First and Best for Reference and Scale

December 2017 • £4.75

Volume 39 • Issue 10
www.scaleaircraftmodelling.com

Harrier Trainers
New Kit in Town

Round the Bloch Wattisham Rhino September’s Fire

The Last Fight of the MB 200 A Phantom FGR.2 in 1/32 Pzl.23 Karas - Crucian Carp
Smer’s Kit in 1/72 Large Scale Conversion IBG’s Kit in 1/72
Military & Civil Aviation – Military Weapons & Equipment – Naval Vessels

The RAF at 100 A Dunkirk The Real

Century in Story in
Haynes Owners' British Post-War Bristol and Britain's Cold War X Planes 5 Britain's Photographs Photographs AIR Modeller's
Workshop Manual Airliners A History Gloucestershire Fighters T McLelland Lost Cold War Strike Mirrorpix Showcases T Lynch, Mirrorpix Guide to Wingnut
Airbus A380 2005 to of Commercial Aerospace Industry Reprinted. Explores Jet A Brookes vivid and evocative Tim Lynch presents Wings 2
present R Wicks Aircraft 1945-2000 S Gillett Studies the the development of Takes a fresh, hard- images from the Mir- the true story of the An A To Z Of UK
Looks at the A380’s A Ord-Hume Photo wider aspects of the the jet fighter from the headed look at the rorpix archive that Dunkirk evacuations Aircraft 1945-2000.
design and construc- album featuring B&W aerospace industry, first jet designs through TSR2 project, telling trace the story of the using stunning, rare Colour photos
tion, its high-tech photos, information including its industrial to the first-generation the story of its devel- RAF from its earliest images from the Mir- throughout
cockpit and innovative and stats of British heritage, social im- jets and beyond. opment, short career days through wartime rorpix archive. 100 SB 112pp £25.00
cabin design and the designed airliners. pacts and much more. Highly illustrated. and cancellation. to the modern age. B&W photos.
complex nature of the SB 172pp £25.00 SB 128pp £14.99 SB 368pp £20.00 SB 80pp £12.99 HB 144pp £12.99 SB 96pp £15.00
A380’s operation.
HB 192pp £25.00

Luftwaffe Bombers
Profile Book No.7 The Berlin Airlift :
C Sundin Lavishly The Relief
illustrated book con- Osprey Duel 82 B-29 Pacific Thunder The U-Boot Im Focus Local Aviation Famous Russian Operation that
taining 124 colour Superfortress vs Ki- US Navy's Central Edition No.15 Collections of Aircraft Mikoyan Defined the Cold
The Focke-Wulf profiles with 152 addi- 44 'Tojo' Pacific Pacific Campaign, A Urbanke Subma- Britain: The UK's MiG-19 Y Gordon War B Turner
FW200 The Condor tional illustrations and 1944-45 D Nijboer August 1943- rine history for the en- Regional Describes the Soviet Presents a new his-
at War 1939-1945 accompanying histori- Illustrated with colour October 1944 thusiast, a plethora of Aeronautical Union’s first true su- tory of the Cold War's
C Goss Conceived cal text in addition to artwork, this volume T Cleaver This book archive B&W unpub- Treasures K Ellis personic fighter’s de- defining episode. With
and developed as a a chapter covering the examines why the is the fascinating ac- lished photos from Britain has a wealth of velopment and service new material from
civilian airliner during Luftwaffe bomber Ki-44 was unable to count of the Central archives, private col- museums, all with in- history at home and American, British and
the 1930s, the elegant arm. Contains a table break up bomber for- Pacific campaign, one lectors and experts in credible exhibits. 150 overseas including its German archives and
four-engined Fw 200 of Luftwaffe Bomber mations convention- of the most stunning the field. This edition museums and their involvement in con- original interviews
Condor soon became Specifications. 124 ally during the War comebacks in naval includes Interior shots most important ex- flicts in Asia and the with veterans.
one of the Luftwaffe’s colour profiles, 152 and Japan’s inability history. Black and U-109; U-561 1942; hibits are profiled. Middle East. 600 HB 320pp £20.00
most immediately additional illustrations. to stop the B-29. white photos. U-65 1940 and U-431. B&W/colour photos. B&W/Colour photos.
recognisable and po- HB 136pp £42.00 SB 80pp £12.99 HB 296pp £20.00 SB 54pp £20.99 HB 224pp £18.95 HB 430pp £39.95
tent maritime armed
reconnaissance air-
craft. Accompanied by
hundreds of rare im-
ages. Colour profiles.
HB 288pp £50.00

Les Parachutes
Soviétiques 1930-
Spotlight On Images of War US Hot Skies Over Airframe Album No Bournemouth Les Materiels de 1945 G Erlom
Northrop F-5E & Military Helicopters Yemen Aerial 12 The Gloster Airport Through L'Armee de L'Air et FRENCH TEXT. The
F-5F Tiger II M Green Black and Warfare Over the Gladiator A Detailed Time M Phipp de L'Aeronavale 16 history of Soviet para-
WWP Su-25 Frogfoot A Guedes Presents white photo reference Southern Arabian Guide To The RAF’s Bournemouth Airport Dassault Rafale chutists. This book
in Detail F Koran detailed illustrations of featuring attack heli- Peninsula, 1962-1994 Last Biplane Fighter was first opened as F Lert FRENCH TEXT. contains biographies
Colour photo album the F-5E and F-5F copters of the US Air Volume 1 T Cooper R Franks This well RAF Hurn and became Fully illustrated guide of the men and women
containing 614 colour Tiger II jet fighter of Force. Features Bell Uses newly released illustrated album con- Britain's main interna- to the Dassault Rafale involved as well 400
walkaround photos of the Cold War era, H-13 Sioux, OH-23 secret intelligence tains period diagrams; tional airport during which entered service photos of their equip-
the Soviet Attacker showing the aircraft Raven and Sikorsky sources, neglected data from flight manu- WWII. A complete his- in 2001. Contains ment and more.
Su-25 Frogfoot fully deployed by many dif- H-19, the CH-47 and memoirs, and popular als and data from spare tory of the airport up colour photos and HB 264pp £42.00
uncovered. ferent countries. CH-37 Mojave. memory. parts catalogues. to the present day. colour profiles.
SB 141pp £24.99 HB 48pp £19.00 SB 220pp £16.99 SB 80pp £16.95 SB 132pp £17.95 SB 96pp £14.99 SB 70pp £18.99

The Zeppelin An
Illustrated History
The Weathering The Weathering The Aviation Avions 219 Sept/Oct Aces High Magazine Aero Journal Hors Aero Journal 61 P Carradice A brief
Magazine 21 Faded Aircraft 7 Interiors Historian Issue 21 FRENCH TEXT. 351 et 11 Fw 190 Der Wuger Serie (28) Heinkel Berlin 1943 1944 history of the giant
Focuses entirely on J Mira Looks at cock- An African Adventure, 352 Y Squadrons les This issue is dedi- HE 111 FRENCH TEXT. Well Zeppelin airship
faded colours and in- pit interiors and fea- Cairo to Pretoria by partisans de la RAF; cated to the Fw-190 FRENCH TEXT. Special illustrated with containing hundreds
cludes: Abandoned tures TBD-1A Victoria 1934; 1957 Juin 1944 le F6F et le and includes tips and issue lavishly illus- archive photos, line of captioned colour
Tractor; Pale blue War- Devastator; Pfalzand Defence White Paper Tir aux Pigeons des techniques for model trated with photos and drawings and colour and black and white
rior and much more. and much more. and much more. Mariannes plus more. builds of this plane. 50 colour profiles. profiles. photos.
SB 68pp £8.99 SB 74pp £8.99 SB 130pp £13.50 SB 96pp £12.00 SB 82pp £8.99 SB 116pp £14.99 SB 82pp £6.90 SB 128pp £14.99

order via our

secure website: www.aviationbookcentre.com
T: 01530 231407 (+44 1530 231407) E: sales@aviationbookcentre.com Delivery charges UK: Order value below £20 = £3.50,£20+above = £5.50. Overseas:
Standard Airmail please add 15% of order value. Minimum £5.50. Priority Airmail add 20%
Post: Aviation & Military Book Centre, PO Box 10159, Coalville, Leics LE67 1WB of order value. Minimum £7.50. Australia & New Zealand 25% order value (Minimum £8).
We accept: Mastercard, Visa, Visa Delta, Maestro (Switch), Solo, Postal Orders, £ Sterling Cheque drawn on a UK Bank. Cheques made payable to Aviation Book Centre Ltd.
SH72376 1/72
CASA C.212-100
“Tail Art”
Limited release.
Superb artwork decal sheet.

SH72344 1/72
CASA C.212-100

SH72377 1/72
Kittyhawk MK.IA

SH72374 1/72 facebook.com/specialhobby

P-40N Warhawk
www.specialhobby.eu
www.cmkkits.com
HORNET

Large Scale Legacy

Hornet
By Andy McCabe
Kit No: K3204
Scale: 1/32
Type: Injection Moulded Plastic
Manufacturer: Kinetic
www.luckymodel.com

The Aires
resin cockpit

T
he F/A-18 Hornet, to recap briefly, is a twin
in place the
engined, multi role combat jet aircraft
kit fuselage,
a lot of work designed and built initially by McDonnell
but well Douglas, Northrop and latterly by Boeing in the
worth it United States. Originally designated the YF-17 in
especially in the 1970s the F/A-18 first flew on the 18th
this larger November 1978, was introduced in November
scale 1983 into the United States Navy and on the 7th
January 1984 into the US Marine Corps. It is still
in production to date with users including not
only the US Armed forces but also the Royal
Australian Air Force, the Spanish Air Force and
the Canadian Air Force. Variants include the
A/B/C/D Legacy Hornet, the significantly
different E/F Super Hornet, and latterly the G, the
Growler, along with other exports versions. The
Legacy Hornet is powered by two General
Electric F404-GE-402 after burning turbofan
engines giving the aircraft a top speed of Mach
1.8 and a maximum range of 1,089 nautical
miles.
The Hornet has a crew of either one or two
depending on the version and can carry a
formidable array of weapons in multiple
configurations on four underwing and three
lower fuselage pylons. The Legacy aircraft also
has a 20mm M61A1 Vulcan 6 barrel rotary
cannon mounted in the nose on top of the
fuselage. Getting into a dogfight with this
warplane would prove to be a mistake as it is
both extremely agile and capable.
Kinetic’s kit is a reissue of the Academy kit
boxed with Scale Aircraft Conversions white
metal undercarriage and new decals. The rather
large box contains no less than twenty sprues of
grey injection moulded plastic, two clear parts,
one set of metal gear legs, one instruction
booklet and three decal sheets. The plastic parts
are very nicely moulded with crisp clear recessed
panel lines and detailing, while the three decal
sheets are produced by Wintervalley Decals for
the Canadian versions, Fightertown for the US
versions and Cartograf for the weapons.
The instructions have colour call outs for
Gunze, Lifecolor, Humbrol, Testors, Revell and
Vallejo.
The addition of the Scale Aircraft Conversions
white metal landing gear legs is a bonus as this
will be a heavy model when finished and will
rely on this sturdy undercarriage.
Construction
The build begins by assembling the ejection

Airscale’s range can add an extra touch to any

cockpit detailing project

4 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K

seat or seats depending on your preferred
version. I purchased the Aires F/A-18C Hornet
cockpit for this build, which also replaces the kits
ejector seat. Airscale also kindly supplied sets of
their excellent modern instrument and placard
decals for the cockpit.
The Aires cockpit, as can be expected, has far
more detail than the kit parts but it does require
a lot more work to the kit’s fuselage parts to get
it to fit. The Airscale instrument and radar decals
were used on the main instrument panel and are
far more detailed than the kit decals, really
bringing the part to life. I can highly recommend
the Airscale decals and etched cockpit parts as
for not a lot of money you get a lot of detail.
To get the resin cockpit to fit into the plastic
fuselage you have to scrape away a lot of plastic,
which gets very messy, but it’s worth it.
The cockpit parts were sprayed with Mr
Hobby H337 FS35237 and then a dark wash was
applied using Ultimate Modelling Products
washes. The details were then highlighted by dry
brushing. The cockpit took a long time to do and
it would have been far quicker to use the kit
parts but I do like to make things difficult for
myself.
The next step is the nose wheel bay. Aires also
have a replacement resin kit for this but
sufficient funds were not available so I used the
kit item, which is nevertheless quite detailed. I
now moved onto assembling the forward
fuselage by inserting the resin cockpit and the
undercarriage bay, but this was quite simple as
all of the preparatory work had been done
beforehand.
The intake trunking was now assembled and
sprayed white inside, and then the engines were
put together. Not too much time was spent on
the engines as they are buried inside the
fuselage and never seen again. The fuselage was
now closed around the engines and the wings
assembled and fitted to the fuselage. The wing
tips can be modelled either spread or folded.
The forward fuselage was now fitted to the
rear. This is a big model and this starts to
become very evident now.
HORNET
A little whittling is required to get the
aftermarket cockpit parts to sit correctly into
place but with a little care an excellent fit can
be achieved
The intakes were now assembled and fitted to
the fuselage and despite the size of the kit and
all the joint lines to match, the parts line up
remarkably well. The LERX (Leading Edge Root
Extensions) were sorted and fitted to the
fuselage and the flaps assembled. These can be
modelled deployed at zero, twenty, thirty or Mr Hobby colours were used throughout the
forty five degrees if required. build. With the painting all finished and a
satisfactory result achieved the next stage is
Next up were the tail fins. These were glued
the lengthy decalling process
together and the rudders fitted and then they
were added to the fuselage and the tail planes
slotted into position.
The lower and upper nose fuselage sections
were now glued into position and the
windscreen masked and fitted into place, the
canopy masked and dry fitted using Maskol.
The pylons were assembled and glued to the
underside of the wings and fuselage and then
the model was given a coat of grey primer.
The underside of the model was sprayed with
Mr Hobby H308 FS36375 then masked off and
the upper surfaces given a coat of Mr Hobby
H307 FS36320. The tail fins were then masked off
and Mr Hobby H2 Gloss Black sprayed on.
The decals were applied starting with the tail
fins. These have to wrap around the lumps and The kit provides a choice of plastic parts with
bumps on the trailing edges of the fins, so metal cores or all metal items provided by SAC
setting solutions were needed which did not do
the job entirely satisfactorily. The rest of the
decals went on without a hitch. A couple of
coats of Klear were now sprayed on to seal them
in place and then the Ultimate Dark Wash was
applied all over to bring the panel lines out. A
coat of satin varnish sealed it all in place.
I now started on the undercarriage. Two types
are supplied, the regular plastic type and also
cast white metal ones from Scale Aircraft
Conversions. The latter do not have the level of
detail of the plastic ones and the plastic ones
have white metal strengthening inserts that
assemble into the legs so for this review I chose
the plastic ones with the white metal inserts,
purely because the white metal ones will need
all of the small plastic parts glued to them with
superglue. I find plastic cement far more precise
and less messy as I don’t get on that well with
These are the kit’s plastic
parts detailed with hydraulic
lines made from Albion
Alloys metal piping
DECEMBER 2017 • VOLUME 39 • ISSUE 10 5
HORNET
Decals on and a coat of Klear about to be
applied. This is where the spray booth really
comes into its own, especially on large models
Ultimate Dark Wash was used to add a bit of
depth and life to the panel lines
Nose landing gear finished and installed
Another one of the kit’s strong points is the
wide range of stores provided for the Hornets
numerous weapons stations
6 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
superglue!
The gear legs are complex assemblies and
very detailed. I added extra detail by fitting
piping using Albion Alloys aluminium tubing,
which is excellent for this type of work as it
bends easily into nice twists and turns that are
evident on the gear legs.
The undercarriage parts were then sprayed
Satin White and a wash of Vallejo 76.527 Blue
Grey and 76.516 Grey Model Wash was applied
and the decals added. The undercarriage was
then fitted to the model.
The exhausts were up next with two types
again supplied, open or closed. Closed exhausts
were chosen, and these were built up, painted
and fitted accordingly.
The gear bay doors were now painted and
fitted along with the arrester hook. The radar can
be modelled open or closed so open was chosen
and assembled, painted and fitted as per the
instructions, and again decals from the Airscale
sheets were used.
Now the three fuel tanks, two AIM -9L
Sidewinder missiles and two GBU-10 Paveway II
LGBs were assembled, painted, decalled and
fitted. I also fitted the LDT/SCAM and FLIR Pods
although I could not find the decals for them on
any of the decal sheets. There are multiple
weapons options available in the kit so you can
really load your F/A-18 up if you want to.
The cockpit canopy was now tackled. There is
a replacement resin frame set in the Aires kit so
was assembled and fitted to the kit canopy and
then to the model. Finally the crew access ladder
was finished and then glued to the model.
Colour Options
Four are supplied with the kit:
• F/A -18C, United States Navy, VFA-25
• F/A-18D, United States Marine Corps,
VMFA-225
• F/A-18A, Canadian Air Force, 409, Cold Lake
• F/A-18B, Canadian Air Force Aerospace
Engineering Test Establishment, Cold Lake
Conclusion
This is a very large complicated model that
took a long time to complete even with the
addition of the Aires cockpit and Airscale decals.
It is just loaded with detail and looks very
impressive when finally assembled but it is very
complex. I also found the build did not follow
the sequence in the instructions, but they very
rarely do, so this is no surprise.
Straight from the box this would make an
impressive model and there are even crew and
ground crew figures supplied to add a bit of life. I
did contemplate adding the pilot and ground
crew but my figure painting skills leave a lot to
be desired so in the end I talked myself out of
using them.
The fit of the parts is excellent and I did not
have to use any filler whatsoever, which for a big
model like this is quite remarkable. It does take
quite a lot of paint to cover it though so my
thanks go to Albion Alloys for supplying the Mr
Hobby paint to do it and also to Airscale for the
cockpit instrument dials and placard decal sets.
 E D I TO R I A L

THIS MONTH’S FEATURES:

4. Bitten by the Bug!

A
Large Scale Legacy Hornet ny anomalies in this
issue may be laid
4 By Andy McCabe
squarely at the door
of IPMS UK. Thanks to their
insisting on staging the
greatest show in the world
20. Wattisham Rhino some two weeks before
Or the black art of making a our usual publication date
Phantom FGR.2 in 1/32 there is a frantic flurry here
to get the December issue into shape
20 By Paul Carroll and into circulation in time for the Telford
event. Of course if we don’t this editorial
is going to look really silly so I am
hedging my bets on the assumption that
26. Round the Bloch and it can go either way.
Back Again If you are reading this at or prior to the
show then the Editorial team (myself and
The last flight of thE M B 200.
26 By Jonathan Burns
‘Flying’ Pickett) will be on the stand most
of the weekend desperately trying to find
excuses to wander off and go shopping,
but theoretically fielding queries and
acting out what marketing men call
29. Walkaround ‘engaging with the readership’. This
F-82B Twin Mustang means ‘Flying’ Pickett will be doing
modelling demos and I will probably be
By Steve Muth
29 Peregrine Publishing
trying to explain to the occasional
disgruntled non subscriber that offering
eight extra pages to people prepared to
front up for a year’s sub is a
straightforward business arrangement
32. RNAS Yeovilton and doesn’t mean we are ripping people
International Air Day 2017 off.
I am pleased to note two planned
32 By Ray Ball
book releases for the show. Des Brennan’s
Warpaint on the Tornado ADV should be
there to coincide with the arrival of the
new Revell kit, while the first of our
39 Aircraft in Profile planned ‘bookazine’ collections of the
Petlyakov Pe-2 Aircraft in Profile features should also be
by Richard Mason on sale. This will initially be a limited
edition to test the waters but I am quite
39 Scale Plans and Colour Profiles
by Mark Rolfe
excited about it and fingers crossed it will
all be together on time.
If you are not attending the show and
are simply wondering why your
magazine came early then work on the
54. Colour Conundrum assumption that we stuffed so much into
Late War Luftwaffe Camouflage it this month that we figured you needed

54 Part Two - RLM 83

By Paul Lucas
extra time to read it all. See you
somewhere...
By Gary Hatcher
With Artwork by Mark Rolfe Editor

Distributed to the UK and International news trade by

Intermedia
56 September’s Fire http://www.inter-media.co.uk/
56 PZL.23A - The Crucian Carp
via MarketForce (UK) Limited
110 Southwark Street, London SE1 0SU
http://www.marketforce.co.uk/
By Colin ‘Flying’ Pickett

Subs-Section: 1/144 Vampires by Huw
Morgan, Big Zero by Bob Foster and Sub-
Cutaneous by Paul Lucas
STORE FINDER
Books-A-Million, Inc. presently operates over 200 stores in 18
states and the District of Columbia. To find the store nearest
your location visit:
www.booksamillioninc.com/store_finder/index.html

DECEMBER 2017 • VOLUME 39 • ISSUE 10 7

NEWS

Sorge reports to our Facebook page

SPREAD THE NEWS

It will not have escaped your notice that we have
been playing down the news related sections of
the magazine in the acceptance that with the
best will in the world we cannot hope to compete
in print with the Internet in this respect. Rather
than trying to sell you dozens of pages of
material that you probably read on a website
three weeks ago we have been concentrating on
including less time sensitive material, and while
we accept there are some readers who do not
spend their lives on their computers we are
satisfied that this is a better use of page space. Of
course we will continue to run items that we
regard as relevant and of interest, but the days
when it was appropriate to base an entire
editorial policy around being first with the news
are past.
In print at least. But SAM has been laying the
ground for a comprehensive interaction with the
Internet for years, and our Facebook page is
currently one of the most active and well-
respected in the industry. Moving forward we aim
to continue keeping the greater part of our
readership informed on new releases through the
Facebook medium and with this in mind we have
asked our newsman Richard Sorge to take
responsibility for reposting press releases and
bulletins, as well as scouring the web for news of
products and kits.
Sorge's reports will be posted frequently and
regularly and shared with our numerous and ever
growing Facebook readership. In the meantime,
to ensure your item gets the maximum coverage
it deserves, email news updates and images of
anything, from a new resin NACA duct in 1/144 to
a 1/32 Fairey Gannet, to my colleague Mr Colin
‘Flying’ Pickett, who hasn’t nearly enough to do
and will pass the material on to Sorge for wider
usage. Send all material to
colinpickett1@yahoo.co.uk

RS MODELS by only one squadron, 601. The

Airacobra 1/P400
Scale: 1/72
Kit No: 92131
Type: Injection Moulded Plastic
Hannants/UMM-USA
Recently received from RS Models is
the Airacobra I/P400 in 1/72 scale,
representing the version of the P39
as it served briefly with the RAF and
some other foreign operators. The
Bell Model 3 design, which became
the XP-39, was developed in
response to a challenging United
States Army Air Corps specification,
Circular Proposal X-609, calling for a
high-altitude interceptor, to be
heavily armed and capable of a
speed in excess of 400mph. Bell's
response was an innovative
approach, which took a turbo
supercharged Allison 12 cylinder
water cooled engine and placed it
behind the pilot in order to allow
space in the nose for a hard-hitting
37mm Oldsmobile/American
Armament Corporation T9 cannon,
firing through the propeller hub.
The XP-39's maiden flight in April
1938 showed its promise with a
measured speed of 390mph.
The encouraging early flight testing
of the XP-39/YP-39 led to
significant interest from the French
Air Force and RAF, the former
placing an order for 200 and the
RAF ordering 475, the versions
specified by the RAF having the
37mm cannon replaced by a 20mm
Hispano cannon, retaining the pair
of nose mounted guns but having
four 0.303 calibre guns mounted in
the wings. In the end, the
production Airacobras had the
crucial turbo supercharger deleted
on the instructions of the US Army
Air Corps senior staff, causing a
serious reduction in the aircraft's
performance, and as a result, the
entire RAF order was cancelled
after only a handful of airframes
had been delivered.
Those aircraft that did find
themselves in RAF hands were used
aircraft originally earmarked for the
French and cancelled British orders
found their way, redesignated P-
400, to the Soviet Union and
American units in the Pacific, where
they were used primarily in a
ground attack role.
The new RS kit of the Airacobra 1
doesn't have a great deal of
competition. In 1/72 only Academy
and AZ have produced worthwhile
versions, although the Academy kit
at least has some dimensional
issues. In 1/48 the Eduard kits are
quite nice and there are ancient
1/144 scale options from
Revell/Otaki. The 1/32 Special
Hobby option, reboxed several
times, looks credible.
The kit itself is fairly typical of
shortish run plastic. The surface
detail is fine but there's some flash
and distortion/sink marks that will
need attention. The eighty four
parts are offered on two main
frames, with a separate clear frame
of five parts. There are no etched
enhancements but there are resin
AIRFIX
parts for the six stub exhausts and
Supermarine Walrus Mk I
the arrestor hook fitted to one of
the options. There are five marking Scale: 1/48
options offered: Kit No: 09183
• Airacobra 1, 601 Squadron Type: Injection Moulded Plastic
Duxford 1941 www.airfix.co.uk
Fresh from Airfix is their new tool
• P-400, 2 GSAP, Winter 1942/3
1/48 Supermarine Walrus Mk I.
• P-400, Forsa Area Portuguesa,
June 1943 It is quite befitting that Airfix
should produce something as
• P-39F, 82 Squadron RAAF esoteric as the Walrus from that
• Airacobra 1, used for deck trials quintessential British company
by the Royal Navy Supermarine. Simply stunning
digital artwork adorns the box top,
Colour references are for Mr Hobby
Mr Color and the decals look thin to and this will find a home on the
workshop wall once the kit is built.
the point of slight transparency,
Gone from the box is the Union
and with the centre red segments
Jack claiming to be made in the UK
of the roundels ever so slightly out
and this sees a return to the
of register.
contents being made in India, as
Construction looks to be printed elsewhere on the box.
straightforward although some
Inside there is one large plastic bag
experience of short run kits would containing all the kit parts with a
be beneficial, and some fitting and clear sprue enclosed in separate
filling will be likely. packaging. In total there are five
Huw Morgan pale grey coloured sprues and a

8 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
NEWS
single tree for the clear parts. Detail
looks exquisite with finely rendered
engraved panel lines and rivet
detail. The stretched fabric effect on
the flying surfaces is well presented
and doesn't appear over done for
the scale. There is no evidence of
flash or mould imperfections in this
example of the kit and the ejector
pins marks are sensibly located and
in the most part flush with the
surface of the plastic.
As soon as the instruction booklet
is opened to the first stage of
construction it readily becomes
apparent that detail is not in short
supply. The interior, especially the
area occupied by the pilot's seat, is
well detailed and internal detail is
continued down to the rear of the
airframe.
There are many options to consider
too when building the kit as the
wings can be displayed extended
or folded, the landing gear can be
extended or retracted, access
hatches open or closed and the
canopy windows can be shown in
the open or closed positions as
well.
The instruction booklet covers
assembly of the model in 108
sections, which feature exploded
CAD style diagrams that are easy to
follow and understand. Nice little
bits of info are included to help the
modeller as well such as the
number of degrees the flight
controls can be deflected by, if not
posed in the neutral position.
On the reverse side of one of the
painting diagrams a detailed
rigging illustration is provided for
those modellers wishing to
replicate the structural wires and
cabling found on the type. Options
are included for three aircraft on
the other three sides of the glossy
paper:
•276 Squadron Royal Air Force, RAF
Harrowbeer, Devon, 1944. The
upper surfaces are in Extra Dark Sea
Grey and Dark Slate Grey over Sky
•700 Naval Air Squadron, HMS
Sheffield, 1941. This again has the
top side as scheme A but this time
the underside are in Sky Grey
•5 CF Royal Australian Air Force,
early 1943 in disruptive green and
brown upper surface colours over
sky blue undersides
Colour call outs are provided in
Humbrol numbers and have a
description of the colour as well to
assist the modeller if using a
differing brand of paint. The decals
sheet is rather small when
compared to the rest of the
contents but are printed by
Cartograf, so quality can be
assured.
Overall a very nice looking package
from Airfix, and a popular subject
too as it would appear to be out of
stock already on the Airfix website.
Rick Greenwood
10 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
SPANISH STROLL
Just a reminder for readers
interested in the subject that the
IPMS SIG for modelling the Spanish
Civil War is now up and running
and will be exhibiting at Telford this
year. Check out the website at
https://scwsig.wordpress.com/
RS MODELS
Bücker Bü 131D
Scale: 1/72
Kit No: 92206
Type: Injection Moulded Plastic
Hannants/UMM-USA
TThe Bücker Bü 131D Jungmann
was a biplane trainer designed and
built by Carl Bücker in 1932, using
the then common technology of a
steel tube space frame with fabric
covering and initially powered by a
80hp Hirth HM60R in-line engine.
Although the early airframes were
built by Bücker Flugzeugbau, the
majority of the production was
undertaken by Aero in Prague, with
around 450 airframes being
exported to Yugoslavia, Romania
and Bulgaria, and manufacturing
licences also being granted to
Switzerland, Spain, Hungary,
Czechoslovakia and Japan, which
built around 1376 for the Army and
the Imperial Japanese Navy Air
Service.
Many Bücker Bü 131Ds survived
into the late twentieth century, and
a few still fly today in private hands
and various museum collections.
RS Models have produced the 1/72
scale Bücker in a number of
boxings, the latest one reviewed
here being the In Foreign Service
version with markings for four
operators:
• Bü 131D, Japanese Imperial Air
Force, in RLM 63 Grey
• Bü 131D, Posnan Flying Club,
Poland, 1948, in Aluminium with
white nose
• Bü 131D, Royal Yugoslav Air
Force, Pancevo, 1940, in RLM 63
Grey
• Ex Luftwaffe, RAF Special Duties
Flight, Christchurch, 1941 in Dark
Earth/Dark Green over Yellow
The sand coloured plastic is
produced on a single frame with
around forty six parts, although
many are specific to a particular
variant, there being two complete REVELL
fuselages, four styles of cowling,
Tornado F.3 ADV
two propellers and three cowling
nose designs. One will need to have Scale: 1/48
faith in RS Models' instructions, or Kit No: 03925
have good references! Both upper Type: Injection Moulded Plastic
and lower wings are solid one piece www.revell.de/en
items although span is only just
New out from Revell is the 1/48
over 10cm. In addition to the tidy
Tornado F.3, as expected from the
plastic, there's a sheet of film
breakdown of the parts in the
covering different instrument
previous release for the IDS and
arrangements and a very nice
GR.4. The box art is fantastic but
etched fret of around fifty parts,
does adorn the rather flimsy open
including the instrument panels,
ended box that has attracted its fair
two sets of belts, rigging anchor
share of negative comments. For
loops and the line of stitching on
those interested the box states
the fuselage underside
there are 297 parts and the finished
This looks to be a straightforward, model should measure out at
albeit rather small, aircraft to build 286mm by 385mm. A nice size in
and RS Models' instructions look this scale without being too big to
easy to follow. As a prewar biplane, accommodate on the display shelf
rigging is inevitable, although a full but not too small to see the detail.
rigging diagram is included.
Any modeller that built Revell's
Huw Morgan other new tooled Tornados will
know what to expect. Detail is not
lacking with this model and various
options are provided such as
dropped leading edge slats, flaps
and spoilers for the wings as well as
open speed brakes, a choice of
1,500l or the larger 2,250l
Hindenburger under wing tanks,
open or closed canopy and the
reverse thrust buckets at the rear
end to name but a few. Munitions
are restricted to Skyflash and
Sidewinder missiles and associated
launch rails.
Opening the plastic bags to inspect
the parts the first thing that was
really apparent was the presence of
flash on the runners, although this
was restricted to the sprue itself
and having a good look none of the

parts were affected. All told there
are fifteen trees holding the pale
blue/grey plastic parts that feature
fine engraved panel detail with a
good looking rivet effect in some
areas.
Cockpit detail is good too with
raised details on the cockpit side
walls and instrument panels. The
multi part ejector seats look
promising but many will want to
replace these with more
comprehensive resin aftermarket
examples. The clear sprue contains
the usual parts such as lamps and
lenses along with the two part
canopy.
The instruction booklet is printed in
colour in A4 booklet format. The
first few pages contain the paint
references and mixing formulas for
the Revell brand of paint. No official
designations are provided leaving
the modeller to fend for themselves
as far as cross referencing the
paints are concerned.
Assembly is broken down into
eighty nine separate stages of
construction of pictorial diagram
design. The remaining three
sections at the rear of the book are
the painting and decal guides for
the two options supplied and the
under wing stores etc. The decal
sheet is well printed and contains
comprehensive stencil markings as
well as the two specially marked
F.3s:
• ZE159, 111 Squadron, RAF
Leuchars in Scotland, not
England as printed on the guide.
This airframe sports the black tail
and side fuselages flashes as
applied in 2002
• ZE809, RAF Leeming, with blue
and red segmented tail painted
for 23 Squadron's seventy fifth
anniversary in 1990
Based on the contents of the box
this kit should be worthy of the title
Best in this Scale but as they say the
proof of the pudding is in the
eating. I will of course report back
on the build so watch this space...
Rick Greenwood
Tornado ADV Warpaint Editor Des
Brennan has given the kit the once
over and notes the following:
‘The 111 Squadron. Special markings
were applied in 2002 by which time
BOL launch rail/countermeasures
dispensers were replacing the LAU-7
style launch rail on the inside
shoulder position of the inner wing
pylons. From what I can see
ZE159/UV carried BOL during that
year but not at RIAT in July, which is
possibly what Revell based their
information on. The aircraft retained
the markings for a while and at RIAT
in July 2003 BOL was fitted and also
the two yellow/black aerials on the
spine had been replaced by a flat
white coloured GPS aerial as part of
an ongoing fleet-wide upgrade.
I noticed the use of Hindenburger for
the 2,250 litre tanks in the
instructions. In my own limited
experience I only ever heard RAF
personnel describe them as Big Tanks
or Big Jugs and had always thought
that Hindenburger was an aircraft
spotter thing, but maybe in other
places and at other times it was not?
Instructions show that the AIM-9
Sidewinders are painted white with
decals for a live round but they
should really be grey, perhaps with
white rounds for an air show load but
even then they were more usually
grey with a blue inert band.
No problem with the cockpit for the
F.3 options shown although as other
decals become available one may
need to watch out for any twin
stickers, which had a different rear
cockpit instrument and control
arrangement as most photo
references do not differentiate
between the F.3 and F.3(T).
IBG
The latest release in the series from
IBG covering the charismatic Polish
DECEMBER 2017 • VOLUME 39 • ISSUE 10
NEWS
bomber is the PZL.23 B Karaś, Early
Production. The kit is the third
release and should be followed
soon by the first boxing in 1/72 of
the PZL.37 Łoś. This was a Polish
medium bomber designed the in
mid thirties in the PZL factory in
Warsaw by Jerzy Dąbrowski. The
early A version was fitted with a
single vertical stabilizer, while the
later A and B version already had
the improved twin tail. Only ten out
of around a hundred machines with
a single vertical stabilizer were
produced. Serial production of the
Łoś started in 1938. By the time it
was introduced it was one of the
most advanced bomber aircraft in
the world. The PZL.37 was used by
the Polish Air Force during the
September 1939 resistance to the
German invasion. Twenty six of
them were later withdrawn to
Romania, where they were
impressed into 4 Group of the
Romanian Air Force. Captured
examples were also tested by
Germany and Soviet Union.
www.ibgmodels.com
11
NEWS BY SORGE
WINGNUT WINGS
Wingnut Wings’ next new release
will be the long awaited Jeannin
Stahltaube (1914) initially
announced at their stand in
Nuremberg in February 2017. The
initial bird like Taube (Dove) design
was made by Austrian Igo Etrich
and successfully took to the air in
April 1910. Unfortunately for Etrich
he was unable to patent his design,
BOLTON WANDERING
Bolton IPMS have announced a
new venue for their annual Scale
Model Show. For 2018 they have
secured a brand new location just
up the road from the old venue,
The Premier Suite at the Macron
Stadium (Home of Bolton
Wanderers FC), De Havilland Way,
Bolton, BL6 6SF.
This will give the show a larger
footprint, all on one level, with
much improved access, lighting
and parking facilities compared to
their previous venue at the school
and they are hoping to have more
exhibitors and traders than ever
before.
The show will be held on Sunday
the 28th January 2018 and will run
from 10:00 until 16:00. Bolton don’t
hold a full on competition,
although they do award prizes for
best Club/SIG display, best themed
12 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
which lead to a dizzying array of
copycat Taube aircraft being
churned out by dozens of German
manufacturers. One of the most
successful was the Jeannin
Stahltaube (Steel Dove), which was
operated by the German military.
32058 1/32 Jeannin Stahltaube
1914
Expected to be released in late
October 2017 the kit features 165
injection moulded plastic parts
plus twenty one photo etch detail
parts. Completed model size is
30cm by 43cm.
The kit includes optional 100hp
Daimler-Mercedes D.1 and 120hp
Argus AS.II engines, injection
moulded or photo etch wire wheels
as well as optional propellers,
exhaust manifolds, gravity fuel
tanks and pistol armament and
hand dropped bombs.
Markings will be included for five
aircraft:
• Jeannin Stahltaube 172/14, Lt.
Fritzlohn(?), Adlershof-
Johannisthal, late 1914 to early
1915
• Jeannin Stahltaube 180/14,
Deutches Technikmuseum, Berlin
• Jeannin Stahltaube 271/14, Emil
Wendler, Adlershof-Johannisthal,
late 1916 to early 1917
• Jeannin Stahltaube 283/14,
Adlershof-Johannisthal, 1915
• Jeannin Stahltaube 319/14,
Armee-Flug-Park 9b, early 1915
Model built by Zdenko Bugan
www.wingnutwings.com
model and a Best in Show, which
can be from any Club/SIG display or
the theme table.
The show theme for 2018 is Print,
Film and TV. From Airwolf to
zombies and pretty much
everything in between!
SPECIAL HOBBY
SH48183 1/48 IMAM Romeo Ro.37
A30 engine
In the early 1930s, the Italian Regia
Prices are adults £4, OAPs £3, under
16s £2 and families (2 adults and 2
children) £10. There is free parking
on site and hot and cold
refreshments will be available to
purchase on the day.
What better way to shake off the
Aeronautica operated IMAM Ro.1,
licence built Fokker C.V
reconnaissance and observation
biplanes. The military were quite
happy with the type, however
when IMAM offered a new biplane
designed by Giovanni Galasso, the
decision was taken to acquire this
new aircraft. Following the
prototype’s successful test flights
production commenced in 1934.
The Ro.37 was powered by an in-
line Fiat A.30 engine. The Italian
military also considered a version
fitted with a Piaggio P.IX radial
engine. This version was known as
the Ro.37bis and was produced
alongside the in-line engined type.
The Ro.37 and 37bis became the
main observation and
reconnaissance types of the Regia
Aeronautica and remained in
service until Italy surrendered on
25th August 1943. By this time, a
total of 621 machines of both
versions had been produced, 325 of
which were the bis version. The
very first time the type saw combat
action was during the Italian attack
on Abyssinia (Ethiopia). They also
fought in the Spanish Civil War,
operated both by the Aviazione
Legionaria and by the Aviación
Nacional.
By the time Italy became involved
in the war, the Regia Aeronautica
had had 483 of both versions, 200
of which were the bis, but only
about a hundred of machines were
in fact airworthy. They saw service
over the Balkans, Northern Africa
and mainland Italy.
Special Hobby’s kit comes on six
sprues of grey styrene and one of
clear parts along with some nicely
detailed resin parts and a photo
etch fret. The decal sheet offers four
interesting camouflage options
covering service of the in-line
engined version in Italy and abroad.
www.specialhobby.eu
post Christmas blues than coming
to the first IPMS Model show of the
year? Harrogate Model Club will be
there in force so come along and
throw buns at ‘Flying’ Pickett...

