I-153 F-86F-30

Chinese Argentine
Sri Lanken Seagull Sabre
Striker

TRUMPETER’S
1:32 Scale
P-38 Little
Vol 19 Iss 09 £4.95
SEPTEMBER 2020

Buckaroo
Printed in UK

AT ZONE - Tu-22 BLINDER

B
COM
Manual – The Douglas A-26 Invader
History
Scale Plans
Colour Profiles
Step by Step Build
MISSION
MODELS
PREMIUM HOBBY PAINTS, PRIMERS & ADDITIVES

CHANGE
THE
WAY
YOU
PAINT

WATER BASED ACRYLIC, ODORLESS, NON-TOXIC

[Link]
Please visit our website above for dealer locations
Model by David Parker
MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 3

VOLUME 19 ISSUE 09
Over the Horizon
O
nce again, it’s my absolute pleasure with is Tu-22B ‘Blinder’, an aircraft you seldom
to bring you another feature packed see featured, so I am pleased to be able to
issue of Model Aircraft. So far 2020 bring this one to our pages. One of the many
has been a strange old year, and as downsides of the Coronavirus has been that
we work our way into the autumn, cinemas’ have been closed, and that had led
we can only hope that the situation the world to the delay in the release of the new Topgun
finds itself in will improve and we will once 2 film, but you can relive Maverick and Goose’s
again have a greater semblance of normal life ride for the original film with Dawid Branski’s
returning over the horizon. After an enforced ‘Need For Speed’ Tomcat article. Another build
hiatus, manufacturers are starting to produce to look out for is David Rainer’s ‘Captured
kits once again, and it’s even more pleasing to Jug’, as this serves as a precursor to our next
see that Kinetic are on the verge of releasing Model Aircraft Extra book ‘Modelling the P-47
their long-awaited early mark Harrier GR.1 and Thunderbolt’ which you can now order form
AV-8A kits in 1:48. These are subjects that I the MAM Bookstore, and details of this and
for one have been looking forward to seeing our other forthcoming books can be found
and building. The CAD drawings that have elsewhere in our pages, or you can go to
been issued so far have already whetted my [Link] and follow the links.
appetite and I am eager to get a No.1 Squadron So, I hoe you enjoy all we have for you this time,
GR.1, a VMA-231 AV-8A and and all that remains for me to say
even a Thai Navy bird into my is, stay safe and….
collection! Returning to this
month, and we have some Happy Modelling!
superb build projects to bring
you, and in particular we
have a superb P-38 Lightning
from Jarek Rydzynski in a
Andy
wonderful natural metal
finish. Also, we have a great
‘Combat Zone’ feature this
month from Snorre Sandviken
4 CONTENTS [Link]

6 LOCKHEED P-38 LIGHTNING [Link] MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 7 14 COMBAT ZONE – TU-22 BLINDER COMBAT ZONE
FIGHTING COLO U R S
[Link] MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 COMBAT ZONE
FIGHTING COLO U R S
15 22 DEFENCE OF THE REICH [Link] MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 23

LITTLE BUCKAROO

BF 109G-10 - DEFENCE OF THE REICH

COMBAT ZONE – TU-22 BLINDER
‘Little Buckaroo’ Bf 109G-10
part. Another difficulty was maintaining the
perfect geometry of the two booms and THE TECHNIQUE OF PAINTING WITH METALLIC COLOURS IS
the correct wing angle. Another important VERY INTERESTING, AND AT THE SAME TIME QUITE DEMANDING
point in the P-38’s construction was
balancing the model so that it stood evenly
on its wheels. I had to add over 120 grams

Defence of the Reich

of weight in the nose, the propellor hubs
Jarek Rydzynski adds a natural metal finish to the 1:32 Trumpeter P-38 Lightning and inside the engine nacelles to ensure I
didn’t get a ‘tail sitter’. The final problem to

L
ockheed P-38 Lightning was an Lockheed P-38 Lightning elevators, the rudder, the flaps and ailerons deal with was the assembly of the landing
American, twin-engine long-range Manufacturer: Trumpeter to move as well as rubber tyres. I decided to gear, which according to the instructions
multi-role fighter with a two-boom Scale: 1:32 upgrade the cockpit with a Verlinden resin must be installed at the very beginning of
structure, tricycle landing gear and Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded replacement, some metal undercarriage the construction, because after closing the
an all-metal construction. The was Kit Number: 02227 legs from Scale Aircraft Conversions, a set fuselage halves it would not be possible to Jay Blakemore returns to his favoured Defence of the Reich period when he builds
one of the most important American fighters of turned barrels from Master and a superb assemble them. So, the entire landing gear a late-War Bf109G-10 Mtt Regensburg ProfiPACK – yet another superb release from
of World War II, and I decided to build the decal sheet from Kits World with the ‘Little had to be changed so I could fix them at the
big scale Trumpeter version, as I really like Metallic finishes show up even the smallest Buckaroo’ nose art. very end, to avoid damaging them in the Eduard’s ever-growing range of Bf 109s.
aircraft with a natural metal finish. The surface imperfection, but on the other hand I would consider this kit to fall into the painting process. Thankfully, the rest of the

O
technique of painting with metallic colours is they are very effective. In addition, the P-38 ‘medium difficulty’ range, with the most construction was trouble free. ver the past four years Eduard have exception of an additional frame containing side ‘cheeks’ housing the enlarged super- Straight-from-the-box Eduard provides a more cemented together, which leaves it vulnerable to
very interesting, and at the same time quite is a very nice aircraft in my opinion - and in complicated construction stage being the For the cockpit, I first added a coat of Polish released an endless stream of re- new fuselage-halves and sundry other items charger and re-shaped engine bearers. In than adequately furnished cockpit, featuring damage. I chose instead to strengthen this item
demanding, and I wanted to particular I like the various artworks that were assembly of the nose of the aircraft and two Bilmodel Resin Primer. I then added some pre- issues spawned from their excellent including the enlarged radiator housing, truth, the re-profiling did little to improve the separate and nicely moulded bucket seat – by removing the elongated oleo and fabricating
meet this challenge! applied to the noses. fuselage booms. These have a few parts that shading using some Tamiya Black then the ‘newly-tooled’ Bf109G-6. Having tall ‘wooden’ tail, wide-blade propeller, appearance of the once iconic fighter which with colour-etched harness - a control column, a new one from metal rod and tubing, inserting
Inside the larger Trumpeter boxing you did not fit all that well and required some main shade, Mr Color C027 Interior Green with made its triumphant debut in 2016, enlarged super-charger intake, had reached its aesthetic apogee with the cannon breech cover and instrument panel. The only the top section prior to fuselage closure. The
will find seven sprues, a clear sprue and two putty and sanding to get them to look the subsequent incarnations of the basic kit have cowling panel and rudder specific F-model. Also faithfully reproduced here are colour-printed etched fret provides an alternative wheel and metal oleo were added at the very
etched frets with various parts including appeared in both their ProfiPACK and Weekend to this variant. The fuselage parts the small ‘bumps’ on the lower cowling which control panel if painting the plastic original seems end of the build. The busy cockpit fits effortlessly
grilles for the radiators. You also series, featuring new parts and decals, which feature the re-profiled nose – were required to accommodate an enlarged like one job too many, as well as assorted tiny into the widened fuselage, and the remainder
get rods to enable the have allowed modellers the opportunity to introduced by Messerschmitt in an chin-mounted oil cooler. The upper-wing levers, placards and side-wall panels. The plastic of the airframe simply falls together. Two areas
E
COMBAT ZON
build a vast array of F and G variants in many attempt to streamline the airframe halves are unchanged from the standard G-6, sidewall details are numerous and more than that require a little extra work before the airframe

The Tupolev
fetching guises. Now, approaching the end and rid it of the incongruous ‘boils’ though the under-wingspan features a cut-out usable, however, and include two separately can be completed are the wheel-bays and spent

der
S
OUR
COL
NG
FIG
HTI of the line as far as wartime production of introduced on the G-6 variant to section on the port side to accommodate a moulded panels that differ from those provided cartridge ejection chute openings in the lower

Tu-22 Blin
the Bf109 went, Eduard have issued the G-10, cover the synchronised MG 131s – clear observation window which houses the in the standard G-6 release. Also included on the wings. Both feature open sections that afford a
focusing in this particular boxing on consisting of extended re-positioned forward-slanting whip-aerial. clear fret is a fuel pipe for the starboard cockpit view into the empty fuselage interior when the
those airframes produced at The observation window is included on a new wall, which when partially and carefully painted model is viewed from beneath and are easily
Messerschmitt’s Regensburg clear sprue, which contains three styles of in bright yellow, looks particularly effective boxed-in using plastic sheeting. All of the control
facility. The majority of Erla Haube canopy and two variations of the with its clear spy-glass section. Subtle shading surfaces are separately moulded as are the large
were selected from the ranks of the Su-17 ‘Fitter’ in 1962. The Tu-22R could be fitted with an try to salvage some offensive combat role for parts are unchanged from widened windscreen. and highlights on the dark grey interior are well radiator cooling flaps in the wing trailing edges
crews, and these pilots made the transition with aerial refuelling probe that was subsequently the Tu-22 in the face of official hostility, the Tu-22 previous releases, with the worth the effort, for with the canopy posed in and the leading-edge slats. So, with
less difficulty. By the time the Tu-22B Blinder-A fitted to most Tu-22s, expanding their radius was developed as a missile carrier, the Tu-22K the optional open position, the interior is some minor adjustments made to the
entered service, it was already obvious that its of operation. 127 Tu-22Rs were built, sixty-two ‘Blinder-B’, with the ability to carry a single Kh-22 clearly visible. The delicate, tail wheel securing tabs on each of these items
operational usefulness was limited. Despite of which went to the AVMF for maritime patrol AS-4 ‘Kitchen’ stand-off missile in a modified needs to be inserted between the there are multiple choices available
its speed, it was inferior to the Tu-16 with use. Some of these aircraft were stripped of their weapons bay. The Tu-22K was deployed both fuselage-halves before they are to the modeller to change the

T
he Tu-22 was intended originally respect to combat radius, weapon load, and camera and sensor packs and sold for export by DA (Long Range Aviation), and AVMF (Soviet appearance of the finished model.
as a supersonic replacement for serviceability. The Soviet hierarchy believed as Tu-22Bs, although in other respects they Naval Aviation). The last Tu-22 subtype was the Provided on the decal
the Tupolev Tu-16 bomber. The that ballistic missiles were the way of the future, apparently remained more comparable to the Tu-22P ‘Blinder-E’ electronic warfare version, sheet are an interesting
preliminary design of the aircraft to and bombers like the Tu-22 were in danger of Tu-22R than to the early-production Tu-22Bs. initially used for ELINT electronic intelligence
meet this requirement, designated cancellation. As a result, only fifteen (although A trainer version of the ‘Blinder,’ the Tu-22U gathering. Some were converted to serve as
Samolyot 105 by Tupolev, was started in some sources say twenty) Tu-22Bs were built. A ‘Blinder-D’, was fielded at the same time, and this stand-off ECM jammers to support Tu-22K
1954, with the first prototype completed in combat-capable aerial reconnaissance version, version had raised cockpit for an instructor. The missile carriers, and one squadron was usually
December 1957. It made its maiden flight from the Tu-22R ‘Blinder-C’, was developed along Tu-22U had no tail guns and was not combat- allocated to each Tu-22 regiment. The Tu-22
Zhukovsky on 21 June 1958, flown by test with the bomber version, entering service capable, and some forty-six were produced. To was upgraded in service with more powerful Bf109G-10 Mtt Regensburg
pilot Yuri Alasheev. The availability of more but it experienced considerable problems, deformation of the wing did not necessarily Manufacturer: Eduard
powerful engines, and the TsAGI rediscovery resulting in widespread unserviceability and disappear but could persist and result in an Scale: 1:48
of the Area rule for minimising transonic several crashes. Amongst its many faults was almost uncontrollable aircraft. Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded
aerodynamic drag, resulted in the construction a tendency for skin aerodynamic heating at Pilots for the first Tu-22 squadrons were Kit Number:
of a revised prototype, the 105A. This first supersonic speed, distorting the control rods selected from the ranks of ‘First Class’ Tu-16
flew on 7 September 1959. The first serial- and causing poor handling. The landing speed pilots, which made the transition into the new
production Tu-22B bomber, built by Factory was 62mph greater than previous bombers, aircraft difficult, as the Tu-16 had a co-pilot,
No. 22 at Kazan, flew on 22 September 1960, and the Tu-22 had a tendency to pitch up and and many of the ‘elite’ Tu-16 pilots selected
and the type was presented to the public in strike its tail on landing, although this problem had become accustomed to allowing their
the Tushino Aviation Day parade on 9 July was eventually resolved with the addition of co-pilots to handle all the flight operations of
1961, with a flypast of ten aircraft. It initially electronic stabilisation aids. Even after some of the Tu-16 except for take-off and landings. As a
received the NATO reporting name ‘Bullshot’, its problems had been resolved, the ‘Blinder’ consequence, Tu-16 pilots transitioning to the
which was deemed to be inappropriate, was never easy to fly, and it was maintenance single-pilot Tu-22 suddenly found themselves
THE FUSELAGE PARTS FEATURE THE RE-PROFILED NOSE
then ‘Beauty’, which was deemed to be too intensive. Among its unpleasant characteristics having to perform all the piloting tasks, and in – INTRODUCED BY MESSERSCHMITT IN AN ATTEMPT TO
complimentary, and finally the ‘Blinder’. Soviet
crews, however, called it ‘Shilo’ because of
was a wing design that allowed aileron reversal
at high deflections. When the stick had been
a much more complicated cockpit. Many, if not
most of these pilots were unable to complete
STREAMLINE THE AIRFRAME
its shape. The Tu-22 entered service in 1962, neutralised following such an event, the their training for this reason. Eventually, pilots

6 ‘Little Buckaroo’ 14 Combat Zone - Playing a Blinder 22 Defence of the Reich

Jarek Rydzynski adds a natural metal finish to the Snorre Sandviken goes large with the 1:72 Revell Jay Blakemore returns to his favoured Defence
1:32 Trumpeter P-38 Lightning Tu-22B of the Reich period when he builds a late-War
Bf109G-10 Mtt Regensburg ProfiPACK

56 TOP GUN TIGER [Link] MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 57 60 F-86F SABRE [Link] MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 61 64 CHINESE GUOMINDANG FIGHTER [Link] MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 65
F-5E TIGER

ARGENTINIAN SABRE

CHINESE SEAGULL
The internal

Top Gun Tiger Argentinian Sabre

details…. …. suitably painted
THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST SABRE KITS IN THIS SCALE

added plenty of nose weight to avoid a ‘tail position on the ground. This was good news an
I began with light sitter’. I also removed the raised air intake on the avoided some lengthy scratch building! The rest
coats of Mr Surfacer starboard fuselage side, as this was not present of the assembly was pain free with just a little
1500 Black
Regis Marteau builds the for US built aircraft. filler needed her and there. The landing gear
I used MRP colours for 1:72 Fujimi F-86F-30 Now it was time to install the wing and struts, and wheel bays were again very basic
Barry Koervers builds tough of a MiG-28, the all-over black scheme detailed this up with a little Tamiya Dark Sea the camouflage….. studying my references I discover and needed some detail adding with plastic
the 1:48 AFV Club seemed a little boring, so I opted to go for an Grey. The instrument panels were detailed up that Argentine F-86F-30 Sabres sprue, metal wire and Albion Alloys metal tubes.
aftermarket decal set from Furball and build with black, white, red and yellow with a little did not the 6-3 wing provided in I also added some details to the airbrake wells
‘Sundowners’ F-5E a three-tone camouflage scheme with the drop of gloss over the dials to simulate glass. I the box but were retrofitted with the F-40 and doors. A note here is that the door hinges
famous ‘Sundowners’ markings. Having had had a spare pilot left over from a Tamiya F-14A, wing. Fortunately, I had a Fujimi F-86F-40 in must be modified in order to obtain the correct

A
FV Club, better known for the a quick look through the instructions, it was which had great some detail and was also from my stash, so I used the wing from that model. I opening angle towards the ground.
armour kits do, surprisingly have a clear that there are parts for multiple versions the same era, so thought it would be a good asked myself the question about depicting the The wing and fuselage undersides were
full range of the awesome looking of the basic airframe. I decided to go for option fit. I used a couple of reference images to get leading edges in the down position, but I then then airbrushed in white. Then the upper
F-5 Aircraft! The boxing I am using ‘C’. The instructions are pretty clear, however the correct colours for the flight suit, which was noticed that they could be locked in retracted surfaces were camouflaged using dark green,
here is the fictional MiG-28 from they did cram an awful lot into each step, and I NATO Green. F-5E Tiger Ashley Dunn The pilot’s
Manufacturer: AFV Club ‘office’
the 1986 movie ‘Top Gun’, which was flown think this could have been broken down a little The rest of the build was very quick and
Scale: 1:48
builds the 1:48 ICM
by an adversary squadron of the US Navy. further as I did scratch my head a few times straightforward and included plugging the
However, as much as I loved the film and the and ended up having to google images to cockpit and front wheel bay into the nose Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded …and used Aero Masks….. Polikarpov I-153
make sure I was on the right lines. section. This was not a good fit at all with the Kit Number: 48S09
Construction started with the office, which cockpit being too wide for the halves, so I had Furball Aero-Design Bandit Sundowners VFC-111
is no real surprise. The detail here is very good to sand some of it away to make it fit. Next, I #48-065 the intakes, wings, tail and tail planes, all of I knew that the camouflage scheme was
and there is no need for any sort of aftermarket tried to get the two halves to close up, which which fitted with very little effort, apart from a relatively light and the base colour of the
parts. The instrument panels are raised, which was not easy as the back section fitted Ok, but the intakes, which in my view are unnecessarily plastic was also light, so I decided to use black The engine
makes picking out the details easy. Th ejection the front section took a fair degree of brute get it to close properly. I used the quick setting complicated and made up of several parts, as my base shade, which makes it easier to see has some nice
detailing
seat is very basic and is probably worthy of force and several tightly wound elastic bands to glue for this, which made life a little easier. The none of which fitted all the well. Luckily the the different tones. I tend to not do any sort of
some sort of resin replacement. I didn’t bother nose section left a rather large gap and seam seam lines were along actual panel lines, so pre-shading of panel lines, as I prefer the ‘marble
as I was going to have a pilot in the seat with running from the front of the cockpit to the only a little filler was required. With the majority method’. So, I sprayed several thin coats of Mr
THE FABRIC AND RIBBING DETAIL ON BOTH THE

E
the canopy closed, so the detail would be nose, normally this would be a simple case of of the airframe built, I then looked at the smaller Surfacer 1500 Black thinned with Self Levelling very year my local modelling club
hard to see anyway. I used MRP-38 Light sanding the seam away, however, there is lots parts such as the Sidewinder, fuel tank and Thinners in a 30:70 ratio. At this stage, I also organises a little challenge with FUSELAGE AND WINGS ARE JUST SUPERB – SUBTLE

Chinese
Grey as the base interior colour and of lovely raised detail in that area that would
be obliterated by a sanding stick. I did my very
landing gear and prepared the gear doors for
painting.
primed the landing gear, gear bays and fuel tank different themes. This year it was the
‘Sabre’ family. I must admit that I knew
AND VERY REALISTIC
best to use as little filler as possible, but in the little about the subject and the only I began with the cockpit. This was is very
end some of the detail was lost so I had to use model I had ever built was a Matchbox one basic and with an Eduard etched set, some floor and also houses the undercarriage bay finish for the decals followed by a matt varnish detail. The instructions would then have you
my riveting tool to put some of it back. With when I was ten years old! However, I have since plasticard and lead wire I rebuilt the consoles, on the underside. The rudder pedals and the and finally some Micro Kristal Klear to the dial add the upper wing to the fuselage and the
the nose section allowed to fully set over night, discovered that this is a fascinating subject the instrument panel and the cockpit coaming control columns are glued in place prior to the faces to represent the glass. With the cockpit spars joining the lower and upper wings too. I
it was then glued into the fuselage along with with many different models and individual and gunsight. The general colour here was light cage being added over the top. Instructions complete it was then glued in place to the decided against this as it would make painting
particularities to look at. So, my choice for the grey with black instrument panels. For the rear call out a medium grey colour for the main lower wing and wheel bay. This is provided as and weathering substantially easier. With the

