulling tanks or other disabled vehicles
onto the trailer. The trailer developed for
the also have a higher load capacity and
used by the Bundeswehr to carry extra heavy
tanks. With the deployment of the Leopard
2 MBT a need arose in the German Army
for a new tank transporter which would be
capable of transporting this new generation
of heavier tanks. The German Army
purchased forty-nine of these transporters
in 1989. While the STL56 is externally similar
to the second generation SLT50 ‘Elephant’,
Faun SLT-56 Franziska Tractor Unit
Working on the
chassis
Manufacturer: Trumpeter
Scale: 1:35
Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded
Kit Number: 00203
Lots of details
to add
features twenty-four
wheels, two per short axle,
and six of those axles per side.
In 1993 the SLT56 was modified
due to the experiences while deployed
with the UN in Somalia. The fenders were
strengthened, the anchoring of the winch
was modified, air-suspended drivers’ seats
were installed, and the vehicles were
equipped with more storage space. While
being deployed in Somalia, the SLT56 was
used with the old (Elefant’s) trailer. With
the deployment of the Leopard 2 variants
A5 and A6 the trailer had to be modified
again because of the increased weight.
There is a reinforcement in the trailer neck,
FAUN SLT56 ‘FRANZISKA’ IS A THIRD-GENERATION TRANSPORT VEHICLE
DESIGNED FOR AND USED BY THE BUNDESWEHR TO CARRY HEAVY TANKS
1 6
SCALE MILITARY MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
Shilka Sharpshooter
as well as new fenders in front of the
shock absorbers and new spacers
between the loading ramps. This
last modification lets the ramps
stand straight in the up position.
I’ve always wanted to build one
of these tank transporters, so
when the chance came along, I
grabbed it with both hands.
The rear axles on the
tractor were assembled and
attached to the chassis. Some
parts are depicted mirrored
in the instructions for the axle
construction, but the parts fit only
one way, so not a big issue. With the
rear axles attached, the front axels were
next. Assembly again was straightforward.
The design of the parts allowed the wheels
to be positioned at any angle without being
glued. With the axels in place the fuel tank
and the spar tyre rack were added before
the driver’s cab was attached to the chassis.
The rear part of the chassis on the tractor
had a bunch of toolboxes that needed to be
added, and it was just a matter of assembling
the boxes and gluing them on in their right
places. The two rear fenders on the tractor
comes as separate parts and attached to the
chassis with two large supports each as they
are on the real thing. Then the added details
on the top were easy to assemble. The mud
flaps are in etched metal with embossing,
and the FAUN logo was a nice touch. I
attached the large fender supports to the
underside of the fenders and allowed them
to dry before attaching the fenders to the
chassis. The engine compartment assembly
was also straightforward to build and so was
attaching the etched top screen and small
side fittings.
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pioneer r100
the big build
Scale 1:35 / ZSU-23-4M
1 7
boadicea
R100 Tractor
Scale 1:35 / Heavy Artillery Tractor
Boadicea
WHAT MAKES THIS MACHINE SO
ICONIC TO SO MANY ARE THE FOUR
FEARSOME ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS
ROBERT STINCHCOMBE BUILDS THE 1:35 THUNDER MODELS SCAMMEL
PIONEER R100 HEAVY ARTILLERY TRACTOR
Zvezda
F
irst a little background. The
acronym ‘ZSU’ stands for
‘Zenitnaya Samokhodnaya
Ustanovka’ meaning ‘anti-
aircraft self-propelled system’; the ‘23’
signifies the bore diameter in millimetres;
the ‘4’ signifies the number of gun barrels.
It is named after the Shilka River in Russia.
Afghan soldiers nicknamed it the ‘sewing
machine’ due to the sound of firing guns. It
is also referred to by its nickname of ‘Zeus’.
The Shilka ZSU-23-4 is a Self-Propelled
Anti-Aircraft Gun (SPAAG) featuring a
ZSU-23-4M Shilka
Manufacturer: Zvezda
Scale: 1:35
Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded
Kit Number: 3635
modified PT-76 chassis. ZSU 23-4 Shilka, is
capable of acquiring, tracking and engaging
low-flying aircraft. The armament consists
of four 23mm cannon. Targeting can be
achieved either optically by vehicle crew,
or electronically by a prominent radar dish,
which can be folded flat in transit. Although
considered non-amphibious, the Shilka is
capable of fording water up to a depth of
just over 1m.
I was pleasantly surprised to see Zvezda
announcement that they were releasing this
kit, firstly I thought great, there will finally be
a reasonably priced kit in 1:35, but and after
some searching I y realised that it was not a
new tooled version but merely a reboxing
of the classic Dragon kit. However, once I
had gotten over slight disappointment, I
gathered myself and thought that it was time
to revisit an old friend. For most ‘middle aged’
modellers I’m sure you can cast your mind
WWW.MODELAIRCRAFTMAG.COM
2 7
5 4
SCALE MILITARY MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
Scammel Pioneer R100
Heavy Artillery Tractor
Manufacturer: Thunder Models
Scale: 1:35
Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded
Kit Number: 35202
how
Hataka Sand Green
was applied with a
little Sand Yellow
modulation
JEZZ COLEMAN BUILDS THE 1:35 ZVEZDA ZSU-23-4M
o, here we have the
Thunder Models
Scammel Pioneer R100
Heavy Artillery Tractor,
and if the box art is anything to go
by then I was in for a treat, and on
opening the box there were fourteen
sprues moulded in grey plastic, which
added up to some 430 plus parts.
There was also a clear sprue and an
etched fret, two nicely printed callout
sheets for four different schemes
featuring Ammo by MIG Paints.
For the instructions, I found
these do need to read
carefully as did make
a couple of mistakes,
plus there are a lot of
stages and quite a
few small parts to be
added early on, so
care and attention
was needed. The
build began with the
engine, which is very
nicely represented
and certainly looks
the part. I needed to
replace the radiator
on the main sprue with
another one that was
in a separate small bag.
I decided that I wanted to
leave the engine side panels
off, so this meant I would need to
add bit of extra detail in the shape of
the spark leads and wiring along with
hoses at the rear the engine. I
painted the engine as went along
adding some weathering effects
to give a grubby used look. I also
ex
thunder models
S
RESEARCH
applied some oil leaks, and then put
the engine to one side. Next, it was
onto the front axle and the chassis,
which goes together well and be
sure to follow the instructions and
be careful as there are some fiddly
bits here. I also now assembled the
gearbox and the winch.
The next step was the rear wheel
assembly and axles, which were
nicely moulded and went together
well. Again, just pay attention as it can
be easy to get parts mixed up here. A
nice touch in the instruction is it they
give you two original detail drawings
of the rear-drive axles gear air system.
I thought about adding some brake
lines, but just didn’t think they would
The Scammell Pioneer was a British
6×4 tractor unit used in World War II
as an artillery tractor, recovery vehicle
and tank transporter. Designed as
a 6×4 off-road vehicle for use in
Britain’s colonies where sealed roads
were scarce, the Pioneer was first
produced in 1927. Though lacking
all-wheel drive, its combination
of a suspension with great travel,
excellent traction, and a low-revving
engine gave it impressive pulling
power on rough ground at low
speeds. Though not designed for
military use, the British War Office
purchased a single petrol engined
example in 1932. Equipped as a
tank transporter with a permanently
coupled 18t semi-trailer, it was
assigned to a training unit but did
not initially catch on. Additional
transporters were not purchased
until 1937.
be seen. I then
sprayed all the
chassis black followed by the
relevant green, as to be easy to do all
the painting now as once the cab/rear
is on you won’t be able to get access
to this area. Once the paint had dried,
I added a coat of Johnson’s ‘Klear’ to
give a slightly weathered look along
the top with some pigments and oils.
I now moved toto the cab and
began with the front part and the
seats. I painted most of these parts
before assembly using a a black base
followed by brown on the floor for
the wooden areas. I then used AK
Interactive Worn Effects followed
by a coat of green and once dry I
gently rubbed the paint off in areas
of high use to reveal the wood colour
underneath. I also added some wire
to the electrics box on the bulkhead
for that extra bit of detail. The cab is
full of little bits, but once all painted
and assembled it does look good.
This was then sat on to the chassis
and then I added the steering column
and few other bits. This took some
a time to get right, as at times the
lack of locating tabs held things up.
The introductions also say to fit the
hood and front glazing and few other
engine bits at this point
The next stage was the hoist,
which is in several parts and again
is nicely moulded. You can choose
where you want the hoist positioned,
ON OPENING
THE BOX
THERE WERE
FOURTEEN
SPRUES
MOULDED
IN GREY
PLASTIC,
WHICH
ADDED UP TO
SOME 430
PLUS PARTS
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usiv
cl
2
to
e
SCALE MILITARY MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
7
WWW.MODELAIRCRAFTMAG.COM
tank transporter
Part 2 – Faun SLT-56 Franziska Tractor Unit
AS OF 2020,
TIGER 131
(CAPTURED
DURING
THE NORTH
AFRICA
CAMPAIGN)
AT THE
UK’S TANK
MUSEUM IS
THE ONLY
EXAMPLE
RESTORED
TO RUNNING
ORDER.
2
SCALE MILITARY MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
2 6
tank transporter
tiger i
Depicted in Transport Mode
a vision of a very dirty muddy vehicle
in mind. All other parts seemed
pretty well molded and there was
no molding flash on any. I did notice
that on each side of the hull that the
front mounting point for the side
skirts is missing so that’ll need to be
dealt with later. Also supplied are
two nice etched frets, one for the
engine grill covers which have a lovely
weaved pattern on them and the
other contains the front mudguard
latches that fit to the lower hull front
along with a few other handy items
and the front and rear mudguards
should you want to depict them
folded up, mine would be going into
my ‘spares-box’, but a nice addition
all the same. Also supplied is a turned
aluminium barrel always a bonus but
I have read that once assembled it is
a couple of mils short. The decals are
nicely printed and are for four tanks
and the painting guide and where
to apply them is printed in black and
white at the back of the instruction
booklet, talking of which is pretty
straightforward and not too busy as
some can be. Finally, there is a nice
print included of the box art which is
a nice touch, and a shame other don’t
follow this practice. So armed with
my detail set, spares box and model I
began putting it together.
es
6
the detail wasn’t as good on some
as those in my spares box. Also, this
vehicle would have been coated in
the anti-mine paste Zimmerit, so
that’ll need adding. The spare tracks
for the turret had solid guide horns
so again I would replace them. The
transport tracks are of the rubber
band type and have a pretty good
tread pattern but again the guide
horns are solid, but this was less of
a concern as I had
The Tiger I, a German heavy tank of
World War II, operated from 1942 in
Africa and in Operation Barbarossa,
usually in independent heavy
tank battalions. It was designated
Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf H during
development but was changed to
Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf E during
production. The Tiger I gave the German
Army its first armoured fighting vehicle that mounted the 8.8 cm KwK 36 gun (derived
from the 8.8 cm Flak 36). 1,347 were built between August 1942 and August 1944.
