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SCALE Phönix D.I to D.III

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April 2024  Volume 46  Issue 02 Scale Plans and Colour Profiles

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AIRCRAFT 100
PAGES

MODELLING
ISSN 2631-7214
14
0 2

9 772631 721449

ICM’s I-153 Chaika

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GULL MA
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MISTEL 5 - BRENGUN’S LATE WAR LASH-UP  AERO AB 101 - RS MODELS IN 1/72  UP-GOLDING AN OLDIE - 1/72 BIRDCAGE CORSAIR
FIAT G.55A CENTAURO - SPECIAL HOBBY IN 1/48  FLACK’S FURY - AIRFIX SEA FURY RACER  IPMS UK, NEWS, REVIEWS, AND MORE ...

Earn your Stripes A Star is Worn Vickers Valetta C.Mk 1

Hawker Hunter F.5 Marseille’s Bf 109F Paratroop transport
Airfix in 1/48 Eduard’s Afrika Edition Valom kit in 1/72

First and Best for Reference and Modelling

A P R I L 2024 · V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 9
1/72
SH72485
Tachikawa Ki-54 Hickory M72025 Tachikawa
‘Captured and Post War Service’ Ki-54 Hei / Hickory MASK

1/72 SH72493
P-40F/L Warhawk
‘Desert Hawks with Merlin’

1/72 M72023 SIAI-Marchetti SF-260EA/D/EU

‘Late Bulged Canopy Type’ MASK
SH72433

SIAI-Marchetti SF-260EA/D/EU
‘Late Bulged Canopy Type’

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CONTENTS

SCALE
AIRCRAFT THIS MONTH’S FEATURES
MODELLING
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 CONTENTS

EDITORIAL

THE HUNTER EARNS ITS STRIPES 14

Bill Clark makes a dramatic model out of a crisis, with his 1/48 Suez Hunter F. Mk 5
Unbirthday
POST WAR CENTAUR 20 Occasions
Special Hobby 1/48 Fiat G.55A Centauro By Gary Hatcher
By John Bryon

I
t is the sixty-
NO KISS UNDER THIS MISTLETOE 24 seventh-and-a-
Mistel 5 – Heinkel He 162A and Arado E-37 bit anniversary
By Huw Morgan of the Suez crisis
as I write this,
AN AERO A DAY … 26 and the presence
:

Aero’s AB-101 in 1/72 of so many yellow identification

By Bruce Leyland-Jones stripes on the cover has led me
to ponder the nature of such
A STAR IS WORN 30 celebrations. Of course our articles
Ricardo Rivas gives Eduard’s 1/48 kit of Marseilles Bf109 F4/Trop a suitably dirty desert finish are entirely unconnected, and no
such anniversary celebration is
SOVIET SEAGULL 33 intended – we just happened to
Polikarpov’s Gull-Winged Fighter have a couple of good pieces in on
By Ethan Williams the subject at the same time, and
when we threw them all into the
FLACK’S FURY 36
mix and pressed the magic button
Airfix FB.11 as a Civilian Racer
that’s how it turned out. It’s always
By Mike Williams
the anniversary of something, and
SECOND TIME AROUND 41 as an Editor one is torn between a
desire to conform and fly the flag
Building the Bristol 138A in 1/48
alongside all the other magazines
By Tony Grand
promoting whatever happens
AIRCRAFT IN PROFILE 45 to be the issue of the day, and a
rather less enthusiastic ‘oh … not
Phönix D.I to D.III Fighters and Offshoots
By Jon Tabinor. Scale plans and colour profiles by Sam Pearson
this again’ sort of feeling as the old
story gets dusted off and we try to
COLOUR CONUNDRUM 58 find a new angle.
Bf 109Fs on the Channel Front 1941-42 Part 1
By Paul Lucas. Colour profiles by Sam Pearson Personally I have always tried
to avoid anniversaries where
THE VALOM VICKERS VALETTA C.MK 1 … 62 possible on the grounds that these
Definitely NOT a Pig! campaigns, their people, places,
By Tony O’Toole and the history that drew them
there, are part of the everyday
OPERATION TELESCOPE 68 vocabulary of our hobby, and
The Parachute Assault on the Suez Canal in 1956 whereas the layman, once every
By Tony O’Toole five years, may pause and allow
themselves to be reminded of
With: events 50, 60, or 80 years past, we
Updates - our monthly news round-up section with new product previews and reviews 6 revisit them daily.
Books - with Ernie Lee 92
IPMS UK Column with John Tapsell
Show Diary
94
96
Subscribe Now
For full details visit:
Coming Next Month 97 www.guidelinepublications.co.uk
and look at our range of print and digital
subscription options or call +44 (0) 1582
668411. In the meantime I’m always happy
to discuss this or any issues arising from the
magazine so feel free to drop me a line on:
Cover Image: ICM’s 1/32 I-153 Chaika (ref. 32010) gary@guidelinepublications.co.uk
by Ethan Williams

A P R I L 2024 · V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 5
UPDATES
Air-Craft
Air-Craft Models
26 Turner Close, Jump, Barnsley, S74 OLF.
aircraftmodels2@gmail.com
A Classic Returns
De Havilland DH 89 Dragon Rapide /
Dominie Mk I
Scale: 1/144
Not only is the Dragon Rapide a classic aircraft
but kits of it have become classics too. Frog,
Heller and Veday all long gone to the kit shop
in the sky, the few survivors beyond reasonable
purchase on-line. Now thanks to Martin Blundell
at Air-Craft Models we are once again able to
model this great aircraft in 1/144 scale. Those
of us of a certain age will recall the far-sighted
efforts that John Adams, founder of Aeroclub
models, made to encourage 1/144 at a time
when the scale barely registered. Martin has
acquired the rights to the old Aeroclub toolings
and re-released them in updated form.
The plastic is the original Aeroclub moulding.
While it may have only ten parts aerofoil sections
are commendably thin and detail delicately
done. The fuselage halves are solid with no
interior detail as there are no transparencies,
windows being depicted by decals. Given
the alternative of masking and painting quite
complex panel geometry on a bi-plane this
seems a reasonable compromise.
Also provided is a photoetch fret giving the wing
and tail struts, propeller blades and a tailwheel.
White metal castings provide the prop hubs
and shafts. These items are again the original
Aeroclub-designed parts. With regard to the
photoetched tail struts provided, most DH-89s
had wires running from the fin to the tailplane,
not struts. Also provided, but not mentioned in
the instructions, is the small propeller for the
wind-driven generator usually mounted on the
wing leading edge (part 3) so check, as they say,
your references. (the fret was probably intended
to be generic to allow for other variants)
6 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
Martin has however taken the opportunity to
completely update the instructions, which are
now more clearly presented and in colour. They
also include practical advice about preparing
limited run parts and cutting photoetch in a
way that denies the carpet monster its fodder
– nice touch!
The brand-new decals are the star of the
package. There are three boxings, RAF and RAN,
each offering three marking options, or Civil with
no less than five options. Each kit comes with
full colour four-view profiles by Mark Smith for
all schemes.
Like the original these are short-run productions
that will require some modelling. The parts-
count may be low but there is ample enjoyment
to be had and modellers can of course add
additional detail (rigging for instance) should
they wish. Certainly some stunning versions of
this model have popped up over the years - as
the editor has been known to remark on more
than one occasion, the more you put in …
We are told that all variants and marking options
for that most elegant of 1930s racing aircraft,
the DH-88 Comet, will also be available shortly
from this supplier, and your correspondent is
salivating alread. A website is being constructed
but at present an email or letter to the above
address will bring you further information.
Mike Verier
Airfix
www.airfix.com
In the Box
Recent arrivals from Airfix
By Bill Clark
Hawker Hunter FGA.9/FR.10/GA.11
Kit no: A09192
Scale 1/48
Airfix’s latest iteration of their superb 1/48
Hawker Hunter includes additional parts to
provide models of either the FGA.9, FR.10 or
GA.11. The basic kit was first issued back in 2019,
as the F.6, initially planned with a half-hearted
attempt at the F.6A in mind, this version now
allows for that too.
By Sorge
In-between Airfix’s first issue and this the third,
the earlier ‘straight -winged’ version, the F.4, F.5
or export J 34, was produced. Therefore, with
this latest boxing, and with a minimal amount of
surgery and detail modification, any UK-based
single-seat Hunter (and many overseas users
too...) can be produced.
Airfix have also taken the opportunity to correct
some of the kit’s earlier faults, for example
the inner pylons are now of the correct depth
(though not the outer pylons). The prominent
ERU blisters are also included as are a pair of
230gallon drop tanks. For the FR.10 a recce
‘camera nose’ is included and for the GA.11 the
distinctive Harley Light and rear narrow-bore
tail cone synonymous with the Avon Series 100
engines is also present. The inclusion of the
camera nose enables the PR.11 to be built.
Another bonus is the darker, harder grey plastic
used, a much-welcome improvement on the
pale blue/grey stuff that preceded it. Decals are
included for the infamous FGA9 XF422 from No.1
Sqn RAF that flew under Tower Bridge in 1968,
an FR.10 of IV(AC) Sqn based at RAF Güterloh,
West Germany 1961, and finally a GA.11 of The
Blue Herons display team flown by volunteer
pilots from the Fleet Requirements and Aircraft
Directional Unit (FRADU) based at RNAS
Yeovilton in the late 70s. As per Airfix’s current
standard of decals the printing is exquisite
and features plenty of tiny stencils to test your
eyesight and patience.
Anyone with a liking for 1/48th scale RAF post
war jets won’t be disappointed with this kit.
Highly recommended.
Blackburn Buccaneer S.2B
Kit no: A12014
Scale 1/48
 Caproni Ca.100
Caproni Ca.100

72057

Caproni Ca.100

72034 72056

Besson MB-411 JN-1 Caproni Ca.100

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1/72 1/72

72055

A P R I L 2024 · V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 7
UPDATES
A great reissue from Airfix, providing us with the
highly popular Buccaneer in RAF service, which,
despite being an aircraft forced upon the RAF
in place of the TSR.2, provided sterling service,
retiring with an impressive combat record
despite its advancing years.
Although you’ve probably guessed, this kit bears
nothing in common with the much older and
hard to build kit, being a completely new item
and a wonderful kit it is too.
With the box art depicting a Buccaneer tearing
across a Scottish Loch with a full accompaniment
of Sea Eagles it is hard not to be enthralled
opening the box, which is almost bursting with
the 291 parts, many of which are common to the
previous release, with the addition of the S.2B
specific parts and decals.
The kit is formed of Airfix’s latest, slightly harder
dark grey plastic, which this modeller prefers
as the detail does seem to be much sharper. In
fact the detail is utterly top drawer, an array of
engraved and raised features as is appropriate
for each area, and certainly makes this a kit that
begs to be built.
Options include having the canopy open
or closed, raised or lowered undercarriage,
open bomb bay, folded wings, and an open
engine bay, which also has a masking blank for
protecting the engine when airbrushing the
model if you choose to have it open.
The sprues include a set of four Sea Eagle
missiles, the option to fill the bomb bay with
four 500lb bombs, fuel slipper tanks or the full
Gulf War weapons load of Sidewinder, 1000lb
Paveway, and the ALQ-101 ECM and chaff
dispenser pods. A nice feature is the inclusion of
a set of boarding ladders and FOD guards for the
intakes and exhausts should you wish to display
the Buccaneer in a diorama or as a parked up
machine.
Airfix provide four decal options, each very
tempting to reproduce:
S.2B, XW527/527, No.12 Squadron, RAF
Lossiemouth, Scotland, 1993 – Dark Grey/Dark
Green over light grey undersides.
S.2B, XW544, No.15 Squadron, RAF Laarbruch
Germany, 1971. Overall wrap-around Dark Grey
and Dark Green.
S.2B, XV352, No.208 Squadron, Op Red Flag,
1977. Dark Grey and Dark Green with top
surfaces of Sand and Dark Earth.
S.2B, XW547/R, Guinness Girl/Pauline, Operation
Granby/Desert Storm, Muharraq Airport,
Bahrain, 1991. Overall Desert Pink.
The instructions include colour A3-sized painting
guides, which will prove to be very useful, being
large enough to stick on the wall when building
the Buccaneer of your choice.
Airfix give this kit a skill level of three and that
certainly seems fair for the amount of work
that will go into bringing the large parts count
together to make a Buccaneer, however it will
be a model that you’ll be proud of, either as a
straight from the box build or a basis to add the
increasing amount of aftermarket accessories
to. A great and long-awaited addition to the
modelling world.
8 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
100-SH72495 1/72 External armament for
SMB-2 and other IAF Aircraft
Two styrene sprues that include armament used
on IAF Super Mystere SMB.2 jets as well as on
other aircraft of the period – two 250kg bombs,
two napalm bombs each with the respective
pylons, two quadruple racks with eight 100kg
bomblets and a pair of Shafrir 2 AAMs with
launchers and pylons.
Special Hobby
www.specialhobby.eu
100-SH48200 1/48 Nord NC-701 Martinet
The German Siebel Si 204 was developed just
before the Second World War as a modern
transport aircraft. The outbreak of the war meant
a change in the type’s purpose and it began
to fly for the Luftwaffe as a trainer. This version
of the Siebel was also produced in occupied
countries, in Czechoslovakia and in France, and
in both these countries production continued
after the war had ended. The French produced
several versions, some even with three-bladed
propellers. These airframes were exported to the
Netherlands, Poland and Sweden, too. MiniArt
www.miniart-models.com
This model of the NC-701 Martinet transport
version offers decals for a French Aéronavale
option, one as used by the Polish LOT transport
company, and finally a Swedish civilian machine.
Includes photoetch and 3D-printed parts.
Read more
New 1/48 aviation-themed releases from MinArt:
48029 P-47D-30RA Thunderbolt
This is the second boxing of the acclaimed Jug
as previewed at Nuremburg.
100-SH48224 1/48 AH-1Q/S Cobra ‘IDF 49017 Marston Mat Landing Strip
against Terrorists’
Clearly intended for their own 1/48 P-47 kits, this
The Israeli Air Force acquired and subsequently nicely moulded set offers two base sections that
tested the AH-1G Cobra attack helicopter. Due can be joined together or utilised separately.
to the need of helicopters capable of destroying Each piece measures 315mm x 227mm.
armoured vehicles or fortified footholds, Israel, in
cooperation with its US counterpart, converted
these helicopters to the AH-1S version. AH-1S Academy
airframes were equipped with the TOW missile, www.academyhobby.com
although Israeli helicopters still retained several
features typical for the older AH-1G version Academy have reboxed their kit of the Russian
helicopters. This kit offers highly detailed Air Force Tu-22M3 Backfire C (ref. 12636),
styrene parts on as many as nine sprues and one featuring the upgrades this Cold War bomber
with clear canopy parts. The decal sheet offers received in 1983. It’s in 1/144 scale and
markings for three machines with two of them includes a Kh-22 anti-ship missile and two
sporting Yellow ID ‘V’ letters. marking options.
100-SH72397 1/72 Breda Ba.88B Lince ‘Duce’s
Bomber’
This kit of the Italian WW2 twin-engine bomber
consists of three grey styrene sprues, one
with clear parts, decals catering for three
machines with Italian markings, and a full-
colour instruction sheet. While the Ba.88 was
arguably one of the sleekest Italian warplanes,
its performance fell short of expectations.
Nevertheless, Breda Ba.88 bombers were
operated both from Italian mainland and
overseas bases in Africa.

Airfix
www.airfix.com
New releases from Airfix this spring include…
A01008B Messerschmitt Bf109E-4 1/72
A09010 Consolidated B-24H Liberator 1/72
A06023 Boeing Chinook HC.1 1/72
A09183 Supermarine Walrus Mk I 1/48
A05141 Bristol Bulldog Mk II 1/48
Arma Hobby
www.armahobby.com
More good news for Hurricane completists: Arma
Hobby have released a trio of new kits including
a limited-edition Allied Squadrons version of
the Hurricane Mk I (ref. 70024) in 1/72 scale with
decals for RAF aircraft flown by Polish, Czech and
American pilots in 1940/1941. They also have new
1/48 boxings of the Hurricane Mk IIb (ref. 40007)
and the Hurricane Mk IIc (ref. 40004). Both kits
include canopy and wheel masks.
UPDATES
Eduard HobbyBoss
www.eduard.com www.hobbyboss.com
Eduard have released a 1/48 limited-edition kit
of the US supersonic light fighter F-5E, boxed Meanwhile, HobbyBoss have reboxed two WWII
as ‘Freedom Tiger’ (ref. 11182). The kit includes classics…
eight marking options, resin wheels and a resin
RWR antennae. The base kit is by AFV Club. 81779 Hurricane Mk IIc TROP 1/48
80184 Fieseler Fi-156U Storch 1/35
Also from Eduard this month…
8281 Spitfire Mk. IXc late version 1/48
8078 Bf 108 1/48
70156 Bf 109G-2 1/72
84118 Fw 190A-5 light fighter 1/48
And look out for the brand-new P-51B in 1/48!
The 1/48 scale P-51B Mustang kit will be the
primary new release for May 2024. It will be
available as a Limited Edition Dual Combo
under catalogue number 11181 with the title
‘Overlord: D-Day Mustangs’. After several years,
Eduard are reintroducing a kit in the Royal
Class series. Under catalogue number R0019, Italeri
the P-51B Mustang Royal Class (Dual Combo) is www.italeri.com
exclusively available for pre-order or through
Eduard’s wholesale partners. The P-51B kit in
the Royal Class edition is based on item 11181
but includes four additional decal variants and
other items.
With its variable-geometry wings and distinctive
bulge on the rear fin, the EF-111 A Raven
(ref. 1235) was equipped with state-of-the-
art electronics and was employed in various
operational activities in Libya, Bosnia, and Iraq.
Italeri’s recent 1/72 kit is a rebox with new decals
for aircraft stationed in Oxfordshire and New
Mexico in the 80s and 90s. The company have
also released a 1/48 model of the Ju 87 G-1 Stuka
Kanonenvogel (ref. 2830) and a kit of the Me 410
A-1 Hornisse (ref. 074) in 1/72 scale.
A P R I L 2024 · V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 9
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azine. Lavishly illustrated Describes all the aircraft trace the development of PWS-10 in Polish and Drawing on the talents of With a highly detailed Aircraft L Robinson throughout the book
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and scale drawings. initiated by CAC, Port armoured vehicle, or ship during the Spanish Civil in the Luftwaffe research history (including service ed book is a comprehen- Focusing on this major
SB 114pp £15.99 Melbourne, Australia, from prototype to the War. With 1/72 and 1/48 and writing community, with other nations, and sive study of the Provost event in October 2023
during its 64-year history. final production variant. scale plans, stunning each issue will be packed post-war service), as well prototypes and test and in Italy.
Includes conceptual pro- SB 176pp £32.50 B&W period photos and with stories, photographs as drawings, colour pro- trials aircraft. With colour SB 114pp £24.00
jects which never flew. profiles. and artwork. files and photographs. profiles.
SB 410pp £35.00 SB 26pp £9.00 SB 186pp £39.99 HB 392pp £69.90 SB 352pp £49.90

80514AVI 80507AVI 80422AVI 92504AVI 92443AVI 92450AVI 92467AVI 92481AVI

Le Loire 130
French Language book.
A seaplane on board a
large number of French
Navy ships, the LOIRE
130 with its distinctive
lines is typical of its time.
This book is dedicated to
this superb device. With
over 360 superb photos,
42 colour profiles and
many plans.
HB 288pp £48.00
Du Siebel au Mar-
tinet ans sous nos
cocardes P Cornu
French Language book.
This work traces the
history, under the French
roundels, of the NC 700,
701 and 702 Martinet
aircraft as well as that of
the Siebel 204 D built in
France from which they
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HB 444pp £69.00
Les Avions de Dutch Profile Dutch Profile Fok- Dutch Profile Con- Dutch Profile Dutch Profile
Transport et de Mitchell Mosquito ker D.VII in Dutch solidated PBY-5/A Soesterberg Wolf- Lockheed R/T-33A -
Liaison de L’Armee - No.320 Squadron Military Service Part 2 hounds - History of Royal Netherlands
de L’Air X Capy, Royal Nether- N Geldhof, L Boerman, P Staal, L Boerman, the 32nd TFS USAFE Air Force
French Language book. lands-Air Service tch/English language. Dutch/English language T VanKampen
Illustrated with 600 RAF 1942-46 This book looks at the this book looks at the Dutch/English language Dutch/English language
photos and 17 colour Dutch/English language history and use of this history and use of this this book looks at the this book looks at the
profiles. This book is not this book looks at the aircraft. With detailed aircraft. With detailed history and use of this history and use of this
for all that dedicated history and use of this camouflage and marking camouflage and marking aircraft. With detailed aircraft. With detailed
to military air transport aircraft. With detailed profiles. profiles. camouflage and marking camouflage and marking
strict sense. camouflage and marking SB 50pp £16.99 SB 60pp £16.99 profiles. profiles.
HB 472pp £68.00 profiles. SB 64pp £16.99 SB 72pp £16.99
SB 76pp £16.99

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Mark 1 SBS
www.4pluspublications.com www.sbsmodel.com

Four new injection-moulded kits from Mark 1, all

in 1/144 scale. Note that the rear of each box is
printed with an airfield tarmac pattern for use as
a display base.
SBS have a newly tooled 1/72 resin kit of the
Caproni-Vizzola F.6M (ref. SBS-7036) with
photoetched and cast metal parts. They’ve also
produced a variant, the Caproni-Vizzola F.6M
Prototype ‘Early Configuration’ (ref. SBS-7037)
without decals. Both kits include clear resin parts
and a canopy paint mask.

MKM144178 Piper L-4 ‘Pleasure Flying’

MKM144124 DH Mosquito FB.VI ‘Amiens
Prison Raid’
MKM144035 Bristol Beaufighter Mk IC
‘Coastal Patrol’
MKM144177 Hawker Tempest Mk V ‘Fighter Aces’

Revell
www.revell.de

Miniwing
www.eshop.miniwing.cz

Revell have expanded on their P-Series of

The Bell OH-58 Kiowa was introduced during
the Vietnam War and went on to see action in
multiple conflicts until it was finally withdrawn
by the US Army in 2017. Miniwing have released
four 1/144 scale kits representing just some of
the roles this versatile helicopter has played over
the decades. Each kit contains twenty-seven
plastic parts, a canopy mask sheet, PE parts, and
two decal variants.
never-realised aircraft with a 1/72 reboxing of
the Ar 555 (ref. 03790). This all-wing Luftwaffe jet
bomber was intended to be capable of striking
the continental United States from Germany, yet
requests for designs were made early in World
War II, long before the US had entered the war.
Revell have also released an RAF version of the
Eurofighter Typhoon (ref. 03796) in 1/144 scale
with detailed cockpit, elaborate landing gear
and two ASRAAM guided missiles.

mini366 Bell OH-58A Kiowa ‘In Vietnam War’

mini367 Bell OH-58A Kiowa ‘Over America’
mini368 Bell OH-58A Kiowa ‘Over Europe’
mini370 Bell OH-58A Kiowa ‘The Middle East’

12 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
A P R I L 2024 · V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 13
1/48 HAWKER HUNTER F. MK5
The Hunter
Hawker Hunter F.4/F.5/J34
Kit No: A09189
Scale: 1/48
Type: Injection Moulded
Manufacturer: Airfix
www.airfix.com.
T
he Roman Scholar Seneca’s words – written
2,000 years ago – could never have been
more relevant than when used in the
context of the Suez affair of 1956. The result of
poor intelligence, muddled political thinking
and possibly a degree of military ineptitude, the
‘police action’ brought humiliation upon Britain.
Perhaps fortunately, military action lasted no more
than seven days, brought to an inclusive halt by
international pressure.’
The words of Vic Flintham, author of The Suez
Campaign, 1956, published in this very magazine
in the November 1984 edition (Volume 7, Number
2). This was the article I used as the main reference
for this build. Modellers out there of a certain
age will surely remember that particular issue,
and that era of Scale Aircraft Modelling, which
often included a small decal sheet relevant to the
14 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
Bill Clark makes a dramatic model out of a crisis,
with his 1/48 Suez Hunter F. Mk 5
Earns Its
Airfix’s kit is moulded in softish light-grey
plastic. The conversion parts for the earlier
straight-wing, small-bore Hunters are on a
new sprue seen at bottom here.
‘Aircraft in Detail’ featured that month. For anyone
with an interest in the aviation and politics of The
Suez Crisis, I can recommend the article highly as
it provides a rich vein of information – especially
as many contemporary historians tend to ignore
it. The article goes into some depth into the
politics and reasons behind the crisis, which are
outside the scope of this article. If you have a
copy, or can source one, it’s well worth a read.
As part of the assembled task force that
participated in Operation Musketeer, the RAF and
FAA deployed its latest, most modern hardware.
Shorter-ranged Canberra B.2s and PR.3s were
stationed in Cyprus, whereas the longer-legged
B.6 bombers were based in Malta, as were
Valiants. Venom fighter-bombers were also
deployed to Cyprus at Akrotiri, along with Meteor
night fighters. The Fleet Air Arm’s carriers had
Str ipes
Sea Hawks, Wyverns and Sea Venoms. To provide
air defence, the RAF sent Hawker Hunter units,
No.1 and No.34 Squadron, to bases at Nicosia in
Cyprus. Both were equipped with the latest mark
of Hunter, the Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire-
powered F.Mk 5. This version was virtually
identical externally to the Avon-engined Mk4
with just a few detail differences.
Airfix’s 1/48 Hunter is a gorgeous kit, accurate
in outline and easy enough to build, but not
without an issue or two. The F.4/F.5/J34 boxing
incorporates the all-important ‘small-bore’
tail cone of both the 100 Series Avon F.4 and
Sapphire of the F.5. The straight wing leading
edge featured on these versions is facilitated
by inserts, but the smaller engine-related
differences evident on the fuselage upper
decking ‘saddle’ have been missed. Although in
fairness some are quite minute and probably not
worth worrying about for many modellers. A tell-
tale feature of Sapphire Hunters was a comet-
shaped oil stain, just in front of the mid-fuselage
transport joint, which leaked from a single
outlet on the port side of the fuselage. Avon-
powered jets had small, circular vents either side
of the fuselage, just aft of the transport joint,
near to the rear wing root. Stains from these
ports sometimes necessitated squadron-bar
markings to be raised. For those who want a bit
more accuracy, Aerocraft Models provide resin
replacement parts to portray these variations.
A good place to start with this kit is to read the
instructions. Recent Airfix kits sometimes have
parts that need to be fitted in a certain sequence,
and failure to do this can sometimes cause
problems later in the build (Season finale spoiler
alert! It’s the wings! Ed).
 1/48 HAWKER HUNTER F. MK5

As ever nowadays, Airfix’s instructions and decals are excellent, with Aeromasters old Hunter Pt.II sheet, graciously donated by a fellow
plenty of stencilling with the latter. Those stripes would save me some modeller, provided the 34 Squadron nose flashes. Long out of print,
masking too, even if my Hunter didn’t have yellow ones. they can still be found online, just.

Sidewall detail was also built up from

Plasticard and rod, not that any of this would
be visible on the finished model!
The kits seat was enhanced with Tamiya tape Cockpit, seat and instrument panel painted,
harnesses, and additional detail was added detailed and photographed together. The
to the rear of the cockpit tub with fine wire. seat was then removed and installed much
This was time well spent on these two very later to prevent damage.
visible areas.

With the trunking added, the fuselage

was ready to be cemented together, after
cramming in nose weight. The forward fuselage shows the well thought
The engine compressor front was added, out intake structure of the kit, and the large
which serves to help locate the intake trunking. recess for the single-piece upper wing
and saddle. This gives a strong join, and
prevents the wing weakness associated with
Academy's Hunter.

The kit provides both the small-bore tail cone

for the 100 series Avons and Sapphires, and Dog tooth extraction. Hatched areas
the big-bore 200 series Avon jet ones for the represent the bits to be discarded. Removal
F6. It is therefore possible to build an early is quite straightforward as small grooves are The new straight leading edge inserts are a
straight-winged F6 from this kit. moulded in place to enable accurate cutting. simple drop fit.