Seagull
…and applied each challenge was the 1:72 Fujimi F-86F-30. This is area I used some parts from a Pavla resin set cockpit area, but I chose a light pale blue colour a complete one-piece unit. It was then time main airframe complete the next task was the
of the three-tone one of the best Sabre kits in this scale with very dedicated to the Airfix Sabre kit, and I in Tamiya XF-23, the same as I would paint the to work on the inside fuselage halves. Cockpit engine. This is a lovely little kit in its own right.
camouflage shades….. airframe underside. This was taken from some access doors are provided as separate pieces A main cylinder engine block with a separate
fine recessed panel lines, even if the fuselage also completely rebuilt the seat.
was a little oversized around the cockpit area. The intake tunnel is full length reference images I found online - albeit of a to be added to each fuselage half. I glued them front section housing the push rods and so
No, I have to say that I’m really not with a turbine front piece, but surviving museum example which may have both in the closed position. I then painted on, followed by the rear manifold tubing and
comfortable with metallic paint, so I decided here the assembly is not very good, and I been re-painted. I added some seat belts made the inside of both fuselage halves in Tamiya separate exhaust ducts all make for a nicely
to depict an Argentine Air force example with had to make many adjustments to get this to from Tamiya tape and painted. It seemed an XF-55 Deck Tan to represent the fabric covered detailed representation of the engine in this
the help of an Armycast decal sheet. As usual fit correctly. Before closing the fuselage, I also expense of going for aftermarket belts when skin and then masked off in order to paint scale. I painted the main engine block in Vallejo
I-153 World War II Chinese Guomindang Fighter you really can’t see much of the cockpit when the metal panels XF-23 as per the cockpit. A Metal Color Steel and once dry I added some

I
CM have been releasing a steady detail on both the fuselage and wings are just Manufacturer: ICM all is closed up. The cockpit floor was painted couple of bottles which I had pre-painted were AK Interactive Engine and Turbine wash to
stream of newly tooled model kits for superb – subtle and very realistic. The small Scale: 1:48 Tamiya XF-58 Olive Green after which I added then added, one on each side of the fuselage. bring out the detail. The front section including
a few years now which have been met decal sheet also looks lovely, very well printed Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded some oil washes and pigments to represent Once everything was dry, I added the same the push rods was painted medium grey with
with some great praise. One of the with a glossy surface and the decal carrier film Kit Number: 48099 dirt and grime on the floor. The last item to be oil washes and pigments used in the cockpit the rods in a lighter grey. This was based on
newer additions is their 1:48 Polikarpov almost invisible in the light. There are options added to the cage is the instrument panel. This to the inner fuselage halves to represent dirt another reference picture from the internet.
I-153. This particular kit is in the World War II for four different airframes all in a main olive is comprised of a one-piece panel with dial and grime. The fuselage halves are then glued The piping/ducting and exhaust stacks were
markings for the Chinese Guomindang Air drab colour scheme. The instruction sheet is way of forming the ‘cage’ surrounding the faces and a few switches moulded in. together and once dry are offered from above painted in Revell Aqua Colour Anthracite
F-86F Sabre Force. The kit comprises of seven sprues, six in also very good. Well laid out in black and white pilot. Four pieces make up this (front, rear and ICM provide individual decals for each of the over the cockpit and onto the lower wing followed by various pigments including Uschi
Manufacturer: Fujimi a light grey slightly soft plastic and one small rendered 3-D isometric graphics over twenty- two sides), to which a couple of instruments nine-instrument dial faces which I think is much section. The fit of this was superb and lined Van Der Rosten Steel Powder and AK Interactive
Scale: 1:72 clear plastic sprue with the windshield. The eight steps and with colour callouts for Revell and gauges and such were added. The seat is better than a one-piece ‘everything on’ decal. up perfectly. It does leave a slight seam on the Medium and Light Rust. Once complete I could
Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded mouldings are very crisp indeed, with lovely and Tamiya all the way through. The scheme next, and this made up of a rear backplate with You can therefore apply each accurately for a wing root area which has to be cleaned up, add the front engine cowl which has grooves
Kit Number: F19 fine engraved panel lines where required and options are in full colour to aid painting of the leather head cushion pre-moulded and a seat more realistic looking Instrument panel. The but it looks like ICM thought this through in pre-moulded to allow the cylinders of the
Armycast Decals #ACD 72032 ‘The Sabres’ both raised and recessed rivet detailing. There’s main airframe. pan. These are added to two ‘L’ shaped plates detail on the decals is also very fine. I painted the engineering and it’s in an area that’s easy engine to slot in and position this positively
no flash present at all. The fabric and ribbing The build began with the cockpit area by which are glued to a separate main cockpit the IP Tamiya XF-85 Rubber black then a gloss to fill and sand without losing any substantial and accurately. The Propeller was next which

56 Top Gun Tiger 60 Argentinian Sabre 64 Chinese Seagull

Barry Koervers builds the 1:48 AFV Club Regis Marteau builds the 1:72 Fujimi F-86F-30 Ashley Dunn builds the 1:48 ICM Polikarpov
‘Sundowners’ F-5E I-153
 MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 5

VOLUME 19 ISSUE 09
26 SU-25K FROGFOOT [Link] MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 27 MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 45 52 GRUMMAN F-14A TOMCAT [Link] MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 53

MODEL AIRCRAFT – INVADER

THE NEED FOR SPEED!

FROGFOOT IN THE CONGO
air base in the southern part of the country,
usually armed with only their cannon and free The cockpit, with

Model Aircraft Manual ‘I Feel the Need

fall bombs. By 2007 two of the planes had Eduard etch added
The cockpit crashed in non-combat accidents, leaving two
was spare and operational aircraft. The aircraft previously
benefitted from
an Eduard set mentioned my reference picture actually

the Need
crashed during an air show marking the
Congolese Independence Day. In 2011 Congo

The Douglas A-26 Invader

bought two ex-Ukrainian Su-25s, and they were
sent to TAM for modernisation before delivery.
These were delivered in 2012 and sported a
new livery that I didn’t like as much as the early

for Speed!’
ones, so I decided to go with the latter, but
there are very few pictures around showing the
full camouflage, so there was some guesswork Maverick
involved here.
The build is supposed to start with the
History Colour Profiles Scale Plans Step by Step Build and Goose!

SU-25K Frogfoot assembly of the cockpit, but I wanted to start

Manufacturer: Smer another way, so I began with the weapons.
Scale: 1:48 So, the rocket pods, free-fall bombs and the
Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded drop tanks were fixed together and here the
Kit Number: 0857 fit was pretty good, but there were absolutely Dawid Branski builds
no aligning pins or holes to work with! When the 1:48 Tamiya F-14A
– Maverick and Goose’s
I used an Uschi ride from ‘Top Gun’

Counter Invader
Van Der Rosten can see these were extremely weathered and
Trinity Splatter repainted multiple times, however, I decided
Snorre Sandviken Stencil not to go that far with this build.
tackles the 1:48 I used three tones of grey as seen on the real
Smer Su-25K low vis Tomcats, and here I utilised Hataka C046
Medium Grey on upper fuselage and wings,
C035 Dark Ghost Grey on the front part of the
Ian Gaskell builds a 1:48 A-26K fuselage and tails and C037 Light Ghost Grey on
lower surfaces. Next, I used Hataka C050 Light
B-26B-50 Invader

U
ntil now, to build a 1:48 version of an Grey on the panel
A-26K, you had to use a very elderly Manufacturer: ICM lines to recreate the
Monogram/ Revell B-26B/C kit, raised Scale: 1:48 repainting done
Adding the Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded
Alclad Mil-Spec panel lines and all. Then you have by the ground
to use the Cutting Edge, or Paragon, Kit Number: 48281 crews. I was also

Frogfoot
RAF Desert Sand

I
camouflage….. resin conversion sets and Aero Master decals, f I had to name a movie that influenced painted crew with Vallejo Model Color paints experimenting a little with
all of which have long been out of production. me, and which began my love for aircraft and applied the decals for their helmets from Tamiya clear paints. I sprayed a
Then along comes ICM, with their series of B-26 the A-26K’s nose. An Eduard canopy mask set and building models, it must be ‘Top the Fightertown sheet. They were then treated little highly diluted Clear Green and
Invader kits, the first of which was the B-26B-50, complete the aftermarket selection. On to Gun’. I was born in mid-1980’s and this with Modellers World Deep Black Wash. Clear Orange to add some colour distortion
as used in the Korean War. Thank you ICM, The completed the build. My first task was to build the was one of the first films I went crazy Fixing the wings, the sweep wing Grumman F-14A Tomcat in some places. You can see that on the
challenge accepted, and me being me, I wasn’t cockpit cockpit. Sadly, the Cutting Edge set over, watching it a few times a week, along mechanism, the fuselage and all other parts was Manufacturer: Tamiya real aircraft and I think it’s quite an

T
he development of the Su-25 began going to make this project easy for myself! weirdly doesn’t contain the co-pilots Scale: 1:48
with the other classic ‘Memphis Belle’. I always pure joy. This is perhaps the best engineered kit interesting weathering effect. Before
when the Soviet ministry of defence Obviously, I wasn’t going to use the Monogram/ position, which is included in the wanted to build Maverick and Goose’s ride I have ever build and everything fits perfectly. Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded I applied decals, I sprayed the entire
began a competition to develop a Revell kit, but the ICM kit instead, and I Paragon set. The original Invaders from the film, and after completing the AMK When everything was ready to paint I first Kit Number: 6114 model with Hataka XP09 Gloss. I then

the Congo
new battlefield close support aircraft successfully tracked down a Cutting had just the pilot’s position, on the F-14D, which featured in Model Aircraft’s sister primed model with Mr Surfacer Black. Then I

in
in March 1969. Participants were the Edge set, and Aero Master left side of the cockpit. Using my magazine Scale Aviation Modeller, I thought I used Uschi Van Der Rosten airbrush stencils.
design bureaus of Sukhoi, Yakovlev, Ilyushin decals. To this, I added reference photographs, I scratch would have a go using the 1:48 Tamiya F-14A. Here I sprayed some white paint through the
and Mikoyan. Sukhoi finalised its design in late Eduard Brassin Mk.82 built the main instrument panel, I purchased a set of Aerobonus Pilot and RIO stencil pattern, carefully layering the paint until
1968, and the first prototype was ready in 1974. bombs with extend and added extra detailing resin figures with ejection seats, and an Eduard I reached the stage of a very uneven pattern of
However, it did not make its first flight until 22 fuses, SUU-14 rocket to the centre console and cockpit set, some Master probes and the white with some black still visible underneath.
February 1975. After a long series of test flights, pods, LAU-3/A rocket side panels. Firstly, the kit Fightertown ‘Top Gun’ decal sheet. Next, I used more white acrylic paint and
the Su-25 surpassed its main competitors, and pods, Quickboost instrument panel was left as I began with the cockpit, I fixed all the kit applied tiny paint dots using a sponge. These
series of production aircraft was ordered. The …followed B-25 resin seats (almost it was. The co-pilots panel was parts with instrument panels and then I filled off dots work as another weathering layer and
aircraft finally went into production in 1978 by Ammo by identical to an A-26 seat), made using part of an instrument
MIG Protective the raised details in order to attach the Eduard must be very tiny and thin. If you apply too
and has since been manufactured by Tbilisi Green and a Master Models set of panel, from my ‘spares-box’, which etched parts using super glue. Prior fixing the much you can always wipe it off and try again. very odd and unfinished, not too much so as
Aircraft Manufacturing (TAM) in Georgia. The be a formidable ally for ground troops, and it is knew I had found the aircraft to reproduce. B-17 Browning machine guns for closely represents the original. The co-pilots etch, however I primed cockpit with Mr Surfacer When I finished with white dots I carefully to cover all the pre-shading. Thanks to that, the
type has seen combat in several conflicts still in use today. Researching further I discovered that Congo side panel also differs from the original and was Black and painted it with Hataka C044 Dark Gull sanded them down with some 2000 or 3000 surface looked nicely weathered. Tomcat’s were I PAINTED CREW WITH VALLEJO MODEL COLOR PAINTS
during its more than thirty-years of service, I started out by researching Su-25 to see has just a handful of Su-25s. They initially
THE CONGOLESE AIRCRAFT FLEW FROM KAMINA AIR I ADDED EDUARD BRASSIN MK.82 BOMBS WITH EXTEND
covered with a quilted lining. This was made Grey. I didn’t like the empty green screens on grit Tamiya Sanding Sponges, so they were less in many cases extremely weathered, especially AND APPLIED THE DECALS FOR THEIR HELMETS FROM A
starting out with the Soviet Afghan war, where if I could find any cool and unusual liveries. I ordered ten from TAM in 1999, four were using some metal foil, from a yoghurt top, and
Su-25 carried out more than 6000 sorties. It has quickly came across a picture of a Congolese delivered in late 1999, and the remaining six BASE USUALLY ARMED WITH ONLY THEIR CANNON FUSES, SUU-14 ROCKET PODS AND LAU-3/A ROCKET PODS lightly scored to represent the diamond shaped
the etched parts, so I used some Tamiya cockpit
decals and later applied PVA glue onto them,
pronounced. Next, I was ready to apply the
main paint in thin layers until the surface look
after returning from a cruise and that was the
case with the aircraft that were used when
FIGHTERTOWN DECAL SHEET
since been heavily involved in numerous other
conflicts all over the globe and has proven to
Su-25K parked on the runway at an airport
I had actually been to many times, and I
were to be delivered in 2000, but the contract
was cancelled. The planes flew from Kamina
AND FREE FALL BOMBS quilt pattern. so they looked like a glass when glue dried. I just right, not too little, otherwise it will look filming the movie. If you pause the film, you

26 Frogfoot in the Congo 35 Model Aircraft Manual 52 ‘I Feel the Need –

Snorre Sandviken tackles the 1:48 Smer Su-25K Douglas A-26 Invader, with background details, the Need for Speed!’
colour profiles, scale plans and a full model build Dawid Branski builds the 1:48 Tamiya F-14A –
of an A-26K from Ian Gaskell Maverick and Goose’s ride from ‘Top Gun’

70 P-47 THUNDERBOLT ‘RAZORBACK’ [Link] MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 71 74 KFIR C2/C7 [Link] MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 [Link] 75 78 CHECK YOUR REFERENCES [Link] MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 79
A CAPTURED JUG

SRI LANKAN STRIKER

CHECK YOUR REFERENCES

Mission Models Masterclass
David Rainer builds the
1:48 Monogram P-47D on CHECK YOUR
Sri Lankan REFERENCES
German colours The cockpit
built up
Painting began
with a coat of Mr
Surfacer 1500 Black

Models Aircraft’s Monthly Look at New Books

I used some Akan Lemon-Grey

Striker
Mac Patterson uses Mission
countless heroic
deeds by pilots like
the Raven forward
air controllers,
operating from
primitive airstrips in
US Navy Ships v
Japanese Attack
Aircraft
Malaya and the
Dutch East Indies
1941-42
In Cold War
Skies
Publisher: Osprey
Author: Michael Napier
The Men Who
Flew the English
for the pre-shading
Models paints to detail the close contact with
Fighting in the Sky Publisher: Osprey Publisher: Osprey
ISBN: 978147236885
Format: Hardback
Electric Lightning
1:48 Kinetic Kfir fierce enemy forces.
The Story in Art
Author: Mark Stille Author: Mark Stille
Price: £30.00
Publisher: Pen and Sword
USAF rescue services ISBN: 9781472836441 ISBN: 9781472840592 Author: Martin Bowman
Coast Command’s
carried out extremely
hazardous missions to
recover aircrew who Air War Against
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Author: John Fairley
ISBN: 9781526762207
Format: Softback
Price: £13.99
Format: Softback
Price: £14.99
T hroughout the second
half of the 20th century,
international relations
ISBN: 978152605648
Format: Softback
Price: £16.99
would otherwise have
been swiftly executed
by Pathet Lao forces,
the U-boat
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Format: Hardback
Price: £20.00
T he striking power of the
Imperial Japanese Navy’s
carrier-based attack aircraft J apan’s attack on Pearl
Harbor in 1941 was quickly
followed by a rapid
across the globe were dominated
by the Cold War. From 1949
until the fall of the Berlin Wall
T he early 1950s were a
boom time for British
and reconnaissance
pilots routinely
risked their lives in
Author: Norman Franks
ISBN: 978152631838
Format: Softback B arely a decade passed from
the Wright Brothers’ first
powered flight to aircraft
was established at Pearl Harbor,
and the IJN’s carrier-based torpedo
and dive-bombers showed their
invasion of Malaya, a plan based
entirely on the decisive use of
its airpower. While the British
in 1989, US and Soviet strategic
forces were deployed across the
Arctic Ocean in North America
aviation. The lessons of six
years of war had been learned
and much of the research into jet

A
product of mid 1970’s Israeli C2 or C7 versions) are more than acceptable, leave the flaps off at this point to paint and
aviation technology, the Kfir has however, I had to hand an aftermarket resin weather them separately, again to introduce Nose and engine nozzle
The Ho Chi solo, low-level mission over Price: £14.99 becoming lethal instruments of war. prowess again at the Battle of was inadequately prepared, and Northern Russia, while the engines, radar and aerodynamics

A Captured
ready to be fitted hostile territory. Further south, The Royal Flying Corps and Royal Coral Sea when they sank the US they likewise relied on the RAF best-equipped armed forces had begun to reach fruition. In
travelled the globe during its set dedicated to the versions I intended to a little modulation to the finish.
service life, being a favourite of
embryonic Air Forces in South
America, or, as in the case of this build the
island republic of Sri Lanka. Acquired by the
build which just had the edge regarding
side console detail. A coat of light grey
airbrushed over the entire tub was followed
by highlighting various switches and buttons
Once the imperfections were sanded,
I airbrushed an initial coat of Mission
Models Grey Primer, a good key base for
the camouflage colour, and for this I choose Mission Models MMP 116 Light Grey as it was personally I think it give a realistic three-
Minh Trail
1964-73
the ‘Steel Tiger ‘campaign
was less covert. Arc Light B-52
strikes were flown frequently,
and the fearsome AC-130 was
introduced to cut the trails. At
T his book summarises the
story of how RAF Coastal
Command overcame the
German U-boat danger during
the Second World War and how
Naval Air Service took off in the very
early days of The Great War and
captured the public’s imagination
and admiration.
Sydney and Richard Carline
Navy carrier USS Lexington and
damaged the carrier USS Yorktown.
Even at the disastrous Battle of
Midway, the relatively small number
of IJNAF attack- and torpedo-
to defend their colony. The
campaign was a short match
between Japanese airpower
at its peak and an outgunned
colonial air force, and its results
that the world had ever seen
faced each other directly across
the ‘Iron Curtain’ in Europe. In
Cold War Skies examines the
air power of the major powers
Britain, jet engine technology
led the world, while wartime
developments into swept wing
design in Germany and their
transonic research programme
SLAF in the 1990s, the deployment of the Kfir in their respective colours, a toothpick is an accurate match to the stated FS36495 dimensional look to the finished build, the Publisher: Osprey
C2s during the Sri Lankan Civil War was not the ideal tool to undertake this delicate worn by SLAF Kfir’s. I pre-shaded the upper MP 116 was laid down in a couple of very the same time, many thousands the escalation of the U-boat war happened to be both pilots and bombers that were launched were stunning. The subsequent both at a strategic and at a were used to give western