After August 1944, production of the Tiger I was phased out in favour of the Tiger II.
While the Tiger I has been called an outstanding design for its time, it has also been
called over-engineered, using expensive materials and labour-intensive production
methods. The Tiger was prone to certain types of track
failures and breakdowns and was limited in range by its
high fuel consumption. It was expensive to maintain,
but generally mechanically reliable. It was difficult to
transport and vulnerable to immobilisation when mud,
ice, and snow froze between its overlapping and
interleaved Schachtellaufwerk-pattern road wheels,
often jamming them solid. This was a problem
on the Eastern Front in the muddy
rasputitsa season and during
periods of extreme cold. The
tank was given its nickname
‘Tiger’ by Ferdinand
Porsche, and the Roman
numeral was added after
the later Tiger II entered
production.
id
I
Big Build Shilka Sharpshooter
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APRIL 2021
The IA 58 Pucara
History
Colour Profiles
Scale Plans
Step by Step Build
MODEL AIRCRAFT MANUAL
Model Aircraft Manual
36
MODEL AIRCRAFT MANUAL
WWW.MODELAIRCRAFTMAG.COM
Argentina’s Counter-Insurgency Aircraft
The IA 58 Pucara
T
he FMA IA 58 ‘Pucará’ (Fortress) is
an Argentine ground-attack and
counter-insurgency (COIN) aircraft
manufactured by the Fábrica Militar
de Aviones. It is a low-wing twoturboprop-engined all-metal monoplane
with retractable landing gear and is capable
of operating from unprepared strips when
operationally required. The type saw action
during the Falklands War and the Sri Lankan
Civil War. In August 1966, Dirección Nacional
de Fabricación e Investigación Aeronáutica
(DINFIA), the Argentine state aircraft
factory, began development of the AX-2, a
counter-insurgency (COIN) aircraft to meet a
requirement of the Argentine Air Force. The
chosen layout was a low-wing monoplane
powered by two turboprop engines mounted
in wing-mounted nacelles and fitted with a
T-tail. In order to test the proposed layout,
DINFIA first built a full-scale unpowered
glider test vehicle, this flying for the first time
on 26 December 1967. Testing of the glider
showed no major handling problems, and
in September 1968, construction began on
a powered prototype, given the designation
FMA IA 58 Delfin, but later renamed Pucará,
to be powered by a pair of 904hp Garrett
TPE331I/U-303 engines. (DINFIA had been
renamed the Fábrica Militar de Aviones (FMA)
earlier that year). The first prototype made its
maiden flight on 20 August 1969, with a second
prototype, with power switching to 729 kW
Turbomeca Astazou XVIGs, following on 6
September 1970. The first prototype was later
re-engined with the Astazou, with this engine
being chosen for the production version, and
a third, production, prototype followed in
1973. The first production model flew on 8
November 1974, with deliveries beginning in
early 1976.
The IA 58 Pucará is of a conventional, allmetal (mainly duralumin) construction. The
unswept cantilever wings have seven degrees
of dihedral on the outer panels and are fitted
with slotted trailing-edge flaps. The IA-58 has a
tandem cockpit arrangement; the crew of two
MODEL AIRCRAFT
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APRIL 2021
MODEL AIRCRAFT – IA 58 PUCARA
is seated under the upward opening clamshell
canopy on Martin-Baker Mk 6AP6A zero/zero
ejection seats and are provided with dual
controls. Armour plating is fitted to protect
the crew and engines from hostile groundfire.
The aircraft is powered by a pair of Turbomeca
Astazou engines, driving sets of three-bladed
Ratier-Forest 23LF propellers, and the propellers
are also capable of being used as air brakes.
The Pucará was designed for operations from
short, rough airstrips. The retractable tricycle
landing gear, with a single nosewheel and
twin mainwheels retracting into the engine
nacelles, is therefore fitted with low pressure
tyres to suit operations on rough ground, while
the undercarriage legs are tall to give good
clearance for underslung weapon loads. Three
JATO rockets can be fitted under the fuselage
to allow extra-short take-off. Fuel is fed from
two fuselage tanks of combined capacity of
800lt and two self-sealing tanks of 460lt in the
wings. The undercarriage, flaps and brakes
are operated hydraulically, with no pneumatic
systems. Fixed armament consists of two
Hispano 804 20mm cannons mounted under
the cockpits with 270 rounds each and four
7.62mm Browning machine guns mounted on
the sides of the fuselage with 900 rounds each.
Three hardpoints are fitted for the carriage
of external stores such as bombs, rockets
or external fuel tanks, with one of 1,000kg
capacity mounted under the fuselage and the
remaining two, of 500kg capacity beneath the
wings. Total external weapons load is limited to
1,620kg. Onboard armaments are aimed by a
simple reflector sight.
The first units were delivered in May 1975
to the Argentine Air Force (Spanish language:
Fuerza Aérea Argentina , FAA), equipping the
2° Escuadron de Exploration y Ataque, part
of the 3rd Air Brigade (Spanish language: III
Brigada Aérea ) in northern Reconquista, Santa
Fe province. They had their operational debut
late in 1976, when a number of Pucarás carried
out counter insurgency strikes from Córdoba
38
MODEL AIRCRAFT MANUAL
against Communist ERP guerrillas in Tucumán
Province as part of Operativo Independencia.
By the time of the Falklands War (Spanish:
Guerra de las Malvinas ), about sixty Pucarás had
been delivered. As one of the few aircraft the
Argentine service capable of flying operationally
from the small airfields in the Falklands, with
the runway at Port Stanley Airport was not long
enough for FAA Skyhawks and Mirages to be
WWW.MODELAIRCRAFTMAG.COM
deployed, it was decided to deploy a number
of Pucarás to the Falklands, with four arriving at
Port Stanley on 2 April 1982, with a further eight
arriving on 9 April. Many of the Pucarás remaining
on the mainland were moved to Puerto Santa
Cruz or Comodoro Rivadavia in southern
Argentina where they were closer to the Falklands
if needed for reinforcements and were used to
perform coastal surveillance.
Most aircraft used in combat were armed
with unguided bombs, 2.75in rocket pods, or
7.62mm machine gun pods. Pucarás operated
from Port Stanley airport and two small grass
improvised airfields at Goose Green and Pebble
Island. They were used in the reconnaissance
and light-attack role. Three Pucarás were
destroyed and one of their pilots killed at Goose
Green by cluster bombs dropped by No.800
MODEL AIRCRAFT
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APRIL 2021
MODEL AIRCRAFT – IA 58 PUCARA
NAS Sea Harriers on 1 May 1982. Six more were
destroyed in the SAS Raid on Pebble Island on
15 May 1982. On 21 May a Pucará was lost to
a Stinger SAM fired by D Squadron SAS (the
first Stinger launched in combat) and another
to 30mm cannon rounds from Cmdr Nigel
‘Sharkey’ Ward’s Sea Harrier, the latter after
leading a successful two-aircraft raid on a shed
allegedly used as an observation post by British
forces. The aircraft was surprisingly tough, as
Ward observed no less but twenty cannon hits
before the target started to fall to the earth.
The other Pucará, piloted by Lt Micheloud,
made good its escape after being chased by Lt
Cmdr Alan Craig’s Sea Harrier. Major Tomba, the
pilot of the aircraft shot down by Cmdr Ward,
survived the ejection and was recovered by
friendly forces. Two Pucarás shot down a Royal
Marines Scout helicopter with 7.62mm machine
gun fire on 28 May, while it was on a casualty
evacuation mission during the battle of Goose
Green. This was the only confirmed Argentine
air-to-air victory of the war. One of these
Pucarás crashed into Blue Mountain on the
return flight to Port Stanley and was destroyed.
Also, on the 28 May 2 Para shot down a Pucará
with small arms fire after it launched rockets on
British troops (without causing any casualties),
during the Battle of Goose Green. Lt Cruzado
ejected and became a POW. After the Argentine
surrender eleven Pucarás (four of them in flying
condition) were captured by British forces. Six
were later taken back to the UK.
At the peak of the Falklands War, the
Argentine Air Force, in collaboration with
the Navy, outfitted a prototype, AX-04, with
pylons to mount Mark 13 torpedoes. The
aim was its possible production as torpedocarrying aircraft to enhance the anti-ship
40
MODEL AIRCRAFT MANUAL
capabilities of the Argentine air forces. Several
trials were performed off Puerto Madryn,
over Golfo Nuevo, but the war ended before
the technicians could evaluate the feasibility
of the project. Several attempts were made
to upgrade the entire fleet, including the
Pucará Charlie conversion, Pucará 2000 and
Pucará Bravo (the modernisation of forty units
was ordered and later cancelled by the FAA,
only one unit was converted). These were
cancelled during the 1980s due to shortage
of funds. The Uruguayan Air Force updated its
fleet with the incorporation of Litton LTN-211
and GPS omega navigation systems. Minor
structure modifications were made in order to
carry the Mk.82 Snakeye bomb and 1000-litre
drop tank. Other avionics incorporated
were the WX-500 Stormscope by L3
Communications and LED Sandel SN3500
WWW.MODELAIRCRAFTMAG.COM
backlit display navigation. In 2007 an IA-58
of the Argentine Air Force was converted to
carry a modified engine operating on soyderived bio-jet fuel. The project, financed
and directed by the Argentine Government
(Secretaría de Ciencia Tecnología Innovación
Productiva de la Nación), made Argentina
the second nation in the world to propel an
aircraft with biojet fuel. The project intends
to make the FAA less reliant on fossil fuels.
Since 2009 an extensive upgrade of the
avionics and major overhaul of the airframes
has been carried out by the FAA and FAdeA,
creating the IA-58D Pucará Delta. The avionics
for the cockpit will be as close as possible
to the FMA IA-63 Pampa Phase II. Some of
the updated components will include a
new set of communications hardware, DME,
ELT, IFF, GPS, EADI, EHSI, RWR, HUD, DEFA
554 cannon and new powerplant PT6A-62
950shp instead of the original Turbomeca
Astazou. The overhaul will keep Argentinian
Pucarás active until 2045. Bureaucratic and
economic issues are delaying the conversion
of the entire fleet. The Uruguayan Air Force
also showed interest on the maintenance,
repair, and overhaul (MRO) program and
installation of new engines offered by FAdeA.
As of April 2016, Fábrica Militar de Aviones is
in the process of modernizing twenty of the
Argentine Air Force’s fleet of Pucaras. Some
Pucarás were used in Sri Lanka counterinsurgency operations from 1993 to 1999, and
three were destroyed during combat sorties.
In July 1995, during fierce fighting in the
Northern Province, near Jaffna, Tamil Tiger
rebels downed a Sri Lankan Air Force Pucará,
the pilot was killed.