SPECIAL HOBBY
SH72370 1/72 Ajeet Mk I Indian
Light Fighter
In 1950, WE Petter, who was famous
for designs such as the Lysander,
Whirlwind and Canberra, joined the
Folland company. By this time
modern jet aircraft were becoming
bigger, more complex and more
expensive as their performance
increased, and as a result the
development and operating costs
were rising too. Petter decided to
pursue a different approach to the
modern jet fighter philosophy by
designing a lightweight fighter
aircraft, which was to have been
powered by a pair of low thrust
turbojet engines, although this was
later changed to a single power
unit as the power output of jet
engines increased. Choosing to
build this new jet aircraft to the
smallest overall dimensions
possible and with only the very
basic equipment required for the
job kept the price down to only a
third of that of a standard jet
fighter bomber of the day yet it
would offer similar performance to
these much bigger and more
expensive jets. The initial design
incorporated a pilot lying in a
prone position in the nose of the
aircraft and a twin engined
configuration that was used in the
Fo.139 Midge test aircraft, which
had been designed and built to
assess the aerodynamic features of
the future Gnat.
The Air Ministry ordered six trials
aircraft off the drawing board
during March 1955, all of which
were delivered by 1956 and
underwent a very thorough set of
flight tests, during which the
design displayed excellent
performance. The Gnat was found
to be capable of high subsonic
speeds, it was exceptionally
manoeuvrable at high altitudes and
due to its low weight and powerful
engine the acceleration was
phenomenal.
Two countries, Finland and India,
decided to acquire the type for
their air forces. Finland ordered
twelve aircraft, ten of which were in
a standard fighter configuration
while two machines were adapted
to carry out reconnaissance
missions with cameras fitted in
their nose. India acquired twenty
five complete machines of British
origin while another twenty were
provided in kit form to be
assembled in India by HAL, who
also acquired a licence to
manufacture the Gnat in India. The
Indian production line turned out
at least one hundred and ninety
five airframes although the last two
Indian Gnats were in fact
prototypes of the improved Ajeet
Mk I version. Production of this
improved design began in 1976
and reached a total of seventy-nine
Ajeets, with another ten being
created using modified Gnat
airframes.
While the Finnish Gnats protected
DECEMBER 2017 • VOLUME 39 • ISSUE 09
NEWS BY SORGE
the neutrality status of their
country, the Indian machines took
part in a hot conflict during the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. Rather
surprisingly they became the most
effective combat type of this war as
they were capable of not only
outmanoeuvring the F-86 Sabre
but also the more modern and
much faster F-104A Starfighter. Due
to its diminutive size and excellent
manoeuvrability, the tiny Gnat was
able to shake off Sidewinder air-to-
air missiles and it was also very
hard for Pakistani fighter pilots to
catch sight of, let alone shoot
down. Indian Gnats also proved just
as successful during the later
conflict against Pakistan, which
ended in 1971. The improved Ajeet
remained in Indian service long
after the Gnat was retired and these
served until at least 1991.
This kit has been made from steel
moulds and comes on three sprues
of grey styrene and one with clear
parts. The kit also provides the
modeller with a real plethora of
external stores. The decal sheet
caters for four Indian machines
with colourful markings and
interesting histories. Several resin
sets for this model are also
available from CMK, while Special
Hobby also produces the original
British Gnat in two boxings,
SH72137 and SH72322.
www.specialhobby.eu
13
CZECH OUT
SPECIAL HOBBY
Lloyd C.V 82
Series (WFK)
By Dave Hooper
Kit No: 72122
Scale: 1/72
Type: Injection Moulded Plastic
Manufacturer: Special Hobby
Hannants/Squadron
T
he Lloyd C.V was a mid war Austro
Hungarian two seat reconnaissance
aircraft. Lloyd aircraft were fairly unique for
the period in that flying surfaces were made
from wood veneer rather than fabric. However,
early Lloyds suffered from the effects of
moisture, which caused the veneer to warp and
peel. Austro Hungarian designations are fairly
complex, but essentially the 82 Series defines a
licence production contract to WFK of which
around forty eight were eventually built.
The kit itself is a mixture of short run injection
14 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
moulded plastic, photo etch and resin and I
suspect is largely a retooling of their earlier 46
Series kit. Out of the box, the kit looks very
impressive. Short run injection moulded plastic
kits have come a long way since the early days of
thick lumps of plastic and this kit is a good
example of the kind of quality that you can get
from this media these days. There are two main
sprues, which I suspect are identical to the 46
Series release, and one very small sprue that I
suspect contains new parts specific to this kit.
The resin parts include an engine, radiator,
cockpit flooring and various small detail parts.
The photo etch sheet is quite busy and includes
many of the fuselage metal fittings and
inspection hatches. The instructions are in colour
and clear and easy to follow. There is also a small
decal sheet containing options for four aircraft.
Step one concentrates on interior sub
assemblies, and there a few of these as the
interior is very well represented by plastic, resin
and photo etch parts. All of the main cockpit
parts fit on to a resin cockpit floor. The seats
include etch seatbelts, which appear to be a little
on the short side. The photo etch instrument
panel fits on to a plastic backing piece, which
then fits to a plastic framework part. The plastic
parts are a little on the thick side and required
thinning down, as otherwise it is a struggle to fit
this assembly, including an engine firewall part,
into the space allowed.
Before fitting these parts into the fuselage,
the fuselage halves require some surgery to
remove part of the cowling although it is worth
consulting your references before doing this as
some 82 Series Lloyds did have enclosed engine
covers and may not need to be cut apart. The
engine and engine bearer comes as one
complete resin piece that requires no extra work
other than some clean-up. This fits to the firewall
that requires significant thinning as described
above. Once the engine and cockpit assemblies
are glued to one of the fuselage halves the other
half of the fuselage was fitted with no issues.
The fuselage fittings and inspection hatches
are all supplied as photo etch parts. These are all
nicely rendered and it is recommended that the
colour guides are examined for placement. The
lower wings are old school short run, in that
there are no significant location pins, just a pair
of shallow dimples for positioning. In order to
get a good bond these were drilled out and
brass rod inserted into the drill holes for
reinforcement. There are no apparent location
positions for the cabane struts and as such you
have to be very careful of their positioning and
take into consideration the position of the
engine cylinders so that the struts will not
impede the exhaust positions.
The upper wing is supplied as one piece. In
reality the two sides of the upper wing were
separated with a gap in the middle and in order
to simulate this I needed to fit a rod between the
front and rear cabane struts. Also missing from
this kit is the underwing gravity tank, so
prominent on many photos. There is an over
wing gravity tank included on the sprues, but
this is much too large for the purpose and so I
constructed a gravity tank from plastic rod and
hung it from the cabane struts connecting rod
using wire. At this stage I also fitted the radiator
and connecting pipes. The pipes were replaced
with parts made from brass rod, mainly because
the resin pipes are very fragile. Supports for the
radiator need to be added from brass or plastic
rod cut to size. Again it’s important that these
are positioned to avoid the exhausts.
In order to turn the single wing into two
separate halves I took a piece out of the middle
of the upper wing using a razor saw and
 Schwarzlose 07-12 Salmson 2A2

a t c h
G a s Pmo d el s

Scale 1/48
Available in 3 versions www.gaspatchmodels.com

Spandau Early 08 8 Types Vickers Guns Parabellum 14

Browning Family .30 & .50

2 Types Spandau Guns Henschel Hs123 A1 Henschel Hs123 B1

Scale 1/48 Scale 1/48

7 Types Metal Turnbuckles
Visit us at Telford
Exhibition Center
11-12 Nov 2017
Hall/Block 3C
Copyright © 2015 GasPatchModels All rights reserved
CZECH OUT
reconnected the wings with the correct sized
gap using two brass rod spars, positioned to fit
on top of the cabane strut assembly. Inter plane
struts were added and then the top wing was
very carefully and gingerly fitted into position.
The wings were rigged using mending thread,
which was threaded through holes that I
predrilled in the upper and lower wing positions.
The undercarriage is fairly simple to assemble
although I avoided fitting the etch details until
very close to the end of the build. I replaced the
tail skid supports with brass rod. The option that
I was building included a coffin style gun
housing that fits onto the top wing. This part is
only applicable to some options and I based my
choice of aircraft on my desire to include this
style of machine gun housing.
All of the control surfaces including the
ailerons, elevators and rudder are simply glued
to the wing or stabiliser. As these parts are very
exposed to accidental damage I did not fit my
control surfaces until very late in the day. The
same was true for many of the protruding photo
etch fuselage fittings, such as footsteps. Special
Hobby supplies the distinctive gun ring as two
photo etch parts. I found these parts
frustratingly difficult to assemble and i the end I
Kit No: 82117
Scale: 1/48
Type: Injection Moulded Plastic
Manufacturer: Eduard
www.eduard.com
Eduard
Bf 109G-4
ProfiPaCK
By ade Bailey
T
here seems to be a philosophy over at
Eduard of pick an aircraft type, make a
great kit, and explore as many variants as
possible. This has served them well over the
16 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
decided to scratch build my own gun ring from
brass rod. This is a simple process in which two
rings are created by wrapping the rod around
two suitably sized circular implements, one
slightly larger than the other. Four brass rod
posts were glued into predrilled holes around
the observer’s position, each at an outward
facing angle. The smaller of the two rings was
then fitted and glued inside of the posts and the
second ring likewise but at a higher position. The
posts were then trimmed to size with manicure
scissors.
The machine gun is quite a complex
construction comprising of resin and etch, and
very fiddly to construct. Finally the propeller was
assembled and fitted into position.
Four decal options are provided. All machines
have the same standard colour scheme of
varnished wood, however the instructions
suggest that the wheel covers should be painted
a grey-green colour, usually associated as a
metal primer. I suspect the covers should
actually be a linen colour, shouldn’t they? They
certainly look like it on my reference photos. I
used some of the new AK interactive dedicated
World War I paints for the linen and grey-green
years and here we have the latest gap filler in
their fine 1/48 range of 109s. Although the early
G variants differed little from the F series, for
Luftwaffe obsessives this is a nice addition,
especially with the inclusion of Foreign Service
decals.
If you’ve built any Eduard 109 before then the
cockpit construction will be very familiar, of a
main floor on which the seat, column, pedals etc.
all sit beautifully. The trim wheel mechanism is
made up of photo etch parts and requires some
more involved modelling skills than your basic
plastic to plastic cementing, although with a bit
of patience, superglue and a decent pair of
tweezers, it builds up in to a very nice looking
piece of cockpit detail. Adding the instrument
panel is straight forward and the photo etch
representation is spot on both in detail and as a
match for the RLM66 that’s used as the internal
cockpit colour. I constructed all the cockpit,
leaving only the seat belts off, and primed it in
black. I am a recent convert to Mr Surfacer 1500
as a primer as it gives a wonderful flat base on
which to spray and this was used here. The main
colour was added again using Mr Hobby RLM66
and left to dry, something that takes no time at
all with this brand of paint. I added highlights of
red, blue, yellow and white on the various knobs
and switches using a cocktail stick to bring the
cockpit to life. A wash of Tamiya black panel
accent brought out the recessed detail and then
a final post shade of lightened RLM66 in selected
primed parts. These both sprayed and brush
painted nicely although some brush painters
who are used to using paint of a thicker
consistency might not take to them.
I couldn’t get on with the decals at all. They
are very thin, but also very sticky so if you don’t
get the position right first time you have no
chance of repositioning. In frustration, I ditched
the kit decals and used an old Skybirds ’86 sheet.
Unfortunately I didn’t have any reference photos
of the options on this sheet that were suitable,
so I combined the 82 part of the serial number
from the Skybirds sheet, with an 08 part of a
Roden sheet, hence the slight silvering of the
Roden portion on some photos.
Conclusion
On the whole I enjoyed building this kit. The
kit is reasonably accurate to the drawings that I
have of the C.V although as described the model
needs some work especially to the top wing to
improve the level of accuracy. The decals were
not to my liking and neither were some of the
photo etch parts but the results speak for
themselves and I am very happy with the
finished item.
areas. The cockpit was then dulled down with
Alclad Matt Kote and fitted into the fuselage half.
The fit of the tub into the side is flawless as you
would expect, and with the photo etch belts
added the cockpit looks incredible.
Before the halves are brought together, the
exhausts have to be inserted from the inside. I
initially tacked with liquid poly then a run of
thicker tube cement, and finally a strip of
masking tape across them to prevent any issues
later when handling the front end and having
the things drop back inside, something I’ve had
with other kits in the past. The fuselage comes
together very well, just a light pass with a
sanding stick is needed to tidy the joins. A little
note of caution is the very thin and fragile piece
that makes up the seam at the top of the engine
cowl. Be very careful removing and fitting it.
Mine almost snapped and was a devil to get
seated properly in the groove, but maybe that
was just my old fingers.
With the fuselage quickly finished I turned my
attention to the wings. The first thing I noticed
when I cut the parts from the sprue is the
moulded on pitot tube, one of my pet hates.
Eduard must have cottoned on to the fact that
these will either get snapped off in minutes or
(as I do) be removed to attach at the end, as they
now include a brand new tube on the sprue –
nice touch.
As with a lot of Eduard kits, the wheel well
CZECH OUT
assembly is marvellously involved, requiring
careful gluing of interlocking parts around the
opening. It’s worth dry fitting and using liquid
poly on this stage to get a nice neat finish on
what is a lovely piece of engineering by Eduard.
Once the top halves of the wings are added,
attention switches to the equally complex
underwing area consisting of the radiators flaps
and ailerons. Again, a little time and care put
into these will result in a wonderful end product.
The radiators consist of multiple bits of photo
etch, which while only just being visible on the
finished kit, make a big difference if prying eyes
peer deep into your pride and joy.
The wings are a good fit to the fuselage with
only a little filling needed on the underside.
Likewise, the radiator assembly under the nose is
a perfect fit and within no time we’re almost
ready to begin painting. I masked the front
windscreen and rear cockpit transparency with
the masks provided and attached with a run of
liquid poly. The middle open section of the
cockpit was masked and then the tail sections
fixed on. I left the rudder off at this point to assist
in painting, more of which later.
Once I had ensured the surface was free of
blemishes, I primed with Mr Surfacer 1500 Grey
using my airbrush. I rarely use rattle can primers
these days as I think the super flat results you get
with Mr Surfacer are unbeatable along with the
subtle control the airbrush gives when priming. I
understand some will think it’s a bit of a faff, with
levelling thinners, airbrush cleaning etc. but try
it and I reckon you might just be converted.
Once primed, I preshaded the prominent panel
lines with Tamiya Flat Black and gave the wheel
wells a shot of RLM02.
I think the big selling point of this kit is the
inclusion of the Italian and Romanian marking
options alongside the regular Luftwaffe offerings
and it was the striking Romanian version I opted
for. The rudder I set aside earlier has a national
tricolour emblazoned on it which comes as two
decals, and I don’t know about you but I find
these full tail style decals are always a bit hit and
miss. It was an easy decision to ignore the decal
and paint the tail. I sprayed the whole piece in
18 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
Xtracolour X213 and then used the decal sheet
to measure the width of the stripes for the mask.
The masking strips were an easy job and the red
Xtracolour was applied, followed by the blue.
Once dry, the tail looked way better than any
decal could and this is a great opportunity to
introduce yourself to painting on the markings.
The main body was next and I began with
applying the yellow under the wing tips and
nose (actually I did it at the same time as I
painted the rudder) and that was left to dry. The
upper wings feature the standard RLM74/75
splinter scheme with a slight variation where the
Luftwaffe crosses were overpainted. This results
in a square area on the wing if you follow the
Eduard painting guide and is very simple to
reproduce using masking tape. The RLM74 went
on first and then the centre panels were post
shaded with a lightened version and then the
process was repeated using RLM75. The wing
roots were masked off and the lower
fuselage/underside were finished in RLM76.
Once dry, the tricky upper fuselage and mottling
were done. Following the Eduard guide again,
74/75/70 were applied to the upper panels and
then mottled carefully down the lower fuselage.
A tip here is not to worry if you go a little heavy
with your mottling, just go back over any areas
that don’t look right with RLM76 until you are
happy with the effect. I would also add that I left
off the front wing slats so I could spray RLM02
into the recess they slot into.
My pre decal weapon of choice is Humbrol
Clear Coat Gloss as it’s cheap, sprays well and is
easy to clean after spraying, so the whole aircraft
was given a couple of light coats and left to cure
overnight. The decals went on with zero
problems and with the application of Micro Set
and Sol they settled perfectly down into the
panel lines.
My weathering technique with this kit was
both quick and simple, a good quality Burnt
Umber oil thinned slightly with odourless
thinners applied generously into the panel lines,
rivets and recesses, left to dry for twenty
minutes, then removed with a cotton
bud/thinners combination. I find this highlights
the detail sufficiently and also very subtly dirties
up the whole aircraft. The paint/weathering was
them brought together with Alclad Matt Kote
varnish – job done!
The undercarriage construction and fitting is
very simple and precise. The engineering of the
gear legs naturally giving the splayed gait of the
109. I added brake lines to the front of the legs
prior to fitting using fuse wire and strips of
Tamiya tape.
The open cockpit transparency had already
been masked and sprayed with the external
camouflage colour during the main paint and
now required the internal frame painted. Here is
one area that Eduard could maybe address, that
of an internal canopy mask. Although making
your own isn’t the hardest job in the world, it’s
just maybe something Eduard could consider for
future products and would be the icing on the
cake for me.
Final external pieces were tacked on namely
antennas, the lovely prop, spinner and that
pesky pitot tube and it was almost done. The last
touch was an EZ Line HF aerial from the tail to
the post behind the cockpit. I must confess, I’ve
tried on several 109 kits to fit the tiny photo etch
part to the tail nub and failed miserably, opting
just to tack the line to the plastic.
A quick dry brush of Humbrol Rust powder
onto the exhausts and the kit was done.
Conclusion
If you’re a Luftwaffe fan like me then this kit is
a welcome addition to the 109 family. Crammed
with all the usual Eduard goodies, it’s a
straightforward and satisfying build with the
option to finish something other than a bog
standard Luftwaffe marked aircraft being the
biggest attraction. Everything fits and fits well,
plus you’ve always got the flexibility to go super
detailed if you wish with Eduard’s engines,
cockpits and radio compartments.
So that’s a 109E, F, G-4 and G-6 in the bag. Best
get working on that K series chaps!
 CZECH OUT

Bunny Fighter Club run in the aisles, you will render yourself BFC. This will get you a fifteen percent
susceptible to trip hazards, and our friends at permanent club discount at Eduard’s Store,
Hmmm. So here you are at Telford confronted
IPMS UK have had Health and Safety on their unique valuable club kits and accessories, even
by an enormous mountain of Eduard’s finest and
backs so we must all be on our best behaviour. better prices at the Eduard event stand and a
you find you have omitted to join the BFC? Oh
BFC t-shirt with a unique design and special
for shame. It’s not like we haven’t been Eduard will have the new Fw 190A-4 on sale
barcode, used for event discounts. This exclusive
reminding you for years. Still, here’s a tip. along with all the other excellent new releases,
t-shirt will only be available to members of BFC.
Apparently there’s a Czech gentleman knocking and no doubt lingering supplies of some of the
You’ll also get free entry at E-day so check out
out fake BFC t-shirts round the back of the Limited Editions. These are always worth getting
the website for full details.
service entrance. Nip out and cross his palm with your hands on, but some are available only to
silver and come back in and make the most of loyalty club members so if you want to be sure And keep safe around all those sharp edges
the discounts available. And I know you will be of getting these, and indeed all Eduard kits at a and solvents!
in a hurry to sate your shopping frenzy but don’t knock-down price, you simply need to join the www.eduard.com/bfc

Jan & Tony's retail counter is open at 4 Horton Parade, Horton

Road, West Drayton, Middlesex, UB7 8EP. We are open for
business Monday thru Saturday, 10.00 to16.00,
We carry a varied range of aviation related books from major
publishers, and a large range of plastic model kits &
accessories. We offer a 10% discount to ATC Squadrons, IPMS
members and genuine model clubs/societies on over the
counter sales on production of a current membership card.
We attend numerous aviation related events, flyins,
conventions and a number of model shows. We look forward
to seeing you soon. We accept major credit cards, cheques
and postal orders for mail order, which should be made
payable to AJ Aviatioon. Mail order is post free in the UK,
and at cost for our overseas customers.

RECENT KITS
AIRFIX 1/72 scale
3088 Messerschmitt Me 262A-1A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£12.99
3089 Junkers Ju 87B-2/R-2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£12.99
8018 Boeing Flying Fortess Mk.III (RAF) . . . . . . . . . . . . .£30.00
AIRFIX 1/48 scale
5133 Curtiss Tomahawk Mk.II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£20.99
5134 Hawker Sea Hurricane Mk.1b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£20.99
9183 Supermarine Walrus Mk.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£36.99
9184 Gloster Meteor F.8 (Korea) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£36.99
REVELL 1/32 scale
3928 Heinkel He 219a-0/A-2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£54.99
4948 H145M LUH KSK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£22.99
REVELL 1/48 scale
3925 Tornado F.3 ADV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£29.99
3932 IL-2 Stormovik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£36.99
REVELL 1/72 scale
3929 Airbus A.400M "Atlas" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£54.99
4956 Bell AH-1G Cobra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£17.99
RECENTLY RECEIVED BOOKS
MiG 21 Aces of the Vietnam War . . . . . . . . . .(Osprey Aces) £13.88
Grumman F6F Hellcat - F6F-3, F6F-5 . . . . .(TopDrawings) £17.99
DH.98 Mosquito in Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Sqn Signal) £14.99
The First Jet Squadron - Mirage IIIC/B 1962 -1979 . .(Isra) £23.99
The Hammers Squadon - F-4E Phantom . . . . . . . . . .(Isra) £20.99
US Navy A-4 Skyhawk - Color Photo Album . . . . .(AirDoc) £15.00
The Boeing F/A-18E/F S.Hornet & EA-18G . . .(Sam Pubs) £14.99
The Gloster Gladiator - A detailed Guide(Airframe Album) £17.99
Air Modellers Guide to Wingnut Wings - Vol. 2 . . . . .(AFV) £25.00
ASTRAL HORIZON PRESS
The Story of the MD-11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£40.00
Tiger Boeing 747 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£40.00
Cargopilot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£40.00
DC-8 & The Flying Tiger Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£40.00
AJ AVIATION PUBLISHING
Blackbushe-London’s lost airport 1942-60 - A history of RAF
Hartford Bridge 1942-44 & Blackbushe Airport 1944-60 . . .£14.99
AFTER THE BATTLE
Airfields of the Eighth Then & Now . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£27.50
Aviation Landmarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£14.95
Aerodromes of Fighter Command Then & Now . . . . . . . . . .£44.99
Invasion Airfields Then & Now . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£34.95
Stations of Costal Command Then & Now . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£37.50
The Battle of Britain Then & Now . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£59.95
The Battle of France - Then & Now . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£44.95
The Falklands War Then & Now . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£47.95
UK Airfields of the Ninth Then & Now . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£24.95
Invasion Airfields Then & Now . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£34.95
AMBERLEY PUBLISHING
Better by Design (Shaping the British Airways Brand) . . . . .£17.99
British Airways An Illustrated History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£17.99
British Airways Engineering an Airline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£18.99
Shoreham Airport An Illustrated History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£15.99
Heathrow From Tents to Terminal 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£17.99
Jet Provost - The Little Plane with the Big History . . . . . . . .£19.99
Leavesden Aerodrome - From Halifaxes to Hogwarts . . . . . .£16.99
RAF Transport Command (A Pictorial History) . . . . . . . . . . . .£14.99
The de Havilland Mosquito Through the Eyes of a Pilot . . . .£14.99
FOX TWO DETAILS & MARKINGS
No.1 Blackburn Buccaneer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£15.00
No.2 BAe Systems Harrier II GR9 & T.12
in the 21st Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£35.00
No.3 Douglas A-4 Skyhawk (The A-4 Ahit’ in
Israeli Air Force Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£22.99
No.4 Vought A-7 Corsair II (The LTV A-7E/H
Canadian Starfighters (The CF-104 & CF-104D in
The Canadian Service )1961 – 1986 . . . . . . . . . . . .30.00
LTV A-7D/K Corsair II (The ‘Sluf’ in USAF & US ANG
Service) 1968 – 1993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£26.99
US Navy Phantoms (Atlantic & Pacific Fleet Units)
1960 – 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£39.99
British Phantoms (FG Mk.1,FGR Mk.2 & f-4J(UK) in
Royal Air Force Service) 1979 – 1992 . . . . . . . . . .£39.99
CRECY
British Secret Projects Vol.1 Jet Fighter since 1950 . . . . . . . .£27.50
British Secret Projects Vol.2 Jet Bombers since 1949 . . . .£27.50
British Secret Projects Vol.5 Britains Space Shuttle . . . . . . . .£27.50
French Secret Projects Vol.1 Post War Fighters . . . . . . . . . . .£27.50
French Secret Projects Vol.2 Bombers,Patrol &
Assault Aircraft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £27.50
Famous Russian Aircraft – Ilyushin IL-28 . . . . . . . . . . .£34.95
Famous Russian Aircraft – Mikoyan Mig-17 . . . . . . . . . . . . .£39.95
Famous Russian Aircraft – Mikoyan Mig 19 . . . . . . . . . . . . .£39.95
Famous Russian Aircraft – Sukhoi Su 7/Su 17 . . . . . £50.00
Famous Russian Aircraft - Sukhoi Su 24 . . . . . . . . . . . . £39.95
Famous Russian Aircraft – Tupolev Tu 22/Tu 22M . . . . . . . £50.00
Famous Russian Aircraft – Tupolev Tu-95/Tu-142 . . . . . . . .£39.95
Forgotten Airfields of WW I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£24.95
Japanese Secret Projects Vol.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£25.00
Japanese Secret Projects Vol.2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£25.00
Wreck & Relics Lost Aviation Collections of Britain . . . . . . £18.95
Luftwaffe Secret Projects:Fighters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£29.99
Project Terminated – The Inside Story of Famous
Military Cancellations 1945 – 1990 . . . . . . . . . . . £21.95
The Boeing B-47 Stratojet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£23.95
The Boeing KC-135 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£27.95
The Lockheed Martin Hercules – A complete
History of over 50 years service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£29.95
DOUBLE UGLY
1 Israeli Phantoms – The “Kurnass” in IDF/AF
Service 1969 - 1988 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £39.99
2 Israeli Phantoms – The “Kurnass” in IDF/AF
Service 1989 until Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£39.99
3 US Navy Phantoms Atlantic & Pacific Fleet
Units 1960 – 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£39.99
4 British Phantoms FG Mk.1 & FGR Mk.2 in Royal
Navy & RAF Service 1966 – 1978 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£39.99
5 British Phantoms FG Mk.1, FGR MNk.2 & F-4HJ (UK)
In Royal Air Forcer Service 1979 – 1992 . . . . . . . .£39.99
EAM BOOKS
Junkers W 33, W 34 & K 43 (Workhorse in Peace & War . . . .£39.95
The World’s First All-Metal Airliner Junkers F 13 . . . . . . . . . .£39.95
FONTHILL
Handley Page - Forty Years on 1909-1949 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£12.99
Heathrow Airport An Illustrated History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£18.99
History of the De Havilland Vampire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£35.00
Lympe Airfield (At War and Peace) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£18.99
Rare Birds (Forgotten Aircraft of the 2nd World War . . . . . . .£25.00
SBAC Farnborough A History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£16.99
NAVAL FIGHTERS SERIES
NF90 Northrop BT-1 Dive Bomber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£29.99
NF91 McDonnell F2H-3/4 “Big Banjo” . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£29.99
NF92 Grumman F6F Hellcat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£36.99
NF96 Consolidated P2Y Ranger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£24.95
NF97 Martin PBM Mariner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£34.99
NF98 Douglas AD/A-1 Skyraider – Part 1 . . . . . . . . . . . .£37.99
NF99 Douglas AD/A-1 Skyraider – Part 2 . . . . . . . £41.99
NF100 Blue Goose – Command Aircraft of the
USN, USMC, USCG 1911 – 1961 . . . . . . . . . . . . . £30.99
NF101 Grumman S2F/S2 Tracker Part 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£41.60
NF102 Grumman S2F/S2 Tracker & WF-2/E-1B
Tracer Part 2 . . . . . . . . . . . .£43.99
NF103 Sikorsky S-43/JRS-1 Amphibian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£24.99
NF104 Brewster F 2A Buffalo & Export Variants . . . . . . . .£34.99
AIRFORCE LEGENDS SERIES
NFAF216 USAF in Vietnam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £33.99
NFAF217 Curtiss Ascender XP-55 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £15.99
NFAF218 Lockheed F-94 Starfire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£33.99
NFAF219 Republic XF-84H Thunderscreech . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£14.95
NFAF220 Northrop YF-23 ATF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£42.99
NFAF221 Consolidated Vultee XB-46 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£19.99
US NAVY SQUADRON HISTORIES SERIES
NFAF221 Consolidated Vultee XB-46 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£19.99
NSH301 Black Knights Rule – A Pictorial History of
VBF-718/VF-68A/VF-837/VF-154/VFA-154
1946 – 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£34.99
NSH302 From Bats to Rangers – A Pictorial
History of Electronic Countermeasures
Squadron two (ECMRON-2) Fleet Air
Reconnaissance Squadron two (VQ-2) . . . . . . . . .£53.99
HARPIA PUBLISHING
African MiG Vol.1 - Angola to Ivory Coast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£34.99
African MiG Vol.2 - Madagascar to Zimbabwe . . . . . . . . . . . .£34.99
Arab MiGs - Volume 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£34.99
Arab MiGs - Volume 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£34.99
Arab MiGs - Volume 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£41.99
Beyond the Horizon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£34.99
Fall of the Flying Dragon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£34.99
Flashpoint China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£18.99
Iraqi Air Force Reborn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£18.99
Iraqi Fighters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£34.99
IRIAF 2010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£34.99
Latin American Fighters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£34.99
Latin American Mirages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£34.99
Modern Chinese Air Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£34.99
Modern Israeli Air Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£34.99
Russia's Warplanes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£18.99
HAYNES WORKSHOP MANUALS
Aerospatiale / BAC Concorde 1969-2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£22.99
Avro Lancaster – 1941 onwards (all marks) . . . . . . . . . . . . .£22.99
Avro Shackleton 1949-1991 (all marks) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£25.00
Avro Vulcan – 1952 onwards (all marks) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£25.00
Bristol Blenheim 1935-1944 (all marks) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£25.00
Dam Busters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£21.99
DeHavilland Comet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£22.99
Douglas DC-3 Dakota - 1935 onwards (all Marks) . . . . . . . .£19.99
Fairey Swordfish 1934-1945 (all marks) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£21.99
Handley Page Halifax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£25.00
Heathrow Airport 1929 onwards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£22.99
RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£25.00
RAF Chinook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£22.99
Rolls-Royce Merlin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£25.00
Short Stirling 1939-1948 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£22.99
Vickers/BAC VC 10 1962 – 2013 (all marks & models) . . . . .£22.99
HIKOKI
Axis Aircraft in Latin America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£34.95
Battle Flight – RAF Air Defence Projects
& Weapons Since 1945 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£29.95
British Experimental Combat Aircraft of World War II . . . . . .£34.95
Early Soviet Jet Fighters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£34.95
Early US Jet Fighters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£29.95
Listening In - RAF Electronic
Intelligence Gathering since 1945 . . . . . . . . . . . .£29.95
On Atlas Shoulders RAF Transport Projects since 1945 . . . . .£29.95
Shadows Biafra & Nigeria Airlift 1967 – 1970 . . . . . . . . . . . .£29.95
Soviet and Russian Military Aircraft in Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . .£34.95
Soviet and Russian Aircraft in the Americas . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£34.95
Soviet and Russian Military Aircraft in Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£39.95
Soviet and Russian Military Aircraft in the Middle East . . . .£34.95
Spyflights and Overflights (Cold War Aerial
Reconnaissance Vol.1 1945 – 1960 . . . . . . . . . . . .£29.95
Thunder over the Reich Flying the
Luftwaffe’s He 162 Jet Fighter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29.95
HISTORY PRESS
BOAC (An Illustrated History) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£19.99
Heathrow 2000 years of History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£14.99
Heathrow Airport The First 25 Years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£12.99
Heathrow Cabbie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£9.99
Airwork - A History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£17.99
OSPREY AIRCRAFT OF THE ACES SERIES
125 F4F Wildcat & F6F Hellcat Aces of VF-2 . . . . . . . . .£13.99
126 Aces of the Repulic of China Air Force . . . . . . . . . .£13.99
127 Polish Spitfire Aces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£13.99
128 Aces of Jadgeschwader Nr III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£13.99
129 J2M Raiden & N1 K1/2 Shiden/Shiden-Kai . . . . . .£13.99
130 MiG-17/19 Aces od the Vietnam War . . . . . . . . . . .£13.99
131 Spitfire Aces of the Channel Front 1941-43 . . . . .£13.99
132 Jadgeschwader 53 'Pik-As' Bf 109 Aces of 1940 . .£13.99
135 MiG-21 Aces of the Vietnam War (Sept 2017) . . .£13.99
OSPREY COMBAT AIRCRAFT
112 Luftwaffe Mistel Composite Bomber Units . . . . . .£13.99
113 F-51 Mustang Units of the Korean War . . . . . . . .£13.99
114 AD Skyraider Units of the Korean War . . . . . . . . . .£13.99
115 Fw Condor Unites of the World War 2 . . . . . . . . . .£13.99
116 US Navy F-4 Phantom II Units
of the Vietnam War 1964-1968 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £13.99
117 Tempest Squadrons of the RAF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£13.99
118 He 162 Volksjager Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£13.99
119 Nakajima B5N 'Kate' & B6N 'Jill' Units . . . . . . . . . .£13.99
120 Ju 52/3m Bomber & Transport Units 1936/41 . . .£13.99
121 A-6 Intruder Units 1974-1996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£13.99
122 Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero Bomber Units £13.99
OSPREY MODELLING
World War 2 Luftwaffe Fighter Modelling . . . . . . . . . £20.00
WW2 US Army Fighter Modelling . . . . . . . . . . . . .£20.00
Aircraft Modelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£20.00
Modelling Luftwaffe Jets & Wonder Weapons . . . . . . . . .£20.00
Airbrushing & Finishing Scale Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£20.00
GUIDELINE COMBAT COLOURS
No.3 The Curtiss P-36 & P-40 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£9.95
No.4 Pearl Harbour & Beyond . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£11.95
No.7 Focke Wulf Fw190 in WW II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£15.00
No.8 Supermarine Spitfire in WW II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£15.00
No.9 Mitsubishi Zero in World War II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£16.00
GUIDELINE CAMOUFLAGE & MARKINGS
122 Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero Bomber Units £13.99
No.1 RAF Fighters 1945 – 1950 UK Based . . . . . . . . . . .£14.95
No.2 The Battle for Britain – RAF May to
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .December 1940 £14.95
No.5 RAF Fighters 1945 – 1950 Overseas . . . . . . . . . . .£17.95
No.6 Campaign for Freedon of Libya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£17.99
No.7 Israeli Air Force Pt.3 2002 – 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . .£17.99
WARPAINT BOOKS
No.8 Supermarine Spitfire in WW II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£15.00
No.91 MiG 21 Fishbed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£25.00
No.92 Grumman HU-16 Albatross . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£14.50
No.93 Messerschmitt Me 262 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£13.00
No.94 Supermaine Attacker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£13.00
No.95 Westland Sea King . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£16.00
No.96 Consolidated B-24 Liberator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£25.00
No.97 North American RA-5C Vigilante . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£15.00
No.98 Avro York . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£15.00
No.99 McDonnell F3H Demon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£15.00
No.100 Republic F-84F & RF-84F . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£17.50
No.101 de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£14.50
No.102 Convair B-36 Peacemaker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£14.50

DECEMBER 2017 • VOLUME 39 • ISSUE 10 19

P H A N TO M
The
finished fin
Or the black art
of making a
Phantom FGR.2
in 1/32
By Paul Carroll
The front
Martin Baker
Kit No: 60308
Scale: 1/32
Type: Injection Moulded Plastic
Manufacturer: Tamiya
The Hobby Company/ Tamiya USA
I
have always loved the British Phantom and to create
The starboard a FGR.2 in 1/32 has been a dream of mine for many
auxiliary intake years, so when I saw Frank Mitchell’s conversion of
the Tamiya 1/32 scale F-4J I knew I had to have a go.
That was six years ago, I think. I did not of course work
on the project full time and there were great gaps
when I had to attend to other commitments.
The dowelling
former One Christmas my dear friend Frank kindly sent me a
pair of smash moulded cans and the game was on. I
followed his method, The Frank Mitchell FGR.2 Method,
which worked very well for me. It is a lot of work and
not for the faint hearted or those short of stamina. I
made some changes of my own to Frank’s method and
I hope that if you decide to proceed with this build that
you will too. Trust me, it is possible for the modeller of
average competence, of which I am one, and the
reward is great if you last the course.
The rumour of a 1/32 F-4K from Hong Kong Models
is now beginning to show signs of life so if you get your
skates on you might just beat them to it. Having said
that, if HKM do produce one I will be one of the first at
the dockside to meet the ship.
It is of course vital to plan the sequence of events
that produce the finished beast and I urge you to
consider in advance how to vary the course proscribed
by Tamiya. The first thing to take on board is that
looking at pictures of the real FGR.2 is essential. I
referred to books on the Phantom on a daily and
nightly basis, checking details and confirming the
appearance of the particular aeroplane I had decided
to build. That aircraft was XV420, the only FGR.2 with a
slotted tail. This meant that I did not have to source a
The inner can with strips prior to set of unslotted stabilators. There are many photos of
sanding etc. this plane at various stages of its life from the pristine
to the rather tired, the latter being my finish of choice.
Important to note is that certain details vary from time
to time, stencils appear and disappear. This gives the
modeller much latitude given the lack of available
stencils for the British Phantom.
The Tamiya 1/32 F-4J is a fine kit, its only vice being
the intakes, which in this build will be modified beyond
recognition. I also obtained a Flightpath F-4 Phantom
nose, which is clearly a more accurate shape than that
in the kit. I chose to use the Black Box, now Avionix,
1/32 F-4J cockpit set, which provides a higher level of
detail than that the kit version and when used in
Both can components and the
conjunction with the Eduard F-4J interior etched set
strip with marked actuators
can result in an excellent replica. I hear Phantom
20 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
Phanatics the world over screaming in pain at the
thought of using a F-4J cockpit instead of that of a
FGR.2. It is possible with minor adjustments to come
close to that of the FGR.2 when starting from that of an
F-4J and until somebody produces an aftermarket
FGR.2 cockpit in 1/32, this is the best option.
I used Xtracolour paints for the three greys of the
airframe as I find the high quality finish they impart
second to none in durability and colour accuracy.
Trusty Humbrol paints provided the necessary palette
for all other needs, along with some Tamiya aerosols. I
also obtained the Wolfpack SUU-23/A gun pod, which
often features in photos of UK Phantoms. Wolfpack
provide two complete sets in the one pack including
the shorter, later version. Micromesh sanding cloths are
recommended.
Towards the end of the saga I found that GT Resin
Products produce an excellent belly strengthening
strap and a periscope as used on British Phantoms.
Gary Hatherly managed to send me a set in time to
incorporate into the build which was nice.
The Fin
The fin is best tackled early on as it becomes a useful
tool if you choose to model a 56 Squadron machine
with red and white chequers. It should also work with
other squadrons that use chequers on the fin. The
Tamiya fin without the top parts is the right height on
which to install the RHAW aerial unique to British
Phantoms. I stuck two pieces of 40 thou plastic card
together 5.8cm long x 1cm high, allowed it to dry and
then sanded the curves at either end to shape. I then
drew the layout to scale on paper for the chequers
including the two black RWR antennae at either end
and the top mounted UHF antenna so that I could
accurately calculate the size of the chequers etc. This
plan, once checked, provided me with an essential
measuring tool. By measuring details on photographs
and comparing them to the chequers in the same
photo I could then use my plan to provide
measurements in 1/32. For example I measured the
width of the Phoenix logo on the tail in a photo and
compared the measurement to chequers in the same
photo. By counting the squares and fractions of
squares I could then calculate how many 1/32 squares
would be the equal of the phoenix in 1/32. I then
hunted through the decal library and found that I had
two sets of 56 Squadron logos in 1/48 that would work
perfectly as 1/32 scale decals. Fortunately on the real
machine tail and nose Phoenix logos were the same
size in this instance. Using the same method I
calculated the white disc that provides the base for the
56 Squadron tail logo circle, which scales out at 1.2cm
in 1/32. I have a large scale punch and die that I used to
punch two circles from yellow masking tape
Whilst in its raw state I drilled a hole through the fin

Both can components showing
inner can ready for actuators
through which I would insert a pin to act as a mount
for the port and starboard ILS Localiser antennae,
which I would install much later. I made these
antennae from a sandwich of two 20 thou pieces of
card, sanded to an aerofoil section with a hole drilled
midway to accommodate a section of needle that
would act as a mounting dowel. The dimensions and
location of these antennae were again calculated using
the chequers method and suitable, clear photographs. I
used the Master Set for the stabiliser feel system
pressure head and pitot head for which I carefully
drilled pilot holes, the kit versions being removed. I
then sprayed the fin, including mounted RHAW, with
Halfords matt white primer and allowed to dry. I used
the disc I had already punched to mask the squadron
logo. The area where the chequers were to be
positioned was masked.
Once the masking was removed I cut squares from
an Xtradecal red decal stripe and mounted these to
create the desired 56 Squadron markings. Note that the
square at the end of each row of chequers is in fact a
rectangle being slightly larger than the true squares of
the rest of the chequer board. Careful examination of
photos will also reveal a thin white line above the top
row of chequers and below the lower row, again
Xxtradecal stripe, this time in white. The fin flash on
XV420 is red and blue and not the subdued pink and
pale blue usually seen (I used ones from the Almark
1/48 sheet for British Phantoms). It is also outlined in
thin white stripe, Xtradecal again. Don’t forget to mask
and paint the forward and rear hemisphere RWR
antennas as well as the UHF antenna (mid top) and
paint black or faded dark brown as these areas are
fibreglass.
Spey Cans
The elephant in the room is of course the
afterburner cans, such a distinct a part of the Rolls-
Royce Spey engines. I referred frequently to photos of
the cans on the RAF Museum’s FGR.2. For those of you
who are fortunate enough to be near to the RAF
Museum at Hendon in North London a visit is essential.
Otherwise travel to London and spend at least a day
there.
If you have access to a lathe then a male mould can
be turned from bass wood or similar, which, even
without the extremely subtle curve from front to rear,
will provide a satisfactory starting point. Within the
outer can a dome shaped insert forms the base for the
actuator arms. This has to be turned taking into
account the thickness of the outer can and a strip of 20
thou which will act as a shelf for the actuators so that
all fits snugly. It may all sound complicated but with
courage and imagination it can be made to happen.
When the two male moulds have been made then
smash moulding can be started. This involves heating a
P H A N TO M
The first cut into
the underside
Inner cans
mounted
and painted Marking the underside for first
cuts
The finished cuts.
sheet of polystyrene (30 or 40 thou should work) in a
domestic oven and forcing it over the male mould. If
you haven’t tried this before it takes trial and error but
it can be done. Oven gloves, the right temperature and
not too long in the oven are crucial aspects of this
operation. For those who are fortunate enough to
possess a vacform machine this part of the operation
will be a doddle.
An alternative to turned hardwood moulds is to
Insertion of
carve and sand ones from balsa wood, which is much dowelling
harder to get accurate but for those without a lathe is a
formers
possibility. I never said this build would be easy but
once you have solved the problem of the afterburner
cans the rest is easy. I was extremely fortunate to be
allowed to measure the cans on the RAF Museum’s
FGR.2 under the watchful eye of the museum’s curator
of aircraft. I have done the maths for you and can
report that the length of the finished can in 1/32 is
1.5cm and the diameter is 3cm. What more do you The port side
need to know? view as the
A third method of producing a mould is to find a fuselage takes
piece of soft wood dowelling the right diameter. shape
I did find a length of dowelling that turned out to be
exactly the right measurement for the holes at the rear
of the fuselage. I cut two lengths and used these to act
as formers for the rear of each fuselage side. I put a
screw in the centre of each of these formers as a
precaution against losing them inside the fuselage.
Once you have a satisfactory inner and outer can the
part that can challenge one’s sanity begins. The
actuators and rods are not for the faint hearted. Twenty
strips of 20 thou need to be stuck to the outside of the
inner piece, which serve as a base for the actuators.
Once these strips have dried and been sanded smooth
the inner part can be mounted inside the outer can. At
this point the shelf mentioned earlier needs to be
added so stick a piece of 20 thou strip around the top
part of the inner can so that there is about an eighth of The rear view with dowelling
formers in place
an inch sitting proud, which will serve as the shelf.
Before committing glue to plastic look at the
photographs of the real thing and decide how far in
you need to place these parts.
There are twenty actuators on each side, which need
to be cut from 20 thou. I marked each one on a strip
that I stuck to my cutting mat. I then hand cut each
actuator out after I had drilled three holes in each for
the rods. The rods, approximately 3mm, were made
from plastic rod and mounted through the holes
before gluing into the cans. Care must be taken to
complete a perfect circle. I hold my hand up - one or
two do not follow the circle perfectly.
Once you have made the two parts for each can the Marking the rings for the rear
fun starts. If it is any consolation to those that hanker interface
after the limited edition, almost mythical Wild Hare
FGR.2 conversion set, which changes hands for
enormous sums of money, you can end up with a far
Cutting the ring for the rear
interface required a little care
and attention
DECEMBER 2017 • VOLUME 39 • ISSUE 10 21
P H A N TO M
The fuselage rear with rings
mounted
better set of cans if you make them yourself!
Paint the inside of the cans/actuators matt black and
then dry brush with silver. Mask and spray the outside
with Tamiya Silver Leaf. I ghosted some Tamiya Smoke
onto some thin Xtradecal black stripes, which when
mounted on the outside of the cans gave a reasonable
impression of the lines on the real thing. The Tamiya
Smoke barely covers the carrier film of the stripe but
The underside more or less
gives a subtle variation in tone.
finished
The Cockpit
By using a combination of the Black Box F-4J cockpit
The chopstick
set and the Eduard F-4J interior set a reasonable result
sanding stick
can be obtained. For those truly expert modellers the
sky is the limit. I used the seats from the set and added
lead foil back packs peculiar to the FGR.2 Martin Bakers
crafted from wine bottle foils. I pillaged some seat belts
from the Eduard Martin Baker set, which I painted a
sort of yellowy, bronzy colour. I hand painted some of
the belts moulded onto the Black Box items. These
seats fitted the tub well but I ended up removing the
rear seat rail as it placed the seat too far forward. I
punched circles from old film stock, which I used to
replicate the glass in the radar scopes. For those
brought up on digital photography you will just have
to ask us oldies for some! The port side of the central
canopy section needs to be blanked over with some 10
thou card and a small disc made to act as a mount for
the periscope. The GT Resin periscope is great an also
be used on the F-4J (UK) Phantom. The Eduard set
Underside of front showing first ED32530 contains numerous parts with which to
enliven the cockpit area, most notably the framework
cuts
for the canopies. Incorporated in the framework are
mirrors and very delicate hooks so care must be taken.
The canopy locking system is also featured in the set.
Top of front
I dipped the transparencies in Klear and allowed
showing first cuts them to dry on a layer of kitchen towel in a sealed box.
Once dry I used a permanent black marker on the
edges of the transparencies where they were to be
glued to the frame. This prevented any unsightly glue
showing through. I used items from the Eduard F-4J set
to complete the extremely sparse Tamiya canopy
frames.
The Rear Auxiliary Air Intakes
The secret of successful auxiliary intake doors at the
rear of the fuselage is careful measuring. As they say
measure twice cut once. In this case you can’t measure
too many times given the compound curves involved.
Once marked I chain drilled the aperture and finished
with a knife and sand paper. The doors were fashioned
from 20 thou card. I built small structures behind each
opening to prevent see through, which I painted red
and grimed up with some burnt umber and black
The Stabilators
The outer intake mounted The stabilators have too much anhedral for a British
Phantom. On the real thing the anhedral was reduced
to help lift the stabilators clear from the increased heat
generated by the larger Rolls-Royce Spey engines. The
true anhedral is twenty three degrees. It is easy to
make a template from card using a protractor that will
act as a guide when securing the stabilators to the
fuselage. If you want to avoid a small gap on the
underside between the fuselage and the stabilators
Starboard intake showing
sand a little off the upper inner edge and try against
inserted strip the fuselage. The Tamiya instructions will have you
mount the stabilators unit before joining the top and
22 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
bottom fuselage pieces. I preferred to make life easy
and sawed the two stabilators free. I drilled holes for
two pieces of brass rod, which became the means by
which these parts would be secured to the fuselage
when all of the painting and assembly was complete.
.
The Rear of the Aircraft
At this point the lower wing needs to be attached to
the upper fuselage. In order to drop the rear fuselage,
various cuts need to be made and strips of plastic card
inserted. There will also be a lot of filling, sanding,
filling, rescribing etc. For this part I used a flexible
curve, an indelible black marker and a Stanley knife.
Once marked make slow deliberate cuts with the
Stanley and never apply excessive pressure. It is also
possible to finish the cuts with the tip of a razor saw.
I varied from Frank’s method by using the two
lengths of dowelling as formers inserted into the space
between the upper fuselage and lower fuselage once
these two pieces had been joined. To help things along
after the cuts have been made a pair of small pliers
judiciously applied will help bend the plastic of the
fuselage into a rounder cross-section ready for the
dowels. Pieces of plastic card cut to match the various
openings were glued in place and allowed to dry. At
this stage it may all look a bit rough but be patient. Fill,
sand, scribe, fill, sand rescribe, take medicine. It is really
a case of looking at the pictures and keeping an eye on
the shape of the rear fuselage as it emerges from this
surgery.
The jet pipes as supplied by Tamiya need to be
separated. The ends nearest the cans need to be
bevelled so that they fit into the rear of the cans when
the time comes. The outside of the two tubes need to
be sanded so that it will fit into the rings you now need
to make. These rings provide a secure and true
interface between the fuselage and the cans. Using a
compass cutter cut a disc of 20 thou card with a
diameter of 3.33cm. Then cut an inner circle from the
disc with a diameter of 2.61 cm. The inner circle is best
marked, rather than cut, with a compass cutter and the
waste removed with a knife as it becomes fragile at this
point. You will need to sand the jet pipes a lot to make
them fit these two hollow discs. The pipes should fit
tightly but should also be able to slide into the hollow
discs without too much effort.
When you feel happy remove the two dowelling
formers and secure the two rings to the gaping holes.
From this point it is a case of refining your work until
you have a beautifully formed rear FGR.2 fuselage. The
arrestor hook is larger on the British Phantom to cope
with the increased weight of the Spey engines. I chose
not to enlarge my arrestor hook as it is visually
acceptable as it is, as far as I am concerned. The five
engine bay venting louvres will, as did mine, disappear
during surgery. I replaced mine with black Xtradecal
stripes
The Front End
The modification to the front intakes is significant
and perhaps more demanding than those made to the
rear of the aircraft. The only consolation about Spey
intakes in this scale is that you should be able to get a
finger inside them to facilitate sanding. I also
manufactured a sanding stick using a chop stick, some
very coarse sand paper and superglue. With care, a lot
of sanding, superhuman patience and medicine you
can end up with intakes as good as any seamless