Jug
Author: Peter E Davies
without controversy, being used principally job as it is relatively simple to control the and lower surfaces with Mission Models light airbrush coats to retain the modulated of North Vietnamese troops promoted the development of artists as was Frenchman Henri Farre. against the US fleet proved that Dutch East Indies campaign tactical level throughout the design teams a quantum leap in
ISBN: 9781472842534
in a ground attack role, they took a heavy toll amount of paint applied to these tiny parts. Kfir C2/C7 Black, particularly along prominent panel effect. Once sufficiently dry, the grey was and civilians repeatedly made anti-submarine warfare, leading Their works inspired celebrated they remained a potent force by was even more dependent on forty years of the Cold War. In aircraft technology. At English
Format: Softback
on the Tamil separatists during the conflict. The instrument panels were detailed using Manufacturer: Kinetic lines and inspection hatches- whether masked to allow the undersides to be the long, arduous journey to victory over this menace in the painters like Sir John Lavery who heavily damaging Yorktown again, airpower, with Japan having to this fascinating book, acclaimed Electric, ‘Teddy’ Petter’s design
Price: £14.99 along the trail in trucks or, more Atlantic. At the start of the war, RAF took to the skies in an airship in the which allowed an IJN submarine seize a string of island airfields to historian Michael Napier looks at team were keen to capitalize on
The subject of this build is Kfir C.2 SMF 5201, a set of modern dial decals to sit within the Scale: 1:48 modellers love or loath the effect,
of the 10th Fighter Squadron, Sri Lanka Air
Force, Katunayake AB. Sadly, this aircraft
appears to have been involved in a mid-air
collision with a sister Kfir while rehearsing
embossed bezels of the resin part, Micro Sol
decal solution ensured good adhesion. The
immediate advantage of using the resin part
rather than the kit tub will be the additional
Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded
Kit Number: 48001
T he Trails War formed
a major part of the
so-called ‘secret war’ in
South East Asia, yet for complex
political reasons, including
often, pushing French bicycles
laden with ammunition and
rice. Under constant threat
of air attack and enduring
heavy losses, they devised
Coastal Command had virtually
no real chance of either finding or
sinking Germany’s submarines, but
within a short period of time, new
methods of detecting and delivering
First World War. Feeding on the
demand for works depicting this
new dimension of warfighting, a
new genre of art was born which has
remained popular ever since. During
to sink the carrier. At Guadalcanal,
IJNAF carrier-based aircraft sank
the carrier USS Hornet and badly
damaged USS Enterprise twice. 
However, throughout 1942, US
support their leapfrog advance.
Facing the Japanese was a
mixed bag of Allied air units,
including the Dutch East Indies
Air Squadron and the US Far East
each decade of the war in turn,
examining the deployment of
strategic offensive and defensive
forces in North America and
Northern Russia as well as the
the success of their Canberra
jet bomber and rose to the
challenge of providing a high-
speed interceptor for the RAF.
Martin Bowman describes the
for an anniversary flypast in 2011. The 1:48 weight at the nose of the model, this will seam free join, but be minded that there
P-47 Thunderbolt ‘Razorback’ Kinetic kit is what might be described as obviously help keep the nose wheel securely is a lot of detail regarding recessed panels the involvement of the CIA, extremely ingenious means deadly ordnance with which to the Second World War, the paintings Navy ship defences brought Air Force. The RAF fell back to situation in Europe. He details the career of the Lightning in detail
Manufacturer: Monogram twenty-first century mouldings of this on the deck, preventing the aircraft from and access hatches that, potentially, could it received far less coverage of survival. The campaign to sink this underwater threat were of Paul Nash stood out as did Eric down an increasing number of airfields on Sumatra in the last strategic forces and land-based using first-hand accounts of
Scale: 1:48 famous aircraft, effectively superseding being a tail sitter- the integrated wheel well be lost if you’re a little heavy handed with than campaigns like ‘Rolling cut the trails endured for the dreamt up and implemented. It Ravilions who, ironically, died in an attacking IJNAF aircraft. The final stages of the Malaya campaign, tactical aircraft used by the air what it was like to fly and service

N
ot being a huge aficionado of World Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded the old Esci kit from around the late 1970’s. detail is also superior to that of the moulded the sandpaper. The upper fuselage join also Thunder’ and ‘Linebacker’. entire Vietnam War but nothing took the men of Coastal Command air crash. War artist Albert Richards major battle of the year, the Battle and was involved in the last forces of the USA, USSR, NATO, this thoroughbred. Illustrated
War II aircraft, my interest was Kit Number: 85242 The Kinetic Kfir is not without competition kit plastic. To further act as additional requires a bit of TLC for a smooth, seam free Nevertheless, the campaign more than partial success could long hours patrolling over an often dropped with British paratroopers of Santa Cruz, exacted crippling stages of the campaign to defend Warsaw Pact countries and the with over 200 colour and b/w
piqued, however, when I saw some though, the modeller has the option of ballast, I elected to use a single-piece, resin finish, and as this Kfir would be wearing a had a profound effect on the ever be achieved by the USA. hostile sea, in all types of weather, on D-Day. Post-war, paintings by losses on the IJN, setting the stage the Dutch colony. For the first European non-aligned nations. photographs, appendices listing
photographs of a captured P-47D in building the slightly newer AMK, and both nose, which is finely moulded with delicate fairly monotone colour scheme, an invisible outcome of the war and on its This illustrated title explores but their diligence, perseverance leading British and international for the eclipse of the IJNAF’s highly time, this study explores these He also describes the aircraft Lightning squadrons, production
German markings, I really wanted to these off and replaced them with some similar products are very well specified and detailed, recessed detail, and the part simply plugs seam would be essential for a convincing perception in the USA. the fascinating history of this and dedication won through, saving artists graphically illustrate conflicts trained and effective aviation attack campaigns from an airpower types in the context of the units totals and individual aircraft
recreate it in scale. I was also lucky enough to diameter Evergreen tubing. The lights on the with a comprehensive selection of ordnance into the aperture at the forward part of the finish. The Kinetic kit gives the modeller the In the north, the Barrel campaign, analysing the forces countless lives of both merchant and such as the Falklands, Bosnia and the forces. Packed with illustrations perspective, explaining how that operated them and the histories, alongside the first in-
be given the Monogram P-47D kit by a friend, wing tips were also not clear, so I cut them out and marking options, if you were being ultra- fuselage once the two halves have been option of displaying the Kfir with the delta Roll campaign was often involved and explaining why navy seamen out in the cold wastes Gulf War. John Fairley has brought and contemporary photographs, and why the Japanese were so roles in which they were used. depth analysis into why a third of
so I thought – why not have a go! and made my own lenses using some Micro fussy, I feel the AMK plastic is just a fraction mated. wing flaps either drooped or in a neutral operated by daring pilots the USA could never truly of the Atlantic and contributing together a dazzling collection of this engrossing volume details the devastatingly effective. The text is supported by a wide all Lightnings were lost, The Men
The detail is ok for a fairly old kit with raised Kristal Klear. sharper in recessed and embossed detail, but The lower wing piece joins the main position, unsure of which would be correct, I [Link]
panel lines and rivets. The fit was also decent With the construction complete, I moved I SAW SOME PHOTOGRAPHS OF A CAPTURED P-47D it’s a very close call. fuselage just aft of the front wheel wells, found a couple of images of aircraft museum
flying obsolete aircraft, as in
the early years, US forces were
conquer the Ho Chi Minh trail.
[Link]
much to the final victory over Nazi
Germany. This new addition to the
art works covering over 100 years
of air warfare, enhanced by lively
design, tactics, and operational
records of both the US Navy ships
range of first-hand accounts of
operational flying during the
Who Flew the English Electric
Lightning is a fine record of the
enough, with just a little putty needed around on to the painting phase and began with a IN GERMAN MARKINGS, AND I REALLY WANTED Straight-from-the-box the cockpit, a little care and attention is required here examples showed the flaps drooped, I also still flying antiquated piston- Images of War series serves as a and informative text. The result is a and the IJNAF aircraft which Cold War, as well as numerous last truly great all-British fighter.
the wing roots. Also, the Monogram gun
barrels have lots of cast marks on them, so I cut
coat of Mr Surfacer 1500 Black as primer and
some Akan Lemon-Grey for the pre-shading.
TO RECREATE IT IN SCALE multipart ejection seat and instrument
panels parts (with the option of either the
as a tight fit is a little tricky to achieve- a
touch of filler is required to get a subtle,
felt it would add a bit of visual interest to the
generally flat, grey camouflage. I thought I’d
engined T-28 and A-26A aircraft.
The campaign gave rise to
tribute to these men, recording their
exploits in words and images.
book that is visually and historically
satisfying.
attacked them over the year
following Pearl Harbor.
high-quality images.
[Link]
[Link]

[Link] [Link] [Link]

70 A Captured Jug 74 Mission Models Masterclass 78 Check Your References

David Rainer builds the 1:48 Monogram P-47D on Sri Lankan Striker - Mac Patterson uses Mission Latest Book reviews.
German colours Models paints to detail the 1:48 Kinetic Kfir

2 BLINDER
Tu-2
ZONE
T
BA
M
CO

35 Model Aircraft Manual

Douglas A-26 Invader, with
background details, colour profiles,
scale plans and a full model build of
an A-26K from Ian Gaskell
6 LOCKHEED P-38 LIGHTNING [Link]

‘Little Buckaroo’
Jarek Rydzynski adds a natural metal finish to the 1:32 Trumpeter P-38 Lightning

L
ockheed P-38 Lightning was an Lockheed P-38 Lightning elevators, the rudder, the flaps and ailerons
American, twin-engine long-range Manufacturer: Trumpeter to move as well as rubber tyres. I decided to
multi-role fighter with a two-boom Scale: 1:32 upgrade the cockpit with a Verlinden resin
structure, tricycle landing gear and Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded replacement, some metal undercarriage
an all-metal construction. This was Kit Number: 02227 legs from Scale Aircraft Conversions, a set
one of the most important American fighters of turned barrels from Master and a superb
of World War II, and I decided to build the decal sheet from Kits World with the ‘Little
big scale Trumpeter version, as I really like Metallic finishes show up even the smallest Buckaroo’ nose art.
aircraft with a natural metal finish. The surface imperfection, but on the other hand I would consider this kit to fall into the
technique of painting with metallic colours is they are very effective. In addition, the P-38 ‘medium difficulty’ range, with the most
very interesting, and at the same time quite is a very nice aircraft in my opinion - and in complicated construction stage being the
demanding, and I wanted to particular I like the various artworks that were assembly of the nose of the aircraft and two
meet this challenge! applied to their noses. fuselage booms. These have a few parts that
Inside the larger Trumpeter boxing you did not fit all that well and required some
will find seven sprues, a clear sprue and two putty and sanding to get them to look the
etched frets with various parts including
grilles for the radiators. You also
get rods to enable the
MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 7

LITTLE BUCKAROO
part. Another difficulty was maintaining the
perfect geometry of the two booms and THE TECHNIQUE OF PAINTING WITH METALLIC COLOURS IS
the correct wing angle. Another important VERY INTERESTING, AND AT THE SAME TIME QUITE DEMANDING
point in the P-38’s construction was
balancing the model so that it stood evenly
on its wheels. I had to add over 120 grams
of weight in the nose, the propellor hubs
and inside the engine nacelles to ensure I
didn’t get a ‘tail sitter’. The final problem to
deal with was the assembly of the landing
gear, which according to the instructions
must be installed at the very beginning of
the construction, because after closing the
fuselage halves it would not be possible to
assemble them. So, the entire landing gear
had to be changed so I could fix them at the
very end, to avoid damaging them in the
painting process. Thankfully, the rest of the
construction was trouble free.
For the cockpit, I first added a coat of Polish
Bilmodel Resin Primer. I then added some pre-
shading using some Tamiya Black then the
main shade, Mr Color C027 Interior Green with
8 LOCKHEED P-38 LIGHTNING [Link]

Working on the
Verlinden cockpit….

…and here it is in-situ Adding some of the etched parts

MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 9

LITTLE BUCKAROO
…to add more detail

Rescribing
the propellor
spinner…..

highlights of Tamiya to dry for

White and Yellow. twenty-four
I then applied hours and then
a Dark Brown smoothed the
Tamiya panel surfaces with some
line wash. I then Tamiya 2000 and 1000
painted the wheel wells sanding sponges until I was happy with
in the same manner. Before the finish.
painting I worked on the surface detail, and Then, as a base coat I applied some Tamiya
removed some of the panel lines and rivets Gloss Black. Then, on the upper surfaces of the
and rescribed them for a better effect. This wings and tail I used AK Interactive Xtreme
was a very time-consuming process, Metal airbrushed through a marbling template,
but well worth it! Now it was time which created a of texture layer or a cloud
to add the metal finish. I effect. Then, using AK Xtreme Metal Polished
began by painting all Aluminium, I painted the entire model, being
parts with Mr Surfacer careful not to over cover the previous layer.
1200 Primer. This was This process took a while I was airbrushing
ideal for filling any at low pressure, using a number of thin
micro scratches created transparent layers. Once I was happy with the
As a base coat I during the assembly look, I then began to shade other areas using
applied some Tamiya process. As you know, to White Aluminium, Dark Aluminium and Matt
Gloss Black
get a perfectly shiny effect of Aluminium. In this way, gave the model a more
polished aluminium everything authentic look. In addition I treated a few parts
must be perfectly smooth and free of the airframe with some Bare Metal Foil for
from scratches and inaccuracies. I left this a shiny chrome finish. Once completely dry, I
10 LOCKHEED P-38 LIGHTNING [Link]

For the metallic shades

I used AK Interactive
Xtreme Metal

The nose and inside the

nacelles were painted
Olive Drab
MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 11

LITTLE BUCKAROO
…as you can see

the only places I added any dirt and grime were around the exhaust pipes
and superchargers…..

masked off the nose and the inner sections of

the engine nacelles and painted them Olive
Drab. Finally, I applied some post-shading on
some of the panels using some AK Interactive
Xtreme Metal Jet Exhaust. Again after twenty-
four hours drying time I applied a coat of Aqua
Clear Gloss. It is very important to use a good
gloss coat that would not reduce the effect
of polished Aluminium and Chrome. I then
applied all the decals, and the Kits World set is
very good, nicely thin, but still needing lots of
decal solution to get them to settle around all
the rivets and panel lines. Once dry I sprayed
on some Gauzy Agent water-based varnish to
protect the decals. I then painted the Olive Drab
parts with Mr Color Matt.
I tested several shades of washes before
The Kits World decal set is very committing to the airframe, trying black,
good, nicely thin, but still
needing lots of decal solution
to get them to settle
12 LOCKHEED P-38 LIGHTNING [Link]

grey, grey-blue and dark grey-blue – before grime were around the exhaust pipes and
settling for the latter. I prepared the wash superchargers, these being are characteristic
using Tamiya paints, mixing three colours, places on the real P-38. Here I used AK
Grey, Royal Blue and a small amount of Interactive Dark Streaking Grime through my
Black. This was suitably diluted with Tamiya airbrush.
X-20 Thinners. I used Dark Brown Tamiya To sum up then, despite some difficult
Panel Wash on the undercarriage points in the construction I produced a very
wells and doors. My aim with this nice P-38, and one I am pleased to have in my
model was to keep it clean and collection. MA
shiny! So, the only places
I added any dirt and
 We Buy
Collections!
We purchase military collections/collectibles,
aviation collections/collectibles, books,
diecast models, airplanes, memorabilia etc.

Nationwide House Calls Made • [Link]

Call Greg at 805.907.1773
14 COMBAT ZONE – TU-22 BLINDER COMBAT ZONE
F IG H T ING COLO U R S
[Link]

ONE
COMBAT Z
hT e Tupolevr
S
O U R

e
COL
NG

d
H T I
F IG

Tu-22 Blin
T
he Tu-22 was intended originally
as a supersonic replacement for
the Tupolev Tu-16 bomber. The
preliminary design of the aircraft to
meet this requirement, designated
Samolyot 105 by Tupolev, was started in
1954, with the first prototype completed in
December 1957. It made its maiden flight from
Zhukovsky on 21 June 1958, flown by test
pilot Yuri Alasheev. The availability of more but it experienced considerable problems, deformation of the wing did not necessarily
powerful engines, and the TsAGI rediscovery resulting in widespread unserviceability and disappear but could persist and result in an
of the area rule for minimising transonic several crashes. Amongst its many faults was almost uncontrollable aircraft.
aerodynamic drag, resulted in the construction a tendency for skin aerodynamic heating at Pilots for the first Tu-22 squadrons were
of a revised prototype, the 105A. This first supersonic speed, distorting the control rods selected from the ranks of ‘First Class’ Tu-16
flew on 7 September 1959. The first serial- and causing poor handling. The landing speed pilots, which made the transition into the new
production Tu-22B bomber, built by Factory was 62mph greater than previous bombers, aircraft difficult, as the Tu-16 had a co-pilot,
No. 22 at Kazan, flew on 22 September 1960, and the Tu-22 had a tendency to pitch up and and many of the ‘elite’ Tu-16 pilots selected
and the type was presented to the public in strike its tail on landing, although this problem had become accustomed to allowing their
the Tushino Aviation Day parade on 9 July was eventually resolved with the addition of co-pilots to handle all the flight operations of
1961, with a flypast of ten aircraft. It initially electronic stabilisation aids. Even after some of the Tu-16 except for take-off and landings. As a
received the NATO reporting name ‘Bullshot’, its problems had been resolved, the ‘Blinder’ consequence, Tu-16 pilots transitioning to the
which was deemed to be inappropriate, was never easy to fly, and it was maintenance single-pilot Tu-22 suddenly found themselves
then ‘Beauty’, which was deemed to be too intensive. Among its unpleasant characteristics having to perform all the piloting tasks, and in
complimentary, and finally the ‘Blinder’. Soviet was a wing design that allowed aileron reversal a much more complicated cockpit. Many, if not
crews, however, called it ‘Shilo’ because of at high deflections. When the stick had been most of these pilots were unable to complete
its shape. The Tu-22 entered service in 1962, neutralised following such an event, the their training for this reason. Eventually, pilots
MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 COMBAT ZONE
F IG H T ING COLO U R S
15