MODEL AIRCRAFT
APRIL 2021
A-511, IA-58, Argentinian Air Force
A-518, IA-58, Fuerza Aerea Argentina (EX-Mauritian), 1978
A589, IA-58, ARGENTINIAN AIR FORCE, 2005
MODEL AIRCRAFT – IA 58 PUCARA
223, IA-58, Uruguayan Air Force, 2005
41
42
MODEL AIRCRAFT MANUAL
IA 58 Pucara 1:72 Scale
WWW.MODELAIRCRAFTMAG.COM
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APRIL 2021
MODEL AIRCRAFT
MODEL AIRCRAFT – IA 58 PUCARA
44
MODEL AIRCRAFT MANUAL
AX-04, IA-58, Fuerza Aerea Argentina, Bahia Blanca, 1982
FAC 2201, IA-58, Columbian AF, 1990
OVX-501, IA-58 PUCARA II, EXPERIMENTAL
ZD485, IA-58 (EX FUERZA AEREA ARGENTINA), BRITISH CAPTURED, BOSCOMBE DOWN 1983
WWW.MODELAIRCRAFTMAG.COM
MODEL AIRCRAFT
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APRIL 2021
MODEL AIRCRAFT – IA 58 PUCARA
The Papas Polecat
W
Ian Gaskell builds the 1:48 Kinetic IA 58 Pucara
ith the 40th Anniversary of
the Falklands War, in 2022, I
wanted to do something to
commemorate this occasion.
So last year, I put together
a list of aircraft examples, which I would
build. Chief amongst those was the IA 58
Pucará, an aircraft type I had long admired,
a can only be described as the poor mans
A-10 Warthog. Kinetic’s announcement, in
2018, that they were going to produce a 1:48
version had already piqued my interest, so
it was only natural that with the kit’s release
in early 2021, it was going to be one of the
first builds of my Falklands Collection. The
markings are for Major Carlos Tomba, who
was shot down a RN Sea Harrier FRS.1, flown
by Commander ‘Sharkey’ Ward. Major Tomba
survived the attack, having ejected at low
level. The kit itself looks fantastic. The surface
detail is plentiful, and the kit cockpit looks
quite well detailed, which is just as well, as
there no aftermarket yet. Before I get into the
IA 58 Pucara
Scale: 1:48
Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded with etch
Kit Number: XXX
Hobby LAU-60 rocket launchers. Secondly it
was the propeller assembly. The entire unit
is very well thought out, and looks good, but
there is nothing to hold the propellor and
spinner assembly into the front of the engine
build description, in my opinion, there are a
couple of disappointments, the first being a
lack of included weaponry! Are Kinetic going
the way of Hasegawa? Or perhaps with future
production runs, they could be included. To
the end, some aftermarket weapons were
sought. These being a set of Eduard Brassin
Mk.81 bombs, a Brassin Multiple Ejector Rack
(MER) for the centreline pylon, and some KASL
THE MARKINGS ARE FOR MAJOR CARLOS TOMBA, WHO
WAS SHOT DOWN A RN SEA HARRIER FRS.1, FLOWN BY
COMMANDER ‘SHARKEY’ WARD. MAJOR TOMBA SURVIVED
THE ATTACK, HAVING EJECTED AT LOW LEVEL
46
MODEL AIRCRAFT MANUAL
WWW.MODELAIRCRAFTMAG.COM
Adding etched details to
the ejector seats
The cockpit
ready for
installation
The undercarriage
bays are well detailed
Here is the
cockpit now
in-situ
part. I got round this by drilling a hole in the
back end of the propeller’s locating pin, and
when the time came, pushed some brass wire
though. The end of the wire was then bent
over, to hold them in place. The most essential
part of this build, however, was the reference
book, this being ‘The Pucará Story’, written by
Ricardo Caballero and Phil Cater and published
by Mushroom Model Publications. A truly
excellent booked, and highly recommend.
I made the traditional start with the
ejector seat and cockpit. The seat is very well
represented. It’s a variation of the MartinBaker Mk.6, but with a larger head-box. This
went together well and benefited from some
Masking of the excellent canopy
additional etched straps over the head-box,
which were raided from my ‘spares-box’. The
kit ejection pull handle were also replaced, with
some Eduard etched ones. The seats were then
painted, and the detailing picked out. A dark
wash was then used to enhance the lowlight
detailing, then finished with a matt coat. Finally,
the seats were dry brushed, showing up the
highlights. Next, all the wheel bays were painted
aluminium, and given a wash too. The front
wheel bay is now required, as it sits under the
front of the cockpit tub. The cockpit sides were
glued to the floor, and painted grey, and the
main instrument panels and the small panel on
the coamings were then painted black. All these
parts were then given a matt coat. For the dials
on the instrument panels, I used some Airscale
decals, and the buttons and switches were picked
out with a fine paint brush. The buttons, levers
and switches on the side panels were also picked
out in the same manner. A very thin dark wash
then enhanced the details, and a dry brushing
of aluminium was applied to the instrument dial
bezels, making them stand out. A small drop of
Aqua Gloss was then added to each dial. The
gunsight, which attaches to the inside of the
windshield, was also painted, and the kits HUD
screen was replaced with a piece of Hasegawa
Yellow/Blue Hologram film. All the panels, seats,
and the painted joysticks were then dry fitted to
ensure everything lined up well.
The cockpit was then enclosed into the
fuselage halves, then the two airframe halves
were joined together. The fit here was excellent,
with only the smallest amount of filler required.
When this was dry, lots of lead weight was
inserted under the cockpit to avoid a ‘tail sitter’.
Next, the upper wing sections were cemented
on to the single complete lower wing piece,
ensuring the locating holes for the pylons are
drilled out first. Before attaching the wings to
the main fuselage, I opened up the exhausts,
as these are shown as a solid piece, and can be
seen, so drilling them out seemed a sensible
idea. The wings assembly was then cemented
to the underside of the fuselage. Here again,
MODEL AIRCRAFT
47
APRIL 2021
MODEL AIRCRAFT – IA 58 PUCARA
Mk.82s ready for fitting…..
…along with the rocket
pods and TERs
I began with a coat
of Stynylrez Black
Primer
The undercarriage,
painted and detailed
I then began adding the
camouflage scheme….
48
MODEL AIRCRAFT MANUAL
WWW.MODELAIRCRAFTMAG.COM
…using the Hataka Falklands
Conflict Volume 1 Set
There were only a few
decals to add
Weathering being
applied to the
undersides
The propellors
ready to install
Various washes brought
out the details
MODEL AIRCRAFT
49
APRIL 2021
long undercarriage struts, and drilling through
some of the bracing, it is all still pretty strong, a
testament to the real design perhaps? When all
the struts were dry, they were dry fitted to their
locations in the wheel bays. The wheels were
also put together, painted, and weathered,
and the locational markings (broad red vertical
stripes) were applied. These came from some
spare decals.
Following the undercarriage, I moved on to
the weapons, and the MERs for the centreline
pylon. The Eduard bombs come in a set of six,
which nicely fills the MERs, and the detail on
these is, as you would expect from Eduard, very
good. The MERs themselves are also very well
detailed but get quite fiddly with all the very
small parts. For the rocket launchers, I initially
used Eduard’s LAU-3 launchers, which I already
had. Whilst they are very similar to the LAU-60’s,
there are subtle enough differences that meant
I needed to get some LAU-60’s. KASL Hobby do
some nicely detailed ones and come in a set of
two. However, that was a set of two used and two
unused launchers. Using both used and unused
together, this meant I’d have two launchers on
each of the TER’s. Once these were all glued
together, all the weapons and the MERs were
painted up, decalled, and weathered accordingly.
Now it was time to get some paint down.
With the wheel bays masked, a coat of Stynylrez
Black Primer was airbrushed on and left to dry
until the following day. Some areas that still
needed some sanding were then attended to
and touched up. Then a fine Micro Mesh cloth
was used to smooth the primers surface, prior
to painting. The first colour laid down was for
the yellow identity markings on the upper
and lower wings and on the tail fin. When dry,
these areas were masked off, ready for the main
colours. Hataka Light Sea Blue was then used
for the undersides (and the pylons), and the
colour was slowly built up using several light
coats. A lightened (with white), and a darkened
(dark grey) mix were also airbrushed through
some airbrush stencils to help vary the tones.
Now to start the camouflage. I painted the
green first, and here I used Hataka’s Pucará
Light Green, from their ‘Falklands Conflict
Volume 1 Set’. As with the blue, the colour is
built up with light coats. Then the tan colour
was applied. I had decided to dispense with any
masking and attempt the camouflage freehand.
Again, the tan shade came from Hataka’s
Falklands set. When the colours were fully dry, I
felt they were a little too dark, for this particular
aircraft, as when you look at colour references
MODEL AIRCRAFT – IA 58 PUCARA
the fit was very good. The windshield and
main canopy were then masked off and the
windshield cemented into place. The main
canopy itself was held in place with small spots
of Kristal Klear, which was sufficient to hold
it closed during painting, but could be easily
removed later, and cleaned off.
Now I assembled the pylons, and the Triple
Ejector Racks. These are straightforward, and
the LAU-60’s will hang on these ‘TERs’. Another
little detail was to drill out the six gun ports.
Again, my ‘spares-box’ was raided for some
brass barrels. With the ports drilled out, the
barrels were inserted and held in place with
some CA glue. The barrels protrude slightly
more than in real life, but this is intentional.
The undercarriage is next, and again, some
detail was enhanced. The main undercarriage
has a large forward-facing brace, which should
have holes through it, so I drilled them out. The
struts then looked much better. Despite these
50
MODEL AIRCRAFT MANUAL
for Falklands Pucarás, there are several different
schemes. The Hataka colours are fine for some
of those, but too dark for this particular version.
After some experimenting with some very
thinned Hataka Anti-Flash White (not quite
a pure white), a mix of 90:10 thinner to paint
seemed best, and I proceeded to tone down
the colours. This took some time, but I finally
achieved the desired effect, although I still think
I could have gone lighter. I also used the same
method of lighter and darker mixes, along with
the airbrush stencil to vary the colour tones.
After some Aqua Gloss was airbrushed on, and
left to dry, I applied the decals. There aren’t that
many on the Pucará, basically national roundels,
flag, serial numbers and the usual safety/hazard
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marking around the cockpit. These were sealed
with more Aqua Gloss and left until the following
day. While I had the Aqua Gloss loaded in the
airbrush, all the other sub-assemblies were
glossed too, ready for applying a wash. To start
the weathering, I used Abteilung 502’s Starship
Filth oils colours as a panel line wash. This was
applied over all the detailing, both raised and
recessed, and the excess was removed with a lintfree cloth. The sub-assemblies received a wash of
Starship Filth too. After the wash, a matt coat was
airbrushed over the airframe and other parts, and
only the forward part of the engine was left with
a gloss finish.