aftermarket set, even if there were any available of
course.
There are two aspects to the front part of fuselage,
the inner trunking of the intakes and the outer shell,
which is on show to the world. One route to saving
work would be to make a pair of FOD panels to insert
into the mouth of each intake. For those who wish to
make fully open intakes start by making cuts in the top
fuselage...
Also at this point you need to cut a piece at the rear
end of the outer intake (A1 & A2) to accommodate the
wing. Next take the same two outer intakes and make a
cut just outboard of the louvres, top and bottom, and
insert a piece of 3/16” card top and bottom. This will
provide you with the widened outer intakes.
To make the fuselage wider first tape the wing
sections together (A13 & A4) and the fuselage bottom
and tape to the fuselage top. Mark a line where the
fuselage meets the top of the wing on both sides.
Remove the lower fuselage/wing assembly. Make a cut
about 1 7/8” along this line and then another above it
between the top of the fuselage and the engine
section. This will make it possible to bend this section
out very carefully so that it will match the forward
intake sections already widened.
It is worth trying the wing and lower fuselage
section against the newly widened fuselage. The wing
should sit comfortably under the fuselage with the two
lugs fitting exactly over their securing holes. I used a
piece of thick sprue to reinforce the fuselage, which
now showed signs of a lack of structural integrity.
The inner trunking now needs to be widened. Using
strips of 3/16” cut to shape widen each inner trunk. The
next stage requires a certain amount of ‘instinctive’
modelling on the part of the modeller. By bringing the
various intake pieces, inner and outer, together you
should end up with smooth, beautifully rescribed and
widened front intakes.
Now using the sanding stick, sandpaper, fingers and
any means available sand the interior of the intake
trunking until you have a smooth set of intakes. So few
words, such a lot of sanding. Occasionally I painted the
trunking interior matt white to help track progress.
I found that constant sanding damaged the lips of
the intakes and replaced both sides with strips of - you
guessed - 3/16” card. This is tedious but you will get
there. You will inevitably lose the two locating holes for
the intake sensors so this will mean careful relocation
of these at the end of the build.
The Outer Wings
The kit’s outer wing sections have too much
dihedral, a problem easily rectified by adding a strip of
20 thou card to the top edge and filling and sanding to
shape once fitted to the inner wing. Once the outer
wings have been mounted it is time to use the
excellent GT Resin belly strap. Care must be taken to
remove as much excess from the underside of the strap
to prevent a steampunk look. Once positioned, space
has to be made for the four pylons. This requires care
not to mark the wing or remove too much resin. Simply
lay each pylon over the strap and carefully mark with
pencil before using the tip of a razor saw to cut the
necessary slot.
Assembly Notes
Once the intakes, rear fuselage and cans have been
P H A N TO M
Inner intake widened
Inner intake next to fuselage
tackled construction is reasonably straightforward.
There will be gaps where the wing joins the fuselage
and adjustments need to be made to ensure that basic
components fit. I found the seam where the wing joins
the fuselage a little weak and I think the next time I
build a Tamiya F-4 I will beef this area up a bit before
making the join. Likewise the join between the upper
and lower fuselage at the rear needs to be more firmly
dealt with.
The air conditioning system ram-air heat exchanger
intakes (A16 & A17) need to be mounted further back
than Tamiya suggest. Sand off the mounting blocks
from the fuselage and ensure that the front of these
intakes is behind the nose cone.
Weapons
The Sparrows supplied in the kit can be used as
Skyflash although I suspect that the rear fins are
slighted misshapen. I chose to use Brassin Sparrows
and even these I felt not to be quite right in the nose
area. Colour and decals need careful research. I painted
the nose of each missile light grey and then lightly over Underside of fuselage upper
sprayed with matt white, which I felt was a closer
section showing inner intake
colour to the original. with starboard outer intake
The most accurate AIM- 9L on the market is mounted
produced by Flightpath but I managed through a series
of unfortunate events, all of my own making, to make a
pig’s ear of them. I did use the Flightpath rails. Due to
time strictures I used the Trumpeter US 1/32 weapons
set to source them instead. The Wolfpack SUU- 23/A set
is fantastic, although I would advise caution in
removing the sway braces from the moulding block as
they are small, fragile and possess ballistic properties
almost undreamed of even in our art.
Paintshop
Having finished the airframe and masked the cockpit
area the final painting can be started. One last light
coat of Halfords finest grey primer followed by a very
light polishing with Micromesh and all was ready. Finished fuselage top showing
widened intake
I chose to use Tamiya Acrylic Silver Leaf aerosol to
spray the rear fuselage metallic areas. This rendered
weathering with oil paints safe and easy and once
weathered I think resulted in a reasonably used look.
There are those modellers who can handle metallic
finishes with ease. I am still on the way with that
technique.
I used preshading for the first time and found it
worked well, dark grey being my colour of choice.
I sprayed the underside Light Aircraft Grey and
allowed the paint to dry for a few days. I then masked
the nose cone and inner upper wing and applied a coat
Cockpit inserted into fuselage
of Medium Sea Grey. The same process of drying and top
careful masking was followed before the final
camouflage grey was added. I left the airframe for a
week before giving it a coat of Humbrol gloss acrylic
varnish from an aerosol. I allowed this coat two days to
dry and then applied the decals. These were sealed
with the same gloss varnish and allowed to dry. You
may wonder why I keep mentioning drying time. It is
vital to emphasise that patience will ensure that
everything is set and beyond the chance of an
accident.
I spayed the exhaust are with some diluted matt
black paint and also the round vent on either side of
the fuselage. Rear metallic area sprayed with
Tamiya Silver Leaf
DECEMBER 2017 • VOLUME 39 • ISSUE 10 23
P H A N TO M
Airframe approaching
completion with both front and
rear widened
Airframe preshaded
Starboard side view of Spey can
(Courtesy of RAF Museum)
Rear of Spey can (Courtesy
of RAF Museum)
Inner can showing actuators
(Courtesy of RAF Museum)
24 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
Decals
As you can guess sourcing the right decals was a
saga in its own right and so I will list what came from
where and for what, as best I can. There are gaps in the
stencilling and examination of photographs of the
original will reveal great inconsistencies and variation
of the same markings:
• Fantasy Printshop FP859 RAF lo-vis insignia - six
roundels
• Xtradecal XPS4 Red Stripes - chequers on tail board,
cut to size
• Xtradecal XPS1 Black Stripes - various markings
• Xtradecal XPS2 White Stripes - the gun, the T on the
fin and nose door, etc.
• Xtracdecal X32022 - RAF serial numbers for XV420
• Xtradecal X32019 Lightning stencils - various but
most importantly the two parallel squiggles on the
port side of the nose. Nobody seems to know what
these are for. I suspect emergency liquorice
bootlaces
• Almark (now sadly out of production) 1/48 F-4K/M
RAF Phantom sheet - here I found the 56 Squadron
Phoenix to be the exact size for the build.
Fortunately I have two sets thus providing enough
decals. I cut the chequer boards from one set to use
on the fin. As I had stored these decals for a period of
over twenty five years I was relieved to find they
worked perfectly. It may be that the Revell 1/48 scale
FGR.2 reissue of the Hasegawa kit has the right size
Phoenix markings given the box art, which portrays
a 56 Sqn marking. Alternatively build a different
squadron aircraft. There are many 1/32 sheets for
Lightnings that would probably work
• Almark - lo-vis RAF stripes, roundels (also out of
production)
• Verlinden dry transfers 1/32 sets 167, 168 and 169 –
black, white and red. These sets are invaluable in
such a project especially the white stencilling, which
is an important part of grey FGR.2 markings
• Eduard - although not a decal the 1/32 F-4 etch
stencil data mask is essential for the white,
honeycomb no step markings on the wings.
Measure the location, secure lightly with yellow tape
and use the short, stiff brush to apply thick white
paint in a jabbing motion. Do not load the brush
heavily
Final Details
Put simply this part of the build involved turning the
aeroplane on its back supported by two blocks of
expanded polystyrene and mounting the missiles,
tanks, gun, undercarriage and doors, auxiliary intake
doors and air brakes. Right way up again and then
cockpit canopies, angle of attack transmitter (Master)
and the rear fuel jettison. This last part is a different
shape and length on the British Phantom, but easily
sorted referring to a good reference photo.
Conclusion
I do not claim that this method covers things
completely. So much was made up as I progressed
through the build, and problem solving is a large part
of this project. It is so far from out of the box that it will
be an experience that I hope that you will find has a
profound affect on the modelling side of your life. The
list of decals is not exhaustive and much has to be
down to each individual modeller’s skill at finding
whatever can be used.
Would I do this again? No. Having said that I am very
pleased with the end result, which is not perfect but
has fulfilled my need for a big FGR.2. My next build will
be straightforward, I was thinking of scratch building a
1/24 SR71.
Select Bibliography
The British Phantom is well served with books and
photos on line. I found that I tended to refer to a few
favourites which provided enough information to help
me on my journey. Here is a modest list of my favourite
references in no particular order. I have omitted ISBN
numbers and publishers on the basis that every
modeller should be able to locate these books either
new or second hand.
• The Last of the Phantoms by Ian Black
• F-4UK Phantom 1968-1992 by Ian Black
• British Phantoms 1979-1992 by Patrick Martin
• McDonnell Douglas F-4K and
F-4M Warpaint No.31 by Steve Hazell
• RAF Phantom (Aircraft Illustrated Special) by Peter
Foster
• F-4 Phantom by Tony Holmes
• British Phantoms (Lock On No.10) by Willy Peeters
• Modelling the F-4 Phantom by Geoff Coughlin & Neil
Ashby
• Scale Modelling F-4 Phantom edited by Chris Clifford
• Phantom - Aeroguide 13 by Roger Chesneau
• F-4 Phantom by Tim McLelland
This project has taken a long time and many of my
family members and friends have borne with me. I owe
an immense debt of gratitude to Frank Mitchell who I
have the honour to call a friend, to Helen my wife for all
of her love and support and allowing our kitchen table
being used as a factory, often for weeks on end, and to
Sally my business partner and friend who let me off an
awful lot of work days. The question ‘how much longer
do you think...?’ will haunt me forever. Thanks to Andy
Simpson and Derek O’Brien at the RAF Museum for
their help and permission to use my three photos of
the rear end of the Museum’s FGR.2. Finally thanks to
Tony Cowell at Hannants, my local supermarket of
choice, for his constant support and friendship.
B LO C H M B 200
The last fight of the MB 200
By Jonathan Burns
Marcel Bloch MB 200
Kit No: 0939
Scale: 1/72
Type: Injection Moulded Plastic
Manufacturer: Smer
Hannants/Stevens International
Syrian Troubles
I
n June 1941, things were not going well for
the British Empire and Commonwealth forces,
which had been disastrously over stretched in
the Western Desert, Greece and Crete and had
therefore been soundly defeated on all three
fronts. To make matters worse, an uprising in Iraq
threatened British bases there and more
significantly, the vital sources of oil supplies. The
British bases were defended by a motley
collection of biplanes and training aircraft and
some scratched together forces. Facing them
was a strong Luftwaffe Kampfgruppe of Heinkel
111, Junkers 52 and Messerschmitt 110 aircraft
that had been permitted to transit via Vichy
controlled Syria and Lebanon.
Strategically, the most obvious course of
action was for the Empire forces to conquer
Vichy Syria and thereby cut the Axis
supply route to the insurgent and
Luftwaffe forces in Iraq. The problem
was that the Vichy forces
outnumbered them both on
the
26 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
ground and in the air. General de Gaulle
confidently predicted that many Vichy soldiers
and airmen would defect to his Free French
army. In this he was gravely mistaken as the
Vichy troops fought back resolutely, and thus his
credibility was undermined.
What resulted was a hard fought campaign
with heavy casualties on both sides. In the end,
the Vichy forces surrendered and most elected
to be repatriated to France, rather than fight
with de Gaulle. The legacy was one of extreme
bitterness and influenced the Allies’ attitude to
France, as well as on a more personal level the
thoughts of one Pilot Officer Roald Dahl, who
flew Hurricanes in the campaign.
Attack at Sea
To the already battered and much depleted
Mediterranean Fleet of the Royal Navy, providing
sea borne air cover for the invasion forces was
just one of their many responsibilities and in
consequence they endured a number of air
attacks from Vichy forces. None more strange
than on 9th June 1941 when four lumbering
aircraft, each of which resembled a cross
between a Handley-Page Harrow and a Junkers
52, bombed British destroyers and were
eventually driven off by fighters from HMS
Formidable. As in many aspects of this campaign,
accounts differ. At least one was shot down. They
didn’t appear to hit any ships and thus ended
the final combat action by the last MB 200s in
Vichy service.
MB 200 Development
The MB 200 bomber was designed in
response to a 1932 requirement by the French
Armee de l’Air. It emerged as a high winged,
all metal, cantilever monoplane aircraft
that entered service in
late 1934. By the end of 1935, around 208
aircraft were in service, equipping twelve French
bomber squadrons. The design was
subsequently sold to Czechoslovakia, where
Aero and Avia built 124 aircraft for the
Czechoslovakian Air Force starting in 1937, and
hence the subject is of interest to the prolific
Czech model industry.
When Germany took over the Sudetenland, a
number of MB 200 bombers were captured.
Some of them were pressed into second line
service by the Germans, while others were sold
to Bulgaria. The Vichy French Air Force in France
and Algeria operated them until 1943, despite
the MB 200 being by then obsolete. The only
other use of the French MB 200 in operations
was in the Levant, currently Lebanon and Syria,
though at the time a French protectorate. When
Groupe de Bombardement (GB) I/39 converted to
the Martin 167F in April 1940, its MB 200s were
transferred to the Escadrille 3/39 bomber
squadron. During the June 1941 campaign, this
squadron launched an attack on British vessels
operating off Sidon on 9th June. Of the six
planes in service, only four managed to take off
and, despite a Vichy fighter escort were
intercepted by RAF Hurricanes, or possibly Fairey
Fulmars, who shot down two of the bombers.
This was the final combat use of the MB 200,
with a single example serving at least until
November 1943 as a liaison aircraft with the Free
French forces.
The 1930s produced quite a few aircraft that
doubled in the transport and bombing roles (the
Junkers 52, Handley Page Harrow and Fw 200
Condor spring immediately to mind) and the MB
200 struck me as one of those. One could almost
imagine curtains and tables set with champagne
glasses behind the many
fuselage windows!
 B LO C H M B 200

Airframe assembled, primed in white with Note the anhedral and the extensive fuselage
yellow RLM 04 sprayed on the tail surfaces window masking

Coat of RAF Middle Stone on the upper

Complete roundels and surfaces
tail stripes now in place

The
corrugations Masking removed and
really stand out look, no colour bleed!

The side stripes show good opacity

The nose configuration is a great improvement on previous versions

Assembly
complete

The nose configuration is a great improvement on previous versions

The Kit’s Evolution
Around the model shows, under tables and on
trader’s stands, you can often find large flat and
much crushed boxes containing original editions
of the Kovozavody Prostejov (KP) kit, which
probably dates from the
1970s. In around 2011, KP
Models re-released the
kit in a much smaller, stronger box (one of the The more recent pressing provides much thinner
few instances in fact, where a re-released kit has clear parts for the whole nose section and is a
appeared in a smaller box) with new major improvement on the original parts. I
transparencies. This was a very welcome would suggest that some other manufacturers
development, as a major shortcoming of the could also rejuvenate their older toolings in this
original kit, assuming the plastic hadn’t way. The kit is still
already been flattened, was the thick and available under the
distorted separate nose and fuselage Smer label and offers
windows. a choice of markings,
including the
colourful Vichy

DECEMBER 2017 • VOLUME 39 • ISSUE 10 27

B LO C H M B 200
scheme and decals for Escadrille 3/39, which is
most attractive.
The kits comes on five sprues and the first
thing to note is that owing to the age of the
mouldings, the 166 or so parts are not
numbered on the sprues but need to be located
using the parts map on the sixth and last page of
the A4 sized instruction leaflet. Several parts,
such as engine cowlings, wheels spats and guns,
are marked not for use, and there are alternative
turrets to accommodate single and twin
defensive machine guns. There is some debate
as to whether the Vichy French aircraft actually
were armed, part of the Armistice agreement
apparently specifying that Vichy aircraft were to
fly unarmed, but my guess is that the defensive
guns would have been fitted for what was
obviously a combat mission and so I installed
them.
The newest sprue contains a very good set of
transparencies, moulded with commendable
clarity and thinness. For this there is an excellent
Eduard masking set available, and while
expensive it is well worth the purchase price.
The decal sheet is very well printed and offers
three schemes, two in plain green and one in the
attractive Vichy markings, all of which are
illustrated on a separate two sided sheet.
Colours are denoted by FS numbers where
applicable, and Humbrol equivalents.
Preparation and Assembly
The first thing that struck me was the curious
colour suggested for the interior. Described as
cream, the suggested Humbrol equivalent is 63,
which is in fact a caramel colour. I substituted
Humbrol 74 as more in keeping with the
champagne glass interior I’d
imagined, and the lighter
colour also helps
illuminate the interior,
which consists of a
respectable twenty parts,
including what are obviously rolled
up curtains to cover the interior door
openings, perhaps separating Premier Classe
from Les Autres? There is a ledge on the front
bulkhead, part 1, that needs to be removed
so that the front upper decking,
part 18, can fit
correctly. Part
8,
28 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
the wing spar, has prominent ejector pin towers
which must be ground off if the wing is to fit.
The fuselage is built up as a box section, very
much like the Airfix and Italeri Junkers 52 kits,
and despite the lack of positive location guides
goes together well if time is taken to prepare the
parts. The nose transparencies are a butt join
and given the heavy corrugations on the surface,
I didn’t fill and sand this area too heavily so as to
preserve the detail. The wings have a very thick
cross section and join to the fuselage with a
marked anhedral. I haven’t been able to confirm
from photographs whether this is accurate (the
kit plans show the wings to be level, but plans
are only one person’s interpretation of reality)
but decided to leave the configuration as it adds
to the lugubrious appearance of the aircraft.
The upper tail plane struts, parts 43, are too
short so I replaced them with Aeroclub/Contrail
strut stock. I assembled the rest of the fuselage,
wings and engine nacelles but left off the
cowlings and engines until after painting. I also
took the opportunity to drill out the ends of the
exhausts, which are fortunately round. There is a
very complicated under nose pitot assembly in
stage 13, which I completely omitted after
having tried unsuccessfully to extract the parts
from the flash, and something on the upper
wing that looks like a fuel tank vent assembly,
which (mostly) survived the painting and final
assembly stages. Armament consists of some
rather plain guns and ammunition tins, plus a
large number of fearsome looking bombs. I
added as many as the racks would take, without
any confidence that the actual aircraft could
have taken off bearing such a load.
Painting
Now the fun begins. I had
dipped all the
transparencies in clear acrylic varnish (I used
Johnson’s Klear but other varnishes are available)
and masked them using the excellent Eduard set
CX289. I sprayed the cowlings and empennage
in white primer from a rattle can, masked the
rudder, then sprayed the remainder with several
coats of Xtracolor RLM 04 Gelb, and masked the
tail surfaces carefully over the corrugations. The
undersides were sprayed Revell 23 Light Blue,
and then these were masked and the upper
surfaces sprayed in White Ensign Colourcoats
Middle Stone, which was gradually lightened
with white added to the cup, in order to achieve
a bleached effect. After that I sprayed a series of
lightened greens starting with Xtracolor X1 RAF
Green, to provide the camouflage stripes.
Several coats of acrylic varnish sealed in the
colours, after which I carefully applied the
decals. Like all East European decals these are
thin with good colour density but needed
careful handling so as not to break up. The
rudder stripes fitted fairly well, but required a bit
of touching up with some specially mixed
colours to match the decal’s red and blue. For
this scheme the instructions didn’t mention
which manufacturer’s specification decal to add
to the rudder, so I selected one at random.
After this it was a light oil wash using Paynes
Grey, a spray of Revell 2 matt varnish and then
some final assembly and pastel weathering.
Conclusion
I really enjoyed making this model from a little
known period of history and would very much
like to find out more about the campaign, for
example which aircraft attacked the MB 200
formation on 9th June 1941 and which markings
they used. Perhaps the esteemed Mr Lucas could
enlighten us?
References
Syrian Campaign 1941, Part 1 Forestalling
the Germans: Air Battles over Southern
Lebanon by Christopher F.
Shores and Christian-
Jacques Ehrengardt, Air
Pictorial, July 1970

Starboard cockpit looking forward. Upper
cockpit is overall black . Rudder pedals are
interior green and heel troughs are wood. The
wiring bundle in the lower instrument panel is
orange
Starboard cockpit port side. The cockpit is
overall dull black with interior green rudder
pedals and seat. The wear on the wooden heel
trough is evident
Starboard cockpit starboard side. The seat is
interior green as is some of the exposed sheet
metal to the right of the seat pan front. T
handle is red and some of the wiring conduit
is silver
Port cockpit instrument panel (Photo courtesy
of the NMUSAF)
F-82B Betty Jo portrait
port front (Photo
courtesy of the NMUSAF)
T
he F-82 was developed to marry two P-51
airframes and create a long range escort
fighter. Too late for World War II, F-82s were
among the first to operate over Korea. After
World War II they were operated extensively by
the Air Defense Command in the night fighter
role as replacements for the P-61 Black Widows.
A total of 273 were produced, of which only
twenty were F-82Bs. The F-82B was first flown on
31st October 1945 and the last were withdrawn
from service in December 1949
Powered by Packard built Rolls-Royce Merlin
V-1650-23/25s, the P-82B was among the fastest
of the F-82 variants, most of which were
powered by Allison V-1710-119 and V-143/145
engines. Most of the F-82Bs went to Research &
Development or training units.
The F-82B-1-NA featured here is S/N 44-
65168, named Betty Jo. On February 27-28th
1947 it flew non-stop from Hickam Field, Hawaii
to La Guardia Airport, New York City, a distance
of 5,051 miles in fourteen hours and thirty three
minutes, despite not being able to jettison three
of the four external fuel tanks. It averaged over
350mph and that was the longest non-stop
flight made by a propeller driven fighter. Initially
marked Betty Joe, the pilot, Lt-Col. Robert E.
Thacker, had the last letter removed just prior to
Port cockpit looking forward. The control
column can be seen to be black. The author
believes the red dots on the instrument faces
indicates radioactive paint was used for the
glow in the dark markings
DECEMBER 2017 • VOLUME 39 • ISSUE 10
WA L K A R O U N D
F-82B Twin Mustang
By Steve Muth
Peregrine Publishing
All photos, unless otherwise noted, are of F-82B
Betty Jo and were taken by the author with
permission of the museum staff.
the flight. Betty Jo was his wife’s name. The other
pilot was Lt. John Ard. An excellent article on the
flight appeared in the magazine Flight Journal
dated February 2006. Betty Jo was delivered to
the National Museum of the US Air Force in
1957.
Camouflage and Markings
The F-82B Betty Jo was overall natural metal
with black anti glare panels on each fuselage in
front of the windscreen. Some sources claim the
anti glare panels were olive green but an
examination of colour photos of the record flight
show them to be black. The spinners are red,
white and blue with red being the leading
colour. The words Betty Jo are red with dropped
shadows in black. The DF loops on the fuselage
spines, the serial numbers on the fin and rudder
along with the buzz numbers on the wing and
fuselage are black. The propellers are black with
yellow tips. Period photographs do not show the
skin of the aircraft to have been polished. At the
present time the struts, hubs and wheel wells
are silver. In 1947, when these planes were built,
the wheel wells were probably yellow zinc
chromate.
Port cockpit starboard side. Basic colours are
the same in each cockpit
Port cockpit port side
29
WA L K A R O U N D

Port canopy
details on the
turtle deck.
They are
overall black.
The canopy
release
handles are
yellow on the
exterior with
white on the Starboard canopy
interior and details are the same as
the recesses the port canopy details

Starboard main landing gear well

Port fuselage radiator scoop inlet. The interior

is natural aluminium

Starboard main landing gear front inboard

with coolant radiator intake details. The
landing gear and well are silver the landing Front view of the tail wheel. In the original
gear wells and the gear door interior probably The port fuselage radiator scoop outlet is photo traces of yellow zinc chromate are
should be zinc chromate green likewise unpainted visible in the well

Port side profile view of Betty Jo prior to the record flight

in 1947

XP-82 second prototype 44-83887 seen here in August 1945. Turned over to NACA in
1952 the aircraft was sold after an accident in the mid 1950s. The XP-82 prototypes and
production P-82Bs and P-82Es retained both fully equipped cockpits so that pilots could
fly the aircraft from either position, alternating control on long flights, while later night
fighter versions kept the cockpit on the left side only, placing the radar operator in the
right position
44-65168 Betty Jo with the National Advisory Committee
for Aeronautics (NACA), Cleveand, Ohio, 1952. Note the
EFQ Buzz Code, the NACA symbol on the tail and the full
serial number. The aircraft was still under the jurisdiction
of the USAF while under NACA's control and carries full
USAF National Insignia and US Air Force painted on the tail

30 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
 WA L K A R O U N D

P-82 Twin Mustang fuselages in storage at North American Aircraft in

1947 along with two FJ-1 Fury fuselages. Although some P-82B airframes
were completed before the end of World War II, most remained at the
The unique configuration of the F-82 is shown to good advantage here North American factory in California waiting for engines until 1946. As a
as Betty Jo flies in formation with herself result, none saw service during the

With licensing costs paid to Rolls-Royce

being increased by Britain after the war
North American were forced to switch
subsequent production P-82Cs and later
models to lower powered Allison engines.
It was found that Allison powered P-82
models demonstrated a lower top speed
and poorer high-altitude performance
than the earlier Merlin powered versions.
The earlier P-82B models were designated
as trainers, while the C and later models
were employed as fighters, making the P-
82 one of the few aircraft in US military
history to be faster as a trainer than the
fighter version

DECEMBER 2017 • VOLUME 39 • ISSUE 10 31

YE O V I LTO N

Ray Ball inspired to further modelling subjects

Seventy years ago one of the stars of the first Yeovilton Air Day was the Fairy Firefly, one of which, WB271, seen here, used to regularly display at
the Air Day as part of the Historic Flight. Sadly this aircraft was involved in a fatal crash at Duxford in July 2003

T
his year marks the seventieth
anniversary of the annual
Royal Naval Air Station
Yeovilton Air Day, the first of which
was held on 6th September 1947.
In those days HMS Heron (RNAS
Yeovilton) was home to Seafires
and Fireflies, both of which were
prominent in the flying display.
Also displaying that year were the
Westland Wyvern, Sea Fury, Sea
Hornet, Firebrand, Sea Vampire and
Meteor. Oh to have been there and
with my digital camera!
Fairey Firefly AS5 WB271 of the
Royal Navy Historic Flight was an
air show favourite of mine, painted
in the Korean War colours of 812
Squadron embarked on HMS Glory
at that time. This aircraft sadly
crashed at Duxford in 2003 killing
both crew members. May they rest
in peace.
The Air Day was different this
year as the traditional large role
demonstration finale could not
take place as many of the Merlins of
the Commando Helicopter Force
are undergoing a Merlin Life
Sustainment Programme, to equip
them for their new amphibious
assault role. This will see twenty five
HC3/3A airframes fitted with new
cockpit instrumentation and
having structural changes made
including a folding tail, folding
rotor blades, strengthened landing
gear and deck lashing mounts. This
fully navalised and improved
capability Commando helicopter
will be designated the Merlin HC4.
Meanwhile the Merlin HM2 gave
a role demonstration in the flying
display, particularly its search and
rescue capabilities. The Merlin HM2
is described as a maritime force
protector with advanced radar and
sonar systems to detect surface and
submarine threats. It has an
advanced avionics, ‘glass’ cockpit
and the latest touchscreen
technology for the radar and sonar
display operators. Merlin ZH857 in
the display is from 824 Naval Air
Squadron (NAS) based at RNAS
Culdrose. It looked interesting from
a model making perspective with
its add-on equipment, such as the
FLIR ball on the starboard side and
the weathered and touched-up
areas of its paintwork, breaking up
its overall Medium Sea Grey colour.
The Merlin HM2 was the first
aircraft to operate from the new
aircraft carrier, HMS Queen
Elizabeth, joining the ship during
her sea trials.
RHAS Yeovilton is home to 815
and 825 Naval Air Squadrons
equipped with the Wildcat HMA2
Maritime Attack Helicopter. This
helicopter is a direct replacement
for the Lynx but is a generation
ahead in terms of technology and
capability. Immediately noticeable
is the chin dome housing the new
Sea Spray radar equipment, giving
a 360 degree field of view. There are
also other sensors and cameras that
greatly assist the acquisition and
identification of potential threats
and aid navigation at sea and over
land. New missile systems to be
called the Sea Venom and the Sea
Martlet are being developed for the
Wildcats and should be coming
into service soon. The Wildcat looks
solid and purposeful, with a
wraparound greys camouflage
scheme.
Alongside these Naval Air
Squadrons at RNAS Yeovilton are
652, 659 and 661 Squadrons of the
Army Air Corps, with their Wildcat
AH1s, only distinguishable from the
naval variants by their lack of the
chin radar. It seems strange for
them to be in the same sea
camouflage colours when their role
is described as Battlefield
Helicopters. They are equipped for
reconnaissance, transport and
casualty evacuation duties, but can
also be armed with a gun, rocket
pods and missiles if they are
needed in a more offensive role.
With HMS Queen Elizabeth at sea,
we were hoping that a Lockheed
Martin F-35B Lightning II might be
present and be participating in the
trials, but that is not scheduled
until 2018. Meanwhile, Lockheed
Martin’s full scale model was on
display in the static line up.
Sadly, the Royal Navy Historic
Flight could not participate in the
flying display this year. Their
Hawker Sea Fury T20 VX281 was
due fly alongside the Mikoyan-
Gurevich MiG-15UTi from the
Norwegian Air Force Historical
Squadron, to commemorate the
shooting down of a MiG-15
attributed to Lt. Peter (Hoagy)

A role demonstration by a single Merlin HC3 of the Commando
Helicopter Force. All of these aircraft are undergoing a Merlin Life
Sustainment Programme, to equip them for their new amphibious
assault role. This improved capability Commando helicopter will be
designated the Merlin HC4
The maritime version, the Merlin HM2, gave a demonstration of its
search and rescue capabilities. The Merlin HM2 looks interesting with its
add-on equipment, such as the FLIR ball on the right side and the
weathered and touched-up areas of its paintwork, breaking up its overall
Medium Sea Grey colour

32 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
 YE O V I LTO N

DH
Chipmunk
T10 WK608,
another
Historic
Flight
aircraft .This
two seat
primary
trainer, in
grey and
Day-Glo
orange is
used as a
The Wildcat HMA2 Maritime Attack Helicopter gives an amazing training
demonstration of its self-defence flare systems. This helicopter is a direct aircraft on
replacement for the Lynx but is a generation ahead in terms of the flight
equipment and capability

The Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 lifts off in the hands of Flt. Lt. Ryan
Lawton, the 2017 Typhoon Display Pilot, for an exercise of movement An Apache AH1 of the Army Air Corps Attack Helicopter Display Team
and noise. The aircraft comes from 29 Squadron and is in the standard performing a role demonstration, complete with pyrotechnics to
overall Camouflage Grey scheme, devoid of even squadron markings simulate gun, rocket and Hellfire Missile attacks

Martin Baker Gloster

Meteor T7 G-JSMA/WL419
port side view

Martin Baker Gloster Meteor T7 G-JMWA/WA638 port side view

Carmichael in Sea Fury WJ232 in
August 1952 during the Korean
War. However, the aircraft was not
serviceable to fly at the show.
Also missing from the flying
display was Sea Vixen FAW2 XP924,
having been extensively damaged
in a wheels-up landing at Yeovilton,
only a few weeks before the show.
After being displayed at Duxford,
on its return to Yeovilton the
aircraft suffered a complete
hydraulics failure. Pilot,
Commander Simon Hargreaves,
performed a remarkable forced
landing, but the aircraft sustained
serious damage to the tail booms,
and warping of the engine
compartment main bulkheads. It
was good to see Foxy Lady on her
own three feet again in the static
line up, but the damage was
evident and the Fly Navy Heritage
Trust have launched an appeal to
raise the required £2-3 million
necessary to return the aircraft to
airworthiness. This task is estimated
to take three to four years.
Another Historic Flight aircraft
performing was their de Havilland
Canada Chipmunk T10 WK608. This
two seat primary trainer, in grey
and Day-Glo orange gave a lovely,
graceful display and brought back
memories of air experience flying
with the Air Cadets. I’ll always have
some affection for the Chipmunk.
The Royal Air Force contributed
to the flying programme with their
dedicated display aircraft. The Red
Arrows gave their normal precision
performance with their Hawks still
looking good. As some of their
aircraft are nearly forty years old,
their appearance and reliability is a
tribute to their support team.
Bringing the noise of the RAF
Typhoon this year is Flt. Lt. Ryan
Lawton from 29(R) Squadron at RAF
Coningsby with a display that
shows the agility and acceleration
of the aircraft. Always captivating
to watch, with inescapable noise,
they are a real sight and sound
show for the fast fighter fan.
Adding to the historical aspect of
the show was the Lancaster and a
Spitfire from the Battle of Britain
Memorial Flight. Lancaster PA474
appeared at the air show fresh from
a nine months major strip down
and maintenance programme by
the Aircraft Restoration Company at
their Stephenson Hangar at
Duxford. This also included a
complete repaint and change of
markings. She now wears the livery
of 460 Squadron (Royal Australian
Air Force) AR-L on the portside and
50 Squadron VN-T on the starboard
side. The markings commemorate
the contribution made by the RAAF
during World War II. The original
AR-L of 460 Squadron (RAAF)
operated from RAF Binbrook and
was shot down by flak with the loss
of all the crew during a daylight
raid on flying bomb sites in France
on 3rd August 1944.
From 1942 to 1944, 50 Squadron
were based at RAF Waddington.
Lancaster VN-T was flown by Flying
Officer Douglas Millikin DFC for
most of his operations. He is the
grandfather of the BBMF's current
Officer Commanding, Squadron
Leader Andy Millikin. The RAAF
commemoration is still present
with the nose art depicting a
kangaroo playing bagpipes, as the
crew contained members from
Australia and Scotland.
The Army Air Corps Attack
Helicopter Display Team were at the
show with their potent Apache AH1
performing a role demonstration

DECEMBER 2017 • VOLUME 39 • ISSUE 10 33

YE O V I LTO N
Aerobatic Champion Richard Goodwin’s
aircraft G-EWIZ is a Pitts S2S Muscle Biplane
and was home built from a factory kit
Special markings Danish Lynx with the port
side depicting a polar bear with the Northern
Lights
The Dassault Rafale M is held in high regard by
Air Day crowds for giving a magnificent
display. The aircraft is painted in a striking
white and black tiger stripe scheme
with flashes, fire and loud bangs, simulating gun,
rocket and missile strikes. The finale wall of fire
certainly brings a warm glow to the face. The
display is an amazing demonstration of the
helicopter’s ability.
Civilian Participation
For me, a real treat at the Air Day was to see
both Martin Baker ejection seat test Meteors.
Both Meteors have been in service for many
years and are kept in lovely condition, still being
used for the testing of ejection seats.
Meteor T.7 G-JSMA/WL419 is painted silver
DH Sea Vixen FAW2. XP924, known as Foxy
had been extensively damaged in a wheels-up
landing at Yeovilton, only a few weeks before
the show. It was good to see her up and about
34 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
A rare airworthy Westland Whirlwind HAR10 in
the yellow rescue colour and markings of 22
Squadron RAF made its flying display debut at
the Air Day
Westland Lynx Mk 9b of the Royal Danish Air
Force in a special scheme to mark the
retirement of the type from active service. The
starboard side depicts a lynx with the
Northern Lights
The Czech Air Force sent three L-159 ALCA
aircraft, one of which was painted in the
colours and markings of World War II ace
Frantisek Perina’s Spitfire
and Day-Glo orange. The other Meteor T.7 G-
JMWA/WA638 is painted overall gloss black and
is the oldest flying military jet aircraft in the
world. Both aircraft retain their military serial
numbers, but are owned by Martin Baker. They
differ from standard T7s by having the E1/44 tail
of the Meteor F8 and the rear cockpit has been
modified for the fitting and firing of test ejection
seats. Only the front cockpit has a covering
canopy. Both aircraft are based at Chalgrove
Airfield, a former World War II airfield in
Oxfordshire.
It has taken a while for me to warm to them,
but I have to admit to becoming a fan of the Pitts
The damaged underside panels were removed
so that interior damage could be assessed and
repaired. Hopefully, funding and engineering
NA P-51D Mustang NA P-51D Mustang 44-72035
is a true combat veteran, having served with the
USAAF’s 332 Fighter Group in Italy in 1945
Danish F16AM Fighting Falcon making a
welcome return to the Air Day. Although these
aircraft are now over thirty years old, update
programmes have kept them potent and
versatile fighter
The Czech Air Force also contributed JAS -39C
Gripen to the flying display whose
performance earned the best fixed-wing
display prize
Special. I am amazed with their aerobatic ability,
particularly when displayed in the hands of
Lauren Richardson or Rich Goodwin and it was
Rich who opened the flying display at the Air
Day. The Pitts Special was designed by Curtis
Pitts in the United States and first flew in 1945,
although in the 1960s a more powerful Pitts S2S
was designed for competition and air show
aerobatics. Rich’s aircraft G-EWIZ is a Pitts S2S
and was home built from a factory kit. It is
powered by a six cylinder, 8.5 litre engine,
producing over 300hp giving a top speed of over
200mph and capable of pulling plus 6g and
minus 5g. The Pitts is painted in a patriotic red,
white and blue scheme and bears the company
Some of the damage sustained to the
underside of the rear fuselage. Both sides of
the engine compartment were the same

The Patrouille Suisse, the official display team of the Swiss Air Force,
were impressive with their Northrop F-5E Tiger II aircraft. The F-5Es are
painted in an attractive red and white scheme with the national flag
displayed on the underside
name Anana, the current sponsor
of the aircraft.
Another former military aircraft
that was lovely to see was Westland
Whirlwind HAR10 XJ729 still
retaining it RAF overall rescue
yellow scheme in the markings of
22 Squadron. Originally produced
as an HAR.2, XJ729 first flew on
18th January 1956. It returned to
Westland Helicopters in 1961 for
upgrade to HAR.10 standard, and
then went to St Mawgan in the
search and rescue role and
continued with this until being
withdrawn in 1981. The Air Day was
the first time this helicopter
performed as a flying participant,
having only been a static visitor to
air shows in the past.
NA P-51D Mustang, 44-72035/G-
SIJJ, from the Hangar 11 Collection
at North Weald is a true combat
veteran, having served with the
USAAF’s 332 Fighter Group in Italy
in 1945. That fighter group were
also known as the Tuskegee
Airmen. The aircraft is in the Red
Tail markings of the group and is
named Tall in the Saddle as she was
in 1945.
Another old air show favourite is
the North American AD–T6 Texan
with its growling engine note as
the propeller tips go supersonic at
The Norwegian Air Force Historical Squadron’s MiG-15UTI in the Soviet
Union Red Star markings of Red 18, the personal aircraft of cosmonaut
Yuri Gagarin. The aircraft is actually a Polish licence built version (SB
Lim2A) built in 1952
high throttle settings. Texan G-
KAMY, belongs to Kennet Aviation
at North Weald and is displayed in
World War II USAAF colours of Olive
Drab upper surfaces and Neutral
Grey undersides.
Overseas Participation
One aspect of the RNAS
Yeovilton Air Day that never fails to
surprise is the quality of the
overseas air arms, particularly naval
services, that are willing to
participate in the air show. Often,
we are treated to aircraft types that
are rarely seen or aircraft in special
schemes that that have not been
displayed before in this country.
This year was no exception with
several surprises particularly from
the Royal Danish Air Force.
Operational commitments have
prevented RDAF F-16AM Fighting
Falcon’s from participating in UK air
shows for the past seven years so it
was some surprise to see this
aircraft on the flying programme.
Deliveries of the F-16 to the RDAF
began in 1980 and eventually forty
six F-16As and twelve two seat F-
16Bs were received, becoming a
common sight at air shows. In the
1990s the aircraft went through a
Mid-Life Update programme to
enhance their capabilities and forty
three of these aircraft remain in
service today. In standard F-16 Grey
colour scheme, F-16AM E-600 gave
an impressive display and looks as
good in 2017 as she did when I first
saw her at Upper Heyford in 1987.
The RDAF also sent two Westland
Super Lynx Mk90Bs to the Air Day
and sadly this was their farewell
visit as the type is being retired
from service this year. The seven
remaining Lynx Mk90Bs serve with
Eskadrille 723 at Karup and to
commemorate their service Lynx S-
191 wears a special artwork scheme
showing an arctic lynx on the right
side and a polar bear on the left
side and a depiction of the Aurora
Borealis on both sides of the cabin.
Also contributing to the fast jet
in the display was the Belgian Air
Component’s Lockheed Martin F-
16AM Fighting Falcon. In his final
year as the F-16 solo display pilot,
Captain Tom ‘Gizmo’ de Moortel
showed the versatility of the
aircraft with a range of entertaining
manoeuvres in the specially
painted display aircraft.
The French Navy,Aeronavale,
have always made welcome
appearances at the Air Day. Sadly,
their warmly expected Atlantique 2
could not attend, but we were not
too disappointed as their very
popular Dassault Rafale M role
demonstration team were there to
thrill us. The Rafale is an attractive
looking and powerful aircraft and
one of the pair is painted in a lovely
black and white tiger stripe display
scheme. The Aeronavale also
contributed one of their Westland
Lynx HAS4s to the static line up.
The Czech Air Force are also
Yeovilton supporters, this year
actually sending three Aero
Vodochody L-159 ALCAs (Advanced
Light Combat Aircraft) to the Air
Day. Two of these performed in the
flying display, whilst the third was
placed in the static display,
specially painted in the markings of
a Spitfire flown by Czech Ace
Lieutenant František Peřina, as a
tribute to the Czechoslovak airmen
DECEMBER 2017 • VOLUME 39 • ISSUE 10
YE O V I LTO N
that served with the RAF in World
War II. Additionally, a Czech Air
Force JAS-39C Gripen
demonstrated its agility in a display
routine that led to being awarded
the best fixed-wing display prize.
Another popular overseas visitor
was a MiG-15UTI in the Soviet
Union Red Star markings of Red 18,
the personal aircraft of cosmonaut
Yuri Gagarin. The aircraft is actually
a Polish licence built version (SB
Lim2A) built in 1952 and now
belonging to the Norwegian Air
Force Historical Squadron. During
the 1950s and early 1960s, the MiGs
were a common sight flying near to
the common border Norway shared
with the Soviet Union.
Closing the Air Day was the star
performance of the Patrouille
Suisse, the official display team of
the Swiss Air Force. Formed in 1964,
so one year older than the Red
Arrows, the Patrouille Suisse began
performing as a Hawker Hunter
team, before converting to the
Northrop F-5E Tiger II in 1995. They
were always impressive to watch
with a display of precision
manoeuvres. The F-5Es are painted
in an attractive red and white
scheme with the national flag
displayed on the underside.
The RNAS Yeovilton Air Day is
always good for the variety of
aircraft types it attracts, particularly
aircraft from overseas naval forces
that do not normally appear at any
other UK air show. I know many
model makers like this Air Day as
they see aircraft that attract their
attention for a future build project,
or are able to gather the reference
and detail information they want to
assist with a current build project. It
is an interesting and informative
day out.
Acknowledgements
For their kind assistance, Ray Ball and
Mike Verier express our thanks to
Tracey Clempson, Public Relations
Officer and Christine Clancey, of AHA
Events Air Day Office.
35
LIGHTNING
Cutting the Lightning
Down to Size
By Huw Morgan
Additional words, models
and photographs
by Mike Verier
Kit No: FC06
Scale: 1/144
Type: Injection Moulded Plastic
Manufacturer: Platz
Tiger Hobbies
T
here was nothing quite like
the Lightning. The only all
British Mach 2 capable fighter,
the aircraft was conceived as a
point-defence interceptor, charged
with confronting the anticipated waves of
subsonic and supersonic Soviet bombers
somewhere over the North Sea. The striking
design coupled two huge Avon engines, stacked
vertically and staggered longitudinally, with a
thin, highly swept and cambered wing of kinked,
notched delta plan form. The consequence of
the tightly packed fuselage and thin wing
construction meant that fuel capacity, and thus
endurance, was always an issue and the
Lightning was fitted with conformal belly tanks
early in its development. Later the enlarged belly
store could accommodate rocket packs or Aden
30mm cannon in the forward section. While
36 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
much of the Lightning's performance was kept
secret during its operational life, speeds of Mach
2 at 36,000ft (11,000m) and an operational
ceiling in excess of 60,000ft (18,000m) were
routine. Given its interceptor role, the
Lightning's primary armament was two air-to-air
missiles, initially the infrared guided Firestreak,
subsequently replaced by the improved Redtop,
and most variants carried two or four cannon for
close-in work.
Despite the aircraft's promise it achieved little
export success, only Saudi Arabia and Kuwait
being buyers, neither of whom might be
expected to need to respond to high-altitude
Soviet bombers. In fact the Saudis bought the
Lightning to counter incursions into its airspace
from the Yemen and Egypt, the arrival of the fast
unpainted machines rapidly ending such
trespassing. Mission achieved, the Saudis
converted their fleet into a rather incongruous
ground attack force, fitting outer wing pylons
that could be used for GP bombs or rocket
packs. Most Saudi airframes were fitted with
over wing ferry tanks but were missing the long
refuelling probe, and few carried the Firestreak
or Redtop missiles.
The Platz release of the Lightning F.6
continues their Flying Colors series whereby two
kits are packaged together with typically three
marking schemes included. This kit rather
overtakes the now rare Revell offering of the
Lightning in terms of detail, and to date is
essentially the only game in town in 1/144,
although there are hints of a series of resin
versions due from the small manufacturer
144th.co. Many modern Platz kits show their
collectible Gashapon lineage in the near press fit
of the components, although unlike true
Gashapon all the recent issues have been
unpainted.
In this issue, each of the two kits in the box
comprises twenty seven superbly moulded parts
with exceptionally fine surface detail, overall
shape is good and there are options for the over
wing ferry tanks, raised or lowered
undercarriage, and very delicate plastic nose
mounted pitot tubes and air-to-air refuelling
probes.
The Rocketeer designed decals offer three
marking options in this initial release:
• Lightning F.6 XS927/N RAF 74 Squadron
(NMF/Black Tail)