COMBAT ZONE – TU-22 BLINDER

were selected from the ranks of the Su-17 ‘Fitter’ in 1962. The Tu-22R could be fitted with an try to salvage some offensive combat role for
crews, and these pilots made the transition with aerial refuelling probe that was subsequently the Tu-22 in the face of official hostility, the Tu-22
less difficulty. By the time the Tu-22B Blinder-A fitted to most Tu-22s, expanding their radius was developed as a missile carrier, the Tu-22K
entered service, it was already obvious that its of operation. 127 Tu-22Rs were built, sixty-two ‘Blinder-B’, with the ability to carry a single Kh-22
operational usefulness was limited. Despite of which went to the AVMF for maritime patrol AS-4 ‘Kitchen’ stand-off missile in a modified
its speed, it was inferior to the Tu-16 with use. Some of these aircraft were stripped of their weapons bay. The Tu-22K was deployed both
respect to combat radius, weapon load, and camera and sensor packs and sold for export by DA (Long Range Aviation), and AVMF (Soviet
serviceability. The Soviet hierarchy believed as Tu-22Bs, although in other respects they Naval Aviation). The last Tu-22 subtype was the
that ballistic missiles were the way of the future, apparently remained more comparable to the Tu-22P ‘Blinder-E’ electronic warfare version,
and bombers like the Tu-22 were in danger of Tu-22R than to the early-production Tu-22Bs. initially used for ELINT electronic intelligence
cancellation. As a result, only fifteen (although A trainer version of the ‘Blinder,’ the Tu-22U gathering. Some were converted to serve as
some sources say twenty) Tu-22Bs were built. A ‘Blinder-D’, was fielded at the same time, and this stand-off ECM jammers to support Tu-22K
combat-capable aerial reconnaissance version, version had raised cockpit for an instructor. The missile carriers, and one squadron was usually
the Tu-22R ‘Blinder-C’, was developed along Tu-22U had no tail guns and was not combat- allocated to each Tu-22 regiment. The Tu-22
with the bomber version, entering service capable, and some forty-six were produced. To was upgraded in service with more powerful
16 COMBAT ZONE – TU-22 BLINDER COMBAT ZONE
F IG H T ING COLO U R S
[Link]

either side of the large vertical stabiliser, with a one Raduga Kh-22 AS-4 ‘Kitchen’ missile semi-
low mounted tail plane. Continuing a Tupolev recessed beneath the fuselage. The enormous
OKB design feature, the main landing gear weapon was big enough to have a substantial
were mounted in pods at the trailing edge of effect on handling and performance and was
each wing. The highly swept wings gave little also a safety hazard. The early Tu-22B had an
drag at transonic speeds but resulted in very optical bombing system (which was retained by
high landing speeds and a long take-off run. the Tu-22R), with a Rubin-1A nav/attack radar. The
The Tu-22’s cockpit placed the pilot forward, Tu-22K had the Leninets PN ‘Down Beat’ system
offset slightly to the left, with the weapons to guide the Kh-22 missile. The Tu-22R could
officer behind and the navigator below, within carry a camera array or an APP-22 jammer pack in
the fuselage, sitting on downwards-firing the bomb bay as an alternative to bombs. Some
ejector seats. The cockpit design had poor Tu-22Rs were fitted with the Kub ELINT system,
visibility compared to some bombers, with and later with an under-fuselage pallet for M-202
uncomfortable seats and poor locations for Shompol side looking airborne radar, as well as
instruments and switches. The Tu-22’s defensive cameras and an infrared line-scanner. A small
armament, operated by the weapons officer, number of Tu-22Ks were modified to Tu-22KP
consisted of a tail turret beneath the engine or Tu-22KPD configuration with Kurs-N SIGINT
pods, containing a single 23mm R-23 gun. The equipment to detect enemy radar systems and
turret was directed by a small PRS-3A ‘Argon’ provide compatibility with the Kh-22P anti-
gun-laying radar to compensate for the weapons radiation missile The only Soviet combat use of
officer’s lack of rear visibility. The bomber’s main the Tu-22 occurred in 1988, during the Soviet
weapon load was carried in a fuselage bomb bay withdrawal from the war in Afghanistan. Tu-22P
between the wings, capable of carrying a variety Blinder-E electronic jammers were given the task
of free-fall weapons with up to twenty-four of covering the withdrawal route back to the
FAB-500 general-purpose bombs, one FAB-9000 Soviet Union. Radar-jamming Tu-22PD aircraft
bomb or various nuclear bombs. As noted, on covered Tu-22M3 Backfire-C bombers operating
the Tu-22K, the bay was reconfigured to carry out of the Mary-2 airfield in the Turkmen SSR
on missions in Afghanistan near the Pakistani
engines, in-flight refuelling and better border. They protected the strike aircraft against
electronics. The -D suffix (for Dalni, long-range) Pakistani F-16s and suppressed radar systems
denotes aircraft fitted for aerial refuelling. which could aid the F-16s attacks on the Soviet
Tu-22s were exported to Iraq and Libya during bombers in the border region. Tu-22PD crews
the 1970s, however, an Egyptian request was were also tasked with photo-reconnaissance
refused as a result of Soviet objections to the missions, to assess bomb-damage, in addition
Yom Kippur War. to their primary electronic warfare missions. The
The Tu-22 has a low-middle mounted wing Tu-22 was gradually phased out of Soviet service
swept at an angle of fifty-five degrees. The in favour of the more-capable Tupolev Tu-22M.
two large turbojet engines, originally 35,273lbf Tu-22s were sold to Libya and Iraq, and Libyan Tu-
Dobrynin VD-7M, later 36,375lbf Kolesov RD- 22s were used against Tanzania and Chad, and
7M2s are mounted atop the rear fuselage on Iraqi Tu-22s were used during the Iran–Iraq War.
 MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 COMBAT ZONE
F IG H T ING COLO U R S
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COMBAT ZONE – TU-22 BLINDER

The cockpit is a
little sparse

Playing a
Blinder
Snorre Sandviken goes large with the 1:72 Revell Tu-22B
Tu-22B Blinder

T
his is one of those kits that has been of ten grams of lead in the compartment under
sitting in my stash for a good while. Manufacturer: Revell the cockpit. I added forty – just to be sure!
It’s a massive beast of a kit that will Scale: 1:72 The rest of the fuselage sections were glued
end up being close to 60cm long Kit type: Plastic injection Moulded together, after aligning it as best as I could.
when finished. The assembly of the Kit Number: 04371 Unfortunately, there is a pretty big fit issue
kit as always started with throughout the fuselage, leading to more
the cockpit-section, and sanding and filling than I was comfortable
in this kit, it’s lacking a the part where the cockpit with. This might have been just my example,
lot detail. There are three is supposed to be has but nevertheless after sanding, filling,
seats, two firewalls, and openings for windows in the re-sanding, re-scribing for what seemed
decals that make up lower section. The inside like an eternity the fuselage finally looked
the instrument panels, of the fuselage section was good enough. The wings fitted together
but there’s no need for painted Sukhoi Blue, using nicely and didn’t require much sanding
more really, because by colours from Mr Paint, to get them to look the right shape. The
the time you are finished before being given a quick dirt wash. I horizontal stabilisers are made up of two
you won’t see anything that is inside the then went on to installing the windows parts and fitted well without any major
cockpit anyway. This is because the ‘Blinder’ in the lower section. It took some issues. Mounting the wings required a
had notoriously small windows, and unless effort, as the clear parts were too little more work. There seems to be an
you are a competition judge with a flash-light small to fill the gaps. Therefore, I angle error between the fuselage
and a microscope nothing will be visible! So, I secured them on one side with and the wings, that had to be
just painted the cockpit parts in the standard model cement, while filling sanded to get them to sit
Russian cockpit colour and added the decals. in the gaps on the other right, but that led to gaps
The fuselage on this model is segmented, and sides with Ammo by on both the upper and
MIG Ultra Glue. This lower surfaces at the
is an acrylic adhesive, wing roots, that had to
THIS IS A BEAST OF A KIT THAT similar to normal PVA, be filled and sanded to
WILL END UP BEING CLOSE TO but dries quicker and A modicum of shape. After adding the
patience was
60CM LONG WHEN FINISHED completely clear. The
instructions call for insertion
needed on the
wings and horizontal
stabilisers, the engines
build!
18 COMBAT ZONE – TU-22 BLINDER COMBAT ZONE
F IG H T ING COLO U R S
[Link]

Adding a coat of Alclad

Black Primer and Microfiller

I used various Alclad

Metallics on the upper….

…and lower surfaces

Adding the few decals

MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 COMBAT ZONE
F IG H T ING COLO U R S
19

COMBAT ZONE – TU-22 BLINDER

…and wiped away any excess with a paper towel

Airframe Aluminium and Dull Aluminium, just

I used Ammo by MIG Black Night Panel Line Wash on both upper and lower surfaces…. to break up the monotony of the airframe.
Most people do this by masking off the
had to be assembled. This was done by gluing Alclad White Primer and Microfiller, lightly panels before spraying, but I find that takes
together the two halves of the engines ‘tubes’ thinned with Hataka thinner. When thinning way longer, and doesn’t give a better result
with what is supposed to be fan blades and the Alclad Primer allows it to dry silky smooth, for me, so I try to do it freehand. It’s just a
turbine parts inside. The resemblance is less as opposed to the sort of gritty feel some matter of turning the pressure down and
than convincing, but I didn’t want to overdo Micro Fillers have. The white areas were then reducing the distance between the airbrush
the internal detail, as it wouldn’t be visible. The masked-off, before the rest of the airframe and whatever you’re painting. I also use my
fit of the engine parts is also not optimal, so and the engines were sprayed with Alclad 0.15mm nozzle on my H&S Infinity for this job,
another round of putty, sanding and re-scribing Gloss Black Primer. The next step was to select
was required. The landing gear was also very a good metallic shade as a base coat, and I
basic and can probably be modified to be more picked Alclad Aluminium. I sprayed an uneven
accurate and detailed. coat all over both the top and the bottom
Painting this beast required some planning. of the model and let it dry. This uneven coat
I started by covering the white areas using makes sure the metal looks randomly worn.
I also enhanced some of the panels
using Alclad Magnesium, Steel,
20 COMBAT ZONE – TU-22 BLINDER [Link]

as it gives me a far superior Since these mighty planes usually flew from
trigger control and practically concrete and tarmac, I decided to go lightly
eliminates overspray. When and only added a panel line wash, using
reasonably happy with the Ammo by MIG Black Night Panel Line Wash on
result I removed the masking on both upper and lower surfaces, before wiping
the white parts to check the results. the excess off with a paper towel. The entire
I had to re-mask and respray a couple of airframe was then given a coat of Hataka Matt
small areas, and once I was happy, I applied a varnish, before the landing gear and all the
coat of Aqua Gloss ready for the decals. The little antennas were added, and the cockpit
decals themselves were few and easy to get masking was removed. If you want to build
right, so it didn’t take long. Once they were this monster, be prepared to bring equal parts
dry another coat of Aqua Gloss was added patience, optimism, sanding sticks, putty and
before I began to add some weathering. paint! Having said that, the end result will
be extremely rewarding and a boost your
modelling self-confidence. MA
 OUT
BUILDING THE

NOW
Spitfire

!
Model Aircraft ‘Extra Special’ #6 MODEL
AIRCRAFT

The Supermarine Spitfire

EXTRA

No.6
he iconic Supermarine Spitfire, the most strategically important

T British single-seat fighter of World War II. The Spitfire, renowned

for winning victory laurels in the Battle of Britain along with the
Hawker Hurricane, served in every theatre of the War and was produced
in more variants than any other British aircraft. The Spitfire was designed
by Reginald Mitchell of Supermarine Ltd., in response to a 1934 Air Ministry
specification calling for a high-performance fighter with an armament of
eight wing-mounted 0.303-inch machine guns. The airplane was a direct
descendant of a series of floatplanes designed by Mitchell to compete for
the coveted Schneider Trophy in the 1920s. One of these racers, the S.6,
set a world speed record of 357 miles per hour in 1929. Designed around
a 1,000-horsepower, 12-cylinder, liquid-cooled Rolls-Royce PV-12 engine
(later dubbed the Merlin), the Spitfire first flew in March 1935. It had superb
performance and flight characteristics, and deliveries to operational
Royal Air Force (RAF) squadrons commenced in the summer of 1938. A
more radical design than the Hurricane, the Spitfire had a stressed-skin
aluminum structure and a graceful elliptical wing with a thin airfoil that,
in combination with the Merlin’s efficient two-stage supercharger, gave it
exceptional performance at high altitudes. The version of the Spitfire that
fought in the Battle of Britain was powered by a Merlin engine. Faster than
its formidable German opponent the Bf 109 at altitudes above 15,000 feet
and just as manoeuvrable, Spitfires were sent by preference to engage
German fighters while the slower Hurricanes went for the bombers. More
Hurricanes than Spitfires served in the Battle of Britain, and they were
credited with more ‘kills,’ but it can be argued that the Spitfire’s superior
high-altitude performance provided the margin of victory. Meanwhile,
Supermarine was developing more-capable versions of the Spitfire driven BUILDING THE
by progressively more-powerful Merlin’s. The eight 0.303-inch machine

Spitfire
guns gave way to four 0.8-inch automatic cannons, and by war’s end the
Spitfire had been produced in more than 20 fighter versions alone,
powered by Merlin’s of up to 1,760 horsepower. Though outperformed
by the German Fw 190 on that aircraft’s introduction in 1941, the MAE6
Spitfire restored parity the following year and eventually regained
the advantage. It remained a first-line air-to-air fighter throughout
Spitfire Compiled by Andy Evans

the war. Spitfires were used in the defence of Malta, in North

Africa and Italy, and, fitted with tail hooks and strengthened tail
sections, as Seafires from Royal Navy aircraft carriers from June
£17.99
+P&P rendered it all but immune from interception, and the
1942. Spitfires helped to provide air superiority over the Sicily, Italy, fuel tanks that replaced wing-mounted machine guns and
and Normandy beachheads and served in the Far East from the spring ammunition bays gave it sufficient range to probe western
of 1943. Fighter-bomber versions could carry a 250 or 500lb bomb Germany from British bases. n late 1943 Spitfires powered by Rolls-
beneath the fuselage and a 250-pound bomb under each win One of the Royce Griffon engines developing as much as 2,050 horsepower began
Spitfire’s most important contributions to Allied victory was as a photo- entering service. Capable of top speeds of 440 miles per hour and ceilings
reconnaissance aircraft from early 1941. Superior high-altitude performance of 40,000 feet, these were used to shoot down V-1 ‘buzz bombs.’ During
World War II, Spitfires were exported in small numbers to Portugal, Turkey,
and the Soviet Union, and they were flown by the U.S. Army Air Forces in
Europe. When production ceased in 1947, 20,334 Spitfires of all versions had
been produced, 2,053 of them Griffon-powered versions. Fighter versions
of the Spitfire were withdrawn from RAF service during the early 1950s,
while photo-reconnaissance Spitfires continued in service until 1954. In
Model Aircraft ‘Extra Special’
#6, the biggest book of this
series some 22`Spitfire build
projects will be included,
in a ‘how-to’ format, and
continue this fantastic series
modelling guides from MA
Publications, the new name
MA PUBLICATIONS LTD in scale modelling.

PO Box 1592 | Bedford | MK40 9FD | UK

T: +44 (0) 1234 331431 E: info@[Link]
[Link]
22 DEFENCE OF THE REICH [Link]

Bf 109G-10
Defence of the Reich
Jay Blakemore returns to his favoured Defence of the Reich period when he builds
a late-War Bf109G-10 Mtt Regensburg ProfiPACK – yet another superb release from
Eduard’s ever-growing range of Bf 109s.

O
ver the past four years Eduard have exception of an additional frame containing
released an endless stream of re- new fuselage-halves and sundry other items
issues spawned from their excellent including the enlarged radiator housing,
‘newly-tooled’ Bf109G-6. Having tall ‘wooden’ tail, wide-blade propeller,
made its triumphant debut in 2016, enlarged super-charger intake,
subsequent incarnations of the basic kit have cowling panel and rudder specific
appeared in both their ProfiPACK and Weekend to this variant. The fuselage parts
series, featuring new parts and decals, which feature the re-profiled nose –
have allowed modellers the opportunity to introduced by Messerschmitt in an
build a vast array of F and G variants in many attempt to streamline the airframe
fetching guises. Now, approaching the end and rid it of the incongruous ‘boils’
of the line as far as wartime production of introduced on the G-6 variant to
the Bf109 went, Eduard have issued the G-10, cover the synchronised MG 131s –
focusing in this particular boxing on consisting of extended
those airframes produced at
Messerschmitt’s Regensburg
facility. The majority of
parts are unchanged from
previous releases, with the

Bf109G-10 Mtt Regensburg

Manufacturer: Eduard
Scale: 1:48
Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded
Kit Number:
MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 23

BF 109G-10 - DEFENCE OF THE REICH

side ‘cheeks’ housing the enlarged super- Straight-from-the-box Eduard provides a more cemented together, which leaves it vulnerable to
charger and re-shaped engine bearers. In than adequately furnished cockpit, featuring damage. I chose instead to strengthen this item
truth, the re-profiling did little to improve the separate and nicely moulded bucket seat – by removing the elongated oleo and fabricating
appearance of the once iconic fighter which with colour-etched harness - a control column, a new one from metal rod and tubing, inserting
had reached its aesthetic apogee with the cannon breech cover and instrument panel. The only the top section prior to fuselage closure. The
F-model. Also faithfully reproduced here are colour-printed etched fret provides an alternative wheel and metal oleo were added at the very
the small ‘bumps’ on the lower cowling which control panel if painting the plastic original seems end of the build. The busy cockpit fits effortlessly
were required to accommodate an enlarged like one job too many, as well as assorted tiny into the widened fuselage, and the remainder
chin-mounted oil cooler. The upper-wing levers, placards and side-wall panels. The plastic of the airframe simply falls together. Two areas
halves are unchanged from the standard G-6, sidewall details are numerous and more than that require a little extra work before the airframe
though the under-wingspan features a cut-out usable, however, and include two separately can be completed are the wheel-bays and spent
section on the port side to accommodate a moulded panels that differ from those provided cartridge ejection chute openings in the lower
clear observation window which houses the in the standard G-6 release. Also included on the wings. Both feature open sections that afford a
re-positioned forward-slanting whip-aerial. clear fret is a fuel pipe for the starboard cockpit view into the empty fuselage interior when the
The observation window is included on a new wall, which when partially and carefully painted model is viewed from beneath and are easily
clear sprue, which contains three styles of in bright yellow, looks particularly effective boxed-in using plastic sheeting. All of the control
Erla Haube canopy and two variations of the with its clear spy-glass section. Subtle shading surfaces are separately moulded as are the large
widened windscreen. and highlights on the dark grey interior are well radiator cooling flaps in the wing trailing edges
worth the effort, for with the canopy posed in and the leading-edge slats. So, with
the optional open position, the interior is some minor adjustments made to the
clearly visible. The delicate, tail wheel securing tabs on each of these items
needs to be inserted between the there are multiple choices available
fuselage-halves before they are to the modeller to change the
appearance of the finished model.
Provided on the decal
sheet are an interesting

THE FUSELAGE PARTS FEATURE THE RE-PROFILED NOSE

– INTRODUCED BY MESSERSCHMITT IN AN ATTEMPT TO
STREAMLINE THE AIRFRAME
24 DEFENCE OF THE REICH [Link]
MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020

05677 Gift Set - Top Gun Movies, 1:72

selection of five late-war colour schemes, all an RLM 76 mottled over-spray covering the
03864 Maverick’s F/A-18E Super Hornet, 1:48
but one being finished in the standard RLM bottom half of the rudder. The wonderful
74, 75, 76 combination. The odd-one-out is Colourcoats range of authentic enamel shades
‘white 44’, the much photographed 5./NJG was used to finish the model, and being a late-
11 airframe finished in over-all RLM 76, and war machine, many of the under-wing panels
found abandoned at Fassberg, Germany at were left unpainted, and the natural metal effect
the end of the war. The other colour schemes was achieved in this instance using Alclad II
are partially speculative, based as they are metallic lacquers, while the scuffs and scrapes
on incomplete wartime photographs, and as on the wing-root walkways were accomplished
always it is advisable to check references. Such using a Windsor & Newton silver watercolour
was the case with the option that particularly pencil. It should be noted that there is no 03865 Maverick’s F-14A Tomcat, 1:48
interested me and the one featured on the decal provided for the striking red and black
box-top: ‘White 9’ of 1./ KG(J) 6, was also found chequered tail-band featured on this particular
abandoned in a scrap yard in the Protectorate of aircraft. Eduard’s Bf 109G-10 (Mtt Regensburg),
Bohemia and Moravia. Pictures of the partially like the impressive range of G and F variant kit
trashed airframe are sufficient to authentically releases that preceded it, is second to none
reproduce the camouflage pattern, and they with regard detail and parts fit and I highly
show the mottle on the rudder to be differently recommend it anyone wishing to add a late-War
patterned than suggested by the Eduard eagle to their collection. MA
instructions, the most notable omission being
04965 Maverick’s F/A-18 Hornet, 1:72

04966 Maverick’s F-14 Tomcat, 1:72

Available from all good model

stockists and online from

[Link]/brand/revell
26 SU-25K FROGFOOT [Link]

SU-25K Frogfoot
Manufacturer: Smer
Scale: 1:48
Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded
Kit Number: 0857

Snorre Sandviken
tackles the 1:48
Smer Su-25K

T
he development of the Su-25 began
when the Soviet ministry of defence
began a competition to develop a
Frogfoot
the Congo
new battlefield close support aircraft

in
in March 1969. Participants were the
design bureaus of Sukhoi, Yakovlev, Ilyushin
and Mikoyan. Sukhoi finalised its design in late
1968, and the first prototype was ready in 1974.
However, it did not make its first flight until 22
February 1975. After a long series of test flights,
the Su-25 surpassed its main competitors, and
series of production aircraft was ordered. The
aircraft finally went into production in 1978
and has since been manufactured by Tbilisi
Aircraft Manufacturing (TAM) in Georgia. The be a formidable ally for ground troops, and it is knew I had found the aircraft to reproduce.
type has seen combat in several conflicts still in use today. Researching further I discovered that Congo
during its more than thirty-years of service, I started out by researching Su-25 to see has just a handful of Su-25s. They initially
starting out with the Soviet Afghan war, where if I could find any cool and unusual liveries. I ordered ten from TAM in 1999, four were
Su-25 carried out more than 6000 sorties. It has quickly came across a picture of a Congolese delivered in late 1999, and the remaining six
since been heavily involved in numerous other Su-25K parked on the runway at an airport were to be delivered in 2000, but the contract
conflicts all over the globe and has proven to I had actually been to many times, and I was cancelled. The planes flew from Kamina
MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 27

FROGFOOT IN THE CONGO

air base in the southern part of the country,
usually armed with only their cannon and free
fall bombs. By 2007 two of the planes had
The cockpit crashed in non-combat accidents, leaving two
was spare and operational aircraft. The aircraft previously
benefitted from
an Eduard set mentioned my reference picture actually
crashed during an air show marking the
Congolese Independence Day. In 2011 Congo
bought two ex-Ukrainian Su-25s, and they were
sent to TAM for modernisation before delivery.
These were delivered in 2012 and sported a
new livery that I didn’t like as much as the early
ones, so I decided to go with the latter, but
there are very few pictures around showing the
full camouflage, so there was some guesswork
involved here.
The build is supposed to start with the
assembly of the cockpit, but I wanted to start
another way, so I began with the weapons.
So, the rocket pods, free-fall bombs and the
drop tanks were fixed together and here the
fit was pretty good, but there were absolutely
no aligning pins or holes to work with! When

I used an Uschi
Van Der Rosten
Trinity Splatter
Stencil

Adding the
Alclad Mil-Spec
RAF Desert Sand
camouflage…..