Next, I used various shades of
Ammo by MIG Shaders. These are
great for adding very subtle shading,
and streaking/staining marks, especially when
airbrushed on. On a few random areas, airbrush
stencils were used again, to add even more
variation to the tonal range. Some chipping was
then added using AK Interactive Weathering
Pencils, then some Ammo by MIG
Smoke pigment was used
to represent the staining
around the gun ports. Finally,
this was all sealed with another matt
coat. Coming into the final straight, the
undercarriage was cemented in place,
and also the wheel bay doors. This
was followed by the weapons and
pylons, which were mounted onto their
respective points under the wings, and
centreline. The antennae wires were then
added using EZ-Line. The main canopy
was then removed, and the etched
details were added to the inside. and
suitably painted. All the masking
was removed from the windshield
and canopy. The canopy struts
were then located behind
the second seat, and the
main canopy was glued
in place. The engine
cowling fronts, and propeller
assemblies were next to be attached.
I must say that has to be the best kit I’ve built
for a long time. The fit is excellent throughout
out and the detailing is very, very good and
there’s little sanding and filling required,
meaning there there’s less re-scribing to be
carried out. Just makes the build less of a chore,
and so much more of a pleasure. MA
MIRAGE F1
!
DER
-OR
PR E
The Dassault
By Andy Evans
MDFSD 12
W
the last French Mirage
hen is a Mirage not a Mirage?
F1s was retired from
When it’s a Mirage F1! The delta
THE DASSAULT
service. Powered by
wing shape was synonymous the
Dassault Mirage family from the Mirage III,
a single SNECMA Atar
Mirage IV and Mirage 5 up the Mirage 2000,
9K-50 turbojet engine
however, this design chain was broken with
and armed with an array
+ P&P
the Mirage F1. During the 1960s, Dassault
of French and Americancommenced development of what would
sourced armaments, the Mirage
become the Mirage F1 as a private venture,
F1 has been operated as a light multipurpose
fighter and has been exported to around a dozen
alongside the larger Mirage F2. Work on
nations. The type has seen action in a large
the F1 eventually took precedence over
number of armed conflicts involving several of
the more costly F2, which was cancelled
its operators, including the Western Sahara War,
during the late 1960s. The French Air
the Paquisha War, the Cenepa War, the Iran–Iraq
Force (Armée de l’Air) took interest in the
War, the Gulf War, the South African Border War,
fledgling fighter to meet its requirement
the War in Afghanistan, the Chadian–
for an all-weather interceptor aircraft.
Libyan conflict, the 2011 military
Accordingly, initial production units were
M DF
intervention in Libya, and
equipped with the Thomson-CSF Cyrano
the Northern Mali
IV monopulse radar. The Mirage F1 was of
Cover for illustrative purposes only
similar size to the Mirage III and Mirage
5, and was powered by the same SNECMA
Atar engine as had been used on the
larger Dassault Mirage IV, however, unlike
its predecessors, it shared the layout of a
swept wing, mounted high on the fuselage
and a conventional tail surface as used by the F2. Although it has a
conflict. More than 720 Mirage F1s were manufactured between 1966 and
smaller wingspan than the Mirage III, the Mirage F1 nevertheless
1992, and it was succeeded in production by the Dassault Mirage 2000.
proved to be superior to its predecessor, carrying more fuel while
The F1 was as noted flown by the French Air Force, and widely exported
possessing a shorter take-off run and superior manoeuvrability.
to South Africa, Ecuador, Gabon, Iran, Greece, Libya, Iraq, Jordan, Congo,
During the latter half of 1974, the Mirage F1 entered service in
Kuwait, Qatar, Morocco and Spain, as well as civilian defence contractors
the French Air Force. Shortly thereafter, the type was deployed as
operating in the United States of America. The history, variants, systems
the main interceptor of the French Air Force, a capacity which it
and war roles of the Mirage F1 are detailed in this new MDF Scaled
Down, which will be a source of reference for both the enthusiast and
continued to serve in until the arrival of the Mirage 2000. It later
modeller alike.
transitioned to an aerial reconnaissance role. During June 2014,
MIRAGE F1
MIRAGE F1
£17.99
By Andy Evans
12
SCALED DOWN
M DF
12
SCALED DOWN
ORDER HOTLINE: 44 (0)1234 331431
ORDER ONLINE: www.modelaircraftmag.com
52
F-5B FREEDOM FIGHTER
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Turkish
Delight
Ugur Kenel guides you
through building the Kinetic
F-5B in the colours of the
Turkish Air Force
T
his step-by-step project features the
1:48 Kinetic F-5B, built as a Turkish
Air Force version. The kit is for a
Canadian version, so I modified it
to suit. The kit has some very nice
detailing and all of the panel lines and rivet
details are finely engraved, with positionable
flying surfaces. I also used Aero Bonus pilots
with ejector seats and Reskit wheels, and
decals from my ‘spares-box’, and rocket
pods from a Hasegawa Weapon Set.
So lets start building. MA
THE BIG BUILD
F-5B Freedom Fighter
Manufacturer: Kinetic
Scale: 1:48
Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded
Kit Number: 48021
The instrument panels are nicely detailed, but location and gauges were designed for Canadian F-5B.
These are not the same for a Turkish aircraft. So, that I decided to make my own instrument panel.
I first deleted the all gauges with a file; however, I didn’t touch the switches as they are almost the
same for all F-5B types
MODEL AIRCRAFT
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APRIL 2021
TURKISH DELIGHT
Here I created an instrument panel base on the filed off
sections and made all the required gauges by cutting
pieces of Evergreen sheet to size
All of the parts were
painted separately
and sealed under a
clear coat
I added decals to the switches
and used the nice ANYZ Decals
for that. I also used some spare
decals as warning placards
Each gauge was
placed according
to my references
of the cockpits of
the Turkish
F-5Bs
Here is the result. Note that there are
also differences between front and rear
instrument panels
54
F-5B FREEDOM FIGHTER
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The main components of the cockpit
now ready to come together
The cockpit with
crew ready for
installation
The cockpit now
in the fuselage
The wings now
joined, and a basic
black wash applied
into wheel bays after
airbrushing them
with metallic colours
MODEL AIRCRAFT
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APRIL 2021
Before gluing the
fuselage together I added
some detailing on the
gun port by drilling it out
I rescribed a number of
the panel lines
I created a new
scratch-built Head
Up Display
The flaps were positioned
in the down position
TURKISH DELIGHT
Blanking
off the rear
louvre part
56
F-5B FREEDOM FIGHTER
WWW.MODELAIRCRAFTMAG.COM
I also make my own
spacer between
the front and rear
cockpit instead of
kits clear parts
Masking off the canopies
ready for painting
I used Vallejo’s Model Air
SEA Camouflage
The decals settled well
MODEL AIRCRAFT
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APRIL 2021
TURKISH DELIGHT
Adding some
weathering
Ready for final assembly
I decided to use some
rocket pods as the
external ordnance
load. These came from a
Hasegawa Weapons Set
58
L-19/O-1 BIRD DOG
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Grant Dalzell
builds the 1:48
Roden L-19/O-1
Bird Dog
Sky Spotter
T
he Cessna L-19/0-1 Bird Dog was a
light liaison and observation aircraft
and was the first all metal fixed wing
aircraft ordered for and by the United
States Army following the Army Air
Forces separation from it in 1947. The L-19
received the name ‘Bird Dog’ as a result of a
contest held with Cessna employees to name
the aircraft. The winning entry, submitted by
Jack A Swayze, an industrial photographer,
was selected by the Army board. The name
was chosen because the role of the Army’s
new aircraft was to find the enemy and orbit
overhead until artillery, (or attack aircraft),
could be brought to bear on the enemy. While
flying low and close to the battlefield, the
pilot would observe the exploding shells and
adjust the fire via radio, in the manner of a bird
dog, (gun dog), used by game hunters.
This is a build of Roden’s 2018 tooled
1/48 L-19/O-1 Bird Dog. Roden make some
interesting subject matter but are limited run
style kits, so I was a bit apprehensive of how
this kit would go together, especially with a
lot of windows! Speaking of windows, before
any construction began, I removed all the
clear parts for the windows from the sprue
and dipped them in Johnson’s ‘Pledge’ as they
looked a little ‘grainy’. For something a little
different, the instructions start with the engine,
and there are a lot of parts involved here, some
twenty-four pieces! I took extra care to look
at part numbers and the instruction diagrams
here, as there are a couple of call out errors, and
then painted the engine with AK Interactive
Xtreme Metal, Gun Metal. The engine attaches
to the firewall with some mounting brackets,
and this is a bit of a tricky section as the
instructions are a little vague, so time was taken
to figure out their positions. The engine bay
interior was then painted with Vallejo Model Air
Interior Green.
The cockpit and interior area would be seen
easily with all the windows, so again extra care
and time was spent here to make sure it looked
good. There is a large floor piece that has a rear
bulkhead to attach to it as well as the control
sticks, foot pedals and of course, seats. The front
seat attaches to the floor, but the rear should
attach to the fuselage sides. There are no
seatbelts in the kit, so I used some I had in my
‘spares-box’. After priming, I painted the cockpit
Vallejo Model Air Interior green and hand
painted the smaller details. The instrument
MODEL AIRCRAFT
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APRIL 2021
The finished engine
painted up
The engine was made up of a large
number of small parts
I needed to remove some rough
texture from the bottom of the
fuselage
panel was then attached to the reverse side of
the engine firewall. It wasn’t a brilliant fit and
required some putty to fix a couple of gaps.
This panel is devoid of any
detail and although there is a
decal to show the instrument
details, I added some circular
discs with the use of an RP Toolz
punch and die set. I did this to
give the instrument panel depth,
and after painting it Tamiya XF-69
NATO Black,
I cut the larger
gauge decals out
and set them onto
the raised discs.
The fuselage halves needed some tidying
up and once complete I primed them with AK
Interactive Black Primer and then painted the
insides with Vallejo Model Air Interior Green.
The cockpit parts and engine then received
a clear coat using Mr Color Gloss Super Clear
III. Attaching the cockpit section and the
engine was not straightforward and required
I added some
seatbelts from my
‘spares-box’
L-19/O-1 Bird Dog
Manufacturer: Roden
Scale: 1:48
Kit Type: plastic injection moulded
Kit Number: 409
SKY SPOTTER
THE BUILD STARTED WITH THE
ENGINE, AND THERE ARE A LOT
OF PARTS INVOLVED HERE, SOME
TWENTY-FOUR PIECES!
