96

JUNE/JULY 2021 • £6.95 UK $15.99

www.mengafvmodeller.com

CAUGHT IN MID-AIR, ANDREA PATERNIERI’S STUNNING F9F-5 PANTHER

 CONTENTS
2 Whiplash
Andrea Paternieri recreates a dramatic F9F-5 Carrier landing in 1:48

14 Little Patches Part Two

Andrea Vignocchi returns with his spectacular 1:72 B-17G

24 Sea Flanker
Mac Patterson takes the new Minibase SU-33 for a test drive

32 B-29 Superfortress Part One

Jean Philippe Camus tackles the mighty vintage Monogram 1:48 kit

44 Super Bug
Mark Neville takes a small advanced look at Meng Models new 1:48 F/A-18E

46 Miss Mutt
Grega Krizman builds the Tamiya 1:48 P-47 Razorback

56 Island Hopper
Kinetic’s new IA 58 Pucara modelled by Albert Tureczek

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 From February 10th 1952 to May 2nd 1953, the F9F-5 Panthers of
the US NAVY VF-783 reserve squadron were deployed in the
Korean War, aboard the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany (CV-34), as
part of the CVG-102. The squadron received new designation "VF-
122" from February 4th, 1953. One day in 1952, during this cruise,
LTJG Pilot Henry W Egan made an emergency landing aboard his
F9F-5 Panther BuNo 125541. Some photographs and videos of the
time show us planes bouncing or getting caught on barriers,
sometimes with disastrous results. I was inspired and challenged
by the study of these images to immortalize our unfortunate
Panther in a precise moment in time when the impact with the
elastic barriers suspends the aircraft.
I used the following commercial sets:
•Trumpeter’s (02834) kit, dedicated to the F9F-3 version that I will
convert to F9F-5
•Photoetch by Eduard (49378), dedicated to the F9F-3 version but
with many parts that fit the F9F-5
•Cockpit by Black Box (48023), of which we will discover that I only
used the seat ...
•Pavla Model (U4824) fuselage flaps, dedicated to the F9F-2
version but which I will convert to F9F-5
•Canopy by PJ Production (481204)
•Decals by Victory Production (VPD48008) dedicated to F9F-2 but
used only for some stencils and for making masks
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04
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Photo 01: panels and rivet detail
To give better depth I cut and thinned openings where necessary.
The kit features heavy paneling and rivets with round edges, giving an effect
similar to an unrealistic padding. In addition, lines and rivets are in many
cases fantasy: I eliminated them all by sanding or filling with putty and
cyanoacrylate glue.
Photo 02: Front landing gear and air brake compartments
There is a Pavla Model set but I prefered to scratchbuild. I used the original
piece of the structure given the correct dimensions and enriched it with
plasticard details and Evergreen profiles, copper wires and leftover photoetch
parts.
Photo 03: Instrument panel
Trumpeter, Eduard and Black Box give different interpretations. The most
realistic is Eduard which was created for the F9F-2 version but also applicable
to my aircraft. The Black Box one is wrong, where for example there are only
6 insruments instead of 7 in the central row.
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•Decals by Superscale (480778) dedicated to F9F-5 and used only
for some stencils
•Montex cockpit masks (48268)
•Seated pilot by PJ Productions (481110), dedicated to USAF but
which I will convert to USN
•A cannibalised engine from Tamiya’s 61043 Mig-15 kit
The conversion from F9F-3 to F9F-5
The Trumpeter kit dates back to 2007 and is differentiated from
the F9F-5 Hobbycraft kit released the same year, with reworked
surface details, but with unchanged shapes and dimensions; to
convert the kit from version F9F-3 to F9F-5 I needed to make the
following changes.
•New cockpit with flat consoles
•Rudder depth extension
•New bulbous shape along the wings leading edge, in the folding
area
•Fuselage flap separation into two hinged parts
In theory I should lengthen the fuselage by 5mm by inserting a ring
in front of the air intakes, but by pure luck Hobbycraft/Trumpeter
developed this kit based on the old F9F-5 Monogram kit forgetting
to shorten the fuselage! This "mistake" is an advantage for me, and
to be sure I compared the fuselage with scale drawings,
discovering with immense pleasure that I had no need for surgery!
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02
06
Photo 04: Cockpit
The Black Box set is designed for Monogram’s kit.
However, the adaptation works is massive given the simplicity of the structure
so I went the scratchbuilding route which allows me, at the same time, to
have much more precise and defined details.
Photo 05: Cockpit sides and front landing gear bay
These areas were detailed with the same methods used for the other areas.
Photo 06, 07: Nene engine - VK1
The Panther was equipped with the Rolls Royce Nene (or RB41) engine.
Following commercial and diplomatic agreements between the UK and the
Soviet Union, 25 Nene engines were supplied, reengineered to the locally
produced Klimov RD-45. From the Klimov RD-45 an enlarged version was
developed, the Klimov VK-1, which equipped many Soviet jets of the first
generation, like the MiG-15.
 08 09 10

07

11 12
Externally, the Nene and VK-1 engines are not exactly the same, but they are
very similar. By opening the 4 dorsal auxiliary air intakes of our Panther, the
engine will be partially visible; there are no commercial engine sets, but for
my purposes a VK-1 will be fine within the limits of what will be visible, in
addition to the limited light, is defenitely fine.
The engine was assembled from the box and detailed by creating the air
intake ribs and some connections and also the fuselage structure visible from
the auxiliary air intakes.
Photo 08-10: Fuselage flap
I cut the Pavla Model flaps following the separation line of the hinged parts
and put the new sheets that differentiate the Panther versions.
In the end area of the fixed part, I rebuilt the cavities to give the missing
depth.
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Photo 11: Air intake ducts
The kit does not provide ducts; they need to be rebuilt using 0.25mm
plasticard strips and Milliput putty. It will not be necessary to connect them
neatly along the external curvature, as this is totally invisible.
Photos 12 - 13: Main carriage compartments
The central doors are usually closed and I will therefore have to concentrate
only on the outer areas, which are very simple but can be improved. In this
area there is a trunk of the external part of the air intake duct, made of
embossed sheet metal. I used parts from the Cougar by Kitty Hawk, very
beautiful; in order not to sacrifice that kit, I copied them in Sintafoam
Prochima resin and adapt them easily to the kit with additional cables and
profiles added.

17

14 15 16
Photos 14 - 18: Interior painting before assembly of the
semi-fuselages
Landing gear and engine bays are painted starting from a matt black
base and then layers of Interior Green, (Gunze H58) gradually lightened
with gloss yellow and white, same process for the dark parts of the
cockpit but lightening the black with grey and brown. On the consoles I
created different shades in the black panels, through grey and brown
acrylic filters.

Photo 19: Engine painting

Starting with a Tamiya matt grey base, I rubbed pencil graphite powder
on the combustion chambers to create the metallic effect.

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Photo 20 - 22: Assembly of internal parts
Once the painting is finished, I fixed the cockpit, engine and
landing gear / air brakes bays. The exhaust pipe is made by
cutting and smoothing a 12mm diameter brass pipe.