…followed
by Ammo by
MIG Protective
Green

THE CONGOLESE AIRCRAFT FLEW FROM KAMINA AIR

BASE USUALLY ARMED WITH ONLY THEIR CANNON
AND FREE FALL BOMBS
28 SU-25K FROGFOOT [Link]

The undersides
were painted I created my
with Hataka own decals
Light Green
Blue

Alclad Micro Primer before assembly, and

then the aft parts that would be visible
were painted Burnt Iron. Those tubes
then were glued inside the two-part
engine housing together with the wheel bay.
However, this took some persuading to get
right! Next, I assembled the wings, which were
made up of an upper and lower half but had
no slat and flap options. Once the glue was dry,
the engines were mounted to the fuselage, and
right away I saw there would be problems as
they left a pretty big gap inside the wheel bays
on both sides. So, I had to break out the putty
and fill them in. The wings were then mounted,
aligned a drop of extra thin glue was added and surprisingly they fit was pretty good, and
to the mating points, and capillary action did didn’t need any sanding or putty. it felt like
the rest. I decided to try to make the weapons the wings were designed by somebody
detachable on this model and using a 1mm other than who worked on the fuselage!
drill bit I drilled carefully placed holes in both The horizontal stabilisers were then added
the pylons and the weapons, before pressing and all of a sudden what earlier was only
in a 1mm Micro magnet covered in ca glue in an ugly fuselage had turned into at least
each hole. Those magnets are not very strong something looking like a plane.
so at least five magnets were needed for each
weapon for them to stay in place. When
reasonably happy with the result, I broke
out the riveting tool add some detail
to both the fuselage and wings, before
starting the cockpit assembly. The
cockpit was quite sparse, so I decided to use
an Eduard set to liven it up a bit. The seat was
assembled and painted black before the seat
belts were added. The side consoles, side walls
and instrument panels were painted with Mr
Paint Sukhoi Blue, before the rest of the etched
parts were installed. With the etch now in place,
the entire cockpit was gloss coated, and then
given a dark wash before everything was given
a matt coat. The front gear bay was also painted
at this point, before it was glued onto the
cockpit and installed in between the fuselage
halves. I also added some thirty grams of lead
in the nose to prevent a ‘tail-sitter’. The upper
instrument panels, made up from Eduard parts,
were then installed and the HUD was glued
onto the top of its etched frame, and the
canopy was then masked off and
glued into place.
The engines
were made up
of a two-part
tube with what
are supposed to
resemble fan blades
inside. The insides of the
tubes were sprayed with white
MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 29

FROGFOOT IN THE CONGO

With all the major parts in place it just
needed the pitot tubes to be installed before
painting. I chose to add them as they were
made of metal and wouldn’t
snap off easily, and
they also needed to be
painted the same shade
as the rest of the plane. With
that in place it was time to start
painting. The entire airframe was given
a coat of Alclad Grey Primer and Microfiller,
thinned with Hataka thinners and left to dry
for a few minutes. Next, I sprayed on a thin
coat of Alclad Mil-Spec Matt Black through an
Uschi Van Der Rosten Trinity Splatter Stencil.
This gave an uneven pattern of light and dark
shading that will be visible through the main
colour. I knew I had to make the numbers on
the tail myself using paint and masks created Adding an Ammo by
with a vinyl plotter. Surprisingly this was easier MIG Orange Brown
Panel Line Wash to
than I thought! I sprayed the part of the vertical the upper….
stabiliser where I wanted the number in white,
and designed the number in the plotter’s
software, and the machine cut it perfectly. It
was then just a matter of placing the masks
and hey-presto! When the masks were
in place, I started by painting
the underside of the plane with
thin coats of Hataka Light Green …and lower
surfaces….
30 SU-25K FROGFOOT [Link]

Blue. When I was happy, I then moved onto

the upper surfaces, and I roughly sprayed the
outline of the camouflage pattern that I wanted
using Alclad Mil-Spec RAF Desert Sand, before …to pick out
filling it in. the details
When dry I, moved on to the next colour,
switching airbrushes for one with a finer nozzle
for detail painting, and added some Ammo by
MIG [Link]-023 Protective Green. I thinned this
about 60:40 just to get it to flow better, and
that way I could also turn the pressure down
and move in a lot closer, enabling me to paint
freehand. Once the paint was laid down in the
same manner as the other colours and dry to I decided to keep the weathering
the touch, I then gave the model a coat of Aqua light, and the Congolese aircraft didn’t
Gloss to seal the paint in and prepare it for the fly nearly as many sorties as planes from
decals. There is one set of aftermarket decals other countries, and they mainly sat in a
available for a Congolese Su-25, but not for the dusty paved place collecting flying debris
one I was building, so I had to come up with and red African dust. Therefore, I went with
a solution. Once again, I turned to the vinyl an Ammo by MIG [Link]-1616 Orange Brown
plotter, but first I printed my own decals on Panel Line Wash that closely resembled African
white decal paper using a laser printer and the soil. The landing gear and munition received
vinyl plotter software. Then I fed the decal sheet the same treatment. Once I was happy with
into the plotter and it cut perfectly around the the look, I added coat of Hataka Matt Varnish, before installing them and filling in any gaps
printed decals. Doing it this way was so easy before assembling the landing gear and with putty. With the gear now in place all that
that I will most certainly do that more in future. attempting to install it. The landing gear fitted was left was to add the lights on the wing tips
The decals were placed on the model in the ok, but the gear bay doors did not, as they were and remove the cockpit masking.
normal manner using Micro Sol and Set and too big, the wrong shape and obviously not So, what can I say about this kit? First off,
when they were dry and had adhered properly, supposed to be closed like the ones on the real it’s not for a beginner – or the faint hearted! I
they were covered with another coat of Aqua aircraft is when the gear is down. So, I had to knew it would be a challenge when
Gloss ready for some weathering. cut and sand them to a closer matching shape I began the build but that said,
with a little perseverance and
lot of effort it is possible to
make it look good (ish). MA
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MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 35

MODEL AIRCRAFT MANUAL

Model Aircraft Manual
The Douglas A-26 Invader
History Colour Profiles Scale Plans Step by Step Build
36 MODEL AIRCRAFT MANUAL [Link]

A-26 AT WAR
The Douglas A-26 Invader

T
he A-26 was Douglas Aircraft’s nose or eight-gun nose. The A-26C’s ‘glass’ Access was through the lower section of the
successor to the A-20 (DB-7) Havoc, nose, officially termed the ‘bombardier nose, right-hand instrument panel, which was open
also known as Douglas Boston, contained a Norden bombsight for medium to allow access to the nose for the bombardier,
one of the most successful and altitude precision bombing. The A-26C nose who would normally sit next to the pilot. This
widely operated types flown by section included two fixed M-2 guns, later was similar to British designs like the Lancaster,
Allied air forces in World War II. Designed by replaced by underwing gun packs or internal Blenheim/Beaufort and Wellington. A tractor-
Ed Heinemann, Robert Donovan, and Ted R. guns in the wings. style ‘jump seat’ was located behind the
Smith,[5] the innovative NACA 65-215 laminar After about 1,570 production aircraft, three navigator’s seat. In most missions, a third crew
flow airfoil wing of the A-26 was the work guns were installed in each wing, coinciding member in the rear gunner’s compartment
of project aerodynamicist AMO Smith. The with the introduction of the ‘eight-gun nose’ operated the remotely controlled dorsal and
Douglas XA-26 prototype first flew on 10 July for A-26Bs, giving some configurations as ventral gun turrets, with access to and from
1942 at Mines Field, El Segundo, with test pilot many as fourteen .50in machine guns in fixed the cockpit possible via the bomb bay only
Benny Howard at the controls. Flight tests forward mounts. An A-26C nose section could when that was empty. The gunner operated
revealed excellent performance and handling, be replaced with an A-26B nose section, or both dorsal and ventral turrets via a novel
but engine cooling problems led to cowling vice versa, in a few man-hours, thus physically and complex dual-ended periscope sight,
changes and elimination of the propeller (and officially) changing the designation and which was a vertical column running through
spinners on production aircraft. Repeated operational role. The ‘flat-topped’ canopy the centre of the rear compartment, with
collapses during testing led to reinforcement of was changed in late 1944 after about 820 traversing and elevating/depressing periscope
the nose landing gear. production aircraft, to a clamshell style with sights on each end. The gunner sat on a seat
The A-26 was originally built in two different greatly improved visibility. Alongside the pilot facing rearward and looked into a binocular
configurations. The A-26B had a gun nose, in an A-26B, a crew member typically served as periscope sight mounted on the column,
which originally could be equipped with a navigator and gun loader for the pilot-operated controlling the guns with a pair of handles on
combination of armament including .50 calibre nose guns. In an A-26C, that crew member either side of the column. When aiming above
machine guns, 20mm or 37mm auto cannon, or served as navigator and bombardier, and the centreline of the aircraft, the mirror in the
even a 75mm pack howitzer (which was never relocated to the nose section for the bombing centre of the column would flip, showing the
used operationally). Normally the gun nose phase of an operation. A small number of gunner what the upper periscope was seeing.
version housed six (or later eight) .50 calibre A-26Cs were fitted with dual flight controls, When he pressed the handles downward,
machine guns, officially termed the all-purpose some parts of which could be disabled in flight as the bead passed the centreline the mirror
nose, later commonly known as the six-gun to allow limited access to the nose section. would automatically flip, transferring the sight

B-26B Invaders of the 452nd

Bombardment Wing returning from a
mission over North Korea in 1951
MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 37

MODEL AIRCRAFT – A-26 INVADER

A black painted B-26C Invader dropping bombs during the Korean War

“seamlessly” to the lower periscope. The guns 319th flying until 12 August 1945. The A-26
would aim wherever the periscope was aimed, operations wound down in mid-August 1945
automatically transferring between upper and with only a few dozen missions flown. Several
lower turrets as required, and computing for of the A-20 and B-25 AAF units in the Pacific
parallax and other factors. While novel and received the A-26 for trials, in limited quantities.
theoretically effective, a great deal of time and Douglas needed better results from the
trouble was spent trying to get the system to Invader’s second combat test, so A-26s began
work effectively, which delayed production, arriving in Europe in late September 1944 for
and it was difficult to keep maintained in assignment to the Ninth Air Force. The initial
the field even once production started. The deployment involved 18 aircraft and crews
Douglas company began delivering the assigned to the 553d Squadron of the 386th
production model A-26B to the United States Bomb Group. This unit flew its first mission
Army Air Forces (USAAF) on 10 September on 6 September 1944. No aircraft were lost
1943, with the new bomber first seeing action on the eight test missions, and the Ninth Air
with the Fifth Air Force in the Southwest Pacific Force announced that it was happy to replace
theatre on 23 June 1944, when Japanese-held all of its A-20s and B-26s with the A-26 Invader.
islands near Manokwari were attacked. The The first group to fully convert to the A-26B
pilots in the 3rd Bomb Group’s 13th Squadron, was 416th Bombardment Group with which
‘The Grim Reapers’, who received the first four it entered combat on 17 November, and the
A-26s for evaluation, found the view from the 409th Bombardment Group, whose A-26s
cockpit to be restricted by the engines and thus became operational in late November. Due to
inadequate for low-level attack. Until changes a shortage of A-26C variants, the groups flew a
could be made, the 3d Bomb Group requested combined A-20/A-26 unit until deliveries of the
additional Douglas A-20 Havocs, although both glass-nose version caught up. Besides bombing
types were used in composite flights.[16] The and strafing, tactical reconnaissance and
319th Bomb Group worked up on the A-26 in night interdiction missions were undertaken
March 1945, joining the initial 3rd BG, with the successfully. In contrast to the Pacific-based
38 MODEL AIRCRAFT MANUAL [Link]

An A-26A of the 609th SOS seen here in 1969

units, the A-26 was well received by pilots out the first USAF bombing mission on North (K-8)) in night activity only, dividing the target
and crew alike, and by 1945, the 9th AF had Korea on 29 June 1950, when they bombed an areas, with the 452nd taking the eastern half
flown 11,567 missions, dropping 18,054 tons airfield outside of Pyongyang. and the 3rd the western. For its efforts in the
of bombs, recording seven confirmed kills On 10 August 1950, the Air Force Reserve’s Korean War, it was awarded two unit citations
while losing 67 aircraft. In Italy the Twelfth Air 452d Bombardment Wing was activated and the Korean Presidential Citation. It also
Force’s 47th Bomb Group also received the for Korean service. It flew its first missions in received credit for eight campaign operations.
A-26, starting in January 1945. They were used November 1950 from Itazuke, Japan, providing In May 1952 it was inactivated and all of its
against German transport links, but also for daylight support, with the 3rd Bomb Wing, aircraft and equipment along with its regular
direct support and interdiction against tanks consisting of the 8th, 13th and 90th Bomb air force personnel were absorbed by the
and troop concentrations in the Po valley in the Squadrons, flying night missions. Because of 17th Bomb Wing. In addition to the standard
final campaigns in Italy. the Chinese intervention, it was forced to find attack versions of the B-26 which flew night
B-26 Invaders of the 3d Bombardment another base and moved to Miho Air Base on interdiction missions, a small number of
Group, operating from bases in southern Japan, the west coast of Honshū. In early 1951 it moved modified WB-26s and RB-26s of the 67th Tactical
were among the first USAF aircraft engaged to Pusan East (K-9) Air Base and continued its Reconnaissance Wing flew critical weather
in the Korean War, carrying out missions over daylight as well as night intruder missions. In observation and reconnaissance missions in
South Korea on 27 and 28 June, before carrying June 1951, it joined the 3rd Bomb Wing (Kunsan supporting roles.

An A-26B over Korea

in February 1951
MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 39

MODEL AIRCRAFT – A-26 INVADER

B-26K Invader of the 609th SOS in flight over South-East Asia

Overall gloss black A-26C showing the Bombardier nose and improved, clear-view clamshell canopy. An AN/APQ-13 radome is fitted in the forward bomb-bay,
and zero-length launchers for 5 in HVAR rockets are under the outer wings

A B-26K/A-26K Counter Invader

40 MODEL AIRCRAFT MANUAL [Link]

Gate. Though ‘Farm Gate’ operated B-26Bs,

B-26Cs, and genuine RB-26Cs, many of these
aircraft were operated under the designation
RB-26C, though they were used in a combat
capacity. During 1963, two RB-26C were sent
to Clark AB in the Philippines for modifications,
though not with night systems as with those
modified for ‘Black Watch’. The two aircraft
returned from ‘Black Watch’ to ‘Farm Gate’ were
subsequently given the designation RB-26L to
distinguish them from other modified RB-26C,
and were assigned to Project ‘Sweet Sue’. ‘Farm
Gate’s’ B-26s operated alongside the other
primary strike aircraft of the time, the T-28
Trojan, before both aircraft types were replaced
by the Douglas A-1 Skyraider. The On Mark
Engineering Company was selected by the Air
An infrared seeker-equipped B-26C Invader from the 13th Bomb Squadron, 3rd Bombardment Group Force to extensively upgrade the Invader for a
(Light) in Korea counterinsurgency role. The first production
flight of the B-26K was on 30 May 1964 at the
The first B-26s to arrive in Southeast Asia aircraft were subsequently operated in South Van Nuys Airport. On Mark converted forty
were deployed to Takhli RTAFB, Thailand in Vietnam under Project ‘Farm Gate’. The only Invaders to the new B-26K Counter-Invader
December 1960. These unmarked aircraft other deployment of B-26 aircraft to Laos prior standard, which included upgraded engines,
operated under the auspices of the CIA, were to the introduction of the B-26K/A-26A, was the propellers, and brakes, re-manufactured wings,
soon augmented by an additional sixteen deployment of two RB-26C aircraft, specifically and wing tip fuel tanks, for use by the 609th
aircraft, twelve B-26Bs and B-26Cs plus four modified for night reconnaissance, deployed Special Operations Squadron. In May 1966, the
RB-26Cs under Operation ‘Millpond’. The to Laos between May and July 1962 under B-26K was re-designated A-26A for political
mission of all of these aircraft was to assist the Project ‘Black Watch’. These aircraft, initially reasons and were deployed in Thailand to
Royal Lao Government in fighting the Pathet drawn from Farm Gate stocks, were returned help disrupt supplies moving along the Ho Chi
Lao. The repercussions from the Bay of Pigs upon the end of these missions. The aircraft Minh trail. Two of these aircraft were further
invasion meant that no combat missions are from Laos participated in the early phase modified with a Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR
known to have been flown, although RB-26Cs of the Vietnam War with the USAF, but with system) under project ‘Lonesome Tiger’, as a
operated over Laos until the end of 1961. The Vietnamese markings as part of Project Farm part of Operation ‘Shed Light’.