60
L-19/O-1 BIRD DOG
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Getting the wings together
Vallejo Model Air
Interior Green was
used here
The cockpit ready to be
fixed into place
a lot of dry fitting and checking. Once I had
the fuselage halves fixed, I also glued on the
engine cowl. There are three engine covers,
one flat piece on top and two side doors, and I
noticed that both the side doors would not sit
flush with the front cowl, and they looked to
be slightly short in one spot. So, I glued some
plasticard to this area and sanded it to shape
so that they would have a proper hard edge.
Once I was happy with the fuselage section, I
gave the inside a coat of Flory Dark Dirt wash
before putting in the front and rear windows.
Being a limited run kit, there are no rivet details,
so using thin strips of 0.6mm Tamiya tape cut
on a cutting mat, I placed this along panel lines
as a guide and then using a 0.55mm Rosie the
The engine
covers were not
the best fit
Riveter, I added some rivet
detail on the fuselage and
wings. The rear window fitted well,
but I couldn’t get a good fit with the front
one, so I did the best I could and had to use
some putty around one side of the frame.
The wings consist of a top section which
incorporates the top of the cockpit and two
lower pieces. The upper section has five clear
parts to be added in and this area also needs to
be painted Interior Green, which was done after
masking up the clear parts. I also glued on the
ailerons and flaps at this point. Again, the wing
was not a good fit to the top of the fuselage,
requiring some plastic to be shaved off to get
a decent fit. The horizontal stabilisers are two
parts, which need some cleaning up to get a
flush fit, the control surfaces, (One solid piece),
are attached to these after they are glued to
the fuselage. The rudder is a solid part as well.
I then glued on the rear stabilisers, rudder and
control surfaces, again not flush fits and needed
Detailing up with a
Rosie The Riveter
Getting the front and
rear windows in
Fitting the wing
section
MODEL AIRCRAFT
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APRIL 2021
SKY SPOTTER
tidying up with some putty. At this time, I also
added the lift hooks, antennae, rocket mounts
and landing gear legs.
It was now time to prime the model and
undertake a final check for gaps and seam lines
and such. The first job was to add a coat of AK
Interactive Grey primer, followed by a preshade with Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black. There is a
mistake in the colour call outs as they say that
you should add a natural metal colour for the
US Air Force scheme! Well, the Bird Dog was
actually light grey, so for this I used Mr Hobby
H57 Aircraft Grey. I then lightened the grey with
a touch of white and randomly sprayed this
inside panels to break up the monotone colour.
Primed with AK
Interactive Grey Primer
I pre-shaded with
Tamiya XF-1
The model was painted
with Mr Hobby H57
Aircraft Grey
62
L-19/O-1 BIRD DOG
WWW.MODELAIRCRAFTMAG.COM
The kit decals were
unusable, so I raided my
‘spares box’ again
After this the model was
given a coat of Mr Color
Gloss Super Clear III. The
remaining parts were wing
struts, door windows, right door,
engine access cover, propeller and rockets,
which were all painted separately, to be
added at the end of the build.
Next up were the decals, which are
quite frankly rubbish! So, after much
disappointment and some choice
words, I scrounged through my
spare decal sheets to find some
suitable replacements. Once the
decals were dry and set, I masked
and sprayed the anti-glare panel
with Tamiya XF-69 NATO Black, followed by
another clear coat to protect the decals. Next
up was some weathering, as with nearly all my
builds, I gave the model a wash of Flory Models
Dark Dirt Wash. Once dry I wiped it back as I
wanted to give the rivets and panel line details
more depth. Once this was done, I gave the
model a final coat of Mr Color Flat Clear. I then
added the remaining parts as well as the
clear wing tip lights and some EZ Line
for the control wires on the rear wheel.
With that the build was complete. This was not
an easy build, but I knew that before opening
the box! If you want to do a 1:48 L-19/O-1, this
is also your only choice. I would recommend
this kit for the experienced modeller only
and definitely get some
aftermarket decals! MA
Adding the
remaining parts
DER
-OR
PRE
NOW
BUILDING THE
Model Aircraft Extra #8
The MiG-21 Fishbed
MODEL
AIRCRAFT
EXTRA
No.8
he MiG-21 NATO reporting name ‘Fishbed’ is
a supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by
the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union.
Sold to a host of countries the MiG-21 is one of the most successful
and numerous aircraft ever built. The MiG-21 was the first successful
Soviet aircraft combining fighter and interceptor characteristics in a
single airframe. It was a lightweight fighter, achieving Mach 2 with
a relatively low-powered afterburning turbojet, and was therefore
comparable to the F-104 Starfighter, the F-5 Freedom Fighter and
the Mirage III, and its basic layout was used for numerous other Soviet
designs. Like many aircraft designed as pure interceptors, the MiG-21
had a short range. This was exacerbated by the poor placement of
the internal fuel tanks ahead of the centre of gravity. As the internal
fuel was consumed, the centre of gravity would shift rearward
beyond acceptable parameters. This had the effect of making the
aircraft unstable to the point of being difficult to control, resulting
in an endurance of only forty-five minutes in clean condition. This
could be somewhat countered by carrying fuel in external tanks
closer to the centre of gravity. Additionally, when more than half the
fuel was used up, violent manoeuvres prevented fuel from flowing
into the engine, thereby causing it to shut down in flight. The short
endurance and low fuel capacity of the MiG-21F, PF, PFM, S/SM and M/
MF variants, led to the development of the MT and SMT variants. The
MiG-21 was exported widely and remains in use in many countries.
The aircraft’s simple controls, engine, weapons, and avionics were
typical of Soviet-era military designs. The use of a tail with the delta
BUILDING THE
wing aids stability and control at the extremes of the flight envelope,
enhancing safety for lower-skilled pilots; this in turn enhanced
its marketability in exports to developing countries with
limited training programs and restricted pilot pools. While
technologically inferior to the more advanced fighters
Compiled by Andy Evans
it often faced, low production and maintenance costs
made it a favourite of nations buying Eastern Bloc military
hardware. Several Russian, Israeli and Romanian firms
IIICs on 14 November 1964, but it was not until 14 July 1966
have begun to offer upgrade packages to MiG-21 operators,
that the first MiG-21 was shot down. The MiG-21 also served
designed to bring the aircraft up to a modern standard,
+P&P
in the Vietnam War, but many VPAF pilots preferred the
with greatly upgraded avionics and armaments. The MiGMiG-17. The Bulgarian Air Force received a total of 224 MiG-21s
21 was also used extensively in the Middle East conflicts of
including twenty-six specialised reconnaissance MiG-21Rs, and
the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s by the Egyptian Air Force, Syrian Air
MiG-21MFs of the 25th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the National
Force and Iraqi Air Force. The MiG-21 first encountered Israeli Mirage
Air Force of Angola flew ground attack sorties during the Second
Congo War, and during the Ogaden War of 1977–78, and Ethiopian
Air Force F-5As engaged Somali Air Force MiG-21MFs in combat on
several occasions. During Angola’s long-running civil war, MiG-21s
of the Cuban Air Force were frequently deployed to attack ground
targets manned by rebel forces or to engage South African Air
Force Mirage F1s conducting cross-border strikes. India is the largest
operator of MiG-21s, and in 1961, as the Indian Air Force opted to
purchase the type over several other Western competitors. Romania
received a number of MiG-21 variants, a number of which were later
modernised to the LanceR configuration, able to carry both Western
and Eastern armament such as the R-60M, R-73, Magic 2, or Python
III missiles. So, despite its age, the MiG-21 story is far from over, and
this new Model Aircraft Extra book features no fewer than seventeen
model builds of the MiG-21 in all popular scales and will be a must
have for the Soviet modeller and aficionado.
T
MAE7
Thunderbolt
MiG-21 Fishbed
£14.99
MA PUBLICATIONS
PO Box 1592 | Bedford | MK40 9FD | UK
T: +44 (0) 1234 331431
E: [email protected]
www.modelaircraftmag.com
!
MiG-21 Fishbed
64
CORSAIR MK.III
WWW.MODELAIRCRAFTMAG.COM
Grant Dalzell builds a 1:48
Fuerza Aerea Salvadorena
FG-1D Corsair
100 Hours
War Fighter
I
like looking at aftermarket decals, some
weird and wonderful schemes for all sorts
of aircraft can be found. A point in case
is Aztec Decals who have a great set for
fighters from the 100 hours war, a fourday conflict fought between El Salvador and
Honduras in 1969, covering several different
aircraft and schemes. This build is of an FG-1D
Corsair, a version built by Goodyear and to
the best of my knowledge there is no kit of
this particular model, so I used Hobby Boss’s
Mk.III kit, which would suffice with a couple
of modifications with the antennae and was
a straight-from-the-box build except for the
decals and some Reskit resin wheels.
The cockpit build is quite busy, built up in
two stages in the instructions. Unfortunately,
HobbyBoss do not have a colour call out for the
main cockpit colour so I used MRP-131 Interior
Green. I used a spare etched harness for the
seat as there isn’t one in the kit. I then painted
the cockpit up in sections as there is a double
floor to which the bulkheads attach. There are
decals for the instrument panel and the side
consoles, but I only used the decal for the main
instrument panel, and dry brushed the rest with
Vallejo Natural Metal. I also dry brushed the
floor where the pilot’s feet would wear into it. I
then gave the cockpit a coat of Mr Color SemiGloss and used some Tamiya Brown Panel Liner
Corsair Mk.III
Manufacturer: HobbyBoss
Scale: 1:48
Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded
Kit Number: 80396
MODEL AIRCRAFT
65
APRIL 2021
100 HOURS WAR FIGHTER
The interior of the
fuselage and cockpit
painted up
The panels behind
cockpit were not a
great fit
Ready for
priming
Very little of this will be
seen, and note the guns are
too short
Accent to add a wash. The engine is nicely
represented, and made up of sixteen
parts including the pipework, although
most wouldn’t be seen once inside the
cowling. Seeing as this was the case, I
painted the majority of the engine with
Vallejo Metal Color Burnt Iron.
The fuselage halves required the cockpit
sidewalls to be painted as well as some
framework that attaches to them. The rear
wheel and tail hook system must also be fitted
before the fuselage halves glued together. It
AK Interactive Grey
Primer and Microfiller
was applied
is a bit of a complex system with options for
tail hook up and down requiring a different
actuator. I left the tail hook up, but I’m not sure
if the El Salvadorian Corsairs had them or not.
With the fuselage now fixed, I then glued on
the centre wing section. However, I found the
fuselage was a bit too wide, so I had to glue
the wings on in sections to get a good fit. The
engine cowling and cowling flaps came as twoparts, which I glued together and painted the
insides with Interior Green before fixing them
onto the fuselage. There are two panels that
go behind the cockpit and make up part of the
fuselage that needed a bit of attention.