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www.guidelinepublications.co.uk +44(0)1582 668411 A P R I L 2024 · V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 15
1/48 HAWKER HUNTER F. MK5
I began with the cockpit (no surprise there)
adding some rudimentary side-wall detail from
plastic rod, card and wire to otherwise bare
parts. These were painted in a very dark, almost
black, shade of grey and when this had dried, I
dry-brushed the detail to highlight it – not that
you’ll see that much with the seat in place.
The main instrument panel has dial decals,
and I applied these using MicroSol and Set to
draw them into the pre-painted panel. With
the console side panels, I cheated and used
photoetch parts designed for Revell’s 1/72 scale
F.6, which were a surprisingly good fit! To the
kit’s seat, I attached harnesses and webbing
made from strips of Tamiya tape. The overhead
ejection handle was replaced with thin wire,
which was also employed to add additional
detail to the seat. Once painted, the seat was put
safely aside to add at the end of the build.
When I was satisfied with the interior details, I
added the nose wheel bay and cemented the
whole subassembly into one fuselage half.
Inserts fitted to the lower and upper wings –
not a bad fit, though some filler was required.
Contrary to the instructions, I added mine to
each half first without any ill effects.
That doesn’t mean it was filler free. Just that
less was needed! As long as the narrow spine
matched, the rest was simple to make good.
Without the Sabrinas (so called after the
nickname of buxom English model and
actress Norma Ann Sykes), the round
cannon-shell chutes need re-locating, and
ammunition-link ejection ports need to be
added under the forward fuselage.
16
4 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
This was followed by the required nose weight
using my preferred method of lead weight
encased in Milliput.
The intakes were next. These built up nicely,
and fit snugly through cut-outs in the fuselage
halves. I’d pre-painted them, but once again not
that much was visible. The air-brake actuating
arm recess was added and then the fuselage
halves were joined. On to that went the ‘small-
bore’ tail cone at the rear, with the nose cone
added to the front.
With the fuselage now assembled, it was time to
tackle the wing modifications.
As noted earlier, the F.4 and F.5 (and early F.6s
for that matter) had straight wing leading edges,
not the ’dog-tooth’ kink. Airfix caters for this
by providing inserts – you simply chop out the
dog-tooth sections and replace them with the
non-dogtooth parts. The wing sections were
easily removed by first carefully scribing them
with the tip of a new scalpel blade, successive
Aerocraft’s F.5 replacement saddle replaces
the wing saddle’s hatched area. I used Dymo
tape attached to masking tape to ensure a
straight line for cutting.
The wheel well walls are added to the inside
upper-wing surfaces, and also serve to add
extra bracing to the wings. Note the large tab
slots for the lower wings – that’s why reading
the instructions beforehand is good.
Airfix strangely provides two sets of identical
pylons, and both are inaccurately too shallow.
To fix this, I cut both and added parts of one
set to the other to create the right depth.
swipes soon cutting through the soft plastic. The
kits instructions say to assemble the inserts first
and add them to the built-up wing. I deviated
from this by gluing each replacement part onto
each wing section. There was no reason for this
other than I didn’t read the instructions. Luckily, I
encountered no problems with my approach.
The next amendment was the rear of the upper
wing’s ‘saddle’. Aerocraft’s resin replacement
was placed over the section it was to replace
and then carefully drawn around with a marker
pen. Successive, careful cuts were made and
the kit part was swiftly removed. I undercut the
area deliberately, so I could pare and trim as
necessary to get an exact fit. The upper wing was
now glued to the fuselage and then I added the
resin F.5 saddle. The fit was good, but I had to
add some filler in the form of black ‘flexi-super
glue’. This dries really solidly and sands down
quickly with the aid of wetted wet’n’dry paper.
By cutting the area very slightly under size, I
could get a better fit.
Lower wings were added and clamped to
ensure a good fit. Note the new wing leading
edges aligned very well too.
After the darkened Tamiya Dark Sea Grey
was applied, Xtracrylix’s Dark Green was
airbrushed on. The AK masking putty gave a
nice sharp edge to the camouflage.

With the upper wing tackled I addressed the
main undercarriage bay walls. These were
glued into slight recesses on the upper inside
wing into slight recesses. The fit was excellent
just needing a small amount of thin cement to
secure them in place. A coat of silver paint was
then applied, and prior to adding the lower
wings, I remembered to drill the necessary pylon
location holes. The aileron tips lacked the small
but noticeable sweep, but a quick swipe with a
sanding stick sorted this out.
Masking removed shows the upper
camouflage. Note how the red cockpit cabling
stands out. It really is a black hole in there!
Upper wing stripe areas, masked and ready
for application. This is why I gloss varnished
first, as I worried that the amount of handling
these areas would take could cause damage
to the paint surface.
Decalling well under way. I added most of the
myriad stencils, well to the upper surface at
any rate.
The port aileron should also have a trim-tab, so
this was scribed in. With wings now on, it was
time to start thinking about paint.
The UK, France and Israel mandated that
yellow and black ID stripes should be applied
to all aircraft participating in Musketeer. This
might have been due to Israeli aircraft already
featuring these stripes (although part of the
subterfuge was that officially the Israelis weren’t
involved in the invasion).
The wing stripe area was given a coat of
Cream/ Buff/ Not-Yellow paint and masked.
Stripes on, and a very pleasant effect they
were too without the black infill.
Undercarriage and parts. The weight-flattened
tyres are keyed to the hubs so they should
align on the ground. I drilled the distinctive
lightening holes in the nose wheel hub too
and made small actuators for the doors.
A P R I L 2024
1/48 HAWKER HUNTER F. MK5
Regardless of the politicking, it appears that
Canberras based on Malta had their stripes
correctly applied in one-Foot wide bands,
whereas aircraft based on Cyprus weren’t so lucky.
For instance, referring to SAM Volume 7 Number
2 once again … it was noted that at least one
RAF Canberra B.2 from 10 Squadron stationed
at Nicosia had black and white stripes only –
reminiscent of an invasion a dozen years earlier.
‘An apparent shortage of yellow on Cyprus resulted
in a somewhat lighter colour being used instead of
yellow on most aircraft, described by eyewitnesses
as ‘cream’ writes Vic Flintham, and states he
believes this colour was obtained by mixing
With the silver applied, and masking
removed, I was pleased to see a nice neat
paint job. The black stripes would be added
from the kit’s decal sheet which I sliced away
from the yellow areas.
Inspiration for this article came from the SAM
November 1984 issue, and the decal sheet
issued in it. I actually used the sheet’s brace
of ‘S’s on this model. Bearing in mind they
were almost 40 years old, they settled down
remarkably well!
The two 100-Gallon drop tanks and amended
pylons look so much better when modified.
Airfix provides stencilling for these, which
really helps add extra realism.
· V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 517
1/48 HAWKER HUNTER F. MK5
white with the limited stocks of yellow that was
available. Light Stone (BS.381c 361) was also
available to the British Army however, and in
plentiful supply on the island. Mike Keep, SAM’s
famous article profile artist, believed this was the
colour used. The article was honest enough to
state this difference too - no internet ‘pram and
toy’ squabbles in those days! I compromised and
added some white to Vallejo Model Color Buff
(70.976) Buff. It worked for me.
Mike Keep’s line drawing artwork featured
WP130 from 34 Squadron, and there was also
a photograph too, which showed this aircraft
had enough idiosyncrasies in its appearance to
whet my appetite! First of all, it didn’t have the
Sabrina ammunition link collectors. This showed
off the Hunter’s clean nose lines and secondly
the stripes were fairly non-standard … certainly
at the time the photo was taken, as they were
incomplete. The only black stripes were on the
lower wing, and the top and lower stripes were
mismatched. When added to the fact that the
yellow stripes most likely weren’t yellow, this
made WP130 an even-more appealing prospect.
With all seams and joins attended to, the
tailplanes were push-fitted in place for painting. I
then gave the model a good wash, and checked
the soft plastic was devoid of any sanding
scratches. Happy with my double check, a coat
of Tamiya Grey Primer was applied overall. Any
minor defects were attended to, and the upper
surface colour of Dark Sea Grey was applied.
This was a mix of Tamiya Dark Sea Grey (XF-54)
darkened a little with some black. These areas
were then masked off with AK-Interactive
Camouflage Plastic Putty and the Xtracrylix
Dark Green (XA1001) applied. The whole upper
surface was then masked off and I could then
spray the lower ‘cream’ areas. With these masked,
the lower surface’s silver was applied. After
removing this masking I applied a good coat of
gloss varnish overall to protect the model from
any heavy handling while masking, and painting,
the upper wing and fuselage stripes.
It was quite a nice feeling when this was
removed revealing a nice tidy paint job.
18 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
Airfix’s decal sheet includes the black and
yellow stripes. As I only required the lower wing
black areas, I just cut them out and applied
them. This certainly made the process far easier
than masking and painting, especially on the
undercarriage doors. My thanks to Graham at
the Medway Model Club who donated an old
Aeromaster sheet, Hunter Pt.II (ref .48-346),
which provided the 34 Squadron nose markings
– surely the largest and most flamboyant
squadron markings ever applied to an RAF
Hunter. According to my references their outline
should be purple, not red, but that’s something
I’ll have to live with unless I muster up the
courage to overpaint them. The two tail code ‘S’s
came from that old 1/72 SAM sheet, so they’re a
bit small, but will have to do as the decal world
isn’t exactly awash with this style of yellow S
with red borders.
The Hunter F.5 and F.4 were the first Hunters in
service with wings plumbed for external fuel
tanks. These consisted of a pair of 100 gallon
‘drop-tanks’ fitted to the inner pylons, adjacent
to the main wheel gear bays. Airfix supplies
these tanks, rather oddly with two pairs of
identical pylons – none of which are accurate as
they’re not deep enough. All is not lost though
as there is a simple fix. I won’t claim this method
is my ‘eureka’ moment as I saw it on the Internet
somewhere, but if you remove 2mm from the
top of one pylon, remove the tank attachment
points from the other and join the two, you have
a more accurate pylon.
The tanks’ fins were replaced with thinner
Plasticard items, and once each was glued to its
pylon, the prominent attachment shoes were
added from more Plasticard. The only photo of
WP130 I’ve seen shows it devoid of tanks, which
suggests to me that maybe she has just returned
from a sortie, having ‘punched’ her tanks in
flight. I added them, so perhaps ‘my’ WP130 is
just about to embark on that patrol?
I also took the opportunity to add extra detail
to the undercarriage, especially on the inner
faces of the doors, which are somewhat blank.
The nice wheel-hub detail was highlighted
with a dark wash to enhance its appearance.
The nose wheel had holes drilled in its hub as
these aren’t included and actuating pistons for
the doors were added from thin copper tubing.
Generally though, the undercarriage built up
with little drama.
Considering its role at that time, my chosen
Hunter looked to be in a reasonably clean
condition. I added a modicum of weathering
therefore, mostly on the underside, as well as
‘that’ port-side engine oil stain of course. A coat
of semi-matt varnish completed the Hunter,
and it was ready to assume its next duty on my
display shelf.
I freely admit I’m becoming an Airfix Fan-boy!
Their new kits are getting better and better,
certainly in terms of design and subject
matter. This kit, and the many others I’ve
happily tackled over the last few years haven’t
necessarily been without minor issues, but
most are easy enough to fix if they bother you.
The biggest problem with the first tranche of
Airfix ‘new-generation’ kits was the soft plastic.
Not necessarily a problem when painting,
but it can cause mar easily when cleaning
and sanding parts. It’s essential all scuff and
sanding parts are removed, and the surfaces
polished up. I’ve tried using sanding sticks for
this, and while they work reasonably well, I find
successively finer grades of wet‘n’dry paper,
used wet, are better for this task.
With its latest Hunter boxing (FGA.9/ FR.10 /
GA.11) Airfix’s range enables any single-seater
to be built, maybe except the Swiss FGA58. As
for the two-seater, Aerocraft’s resin conversion
sets currently fill that particular gap and I look
forward to adding a few more Hunters of all sorts
to my collection!
 Accessories for your kits

1/48
AL4112
Trailer MkII with compressor and fuel filter

AL4047
Pilot F-86 Sabre

w w w. p l u s m o d e l . c z
AL4113 Hand bomb cart Mk.1

A P R I L 2024 · V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 19
1/48 FIAT G.55A CENTAURO

AA Chiron for the

for the
Gods

Jon Bryon builds Special Hobby’s

old 1/48 Fiat G.55 as an Italian
Fighter-Trainer

FIAT G.55A ‘POST WAR SERVICE’

Kit No: SH48087
Scale: 1/48
Type: Injection moulded with photo
etched parts
Manufacturer: Special Hobby
www.specialhobby.eu

I
n between larger, more protracted modelling
projects, I tend to vary my build schedule
with single-engine prop fighters as a ‘palette
cleansers’. One such project a few years ago was
Special Hobby’s Fiat G.55A. The kit hails from the The cockpit is nicely detailed enough, certainly for a closed canopy. I created my own assembly
first decade of the century and is typical of one sequence here contrary to the instructions.
of their kits from this time.

20 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K

By modern standards it’s still not bad, but is very
much of its day. It features some nice surface
detail, good photoetched parts, a couple of
resin pieces and very nice decals. There’s also
lots of flash – especially on components like the
landing gear and tail planes, some not-so-nice
recessed detail, and various pits, gouges and
lumps on the surface of the plastic. Parts’ fit is
similarly variable, being mostly good but with
tail planes and nose more towards the ‘poor’ end
of the spectrum.
Knowing little about World War II Italian aircraft,
a quick visit to the stormomagazine.com website
was in order and this also had several build
articles for this kit. The kit has three marking
options, and the one I liked was from the post-
war Italian Air Force Fighter School, numbered
‘55’ with serial MM91167. From the website I
learned I needed to remove the bump on the
fuselage behind the tail wheel and that the
aerial mast is the wrong shape.
Dry fitting the main airframe components
together with tape was moderately
encouraging, and is always worth doing on a
kit of this type and age.
The G.55A had a fixed rear tailwheel, so the
tailwheel doors needed to be glued closed
and sealed. Here superglue has been applied
and sanded down.
The exhausts need to be hollowed out, which
is not an easy job given their shape. I used a
sharp No.10 Swann & Morton blade.
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From a photo of ‘55’ I found online, I couldn’t
see most of the bumps on the cowling and so
didn’t add these (the Fiat G.55A was a post-war,
unarmed trainer version of the G.55. As most of
the bumps on the cowling related to its armament,
they were removed on this version. Ed), and I also
omitted the DF loop. The aerial mast could be
replaced by something from my spares box.
The cockpit was well detailed and went together
surprisingly well, but I left out nearly all the
photoetched detail as it would be invisible
through a closed canopy. Special Hobby
recommends assembling the complete cockpit
tub and inserting it between the fuselage halves.
That looked fraught with risk to me, so I stuck
the sidewall panels to their respective fuselage
halves, built the floor and seat, and then taped
the fuselage together. The front and rear
bulkheads were glued into one fuselage side
and the halves separated. I then played about
with the fit, which was excellent, and stuck the
fuselage halves together with superglue. Once
the seams had all been cleaned, the cockpit floor
was added from underneath.
Cleaning up the flash had been disheartening.
For some parts, like the main landing gear legs,
I’d had no option. But for others I thought it
would just be easier to scratch build the parts,
The actual ‘glued’ fit at the wing roots was
more challenging and required a lot of
superglue and sanding.
Under a test coat of silver paint, the doors
are invisible.
A comparison of the kit canopy (left) with the
Falcon replacement (right). The differences
are obvious.
A P R I L 2024
1/48 FIAT G.55A CENTAURO
so the landing-gear actuators and wing-
mounted pitot tube were all made from Albion
Alloys’ brass tubing. In addition to the flash,
there were the surface imperfections – gouges,
lumps, pits and other blemishes on various parts
of the wings and fuselage.
The kit breakdown was not simple around the
nose area. The upper nose cowling down to
the exhausts for the gun-less G.55A variant was
a resin part, the lower nose plastic, and once
together the two were meant to join to the
fuselage. I decided to add the lower nose to the
main fuselage as the fit was pretty good. The
exhaust mounts were then added, and finally the
resin upper cowling, which fits better by leaving
out the bulkhead Special Hobby provided. The
cross section of the resin cowling compared to
the plastic was not bad, but there was a large
gap above one of the exhaust mounts, so I filled
it with plastic strip and superglue. The exhausts
were parts ripe for replacement in resin, but I
pressed on and hollowed out the pipes myself –
a tedious task.
Once cleaned up and after some careful
rescribing, an acceptable result was obtained.
The kit’s crude undercarriage actuating arms
were replaced with items made from Albion
Alloys telescoping brass tube. The difficult bits
at the ends were chopped from the kit parts
and added to the tubes.
The preserved Fiat G.55 at the Italian Air Force
Museum at Vigna di Valle shows the canopy
framing to good effect. The forward side
section of each side could be slid back.
· V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 21
1/48 FIAT G.55A CENTAURO
Like the plastic, under a coat of silver paint the
resin upper-nose cowling also revealed marks
and scratches that needed sanding out and
polishing. The kit supercharger intake came in
two halves and once joined and cleaned up it
was distinctly non-circular in cross section. My
spares boxes gave up an old missile of the right
diameter, from an Academy Su-27, so I cut this
and hollowed the end out for a better intake.
I made several dry-runs of attaching the wings
to the fuselage, and had to hack away a lot of
plastic from the top of the undercarriage bays as
they interfered with the upper wing. I’d not read
of this in the build articles kit I’d consulted, so
possibly it was down to me (although I can’t see
how). Eventually I got the wing halves to mate
quite well. While the dry run for the wing to the
fuselage fit was reassuring: sadly, as is often the
way, when the time actually came to gluing, it
was nowhere near as good. The wing sat lower
than the fuselage root. Using spots of superglue,
a clamp and some accelerator, I managed to
bend the wings upward a bit to reduce the step
by about half. The tail-wheel doors needed to
be attached closed, filled, and a hole drilled for
a non-retractable tail wheel. These fit poorly and
plenty of superglue was used to fill the gaps.
The vacform canopy fitted well except at the
rear. This was eventually ‘resolved’ with some
plastic strip.
The final fit of the resin nose was pretty good.
Note the black strip sprayed at the rear of the
cowling, and hollowed out exhausts.
As well as showing the scratch-built Albion
Alloys brass tubing wing pitot, the mottling
and shading I applied to the metallic paints is
revealed well here.
22 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
One thing that had immediately struck me from
the articles I’d read on building this kit was that,
compared to my reference photo, there was
something wrong with the canopy framing. The
kit part, which is moulded closed, has heavy
framing with squared-off corners to the panes.
In reality, this is not how it should look, and the
vertical frame in the centre of the side windows
should be very petite. It really bothered me. Falcon
had a vacformed canopy for the G.55 in one of
their sets, but it was for the Classic Airframes kit. I
vacillated for ages about whether to buy this as it
was expensive for something I was worried might
not fit. Fortunately I found a set for under half-
price, so I took the plunge and purchased it.
The fit was better than I expected (the Classic
Airframes kit and Special Hobby are one and the
same I suspect now). The rear of the new canopy
sat too high and after trimming it to lower the rear
end, I’d just made the overall fit worse. Eventually,
I settled for lining the rear lip of the canopy with
some plastic strip and having it sit a little proud.
The final result was rougher around the edges
than I wanted, but the framing looked much
better than the injected part. On balance, I’m glad
I made the change.
The replacement air intake above the exhaust,
made from a spare air-to-air missile body.
I realised later the black strip should be a deep
panel line at the rear of the cowling, which was
actually a cooling slot for the engine.
More accurate fuselage numbers were masked
and sprayed with a homemade stencil.
The model was painted in several stages over
a primer coat of Mr Finishing Surfacer 1500
Black. The intention was to try and get a patchy,
layered silver finish. I airbrushed Alclad White
Aluminium, Steel, and Magnesium in various
mixes, Mr Color Silver, Gun Chrome, Chrome,
and also threw in a few areas of KColors’ Steel.
Some of the darker areas were then masked
using liquid frisket film. This was dabbed on with
a sponge around the leading edges of various
items, before paler shades were airbrushed over
the top. I also made good use of some Artoolfx
and Uschi van der Rosten stencils to get a more-
blotchy finish.
I applied a wash of Abteilung 502’s Smoke oil
paint directly over the paint, and then used
their Engine Oil, Dark Mud and Sepia to apply
some washes, filters and streaking. The brown
shades over the wing roots were AK weathering
pencil applied quite wet with water. The very
smooth finish of the paint I’d used made all
this weathering difficult because the oils had
nothing to grab onto and they took a long time
to dry. To match the staining I could see on the
photo, I made heavy use of the dark oils around
Almost ready for paint. Note the amount
of sanding evident around the resin nose
required to blend it to the fuselage.
With the initial coats of various silver paints
applied, the kit's very nice panel-line detail
is evident.
The scratchbuilt undercarriage actuators in
place. These are large and very noticeable, so it
was worth spending time improving them.

the exhausts. In retrospect, the weathering is
perhaps a little heavier than it should be, the
chipping a bit more extensive, and the lustre
rather too deep, but I did thoroughly enjoy the
process and like the finished result.
Next I came to markings. The other thing that
had jumped out at me from the photo of ‘55’
apart from the canopy framing, was that the
shape of the ‘fives’ on the kit decal sheet was
wrong. Therefore I made my own, designing a
mask on my PC and cutting it on my Silhouette
plotter. I sprayed the numbers using matt black
and the result looked a lot more accurate than
the kit decals, although not quite perfect.
This left only eight decals to be applied from the
sheet. These were applied directly to the paint
(no clear coats were applied anywhere, at any
time, to this model as I didn’t want the metallic
finish to be altered) and they were beautiful. I
cannot speak highly enough of them.
I was concerned about setting solutions causing
stains, so used the smallest amount of Mr Mark
Setter and wicked away the excess.
The end then approached quite rapidly. The
tail wheel had no mounting points in its fork,
so is still just barely-held by Tamiya Extra Thin.
When I inserted the tail wheel leg it caused a
small hairline crack in the rear under-fuselage
seam, but as it was only a millimetre or so long,
and just visible under magnification, I left it. The
main undercarriage was a task – a combination
of Fiat’s design where the wheel was trapped
between the large, flat forks and the poor
moulding quality of the kit parts. I did my best,
but one of the wheels ended up a bit wonky
and the forks are not uniform in shape when
viewed head-on. Nevertheless, with a decent
jig made up of magnets arrayed on a steel
baking tray, I got the undercarriage attached
and the wings level.
A P R I L 2024
1/48 FIAT G.55A CENTAURO
The final parts were the pitot tube and aerial
mount behind the canopy, with its antenna line
from Uschi van der Rosten fine rigging thread.
The prop fit okay, but as it turned out I didn’t
quite get the spinner attached evenly to the
backing plate. I guessed at the propeller blade
colours themselves (for the G.55A they seem to be
natural metal fronts, with black reverses, so it was a
good guess! Ed).
Overall, I’m pretty pleased with the final result.
It’s a great looking aircraft, and while I finished it
in a very simple scheme, I find this quite striking.
It was not quite the easy build I was hoping for,
but I did get it done in under four weeks, and it
set me up well for my next project.
A useful reference shot of the G.55A displays
its clean lines, which are shown to good effect
with the aluminium paint scheme.
· V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 23
MISTEL 5
No Kiss under This Mistletoe
Jet project in 1/144 By Huw Morgan
MISTEL 5 – HEINKEL HE 162A & ARADO E-377
Kit No: 144067
Scale: 1/144
Type: Injection moulded plastic & resin
Manufacturer: Brengun
www.brengun.cz
T
owards the end of WW II Mistel (mistletoe)
was the name given to a series of
unmanned German aircraft intended for
attacks on high-value, highly-protected targets
like major naval units and land fortifications.
Converted from (generally) life-expired
bombers, most commonly Junkers 88, the nose
section previously occupied by the crew was
replaced by an enormous explosive warhead
configured as a shaped charge and like modern
armour-piercing weapons, frequently clad in
copper or aluminium intended to volatilise and
burn through armour and concrete. Control to
the point of release and aiming of the Mistel
devices was done by a smaller aircraft, usually
a fighter, carried piggy-back on the bomber
airframe, and supported on struts that could
be severed by explosive bolts. Some 250 Mistel
combinations were built during the latter years
of the war, scoring limited success, and whilst
the most common combo was the Ju88 and
24 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
The Me 162 has been released before, and is
offered on two small frames of twenty eight
soft plastic parts.
Fw190, at the end, thoughts turned to using
the latest jet-powered options, the Mistel 5
being a proposed, but never flown version
using a Heinkel He 162A Volksjäger mated to
a modified Arado E-377 glide bomb, which
was fitted with a pair of jet engines , carrying
a 2000kg warhead, and which incidentally was
also proposed as the active part of a Mistel with
the Arado 234 jet bomber control aircraft.
Brengun have had an injection-moulded He
162A in their catalogue for a couple of years
but in this issue they’ve added to it a cast resin
Arado comprising nineteen parts although
one pair of wings aren’t used, being without
mountings for the engines, and presumably
being for an unpowered glider version. Both
the injection moulded and resin parts are
very nicely produced, being clean of any flaws
or flash and having pretty fine surface detail
although some porosity becomes evident when
the bigger resin parts are separated from their
pour blocks. Only a single scheme is offered in
late war RLM 81 and RLM 82 over RLM 76, but
such was the turbulence in the German aircraft
industry at the very end, that almost anything
would be credible!
The Arado E-377 powered glide bomb is
made up of nineteen resin parts, although
a second pair of plain wings is included,
derived from the unpowered version and
lacking the engine mountings.
I chose to start the build with the He 162, a
rudimentary cockpit and seat being sandwiched
by the fuselage halves, with the cockpit painted in
RLM 66 grey before closing up. No undercarriage
is needed for the piggy-back arrangement so
the gear doors were glued shut, the fit of the
three parts needing some adjustment since they
appeared to be moulded with the intent that
they would in most cases be fitted open. The kit
instructions call for significant weight in the front
of the He 162 fuselage – possibly a carry-over
from the individual kit, which has to stand on its
tricycle undercarriage.
The Arado is offered as a solid fuselage and
separate wings and tail, one pair of wings having
the mounting points for the underslung BMW
003 jet engines.
The first item to be built was the massive ground
trolley on which the entire combination rode
for take-off, made up of a one-piece spine, a
pair of two-wheel bogies and a castoring nose
wheel. The parts were removed from their
(large!) pouring blocks, cleaned up and primed
and finished with Mr Hobby RLM02 (H70) before
gluing together.
 MISTEL 5

The rest of the build (a term used optimistically)

progressed without difficulty, the only tricky bits
being the need to carve tongues into the wing
root casting extensions to fit the recesses in the
fuselage, and drilling the horizontal stabilisers
and fuselage to strengthen the butt joints
provided with wire. There was some porosity
evident in both engines and the underside of
the glide bomb, at what would be the top of
the casting mould, but this was easily fixed with
thick superglue.
There's some minor porosity, which
Once everything was set and cleaned up, both
becomes evident when the pour blocks are
airframes could be sprayed with primer using
removed, but it's relatively easily fixed with
Halfords automotive grey, an important step
thick superglue.
since resin can be tricky in getting acrylic paint
to stick. The undersides were given patchy coats
of Mr Hobby RLM 76 blue (H417), allowing it to
come up the fuselage sides, around the wing
leading and trailing edges, and onto the vertical
stabilisers. The blue was masked with Blu Tack
along the fuselage sides and in a wavy pattern
on the leading edges of the E-377 as often seen
in very-late-war schemes, before applying the
single-colour RLM 81 Braunviolet (H421) and
RLM 82 Hellgrun (H422) upper wings, one wing
of the He 162 being done in each of the two.

There are very few markings to add, only typical The kit instructions call for significant
late-war white Balkenkreutz on the re-usable He weight in the front of the He162 fuselage
162 element and some notional yellow identifier – possibly irrelevant in this build, but no
codes. The combo was mated using the truss chances were taken.
supports in the E-377 kit together with a home-
supplied length of rod for the forward strut, and
the whole thing unified with Mr Hobby Matt
Varnish (H20), tinted with some light brown.
No significant weathering was undertaken,
since these things barely lasted beyond take-off
although some dirtying was added to the trolley.

This is a useful life extender for Brengun’s He

162 kit, offering an interesting but ultimately
very niche subject, and not just because of its
specialist scale (interestingly Brengun have also
released the E-377 as a separate kit for those who
already have the He-162). That said, Brengun
are to be applauded for continuing to bring us
subjects on the edge of conventional, and for
stretching 1/144 modelling into new areas. This The relatively few parts of the resin E-377
kit is very well produced and presented, and is go together with only a smear of filler being
an easy and rewarding build. Well done Brengun, necessary at the wing roots.
and thanks for the review kit.

Here are the main components of the Mistel combination, with the E-377 powered bomb
mounted on the take-off trolley.

A P R I L 2024 · V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 25
AERO AB-101
AN AERO A DAY …
By Bruce Leyland-Jones
Aero AB-101
Kit No: 92262
Scale: 1/72
Type: Injection moulded plastic
Manufacturer: RS Models
www.rsmodels.cz
B
ack in the day, as a sprog with a keen
interest in all thing’s aviation, it was dead
easy to learn and remember the aircraft
of both the British and American air forces,
simply because they nearly always had names;
Pups, Camels, Bulldogs, Demons, Peashooters,
Spitfires, Lancasters and Mustangs. Those
from continental Europe, however? Take the
Dewoitine and then add 501, 510 or 520, where
the latter was a very distinctly different aircraft
from the first two. MS.410, 225 or 230? Not
exactly names than trip off the tongue and
inspire before-bed adventures of derring-do, are
they (Although I will concede that I’d expect any
French readership to differ)?
So that is my weak excuse for not being as
familiar with Eastern European aviation as
I might’ve been, and it has taken me until I
am almost a grown-up to truly appreciate
26 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
the sterling efforts of our Czech mates from
Avia and Aero and their ilk. Avia had been
building solid aircraft since 1919, with both
pioneering monoplane fighters and trainers
and the superlative B.534, before ceasing
production in 1963. Their largest competitor,
Aero Vodochody (commonly referred to as Aero),
also took to the skies in 1919 and is still going
strong. Again, Aero produced a range of aircraft,
with each being a development of all that had
gone before, culminating in the marvellous L-39
Albatros, which is still being developed today!
The subject of this review, the Aero AB-101,
originated from a 1932 requirement to replace
the A.11 and Letov S.16, resulting in the A.100.
The A.100 was a relatively successful light
bomber and reconnaissance aircraft, although
by the time of its first flight in 1933, it was
already proving to be obsolete, such was the
pace of aircraft development. Remember, unlike
here in blissful Blighty, the prospect of war and
the likely consequences of a certain Mr. Hitler
were already being taken rather seriously.
So, a year later, in 1934, the A.100 was given
a new, 33% more powerful engine, alongside
other refinements, and became the A.101.
Unfortunately, in spite of the extra power, it
had also gained weight and its performance
was less than that of its predecessor and, as a
consequence, the Czech Air Force did not want
it. Fortunately, the export success of the old
A.11, facilitated by the famous ‘Bluebird’, had
created a viable and interested market and so it
was exported and became an aircraft that flew
for both sides in the Spanish Civil War.