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23

24 25 26 27

28 29
Photo 23: Assembly of fuselage and wings
The assembly has no major problems but many dry tests are necessary due
to the large amount of interior components.
The wings have a positive dihedral and to be sure of correct fixing I used a
template cut from a simple photocopy of a drawing of the front view in scale.
Photos 24, 25: Wing bulkhead
There is a bulkhead to replicate in the wing fold area.A sheet with the correct
external profile is inserted into a razor saw cut.
Photos 26, 27: F9F-5 wing root bulb
A plasticard shape of the desired profile was fixed and used as a
"reinforcement" around which I spread two-part Tamiya putty which has to be
shaped in-situ.
Photo 28: F9F-5 rudder
The moving and fixed parts are constructed using Evergreen rectangular
profiles suitably shaped using files and sandpaper, according to the scale
drawings.
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Photos 29, 30: Wing flaps
The flaps were separated from the wings and covered by brass foil, taking up
the original lines from the scale drawings. The metal sheet, which reproduces
the real manufacturing process, gives a most satisfying finish.
Photo 31: Rear cone of wing tip tanks
The wing tip tanks have two opposite cones on the back, supported by 4
cross arms. A master was made and duplicated in resin.
Photos 32, 33: Wing pylons
The pylons are of two different types, 6 of one type and two of the other.
The pylons of the kit were thinned and sharpened; they must also be detailed
in the area of contact with the loads. The position on the kit also needs to be
corrected, putting them about 3mm forward. Again, masters were duplicated
in resin.
Photo 34: Air brakes
The fabulous Eduard photo-etched airbrakes were used, using only the
rotation arm from the Trumpeter kit. There is little resemblance compared to
the kit parts.

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35 36

Photo 35: Front carriage compartment doors

I eliminated about 0.5mm along the entire perimeter of the
two pieces and I put two brass plates to create a very solid
and realistic frame.

Photo 36: Surface coatings

In several points there are surface coatings that I made
with adhesive aluminum tape shaped in place with
polished tools and wooden sticks.

Photos 37, 38: Trolleys

The plane does not rest on its undercarriage, so I had to
extend the shock absorbers; I made them with steel rods
39 not to be painted, and I applied different details such as
levers, bolts, cables, pipes, etc. I prepared all parts for next
stage which is masking and painting.

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43
45 46
Photo 40: Painting of internal compartments
After masking, the compartments are airbrushed starting from a brown base
and then thin pure red in diluted layers with other light layers gradually lighter
with Yellow and Buff added.
Photos 41 - 47: Exterior painting
The reference colour is SEA BLUE FS-35042; I like to use Gunze colours, but
the closest colour made by the manufacturer is INSIGNIA BLUE FS-35044,
which contains a very slight percentage of red.
A gloss blue base with Gunze H-323 is first airbrushed with shadows in gloss
black H-2 and highlights in glosswhite H-1. After several tests, and using the
Federal Standard chips as a reference, I used Gunze H-55 as a dark grey
base to which gloss transparent blue H-93 is gradually applied; this will
introduce the ‘blue’ to the grey H-55, in successive light layers.
To gain contrast and depth to the single colour, further shading and
highlighting is done gradually using the same colours. The highly thinned
tones are diluted with a separately prepared "solvent-lacquer", composed of
50% Lacquer thinner (Tamiya), and 50% of Leveling Thinner Mr Color (yellow
cap) which ensures the high sheen required prior to decals and weathering.
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44
47
Photos 48 - 50: Masking
After a full week of drying, during which I worked on other details, decals
were positioned with the my usual Microscale products and drawings for the
masks of the letters, numbers and national insignias were drawn in a CAD
programme on my PC following period pictures and the decal sheets
available. Masks were cut with a plotter on a thin PVC adhesive sheet.
White markings are done with Gunze H-1 gloss white, not excessively diluted
in order to create a single more dense pass of colour, avoiding the risk of the
paint creeping under the mask with a devastating effect on the base.
Photo 51, 52: Nose art
My Panther sports the name "Sharon" on the nose. There is no decal, and I
had no choice other than go freehand with a very fine Koh-I-Noor nib loaded
with white ink. The pigment of the white ink is very opaque and in case of
errors it will be possible to erase everything easily with a damp cloth.
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51
49
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52 53 55

56 57

58 59
Photo 53: Chipping
The paint used on the real aircraft was very thick, resistant and did not require the use of yellow or
green primer. From the study of the different available photographs, the Marine planes did not
report excessive wear, but I’ve used some artistic licence some to give variety and break the
monotony of the dark and shiny base colour. In order not to complicate things with hair spray or
similar, a simple sponge method was used with Vallejo silver applied by tapping the sponge in the
desired areas.

Photo 54, 55: Further shading and highlighting

Panels and features were lined with grey / blue oil colour with a small brush then blended with a
soft dry brush. This technique offers great control and subtle tones.

Photos 56 - 59: Pilot

60
Among the many things to do while we wait for the intermediate steps of the aircraft painting to
dry, I worked on the pilot converting from USAF to NAVY equipment. Tamiya base acrylic was
worked onto with lights and shadows in Vallejo colours on the fabrics, and with AK Figure range
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colours for the flesh and details. The gold-coloured helmet is painted with a silver base airbrushed
with Gunze gloss transparent yellow for the simple reason that at the time I did not have an
appropriate gold colour! The results though are very good.

Photos 60, 61: Guns

Gun barrels are from the kit with drilled muzzles and matt black base. The metallic effect is
created by rubbing graphite powder with a brush and buffing with my fingertip.

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66 67
72
71
75 76
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Photos 62 - 65: Deck construction
The wooden carrier deck was created using a 15mm plywood base onto
which strips of wood 0.5 x 4mm section were fixed with PVA glue.
Every 11 rows it was necessary to skip a section, always 4mm wide, to house
what will be the anchoring grids. The strips reproduce wooden planks that
obviously should not be exaggerated in length by adding butt joints and also
more random sections in order to simulate repairs and to avoid repetitive
pattern that would be too regular. Next the wooden deck was sanded and
finished with steel wool. Along the edges of the base PVC trims were glued
providing a neat frame. At the end, any excessive gaps were filled with putty.
Photo 66 - 70: Elastic barrier construction
There are two elastic barriers, one high at the front and one low at the rear,
both consisting of double vertical bands fixed to two horizontal strings in
tension connected to drums placed under the deck. I needed to design a
solid structure, since the aircraft will be suspended and supported by the
elastic barrier at 3 points of contact with the vertical bands. The barriers will
then be in contact with the deck in 3-4 places. I decided to use brass which
was soldered together for greater rigidity, and glue was eliminated at the
points of contact with the aircraft and deck. Instead brass pins were used
that would be inserted into corresponding holes in the aircraft and the deck.
The vertical bands are cut from 0.05mm thick brass sheets, while the
horizontal cords are obtained by intertwining three brass wires with a
diameter of 1mm. To handle the metal it is necessary to use a “third hand”
and normally closed pliers in order to guarantee the positions between the
parts to be soldered. To give the soldering material smoothness it is
necessary to use flux, to be spread with a brush both on the parts to be
welded and on the solder .At the end of the soldering I smoothed out the
joints with files, wire brushes and sandpaper.
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64 65
68 69
70
73
74
78
77
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Photos 71- 72: Fixing tests
When the joints are finished the different parts were bent in order to give a
sense of the impact and movement and stretching, lots of readjusting was
required.
Photos 73 - 75: Painting of the elastic barriers
A coat of spray grey primer was applied and Tamiya flat colours were
airbrushed starting from a brown base, and lightened with deck tan and
white, a final dark wash gives emphasis to the details.
Photos 76 - 78: Deck painting
It was essential to recreate different paint damage, making also different
variants of grey colours based on XF-18 always preceeded with layers of
hairspray. The colours are lifted by rubbing a damp sponge on the dry acrylic
colour with some further airbrush work to give semi-transparency.
Some scale ‘retouching’ by the deck crews was also added, imagining the
brushstroke of an crewman, in scale approximately 5mm long and 3mm
wide. Everything was weathered with washes and splashes of oil colour
dabbed with brushes, sponges and cotton cloths. Tyre marks with black and
brown oil paint were a final touch.
Photos 79, 80: Anchoring grids
Back to the PC to produce the simple CAD drawings of the 4mm strips with
opposing “C” shaped perforations, again cut with a plotter on a thin PVC
adhesive sheet, the same material used for the masking on the aircraft.
Being adhesive, they will apply very easily to the base. These were painted
with a heavy coat of XF-18 acrylic with a rub of HB pencil to give metallic
reflections and scuffs.
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LITTLE
PA T C H E S

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 Interior colouring. If the construction of the interiors
was long and demanding, the painting of them will be
no less demanding. I started by protecting the pre-
coloured photoetched parts with Maskol, then I applied
a coat of Alclad white primer, excellent for improving
paint adhesion. There are details such as the oxygen
bottle and the seat cushions which will be painted
yellow, so these were also masked with Maskol,
because the white background is an excellent base for
yellow. I started airbrushing the basic colours; the areas
inhabited by the crew were in Interior Green, while the
bomb bay and the rear part of the fuselage were left in
natural metal. This at least in theory, because looking at
vintage photos you can see interiors all in green or with
parts in Zinc Chromate, or left completely in natural
metal; let's say that on the B-17 G the standard colour
was the one chosen for this model.