HobbyBoss give you the option to have the
wings folded, which is a very nice touch, but as
this is a land-based aircraft, I set wings in flight
position. The wings come as a centre section
lower piece with two upper sections and the
outer wing sections, plus control surfaces
and engine supercharger air intakes. The
outer wing sections are made up of two
66
CORSAIR MK.III
WWW.MODELAIRCRAFTMAG.COM
The first colour
down was Tamiya
XF-52 Flat Earth
halves for the main wing and four pieces for
control surfaces. These also house the guns,
and another nice touch is you can display the
gun bays open. I decided to open up one side
to display the guns. Holes also need to be
drilled for drop tanks and rockets if these are to
be added. The rudder is made of two parts and
the horizontal stabilisers are made up of four
each, including the actuator. I then checked
seam lines and used Tamiya White putty where
needed, and once happy I glued on the outer
wings ready for priming.
I primed the model with AK Interactive Grey
The second colour down
was Mr Hobby H319
Light Green
Primer and Microfiller, and
then pre-shaded with Tamiya
XF-1 Flat Black. The camouflage scheme
is quite unusual, and as with a lot of decal
reference sheets some guess work needs to be
done as they don’t always show every profile of
the aircraft. This was the case with this scheme,
so I started with the side I could see and went
from there. So, the following camouflage
scheme was painted freehand, and the first
colour on was Tamiya XF-52 Flat Earth. The
next colour was FS 34227 which
translates to Mr Hobby H312,
this looked way to light a green to my
eyes, so I used Mr. Hobby H319 Light
Green. For the dark green, again I wasn’t
happy with the call out, so I mixed my own
using Tamiya XF-73 Dark Green and Mr Hobby
H36 Dark Green. Now, are these three colours
spot on? Probably not, but they looked in the
right area for me. A coat of M. Color Gloss Super
Clear III was added next to protect the paint.
Now for the markings, and this scheme had
MODEL AIRCRAFT
67
APRIL 2021
100 HOURS WAR FIGHTER
The final colour was a
custom mix of Tamiya XF-73
Dark Green and Mr Hobby
H36 Dark Green
THIS BUILD IS OF AN FG-1D CORSAIR, A VERSION BUILT BY
GOODYEAR AND TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE THERE
IS NO KIT OF THIS PARTICULAR MODEL, SO I USED HOBBY
BOSS’S MK.III KIT WITH A COUPLE OF MODIFICATIONS
a grand total of eight small decals to go
on! There are wing walkway decals
included, but I sprayed these on.
Once applied and dry, I added
another gloss coat ready for some
weathering. For the first weathering
stage I did some chipping with a piece
of sponge and some Vallejo Natural Metal.
I then airbrushed in some exhaust and gun
stains, followed by Flory Models Dark Dirt
Wash, which was wiped back with paper towel.
I then used some AK Interactive Engine Wash
over the engine and used some oil paint for
engine oil leaks underneath. I then assembled
and painted the remaining pieces such as the
landing gear, gear doors, propeller, drop tanks
68
CORSAIR MK.III
WWW.MODELAIRCRAFTMAG.COM
and rockets. All that remained now was add
these parts and give the entire model a coat of
Mr Color Flat Clear.
The Hobby Boss Corsair family are good kits
but are not without their problems, and this
may sound odd, but they are easier to build
wings folded! However, this build was about
the camouflage scheme for me. If you want
something different and colourful, check out
Aztec decals, they do some amazing schemes,
but they can be hard to get hold of as they
come in and out of production runs. MA
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HURRICANE
• Plastic airplane model kit
• Decals
Mk II B
70
BF 109E-3 WEEKEND EDITION
WWW.MODELAIRCRAFTMAG.COM
James Bamford
builds the 1:48
Eduard 1:48 Bf
109E-3 Weekend
Edition in the
markings of Oblt.
Helmut Henz
‘White 13
13’’
Bf 109E-3 Weekend Edition
T
he Bf 109 needs no introduction, and
the aircraft I am going to be depicting
in this project is ‘White 13’, a Bf 109E-3
of 4./JG77 as seen in the September
of 1944 and flown by Oblt. Helmut
Henz from Mandal, Norway. Eduard has never
disappointed with their fantastic availability of
Bf 109 kits over the years (we won’t talk about
their first Bf 109G6 effort though) and this is
certainly no different with the Bf 109E series.
This specific moulding has been presented to
us in some fourteen boxings since 2012 and
the mouldings themselves are still probably
the best 109E you can get on the market. The
excellent panel line and rivet detail coupled
with the basic, yet very well detailed plastic
engine and guns are incredible.
To begin the build, we start, as always in
the cockpit. This was made up of roughly
twelve pieces ranging from the usual control
panel to the two gear wheels on the side of
the cockpit. These were all glued in place and
were given a primer coat ready for the interior
colour. Hataka’s RLM02 was used in this case
and provided a very nice-looking base colour
to work from. All the smaller details were then
picked out with their respective shades with
a small brush, and then I was able to come in
with some washes. This unified all of the paint
layers and was able to give the cockpit a bit of
interest in the form of highlights and shadows,
with the use of black and light grey washes.
My only addition to this weekend kit was one
of Eduard’s fine etched seat belts, which were
bent into position and secured in place with a
few dabs of superglue. The belts were then also
given a wash and the main cockpit section was
complete. Before sealing the fuselage halves
together however, I was intrigued to see what
the provided kit engine was like over a resin
one. This built up well with multiple pieces
to give it its shape and attachment points to
Manufacturer: Eduard
Scale: 1:48
Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded
Kit Number: 84157
the firewall/bulkhead in front of the cockpit.
The top mounted MG17s were also attached
at this point and everything was given a coat
of matte black paint for a starting point. From
here I was able to pick out areas of colour
using silver, RLM02 and gun metal
colours. It then received multiple
washes of blacks and greys to
give it a slightly dirty and used
look, but I didn’t want to go
too far as the German’s looked
after their engines fairly well and
were always pretty clean. Once I
was happy with the finish, the engine
was snuggly fitted into one half of the
MODEL AIRCRAFT
71
APRIL 2021
‘WHITE 13’
The engine built up
well from several
pieces….
IT SHOULD COME AS NO SURPRISE TO YOU
WHEN I SAY THAT THE FIT OF THIS EDUARD
KIT WAS STELLAR!
…and fitted nicely into
the fuselage
fuselage, along with the cockpit and I was able
to build the rest of the kit.
It should come as no surprise to you when
I say that the fit of this Eduard kit was stellar!
The two fuselage halves mated with ease and
without use of filler. The wings were also glued
together at this point, again with no problems,
just a little sanding to sort the
join seams out. I also
decided to drop the flaps and that was made
easy for the fact Eduard gives you both flap
options in the box with little attachment points
which fit snugly into the rear of the wings. The
tail and stabilisers were also added on at this
point. Before starting the painting, I
had to mask the canopy and place
that into position but as I wanted
to display the canopy open to
see into the cockpit, the front
and rear pieces were glued but
the main part was gently blu-tacked
into place so I could still paint everything
at once.
With now everything glued into place and
the smaller parts like landing gear all built and
ready, I was able to come in with the primer.
For this I used a basic Humbrol 33 Matt Black
rattle can as it gives me easy, quick and even
coverage. This also dries very quickly, and I was
able to commence the first batch of painting.
The first thing to do was to spray the RLM04
yellow areas on the wings, tail and stabilisers
and to mask this off.
Hataka’s RLM65
was then used and
my method for this
build was to fill in all of the
panels where I could, as per my
references, and then do a few
light coats over the top to give
the bulk colour. This way, I
could control the final look
of the paint with the thin
coats to my liking. Once
finished to my liking, I
started with the lightest of
greens. Hataka’s RLM71
72
BF 109E-3 WEEKEND EDITION
WWW.MODELAIRCRAFTMAG.COM
I added some preshading on the
upper…..
…and lower
surfaces
A Flory Models
wash accentuated
the panel lines
I used Hataka
colours for the
camouflage
Dark Green was applied to the wings in
the areas where it was needed in the same
method as the RLM65 was done. Then I filled
in the panels with a few light coats to block the
colour a little more. For the scheme I was doing,
it was also necessary to have a very sporadic
and mixed mottled pattern on the entire
fuselage, apart from the undersides. What I did
to achieve this was really thin my paint down,
maybe 80:20, thinner to paint and go in at a
low PSI and slowly build up the RLM71 in
random areas first. Once satisfied, I masked
up the wings to give that Luftwaffe hard edged
camouflage and came in with the darker RLM70
Black Green. Exactly the same method was
used as previous for both the main wings and
the mottle across the fuselage. Lastly, and only
on the fuselage, I used RLM02, and came in over
the top of the two greens and picked out areas
to lighted and mix into the rest of the mottle.
Once the painting was done, I unmasked
everything and to my delight, there was no
bleeding of any sort to sort out.
Prior to the decals, I gave the model a few
wet coats of Alclad II Aqua Gloss to allow for a
nice smooth surface for the decals to adhere
to. And talking of the decals, there were of
fantastic quality. The conformed to all the
rivets and panel lines without any
problems, reacted well to Micro Sol
and Set and not a spot of silvering
to be seen anywhere! These were
all sealed in with another few coats of
Aqua Gloss and then I was able to come in with
a Flory Models Black and Dark grey washes
over the whole aircraft. Thankfully with how
many rivets and such on the Eduard Bf 109,
everything was lovingly picked out with the
wash and meant, along with the subtle tonal
variation from the painting, it gave a nice
contrast and was interesting to look at. Once
the wash was removed and dried, I used Ammo
by MIG Lucky Varnish Matt to unify the model.
I then came in with some subtle weathering.
Using highly thinned black and brown paint,
I was able to replicate some exhaust staining
MODEL AIRCRAFT
APRIL 2021
03844 Lockheed Martin F-16D Tigermeet 2014, 1:72
down the side of the aircraft and on
the undersides. I also used a small,
accurate brush and a stipple brush to
give a few silver scratches on the mainly
walked areas of the 109 but again, I didn’t want
to overdo it much so only kept this to around
the cockpit area.
With that, I was able to unmask everything,
glue the landing gear on, attach the canopy
in its open position and use a very small piece
of etch to act as the opening latch and the Bf
109E3 from Eduard was complete. This was
an incredibly enjoyable kit to build and I
thoroughly believe that any modeller
of any skill could
put this one
together with no
hassle whatsoever!
03846 Gloster Gladiator Mk.II, 1:32
06054 Gift Set - X-Wing & TIE Fighter, 1:57/1:65
MA
07667 VW T2 Bus (easy-click), 1:24
05171 British Legends : HMS Dreadnought, 1:350
Available from all good model
stockists and online from
hobbycraft.co.uk/brand/revell
74
POTEZ 631 FRENCH NIGHTFIGHTER
WWW.MODELAIRCRAFTMAG.COM
Rob van Dodewaard builds
the 1:48 Azur Potez 631 French
Nightfighter
Nocturnal
Defender
T
he Potez 631 was the principle
French night fighter during the
Battle of France. However, a lack of
any useable system for intercepting
German raiders meant that it saw
little nocturnal combat. The Potez 63 family
was developed in response to a specification
issued in October 1934 for a twin-engined
aircraft capable of acting as a day fighter, a
night fighter and a fighter direction aircraft.