Local, home-grown interest then grew and the
lessons from that conflict saw the A.101 gain
an even better (allegedly) engine and a larger
fuselage, where it became the AB-101. Whilst
not improving in performance, the ‘new’ aircraft
could carry a larger bomb load and improved its
ability to operate from shorter runways at rough,
grass field airfields. Whilst newer aircraft were
in development, the rush towards all-out war
was increasing and the AB-101 was something
that could be produced in some numbers, in a
relatively short period of time. Sadly, that time
ran out…
Presentation on the sprues is that of a typical limited-run kit, but the parts themselves, at first
glance, seemed relatively free of moulding flaws, the transparencies clear and the photoetch
potentially useful.
Assembly of the separate forward fuselage,
with the addition of some of the photoetch
provided.
Here the cabane struts have been added in
anticipation of fitting the upper wings. The
photoetched fret adds some nice detail under
the upper wing.
My extension added to the main outer struts.
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When Germany invaded Czechoslovakia in
1939, some of these aircraft managed to escape
with their crews to Poland and other still-free
countries, whilst the Luftwaffe seized around
60 of them, turning them over to their Flight
Training and Pilot Schools.
So enough of the history and the panoply
of upper-case and associated numbers and
onwards with the kit…
RS Models originate from that cornucopia of
good modelling that is the modern Czech
Republic, producing the goods since 1993 and
The elevators were ‘drooped’ to add interest
to the finished model.
A plethora of (empty) bomb racks in place.
The short-shot component for the rear facing
MGs.
A P R I L 2024
AERO AB-101
initially specialising in smaller subjects, with
a particular penchant, it seemed, for trainers
and other subjects usually ignored by larger
concerns. As with many, they tested the waters
with resin kits, before quickly moving onto short-
run plastic and have clearly been developing
their kit making skills ever since. Whilst never
Shake ‘n’ Make kits, they have proved to be fairly
manageable by any modeller with a few of the
more grown-up kits under their belts and whilst
some, such as their P-38 Lightning series, have
caused some grown men to cry, many others
haven’t and have been real belters!
No call-outs are provided for the cockpit
colours, so I chose a dull red primer for the
lower halves of the interior, based largely on
guesswork and assumption.
There is more visible of the interior than you
might suppose, so some attention to detail
will be rewarded.
Repeated and careful dry-fitting resulted in
the upper wing being way too close to the
fuselage and actually leaning forwards. I
resolved the issue by adding some of my own
precious strut material to the kit parts.
The finished MGs after making good the mis-
moulded part, and losing a crucial piece of
photoetch to the Axminster.
· V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 27
AERO AB-101
Over the last decade or so, they’ve begun to
tackle larger subjects, which have tended to
have mixed reviews, though many have been
large interwar biplanes and, as such, are rarely
the least complex of subjects to model. Having
built many RS Model kits, I knew to expect a
probably challenging build, given this particular
subject, but nothing too arduous.
To be honest, the appearance of the subject
itself could be described as being as interesting
as its name, so the box art artist has done well,
depicting what is, in essence, a large biplane
in overall olive drab. Five schemes are offered
for the decals, including a couple for aircraft
escaping the Nazi occupation, complete with
their precious cargo of trained aircrew, and a
couple ‘acquired’ by the Luftwaffe and used as
training jalopies. The parts themselves, at first
glance, seemed relatively free of moulding flaws,
the transparencies clear and the photoetch
potentially useful. The decals were in good
register, although the supplied Hakenkreuz are of
the self-assembly variety.
The build began with a nicely appointed cockpit,
embellished with some photoetch harnesses
and instrument panel and some quite delicate
framework. Whilst shallow dimples were present
to assist with locations, I did find it beneficial to
drill these out and, as a consequence, everything
fitted rather well.
One issue I did find most irritating was a
complete and utter absence of colour call
outs, other than ‘White’ for the plastic/acetate/
etch sandwich instrument panel. To resolve
this, I dipped into my interwar research and
chose a dull red primer for the lower halves of
the innards, and an interior cockpit green for
the uppers. Scouring the ‘Net, I could find no
clear indication as to what should really be in
there, so the chances of me being called out for
inaccuracy are relatively slim, so there!
A second issue, which caused me no end of
minor angst, was the placement of two bars to
go beneath the rear gun tray. Some allegedly
helpful diagrams are provided, but these only
fuddled me more and, as the results would be
effectively invisible, post-fuselage closure, I
ceased to worry and just went with my gut, as
assisted by some locally-produced spiced rum.
All that said, the fuselage halves came together
with no issue whatsoever, and I could turn
my attention to the nose and engine. Clearly,
RS have other versions of this aircraft on offer
and the sprues reflect this, so some care was
necessary to ensure I used the right bits and
pieces. This sub-assembly was problem free,
enhanced with a nice photoetch front radiator
grill and a tiny fuel cap and only a smidgin of
filler was needed.
Affixing nose to fuselage would’ve depended
upon a butt joint and the plastic was not very
thick, so I added a couple of scrap plastic tabs,
to facilitate a firmer join and my fuselage was
happily complete. With the fuselage now all
closed up, I reviewed my internal work and was
pleased I had spent the time on it, as quite a bit
remained visible.
In addressing the tail, I again had to pay close
attention to what I was doing, as I needed a
specific rudder and, of course, I scored the
28 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
tailplanes to allow a little droop to the elevators,
as you do. At this point, the more observant
amongst the readership may well be wondering
about the glazing for those fuselage windows.
Sadly, none of these would fit, without extensive
trial and error filing, and so I decided to slap
in the Kristal Klear PVA towards the build’s
completion. The fit of the lower wing to the
fuselage was well-nigh perfect, almost Japanese-
standard snap-fit, and the instructions advised
me to address the undercarriage.
It appears, in their haste to produce a model
kit, RS forgot to include two small axles for the
large wheels, supplying only the one, which
the instructions suggested I halve. Given the
size of the wheels and the importance of said
axles for holding the model upright, I suspect
some giggling and perhaps an influence of
the excellent Czech brewing industry might’ve
played a part, as the resultant flecks of styrene
would have been neither use nor ornament.
Regardless, some sturdy plastic rod was
commandeered, and all was well. After all…Are
we not modellers?
No underside view is provided, other than that of
the wings for decal placement, so I had to guess
the extent of the aluminium dope undersides
and opted for wings only. Again, someone
with better research skills than I may find visual
evidence to confirm my incompetence, but
again, I don’t care. Whilst the model had its
belly skywards, I spent some time adding the
plethora of little bomb racks. No ordnance is
supplied with this particular kit, so there would
be no harm in omitting these. I confess, they
were rather tricky to apply, but once in place,
they certainly add ‘interest’ (methinks I need to
get out more). Care was also taken selecting the
appropriate ailerons necessary for my machine
and these facilitated a little more animation to
the model.
Now then, time to strut my stuff with struttery,
the challenge for all builders of biplanes. To be
fair, the kit provides useful head-on drawings,
as well as side profiles, so at least I knew what
should go where and how. I’m in the habit of
making cardboard templates to assist me with
getting the angles all right and proper. I also use
dividers, to ascertain the distances between the
struts properly, which always helps. Beginning
with the cabanes, I was soon happy enough,
remembering to add some photoetch details to
the wing underside. I soon had the main wing
struts in their proper place on the lower wing and
was all ready to add the upper wing.
Unfortunately, I believe RS have made an error.
Repeated and careful dry-fitting resulted in the
upper wing being way too close to the fuselage
and actually leaning forwards. Usually such an
issue can be a result of misplaced struts, but
definitely not in this instance. Cutting a tediously
long, long story short, and omitting language
unsuitable for family viewing, I resolved the
issue by adding some of my own precious strut
material to the kit parts.
After a nice sit down and a cup of tea, (I didn’t
trust myself with the harder stuff ), I was back on
track, or so I thought. The good news is that the
kit provides for a glorious representation of the
twin ZB vz. 30 guns, with a plastic part enhanced
by no less than eight pieces of photoetch. The
bad news is that the plastic part was short-shot.
Some plastic surgery then occurred, with fine
plastic rod substituting the deformed length
and I then managed to inadvertently feed the ol’
Carpet Monster a drum of ammunition, meaning
I then needed a slice of thicker rod to make
do. Never mind…it’ll all look fine under dark
gunmetal paint.
From here on in, it was a very swift exit to
the completed model. The decals behaved
themselves, although they were very thin,
delicate, and required careful handling, and a
little rigging with Lycra thread sealed the deal.
SUMMARY
As I’d expected, this was a kit that required some
serious modelling work to build and finish and
even without the ‘issues’, I couldn’t recommend
it to anyone relatively new to modelling.
Obviously, simply by being a biplane, it can be
a marvellous source of learning opportunities
(he says, with tongue firmly in the buccal cavity),
but the errors inherent were disappointing and
not what I’d grown to expect from this company,
in particular, the complete lack of useful colour
call-outs, the wheel axles and, perhaps of more
concern, the strut issue, which caused more
angst than was absolutely necessary.
This is definitely a kit for those with several more
complex biplane models successfully behind
them and, as such, it did reward the effort
applied. My many thanks to RS Models and their
prodigious and improving output.
anticipation of fitting the upper wings. The
photoetched fret adds some nice detail under
the upper wing.
The famous WWII German fighter Bf 109G-6 and G-14 in the service
with German, Finnish, Italian and Hungarian units all over Europe #2145
The premiere of the new Eduard design and tooling
Photo-etched and pre-painted parts for the finest detail
Die cut masks for easy painting
Decals for 10 marking options
APRIL RELEASE
Option to purchase a separate set
of Overtrees plastic parts., #70160X

www.eduard.com Bf 109G-14, WNr. 782205, Lt. Antal Szebeni,

101/5. Vadászszázad MKHL, Börgönd, Hungary,
October 1944

Bf 109G-6/R6, WNr. 160303, Hptm. Friedrich Eberle, Bf 109G-6/R1, Lt. Max-Bruno Fischer, Stab II./JG 3, Bf 109G-6, Lt. Anton Hafner, CO of 10./JG 51, Tilsit-East,
CO of III./JG 1, Volkel, the Netherlands, Evreux-Fauville, France, June 1944 the Soviet Union, August 1944
November 1943 – January 1944

Bf 109G-14, Hptm. Erich Hartmann, CO of I./JG 53, Bf 109G-6, WNr. 165267, Majuri Eino Luukkanen, Bf 109G-14, Oblt. Rolf Schlegel, 10./JG 4,
Veszprém, Hungary, February 1945 1/HleLv 34, Taipalsaari airfield, Finland, July 1944 Jüterbog-Damm, Germany, March 1945

Bf 109G-14, WNr. 465437, Hptm. Franz Dörr, Bf 109G-14/U4, WNr. 512382, Lt. Horst Schlick, Bf 109G-14, WNr. 464380, Maggiore Mario Bellagambi,
CO of III./JG 5, Gossen, Norway, May 1945 4./JG 77, Schönwalde, Germany, November 1944 CO of 5ª Squadriglia, 2° Gruppo Caccia ANR, Osoppo, Italy,
A P R I L 2024 · V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 29
March 1945
1/48 MESSERSCHMITT BF 109F-4/TROP
Ricardo Rivas
gives Eduard’s 1/48 kit of Marseilles
Bf109 F4/Trop a suitably dirty
desert finish.
a Star is Worn
Afrika DUAL COMBO
Kit No: 11116
Scale: 1/48
Type: injection moulded
with photoetch and masks. Double kit.
Manufacturer: Eduard
www.eduard.com
M
arseille was extremely handsome. He was a
very gifted pilot, but he was unreliable. He
had girlfriends everywhere, and they kept
him so busy that he was sometimes so worn out that
he had to be grounded. His sometimes irresponsible
way of conducting his duties was the main reason I
fired him. But he had an irresistible charm.
And with that Johannes ‘Macky’ Steinhoff
transferred Hans-Joachim Marseille to
Jagdgeschwader 27 on 24 December 1940. He
had seven kills. After brief action in the German
invasion of Yugoslavia, JG 27 was transferred to
North Africa in April 1941.
After a somewhat unsuccessful start, Marseilles set
himself to perfecting the somewhat mysterious
art of deflection shooting, practising relentlessly
to change his flying style to suit such attacks. His
dedicated approach soon paid handsomely.
30 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
I started by painting the cockpit with
AMMO RLM 66 (A.MIG-0218), then applied
some sponge chipping using Aluminum
(A.MIG-0194).
By the end of February 1942 he had shot down
forty-six allied aircraft and received the Knight’s
Cross of the Iron Cross. On 17 June 1942,
Marseille claimed his 100th aerial victory. Only
the eleventh Luftwaffe pilot to make a ‘century’,
hewas awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron
Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords and returned
to Africa via Rome and more Italian medals.
Famed for shooting down multiple aircraft in
one sortie, Marseille’s tally continued to rise,
and by the time of his death on 30 September
1942 it had reached 158. He died aged just
22, while bailing out from a new Bf 109G-2/
Trop whose engine had overheated and failed.
Marseille has resisted flying the new G version
as they had a reputation for engine failures.
Most of his kills in Africa were made flying the
Bf 109F-2/Trop or F-4/Trop, and he flew several
of the later variants.
After a wash with the Dark Wash
(A.MIG-1008), which won’t affect the acrylic
paint beneath. The excess was removed using
Enamel Odourless thinner (A.MIG-2019) and
once dry I added a little North Africa Dust
(A.MIG-3003) pigment to give a sandy look.
I chose to model Bf 109F-4/Trop, W. Nr. 8673,
which he flew after his return from Rome on
24 August 1942 and with which he shot down
forty-nine allied aircraft. It was the final Friedrich
he used.
Eduard’s 109 kits are well known in 1/48.
They fit well and are simple to build. The
construction of these kits is sufficiently well
reported that anything I could say would be
just repetitive, so my photo-essay concentrates
on describing how I painted my model to
depict an aircraft that had been well used in the
harsh North African climate.
I used AMMO paints throughout the build, and
several other products of theirs for this project.

With airframe construction complete I could
focus on painting. After painting the white
theatre markings, they were masked and
the upper colour, RLM 79 (A.MIG-0222),
sprayed. I then added a little white to this
and highlights between the panels were
freehanded on with the airbrush.
My next phase was washes. For the sand
colour I used Dark Red Brown PLW – Panel
Line Wash – (A.MIG-1605) with Medium
Gray PLW (A.MIG-1601) for the black areas.
These were then worked in, and selectively
removed with the enamel odourless thinner.
The model’s matt finish is perfect for creating
exhaust staining with pigments. European
Earth (A.MIG-3004) was applied first to a wide
area giving an underlying tone. Dark Earth
(A.MIG-3007) then tightened this up, with
Russian Earth (A.MIG-3014) used to define the
stains themselves finishing with a touch of
Black (A.MIG-3001) along their centres.
Oilbrisher Dark Brown (A.MIG-3512) was then
drag-brushed to create the oil stains, aided
by some black oil paint, and finally fresh
oil stains with (what else!) Fresh Engine Oil
(A.MIG-1408).
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1/48 MESSERSCHMITT 109F-4/TROP
The same method was used on the
underside. The wheel wells were painted RLM
02, masked, and then RLM 78 (A.MIG-0247)
was applied followed by lightened highlights.
Next, after ensuring the washes were
thoroughly dry, I sprayed a thin layer of
Tamiya Matt Varnish (XF-86) to leave the
model ready for the next stages.
With pigments applied, I reinforced the
central part of the stain with a small touch of
black oil paint.
On the upper wings some chips were sponged
on with Aluminum. Eduard’s new style decals
look very ‘painted on’ when applied properly.
A P R I L 2024
The Aqua Gloss Clear (A.MIG-2503) dried in
just 4 hours giving a very shiny gloss finish
– perfect for applying the decals assisted by
Micro Set and Sol. Another layer of glossy
varnish was applied once they were well dry
to seal and protect them.
It’s far easier to paint the exhausts while
mounted on the sprue. After applying a pale
burnt-metallic base coat, I used various ‘rusty’
brown shades and black pigment to give
them a well-used look.
On the undersides I ‘primed’ the stain areas
first using heavily thinned New Wood
(A.MIG-0037) building up very soft layers,
little by little, freehand with my airbrush.
Moving on to the propellers, after painting
them aluminium and glossing them, I
applied the RLM 70 (A.MIG-0232). After 24
hours drying, I gently abraded them with
1200 grade sandpaper to gently reveal the
underlying metallic colour.
· V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 31
1/48 MESSERSCHMITT BF 109F-4/TROP

The same technique was then used on the To highlight the control surfaces Oilbrusher The elevators received a similar, but lighter
spinner with a little Dark Wash to highlight the Dark Brown was applied, worked and treatment. I then used watercolour pencils to
wear and tear. Finally Storm Gray PLW (A.MIG- blended with a brush slightly moistened with highlight the rivet lines by gently dragging
1609) was streaked to tone it all together. Enamel Odourless Thinner. them over the detail.

Dust and sand kick-up aft of the wheel wells,

characteristic of desert aircraft, was simulated
with a dusting of North Africa Dust pigment.
If the model isn’t going to be handled much
once finished, I’d suggest not using a pigment
fixative as it can diminish these tones.

CONCLUSION
This was a very enjoyable painting and
weathering project. Hans-Joachim Marseille was
celebrated in his lifetime and posthumously as
Der Stern von Afrika (the Star of Africa). Creating
Prior to finishing, I reviewed all my work and reinforced the weathering where necessary with
his dirty, dusty and well-used aircraft helps us
Oilbrushers applied by very fine brush in small quantities. I let this dry for 24 hours before final
begin to understand the actual conditions all
assembly.
combatants in the Western Desert had to endure.

32 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K

5ov¡эt
Sэagull
Polikarpov I-153 Chaika
Kit No: 32010
Scale: 1/32
Type: Injection Moulded Plastic
Manufacturer: ICM
www.icm.com.ua
P
olikarpov’s I-153 Chaika (Seagull) was a
development of their previous I-15 fighter,
featuring retractable undercarriage. The
Soviet Tactical Doctrine was a mix of high-
performance monoplanes and agile biplanes,
the former including Polikarpov’s I-16 aircraft.
The experience that the I-16 had in the Spanish
Civil War against Italy’s Fiat Cr.32 aircraft
suggested that biplanes were still the way
forward. Polikarpov put forward a design made
from Mikoyan and Gurevich, who would later
found the MiG Design Bureau.
The new fighter, designated I-153, was a
development of the I-15bis fighter, itself a
development of the original I-15. It featured
manually retractable undercarriage as well
as a strengthened structure and the ‘gulled’
upper wing used on the original I-15 aircraft. It
also used the Shvestov M-62, a development
of the I-15’s M-25 engine. The guns were also
upgraded, the four PV-1 machine guns replaced
with faster-firing ShKAS machine guns.
In 2018, Ukraine’s ICM produced a 1/32
Polikarpov I-153 Chaika, adding a great
companion to their 1/32 I-16 Type 24 released in
The cockpit consisted of fourteen well-
moulded parts, all painted with Light Grey
before the relevant parts were painted with
Vallejo Black.
the previous year. Featuring four paint schemes,
ICM’s Chaika showed fantastic moulding detail
on the wings and fuselage ‘stressed skin’ areas, a
sublime engine assembly, and a detailed cockpit.
The construction started conventionally with
the cockpit. Fourteen parts comprised the sub-
assembly, with the tubular framing and cockpit
floor represented well. Both the instructions, and
reference images, showed the interior was a light
grey colour, so Mr Hobby FS36270 (H306) was
applied to everything bar the front of the seat,
and the instrument panel. This was also applied
to the undercarriage bays, inside of the cowling
pieces, undercarriage legs, wheel hubs and the
undercarriage door insides. Once dry, the well-
printed instrument panel decal was applied, and
the cockpit parts assembled. A light wash of MIG
AMMO Starship Filth (A.Mig-3513) was applied
to ‘dirty up’ the cockpit before work started on
the fuselage halves and lower wing.
One gas tank was black and the other blue, so
Tamiya Flat Black (XF-1) and Mr Color Light Blue
(C323) were used, respectively. The interior walls
and undercarriage bays were painted FS36270
much like the cockpit sub-assembly. The landing
light in each gear bay was left out as it would
make it difficult to touch up the bays later in the
build. The small hole would later be filled with
clear glue instead. The cockpit assembly was
attached to the lower wing assembly before
the fuselage halves were closed together and
attached to the lower wing.
A P R I L 2024
I-153 CHAIKA
Polikarpov’s Gull-
Winged Fighter
By Ethan Williams
With the cockpit assembled, the fuselage
could be closed up, the lower wing
assembled, and the two sub-assemblies
attached.
The fit of the fuselage to the lower wing was not
great. An intermittent gap along each wing root
was present, as well as a large step at the rear of
the wing assembly and its join to the fuselage.
Vallejo White Putty was smeared to fill the gaps,
while Mr White Putty was applied to the large
step before being sanded smooth. The upper
wing was now assembled and attached to the
main model assembly. This again featured a bad
fit, so Vallejo White Putty was applied here too.
Next was the engine; superbly detailed and
comprised of seventeen parts and one jig piece to
help align the exhaust parts. The two-piece main
piece was assembled, and the tips of the cylinder
chambers were sanded smooth before it was
painted with Tamiya Metallic Grey (LP-61), along
with the exhaust parts. The tips were carefully
brush-painted with Tamiya Chrome Silver (X-11)
and left to dry while the pushrods were painted
with Mr Color Silver (C8). The engine was then
assembled, the supplied jig used to ensure the
exhausts were correctly aligned to fit with the
cowlings – remember, do not glue this part!
The undercarriage bays were masked, the
forward half with dampened tissue and the rear
half with Mr Masking Sol Neo, while the cockpit
was masked with a piece of soft foam and Mr
Masking Sol Neo just to cover the back of the
seat. The tail parts were also assembled at this
stage but were left off the main model to ease
the painting stage.
· V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 33
I-153 CHAIKA
The top wing was a simple construction.
Five parts came together to recreate the
distinctive gull wing of the Chaika and I-15.
The top wing’s attachment also left a small
gap, so this too was filled with Vallejo Putty.
The gear bays were masked with a mix of
damp tissue and Mr Masking Sol Neo to allow
painting to commence.
Once the white was dry, this too was masked
for the RLM82 to be applied.
With decals applied, the engine and
cowlings could now be attached to the front
of the model.
34 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
The rear of the wing did not fit particularly
well when attached to the fuselage, but this
large step was quickly seen to with a rough
sanding stick, gradually getting finer and finer
to smooth it out.
An incredible replica of the Shvetsov M-62
engine from ICM consisted of fifteen parts,
and a jig for exhaust alignment.
The tail sections were assembled but left off
the main model to ease painting.
The tail parts were now attached, along with
the wing struts.
A simple coat of Starship Wash was applied to
accentuate the panel lines and add some dirt.
The wing roots had a small gap that was filled
with Vallejo Putty before the top wing could
be attached.
With the main parts assembled and painted,
the other parts could then be attached to
complete the engine assembly.
With the underside painted with XF-23 Light
Blue, it could be masked, and the tail painted
white.
An array of underwing weaponry was
available to choose from, the four large
bombs being chosen for this build.
The propeller parts were painted prior to
assembly.

The underside colour was painted first with
Tamiya Light Blue (XF-23) and left to dry before
being masked up. The tail was then painted
with Tamiya White (LP-2) as was the rudder.
This was promptly masked, and the top colour
could be applied. I was unsure what paint
would be best, as reference material and other
builds online of I-153s used different paints and
shades, so a near match of Mr Hobby RLM82
Light Green (H422) was used.
The wing-mounted armament was assembled
while the green dried. Three choices of bombs
were available: eight small bombs, four medium
or four large bombs, the latter being chosen
for this build. Their join seams were smoothed
before they were painted with Mr Hobby
FS36118 (H305), their rack mounts painted with
the Light Blue. The propeller parts were painted
before assembly, the propeller and the two parts
that attach to it painted with AK Aluminium
(AK479) and the hub with the RLM82.
The tail assembly was attached at this juncture,
allowing the decal stage to commence. Due to
there being very few decals, Klear acrylic Floor
Polish was applied to the relevant areas rather
than applying a coat of clear gloss to the whole
model. A mere eight decals were now applied:
six red star insignia and two ‘red 6’ decals on the
tail. Once these had dried out overnight, the
little weathering was applied. A simple panel
wash was employed, using AMMO Starship Wash
(A.MIG-1009) on the few panel lines present on
the forward half of the aircraft.
After this, the engine was attached, as were the
cowling pieces. The front piece was attached
first to act as a guide for the three side pieces. Of
these three, the top one was attached first, lining
up the exhausts with the relevant holes before
securing with glue. The two remaining cowling
parts were then attached, and the model was
ready for a final varnish to be applied.
VMS Sain was used to give the whole model
an even finish and to seal the decals and
weathering. This was applied to both the main
model, as well as the undercarriage doors and
bombs. Once this had dried, the model was
ready to acquire its undercarriage.
I-153 CHAIKA
The parts were assembled with ease, having
been painted previously. The wheels were
assembled first, the join seam being sanded
smooth before the hubs were masked with Mr
Masking Sol Neo and the tyres painted with Mr
Hobby Tyre Black (H77). The undercarriage legs
were attached to the model, with the wheels
following suit.
The underwing bombs were now attached
before the rigging could commence. For a
biplane, the I-153 Chaika featured very little
rigging, a total of four bracing wires per wing.
This was achieved with Lycra rigging thread, cut
to length, and superglue. This scheme featured
an external aerial, which was not supplied, and
only applied to the scheme chosen for this build.
The aerial itself was fashioned from a piece of
brass tubing painted black, while Lycra rigging 03796 Eurofighter Typhoon - RAF, 1:144
thread was also used for the wire.
The guns in the front cowling were carefully
brushed with Tamiya Metallic Grey (LP-61),
allowing the propeller now to be attached. All
that was left were the transparencies, a light
on each wingtip, a light on the tail and the
windscreen. The latter was attached to the
cockpit coaming and gunsight. Deluxe Materials’
Glue n Glaze clear glue was also applied to the
holes in the gear bays to replace the clear parts
omitted earlier. 03802 F-16 Falcon 50th Anniversary, 1:32
Overall, this was an absolutely fantastic build,
in the perfect scale for World War two single-
seat fighter aircraft. Perfect for those wanting
to build in a large scale without taking up too
much space, or for those wanting to try ICM as
a new manufacturer.
03816 Airbus A330-300 “Lufthansa” New Livery, 1:144
The undercarriage could now be attached,
and the model finished. Note the bombs were
also attached at this stage.
03790 Arado AR E.555 (P-Series), 1:72
03804 Alouette II, 1:32
Available from all good model
stockists and online from
hobbycraft.co.uk/brand/revell
A P R I L 2024 · V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 35
HAWKER SEA FURY

Airfix FB.11 as a Civilian Racer

By Mike Williams

Flack’s Fury
Hawker Sea Fury FB.11
Kit No: A06105A There is a plethora of aftermarket updates
out there for this kit, but in this build I The Barracuda cockpit was beautifully
Scale: 1/48
used the ResKit F-102 wheels and the cast with a wealth of detail that only really
Type: Injection Moulded Plastic Barracudacast cockpit. became apparent under paint.
Manufacturer: Airfix
www.airfix.com plastic to a significantly harder, darker grey
plastic, which seems to hold the details much
better while also being easier to clean up sprue

T
his is the third release of the famous
gates and much better to sand when eliminating
Sea Fury in 1/48 from Airfix (originally
joins and/or seams. So, markings aside, the parts
released in 2018) giving three more
are no different to any of the previous issues of
differing marking options including an all-red
this kit. Therefore, if you have built one before,
civilian-operated machine as was seen in the
you’ll know what to expect.
UK airshow scene in the early 1980s. There are
alternative Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy
The cockpit as supplied was adequate with
schemes also offered in this boxing, but it was
separate seat, bulkheads, control column
the bright red G-FURY that was always going to
and rudder pedals as well as sidewalls and
be built by me, having built the Airfix Spitfire
instrument panel with excellent decals for the All parts were very carefully removed from
Mk XIV in the similar red scheme as G-FIRE; this
dial faces, although the cockpit opening in their casting blocks and assembled following
was the natural progression. These red aircraft
the Sea Fury is not particularly big so little can the explicit instructions.
were owned and operated by Spencer Flack
actually be seen on a finished model. With that
in the UK along with a red Hawker Hunter Mk
being said, I opted to use a resin replacement It was not until some paint was applied that the
51 almost inevitably registered G-HUNT. These
cockpit from Barracuda Studios (ref. BA48347) as sheer level of detail became apparent. It was
aircraft left an indelible mark on my memories
I managed to lose a piece of the kit cockpit while very complete with separate flare gun, throttle
as a youngster attending airshows around south
painting it (naturally I found it a week later) and quadrant and various boxes and switches all
eastern England in the early 1980s.
the difference was like night and day. Featuring fitting perfectly together. The seat had moulded-
over twenty parts and decals for the dial faces in seat belts, which looked superb once painted.
The Sea Fury is a great kit, and well up to the
it was a little kit in itself. The instructions too Various buttons and switches were carefully
usual standards we have come to expect from
were very explicit with excellent descriptive and picked out using Vallejo acrylics after a base coat
Airfix in recent times; well moulded, finely
photographic step by step assembly notes. All of Tamiya XF-63, which gives a better scale effect
incised panel lines and rivet detailing, and
the parts were very carefully removed from their for an all-black cockpit. The completed cockpit
overall excellent fit of parts with no need for
mould blocks so as not to damage anything. fitted into the fuselage using the same locating
any putty. The decals are also superb, printed by
Resin is in itself quite strong but the smaller the mounts that would have been used for the
Cartograf, and are sharp, opaque and accurate.
parts the more brittle they can be and therefore kit assembly, an excellent piece of design and
This most recent moulding sees Airfix changing
more prone to breakage. thought gone into the Barracuda set there.
their plastic from the light blue-grey softer