The natural metal areas are painted with Tamiya TS 17 aluminum

from a spray can, a really good colour, robust and easy to apply;
just spray a little paint from the can into a container, dilute it
slightly and then apply it with an airbrush. Finally, a coat of clear
matt will tone down off the excessive brilliance of the aluminum.
After masking the areas that will remain aluminum coloured, I
airbrushed the green, which is a mixture of Gunze H 58 and
Cream Yellow H 34. Now I can remove the Maskol and start
painting the details.

The painting is made entirely with Vallejo acrylics, irreplaceable for me; I used my
usual high contrast painting technique, to bring out all the details as much as possible.
After having painted the various components in the base colour, I painted shadows
and highlights almost as you would with figures.
Oil washes were used only on the natural metal areas, while
on the green I tried to do everything with acrylics: first I
created the shadows around the ribs by mixing black and
green, then with mixtures of green and yellow increasingly
transparent and diluted I merged the dark areas with the
inside of the ribs, highlighting shadows and lights and
creating a nice contrast. It is a rather long technique
because you have to work with very diluted colours; Finally,
the upper part of the ribs is highlighted with an almost pure
yellow. It takes a long time, but the result is great: bright,
sharp and precise.

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 After the painting of the
ribs, I took care of the
countless details along the
two half-fuselages: oxygen
equipment with wooden
panel and photoetched
parts for the regulators,
wooden ammunition
containers, yellow oxygen
cylinders, white or light
grey cables and wiring,
khaki or green crew
backpacks. Every detail is
painted and highlighted
with the utmost care.

The painting work proceeds with all the

bulkheads and floors that will be mounted in
the fuselage. The floors of the B-17 were
made of wood, which I reproduced with oil
paints, using the technique that consists in
dragging with a flat dry brush the Burnt
Umber oil paint on a light wood acrylic base;
at the end, a coat of acrylic clear matt will
protect the oil colour. The thermal insulation
fabric attached to different points of the crew
compartment stands out very well with the
light and shadow technique. The pre-coloured
photo-etched parts are irreplaceable for
making dashboards and various instruments,
giving the parts the right complexity, as in a
real plane. The contrast between the wooden
floors, the areas covered by the insulating
canvas and those painted in Interior Green
creates a very realistic effect.

In the photos, even in black and white, of the interiors of the B-17s from the war period, it
can be seen that many details and spars are painted in interior green, or dark green, even in
the unpainted areas; I think it is due to the diversification of the various producers of the
aircraft parts which were then assembled on the final assembly line. I also noticed this when
I made the B-26: practically every factory produces the components in various colours,
depending on the availability of colours and the crafting method, and the result is that the
interior becomes a patchwork of colours.
I wanted to reproduce this particularity in the model, giving a more real look to the interior
and this effect is very visible in the bomb bay. The position of the rear gunner, with its typical
bicycle seat, is well reproduced by Revell; I just added the seat belts and the photoetched
armoured front plate, then careful painting did the rest.
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 Use of pre-painted photo etched parts. The print quality and definition of pre-
painted photo etched parts has improved a lot in recent times: the smudged
and poorly defined screen printing is just a memory. Let's see how to use
them on the bulkhead of the radio operator's compartment, full of
instruments: first I eliminated the moulded details of the kit part using a
cutter, then I applied a layer of interior green on the bulkhead; the only
limitation of these pre-painted parts is the screen printing which remains very
shiny. Before placing the photo etched parts, I painted the other parts, also
applying matt black to the external walls of the radio boxes, then I glued the
various parts of the instruments with cyano. In the 1:72 scale, sometimes the
screen printing is so fine that certain buttons or knobs are hardly visible, so
with Vallejo colours I highlighted the buttons with red and some knobs with
white; even if out of scale, they make the detail more visible. A light coat of
Model Master enamel clear matt removed the sheen of the screen printing.
Why the enamel opaque? The answer is that with the enamel there is no risk
of the whitish effect of brushed acrylic.

The turrets are painted entirely by

brush: the amount of colours and
details makes it difficult to use the
airbrush, even if only to give a base
colour. Once I finished painting all the
pieces I could assemble the turrets
and I assure you that getting all the
pieces to fit inside the ventral ball was
not easy; one wonders how the hell
the poor Gunner could get into it... it's
true that they were chosen thin and
short, but even so.

The turrets were completely assembled and set aside; given their
delicacy, they will be installed just before closing the fuselage.

Finally, all interior components are

painted and ready for final
assembly. It was a real effort, but
the result amply repays me for the
efforts and time lost; I think I've
done my best work ever in terms
of detail, finesse and painting.

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Now the most worrying phase begins: no matter how many dry tests I
may have done, I am never sure that everything will fit perfectly, when
you start gluing the various sub-assemblies there is always something
wrong... in fact, this time I had to do many adjustments to get the
fuselage to close. Let's start with the bomb bay, which is very complex
to assemble: after inserting two bulkheads in the left fuselage, I
installed the roof in its grooves and glued it with plenty of cyano glue.
After having extracted the bomb bay and glued the racks for the bombs,
the doors and seats of the radio operator compartment, I also inserted
the spars for fixing the wings; it is a fundamental piece that must be
inserted with the utmost precision and only at the end can everything be
glued. The complication of this assembling method is due to the
impossibility of gluing the central racks of the bombs to the top of the
bomb bay, as there is not enough space to work inside the fuselage.

Eventually, after much cursing, the bomb bay sticks in place; from here I
could start gluing the front part, the cockpit floor, the dashboard, the pilots
seats, the bulkhead that divides the section on the nose and so on. I admit
that seeing the interior of the model finally come to life, after months and
months with only a few pieces in a box, it was exciting... I tried to take care of
every detail: on the navigator's table there is a map and the set square to plot
the route. Not even the rear part of the fuselage has been neglected: in
addition to the gunner's position, I have even added the chemical toilet, not
to mention the two figures, one wounded in the leg and the other assisting
him. This time I wanted to sweeten the reality: it is unlikely that such a shot in
the middle of the fuselage did not cause casualties, but I imagined that the
gunners were lucky.

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 It’s then time to install the turrets and the tail wheel leg, which must be one and leave this one open with the details in sight? Come on, let's not joke,
mounted before closing the fuselage. I am then ready for the fateful step, the when I start a model I want to finish it and for the interiors there are always
closure of the model and here comes the usual question from friends: after photos, right?
so much work why do you want to close it? Or: why don't you make another

Well, we are at the long awaited (and feared...) moment: a last look at
the fuselage and let's try the closure. Although some adjustments were
needed, in the end the model closes quite well; after having glued the
fuselage with Tamiya glue and cyano, I closed all the openings of the
model with the utmost care because there is nothing worse than
removing the masks at the end of the painting phase and finding the
inside of the transparencies full of infiltrated sanding powder.