74 Squadron aircraft temporarily mounted on a
standard F-Toys stand pending something posher
• Lightning F.6 XS904/BQ RAF 11 Squadron
(Grey/Green over NMF)
• Lightning F.2a XN791/D RAF 92 Squadron
(Dark Green over NMF)
The inclusion of the F.2a is interesting since
while at first sight the airframe is the same as the
later F.6, with the large belly tank, in fact there
were distinct differences due to the interim
nature of the F.2a, which the Platz plastic doesn't
address. Aside from the invisible internal
differences in avionics, the F.2a had the original
shorter cable conduits along the fuselage sides,
didn't appear capable of carrying the over wing
tanks, and retained the two guns in the upper
nose decking, rather than in the front of the
belly tank. Backdating the kit(s) to F.2a standard
is however straightforward.
In a burst of Special Interest Group
cooperation, my SIG 144 colleague Mike Verier
and I had discussed building a Lightning
foursome. Some haggling over markings
resulted in Mike going for the kit's 74 Squadron
option and a 5 Squadron machine in grey and
red, while I took on the kit's 92 Squadron F.2a
and an F.6 represented as a Saudi F.53,
cannibalising decals from the 1/144 scale
Xtradecal sheet for the Hawker Hunter RAF and
Foreign Service (X44003) and deciding to do the
F.53 on the ground and the F.2a in flight.
With relatively few parts and the quality of the
engineering of the kits, the build process is quick
and painless, fit is generally excellent, the only
issue being with the fixings for the ventral
strakes, which are a bit clumsy. The strakes
themselves aren't quite the right shape, being
too steeply raked on the trailing edge, easily
fixed with a sanding stick.
The other area that needs some careful
attention is the canopy. True to its Gashapon
origins, the kit canopies feature heavy tabs
intended to click into recesses in the cockpit side
rails. Unfortunately these can cause serious
refraction and distortion effects and are best
removed, with careful carving of the excess
plastic and several dips in Klear giving a
reasonable, but not perfect finish. If I were to do
this again (highly likely) I think I'd attempt some
home-made vacformed versions. With the
canopy edges fettled and painted black, I
dressed up the seat for the F.53 with tape belts
and ejection handles from wire painted black
and yellow, and added a pilot from Fox One to
the F.2a seat. The canopies were attached with
acrylic glue which, when mixed with some black
paint, was used as a filler around the edges.
I left off the undercarriage, probes and tanks
for painting, and for the flying option used the
kit's purpose designed undercarriage covers,
which fit very well.
After masking the canopies and painting
Mike’s 5 Squadron
scheme awaits its
replacement
serials. The very
delicate pitot will
be the last item to
be added
them black, the airframes were prepared for
painting using Halfords primer polished with
4,000 grit abrasive. I used Mr Hobby Mr Metal
Color acrylic 218 Aluminium for the bulk of the
natural metal finish, with some Chrome Silver
211 and Stainless 213 to add variety. This brand
of paint can be buffed when dry to produce
tonal variation in colour and sheen but then
needs to be sealed before much handling. I used
several coats of brushed on Klear, which gave a
nice smooth finish for decalling. For the upper
surface green of the F.2a I used Mr Hobby H320
Green, this being a bit lighter than the
recommended H330, and more in keeping with
the scale.
The decals for the F.2a were used as per the kit
instructions, settling reasonably with MicroSol
but being very shiny. I cut the large wing walk
lines into several pieces, partly to ease handling,
but also so I could remove as much of the carrier
film as possible. The Saudi markings from the
Xtradecal sheet are of necessity a bit of a
compromise. The roundels are fine, but the RSAF
script on the fuselage is probably a bit
undersized. I needed to source the RSAF
lettering for the wing and the black codes and
tail letter from various generic sources, mostly
Ventura sheet 7252 and individual numbers
saved from identification notations on other
decal sheets.
With the decals on, both airframes can have
thin coats of semi gloss Tamiya XF-35 to blend
everything together, and very minimal
weathering before fitting the undercarriage and
painting the jet pipes in shades of stainless and
jet exhaust. For the F.2a, the missiles were
painted white with clear red noses and the Saudi
machine had M117 bombs sourced from an Arii
weapons set (42035-300) attached to home-
made plastic card pylons whose shape was
estimated from photographs. The final touch for
each is to fit a pair of the absolutely astonishing
brass pitot probes from Master to the noses to
replace the plastic kit versions.
A simple flying base was made to display the
92 Squadron F.2a using short lengths of 3mm
perspex rod to represent the jet exhausts, and
fastened into a plain sky blue base.
Mike's Pair...
Like m’learned colleague I went with one from
the box, the black tail 74 Squadron job and one
off piste in the form of 5 Squadron’s XR770, as
this showed the maximum difference in finish,
gleaming immaculate vs old 'n' weary! In terms
of the build an advantage I find of most former
Gashapon is that I can keep the primary
components separate during painting – it is so
much easier to mask and paint the fuselage
without the wings on.
DECEMBER 2017 • VOLUME 39 • ISSUE 10
LIGHTNING
As Huw notes the detail engraving is very fine
on these models and preserving it means the
thinnest of paint coats, and even then I went
back at each coat and cleared some of the panel
lines with a scriber. This is especially important
on the fuselage where the engraving is
particularly delicate.
In view of this I used Alclad metals in various
shades of aluminium over the polished primer,
masking some panels as I went. This produces a
very thin finish but of course shows any blemish
or scratch. You pays your money...
A feature of almost all Lightnings is the very
shiny nose intake ring, which fortuitously comes
as a separate part so you can get a sharp
demarcation. Helpfully the decals include the
anti glare panel too. Alclad Chrome works well,
as indeed does my trusty old tin of Humbrol 11.
Turning to the grey machine I mixed the light
grey base coat from Mr Hobby 311 FS36622 with
a touch of H77 Tyre Black. The red spine is H467
Carmine Red. Photos show this aircraft in later
life to be fairly stained and to have the forward
and aft sections of the belly tank still in natural
metal, again seemingly well-used. The main
problem I came up against is that I was unable to
find a clear picture of the top of the wing. The
MDF profile states that the wing should have a
red trailing edge, which I was unable to
corroborate. This also means that whilst I have
used the kit decal’s black wing walk lines I
suspect that they should probably be white on
this finish. The pale blue/pink roundels and fin
flash were easy enough to source but at the last
minute the decals I had planned for the serials
proved to be useless. Consequently the review
model awaits replacements as we speak.
The tooling provides some very nice
Firestreaks, which only need the tail drilling to
look good, and these were used on the natural
metal machine. The 5 Squadron aircraft on the
other hand should have the later Red Tops.
Photographs show these were often flown with
the main fins removed as apparently they had a
propensity for departing at supersonic speeds. I
had to hand an old Revell tooling which includes
them, so I was able to fettle a pair accordingly.
Replacement pylons were easily cut from
Evergreen strip sanded to an aerodynamic
profile.
In both cases Klear provided a base for the
decals and a mostly grey panel wash where
necessary. Oil paint is my preferred medium for
this as it can be almost infinitely varied in shade
and density. The final finish was sealed with
Alclad semi matt. Like Huw I marvel at the
master pitot probes and very much hope to
make some more models of the Last British Jet -
just need some good decals.
37
PREVIEW
I
n for review is the soon
to be released Kinetic
two seat Harrier.
We have beer
provided with
an unboxed
production
sample
in
advance of
its official
appearance, so a
massive thanks to Kinetic for
providing the kit. Bear in mind that the kit
has not hit the shelves of your favourite retailer
so the usual caveat applies in regards to things
changing before release.
As far as Harriers go this is the first 1/48
mainstream injected moulded two seater of the
famous jump jet, so an important release to say
the least. The only alternative for modellers in
the past was to turn to the aftermarket
conversions that have been periodically
available.
The review kit arrived in the box of the FA2,
and uses some of the sprues from the earlier kit
as well as new sprues relevant to this mark. The
new trees were quickly located and inspected.
The parts map reveals the new runners labelled
J, K and L provide the new two pit fuselage for
the T2, T4 and T8 versions, amongst other parts
needed for the type. The fuselage features a
slightly different shade of plastic than the earlier
Harriers and mirrors that found in the F-18 and
Su-33. Detail is comparable to these as well in
terms of engraved panel detail that is sharp and
well defined.
The cockpit side walls feature a good level of
detail as well and should look the part with the
cockpit tub inserted.
Three differing tail units are provided; the
short, the tall and one that includes the Radar
Warning Receiver. (See Des Brennan’s article
elsewhere in this issue for more information on this
aspect of the two seater - Editor)
Two separate nose cones are included to
depicted the Dolphin nosed R.A.F. T4. Options
for each airframe are mentioned in a box when
needed to avoid any confusion along the way.
The clear parts are very well moulded and the
Miniature Detonation Cords are etched on the
inside of the clear parts and have to be seen to
be fully appreciated. The cockpit tub oozes
38 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
Kinetic’s Two Seat Harrier
Out of the box and onto the workbench
By Rick Greenwood
detail,
with very well executed
raised tooling for the consoles and
bulkheads, although the
instrument panels are a little disappointing in
only containing a raised circle of plastic to
represent the instruments. They could easily be
improved with the addition of some Air Scale
instrument decals or the like.
Ejection seats look good and correctly feature
the horns attached to the head box to aid the
breaking of the canopy should ejection be
required. A small etched fret contains the seat
belts and wing fences and other small detail
parts.
Improvements have been made to the
notoriously difficult and challenging intake
assembly. The nose wheel bay is separated into
sections that can be added to each internal side
of the fuselage first. The modeller is then
instructed to cut the bell mouth section in half
and attach these separately. The forward part of
the gear bay is then a simple box section that
again features an amazing level of detail, but it’s
a shame much of it won't be seen on the
finished model.
New air intakes and the option of open or
closed auxiliary intake doors are provided on the
new runners as well.
The remainder of the kit consists of the wings
and undercarriage parts with some weaponry
included. These are from the older Kinetic
Harriers and as such the panel detail is not in
keeping with the fuselage. Whether this will be
an issue or not remains to be seen, but it
shouldn't be too noticeable once completed as
the upper surface of the wing is the only area
that will be really visible and this is still nicely
detailed.
No printed instructions were included
with the kit but a PDF document was
provided upon request.
These are printed in a far better format
that we have seen from Kinetic in the past
and the pictorial diagrams look less
cluttered and easier to understand.
Construction is completed in twenty three
separate stages. Colour call outs are for the
Mig range of paints but a conversion table
is included for other popular brands
on page two.
Kinetic's ethos of
providing a well
printed and
researched
decal
sheet
continues with this release and it features
markings for ten airframes,
Harrier T.8s from the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm
are provided in the overall gloss black and
overall Dark Sea Grey schemes from 899 Naval
Air Squadron. Royal Air Force T.4 machines are
also included in wrap around Dark Sea Grey and
Dark Green and the same but over Light Aircraft
Grey from 233 OCU and 4 Squadron respectively.
Individual airframes from the Spanish, Thai and
US Marine Corps make up the remainder of the
options. Comprehensive stencil data and
painting diagrams make up the last eleven
pages of the instruction booklet.
The FRS.1 and FA.2 have a reputation for
being a challenge to build, and having built both
in the past I can agree to some degree. The
wings and intakes seem to take up much of the
build time but with careful dry fitting and a
different construction sequence both build up to
be nice replicas of the real machines.
As the review kit has already graced the work
bench and construction is well under way I can
confirm the changes made to the intakes on the
T'birds have eliminated these fit issues, and with
dry fitting the wing looks to be a better fit as
well.
There is a long way to go yet but judging by
the results so far Kinetic will have successfully
filled a void in the market.
The kit will be finished as a Royal Navy jet to
complete the Sea Harrier collection. I'm looking
forward to bringing you a full build report in due
course. All we need now is a Gr.1 and 3!

ISSUE 22
Petlyakov’s Pe-2
A
nother of those I-only-
knew-it-existed-because-I-b
uilt-the-Airfix-kit types, the
Peshka (Pawn) is well deserving of a
place in the aviation hall fame
being one of those unsung types
that went everywhere and did
everything for longer than most of
its contemporaries. Regarded by
some as one of the best ground
attack aircraft of the war it was also
successful in the roles of heavy
fighter, reconnaissance and night
fighter, and with 11,427 machines
built it can claim to have been
manufactured in greater numbers
than any other twin engine design
during World War II with the
exception of the Junkers Ju 88 and
the Vickers Wellington, although it
was a faster and more
manoeuvrable machine than the
Wimpey at least! The aircraft’s
service history lasted right up until
1954 serving with Warsaw Pact
countries after the war as well as
some ad hoc service with the
Finnish Air Force when captured
examples were sold on by the
Germans for use during the
Continuation War.
The Pe-2 had the dubious
distinction of being designed in a
prison. only in the Soviet Union
under Stalin can one imagine the
existence of such a concept as the
sharashka, but this was the
informal name for secret research
and development laboratories
within the Soviet labour camp
system, the word deriving from a
Russian slang expression
sharashkina kontora, which might
equate approximately to the term
‘thieves kitchen’, in an ironic and
self-deprecating reflection of the
inmates circumstances. The
scientists and engineers in these
underground bureaus were
prisoners picked from various
camps and prisons and assigned to
work on scientific and
technological problems for the
state. Living conditions were
generally much better, but the
results of their research were
usually published under the names
AIRCRAFT In PRoFILE
By Richard Mason
of prominent Soviet scientists
without credit given to the real
authors, whose names frequently
have been forgotten
Up until 1936 Vladimir Petlyakov
had worked at the Central Aero
Hydrodynamic Institute (Tsentralniy
Aerogidrodinamicheskiy Institut or
TsAGI) under the guidance of
Russian pilots and ground crew stand in front of a Pe-2 at Poltava, Russia
Andrei Tupolev, where he was
during the first shuttle raid from Italy to Russia and return in June 1944.
involved in wing design and the
The US serviceman is TSgt. Bernard J. McGuire of 348 Bomb Squadron,
development of gliders. In 1936 he 99 Bomb Group
became a chief aircraft designer at
an aviation plant where he was
directly involved in organization
and development of Soviet metal
aircraft construction, calculating
durability of materials and theory
on designing metal wings with
multiple spars. Petlyakov assisted
in designing the first Soviet heavy
bombers, the TB-1, TB-3 and a long-
range high altitude four engine
bomber, the Pe-8. In october 1937
Petlyakov was arrested together
with Tupolev and the entire
directorate of the TsAGI on charges
of sabotage, espionage and of
aiding the Russian Fascist Party. In
1939 he was moved from prison to Pe-2s in flight. The original caption claims the date as 1940, which seems
a nKVD sharashka for aircraft unlikely given the aircraft’s timeline. Winter 1941-42 would seem more
designers near Moscow, where likely
many ex-TsAGI designers had
already been sent to work. Here he
was put in charge of a team to
develop a high altitude fighter
escort for the AnT-42 under the
designation VI-100. The first of two
prototypes flew on 22nd December
1939 and was a sophisticated
aircraft for its time, featuring a
pressurised cabin, all metal
construction, superchargers and
many electrically actuated systems.
The aircraft was displayed to
crowds watching the annual May
Day parade in 1940, apparently
within sight of the design team Finnish aircraft PE-215 seen here in June 1944. PE-301 and PE-215 were
incarcerated nearby. destroyed when Soviet aircraft bombed the Lappenranta airfield on 2nd
While the aircraft was clearly a July 1944. PE-212 was shot down in 1943, PE-213 was destroyed in an
contender production was delayed emergency landing in 1942. PE-214 was destroyed in a failed take-off
following the outbreak of the Great attempt at Härmälä on 21st May 1942, as Härmälä airfield was quite
Patriotic War when the success of short and the pilot had to try to lift off without sufficient airspeed, which
Bf 110s in the fighter bomber and caused the aircraft to stall and crash, killing the crew. PE-217 is recorded
ground attack role made it clear as having shot down a Soviet fighter in 1944. PE-216 was destroyed in a
that there was a greater need for a forced landing in 1944 while PE-211 survived the war and was
apparently still intact albeit unserviceable at Kauhava airfield in 1952
tactical bomber than for a high
AIRCRAFT In PROFILE
altitude fighter. The specification
was changed and Petlyakov's team
was given just forty five days to
redesign their aircraft as a dive
bomber. Cabin pressurization and
superchargers were deleted and
dive brakes and a bombardier's
position were added, along with
other aerodynamic refinements. A
fuselage bomb bay was added,
along with smaller bays in each
engine nacelle.
The aircraft was initially
designated PB-100, but Stalin was
impressed enough with Petlyakov
to free him, and his name was
Although planned as a dive bomber the Pe-2 never achieved great permitted to be used in the
success in the role, with more conventional ground attacks and level aircraft's designation. The first
bombing sorties achieving excellent results.
aircraft flew on 15th December
1940, rushed through production
without a prototype under severe
threats from the dictator and
deliveries to combat units began
the following spring.
The Pe-2's flying characteristics
were generally favourable once it
was airborne but it took
considerable force to pull the
elevators up to rotate the plane for
take-off. Russian night bombing
Surviving Pe-2 at the Polish Army Museum in Warsaw (Hubert missions often flew with female
Śmietanka) crew and some of the women were
not strong enough to get the
machine airborne by themselves.
When such a situation occurred,
the procedure was to have the
navigator get behind the pilot's
seat and wrap her arms around the
control wheel and help the pilot
pull the wheel back. Once the
aircraft was airborne, the navigator
returned to her duties and the pilot
continued to fly the plane without
assistance.
The aircraft’s armament was
initially insufficient. The dorsal
ShKAS machine gun had a very
high rate of fire but its 7.62mm
rounds proved inadequate against
the armour protection of modern
Another of the few surviving airframes is this Pe-2FT, identity unknown, fighters and in addition it
on display at the Russian Air Force Museum, Monino frequently jammed. The mounting
for the ventral Berezin UB had a very
limited field of fire and the gun was
equally unreliable. To give more
protection, another ShKAS was
added that could be moved
between sockets on both sides of
the fuselage and, in an emergency,
the gunner could fire upwards, but
in this case they had to be quite
strong to keep it in their arms. To
improve the bomber's defences, a
dorsal Berezin UBT 12.7mm was
mounted. This modification was
reported to increase the life
expectancy of a Pe-2 from twenty
sorties to fifty four in the
dangerous airspace over the
Eastern Front.
The aircraft did not show its true
A closer examination of the twin tail configuration of the Polish Army
potential until the end of 1941,
Museum’s machine (Bene Riobó)
after the Soviet Air Force had a
chance to regroup following the
initial impact of Operation
Barbarossa. The Pe-2 quickly
proved itself to be a highly capable
aircraft, able to elude the
Luftwaffe's interceptors and
allowing their crews to develop
great accuracy with their bombing.
Surviving records of 16 and 39
BAPs of the Western Front Air Force
record that despite the general
carnage suffered in the summer
invasion Pe-2 crews had
considerable success in repelling
the attacks of enemy fighters in
June and July 1941, while on the
Southern Front a bombing mission
against Ploiesti in Romania by six
Pe-2s was a great success with
552,150lbs of petroleum burnt in
the raid. The Romanian information
agency claimed that at least one
hundred Soviet planes had
bombed Ploiesti.
Operations were not always
successful and service pilots
complained about insufficient
defensive armament and
survivability as there was a great
risk of fire and insufficient armour
protection, especially for the
navigators and gunners. German
pilots soon discovered the limited
sighting angles of the ventral gun
mounting and its poor reliability -
the ammunition belt of the UBT
machine-gun often jammed after
the first burst of fire when shooting
in extreme positions. Throughout
1942 the design was steadily
refined and improved, in direct
consultation with pilots who were
actually flying them in combat,
while improved armour protection
and a fifth ShKAS machine-gun was
installed and the fuel tanks
modified.
In December 1942 General Turkel
of the Soviet Air Force estimated
the life expectancy of a Pe-2 at
thirty combat flights. Most losses
were at the hands of the thinly
stretched German fighter groups,
which continued to inflict
significant losses even in the
closing months of the war. In the
Baltic, where JG54 Grünherz were
the main opposition, despite being
greatly outnumbered, the Soviet 1
Gv BAK lost eighty six Pe-2s to
German fighters between 23rd July
1944 and 8th February 1945.
The Pe-3 was the long-range,
night fighter version, initially used
for daylight ground attack missions
during the Battle of Moscow, until
this proved to be costly as the
aircraft was unarmoured. Armour
and additional guns were
retrofitted to existing airframes, but
the evacuation of the sole factory
building the Pe-3 in October 1941
limited the number of aircraft

available and many units of the
Soviet Air Forces flying the machine
were either disbanded or
converted to other aircraft.
A crash development program
had begun after the July 1941
German night bombing of Moscow
to field a night fighter with heavy
armament and long endurance. The
order only authorized four days to
modify the aircraft's fuel, armament
and radio systems, but this
deadline was met when the
modified aircraft made its first flight
on 7th August and it passed its
manufacturer's trials the following
day.
Three additional fuel tanks with a
capacity of 700 litres were fitted in
the prototype, one in the fuselage
bomb bay and the other two
replaced the ventral gunner's
position. The nose armament was
reinforced with an additional
12.7mm (0.50”) Berezin UBK
machine gun and a fixed 7.62mm
(0.3”) ShKAS machine gun was
added in the tail cone. Removal of
two of the fuselage bomb racks
reduced the maximum bomb load
to 700kg (1,543lb). The dive brakes
under the wings were also
removed.
During testing the aircraft
demonstrated a maximum speed of
530km/h (329mph) at 5,000 meters
(1,6404') and a range of 2,150km
(1,336 miles). This was considered
adequate and on 14th August
Factory No. 39 in Moscow was
ordered to build five preproduction
aircraft for delivery by 25th August.
Slightly more extensive testing
of a preproduction aircraft was
done by the Air Force Scientific Test
Institute, which confirmed the
initial performance figures but
revealed other problems. The lower
nose Plexiglas windows cracked
when the lower UBK machine gun
was fired, a problem initially cured
by replacing some of the glazing
with a duralumin skin, but this also
proved to be too weak, and was
itself later replaced by a steel panel.
Preproduction testing also
identified several other specific
weaknesses that had to be
corrected on the production line.
The Pe-3's offensive firepower was
still too weak and a 20mm (0.79”)
ShVAK cannon was added while the
dorsal gun was replaced by a
12.7mm Berezin UBT machine gun.
The first Pe-3s were issued to 95
High Speed Bomber Regiment in
the Moscow Military District and
the regiment's experiences with the
aircraft revealed other problems.
Firing the guns at night dazzled the
pilot and destroyed his night vision
and the glare from searchlights
through the glazing on the lower
AIRCRAFT IN PROFILe
nose also blinded the pilot. Crews
complained that the lack of frontal
armour made them vulnerable to
defensive fire from German
bombers. Flash hiders installed on
the guns and curtains covering the
windows cured the first problems,
but the lack of armour could not be
rectified immediately. Many aircraft
were fitted with launchers for four
to six RS-82 and RS-132 rockets for
ground-attack missions while
another common addition was a
launcher for DAG-10 aerial
grenades mounted in the tail.
The Petlyakov design bureau
addressed these concerns in This aircraft is on display in the town of Bugulma in the Republic of
Tatarstan, Russia. Note the dive brakes, which were removed from Pe-3
September and they were tested in
the Pe-3bis. The armament was
upgraded and frontal armour was
installed while the navigator's seat
armour was thickened. Automatic
leading edge slats were fitted and
the nitrogen fuel tank
pressurization system was replaced
by one that used inert gases from
the engine exhaust. The crash
pylon was moved forward and the
cockpit canopy shortened.
The Gneiss-2 airborne radar was
evaluated in the Pe-3 beginning in
July 1942 and it was sent to both
Moscow and Stalingrad for combat
trials in late 1942. Another round of
trials was conducted by aircraft of 2 Many female aircrew were employed on the Pe-2, especially on night
Guards Fighter Corps of the PVO in bombing missions. Captain Mariya Dolina was squadron commander of
Leningrad between February and 125 Marina N. Raskova Borisov Guards Dive Bomber Regiment. She was
May 1943 and it was approved for active primarily on the first Baltic Front. On 18th August 1945 Dolina was
service the next month, although awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union
very few appear to have been
deployed as only fifteen were fitted
on Pe-3s.
In 1941, after the outbreak of the
Continuation War, Finland
purchased six captured Pe-2 aircraft
from Germany. These arrived at the
State Aircraft Factory facilities at
Härmälä in January 1942, where the
airframes were overhauled and
given Finnish serial numbers. The
seventh Pe-2 was bought from the
Pe-2 in winter distemper. The aircraft served throughout the war on all
Germans in January 1944, and it
fronts, even seeing service against the Japanese in Manchuria in 1945
was flown to Finland at the end of
the month.
It was initially planned to use
these planes as dive bombers with
1 Flight of LeLv 48, which began to
receive its aircraft in July 1942, but
during training it was found that
this put too much strain on the
engines and so in Finnish service
the role of the aircraft was changed
to long-range photographic and
visual reconnaissance missions for
the Army General Headquarters.
These sorties began in late 1942,
and were often flown with two
250kg (551lb) bombs for In December 1942 General Turkel of the Soviet Air Force estimated the
harassment bombing and in order life expectancy of a Pe-2 at thirty combat flights. Most losses were at the
to cover the true purpose of hands of the thinly stretched German fighter groups, which continued to
missions. inflict significant losses even in the closing months of the war. Several
Soviet satellites flew the type after the war, when it became known by
By the time the Soviet fourth
the NATO reporting name Buck
strategic offensive started in June
AIRCRAFT IN PROFILE

AMT-4 Green AMT-6 Black AII Light Blue MK-7 White AMT-1 Light Greyish AMT-12 Dark Grey AMT-7 Greyish Blue
(71.301 AMT-4 (71.251 (71.317 AII Sv Gol (71.001 White) Brown (71.308 AMT-12 (71.318 AMT-7
Camouflage Green) NATO Black) Light Blue) (71.320 AMT-1 Light Dark Grey) Greyish Blue)
Greyish Brown)

Petlyakov Pe-2 Series 17, Bort 43, attached to an unidentified unit, opening stages of Operation Barbarossa, July 1941. The aircraft is finished in the
standard two-tone upper scheme consisting of AMT-4 Green (71.301 AMT-4 Camouflage Green) and AMT-6 Black (71.251 NATO Black). The undersides are
(probably) finished in AII Light Blue (71.317 AII Sv Gol Light Blue), although they may be in AMT-7 Greyish Blue (71.318 AMT-7 Greyish Blue). The bort number
is in White.

Petlyakov Pe-3 Series 1, Bort 3, flown by Captain A. Ostaev, 208th SBAP, 6th IAK, Moscow Air Defence, winter 1941. The aircraft is probably finished in the standard Green
and Black scheme, although for winter operations, a heavy coat of MK-7 White (71.001 White) distemper. The undersides are in AII Light Blue (71.317 AII Sv Gol Light Blue). Again,
this colour could also be AMT-7 Greyish Blue (71.318 AMT-7 Greyish Blue), as AII Light Blue remained in use for a period in the early stages of the war until fully replaced by AMT-7.
The bort number is in Medium Blue.

Petlyakov Pe-2 Series 115, Bort 17/6, thought to be operated by the 3rd SBAP, circa 1944. Photographic informations suggests that the finish here
is in the pre-July 1943 finish of AMT-4 Green (71.301 AMT-4 Camouflage Green) and AMT-6 Black (71.251 NATO Black). Areas of AMT-1 Light Greyish
Brown (71.320 AMT-1 Light Greyish Brown) have been added to bring the finish more in line with official instruction. Directives laid down in July 1943,
and implemented from August 1943 onwards, stipulated that upper surfaces of non-fighter aircraft were to be painted in AMT-1 Light Brown, AMT-4
Green, AMT-12 Dark Grey, with undersides finished in AMT-7 Light Blue. AMT-6 Black was to be discarded. The bort number is in White. The starboard
fin carries a second bort number (6) on it’s inner face in White. The trailing edge of the rudder trim tabs is in White.

Petlyakov Pe-2 Series 205, Bort 23, operated by the 16th Vozdushnye Armiya (16th Air Army), 1943. The aircraft carries the new finish as laid down in the July 1943
directives. Colours are an overall finish of AMT-1 Light Greyish Brown (71.320 AMT-1 Light Greyish Brown) and a disruptive scheme of AMT-4 Green (71.301 AMT-4 Camouflage
Green) and AMT-12 Dark Grey (71.308 AMT-12 Dark Grey). The undersides are in AMT-7 Greyish Blue (71.318 AMT-7 Greyish Blue). The spinners are assumed to be in Black. The fin
bands are in Yellow, with the bort number in White.

For more details on Vallejo’s excellent range of colours,

please visit their website at: http://www.acrylicosvallejo.com
AIRCRAFT IN PROFILE
AIRCRAFT IN PROFILE

Petlyakov Pe-2FT Series 359 (B-32), LV-11, attached to the 1.Letka, Bombardovaciho Pluk, Ceskoslovenské Letectvo based at Plzen-Bory, 1946. Designated the B-32, and
nicknamed the Stone Flower, Czech Pe-2’s reportedly carried two schemes; Blue Grey, (similar to AMT-11 Blue Grey (71.304 Blue Grey)), or Dark Green (similar to BS 241 RAF Dark
Green (71.324 BS Dark Green)). The former is carried here. In both cases, the undersides are in AMT-7 Greyish Blue (71.318 AMT-7 Greyish Blue). The nose carries the crest of No.311
(Czech) Squadron, RAF, so applied because many of the units crews served with that squadron during the Second World War. Note that the King’s crown has been overpainted.

Petlyakov Pe-2 Series 359, ‘10’, operated by the Bulgarski Vozdushni Voiski (Bulgarian Air Army), 1946. Photographs of Bulgarian Pe-2’s seem to be a bit thin on the ground,
despite the fact that a total of 98 of the type were operated. Being from ex-Soviet stocks, it appears that the aircraft is finished in AMT-1 Light Greyish Brown (71.320 AMT-1 Light
Greyish Brown) with AMT-4 Green (71.301 AMT-4 Camouflage Green) and AMT-12 Dark Grey (71.308 AMT-12 Dark Grey). The undersides are in AMT-7 Greyish Blue (71.318 AMT-7
Greyish Blue). The post-Axis national insignia style shown was used between 1944 and 1946, when it was replaced with the red star and roundel style which remained until 1992.
The aircraft number is in Yellow. A number of Bulgarian Pe-2’s were passed over to Yugoslavia in 1947.

Petlyakov Pe-2 Series 359, code unknown, operated by the 7th Putk Bombowcov Nurkijacych (Dive Bomber Air Regiment), Lotnictwo Wojska Polskiego (Air Force of the
Polish Army), based at Lawica. Polish Pe-2’s carried a solid top colour, and this is estimated to be in overall AMT-4 Green (71.301 AMT-4 Camouflage Green), with the undersides
in AMT-7 Greyish Blue (71.318 AMT-7 Greyish Blue). The aircraft trim is in Red and White. The spinners are estimated to be in Red. Like their counterparts in Czechoslovakia, Polish
Pe-2’s soldiered on until the 1950’s until they, along with Tu-2’s, were replaced with the Ilyushin Il-28 Beagle.
Solid Red- 1920’s to 1943 Solid Red- Black outline- White outline- Yellow outline- Kremlin star- Victory Star-
1920’s to 1943 1942-1945 1942-1945. White outline- 1944-onwards
Uncommon 1942-1945.
Also seen with
Red outline to
White border.

AMT-4 Green AMT-1 Light Greyish AMT-12 Dark Grey AMT-7 Greyish Blue AMT-11 Blue Grey Greyish Blue Red
(71.301 AMT-4 Brown (71.308 AMT-12 (71.318 AMT-7 (71.304 AMT-11 (71.051 (71.084
Camouflage Green) (71.320 AMT-1 Light Dark Grey) Greyish Blue) Blue Grey) Barley Grey*) Fire Red)
Greyish Brown)
*Denotes approximate colour match

Petlyakov Pe-2 Series 359, ‘12’, possibly operated by the 4th Putk Bombowcov Nurkijacych (Dive Bomber Air Regiment), Lotnictwo Wojska Polskiego (Air Force of the
Polish Army), based at Lawica. A small number of Polish Pe-2’s were finished in a solid overall colour of a Greyish Blue. It is estimated that this colour is something similar to
Vallejo 71.051 Barley Grey*. The codes are in Dark Blue, with the spinners in Red with White banding.
 AIRCRAFT IN PROFILE

AMT-4 Green AMT-6 Black

(71.301 AMT-4 (71.251
Camouflage Green) NATO Black)

AMT-1 Light Greyish

Brown
(71.320 AMT-1 Light
Greyish Brown)

Early two tone upper

(from June 1941)- Type 1 three tone upper
Green/Black (from July 1943)-
Light Blue Light Greyish Brown/
undersides Green/Dark Grey
Light Blue
undersides
AMT-12 Dark Grey
(71.308 AMT-12
Dark Grey)

Type 2 three tone upper

(from July 1943)-
Light Greyish Brown/ AMT-11 Blue Grey
Green/Dark Grey (71.304 AMT-11
Light Blue Blue Grey)
undersides

Later two tone upper

(from early 1945)-
Grey Blue/ Dark Grey
Light Blue
Musta (Black) undersides
(Vallejo 71.057
Black)
Oliivin vihrea
(Olive Green) Vaaleen sininen
(Vallejo 71.092 DN-vari
Medium Green*) (Light Blue)
(Vallejo 71.046 Pale
Grey Blue

Finland upper-
Olive Green/
Black
Pale Grey Blue
undersides

Finland lower-
Olive Green/
Black
Pale Grey Blue
undersides

For more details on Vallejo’s excellent range of colours,

please visit their website at: http://www.acrylicosvallejo.com
AIRCRAFT IN PROFILE

Petlyakov Pe-2 Series 31

Petlyakov Pe-2 Series 31

Petlyakov Pe-2 Series 359

Petlyakov Pe-2 Series 31

Petlyakov Pe-2 Series 359

 AIRCRAFT IN PROFILE

Petlyakov Pe-2 Series 359

All drawings are to 1:72nd scale. To convert

to 1/48th, enlarge 150%.
Metres
Feet

Petlyakov Pe-2 Series 359

Petlyakov Pe-2 Series 31

Petlyakov Pe-2 Series 31

AIRCRAFT IN PROFILE
1944, the secondary bombing role had already
ended and the surviving Pe-2s began to be used
solely for photographic reconnaissance flights in
order to locate enemy troop concentrations.
These vital missions were flown successfully,
allowing both artillery and elements of the
Finnish Air Force and the Luftwaffe to make
accurate strikes against Soviet formations
preparing for attack, and having a significant
impact on the outcome of the battle of Tali-
Ihantala, where the Soviet advance was halted.
During the Continuation War, three Pe-2s
were lost in accidents or technical failures, one
was destroyed in bombing of Lappeenranta
airfield, one was shot down by Soviet fighters
and one went missing in action. In the Lapland
War the only remaining machine flew a single
reconnaissance sortie in October 1944. On
average, the aircraft flew some ninety four hours
per plane during the war. A single Pe-3 was
captured by the Finns when it had to make a
forced landing in marshy ground near Lake Inari
on 28th November 1942. It was relatively
undamaged and was recovered, repaired and
placed into service as PE-301. It served with
PLeLv 48 and was converted into a photo-
reconnaissance aircraft in 1944 before being
destroyed by a Soviet bombing raid on the
airfield at Lappeenranta on 2nd July 1944. By
then, it had flown over 222 hours in Finnish
service. Finnish aircraft were given the Finnish
serial numbers PE-211 to PE-217.
The Czechoslovakian Air Force operated some
Pe-2FT aircraft in 1 Czechoslovakian Mixed Air
Division in the Soviet Union (1. československá
smíšená letecká divize v SSSR). These aircraft were
used operationally from 14th April 1945.
Following the end of World War II the Pe-2
saw service with a number of Soviet satellites as
well as the People's Republic of China, where
they served with the People's Liberation Army
Air Force. Warsaw Pact users included the
Bulgarian Air Force, Poland, where they served
with both Army and Naval aviation units, and
Hungary. The postwar Czechoslovakian Air Force
operated thirty two Pe-2FTs and three UPe-2s
between May 1946 and mid 1951 with the first
The three man crew of a Pe-2 prepare for another sortie. Inside the aircraft the radio operator sat
just behind the pilot, manning the dorsal turret but
aircraft delivered to Prague-Kbely airfield in April
1946 where they formed two squadrons of 25
Air Regiment in Havlíčkův Brod. Czechoslovakian
aircraft were known under the designations B-32
(Pe-2FT) and CB-32 (UPe-2).
The Yugoslav Air Force operated 123 Pe-2FTs
and nine UPe-2s between 1945 and 1954.
Surviving aircraft can be found in the
Bulgarian National Aviation Museum in
Krumovo, the Norwegian Aviation Museum in
Bodø, the Museum of the Polish Army in Warsaw
and the Central Air Force Museum in Monino.
In summary the Pe-2 is a fascinating and
thoroughly deserving subject for the modeller’s
attention, but one filled with pitfalls that this
brief summary does not pretend to address.
Some available kits take a generic approach to
the subject and the many mods and upgrades
that characterised the aircraft in service will
need to be researched in some depth if they are
to be presented accurately. Of course you can
always just bang a kit together and stick some
transfers on it and as long as you don’t stick it on
the Internet who will ever be the wiser...?
Variants
PB-100 Prototype of the Pe-2 modified from the
VI-100 in 1940
Pe-2 First production variant
Pe-2B Standard bomber version from 1944
Pe-2D Three-seat bomber version, powered by
two VK-107A piston engines
Pe-2FT Main production variant. In
Czechoslovakia known as the B-32. Improved
defensive armament (7.62mm machine gun in
dorsal turret), removal of the dive brakes and an
uprated engine. Nose glazing was also reduced.
While the designation Pe-2FT is widely accepted
and repeated there is some doubt as to whether
or not it was actually used in reality
Pe-2I Improved version designed by Vladimir
Myasishchev featuring VK-107 engines, revised
wing profile and remote-controlled tail gun.
Could carry 1,000kg (2,204lb) bombs. Five
examples built
Pe-2K Radial engined version built in small
numbers
Pe-2K RD-1 One Pe-2K equipped with an
additional 300kg (661lb) Glushko RD-1 rocket
engine installed in the tail of the aircraft
Pe-2M Version of Pe-2I with heavier armament
Pe-2MV Armed with 20mm ShVAK cannons and
two 12.7mm (0.5”) guns in an under fuselage
gondola, along with one 7.62mm (0.3”) machine
gun in the dorsal turret
Pe-2R Three seat photo reconnaissance version
with larger fuel tanks and extended range
Pe-2S Two seat training version
Pe-2Sh PB-100 prototype fitted with two 20mm
ShVAK cannons and a single 12.7mm (0.5”)
machine gun beneath the fuselage
Pe-2VI High altitude fighter version
Pe-2UTI (UPe-2) Dedicated trainer version. Built
in Czechoslovakia as the CB-32
Pe-2 Paravan Anti barrage balloon version
Pe-3 Long-range night fighter version. 207 built
Pe-3bis Upgraded version put into production
in 1942. 152 built
Pe-3M Designation sometimes associated with
the 1944 production aircraft
Pe-4 As Pe-2 except with Klimov VK-105PF
engines
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
Crew: Three; pilot, navigator, gunner
Length: 12.66m (41' 6”)
Wingspan: 17.16m (56' 3”)
Height: 3.5m (11' 6”)
Wing area: 40.5m² (436'²)
Empty weight: 5,875kg (12,952lb)
Loaded weight: 7,563kg (16,639lb)
Maximum take-off weight: 8,495kg
(18,728lb)
Powerplant: 2 Klimov M-105PF liquid cooled
V-12, 903kW (1,210hp) each
PERFORMANCE
Maximum speed: 580km/h (360mph)
Range: 1,160km (721 miles)
Service ceiling 8,800m (28,870')
ARMAMENT
Guns: 2 7.62mm (0.3i”) fixed ShKAS
machine guns in the nose, one replaced
by a 12.7mm (0.5”) Berezin UB on later
versions
2 rearward firing 7.62mm (0.3”) ShKAS
From the middle of 1942 defensive
armament included a Berezin UB
machine gun in the upper bombardier's
turret, one Berezin UB in the gunner's
ventral hatch and one ShKAS, which
could be fired by a gunner from port,
starboard or upper mountings
Some aircraft were also equipped with a
DAG-10 launcher, firing AG-2 parachute
timed grenades
Bombs: 1,600kg (3,520lb) of bombs
 AIRCRAFT IN PROFILE

Mast offset to port 12.7 UBT machine gun on FT mount replaced

7.62mm ShKAS machine gun and TSS-1 mount
Windows of earlier variants

Petlyakov Pe-2 Series 83

Exhaust collector
Louvres
Mast on centreline Small balance vanes x 2

Petlyakov Pe-2 Series 110

Windows deleted Wooden skinned rear fuselage

Petlyakov Pe-2 Series 115

Petlyakov Pe-2 Series 140

Louvres deleted
Mast repositioned Large single balance vane

Petlyakov Pe-2 Series 205

Intake deleted

The surviving D-3801 in French

markings masquerading as a M.S.406

Petlyakov Pe-2 Series 359

Multiple exhausts
AIRCRAFT IN PROfILE
Building the Peshka
I
n recent years we have had a
number of kits of the Pe-2,
chiefly in 1/72, but certainly
more than one might suppose.
Sadly nothing in 1/32 yet, but as
the remaining unkitted marks of
Spitfire dwindles and the industry
ceases to sell them at the rate they
expected, then who knows what
may be possible once 3D printers
become household items and all
we need them to sell us are plans...
In 1/144.
So far the new technology has
only embraced 1/144, and the only
kits of the Pe-2 in the smaller scales
we can find are 3D wargaming
productions by Decapod, who offer
the type in 1/900, 1/285, 1/240,
1/200 and 1/144, this latter with or
without undercarriage. These are
solid 3D models so for those who
don’t hold with decals or painting
for transparencies there will be a
little real modelling to be
undertaken. As a basis for a model
it certainly seems to be better than
nothing - SIG 144, the challenge is
extended!
After this, of course, the extent of
toolings available in 1/72 render us
spoon-fed by comparison. Oldest
and probably best known certainly
in the UK is the Airfix kit, which
dates from 1973 and is everything
one would expect of a tooling of
this vintage. More recently the
Zvezda kit, dating from 1995,
offered a step up in terms of
tooling, and this has been reboxed
by Italeri. Regarded by some as one
of the most accurate in shape, the
kit lacks the kind of detail we have
come to expect today but is very
much a contender. Latterly a series
of kits from UM Models has offered
eight different boxings in the scale,
and for those wanting consistency
across a collection this may well be
the way to go. The kits are well-
detailed with full interiors, possibly
a little limited run in their
presentation but by all accounts
offer a good replica in an
uncrowded marketplace if one is
looking to build a few.
Both Zlinek and Gran released
kits in 1/72, neither particularly
easy to find these days, while
HobbyBoss released the Pe-2 in
their easy kit range. This offers
thirty five pieces and includes a one
piece wing and upper fuselage. As
usual with this range there are
compromises but it’s not a bad kit if
you are not too hung up on interior
details.
In 1/48 the MPM range stems
from around 2000 and has
appeared in several boxings. The kit
offers plenty of detail with injection
moulded transparencies and resin
parts and is typical of the
company’s earlier productions.
HiPM also released kits of the type,
although the company has now
ceased trading so the moulds will
presumably appear under a new
guise at some point. Koster
released a vacform in 1/48, while
the most recent kit is from Zvezda,
a 2015 tooling that is a product of
the new Zvezda that began
releasing very fine new injection
moulded toolings in recent years.
This is to be reboxed by Eduard, a
combination that will offer both
detail and quality in considerable
quantities.
The vast complexity of the
subject has largely been
overlooked by the aftermarket with
Eduard offering etched sets for the
Zvezda kit, and Quickboost a
couple of resin items. Eduard offer
an older set for the 1/72
Italeri/Zvezda kit as well, while the
MPM tooling included sufficient
detail parts to deter other
companies from addressing it.
Eduard, Montex, KV Models, Peewit
and P-Mask have all issued masking
sets for the type. SAC have a metal
undercarriage set for the 1/48
Zvezda kit, which seems to be the
chief beneficiary from most
sources, while in 1/72 Neomega
offer a comprehensive resin update
set for the Italeri/Zvezda kit. This
includes vacform canopy parts,
something also available in 1/72
from Rob Taurus for the Zlinek kit.
Little in the way of conversion
sets exist and the modeller looking
to create an accurate series of
models in any scale is going to have
to fall back on research and scratch
building if they want to avoid being
tripped up by the many
modifications that followed the
aircraft through its long career.
Decals are likewise scarce, with
sheets from Kora, Begemot and,
surprisingly,
CO LO U R C O N U N D R U M

The Truth about Late War Luftwaffe Camouflage? By Paul Lucas

Junkers Ju 88A-4 trop, B3+MH, werknummer 550396, attached to 1./KG 54, landed at Dubendorf, Switzerland, October 1943. Finish is in overall
RLM 24 Dark Blue (Vallejo 71.266 Dark Blue RLM 24), which has replaced the original RLM 70/71 splinter scheme. The undersides are in RLM 22 Black
(Vallejo 71.057 Black RLM 22). The upper surfaces are finished in a meandering pattern of RLM 22 Black and RLM 79 Sand Yellow (Vallejo 71.278 Sand
Yellow). The individual aircraft letter is in Yellow with the rest of the codes in Black. The Totenkopf insignia of KG 54 is carried on the nose.

Part 2 RLM 81 and RLM 82

W
hilst something like two thirds of the
Luftwaffe's front line strength was
deployed on the Eastern Front where a
new land camouflage scheme was apparently
found necessary, a certain proportion of the
remainder was employed under vastly different
conditions in North Africa and over the
Mediterranean. The North African campaign had
seen new camouflage colours introduced for
that region in the form of RLM 78, 79 and 80
during 1941, but little appears to have been
done to develop a maritime scheme for the
Mediterranean until 1943.
The exact date and reason why the
requirement for such a camouflage scheme first
arose is unknown. It is tempting to speculate
that it might be connected in some way to the
deteriorating Axis position in North Africa.
Thanks to Ultra, the Allies were increasingly able
to intercept Axis shipping convoys between Italy
and North Africa thus depriving Rommel of
much needed supplies. In an attempt to ease the
supply situation during July, August and
September 1942, Rommel received some 40,000
troops and 4,000 tons of supplies by air.
The supply situation became much worse
following Operation Torch, the Allied landings in
North Africa on 8 November 1942. The Germans
responded by implementing a massive transfer
of air assets, especially anti shipping aircraft
from Norway where they had been employed in
attacking the Murmansk Convoys and some 320
Ju 52 Transport aircraft from both the Eastern
Front and Germany itself to the Mediterranean
theatre.
Thus it may be the case that it was the
establishment of the air bridge to Tunisia and
the escalation of the Luftwaffe's efforts in the
Mediterranean theatre during the summer and
autumn of 1942 that gave rise to a requirement
for a new specialised maritime camouflage
scheme for application to Anti Shipping and
Transport aircraft over the Mediterranean Sea.
As with the new land camouflage scheme
requirement, which led to the development of
RLM 81 and 82 as discussed previously, the work
to devise a new camouflage scheme for use over
the Mediterranean Sea was carried out by the
German Aviation Experimental Establishment
Testing Centre at Travermunde near Lubeck on
the Baltic Coast where the Technical Department
of the RLM had concentrated its aircraft finish
testing facilities.
The work seems to have been carried out
under the designation 'Test order E2-45/31
Development and Verification of Camouflage for
the Meditierranean Sea' and the earliest related
document to have been found at the time of
writing is said to be dated August 1943. It is said
to have stated that a 'dark blue' colour was to be
used in conjunction with RLM 73 and that a
flight test was to be carried out in the near
future. RLM 73 was the lighter shade of green
used in the Luftwaffe's existing maritime
camouflage scheme of RLM 72 and 73.
September 1943 saw the issue of another
report under the same designation which stated
that a dark blue colour, identified as ‘300/III’ was
suggested for introduction, which was to be
used in conjunction with RLM 73 in the same
type of land and sea splinter pattern camouflage
as was already in use. As with the original
designations for RLM 81 and 82, the '300/III' form
of colour notation is unfamiliar to the author.
Finally, the subject appears to have been
closed by a report dated 10 November 1943,
which is said to have stated that dark blue colour
RLM 83 was suggested for introduction in
conjunction with RLM 72 on maritime aircraft
and RLM 70 on land aircraft. It is interesting to

Junkers Ju 88S-3, Z6+BH, attached to I./KG 66, crash-landed at Celle, Germany 1944. Finish is in overall RLM 24 Dark Blue (Vallejo 71.266 Dark Blue
RLM 24) with the undersides in RLM 22 Black (Vallejo 71.057 Black RLM 22). The upper surfaces carry a sprayed blotched application of RLM 76 Light Blue
(Vallejo 71.257 Light Blue RLM 76). The fuselage sides have a sprayed meander pattern of RLM 22 Black. Note that this profile is based on available
photographic and written information.