36 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K

With the cockpit completed and the fuselage
closed up, with all seams sanded and joins
eliminated, it became apparent that there were a
couple of small raised panels that had been lost
while sanding.
A Dark Grey shade suffices for an all-black
cockpit with the decal s applied to the
instrument panel and the smaller details picked
out with a fine paint brush and acrylic paints.
The cowling needed a bit of care to get aligned
and the fasteners that were lost while sanding
the joins were replaced with small pieces
of plastic card. The small sections atop the
fuselage were also replaced after being sanded
off when eliminating the fuselage seam.
The wing fold tabs highlighted here in red
marker would need sanding on their inner
faces to ensure a snug fit.
The exhaust heat shields were painted silver
while the exhaust stubs were matt white as
per the real aircraft, according to reference
photos. There were then carefully masked
off before being assembled. Note the small
amount pf white putty smoothed into the
wing fold joins.
These were carefully replaced with thin plastic
card and gently sanded to blend them in with
the fuselage. Similar issues were found with
the two-part cowling as the join falls along a
natural panel shut line for the cowl opening,
but the resultant sanding all but loses the
moulded-in detail.
The resin replacement cockpit fitted into the
same moulded placement guides as the kit
cockpit would use. This made things so much
easier as sometimes a resin cockpit can take a
lot of carving and sanding to get them to fit.
The wings were fitted in the opened
configuration aided by the substantial spars
that fit into each section. Alternative parts are
provided should you choose to fold the wings.
Note the insert fitted for the oil cooler radiator
on the inner leading edge of the port wing.
The lower wing panels fitted perfectly with
the separately moulded ailerons that can be
defected if so desired.
Ready for paint. The wingtip navigation lights
were fitted, painted and masked off. The
windshield and cockpit were also masked up
along with the front of the cowling.
A P R I L 2024
HAWKER SEA FURY
There is a replacement resin cowling also
available from the Barracuda stable along with
a set of undercarriage bays should you wish to
go all out with the resin aftermarket. Once the
fuselage had all its remedial work completed it
was full steam ahead with the rest of the build,
which proved to be quite straightforward with
nothing really of note. Just follow the instructions
and take care with alignment of everything.
The empennage had separately-moulded rudder
and elevators allowing the flight controls to
be repositioned if desired, although they all
fitted perfectly and easily with no issues in the
neutral position too. The wings can be folded
if desired with alternate parts supplied for that
configuration. The way Airfix have designed the
wing assembly is very clever and pretty much
foolproof whichever way you build them.
Two rather chunky inserts fit to the insides of the
inner wing sections allowing the outer wings
to be fixed in place if unfolded. Simply use the
alternate parts for a folded wing configuration.
When fitting the outer wings, a little fettling
was needed and a bit of thinning of the folding
tabs was needed - nothing major but worth
mentioning (see photos elsewhere in this article
for clarification).
The rudder and elevators were all separate
parts allowing you to offset or droop them,
respectively. They all fit perfectly however
you choose to model them.
The engine and cowling assembly are ready
to be fitted here. The cowling inner surface
was painted gloss white before fitting while
the engine section was painted a suitable
dark grey metallic shade.
The undercarriage bays and inner faces of the
gear doors were all painted glossy white.
· V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 37
HAWKER SEA FURY
A small amount of Vallejo putty was smoothed
into all the wing joins and folds to lessen their
comparatively deep lines next to the panel lines.
This was cleaned up with moistened cotton
swabs before the putty dried, which eliminates
the need for any sanding.
The cowling parts were readied next with
the associated engine face section painted a
suitable dark metallic shade, and the insides
painted gloss white as per the real aircraft. The
undercarriage bays were also painted gloss
white along with their respective door sections.
Airfix supply a one-piece closed undercarriage
doors part, which was temporarily clipped
into place to function as a mask for the main
paintwork. The same method was applied for the
tail wheel housing.
Painting a bright red, glossy finish needs a little
forethought and preparation in comparison, to
say, a two-tone camouflage or single dark colour
that will be weathered and have a matt finish as
per a lot of war planes. I rarely use a primer coat,
preferring to go straight onto the bare plastic,
but with such a vibrant primary colour as red
a solid white base coat is needed to ensure its
brightness. Spraying it over the medium grey
plastic would deaden the red pigment and make
the red look rather dull and darker than it should.
The cockpit opening was masked off after the
windshield section was masked and attached to
ensure continuity with the fuselage, after which
a couple of coats of Tamiya Fine White Primer
could be applied.
As a bright undercoat for the red, Tamiya Fine
White primer was sprayed over the whole
model before being carefully and lightly
polished back to smooth out the surface.
Three coats of Tamiya LP-7 Pure Red were airbrushed over the white
primer giving a very bright, vibrant red. The final coat was applied slightly
heavier in a ‘wet’ coat using levelling thinner to give a smooth finish as
seen here. The glossy finish was ready for decals.
38 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
This can of course be sprayed straight from the
aerosol can, though this can be wasteful as so
much paint misses the model and disappears
into the ether. I choose to decant the primer
from the can into the airbrush using a cut down
pipette nozzle friction fitted to the aerosol.
Just go easy and depress the spray can gently
with just enough pressure to allow the paint to
come out of the can and into the colour cup.
When the colour cup is about half full leave it
to de-gas (allowing the propellant to dissipate
from the paint) for a few minutes, or until it stops
bubbling when agitated with a paint brush.
This can then be airbrushed onto the model
in the conventional manner with no thinning
needed; that’s the beauty of decanting, it is
airbrush-ready paint.
When dry the white primer was gently polished
with a fine Trizact polishing sponge and plenty
of water to smooth out the finish further and
make for a well-prepared surface to apply the
glossy red over. The smoother the primer coat,
the smoother the glossy finish will be.
Two light coats of Tamiya Pure Red (LP -7) were
airbrushed before a third heavier coat was
sprayed over the whole model including the
undercarriage doors. When thoroughly dry
(overnight) a further wet coat was applied with
a more heavily thinned mixture to ensure a nice
solid, bright tone to the red. All coats of red
were thinned using Mr Color Levelling Thinners.
The beauty of the Tamiya LP lacquers is there
durability once dry and cured. They can take
a lot of handling without the fear of the paint
being marred or rubbed off. The gloss paints
also dry superbly smooth and shiny making the
surfaces decal ready.
The spinner was painted following the paint
guide instead of trying to get the decals to fit
and conform to the complex curves.
With the decals applied and thoroughly dried out, a sealing clear gloss
varnish was generously applied using Mr. Color GX 100 Super Clear III.
Suffice to say the decals were some of the best
I have ever used, being opaque and tough yet
admirably thin and settling nicely over and into
the details on the airframe. Once the decals were
thoroughly dry a coat of clear gloss varnish was
airbrushed over the whole model to seal the
decals and prevent them from lifting or peeling
over time, and also to further enhance the glossy
finish and add some uniformity to everything.
All parts that were red were treated in the same
manner as the airframe proper; white primer
and two or three coats of red with a finishing
clear gloss coat thus ensuring continuity. The
propeller spinner was also painted alongside
the airframe in a similar manner. Decals were
supplied for the star-shaped pattern, although
it was always going to be a big ask to get them
to conform and fit properly, with the added
headache that the red would not match the
paint used elsewhere. Slivers of masking tape
were cut and carefully applied over the white
base coat so the red could be applied.
With the painting and marking all finished
attention was turned to the undercarriage. The
one-piece door sections were carefully removed
and discarded to allow the gear legs to be
fitted. The legs and retraction arms had all been
airbrushed glossy white as well as the insides
of the gear doors, not forgetting the tail wheel.
These simply fitted as advertised without issues.
While the kit-supplied wheels are very nicely
done, a lot of post war restored ‘Warbirds’ have
their main wheels replaced with stronger units
with higher pressure tyres from a US surplus of
Convair F-102 wheels.
The supplied closed units for the undercarriage
bays were simply clicked into place temporarily
to function as masks while painting.
A P R I L 2024 · V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 39
HAWKER SEA FURY
To that end, a set of ResKit replacements were
employed (ref. RS48-0073) simply being painted
and fitted in the usual manner and adding a little
bit of visual interest to this model.
The wheels, undercarriage doors, canopy and
propeller were all finished and fitted without
problems allowing this model to be called
finished.
404 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
FINAL THOUGHTS
The Airfix 1/48 Sea Fury is a lovely model of a
beautiful aeroplane much beloved by a lot of
modellers. Sure, there are a few shortcomings
if you look hard enough; simplified cockpit,
awkward cowling assembly, shallow wheel bays to
name the obvious. But when all is said and done,
it builds without issue and looks every bit the
pugnacious piston powered fighter the Sea Fury is.
A super-detailer could really go to town with
enhancing things to the nth degree, while a
more modest modeller will have just as much
fun building it straight-from-the-box. The bright
glossy red scheme might not be for everybody,
but the other markings options included are just
as nice and there are always myriad options from
the aftermarket to satisfy most modellers’ needs.

Chengdu J-20
Kit No: None listed
Scale: 1/48
Type: Resin
Manufacturer: Aeropoxy
www.aeropoxy.wordpress.com
D
istance, speed, height: aviation’s goals
in the 1930s. The drivers? Both military
and civil, and, in the case of the plane
I’m building here, the feeling of Bristol Aircraft
that they were getting left behind. In November
1933, having observed Air Ministry interest
following the success of the flight over Everest
by two Westland-built aircraft, Bristol proposed
a purpose-built high-altitude research aircraft.
The proposal, designated the Type 138, was a
large, single-engine, single-seat monoplane,
equipped with a retractable undercarriage and a
supercharged Pegasus radial.
Nothing came of this until Italian pilot Renato
Donati achieved a new world altitude record
of 47,532 feet in April 1934, in a Caproni 113,
prompting public opinion to swing in favour of a
government-sponsored record attempt. In June
1934, the Air Ministry issued Specification 2/34,
for a pair of prototypes capable of reaching an
altitude of 50,000 feet. Bristol was among the
companies invited to tender proposal.
Building the Bristol 138A in 1/48
Second Time
Around
The moulding of the main kit parts is good, although some of the smaller parts are surrounded by flash
The Type 138 proposal was revised, producing
the Type 138A whose size and configuration
remained the same, but the original retractable
undercarriage was replaced with a fixed design
to reduce weight, and it would be powered by a
two-stage supercharged Pegasus engine (rated
at 500hp). In a proposed follow-on Type 138B (in
the event not built) provision for an observer was
made. Using Bristol’s own Pegasus was expected
to generate publicity for Bristol and boost their
sales. Considerable research was carried out by
both the Royal Aircraft Establishment and the
National Physical Laboratory to fine tune the
design of the aircraft, as well as to develop a
reliable pressure suit. During tests, the pressure
suit was tested to an equivalent altitude of
80,000 ft. The 138A had a wingspan of 66 feet,
a length of 44 feet and maximum speed was
123mph. It proved successful, setting nine world
altitude records, with the maximum altitude
achieved being 53,937ft (16,440m) on 30 June
1937, during a 2¼-hour flight.
A P R I L 2024
BRISTOL 138A
By Tony Grand
This build is the ‘second time around’ in that I
constructed, some few years ago, the 1/72 scale
Frog kit from their Trailblazers series. It was
issued in 1964 and can still be found quite easily
on eBay. In 2019, I noticed that Aeropoxy had
issued a 1/48 resin 138, which stayed in my ‘to
do’ heap until late 2023. You can find pictures
and videos of the contents of the kit box on the
website. This includes a CD of contemporary
photographs of the aircraft, which have their
uses during the build, although most will pop
up during an Internet search. The moulding of
the main kit parts is good, although some of the
smaller parts are surrounded by flash. This was
so considerable in the case of the parts of the
Pegasus engine that I replaced it with the cleanly
moulded ‘build your own Pegasus’ CMK item (ref.
CMK4202). An alternative replacement, I have
discovered only since completing the build,
would have been the Airone Hobby Pegasus
one-piece, 3D printed item.
· V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 541
BRISTOL 138A
The fuselage and wings are solid resin and if I
were apprehended with the chunky fuselage in
my possession I could have been charged with
going equipped, I suspect… The fuselage is
moulded with a cavity to represent the cockpit.
Into this, in due course, you fit two wafer thin
sidewalls, an instrument panel, a seat and a
joystick. The wing is divided into three sections,
the centre one of which, in an ideal world, would
fit neatly into the concavity moulded into the
under-surface of the fuselage, and as the wing
fillets are also moulded into the fuselage the
job ought to be a good ‘un. However, the space
on the underside of the fuselage was neither
deep enough nor long enough for the wing to
fit and I rectified this by using a sanding drum
on my miniature electric drill to extend it. This
damaged the fillets but I made them good with
filler, as I did with the ventral areas where the
wing and fuselage blend. I now fitted the wing
outer panels, using brass wire to strengthen the
joint. As with the undercarriage struts, Aeropoxy
helpfully provide dimples to help location. The
fin and horizontal tail surfaces went on and
stayed on butt-jointed with superglue.
Overall, this is not a difficult build for anyone
with some resin or indeed short-run plastic
kits under their belt. Having said that, there
are oddities, like the fit of that wing section
but more noticeably the shape of the chin
radiator. Given how many clear photos there are
The fuselage is moulded with a cavity to
represent the cockpit. Into this, in due course,
you fit two wafer thin sidewalls, an instrument
panel, a seat and a joystick.
The outer sections of the wings have been
fitted.
Bare Metal Foil has been applied to the area
immediately behind the engine.
42 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
online, showing the flat-bottomed shape, I was
surprised at being presented with a Typhoon/
Tempest lookalike. I spent some time reshaping
this item, using filler, plastic card and thin
aluminium sheet. To represent the slatted area
at each end of the radiator the kit has pieces of
scribed resin and I replaced these with larger,
appropriately scribed styrene items. Now, I spoke
earlier about the engine. The CMK replacement
is easy to assemble and nicely detailed. It sits
within a Townend ring - a narrow-chord cowling
ring fitted around the cylinders of an aircraft
radial engine to reduce drag and improve
cooling. It was patented in 1929 and was used
on various aircraft of the 1930s. The kit ring is
accurately shaped but proved to be too thick to
allow the engine to fit. Possibly the kit engine is
made slightly smaller but that’s as may be and
I set to with the mini sanding drum until the
engine went in snugly.
I could now begin painting. A rattle can overall
coat of Tamiya grey primer, then a ditto coat of
gloss black over the wings and part of the upper
fuselage surface, were aided by the excellent vinyl
masks provided by Aeropoxy. The rear fuselage
(in real life of wooden construction, silver doped)
aft of the cockpit and the wing under surfaces
I sprayed silver. The nose aft of the engine and
forward of the cockpit was metal covered and
for this I used Bare Metal Foil: the Townend ring
likewise. Aeropoxy provide a vacformed canopy,
Fuselage and wing centre section assembled.
Note copious filler to make good the fillets
The radiator after alteration following
contemporary photos.
The Townend ring has likewise been covered
with Bare Metal Foil.
a spare, and a former on which to mould a further
spare if all goes wrong. Further vinyl masks allow
you to paint the frames.
Next step, fitting the fixed undercarriage: a main
V-frame on each side with a supporting strut
going from under the nose to the point of the V.
The wheels followed, cleared of resin flash. The
next construction step was fitting the aileron
hinges, underwing aerial, and pitot head, once
they were freed from their resin matrix. Finally, I
added the propeller, the forward faces of which
I had painted Ocean Grey (which I knew from a
previous 1930s build to be a good match for the
real thing) and the rear faces black. The final step
was applying the decals, which were thin but
sturdy, going down well over Klear and looking
as if they were painted on. There are even
Dunlop stencils for the tyres …
What would make this ‘second time around’
complete? Obvious, really: a Hucks Starter. I
say that because one of the large number of
helpful online photos of the 138 shows it with
this machine. The Hucks Starter was invented
by Captain Bentfield Charles Hucks of the RFC
and introduced to RAF service just after the First
World War. It enabled two men to start an engine
from cold in 30 seconds and was far safer than
the earlier method of swinging the propeller
by hand. Based on a vehicle chassis the device
uses a clutch-driven shaft to turn the propeller,
Making good the ventral fuselage to wing join.
Applying the large areas of black before
proceeding to the silver.
With the undercarriage and canopy now fitted
the slightly angular nature of the airframe is
revealed.
 BRISTOL 138A

disengaging as the engine starts. A Hucks Starter It suddenly dawned on me that there was a So far as colour was concerned, I sprayed the
is used regularly at the Shuttleworth Collection major difference between what I was building chassis black and the superstructure RAF Blue
for starting period aircraft and there is a rather and the picture of the 138 and Hucks combo. (GMU suggest either that or Dark Green). The kit
nice video online showing a Hucks starting up The drive from the Ford T motor to the starter has decals (Royal Air Force and licence plates)
a Hawker Hind at a Canadian aviation museum. shaft as shown in the kit is a chain (well but as none of this is visible on the online
Both are based on a Model T Ford. It was long modelled). The online photo seems to show a photo I didn’t use them. My final comment?
ago, in another country when I built the Frog 138, vertical column, which I guess is mounted on the The Hucks I’ve built seems rather on the small
accompanying it with a Hucks Starter. I can’t recall Model T’s gear box and via a fitting at its upper side when comparing it grouped with the 138,
where I obtained the Model T and how I modified end conveys the drive to the 138. I simulated the to the famous photo online. But overall I am
it. Having no high hopes of finding a 1/48 Hucks column with styrene tubing and used styrene very pleased with having revisited this very
kit, I was surprised to do so: issued in 2021 by the rod for supports and drive shaft. interesting aircraft.
Ukrainian firm GMU. I shan’t say too much about
building this kit but there are some points worth
making. The plastic parts are well moulded (there
are a few in etched brass) but they are crowded
onto one sprue. As many are tiny and the plastic
is rather brittle, cutting them free, either with
side cutters or a scalpel, led in a number of cases
to parts fragmenting. For example, the front axle
broke up and I replaced it with fine aluminium
tubing. The steering wheel also broke up and I
replaced it with soldering wire. Other items were
replaced with brass wire or styrene rod.

So much for the production of the kit,

shortcomings in which didn’t prevent me
finishing construction … er, up to a point.

Sea Hurricane Mk II C
order now at www.armahobby.com

1/48
ARMA reklama SAM_sea Hurricane IIC_48.indd 1 08.03.2024 11:03:48

A P R I L 2024 · V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 43
MODELLERS NOTES
T
his may be one of the shorter sections of
modeller’s notes compiled on the back
of the ‘Aircraft in Profile’ article. It’s the
age-old problem for modelling magazines – the
more left-of-mainstream and interesting the
subject, the less well-covered it has been by the
modelling industry.
That said there are kits around of the Phönix
fighters. There just aren’t that many, and the
aftermarket has consequently not been unduly
motivated. There is nothing in 1/144 that
immediately leaps out – although typing in
‘1/144 Phönix’ into a search engine will get you
plenty of results as long as you are looking for
Gundam/Bandai fantasy figures
44 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
In 1/72 the currently available kits are from
Mac Distribution, and are limited run injection
moulded releases that currently cover the D.I
and D.II. For the D.III the Joystick vacform is
the only choice still in production. Historically
kits have been produced by Airframe, CMR,
Formaplane, HR Model, Joystick, Omega and
Pegasus. Availability, of course is down to luck
and happenstance. Choroszy Modelbud also
covered the D.III in resin, while the Swedish J.I
was also kitted in resin, by Maestro Models.
In 1/48 Special Hobby and Blue Max covered the
D.I and D.II, with the most recent release from
Special Hobby being the D.I K.u.K.Kriegsmarine
boxing. Precious little else seems to have been
released in any of the larger scales.
Completists, and fans of the grotesque -
wanting to include the Hansa Brandenberg D.I
in their line-up should look out for the Toko
kit in 1/72, the Eduard kit in 1/48, and may
bemoan the fact that the Wingnut Wings 1/32
kit was never released. There is also a 1/24 kit by
Contacte Resine.
There are a few decal sheets available that
cover the type specifically – notably from APC,
Blue Rider and Print Scale – but by and large
modellers will need to opt for generic parts or
adapting and scratch building if they want to
work beyond the box.
Phönix Scouts
By Jack Trent
 AIRCRAFT IN PROFILE

ISSUE 95

• Aircraft •
in Profile
The Phönix D.I to D.III
Fighters and Offshoots
By Jon Tabinor

L
ike many early air forces, the Austro-
Hungarian air service, the Imperial and Royal
Aviation Troops (Kaiserliche und Königliche
Luftfahrtruppen – K.u.K. Luftfahrtruppen or just
K.u.K. for short here) began its life as a Balloon
Corps, in 1893. In World War I it saw combat on
both the Eastern Front and Italian Front and
was by the standards of the time one of the
less powerful forces. Nevertheless the K.u.K. still
managed eventually to field fighter aircraft that
were at least a match for its opponents in the
air, even if superior numbers would eventually
overwhelm it.
Where it all began. The Hansa-Brandenburg D.1 with its type II VK gunpod above the top wing and
The Phönix D.I to III fighters can lay claim to being the ‘star strutter’ arrangement. The Phönix-built ones were considered better than the German built
one such aircraft, and like many of the aircraft examples having a raised seat and more powerful engine.
we now call ‘fighters’ their wartime operational
service was actually quite short – October 1917
to war’s end in November 1918, although the
D.III only appeared right at the war’s end and
made little contribution. The type’s story began
however with another aircraft.

The Österreichisch-Ungarische Albatros

Flugzeugwerke GmbH was founded in 1914
at Stadlau across the Danube from Vienna,
changing its name in January 1917 to Phönix
Flugzeugwerke AG after it was sold to new
owners. The German Hansa-Brandenburg D.I,
(also known as the KD for Kampf Doppeldecker
– Fighter Biplane) had been developed in 1916
to meet the requirements of the K.u.K. for a
new fighter. The wings featured an unusual
‘star-strutter’ arrangement of four steel-tube
interplane struts joined in the centre of the wing
bay to give a ‘star’ arrangement. The KD had a
deep fuselage giving a poor forward view for the
pilot, a small rudder giving poor lateral stability 20.14, the first prototype used the ‘Nieuport’ sesquiplane wing which offered excellent visibility but
and which made spin recovery extremely was known to create a weaker lower wing.
difficult. Armament was a single Schwarzlose
8mm machine gun fitted in a draggy ‘suitcase’
gun pod on the upper wing, firing over the
propeller due to difficulties in synchronising
the Schwarzlose gun. Despite these problems,
the aircraft was ordered by Austro-Hungary as
the D.I with fifty built by Hansa-Brandenburg
in Germany and seventy-two more built under
licence by Phönix. The type entered service
in the autumn of 1916 and despite its poor
handling (it was soon nicknamed ‘the coffin’),
it was the standard fighter aircraft of the K.u.K.
until mid-1917.

Phönix’s talented chief engineer, Diplom-Ingenieur

Leo Kirste, together with his colleague Diplom-
Ingenieur Edmund Sparmann (a famous pre-war
pilot and designer) realised that while the Hansa
was far from perfect, if its wing could be replaced The second prototype, 20.15, used a conventional wing but a 185hp engine. Once fitted with a
it might become a much better fighter. 200hp it was accepted for production with the addition of extra, diagonal-bracing cabane struts.
AIRCRAFT IN PROFILE
Initially they experimented with a Nieuport-
style, true-sesquiplane wing arrangement but
this proved unsuccessful. So the designers
settled on an upper wing with a single-bay
wing cellule (i.e. one paired set of interplane
struts per wing). This was staggered ahead
of the full lower wing which was narrower
in chord and span. On the D.I, Sparmann
designed the interplane struts to cant inwards
slightly, creating a strong structure, which was
rigged with a slight dihedral. The top wing’s
centre-section mounted a wide honeycomb
radiator and only the upper wing had ailerons.
Fuselage construction was identical to that
of the Hansa, and used timber frames and
longerons with a plywood covering, but it
also was lengthened slightly to accommodate
a new 200hp Hiero 6 six-cylinder engine.
Armament was two Schwarzlose 8mm machine
guns, finally synchronised to effectively fire
through the propeller, although they were
mounted well-forward and down alongside the
engine, which made them impossible to clear
in flight if they jammed.
Phönix D.I 328.26 of Flik 14 shows the inward canted wings struts of this version with its headrest and triangular planform tailplane.
A Naval D.1, J.11, based at Altura shows the upper wing radiator and gun ports either side of the engine nacelle front.
Flight tests showed the aircraft was a vast
improvement on the ‘star strutter’ – it was in fact
faster in speed and climb than the Austrian-
built Albatros D.III (Oef ) and had better flight
characteristics than the Aviatik D.I – another
home-grown Austrian fighter currently being
delivered into service.
As a result the Flars (Fliegerarsenal or aviation
arsenal, the nation’s bureaucratic air ministry)
ordered three series of the new D.I type,
which differed only according to the engine
manufacturer who built the Hiero engine. Eisler,
Warchalowski and Co built engines for Phoenix
D.Is with serials 128.01 to 128.31. Austro-Fiat
Werke supplied their Hiero (Fi) engines for
228.01 to 228.55 and Maschinenbau AG Breitfeld,
Danek and Co made Hiero (Bd) ones for numbers
328.01 to 328.34. Production began in August
1917 with the first machines accepted by the
K.u.K. in October 1917 and the last delivered in
May 1918, because of delays in installing gun-
synchronisation gear.
In service the D.I was flown in the role of escort
for two-seaters recce, or bomber, aircraft with
Flik (Fliegerkompanie, or Flying Unit, the K.u.K.’s
operational squadrons) 4, 15, 17, 48, 54 and 66,
while Fliks 14, 30, 60, 61 and 63, the dedicated
Jagdfliegerkompanie (Hunter squadrons), used
it as a more aggressively operated fighter-scout.
It was considered easy to fly with pilots who
converted from two-seater types finding the
switch simple, and coming to value the type as
a result. Many of the Jagdflieger units however,
felt the D.I was just too slow and too stable for
the quick combat manoeuvres they wanted to
employ. Nonetheless the D.I was strongly built,
had no hidden vices and could be dived at high
speed without fear of wing failure, unlike the
Aviatik D.I. Several aces flew the type and scored
kills with it including the Anglo-Austrian Frank
Linke-Crawford, who scored seven victories
flying a D.I, while Kurt Gruber scored six. József
Kiss, the most successful Hungarian ace of the
Dual Monarchy was shot down and killed while
flying a D.IIa in May 1918.
 AIRCRAFT IN PROFILE

Phönix D.I, 228.45, Flik 14J, Feltre, May-June 1918.

Phönix D.II, 122-01, Flik 9J, Ospedaletto, August 1918.

Phönix D.I, 228.19, Flik 14J, Feltre, May-June 1918.

Phönix D.I, 228.18, Flik 60J, Grigno, February 1918.

Phönix D.I, 328.26, Flik 39D, Feltre, early 1918.

AIRCRAFT IN PROFILE

Phönix D.IIa, 422.10, Flik 55J, Pergine, July 1918.

Phönix D.II, 122.22, Flik 55J, Pergine, July 1918.

Phönix D.II, 122.05, Flik 55J, Pergine, July 1918.

Phönix D.II, 222.10, Flik 55J, Pergine, July 1918.

Phönix D.IIa, 422.14, Flik 55J, Pergine, July 1918

 AIRCRAFT IN PROFILE

Phönix D.I, 228 series, Flik 63J, Motta di Livenza, mid-1918.

Phönix D.I, 328.22, Flik 12Rb, San Vito di Vipacco, June 1918.

Phönix D.I, 128.12, Flik 30J, San Pietro in Campo, August 1918.

Phönix D.I, 128.11, Flik 40P, San Giacomo, August 1918.

Phönix D.II, ‘E’, Flik 9J, Bressanone, November 1918.

AIRCRAFT IN PROFILE

Phönix D.I, A.97, k.u.k. Kriegsmarine Luftfahrtruppen, Alturafeld,

Pula, summer 1918.

Phönix D.I, J.12, k.u.k. Kriegsmarine Luftfahrtruppen, Flugfeld Zaule

(Trieste), this aircraft was captured by the Italians, July 1918.

Phönix D.III, 222.126, Flugfeld Aspern,

October-November 1918.

Phönix D.III, J.31, k.u.k. Kriegsmarine Luftfahrtruppen, Flugfeld

Zaule (Trieste), November 1918.w

Phönix D.III, J.41, flown by Edmund Sparmann,

Ladugårdsgärde, 1919.
 AIRCRAFT IN PROFILE

Phönix J.1, 935, demonstration aircraft, Swedish Army Air Force,

1919-1920.

Phönix J.1, 967, Swedish Army Air Force, Torslanda, circa 1923.

Phönix J.1, 949, Swedish Army Air Force, Malmen, early 1920s.

Linen Plywood Brown Blotches Green Blotches

(Vallejo 71.132 Aged White*) (Vallejo 71.077 Wood*) (Vallejo 71.034 Sand Brown*) (Vallejo 71.012 Dak Green*)

Black White Red Light Grey

(Vallejo 71.057 Black) (Vallejo 71.001 White) (Vallejo 71.279 Red RLM23) (Vallejo 71.062 Aluminium*)

      * denotes appropriate match

AIRCRAFT IN PROFILE

Phönix D.I-D.III
Drawings by Sam Pearson

Phönix D.I Port Profile

Phönix D.I Starboard Profile

Phönix D.II Port Profile

Phönix D.III Port Profile

Phönix D.III Starboard Profile

1/72
Metres
Feet
 AIRCRAFT IN PROFILE

Phönix D.I Front View

Phönix D.I Lower View

Phönix D.I Upper View

AIRCRAFT IN PROFILE

Phönix D.II, 122.06, shows the revised cockpit opening with headrest deleted to improve visibility.

This crashed D.II or IIa of Flik 14 shows the revised D-shaped tailplane and balanced elevators used on the type to improve manoeuvrability. The
centred cap on the top-wing radiator is also a feature of these variants.