After fixing the fuselage, I switched to the wings. Fortunately there
is much less work to do here: first I opened the hot air vents of the
wing radiators using a cutter with a new blade, then I had to put up
with the boredom of riveting, with hundreds of small holes to make
around the panels…
The landing gear wells are well reproduced in the kit: I just added the ribs,
the tangle of the various cables, some missing junction boxes and a few
photo-etched parts, then a good painting will complete the detail work.

Since there was relatively little to do on the wings, I thought I'd show the plane with the
flaps lowered, as seen in many photos after landing. Eduard's fantastic BIG ED set
provided photo etched flaps, but the difficulty of assembly and problematic gluing in the
right position, made me decide to scratch build them, so that I could insert copper wire
pins that allowed a sturdy fixing in the right position and a better detail on the inside of the
wing. Interior Green painting completes the work; the flaps will be installed only at the end
of the painting. At this point the wings are ready; I glued the slightly deflected ailerons.

20
Engines and propellers. Also in this case the Brassin
resin parts are of great help; even if designed for the Airfix
kit, they fit the Revell as well. I replaced cowlings, engines
and propellers; the latter come from a Quickboost set and if
we compare the plastic propellers to the resin ones, there is
not much left to add... You can notice how one of the
propellers is feathered: it will go on the right external
engine, the one hit in the oil tanks area. On the engines it
was enough to add the spark plug wires and the relative
distribution ring, made with 0.5mm tin wire.

Now let's paint the engines and the inside of the cowlings, which give the
option to mount the cooling flaps in the open or closed position; given the
beautiful interior detail, I chose the open option. Over a black acrylic base I
highlighted the cylinders fins the with a drybrush with typographic silver ink,
with a very fine pigment. The details have been painted with the usual Vallejo;
I have highlighted the spark plug leads with very light reddish brown, so that
they stand out inside the engine cowlings. After having glued the engines
inside the cowlings with a thousand precautions, I masked the inside and put
these aside too.

Transparent parts. Revell clear parts are of

excellent quality; I used the Pavla vac-formed ones
only for the front bubble and to get the sliding part
of the window on the pilot's side, another detail that
is often seen in wartime photos. Other instruments
are glued on the ceiling of the cockpit. A bath in
Future wax has further improved the transparency
of the truly crystalline plastic parts; only the
astrodome bubble really distort too much, but
that's normal given its shape. After having
assembled the last details such as the Norden
aiming sight and the bubble defrosting nozzle, I
glued the Pavla vac-formed one, difficult to
assemble, but with unrivaled transparency.

All transparencies are protected with the excellent

Eduard masks. After having closed the flak holes in
the fuselage with adhesive tape and Maskol and
protected the already painted areas inside the flaps, I
am ready to start painting the model. Given the
considerable size of the plane and the difficulty of
reaching the internal area between the engines and
the area near the fuselage with the airbrush, I
decided to paint the model in sub assemblies,
trusting in the precision of the wings joints. After a
long marathon I finally got to my favourite part, the
final paint job, on which much of the result depends.

In the third part we will see the painting of the model

and the creation of the diorama.

21
 The ‘Final Word’ Flanker?
Can the imposing Sukhoi Flanker be described as the ‘Final Word’
for fighters in service today? Similarly when it comes to ‘best of
the best’ in modelling terms, how do we decide on the criteria for
those benchmarks?
When there is a significant new release of an iconic aircraft, there
always seems to be a rush to declare it’s the ‘best/worst’ version
ever. How do we decide? With head or heart?
Over the last few years a number of Flanker variants have been
released by Hobbyboss, Kittyhawk and Kinetic, these followed the
venerable Academy range of kits, all competing to be regarded as
the ‘Final Word’.
24
So when another big Sukhoi hits the market, does this add to the
debate or is it indeed the ‘Final Word’ on the subject..?
Minibase will be new name to most modellers and adding to the
Flanker debate, there is a lot of online speculation regarding the
origins of the kit. The choice of the SU33 Sea Flanker as their first
release is an interesting one and should delight modellers as the
colourful markings, canards and potential wing fold options give
these naval Flankers a very distinctive look.
When it comes to that ‘best/worst’ opinion, you can open the box
and look at the kit or you can build it…let’s take the latter course.

The real Flanker is big, complex and daunting; to be honest these
were exactly the thoughts going through my mind on opening the
robust box. After you remove the rather nicely illustrated inner
sleeve you find a box crammed with sprues from A to L in sealed
bags, a very comprehensive instruction booklet, etched fret,
excellent decal sheets and individual boxes for the slip moulded
ordnance. You even get a metal pitot probe, although surprisingly
for such a comprehensive presentation there are no paint masks
included.
The thing that strikes you first is the incredible level of very fine
detail seen on the recessed panels and rivets, especially notable
are some of the tiny parts that go to make up the wheel well pipe
Our thanks to www.albionhobbies.com
distributors of Minibase kits in the UK.
work etc. without doubt these are some of the most delicate
injection moulded parts I’ve ever seen and hint at the complex,
involving nature of the build.
Initial impressions are of a stunning kit, but also intimidating in
equal measures. A quick introduction to the forty plus pages of
assembly instructions confirms these impressions as, again the
step by step illustrations are more akin to an engineering
workshop manual than an injection moulded kit..
To give an impression of what you get for your money, I intended
to build straight from the box, hopefully helping to find out if this is
the ‘Final Word’ Flanker…
25
 EJECTION SEAT
Your first introduction to the highly
detailed instruction booklet is a double
page layout dedicated purely to building
the ejection seat…the multipart seat
builds up into a highly detail
representation of the K-36D with
separate head and back rests, this is all
augmented by a considerable amount
of etch to create the complicated
harness configuration. You need to be BASIC COCKPIT
really switched on at this point and pay In a similar fashion the cockpit tub compromises several individual
very close attention to the diagrams, elements in an attempt to realistically represent the Flankers office.
this is a fiddly and frustrating process, The dimensional effect of the myriad switches and knobs on the
but the end results negate any need for consoles are crisp and very effective. There’s extra detail around the
a resin alternative. pedal area and side panels. The kit also offers two instrument panels
each with a slightly different configuration- there is no information as
to which one is the most appropriate for your specific build though, an
internet search for further information may be of use before choosing.

COCKPIT PAINTING
The Flanker cockpit carries that faintly queasy Soviet Interior
grey/blue, there a few paint options available on the market,
but I went with Mr Colour Soviet Interior Blue.
Rather than using the kit decals I chose the Airscale Modern
Jet Cockpit Instruments set to replicate the numerous dials on
the instrument panel.

HEAD UP DISPLAY
At this point I thought I’d jump ahead of the
chronology of the instruction booklet and complete
the head up display unit. This is where we see how
those exceptionally small and detailed parts really
enhance the look of the build. If the intention of the
kit designers was to negate the need for
aftermarket resin, the base moulded elements
have achieved that goal.
WHEEL GEAR BAYS & INTAKES
Prior to building the base fuselage, there is an involved process of creating the nose
landing gear bay and main wheel wells. Once again there is a plethora of tiny valves
and pipe work to be incorporated, some of these items are minuscule so care needs
to be taken to remove them from the sprues- the instructions have helpful painting
guides, this is admirable but a bit ambitious as it is a real challenge to your
eyesight…
The large, twin intake nacelles are full length, single parts, there is interior detailing
parts for the louvre doors, turbine blades etc. that requires building up prior to
attaching to the underside fuselage part, the join is aided by male/female tabs and
recesses, meaning that the intakes simply click into place, requiring only a touch of
Tamiya Extra Thin Cement.