52 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K

Junkers Ju 88A-1, 7A+FM, werknummer 362, attached to 4(F)/121, landed at Oakington, Cambridgeshire, England, September 1940. Finish is in
the standard RLM 70 Black Green (Vallejo 71.021 Black Green RLM 70) and RLM 71 Dark Green (Vallejo 71.015 Dark Green RLM 71) splinter scheme. The
undersides are finished in German Sky (Vallejo 71.302 Sky Type S*). The codes are in Black with the individual aircraft letter outlined in White. The insignia
of 4.(F)/Aufkl.Gr 121 is carried on the nose.
note that by the time of the final report, the dark
blue was to be used with the darker of the two
green tones in both the land and maritime
camouflage schemes presumably so as to
maintain a measure of contrast to break up the
outline of the aircraft.
As described previously, the designations RLM
81 and 82 appear to have been allocated in July
1942 so it would be logical for a new dark blue
colour for use in the Mediterranean to be
designated RLM 83 in November 1943. In view of
the currently accepted view that RLM 83 was a
shade of dark green, it is important to point out
that the report of 10 November 1943 only
suggests that dark blue RLM 83 be introduced
for use. As far as is currently known, there is no
hard evidence to suggest that dark blue 300/III
was adopted as RLM 83.
That said, there is some evidence to suggest
that the Luftwaffe did use some kind of dark
blue colour as a camouflage finish in the
Mediterranean during 1943. This is provided by a
Ju 88A-4 of 1./KG 54 W. Nr. 5500396 coded
B3+MH which landed at Dubendorf airfield in
Switzerland in October 1943 where it was
interned and found to wear a most unusual
camouflage scheme. This featured a
comparatively dark shade of blue as the base
colour on both its upper and under surfaces
which had been over sprayed to some extent by
a light blue and black arabesque pattern.
This aircraft and scheme is described between
pages 89 and 91 of Merrick. Here there is some
speculation as to whether the blue colour, which
was common to other Ju 88s of this unit at the
time and described by one eyewitness as ‘a dark
'Royal Blue' might have been RLM 24, which was
usually employed as a marking colour.
Given that Travermunde was working on a
dark blue colour at about this time, it is possible
that the hue applied to the Ju 88s of KG 66
might have been a field test of dark blue '300/III'
but there is currently no way of establishing
whether this was the case or whether the 'dark
Royal Blue' was actually RLM 24. It is this author’s
opinion that it was more likely to have been RLM
24 since this colour would have been readily
available at the time and also appears to have
been used as a camouflage colour on the upper
surfaces of some Luftwaffe aircraft in Northwest
Europe.
Ultra
It is thought that the evidence for this is
provided by the transcript of an Ultra intercept
held by the National Archives at Kew. This takes
the form of a message from 1/KG 66, Abt. IT to
Fieldluftgau W. France QM-QMI arms and
equipment dated 15 June 1944. 1/KG 66 had
been initially formed at Chartres in France in late
April 1943 from 15.KG 6 with a mix of Do 217s
and Ju 88As, but by the beginning of 1944 it was
operating the Ju 88S in the Pathfinder role for
Operation Steinbeck, the Luftwaffe's retaliatory
attacks on the UK in response to Bomber
Command's operations over Germany.
Despite being delivered in the standard
factory applied scheme of RLM 70 and 71 on the
upper surfaces with RLM 65 on the under
surfaces, once in 1/KG 66's hands the aircraft
were repainted in a variety of schemes. Some of
the colours used are suggested by the Ultra
intercept of 15 June 1944. This message stated
that:
‘For repainting newly allocated aircraft (13 Ju88 S3)
the following is required.
100 Kg thinning 7200.00
40 Kg Aircraft Paint Black 7160.22
30 Kg Aircraft paint Blue 7160.24
For Ops immediate allocation (collection by
receiving authority requested)’.
When cross checked with the information
contained in LDv 521/1 'Handling and
Application Instructions for Aircraft Paints 1941,
Part 1 Powered Aircraft' provided in English
translation on page 224 of Ullmann it is to be
found that Aviation Lacquer 7160 was available
in RLM colours 21 – 28 inclusive and was
described as being suitable for marking pipes
and for lettering and national insignia on all
surfaces, especially by the spray process. A
further cross check with the OS-Liste for the Ju
88 provided on page 218 of Merrick shows that
Aviation Lacquer 7160.22 was cited for use to
apply numbers and national markings. Thus
Aviation Lacquer 7160 was suitable for use on
external metal surfaces.
Given the role of 1/KG 66 it seems probable
that the 40 Kg of RLM 22 7160.22 was intended
to over paint the RLM 65 under surfaces and
perhaps the sides of the fuselage, fin and rudder.
The slightly smaller quantity of RLM 24 7160.24
may therefore have been intended for
application to the upper surfaces of the wings
and fuselage, which did not consist of such a
large surface area. The RLM 24 base colour could
then have been modified by the application of
an arabesque or mottle pattern if required. It is
not known exactly when 1/KG 66 first adopted
RLM 24 as an upper surface camouflage colour,
but it is at least possible that it might have been
from the beginning of their Pathfinder role over
the UK in January 1944.
This apparent use of RLM 24 as an upper
DECEMBER 2017 • VOLUME 39 • ISSUE 10
CO LO U R C O N U N D R U M
surface camouflage colour in Northwest Europe
might therefore explain the blue colour of the
BV 138 float held by the Aircraft Historical
Museum at Sola in Norway. According to the
camouflage diagram for the Bv 138, the floats
were supposed to be camouflaged in a single
colour with the port float being RLM 73 and the
starboard float being 72. Unfortunately, this
author does not know whether the Sola float is
from the port or starboard wing, which might
suggest whether the Bv 138 from which it came
was finished in RLM 72/24 or RLM 73/24
assuming it was not entirely RLM 24 on the
upper surfaces either with or without an
arabesque pattern.
By the time that Travermunde had completed
its work and suggested dark blue 300/III be
introduced as RLM 83 in November 1943, the
North African campaign had come to an end
having been concluded with an Allied victory in
May 1943. By November 1943 the Allies were
fighting their way up through Italy and as far as
the Luftwaffe was concerned, the air/sea war in
the Mediterranean was to all intents and
purposes over and a new camouflage colour
that had been designed especially for the region
may no longer have been seen as necessary,
especially if putting it into production would
entail another demand on stretched resources
and units such as 1/KG 54 and 1/KG 66, which
required a dark blue camouflage colour and
were already using Aviation Lacquer 7160 RLM
24 and finding it adequate for the purpose.
It would therefore appear that the RLM
decided to reject Travermunde's suggestion of
November 1943 that dark blue '300/III' be
adopted as 'RLM 83' and that the designation
'RLM 83' was instead assigned to a dark green
colour, which appears to have been introduced
sometime during the first half of 1944 for
application to the upper surfaces of the
Luftwaffe's Day Fighters.
RLM 83 as a Dark Green
From 1941 the Luftwaffe's Day Fighter force
had adopted the three greys RLM 74, 75 and 76,
which on the whole were optimised as an air to
air camouflage scheme. Whilst this scheme was
effective in the air, it was less so on the ground
and from the summer of 1943 onwards
camouflaging aircraft on the ground in Germany
and occupied Europe assumed a new
importance in the face of the escalating daylight
offensive by the USAAF.
USAAF Fighters equipped with drop tanks
began to penetrate German airspace escorting
daylight raids by the 8th AF from July 1943. By
September they were capable of reaching
53
CO LO U R C O N U N D R U M
Heinkel He 162A-1, ‘7’, werknummer 120067, operated by 1./JG 1, 1945. The forward upper surfaces are finished in RLM 83 Dark Green (Vallejo
71.011 Dark Green RLM 83) with the engine pod finished in RLM 81 RAL8091 Brown Violet (Vallejo 71.264 Brown Violet RLM 81). The undersides are in
German Sky (Vallejo 71.302 Sky Type S*). The fins and upper rear fuselage appear, from black and white photographic information, to have been left in
Aluminium, with the upper parts of the fins finished in German Sky. The aircraft number and werknummer are in Yellow.
Aachen and by November,
Wilhelshaven and Bremen had
come within range. The USAAF's
overriding aim for 1944 was made
clear by the Commander of the US
Army Air Forces General H.H. (Hap)
Arnold in a Christmas message in
December 1943. This was to
‘Destroy the enemy air force
wherever you find them, in the air,
on the ground and in the factories’
and from mid February 1944 the
USAAF's Fighters began to seek out
the Luftwaffe wherever it could be
found, including on the ground.
Ken Merrick has suggested that
these USAAF tactics gave rise for a
need for a more defensive type of
camouflage for Luftwaffe Day
Fighters whilst on the ground and
that this led to the adoption of a
dark green colour, which was used
in conjunction with RLM 75 on the
upper surfaces as a similar
compromise air and ground
camouflage scheme to that used by
RAF Day Fighters of Dark Green and
Ocean Grey.
It may be the case that the need
for a new camouflage scheme for
Day Fighters was examined at
Travermunde, perhaps from
sometime in the summer of 1943
and that the ultimate outcome of
this work, taking limited resources
and the need for standardisation
into account, was the decision to
utilise one of the Luftwaffe's
ground camouflage colours that
had also previously been available
before the war as an aircraft
camouflage colour, RLM 64, for this
purpose sometime over the winter
of 1943/44.
As has already been discussed,
the designations RLM 81 and 82
had been allocated but not yet
introduced to service and it would
appear that the dark blue 300/III
that had been suggested for
introduction as RLM 83 had not
been approved by the RLM, so
given the usual logistical practice of
assigning a reintroduced item that
had previously been taken out of
service with a new current
reference number, it is logical that
the 'new' dark green colour
previously designated RLM 64
54 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
should be given the new current
designation 'RLM 83'.
As far as is known at the time of
writing, reference to RLM 83 has
only been found in one other
document besides the Tavermunde
report referred to previously, this
being Sammelmittaling No.2 of 15
August 1944 where it is referred to
by number alone as one of a
number of 'dark shades' along with
72, 73, 75,81 and 82 in a paragraph
on the subject of national insignia.
Thus there is not even a colloquial
name to act as a guide as to the
exact nature of its hue. In view of
the discovery of the colour card in
the Czech Republic, which matches
RLM 64 as described in Merrick on
pages 123 and 124 mentioned
previously, and the number of
surviving artefacts that appear to
also have this colour on them, it
would appear to be almost certain
that RLM 83 was a shade of dark
green.
Given that the dark green RLM
83 that was put into production
and used on Luftwaffe aircraft was
simply a re-issue of RLM 64, once
the decision had been taken to
proceed, the paint manufacturers
would theoretically have had little
difficulty in quickly manufacturing
stocks as the pigments were
apparently readily available and the
formula for aircraft lacquer RLM 64
would have been on file. These
factors might go some way to
explaining how RLM 83 apparently
entered production and service
before the entirely new colours
RLM 81 and 82.
No camouflage scheme
diagrams have come to light that
show the RLM 75/83 scheme and
this has been put down to a
number of reasons including the
relatively short amount of time for
which it was current, and the
apparent German practice of not
issuing new drawings but merely re
annotating existing drawings to
show changes in colour. How long
dark green RLM 83 remained in
production is not known, but the
Day Fighter upper surface scheme
of RLM 75/83 was superseded from
sometime around August 1944.
RLM 22
Black
(Vallejo 71.057
Black)
RLM 71
Brown Violet
(Vallejo 71.015
Dark Green RLM 71)
RLM 81 RAL 8091
Brown Violet
(Vallejo 71.264
Brown Violet RLM 81)
*Denotes approximate match
For more details on Vallejo’s excellent range of colours,
please visit their website at: http://www.acrylicosvallejo.com
The Sammelmittaling No.2
referred to previously also stated
that ‘Camouflage colour shades and
their distribution over the aircraft
have been uniformly redefined’ and it
is suggested that the 'distribution
over the aircraft' might have been a
reference to a decision to eliminate
the RLM 75/83 scheme from the
upper surfaces of Day Fighters in
favour of the RLM 81/82 scheme
already promulgated for aircraft
whose original camouflage scheme
had been RLM 70/71thus
effectively standardising the upper
surface camouflage scheme for all
land planes whatever their
operational role. This change in
policy is illustrated by the
communication between
Travermunde and Blohm and Voss
with regard to the camouflage
scheme of the Bv 155 High Altitude
Fighter in September 1944, which
was to be RLM 81/82 as has already
been mentioned.
Once RLM 83 dark green was in
the supply chain, there is no way of
knowing how long it might have
lasted or how extensively it was
used or for what purpose. This
could have led to it being used in
RLM 24 RLM 70
Dark Blue Black Green
(Vallejo 71.266 (Vallejo 71.021
Dark Blue RLM 24) Black Green RLM 70)
RLM 76 RLM 79
Light Blue Sand Yellow
(Vallejo 71.257 (Vallejo 71.278
Light Blue RLM 76) Sand Yellow RLM 79)
RLM 83 ‘German Sky’
Dark Green (Vallejo 71.302
(Vallejo 71.011 Sky Type S*)
Dark Green RLM 83)
conjunction with any of the shades
of RLM 81 and 82 discussed
previously. In Munsell terms, it is
thought to be similar to 5GY 3/2
and in Humbrol terms the Kiroff
chip in Merrick is matched by
No.253 RLM 83.
'RLM 84'
Whilst some primary source
documents have been found that
refer to RLM 81, 82 and 83, no such
document has ever come to light
that uses the nomenclature 'RLM
84' in any context. It would appear
that the term 'RLM 84 was first used
by Luftwaffe researcher and author
Tom Hitchcock in his book
'Monogram Close-Up 7
Messerschmitt Bf 109G Gustav – Part
2' which was published in 1977.
He used the term to describe
certain hues of blue-grey and blue-
green that were found on various
artefacts and in colour
photographs, which did not appear
to match the known hue of RLM 76
as used on the under surfaces
within the context of the then
newly discovered upper surface
colours 81, 82 and 83. He

Focke Wulf Fw 190D-9, ’12’, werknummer 500571, upper and lower nose scrap views (based on a
photograph in ‘The Official Monogram Painting Guide To German Aircraft 1935-1945). According to given
information, the upper surface of the nose is in RLM 83 Dark Green (Vallejo 71.011 Dark Green RLM 83), with the
aircraft underside in German Sky (Vallejo 71.302 Sky Type S*). The spinner is in Black with a White spiral.
specifically stated that it was
unconfirmed and therefore
provisional nomenclature but as is
often the case, the provisional
nature of the term seems to have
been lost to some extent in the
years since and the term 'RLM 84'
has almost become accepted as
'fact'.
In the light of what we currently
think that we know with regard to
the changing hue of RLM 76, for the
purposes of this article, it is
proposed to dismiss the blue-grey
hues as nothing more than batch
variations of the revised hue of RLM
76. Briefly, the change in hue is said
to have resulted from the
substitution of Hansa Blue pigment
for Cobalt Blue pigment in the
formulation of RLM 76 by the paint
manufacturers as Cobalt Blue
became difficult to obtain. Initially,
the result of this change is said to
have resulted in a somewhat
lighter, less blue hue to the RLM76,
which made it appear to be almost
white in some cases. This change in
hue is said to have resulted in the
issue of a new colour card for RLM
76 that was issued at the same time
as the colour cards for RLM 81, 82
and 83 as described in Merrick and
referred to previously.
This change in formulation
might be relevant to the
appearance of the 'German Sky'
colour because Hansa Blue is said
to be a much more unstable
pigment than Cobalt Blue and that
as a result it had a tendency to turn
green with age. The problem with
this is that the 'German Sky' hue
does not appear to be common
enough to have been the result of
mass production of the revised
formula RLM 76 and the Luftwaffe's
attrition rate mitigates against any
individual aircraft surviving long
enough to turn green through age.
Therefore the focus from this point
on will be on the possibility that
'German Sky' appeared from the
summer of 1944 onwards as a
deliberate act of policy.
Despite the perception of the
'German Sky' hue as a late war
colour, the first hard evidence of
the use of such a colour on the
under surface of a Luftwaffe aircraft
dates from 1940. This evidence is to
be found in Royal Aircraft
Establishment Report No. EA 14/7,
dated October 1940. The report
concerned the camouflage scheme
that was found to have been
applied to a Ju 88 coded 7A+FM, W.
Nr. 0362 of 4.(F)/121, which was
brought down by Hurricanes of 17
Squadron during the morning of 19
September.
Entitled 'Examination of
Camouflage Scheme', the part of the
report that concerns us here
concerns the under surfaces. It
stated
‘All the undersurfaces of the wings,
nacelles, tailplane, fuselage,
including the bomb-aimers
compartment under the cabin, are
painted a uniform duck-egg bluish
green colour identical with the Sky
colour of British aircraft. This colour
has been painted over the original
light blue colour, which until now has
been found usual in German aircraft.
The original blue colour is still visible
on the less accessible parts of the
under surfaces’.
Evidence that a 'German Sky'
colour was available for use during
1943 is provided on page 120 of
Merrick where reference is made to
a combat between a Coastal
Command Halifax, HR983 coded 'Y'
of 58 Squadron and a BV 222 Flying
Boat in October 1943, which was
described as being a duck-egg blue
colour overall. On page 328 of
Volume 2 he reproduces a couple
of photographs of a Do 217 E-4 of
II./KG40 in an overall pale finish,
which he speculates might also be
in a duck-egg blue finish.
Perhaps the best known artefact
still extant that has the 'German
Sky' hue upon it is Bf 109 G-6 W Nr.
163824, which is held by the
Australian War Memorial. This
aircraft was extensively rebuilt in
December 1944 and has a pale
green grey colour on most of its
fuselage sides and under surfaces
that has been described as being a
very close match for the colour chip
for Sky included in 'British Aviation
Colours of World War Two',
something like FS 34583.Thus there
is some evidence to suggest that
this 'German Sky' colour was
available during 1940 and
remained available until at least
December 1944 if not the end of
the war.
Whether this colour was ever
allocated an RLM number is not
known. In view of the fact that it
appears to have been available
from as early as 1940, if it did have
an RLM number, it would be highly
unlikely to have been 'RLM 84',
unless of course it was at some
point made obsolete and then
reintroduced in the same manner
as RLM 64/83 as discussed
previously. Thus it might have been
allocated an RLM number from an
DECEMBER 2017 • VOLUME 39 • ISSUE 10
CO LO U R C O N U N D R U M
earlier colour block. The RLM colour
blocks were allocated as follows:
RLM 00 – 19 Base Colours for
Internal and External Finish (5
numbers allocated).
RLM 20 – 39 Marking Colours. (8
numbers allocated).
RLM 40 – 59 Special Colours. (6
numbers allocated).
RLM 60 – 79 Camouflage Colours.
(All numbers allocated).
RLM 80 – 100 Camouflage and
Primer Colours (5 numbers
allocated).
Therefore it might be most likely
that 'German Sky' would have had
an RLM number allocated from the
Base Colour number block or
alternatively from the Special
Colour block.
Assuming that the 'German Sky'
colour was deliberately introduced
as a matter of policy, it might be
the case that it was originally
intended to be used on those
aircraft originally intended to
receive the RLM 81/82 scheme on
the upper surfaces, that is to say
Bomber, Transport and
Communications aircraft. If
intended for this purpose, then it
would have mimicked the use by
the RAF of Sky as an under surface
camouflage colour. Though not
widely used as such by 1944, Sky
was still specified in DTD Technical
Circular No. 360 Issue 2 'Camouflage
and Identification Marking of
Aircraft' for the under surfaces of
RAF Day Bombers whilst it was also
specified for and was still being
widely used in other roles such as
RAF Coastal Strike and on the
under surfaces of Fleet Air Arm
aircraft.
Thus whilst the use of such a
colour would have been valid for
camouflage purposes, quite how
and why 'German Sky' ended up
being used on the Luftwaffe's Day
Fighter aircraft at a time when they
were supposed to have had their
under surfaces left unpainted with
only the side surfaces being
finished in RLM 76 as an economy
measure is unknown. The TA 152
camouflage drawing and
correspondence relating to the BV
155 referred to previously both
made a point of specifying that the
under surfaces were to be
unpainted though the TA 152
drawing did show 'Farbton 76' as
being applied on the side of the
fuselage.
As far as is known at the time of
writing, there is no primary source
evidence of any mention of any
other colour being sanctioned for
under surfaces other than RLM 76
from the summer of 1944 until the
end of the war and so the origin,
rationale and official identity for the
use of this 'German Sky' colour
remains a mystery.
55
SCALED UP
Bird of Prey or Weedy Sea Dragon. First Generation Twin Seat Harriers
W
hen the Hawker Siddeley (from 1977
onwards British Aerospace or BAe)
Harrier entered service in 1969 it looked
very much like its avian namesake with its
sharply pointed nose, shoulder mounted wings
and rounded tail giving the appearance of a
hunting bird of prey, although the twin seat
version gave a rather different impression. In its
T.4 form especially it looked more like a Weedy
Sea Dragon with its extended tail and ventral
strake, raised tail fin, more bulbous cockpit
canopy, pair of 30mm ADEN cannon pods below
the fuselage and Laser Rangefinder & Marked
Target Seeker (LRMTS) nose. While the twin seat
trainer variants of other contemporary fighters
were often far sleeker than the single seaters,
with the Harrier the opposite was the case, as
the original leader of the design team, Sir
Sydney Camm, did not hesitate to say.
Not unusually, provision of a twin seat dual
control Harrier lagged behind that of the single
seat fighter. The project itself dated back as far as
1957 and had progressed through the P.1127
and Kestrel programmes before the first Harrier
GR.1 entered service in 1969. But a decision in
1966 to build a twin seat, dual control trainer
meant that the first of these became operational
only just over a year after the single seaters.
Training of the first group of Harrier Instructors
by the Harrier Conversion Team (HCT) involved a
Hawker Hunter refresher course, flying the
Westland Whirlwind helicopter to experience
hover techniques and finally local familiarisation
in a De Havilland Dove before their introduction
to the single seat Harrier GR.1.
First flights in the Harrier were flown solo with
an instructor following in a Hawker Hunter and it
1 Squadron Harrier T.4A, XW271/17, at RAF
Leuchars in September 1977 has the small tail
without PWR fitted and is in wraparound
camouflage with Light Aircraft Grey gun
fairings (R A Ferguson)
3 Squadron Harrier T.4, XZ145/AT, being
inspected by a group of Air Training Corps
Cadets from the Dundee and Central Scotland
Wing in its Hardened Aircraft Shelter at RAF
Guterslöh in June 1982. The aircraft is in
wraparound camouflage with Light Aircraft
Grey gun fairings and the AT identifier is
repeated on the outrigger wheel leg fairings
(R A Ferguson)
56 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
was generally considered not especially difficult
to fly, although it was soon recognised as being
somewhat unforgiving and had a high rate of
acceleration that could easily catch the unwary.
It was initially flown as a conventional fixed wing
aircraft with skills gradually expanded to include
its Vertical/Short Take-Off and Landing (V/STOL)
capabilities, although with student and
instructor in different aircraft there was some
degree of repetition in the process. The
availability of the twin seater after about a year
simplified this process and established a sound
foundation for all Harrier training that followed.
First Generation Twin Seat Harriers
Into Service
Until the Harrier building a twin seat trainer of
a single seat fighter been relatively simple; chop
off the single seat nose, add a new longer or
wider one with two seats and make any minor
aerodynamic adjustments as required. However
in order that the Harrier trainer retained its
signature V/STOL capabilities the aerodynamic
adjustments required were far from minor. The
location of the cockpit between the engine air
intakes predicated a tandem design requiring
not only a longer nose section to accommodate
a second cockpit but also a much higher canopy
to give the rear seater an effective forward view.
In turn, and in order to maintain directional
stability especially while the aircraft was in the
hover, this much enlarged front section had to
be balanced at the rear of the aircraft. This was
achieved by relocating a longer and taller tail fin
further back above the fuselage and an
extended ventral tail strake below angled
upwards and backwards towards a short tail
233 OCU Harrier T.4A, XW268/U, at RAF
Leuchars in September 1985 is in wraparound
camouflage. With power off it shows the effect
of gravity on the air intake auxiliary blow in
doors at rest with those on top dropping open
while those lower down are closed
(R A Ferguson)
4 Squadron Harrier T.4, XZ146/Y, in the
camouflage over Light Aircraft Grey colour
scheme and with aerodynamic strakes on the
fuselage instead of gun fairings departs from
a dispersed site near RAF Guterslöh in June
1982. A few hours later the squadron’s other
T.4, XW272/Z, crashed on take-off from the
same strip killing the squadron commander
(R A Ferguson)
By Des Brennan
cone. The Reaction Control Valves (RCV) were
still located towards the tip of the stretched and
ballasted tail. The end result was a combat
capable twin seat Harrier with the same
centreline and underwing pylons, optional pair
of 30mm ADEN cannon and bolt-on In-Flight
Refuelling Probe of the single seater. With the
fuel/weight balance being a critical factor in
V/STOL operations, the heavier twin seat
versions had a built-in disadvantage even
although the tail ballast and second seat could
be removed in a war fighting situation.
The first batch of Harrier T.2 aircraft shared the
same Rolls-Royce Pegasus Mk 101 as the single-
seat GR.1 but these were very soon replaced by
the more powerful Pegasus Mk 102, and the first
eight trainers re-equipped and the two still on
the production line completed from new as
T.2As, while upgraded GR.1s became GR.1As. In
the early 1970s the introduction of the again
more powerful Pegasus Mk 103 saw ten
surviving existing and fourteen new built aircraft
becoming the T.4, with upgraded GR.1As
becoming GR.3s. Coincidental with the new
engine, T.4/GR.3 aircraft also received the
noticeable LRMTS nose extension and an
improved Electronics Countermeasures (ECM)
suite of which the Passive Warning Receiver
(PWR) on the leading edge of the tail fin and at
the tip of an extended tail cone were the
obvious features. These changes were
coincidental and unrelated to the new
designation and while many T.4s received all of
these modifications, some dedicated solely to
flying training were completed as T.4A initially
with PWR tails but not LRMTS, with which some
were later refitted with no PWR on the tail.
1 Squadron Harrier T.4, XW934/0, taxiing at
RAF Valley in July 1979 is in the camouflage
over Light Aircraft Grey colour scheme
(R A Ferguson)
233 OCU Harrier T.4, ZB601/Y, at RAF Leuchars
in September 1988 in wraparound
camouflage with Light Aircraft Grey gun
fairings. The ventral air brake was invariably
open when the aircraft was parked and as can
be seen the interior is dark grey (R A Ferguson)

899 NAS Harrier T.4N, ZB605/718, is seen on
the runway at RAF Fairford in July 1985 and
was one of the aircraft specifically built for the
Royal Navy. The F95 camera port, which was
moved aft on trainers that retained it, can be
seen forward of the air intake (R A Ferguson)
899 NAS Harrier T.4AN, XZ445/723, at RAF
Leuchars in September 1987. This was a
former RAF T.4A and is seen here with gun
fairings below the fuselage. The last two digits
of the deck number repeated inside the
ventral air brake, the PWR on the fin leading
edge and extended tail cone can also be
clearly seen (R A Ferguson)
899 NAS Harrier T.8, ZB604/722, at RAF
Leuchars in September 2000. Other than the
colour scheme one of the few obvious
airframes changes between T.4N and T.8 is the
T aerial located midway along the spine
Over time a number of the T.4As with PWR
tails were transferred to the Royal Navy for Sea
Harrier pilot training as T.4ANs along with three
similar new built as T.4Ns equipped with a partial
Sea Harrier FRS.1 avionics fit not including
Doppler. In the mid 1990s these were included in
a mix of ex RAF T.4As and Navy T.4ANs upgraded
to T.8 standard with a more advanced Sea Harrier
FA.2 avionics fit, including Doppler. One further
aircraft designated T.52 was built in 1971 as a
company demonstrator to T.2A standard but
with an extensive airways avionics fit and initially
equipped with the Mk 102 engine, which was
soon replaced with a Mk 103 although none of
the T.4 airframe changes were made.
Lengthening the base of the tail plane as part
of the trainer conversion had in effect created a
plinth on which the taller fin sat and these
combined to create an acceptable aerodynamic
balance to the enlarged nose of the aircraft.
Three different fin heights were trialled on the
first batch of T.2/2As until a common height was
settled on and the others retrofitted accordingly.
Fairing the PWR into the fin also increased its
height on both the T.4/4A and the single seat
GR.3 and it was discovered that the single seat
tail with PWR was as effective in maintaining
899 NAS Harrier T.4N, ZB605/718, in flight at
RAF Fairford in July 1985. With undercarriage
and air brake retracted the apparent sleekness
of the forward fuselage on the short nosed
trainers contrasts with the lumps, bumps and
angles of the tail (R A Ferguson)
899 NAS Harrier T.8, ZB604/722, taxies in at
RAF Leuchars in September 2000 showing the
narrowness of the fuselage compared to the
air intakes as well as the general arrangement
of the undercarriage units and pylons. ZB604
was one of only three aircraft new built for the
Royal Navy as a T.4N before later conversion to
T.8. The Doppler bulge below the cockpit was
one of the few physical differences between
the T.4N and T.8
Ground crew attending to 899 NAS Harrier T.8,
ZB604/722, at RAF Leuchars in September
2000. The open canopies show the rather
crowded blast shield between the two
cockpits as well as the various cockpit air
conditioning outlets in the fairing behind
aerodynamic balance as the taller fin without
PWR and consequently this was adopted for the
T.4 variants. In a related development by
restricting some dynamic operating parameters
the taller tail on at least some of the surviving
T.2/2As, until their conversion to T.4A along with
some T.4As with PWR tails, acquired the original
GR.1 tail without PWR. The differences in tail
style are easily distinguished in photographs by
the height of the fin trailing edge showing
above the rudder and from references checked
variations in fin style seem to have persisted
over quite a period of time.
Overseas sales of first generation twin seaters
followed two slightly different routes, those
based on versions built for the UK operators as
mentioned above and those built for the United
States as below. India was the only operator of
UK standard aircraft of which four T.4Ns (maker’s
designation T.60) were delivered from the mid
1980s and were joined early this century by a
pair of ex RAF T.4s converted to T.4(I) and also
designated T.60 even although they retained
their LRMTS nose fairings. All other overseas
operators acquired trainers based on the TAV-8A
twin seater (maker’s designation Mk 54) supplied
to the United States Marine Corps along with the
DECEMBER 2017 • VOLUME 39 • ISSUE 10
SCALED UP
899 NAS Harrier T.4N, ZB605/718, at RAF
Leuchars in September 1986 carrying a form
of the squadron badge in a red triangle on the
nose. The F95 camera port can be seen
forward of the air intake and the aerodynamic
strakes carried in place of gun fairings can be
seen below the fuselage (R A Ferguson)
899 NAS Harrier T.8, ZB604/722, at RAF
Leuchars in September 2000 in the overall
gloss black colour scheme that was applied
following conversion from T.4N. Although
carried here as with their grey predecessors
the VL tail code was not always worn
Forward fuselage of a Harrier T.8 under power
with auxiliary intake blow in doors open. The
Doppler bulge, seen only on this and the
Indian Navy T.60 variants, is visible below the
fuselage forward of the air intake with the F95
camera port above. The cockpit air
conditioning unit with its various
inlets/outlets can be seen behind the
canopies
single seat AV-8A. These were similar to the
Harrier T.2 and GR.1 respectively but with the
engine being upgraded progressively to Mk 103
during the production run but without any of
the associated airframe changes.
To meet US specifications all components
containing magnesium were replaced, a
compatible avionics and aerial fit was installed,
aircraft were compatible with US weaponry and
in time the ejection seat was replaced by the
Stencel SIIIS-3. Whereas twin seat production for
the RAF was spread across deliveries, all eight of
the USMC TAV-8A twin seaters were in the final
batch delivered from late 1975. The only other
operator of new built aircraft was the Spanish
Naval Air Arm (Arma Aerea de la Armada Espanola
or AME) who for expediency had their initial
procurement brokered through the United
States. These deliveries of what were somewhat
confusingly designated aircraft began in 1976
and included two trainers. The aircraft were
essentially TAV-8As (and single seat AV-8As)
other than the addition of a fleet standard radio
and associated aerial, had the manufacturer’s
designations Mk 56 (and 55 for the AV-8A), were
delivered as TAV-8Ss (and AV-8Ss) and renamed
Matador although this proved unpopular in
57
SCALED UP
service and they were given the Spanish
designations of VAE-1 (and VA-1).After service
with Spain some of the Harriers including both
TAV-8Ss were acquired by the Royal Thai Navy
(Kong Thap Ruea Thai) in 1997.
Operators, Colours and Markings
Royal Air Force
Harrier training within the Royal Air Force
began in January 1969, although crews did not
actually fly the aircraft until that summer, with
the HCT, which was renamed the Harrier
Conversion Unit (HCU) in April 1970 and then
became 233 Operational Conversion Unit (OCU)
in October of that year around the same time as
it took delivery of its first twin seat aircraft. The
OCU operated examples of the T.2/2A/4/4A in
due course and continued to do so, in the
absence of the cancelled T.6 second generation
avionics update, as and after the original single
seat Harriers were replaced by the first of the
second generation variants (the GR.5) from 1989
onwards.
That process had been completed by autumn
1992 when 20 (Reserve) Squadron adopted the
mantle and Wildcat badge of the OCU, although
it would be the middle of the decade before the
second generation Harrier T.10 twin seat trainer
began to replace the earlier trainer variants. The
majority of the twin seaters were allocated to
the OCU with up to twelve being on strength,
while the operational units, 1, 3, 4 and 20
Squadrons, were usually allocated a pair at any
given time, although for a short time during the
GR.3 to GR.5 transition 3 and 4 Squadrons
pooled theirs as the Gütersloh Station Flight.
Aircraft also served with the Strike Attack
Operational Evaluation Unit (SAOEU) and one,
XW175, built as a T.2 and eventually upgraded to
T.4A (with tail changes) was adapted for
Vectored thrust Advanced Aircraft flight Control
(VAAC) trials and assigned to the Royal Aircraft
(Aerospace from 1988) Establishment (RAE), later
renamed Defence Evaluation and Research
Agency (DERA) and later again to QinetiQ.
The first RAF aircraft carried the then standard
gloss Dark Green/Dark Sea Grey camouflage
over Light Aircraft Grey undersides with full
colour red/white/blue national markings along
with black serials. Soon afterwards a toning
down process began, which first saw a matt
finish adopted and national markings changed
to red/blue on side and upper surfaces, with the
upper surface camouflage later extended into a
wraparound scheme with red/blue national
markings in all locations. Squadron markings,
often in a bar form were carried on the nose and
individual aircraft identifiers as letters or
numbers on the tail above the fin flash, although
the nature and colour of these varied by unit and
by time. During winter deployments to Norway
participating trainers sometimes had one of
their camouflage colours overpainted in a
temporary white paint and one 1 Squadron T.2
somewhat infamously was painted in pink, red
Close-up of the cockpit canopies with their
sealant strips and release handles. Both pilots'
wind flow vanes can be seen with the front
seater’s on the forward nose and the rear
seater’s on the front cockpit brow
58 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
and white emulsion by the French Air Force at
Dijon. The VAAC aircraft started in the
camouflage over Light Aircraft Grey scheme but
ended up in a typical test establishment
Raspberry Ripple colour scheme. The company
demonstrator, ZA250/G-VTOL, started life in a
short lived red/white/blue colour scheme until it
quite literally ran out of runway just under three
weeks after its first flight. After rebuild it was
given a desert brown/sand camouflage over
blue scheme and later adopted naval grey over
white colours.
Royal Navy
899 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) was the only
Royal Navy unit to operate Harrier trainers and
formed in April 1980 out of 700A NAS, the Sea
Harrier Intensive Flight Trials Unit (IFTU) which
had introduced the aircraft to service the
previous summer. Sea Harrier FRS.1 training for
the Royal Navy was conducted by the squadron
but future pilots were introduced to the Harrier
by the RAF at 233 OCU where they mastered the
intricacies of V/STOL flight. Thereafter they
moved to 899 NAS to develop the skills learned
at the OCU during conversion training to the Sea
Harrier FRS.1 with its Blue Fox radar and become
proficient at using both together as an effective
weapons system.
To assist with the latter aspect, an
introduction to Blue Fox was provided by the
unit’s radar equipped Hawker Hunter T.8M side-
by-side trainers, although in later years once
these had run out of airframe hours this was
done using ground based simulators.
Following the 1982 Falklands War, three T.4Ns
sharing some Sea Harrier FRS.1 features were
ordered for 899 NAS with the first delivered in
the autumn of 1983, replacing the single
borrowed RAF T.4 previously used. In 1989, with
the RAF’s Harrier GR.3 to GR.5 conversion
process underway, the Royal Navy took
responsibility for all aspects of Sea Harrier pilot
training, which resulted in 899 NAS taking ex
RAF T.4As on strength as T.4ANs to supplement
the existing T.4Ns.
As the Sea Harrier FA.2 began to replace the
FRS.1 during the early 1990s the decision was
taken to upgrade a number of existing T.4A,
T.4AN and T.4N aircraft to T.8 standard with a
more representative FA.2 cockpit and avionics fit
including a Doppler fairing under the nose. The
first of these entered service in May 1995 and
they remained in service until Royal Navy Sea
Harrier operations ended in the Spring of 2006.
The lack of a folding nose as fitted to the FRS.1
and FA.2 meant that the trainers were too long
to fit on carrier aircraft lifts, which limited their
use at sea.
Royal Navy Harrier T.4Ns and T.4ANs entered
service in an overall Satin Dark Sea Grey colour
scheme and although they were not equipped
with radar some had a black painted nose cone.
Dark red/blue national markings were carried,
and all numbers and lettering were in black as
300 INAS Harrier T.60 (T.4N), 651, during a
vertical landing onto a carrier deck. The
Doppler bulge, seen only on this variant and
the Royal Navy T.8, is visible below the
fuselage, as is the Hindi lettering for Navy on
the tail fin. 300 Sqadron markings are carried
on both nose and tail (Indian Navy)
was the unit’s Winged Fist emblem. A VL for
Yeovilton or OEU for aircraft seconded to the Sea
Harrier Operational Evaluation Unit code was
carried on the fin cap and deck numbers in the
range ‘7??’ on the air intakes. During the T.8
upgrade process the aircraft retained their
overall grey colour scheme but on delivery back
to 899 NAS had been repainted in what had
become the standard UK trainer aircraft colour
scheme of overall gloss black. Dark red/blue
national markings were retained but all other
markings as detailed above were in white except
for the Winged Fist, which was first seen initially
in gold on some aircraft but later replaced in
either solid or outline white form.
Indian Navy
The Indian Navy was the only overseas
operator of first generation Harrier trainers,
which were bought to support their Sea Harrier
FRS.51 operations. Four T.60 aircraft, which were
T.4Ns with a Doppler fairing added below the
nose, were ordered with the first delivered in
early 1983 to the Indian Navy Training Unit
formed within 899 NAS at Yeovilton where crews
were trained until the summer of 1984. The first
trainer was delivered to 300 Indian Naval Air
Squadron (INAS) at Gao-Dabolim in March 1984.
From 2003 two attrition replacements were
delivered and while still designated T.60 were
converted from ex RAF T.4s as T.4(I)s and
retained their LRMTS nose fairings. By 1990 the
entire first batch of T.60s were in India and
responsibility for conversion training using
borrowed aircraft was assigned to B Flight of co-
located 551 INAS as the Sea Harrier Operational
Flying Training Unit (SHOFTU). Indian Harrier
operations ended in May 2016 when the aircraft
were replaced by the MiG-29K.
Although Indian Navy Sea Harrier FRS.51s
later adopted a low visibility colour scheme and
markings the T.60s retained their satin Extra Dark
Sea Grey over White delivery schemes with full
colour national markings. The aircraft retained
their 300 INAS Leaping Tiger emblem in white
on the tail and sometimes repeated on the nose
irrespective of user but SHOFTU aircraft could be
seen with a small unit badge accompanying this
in both positions. Initially NAVY was carried on
the tail in white below the squadron badge but
later this was changed to black and then altered
again, remaining in English to port but changed
to Hindi to starboard. Codes were carried in
black on the air intakes.
United States Marine Corps
Training for United States Marine Corps
Harrier pilots was conducted by VMAT-203
Hawks, which in 1974 was the last unit to form
on the type and was equipped with all eight of
the TAV-8As ordered, which were in the last
batch of aircraft delivered. The reasoning for this
had been that in post Vietnam America there
was uncertainty that the USMC would get its full
order of single seat AV-8As, and so to minimise
Some 899 NAS Harrier T.8 were delivered with
the squadron’s Flying Fist in a gold coloured
outline form, which later reverted to white,
although as seen at RAF Leuchars in March
2004 1984, this could vary between an outline
form on ZB604/722 furthest from the camera
and a solid form on ZD99/721 closest to the
camera. Neither carried the VL tail code

VMAT-203 TAV-8A Harrier, 159382/04, on the
flight line at MCAS Cherry Point in December
1978 carries the large aerial on the spine
common to all T/AV variants and is in the
original full colour form of markings although
the paintwork has seen some wear, tear and
repair (US Department of Defence, Sgt. Cordova)
any possible loss of war fighting aircraft should
the order be cancelled the trainers had to come
last. VMAT-203 formed in much the same way as
the operational USMC Harrier units had been
doing since 1971, which in turn was similar to
that of the RAF’s HCT, HCU and early 233 OCU
operations but with the A-4 Skyhawk and CH-46
Sea Knight replacing the Hunter and Whirlwind.
This arrangement had not been without
problems and losses were much reduced with
the arrival of the TAV-8A, which remained in
service at Cherry Point until late 1987 several
years beyond the withdrawal of the first
generation single seaters and the arrival of the
first second generation TAV-8B twin seaters.
USMC TAV-8A were delivered in the then
standard RAF camouflage and colours of Matt
Dark Green/Dark Sea Grey over Light Aircraft
Grey undersides, with full colour national
markings, white KD unit tail codes and nose
numbers with all other lettering and serials in
black. As the USMC toned down in later years,
some VMAT-203 TAV-8As also adopted the black
outline style of national markings but retained
the high visibility white tail codes and nose
numbers. One aircraft, 159831, was assigned to
NASA’s Ames Research Centre as a spares source
after having undergone accident damage for a
second time in USMC service and is currently
displayed in Oakland in the white with blue trim
colour scheme carried by NASA single seat
Harriers but does not seem to have worn this in
service.
Spanish Navy
The Spanish Navy (Armada Española) ordered
the Harrier for the AME in 1973 with the first of
two TAV-8S being delivered to the US for the
training of the first crews during summer 1976.
American involvement came about because of
both a British embargo on armament sales to
the Franco government and the sensitivities of
both governments over Gibraltar. Later
deliveries were made direct. Unlike previous
operators the first AME pilots trained were
experienced helicopter aircrew who converted
onto fast jets with the US Navy on the T-2C
Buckeye and TA-4J Skyhawk before Harrier
training with the USMC. Subsequently helicopter
experience ceased to be a requirement, and
while trainees still followed the USN fast jet
training route, Harrier conversion was
conducted by the RAF at 233 OCU until the mid
1980s from when it was conducted in house. All
AME Harriers were operated by the Eighth Flight
(008 or Octava Escuadrilla) with their shore base
at Rota, and were withdrawn from service and
sold to Thailand when the radar equipped EAV-
8B+ entered service. They had however spent
many years both ashore and in joint
detachments aboard ship serving alongside
Spain’s initial second generation Harrier II, nine
years for the EAV-8Bs and five for the TAV-8Bs.
US standard weapons were used by AME
Harriers, but when the ECM system of the AV-
VMAT-203 TAV-8A Harrier, 159379/01, landing
at MCAS Cherry Point during an air show in
June 1985. The aircraft caries the later
subdued black outline form of national
markings while the nose number, unit
designation and (not visible here) tail code
remain in white (US Department of Defence,
Sgt. T K Burch)
8Swas upgraded, although not the TAV-8S, it was
to the British Sky Guardian system in a GR.3 PWR
style tail. Pending the entry to service of the SPS
Príncipe De Asturias in the late 1980s Ski Jump
training was carried out at Yeovilton by both
single and twin seat aircraft.
AME TAV-8Ss were delivered in a Matt Gull
Grey with white undersides. Full colour national
markings were carried with all serials and
lettering in black. From delivery until 1980
aircraft carried the identifier MARINA on wings
and rear fuselage but this then changed to
ARMADA. A full colour AME wings marking was
carried on the tail and a unit badge on the port
nose. Although their service overlapped for
almost a decade with second generation
Harriers neither the TVA-8S nor the AV-8S
adopted their toned down colour scheme or
style of markings.
Royal Thai Navy
Following their withdrawal from Spanish
service in 1996 the remaining first generation
aircraft, including both TAV-8Ss, were sold to
Thailand to be operated by 301 Squadron of the
Royal Thai Navy, based at U-Tapao when ashore.
Conversion training was conducted by the AME
at Rota after the trainees involved had
undergone USN Flight Training in the US.
Unfortunately the delivery of the Harriers
coincided with the financial crisis that hit many
Asian economies during the latter half of the
1990s, which did not bode well for the
serviceability and availability of the type and
they were eventually withdrawn from service in
2006.
Most of the aircraft transferred to Thailand,
including both TAV-8S, retained their AME colour
scheme and all carried full colour national
markings with all numbers and lettering, which
was in Thai, in black. Some of the single seat AV-
8Ss received an overall medium grey colour
scheme, which showed up lighter over the white
undersides giving the impression of being in a
two-tone grey scheme along with a black
painted nose cone.
Modelling First Generation Harrier
Trainers
While I am fairly confident that I have
identified all full kits of first generation Harrier
trainers my listing of the many conversion kits
that have been produced are down to memory
and Internet searches and I may have missed
something. Regarding decals I have only listed,
where known and again possibly missing some,
manufacturers who have included the twin seat
option specifically on a decal sheet, although
with a touch of imagination and generic serial
sheets, decals for single seaters could be sourced
and adapted in most cases.
In 1/144 the only kits available would appear
to be in resin from Fox One who offer separate
DECEMBER 2017 • VOLUME 39 • ISSUE 10
SCALED UP
TAV-8A Harrier, 159381, in NASA markings at
the Western Air Museum in Oakland California.
Following a second accident while serving with
VMAT-203, from which it was not repaired, the
aircraft was transferred to NASA as a spares
source for its single seat AV-8A/C. It would
appear that this immaculate rendering of the
colour scheme carried by NASA single seat
Harriers was never worn in service on 159381
but it may well inspire some (R A Ferguson)
T.2/2A, TAV-8S (Spain and Thailand) and TAV-8A
boxings. In 1/72 scale Humbrol/Heller
Bobcat/Bobkit released a snap together T.2 back
in 1983, while at some point Gunze Sangyo
offered a T.4, although as they also released
some reboxed ESCI kits (as had Humbrol) there
might be a connection with the earlier T.2 kit.
Although Aardvark Aviation and Heritage
Aviation did full kits of the T.2/4 in resin/white
metal etc. the only other injection moulded kits
were those released by Sword in 2014 covering
the T.2/2A/TAV-8A, T.4/4N and T.2/2A/4/4N.
Notwithstanding these over the years there have
been many limited run injection, resin, vacform
or combinations thereof conversions of varying
quality from firms such as LF, Air Conversions,
Airkit Enterprise, Pegasus, Vacu-Special, C-Scale,
ID Models and Scale Cast. In 1/48 scale the
forthcoming Kinetic kit is the only injection
moulded first generation trainer, although
Heritage Aviation offer a T.2/4/8 conversion and
North Wing Modelcraft a VAAC conversion. In
1/32 the only option appears to be Tigger
Models and their T.2 vacform conversion.
Regarding decals the following manufacturers
have at some time produced sheets including
various twin seat options, with the apparent
exception of the USMC TAV-8A. Siam Scale
Decals have produced sheets with TAV-8S
markings (Thailand) in 1/144, 1/72 and 1/48
scales. With different sheets in both 1/72 and
1/48 scales, Aztec, Replimodel and Series
Españolas have covered the TAV-8S (Spain);
Model Alliance T.8(RN), T.60(IN), T.2 (RAF); Vingtor
G-VTOL and VAAC; Alley Cat T.2, T2A and T.4
(RAF); Skymodels T.2 and T.4(RAF) T.4N (RN). In
1/72 Modeldecal released sheets covering the
T.2/4 (RAF) and the T.4N (RN); Fineline a sheet
with T.4N (RN); Superscale a T.4 (RAF) and
Combat Decals VAAC. In 1/48 scale Microscale
released a sheet with a T.4 (RAF).
The Tail End
In a nutshell, Harrier trainers first of all had a
choice of tall, taller or tallest tail fins from which
the taller tail fin was chosen for all. Some then
got a bigger nose and smaller lumpy tail fins,
which were taller than standard smaller lumpy
tail fins but smaller than actual taller tails. Of
course not all with the smaller, but actually still
taller, lumpy tail fin got a bigger nose, and some
that should have had smaller, but still taller than
standard, lumpy tail fins kept the original taller
fins for a time. Others, which originally started
with the taller tail, later got the original tail fin
without any lumps, which was smaller than the
smaller tail fin with lumps but was still taller than
the actual original tail fin.
Unless cited otherwise images were taken by
myself, but as the first generation Harrier trainers
seemed to have done a fairly good job of avoiding
my camera over the years, I am very grateful to
Alan Ferguson and to the official sources cited for
filling some of the gaps.
59
KARAS
The Crucian Carp
The cockpit and wing elements soon build up
PZL.23A Karas
The entire aircraft was assembled almost
before I knew it, construction is so simple and Kit No: 72505
fit so good Scale: 1/72
Type: Injection Moulded Plastic
Manufacturer: IBG
Hannants/Stevens International
D
uring the Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939,
the Polish Armed Forces took a gallant
stand against the overwhelming
numbers of the invading German army. One of
the aircraft used during this time in history was
the PZL.23A Karas. First flown in 1934, the Karas
was designed at the outset to be a two crew
member light bomber and reconnaissance
The underside features a distinctive gondola
aircraft, however numerous delays and design
corrections were needed before the airframe
and engine, a Polish built version of the Bristol
Pegasus, were ready for operational duty.
IBG have chosen to provide the modeller with
a series of PZL.23 based aircraft, namely the 23A,
23B and latterly the 43, in 1/72 and very
welcome they are too, with this kit the first in the
series, having a good level of interior detail and
slightly heavy exterior detail, though this does
look better under a couple of coats of paint.
Painting completed and a coat of gloss makes
things decal ready
The underside (fingers shown for size
comparison)
60 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
By Colin 'Flying' Pickett
The parts count is a respectable fifty nine
injection moulded plastic items joined by twelve
clear injection moulded parts for the canopy,
lights and other parts. These is also an etched
fret of a further thirteen items, which provides
the fine details. The instructions are
comprehensive, covering eight A4 pages in a
series of 3D exploded renderings.
Decals for one aircraft are included, that of
number 8 based at the Polish Air Force College,
Deblinie, in September 1939. The kit provides
decal options to depict this aircraft in either its
early or late guise along with a decal depicting
its funding inscription. For reference I used a
copy of Mushroom Models Orange series book
on the PZL.23 Karas by Tomasz J Kopanski, which
as always proved to be the perfect companion
for modelling.
Paint call outs provided by the instructions are
given in a choice of Vallejo, Hataka, Life Color, Mr
Hobby or AK Interactive, so it shouldn’t be too
hard to find one that meets your particular taste.
Having Hataka’s set entitled Polish Air Force
Paint Set HTK-AS01 to hand I decided to
progress using this as it provides camouflage
colours used for Polish aircraft between 1919
and 1939 and so was ideal for this project.