As an aside, at his funeral – held three days
after his death – at the Italian airfield at Pergine
Valsugana, a large formation of British, French
and Italian aircraft flew over and dropped a
funeral wreath with a tribute reading ‘Our last
salute to our courageous foe.’
Phönix D.II of Flik 60, with its pilot Stabsfeldwebel Karl Heidl shows the mottled-green finish of
the D.II and D.IIa. The D.I had a mottled brown finish by contrast.
Phönix D.IIa 422.14 was flown by Zugsführer Alexander Kasza of Flik 55. The bulbous exhausts
helped reduce engine noise. The heart marking is supposed to be a mourning tribute to his recently
killed friend Josef Kiss.
Phönix D.IIa 422.23 with a 200hp Hiero engine and ailerons on all four wings, was also used as one
of the prototypes for the D.III version.
A number of D.Is were used on photo-
reconnaissance duties where their flight stability
was an asset and some were fitted with a 230
hp Hiero engine to increase performance. A
horizontal periscope system could be employed
to allow the pilot to view the ground while flying
straight and level, to better sight the remotely-
controlled camera.
AIRCRAFT IN PROFILE
To try and rectify some of the criticisms, Phönix
created the D.II. Its weight was reduced by
around 50 kg with a new lighter wing that
abandoned the dihedral, and replaced the
inward-canting struts with vertical ones. It had
a new, re-designed tail assembly with balanced
elevators to improve manoeuvrability and
the pilot’s headrest was removed to improve
rearward visibility. The new D.II wasn’t quite as
strong as its forebear but it passed structural
tests and was ordered into production in March
1918, once again with different engine suppliers
giving serial blocks. Forty eight D.IIs were built as
122.01 to 122.26 with Eisler, Warchalowski and Co
engines. 222.01 to 222.14 used Hiero(Fi) power
plants and 322.01 to 322.08 200hp had Hiero(Bd)
engines, all rated at 200hp.
In March 1918, Flars ordered forty-eight D.lla
fighters, 422.01 to 422.48. These used a new
230 hp Hiero engine but were otherwise
identical to the D.ll Flight testing in May 1918
showed the D.IIa could reach 5000 metres
(16,405 ft) in the then blisteringly fast time of
just over seventeen minutes, and it was highly
regarded by pilots who appreciated the extra
power. However slow production of the 230hp
engine meant that around one fifth of the D.lla
delivered were accepted for service with the
200hp Hiero instead.
In May 1918, the D.II entered service with Fliks
9, 14, 30, 55, 60 and 6, and both the D.II and IIa
initially suffered several accidents caused by
failure of the engine bearers. Phönix, although
found to be blameless for this, supplied
reinforcement kits free of charge and all aircraft
were modified by the end of July. Both types
then remained operational for the duration of
the war without problems, although it seems
that pilots often preferred the later versions of
Albatros D.lll (Oef ) when they were available,
as they were considered much superior aircraft
(and were certainly the best of all Albatross
scouts developed by either Austria or Germany).
Ten D.llas were also transferred to the Austro-
Hungarian Navy and given the serials J.21 to
J.30. Together with another twenty ‘shanghaied’
D.Is (J.01 to J.20) these flew with naval defence
flights based at Altura (now Pula in Croatia),
Catarro (Kotor in Montenegro) and lgalo (across
the bay from Kotor).
Work continued to improve the type, and when
the K.u.K. held a fighter evaluation at Aspern,
Vienna in July 1918 Phönix entered 422.23, a
D.IIa, fitted with ailerons to both its top and
bottom wings to enhance manoeuvrability. Pilot
reaction was excellent and they wholeheartedly
recommend it for production as long as the guns
were moved to be accessible by the pilot. One
hundred of the type were ordered as D.II 222neu
but Phönix’s engineering team made further
improvements, including moving the guns as
requested, and including the four ailerons in a
new wing design. This resulted in the type being
rechristened as the Phönix D.III. These would use
the 230hp Hiero engine too, and one hundred
were ordered in place of the D.II 222neu in mid-
September 1918 serialled 222.101 to 222.200. The
Navy ordered forty more as aircraft J.31 to J.70.
Delivery was scheduled to begin in October
1918. Such was the desperation for aircraft to
stem the new Allied offensive in the Veneto, that
the immediate dispatch of sixty-one completed
AIRCRAFT IN PROFILE

D.IIIs (222.101 to 222.159, 222.163 and 222.164)
awaiting flight acceptance was ordered. Time ran
out for the Austro-Hungarians though, none were
sent and the war ended before the D.III could
make any impression. Aircraft 222.101 to 222.174
were still stored at the Stadlau factory in February
1919 and Phönix demanded payment for them
from the Austrian government, arguing the
aircraft had already been accepted for service.
In July 1919, Edmund Sparmann and another
Phönix-employed expert pilot, Max Perini,
demonstrated a D.III (an ex-naval one, serialled
J.41) in Stockholm. In July 1920 the Swedish
Army Air Force bought twenty 200hp Hiero
engine-powered D.lll, designating them as J.1
fighters with serials in odd numbers from 941 to
979. By 1922-23 the Hiero engines were getting
old and the Swedes replaced them with 185hp
BMW.Illa engines. To make up for attrition, an
additional ten D.IIIs were also built in by FMV in
Sweden during 1925 and 26. They were assigned
serials 5131, 5133, 5135, 5137, 5139, 5141,
5143, and then 145, 147 and 149 as the system
changed in 1926 when the Army Air Force and
Naval Air Service was merged into the Swedish
Air Force proper. Swedish-built aircraft had
large gravity-fed fuel tanks on the top wing and
were all also powered by the BMW engines. This
coupled with the heavier construction materials
used by the Swedes gave them a much lower
performance.
Immediately post war, the newly formed
Kingdom of Yugoslavia captured at least seven
228 series Phönix D.I from the K.u.K. after the
withdrawal of French occupation forces from
Catarro in March 1921. Also captured were a 122
series Phönix D.II and one D.IIa. All these aircraft
were initially flown by the new Yugoslav navy,
but were soon transferred to the air force. They
were used as both fighters, and then as fighter-
trainers, before being withdrawn from service in
the late 1920s.
Rugged and reliable, the Phönix D scouts served
their operators well. Little known in the west,
had they been a German type they would
certainly be held in more esteem. But their
qualities were recognised by the Dual Monarchy
who specified the D.III version as one of only two
fighter types to be continued in production had
the war continued into 1919.
The fact that the other type was the excellent
Fokker DVII says everything about the design,
engineering and construction skills of the Phönix
company and its stubby little fighter.
SPECIFICATIONS FOR PHÖNIX D.I
Crew: 1
Length: 6.65m
Wingspan: 9.75m
Height: 2.8m
Gross weight: 805kg
Powerplant: 1 × Hiero 6 six-cylinder water-
cooled in-line piston engine, 200hp
Maximum speed: 18 km/h
Service ceiling: 6,000m
Armament: Two fixed forward-firing 8mm
Schwarzlose machine guns with 300rpg

At the fighter evaluation at Aspern in July 1918,

Phönix had also submitted two additional
prototypes, 20.24 with a 230hp Hiero engine,
and 20.25 powered by a 225hp Austro-Daimler
engine. Unlike the modified D.IIa, which had
been based on the original Hansa Brandenburg
D.I design these were wholly new single-bay,
staggered biplanes with smooth oval-section
plywood-skinned fuselages. They were only
flown on the last day of the evaluation but
apparently displayed such outstanding qualities
that two pre-series prototypes (20.28 and 20.29)
were ordered. Series production would have
Swedish J.1 fighters in the mid-1920s. Note the overwing fuel tanks on these Swedish-built aircraft,
followed as the Phönix D IV but the war ended
and the BMW IIIa engine which exhaust to starboard.
before these could be completed.

Phönix 20.25 powered by a 225 hp Austro-Daimler engine, one of the two brand-new Phönix designs (technology demonstrators as they might
be called today) at the Aspern evaluation, which garnered great praise and would have led to the D.IV.
 ... and over 2,900
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A P R I L 2024 · V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 57
COLOUR CONUNDRUM
Bf 109Fs on the Channel Front 1941-42 Part 1
Bf-109F-2, ‘White 8’, 4./JG53, Channel Front, circa May 1941.
The sides and undersurfaces are assumed to have been originally finished in Farbton 65, with the
sides being mottled with a mixture of 02 and 71. The cowling and rudder are shown as being 04.
A
s with previous ‘Colour Conundrum’
articles that have dealt with Luftwaffe
subjects, the information given here
has been taken from a number of original
source documents that in general terms are
one of three types. The first of these is ‘Fighter
Command Intelligence Summaries’ (FCIS
hereafter), issued at periods of up to a week or
so by HQ Fighter Command. The second is ‘11
Group Intelligence Bulletin’ (11GIB hereafter)
issued by HQ 11 Group of Fighter Command on
an ad hock basis, sometimes covering a period
of between a few days or sometimes up to a
week. The third is an assortment of different
types of Intelligence Report issued by the Air
Ministry that might deal with a twenty-four
hour period or longer, or alternatively, a specific
aircraft. These are identified individually.
In FCIS No.353, which covered the period
between 20-27 August 1942 there was a section
headed ‘Axis Aircraft: Camouflage’. This opened
by stating that:
13. Notes on unusual camouflage schemes
appear in the Summary from time to time,
and a timely reminder of the usual schemes
is perhaps not out of place.
It then continued:
14. German Bombers: Dark green upper
surfaces Pale blue under surfaces
Fighters: Mottled light and dark greenish-
grey upper surfaces Pale blue under surfaces
Night Fighters: Matt black finish all over
It then continued by mentioning Italian and
Japanese aircraft, but these are beyond the
scope of this article.
As can be seen, in very general terms, these
descriptions are essentially accurate for the
commonly-used Luftwaffe aircraft camouflage
schemes of the period. German bombers were
basically two shades of dark green on the upper
surfaces, though the shades might vary from
type to type and between roles, a combination
of Farbton 70/71 for aircraft with an overland
role or 72/73 for aircraft with a maritime role.
58 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
Both roles employed a pale blue colour, Farbton
65, on the under surfaces. Fighters employed
two shades of grey, Farbton 74, a dark greenish
grey and 75, a somewhat lighter grey, on the
upper surfaces with a mottled finish on the
sides of the fuselage with what was commonly
perceived as a pale blue, Farbton 76, on the
under surfaces. Night Fighters were a black
colour, Farbton 22, overall.
This is important in the context of what follows
because it allows the reader to see that the
RAF at the time was fully aware of what the
Luftwaffe’s standard camouflage schemes were.
RAF aircrew were specifically requested to
report anything that seemed to be unusual or
of interest with regard to the colour schemes of
enemy aircraft because this might be of some
operational importance. Some, but probably
not all of this information was then collated and
distributed in documents such as those that are
quoted here so that all concerned were aware of
any perceived changes in the colour schemes of
enemy aircraft.
It is perhaps worth looking at the currently-
accepted view of the colour schemes that were
applied to the Bf 109F during the period under
examination here. It is currently thought that
initially, the Bf 109F-1 and F-2 were finished in
the same colour scheme that had previously
been applied to the Bf 109E. This featured a
disruptive camouflage scheme on the upper
surfaces to what is colloquially known today as
the ‘type 5’ pattern employing Farbton 02 and
Farbton 71. The under surfaces were Farbton
65, and a mottle was applied to the sides of
the fuselage, probably employing Farbtons 70
and 02.
The late Ken Merrick was of the opinion that the
three greys, Farbtons 74, 75 and 76, were first
introduced on the Bf 109F sometime around
March or April 1941 on aircraft produced by
Weiner Neustadter Flugzeugwerke and that
these new colours were also applied to the ‘type
5’ pattern. This pattern was ultimately replaced
by what is today colloquially referred to as the
By Paul Lucas
‘type 6’ pattern that went on also to be used
on the Bf 109G series with the fuselage mottle
being applied using Farbtons 02, 70 and 75. The
spinner was to be finished in such a way that
two thirds was Black-green Farbton 70 and one
third was White Farbton 21. The exact point at
which this change was made is unclear as some
Bf 109Fs had the ‘type 6’ pattern by July 1941,
but some Bf 109Gs were still being finished in
the ‘type 5’ scheme in May 1942.
It has been stated that the first Bf 109F to see
service on the Channel Front was WNr 5628, an
F-1 that was assigned to Major Werner Molders,
the Gruppenkommodore of JG 51, for service
testing at the beginning of October 1940. It is
said that he flew his first operational sortie in his
new aircraft on 22 October 1940 but this might
not have been the only Bf 109F operational
on the Channel Front at the time because FCIS
No.187, which covered the period 4-10 October
1940, commented that a Bf 109 had been
reported with red, white and blue stripes on the
fin before continuing:
Other Me. 109 with yellow noses were
reported to have particularly large spinners,
possibly a new type.
The yellow noses were not new as they had been
reported for a number of weeks by this time
following their introduction sometime around
the third week of August, but the comment
about the large spinners, by way of comparison
to those of the Bf 109E might be significant.
FIRST REPORTS
Re-equipment with the new Bf 109F seems to
have begun in earnest during November 1940,
but over the winter of 1940-41, the poor weather
did much to stifle offensive action by either
side, so it is of little surprise to find that there is
no mention of Bf 109s in the RAF intelligence
reports seen by the author during this period.
The Bf 109 makes its first appearance of 1941 in
FCIS No.238, which covered the period between
09.00hrs 27 March to 09.00hrs 1 April in a
paragraph entitled ‘Enemy Aircraft. Camouflage.’
This stated that:
Recent reports from pilots indicate that
the G.A.F. are adopting a brown or dirty
grey camouflage for some of their aircraft
instead of the more usual brown and green.
 The photo on which this illustration is based clearly shows that the upper surfaces were camouflaged in the same
disruptive pattern as was used on the later Bf 109Es. It has therefore been shown as being finished in Farbton 02
and 71 on the upper surfaces.
For example a JU.88 which was engaged by our fighters near (?)
was reported to be effectively camouflaged in this way, and Me.
109s which were attacked at St.Omer/Longuenesse (see para.2
below) also had this camouflage.
The reference to ‘a brown or dirty grey camouflage for some of
their aircraft’ is interesting because this might be the first time
that the RAF made note of a colour combination
that had been used during the Battle of Britain
period.
This
scheme was described
in the ‘Colour Conundrum’ article
‘Messerschmitt Mystery - Brown and Grey Messerschmitt
109Es in the Battle of Britain’ that was published in the April 2016
issue of SAM. As this has been out of print for some considerable
time, it is worth summarising here.
The existence of a grey and brown camouflage scheme on the
upper surfaces of Bf 109Es was first discovered by the author on
the fuselage and starboard tail plane of a Bf 109E-1, WNr.4287
of 1./JG 26, ‘White 8’ that was brought down on 14 August 1940
and was held by the Kent Battle of Britain Museum at Hawkinge in
Kent. It proved possible to match the two colours on the artefact
using swatches of modelling paint that had been brushed out for
the purpose from the now defunct DBI brand. The dark brown was
matched to DBI CG 8 RLM 61 Dunkelbraun while the dark grey was
matched to DBI CG 12 RLM 66 Schwartzgrau. Both these swatches of
modelling paint are very good matches for the facsimile colours that
are rendered in the late Ken Merrick’s book Luftwaffe
Camouflage and Markings 1933-1945 Volume 1 that
were produced by Farben Kiroff Technic, and
today are considered to be the ‘Gold Standard’ of
facsimile Luftwaffe colours.
If this had been the only artefact finished in these
colours, then it could have been easy to consider it as
nothing more than an interesting anomaly. The same colour combination
however turned up on a number of other artefacts from different Bf 109s. A
good example is the substantial piece of Bf 109E-4 W/Nr 3737 of Stab/ JG51
that disintegrated in mid-air whilst being flown by Hptmn Hans Asmus
on 25 October 1940. The artefact is from the cockpit area of the port side
of the fuselage. The majority of the external finish appears to be Farbton
02 to which a mottle of Farbton 61 has been applied. In addition to this
however, there is a small area around the outside of the cockpit of Farbton
66 immediately adjacent to an area of Farbton 61. This strongly suggests
that this Bf 109 was finished in the Farbton 61/66 combination on its upper
surfaces.
Farbton 61 Dunkelbraun had originally been used as an upper surface
camouflage colour in conjunction with Farbton 62 Grun and 63 Hellgrau
on Bomber aircraft from 1936, but this scheme began to fall from use in
favour of the Farbton 70/71 finish from 1937. Quite what Farbton 66 was
originally intended to be used for seems to be unknown today, but it came
to be used from 1937-38 as an internal colour in those sections of a Dornier
Do 17E’s interior that were visible from outside the aircraft and on the
instrument panels of other aircraft.
Why the Farbton 61/66 combination came to be used is not currently
known for certain, but it was suggested by the author that it might
be related to the prevailing tactical situation at the conclusion of the
French campaign when the Jagdstaffeln found themselves occupying
hastily prepared airfields in Northern France. These were usually created
by the simple expedient of uprooting sufficient hedgerows to obtain
an unobstructed take-off and landing run and cutting down whatever
COLOUR CONUNDRUM
crops might have been growing in the fields. For example, on 19
July 1940, III./JG52 found itself at just such a makeshift airfield at
Coquelles, which was within sight of the White Cliffs of Dover.
Here, very little preparatory work was done other than cutting
the crops back. The only building was a barn that was turned
into an operations room and the aircraft were dispersed around
the edge of the field under trees and between hedges. This
practice seems to have been common with much use being
made of camouflage
netting
to try to hide the aircraft
from prying eyes. Unlike the permanent
pre-war airfields, the locations of which were well known
to the RAF, the new temporary airfields would have been much
less prominent in the landscape and it would have been in the
Luftwaffe’s interest for them to remain so.
In this situation, the Farbton 65 Hellblau finish that extended
nearly all the way up the side of the Bf 109s would probably have
stood out from their surroundings and once it became apparent
that Britain had no intention of making peace, and that as a result
the aircraft would be spending a great deal of time in their new
homes that were under the noses of the RAF, it would appear to
have become apparent that their camouflage scheme needed some
revision. Initially, this revision seems to have taken the form of a
mottle finish, which was applied to the fuselage sides using various
combinations of the available upper surface colours that were
already in use, Farbtons 02, 70 and 71 presumably so as to reduce the
prominence of the aircraft while on the ground.
Exactly why the Farbton 61/66 combination came
to be applied to the Bf 109s is not entirely clear
but it might have been the result of the new
requirement for more effective camouflage while
the aircraft were on the ground. In this respect,
according to Ken Merrick, L.Dv.984 Tarnfarben, a general
review of camouflage, was published circa 1940 tand stated in its
preface that:
Camouflage against aerial observation is the most important and most
difficult part of camouflage. No type of reconnaissance offers such all
–embracing and extensive possibilities of recognising and noting the
camouflage of troops and installations, as aerial reconnaissance by
visual observation and aerial photography.
Later, the review continued:
Black-grey and black-brown in irregular alternation have proven
suitable as colours for camouflage paint. Only a few large areas of the
two colours should be formed. These should not have regular borders
nor be set harshly against each other. They should merge imperceptibly
into each other.
While aircraft are not mentioned specifically in these quotes, presumably
the same principle would also apply to aircraft on the ground and the
colloquial terms ‘Black-grey and black-brown’ would be good colloquial
descriptions of Farbton 66 and 61 respectively. Whether this scheme was
applied to any of the new Bf 109Fs that entered service during late 1940 is
unknown, but it is a theoretical possibility.
The renewed importance of camouflage while on the ground might also
underpin the green and brown combination that is mentioned as being
‘the usual scheme’. The possibility that there might have been a green
and brown scheme of some sort was covered in the ‘Colour Conundrum’
article ‘Colour Conundrums in the Battle of Britain’ that was published in
A P R I L 2024 · V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 59
COLOUR CONUNDRUM The under surfaces of the main planes are not visible in the source photo, so the opportunity has been taken to
show this aircraft with the black and white markings described in FCIS No.241 of 10 April 1941 that are assumed
to be Farbton 22 and 21 respectively. The spinner is two thirds 70 and one third 21.
the November and December 2020 issues of SAM. Here a number
of documents were quoted that made reference in one way
or another to Luftwaffe aircraft, including Bf 109s having ‘RAF
camouflage’, which at that time consisted for the most part of
the Temperate Land Scheme of Dark Green and Dark Earth on
the upper surfaces.
The article then went on to suggest a number of possible
colour combinations that might have resulted in Luftwaffe
aircraft
appearing to be finished
with ‘RAF camouflage’ on their upper
surfaces. If the green were either Farbton 70 or 71, with
71 perhaps being the most likely in view of the currently accepted
view that most Bf 109s of the Battle of Britain period were finished
in 02 and 71, then Farbton 27 might have been used in place of the
02 components in the camouflage scheme. If not 27, then perhaps
61 might have been used. Alternatively, it might be possible that
captured stocks of British or French aircraft finishing materials
might have been used, but in the absence of hard evidence, further
speculation along these lines is pointless.
To what extent a green and brown scheme might have been used
is not known, so once again it is not possible to say that such a
scheme was applied to the Bf 109Fs serving on the Channel Front
in April 1941. According to the currently accepted view, this green
and brown scheme, whatever it might have been, did not exist
but FCIS No.238 considered it to be the more usual scheme! The
reference made to a ‘dirty grey’ colour scheme could be an
early reference to the Farbton 74/75 combination,
but again, this is not certain. The interesting
thing about this report is that it does not seem
to describe what is currently thought to be
the standard Farbton 02 and 71 scheme at all
and makes no mention of the under surfaces.
Presumably there was nothing new to report and
they were still light blue Farbton 65.
BLACK AND WHITE UNDER SURFACES?
Some ten days later there was something interesting to report with regard
to the under surfaces. FCIS No.241 dated 10 April 1941 contained a section
entitled ‘Enemy Camouflage’. This read as follows:
32. A number of variations in camouflage of Me 109 have been reported
during the last few days, the most important of which is a report from
Hurricanes of 615 squadron which sighted some Me 109’s at 35,000’
south of Hastings: these enemy aircraft had the undersides of their port
wing painted black with a black cross inside a white roundel towards
the wing tip, and the undersides of their starboard wings painted white
with a black cross towards the wingtip.
33. The wingtips of these enemy aircraft were more rounded than usual
and they were reported as flying at high speed. They may have been Me
109‘F’s.
34. The enemy have, in the past, been very careful to distinguish their
own aircraft from ours by their markings, (with the possible exception
of “ace pilots”such as Oberstleutnant Molders who was said to fly an
Me. 109 with markings just like a Hurricane: but even he is reported
to have given up that practice.) This instance of the adoption of an
imitation of the old style English fighter marking is rather difficult to
understand, unless it is intended to deceive anti-aircraft. Further reports
from squadrons on this subject matter would be welcomed.
60 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
35. Other markings reported were more in keeping with German
practice, viz. Me 109s all black with yellow noses, and others on
which the yellow of the nose was extended in streaks along the
fuselage.
The reference made here to ‘the old style English fighter marking’
presumably had the ‘black and white’ under surface marking that
was applied to RAF Fighters between April 1938 and
June 1940 in mind. That said, the ‘black’ marking on
the under
surface of the port wing
had been reintroduced in November
1940 and at the time that this FCIS was written, it was
still in use. Subsequently, the RAF dispensed with the Night finish
on the under surface of the port wing with effect from 22 April
1941. The reference to these Bf 109s having a black cross inside a
white roundel was probably nothing more than the usual white
outline to the cross standing out even more clearly than usual
against the black under surface of the wing.
The reference to ‘all black’ Bf 109s is more puzzling, but might be the
impression given by a dark camouflage scheme such as the 61/66
combination when seen from a distance against a bright background
of sky and or cloud. As will be seen, this Summary will not be the only
one to report ‘streaks’ along the fuselage. For example 11GIB No.197
for the period 6-8 May 1941 stated that reports had been received of
Bf 109s that had yellow noses and a yellow line along each side of the
fuselage extending to the tail. Other Bf 109s were reported to have
been painted white underneath, but whether this was related in
any way to the white starboard wings mentioned in
FCIS No.241 as quoted above is not known.
All the information given above had been
gathered either from a distance or in the heat
of battle but the RAF got what is thought to
have been its first chance to examine a Bf 109F
at close range over an extended period by way of the remains of a F-2
that crashed at 12.45 hrs on 8 May 1941 at Tenterden in Kent. RAF Crash
Report No.205 noted that it had been destroyed by fighter action and had
broken up in the air. The wreckage was scattered over a wide area with the
engine being half buried but the wings, which were noted to have elliptical
tips in contrast to the previous square cut tips, were in fair condition.
Unfortunately, the report does not mention the camouflage finish in any
detail, simply describing the fuselage and wings as being ‘pale mottled
blue’ but did note that the markings were ‘+>>’ with the arrowheads being
‘black with white borders’. The spinner was described as being ‘green and
white’ while the nose was described as ‘orange’.
The note about the spinner being green and white ties in with the Farbton
21/70 finish described previously, while the description of the nose being
‘orange’ is probably a colloquial description of the Yellow Farbton 04 finish
that was still being used as an identification marking at this time. A further
example of this is provided by FCIS No.250 covering the period 12-17 May
1941 that contained an account of an engagement between 10 aircraft of
118 Squadron and a formation of thirty Bf 109s off Swanage on 11 May.
The relevant part of the account of this encounter states that:
One of these Me 109s was seen to have the port wing black underneath
and the starboard wing white. The rest had orange noses as far as the
cockpit, and dark grass green fuselages with a black cross on a white
background.
Unfortunately, this does not make it clear whether the Bf 109s were Es or Fs.
 Bf-109F-2, W.Nr 12764, Stab.1.-JG 26, brought down at St. Margaret’s Bay near Dover, July 1941.
The fuselage mottle is shown as being executed in Farbton 02 and 70 on 76 with the bottom engine cowling,
upper cowling gun troughs and rudder in 27 as an alternative to 04, as it is not known for certain which shade of
yellow was used on this aircraft. The 22 victory markings are shown as being 23.
The yellow ‘streaks’ down the side of the fuselage
were mentioned again in FCIS No.253 covering
the period 23-27 May 1941, which mentions
an offensive operation carried out on 21 May
noting that most of the Bf 109s that were met
during this operation:
had the usual yellow noses carried as far
back as the wing span, some having a
yellow streak carried along their sides.
Something similar might have been seen
by pilots of 611 Squadron on 28 May whose
observations were included in 11GIB No.204
thus:
Camouflage on 109s showed yellow
markings carried well back on the fuselage
aft of the pilots cockpit.
What these yellow markings might have been
is unknown and like the black and white
under wing markings they do not seem to
appear in the photographic record. It might
be of some significance that they only seem to
be seen for about five weeks, between 10 April
and 28 May, which raises the possibility that it
was either some kind of exercise marking, or
alternatively, perhaps a field trial of new forms
of recognition marking that were carried out
in preparation for Operation Barbarossa, the
invasion of the Soviet Union that was to be
launched on 22 June 1941. While the black
and white marking might cause confusion on
the Channel Front, it would be unlikely do so
on the new Eastern Front. With regard to the
yellow ‘streaks’ along the fuselage, in the event,
the Jagdstafflen adopted tactical markings that
consisted of yellow bands around the fuselage
and yellow wingtips on the under surfaces of
both the main planes in addition to the yellow
noses and rudders that were already in use.
RLM 02 Grau RLM 71 Dunkelgrün
(Vallejo 71.044 (Vallejo 71.015
RLM 02 Grau) RLM 71 Dunkelgrün)
RLM 04 Gelb White
(Vallejo 71.078 (Vallejo 71.001 White)
Yellow RLM04)
     
An interesting anomaly was reported in FCIS
No.262 for the period 30 June to 5 July 1941 in
the following paragraph headed ‘Camouflage’:
On the 2nd Me 109’s were seen with yellow
rudders and a dark red ring around their
black crosses on a blue background. Yellow,
orange, red and black are still used variously
for the nose and tail unit, but the yellow nose
is no longer standard.
The dark red ring is interesting since by this
time some Bf 109s destined for what would,
within a few weeks of this Summary
being prepared become ‘The Eastern
Front’ following the commencement of
Operation Barbarossa, acquired
yellow bands
around the
fuselage encompassing the
cross. Might this ‘dark red’ marking be
related in some way, some sort of field
trial that was ultimately considered to be
unsatisfactory perhaps? With regard to the
colour, perhaps the most likely hue would
have been Farbton 28 Weinrot (wine red)
as this would fit the colloquial description
given here. Quite what is meant by the term
‘a blue background’ is not clear, but it could
have been a measure intended to make
the crosses stand out, though
perhaps to a lesser extent than
the usual Farbton 21.
RLM 65 Hellblau RLM 75 Grauviolett
(Vallejo 71.255 (Vallejo 71.259 Grey
RLM 65 Hellblau) Violet RLM75)
RLM 76 Lichtblau RLM 70 Schwarzgrün
(Vallejo 71.257 (Vallejo 71.021
RLM 76 Lichtblau) RLM 70 Schwarzgrün)
A P R I L 2024
COLOUR CONUNDRUM
As can be seen from the reports quoted here,
there are references to ‘yellow’ and ‘orange’ noses
and tails. The use of the term ‘nose’ probably
refers to the engine cowlings while the term ‘tail’
is probably a reference to the rudder. Exactly
what was meant by use of the terms ‘yellow’
and ‘orange’ is less clear. There are two different
RLM colours that were actually called Gelb
(yellow). The first of these was Farbton 04 and
the second was Farbton 27. Of these, Farbton
04 had a deeper, more ‘reddish’ hue than
Farbton 27 and might perhaps sometimes
be colloquially described as ‘orange’. This
is probably the origin of the colloquial
descriptions of Bf 109s as having ‘orange’
markings. As far as is currently known,
there was no ‘orange’ colour that was
assigned an RLM Farbton number.
W.Nr 12764 is shown in what became
the standard disruptive pattern for
the Bf 109F and later G series. In this
instance, the segments that were
usually Farbton 74 have been shown
as being 71 so as to agree with the
description of its finish given in the RAF
Crash Report as being ‘dark olive green’.
RLM 75 Grauviolett
(Vallejo 71.259 Grey
Violet RLM75)
RLM 22 Schwarz RLM 70 Schwarzgrün
(Vallejo 71.057 Black) (Vallejo 70.953
Flat Yellow*)
* denotes appropriate match
· V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 61
VICKERS VALETTA

The
Valom Vickers Valetta
C.Mk 1 …
By Tony O’Toole
Definitely NOT a Pig!
The parts have nice surface detail like most cushions, which had lines scribed in to replicate
Valom kits these days and are nice and crisp, but the leather padding. The kit’s brass etched seat
apart from the cockpit there is no other interior straps were also used and a manual on the
detail, so no cargo floor or paratrooper seats and Navigators table was made from paper.
in that case a coat of black inside should suffice.