26
FUSELAGE
The fuselage is split into upper and lower halves, when test fitted they
seem to join neatly at natural panel lines. Some care and attention
has obviously been taken when considering the engineering of the kit
to avoid any unnatural looking fit issues. The large Flanker nose is a
single part, which unlike some previous releases from other
manufacturers seems to have captured the dimensions and look
accurately. Copious amounts of weight were added to the front
section to keep the nose wheel on the deck.

WINGS
As is fitting for a naval aircraft, the Flanker can be configure with
folded or unfolded wings with highly realistic parts to replicate the
mechanism if you go for the stored option. There is also a complex
arrangement of flaps and ailerons, I found the T shape hinges a bit
tricky as the instructions indicate that they are to be ‘sandwiched’ in
place rather than glued, meaning that they are free to travel. I
decided to trim the ends from the hinges and glued them in place at
the desired angle.
The kit also provided wingtip options with jamming pods or R-73
pylons.

ENGINE NOZZLES
There may be some debate around whether the kit should include the
twin Saturn AL31F3 engines either to be displayed separately or to be
placed internally. What you do get though are several beautifully
moulded parts for the exhaust cans, again, the need for aftermarket
parts is negated by the quality of the kit moulding.

27
 VERTICAL & HORIZONTAL TAILS
Here we see again some outstanding
moulding on the huge tail panes and the
foldable horizontal stabilisers. The twin
vertical tails locate via a tab and slot
system for positive location.

INITIAL SUMMARY
With the Sukhoi’s bulk now coming together, its worth a quick assessment of
Minibase’s Sea Flanker- the company have stated that they take a ‘no compromise’
approach- that is more than evident in the level of engineering and finesse
demonstrated by the moulded sprues, this also translates extremely well when it
comes to actually building the kit.

Although it’s already felt like an involving and detailed build, at this stage in the
process there is still quite a lot of fine detailing parts to be incorporated.

At this point it would be premature to say if this really is the ‘Final Word’ Flanker, but
I would have to say if there is a better one out there, it must be one hell of a kit!

28
29
 The ancient 1977 Monogram kit is well below current
standards modellers expect. It’s sheer size requires
patience and perseverance if one wishes to overcome the
relative weaknesses of its design and the adjustments
require a little experience. On the other hand, this kit is a
very solid base to add detail, as are most of the models
of the brand of that era. Straight "out of the box" this 1:48
Superfortress is still a very impressive model but I had
decided to take it to the next level which would mean
aftermarket and scratchbuilt parts...and plenty of
reference!

The B-29 "Superfortress" was the largest and most

modern four-engine propeller and long-range heavy
bomber aircraft of its time. It was used from the Second
World War in the Pacific until the Korean War by the
United States. Designed and developed in 1938 by
Boeing, the B-29 (introduced as Model 345 in olive drab
and neutral grey) first flew in September 1942. It was a
machine that combined the latest aeronautical technical
innovations and was the most expensive military program
of the war. Heir to the B-17 "Flying Fortress" program, B-
29 struck the imagination of the time with it’s remote-
controlled machine guns and pressurised compartments
which ensured strategic high-altitude long-range missions
to Japan. Finally, it was the aircraft that dropped the only
two atomic bombs ever used in a conflict, on Hiroshima
and Nagasaki in August 1945.

In January 1940, the specifications entrusted to Boeing

required a maximum speed of 420 mph (675 km/h), a
range of 6,000 km and a carrying capacity of 20,000
pounds (9,071 kg) of bombs. The first aircraft leaving the
production line in September 1943, one year after the first
flight of the prototype, was planned to weigh just under
34 tons empty, 54 tons with the armament and more than
60.5 tons at maximum load. These figures let us begin to
understand why the bomb bays are so vast compared to
those of the B-17 and B-24 determining the vast size of
this futuristic machine.

32
1
33
 FIRST ON SAIPAN ‘Joltin’ Josie’ The Pacific Pioneer
The philosophy that guided me for this project is to reasonably
detail what can be seen, to the point of animating the very large
surfaces with its raised details when they are flush in reality; it is
an ambitious project in terms of the amount of work, which took
me several months and many hours.
Studying what was on offer from the aftermarket I began to gather
the necessary sets. I used the Eduard photoetch sets which are
available along with their (EX367) paint masks and a resin upgrade
kit from an American supplier, Flightline Engineering (available on-
line): this package comes at a substantial price but offers the
correction and improvement of the four engines, their covers and
nacelles. Resin2Detail had the good idea to enhance the main
landing gear doors which I also picked up. Finally, I choose to
represent this B-29 without its exhaust covers, this configuration
was seen sometimes on the Pacific front. Most of the B-29s in
service in the Pacific had no leading edge wing, drift and depth
deicing boots, despite the flight altitudes reached heading to
Japan. Indeed, it appears that only the first production blocks were
equipped with them, and that the three factories of Marietta,
Omaha and Wichita were instructed not to install them there after.
There are relatively few decals in this scale for operational
‘Superforts’ before August 1945. I therefore chose an aircraft from
the Aeromaster Decals "Pacific Superfortress Part.2" (48-260): it is
the B-29-block40-BW ( from Wichita, Kansas) “Joltin’ Josie- The
Pacific Pioneer”, n/a 42-24614. This B-29 is famous for having
been the first to land at Isley Field base in Saipan, within the 498
The Bomb Group, 873rd Bomb Squadron on October 12, 1944.
However, on page 65 of Bunrindo n°52, there is a beautiful picture
of the unit on a parking lot at the end of 1944, probably still south
of the Mariana Islands (perhaps Tinian?). It shows that all aircraft
have deicing devices on all leading edges. Finally, it is noteworthy
that the crew had a very impressive score of ten enemy aircraft
shot down over twenty-three bombing missions. This score board
is not on our set-up since I chose to represent the bomber on its
arrival in Saipan: it is then still equipped with the 20mm gun in a
defensive tail position (which would be dismantled afterwards) and
has just had the nose-art pin-up girl applied.
MY REFERENCES:
B-29 Superfortress Walk Around 5554, Squadron Signal
Publications, B-29 Superfortress Vol.10 Part 1 (World War Two) in
Detail & Scale, Boeing B-29 Superfortress Vol.14 in Warbird Tech
Series. Finally, two Russian volumes were very useful to me, which
constitute a systematic analysis of the aircraft in drawing and
which provides the complete rivetting of the aircraft: TU-4 Heavy
Bomber Part 1 & 2 Aircraft in Russia/Silver Collection, Russian
Books Motor.
Of course the internet can offer walkarounds on sites such as
Britmodeler.com, Prime Portal (The Airstrip), The Aircraft
Walkaround Center among others.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS :
My thanks to help from Laurent Boulestin and Julien Haccoun.

The three Eduard sets mainly concern the crew compartment, the landing gears Quite expensive to purchase, this
and their wells as well as the numerous hatches that cover the aircraft. The brand kit by Flightline Engineering
has designed the different assemblies with a very high precision: B-29 interior (ACR48001) provides excellent
S.A.49616, B-29 exterior 48744 and B-29 undercarriage 48743. improvements to the model.