As B-26B Invader of the 452nd Bombardment Wing bombing a target in North Korea in late 9 May 1951
MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 41

MODEL AIRCRAFT – A-26 INVADER

42 MODEL AIRCRAFT MANUAL [Link]

A-26 Invader 1:72 Scale

MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 43

MODEL AIRCRAFT – A-26 INVADER

44 MODEL AIRCRAFT MANUAL [Link]
MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 45

MODEL AIRCRAFT – INVADER

Counter Invader
Ian Gaskell builds a 1:48 A-26K
B-26B-50 Invader

U
ntil now, to build a 1:48 version of an
A-26K, you had to use a very elderly Manufacturer: ICM
Monogram/ Revell B-26B/C kit, raised Scale: 1:48
panel lines and all. Then you have Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded
to use the Cutting Edge, or Paragon, Kit Number: 48281
resin conversion sets and Aero Master decals,
all of which have long been out of production.
Then along comes ICM, with their series of B-26 the A-26K’s nose. An Eduard canopy mask set
Invader kits, the first of which was the B-26B-50, complete the aftermarket selection. On to
as used in the Korean War. Thank you ICM, The completed the build. My first task was to build the
challenge accepted, and me being me, I wasn’t cockpit cockpit. Sadly, the Cutting Edge set
going to make this project easy for myself! weirdly doesn’t contain the co-pilots
Obviously, I wasn’t going to use the Monogram/ position, which is included in the
Revell kit, but the ICM kit instead, and I Paragon set. The original Invaders
successfully tracked down a Cutting had just the pilot’s position, on the
Edge set, and Aero Master left side of the cockpit. Using my
decals. To this, I added reference photographs, I scratch
Eduard Brassin Mk.82 built the main instrument panel,
bombs with extend and added extra detailing
fuses, SUU-14 rocket to the centre console and
pods, LAU-3/A rocket side panels. Firstly, the kit
pods, Quickboost instrument panel was left as
B-25 resin seats (almost it was. The co-pilots panel was
identical to an A-26 seat), made using part of an instrument
and a Master Models set of panel, from my ‘spares-box’, which
B-17 Browning machine guns for closely represents the original. The co-pilots
side panel also differs from the original and was
covered with a quilted lining. This was made
I ADDED EDUARD BRASSIN MK.82 BOMBS WITH EXTEND using some metal foil, from a yoghurt top, and
FUSES, SUU-14 ROCKET PODS AND LAU-3/A ROCKET PODS lightly scored to represent the diamond shaped
quilt pattern.
46 MODEL AIRCRAFT MANUAL [Link]

The fuselage now

joined, and the
cockpits installed

The seats in-situ

I added some
replacement resin
propellor blades
The engine was detailed a little

I then removed the moulded levers from tube. With the cockpit finished, it was fitted cut to the required lengths and glued into
the centre console and replaced them with the into the fuselage, along with the nose wheel position, using CA glue. Once they had set, the
correct number of levers. These were made bay and rear crew compartment. The front barrels were fitted in to the nose section, and
using fuse wire, and the lever knobs were just wheel bay was also fitted along with the wheel in turn, the nose was cemented onto the front
blobs of Microscale Kristal Klear. Along the top bay doors. of the fuselage. Next job was to assemble the
of the instrument panel, there is a scratch built The fit here was generally good, with only engines. The kit engines are very well detailed
switch panel and a gunsight, again, borrowed the join behind the cockpit opening proved and unless you intend to have the cowlings off,
from my ‘spares-box’. Most of the visible dials to be a problem. The plastic on this kit was there is no need for resin replacements. One
and buttons were decals, and a few buttons very thin, so this join needed to be clamped, thing I did improve on, was to drill out the ends
were hand painted. The seats were then while the cement set. The seats and yokes of the exhausts, so they looked like pipes. The
painted, and given a wash, to help bring out were then placed in the cockpit. Although the other was to add some wiring, and plumbing,
the detail, given a matt coat and then some Cutting Edge set has a nose section, the kit and for this I used some differing gauges of
dry brushing. One other detail that needed to comes the necessary eight gun version, copper wire. Once assembled, the engines
be scratch built were the flight yokes, as these so I used that. The plastic gun barrels were, they were painted and weathered
differed from the original (plus there’s two of were removed, and the area drilled with some oil and fuel staining added.
them). These were made from styrene rod and out to accommodate One really nice touch, from ICM, is a tool/
the Model Master jig you can use to set all the exhaust pipes
replacements. The in their correct positions while
metal barrels were then the cement was drying.
The Counter Invader had
its turrets removed, so the
openings where the turrets sat had to be filled.
To achieve this, I cut circles out of styrene sheet,
to the correct diameter, then on the inside of
After a coat of
Alclad Black Primer
and Microfiller….
MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 47

MODEL AIRCRAFT – INVADER

… I began the masking process….

…covering the lower surface

with a plastic bag and Blu-Tac

I then began adding

the camouflage
colours….
…..masking each one
as I went along

I used an Aeromaster decals

sheet to make templates for
the walkway markings….
48 MODEL AIRCRAFT MANUAL [Link]

….and here you can see

the result I then added the red
outline decals

Markings are few on this version,

but nevertheless very welcome!
MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 49

MODEL AIRCRAFT – INVADER

I used Ammo by
the panels, that housed MIG washes…..
the turrets, a section
styrene sheet was glued across
the openings, and left to dry. The
cut circles were then cemented into
the turret openings, and onto the
styrene inside. When dry, these
were then sanded down, to
the level of the fuselage skin,
and any gaps were filled. Then
more sanding and polishing,
until I was happy with the result.
I also used styrene sheet to make the
access panels, for the reconnaissance cameras
that would be housed in the bomb bay, for
when the A-26K was in its recce role. The wings
were assembled, along with the main gear bays,
and doors, and the resin wingtip tanks were the exhausts, and working towards the rear,
added. You need to square off the wingtips aerials were fixed into their respective locations. the shading was carefully applied. After this, I
for this. The wings slide into place on braces, With all the major parts now together, masked off the areas where the black walkways
which are glued through the fuselage, which I moved onto to priming, and here I used were to be situated, on the wings, and here I
locate into runners within the wing roots. The Alclad Black Primer and Microfiller. This gave used the walkway decals from the Aero Master
wings mate up to the fuselage sides very well. good coverage, and dries to a grainy feeling set as a template, and cut a mask from some
In fact, I decided I wouldn’t glue them at all, finish, which you smooth off with Micro Mesh Tamiya masking sheet. They were applied, and
even when the build is complete. The engine polishing cloths. I started the painting on the the walkways painted black. Next, the entire
cowlings were assembled, and the replacement underside, using Hataka Night Black, which has airframe was given an Aqua Gloss coat, and left
propellor blades attached to the just a hint of a blue tinge to it. When dry, the to dry, before applying decals.
resin spinners. The Counter undersides, the leading edges on the wings The walkways were outlined in red, and here
Invader’s blades differed and tail surfaces, were masked off, and the I cut out the middle section of these decals, just
from the original ones as upper surface camouflage was started. This leaving the red border. This lessened the risk
they were a little broader was the typical three-tone South East Asia (SEA) of silvering with a large, and very visible, area.
and were squared off at the scheme of Dark Tan, Medium and Dark Green, Another small masking job was the propeller
tips. The resin weapons pylons were attached and this was applied, once again using Hataka tips, which were painted yellow. The resin
to the wings, and the numerous antennae, and colours. One thing I wanted to do was put wheels were also now painted, and weathered,
some exhaust stains along the engine casings. and their centres opened up, so they would
This was achieved by airbrushing on some fit onto the undercarriage struts without too
dark grey, and engine oil stain wash, which much difficulty. There are very few decals to
had been thinned quite a lot. Starting from be applied on the kit, so the process did not
50 MODEL AIRCRAFT MANUAL [Link]

….to create a nicely

worn finish

Ordnance ready
take very long at all. The decals were then sealed with a Gloss coat. The for fitting
weapons were then put together, painted and weathered. These Eduard
Brassin sets are superb, with excellent detail. I now concentrated on
weathering the airframe. To start with, a panel line wash was applied,
using Ammo by MIG Panel Line washes, and after this, a mixture of
pastels, and streaking effects were applied, as I wanted a lot varying of
tones, to show a well weathered look.
Now the last bits were attached. These were the more delicate
resin aerials and antenna. Wire aerials were also added, and
here I used EZ-Line attached with CA glue. The last things that
were glued, were the wheels. Then I finished off the build
with a Matt coat, which really brought
all the tonal variation and weathering
together. When that had dried, the
canopy mask masks were removed,
and the build was complete. I am
very happy with how this build
turned out, considering the
challenge of building a
recently released kit, and
converting it using a resin
set that was designed for a
very old kit! MA
 Modellers Datafile • 37

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52 GRUMMAN F-14A TOMCAT [Link]

‘I Feel the Need

the Need
for Speed!’
Dawid Branski builds
the 1:48 Tamiya F-14A
– Maverick and Goose’s
ride from ‘Top Gun’

I
f I had to name a movie that influenced painted crew with Vallejo Model Color paints
me, and which began my love for aircraft and applied the decals for their helmets from
and building models, it must be ‘Top the Fightertown sheet. They were then treated
Gun’. I was born in mid-1980’s and this with Modellers World Deep Black Wash.
was one of the first films I went crazy Fixing the wings, the sweep wing Grumman F-14A Tomcat
over, watching it a few times a week, along mechanism, the fuselage and all other parts was Manufacturer: Tamiya
with the other classic ‘Memphis Belle’. I always pure joy. This is perhaps the best engineered kit Scale: 1:48
wanted to build Maverick and Goose’s ride I have ever build and everything fits perfectly. Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded
from the film, and after completing the AMK When everything was ready to paint I first Kit Number: 6114
F-14D, which featured in Model Aircraft’s sister primed model with Mr Surfacer Black. Then I
magazine Scale Aviation Modeller, I thought I used Uschi Van Der Rosten airbrush stencils.
would have a go using the 1:48 Tamiya F-14A. Here I sprayed some white paint through the
I purchased a set of Aerobonus Pilot and RIO stencil pattern, carefully layering the paint until
resin figures with ejection seats, and an Eduard I reached the stage of a very uneven pattern of
cockpit set, some Master probes and the white with some black still visible underneath.
Fightertown ‘Top Gun’ decal sheet. Next, I used more white acrylic paint and
I began with the cockpit, I fixed all the kit applied tiny paint dots using a sponge. These
parts with instrument panels and then I filled off dots work as another weathering layer and
the raised details in order to attach the Eduard must be very tiny and thin. If you apply too
etched parts using super glue. Prior fixing the much you can always wipe it off and try again. very odd and unfinished, not too much so as
etch, however I primed cockpit with Mr Surfacer When I finished with white dots I carefully to cover all the pre-shading. Thanks to that, the
Black and painted it with Hataka C044 Dark Gull sanded them down with some 2000 or 3000 surface looked nicely weathered. Tomcat’s were
Grey. I didn’t like the empty green screens on grit Tamiya Sanding Sponges, so they were less in many cases extremely weathered, especially
the etched parts, so I used some Tamiya cockpit pronounced. Next, I was ready to apply the after returning from a cruise and that was the
decals and later applied PVA glue onto them, main paint in thin layers until the surface look case with the aircraft that were used when
so they looked like a glass when glue dried. I just right, not too little, otherwise it will look filming the movie. If you pause the film, you
MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 53

THE NEED FOR SPEED!

The cockpit, with
Eduard etch added

Maverick
and Goose!

can see these were extremely weathered and

repainted multiple times, however, I decided
not to go that far with this build.
I used three tones of grey as seen on the real
low vis Tomcats, and here I utilised Hataka C046
Medium Grey on upper fuselage and wings,
C035 Dark Ghost Grey on the front part of the
fuselage and tails and C037 Light Ghost Grey on
lower surfaces. Next, I used Hataka C050 Light
Grey on the panel
lines to recreate the
repainting done
by the ground
crews. I was also
experimenting a little with
Tamiya clear paints. I sprayed a
little highly diluted Clear Green and
Clear Orange to add some colour distortion
in some places. You can see that on the
real aircraft and I think it’s quite an
interesting weathering effect. Before
I applied decals, I sprayed the entire
model with Hataka XP09 Gloss. I then

I PAINTED CREW WITH VALLEJO MODEL COLOR PAINTS

AND APPLIED THE DECALS FOR THEIR HELMETS FROM A
FIGHTERTOWN DECAL SHEET
54 GRUMMAN F-14A TOMCAT [Link]

Adding a little extra

detailing to the
landing gear
Painting began
with a coat of Mr
Surfacer Black

I used an Uschi Van

Der Rosten airbrush …and added
stencil…. white paint spots
with a sponge

applied the decals using Tamiya Decal Softener

first, that helps decal adhesion, followed by
some Micro Sol on the decals themselves. After
approximately twelve hours drying time, I used I then sanded down the surfaces for a smooth finish
some Flory Models Dark Dirt Wash to pick out
the panel lines. Next, I applied Modellers some
World Industrial Dirt oil wash on a few areas,
mostly on the top of the fuselage between the
wings, on the spine and on the rear to create
some dirty patches. Next, I used the heat gun

I used Hataka colours

for the three-tone
camouflage scheme

I used various metallics

on the nozzles

Creating dirt and grime

on the undersides

to blow some warm air to aid drying, and then

removed any excess with a cotton bud. I then
did the same on the undersides, but using dark
dirt and rust colours to create different shades
of grime. I also made a couple of streaks using
Windsor & Newton Burned Science oil paint.
After weathering I gave the model a coat of
Hataka Matt and then added the wheels, fuel
tanks, missiles and probes. So, ‘feeling the
need for speed’ I hope you enjoy this Top Gun
homage! MA
MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 55

THE NEED FOR SPEED!

Ready for
assembly
56 TOP GUN TIGER [Link]

Top Gun Tiger

Barry Koervers builds tough of a MiG-28, the all-over black scheme detailed this up with a little Tamiya Dark Sea
the 1:48 AFV Club seemed a little boring, so I opted to go for an Grey. The instrument panels were detailed up
aftermarket decal set from Furball and build with black, white, red and yellow with a little
‘Sundowners’ F-5E a three-tone camouflage scheme with the drop of gloss over the dials to simulate glass. I
famous ‘Sundowners’ markings. Having had had a spare pilot left over from a Tamiya F-14A,

A
FV Club, better known for the a quick look through the instructions, it was which had great some detail and was also from
armour kits do, surprisingly have a clear that there are parts for multiple versions the same era, so thought it would be a good
full range of the awesome looking of the basic airframe. I decided to go for option fit. I used a couple of reference images to get
F-5 Aircraft! The boxing I am using ‘C’. The instructions are pretty clear, however the correct colours for the flight suit, which was
here is the fictional MiG-28 from they did cram an awful lot into each step, and I NATO Green.
the 1986 movie ‘Top Gun’, which was flown think this could have been broken down a little The rest of the build was very quick and
by an adversary squadron of the US Navy. further as I did scratch my head a few times straightforward and included plugging the
However, as much as I loved the film and the and ended up having to google images to cockpit and front wheel bay into the nose
make sure I was on the right lines. section. This was not a good fit at all with the
Construction started with the office, which cockpit being too wide for the halves, so I had
is no real surprise. The detail here is very good to sand some of it away to make it fit. Next, I
and there is no need for any sort of aftermarket tried to get the two halves to close up, which
parts. The instrument panels are raised, which was not easy as the back section fitted Ok, but
makes picking out the details easy. Th ejection the front section took a fair degree of brute
seat is very basic and is probably worthy of force and several tightly wound elastic bands to
some sort of resin replacement. I didn’t bother
as I was going to have a pilot in the seat with
the canopy closed, so the detail would be
hard to see anyway. I used MRP-38 Light
Grey as the base interior colour and
MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 57

F-5E TIGER
I began with light
coats of Mr Surfacer
1500 Black
I used MRP colours for
the camouflage…..

F-5E Tiger
Manufacturer: AFV Club
Scale: 1:48
Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded …and used Aero Masks…..
Kit Number: 48S09
Furball Aero-Design Bandit Sundowners VFC-111
#48-065 the intakes, wings, tail and tail planes, all of I knew that the camouflage scheme was
which fitted with very little effort, apart from a relatively light and the base colour of the
the intakes, which in my view are unnecessarily plastic was also light, so I decided to use black
get it to close properly. I used the quick setting complicated and made up of several parts, as my base shade, which makes it easier to see
glue for this, which made life a little easier. The none of which fitted all the well. Luckily the the different tones. I tend to not do any sort of
nose section left a rather large gap and seam seam lines were along actual panel lines, so pre-shading of panel lines, as I prefer the ‘marble
running from the front of the cockpit to the only a little filler was required. With the majority method’. So, I sprayed several thin coats of Mr
nose, normally this would be a simple case of of the airframe built, I then looked at the smaller Surfacer 1500 Black thinned with Self Levelling
sanding the seam away, however, there is lots parts such as the Sidewinder, fuel tank and Thinners in a 30:70 ratio. At this stage, I also
of lovely raised detail in that area that would landing gear and prepared the gear doors for primed the landing gear, gear bays and fuel tank
be obliterated by a sanding stick. I did my very painting.
best to use as little filler as possible, but in the
end some of the detail was lost so I had to use
my riveting tool to put some of it back. With
the nose section allowed to fully set over night,
it was then glued into the fuselage along with

…and applied each

of the three-tone
camouflage shades…..
58 TOP GUN TIGER [Link]

with Tamiya X-1 Gloss Black as these

were going to have metallic paint
applied later on. Once the primer was
allowed to fully cure for twenty-four
hours it was time to tackle the fun part –
the camouflage scheme. This is what I was most
looking forward to as I was trying a new way of
doing camouflage – using a proper mask set.
I have tried all sorts of ways to spray a scheme
from freehand to masking putty and from Blu-
Tac worms to masking pens, all of which have
their pros and cons. What I was looking for was a
really quick way with little mess and a nice sharp
edge, so this seemed like the logical thing to do.
There are many companies that provide masks,
but the ones I liked were from Aero Masks based turned out. I was very impressed a really nice shiny metallic base for
in the USA. I was able to browse their website with the results! There were a couple the other colours. I then used Pale
and choose the mask to fit the scheme I had. of areas that required a touch up and I Burnt Metal around the nozzles with
I studied the instructions very carefully as this did manage to use one mask in the wrong some of the Darker Burnt Metal towards
really is a one-time only, as once the mask had sequence which resulted in the wrong colour, the edges. I then used blue and purple to
been sent it would be very hard to use again, but that was only one of the small patches on simulate a little heat staining. The last step was
but it all seemed fairly straightforward. the edge of a wing. to overspray the entire section with a very thin
Normally, I would spray the darkest colours For the undersides, I like to apply a little coat of Aluminium, which toned it all down.
to the lightest colours, however, this was a little weathering using paint rather than a wash so I Some highlights of burnt metal were re-applied
mixed up as it was dark, then the light grey applied some of the lightest grey to the centre to make them stand out, especially over the
with mid-grey last which didn’t sit well with me, of the panels and MRP-39 Grey around the nozzles. This was left to fully dry overnight
but I stuck with it. The first colour to go down panel lines to break it all up and make it look a before I masked this up prior to a gloss coat
was the blue/grey, the darkest shade. Once little dirtier. I then applied a thin coat of MRP-38 for the decals was applied. The last part was to
this was down, I applied the number masks to Light Grey to bring it all together. Once the paint the nose with MRP-05 Basic Black.
the model, and these went down beautifully, camouflage was completed, it was time to add Another first for me on this model was using
even on the curves around the fuselage. I also some Gloss Black Primer the exhaust section, as the new Tamiya range of lacquer paints. I used
used the end of my blunt tweezers to make that is bare metal on the real aircraft. I then used LP-9 Clear Gloss thinned to around 50:50 and it
sure the masks were tight into the angles. Next thinned Tamiya X-1, being very careful to protect sprayed beautifully, was quick to dry and was
up was to spray the lightest colour. Once this the colours with lots of masking around that very glossy and smooth. The decal sheet from
colour down it was time to apply the second area to minimise the risk of any overspray. Once Furball is of a very high quality and provides
round of masks. For the final colour it was the the primer had dried, I used AK Xtreme Metal not only markings for several versions, but also
mid-grey and it suddenly made sense why this colours, of which I have most of the set. The first has complete stencil data too. I think there are
was the last shade. On this aircraft, this shade colour I put down was Aluminium, which gives enough for two complete models. The printing
of grey is also used on the underside, so with is spot on and register looked good to me. All
the other colours already masked up there was of the decals went down beautifully and were
no chance of overspray – genius! The model thin enough to hug every contour of the plastic
was then allowed to cure for a few hours, then and when Micro Sol was added over the top,
I carefully removed each mask to see how this the detail below quickly came through. I started
off with the main markings, which I did over a
…using more couple of hours, and the next day I tackled the
masks….. stencil data. Once everything was down and in
place, I sealed it all in with another Gloss coat.
I decided early on that this was going to be
a fairly clean aircraft, as these F-5s were pretty
well maintained when on duty. However, they
were based in a dry dusty environment. The
first thing I did was to apply a panel line wash
to the entire model. I decided to make my own
…and the result panel line wash using several Abteilung 502 oils
was vey pleasing! thinned with fast drying enamel thinners. The
colours used were Medium Grey, Intense Blue
and Smoke. There was no real science to the
mixture I just added more of each colour until
I got what was close that what I was looking
MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 59