This set contains the following
acrylic colours:
• HTK-A003 Silver (Met) Used
primarily for cockpit interiors,
but also for lower surfaces of
Polish AF reconnaissance aircraft
• HTK-A010 Dark Polish Khaki
Polish Khaki in dark variant used
for upper surfaces of bomber
aircraft, including PZL-37 Łoś
• HTK-A011 Light Polish Khaki
Polish Khaki in light variant used
for upper surfaces of fighter and
reconnaissance aircraft
• HTK-A036 Light Blue-Grey
Standard colour of lower
surfaces for Polish Air Force
fighter and bomber aircraft
The kit parts are moulded from
flesh coloured plastic, and I made it
my first job to paint as many of the
internal parts as possible before
construction started. The cockpit
interior itself is built onto the wing,
and then inserted into the fuselage
from below. I have to admit to
being impressed by the quality of
the detail for a 1/72 kit, with the
only addition made being a set of
harnesses from my spares box. The
instrument panel and the faces of
the radios come as decals, which
are laid over the kits plastic parts
and look convincing under the kits
thin transparencies. The parts fit in
general is excellent, and the plastic
worked well with my adhesive of
choice, Tamiya quick drying thin
glue, meaning that construction
took very little time indeed.
With the fuselage and wing
assembly together my next step
was to install the transparencies,
including the gondola that fits
under the fuselage. One thing I
would have welcomed heartily was
a masking set for the numerous
tiny windows and portholes on the
PZL 23, however I had to make do
with using odd leftovers from
Eduard masking sets, which were
cut to size.
I then fitted the remaining
external parts, leaving the
undercarriage and spats off until
after painting to make life easier as
the fit was easily good enough. I
only used a very small smear of
Vallejo white mastic filler to hide
some of the joins, with any excess
being removed with a damp cotton
bud prior to it drying,
removing the need for any
sanding of real note.
Firstly I airbrushed the
interior colour onto the
frames of the transparencies
so it would show through to
the interior before the
underside was coated with
HTK-A036 Light Blue-Grey.
Once this had dried I marked
off the underside before I
used HTK-A010 Dark Polish Khaki
on the upper surfaces, before a
dusting of HTK-A011 Light Polish
KARAS
Khaki was used to lighten the
effect. I’ve not used Hataka paint
before, and my first reaction to the
Polish offering was concern as it
does look a bit thick, despite
claiming to be airbrush ready.
However my concerns were
unfounded as an upwards tweak of
air pressure saw it being no
problem to apply, with no
splattering or other ill effects.
I applied a coat of gloss acrylic
varnish prior to applying the decals,
which settled without any need for
additional treatment. I then set
about using washes to bring out
the detail. Firstly the underside was
given a wash of Vallejo Blue Grey
76.524 to bring out the panel detail,
whilst the upper surfaces were
given a coat of Olive Green 76.519.
The exhaust collector ring was first
masked off before being airbrushed
with Vallejo Metalcolor Copper
77.710 before a dusting of
Gunmetal Grey 77.720 was used to
make a finish closer to that of the
original aircraft. The whole model
was then given a coat of Vallejo
Matt Varnish before I added some
exhaust staining using Vallejo
ModelAir NATO Black and Dark
Grey.
I then masked off for the wing
walk areas and painted these in
NATO Black, before settling down
to add the final external details
such as the machine guns,
exhausts, bombs and a pitot tube
made from fine brass tubing having
cut off the sturdy but slightly
oversized kit item earlier on in the
build.
Finally I was left with a very tidy
replica of an important European
aircraft to add to my World War II
aircraft collection.
I have to admit to being
impressed with IBG’s aircraft
models. The fit is excellent and the
construction is well thought out,
making it idea for most levels of
modeller except for the very
beginner. Their offering of the
PZL.23A is a superb model which
builds into a trouble free replica
that sits nicely with my Special
Hobby PZL.11 fighter and is hard to
fault. I certainly enjoyed myself and
can’t wait for the next IBG offering
to add to the growing Polish
theme.
Hataka’s Paint Set specifically for
Polish Aircraft of the period
DECEMBER 2017 • VOLUME 39 • ISSUE 10 61
REVIEWS
booklet, one colour marking and painting guide
RODEN and one decal sheet. The plastic parts have very
C-5B Galaxy nicely engraved panel lines and surface
detailing. There is cockpit detail but no cargo
By Andy McCabe bay detail and the cargo bay doors are modelled
closed. Colour call outs are for Vallejo paints and
the decals are nicely printed with plenty of
stencils and markings.
Although the instructions will have you start
by assembling the engines and then the wings I
started by assembling the cockpit in the time old
honoured manner. This is fairly basic and
consists of three seats glued to the cockpit floor,
a bulkhead, two control sticks and a main
instrument panel all of which is invisible once
Kit No: 330 installed in the fuselage. I now assembled the
Scale: 1/144 nose and main landing gear bays and installed
Type: Injection Moulded Plastic them into one of the fuselage halves.
Various holes were opened up in each
Manufacturer: Roden
fuselage half as per the instructions and then the
Pocketbond/Squadron two fuselage halves were joined together.
R
oden’s kit to recap contains fourteen The tail fin was now assembled and fitted to
sprues and two fuselage halves of grey the fuselage followed by the wings. These can
and one clear sprue of clear injection have the flaps and slats deployed if required,
moulded plastic, one decal sheet, one assembly which I did as the wings look pretty impressive
62 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
with them down. The wings were then glued to
the fuselage, the rudder was glued to the tail fin
and the tail planes assembled and fitted to the
fin.
The flap actuators were now assembled and
fitted to the trailing edges of the wings and then
the flaps were installed. The leading edge slats
were added to the wings and work commenced
on the engines. These were all assembled in one
go. The intakes are angled from top to bottom,
which I did not notice until the glued had dried
on all of them so some of them are incorrect, but
as there is no hint of this in the instructions you
will need to be careful when fitting these.
The cockpit glazing was now masked and
fitted and the tail cone glued into place.
The last thing to fit at this stage was the nose
cone. I had left this off so that I could figure out if
I needed to fit any nose weight. It may not have
needed it but I added some in any case.
A coat of grey primer was now sprayed on.
The surface of the plastic is slightly rough so the
model was sanded in its entirety until it was nice
and smooth.
An all over coat of Mr Hobby H334 was then
 Scale Aircraft
Conversions
SAC metal landing gear: supports more weight … resists
breakage …allows for subtle“adjustment” after assembly.

1/48 Kinetic AMX Model by Brian Wakeman

48305 AMX, AMX-T Landing Gear (Kinetic)

White metal & resin parts since 1990 with

600 + sets in stock and growing.

scaleaircraftconversions.com
REVIEWS
applied and this is different to the colour quoted
on the instruction sheet and created a problem
when applying the decals. The stars and bars
and wing walkway decals disappeared when
applied as they are virtually the same colour as
the paint. I did not have spares so I printed my
own.
The remainder of the decals from the kit went
on very well without any problems.
A coat of Klear sealed them in place and a
dark wash of Ultimate Dark Dirt was applied to
highlight the panel lines.
The undercarriage was now painted and
assembled and fitted. There are a lot of wheels
ICM
Focke Wulf
Fw189A-2
By Bill Bunting
64 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
on the C-5 and therefore a lot of painting. Each
wheel is in two halves and it is a real task to paint
them all.
However, they were all done and fitted along
with the gear bay doors, and the model was
finished.
Decals are supplied for one aircraft:
• Lockheed C-5B Galaxy, s/n 86-0024, Air
Mobility Command, 82 AMW, 346 AMW, Travis
Air Base, late 1990s
Conclusion
Roden will no doubt release other variants of
Kit No: 72292
Scale: 1/72
Type: Injection Moulded Plastic
Manufacturer: ICM
Hannants/Stevens International
T
he Focke-Wulf Fw189 Uhu (Eagle Owl) was
a German twin engine, twin boom, three
seat tactical reconnaissance and army co-
operation aircraft. It entered Luftwaffe service in
1940 and was produced until 1944. In total 845
serial aircraft were produced. Modification
Fw189A-2 had a defensive armament of two
MG81Z machine guns. Called the Flying Eye of
the German army, the Fw189A was used
extensively on the Eastern Front with great
success. Its Russian nickname was Rama (Frame)
referring to its distinctive tail boom shape
(quoted from the kit instruction booklet).
this kit in the coming months but for now it is a
very welcome and long overdue arrival and will
prove to be very popular I have no doubt. I am
sorely tempted to open up the cargo bay on this
kit, but I think that might have to wait until I get
my hands on another one
This is the first C-5 Galaxy I have ever built in
all my years of modelling and it was worth the
wait. I have always been a big fan of the aircraft
and this is more than welcome in my collection
and will take its place alongside the Starlifter, C-
17 and A400M in this scale.
It is a cracking model and I am very pleased
that it was passed on to me for review.
This ICM kit was released in 2016 and is a state
of the art tooling of an often overlooked type.
Packaged in a very sturdy box with uninspired
box art it is a superb kit. This is the second new
ICM kit I have built recently and I will say that
they are producing a very high quality product.
Panel lines are very finely engraved and raised
parts such as the ribbing along the wing roots
are cleanly moulded. The landing gear legs and
propeller spinners bear mention, being well
detailed and refined. The great many clear parts
are just that, very clear and their frame work is
distinct but not overly deep. In total there are
138 grey and sixteen clear parts. There are
various options on the sprues including different
types of machine guns, gun ports and four 50kg
bombs along with their ETC racks. The elevator,
rudders and ailerons are separate parts and may
be attached in deflected positions. The decals
are ICM’s own and cover two paint options. The
sixteen page instruction book is on glossy paper

and includes two pages of full colour painting
and decal profiles. The instruction diagrams are
clear for the most part but some parts
placement is vague and trial fitting is a must to
ensure they are in the right spot.
ICM have tackled the highly glazed fuselage
pod and twin boom layout of the original
aircraft by using a lot of parts and great care is
needed to align everything. The good news is
that the fit of parts is excellent. Everything will
come together correctly as long as you are
careful and move logically. The cockpit and
centre pod construction is not conventional and
is made up of many different panels. The
fuselage is made up of a floor and two sidewalls,
which are also the upper wing root fairings.
These are brought together and then attached
to the lower wing centre section and its two
moveable inner flaps. I used a slower setting
cement to allow alignment of everything while it
set. While this centre section was firming up, the
upper and lower front canopy sections were dry
fitted to ensure that the sidewalls, floor and
wing section were right.
To complete the upper part of the fuselage
and to make it a little more nerve racking, there
are eight clear and two grey parts that need to
be aligned and cemented into place. Once again
the parts fit together very well and it all looks
neat when completed. I dipped all of the clear
parts in Future floor polish to protect them from
glue fogging. I used Tenax 7R liquid cement to
tack the parts but since it is a fast setting glue I
had to work very quickly. The advantage is that
Tenax vapours dissipate quickly reducing the
chances of misting the clear parts.
Inside of this fuselage pod, ICM have provided
a good amount of fine cockpit detail including
seats, control panels, radios, ammo boxes etc.
Although a lot of bits are included, I did not
notice any part in the cockpit that resembled a
camera in any shape or form. I perused some
interior pictures on the web but again failed to
identify an obvious camera. Those of you who
have better references may want to add a
scratch built photo snapper since this was the
Uhu’s main role. The other cockpit omission is
any type of seat harnesses for the crew
positions. I made mine from tape but a photo
etch detail set would pay dividends here as
there is ample canopy to view the interior even if
REVIEWS
the hatches are set closed.
I did not attach the machine guns at this time
but attached the relevant gun glass panels using
white glue so they could be removed in the final
stages of building and the guns fitted at that
time. The balance of assembly was completed by
following the instructions with the exception of
leaving off the landing gear and fine parts until
after painting was completed. Careful fitting and
care in aligning everything resulted in a gap and
filler free model. I did not note any errors in the
instructions or parts numbering.
To prepare for painting the multitude of clear
panels were masked with Tamiya tape. Strangely
I enjoy this process but I am sure that many
modellers will opt for some precut masks and in
this case I would have to admit they would be
worth the investment. In fact I just ordered
masks for my 1/48 Do-17Z which has a similar
amount of greenhouse. The model was then
given an overall coat of Tamiya XF-23 Light Blue
to serve as the underside colour and a primer for
the upper surfaces. For thinning Tamiya paints I
use their own lacquer thinner, which works very
well with their acrylic paints and I believe it
creates a better bond with the plastic than
acrylic thinners. This allows me to skip a lacquer
based primer coat. The areas where the yellow
ID panels would be were painted white and then
XF-3 Yellow. When dry they were masked with
tape. Upper surfaces were painted overall in XF-
59 Desert Yellow. To ensure the mottles would
be even and balanced, they were lightly drawn
onto the aircraft using the painting guide as a
reference. The secret here is to be sure they are
drawn a little smaller than the final desired size
as you will paint over the lines to hide them. By
using a soft lead pencil it is possible to erase any
errors using a white pencil eraser.
The XF-61 Dark Green mottles were
airbrushed free hand using highly thinned paint
and low air pressure. The lacquer thinners pay
off here too as the paint flows very smoothly at
low pressure and dries almost instantly. After the
mottles were complete the inevitable touch ups
were made by spraying or in some cases hand
brushing the Desert Yellow over the offending
bits. Once satisfied with the paintwork the ID
panel masks were removed and Future acrylic
floor polish was applied in two airbrushed coats,
and when they were dry one coat was hand
DECEMBER 2017 • VOLUME 39 • ISSUE 10 65
REVIEWS
brushed. This made for a fairly glossy surface
ready for decals and washes.
The kit decals cover two aircraft, V7+1J in the
desert mottle scheme and 5D+CK featuring
whitewashed upper surfaces. This was my first
experience with ICM decals and I am very
impressed. They are finely printed, perfect in
register, thin and feature very little excess carrier
film. After applying the first decals under the
wings I was just about to apply decal solvent
when I noticed that they were already beginning
to settle into the engraved panel lines on their
own. It was only in a couple of cases with the
tiny stencils that I felt a drop of Tamiya Mark Fit
would help. In the end everything settled very
well and there were no silvering spots. I would
be very pleased if ICM could make decals for
everyone as they are that good.
66 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
A single light wash using dark umber oil paint
thinned with lighter fluid was applied on the
upper surfaces and the excess removed with
kitchen paper towel. This subtly highlighted the
panel lines, blended the colours together and
knocked down the overly white decals all at the
same time. The final coat of Future mixed with a
little Tamiya XF-86 Flat was airbrushed overall. At
this point the final details including guns,
bombs, antenna, ladder and landing gear were
added. The main gear legs are quite tricky to
install as very tiny locating pins need to be lined
up with their respective holes inside the wheel
wells. Once again it will fit but patience is
required. The tail wheel assembly is extremely
stalky and weak. It does benefit from the gear
door being attached but it will never be very
robust. The kit’s plastic pitot tube was replaced
with micro tube.
Conclusion
Another 1/72 gem from ICM. I had just
completed their Do-17Z-10 (Revell boxing) and
was looking forward to building this kit based on
the excellent fit I had experienced previously.
The Fw189A did not disappoint. The fit of the
parts is superb. Cockpit and exterior details are
also excellent. The one thing about this model
though is the very complex assembly method.
There are a number of parts that need to be
joined very carefully often at the same time.
The parts are well designed and come together
correctly but this complexity may put off less
experienced builders. Thanks to ICM for the
review sample.
 S
EL IT
D K
O N
M IO
A LE CT www.pocketbond.co.uk www.bachmann.co.uk
U
SC TR
N
S
Exclusive UK Distributors Bachmann Europe Plc
CO

I:48 I:72 I:72

EW

EW
EW

F-4B/N VMFA-531 “Gray Ghosts” F-86F “Korean War” F/A-18E USN VFA-143 “Pukin’
Dogs” PKAY12547

N
N

PKAY12315 PKAY12546

I:72 I:72 I:32

O ING

O ING
EW

N
F2H-3 USN VF-41 “Black Aces” F-15E USAF 333rd Fighter
SO M
Mosquito B Mk IX/XVI RAF

SO M
O

O
N

PKAY12548 Squadron PKAY12550 PKHK01E16

C

C
I:I44 I:I44 I:I44
O ING

EW

EW
N

Haunebu II Saucer Bristol 175 Britannia African Vickers VC-10 K4 Type 1170
SO M
O

Safari PKROD326
N

tanker PKROD328

N
PKPG9119
C

I:72 I:72 I:72

O ING
EW

EW
N

Russian Su-34 Fullback Fighter Russian MiG-31 Foxhound Russian Su-33 Flanker D
SO M
O
N

Bomber PKTM01652 PKTM01679 PKTM01678

C

I:32 I:48 I:32

EW
N
EW
EW

Me Bf 109K-4 Boulton Paul Defiant F.1 Russian MIG-29A Fulcrum

IN N
N
N

PKTM02299 PKTM02899 PKTM03223

L E AN
AB M S
A IL CH IST
A K
Bachmann Europe Plc, Dept MAI/1707, Moat Way, Barwell, Leics, LE9 8EY. Trade enquiries only on tel 01455 841756, info@pocketbond.co.uk AV L B OC
L
A S T
Model, Collect & Create
REVIEWS
ITALERI
AH-64 D
Longbow
Apache
By Cezary (Tish) Swiecicki
Kit No: 2748
Scale: 1/48
Type: Injection Moulded
Plastic
Manufacturer: Italeri
The Hobby Company/MRC
T
he AH-64 was designed to
operate on the front line and
to perform anti tank, anti
helicopter, assault and close
support missions in all weather
conditions and in any operating
68 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
environments. The AH-64D
Longbow is the upgraded version
with an increased offensive
capability and the adoption of
advanced target acquisition
systems. The Longbow is
characterised by the AN/APG-78
radar, housed in the radome
located above the main rotor. Its
raised position enables target
detection and use of missiles, such
as the anti tank Hellfire. The main
armament is the 30mm M230 Chain
Gun installed under the cabin and a
variety of offensive weapons of
rockets and missiles.
On opening the box you will find
four sprues of parts, one clear and
three in light grey, holding 208
parts, of which twenty one are not
required in this boxing.
There are twelve stages in the
build sequence and an extra seven
stages depending on which variant
you choose to build. There are five
versions in this kit and I opted for
the British Version A, Royal Army Air
Corps, 656 Squadron, 4 Regiment,
RAF Wattishman, UK 2016.
Stage one is the cockpit, which
has fine detail with decals for the
dials and side panels, although you
first have to remove the moulded
details for the dials. Seat belts are
moulded on details but I overlaid
them with masking tape to make
them look better. The cockpit also
includes pedals and collective
sticks. The interior is painted overall
matt black. I dry brushed a little
silver to give the appearance of
wear and tear.
Stage two moves onto the
fuselage and involves
trimming/cutting off parts of the
undercarriage. The upper deck has
the swash plate added. I left part 15
off (mast), deciding to glue this
only to the rotor head, allowing for
removal of the rotor head/blades
for transport.
The cabin is fixed into the
fuselage side, glued and then the
other fuselage is added. I found
masking tape was required to keep
the joints closed whilst the glue
dried. I did find the rivets a little
pronounced, and these should be
reduced once the fuselage is
painted.
The next stage covers the engine
pods. I glued these together and
set them aside to dry after which I
cleaned the joints and then added
them to the fuselage. The intakes
were glued in place once the
engine pods were fitted. A little
filler was required to blend in parts
35/40 to the engine pods.
Stage 4 involves the
undercarriage legs and lower
fuselage (part 49). This had a small
amount of flash and on my kit and
was not the best of fits, but don’t
despair as in the next section the
side pods will cover most of the
joints.
I taped the side pods together
first and glued them from the
inside and left them to dry. I found
this gave a much neater job but still
needed a minor amount of filler.
Stage 6 was really fiddly. I had
previously glued and sanded the
stub wings ready for fitting. You will
need to glue the wings in place and
whilst the glue is setting fit the side
pods from stage 5 and the
undercarriage. This is quite fiddly
and tape was required to hold it all
together. I found the neatest way
was to run a bead of glue around
the side pods whilst in situ. This
may save you getting glue where
you don’t want it if you try pushing
them on. The navigation lights also
need cutting off prior to gluing on
new ends to the stub wings.
Stage 7 covered the tail rotor
and rear stabiliser no problems
were encountered here.
I tackled Stage 8 as sub
assemblies, rockets, pods and

carrier. Once seams were sanded
down these were painted
separately for final attachment
later. Part 13 (the cable cutter) is
minute, and mine resides in the
carpet!
The next stage involved
attaching various small items, and
here do be aware of the version you
are modelling, and the canopy. This
was difficult to mask as the raised
frames are on the inside. Cut a little
at a time until you have the right
lines for masking. The canopy was
then attached but you need to be
careful as it is very thin. I left the
doors off for attachment at the end.
Next up came the gun, which is
made up of nine parts. I left the
wheels off at this stage, again to be
attached at the end. The wheels
were heated gently and then
flattened to give the appearance of
bearing weight.
Now it was onto Stage 11 and
making up the rotor head, blades
and mast mounted sight. Parts 95
were not glued as shown. You will
need to refer to the painting guide
for the correct location. There are
also many other minor parts to be
added here.
Stage 12 involves the placement
of small items to the fuselage
underside. Note that part 66 is for
version D only! For Version A there
are two more stages of fuselage
REVIEWS
fittings.
Matt black was used for panel
line preshading and I then moved
onto the main fuselage colour, Matt
Olive Drab. There has been much
talk about this colour, as it varies
from olive green to black. On my
model I used XtraColor X153, FS
14031, US Army Helo Drab. This
paint goes on extremely well and
dries with a gloss finish, ideal for
decalling, which is the next stage.
Much of the preshading was lost
under the Olive Drab. Highlighting
was added with XtraColor faded
Olive Drab.
Once the decals were on the
remaining sub assemblies that had
been put to one side earlier on in
the build could now be added. A
few final coats of matt varnish were
sprayed on. Masking was removed
once dry and then came the fitting
of the cabin doors, which was
tricky. I taped them in place and
then a few drops of superglue were
used. Once dry the hydraulic rams
were added.
Conclusion
All in all a fine model with lots of
detail, although tricky in places.
Anyone with a few kits under their
belt should have no trouble.
DECEMBER 2017 • VOLUME 39 • ISSUE 10 69
SCALE COMMUNIT Y
IPMS (UK) Column
I
f all goes to plan you should be able to read
this issue of SAM at Scale ModelWorld 2017. If
so, enjoy the read and enjoy the show. It is the
December issue of course and that being the
case, I’m already thinking ahead to 2018 and I’m
musing on ‘themes’... We modellers are a diverse
bunch, with lots of different areas of interest,
and I feel it’s our differences as much as our
shared interests that help to make IPMS such a
healthy, successful society. Whether you are
already a member or if you have just learned
about them from reading this column, you will
probably be aware of the very many Special
Interest Groups (SIGs) within IPMS (UK). I believe
there are currently over a hundred and I make
mention of them here because, as I said, I’ve
been giving some thought to themes, or more
precisely to modelling to a theme. By their
nature, I suppose SIG members build to a theme,
having a shared interest, whether that be
Aeroplanes of Honolulu, Green Things, or
whatever it is that brings them together.
So, why am I musing on themes? Actually I
was looking ahead to the New Year because, as
most of you will surely know, 1st April 2018
marks the hundredth anniversary of the
formation of the Royal Air Force. Here in the UK,
this is a big deal - the RAF will have been in
existence for a whole century! I have little doubt
that many modellers are already planning to
commemorate this milestone year and we are
bound to see club displays, magazine articles
and perhaps even individual modellers paying
tribute in some way. In fact, although it’s early
days and I’m not in the loop, I believe that the
Big Display at Scale ModelWorld 2018 may well
be such a commemoration.
Having set my few remaining brain cells to
work, I have been considering the many
different options available when it comes to
theming a RAF Centenary Display. Where would
you start? How about undertaking to build, or at
least display, as there are bound to be built
models already available, an example of every
aircraft type ever operated by the service? Whilst
this must theoretically be possible, it would be
an absolutely massive undertaking, even
compiling the list would require a huge effort. As
for sourcing the models, rather a lot of scratch
building might be required given some of the
more obscure types. And where would you draw
the line? Would you need to include all the
major subtypes of certain aircraft? Just how
many variants of the Spitfire were there?
Okay then, how about displaying a
representative aircraft from every single RAF
squadron? I wouldn’t even know how to count
these... I do know that there have been several
70 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
Presented By Chris Ayre
hundred regular squadrons but surely
you’d also need to include all of the
Auxiliary Air Force units. What about
all the Commonwealth squadrons and
those allied units originally formed
within the RAF? Should we include
only front line squadrons? This task is
proving almost as difficult as the first
idea. Okay then, how about we try
something a little less ambitious.
Perhaps we could choose a selection
of the most iconic RAF aircraft of the
last hundred years? Good luck with
that one, as although some may
seem obvious this is a quite
subjective way to decide, so we
could be here for weeks. Here’s
another idea - let’s split the
century into ten decades and then The latest issue of the IPMS
choose two or three (UK) Magazine
representative types from each.
Again, how on earth do you
choose? I’m not the world’s most
successful decision maker so I
think I’ll give up now. You can see why
always
I never actually get any modelling done, eh?
carried the strapline ‘Written by
It remains to be seen what you all come up modellers, for modellers’ and this translates in
with and I’m looking forward to seeing the practical terms to mean that all of the articles are
various displays throughout the year. One thing I submitted by Society members and are written
can be sure of is that there will be some very with fellow modellers in mind. In the main you
creative and imaginative work on the display will find information on techniques, practical
tables in 2018 and I also know that the IPMS (UK) advice, detailed builds, reviews and show
magazine will be devoting an issue to the reports. As you might expect, there is an
anniversary. If you already have a extensive report on Scale ModelWorld in Issue 6
commemorative project in mind, why not each year. The whole range of plastic modelling
consider writing it up and sending it to the interests is covered, reflecting the diversity I
editor, Dave Berryman, for possible inclusion in mentioned at the top of this column. As an
the Society journal? I’m looking forward to this aircraft modeller predominantly, I love that fact
particular issue because, as with all of the that modellers of all abilities and interests
material used in the magazine, it is written by contribute as there is always something new to
the members for the benefit of their fellows and be learned, and often some little nugget of an
as such is a great source of inspiration. idea will pop up to help me with my hobby. Also
It occurs to me that whilst I have previously included of course, is IPMS news and
extolled the various benefits of IPMS information as this is the official journal of the
membership, I don’t think I have ever really Society. Out in the commercial world there are
described the magazine in any detail. This is a some magazines filled with pretty pictures but
little odd, given that this is the aspect of the with little real substance. IPMS magazine offers
Society with which I’m most involved. Then something a bit different and is only available to
again, perhaps that is the reason? Any road up, IPMS (UK) members. If you haven’t joined
IPMS Magazine is produced bimonthly, within already, why not do so today? If you’re reading
the Society and the editor is a member of the this at SMW, just look for the Membership Desk
IPMS (UK) Executive Committee. Currently a forty by the show entrance.
four page, A4, full colour magazine, production
is completely funded by membership
subscriptions, allowing freedom from Showtime
commercial constraints, and although it does Yes, December looms large (I was going to try
carry some advertising it is not beholden to the not to mention the C word but see below) and
demands of advertisers. The magazine has the quiet month of the year is typically light on

model shows. It does still feature a few events, all
on the same weekend, although these are a little
more commercial in nature. The Hamex 9 Kit
Swap at the beginning of the month on Saturday
2nd December has a mix of traders and
exhibitors, although I know not who they are.
The venue for this shopping opportunity is
Hanslope Village Hall in Buckinghamshire, MK19
7NZ. Admission is £2.00 for adults and free for
under sixteens. Contact Paul Fitzmaurice on
01234 711980 or info@hamex.co.uk for more
details. The following day sees two shows. The
London Plastic Modelling Show moves to a new
venue for 2017, Haverstock School in Camden,
NW3 2BQ. I know little about this event other
than the fact that entrance is £6.00 for adults but
you can find out more for yourself at the website
Models for Heroes – Progress
www.londonplasticmodellingshow.co.uk.
Meanwhile, up near Coventry Airport you will
find the Midland Air Museum Christmas Model
Mark Stonelake, ex-Commando Regiment now
acting as ambassador for the cause…
M
odels for Heroes has had a fantastic few
months. We have seen hundreds of
veterans and injured ex-service
personnel try modelling for the first time, or
indeed for the first time in thirty years.
Modelling sessions have grown and become
clubs in their own right in some cases. We have
been interviewed by the British Forces
Broadcasting Service, welcomed our first
Ambassador and we’ve set up therapeutic
modelling sessions in three more centres across
the UK geared towards positive mental health.
More modelling sessions are in the pipeline in
Wales and Scotland.
Mark Stonelake, ex Commando Regiment,
Invictus Games athlete and Royal British Legion
front man humbly accepted our invitation to
champion Models for Heroes. With a few Airfix
kits in Mark’s cupboard he was not only keen to
learn more about modelling but also to bring a
modelling session to a veteran’s care home
where he works. We continue to be thrilled by
his input into Models for Heroes and have to
thank him for his enthusiasm.
Help for Heroes offer modelling sessions to
injured, wounded and sick ex service personnel.
We supply them with good quality tools, paints
and kits. Modelling is now firmly on their radar
Fayre. This one is run by the museum in
conjunction with IPMS Coventry and
Warwickshire and there will as ever be a mixture
of club and trade displays. Normal admission
prices apply and there is plenty of free parking.
Contact the organiser Dianne James on 02476
301033 or email
midlandairmuseum@btconnect.com and you
can find the museum at CV3 4FR.
Finally, if you reside in East Asia or are
intending to travel there at the beginning of
December, there are two IPMS model shows that
may interest you. The IPMS Korea Sixth
Exhibition takes place in Seoul on Saturday 2nd
December at the Yeongdeungpo Art Hall. There
are lots more details on the IPMS Korea website
although most of it is written, fairly obviously, in
Korean... I’ll just send you there as a starting
point ipmskore.co.kr. Way down in Malaysia,
at every Personnel Recovery Centre (PRC) as a
widely recognised, supportive treatment for
PTSD, Anxiety and depression. This is incredibly
exciting as last year scale modelling was not
supported, not understood and not consistently
supplied. We welcomed the H4H PRC in
Plymouth, HMS Drake, to the Models for Heroes
family with volunteers from the Plymouth Scale
Modellers Association signing up to assist.
In December this year we are planning a
special event to mark the new Star Wars film
release. Fifteen beneficiaries at the Help for
Heroes Tedworth House will be given the
opportunity to build Star Wars models from a
selection of kits donated privately and by the
generous support of Revell. The event will be
covered by Help for Heroes and we are excited
to welcome our ambassador Mark Stonelake
along too. We continue to campaign for your
Airfix Flying Hours Tokens, and have taken nearly
1,000 hours in tokens and converted them into
well over 100 model kits. We have to thank Airfix
for setting us up with a free club membership
and for supporting us.
We have also been very proud to support the
Trafford Vets in Manchester with their model and
craft making sessions. Combined Forces, Links
Llanelli, Wales use our donated model kits to
expand their figure painting classes to include
scale modelling. There are plans to set up
modelling sessions in the south of Wales next
year at a location supported again by Help for
Heroes.
Northern Ireland sees its first Modelling
session at the end of October started by Colin
Patterson. Colin is an active member of the
Northern Ireland Modelling Association (NIMA).
With their support he has identified a location in
Belfast and will be running the monthly event to
give something back to the veterans in and
around Belfast. The glue, paint and tea will be
DECEMBER 2017 • VOLUME 39 • ISSUE 10
SCALE COMMUNIT Y
meanwhile, is the 2017 IPMS Malaysia Model
Show which is taking place in the Main Street
Cafe at the Cititel Penang in George Town. You
can find out more by emailing Andrew at
ipmsmalaysia@yahoo.com. If I could make it, I
would, as I mean how many model shows
include an ice cream eating competition?
Until next time, enjoy your modelling.
Chris
ipmsuk.org
Membership enquiries: Cliff Bassett, West Barn,
Duken Lane, Wootton, Bridgnorth, Shropshire
WV15 6EA
Email: membership@ipmsuk.org or visit
ipmsuk.org/membership/ to join online.
flowing as it is a popular craic.
In the near future we are planning on opening
up more opportunities to enthuse about the
hobby and introduce more people to the mental
health benefits of the hobby. The PRC in
Sennelager, Germany run by the Royal British
Legion will be starting modelling sessions in
January. Our local NHS hospital and the DMRC at
Headley Court have shown an interest in
running modelling sessions for wellbeing
focussed sessions.
Our success can be attributed directly to you,
our donors, our sponsors, our suppliers and our
enthusiastic supporters. Without your help,
without your enthusiasm for the hobby we
would not be able to supply the therapeutic
medicine of a model kit. If you want to know
more about us and how you can donate visit
www.modelsforheroes.co.uk, visit us on Facebook
and twitter @modelsforheroes or come find us
at Scale Model World 2017 where we will have a
range of merchandise, details of our activities
and a place to donate your kits.
71
M A R K E T P L AC E
SCALE AIRCRAFT CONVERSIONS
Another healthy selection of new white metal
undercarriage sets have been added to the Scale
Aircraft Conversions catalogue covering a
number of the latest kit releases. Each of these
sets are direct replacements for the plastic parts
supplied in the kit and generally offer some
improvements such as sink marks and mould
seams cleaned up and removed, in addition to
other minor improvements undertaken prior to
casting. White metal can offer up a number of
benefits such as added strength for larger
AIR GRAPHIC
The latest resin items received from this source
have really ticked some boxes, offering parts and
upgrades for kits both old and new, but in
particular an ambitious conversion set for the
Airfix 1/72 Lynx that has this modellers fingers
itching...
The smaller items come packed in individual
plastic bubbles, while the bigger set is in a
sturdy box. Full colour instructions and
information is supplied with all items and we can
only wonder at what will come next. All items
received are 1/72.
AIRC72-01 Army Air Corps Westland Lynx
AH.1GT Desert Storm/Granby Update 1990-91
This very comprehensive set includes some forty
resin pieces to update the Airfix kit and allows
the modeller to build the aircraft as it appeared
in combat in the first Gulf War. Parts include a
new rotor head assembly, interior, clear resin
replacement windows where appropriate, TOW
missile tubes and launchers, exhaust filters,
optical gunsight, gear box rod housing, tail, tail
rotor, nose and a complete cabin roof with
internal detail moulded on the bottom. It is quite
72 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
models, and due to its malleability, it will not
snap or break if knocked or bumped during the
construction stages of the build, merely bending
slightly which can easily be rectified. It also
offers up the ability to tweak the legs to rectify
any slight alignment issues that may occur
during or after the building process.
32124 1/32 Spitfire Mk.IXc Landing Gear (Revell)
48335 1/48 Su-35 Flanker E Landing Gear (Kitty
Hawk)
48336 1/48 Macchi C.205 Veltro Landing Gear
(Hasegawa/Italeri)
an extraordinary package and while not for the
faint hearted looks nicely cast and is certainly a
welcome subject.
The instructions appear to echo the original kit
instructions step by step, advising the modeller
what to do to effect the conversion at each
stage. It seems fairly clear in this regard and
offers the opportunity to build an eye-catching
and unique model of this under kitted type.
AC-022 Tornado GR.1/4 & F.3 Wheel Set
Consists of four resin pieces, cleanly cast with no
moulding lugs. The wheels have flats moulded in.
AC-022 Tornado GR.1/4 Update Set
Includes three clear resin pieces; two small
windows and a recce pod with full colour
instructions provided for placement. Designed
for Revell/Hasegawa kits.
AC-043 Martin Baker Mk 10(BI) Ejection Seats
for BAe Hawk
Designed to fit any 1/72 Hawk kit, these really
are beautifully detailed. Includes a colour
instructions sheet incorporating a photograph
of the real thing to assist painting.
AC-043 AN/AAQ-33 Sniper Pod for
any Harrier kit
48337 1/48 MiG-31 Foxhound Landing Gear
(HobbyBoss)
48338 1/48 A-4 Skyhawk Landing Gear
(HobbyBoss)
48339 1/48 Bf 109F/G Landing Gear (Eduard)
72146 1/72 Mikoyan MiG-21 Landing Gear (RV
Aircraft)
72147 1/72 F-15E Strike Eagle Landing Gear
(Academy 2017 mould)
UK importer is Hannants or see the full range at
www.scaleaircraftconversions.com
Two cream coloured and one clear resin part
allow you to assemble one pod and pylon to fit
any 1/72 Harrier kit.
AC-047 Westland Scout Engine Set
& Tail Rotor
Now this is a surprise! Designed for the Airfix kit
it’s another beautifully cast set of parts and one
can only hope more sets will follow to allow the
other areas of the kit that need addressing to be
dealt with appropriately!
AC-049 Westland Lynx AH.1/7 TOW Missile
Launcher Set
Offers one complete set of weapons for the
Airfix Lynx.
We understand Air-Graphics have purchased the
resin masters of the old Model Alliance/AIRframe
accessories and these are being put back into
production. Readers will recall the wide range of
unique products covered by Model Alliance and
these, along with newly commissioned items
and the new On-Target decals range, can be
viewed and purchased via the website.
www.air-graphics.co.uk
M A R K E T P L AC E
H A R R O G AT E M O D E L C LU B

For an age yet to come By Gary Hatcher

S
o this month I have mostly
been building Airfix kits. It’s
been a mixture of curiosity,
nostalgia, and sheer enjoyment.
Curiosity to see what the ‘Lego’
Hawk actually went together like,
nostalgia over the 1/76 tank kits
that Hugo got with his Flying Hours
that required some assistance, and
sheer enjoyment with the Sea
Hurricane Ib in 1/48, which has
been an absolute pleasure to build
and even as we speak is going
together like a dream.
Hurricane first. I have been
critical in the past, where I thought
appropriate, about the tooling on
some of the recent Airfix releases. I
can say with total satisfaction that
the 1/48 Hurricane has no such
issues. The overly deep panel lines
that marred some of the earlier red
box releases seem to have been
laid to rest and the surface detail is
the equal of anything coming on to
the market these days. As for the fit,
it needs to be experienced to be
believed. The engineering of the kit
is a delight and the fit of parts
accurate to a degree. It has been a
singularly pleasant experience.
I was immediately drawn to the
kit when it was announced. I have
long had an interest in the activities
of the Fleet Air Arm in the
Mediterranean in the early years of
the war, and would go as far as to
suggest that while the Battle of
Britain was indeed a very fine hour,
perhaps the battles fought by the
threadbare air forces of Force H in
the face of considerable odds
might be regarded as equally of
value in the overall scheme of
things. Heresy I know, but one can
only wonder at the possible
outcomes had Mare Nostrum not
been turned into Cunningham’s
Pond with the aid of a few tatty
Stringbags and some stopgap
Hurricanes. Churchill had high
hopes for the Fulmar, referring
optimistically on several occasions
to the effect ‘our fast new Fulmar
fighters’ would have on events in
the theatre. His optimism proved
unfounded however, and although
the Fulmar was to prove its worth
in the right conditions Hurricanes
were still at the very forefront of
things in mid 1942 when they were
fighting to defend the Malta
convoys.
So my fondness for British naval
aviation has been rekindled, and
while Eduard’s boxing of the
Special Hobby Fulmar will be high
on my shopping list at Telford, I
have been very pleased to come to
grips with Airfix’s excellent kit.
My previous attempts to model
the Sea Hurricane go back a decade
or so to the release of Revell’s Mk IIc
in 1/72, a lovely kit that introduced
me to the delights of white painted
aircraft, with a nice example from
HMS Nairana included on the decal
sheet. I ended up building a variety
of Sea Hurricane IIcs and Ibs, all
based on the Revell kits with some
scratch conversions effected,
blissfully unaware of the difference
in fuselage length that should have
had me hacking and chopping
away and making a mess of it all.
The new Airfix tooling is pretty
much good to go from the box as
far as my limited knowledge goes,
lacking only the oil collector ring
behind the spinner that was a fairly
common, if not universal, fit by the
time the aircraft covered on the
decal sheet were taking off from
Indomitable and Eagle.
Starting with the interior is not
so glib as it sounds in this instance,
as the engineering of the kit means
that once this is finished there is
almost nothing left to do except
bang the big bits together. I
commenced as I usually do by
establishing which kit parts would
need modification to accept the
Eduard etch that is an inevitable
part of any build I undertake.
Eduard’s set 49726 was employed
on this build. It is designed for the
previous Hurricane Ib release but as
the plastic parts are identical it was
reasonable to assume the etch
would fit in this instance. It includes
the usual essential colour panels
and seatbelts as well as an awful lot
of bits to detail the gun bays
should one wish to open them up.
Not my intention, of course. I rarely
if ever open things up if I can leave
them alone and get onto the
painting stage but they are
certainly comprehensive in their
coverage should you be so inclined.
The cockpit and wing spars built

This much was built up almost
immediately from the box, with
just a couple of parts needing
detail shaved off in preparation
for the etch
Note the two pin pricks marking
the location for the catapult
spools. The instructions make no
mention of these but parts are
provided

Eduard’s colour fret is, as ever, an
essential ingredient for any build
I undertake
The unpainted elements of the
Eduard set offer a lot of very
useful details for the wing
armament as well as some
prominent grills
Since Hugo became an enthusiastic member of HMC the work bench
has become occasionally ‘crowded’. I had never warmed to the Humbrol
work station before, but am finding it a very practical way of taking a
project to other parts of the house when my son is busy splashing
acrylic paints around in the designated area

74 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
H A R R O G AT E M O D E L C LU B

I used Eduard’s etched seat,

which assembled easily and
looks excellent
The cockpit was sprayed with
Polished Aluminium from a
Humbrol Metalcote can, with
Humbrol 78 for the Interior
Green
The finished interior really does
look smart, with Eduard’s
additions as the icing on an
already exceedingly good cake
The only fit issue I had was at the
wing roots, where a slight gap
was evident. By forcing apart the
rear fuselage and leaving it to set
overnight with liquid poly I
managed to get a seamless fit
that required no filler whatsoever

Since Lego’s patent expired the

door has been open for other
manufacturers to base products
on the original brick design.
Airfix have come up with an One of those annoying kits that
excellent way to encourage Getting there. Perhaps this is the Do not mock. To younger eyes hit you between the eyes and
younger children to level up way forward for those suffering this is an exciting and convincing send you scuttling off in a new
from bricks to model kits... ‘modellers block’ replica of an iconic aircraft’ direction. Recommended!

up quickly and easily with everything slotting
together very positively. The assembly is pretty
complete in fact, and there were very few parts
on the etched fret that needed to be added at
this stage, most of the cockpit items being
prepainted ones that would go on after painting.
I replaced the compass mounting with the
etched part, and there is a very noticeable
addition in brass for the pilot’s stick, but I left the
rudder pedals alone as they are by and large
invisible once the lid is on.
In my innocence, back when building the 1/72
kits I had allowed myself to assume the interior
would be Interior Green, and had accordingly
laid in some Humbrol 78 to this end. Airfix’s
instructions beg to differ however, directing the
modeller to paint most of the interior
aluminium. Intrigued I read up on the matter
and it seems to be the case that while aircraft
differed from one to another, by and large the
tubular framing, seat, floor, stick and pedals all
seem to be painted aluminium, while the pilot’s
back armour, the fuselage sides and the firewall
seem to be Interior Green. Sources do differ, and
some swear blind to all green, but most images
of unrestored aircraft suggest that Airfix have
the matter more or less correct. There is a certain
amount of guesswork involved, as it does seem
to vary slightly from one aircraft to another, but
the overall effect once things were painted and
assembled was much more interesting than the
all green I had planned, and with the addition of
the colour etched parts really did look rather
excellent.
Once the interior had been completed and
mounted on the lower wing, including seat, stick
and panel, and with only the protruding
gunsight left off until later, I was able to get on
with construction. First up were the upper
wings, which were added painlessly to the lower,
although not without first remembering to mark
the holes for the catapult spools. These are half
bored through the lower wing and just needed a
pin pushed through to mark their location. The
instructions make no mention of these parts
whatsoever, although they are shown in the
painting diagrams as in situ. The parts
themselves are numbered on one of the larger
sprues. I’m afraid I made no note of the numbers
and the sprues are long gone, but for the record
they are those two little things that look like
shopping trolley castors. They are an essential
part of being a Sea Hurricane so don’t forget to
drill out the holes either side of the oil cooler
and add them later in the build.
The rapidity with which the rest of the parts
went together was commendable. The model is
currently in the painting stages but its ease of
construction leads me flawlessly on to the
second element of this month’s Airfix-fest – the
Quickbuild Red Arrows Hawk.
OK, so it’s basically Lego. Why, you ask, in a
column that has already owned to having no
idea what colour the inside of a Hurricane is, are
we moving on to Lego? Is this scale modelling?
Well, yes, although probably not as we know it.
I was intrigued by this kit as Airfix have
released it with the clear intention of
introducing younger children to a model that is
on the one hand easy to assemble and involves
no solvents, but on the other hand will build into
something that actually does look like a Red
Arrows Hawk in 1/48. No need to patronise your
children or fob them off with something generic
– this range of kits really does present the
absolute beginner with something they can look
at and be proud of at the end of the day.
I turned it over to fellow club member Hugo
to put together, and he tackled it with some
enthusiasm. It is essentially a collection of snap
together parts in two shades of red with a single
transparency that goes on the top at the end.
Not a lot to say about the build really – the two
shades of red are very similar and there are
places where the instructions really need to be
studied closely to make sure everything is in the
right place, but before long a passable
impersonation of a Hawk emerged and there
remained only the stickers to apply before it was
finished. Curiosity satisfied.
So I can see where Airfix are coming from with
this. As a child I loved the Reverend W. Awdry’s
railway books precisely because they showed
pictures of locomotives and infrastructure that
(faces aside) looked like the things they actually
were meant to be, rather than stupid caricatures
of what adults think children expect to see. All
respect to Airfix for doing the same here. I would
hope these kits will not only prove fun to build
but also inspire younger modellers to
understand that they can do more...
Finally, the real nostalgia kicked in when
Hugo’s tanks arrived. Two were very familiar
blasts from the past – the Sherman and the Tiger
I, the former older than me and the latter only
two years younger. They went together more or
less as I expected but the third, the more recent
Cromwell, was remarkable. Not only did
everything fit perfectly but the one piece
injection moulded tracks slipped round the
wheels as designed beautifully and the whole
build has left me with a rather unexpected
hankering after small scale armour. It’s a shame
it’s 1/76 or I would have been after a Cromwell
myself I enjoyed it so much – not a transparency
in sight – but I have contented myself with
Wehrmacht half tracks instead and dug out a
half built Revell FAMO that is hitting the spot. I’d
have preferred a Sd.Kfz.8 to be honest, but apart
from a couple of 1/72 resins no one has kitted
this vehicle in an scale, which seems to me to be
a terrible dereliction, albeit not one to concern
many readers of this magazine..
So if you see this before Telford, and you
happen to be passing the stand, then my
shopping list includes an Eduard rebox of the
Special Hobby Fulmar, a couple of Airfix
Quickbuilds for younger relatives who really do
need to understand that not all aircraft are
stumpy biplanes with wheels bigger than their
propellers and any amount of 1/72 armour, but
especially Dragon Sd.Kfz. 251s. Oh, and if you see
any S-Model Panzer Is or a Special Hobby Roc in
1/48 then Hatston, Twatt, and the exploits of
Blackburn’s unsung duo over the North Sea are
another matter very close to the Editorial heart.