With four sets to complete the propellors were On the other hand, a neutral satin finish acrylic

PROPELLERS tackled first. The propeller blades of

Monogram’s kit are very nice but seem to me
slightly oversized. On the other hand, the ‘hubs’
appear a little narrower than in reality. I readily
admit that these are nuances, but this is the
opportunity to use the parts of the kit from
Californian craftsman of Flightline Engineering.
Substantial work is needed to remove and then
refine the bomber’s 16 propeller blades; it took
three and a half hours to give them the finished
look, about ten minutes each.
The resin is relatively soft, which is useful for
removing some parts from their moulding
sprues, especially the engine parts. However, it
seems that it reacts rather badly to AS-12 from
Tamiya, which I often use as a primer coat; the
spray paint does not stay on the resin and lifted
when unmasking.
paint provided a solid basis.The reference
"Barley gray BS" H334 from Hobby Color is
perfect as a primer colour.
The genuine "Hamilton Standard" logos were
gold and red; since gold is printed in yellow on
the Monogram decal sheet, I used the
Aeromaster Decals reference "B-29
Superfortress National markings WW2/post
war" (48 271). Cutting Edge's "B29 National
Insignia" (CED48270) can also be used. A light
spray of "Chrome" 77-707 Vallejo highlights the
hubs while tinted gloss varnish simulate the oil
leaks at the base of the blades. The yellow
safety tips are dirty, as can often be seen in the
period photos. A final touch was to apply some
gloss varnish to the base of each blade to
represent lubrication misting from the hub.

34
The cockpit, although quite complete, has been
simplified and requires work to look more realistic.
It can also be seen from the image below that the
fit, such as the access hatch for example, lack
precision.

I preferred the enhancements of the Eduard

photoetch to building from scratch. It is also
expected that little will be visible once the fuselage
is closed! The Norden bombsight is poor in detail
but provides a clean base shape and after a coat
of Black 950 (Prince August), I added metal rods
and Evergreen profile knobs of different diameters
and highlighted using Model Air’s chrome 71.064.
Electrical connections, as seen in the reference
photos, are a final touch of detail.

The mechanic’s console requires good

The consoles and control stations of the pilot and
preparation to accommodate the
co-pilot require a fairly high degree of precision The radio/browser rack of devices
photoetched slotted panel and levers. I
when folding. Any sloppy work could cause great and batteries is equipped with its
also added electrical boxes observed in
difficulty when closing the fuselage. numerous electrical connections. All
the photos.
you need to do is refine the map
table for which I preferred to the
photoetch equivalent.

The seats of the pilot and co-pilot in photoetch look too thin to me; I decided to prepare the two
kit parts and equip them with Eduard armrests on the tubular structures which is painted
cockpit green with added black.
I cut the cushions in a strip of Patafix/Blu-Tak which stays soft after painting, by simple pressure
of a cotton-bud the contours are matched well and allow the Eduard seatbelts to sit nicely. The
disadvantage is they remain always soft so must be handled with care.

The entire cockpit was sprayed with Tamiya's "Fine 35

Surface Primer" aerosol, to unify the surfaces before
painting and give a good key for the colours.
 I spent a little time on the bulkhead with batteries
and electrical components that operate the remote
control defensive machine guns, although very little
is finally visible. Here we can compare the
improved piece with the original.
The bulkhead was fixed to the floor of
the gunner’s station. The seat of the
rear gunner was probably installed in
it’s bare wood state. The Eduard pre-
painted harnesses are then glued in
place.
The addition of Eduard’s pre-painted
photoetch literally transforms this
assembly that suddenly comes to life.
Patience is key at this stage. I added
some documents to the central console
in order to make the cockpit more
"operational".
36
I choose Aircraft Color’s “Interior Green”3049,
which seems to me a good match, neither too
sharp nor too dull. Details are then picked out
with acrylics and careful brush-work.
The finished basic cockpit assembly had
an overall coat of bright aluminium and
then "Interior Green" by Model Air. The
Stockholm IPMS Forum has some great
information on the B-29 interior. It
recommends the Dark Dull Green for
pressurized areas, introduced in
September 1942 to the ANA catalogue, I
think that this hue is a little lighter than
"Bronze Green". I chose to follow the
Eduard pre-painted photoetch; it will
make the interior brighter and more
visible. An X-Acto blade and an alcohol-
soaked cotton swab are used to wear the
crew traffic and contact areas by
revealing the base coat of silver.
The joining of the sub-assemblies is done
gradually, starting with the cockpit and
then the walkways. The waist and rear
gunner positions need to be placed to
plan the installation of the tunnel
connecting them to the cockpit.
The moment of truth comes when
everything must be permanently joined.
Mating surfaces are not as precise as
those found in the current kits we’ve got
used to. Plenty of old-school dry fits and
adjustments are in order!
Despite my best efforts I could not stick the cockpit in
place so that the nose wheel well, which was attached to
the floor, would fit so I decided to separate it from the
cockpit. Little work is needed to improve this area. I
recreated the cockpit access ladder bars, a thick fluid
line running towards the gear leg and some parts of the
Eduard set.
I removed the two front wheel well doors from their outer skin and replaced
them with two identical forms using strong aluminium foil. Shaped, they are
then equipped with their three circular doors of plastic card (0.1mm thick).
The "No smoking within 100 yards" markings come from the venerable
This leg, although a little rough in appearance, is very faithful to
the original. After noticing on the documents that it was often
zinc-chromate (see color pictures of "Enola Gay"), I painted it
with the "FS 33481 Chrome Yellow" UA134 from Lifecolor. I add
some foil chrome bands, plant stencils and traces of grease
and oil. The front gear protrudes forward of the fuselage and
deserves the extra effort.
Microscale reference titled "B-29's-509th Composite B.G. ”. One can see on
the photos of the aircraft that a facetious mechanic wrote on the left hatch
"clean your Feet" for the attention of the crew. The inscription may have been
reproduced on the other door although I couldn’t be sure.
37
 The four bulkheads of the pressurised compartments
opening onto the bomb bays were enriched with a few
stencils, fittings and handles. The moulded hydraulic
lines are not convincing in my opinion : I made new
sections with lead wire. AS-12 Aluminium from Tamiya
is my base colour.

Most of the compressed oxygen tanks were located in the center of the rough: I erased the moulding marks while taking care to preserve the weld
aircraft between the two bays. The piece provided by Monogram is a bit seams and I add Evergreen profile fittings and metal wire hose lines.

Like many American bombers such as the B-24, the wing-
supporting spar (inside the fuselage) contained bulky fuel tanks, in
addition to the 22 wing tanks for the B-29. The details provided by
Monogram are very simplified and they merit extra work. This part
of the cargo hold is very poorly documented and I do not have any
"WW2" or current photos that I can trust. I had to estimate which
walk arounds available allowed me to remain fairly faithful to the
1944-45 production.
I started with the front spar by fixing vertical strengtheners on the existing structure.
Strip styrene (Evergreen Scale Models profiles) n°100, with section 0.25 x 0.50 mm
worked well. Photoetched steps, a hydraulic compressed air cylinder and pipes
complete the detailing of this section for now. Finally, I add a few details, including an
electric motor modelled on the main landing gear and a (decal) bolt line visible on my
reference. I used the beautiful Archer "Surface details #16" to create these bolts.

The huge additional long range tanks designed

to fuel Pacific B-29s are provided on the sprues
of the model, like many other areas of the kit
the detail is very basic. I turned to my
reference; Warbird Tech volume 14, page 19
and Detail in Scale volume 10 part 1, page 41
for the layout and the Russian Motor Book “TU-
4 Heavy Bomber” part 2, page 10 and 11. This
last source tells us how these tanks were
probably stowed in the WW2 version.

The frames, strapping and fittings were created

from styrene stock and added to the prepared
kit parts.

38
 I felt it necessary to upgrade the
bomb bays as it is the only part of
the interior really clearly visible when
the doors are posed open.

I removed the four dubious kit bomb racks to recreate them in Evergreen profiles
with plenty of reference to hand. Using a mini drill I refined the perforations of the
frames of the "catwalks" from the back of the parts cleaning the results with an X-
Acto blade and smoothing imperfections with Tamiya liquid glue.
Then, the front of these "catwalks" is sanded and smoothed; the careful
preparation of these surfaces allows me to replace the vertical stiffening
reinforcements with sections of profile n°101 (0.25x0.75 mm) from Evergreen. I
add optional rack mounts and four enclosures observed in my reference.