F-5E TIGER
For the markings I
used a Furball Aero-
Design sheet

FOR THE CAMOUFLAGE SCHEME I USED A SET OF MASKS

FROM AERO MASK

on my hands with these tiny details, but all relatively quick build and didn’t really have any
was well. Not completely happy with the flat complicated sections (other than the intakes)
for. I was very pleased the result, as it went finish, I decided to go for a semi-gloss one, so and would suit just about any level of modeller
down great and flowed through the panel I sprayed everything, avoiding the metallic and with the number of aftermarket decals
lines with very little effort. Also, as I used fast sections with MRP Semi-Gloss. It was at this available you can really build some stunning
drying thinners, I didn’t have to wait too long stage I also decided that the black nose was not looking schemes. MA
to wipe the excess away. A nice side effect was shiny enough, so I masked the area around the
that whilst I wiped away the excess it did leave nose and applied a gloss coat which gave the I used AK Xtreme
very subtle staining around the panels, which look I was after. It was here that disaster struck! metal shades
on the exhaust
all added to the effect. Once the panel line As I removed the masking tape that covered sections
wash had dried, I sprayed the entire model with the sharksmouth, parts of it peeled away! As
Tamiya Clear Flat, which gave a nice flat base this was a pretty essential part to the scheme, I
for the next stage of weathering with oils to couldn’t leave, so I went back to the decal sheet
make the model a little dusty looking. I turned hoping there was another low-vis sharksmouth,
to some of my Ammo by MIG Oilbrushers but alas, there wasn’t. There were a couple for
mainly, Starship Filth, Dust and Buff. These were colours but none of them that matched the
applied in small random dots and then blended scheme, so I have little choice but to use the
with a dry brush to create random patterns of red high-vis version. The missiles and fuel tank
light and dark. To further blend and tone down were then glued into place along with the very
I used a brush dipped in enamel thinners and last piece was the delicate pitot tube. This was a
then dried off, leaving a very subtle effect. To
seal everything in, I sprayed the model with
another coat of Tamiya Clear Flat and left it to
settle for twenty-four hours.
It was then time to add in the smaller
details and weapons, as well as removing the
canopy. There were only two Sidewinders
used on my example, and they were attached
to the wingtips. There were painted light grey
and white with a little stainless steel on the
edges of the fins. The fuel tank had options
for painted or natural metal – I opted to go for
the latter. The landing gear and doors
were then glued into place which to
my surprise fitted really well,
I was expecting a fight
60 F-86F SABRE [Link]

Argentinian Sabre
Regis Marteau builds the
1:72 Fujimi F-86F-30

E
very year my local modelling club
organises a little challenge with
different themes. This year it was the
‘Sabre’ family. I must admit that I knew
little about the subject and the only I began with the cockpit. This was is very
model I had ever built was a Matchbox one basic and with an Eduard etched set, some
when I was ten years old! However, I have since plasticard and lead wire I rebuilt the consoles,
discovered that this is a fascinating subject the instrument panel and the cockpit coaming
with many different models and individual and gunsight. The general colour here was light
particularities to look at. So, my choice for the grey with black instrument panels. For the rear
challenge was the 1:72 Fujimi F-86F-30. This is area I used some parts from a Pavla resin set
one of the best Sabre kits in this scale with very dedicated to the Airfix Sabre kit, and I
fine recessed panel lines, even if the fuselage also completely rebuilt the seat.
was a little oversized around the cockpit area. The intake tunnel is full length
No, I have to say that I’m really not with a turbine front piece, but
comfortable with metallic paint, so I decided here the assembly is not very good, and I
to depict an Argentine Air force example with had to make many adjustments to get this to
the help of an Armycast decal sheet. As usual fit correctly. Before closing the fuselage, I also

F-86F Sabre
Manufacturer: Fujimi
Scale: 1:72
Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded
Kit Number: F19
Armycast Decals #ACD 72032 ‘The Sabres’
MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 61

ARGENTINIAN SABRE
THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST SABRE KITS IN THIS SCALE

added plenty of nose weight to avoid a ‘tail position on the ground. This was good news an
sitter’. I also removed the raised air intake on the avoided some lengthy scratch building! The rest
starboard fuselage side, as this was not present of the assembly was pain free with just a little
for US built aircraft. filler needed her and there. The landing gear
Now it was time to install the wing and struts, and wheel bays were again very basic
studying my references I discover and needed some detail adding with plastic
that Argentine F-86F-30 Sabres sprue, metal wire and Albion Alloys metal tubes.
did not the 6-3 wing provided in I also added some details to the airbrake wells
the box but were retrofitted with the F-40 and doors. A note here is that the door hinges
wing. Fortunately, I had a Fujimi F-86F-40 in must be modified in order to obtain the correct
my stash, so I used the wing from that model. I opening angle towards the ground.
asked myself the question about depicting the The wing and fuselage undersides were
leading edges in the down position, but I then then airbrushed in white. Then the upper
noticed that they could be locked in retracted surfaces were camouflaged using dark green,
62 F-86F SABRE [Link]

gloss coat then sealed in the decals and I then

applied an oil wash, some pastel powders and
some underside dirt effects using water-based
ink pens and a soft brush. I also added an
intake and an exhaust nozzle cover and some
homemade ‘Remove Before Flight’ tags. Finally,
a hen a mix of 80:20 matt and gloss was applied
to complete the build.
Special thanks to Sergio Bellomo from IPMS
Argentina for his help, and I would also like
to dedicate this model to the memory of the
president of my modelling club, Mr Jacques
Moulin who passed away earlier this year. MA
earth and blue grey. I used some Blu-Tac for
masking off and each colour and then reworked
each shade to give a little colour modulation
and lighting effects. After a gloss coat I then I
applied the Armycast markings. They were very
good and reacted very well to softeners. Just
a note here that the squadron badge on the
left side of the nose is a little too big. Another
MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 63

ARGENTINIAN SABRE

• New tool plastic kit

•
•
6 markings options
Photoetched parts FM-2
Wildcat™
• Canopy and wheels masks
64 CHINESE GUOMINDANG FIGHTER [Link]

Ashley Dunn
builds the 1:48 ICM
Polikarpov I-153

Chinese
Seagull I-153 World War II Chinese Guomindang Fighter
Manufacturer: ICM

I
CM have been releasing a steady detail on both the fuselage and wings are just
stream of newly tooled model kits for superb – subtle and very realistic. The small Scale: 1:48
a few years now which have been met decal sheet also looks lovely, very well printed Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded
with some great praise. One of the with a glossy surface and the decal carrier film Kit Number: 48099
newer additions is their 1:48 Polikarpov almost invisible in the light. There are options
I-153. This particular kit is in the World War II for four different airframes all in a main olive
markings for the Chinese Guomindang Air drab colour scheme. The instruction sheet is way of forming the ‘cage’ surrounding the
Force. The kit comprises of seven sprues, six in also very good. Well laid out in black and white pilot. Four pieces make up this (front, rear and
a light grey slightly soft plastic and one small rendered 3-D isometric graphics over twenty- two sides), to which a couple of instruments
clear plastic sprue with the windshield. The eight steps and with colour callouts for Revell and gauges and such were added. The seat is
mouldings are very crisp indeed, with lovely and Tamiya all the way through. The scheme next, and this made up of a rear backplate with
fine engraved panel lines where required and options are in full colour to aid painting of the leather head cushion pre-moulded and a seat
both raised and recessed rivet detailing. There’s main airframe. pan. These are added to two ‘L’ shaped plates
no flash present at all. The fabric and ribbing The build began with the cockpit area by which are glued to a separate main cockpit
MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 65

CHINESE SEAGULL
The internal
details…. …. suitably painted

The pilot’s
‘office’

The engine
has some nice
detailing

THE FABRIC AND RIBBING DETAIL ON BOTH THE

FUSELAGE AND WINGS ARE JUST SUPERB – SUBTLE
AND VERY REALISTIC
floor and also houses the undercarriage bay finish for the decals followed by a matt varnish detail. The instructions would then have you
on the underside. The rudder pedals and the and finally some Micro Kristal Klear to the dial add the upper wing to the fuselage and the
control columns are glued in place prior to the faces to represent the glass. With the cockpit spars joining the lower and upper wings too. I
cage being added over the top. Instructions complete it was then glued in place to the decided against this as it would make painting
call out a medium grey colour for the main lower wing and wheel bay. This is provided as and weathering substantially easier. With the
cockpit area, but I chose a light pale blue colour a complete one-piece unit. It was then time main airframe complete the next task was the
in Tamiya XF-23, the same as I would paint the to work on the inside fuselage halves. Cockpit engine. This is a lovely little kit in its own right.
airframe underside. This was taken from some access doors are provided as separate pieces A main cylinder engine block with a separate
reference images I found online - albeit of a to be added to each fuselage half. I glued them front section housing the push rods and so
surviving museum example which may have both in the closed position. I then painted on, followed by the rear manifold tubing and
been re-painted. I added some seat belts made the inside of both fuselage halves in Tamiya separate exhaust ducts all make for a nicely
from Tamiya tape and painted. It seemed an XF-55 Deck Tan to represent the fabric covered detailed representation of the engine in this
expense of going for aftermarket belts when skin and then masked off in order to paint scale. I painted the main engine block in Vallejo
you really can’t see much of the cockpit when the metal panels XF-23 as per the cockpit. A Metal Color Steel and once dry I added some
all is closed up. The cockpit floor was painted couple of bottles which I had pre-painted were AK Interactive Engine and Turbine wash to
Tamiya XF-58 Olive Green after which I added then added, one on each side of the fuselage. bring out the detail. The front section including
some oil washes and pigments to represent Once everything was dry, I added the same the push rods was painted medium grey with
dirt and grime on the floor. The last item to be oil washes and pigments used in the cockpit the rods in a lighter grey. This was based on
added to the cage is the instrument panel. This to the inner fuselage halves to represent dirt another reference picture from the internet.
is comprised of a one-piece panel with dial and grime. The fuselage halves are then glued The piping/ducting and exhaust stacks were
faces and a few switches moulded in. together and once dry are offered from above painted in Revell Aqua Colour Anthracite
ICM provide individual decals for each of the over the cockpit and onto the lower wing followed by various pigments including Uschi
nine-instrument dial faces which I think is much section. The fit of this was superb and lined Van Der Rosten Steel Powder and AK Interactive
better than a one-piece ‘everything on’ decal. up perfectly. It does leave a slight seam on the Medium and Light Rust. Once complete I could
You can therefore apply each accurately for a wing root area which has to be cleaned up, add the front engine cowl which has grooves
more realistic looking Instrument panel. The but it looks like ICM thought this through in pre-moulded to allow the cylinders of the
detail on the decals is also very fine. I painted the engineering and it’s in an area that’s easy engine to slot in and position this positively
the IP Tamiya XF-85 Rubber black then a gloss to fill and sand without losing any substantial and accurately. The Propeller was next which
66 CHINESE GUOMINDANG FIGHTER [Link]

Adding some pre-shading

was simple and only required

a quick primer coat followed by
Vallejo Metal Color Aluminium.
I set this aside to
add at the very
end. There are a
couple of machine
gun barrels to be added which
fix to the forward fuselage bulkhead
and protrude through the engine. ICM provide
a styrene template piece for this, which slots
into two holes on the bulkhead and provides
drill hole positions for the aforementioned
gun barrels. I followed the instructions, drilled
the holes and glued the barrels which I’d
pre-painted Revell Anthracite. With these in
place and the glue still setting somewhat I
For the main colour I used added the engine to the bulkhead and as
Gunze Aqueous H405 designed the gun barrels protruded
Olive Green…

…which settled well

MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 67

CHINESE SEAGULL
through with no problems at all. I the sprues and cleaned these up with a scalpel to protect the paint and weathering already
allowed this to dry overnight before and sanding stick ready for priming. The last complete.
adding the side engine cowls to the item was the ordnance. ICM provide two types Everything was primed in Vallejo Light Grey
fuselage. Again, the fit was superb. I of bombs that you can use. One set looks like Primer thinned 50:50 with their own thinner.
cut the undercarriage legs and doors from 100-150lb and the other 250lb. Four of each I then added a light first pass coat followed
are provided and I chose to add the 250lb. by a heavier medium coat and let that dry
These were assembled and cleaned up as overnight. This in the light of day looked a little
required. With all this done I was very nearing patchy so I gave the model another light coat
the painting stage. The last item was to draw which once dry was perfect. Unfortunately,
a circle on masking tape with a compass I had to let this dry again overnight prior to
slightly bigger the front engine cowl giving the model a light sanding with very fine
so I could add over the engine wet and dry sandpaper. The next stage was
to add some pre-shading and mottling which
I did using Tamiya XF-24 Dark Grey. This was
airbrushed over panel lines and mottled over
the main airframe in a random fashion. I could
then start on the main colours. I chose the
underside first and used Tamiya XF-23 Light
Blue thinned 60/:40 in favour of thinner,
that being Tamiya’s own brand. I
started on the main airframe slowly
built up the colour allowing the
shading to subtly show through. I
also sprayed the undercarriage
legs, wheels and doors at the
same time. Everything was
allowed to dry thoroughly
68 CHINESE GUOMINDANG FIGHTER [Link]

overnight before the upper surface

was sprayed. For this I used
Gunze Aqueous H405 Olive
Green. Again, I followed
my usual process of
thinning 60:40 in favour
of Mr Color Thinner and
sprayed lightly building
up the opacity to my required
level. This was left to dry overnight
and fully cure before I added a coat of
Alclad Aqua Gloss in preparation for the
decals. The decals were superb and went on
perfectly on top of the Aqua Gloss after just
being soaked in warm water. I only needed a
small amount of Micro Set to get that ‘painted
on’ look. I was very impressed with these. Once
dry, I washed the areas where the decals were
added to remove any potential residue after
which I sprayed a coat of Aqua Gloss to seal
the decals in followed by a coat of Windsor &
Newton Galleria Matt Varnish in preparation for
the weathering stage.
For the weathering I predominantly used
a mixture of oil paints with a little pigment at want to achieve you can use thicker
the end. I started off with a panel line wash or thinner solutions. Thicker for say,
and went around filling the recessed areas. A wheel wells to create random mud and dirt
few spots of Lamp Black, Yellow Ochre, Buff and thinner for say oil or stains in wing roots
Titanium, Olive Green and Raw Umber oil paints or engine areas. Lastly, I added some earth
were added individually to a mixing palate. coloured pigment to the tyres and wheels
Neat dots were added randomly to areas of followed by soot for the exhaust staining. It
the airframe before running and streaking a was then a case of adding the undercarriage
(thinner moistened) flat brush in the direction legs and wheels and doors, the rear tail wheel,
of the airflow. I completed this a few times propeller and lastly the canopy and she was
until happy with the effect. It’s a case of less is finished.
more with this technique. I then added some This is a great little kit from ICM of a more
diluted colours to certain areas of higher wear unusual and largely forgotten about airframe. again. Overall, I really enjoyed building this,
and tear followed by more heavily diluted The surface detail, engineering and fit of the even more so than I thought I would. I’m now
mixtures to add filter type washes. With some plastic parts is just superb together with the thinking about doing a 1:32nd scale kit of the
of the washes I loaded up a 3/O paintbrush and thought-out template for drilling the gun barrel same aircraft or maybe I could give the I-16 a try
flicked the end of the brush with a cocktail stick holes and a set of high quality well performing in the near future. MA
into localised areas. Depending on what you decals with individual IP dials of note worth
70 P-47 THUNDERBOLT ‘RAZORBACK’ [Link]

David Rainer builds the

1:48 Monogram P-47D on
German colours

A Captured
Jug P-47 Thunderbolt ‘Razorback’
Manufacturer: Monogram
Scale: 1:48

N
ot being a huge aficionado of World Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded
War II aircraft, my interest was Kit Number: 85242
piqued, however, when I saw some
photographs of a captured P-47D in
German markings, I really wanted to these off and replaced them with some similar
recreate it in scale. I was also lucky enough to diameter Evergreen tubing. The lights on the
be given the Monogram P-47D kit by a friend, wing tips were also not clear, so I cut them out
so I thought – why not have a go! and made my own lenses using some Micro
The detail is ok for a fairly old kit with raised Kristal Klear.
panel lines and rivets. The fit was also decent With the construction complete, I moved
enough, with just a little putty needed around on to the painting phase and began with a
the wing roots. Also, the Monogram gun coat of Mr Surfacer 1500 Black as primer and
barrels have lots of cast marks on them, so I cut some Akan Lemon-Grey for the pre-shading.
MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 71

A CAPTURED JUG
Painting began
with a coat of Mr
Surfacer 1500 Black

I used some Akan Lemon-Grey

for the pre-shading

I SAW SOME PHOTOGRAPHS OF A CAPTURED P-47D

IN GERMAN MARKINGS, AND I REALLY WANTED
TO RECREATE IT IN SCALE
72 P-47 THUNDERBOLT ‘RAZORBACK’ [Link]

For the camouflage

colours I went with
Hataka US Army Olive
Drab and Insignia
Yellow

All the insignia and lettering were

masked and airbrushed-on….