76 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
 Warpaint series No 113 £16.00

Tornado
WARPAIN

AD
Panavia
T SERIIES

V
No.113

N
re le ew
ase Bre

. n
.
.
, ,

.
q y g y . pp g

w
Warpa nt ser es No 112 Orders rom he or d s book and hobb rade are n ed £19 00

A3D
W

rr o r
Skywa
s
Doug a
C

q – q p

Prev ous Wa
Warpa nt t t es A h ese es a e ava ab e n p n ed o ma v a ou on d
deemand p n ng se v ce P ease con ac ou o ce o u h
hee n o ma on
B B RAF RN P m S M S S M G MG F
B B D A B H H P H G m m HU A
S H H V V M m M
N Am F S S A C F S m A
H w T F B W W W S K
A S H P V B B C B
G G F G A N Am RA C V
H w H R F T B B A Y
G mm F F W M S m W M B M M D D m
V W C C mm w S V C R F F RF F
H S V F F m Am W w A H DH T M
F Sw B P D V S m M S C B
F W Fw C F S N Am B M A M
BAC H V m H w S H G D m F & EF A
S S M B C BA S H S w P
H w S F H P H G mm T T T S S H &W W w
G M D F V C P S m
D S W A M C F V M M M
H H S H F G C PBY C D C R DS m & DC
S m S G B B S D W S &W
Am W w W N V OS U K
G M F A BAC P
F G A A F B
D D W W w FM G mm F F H
S S H w T m S m S m
B B m B F V W
H V m H P H m G mm A W p n Sp
F F S m Sw T A N R P T
H w S H w H A N M m B
A V E E C B B N H M

Warpaint on the web

A ma or creed t cards
s accepted
Ord
ders
s can be p aced by ma te ephone fa ax or thro
ough the we
ebs te
Fo mo e n o ma on and secu e o de ng p ease v s
(www gu de nepub cat ons co uk) P us posta age and pack ng on a
www gu de nepub cat ons co uk
ord
ders
s Oveers
seas re
eadeers pay posta
age at a r ma pr nted paper ra
atee

Unit 3, Enigma Building, Bilton

B Road, Denbigh East, Bletchley Bucks
s MK1 1HW
Te
elephone: +44 (0)1908 270400, Fax: +44 (0)1908 270614, Email: kim@regallitho.co.uk
S TA S H I N T H E AT T I C
North American P-51c Mustang Mk.III
Model Kit
Kit No: 04872
Scale: 1/48
Type: Injection Moulded Plastic
Manufacturer: Revell (ICM reissue)
www.revell.de
Aftermarket:
Skymodels Decal Sheet 48023
Squadron Vacform Canopy Set SQS9528
W
hen this kit appeared at the end of
2013, many modellers assumed that
Revell had decide to increase their
investment in newly tooled kits. In fact the kit
was and is a re-issue of a kit first produced by
ICM in 2007. ICM have in recent years produced
a series of 1/48 kits of World War II fighters.
Typically a set of core parts was used to create
most of the subtypes of a particular design. ICM
worked the mould for their P-51 family
especially hard with most variants of the aircraft
appearing.
The Revell kit is a straightforward reboxing of
the ICM original and even uses a modified
version of the ICM instruction sheet. The decal
sheet provides the same marking options, but
the decal sheet itself is a Revell design. With a
Revell reboxing, the modeller often gets a
bargain in that the Revell box leads to a cheaper
retail price than the original option. This is an
especially attractive option when Hasegawa kits
are involved. In this case the Revell option is £2
more than the ICM original, but the decal sheet
is far superior and ICM kits were not widely
stocked.
There are many kits of the P-51 available, but
the earlier versions are less popular as subjects
than the classic bubble top D models. All credit
to ICM and Revell for providing the modeller
with the less fashionable P-51C version with the
atypical bulged Malcolm Hood option. The basic
issue with this kit is that ICM moulds of this
vintage were in some respect more limited run
than mainstream, and a considerable amount of
work is required to assemble the basic airframe
of this kit. Revell are increasingly reboxing
limited run manufactures kits. In one respect this
is a sign that the limited run industry is
improving its standards, but Revell also rebox
Hasegawa and Italeri kits and the modelling
experience can differ widely. Revell recognise
78 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
this by giving this Mustang a high skill rating,
but the packaging is slick and could still catch
some people out.
The kit is well detailed and with some care
and attention can be built into a good
representation of a P-51, but the components do
not fall together by any means and constant test
fitting, trimming and filing is required to
assemble the model. Location pins are not
prominent and some of the major components
only fit approximately. Other features indicative
of the limited run approach is the fact that the
propeller is moulded as separate blades rather
than an integral unit. This would not really be of
concern, but in places there are issues with the
kit:
• The undercarriage bay insert needs extensive
trimming in order to fit even approximately
between the wings and fuselage
• The cockpit interior is well detailed but it has
to be severely trimmed before it can be
coaxed into place
• The fuselage join around the radiator area.
This is often a problem on P-51 kits, but this
example amplifies the tradition
• The wing to fuselage join is poor. Heavy duty
tape was need to set and hold the angle and
plastic card shims had to be used to fill the
enormous gaps that were left
• The wing flaps are supplied as separate items,
which adds a real sense of purpose to the
finished model, but they fit badly and some
work is needed to get an acceptable result
Some aspects of the kit are however are more
positive from a modelling point of view:
• Despite being moulded in rather soft plastic,
the surface detail is good and while some of
this is lost during construction, the nature of
the material used means that it is easy to
rescribe
• Levels of detail in the cockpit and
undercarriage bay is good and it can be made
to resemble aftermarket replacement quality
with some careful painting. The only thing
that is missing is a seat harness, but the pilot
figure is acceptable for the modeller who
wants a simple out of the box build
• The undercarriage is well done and the tyres
have the correct tread patterns
• A good collection of accurate underwing
stores are provided
The most important feature of the kit however
is that the approach adopted by ICM in getting
By Trevor Pask
the most of some standard tooling coupled with
specific parts for individual marks leads to an
accurate model. The engineering may be slightly
more complicated in places than it strictly has to
be, but the net result in this case is an accurate
P-51C or RAF Mk III.
Revell provide one of the classic liveries for a
RAF Mk III, standard light grey, dark grey and
green camouflage with large black and white D-
Day markings. This was a tempting option, but
for this project a scheme from a Skymodels decal
sheet was chosen. Skymodels provide a huge
range of options on each of their sheets, often so
many that it is difficult to cut them out of the
sheet without damaging nearby images.
The iconic image of a P-51 is of an aircraft in
natural metal finish adorned with pin up style
nose art. Historically, natural metal finishes were
very common on Allied aircraft in the latter half
of World War II, there being so little opposition in
some theatres that it was almost a waste of
resources to apply camouflage. Typically non
camouflaged P-51s often had their wings
painted in an aluminium shade to cover the filler
that was often applied to smooth the wings.
Some P-51s were left completed in natural metal
including 42103615. This aircraft was a C variant
fitted with the bulged Malcom Hood, which was
an interim measure to improve visibility prior to
the introduction of the bubble canopied D
variant. This aircraft was also distinctive in that
the nose art was a caricature of a man in a black
suit with the aircraft being called Shovel Nose
and Handlebar.
The aircraft was painted up and named as it
was after a visit to the squadron by entertainers
Bob Hope and Jerry Colonna. The title of the
aircraft refers to the prominent facial
characteristics of the two entertainers who
worked as a double act on American radio
before World War II and on TV afterwards. Bob
Hope’s other partnership with Bing Crosby made
Shovel Nose more popular than Handlebar and
so the nose art gave him top billing, as he also
received in the series of comic ‘Road to...’ films.
This history is interesting as it shows the impact
that entertainers made when visiting forces in
the field. A surviving photograph also shows
Hope and Colonna preparing to break bottles
over the aircraft, which suggests the artwork was
officially sanctioned and was part of a media
operation. That does not take away from the
history and interesting nature of the subject.
Once the filler was dry and the lost surface
detail rescribed back, the model was painted

Brute force was needed at times to hold the
components together during construction
The model requires
a lot of filler...
with several thin coats of Tamiya
Surface Primer. Tamiya aerosols
tend to flood out of the their cans
more than most paints so quick
thin repeated mistings from a
distance is the best way to apply
this type of paint. The effort
however is worth it because when
dry and lightly sanded it provides
an excellent surface for any final
paint job, especially one involving a
natural metal finish.
Humbrol 11 Silver applied via an
aerosol was the shade used to
represent the natural metal finish
on the model. This shade was
chosen because exactly the same
shade is available in a tinlet, which
is invaluable for touching up odd
details such as the edges of
undercarriage doors or canopy
framings. As with the primer,
several thin coats were misted on
to achieve the final finish. The
cowling was then masked off and
Humbrol 155 was hand painted to
create the anti dazzle panel. These
areas were often scruffy on service
aircraft, an effect that can be
simulated by a few strokes with the
coarse side of a nail buffer. The
spinner and propeller blades were
airbrushed with Humbrol acrylics,
but an artist’s pen was used to
simulate wear and paint chipping.
The decals were a mixture of the
Skymodels sheet and some spare P-
51 stencils and national insignia left
over from a previous project. The
Skymodels decals are not designed
to fit any specific kit, and as such
images such as the chequerboard
S TA S H I N T H E AT T I C
The offending undercarriage bay. The detail is
good but it simply does not fit where it should
Holding the wings in the correct place while
the glue cured proved trying but essential
Sky Models’ sheets offer excellent value. The
instruction sheets are black and white but the Shovelnose
decal sheet is packed with a huge range of and Handlebar
options
cowling bands need some In summary, the project was a boundaries of comfort zones. The
trimming and coaxing to fit. There longer haul than might usually be result may be less than perfect and
were no real issues on this kit, with expected for a World War II fighter the odd project may be
a few nicks with a sharp knife point as well known as the P-51, and one abandoned, but nothing is ever
and some Micro Sol making good from a modern Revell box. A wasted. Even completely disastrous
any mismatches. Following the question that has to be asked is projects teach something valid.
decals the panel lines were drawn was the time and trouble worth the Perhaps Revell should have put
in with a 2H pencil and the odd effort when there are more more of a caution sign on the box,
panel was hand painted in straightforward kits of the type but the model is still far better than
Humbrol 11 with a touch of white, available? On balance the answer a mainstream one from twenty
gold or black added to break up the has to be a qualified yes. Despite all years ago and there is a lot of
uniform appearance of the natural the technical advances of recent modelling in the box, and being a
meal finish. A combination of years modelling is unlikely ever to well-known type, plenty of
Humbrol washes and a 2H pencil be easy but some modern kits can aftermarket bits and pieces to help
were used to emphasis the panel lull the modeller into a false sense the modeller out. This type of kit
lines, and an even flat surface was of security. Ideally modelling deserves a bigger audience and full
created by the application of two should demand a range of skills credit to Revell for making this
thin airbrushed coats of Humbrol and, albeit occasionally, push the possible.
matt varnish.
The canopy parts provided in the
kit are clear, but the bulged hood
did not fit well in the closed
position and was slightly too thick
to be realistic if moulded in the
open position. Several vacform
replacements are available and a
component from Squadron was
used for this project. This was a
little awkward and fragile to trim
from its backing sheet, but the
improvement is worth the effort.
The model was finished off by
adding details such as the
undercarriage door and drop tanks.
These were all standard kit Hope and Colonna in rehearsal for an early TV show. An interesting
components. As befitting the semi historical aside is that Colonna features in the first ever recording made
limited run nature of the original of a live TV broadcast in 1947. All TV at the time was live and in the very
ICM kit, these and most of the other early days of television, the only way to record a broadcast was to use
small components were well
16mm or 35mm film literally to film a TV screen as the show was made.
detailed, but needed some careful
Video tape was not invented until the mid 1950s. Filming TV was
cleaning up and trimming to yield
expensive and so very few early broadcasts survive
their full potential.
DECEMBER 2017 • VOLUME 39 • ISSUE 10 79
BOOKREVIEWS

A look at some of the latest publications

received for review Edited by Ernie Lee
PEREGRINE PUBLISHING enthusiast. Published in word and JPEG format
for near universal access and simplicity, the
P-82B Betty Jo Twin Mustang author presents this unique aircraft in clear
Walk Around CD detail including photographs of the cockpit,
By Steve Muth landing gear, wheel wells, intake and exhausts
This CD on the and other details of interest.
P-82B Twin This aircraft, Betty Jo, flown by Colonel Robert
Mustang Thacker, flew non-stop without refuelling from
features sixty Hawaii to New York on 27th February 1947, a
eight detail record 5,051 miles in fourteen hours and thirty
colour two minutes. He averaged 347mph. Even today
photographs
it is the longest non-stop flight ever made by a
aimed at the
propeller driven fighter.
scale
modeller The photographs were taken at the National
and aero Museum of the United States Air Force outside
Dayton, Ohio both before and after restoration
with the co-operation of the museum staff,
thus assuring adequate access to the cockpit
and other details. The cockpits are unrestored
and in original condition. This CD will make an
excellent reference for any of the P-82 kits now
on the market, particularly for the 1/48 scale
Modelcraft kit.
Priced at an affordable $12.00 each including
postage in the US. Overseas orders add
US$12.00. These CDs may be ordered from
Steve Muth, Peregrine Publishing, 70 The
Promenade, Glen Head, NY 11545, USA, by
telephone on (516)759-1089, or email
sgmuth@optonline.net. Payment by cheque on
a US bank in dollars, Pay Pal or postal money
order.

The Aviation Historian and Vietnamese perspectives, and reveals the began its service with Lufthansa in 1968, the
Issue No. 21 secret role played by the recently declassified first customer to use the 100 version. With the
Silver Dawn project. passing of the years more and more
Edited by by: Nick Stroud
The articles are all beautifully illustrated with companies have chosen this aircraft, guided
Size: A5
Format: Paperback, 130 pages period photographs and there is enough by its excellent performance that still today
reading and reference in this volume to keep guarantees excellent profits. The model builds
Another the most avid reader and modeller informed included at the end cover two aircraft of the
packed issue and inspired... until the next one comes out! 800 series in 1/200, one in Jal Express livery
from this
source with As a footnote it is becoming apparent that and the other in the colours of the Italian
a diverse although not a modelling magazine, The Meridiana company.
and Aviation Historian is increasingly used by With some three hundred photos this is a first
fascinating modellers as a source of inspiration and class guide and reference to one of the most
collection reference, and here’s the latest example. Peter familiar and widely used civil airliners flying
of articles Castle of Airscale has recently completed a today.
from the 1/18 model of Supermarine Spitfire FR.XIVe
past TZ138 in its racing guise as CF-GMZ/80 at the
century 1949 Cleveland Air Races. The twenty five inch The Gloster Gladiator
and a bit span litho plate panelled model took Authors: Richard A. Franks
of eighteen months to make, and a previously Publisher: Valiant Wings
aviation unpublished photograph in Juanita Franzi’s Size: A4
article in TAH17 helped to clarify Format: Paperback, 128 pages
details. The result speaks for itself.
Another
For more information on The unbeatable
Aviation Historian, visit its modeller's
website at guide on a
www.theaviationhistorian.com classic British
type from the
Valiant stable.
Boeing 737 These books
Author: Luca Granella not only get
Publisher: IBN Editore better, but
ISBN: 978 88756 529 44 they
Format: Paperback, continue to
120 pages cover
subjects
This monograph that some
came into publishers
being with the might rate
intention of as
history. celebrating an unfashionable
Articles include an amazing aircraft that with a breadth and clarity that both
interwar account of a flight from Cairo to has earned its inspires and informs the modeller. If you are
Pretoria by the pilot of a Vickers Victoria, and right to a bored with Spitfires then do yourself a favour.
an informed piece on the history of the place in the Buy this book and then get moving and buy
Imperial Iranian Air Force’s Golden Crown history of yourself a kit. If you are at Telford you will
formation aerobatic display team, several almost certainly find the Roden kits in 1/48,
commercial
members of which went on to be executed by the newly tooled Airfix, or other more vintage
the new regime following the revolution. aviation. The
releases somewhere around.
enormous
Fog of War tells how a BOAC Liberator came potential Development, history, kitography, colour
to be shot down by Spitfires off the British profiles and, of course, the trademark
and quality
coast in 1942 and there is an account of how evolution drawings pioneered by Mr Franks in
World War II USAAF ace Robin Olds of the
his original Datafile books and presented here
masterminded Operation Bolo, the Vietnam project for the Boeing 737
by the inimitable Chris Sandham-Bailey.
War’s most intensive and successful MiG hunt. launched by the American manufacturer in Another one for the library. Now how about
The full story is covered from both the USAF 1964 was immediately apparent when it the Bf 110...?

80 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
 Join us for a mince pie and
some spectacular bargains
during our annual Christmas
Open Days - this year we’ll
be open over 3 days!

The Aviation Bookshop - at the service of all aviation enthusiasts since the 1940s

CHRISTMAS OPEN DAYS

Friday 8th December – 10am – 6pm
Saturday 9th December - 10am – 6pm
Sunday 10th December- 10am – 4pm

DISCOUNT OFF ALL NEW

& SECONDHAND BOOKS
AND MODEL KITS

Discount applies to shop visitors and orders made

by phone, email or via our website
(please quote ‘SPITFIRE’ when placing order)

The Aviation Bookshop, 31-33 Vale Road, Payment Methods
Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN1 1BS, ENGLAND Cheques made payable to
The Aviation Bookshop
01892 539284 (international: +44 18 92 53 92 84) or you can pay via using
info@aviation-bookshop.com
UK Postage & Packing
Postage to all UK addresses £5.00
Overseas Delivery Charges
Postal charges are made at cost price
to The Aviation Bookshop.
NEW! Secondhand Booklist
Please contact us for our latest
secondhand booklist.
Follow us
SECONDHAND BOOKLIST
All books listed are in good condition
complete with dust jackets and no damage
to the book itself. The books are listed on a
first come first serve basis, but in some cases
The Aviation Bookshop, 31-33 Vale Road,
Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN1 1BS, ENGLAND

01892 539284 (international: +44 18 92 53 92 84)

info@aviation-bookshop.com
Payment Methods
Cheques made payable to
The Aviation Bookshop
or you can pay via using
info@aviation-bookshop.com
All major credit cards accepted
UK Postage & Packing
Postage will be charged at cost and all orders over
£50.00 will be sent post free to all UK addresses

Overseas Delivery Charges

Postal charges are made at cost price
to The Aviation Bookshop.
We are unable to detail exact postal charges as
on twitter
info@aviation-bookshop.com for events,
orders are treated individually and the applicable
we may have a second copy available. www.aviation-bookshop.com charge is calculated accordingly.

All major credit cards accepted We are unable to detail exact

CATALOGUE NUMBER 7 - SPRING 2016 The Aviation Bookshop - at the service of all aviation enthusiasts since the 1940s

AER0-MODELLING
Reference Title Subtitle Author Format Subject Publisher Published Pages Condition £ Price

news and
1 AERO MODELLER ANNUAL 1959-60 VARIOUS HARDBACK AERO MODELLING MODEL AERONAUTICAL PRESS LTD 1959 160 FAIR 5.00

postal charges as orders are treated

2 AERO MODELLER ANNUAL 1963-64 VARIOUS HARDBACK AERO MODELLING MODEL AERONAUTICAL PRESS LTD 1963 160 GOOD 5.00

3 AERO MODELLER ANNUAL 1964-65 VARIOUS HARDBACK AERO MODELLING MODEL AERONAUTICAL PRESS LTD 1964 160 GOOD 5.00

4 AERO MODELLER ANNUAL 1965-66 VARIOUS HARDBACK AERO MODELLING MODEL AERONAUTICAL PRESS LTD 1965 160 GOOD 5.00

5 AERO MODELLER ANNUAL 1968-69 VARIOUS HARDBACK AERO MODELLING MODEL & ALLIED PUBLICATIONS LTD 1968 128 GOOD 5.00

6 AERO MODELLER ANNUAL 1969-70 VARIOUS HARDBACK AERO MODELLING MODEL & ALLIED PUBLICATIONS LTD 1969 128 VERY GOOD 5.00

7 AERO MODELLER ANNUAL 1970-71 VARIOUS HARDBACK AERO MODELLING MODEL & ALLIED PUBLICATIONS LTD 1970 128 GOOD 5.00

special offers
8 AERO MODELLER ANNUAL 1971-72 VARIOUS HARDBACK AERO MODELLING MODEL & ALLIED PUBLICATIONS LTD 1971 128 GOOD 5.00

individually and the applicable charge

9 AERO MODELLER ANNUAL 1972-73 VARIOUS HARDBACK AERO MODELLING MODEL & ALLIED PUBLICATIONS LTD 1972 144 GOOD 5.00

10 AERO MODELLER ANNUAL 1973-74 VARIOUS HARDBACK AERO MODELLING MODEL & ALLIED PUBLICATIONS LTD 1973 144 GOOD 5.00

www.aviation-bookshop.com
11 AERO MODELLER ANNUAL 1974-75 VARIOUS HARDBACK AERO MODELLING MODEL & ALLIED PUBLICATIONS LTD 1974 144 GOOD 5.00

12 AERO MODELLER ANNUAL 1975-76 VARIOUS SOFTBACK AERO MODELLING MODEL & ALLIED PUBLICATIONS LTD 1975 144 GOOD 5.00

13 AERO MODELLER ANNUAL 1977-78 VARIOUS SOFTBACK AERO MODELLING MODEL & ALLIED PUBLICATIONS LTD 1977 144 GOOD 5.00

14 AERO MODELLER ANNUAL 1978-79 VARIOUS SOFTBACK AERO MODELLING MODEL & ALLIED PUBLICATIONS LTD 1978 144 GOOD 5.00

15 AN ABC OF MODEL AIRCRAFT CONSTRUCTION C RUSHBROOKE SOFTBACK AERO MODELLING HARBOROUGH 1943 80 FAIR 10.00

is calculated accordingly.
16 DURATION FLYING MODELS F ELLIS SOFTBACK AERO MODELLING JOHN HAMILTON LTD. N/K 72 FAIR 95.00

@ Avbookshop
17 FLYING AND IMPROVING SCALE MODEL AIRPLANES W MCCOMBS SOFTBACK AERO MODELLING MODEL AIRPLANE NEWS 1977 120 FAIR 15.00

18 FLYING MODELS, RUBBER, CO2, ELECTRIC & MICRO RADIO CONTROL TIPS & TECHNIQUES FOR BEGINNER & EXPERT, BOOK 2 D ROSS SOFTBACK AERO MODELLING AVIATION PUBLISHERS 1998 240 GOOD 5.00

19 FROG MODEL AIRCRAFT 1932-1976 THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE FLYING AIRCRAFT & THE PLASTIC KITS R LINES / L HELLSTROM HARDBACK AERO MODELLING NEW CAVENDISH 1989 272 GOOD 30.00

Please quote SPITFIRE when responding to this advert. Information published here may be subject to change.
580 MODELLERS
W
ith submission required early, in
order that this most august of
periodicals can be presented to
you, as a treat and delight, at Scale
ModelWorld, Telford, your columnist has
had to resort to something a little different.
It is hoped you will not be too
disappointed.
Cornish Cream
IPMS West Cornwall Show, Cornwall
College, Redruth, 9th September 2017
Those of you devoted to this column
since its inception may remember that one
of the 580 crew, Dave ‘the Lightning Man’
Eccles, got married, upped sticks and
moved from Barnsley down to Cornwall.
Although we miss him so, and who can
forget his 1/32 Lightning under
maintenance, which frequented the 580
stand on several occasions, it is pleasing to
be able to report that now settled he has
taken up the modelling baton once again.
Dave has exhibited his collection of 1/32
Lightnings at several shows and even tried
to start up his own model club in the area.
Most recently he exhibited at the IPMS
West Cornwall show, something that would
take the 580 Modellers a whole three days
to get to, display and return from. And so
we are thankful for Dave providing a show
82 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
By Geoff Cooper-Smith with the help of Dave Eccles
report from Kernow, with images courtesy
of Colin Goldsworth:
‘The show was located in the Penhaligon
building and spread across two good sized
and well lit rooms with excellent facilities.
There were clubs from Somerset, Devon
and Cornwall in attendance displaying
models of a high standard from aircraft to
armour, from ships to science fiction, and
this was reflected further in the
competition with some entries considered
to be of a very high standard. There is even
a Not Entered in the Competition class,
which I was fortunate enough to win last
year.
There was street food available outside
providing a variety of sustenance. The
show was busy all day and overall it was a
very well run and friendly with several new
modelling friends made and thus I am
looking forward to returning next year.’
If you want to see Dave’s big Lightnings
and his even bigger 1/48 Vulcan with laser
etched bomb bay then he is planning to
attend the Torbay Show in Torquay Town
Hall on Saturday 26th May next year.
Fancy a Soaking?
Two 580 members have teamed up to
share their mutual interest in firefighting
aircraft and earlier this year Radleigh
Bushell and Geoff Cooper-Smith
completed the paperwork and met the
required conditions to form the Water
Bomber Special Interest Group under the
auspices of IPMS UK. The SIG has
fortunately secured display tables at Scale
ModelWorld and will use the occasion as a
launch event (sorry couldn’t resist). This
means we will be open for membership, so
if you have even a passing interest then
please do come find us and join up.
Although at the time of writing there is no
floor plan for the event we are hoping to
be adjacent to the 580 Modellers stand. It is
very much the intention to run the Water
Bomber SIG on the same basis as the 580
Modellers, which means membership will
be free with no joining fees, etc. It will be
an important time to join as the initial
membership will be asked what they want
from the SIG and so it will operate very
much by consensus. It is anticipated there
will be a website up and running very soon
and that one of the first things that will be
started will be a database of all kits,
aftermarket parts, decals, etc. the volume
of which will probably surprise you. This
will be enhanced by a collection of
photographs, which will be unique to the
site and hence become a valuable source
of reference material.

Releasing the Dragon. Three diverse topics this month
F
irstly there has been quite a response to
Choking the Dragon with several traders
voicing their concerns over how the whole
affair of Risk Assessments and the need for
Public Liability Insurance in order to attend Scale
ModelWorld has been handled by IPMS UK. As
predicated this seems to have impacted the
small foreign traders, who bring so much of
interest and worth to the event, most severely.
The bulk seem determined to attend this year,
although there is much disquiet and there
seems a very real possibility they will be much
less prevalent next year unless change and/or
more and better assistance is forthcoming. This
is backed up by various traders making their
views and situation known through the various
mediums open to them, including websites,
Facebook, etc. This led to further thought by
Show Dragon about how the event is run and
one cannot help but think that those IPMS
members who devote and volunteer their time,
and indeed a large part of their life, to ensuring
it all happens must feel an inordinate amount of
pressure, which must surely compromise their
enjoyment of the whole weekend. This is
undoubtedly down to the monster SMW has
become both in terms of the size of the event
and the ever growing administrative burden,
which seems to require ever more time,
planning, responsibility, specialist experience
and knowledge. Is it possibly time for IPMS UK to
think seriously about seeking professional help,
at least in part, and finding an economic model
that works for both parties? Doing such may be
the only way SMW can continue to exist in its
current form.
Secondly, let us all please appreciate and
enjoy Scale ModelWorld for what it is, the
biggest and best celebration and festival of scale
plastic modelling in the world. Even though
Show Dragon has been attending for years the
sheer scale of it all catches even someone of
Show Dragon’s experience and standing out
every time. Despite two long days it is never
enough time to view all the club and SIG
displays, peruse the vast amount of both new
and used kits for display, wander around the kit
swap (at least twice, trying to determine what to
keep in your hand, what to put back or what to
swap), flick through the boxes and boxes of
decals (both new and previously owned),
rummage through the boxes of resin, etch and
white metal enhancements, find that new paint
which everyone is raving about and perusing
books for hours as it is impossible to decide
which to buy now and which later in the year.
And even if you do manage to make a return
visit to a trader there is that mystery of how and
why you missed such an item, whether a bargain
or something which has been sought for many
years, first time around. And then there is that
mad rush (orgy even) during the final hours of
the show when you really must spend that
money left in your pocket and are heading like
an arrow knowing on what it will be spent until
that inevitable diversion because someone has
slashed their prices as they have no intention of
taking it all home. Yes, Telford, the Nationals,
DECEMBER 2017 • VOLUME 39 • ISSUE 10
580 M O D E L L E R S
By Show Dragon
Scale ModelWorld, call it by any of these names,
is to be thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated by
all and no doubt IPMS UK make it shine once
again this year.
Finally, it is sad to report that Show Dragon is
on the approach to a natural end. It has
enlightened many, and apparently amused a
few, on the various workings of the show scene
and more recently ‘voiced off’ on occasion about
the apparent direction various aspects seem to
be heading (put it down to age). Show Dragon is
deeply devoted to the show scene and its
continued well-being but unfortunately the pail
of topics for discussion is becoming exhausted
and it is becoming harder to produce something
meaningful and of quality that is educational,
interesting and informative without hesitation,
repetition or deviation. And so it is with the
agreement of the editor, who I am glad to report
has been extremely supportive throughout, that
Show Dragon will no longer be making its
regular appearance from henceforth. There may
be irregular appearances as a topic worthy of
bringing to your attention arises, but mostly this
will enable the editor to cram another review or
other such little gem between the covers
instead, which is no bad thing. Thank you for
your attention.
The Editor would like to thank Show Dragon for
all contributions and the debate that has been
occasioned as a result. We hope a well-earned
retirement is on the cards, frolicking in the Autumn
mist in a land called Honali. See you at a show
somewhere
83
M A R K E T P L AC E
LINDEN HILL
Two excellent sheets received this month from
Linden Hill offer a great deal for Flanker fans.
Both in 1/48, we have enough markings here to
keep us busy for years.
LHD48011M Su-27 Flanker Airframe Stencil
Data (Russian)
Based on VVS manuals and extensive
photographic reference this set includes items
PEEWIT
New from Pewit, familiar to us through their
canopy masking range, is a 1/144 diorama base
showing grass along the edge of a concrete
hard stand. The base measures 13.7cm by
10.3cm, approximately A5.
UK importer is Hannants.
APC DECALS
Czech producer APC have some interesting
products on offer, and following E-day we have
received a number of sheets for appraisal. These
are small sheets offering just the bare essentials
for a specific subject and are part of an
operation that also specialises in custom printed
sheets. The website tells us:
New digital technology allows printing decals in a
very short amount of time, offering high-quality
printing with CMYK colours and opaque whites.
The technology is especially suited for limited
series, short run kits, update sets, individual orders,
etc. However, thanks to the rapid printing of small
amounts, manufacturers are also able to use this
84 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
for both single and two seat Flankers, as well as a
selection of different styles of red star national
markings. Much of the data has been provided
by a former Flanker Crew Chief, and may be
regarded as authoritative.
LHD48040 Arctic Flankers Su-27 Guardians of
the North Update
This is a reissue of a 2004 sheet resized to fit the
new HobbyBoss kits, with some new material
added. It includes individual markings for some
TWO BOBS
This month’s releases from Twobobs offer some
attractive new aggressor schemes in the shape
of Alaskan Splinters.
Not to be outdone by the new aggressor
schemes at Nellis AFB, 359 FW at Eielson AFB,
Alaska have generated a new splinter scheme of
their own. Designed by squadron personnel,
these schemes flew for the first time in early
2017. Twobobs worked directly with squadron
personnel to ensure that every subtle detail of
these unique markings were captured
accurately.
Included in the sheet are two complete sets of
technology to print the necessary quantity of
decals only, to avoid large amounts of unsold
decals in stock.
Main advantages are:
• No minimal quantity, we can print just one piece
• Low cost for small quantities compared to other
types of printing
• Quick correction of possible errors without
additional costs
• No colour restriction. Printing full colour
graphics such as nose arts, logos and emblems
is possible
Naturally nothing is perfect, so the disadvantages
include:
sixteen aircraft and is ideal for use alongside set
48011 (above).
Finely printed and with full colour instructions
over fourteen sides of A4, this sheet has been
produced with co-operation from contacts
within the VVS and offers the most exacting and
accurate coverage of the subject possible.
UK importer is Hannants.
www.lindenhillimports.com
markings and stencils for both splinter jets. The
walkway lines are printed in three different
colours to allow the modeller to match the
walkway lines to the paint schemes as applied.
Sized for the Tamiya F-16C kit, these sets are
available in three scales.
32068 F-16C Alaskan Splinters
48259 F-16C Alaskan Splinters
72105 F-16C Alaskan Splinters
As usual both quality and accuracy are assured.
UK importer is Hannants.
www.twobobs.net
• With the technology used, the colours are raster
printed
• The carrier film is applied over the entire sheet
• Higher cost for larger quantities
APC’s own range leans towards Czech subjects
and includes items in all the major scales. To get
a better idea of what is on offer check out the
website at www.vinar.cz. APC invite you to try
their decals out by sending 50 CZK (around
US$2.00) by PayPal for a sample sheet. The sets
we have here are all very nicely printed, and for
those of us wanting a one-off esoteric subject
but not blessed with Mr Andy McCabe’s facility
with a printer it looks like a useful solution.
CO M I N G N E X T M O N T H

SCALE Model Show Listing

AIRCRAFT
MODELLING Next issue Compiled by Geoff Cooper-Smith of 580 Modellers
For shows this coming month see the IPMS(UK)
column. If you would like your show promoted in
VOLUME: 39 ISSUE: 10 Planned for the Scale Aircraft Modelling this listing then please contact Geoff at
580Modellers@gmail.com or on 07841 417680.
December 2017 Proudly Volume 39 Issue 11: January 2018
Saturday 11th and
Celebrating 38 Years! Just Like a Fury Sunday 12th November 2017
www.guidelinepublications.co.uk AMG’s Sea Fury in 1/48 IPMS UK presents Scale ModelWorld at the
Telford International Centre, Telford, Shropshire,
Published by Guideline Publications By Colin ‘Flying’ TF3 4JH.
& printed by Regal Litho
Unit 3, Enigma Building, Bilton Road, Pickett
Denbigh East, Bletchley,Bucks. MK1 1HW
Sunday 19th November 2017
Ph: +44 (0) 1908 274433 Fax: +44 (0) 1908 270614 Aircraft Enthusiasts Fair and Model Show at the
ISDN: 01908 640154
Museum of Army Flying, Middle Wallop,
Distributed to the UK and International news Malta on a Pedestal Stockbridge, Hampshire, SO20 8DY.
trade by: Part Five Saturday 25th November 2017
Intermedia
http://www.inter-media.co.uk/ Saturday 15th August IPMS Nederland present their Dutch Euro Scale
via 1942 and Fujimi 1/72
MarketForce (UK) Ltd. Model event at Expo Houten, Meidoornkade 24,
110 Southwark Street, London SE1 0SU Ju 87R-2 Picchiatello 3992 AE Houten (near Nieuwegein and Utrecht),
http://www.marketforce.co.uk/
By Stephen J Di Nucci The Netherlands. The Dutch Nationals relocated
Chairman: Regis Auckland to larger venue and IPMS members from any
foreign country get free entry on presentation
Worldwide Advertising: Tom Foxon,
tom@regallitho.co.uk of their membership card.
Walkaround
Sunday 26th November 2017
Editor: Gary Hatcher, blisterwhelk@outlook.com Grumman F8F Bearcat
By Steve Muth The Bristol Area Branch of the British Model
Assistant Editor: Karl Robinson
Soldier Society in association with South West
Associate Editor: Neil Robinson Figure Modellers Nailsea School, The Link,
Mizzymead Road, Nailsea, North Somerset,
Newsdesk: Colin 'Flying' Pickett
Aircraft in Profile BS48 2HN.
Book Reviews: Ernie Lee Republic F-105 Saturday 2nd December 2017
News & Industry Editor: Tom Foxon, Thunderchief HaMeX 8 swap meet and model show presented
tom@regallitho.co.uk by Richard Mason by Paul Fitzmaurice and Matt Irvine at Hanslope
Design: Lincoln Rodrigues With colour artwork Village Hall, Newport Road, Hanslope,
and scale drawings by Buckinghamshire, MK19 7NZ.
House Artist: Mark Rolfe, rolfetechart@gmail.com
Mark Rolfe Saturday 2nd December 2017
North American Contact: Larry Weindorf
Post Office Box 21, Annandale, VA 22003 Guideline Publications present the London Toy
ph: 703-639-7316, larry@larryslegions.com Soldier Show at Haverstock School, Camden
Lock, London, NW3 2BQ.
SAM Subscriptions, SAM Shop & Back Issues: Kinetic's T-Bird
Unit 3, Enigma Building, Bilton Road, **NEW VENUE**
Denbigh East, Bletchley,Bucks. MK1 1HW Finished Sunday 3rd December 2017
Ph: +44 (0) 1908 274433 Fax: +44 (0) 1908 270614
ISDN: 01908 640154 By Rick Greenwood Guideline Publications present the London
12 Months' Subscription Plastic Model Show at Haverstock School,
UK: £49.50, Europe: £64.00 Camden Lock, London, NW3 2BQ.
Rest of the World: £85.00 Air Mail Only, **NEW VENUE**
Colour Conundrum
USA / Canada Subscriptions: $127.00 Saturday 9th and
Larry Weindorf Operation Jiu-Jitsu Sunday 10th December 2017
2 York Street , Gettysburg PA 17325 USA
Ph: 703-639-7316 RAF Radar The Model Show 2017 at Poynton Leisure
e-mail: larry@larryslegions.com Reconnaissance Centre, Yew Tree Lane, Poynton, Stockport,
Alternatively we can bill you and send an invoice for
Overflights of the Cheshire, SK12 1PU.
your 1 year subscription. Payment from overseas Soviet Union with the Sunday 28th January 2018
should be made by International Money Order or RB-45C Tornado
Bankers Draft drawn on the UK branch of the IPMS Bolton present the Model Bonanza 2018 at
subscriber’s own bank. We also accept payment by 1952-1954 The Premier Suite, Macron Stadium, De
Visa and Mastercard, Credit Cards or Delta debit
cards, with full name, card number including 3-digit By Paul Lucas Havilland Stadium, Bolton, BL6 6SF. IPMS Bolton
security code, issue number, and expiry date. present their season opener as usual, although a
All this and more plus the latest little later than usual this year and at a fantastic
The Legal Bits:
This Magazine is copyrighted material! from the Newsdesk, the continuing new venue, the home of Bolton Wanderers.
Scale Aircraft Modelling (ISSN 0956-1420) is sold through the
news distribution trade subject to the condition that no efforts of the Harrogate Model Club, Saturday 3rd February 2018
material written or pictorial is copied from editorial or and the usual Marketplace round up
advertising pages without the written consent of the North Surrey Military Modelling Group present
publishers. Guideline Publications accepts no liability for the and showcases. their Annual Show and Open Competition at
contents of advertisements or the conduct of advertisers. Banstead Community Hall, Park Road, Banstead,
Opinions expressed by authors and reviewers are their own
Please note we receive a constant stream of
and may not reflect those of the publishers. Unsolicited interesting and informative articles, and in the Surrey, SM7 3AJ. Both military and non military
material sent for publication is welcome on the interest of balanced and up to the minute coverage modellers welcome to this well
understanding that it may not be returned unless postage is content may change at short notice. The above
listing is provisional and may be subject to change. established event.
provided. .