Potez put forward two versions of their design
- a Hispano-Suiza powered Potez 630 and the
Gnome-Rhone powered Potez 631. The first
prototype was of a Potez 630, but this was
soon followed by the Potez 631-01, which
made its maiden flight in March 1937. Official
trials began in November 1937 (having been
delayed after the aircraft made a belly landing
during its maiden flight). These successful trials
were followed by an order for ten evaluation
aircraft, including two new Potez 631s and the
refurbished prototype.
In June 1937 the French government issued
a letter of intent in which it ordered forty Potez
631s - ten two-seat conversion trainers and
thirty three-seat fighters. Although the GnomeRhone powered Potez 631 was expected to be
the main production version of the aircraft, a
shortage of available engines meant that this
first order also included eighty Potez 630s. In
May 1938 an order for 125 Potez 633 two-seat
bombers was cancelled and replaced with one
Potez 631 French Nightfighter
Manufacturer: Azur
Scale: 1:48
Kit Type: lastic injection moulded with rein and
etch
Kit Number: A058
for the same number of Potez 631s. A third
order, for fifty-two aircraft, was placed in June
1938, bringing the total of aircraft on order up
to ten conversion trainers and 207 operational
aircraft. Two small export orders were also
received, for one aircraft from Yugoslavia and
four aircraft from China. Neither of these orders
were fulfilled, although the aircraft destined for
China did reach the Far East. They were then
seized by the French in Indo-China at the start
of the war in Europe. In September 1940 they
took part in the short three-day conflict after
the Japanese invaded Tonkin.
The Potez 631 was introduced into service
slightly before the Potez 630. On 1 January
1939, only twenty-seven Potez 631s had been
MODEL AIRCRAFT
75
APRIL 2021
NOCTURNAL DEFENDER
I added a few details
to the cockpit floor…
…and sidewalls….
…then suitably
painted these areas
THE INTERIOR IS VERY GOOD, EVEN IF YOU WANT TO
BUILD THE MODEL STRAIGHT-FROM-THE-BOX
accepted by the French Air Force,
rising to sixty-seven aircraft on 1 April,
and 206 in August, completing the production
run. The Potez 631 entered service with the
fighter director flights that were attached to
each single-engine fighter wing (Escadre de
Chasse), and with the night fighter groups
(GCN or Groupes de Chasse de Nuit). At the
start of the Second World War a total
of 206 aircraft had been accepted
and 117 had reached front line
units. GCN. I/13 and GCN
II/13 had thirty-nine aircraft. Four were
in Djibouti, four were at Ajaccio and seventy
were with the Escadre de Chasse (alongside
a number of Potez 630s). A small number had
also gone to GC II/8 where they replaced the
Morane-Saulnier MS 225 and Dewoitine D.510
single-seat fighters. The allocation of Potez
631s changed significantly during the ‘Phoney
War’ period. At the very start of the war a new
Escadrille de Guet (warning) I/16 was formed
using aircraft from GC
II/8 and from the fighter
direction flights. This unit became ECM I/16
(Escadrille de Chasse Multiplace) on 29 January
1940. In October a fifth night fighter unit
was formed around the Potez 631. Originally
designated as ECN 2/562, on 1 January 1940
this was redesignated as ECN 5/13. This was
part of a wider reorganisation of the French Air
Force, which saw the Escadres split into their
component escadrilles and the smaller units
formed into more flexible groupments.
In the case of the night fighters
Ecscadre de Nuit 13, which
76
POTEZ 631 FRENCH NIGHTFIGHTER
WWW.MODELAIRCRAFTMAG.COM
Adding a coat of Alclad
Black Primer
Painting the
undersides….
had consisted of GCN I/13 and
GCN II/13 was split into ECN 1/13 to ECN
4/13. These units were allocated to
the defence of Paris.
The kit is the 1:48 nightfighter
version from French company
Azur, and in the box you have five
sprues in a medium grey plastic,
displaying some very nice surface
texture and recessed details, along with some
good quality resin parts. The panel lines are
crisply engraved and uniform. There was some
light flash, mostly found around the sprue gates
and a fairly well defined mould separation seam
that appears on many of the parts. The rudders
showed some light sink marks across the centre
sections, however, a touch of putty took care of
that. The interior is very good, even if you want
to build the model straight-from-the-box these
part are more the sufficient. The landing gear is
also well detailed but has slight mould
seams visible. As noted earlier,
the kit also includes a small bag
of resin parts for the
engines the tail wheel
and various small
cockpit and landing gear
detailing pieces. The clear
…the adding the
upper surface
colours…
parts in my kit were good and distortion free,
and it was a pity that the canopy is in one-piece
Normally, I would start with the cockpit,
but I decided to add some rivet detail on the
fuselage and wings first. Once complete I
began work on the cockpit, and I simply could
not resist adding some extra scratch built parts
on the floor and the sidewalls. After assembling
this I painted the cockpit and added the seat
belts and closed up the fuselage. I must say
that this fitted perfectly. The next step was
joining the wings and tail parts to the fuselage
and here I used a fair bit of putty to fill the gap
between the tail and the fuselage. The wings
themselves fitted just fine. I also replaced the
wingtip lights with pieces of clear sprue and
the landing light in the nose with a scratch built
lens made from a piece of heated clear sprue,
which was pressed into place in the nose. Once
it had cooled, I sanded and polished it into
shape. Then it was time to give the engines
some attention. The resin engines are very
finely cast, so I just added some pushrods made
from 0.5mm plastic rod, and ignition wires
made from small pieces of thin copper wire.
After painting the engines it was time to install
them into the engine
cowlings However,
before I could this I
had to remove a rather
large casting block at the
back of the engines. With
the engines now mounted
on the wings it was time to
start preparing for painting. First, I
masked the greenhouse canopy and
all other clear parts with Tamiya and Azui
MODEL AIRCRAFT
77
APRIL 2021
NOCTURNAL DEFENDER
…masking off
each shade….
masking tape and placed some tissue into the
engine cowlings to protect the painted engines.
The paint I used came from the Hataka set
CS-16 for the early World War II French Air Force.
First, I sprayed the model with Mr Surfacer
1500 Black, and tidied up any areas needing
attention. Then it was time to add the first
colours. I airbrushed the underside first, and
once dry I masked this off and proceeded with
the brown shade on the upper surfaces. Again
once dry this was masked off and I applied
green and grey top colours.
After unmasking, I needed
to touch up some minor
mistakes, and this was
followed by a coat
The decals
settled well
….using the Hataka
French Early World
War II paint set
of Johnson’s ‘Future’ ready for the decals. I used
the decals from the kit mainly because as far as I
know there are no after market decals available.
They responded well to Micro Sol. The only
drawback was the white bar on the fuselage
was a little translucent, which resulted in
the numbers showing through it a little bit.
After sealing the decals with another thin
layer of Future I gave the model a wash with the
MIG Productions Dark Brown wash. When this
was dry I sprayed on a Liquitex Matt coat. When
all was dry it was time to install the landing
gear. This is very a good interpretation of the
real thing and consists of plastic and small resin
pieces. If you ever build this model please be
careful with these parts, as they are fragile.
Next came the exhausts, which were painted
with several Alclad metallic shades, as were the
machine guns under the wings and the one
in the rear cockpit. Finally, I simulated some
exhaust staining on the wings with ground
pastel chalk. However, I didn’t weather the
model much as after looking at some pictures
from 1940 they looked very well maintained - at
least at the start of the War! MA
78
CHECK YOUR REFERENCES
WWW.MODELAIRCRAFTMAG.COM
CHECK YOUR
REFERENCES
Models Aircraft’s Monthly Look at New Books
Valkyrie –
The North
American
XB-70
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Author: Graham M Simons
ISBN: 978147322856
Format: Softback
Price: £14.99
T
he concept was born as
a result of General Curtis
LeMay’s desire for a heavy
bomber with the weapon load
and range of the subsonic B-52
and a top speed in excess of the
supersonic medium bomber,
the B-58 Hustler. If LeMay’s plans
came to fruition, there would be
250 Valkyries in the air; it would
be the pinnacle of his quest for
the ultimate strategic bomber
operated by America’s Strategic
Air Command. The design was a
leap into the future that pushed
the envelope in
terms of exotic
materials, avionics
and power
plants. However,
in April 1961,
Defense Secretary
McNamara
stopped the
production
go-ahead for the
B-70 on grounds
of rapid cost
escalation and
the USSR’s newfound ability of
destroying aircraft
at extremely
high altitude by
either missiles or
the new MiG-25
fighter. Nevertheless, in1963
plans for the production of three
high-speed research aircraft
were approved and construction
proceeded. In September 1964
the first Valkyrie, now re-coded
A/V-1 took to the air for the
first time and in October went
supersonic. This book is the
most detailed description of the
design, engineering and research
that went into this astounding
aircraft. It is full of unpublished
details, photographs and
first-hand accounts from those
closely associated with the
project. Although never put into
full production, this giant sixengined aircraft became famous
for its breakthrough technology,
and the spectacular images
captured on a fatal air-to-air
photo shoot when an observing
Starfighter collided with Valkyrie
A/V-2 which crashed into the
Mojave Desert.
www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
Mosquito
Menacing the Reich
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Author: Martin Bowman
ISBN: 9781473846609
Format: Softback
Price: £14.99
O
n 15 November it came
suddenly out of nowhere
inches above the hangars
with a crackling thunderclap of twin
Merlin’s. As we watched, bewitched,
it was flung about the sky in a
beyond belief display for a bomber
that could outperform any fighter.