Vickers Valetta C.Mk.1

Kit No: 72142
Scale: 1/72
This model will be built as Valetta C.Mk.1 VW202,
Type: Injection moulded plastic
coded C, of 84 Sqn, which took part in the drop
Manufacturer: Valom of the 3 Para Group onto El Gamil airfield during I did toy with looking through my spares box for
www.bachmann.com the Operation Telescope portion of Operation an old Dakota floor to place in the rear cabin,
Musketeer on 5 November 1956. It had nice and to remove the para door, but was put off
broad Suez stripes applied quite roughly and as the interior wall detail is quite complex and

H
aving waited patiently for years, we now
have an injection moulded Vickers Valetta using a darker shade of yellow than the unit’s it would have to be scratch built. Maybe on my
in 1/72, and it is very well done too, so cheatline, which all appealed to me. The yellow next one eh? It is best to treat limited run kits
thank you very much indeed Valom. The real cheatline was because different colours were like this as a vacform and sand the mating edges,
aircraft may have been nicknamed `The Pig’, but used to identify the two squadrons within the even using scrap plastic tabs to help strengthen
this kit is far from it. Middle East Valetta wing. 84 Sqn had a yellow the fuselage joint.
cheatline and 113 Sqn green. Not long after
I was so pleased to hear that Valom were finishing my model, Valom released another
releasing the Vickers Valetta and as soon as it boxing of this kit in these very colours with
was released I bought a few because, along stunning box art too - which is just sods law!
with the Hastings, this is one RAF transport that
I have longed to build as an injection moulded
kit (having previously built a few vacforms
poorly in the past). Valom have answered a lot of
modellers’ prayers by releasing kits of the Valetta
C.Mk 1 and the T.Mk 3 navigator trainer too, and
the latter with its many astrodomes and bright
schemes should result in some dazzling models.
I shall build a trainer at a later date, but for now
let`s crack on with the C.Mk 1 transport. Smaller parts were pre painted on the sprues.

And on with the kit, starting by getting the

cockpit together. I had noticed from reference
photos that the cockpit walls and seat frames
were a Bronze Greenish colour, so I used Polly
Scale acrylic RAAF Foliage Green (505246) to
replicate this with Dark Earth for the leather

62 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K

Getting started on the wings, the mating edges
were sanded to make them more realistic, with
a sharper trailing edge, and the inside of the
wheel wells were painted silver. The surface
detail of the wings is superb.
The clear parts are nice and thin and have
been painted with their interior colour on the
sprue. Note the alternative styles of cockpit side
windows, a nice touch.
And here is the state of play so far, with the
wings, tailplane and wheels assembled and the
engine nacelles dry fitted together. The interior
has been painted black but it really could do
with some detail, so I had a rustle through the
spares box to see what I could find.
The search within the spares box proved pretty
fruitful and so I decided upon adding a basic
interior to the rear fuselage using the cut down
floor from a trashed 1/48 Monogram C-47
kit and added this to the bottom of the wing
centre spar, which as you can see, must have
been a heck of an obstacle for heavily-equipped
paratroopers to traverse. I also added a row
of folded up seats from an Airfix Dakota to
represent the panelling seen inside the Valetta
around the rear part of the fuselage. Following
this the floor and seats were painted black and
dry brushed with silver, to provide just enough
detail to be visible though the side windows,
which were added next and then masked off
with tape.
That main spar step was a sign of the Valetta`s
Wellington ancestry and was not popular with
anybody who served on the Valetta, not just the
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five men at the end of a stick of paratroopers
who had to lug themselves and their heavy kit
over it on the way to the door, meaning that
there was always a gap in the stick of parachutes
in the air. RASC Air Dispatchers and RAF ground
crews also had to lug loads uphill inside the
fuselage while on the ground and had the same
obstacle of the main spar to contend with.
The scratch interior painted black with some
silver dry brushed detail, all ready to join the
fuselage halves.
With the interior finished the fuselage halves
were joined next and despite the mating edges
being sanded flat, plus the addition of scrap
plastic tabs, this was still a bit of a struggle due
to one half seeming to be deeper than the other.
This required some fettling! Thankfully Valom
have listened to feedback from their earlier kits,
where the canopy could often be narrower than
the kit fuselage, as on this model the canopy was
tested early on before the halves were joined
and it fitted fine. The model is looking like a
Valetta now and once the halves were joined,
the porcine fuselage was held together tightly
using tape until the glue dried.
A big jump now as the wings and tailplanes have
been attached and the main part of the sanding
has been done, with a small amount of filling
along the way, just to ensure a smooth surface
and to blend in the underside of the wing roots.
A bit of re scribing was also done to restore
some panel lines. The canopy was also fitted and
masked off now and although they cannot be
seen here, I`ve also had a go at scribing some
tread into the wheels. The engines were also
assembled and fitted, but more on that later.
A P R I L 2024
VICKERS VALETTA
As previously mentioned, the engine cowlings
and engines were also fitted to the wing nacelles
at this stage, but they required quite a lot of
fettling to get them to sit right and to have the
propeller spinner sit at the right depth inside
the cowling. The main cutting took place on
the engine mounting, which projects from the
nacelle, as this is too long and in the end it was
cut back roughly in line with the tip of the upper
air intake, after which some fine fettling was
needed to line everything up. Fitting the spinner
to sit correctly inside the engine nacelle is quite
a challenge and this was done by leaving the
engine part loose inside the nacelle so that it
could be moved around while the glue set.
One of the engine cowling openings was
bigger than the other - obviously my fault while
trying to sand it, so I ended up adding an inner
rim from plastic strip and then blended this in
with filler.
With the engines fitted, the model is now ready
to start painting and first of all some yellow
was sprayed in front of the cockpit to represent
the 84 Sqn yellow-coloured anti-glare panel.
Hopefully it will match the Xtradecal stripes that
I`m using for the yellow cheat line, but if not
it will be a good undercoat for another shade
brushed on later. This can now be masked off
while the silver and white areas are applied.
· V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 63
VICKERS VALETTA
After the yellow anti-glare panel was masked off
the model was sprayed using a few light coats of
Tamiya Bare Metal Silver (TS-12).
This was followed by more extensive masking
ready to apply the White `lid’ to the roof section
of the fuselage, using Humbrol matt white spray
as an undercoat, but finished off with Tamiya
glossy white. Plastic food bags came in handy as
wing protectors.
Main masking removed next and ready for the
Suez Stripes. Note the stepped cheatline. It might
look a bit rough, but it will clean up ready for the
decals and additional painting of the stripes.
When masking off the stripes and measuring
them up I realised that I had to add another
window! This was carefully cut out and added,
trying not to ruin the paintwork. `What a rookie
mistake-a to make-a’!
64
4 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
So, on with masking the stripes which I didn`t
make too accurate as they appear quite rough on
the real thing, as seen in reference photos. This
one appears within an old issue of SAM featuring
84 Sqn - and I did like those old articles dealing
with different RAF and Fleet Air Arm units, which
had some brilliant information and photos.
Rather than using the usual bright yellow for
the Suez Stripes, I had originally decided to
use Xtracolor RAF Light Stone enamel, because
just prior to Operation Musketeer the standard
yellow paint was at a premium on Cyprus due
to so many aircraft having yellow and black
stripes applied. Latecomers to Cyprus did have
Light Stone vehicle paint applied instead.
However, once applied to the model, this
colour just looked too dark and I was not happy
with the Xtracolour rendition of Light Stone, as
seen here.
So, despite the fact that the stripes applied to 84
Sqn`s Valettas were darker than the unit’s yellow
cheat line and, while Light Stone was used on
some aircraft, the Xtracolour enamel version of
this colour just looks far too dark on the model,
so it was replaced using Humbrol RAF Trainer
yellow instead, which is slightly darker than
standard yellow and would have been in stock
in Cyprus too. As the stripes on the real aircraft
were quite roughly hand painted, the black
stripes were brush painted on in between the
yellow stripes, and hopefully it is untidy enough
now but without looking too obvious.
It was now time to cut out and cobble together
the decals for the Valetta, including the yellow
cheat lines for which an Xtradecal stripes sheet
was ideal. Some black walkway lines came from
the spares box, plus roundels and fin flashes
as those in the kit are not right, especially the
upper wing roundel, which is too small. The
photo visible here provided me with a good
reference for the upper wing roundels and
walkway lines.
Here is the model with the decals applied. Some
strips of tape were applied around the door and
over the hinges etc, which were painted silver
to replicate the doped fabric that was applied
here on the real aeroplane to stop the static
lines of the parachutes snagging or from being
damaged. The same thing was done to RAF
Dakota`s too. I think that the Valetta could carry
supply containers under the fuselage on bomb
racks like the C-47/Dakota, but as I wasn`t sure if
they were actually used in squadron service the
decision was made not to represent this feature
on the model.
Well after seeing the model nice and clean with
the decals on, the next photo might come as
a bit of a shock because it was given a water
colour wash to accentuate the panel lines and
to make it look a bit more `lived in’! The engines
fell off during this process and so they were
weathered separately ready to reattach later.
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A P R I L 2024 · V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 65
5
VICKERS VALETTA

Almost there now. The watercolour wash has

been removed by dabbing it using a damp piece
of kitchen roll, leaving some of the watercolour
paint behind within the recessed detail.
Following this the undercarriage has been
added along with the etched Rebecca antennae
and the DF loop etc. The astrodome has been
fitted too. The finished model compared alongside an Barracks in Aldershot for many years, it now sits
Airfix Dakota to help show the difference in outside Merville Barracks, Colchester, the current
Now I was originally going to cop out and just size between the two. The VIP fitted Dakota home of 16 Air Assault Brigade and wears D-Day
paint a black circle onto the fuselage before wears the markings of the Coastal Command colours for the aircraft flown by Flt. Lt. David
plonking the astrodome on top, however, the Communications Unit and represents KP208, Lord VC who was killed with most of his crew
astrodome is very clear and it comes with an which ended up being gifted to British Airborne dropping supplies to the 1st Airborne Division
inner lip that will fit into a hole so rather than Forces.After gracing the gate of the Parachute at Arnhem.
sawing this lip off a small hole was carefully Regiment & Airborne Forces Depot at Browning
drilled into the fuselage roof and then filed out
until the astrodome slotted down into place.
When fitting the astrodome use reference
photos of the real aircraft as opposed to the
kit instructions, otherwise you may end up
mounting it too far forwards.

The down side of drilling out the astrodome at

this late stage was that the fuselage ended up
being filled with plastic dust, doh! In order to
deal with this the cockpit side windows were
prised open and the resulting openings were
used to get a damp brush inside and remove the
dust from the inside of the canopy while a can of
air with a long nozzle, as used to clean computer
keyboards, was used to clear some dust from the
cabin windows too.

This view of the undersides shows just how
closely the Valetta was related to the Wellington
with the shape of the wing and tailplane
being the same, along with the nacelles and
undercarriage. Rightly or wrongly I decided to
apply the Suez stripes over the serials under the
wings, as seen on some of the aircraft that had
broadly painted stripes, as opposed to the very
narrow style seen on others.
So, overall an excellent model, which does require
some care, but if you really want a Valetta in your
collection, well you can now can say a massive
thank you to Valom. It is a hard aircraft shape
to get right, especially around the nose, but it
certainly does looks the business to me and much
better than previous attempts in older vacform
and resin kits. Some say that the fin is too short,
but I can certainly live with that and it looks fine
to me. There is also a T.3 navigation trainer boxing
available if you like lots of astrodomes along the
fuselage roof, bright colours and dayglow! I shall
certainly be building a few more of these Valettas
in the future.
Now if this kit sells well perhaps Valom might
consider releasing a Hastings next, if it isn`t too
big for their moulding machinery? if so you
could put me down for three or four at least - a
Suez aircraft with Jeeps carried underneath on
the heavy drop bars of course; a grey and white
Coastal Command Met Recce aircraft; possibly
one with radar fitted in the nose; a Berlin Airlift
one in early overall silver colours plus either a
later transport with red or dayglow trim, or one
of the ‘1066 Sqn’ Cod War warriors, but I may
be hugely jumping the gun here and there are
plenty of Valettas to build in the meantime.

66 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K

Operation Telescope
Hastings WJ329 from 511 Sqn wearing Suez stripes
(Tony OToole Photo Collection)
T
he Vickers Valetta C.Mk 1 featured in the
accompanying modelling article is VW202,
coded C of 84 Sqn, and the real aircraft
took off in the early hours of 5 November 1956
from RAF Nicosia, Cyprus as one of eighteen
Valettas from 30, 70, 84 and 114 Sqn, plus
fourteen Hastings’ from 99 and 511 Sqns to
take part in Operation Telescope, the Airborne
Forces element of Operation Musketeer, which
was the Anglo-French operation to regain
control of the Suez Canal. A larger plan, named
Operation Omelette, had been proposed by
the French Deputy Commander of Musketeer
as a much bigger parachute assault but it had
to be scaled down because the RAF could only
provide enough aircraft to drop one battalion of
the British 16th Independent Parachute Brigade.
Speaking of operation names, Operation
Musketeer had originally been called Operation
Hamilcar, but it was allegedly changed because
the French could not pronounce it, however
tanks and vehicles still went ashore adorned
with white `H’ identity markings proposed as
part of the original plan!
The assault on El Gamil airfield was carried out
by 668 men of the 3 Para Group formed from
the 3rd Battalion of The Parachute Regiment
commanded by Lt. Col. Paul Crook with attached
arms such as medics (from my old unit 23
Parachute Field Ambulance), signals engineers,
artillery etc, plus a small tactical Brigade HQ led
by Brigadier Mervyn Butler KCB, CBE, DSO & Bar,
MC, the CO of 16 Ind Para Brigade. Their drop
zone was the airfield at El Gamil, while French
paratroopers of the 2nd Colonial Parachute
Regiment (2 RPC), with British troops attached
from the Royal Engineers of 9 Para Sqn and 1st
(Guards) Ind Para Company, would jump from
twenty-two French Noratlas transports near
to Port Fuad having taken off from Tymbou in
Cyprus. The French were tasked with taking two
bridges and a waterworks before advancing
along the Suez Canal. The overall plan was to
hold both flanks of the invasion beaches for the
Anglo-French troops coming ashore next day on
the 6 November.
THE BRITISH DROP
Each Valetta carried twenty paratroopers (which
was three more than normal) and seven of the
Hastings’ carried thirty paratroopers while the
remaining seven carried a smaller number of
troops plus the heavy drop consisting of seven
Jeeps, four trailers and six M40 105mm recoilless
anti-tank guns, all of which were mounted under
the fuselage on special beams, which also had
stores containers attached to the sides.
The Jeeps had to be recovered from storage
depots as the Austin Champ, which equipped
the brigade, could not be para dropped and the
American M40 had to have a special cylindrical
plastic container developed by the Triang
Toy Company within 5 days so that it could
be dropped by parachute for this operation.
The M40s were mounted on the Jeeps and
they would be critical as the Egyptian forces
opposing them around El Gamil were equipped
with armour that included six Soviet-supplied
Su100 self-propelled guns.
As the formation approached El Gamil a
Canberra dropped a smoke bomb to mark the
Drop Zone and to help assess the wind, the
latter being critical as the troops were jumping
as low as 400-600 feet onto the mile long
Valetta C.Mk 1 VW807, coded NU-T of 240 OTU wearing its roughly applied Suez stripes
(Tony O`Toole Photo Collection)
A P R I L 2024
OPERATION TELESCOPE
The Parachute Assault on
the Suez Canal in 1956
By Tony O’Toole
runway, which was only 600 yards across with
water on either side, the Mediterranean to the
north and Lake El Manala to the south. This
made it somewhat `sporting’ you might say, and
the margin for error was tiny!
Due to this pre defined flight path the pilots
were forced to fly directly into the glare of
the low rising sun but this had already been
accounted for and improvised tinted screens
were erected inside the windscreens using
`Lucozade wrapper’ style translucent plastic to
help the aircrew to see better and prevent them
from being dazzled. As the parachute formation
approached the DZ, Fleet Air Arm Sea Hawks,
Sea Venoms and RAF Venom FB.4s performed
flak suppression sweeps but they had also set
fire to the control tower, which was one of the
Paras initial objectives.
The first troops jumped over El Gamil right on
time at P-Hour, which was set for 05.15hrs and
small arms fire and light anti aircraft fire burst
around the formation causing damage to four
Hastings’ and a Valetta. During the drop one of
the paratroopers had his canopy shredded by
a near miss and he broke both of his legs in the
resulting heavy landing, two had their canopies
set alight by tracer fire, the battalion doctor Lt.
Sandy Cavenagh RAMC was wounded by flak
in the eye, another man was severely injured
· V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 67
OPERATION TELESCOPE
when he landed on top of the burning control
tower, and two more almost drowned when
they landed in the sea. Tragically one man was
also killed when he landed on a mine, which
exploded. Two of the Valettas had to make a
second run over the DZ as some of the troops
had been unable to jump in time on the first
run. This was due to problems encountered by
the last five men of each stick in getting to the
door in time as they had to climb over the main
wing spar, which bisected the cabin, especially
difficult while weighted down with well over
140lb of equipment plus their parachute.
A number of Hastings’ also had to make a second
run over the DZ to drop supplies that had failed
to detach the first time around due to electrical
failures. One jeep and two trailers were destroyed
when their chutes failed to open properly but the
rest of the heavy drop arrived safely.
A second drop followed at 13.15hrs consisting of
two Valetta`s and five Hastings’, which brought
in fifty-eight men of 3 Para`s D Company
and more supplies including an ammunition
resupply. A lot is made of the fact that the British
paratroopers jumped at Suez without using
reserve parachutes so that they could carry more
equipment weight, but the ‘reserve’ had only
recently been introduced into British service due
to a NATO directive and many of the men were
used to jumping without them, plus they were
jumping so low as to make a reserve parachute
useless anyway.
Valetta VW196, 84 Sqn, Cyprus. (Via Brian Cull)
A line up of 84 Sqn Valettas at Nicosia in Cyprus just prior to Operation Musketeer with Canberras in the
background, which were undertaking the pre-invasion airstrikes against airfields and military target .
Note how crude the Suez stripes are. (Via Brian Cull)
68 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
The initial drop was over within ten minutes
and cylindrical ‘mines’ scattered around the
airfield that had been noted on recent photos
just before take-off proved to be nothing but oil
drums that had been laid out to prevent aircraft
landing on the airfield. These actually provided
good cover for the exposed paratroopers as
they fought their way off the DZ against heavy
opposition, including sweeping machine
gun fire from pill boxes around the airfield,
mortars, and snipers, taking only thirty minutes
or so to clear the immediate airfield area.
After consolidating their position the Paras
advanced down the headland towards Port
Said town, fighting through a graveyard and a
sewage works where they faced more Egyptian
reinforcements with self-propelled guns and
even had to contend with an unwelcome
strafing attack by French RF-84F Thunderstreaks.
More friendly British aircraft were available
overhead to provide the Paras with close air
support to help clear their way when they were
held up thanks to the presence of Forward
Air Controllers and their signallers who had
also jumped in alongside them. One such
obstruction was a substantial Coastguard
Barracks, which had proved impervious to rocket
fire from other fighter bombers so the Wyverns
of 830 NAS came in loaded with 500lb and
1,000lb bombs to blast it apart. Unfortunately
one of the Wyvern`s, WN328/374 flown by Lt
Cdr ‘Smokey’ Cowling was hit by ground fire
during his attack and with his engine on fire he
was forced to eject over the sea. After bobbing
in his dinghy for some time Lt Cdr Cowling was
picked up by Whirlwind XJ399/974 from HMS
Eagle flown by Lt Cdr Summerlee after it had
diverted on its way back from El Gamil airfield
while carrying a full load of wounded Paras who
were crammed into the small cabin space - so
the dripping wet pilot was forced to stand up all
the way back to his carrier.
After El Gamil airfield was cleared of oil drums
and checked for mines it was cleared for fixed-
wing operations by noon and the first to land
was a French C-47 Dakota that had been circling
overhead as an airborne command post. It
landed to pick up casualties prior to departing
for Cyprus but prior to this a Whirlwind
helicopter from HMS Albion had landed amidst
the fighting at 09.30hrs with beer and ciggies
donated by the ship’s company for the troops
and to evacuate the most seriously wounded.
This set a precedent and other Whirlwinds
shuttled in and out for the rest of the day
bringing in supplies and taking wounded men
out to the carriers offshore over the horizon.
For some strange reason the opportunity
of having El Gamil airfield serviceable by
the afternoon was not utilised to fly in
reinforcements and substantial supplies from
Cyprus or even from helicopters flying from the
fleet lying offshore to reinforce those already
fighting on the ground, and this was a very badly
missed opportunity.
Unidentified paratrooper from 3 Para prior
to jumping onto El Gamil from a Valetta and
showing the huge equipment container to
advantage. They were over 140lb in weight
and contained loads such as mortar bombs,
batteries, explosives, ammunition, radios,
medical supplies etc. He is possibly from the
pioneer platoon judging by the beard?
(Via the old Airborne Forces Museum, Browning
Barracks, Aldershot)

That said, there were some ad hoc fixed-wing
flights into El Gamil and one followed a request
from 3 Para to the fleet to provide fresh drinking
water. Skyraider AEW.1 WV178 of 849 NAS`s C
Flight was readied for despatch from HMS Albion
to fly ashore carrying drop tanks filled with
fresh water, however the ship’s doctor decided
that this was a health hazard and prevented the
tanks from being used, despite them being clean
and brand new. Thankfully the Ships Welfare
Committee came to the rescue by cramming the
rear Observer’s compartment of the Skyraider
with 1,000 cans of beer, which were flown ashore
tucked into every nook and cranny by Lt. Cdr.
`Noddy’ Fuller whose brother was serving with
the Paras! Unfortunately when it came to looking
for his brother ashore Fuller discovered that he
had been accidentally shot in the goolies by one
of his own men and was now on a hospital ship.
Grateful for their unexpected refreshments, 3
Para was soon asking for more as replenishment.
Not wanting to deprive the ship’s company of
any more of their beer the three Skyraider`s
of C Flight were flown to Cyprus to buy more
beer from the NAAFI and most of this was flown
ashore, presumably with a chit that had to be
signed by somebody in 3 Para?
Dawn broke on 6 November with an Egyptian
MiG diving down to strafe the 3 Para positions
at El Gamil airfield but when RAF Venoms from
249 Sqn arrived nearby it soon high tailed it
away without being intercepted. By this time
3 Para had advanced to Port Said and taken
beach defences to secure the flank of the
British landing beach and their machine guns
were able to provide supporting fire for the
landing craft and amphibious Buffalo LVTs
carrying 3 Commando Brigade plus other units
including the remainder of 16 Independent
Parachute Brigade and the Centurion tanks
of 6 RTR. An hour after the beach landing the
first amphibious helicopter assault in history
took place when 45 Commando flying in
Whirlwinds (which could carry five troops) and
Sycamores (three troops) of 845 NAS and the
Joint Helicopter Unit took off from HMS Ocean
and Theseus respectively bound for Port Said.
The first Whirlwind to set down with a recce
party was from 845 NAS but as it landed near
the projected landing zone at the football
stadium it was raked by fire causing twenty-five
bullet holes although fortunately there were no
injuries onboard. Another LZ was swiftly chosen
on open ground alongside the Suez Canal next
to the statue of Ferdinand De Lesseps, who was
the man who created the canal, and by the end
of the day 450 Commandos and twenty-three
tons of supplies had been brought ashore by
helicopter with thirty-seven wounded, including
a pair of Egyptians, being taken back to the
carriers for treatment.
Also airlifted ashore from HMS Ocean were
a team of RAF men from 215 Wing who
were to make El Gamil airfield capable of
handling regular transport aircraft and
casualty evacuation flights as well as allowing
detachments of Venom and Meteor FR.9 jets,
plus the Auster AOP.6s of 1913 Flight. The first
two RAF Valettas flew into El Gamil from Cyprus
at 13.30hrs bringing in additional personnel and
supplies, the first being Valetta VW850 from 114
Sqn flown by Group Captain Case, the Station
A P R I L 2024
OPERATION TELESCOPE
Commander of RAF Nicosia. They flew back
to Cyprus carrying casualties from the day’s
fighting including a number of French troops
plus Legionnaires. The rest of the day saw bitter
street fighting in the narrow streets of Port Said
and British troops began to advance along the
Suez Canal until a ceasefire was imposed at
midnight by the UN due to political pressure,
with 2 Para who had landed by sea reaching as
far as El Cap before they were stopped.
THE FRENCH DROP
The initial French drop by 2nd Colonial Parachute
Regiment (2 RPC) and its attached British units
was carried out from twenty-two Noratlas twin-
boomed transports near to the al Raswa bridges
that were vital to the advance along the canal,
and again the DZ was marked by flares dropped
from an RAF 18 Sqn Canberra. Although there
was no anti-aircraft fire the drop was opposed
by a torrent of small arms fire and one of the
paratroopers was killed in the air under his
parachute. Another suffered the fate of being
‘hung up’, where his parachute fails to disengage
from its static line, causing the unfortunate man
to be dragged along behind the aircraft. Not
being able to cut himself free and knowing that
deploying his reserve parachute would rip him in
half or bring down the aircraft, this unfortunate
but plucky individual man released himself from
his harness as the Noratlas flew low over the sea
and amazingly survived the fall. He was able to
swim ashore only to be captured and murdered
by Egyptian troops.
· V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 69
OPERATION TELESCOPE

The main force of French paratroopers made for
the two bridges, only for the pontoon bridge
to be blown up before they could take it but
they did capture the main bridge and another
of their objectives, the water works. A follow
up drop of 522 paratroopers led by Lt. Col
Fossey-Francois was made to the east of the
Suez Canal at Port Fuad at 13.15hrs and just as
the British paratroopers were being supported
by the Fleet Air Arm and RAF, the French troops
were supported by French F-84Fs and Corsairs.
The F-84Fs destroyed a collection of oil tanks
that billowed out a pall of black smoke, which
would later prove to be synonymous with the
Suez fighting. One of the F-84Fs was shot down
whilst supporting the fighting but its pilot
managed to eject safely into the open desert
and after trekking for quite a while was helped
by Bedouin and eventually came across the
Israeli forward positions.
By mid-afternoon of 5 November the Egyptian
defenders of Port Said asked for a local cease
fire and Brigadier Butler, the CO of the British
16th Independent Parachute Brigade, whose
TAC HQ had jumped in with 3 Para, agreed at
1630hrs, giving the Egyptians until 21.30hrs to
convey their decision to Cairo. However Cairo
refused permission with Nasser stating falsely
to his people that the Soviet Union was on
its way to Egypt to intervene, with the added
embellishment that London and Paris had
already been attacked and wiped out. Neither
were true and so the fighting continued.
Next day the French amphibious assault
took place on the beach at Port Faud with
three French Navy Commando units and 1e
Regiment Etranger Parachutiste (Foreign Legion
paratroopers) supported by a squadron of AMX
tanks and other troops from the Algerian based
7th Light Armoured Division, all under the cover
of fighter bombers from the carriers and from
Cyprus. The French were able to make a dash
along the Suez Canal but like the British they
were stopped by a ceasefire imposed by the UN.
That was the end of Operation Telescope and
Operation Musketeer.
CONCLUSION
There was a hint of truth in what Nasser had
stated because the Soviet Union had made
veiled threats of nuclear oblivion against the UK,
Israel and France, with Soviet Premiere Marshal
Nicolai Bulganin threatening to ‘defend Egypt
by force and to send rockets to the aggressors
shores!’ The USA had already been intervening
by using its 6th Fleet ships and aircraft in an
aggressive manner against the Anglo-French
task force and it was President Eisenhower
who put an end to Operation Musketeer when
he threatened the UK with financial ruin by
blocking a £300 million IMF loan to help curb a
run on the British Pound unless the UK withdrew.
No opposition was voiced against Soviet nuclear
threats to the UK, France and Israel.
By the time of the UN ceasefire at midnight
on the 6 November 1956 the British 3 Para
Group had lost four men killed and twenty-nine
wounded and the French 2 RCP suffered five
killed and ten wounded. Overall casualties for
Operation Musketeer were twenty-two British
servicemen killed with ninety-six wounded.
The French suffered ten killed and thirty-three
wounded. Israel lost 172 killed and 817 wounded
during its advance across the Sinai Desert, while
Egyptian casualties are unknown.
The military part of Operation Musketeer was
successful and had achieved all of its objectives
on time, but politically it was a complete
nightmare, for the UK especially, both at home
and abroad and it cost Prime Minister Anthony
Eden his job. For his part in the successful
parachute assault onto El Gamil the CO of 3
Para Lt. Col. Paul Crook received a DSO and he
wrote ‘The tremendous spirit and courage and
efficiency of those young parachutists, many of

A Hastings taking off from Cyprus adorned with Suez stripes. The spinners
have been removed to aid engine cooling and quite a few of those carrying
external loads had to close down engines and feather their propellers in
turn en route to El Gamil due to engine overheating.
(Via Brian Cull)
Brigadier Mervyn Butler KCB, CBE, DSO & Bar, MC, the CO of 16 Independent
Parachute Brigade en route to El Gamil with his tactical HQ. The tall canvas
bag is a weapons container, strapped to the side of the large equipment
container of each man. It took time to open this and access your personal
weapon, especially on a DZ that was being swept by enemy fire, but these
are still in use today. Some men have equipment stuffed up their smock for
speed of access after landing, something that could not be done if a reserve
parachute were fitted across the chest.
(Via Brian Cull)