….using Tamiya
Masking Sheets

For the camouflage colours I went with Hataka get a nice

US Army Olive Drab and Insignia Yellow. The contrast to
transition between the two colours was masked the Olive
off with some UHU Patafix. Drab. After
To replicate the faded paint surfaces, I added a Matt coat, I did
some discoloration with lighter and darker some streaking and added
variations of the two main shades. Here I took some further discoloration on
US Army Olive Drab and added some different the wings using various washes
colours to it, such as some sand and dark brown and streaking mediums. To add
tones to give some variation. I applied these even more tonal variation to the
mixes randomly and highly thinned on fuselage wings and fuselage I used some AK
and on the wings. All the insignia and lettering Interactive weathering pencils and Revell
were masked and airbrushed-on using Tamiya pigments. The pencils can be used both dry
Masking Sheets, which came in handy since for scratches and chipping, and wet as a filter. In
they have a grid printed on them. between weathering steps, I applied more Matt
Weathering was done in several layers varnish to ensure I didn’t accidentally destroy
starting with washes. On the yellow areas I used any previous steps. To finish it off I attached
an Ammo by MIG Brown Wash and on the top, the antenna cable, the propeller and I gave the
I used an Ammo by MIG Dark Wash in order to model a few light coats of Hataka Satin. MA
MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 73

A CAPTURED JUG
74 KFIR C2/C7 [Link]

Mission Models Masterclass

Sri Lankan
Striker
Mac Patterson uses Mission
Models paints to detail the
1:48 Kinetic Kfir

A
product of mid 1970’s Israeli C2 or C7 versions) are more than acceptable,
aviation technology, the Kfir has however, I had to hand an aftermarket resin
travelled the globe during its set dedicated to the versions I intended to
service life, being a favourite of build which just had the edge regarding
embryonic Air Forces in South side console detail. A coat of light grey
America, or, as in the case of this build the airbrushed over the entire tub was followed
island republic of Sri Lanka. Acquired by the by highlighting various switches and buttons
SLAF in the 1990s, the deployment of the Kfir in their respective colours, a toothpick is
C2s during the Sri Lankan Civil War was not the ideal tool to undertake this delicate
without controversy, being used principally job as it is relatively simple to control the
in a ground attack role, they took a heavy toll amount of paint applied to these tiny parts. Kfir C2/C7
on the Tamil separatists during the conflict. The instrument panels were detailed using Manufacturer: Kinetic
The subject of this build is Kfir C.2 SMF 5201, a set of modern dial decals to sit within the Scale: 1:48
of the 10th Fighter Squadron, Sri Lanka Air embossed bezels of the resin part, Micro Sol Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded
Force, Katunayake AB. Sadly, this aircraft decal solution ensured good adhesion. The Kit Number: 48001
appears to have been involved in a mid-air immediate advantage of using the resin part
collision with a sister Kfir while rehearsing rather than the kit tub will be the additional
for an anniversary flypast in 2011. The 1:48 weight at the nose of the model, this will seam free join, but be minded that there
Kinetic kit is what might be described as obviously help keep the nose wheel securely is a lot of detail regarding recessed panels
twenty-first century mouldings of this on the deck, preventing the aircraft from and access hatches that, potentially, could
famous aircraft, effectively superseding being a tail sitter- the integrated wheel well be lost if you’re a little heavy handed with
the old Esci kit from around the late 1970’s. detail is also superior to that of the moulded the sandpaper. The upper fuselage join also
The Kinetic Kfir is not without competition kit plastic. To further act as additional requires a bit of TLC for a smooth, seam free
though, the modeller has the option of ballast, I elected to use a single-piece, resin finish, and as this Kfir would be wearing a
building the slightly newer AMK, and both nose, which is finely moulded with delicate fairly monotone colour scheme, an invisible
products are very well specified and detailed, recessed detail, and the part simply plugs seam would be essential for a convincing
with a comprehensive selection of ordnance into the aperture at the forward part of the finish. The Kinetic kit gives the modeller the
and marking options, if you were being ultra- fuselage once the two halves have been option of displaying the Kfir with the delta
fussy, I feel the AMK plastic is just a fraction mated. wing flaps either drooped or in a neutral
sharper in recessed and embossed detail, but The lower wing piece joins the main position, unsure of which would be correct, I
it’s a very close call. fuselage just aft of the front wheel wells, found a couple of images of aircraft museum
Straight-from-the-box the cockpit, a little care and attention is required here examples showed the flaps drooped, I also
multipart ejection seat and instrument as a tight fit is a little tricky to achieve- a felt it would add a bit of visual interest to the
panels parts (with the option of either the touch of filler is required to get a subtle, generally flat, grey camouflage. I thought I’d
MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 [Link] 75

SRI LANKAN STRIKER

The cockpit
built up

leave the flaps off at this point to paint and

weather them separately, again to introduce Nose and engine nozzle
a little modulation to the finish. ready to be fitted
Once the imperfections were sanded,
I airbrushed an initial coat of Mission
Models Grey Primer, a good key base for
the camouflage colour, and for this I choose Mission Models MMP 116 Light Grey as it was personally I think it give a realistic three-
an accurate match to the stated FS36495 dimensional look to the finished build, the
worn by SLAF Kfir’s. I pre-shaded the upper MP 116 was laid down in a couple of very
and lower surfaces with Mission Models light airbrush coats to retain the modulated
Black, particularly along prominent panel effect. Once sufficiently dry, the grey was
lines and inspection hatches- whether masked to allow the undersides to be
modellers love or loath the effect,
76 KFIR C2/C7 [Link]

airbrushed with flat white, a simple exercise, warning markings and various stencils,
but remember to mask the area where the the SLAF Kfir carry nominal markings, the I first added a coat of Mission
upper surface camouflage wraps around the distinguishing items being rather nice, Models Grey Primer…
underside dog tooth section of the lower colourful national roundels and large code
wing. I airbrushed the white in a series of numbers on the tail, and all the decals
short, light bursts, thinking that in a tropical adhered extremely well. I then picked out
environment the underside of the aircraft the recessed panels and rivet detail with
would pick up an accumulation of dust and thinned Lamp Black oil paint, allowing to dry
grime, creating and anything but pure white I removed any overspill with a White Spirit
patina. dampened cotton bud, this also creates
The Kinetic kit doesn’t provide decal some dynamic ‘airflow’ weathering
options for a Sri Lankan Airforce Kfir, I effects. Another interesting
therefore gathered the relevant markings feature I notice on the
from various sources, primarily based on the photograph of SFM 5202 …then began to add some
information provided in the AMK boxing, was the mismatched pre-shading….
as the instruction booklet in this kit also subsonic external
has an accurate profile illustration of the fuel tanks,
specific C2 I was building. I kept referring to specifically the port
this as the profile seems to indicate over- tank looks to be a deeper, bluer grey than
painted areas on the tail and rear fuselage, the starboard tank, I thought this would help
possibly obscuring previous owners’ codes modulate the overall light grey look of the
or markings, and on further investigation I finished build. To achieve this finish,
found an online image of SFM 5202 which I elected to use Mission Models
confirmed the over painting. To achieve this MMP 094 Sea Grey Medium, the
‘field’ applied finish I created a mask with an
irregular edge, when held slightly away from
the surface of the model it leaves a soft edge
to the dark grey airbrushed patch.
With the camouflage applied
I sealed the finish with Mission
Models Clear Coat in
preparation for decaling,
other than the usual

….followed by
the camouflage
colours….
MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 [Link] 77

SRI LANKAN STRIKER

THE SUBJECT OF THIS BUILD IS KFIR C.2
SMF 5201, OF THE 10TH FIGHTER SQUADRON,
SRI LANKA AIR FORCE
…and then a
gloss coat for
the decals

finish being heavily weathered to replicate

fuel spills and accumulated grime.
As mentioned previously, the Kinetic kit
has a healthy selection of ordnance, to
complement the subsonic fuel tanks I
thought I’d configure the Kfir in its
ground attack role as the Mk.82
bombs and centre line ejector
rack looked particularly

Patches on the fuselage

and tail seemed to indicate
over-painted areas on the tail
and rear fuselage, possibly
obscuring previous owners’ well rendered. Although the SLAF Kfir faced
codes or markings limited air to air opposition during their
service life, they did retain the option of
carrying defensive AAMs, primarily from the
Rafael Python family, and for this purpose I
utilised a spare set from an AMK kit, these are
single-piece mouldings and are extremely
well rendered with fine detail. The challenge
with monotone camouflage finishes is
always the fear that the final effect is flat,
dull and a little toy like, hopefully the use of
pre-shading and various weathering effects
brings this Sri Lankan Kfir to life. MA
78 CHECK YOUR REFERENCES [Link]

CHECK YOUR
REFERENCES
Models Aircraft’s Monthly Look at New Books

countless heroic
deeds by pilots like
the Raven forward
air controllers,
operating from
primitive airstrips in
close contact with
fierce enemy forces.
Fighting in the Sky
USAF rescue services The Story in Art
carried out extremely
hazardous missions to
Coast Command’s Publisher: Pen and Sword
Author: John Fairley
recover aircrew who
would otherwise have
Air War Against ISBN: 9781526762207

been swiftly executed the U-boat Format: Hardback

Price: £20.00
by Pathet Lao forces, Publisher: Pen and Sword

The Ho Chi
and reconnaissance
pilots routinely
risked their lives in
solo, low-level mission over
hostile territory. Further south,
Author: Norman Franks
ISBN: 978152631838
Format: Softback
Price: £14.99
B arely a decade passed from
the Wright Brothers’ first
powered flight to aircraft
becoming lethal instruments of war.
The Royal Flying Corps and Royal

Minh Trail
1964-73
the ‘Steel Tiger ‘campaign
was less covert. Arc Light B-52
strikes were flown frequently,
and the fearsome AC-130 was
introduced to cut the trails. At
T his book summarises the
story of how RAF Coastal
Command overcame the
German U-boat danger during
the Second World War and how
Naval Air Service took off in the very
early days of The Great War and
captured the public’s imagination
and admiration.
Sydney and Richard Carline
Publisher: Osprey
the same time, many thousands the escalation of the U-boat war happened to be both pilots and
Author: Peter E Davies
of North Vietnamese troops promoted the development of artists as was Frenchman Henri Farre.
ISBN: 9781472842534
and civilians repeatedly made anti-submarine warfare, leading Their works inspired celebrated
Format: Softback
the long, arduous journey to victory over this menace in the painters like Sir John Lavery who
Price: £14.99 along the trail in trucks or, more Atlantic. At the start of the war, RAF took to the skies in an airship in the

T he Trails War formed

a major part of the
so-called ‘secret war’ in
South East Asia, yet for complex
political reasons, including
often, pushing French bicycles
laden with ammunition and
rice. Under constant threat
of air attack and enduring
heavy losses, they devised
Coastal Command had virtually
no real chance of either finding or
sinking Germany’s submarines, but
within a short period of time, new
methods of detecting and delivering
First World War. Feeding on the
demand for works depicting this
new dimension of warfighting, a
new genre of art was born which has
remained popular ever since. During
the involvement of the CIA, extremely ingenious means deadly ordnance with which to the Second World War, the paintings
it received far less coverage of survival. The campaign to sink this underwater threat were of Paul Nash stood out as did Eric
than campaigns like ‘Rolling cut the trails endured for the dreamt up and implemented. It Ravilions who, ironically, died in an
Thunder’ and ‘Linebacker’. entire Vietnam War but nothing took the men of Coastal Command air crash. War artist Albert Richards
Nevertheless, the campaign more than partial success could long hours patrolling over an often dropped with British paratroopers
had a profound effect on the ever be achieved by the USA. hostile sea, in all types of weather, on D-Day. Post-war, paintings by
outcome of the war and on its This illustrated title explores but their diligence, perseverance leading British and international
perception in the USA. the fascinating history of this and dedication won through, saving artists graphically illustrate conflicts
In the north, the Barrel campaign, analysing the forces countless lives of both merchant and such as the Falklands, Bosnia and the
Roll campaign was often involved and explaining why navy seamen out in the cold wastes Gulf War. John Fairley has brought
operated by daring pilots the USA could never truly of the Atlantic and contributing together a dazzling collection of
flying obsolete aircraft, as in conquer the Ho Chi Minh trail. much to the final victory over Nazi art works covering over 100 years
the early years, US forces were [Link] Germany. This new addition to the of air warfare, enhanced by lively
still flying antiquated piston- Images of War series serves as a and informative text. The result is a
engined T-28 and A-26A aircraft. tribute to these men, recording their book that is visually and historically
The campaign gave rise to exploits in words and images. satisfying.
[Link] [Link]
MODEL AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2020 79

CHECK YOUR REFERENCES

In Cold War
US Navy Ships v Malaya and the Skies
Japanese Attack Dutch East Indies Publisher: Osprey
The Men Who
Aircraft 1941-42 Author: Michael Napier Flew the English
Publisher: Osprey Publisher: Osprey
ISBN: 978147236885
Format: Hardback
Electric Lightning
Author: Mark Stille Author: Mark Stille Publisher: Pen and Sword
Price: £30.00
ISBN: 9781472836441 ISBN: 9781472840592 Author: Martin Bowman
Format: Softback
Price: £13.99
Format: Softback
Price: £14.99
T hroughout the second
half of the 20th century,
international relations
ISBN: 978152605648
Format: Softback
Price: £16.99

T he striking power of the

Imperial Japanese Navy’s
carrier-based attack aircraft
was established at Pearl Harbor,
and the IJN’s carrier-based torpedo
J apan’s attack on Pearl
Harbor in 1941 was quickly
followed by a rapid
invasion of Malaya, a plan based
entirely on the decisive use of
across the globe were dominated
by the Cold War. From 1949
until the fall of the Berlin Wall
in 1989, US and Soviet strategic
forces were deployed across the
T he early 1950s were a
boom time for British
aviation. The lessons of six
years of war had been learned
and dive-bombers showed their its airpower. While the British Arctic Ocean in North America and much of the research into jet
prowess again at the Battle of was inadequately prepared, and Northern Russia, while the engines, radar and aerodynamics
Coral Sea when they sank the US they likewise relied on the RAF best-equipped armed forces had begun to reach fruition. In
Navy carrier USS Lexington and to defend their colony. The that the world had ever seen Britain, jet engine technology
damaged the carrier USS Yorktown. campaign was a short match faced each other directly across led the world, while wartime
Even at the disastrous Battle of between Japanese airpower the ‘Iron Curtain’ in Europe. In developments into swept wing
Midway, the relatively small number at its peak and an outgunned Cold War Skies examines the design in Germany and their
of IJNAF attack- and torpedo- colonial air force, and its results air power of the major powers transonic research programme
bombers that were launched were stunning. The subsequent both at a strategic and at a were used to give western
against the US fleet proved that Dutch East Indies campaign tactical level throughout the design teams a quantum leap in
they remained a potent force by was even more dependent on forty years of the Cold War. In aircraft technology. At English
heavily damaging Yorktown again, airpower, with Japan having to this fascinating book, acclaimed Electric, ‘Teddy’ Petter’s design
which allowed an IJN submarine seize a string of island airfields to historian Michael Napier looks at team were keen to capitalize on
to sink the carrier. At Guadalcanal, support their leapfrog advance. each decade of the war in turn, the success of their Canberra
IJNAF carrier-based aircraft sank Facing the Japanese was a examining the deployment of jet bomber and rose to the
the carrier USS Hornet and badly mixed bag of Allied air units, strategic offensive and defensive challenge of providing a high-
damaged USS Enterprise twice.  including the Dutch East Indies forces in North America and speed interceptor for the RAF.
However, throughout 1942, US Air Squadron and the US Far East Northern Russia as well as the Martin Bowman describes the
Navy ship defences brought Air Force. The RAF fell back to situation in Europe. He details the career of the Lightning in detail
down an increasing number of airfields on Sumatra in the last strategic forces and land-based using first-hand accounts of
attacking IJNAF aircraft. The final stages of the Malaya campaign, tactical aircraft used by the air what it was like to fly and service
major battle of the year, the Battle and was involved in the last forces of the USA, USSR, NATO, this thoroughbred. Illustrated
of Santa Cruz, exacted crippling stages of the campaign to defend Warsaw Pact countries and the with over 200 colour and b/w
losses on the IJN, setting the stage the Dutch colony. For the first European non-aligned nations. photographs, appendices listing
for the eclipse of the IJNAF’s highly time, this study explores these He also describes the aircraft Lightning squadrons, production
trained and effective aviation attack campaigns from an airpower types in the context of the units totals and individual aircraft
forces. Packed with illustrations perspective, explaining how that operated them and the histories, alongside the first in-
and contemporary photographs, and why the Japanese were so roles in which they were used. depth analysis into why a third of
this engrossing volume details the devastatingly effective. The text is supported by a wide all Lightnings were lost, The Men
design, tactics, and operational [Link] range of first-hand accounts of Who Flew the English Electric
records of both the US Navy ships operational flying during the Lightning is a fine record of the
and the IJNAF aircraft which Cold War, as well as numerous last truly great all-British fighter.
attacked them over the year high-quality images. [Link]
following Pearl Harbor. [Link]
[Link]
80 CHECK YOUR REFERENCES [Link]

P-51 Mustang
RAF Harrier Publisher: Pen and Sword

Ground Attack Author: Robert Jackson and Lynn

Ritger

Falklands ISBN: 978152059900

Format: Softback
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Price: £16.99
Author: Jerry Pook
ISBN: 978152045565
Format: Softback
Price: £15.99 T he North American P-51
Mustang was one of the most
successful and effective fighter
aircraft of all time. It was initially

D uring the Falklands war

Jerry Pook, a pilot in
No.1(F) Squadron RAF, flew
air interdiction, armed recce,
close-air-support and airfield
produced in response to a 1940 RAF
requirement for a fast, heavily armed
fighter able to operate effectively at
altitudes in excess of 20,000ft. North
America built the prototype in 117
Arado Ar 234 Bomber and
Reconnaissance Units
attack as well as pure photo- days, and the aircraft, designated Publisher: Osprey
recce missions. Most weapons NA-73X, flew on 26 October 1940. The Author: Robert Forsyth and Nick and other Allied strongholds.
were delivered from extreme first of 320 production Mustang Is for Beale Astonishingly, in September
low-level attacks because of the the RAF flew on 1 May 1941, powered ISBN: 9781472844393 1944 and as late as 1945, lone Ar
lack of navigation aids and in the by a 1,100hp Allison V-1710-39 engine. Format: Softback 234s conducted reconnaissance
absence of Smart weapons. The RAF test pilots soon found that with Price: £14.99 flights over British ports and
only way he could achieve results this powerplant the aircraft did not the Mediterranean. The aircraft
was to get low down and close-in
to the targets and, if necessary,
carry out re-attacks to destroy
high-value targets. Apart from
brief carrier trials carried out
perform well at high altitude, but
that its low-level performance was
excellent. It was when the Mustang
airframe was married to a Packard-
built Rolls-Royce Merlin engine that
W hen the revolutionary
twin jet powered
Arado Ar 234 first
appeared in the skies over
north-west Europe in the
was equally efficient as a jet
bomber - although the Ar
234B-2 bomber variant carried
no defensive gun armament,
it was able to deliver 1000 kg
many years previously there had the aircraft’s true excellence became summer of 1944, it represented of bombs at high-speed and at
been no RAF Harriers deployed at apparent. Possessing a greater the state-of-the-art in terms either low- or high-level with
sea. The RAF pilots were treated combat radius than any other Allied of aeronautical and technical considerable and devastating
with ill-disguised contempt single-engine fighter, it became development. The Ar 234 was accuracy. This highly detailed
by their naval masters, their synonymous with the Allied victory a formidable aircraft - powered title from renowned aviation
professional opinions ignored in in the air. During the last eighteen by Jumo 004Bs, the same historian Robert Forsyth
spite of the fact that the RN knew months of the war in Europe, engine used by the Me 262, explores the history of this
next to nothing about ground- escorting bomber formations, it and with a maximum speed of incredible aircraft, from its
attack and recce operations. Very hounded the Luftwaffe to destruction 735 km/h and range of 1600 development in the early 1940s
soon after starting operations in the very heart of Germany. In the km/h, it was very difficult for to its deployment in both
from the aircraft carrier HMS Pacific, operating from advance bases, the Allies to ‘catch’. Here was a reconnaissance and bomber
Hermes the squadron realised it ranged over the Japanese Home machine that with its superior roles throughout the rest of
that they were considered Islands, joining carrier-borne fighters speed could operate with the war. The masterful text
as more or less expendable such as the Grumman Hellcat to bring impunity as both a bomber and is supported by stunning,
ordnance. The Harriers lacked the Allies massive air superiority. Yet in the reconnaissance role. As specially commissioned
the most basic self-protection the Mustang came about almost by such, the aircraft became the artwork.
aids and were up against 10,000 accident, a product of the Royal Air world’s first reconnaissance jet, [Link]
well-armed troops who put up Force’s urgent need for new combat undertaking secret, high-speed,
an impressive weight of fire aircraft in the dark days of 1940, when high-altitude observation
whenever attacked. Britain, fighting for survival, turned to missions for the German High
[Link] the United States for help in the island Command over the Allied
nation’s darkest hour. beachheads in Normandy
[Link]
Shop & Web Guide Promote your company here and appear this magazine every month.
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82 VOLUME 19 ISSUE 09 [Link]

In The Next Issue

For the October Issue of Model Aircraft, here’s just a
little of what we have planned!
Desert Shark Polish Protector
James Ashton builds the 1:32 Hasegawa Alan Hooker builds the 1:48
P-40E Warhawk HobbyBoss MiG-17PF

Experimental Fighter Boxted’s Bruiser

Grant Dalzell builds the 1/32 Das Werke Ashley Dunn builds the 1:48 Hasegawa P-47D-
Ef-126/Ef-127 30/40Thunderbolt in the makings of the 56th
Fighter Group as flown by their CO, Colonel
Oriental Orange David Schilling
Jeroen Burger adds a splash of colour to the
1:48 Kinetic F-104J Plus, much, much more!

Desert Intruder
Francisco Gutierrez builds the 1:48 Kinetic A-6E

Model Aircraft Manual

MiG-21, with historic details, colour profiles
and a full build of the 1:48 Eduard MiG-21MT
from Ian Gaskell

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