Well-bred whisper of a touch down,
a door opened and down the ladder
came suede shoes, yellow socks and
the rest of Geoffrey de Havilland. The
memories of Sergeant (later Flight
Lieutenant DFC) Mike Carreck who
was an observer with 105 Squadron
when he first laid eyes on the new
de Havilland Mosquito. This was an
aircraft that would prove itself to be
one of the most versatile and revered
aircraft to fly with the RAF in World
War II. This book is full of first-hand
accounts from the crews that flew
the ‘Mossie’ in its roles as a bomber,
long-range reconnaissance and
low-level strike aircraft. The author
has gathered together many of the
most exciting operational reports
that cover the period from the type’s
introduction until the end of World
War II. The text is interwoven with the
background history of the personnel
and squadrons, the purpose of the
operations undertaken and their
often-devastating results.
www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
The Falklands
Naval Campaign
1982
Publisher: Osprey
Author: Edward Hampshire
ISBN: 9781472843012
Format: Softback
Price: £15.99
T
he Falklands Conflict was
remarkable for many reasons:
it was a hard fought, bloody
and short conflict between a
leading NATO power and one of
the most capable armed forces in
South America; it demonstrated
the capabilities of a range of
cutting-edge technologies
including nuclear-powered attack
submarines, Exocet missiles and
Sea Harrier VSTOL aircraft; and it
was fought many thousands of
miles away from the Royal Navy’s
home bases. In this illustrated
study, renowned historian Dr
Edward Hampshire draws upon the
latest available sources to offer a
comprehensive examination of the
Falklands naval campaign. Blow-byblow accounts of key engagements,
such as the sinking of the General
Belgrano, the loss of HMS Sheffield,
and the landings at San Carlos Bay,
are presented alongside lesser
known but equally important naval
operations that helped shape the
outcome of the conflict.
www.ospreypublishing.com
MODEL AIRCRAFT
79
APRIL 2021
CHECK YOUR REFERENCES
A-7 Corsair Units
1975-91
Publisher: Osprey
Author: Peter Mersky
ISBN: 9781472840639
Format: Softback
Price: £14.99
A
t the A-7 Corsair II’s peak in
the mid-1980s, some 30 US
Navy squadrons flew various
versions of the aircraft, including
six Naval Air Reserve units, and
these many of these units saw
action across the Middle East. By
the time the jet saw combat in
Operation Desert Storm (1991),
there remained only two fleet
squadrons - many fleet squadrons
having either disestablished or
transitioned to the F/A18 Hornet
- but both of these units (VA-46
and VA-72) played a major role in
the campaign to free Kuwait. The
book details the technological
development and improvements
that were introduced to the
airframe post-Vietnam (the FLIR
targeting pod from 1979 and AGM88 HARM missile from 1983 being
the most important), and how they
shaped operational employment
of the aircraft. The jet’s combat
experiences in conflicts during the
1970s (Cambodia), 1980s (Lebanon,
Grenada, Libya and Iran), and 1990s
(Iraq) are explained in detail, and
Peter Mersky’s expert analysis is
supported by numerous first-hand
accounts from naval aviators that
saw action with the A-7 during
these campaigns.
www.ospreypublishing.com
Special Forces
Pilot
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Author: Richard Hutchings
ISBN: 9781473823174
Format: Softback
Price: £12.99
T
he author, who served
throughout the Falklands War
with 846 Naval Air Squadron
flying Sea King helicopters, has
waited over twenty-five years to
tell his story. The sensitive nature
of his experiences not only made
this a sensible course but today
provides the reader with some
fascinating insights into the
conduct of operations. The role
of Dick Hutchings was to insert
Special Force units onto the enemy
occupied islands, either to gather
intelligence or conduct offensive
operations, such as the SAS’s
sensationally successful Pebble
Island raid. Without doubt the most
dramatic task he undertook was
the ambitious but ill-fated SAS raid
into mainland Argentina. Operation
‘Mikado’, as it was known, has been
little discussed but, as Captain of
the Sea King involved, the author
gives a first-hand account of what
went wrong both in the air and
on the ground. He describes the
circumstances leading up to the
crash-landing and destruction of
his helicopter, encounters with
the Chilean authorities and British
diplomats in Santiago, as well as the
debriefing in an M16 safe house on
return to the UK. As well as being
the fullest description of Operation
‘Mikado’ Special Forces Pilot is a
gripping account of the War from
the flying and SF angles.
www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
RAF Tornado Units of Gulf
War 1
Publisher: Osprey
Author: Michael Napier
ISBN: 9781472845115
Format: Softback
Price: £14.99
W
hen the Gulf Crisis of
1990 was triggered by
the Iraqi invasion of
Kuwait, the RAF responded by
sending Tornado F 3 fighters to
Saudi Arabia to help defend the
country against further aggression.
These aircraft were followed by
the deployment of Tornado GR.1
strike/attack aircraft to Bahrain.
Eventually three wings of Tornado
GR.1s were established in Bahrain,
Tabuk and Dhahran, as well as a
detachment of Tornado GR.1A
reconnaissance aircraft. At the start
of hostilities in January 1991, the
Tornado GR.1 wings carried out
night-low-level attacks against
Iraqi Main Operating Bases using
the JP233 runway denial weapon.
Meanwhile, Combat Air Patrols
from the Tornado F.3 wing ensured
the integrity of Saudi airspace.
Once air supremacy had been
established, the Tornado GR.1 force
moved to medium-level operations,
initially by night and later by day, to
attack the Iraqi oil production and
storage infrastructure. The arrival
in theatre of a laser designation
capability with Pave Spike/
Buccaneer and TIALD/Tornado
enabled precision attacks against
the Iraq transport system to cut off
the frontline troops from resupply
and reinforcement and then to
carry out a systematic destruction
of the airfield facilities. Tornado
GR.1A reconnaissance operations
played a major role in the location
of Scud missile launchers and in the
planning and execution of the land
offensive. Throughout the conflict,
the Tornado F.3 wing at Dhahran
carried out defensive counter-air
operations to ensure the safety
of the base areas. This volume,
publishing thirty years after the
conflict to free Kuwait, provides
detailed first-hand accounts of
the missions undertaken by the
Tornado crews. It is illustrated by
photographs taken by aircrew
involved in the operation and
includes newly commissioned
profile artworks and detailed nose
art views of the aircraft ranged
against Iraq.
www.ospreypublishing.com
80
CHECK YOUR REFERENCES
The Men Who
Flew The Heavy
Bombers
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Author: Martin Bowman
ISBN: 978147446313
Format: Hardback
Price: £25.00
T
he author has amassed a
wealth of material on the
participation by RAF and
Commonwealth and US 8th and 15th
Air Force crews in the series of raids
on the cities and oil transportation
and industrial targets in the Third
Reich, culminating in ‘Roundthe-Clock’ bombing by the RAF,
operating at night on the largely
forgotten Stirling, the gamely Halifax
and ultimately the more successful
Lancaster, and the US 8th Air
Force B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24
Liberator crews by day on a target
list so long and wide ranging that it
defies the imagination.
Hundreds of hours of
painstaking and fact-finding
research and interviews and
correspondence with numerous
airmen and women and their
relatives, in Britain, America and
beyond has been woven into a
highly readable and emotional
outpouring of life and death
in combat over the Third Reich
as the men of the RAF and
Commonwealth and American air
forces describe in their own words
the compelling, gripping and
thought-provoking narrative of
the Combined Bomber Offensive
in World War Two, which resulted
from the RAF nocturnal onslaught
and the American unescorted
precision attacks on targets
throughout the Reich until the
P-51 Mustang escort fighters
enabled the 8th to assume the
mantle of the leading bombing
partner in theatre.
www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
WWW.MODELAIRCRAFTMAG.COM
Nachtjäger
Luftwaffe Night Fighter Units
1939-45
Publisher: Crecy
Author: David P Williams
ISBN: 978147537562
Format: Hardback
Price: £25.00
T
his is a compendium edition
of the highly regarded and
long out of print Nachtjäger
volumes in the acclaimed Classic
Colours series on the aircraft,
camouflage and markings of the
Luftwaffe between 1939-1945. The
book focuses on the operations and
the aircraft of the Nachtjagd from
its origins in the inter-war years,
to its formation as an embryonic
and innovative force in 1939 and
through its desperate and climactic
battles against the massed raids of
RAF Bomber Command from 1939
onwards. The force evolved from
using single-seat Bf 109s to twinengined Bf 110s and Ju 88s, fitted
with technically advanced radar
equipment and weapons systems,
supported by a sophisticated
ground reporting network. It
produced many leading night
fighter aces such as Wolfgang Falck,
Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer, Helmut
Lent and Hans-Joachim Jabs. As the
war progressed and the strategic
situation began to tilt away from
Germany’s favour so, ironically, the
pace of development quickened
with the Luftwaffe introducing
uprated versions of the Ju 88 as well
as new types such as the Do 217
and He 219. In the last, desperate
months of the war, even the Me 262
was introduced as a night fighter in
limited numbers. Nachtjäger is an
important resource for modellers
and students of Luftwaffe history,
providing a detailed narrative
augmented by many photographs
and specially commissioned colour
profiles.
www.crecy.co.uk
Focke Wulf Ta 154
Publisher: Crecy
Author: Dietmar Hermann
ISBN: 978147809945
Format: Hardback
Price: £30.00
T
his is the story of one the
Third Reich’s most advanced
night fighters – the Ta
154. The driving force behind its
gestation was Professor Kurt Tank,
designer of the Fw 190. He and
a small team of designers and
engineers combined state-ofthe-art technology with elegant
aerodynamics to create an
innovative and potent warplane.
Inspired by the British de Havilland
DH 98, in 1943, the German Air
Ministry issued a specification for
an all-wood, fast attack-bomber
to be powered by Jumo 211
engines. Focke-Wulf was awarded
the contract and employed
inventive construction methods
for the wooden assembly,
though ultimately, instead of a
Schnellbomber, the resulting
Ta 154 would emerge as an
experimental night fighter, similar
to the de Havilland Mosquito in
construction, although it was
fitted with a nosewheel. The Ta
154 also incorporated ejection
seats, advanced avionics and
radar. The aircraft first flew in
prototype stage in July 1943
and when pitted against the He
219 and Ju 388 proved faster,
reaching around 700 km/h. In
addition to 23 prototypes, around
50 production machines were
built with some pre-production
examples also being converted to
production standard. Some were
assigned to NJG 3 for operational
night fighting trials, while plans
were made to develop a Fw 190/Ta
154 composite bomber formation
destroyers. This is a significantly
revised and expanded version
of a book originally published
in the German language in
2006, an absorbing account of
a little known but remarkably
sophisticated German World War
II aircraft. With the aid of over 350
photographs and illustrations, the
author dispels myths associated
with the construction methods
of the Ta 154 and reveals new
and intriguing facts about this
fascinating aircraft.
www.crecy.co.uk
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VOLUME 20 ISSUE 04
WWW.MODELAIRCRAFTMAG.COM
In The Next Issue
For the May 2021 Issue of Model Aircraft,
here’s just a little of what we have planned!
Consolidated’s Sea Cat
Aiming for Zero
Vitor Costa builds the 1/72 Academy PBY-5
Catalina
Ben Smith builds the 1:48 Tamiya A6M3
Model Aircraft Manual – The CF-188 Hornet
Soviet Flying Tank
James Ashton builds the recent 1:48 Zvezda
Shturmovik
With background details, colour profiles, scale
plans, walk arounds and a build of the 1:48
Kinetic kit from Ricardo Salame Paez
Continuing Defiance
Navy Knight
James Ashton builds the 1:48 Airfix Boulton
Paul Defiant Mk.I
Snorre sandviken builds
the 1:35 Kitty Hawk MH60S Knighthawk
Russian Raider
Francisco Gutierrez details the 1:48 Great Wall
Hobby MiG-29SMT
Plus much, much more!
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