A Hastings adorned with Suez stripes dropping

supplies onto El Gamil airfield.
(Via Brian Cull)

70 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
Scale 1/48

A P R I L 2024 · V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 71
OPERATION TELESCOPE
whom had not been to war, was great. People have said it was a failure; it
might have been politically, but we captured the place. We did our job. We
did it well.’
Among other awards to the 3 Para Group was a Military Cross awarded
to RAMC parachute anaesthetist Capt. Malcolm Elliott who saved three
wounded men in his Jeep under fire in a shanty town outside Port Said
while on his way to find medical supplies from a nearby hospital.
A Hastings taking off from Cyprus adorned with Suez stripes. The spinners
have been removed to aid engine cooling and quite a few of those carrying
external loads had to close down engines and feather their propellers in
turn en route to El Gamil due to engine overheating.
(Via Brian Cull)
Two views of Whirlwind XJ399/974/E from HMS Eagle`s Ships Flight flown by Lt Cdr Summerlee, which was used to rescue Wyvern pilot `Smokey' Cowling from the
sea and also to recover wounded paratroopers from El Gamil airfield. (Photos by Peter Smith ex-HMS Jamaica and taken from Y turret of this ship)
72 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
My father in law was one of the men who stormed the beach at Port
Said in 1956 and I am also proud to know a few of the men of the 3 Para
Group who jumped the day before onto El Gamil. None of them were ever
awarded a campaign medal for their part in Operation Musketeer because
one was never struck. This was the last time that British Airborne Forces
have parachuted into action in battalion sized numbers, although smaller
jumps have since taken place in Afghanistan, and the RAF Regiment also
jumped into Sierra Leone in 2001 as a show of strength to subdue rebel
forces. With the rundown of our Armed Forces continuing ever more, we
might never see a mass parachute assault by British troops again.
A massive thank you to Brian Cull and Peter Smith for help with photos.
Fleet Air Arm Douglas Skyraider AEW.1 WV178 / 424/Z of C Flight, 849 NAS
on deck aboard HMS Albion during the Suez Campaign. This was one of the
aircraft that flew beer in to the men of the 3 Para Group at El Gamil airfield
on 5 November 1956. (Tony OToole Collection)
Briefing
photos of
El Gamil
airfield,
the DZ for
the 3 Para
Group.
(Via Brian
Cull)
 GREAT WORLD
OF SMALL AIRCRAFT
ALL NEW MODELS FROM METAL MOLDS - PRODUCTION 2023

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A P R I L 2024 · V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 73
MR HOBBY
M r.
W H AT ?
A Guide to Mr Hobby
Paints and Surfacers
By Mr. Jack Trent
B
rowsing the features in SAM I have time and
again come face to face with references to
a range of painting and finishing products
referred to as ‘Mr Hobby’. Their recurrence seems
to have accelerated over the last couple of years,
but as yet no one has taken the time to explain
to me what they are and why to use them, so it
is doubly a blessing that UK importers Albion
Alloys have seen fit not only to improve their
accessibility in the UK, but also to explain what
they are and how to use them.
Here we take a brief look at those elements of
the range most commonly stumbled across
while reading magazine articles.
MR COLOURS
The prefix ‘Mr’ is the word to look out for,
universally identifying products from the range
– which are also casually referred to in some
modelling articles as ‘Gunze Sangyo’, which
was a former trading name of parent company
GSI Creos Corporation, changed in 2001. One
exception to this rule seems to be the Aqueous
Hobby range, which is inexplicably not referred
to as ‘Mr Aqueous Hobby’. Confused? Why would
anyone be …?
Aqueous Hobby Color (Code H)
A water-based acrylic paint that can be thinned
with Aqueous Thinner, Mr Color and Mr Levelling
Thinner. It can be brush painted, but two or
three coats are recommended. For airbrushing
a good starting point is 60% thinner 40% paint.
There are currently 141 colours in the range.
Water-based Aqueous Hobby Color smells less
and gives a better finish when brushing than
traditional laquer paints.
Mr Color (Code C)
A lacquer based acrylic paint primarily designed
for airbrushing. This is the one that seems to
crop up most often in modelling articles. Thin
with Mr Color or Mr Levelling Thinner. 219
Colours are currently available.
74 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
With over 200 colours in the range Mr Color is
widely revered by modellers Worldwide.
Mr Metal Color (Code MC)
This is a buffable lacquer metallic paint that can
be brush-painted or airbrushed on. With a fifteen
to twenty minute drying time, these are user-
friendly metallics, with nine shades in the range.
Other paint ranges include Mr Color Super
Metallic II (Code SM), Mr Color GX (Code GX), Mr
Clear Color GX (Code GX1), Mr Metallic Color GX
(Code GX2), Mr Color Lascivus (Code CL), which
specialises in skin tones, and the two Gundam
ranges, Aqueous (Code HUG) and Lacquer (Code
UG). Most of these are designed for fantasy,
Sci-Fi, or automotive subjects and we need not
dwell on them here.
MR THINNERS
These are fairly uncontroversial, although the
modeller will need to be mindful of which
products they are using as thinners are, naturally,
specific to the individual ranges
Aqueous (Code T-110/T-111): An alcohol based
thinner for use with the Mr Hobby Aqueous paint.
Mr Color (Blue label T-101 T-102 T-103 T-104):
For use with both Aqueous and Mr Color paints,
and ideal for matt paints.
Mr Color thinner comes in 50ml, 110ml, 250ml or
400ml sized bottles.
Mr Color Levelling Thinner (Yellow label T-106
T-108): For use with both Aqueous and Mr Color
paints, it has a drying retarder so gloss and semi-
gloss paints have the opportunity to dry to a
super smooth finish.
Mr Color Rapid Thinner (Red label T-117): A
fast drying thinner, ideally suited to matt and
metallic paints. Not recommended for gloss
paint.
Mr Tool Cleaner R (T-113 / T-116): Highly
effective airbrush cleaner - use sparingly and
avoid spills on plastic.
Mr Tool Cleaner is a powerful, non-flammable
liquid for the rapid cleaning of all types of wet
or dried paints from brushes, tools and airbrush
components
MR PRIMERS AND SURFACERS
Most of these come both in glass jars or spray
cans, and as with most Mr Hobby products
are identified as such by either the code SF for
bottled products, or B for those in aerosols. The
SF range is designed to be thinned for airbrush
use with a recommended starting point of 60%
thinner to 40% product. The black is ideal for
‘black basing’.
Mr Hobby primers are designed to create the
perfect base for painting. They are lacquer based
and can be thinned with the Mr Color thinners
range. Again we will try and focus on those
products more likely to be of use to aircraft
modellers:
Mr Surfacer 500 /1000 /1200
For filling small surface imperfections, seam
lines etc - the lower the number the thicker
the consistency and the coarser the filling
compound.

Mr Surfacer 1500
Available in grey, black, white, mahogany, and
pink. Highly regarded by those who use it, this
dries to a super fine finish that can be further
refined by polishing with a soft cloth.
Mr Base White
Use as a micro filler on lighter colours. Airbrush
application preferred.
Mr Metal Primer MP242
Spray/paint onto photoetch prior to painting.
Mr Surfacer 1500 is available in black, white,
mahogany, and pink.
Aqueous Surfacers
A range of water-based surfacer/primers, again
available in jars or aerosols, these low-odour
primers are ideal for modellers who prefer
working with water-based products. They give
great adhesion, leading to a beautifully primed
surface that will readily accept the Aqueous
range of paints. Note the absence of the ‘Mr’
prefix to the range.
MR CEMENTS AND PUTTYS
Mr Cement’s range of cements offers different
viscosities, ranging from Mr Cement S (Code
MC129), with its low viscosity, for general use
on plastic kits, to specialist products such as Mr
Cement SP-B, which contains a black dye that
shows any residue when dry, and is ideal for
when bare metal finishes/ultra-fine paint finishes
are the goal.
MR HOBBY
More common among plastic modellers are
the Mr Super Clear lacquer-based sprays, which
like the GX range give an exceptional result
and dry wonderfully smooth. Mr Super Smooth
Clear (B530) has fluorine for the smoothest
possible finish.
Mr Topcoat are the water-based varnishes and
are suitable for use on water-based paints, while
Mr Premium Topcoat are also water-based and
are suitable for use on water and lacquer-based
paints (Mr Color). They are the higher grade
version of Mr Top Coat and offer improved
coating strength.
Mr White Putty (Code P118) is ideal for filling
small gaps and dents and dries to a super
smooth finish with minimum paint absorption
once dry. Mr White Putty R (Code P123) is the
low viscosity version of Mr.White Putty making
it easier to apply to a small area. This dries and
hardens to a smooth finish very close to the
original plastic model material.
Mr Dissolved Putty (Code P119) has excellent
self-levelling properties, can be thinned with
Mr Levelling Thinner if required, and is ideal for
seam-filling or if the model’s surface has some
minor imperfections or fingerprints.
The Mr Hobby range of flat, semi-gloss and gloss
varnishes and top coats is one of the widest
range available to the modeller and is available
in both glass jars and spray can format.
MR MATTERS
So with that all settled, and the matter
demystified we need no longer gloss over these
references as ‘Mr Gunze lacquer levelling thinner
surfacer’, or the like.
Those who have tried the Mr Hobby range (no
one seems to call it ‘GSI Creos Corporation’)
swear by it, and we were pleased to receive
Mr Dissolved Putty is a useful product for filling an enthusiastic discourse on its virtues from
larger areas. UK importer Albion Hobbies, so we can only
recommend modellers try it for themselves.
MR MASKING PRODUCTS Check out the range at www.albionhobbies.com
Mr Masking Sol Neo (Code M-132) is an
ammonia-based latex masking fluid that can be
thinned and cleaned with water and is designed
for use on larger areas. Mr Masking Sol R (Code
M-133) is water-based and can be thinned and
cleaned with water, drying to a green semi-
opaque layer, and is ideal for finer work such as
masking canopies etc.
MR VARNISHES AND TOPCOATS
The GX range has been described as the best
range of varnishes on the market and is highly
regarded by model makers, artists and high-end
figure and doll makers who are looking for the
ultimate in flawless finishes.
A P R I L 2024 · V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 75
REVIEWS
Special Hobby
Dassault Mirage
1ED/EQ Review
By Bruce Leyland-Jones
Kit No: SH72386
Scale: 1/72
Type: Injection moulded plastic
www.specialhobby.eu
T
his is a re-issue of Special Hobby’s previous
F.1 kit, with ordnance and details to
build those flown in North Africa. This
kit shares many parts with other boxings of
the F.1 that are not required for this particular
version, which means that your Spares Box will
receive a healthy injection of assorted bits and
bobs, including some rather splendid French
ordnance. I’ve previously built the F.1B from
Special Hobby and enjoyed that as a generally
trouble-free build and I was looking forward to
a similar happy build with this kit…although I’ll
know to add nose weight this time! My choice of
build was to be one of the brace of aircraft that
defected from Gadaffi’s Libya. These had refused
to air-strike civilian protesters during the 2011
Civil War and, instead, flew onto Malta.
The cockpit is, like that of most aircraft of the
time, a small, dark hole. There is some raised
detail, however and I chose to dry-brush with a
dark grey, to show this off. I also find that such
a treatment will add a degree of ‘noise’ to an
otherwise blank ‘pit. A decal was supplied for
the instrument panel and, as this will just about
be visible once the canopy’s closed up, it’s a
worthwhile addition and certainly enhances
the ‘office’.
The nose gear bay was then added to the
fuselage half first and this then provided a
positive location point for the aforementioned
cockpit. At the other end of the fuselage, the
finely detailed, three-piece exhaust pipe was
installed. There is a CMK replacement available
for this but, to be honest, the plastic provided is
more than adequate for the task.
Whilst having the fuselage halves in my hand, I
chose to live dangerously and to deviate from
the instructions, adding the air-brake pieces and
intakes to their respective halves. The fit of the
two airbrake bits was exemplary, but I confess to
having to sand a little, to ensure that the intakes
were flush with the rest of the fuselage. Joining
the fuselage halves together presented no
problems whatsoever…which is always nice.
76 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
For the flying surfaces, the tailplanes had a
very positive fit, as did the under-fuselage
strakes. The wings themselves consisted of
two pieces each and I noted that the holes
were already pre-drilled for the ordnance.
However, as all images of my chosen build
showed a clean configuration, I had to fill
those holes accordingly. The fit of the wings
to the fuselage was good enough, with only a
little filling required around the wing-fuselage
join. Regarding the fin, the instruction sheet
presented a somewhat potentially confusing
set of images. However, because I’d spent
time beforehand studying said sheet, I
understood which exact pieces to use and, more
importantly, what surgery not to commit to!
Turning her over, the undercarriage was
assembled and, I have to say, in spite of it
looking to be quite a complex affair, such is
the quality of the pieces, the assembly was a
lot easier than I thought it would be. My only
word of caution would be with regarding the
placement of the bay doors. Happily the finished
articles were sturdy enough for all the lead I had
inserted and there was no tail-sitting.
Finally, I moved onto the seat. A resin
replacement is available for this also and it’s
a nice piece of resin, to be sure. However, the
supplied plastic pieces are more than just ‘good
enough’, especially as my Mirage will be having
the canopy closed, just like the myriad of on-line
images I’d seen of it.
That said, having dropped the seat into the
cockpit, I felt it lacked a little something and,
sure enough, on-line imagery educated me to
the need for a pair of Tamiya tape harness straps.
To ensure everything was hunky-dory, I always
dry-fit before I commit and, whilst the main
canopy was unhindered by the addition of the
seat, I found that the front of the console
interfered with the fit of the windscreen.
It appears that this is a common
problem with this build,
(according to the
Interweb, at least)
and required only a little bit of basic modelling
nous to carve away the offending bits.
Of all of the four available options, I’d chosen the
most complex to play with. The Libyan aircraft
had an apparently grey/green/sand camo, over
a pale blue underside. I prefer Humbrol enamels
for my brush-painting but scouring the Internet,
the precise colours I needed were none too
clear. Depending upon the ambient light, grey
became green became grey. In the end I opted
for the Mr Hobby paints suggested by Special
Hobby. That way, if my colours were inaccurate,
it wasn’t down to me…so there!
As a consequence, an ‘investment’ was made for
Mr Hobby Sand (H27), Violet Grey (H421), Olive
(H304) and Blue Grey (H417). To be honest, I was
surprised by the ‘Violet Grey’, which was more of
a dark green than the grey I’d been expecting.
The decals were superb and I spent a contented
evening applying tiny stencils, ticking them off
the instruction sheet as I progressed. My final
task was to add an overall coat of Humbrol
Mattcote and this created a finish I was happy
with, pulling it all together nicely.
As with the F.1B, this is a superb kit from Special
Hobby and has seen multiple boxings since
its 2016 release. It doesn’t simply fall together
like some and requires some modelling ability
to make the most of it, due to some minor
fit issues. Attention also needs to be paid if
accuracy is important, simply because of the
variety of different options to be added and/
or removed, to make a particular version. Some
of the options involve resin bits and pieces and
some include photoetch.
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A P R I L 2024 · V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 77
REVIEWS
Eduard
Tempest Mk II Late version
By Andy McCabe
Kit No: 82125
Scale: 1/48
Type: Injection moulded plastic
www.eduard.com
E
duard’s kit contains seven grey and one
clear sprue of plastic, two decal sheets, one
canopy mask set, one colour photoetched
fret and one painting and marking booklet. The
instructions are in colour throughout and each
stage has the colour that the part should be
painted. Colour call outs are for Mr Hobby paints
throughout the build. The plastic parts have very
finely engraved panel lines and surface detailing
and are superbly detailed, as are the resin and
photoetched parts.
Work started of course with the cockpit, or to
be exact the pilot’s seat to which etched seat
belts are supplied. All of the cockpit parts were
sprayed firstly whilst still on their sprues with
Lifecolor UA004, and then assembled around the
cockpit seat, floor and rear bulkhead. The main
instrument panel can either be painted, decaled
or built up from pre-painted photoetched parts,
the latter of course is the best in my eyes so this
was duly assembled. The cockpit side frames
were then assembled and then these and the
front bulkhead were all fitted to the cockpit
floor assembly ready for fitting into the fuselage.
78 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
The engine front was painted and assembled,
then this and the cockpit were fitted into one
of the fuselage halves, the tail wheel well was
assembled and fitted and then the two fuselage
halves were glued together.
Next up were the wings and assembling the
landing gear bays into the upper sections of
each wing. These are very nicely detailed and
really look good when finished. The radiator
is installed in the lower wing section and then
the two upper halves fit very nicely onto this.
So far the joints have been perfect with no filler
required, and when the wings were fixed to
the fuselage there was no filler required either,
very nice.
The engine cowl was fitted, the tail planes
assembled and fitted as were the rudder
and ailerons and a Tempest is created. The
windscreen was fixed into position and the
canopy temporarily fixed ready for painting,
which now followed with a coat of grey primer
first applied and any blemishes addressed ready
for the camouflage scheme.
This began by spraying the nose and tail planes
and fin with gloss white, and the tail band was
sprayed with Lifecolor RAF Sky (UA539). These
areas were then masked off and the under
surfaces were sprayed with Lifecolor UA094
Medium Sea Grey, which was then masked and
Tamiya XF82 Ocean Grey was applied. This was
then masked and Lifecolor UA531 Dark Green
was sprayed on, after which the leading edges
of each wing were masked off and gloss yellow
was applied.
The decals are superbly printed by Eduard
and are spread over two sheets with roundels,
squadron codes and stencils.
I had no issues whatsoever whilst making this
kit. It fits together very precisely and accurately
and has lovely detailing, which can be added to
by purchasing the aftermarket sets that Eduard
supply for this kit.
Eduard’s Tempests - Early version on the left
Late version on the right.
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A P R I L 2024 · V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 79
REVIEWS
Special Hobby
AH-1Q/S Cobra ‘US & Turkish Army Service’
By Robert Rose
Kit No: SH48232
Scale: 1/72
Type: Injection moulded plastic
www.specialhobby.eu
This kit has been issued in several different
variants already since it was new in 2022.
Judging by the number and type of the unused
parts here, it looks as though both the early
and late variants of the AH-1 can be built from
the kit supplied. There are plenty of unused
items, allowing scope for several other variants
to be built. As is common with Special Hobby’s
kits, the surface detailing is excellent. Care has
to be taken when cutting items clear of the
sprues, to avoid damage to the really fine small
moulded parts. Some sprue mouldings sit over
mating faces, so careful shaving back is also
needed to smooth those without damaging the
jointing surfaces.
There are several instrument panels to be
mounted in the cockpit. These are well detailed,
with slightly raised faces. The instrument panel
decals were a disappointment, surprisingly,
being both rather too thickly outlined in
white and somewhat fuzzy. In their place I
gently highlighted the raised dial rims with
a metal finish, then touched in some details
and pointers. The seats are provided with
separate squabs and with the armoured sides.
Additionally there are further armoured panels
that sit in the cockpit tub sides to provide
more cover. One oversight, which slightly
disappointed me, was that no attempt is made
to provide anything for seat belts, whether as
decals or embossed detail. These could even
have been made as separate plastic parts, given
the fine mouldings provided for some other
less prominent items. The large, superbly clear
cockpit canopy means that all detail within is
easily visible, so this oversight surprised me, in
what is otherwise such a complete and excellent
kit. I added seat belts cut from some heavy tin
foil and painted appropriately.
Departing slightly from the instructions, I found
it easier to glue the two halves of the fuselage
together, then add the cockpit section into
the front of the fuselage afterwards. To ensure
the machine sits up correctly on its skids, I
recommend adding around 10 to 12 grams of
ballast under the cockpit. If you forget, as I did,
it is easy to drill a small hole in the underside of
the front fuselage to add some lead plus a little
80 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
white glue. A small part, K40, which I think is an
ammunition box hatch, will later cover the hole.
The gun turret, which mounts below the front
fuselage, is supposed to be glued in place. That
seemed a shame, since of course it should rotate,
and it fits very neatly on to the circular groove
area. I modified the fitting using two spare
wheel half sections from my spares box, which
just fitted neatly within the turret housing. With
a piece of short sprue connecting them, one
wheel half was glued onto the bottom of the
fuselage and then later the turret housing was
glued around the second wheel half, allowing
rotation. Interestingly the seeker turret above
does rotate. I presume they will be co-ordinated
together in the real aircraft.
The instructions suggest that the selected tail
sections and upper nose sections should be
glued to their respective fuselage halves before
making up the fuselage. I made these up later,
and was able to achieve a good fit without
risking loss of the surface details, especially the
good rivet detail around the tail section. Two
types of horizontal tails are provided, one with
rivets, the other smooth skinned. No advice
was provided as to the use or dating of these
options, so I stuck with the riveted version.
One small but obvious error in the instructions
should be pointed out. The stub wings have
pylons with weapons attachments. The
end pieces for the stub wings to be used
for this model are K16 and K17. However
the instructions then suggest that weapon
attachments D17 and D18 should fit to them.
The correct weapons fittings to use are K41
and K42. Weapons fittings D17 and D18 fit to
different stub wing ends, parts D22 and D23.
My modification to provide an adjustable turret
position was probably a waste of effort, since
the main blade drive assembly is so slender
and sits so high that the only way to secure it
was to use cyanoacrylate glue throughout to
build it and to fix it in place, rigged fore and aft
in a parked position. Once fixed, those large
blades flex quite realistically, to my mind. The
kit offers the option of open cockpit access, so
I left the pilot’s starboard window open, and
cut down the associated armour panel, which I
presume must slide down to allow easy entry.
Interestingly, the gunner enters via the port side
opening. I suspect that is to ensure adequate
canopy structural stiffness, given the large areas
of Perspex and small side supports involved.
The most colourful of the three options in the
kit was my preferred choice, a three-colour
camouflage Turkish Army scheme, which unlike
many US machines had the full stencilling
applied. It worked well. The decals provided
are thin and tough, easy to float off, only
requiring a few seconds in water, and need care
to stop them folding up. As is also common
now, they are very neat, with even the smallest
of the fuselage stencils readable, unlike the
instrument decals.
I had some difficulty with the canopy masks that
came with this kit. There were masks provided
for both the insides and the outsides. For some
reason I found great difficulty getting the side
panel masks to fit precisely. A little careful
cutting and tucking worked but I cannot figure
out what was wrong. I don’t think I stretched
them, but the side masks appeared to be about
1mm too large in each dimension. There are
two slightly different canopy side sections
provided in the kit; it may be the masks I had
would have fitted the alternate side panels. In
the end, a minor hiccup and the masks did make
fine canopy lines easy. They are very thin and
fairly tough. A little decal softener and a coat of
varnish settled them nicely.
On masking, there are two walkway area on
the stub wings, which required to be masked
off before painting. It’s a slightly awkward
area, so I did wonder why we are given such
comprehensive canopy masks with wheel masks
too, and yet no masking for the walkways.
There‘s a wee suggestion, Special Hobby. These
kits are so impressively complete they just need
a few tiny additions now to be well nigh perfect!
Overall, I greatly enjoyed this build, although
helicopters are a rarity for me and my thanks
to Special Hobby. The Huey Cobra, or ‘Snake’,
is a machine I’d heard so much about from ex-
Vietnam and Marine friends that it was a delight
to actually build one at last. My word, what
a massive two blade rotor that is; no wonder
autorotation landings were so easy, relatively.
Highly recommended, with superb details, in
whichever version you build.
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A P R I L 2024 · V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 81
REVIEWS

Brengun

Henschel Hs 126
By Bruce Leyland-Jones

The separately-available detail set includes Here the cockpit has been suitably
Kit No: BRP72045 some essential parts. embellished.
Scale: 1/72
Type: Injection moulded plastic It remained a short-range reconnaissance aircraft And that, my friends, was it for the 126, with
during the early stages of Operation Barbarossa, those same three kits being regurgitated many
www.brengun.cz
served over North Africa and, later in the war, times over the decades, all until a couple of
served as an adequate glider tug. In fact, it was years back when both Czech Sabrekits and
In 1935, the Reich Air Ministry called for an army
in this role that it came to some prominence, Brengun simultaneously released their own
cooperation, multi-role aircraft, to replace the
towing gliders carrying the SS troops necessary quite different model kits. This is the tale of the
obsolete Heinkel He 46. Henschel provided
to rescue Benito Mussolini from his prison high Brengun kit.
the Hs 122, a parasol-winged, two-seat aircraft,
up in the Italian Alps (Operation Oak).
capable of some endurance and with good
Arriving in a well packed box, this particular
all-round visibility, with good short take-off
Long ago, back in 1974, when I’d already issue provides for 4 different options, including
and landing capabilities and able to manage
tired of the usual fare of Spitfire, Mustangs that of a certain glider tug flight. My first
rough field work. This aircraft was effectively a
and Messerschmitts, I was struck by a strange impressions of the plastic is that this is, whilst
pre-production aircraft and did not fully enter
looking aircraft in a Matchbox box. This was still only from a smaller kit manufacturer, and
service, although lessons learned, (plus a more
their Henschel Hs 126A and it appealed simply therefore relatively ‘short run’, of a higher quality
powerful and generally useful engine), led to the
because it was ‘different’ and had a fixed than that of others. There also appeared to be
development of the Hs.126.
undercarriage, meaning that I could display it significantly more parts, with more unused
off a stand (at that enlightened time, I rarely pieces to remove and to stash away in the
The aircraft was apparently very well liked for
modelled aircraft with the flimsy and ever-so Bits Box. Different footsteps are provided, for
its low-speed characteristics and excellent short
breakable undercarriage down). Italeri had example, even though the differences between
take off abilities and was, after some tweaks
apparently produced one the year before, but them are very subtle. There are also alternate
with engines, sent off for a practical service
such ‘foreign’ kits were relatively rare to me, and legs provided, depending upon your choice of
evaluation with the Legion Condor in that
it would not be until ’77 that Airfix produced spatted, or un-spatted undercarriage. Smaller
sadness that was the Spanish Civil War, serving
their own quite reasonable example. I remember details seemed more refined, and I felt that
alongside the Nationalist forces.
being well impressed by that Matchbox, in the general moulding was altogether sharper.
particular, the ease with which I was able to A small photoetch fret is provided, and I was
Following that conflict, it joined the Luftwaffe
attach the parasol wing, with its potentially pleased to see that the canopy was in 2 parts.
and proved to be a useful reconnaissance and
troublesome auxiliary struts. Of course, The decal sheet appeared to be of good, solid
liaison vehicle during the Blitzkrieg of Poland
Matchbox had great engineering for fixing those colour and was in perfect register. Again, as is
and the invasions of the Low Countries. That
essential cabanes, as evidenced by their lovely usual, DIY swastikas are provided, and I noted
said, it was soon found to be vulnerable to any
wee biplanes. I’ve also since been informed that that the decals representing the sighting
fighter aircraft and was quickly withdrawn from
Rareplane did one in 1971, but as that was a guidance lines were offered as individual lines,
front line service, being superceded in those
vacform, it is the work of the devil and will no so I wouldn’t have an excess of carrier film to
theatres by the Fieseler Fi 156 Storch and the
longer be spoken of here. contend with, later on.
Focke Wulf Fw 189.