DECEMBER 2017 • VOLUME 39 • ISSUE 10 85

NEW DECALS 510 TFS, Bien Hoa; F-100D 56-3163 "Day Tripper", 308 TFS, Tuy Hoa;
F-100D 56-3456 "Darlene's Dear", 355 TFS, Tuy Hoa; F-100D 56-2927
AIM - Transport Wings "Thor's Hammer", 309 TFS, Tuy Hoa; F-100D 55-2901 "Colleen", 309 TFS,
TWL72016 1:72 BOAC Canadair C-4 Argonaut late livery (circa 1956) £15.12 Tuy Hoa; F-100D 56-3392 "Turtle Mountain Express", 306 TFS, Tuy Hoa;
TWL72017 1:72 Derby Airways Canadair C-4 Argonaut (circa 1960) £15.12 F-100D 55-2932 "Nashville Sound", 90 TFS, Bien Hoa; F-100F 58-1222
TWL72018 1:72 British Midland Canadair C-4 Argonaut (circa 1963) £15.12 Misty FAC "Protester's Protector", 612 TFS Det.1, Phu Cat; F-100F
TWL72019 1:72 TCA North Star (circa 1954) £15.12 56-3764 Misty FAC, Phu Cat; F-100F 58-1226 (early Wild Weasel),
TWL72021 1:72 Ansett C-54 Skymaster (circa 1966) £15.12 Stencilling for TWO aircraft is included. £13.99
TWL72023 1:72 Capital Airlines Douglas DC-4 Skymaster (circa 1966) £15.12
TWF72012 1:72 South African Airways Douglas DC-4 Skymaster - early livery Dutch Decal
(circa 1958) £15.12 DD48065 1:48 MLD North-American B-25, Sikorsky S-51, S-58 £14.99
TWF72013 1:72 South African Airways Douglas DC-4 Skymaster - later livery
(circa 1964) £15.12 Model Art
TWF72017 1:72 Rhodesian Air Services Douglas DC-4 (circa 1965) £15.12 MA7267 1:72 Royal Navy: Westland SEA KING HU5 (SAR) - 771NAS (Culdrose
/ HMS Seahawk) & 824NAS (Prestwick / HMS Gannet SAR Flight) in
Begemot final livery with Rescue missions markings & SAR 60th Anniversary
BT4841 1:48 Petlyakov Pe-2 family. 108 markings for different modification badge. Armée de l'Air: Dassault MIRAGE IIIC, IIIB & IIIR - E.C.02/002
Pe-2 family aircrafts from VVS RKKA, Finland, Yugoslavian, Poland, 'Cote d'Or' (1965-1986) with Gull, Chimera & Scything Death insignias
Bulgarian and Hungary Air Forces. £19.99 for both sides of fins. £9.00

Caracal Models Wingman Models

CD144001 1:144 Back in stock! USAF KC-135R Stratotanker. Arizona ANG, New
Hampshire ANG, Maine ANG ("Maine Freeze" nose art), Michigan
ANG, Hawaii ANG, Iowa ANG, Illinois ANG, Wisconsin ANG, New
Jersey ANG, Ohio ANG, Altus AFB, Andrews AFB, Grissom AFB,
Mc Connell AFB, Kadena AFB, & KC-135R 58-0001, 100 ARW, RAF
Mildenhall ("Wolff Pack" nose art)
CD48121 1:48 Piasecki H-21 "Flying Banana (5) USAF 24th Helicopter Sqn,
Showa AB – 1957; USAF 22nd Helicopter Sqn, Goose Bay AB – 1957;
USAF 1001st Helicopter Sqn, Bolling AFB – 1964; USAF, unknown unit,
1950s; US Army, 1952. Stencilling for 1 x USAF & 1 x US Army.
CD72036 1:72 Piaggio P.180 Avanti (5) Italian Air Force, 2014; Polish Medical
Air Rescue, 2014; Italian Coast Guard, 2015; Italian Army, 2016; Pan
Europeenne Air Service, 2015
CD72068 1:72 North-American B-45 Tornado (3) 84th, 85th & 86th Bomb Sqn,
of the 47th BW based in the UK in 1952
CD72071 1:72 North-American F-100D/F Super Sabre in Vietnam F-100D 56-
3035 "Miss Dial", 306 TFS, Tuy Hoa; F-100D 56-3053 "El Viejo Cazador",
WMD48009 1:48 Air Fouga C.M. 107R Magister (Luftwaffe/Irish Air Corps) £18.20
WMD48010 1:48 Luftwaffe Alpha Jet Anniversary Birds £18.20
Xtradecal
X72282 1:72 McDonnell-Douglas Phantom FG.1 in RAF service (6) XT597 A &
£12.99 AEE RAF Boscombe Down Raspberry Ripple scheme; XV571 was
always with 43 Sqn coded A and used as the CO's aircraft; XV571/A
43 Sqn RAF Leuchars Grey/green camo at Greenham Common 1974;
XV571/A 43 Sqn Grey camo with black/white check spine and fin,
£13.99 Squadron 40th Anniversary 1987; XV571/A 43 Sqn Grey camo with
two rows of black/white checks across fin RAF Leuchars 1989;
XV574/Z 111 Sqn Grey camo with black spine and fin with yellow
£13.99 flash, RAF Leuchars at Fairford IAT 1989; XT863/G 111 Sqn Grey
camo with red/white/blue rudder stripes and large D type roundels
£13.99 RAF Leuchars, at
Greenham Common IAT 1983. £7.99

NEW KITS KPM7289 1:72 Let L-200A Morava (ex AZ Models) with
IBG Models Aircraft kits (injection) upgraded parts £13.80
A3D Blitz Aircraft kits (injection) IBG72506 1:72 PZL.23B Karas - Polish Light Bomber KPM7290 1:72 Let L-200D Morava (AZ Models) with
3DB72101 1:72 Re-released! Pilatus PC-21 £26.99 (Early production) £13.50 upgraded parts £13.80

Airfix Aircraft kits (injection) Kinetic Model Kits Aircraft kits (injection) Revell Aircraft kits (injection)
AX05131 1:48 North American P-51D Mustang New Tool K48040 1:48 BAe Harrier T.2/T.4/T.8 £42.99 RV3950 1:100 Grumman F-14D Tomcat £9.99
£20.99
Kora Aircraft kits (injection and resin) Sword Aircraft kits (injection)
AZ Model Aircraft kits (injection) KORPK72059 1:72 Focke-Wulf Fw-190S-8 Late SW72042 1:72 Re-released! Nakajima Ki-44 Tojo Shoki)
AZM7569 1:72 Curtiss Hawk H-75C-1 French Aces new canopy type (with 12,7 and 40mm guns) £14.99
mould £13.80 Complete plastic kit (Eduard) £30.40 SW72047 1:72 Re-released! Nakajima Ki-44-II £14.99
AZM7570 1:72 Curtiss Hawk H-75C-1 Czechoslovak KORPK72060 1:72 Gotha Go-145A German Night Attack SW72081 1:72 Re-released! BAC/EE Lightning F.1/F.2 £14.99
Pilots new mould £13.80 Hi-kit Complete plastic kit £28.60 SW72082 1:72 Re-released! BAC/EE Lightning F.3 £14.99
AZM7571 1:72 Curtiss Hawk H-75A-3 Sussu over Finland KORPK72061 1:72 Gotha Go-145A German Trainer over SW72085 1:72 Re-released! Arado Ar-196A-3. £14.99
new mould £13.80 Czech territory Complete plastic £23.20 SW72101 1:72 Re-released! Grumman TF-9J Twogar
KORPK72062 1:72 Gotha Go 145A Slovak & Czechoslovak Vietnam/Blue Angels £14.99
Hasegawa Aircraft kits (injection) Service. Complete plastic £25.70 SW72108 1:72 North-American FJ-3 Fury £14.99
HA02236 1:72 Messerschmitt Me-262V056 & SW72109 1:72 North-American FJ-3M Fury £14.99
Me-262B-1a/U1 "NACHTJ"GER" Kovozavody Prostejov Aircraft kits (injection)
(Two kits in the box) £52.99 KPM4803 1:48 Sukhoi Su-7BM CzAF (ex-KOPRO/OEZ) Valom Aircraft kits (injection)
HA07441 1:48 Back in stock! McDonnell Phantom FG.1 with upgraded parts £28.99 VAL72122 1:72 North-American RB-45C Tornado +
£69.99 KPM4804 1:48 Sukhoi Su-7BM Warsaw Pact Nuclear Bomb Mk.7 (incl. cart) £49.80
HA09553 1:48 Nakajima B5N2 'Kate' Type 97 Carrier (ex-KOPRO/OEZ) with upgraded parts £28.99 VAL72124 1:72 McDonnell F-101A Voodoo nuclear bomber
Attack (Kate) model 3 with folding wings £45.99 KPM4807 1:48 Lavochkin La-5FN (ex-Zvezda) £16.99 including Mark 7 Nuclear Bomb £41.30

AZM7569 HA07441 KORPK72061 KPM7290

1:72 Curtiss Hawk H-75C-1 1:48 McDonnell Phantom FG.1 1:72 Gotha Go-145A 1:72 Let L-200D Morava
£13.80 £69.99 £23.20 £13.80
VAL72125 1:72 North-American RB-45C Tornado and outrigger wheels £16.40 SAC72147 1:72 McDonnell F-15E Strike Eagle Landing
(Korean War) £41.30 MDMDR4817 1:48 F-18F Advanced Crew Station rear Gear (Academy 2017) £13.99
VAL72127 1:72 U.S. Mark 7 Nuclear Bomb, including cart cockpit £5.80
£14.30 MDMDR4818 1:48 Hughes AH-64 Apache LongBow True Details Aircraft wheels (resin)
tail support (Hasegawa) £10.80 TD32203 1:32 Lockheed-Martin F-35A Lightning II.
MDMDR4819 1:48 Hughes AH-64 Apache LongBow (Italeri) £9.99
New Accessories exhaust pipes (Hasegawa) £10.80 TD72203 1:72 Lockheed-Martin F-35A Lightning II
MDMDR4820 1:48 Hughes AH-64 Apache LongBow radar (Academy, Hasegawa and Italeri) £6.99
AZ Model Aircraft paint masks (self adhesive) (Hasegawa) £7.50
AZA7028 1:72 Curtiss Hawk canopy mask (2 sets) MDMDR4821 1:48 AGM-114 Hellfire £24.99 Wingman Models Aircraft detailing sets (resin)
(AZ Model) £5.70 MDMDR7202 1:72 Bristol Beaufighter Mk.X exhaust WMF48028 1:48 IAI F-21/Kfir C-1 & IAI Nesher/Dagger/
pipes (Airfix and Hasegawa) £1.99 Finger Bomb racks with six Mk.82 GPBs
Barracuda Studios Aircraft detailing sets (resin) MDMDR4812 1:48 Bristol Beaufighter. Exhaust pipes (Kinetic Model and Wingman) £12.70
BR32334 1:32 Hawker Tempest Mk.V nose correction (Tamiya) £3.20 WMF48029 1:48 Mk.82 500 lb GPBs £6.40
(Special Hobby) £23.00 MDMDR4822 1:48 Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker Jet nozzles WMF48036 1:48 Mirage III/5/KFIR Wheels
BR32319 1:32 Supermarine Spitfire 4-slot block tread (Academy) £25.60 (Kinetic Model) £4.50
(Revell and Tamiya) £8.99 MDMDR7212 1:72 Sukhoi Su-27 Jet nozzles WMF48037 1:48 Mirage III/5 Centerline Bombrack and
(Hasegawa, HobbyBoss and Zvezda) £11.80 Bombs (Kinetic Model) £13.60
Dream Model Aircraft detailing sets (etched) MDMDR7213 1:72 BAe Harrier GR.7/GR.9 Swivelling
DM2043 1:48 PLA J-11B TaiHang Exhaust Nozzles- nozzles and outrigger wheels Yahu Models Aircraft detailing sets (etched)
Open (HobbyBoss HB81715 kits) £24.70 (Airfix, Hasegawa and Italeri) £11.20
YMA2409 1:24 Hawker Typhoon Mk.Ib early (Airfix) £11.40
YMA3224 1:32 Mitsubishi A6M2 'Zero' Mitsubishi
Kovozavody Prostejov Aircraft paint masks (self adhesive) Quickboost (by Aires) Aircraft detailing sets (resin)
Green (Tamiya) £7.50
KPEX7216 1:72 Let L-200A/L-200D Morava canopy mask QB48791 1:48 Grumman F-14A/F-14B Tomcat chin pod
YMA3225 1:32 Heinkel He-162A-2 'Salamander'
(2 sets) (Kovozavody Prostejov) £5.70 with ECM antenna (Tamiya) £4.80
(Best Model (MPM) and Revell) £5.99
QB48792 1:48 Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX machine
YMA3226 1:32 Curtiss P-40N early (N-1 to N-5)
Maestro Models Aircraft detailing sets (resin) gun blanking caps type A (Eduard) £3.50
(Eduard and Hasegawa) £7.50
MMMK3201 1:32 MiM-23 Hawk missile for Iranian QB48793 1:48 Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IXc/Mk.IXe
YMA4848 1:48 Messerschmit Bf-109C/Bf-109D (AMG) £3.40
Airforce Grumman F-14A/ B Tomcat £26.99 machine gun blanking caps type B (Eduard) £3.50
YMA4857 1:48 Mitsubishi A5M2a/A5M2b "Claude"
MMMK4841 1:48 Back in stock! McDonnell-Douglas QB48794 1:48 Junkers Ju-87B-1 'Stuka' seats with
(Fine Molds and wingsy) £4.30
F/A-18 Hornet seamless air intakes safety belts (Airfix) (may fit Hasegawa) £3.50
YMA4858 1:48 Messerschmitt Bf-109C-1/Bf-109D-1
(Hasegawa) £8.70 QB48796 1:48 Folland Gnat T.1 fuel vent (Airfix) £3.50
MMMK4914 1:48 MiM-23 Hawk missile for Iranian QB48797 1:48 Grumman F-14A/F-14B Tomcat chin pod (Arsenal Model Group) £3.40
Airforce Grumman F-14A/ B Tomcat £17.99 with ECM/TCS equipment (Tamiya) £4.80 YMA7287 1:72 PZL P.7A (Arma Hobby) £2.30
QB48787 1:48 Junkers Ju-87B-1 'Stuka' VS-11 YMS7208 1:72 PZL.23A/PZL.23B Karas family set
Marabu Design Aircraft detailing sets (etched) propeller with tool propeller (Airfix) £6.40 (Heller, IBG and SMER) £2.30
MUDM14404 1:144 Curtiss P-36A/C (Mark I) £7.20 QB72555 1:72 Lockheed P-3C Orion propellers with
MUDM14405 1:144 Brewster Buffalo (Mark I) £9.70 tool (Hasegawa and Revell) £6.40
MUDM72025 1:72 Airspeed Oxford Mk.I/Mk.II QB48795 1:48 Mitsubishi A5M2b "Claude" type 96 New Books
AMBULANCE (Admiral and AZ Model) £22.99 exhaust (Wingsy) £3.50
QB72559 1:72 Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IXc/Mk.IXe Airdoc
Metallic Details Aircraft detailing sets (etched) cockpit's door (Eduard) £2.70 ADJP008 1:72 The Alpha Jet in Luftwaffe Service-
MDMD14407 1:144 Aerospatiale Concorde Set QB72556 1:72 Grumman F-14A Tomcat ejection seats Part 2 £14.60
(with Revell) £24.40 with safety belts (Fujimi) £3.50
MDMD14408 1:144 ATR ATR-42-500 (Italeri) £7.40 SAM Publications
MDMD14411 1:144 Lockheed L-1011 Tristar detail set Scale Aircraft Conversions Aircraft detailing sets (metal) SAMSD07 Super Hornet. Boeing F/A-18E/F and
(Eastern Express) £22.20 SAC48337 1:48 Mikoyan MiG-31B/BM Foxhound EA-18G Growler £14.99
MDMD14412 1:144 Vickers VC10 detailing set (Roden) £15.20 Landing Gear (HobbyBoss) £18.99
Aircraft detailing sets (resin) SAC48338 1:48 Douglas A-4E Skyhawk Landing Gear Valiant Wings Publishing
MDMDR4815 1:48 Detailing set for helicopter model (HobbyBoss) £15.99 VWP5777316 AA-12 Airframe Album No 12 - The Gloster
Hughes AH-64 Apache LongBow £51.99 SAC48339 1:48 Messerschmitt Bf-109F-2thru G-6 Gladiator-A Detailed Guide To The RAF’s
MDMDR4816 1:48 Harrier GR.7/GR.9. Swiveling nozzles Landing Gear (Eduard) £13.99 Last Biplane Fighter by Richard A. Franks £16.95

SW72082 SW72101 VAL72122 VWP5777316

1:72 BAC/EE Lightning F.3 Grumman TF-9J Twogar 1:72 North-American RB-45C Tornado + AA-12 Airframe Album No 12 - The
£14.99 £14.99 Nuclear Bomb Mk.7 £49.80 Gloster Gladiator £16.95

PLEASE NOTE CHEQUES AND POSTAL ORDERS ARE NO LONGER ACCEPTED

Please visit our website for

our up to date postage rates.
www.hannants.co.uk

Colour matching for British military aircraft.
T
oday it is sometimes possible
to match the hue of a
historical colour standard or
the hue found on an artefact by
using a photospectrometer to give
both a very precise and accurate
measurement of the colour. More
frequently however, it is necessary
to use the original method of
colour matching by using the Mk 1
eyeball, the tool that has been most
widely used over the last century or
so with regard to the colour
schemes of British military aircraft.
This practice is illustrated by the
two documents cited here. The first
is British Engineering Standards
Association British Standard
Specification for Aircraft Material 2.
D103 entitled 'Air Ministry Nitro
Dope Coverings and Identification
Colours' of March 1922, which can
probably be taken as being typical
of the attitude to colour matching
taken by the authorities during the
First World War and the between
the wars period. The second is Air
Publication 2656A entitled 'Internal
and External Finish of Aircraft'
Volume 1 Section 6 Chapter 3
'Colour Standards for Top-Coat
Materials', which was issued as part
of Amendment List No.29 in
September 1947, and which can
probably be taken as being typical
of the method by which the colour
matching was carried out during
the Second World War and Post War
period until at least the 1960's if not
later.
BESA Specification 2 D.103
BESA Specification 2 D.103 was
perhaps primarily intended for use
by the aircraft finish manufacturers
and detailed formulas for the one
transparent and ten coloured
dopes commonly used for external
finishes at that time. These were
V.114 which was the transparent
finish, PC-10, PC-12, Nivo, V.84
Aluminium, V.R.3, V.W.3, V.B.2,
V.N.R.5, V.N.B.6 and V.Bl.4. No colour
samples were included in the
Specification and any interested
parties were invited to obtain the
Addendum to D.103, which
apparently contained them from
the Offices of the Association.
Unfortunately, this Addendum was
not held by the archive in which I
found the copy of BESA 2.D103,
which is quoted here.
For those finishes that contained
RECEIVE EXTRA EIGHT PAGES FREE
more than one pigment such as
Nivo, which was to be made up
from yellow ochre, lithopone and
ultramarine blue, whilst the total
weight of the pigment in the
formulas was laid down, the precise
proportions of those pigments was
not. Instead, the Standard stated
that the pigments were ‘to be
mixed together in such proportions
that the colour of the finished
material matches that of the
Standard.’ Further to this, there was
a note at the bottom of the page
that specified the pigments that
stated ‘By ‘matching’ in the above
clauses shall be understood
approximately matching when
compared with the Standard in
diffused daylight’. Thus it seems to
have been acknowledged that
there would be some variation
between the Standard and the
production colour(s) and that such
variations were to be accepted.
AP 2656A AL.29
Unlike the BESA Standard, AP
2656A AL.29, which was intended
for use by the Services, did include
colour cards for twelve colours that
were common to British military
aircraft at that time. The colour
cards themselves were samples of
paint that had been sprayed onto
pieces of thick card measuring two
and a half by two inches, of which
six were were stuck on to each of
two pages for inclusion in the AP.
The colours on the first page
were Medium Sea Grey, Extra Dark
Sea Grey, Light Slate Grey, Dark
Earth, Dark Green and Sky; whilst
Yellow, Night, Aluminium, Bright
Red, Bright Blue and PRU Blue
appeared on the second page. The
text of Chapter 3 ran as follows:
‘Introduction
1. The coloured panels on the card
following this leaf show the
standard colours for the top coat
and identification materials used
in the Service. The panels have
been spray painted-not printed-
and therefore give also a good
indication of the surface produced
by the application of these
materials.
2. The colours in the range shown on
the cards are not necessarily the
same as those found in
commercial circles, and it is
anticipated that the inclusion of
the colour standards in this book
will enable Service personnel to
identify the various shades. It must
be remembered however, that
when materials are being drawn
from the Flight dope store, the
required colour must be identified
by reference to the Stores Ref.
Number which appears on the
container. It is very bad practice
for the operator to select the
required materials by opening one
container after another and
looking inside, and it is not
intended that the colour cards
should be used to facilitate that
procedure.
3. When stirring materials aircraft
finishers have hitherto been
obliged to estimate entirely by
guesswork when the pigments
have been thoroughly mixed.
Thus, they have frequently
stopped stirring too soon, or else
have wasted time and effort by
stirring for too long. While the
latter error does more good than
harm to the material, it is certainly
preferable to do exactly the right
amount of work and no more.
4. A few tests on the lines indicated in
the next paragraph will quickly
indicate just how much stirring is
necessary under varying
conditions before the materials
are ready for use. The variations
are due to such circumstances as
the following:-
(1) Material group (‘C’ or ‘S’).
(2) Colour of the material.
(3) Period for which the material has
been in store.
(4) Whether the material has been
inverted or tumbled (see Sect 2,
Chap. 1).
(5) The amount of thinners required
(see Sect 4. Chap, 3).
Comparison of Colours with the
Standards
5. If it is desired to compare a
specimen of top-coat material
with the corresponding colour-
card, the following procedure will
give the most satisfactory results:-
(1) Make sure that the material has
been thoroughly stirred, and that
no more than the correct
proportion of thinners has been
added.
(2) Spray an even film of the whole of
one side of a post-card, or a piece
DECEMBER 2017 • VOLUME 39 • ISSUE 10
SAM SUBS SEC TION
By Paul Lucas
of cardboard of similar size,
thickness and surface quality.
(3) When the paint has dried, cut a
neat, round hole in the middle of
the card. The hole should be the
size of a penny or halfcrown. (In
1947, a one penny piece had a
diameter of approximately
31mm – author).
(4) Lay the specimen flat on the
corresponding colour panel so
that the standard shows through
the hole in the specimen. In this
way, the standard colour is
completely surrounded by the
specimen colour, and the
comparison between the two
shows to best advantage because
of the absence of ‘interference’
from other colours.
6. Paints from store will probably be
found to show very slight
differences in shade with their
standards even after they have
been thoroughly stirred. This is
because a little variation is
inevitable between the shade of
paint prepared by one
manufacturer and the shade of a
similar paint prepared by another.
It should be noted that these
manufacturing differences are in
relation only to the shades of the
materials, that is to say, the
colours may be very slightly duller
or brighter than their standard
equivalents.
7. If however, there is a marked
difference in colour between a
specimen and its standard (that is,
if a green, for example, is more
blue or more yellow than its
standard, it is usually an indication
of the fact that the material has
not been thoroughly stirred’.
Again there is recognition that
production colour(s) might vary
slightly from the Standard and that
such variations were acceptable.
As modellers, the lesson we
might draw from this is that we
may not need to be too fussy about
how closely any colour, say for
example Dark Earth, from any batch
of any modelling paint
manufacturer matches the
Standard for Dark Earth BS 381C
(1964) No. 350 and that there might
be a kernel of truth in the old
adage 'close enough for
Government work'.
1
SAM SUBS SEC TION
Mark I Vampires in 1/144
By Huw Morgan
Vampire FB.5/FB.52 (2 in 1) in
Commonwealth Service
Kit No: 14468
Scale: 1/144
Type: Injection Moulded Plastic
Manufacturer: Mark I Models
www.4pluspublications.com
T
he closing months of World War II are often
portrayed as the not-quite-in-time
moment for German wonder aircraft,
epitomised by just-about-operational jet aircraft
like the Me262, Heinkel 162, Arado Ar234 and so
on. Less well known is the degree to which the
UK had developed equivalent jets, and how
close these were to large scale deployment. The
only British jet fighter to see actual service was
the Gloster Meteor, a handful being deployed to
Belgium in June 1945, but following close
behind was the De Havilland Vampire, intended
to be a cheaper, more agile alternative. The
Vampire (née Spider Crab - argh!) was designed
against Specification E.6/41 and used the DH
2 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
Goblin turbojet engine, a twin boom
arrangement being chosen since it offered short
intake and exhaust lengths, vital for the low
thrust typically available. The Spider Crab's
(LZ548) first flight was on 20th September 1943
and was sufficiently successful that an order for
120 airframes was placed on 13th May 1943.
Unfortunately De Havilland's other
commitments, meant that it missed the end of
the war, and its first squadron deployment came
in April 1946 with 247 (British China) Squadron.
Evolution of the type's role led to the
development of the FB.5, intended as a ground-
attack replacement for the Tempest, which
required strengthening of the wings, a reduction
in span and a more powerful engine. The
Vampire was exported widely in all its various
marks, so there's no shortage of interesting
schemes.
Mark 1 are well known for their support of
1/144 and their latest issue of the Vampire fills a
hitherto yawning gap. The kit arrives as the latest
in Mark 1's 2 in 1 series as a 2017 new tool, with
plastic for two complete aircraft and decals for
four versions, in this case for a 1949 DH trials
aircraft in overall silver, a 421 Squadron Royal
Canadian Air Force machine in 1951, a
green/grey camouflaged one from 613
Squadron at Ringway in 1951 and a colourful
FB.52 of the SAAF Advanced Flying School in
1968 in silver and orange. Each kit has thirty one
grey plastic parts, plus a one piece canopy, and
moulding is reasonable, although some of the
fuselage external details like the raised panel
latches are rather over done. There are a few
ragged panel lines and edges and the surface
texture is a bit grainy in places. It may sound
grim, but actually it looks like it will clean up
nicely with a bit of care. Overall shape isn't bad,
although the nose does look a bit too bulky in
the vertical plane. I decided to build the SAAF
and the 613 Squadron options, the former in a
flying mode, and the latter with the wheels
down.
The cockpit is made up of a rear bulkhead,
instrument panel and seat, all fitted to the floor,
which as in real life doubles as the roof of the
nose wheel bay. The instructions suggest a 5g
nose weight, which to be honest looks a physical
impossibility. I filled the nose with lead granules
and packed small squares of lead behind the
cockpit bulkhead, and estimate that overall I put
in about 1.5g forward of the undercarriage line,
which turned out to be just enough. The cockpit
and fuselage interior were painted black, and
although the instructions call for the seat to be
brown (Bakelite) this too was painted black. For
the grounded 613 machine I added very narrow
strips of tape for belts and for the flying SAAF
aircraft I added a cut down pilot from Fox One,
although very little of either can be seen
through the rather thick canopy.
The upper and lower fuselage halves close up
eventually after lots of dry fitting and some
carving away of the mating faces, the overall
look being improved by sanding down the
prominent panel latches. Some filling is needed,
for which I used superglue. The tail booms and
stabiliser need some clean-up to get the best fit
and although there is some minor shrinkage on

Four schemes are offered in this boxing and
there are two other sets available
Surface detail is pretty good for the scale,
although the inscribed lines fade out in places
Fit of the upper and lower fuselage halves is
not brilliant and needs some filling
the sides of the booms, I chose only to sand it
gently after priming, in order to preserve the
inspection panel detail. The butt joint of the
booms to the wing fairings was reinforced with
wire fitted closely into the booms, but locating
in oversized holes in the wing to give some
leeway in alignment.
If the undercarriage is to be used, it's quite
well detailed, the wheels and inside of the main
doors being particularly good for the scale.
Unsurprisingly, the same doors don't fit too well
for the in-flight option, some plastic strip and
sanding being needed to reduce the gaps.
RECEIVE EXTRA EIGHT PAGES FREE
The moulding of the smaller parts is excellent,
rivalling bigger scales
Each of the two models included is supplied
on one grey plastic and one small clear sprue
Painting is pretty straightforward, although as
always, and even in 1/144, the quality of the final
finish is a reflection of the quality of the base
surface finish. I used Halfords primer polished
with 1,000 grit abrasive, and for the SAAF version
gave the airframe a flash of white primer and
sprayed the Day-Glo areas with Model Master
Acrylic International Orange 4682. With this dry,
the airframe was sealed with Citadel Purity Seal
varnish from a rattle can and masked for the Mr
Hobby 218 Aluminium overall finish. Given time
to dry out properly, this finish can be buffed to
different degrees of shine, either with a cloth, or
on specific panels with a cotton bud.
DECEMBER 2017 • VOLUME 39 • ISSUE 10
SAM SUBS SEC TION
Each of the two models included is supplied
on one grey plastic and one small clear sprue
The decal sheet provided with the
Commonwealth boxing
Getting enough weight forward of the
undercarriage line needed some thinking about
For the 613 Squadron machine the green/grey
camouflage was applied with Mr Hobby H73 and
H333 using fine Blu-Tack worms to create the
soft demarcation. A hard tape masked
demarcation was applied for the transition
between the camouflage and the lower surface
silver.
The kit decals are excellent and settle easily
using plain water and Micro Sol.
I'd already fitted the flying model with
undercarriage doors in the closed arrangement,
and in the case of the grounded version the
undercarriage fitted without drama. To depict
3
SAM SUBS SEC TION
the flying model I used my usual method of a
length of piano wire inserted into the jet pipe
fitted into a simple MDF base.
Alongside my own double build, SIG 144
colleague Mike Verier had also built a pair, from
the MKM14469 boxing, marked as In Europe and
North Africa. This boxing offers five schemes,
British, French, Italian and two Swiss, including a
splendid yellow and black striped target tug.
Mike: ‘I chose the shark mouthed FB. Mk5 of 112
Squadron at Bruggen in 1953 and the lovely French
Navy machine operated in Morocco by Esc.57S at
about the same time. This latter is a well-chosen
subject as it is from the first batch delivered,
essentially FB.5s, as opposed to the SNCASE built
Mistrals, which had enlarged and reprofiled
intakes.
In terms of the build I had much the same
4 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
experience as described by Huw, including the
fettling and the weight issue. Not having any
depleted uranium handy I ended up putting the
prepainted instrument panel (nice decal by the
way), rear bulkhead, seat and intake blanks into
the top half of the horizontally split fuselage. Like
Huw I was then able to put some weight in the
extreme nose before closing the fuselage. The
separate jet pipe insert can in any case be left off
until after painting, which leaves a convenient
large hole in the tail. This enabled me to pour shot
into the fuselage, filling the space to a level just
forward of the undercarriage. I used a simple
marked rod to determine when that level had been
reached. A few drops of thin superglue then set the
resulting mass. Do not put the canopy on until
afterwards as the fumes from the cyano adhesive
as it cured were clearly visible!
I particularly like the clear inserts for the wing tip
SUBSCRIBE ONLY £49.50 FOR 12 ISSUES
navigation lights that the kit provides. The decals
are very well printed and, vitally, opaque so that
putting them over dark schemes presented no
problems. I will confess that they also proved able
to survive me inadvertently folding one on itself
and the several attempts it took to retrieve the
situation.’
Conclusions
Mark 1 continue to broaden the 1/144 scale
spectrum with a welcome issue of an important
British type, and there are already three boxings
available, the third one, MKM14470 In the North,
covering Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian and
British (based in Scotland, obviously) options. As
with most short run kits there's some work to be
done, but the results are definitely worthwhile.
Thanks to Mark 1 for the review kits.
 SAM SUBS SEC TION

O
nce again the US Nationals provided
modellers and traders with an opportu-
nity to meet, trade and talk and provided
the essential focus for the hobby that it has be-
come every year. The hosts, the Fort Crook Chap-
ter of IPMS/USA, put on a great show and it was
good to come back to Omaha again, this time
without flood waters lapping at the fringes of
the airport, an image this traveller recalls from
the previous Omaha show, when flying in over
brown water was more redolent of South East
Asia than Middle America.
Pictures paint a thousand words, and the
standard of modelling this year was as high if
not higher than ever. With the UK event at the
forefront of people’s minds this month, here’s a
hint of the way we do things in the States..

RECEIVE EXTRA EIGHT PAGES FREE DECEMBER 2017 • VOLUME 39 • ISSUE 10 5

SAM SUBS SEC TION
Hasegawa 1/32 Mitsubishi A6M5c Zero
By Bob Foster
Kit No: 08884
Scale: 1/32
Type: Injection Moulded Plastic
Manufacturer: Hasegawa
Amerang/Hobbico
T
he Mitsubishi A6M Zero was one of the
most iconic fighter aircraft of World War II.
It boasted performance so far beyond that
of any contemporary allied fighter that before
the attack on Pearl Harbor many dismissed
reports of its existence as exaggerated, and
arguably it remained the dominant fighter in the
Pacific theatre until the arrival of new aircraft
such as the F6F Hellcat. The Japanese developed
the aircraft continuously throughout the war,
although they were never able to devote
sufficient resources to it or to its planned
replacement, the A7M Reppu, and by 1945 the
Zero was outclassed in both capability and
numbers by the Allies.
In 2016 Hasegawa announced a new tool Zero
in 1/32, which unlike their earlier moulding
represents the late war A6M5c variant of the
aircraft. The A6M5c was more heavily armed
than earlier models, carrying a pair of 13.2mm
machine guns in the wings in addition to the
existing 20mm cannon, and featuring racks
under the wings for small bombs or rockets. The
port side 7.7mm machine gun in the cockpit was
removed, although the cowling retained the
port for the rounds to fire through, and the
aircraft, and importantly its pilot, received more
armour protection. This choice of variant was
6 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
welcomed by many
modellers, as the
earlier A6M2 and
A6M5a had both already been tooled by either
Hasegawa themselves or by Tamiya. I’m not
normally a 1/32 scale modeller, but the Zero is a
very special aircraft and so I decided to make an
exception for this kit. I also have the Tamiya 1/32
A6M2, so it was interesting to compare the two
and the approach of their respective
manufacturers.
The first impression of the new Hasegawa kit
is very positive indeed. The kit comes on twelve
sprues, ten of which are standard grey plastic,
one of which is clear and the other, which
features the pilot figure and the seat cushions, a
tan colour. The is moulding near perfect, with
only the tiniest amount of flash evident on a
small number of parts, and the panel lines are
crisp and neat. A number of parts are indicated
in the instructions as not being for use, which
suggests that other variants are to follow from
Hasegawa. The number of parts is not as high as
might be expected from a 1/32 kit and is
certainly lower than the Tamiya kit, but while
this does lead to a simpler build it does not
equate to a significant loss of detail. It does
however allow the kit to be considerably
cheaper than the Tamiya offering.
Given the scale of this kit and the size of the
finished model, I wanted to be able to do it
justice without going overboard while still
keeping it as close to out of the box as possible.
To this end, I gathered a number of reference
guides together in order to try and get the look
of the aircraft as accurate as I could, particularly
in terms of colours and weathering. The colours
used on World War II Japanese aircraft is a
mammoth subject and many books have been
written on the subject, so to help me navigate
the minefield of conflicting opinions I used
Combat Colours No.9 by Nicholas Millman and
Mark Rolfe. Nicholas Millman is a highly
regarded expert in the field of Japanese aircraft
and I was not disappointed by his book. The title
includes not only details of the different variants
of the Zero but also the different colours used,
SUBSCRIBE ONLY £49.50 FOR 12 ISSUES
which
varied not only
with different marks of
the aircraft but also
depending on
whether the aircraft was built by Mitsubishi or
under licence by Nakajima. Armed with this
information and a number of other
photographic references, including the Model
Art Profile books on the A6M Zero, it was time to
take the plunge with the kit itself.
Assembly starts with the pilot, which
although not completed for this build is a very
well detailed figure with three different head
options and a fairly comprehensive set of
painting instructions. As the pilot was not going
to be added to my aircraft, I moved past this step
and onto the cockpit, which is made up of thirty
two parts and features an impressive level of
detail while still being reasonably
straightforward to assemble. The various
components were given a primer coat of Alclad
black to help add some shading, and light coats
of Tamiya XF-71 Cockpit Green were added after
consulting the Combat Colours guide to try and
match the green used by Nakajima in their
licence built airframes. The details were then
touched up with a mixture of colours to
highlight controls and the instruments
themselves were added using the kit’s decals
over the moulded detail.
Although I was a little unsure how this would
look, the effect on the finished instrument panel
is very convincing. The seat cushion was painted
brown and the dinghy pack painted orange
before both were added to the seat, which was
finished off with a set of photo etch seatbelts
from Eduard before being added to the cockpit.
The 13.2mm machine gun was assembled and
sprayed with Alclad gunmetal, then added to
the instrument panel, and finally the side frames
were added, completing the cockpit sub
assembly ready to be added to the airframe.
Construction moves on to the fuselage, which
has a number of strengthening bulkheads
added along with the tail wheel assembly before
being joined together using Tamiya Extra Thin

The nicely detailed cockpit largely built from
the kit with the addition of Eduard’s seatbelts
The entire underside was painted with a
number of light coats of IJN Ash Grey from the
AV Vallejo set
I was not happy with my initial The final darker shade is a lot
choice for the upper surface closer to my understanding of
green the real aircraft’s appearance
cement. With care this can be done without
leaving a seam along the top or bottom of the
fuselage, which was then taped together and
left to set to ensure a strong bond between the
two fuselage halves. Once it had been left to set,
the upper section of the forward fuselage was
added. This piece includes the glare shield
beneath the aircraft’s windscreen and the
opening for the cockpit mounted machine gun.
The cockpit is then fed into the fuselage, taking
care to feed the 13.2mm machine gun through
the opening, before the whole assembly is then
glued to the inside of the fuselage.
Hasegawa has included clear instructions
about the order in which these steps are
completed, which were extremely helpful to
ensure this part of the process went smoothly.
While modellers have a habit of adjusting the
assembly sequence of a kit based on their own
experience, this really is one sequence where the
instructions do know best!
A number of other detail parts, including the
gunsight and some fuselage panels, are then
added, and although Hasegawa’s instructions
call for adding a number of clear parts, including
the armoured cockpit glass, these were saved for
RECEIVE EXTRA EIGHT PAGES FREE
Instruments are supplied as decals and the
overall effect achieved is quite satisfactory
The finished underside colours showing the
tonal variation with the fabric surfaces
The decal sheet provided offers
all you need including
instruments for the panel and full
stencilling
later to prevent damage and make painting
easier. The completed fuselage was then set
aside while the build moved on to the wings.
As with their smaller scale Zero kits, Hasegawa
has moulded the lower wing and fuselage as
one piece, with separate upper wing sections.
Unlike Hasegawa’s 1/48 kits the flaps are
moulded in the closed position, and unlike the
Tamiya 1/32 kits all of the control surfaces are
moulded as part of the wings. Similarly, the
horizontal tails are moulded in two halves with
integral elevators. Some modellers may be
disappointed that Hasegawa have done this on a
kit of this scale, although it does help make the
build somewhat simpler.
Construction of the wings begins with drilling
four holes for the external fuel tank, which is
followed by adding a long strengthening spar,
the main undercarriage bay and the top of the
small air intake, which are then sandwiched into
the wing by adding the upper sections. It is well
worth taping the wing sections together first
and then dry fitting the complete wing assembly
to the fuselage to ensure a good fit and make
sure there are no steps along the wing root. This
is a problematic area on Hasegawa’s 1/48 kit,
DECEMBER 2017 • VOLUME 39 • ISSUE 10
The first areas to be painted were the control
surfaces, which on the real aircraft are fabric
covered. These were sprayed with IJN Medium
Grey from the AV Vallejo set and left to dry
before moving on to the underside of the
aircraft
Highlights have been added to the upper
surface in order to provide some preshading
effects through the upper surface coat
Hasegawa have done a
commendable job moulding the
Sakai 21 engine
though on this model there were no issues and
after a satisfactory dry fit the wings were glued
together with Tamiya Extra Thin cement and
taped securely together before being left to set,
along with the horizontal tails.
As with the fuselage, Hasegawa suggests
adding a number of small and clear parts to the
wings at this point, and again these were saved
for later in the build to protect them and make
painting easier. With the wings and tails
together, they are carefully added to the
fuselage and the whole airframe is put to one
side for the glue to set before moving on to
paint.
As is quickly apparent from reading the
Combat Colours guide, painting a Zero accurately
is not quite as simple as dark green over grey.
There are many subtle variations that can
depend on the manufacturer of the airframe,
where the aircraft was based in the Pacific
theatre and when in the war the aircraft was
built. Having been through the guide and
identified the colours to use, I chose to try the
new set of Imperial Japanese Navy colours from
AV Vallejo. Now it was time to prepare the model
itself for paint.
7
SAM SUBS SEC TION
I began by carefully washing the parts with a
damp cloth and leaving it to dry naturally. The
cleaned model was then masked up and a coat
of Alclad grey primer was added, which when
dry was polished to a smooth surface using fine
grade Micro Mesh. At this point I would normally
preshade the entire airframe, but for this model I
decided to adopt a number of different
approaches to try and vary the shading and
highlights of the finished model.
The first areas to be painted were the control
surfaces, which on the real aircraft are fabric
covered. These were sprayed with IJN Medium
Grey from the AV Vallejo set and left to dry
before moving on to the underside of the
aircraft. At this point the control surfaces were
masked and a number of panels were preshaded
before the entire underside was painted with a
number of light coats of IJN Ash Grey from the
AV Vallejo set. This colour proved to be an
excellent match for the green/grey that was
shown in the Combat Colours guide and would
be ideal also for an early A6M2 or A6M3 Zero,
before the dark green upper surfaces became
standard. Once the Ash Grey was dry, the
underside of the aircraft was masked ready to
begin painting the dark green on top.
As an alternative to preshading the upper
surfaces of the aircraft, highlights were added to
each panel using Tamiya XF-76, the intention
being to represent paint that had been slightly
faded through exposure to sunlight. Once the
highlights were dry the dark green was added in
light coats using IJN Black Green from AV Vallejo,
although it soon became apparent that this
green was not correct. Even on the areas that
had not been highlighted, it was too light and
did not accurately represent the darker green
that is seen on restored aircraft and in the
various reference guides that I had available. The
paint set included a darker black green, however
a test of this paint on a scrap model showed that
it too was not correct, so I chose to use Mr
Hobby H59 IJN Dark Green instead. This was
sprayed over the incorrect green and looked a
lot better, although the prepainted highlights
were no longer visible. After some careful touch-
ups around the freehand demarcation between
the two colours, the highlights were replaced by
lightening the H59 with some Tamiya XF-76 and
spraying the mixture into the centre of the
airframe panels. Not quite what I had originally
intended, but the subtle highlights have added a
pleasing effect to the finished model.
Next step in the painting process was to mask
off the undercarriage bays and spray them with
Mr Hobby H63 Metallic Blue-Green, to represent
the protective Aotake coating applied to these
8 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
areas on Nakajima built airframes. Once
complete, the airframe was set aside to dry.
With the aircraft paint drying, the build moves
on to the engine and cowling. Hasegawa have
done a commendable job moulding a well-
detailed replica of the Sakai 21 engine from the
Zero, which is assembled quickly and sprayed
with black Alclad primer ready for painting. On a
smaller scale model I would normally be satisfied
with a coat of Alclad steel, but that was not
going to be enough for this model so I consulted
some reference photographs of the restored
Sakai engine from the Zero at the Planes of Fame
museum in California. From these photos I chose
to paint the engine a metallic black, highlighting
the tops of the cylinders with a metallic silver
before toning it all down with a very light mist of
Alclad steel. The exhaust pipes were painted
with Alclad Burnt Iron, and the whole assembly
was carefully added to the airframe. Next the
cowl flaps were added to the one-piece engine
cowling. Hasegawa provides the option to have
both open and closed cowl flaps, and for interest
the open flaps were selected.
The completed cowling was then sprayed
with black primer, followed by Mr Color 125
Cowling Color to replicate the subtle blue-black
of the real aircraft. At the same time the decking
behind the cockpit was masked and sprayed the
same colour. Once dry, the cowling was slid over
the engine and attached to the airframe. The
completed airframe was then coated with
Tamiya Clear varnish, ready for decals.
The decal sheet provided by Hasegawa is
comprehensive, and the decals themselves are
thin and in perfect register. I had originally
planned to mask and spray the red Hinomaru on
the airframe and had obtained some masks from
Maketar for this purpose. However when I tried
to apply the masks to the airframe I was unable
to keep them perfectly circular. Rather than risk
having oddly shaped Hinomaru, I decided to
save the masks for a future build and use the
decals instead. All of the markings settled easily
on the model with the help of a little Micro Set
and Micro Sol, and once completed the model
was set aside to allow the decals to settle fully
while the build moved on to the undercarriage
and propeller.
Hasegawa has moulded the wheel hubs and
tyres as separate pieces, which makes painting
easier as it removes the requirement to cut small
circular masks. The hubs were painted with
Alclad aluminium and the tyres and brake lines
were painted with Tamiya XF-85 Rubber Black.
The undercarriage legs were assembled and
painted Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black, then the wheels
and brake lines were added. Finally, the
SUBSCRIBE ONLY £49.50 FOR 12 ISSUES
undercarriage doors were painted with the same
AV Vallejo Ash Grey as the underside of the
airframe and glued to the undercarriage legs.
The complete assemblies were then added to
the model, taking care to ensure they were
straight with a slight protrusion forward, as on
the real aircraft. The external fuel tank was
assembled and painted with AV Vallejo Ash Grey
before it too was glued to the underside of the
aircraft. Finally the propeller was assembled with
its hub and painted, with the blades in Tamiya
XF-64 Red Brown and the hub in Mr Hobby H59
IJN Green. A coat of gloss varnish was then
applied, followed by the propeller’s marking
decals, before the propeller was added to the
airframe.
The final stage of the build was to add some
of the smaller details that had been left off from
earlier on in the build, apply some light
weathering and then attach the clear parts. The
barrels for the wing guns were sprayed with
Alclad black primer followed by Alclad Gunmetal
and added to the wings, along with the pitot
and the radio aerial mast. Weathering consisted
of some light paint chipping followed by some
subtle exhaust staining along the sides of the
fuselage, before the airframe was given an
overall coat of Tamiya Flat Clear.
The smaller clear parts, including the cockpit
armoured glass and the navigation lights, were
added to the airframe using UV activated Liquid
Optical Clear Adhesive (LOCA). The canopy was
masked with a set of precut masks from Eduard
and sprayed first with Alclad black primer and
then with Mr Hobby H59 IJN Green before being
given a coat of Tamiya Flat Clear and being
attached to the fuselage in the same way. Finally,
clear nylon thread was added to the airframe
using LOCA to represent the aerial wire, and the
aircraft was completed.
Hasegawa have done a fantastic job with this
kit. The fit overall is excellent and I found no
major pitfalls in putting it together. While it does
not have the detail levels of the Tamiya offering,
it is more keenly priced and still builds into an
impressive representation of an important
Japanese aircraft type out of the box. It is
straightforward enough to be accessible to the
majority of modellers while also being a strong
basis for a super detailing job. Similarly, the
Combat Colours guide proved to be invaluable
to this build. The information within is clear and
easy to understand, and while the colours used
on this build may not be one hundred percent
accurate, based on my research from this book I
am happy that they are as accurate as I can
achieve with my level of skill. Both the book and
the kit are highly recommended.