The areas that appear zinchromate on the black and white

photos are airbrushed with some shading and weathering
I use different materials to create the tubes, ducts and control cables that cross the two with an oil paint wash. I add the electric motors and their
bomb bays. Above is the original half fuselage giving an idea of the detail work that can be connections (copper multistrands) on the inside of the spar
done without too much effort. and finish the detail parts in acrylics.

The tunnel that runs through the

bomb bay and connects the
pressurized front and rear parts
of the aircraft gave me some
difficulty. My original idea was to
use plumbing pipe of the correct
diameter and add the bracing
rings. I ended up using the kit
part with surface detail removed
and new rings and details added
ALC-101 and ALC-119 metallics
from Alclad provided the finishes.

Wanting to load half the front of the 500 kg bomb bay, I used those
of the B-25C from Accurate Miniatures that I found to have better
shape than those of the kit. After assembling and sanding them I
created a rough cast texture by coating their surface with Tamiya
liquid glue and stippling with a stiff bristled brush.

39
 The bomb bay doors provided by the kit weren’t up to
the levels of finesse I was achieving with the rest of the
model and required re-working.
The volume needed to increase and the inner skin
should be flat so the existing parts formed the basis of
their plastic card reconstruction. Finally, four inspection
hatches on each piece were added referring to images
of a wreck by Davis Monthan. It should be noted that
these doors were sometimes equipped with aerofoils
that assisted the door opening thanks to the airflow in
flight; not applicable to ‘Jolting Josie’ though.

40
41
 Meng’s latest aircraft release couldn’t be
further from the last we featured, the Fokker
Dr.1. Yes, there are plenty ‘Super Bugs’ on the
market in all scales and especially 1:48 with
most major manufacturers seeing the need for the F-18 in their
catalogue in some form or other and it’s great to see Meng
expanding their aircraft offering with this popular subject.
Even before lifting the lid this kit has the usual Meng-quality feel
to it and diving inside it’s apparent the moulding and design is
state-of-the-art with lots of pleasing features and little touches
which are synonymous with Meng’s armour kits, which are held
in high regard for levels of detail, buildability and value and it’s
great to see these features transfered to their aircraft.

44
 Intake edges are
beautifully thin and the
side panels fit perfectly.

large locators
throughout
ensure nice
‘click’ fits.

Wheel-wells have excellent detail and are fitted

to the full-length intakes, a compressor fan is
included but barely visible.

The kit has sharply

detailed mesh and grilles
throughout, no need for
photoetch.

Along with the superb moulding and detail some of the kit’s
notable features are:
•Pilot figures (yes, two indicating an obvious release of 2-seaters)
•Option to display wings folded
•All flaps posable extended or retracted (fit beautifully)
•Canopy open or closed with boarding ladder All control flaps can be
posed extented or
•Large selection of highly detailed, slide-moulded ordnance retracted (fully). The
including GBU-24, GBU-16, AIM-120C, AIM-9M, AIM-9X and four leading and trailing edges
external tanks with full decal markings. are pleasingly thin and the
Horizontal fins are fitted
•Hard-points feature metal pins and stores include poly-caps to fit is outstanding.
via poly-caps to allow
allow easy changes of display configuration. multiple positions.
•Connector-free photoetched parts Vertical fins can be push-
fitted without cement
•Cartograf decals of four options of U.S. which will help with
aircraft including VFA-87 ‘Golden Warriors’ painting some schemes.
2017 and two schemes from the iconic VFA-31
Pylons have fine
‘Tomcatters’ 2009 and 2017 surface detail and the
(U.S.S. George H.W.Bush), metal pins provide the
•Pre-cut vinyl canopy and wheel masks. option of quick
changes of ordnance
for various missions!

I must say I’m thoroughly

enjoying the build of this kit,
the precision of the parts fit is
great as is the design for such
a complex airframe. Wait until
the next issue to see if you
agree that this is the best 1:48
Super-Bug on the market and
a great out-of-the-box project!

45
46
47
 I amassed a rather large amount of aftermarket
parts to take Tamiya’s already nice kit to another Kit cockpit is really nicely made, but you
level of detail! can always add some missing details
with plastic profiles and lead wires.

Usually the cockpit of P-47 was painted in Interior bronze green, although other colours were also used. Ammo Green grey wash is applied with a brush.
I’ve decided to go for the most common interior colour. MRP-132 was sprayed over black base. Cockpit The excess could be removed with cotton bud or
details and small scratches were brush painted with acrylics. by blending with brush.

Dial faces were created with

PVA glue. When dry, the glue
turns crystal clear. HGW fabric
seatbelts are the closest to the
real thing. They require a lot of
work, but the end result is
worth the work. Seatbelts were
glued to the seat with PVA
glue.

Airplane cockpits were never really clean, so don’t forget

to add some dust, and dirt into the cockpit.

Finished cockpit simply slots into the fuselage. Don’t forget to paint
48 all the necessary areas before closing the fuselage halves.
Kit’s engine is not the best there is. Quickboost resin P&W engine has better details, but lacks
ignition leads and rockers. I recreated them by using Albion brass tubes and lead wire.

I proceeded with wheel bays. Eduard Photo etched set takes care of the missing details here as The only real problem occurred with
well as some lead wiring. After a few coats of Zinc chromate primer was sprayed over the black gun cover ports. Mr. Filler came to the
base. I usually apply black base under the basic camouflage paint as it enhances the shadows and rescue. I can’t recommend this product
highlights. Details pop-out after wash is applied, in that case – dark yellow one. enough. It dries fast, doesn’t shrink and
it can be rescribed similar to plastic.

Mr. Filler was used to fill all

already created rivet holes
as I was planning to use
HGW positive rivets.
The fit of the airframe was
amazing and no filler was
needed. Just to be sure,
grey primer was sprayed
on assembled joints just
to be sure that there are
no mistakes.
A small windshield to
fuselage gap was fixed
with acrylic putty. Excess
Position lights were meant to be installed at the was removed with cotton
end of the build, but to ensure the proper fit is bud moistened with water.
maintained, I suggest installing them as soon as
possible. Non-fogging superglue and various
sanding and polishing sticks are used to smooth
them and bring back the luster.

For proper preparation of the HGW rivet

decals the entire model was sprayed with
MRP-84 surface primer and polished with
6000 grade micromesh polishing cloth.

49
 Ready for HGW positive rivets. The set provides I cut out the segments with fresh scalpel blade Soak the segment in warm water for about 20
full set divided into segments and some extras if seconds. Then set it aside on piece of glass.
you happen to make a mistake.

I liberally applied Mr. Mark Setter on the part Slide the segment on the Setter-soaked part. Remove the setter and water excess and now leave
where transfer is to be applied. Setter acts as a it alone for at least 6 hours.
glue, so don’t be shy so apply a lot of it.

After 6-8 hours, gently peel off the carrier film. Then
clean any Setter residue with warm water and
cotton buds.
HGW’s transfer system requires patience but the
effect of the subtle raised rivets is superb. The
individual rivets stand proud on the model surface.

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Painting began by preshading/texturing. Textures
were sprayed with “splatter” stencils from Artool,
but you could freehand as well.
Slowly build up light coats of camouflage colours
over the texturing. You can control how much of
the underlying texturing is visible. MRP-139 Olive
drab and MRP-141 neutral grey were basic
camouflage colours used.
After masking, a mixture of MRP-04 white and
MRP-099 Navy white was applied on the wingroots
and tail section.

Paint completed, ready for decals and

weathering. A light coat of gloss clear was
airbrushed next in order to avoid decal silvering.

I try to avoid decals as much as possible on my

builds, so markings and insignia were airbrushed.

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 I tried Ammo decal solutions for the first time. HGH wet transfer stencils were applied in the same manner as positive rivets. Without carrier film after
Especially the red decal fix is super strong and application, they are my favourite product. Model was set aside over the night and next morning a few
literally melted Kits world decals. coats of Semi-matt clear coat (MRP-126 ) were airbrushed.

Crucial moment of this build; Exposing silver positive rivets. Gently
sand the surface with 6000 grit polishing pad and observe the
miracle happen. Remember, work in small sections and think
where the rivets would be exposed on the real airplane.
To add additional tonal variation to base
color, oil dots were applied. Mist the area
with Odorless thinner before applying the
dots. By doing so, they blended much
easier with odorless thinner and thick
brush. Same method is used with all
weathering procedures.
Washes followed. Try to use different washes
for upper and lower surfaces. A.mig 1608
Green grey wash was applied to the top
surfaces while lower surfaces received A.mig
1619 blue dirt one. Excess was blended with
soft brush moistened with thinner.

Continue adding additional grime and dirt. Photo references are really helpful when
weathering as they show you where staining occurred on real airplane. I added a few
more layers of stain marks and streaks, using Mig Dark and Starship wash.

For the exhaust stains, thin mix of black and tan was airbrushed
gradually building the desired effect. This is a great mixture for more
prominent dirt staining, especially around engine.

Now we are getting to smaller details. Small specks of dirt and grime were
applied by flicking small amounts of oils with brush and toothpick. Don’t worry,
specks you don’t like can be blended with small amount of thinner.
Original aircraft was stationed in the Pacific so I guessed it could be dirty and
dusty. I gradually dabbed layers of Ammo Pacific Dust mostly on the wing
surfaces. I repeated this process five times, allowing each layer to fully cure
before applying fresh one.
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 Small parts, like propeller
and wheel, also received
the same weathering
treatment as the rest of the
model.

Worn, scratched and chipped areas were

done in between “dusty” coats with acrylic
pencils. I prefer pencils over brushes as
they give you much more control.
Light dust pigment concluded long
weathering process. Pigments are applied
at the end as they are the most fragile and
you can easily smear them off.

Base was made from cheap frame and Eduard PSP

plates. Different Ammo weathering products;
Oilbrushers, Textures, pigments and washes
recreated dusty pacific parking place for Miss Mutt.

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 2022 marks the 40th anniversary of the Falkland war.
The conflict between Argentina and Great Britain over the wind-blown rocky islands in the South
Atlantic in which the Argentine Air Force played a major role. Although the air war was as short and
intense as the whole conflict, and although the Sea Harriers of the British Task Force were the
dominant and most definitely the decisive factor, the Argentinian built light ground attack plane, the
Pucará was a real threat to the British ground forces. It was the only Argentine aircraft which could
operate from the Malvinas, as the islands are called by the Argentinians who mounted an invasion of
the islands. The Pucará made little contribution to the outcome of the war and played no significant
role during the conflict. With its low-level flight and ground attack ability along with it’s relatively heavy
armament for an aircraft of it’s size posed a constant threat to British ground forces. The aircraft
sustained heavy losses during the war but is still in service today within several Air Forces.

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 This is a brand-new kit and the subject’s first release in the quarter
scale. The Chinese manufacturer has upped their game constantly
and this new release continues the progress. There are many fine
surface details, clear, thin glazing parts and a great fit of the
components with the possibility of two versions in the box. One is
of the Argentine Air Force and the other a Uruguayan Air Force
aircraft. The decals are from Two Bobs and printed by cartograf
which is good news. The plastic is grey and of very good quality
with a good density and is not brittle or too soft. Also included is a
little fret of PE parts. The instruction manual is a little bland, A4
booklet size but thin and with no colour to excite the builder.
The build starts with the 2-seater cockpit section. The instrument
panel is not very detailed; to solve this I used instrument decals
from ANYZ. The cockpit is equipped with two finely detailed
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ejection seats, consisting of several parts each. For the ejection
handles I used decals from ANYZ again. Like most builds the
cockpit tub has to be assembled, painted and weathered before it
can be sandwiched into the two cockpit halves. The lay-out of the
aircraft’s landing gear and the large tail plane make it a ‘tail-sitter’.
I had to fill available space with some counter weight to prevent
my model having it’s nose in the air. I had a mishap while
preparing my canopy for the inside masking, one of the two
elevators broke off and could not be found again meaning I had to
replace it with a scratch-built solution which was easily done. The
landing gear and wheels are especially crisp and very detailed, I
still thought I could add more realism by replacing the oleo struts
with steel rod. The kit comes with TER (Tripple Ejector Racks) but
only with external fuel tanks to fit.
The TER´s however are very
nicely detailed as well. I
painted my canopy black
from the inside. For that I
masked the inside area off
with tape and Maskol from
Humbrol. Now the elegant
shape of this aircraft starts
to become visible.
 One of the few downsides of the
kit is the complete lack of
weapons. There are underwing
tanks provided in the kit, correct,
but they were only used for the
transition flight from the
mainland to the islands.

I wanted to add a sting to my Pucará. The aircraft is heavily armed
with four machine guns and two 20mm cannon as standard.
Although a British intelligence report stated that the aircraft could
neither carry bombs or rockets, it proved to be a costly mistake as
the aircraft could carry a mix of bombs and unguided rockets. It
could even carry Mk. 82 bombs. The weapons payload was 3200
pounds.
I wanted to add a MER (Multi Ejector Rack) on the centreline but I
had none available. What I did have were enough TER from
Eduard, so I made them into a useful one for my Pucará. Now I
was ready to insert the details like Ejection seats, Antennas and
propellers lightning conductors. The Turbomeca Astazou engines
are nicely captured as are the wheel wells. I only added brake lines
and wheel chocks. The LAU 60 rocket launchers are from KASL
Hobby.

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 Old enamel colours were mixed to
references.

Patafix or Blu-Tak rolled into thin sausages gives a

good start to airbrushing a hard edged pattern.

Kit decals applied on the base

colours ready for some subtle
weathering.

With the ‘raw’ build quickly advanced I was

ready to think about some colours. I had no
tailored colour pack to hand, many
companies already offer the specific colour
mixes for the Argentine aircraft and
operations. I decided to raid my inventory
and came up with ancient enamels from
Humbrol and Testors/Model Master for my
project. I wanted to do the kit supplied
version of the ill-fated A 511 of Major Carlos
Tomba, which got jumped by a flight of
three Sea Harriers after raiding British
positions with unguided rockets and was
subsequently shot down, with Tomba
ejecting and surviving the war. There is
quite some confusion about the camo
schemes on the Pucará since most of them
received a new paint on the islands with
unspecified paints from military and civil
stocks combined. You have to check your
Kinetic’s wheel
reference material for that. For soft edges I
wells are good, I’ve
only added some used some UHU Patafix in combination with
fluid hoses to the tape. The overall colour scheme appeared
landing gear. very light to me and the Malvinas machines
got a yellow theatre band for recognition
applied in several places.

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The pale colours lend
themselves well to some subtle
oil-colour washes to enhance
the surface detail. Dark washes
also provide depth to the
landing gear and weathering
around the engine nacelles and
weapons rails. A full weapons
payload certainly gives an
aggressive appearance to the
delicate design of the aircraft.

This new kit from Kinetic was so

much fun to build. It is nicely detailed
with a great fit and good quality
decals and all at a reasonable price.
They will have to work on their
instructions to make them look as
attractive as the sprues, but
otherwise it is a great replica of an
interesting aircraft.

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