82 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K

As so often happens when manufacturers send
in their kits for review, they can also supply
relevant aftermarket accessories, and Brengun,
having long been producers of such rather
splendid items, supplied this reviewer with a set
of canopy masks, some resin items and a rather
more comprehensive PE set than that supplied
with the kit. There was also a vacform canopy.
The build begins with the engine, and this was
an impressive piece of kit, comprised of five
pieces, resulting in a rather splendid engine,
without recourse to photoetch. Adding the extra
Brengun etch was just icing on the proverbial
cake, (although, if I’m being brutally honest,
said etch was not all that apparent, one the
engine had been installed and buried within its
cowling). Other bits of ‘extra’ etch provided seat
harness and embellished the instrument panel. I
appreciated these more, as they remained visible
after the model had been completed, and the
basic kit doesn’t provide decals for the harness
or instrument panels.
Building up the cockpit interior was easy
enough, thanks to good instructions and
positive location points for the relevant pieces,
and colours were indicated throughout. Unlike
other kits of this subject that I have built, I
was aware that this one came with a two-part
canopy, giving me the option of allowing the
pilot’s area to remain visible, and so I knew time
spent would be really worth the effort.
The fit of parts was so good, that the fuselage
halves came together without issue, and I was
able to add the engine to the front, thereby
ensuring structural integrity for the model. I
noted that a separate piece needed to be added
to the upper front fuselage, this particular
piece housing the recess for the forward firing
machine gun. (I’m guessing other versions of
the aircraft had different arrangements and that
Brengun have taken this into account with their
engineering of the kit). As it was, the piece fitted,
again, without issue. Of note, whilst the resin
detail set contained guns, the basic kit itself did
not and this, I feel is an oversight on the part of
Brengun. A similar issue occurs under the nose,
where some brass origami will provide for a
small intake, but there is no such plastic part in
the basic kit.
Staying with the fuselage, I was pleased to find
my chosen glider-tug version did not have
the spatted wheels, thereby saving me the
potential angst of the wheels being too wide
for the spats (although a quick dry fit soon
showed me that this was not a mistake made
by Brengun).
I did, however, see that the instruction sheet
marked two pieces to be discarded, that should
actually be retained, as these are necessary for
fixing the wheels to the specific undercarriage
legs (remember, this kit provides two different
sets of legs, depending upon the version you
choose to build). I left off the finer, sticky-out
details, to be added later, and was pleased to
find the three-piece cowling came together
well enough and fitted nicely around the
engine. I enjoyed the extra masking set and was
pleased with my choice to display the cockpit
open. So far, so good.
Please note that as with other kits, the single
port-side ordnance rack is supplied, should that
be your wont, and a nicely moulded bomb is
supplied. The extra detail resin set supplies an
even nicer moulded weapon, plus a smoke/gas
generator. As far as I know, neither of these was
employed in Operation Oak, so I left them off. I
did use the kit’s etched towing bracket, which
was, I felt, a most thoughtful inclusion.
With the fuselage relatively complete, I
could turn my attention to the wings, with
the potential associated angst relating to
struttery… I need not have worried. Unlike their
contemporaries Brengun have provided the
underside of the wing (and fuselage), with very,
very clear location points for all of the struts,
including those auxiliary struts for the main wing
braces, represented in this kit by the supplied
etched fret. Further, the ailerons and flaps are
all supplied as separate pieces, which allow the
modeller to add some animation to the model.
Such was the positive fit of the pieces, I felt
confident enough in the kit to add all of the
struts to the underside of the wing, as per the
instructions, using a set of dividers to ensure the
unattached points were all the correct distance
apart. Whilst this approach could’ve gone all
horribly wrong, it is clear to me that Brengun
knew what they were doing in this kit’s design
and everything almost fell into place when I
A P R I L 2024
REVIEWS
added the wing-strut structure to the fuselage.
Happy days indeed!
The final details were added, most, it has to be
said, from the kit’s own ‘basic’ PE fret, although
the kit’s little electrical power generator was
short-shot, meaning that I just had to take
advantage of the extra set’s prop blades.
Whilst on a roll, I also added that sets steps to
the undercarriage legs and some detail to the
rearward firing gun.
And so I had a completed model of a Henschel
Hs 126A-1, as used by the 1/2nd Glider Assault
Wing, of Practica di Mare, Italy, in the assault
on the Gran Sasso d’Italia massif, to rescue the
deposed Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, under
Unternehmen Eiche.
A note on painting and decals. Leaving colour
conundrums to the most-knowledgeable Mr.
Paul Lucas, I thought I’d take an easy way out
and simply use my Humbrol equivalents for
the required RLM70, 71 and 65, using Humbrol
241, 242 and 247 respectively. Unfortunately,
to my eye, there doesn’t appear to be sufficient
contrast between the two greens, making the
model too dark overall. This is obviously solely
down to Yours Truly and should say nothing
about the quality of the actual kit.
Regarding the decals, I learned very quickly
that they had a habit of sticking like muck to a
blanket. This was their only issue and, if you use
lots of water, you should be okay.
I really enjoyed this kit. In spite of all of the
added detail, it was almost as easy to put
together as the old Matchbox of my childhood
and I appreciate the obvious care and attention
Brengun put into the kit’s execution. My only
niggle would have to be the omission, from the
basic kit, of the forward firing machine gun and
the small rectangular intake under the nose.
The basic kit-supplied PE fret added a lot of
nice extra detail alone, although a decal for the
instrument panel and harness would have been
nice, especially for those generally strapped
for cash and less willing to splurge on extra
aftermarket goodies.
This kit excels in detail and demonstrates the
extra information available to the kit makers of
today and, at least internally, reduces kits of yore
to the nostalgia-build pile. Externally, I believe
this kit to be more accurate than those old ‘uns
and Brengun clearly demonstrate that they
know how to put a kit together, especially
as evidenced by their superb presentation of
the struttery.
If creating a ‘Totem Pole’ of 1/72 Henschel Hs
126s, this kit would be easily at the very top.
· V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 83
UPDATES
Eduard
www.eduard.com
The usual busy month from Eduard offering
updates, details, masks and decals for a selection
of recent kit releases:
Brassin
Some nice packages in the LööKplus range
this month, offering details for the new Airfix
Sea King. Sets include TFace masks (both inner
and outer), wheels, and pre-coloured cockpit
details. Elsewhere Brassin does its usual thing
for some of the recent releases, including
Tamiya’s F-35B in 1/48.
1/48
644257 Sea King HAS.5 LööKplus (for Airfix kit)
644256 Sea King HAS.1 LööKplus (for Airfix kit)
644249 Sea King HU.5 LööK (for Airfix kit)
644253 TBM-3 LööK (for Academy kit)
644254 I-16 Type 10 LööK (for Eduard kit)
648928 Su-25 flaps and slats PRINT (for Zvezda kit)
648969 F-16C Block 30 cockpit PRINT (for Kinetic
Model kit
648975 Tornado ejection seats (for Revell kit)
648976 Fw 190A-8/ R2 cockpit PRINT (for Eduard kit)
648977 Bf 109G-10 WNF cockpit PRINT (for
Eduard kit)
648978 F-35B wheels (for Tamiya kit)
648979 F-35B ejection seat PRINT (for Tamiya kit)
1/72
672352 Bf 109G-6 engine PRINT (for Eduard kit)
1/32
632192 Bf 109E rudder pedals early PRINT
632193 Bf 109E rudder pedals late PRINT
Photo Etched Parts
As usual we see releases on a two-tiered basis
– the full detail sets and the smaller ZOOM
sets, that offer add on details but nothing that
requires surgery. These are an ideal entry into
using photoetch, and will make a world of
difference for very little effort.
84 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
1/48
481132 F-5E upgrade set (for Eduard kit)
491420 F-35B (for Tamiya kit)
491422 Hurricane Mk IIb (for Arma Hobby kit)
491424 Gannet AS.1 (for Airfix kit)
491425 Gannet AS.4 (for Airfix kit)
491427 F4U-1A (for Magic Factory kit)
491428 F4U-2 (for Magic Factory kit)
1/72
73818 A-6A Intruder (for Trumpeter kit)
73819 Bell P-400 (for Arma Hobby kit)
Zoom Sets
1/48
FE1420 F-35B (for Tamiya kit)
FE1421 F-35B seatbelts STEEL (for Tamiya kit)
FE1422 Hurricane Mk IIb (for Arma Hobby kit)
FE1423 Hurricane Mk IIb seatbelts STEEL (for
Arma Hobby kit)
FE1424 Gannet AS.1 (for Airfix kit)
FE1425 Gannet AS.4 (for Airfix kit)
FE1426 Gannet AS.1/AS.4 seatbelts STEEL (for
Airfix kit)
FE1427 F4U-1A (for Magic Factory kit)
FE1428 F4U-2 (for Magic Factory kit)
FE1429 F4U-1A/2 seatbelts STEEL 1/48
FE1430 F-5E seatbelts STEEL (for AFV Club/
Eduard kit)
FE1431 Bf 108 seatbelts (for Eduard kit)
1/72
SS818 A-6A Intruder (for Trumpeter kit)
SS819 P-400 (for Arma Hobby kit)
Masks
Eduard’s essential mask sets come as regular or
TFace items – the latter including both internal
and external masking. Note the Gannet set
this month too, offering codes and national
markings.
1/48
EX1011 F-35B (for Tamiya kit)
EX1012 F-35B TFace (for Tamiya kit)
EX1013 F-35B RAM coating (for Tamiya kit)
EX1014 Hurricane Mk IIb (for Arma Hobby kit)
EX1015 Hurricane Mk IIb TFace (for Arma Hobby kit)
EX1016 Gannet AS.1/ AS.4 (for Airfix kit)
EX1016 Gannet AS.1/ AS.4 TFace (for Airfix kit)
EX1018 Gannet AS.1/AS.4 National markings and
codes (for Airfix kit)
EX1019 F-5E TFace (for AFV Club/Eduard kit)
EX1020 Bf 108 TFace (for Eduard kit)
1/72
CX659 A-6A Intruder (for Trumpeter kit)
CX660 P-39/P-400 (for Arma Hobby kit)
3D Decals
Eduard’s innovations continue with these
combinations of pre-painted photoetch and
decals with raised detail.
1/48
3DL48160 F-35B SPACE (for Tamiya kit)
3DL48161 Hurricane Mk IIb SPACE (for Arma
Hobby kit)
3DL48162 Gannet AS.1 SPACE (for Airfix kit)
3DL48163 Gannet AS.4 SPACE (for Airfix kit)
3DL48164 F4U-1A SPACE (for Magic Factory kit)
3DL48165 F4U-2 SPACE (for Magic Factory kit)
3DL48166 Bf 108 SPACE (for Eduard kit)
3DL48167 F-5E SPACE (for AFV Club/Eduard kit)
1/72
3DL72028 A-6A Intruder SPACE (for Trumpeter
kit)
Eddie the Riveter
3D rivets - raised rivets applied as a decal.
1/48
ER48009 Surface panels
1/72
ER72004 Surface panels
Decals
A timely release, no doubt with the new Tamiya
kit in mind.
1/48
D48116 F-35B stencils
 UPDATES

P-38 Lightning (4 versions) RAF B-25C/D “European Theatre” USAF B-17G Flying Fortress ‘Nose Art’

PKAY12282 PKAY12339 PKAY12414

AH-64A Apache B-29A “Enola Gay” & “Bockscar” Russian Air Force Tu-22M3 Backfire C

PKAY12488 PKAY12528 PKAY12636

USAF EC-121 Warning Star, USAF KC-135R Stratotanker, ca.2000s Avro Lancaster B Mk I Special
ca.1950s-70s ‘Grand Slam’
PKAY12637 PKAY12638 PKHK01F007

To find your
nearest
Bachmann
stockist
scan our
QR code

US AH-64A Apache Early Royal Navy Fairey Fulmar Mk II, WWII

c.1942
PKTM05114 PKTM05823

A P R I L 2024 · V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 85
For more information on our products and to find your nearest stockist visit www.bachmann.co.uk
UPDATES
Bunny Fighter Club
www.eduard.com
Check out the full range of ‘Bunny Lady’
kits and T-shirts, featuring the Tempest Mk
V from the Bfc. Membership gets you a
15% permanent club discount at Eduard’s
online store, access to unique Club kits and
accessories, and even better prices at Eduard’s
trade stand at shows and events.
CMK
www.specialhobby.eu
New items from CMK/Special Hobby this month:
Special Mask
100-M72050 Heinkel He 59B Mask
Pre-cut spray masks for the clear canopy parts of
the 1/72 Heinkel He 59B model kits produced by
Special Hobby.
100-M72051 Breda Ba.88B Lince Mask
Pre-cut spray masks for the clear canopy parts
and u/c wheels of the Breda Ba.88B Lince model
kits produced by Special Hobby.
CMK Resin Sets
129-4469PV-1 Ventura Nose & Turret Armament
This 1/48 set for the Revell/Academy kit includes
finely detailed machine guns for the turret and
belly gunner station, a nose housing for three
machine guns, and the fuselage gun barrels, all of
which have much better details than the kit parts.
129-6008 AH-1G Cobra Upgrade Cockpit Set
For the 1/35 ICM kit. This multim-media
set consists of resin cast, 3D-printed and
photoetched parts and significantly improves
the pilot’s and gunner’s offices of the AH-1G
Cobra model - and as the interior of the cockpit
86 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
Membership also gets you a Club T-shirt with
unique design and special barcode (used for
event discounts).
This exclusive T-shirt will be only available to the
members of BFC. On top of all this you’ll get free
entry at Eduard’s annual E-day show, for both
days, and you’ll still get the entry kit.
Join now at www.eduard.com/bfc/
is very easy to see through the large side
window panes, which can even be posed open,
this set is truly a ‘Must have!’ one.
Planet Models
129-MV135 Fordson WOT2D ‘Van Body’
Some 1/72 vehicle kits were simply made to be
posed next to aircraft. Planet’s 1/72 WOT2 is just
the type of light utility truck to add a touch of
scale to your aircraft models – and Planet’s kit
doesn’t compromise on detail.
The WOT2 light truck was produced by Ford of
Britain in Dagenham in various versions from
1939. Production in the war years gave a total
of 60,000 examples that served with the British
Army and RAF as well as with the Royal Navy
well until the late 1950s. During the war, these
vehicles offered support to British troops in
Western Europe, Africa and elsewhere. They were
also operated by foreign units, including the
Czechoslovak Independent Armoured Brigade.
Some WOT2s were captured by the Wehrmacht
and put to intensive service. After the war the
surplus vehicles found their way to some other
armies, too.
The Van Body variety was used as a staff vehicle
or as a mobile radar platform. The bulk of the
kit is cast resin and it offers a fret of photoetch
and 3D-printed parts. The decal sheet provides
markings for two British WOTs.
A P R I L 2024 · V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 87
UPDATES
Air- Graphics
www.air-graphics.uk
On Target Decals
AIR72-025 AMX Ghibli/AMX-T Collection
The latest decal offering to arrive from the ever-
prolific team at Air-Graphics, Sheet AIR72-025,
features the AMX Ghibli and AMX-T, with decals
included for no less than twelve aircraft, eight
from Aeronautica Militaire Italiana and four from
Força Aérea Brasileira.
The schemes included are extremely colourful,
and in a couple of cases will challenge the
modellers painting skills. Particularly so, the
WW2 ‘retro’ 70th anniversary scheme with ‘Tight
Random Squiggle Mottle’ – as executed in these
pages in 1/48 by Jon Tabinor.
The decals feature superb colour rendition
and are perfectly in register, being printed
by Cartograf of Italy, so quality is assured. A
nice touch from Air-Graphics is the addition
of a very handy Paint Colour and Conversion
Card, detailing the shades required and the
appropriate brands.
With the recent issue of Italeri’s rather nice 1/72
AMX and AMX-T kits, this timely decal sheet
provides the modeller with a fine range of
alternative schemes. Highly recommended
All Air-Graphics products are available directly
from the manufacturer at orders@air-graphics.uk
88 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
Print Scale
www.printscale.org
New decal sheets from Print Scale:
1/72
72510 Nieuport 17-24
1/48
48257 Fw.190 D-9 Part-1
48258 FW 190 D-9 Part-2
48279 Messerschmitt BF109G-6 Part-1
48280 Messerschmitt BF 109G-6 Part-2
48281 FW 190 A-3, A-4, A-5, A-6, F & Recon Part-1
48285 Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star Part 6
48286 Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star Part 7
48287 Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star Part 8
Plus Model
www.plusmodel.cz
A number of aircraft-related items have been
released by Plus Model this month. In 1/32 a
selection of 3D-printed WWI-era machine guns
join a Japanese WW2 pilot. Note, the MG sets
include parts for two weapons:
1/32
AL3014 Pilot A6M Zero
AL3019 Machine Gun Vickers Pattern A
AL3020 Machine Gun Vickers Balloon Buster
AL3021 Hand Bomb Cart Mk I
Some of these are replicated in this month’s 1/48
Aero Line releases:
1/48
AL4047 Pilot F-86 Sabre
AL4112 Trailer Mk 2 with Compressor and Fuel
Filter
AL4113 Hand Bomb Cart Mk I
AL4114 Machine Gun Vickers Pattern A
 UPDATES

Aero Research Scale Aircraft Conversions

www.aeroresearchcds.com www.scaleaircraftconversions.com

The April photo CD release from Aero Research, New Products received in March 2024:
USN A-7 Corsair II Pt.7, remembers the now-
retired Corsair II with 150 photos, ranging from 48449 Ki-21 Sally Landing Gear (ICM)
the late-career low-visibility grey schemes to 48450 Hurricane Mk I, Mk IIb/c/d Landing Gear
the highly-colourful squadron markings typical (Arma Hobby)
of the aircraft in its heyday. As with all of these 72202 6F-3/5 Hellcat Landing Gear (2 sets) (Eduard)
photo collections, this release is available on a
physical CD or as a PDF file sent by email (which
avoids postage charges) via the website.

ASK
www.artscale.eu

The new Great Wall Hobby A-10C will benefit

greatly from ASK’s latest accessory release:

200-A48014 A-10 Thunderbolt II - GAU

cannon head with cover
This 3D-printed piece offers vastly superior
detail to the kit part. Check out the ASK website
for more A-10 goods, as well as a wide range of
decals, masks, and accessories. 1 Man Army
www.1manarmy.be

New items have been added to the growing

range of masking and stencilling sets available
from this source. The innovative masks allow
you to airbrush markings, numbers, but also the
smallest instruction stencils, thereby offering an
alternative for the decal carrier film and allowing
a true ‘painted-on’ result and a natural look. You
can obtain an instant result, without the need
for gloss coats, setting or softening solutions,
trimming or cleaning and always with an
amazing precision. A dry and clean surface is all
you need. No further preparation is needed.
Using masks also allows weathering, fading and
chipping, without the clear carrier film to worry
about. Wrinkles, air bubbles, adhesion problems,
tearing, silvering and yellowing are no longer
possible. New products include two 1/24 sets
offering basic markings and stencilling for two
popular kits in the larger scale:

24DET011 Hawker Typhoon Mk IB (for Airfix kit)

24DET016 Spitfire Mk IXc masks and
Stencilling set (for Airfix kit)
Also new to the range are two new sets of
generic ‘dash’ lines, such as used to delineate
safe walking areas on the wings of German
aircraft. These offer a variety of styles, and are
available in both 1/72 and 1/48:

48GEN200 Generic Dash Lines, German Aircraft

72GEN200 Generic Dash Lines, German Aircraft

A P R I L 2024 · V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 89
UPDATES
Fantasy Print Shop
www.fantasyprintshop.co.uk
New sheets have been released under the Euro
Decals brand:
1/35
ED-35001 Supermarine Spitfire
This impressive A4-sized sheet offers markings
for eleven Spitfire Mk Vbs, and is designed for
the Border Models kit.
1/48
ED-48138 General Motors FM-2/Wildcat VI
This sheet offers six US and three British aircraft.
No stencilling is included but no doubt the kit –
most probably Eduard’s – will provide for that.
ED-48139 Vought Corsair Collection
Includes markings for seven aircraft, including
British, US and Commonwealth machines.
Airfile Decals
The other brand marketed by Fantasy Printshop is
the Airfile range, which this month sees the arrival
of a stunning set for two-seater Hunters in 1/48:
FPAF 48-002 Hawker Hunter Twin Seater
No less than twenty-seven aircraft are offered on
this double A5 sheet.
904 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
Two Bobs
www.twobobs.net
48283 Vipers of the Caribbean
This is the most comprehensive sheet ever
produced for the Puerto Rico ANG of the F-16.
This is the ADF version and will go great with the
newly released Kinetic kit which has all the parts
required to build this version.
The 198th FS converted from the A-7D/K to the
F-16 in the Air Defence Fighter (ADF) variant
in 1992. At that time most ANG units were
equipped with this version of the somewhat
older A/B models of the viper. Even though the
198th was flying the ADF variant of the F-16,
they were trained in the bombing role as well.
The ADF version featured the addition of a CWI
module on the APG-66 radar, a search light
on the port side of the nose, more adapted
communication equipment, an Advanced
Identification Friend or Foe (AIFF) system and
the possibility to fire AIM-7 or the later AIM-
120 missiles.
The era of the F-16 with the 198th FS didn’t last
that long. In 1998 the Staff decided that the
squadron would be better suited as an airlift
squadron and the unit converted to the C-130E.
The 198th sent most of their F-16 airframes to
AMARC having operated the type for barely six
years before transitioning.
This sheet features enough markings options
for twenty aircraft, with stencils to build two
complete airframes.
Title: Airframe & Miniature No.22:
The Grumman F4F Wildcat
(including GM FM-1 & FM-2)
– A Complete Guide To
Grumman’s First ‘Cat’
Author: Richard A. Franks
Publisher: Valiant Wings Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-91293-235-1
Format: Paperback 290 x 210mm 130pp
www.valiant-wings.co.uk
P
erfectly timed
to accompany
Eduard and
Arma’s stunning series
of Wildcat models in
1/48 and 1/72, this will
be a worthwhile aid
in helping unwrap the
detail required to build
an accurate model.
Those who possess
other books in the series will be familiar with the
layout of the publication, starting with a preface
that provides more information than can be
found in some other complete books, starting
with the development of the Wildcat all the way
through to production and the different users
in brief.
This is then followed by a serial number by
serial number breakdown of the evolution of
the Wildcat accompanied by profile drawings of
each major change. Camouflage and markings
brings a full range of colour profiles of each
major colour scheme explaining the different
variations and the reasons why. Usefully a stencil
diagram is also included.
Chapter five is a complete breakdown of all the
Wildcat kits available in every conceivable scale,
followed by a range of builds of commonly
available kits. Isometric views of the Wildcat fill
the ‘Building a Collection’ chapter, with each
variation and detail pointed out and described
helping to clear up any confusion when looking
to build a particular aircraft as serial numbers are
also included.
The chapter includes a look at a crop sprayer
variant, which gives an idea of the range of
the research undertaken to collate this book.
The ‘in-detail’ chapter gives modellers a huge
collection of modern and contemporary
images to draw from, covering every inch of the
different variations of aircraft, which will be a
great aid indeed.
The rear of the book contains an in depth
kitography and listing of every decal and
accessory produced for the Wildcat along with a
comprehensive bibiolography. The book closes
with a superb set of 1/48 plans covering all of
the Wildcat and Martlet variations in crisp detail.
Another must have reference for the committed
modeller looking to tackle a Wildcat or Martlet
of any scale, containing a breath taking volume
of information and detail to help make the
perfect model.
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A P R I L 2024 · V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 91
BOOKS

Books with Ernie Lee

Title: The Fairey Barracuda - A
Detailed Guide to the
Fleet Air Arm’s First Torpedo-
Bomber Monoplane -
Airframe Album No.19
Author: Richard A. Franks
Publisher: Valiant Wings Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-91293-234-4
Format: Paperback 290 x 210mm 130pp
www.valiant-wings.co.uk
I
n the many years The photographs are joined by a series of useful
your reviewer has captions, which help to direct the reader to the
been involved most important details as well as describing
in modelling he features worthy of note. The images are printed
cannot recall on a good quality satin paper stock, which helps
seeing a single to bring out the detail and reduce workbench
book dedicated light reflection. Overall this is a very useful book
to providing a complete reference to the Avro that will be a valuable accompaniment for anyone
Manchester, despite its infamy as the older sibling tackling a detailed build of this popular and
of the Lancaster. With its place in history stunted numerous early jet training aircraft regardless of
by the weakness of its Rolls-Royce Vulture engines, the scale. The book is available to purchase directly
the Avro Manchester did provide a stepping stone from GA Publishing via their website or at the
in terms of design, introducing several modern Blackbird Models stand at various model shows
design features into service. This highly polished and events around the UK.
and researched book provides an in-depth

C
redit must
be given to look at the different fixtures and features of the Title: P-38 Lightning vs Bf 109;
Richard A Franks Manchester using a series of one hundred and North Africa, Sicily and Italy
for another superb twenty period photographs, which are annotated
1942–43
offering in this latest and enhanced to bring all the nuances of the
aircraft to the fore. The pictures include those of Author: Edward M. Young (Author),
guide to the Fairey
Barracuda, a type the cockpit, internal structure, construction, and Gareth Hector (Illustrator),
much maligned in mechanical installations as well as images of the Jim Laurier (Illustrator)
service despite being a aircraft in all its incarnations in combat to provide Publisher: Osprey Publishing
technical improvement a well-rounded and comprehensive study of the
Manchester, coupled with highly informative ISBN: 978-1-47285-954-9
over its Swordfish and
Albacore predecessors. text and captions. These are combined with six Format: Paperback 248 x 184mm 80pp
As we’ve come to expect from the series, the full-colour profiles of individual aircraft with
accompanying notes and details pertaining to www.ospreypublishing.com
book provides a greatly detailed look at the type,
starting off with an introduction into how the the aircraft to assist you in building an accurate

T
replica. Wing Leader have produced a book that his book takes up
Barracuda came to be, the various versions and the story of the
their individualities, as well as a comprehensive you can read easily from cover to cover, or dip
into when you feel you need clarity on a point of USAAF’s action
listing of each squadron that operated the in North Africa and
aircraft. The technical description chapter will interest. This title is a must for those with a passion
for all things Lancaster related, or indeed the the Mediterranean
be nectar to the super detailer, providing a full following Operation
dissection of each facet of the Barracuda from World War Two Bomber modeller. Overall a very
fascinating and essential book for those looking to Torch in late 1942,
tip to tail, whilst the chapter titled ‘Evolution’ from the viewpoint of
describes the timeline of the Barracuda’s life model the Manchester.
the pilots of the P-38
accompanied by a series of isometric drawings Lightning and their
by Juraj Jankovic with each difference explained. Title: Jet Provost T.3 Walk-Around tasking as escorts to the
The camouflage and markings section provides Author: Glenn Ashley numerous bombing raids undertaken. These in
us with a look at the full range of colours used turn were attacked by the Luftwaffe who are in the
on the type, backed with a series of colour Publisher: GA Publishing
case of this book represented by the pilots of the
profiles and photographs along with a set ISBN: 978-1-80517-301-4 Bf-109G. The book opens with a brief introduction
of 1/72 scale drawings. Construction of the covering the background of the invasion of North
Format: Paperback 295 x 210mm 26pp
1/72 Special Hobby kit is undertaken by Libor Africa in late 1942 as well as drawing back the
Jekl to great effect, followed by a kitography www.wingleader.co.uk curtain on the chosen adversaries. This is followed
of all the available models and accessories. by a Chronology, which provides a summary

A full production schedule is provided as an
appendix before the book closes with a detailed
bibliography. With its high-quality print on
gloss paper and A4 format the title makes for a
pleasurable read, sure to add to all but the most
ardent Barraucda-o-philes knowledge.
An ideal research companion to go with the
1/72 and 1/48 Special Hobby kits as well as the
promised 1/48 Trumpeter kit, or indeed the
vintage Frog/Ark/Novo 1/72 offering for the
braver modeller.
Title: Avro Manchester in RAF
Service (Wingleader Photo
Archive Number 23)
Author: Peter Allam
Publisher: Wing Leader Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-90875-736-4
Format: Paperback 290 x 300mm 72pp
www.wingleader.co.uk
T
his second of events pertinent to the subject as well as
book from new covering a broader view of the Second World War
publishing stable to help the reader place events within the wider
GA Publishing provides conflict. The chapter on design and development
a guided walk-around of provides a detailed look at both the P-38F and
an RAF Jet Provost T.3, Bf-109G including a pair of exceptional three-
serial XM383, in its eye- view drawings of each aircraft, as well as a look at
catching red, white and the armament and differences in sub-variants of
grey colour scheme.The each aircraft to enable the reader to undertake a
book’s twenty six pages comparison of the types. The author also takes the
are crammed with pilot training, experience, and tactical situation
colour photographs of of both the USAAF and Luftwaffe into account to
this preserved airframe aimed directly at the level present a fully comprehensive view before the
of detail the modeller is looking for. Starting with actual combat is considered. The book closes with
the cockpit area, the book provides a frame-by- a full analysis of the combat performance of both
frame study of the instrument and side panels sides and the individual aircraft. The book contains
as well as the Martin Baker Mk 4 ejection seats to a wide range of period photographs, maps and
ensure you can furnish this area with an accurate illustrations to help provide a varied array of
amount of detail. This approach continues information. This is coupled with well written
around the entire airframe and it is safe to say the and informative text that also contains vivid
photographer has attempted to access every area first person accounts from both sides. An ideal
that the most enthusiastic modeller could wish introduction to both types, the book also presents
for. Particular care has been taken to capture the a useful reference source as well as an engaging
numerous aerials dotted around the aircraft. and balanced study.

92 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
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Orders from the world’s book

Warpaint series No.141 and hobby trade are invited £19.00

Vickers Vicker
VIKING
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Viking, Valetta & Varsity
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bomber and built by Vickers-Armstrongs Limited at Brooklands near Weybridge in Surrey. After the Second
World War, the Viking was an important airliner with British airlines, pending the development of turboprop
aircraft like the Viscount. An experimental airframe was fitted with Rolls-Royce Nene turbojets and first flown
in 1948 as the world's first pure jet transport aircraft. Military developments were the Vickers Valetta and
the Vickers Varsity. The Valetta was a military derivative of the Viking developed in transport and

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training variants for the Royal Air Force. The Varsity was a versatile twin piston-engined aircraft
developed from the Viking and Valetta but with a tricycle undercarriage and ventral pannier for
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bomb-aimer training, among other changes. It was brought into RAF service in 1951 for crew
training as a replacement for the Wellington T10. The most outstanding quality of the Varsity was that
it could provide excellent training for pilots, flight engineers, radio operators, navigators and bomb
aimers simultaneously. The prototype Varsity T Mk I made its maiden flight on 17 July 1949. The RAF
took its first deliveries in October 1951 which went to No.201 Squadron, Advanced Flying School at
Swinderby, Lincolnshire. Production of the Varsity T Mk I for the RAF ceased on 28 February 1954 after a total of 163 had
been built, the type serving the RAF faithfully until being withdrawn from use in 1976. This Warpaint relates the history of all three types,
focussing on the military operators, as per the series title. It is profusely illustrated by over 100 top quality photographs, nearly all in colour from the
author’s extensive photograph archive and supported by the excellent colour profiles and plans by Sam Pearson.
0 Page 54
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The full story of the first true Multi-Role Combat Aircraft, the OV-10 Bronco, still flying operationally after
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nearly six decades of service, is told here for the first time in a bumper 104-page Warpaint. Detailed first-
By Mik
hand information gathered over many years has enabled the author to bring together the many facets of
this remarkably versatile aircraft including pre-cursors, competitors and prototypes, through Vietnam and
combat service with some eleven US and foreign Air Arms, and its part in the development of modern
precision weapons, to its astonishing array of uses since. These include fighting drug cartels in Columbia,
fires in California, mosquitos in South Carolina, and ISIS in Northern Iraq. Also, finally covered in full and
accurate detail are the German ‘jet’ Broncos. The world’s largest restoration project and current training
of US and NATO JTACS bring the story up to date. De-classified information has made it possible to
detail for the first time all the long-nose D model conversions and all the Broncos that served in Desert
Storm, their preparation, the epic trans-continental deployment of one squadron by air, and the key role
played by the Broncos during the war. The detailed and revealing narrative is copiously illustrated
throughout with fully captioned photographs - many previously unseen- and backed by personal
accounts, Individual aircraft histories, airframe lists, scale plans and specially commissioned art work
with comprehensive colour scheme information.

Previous Warpaint titles All these titles are available in printed format via our on demand printing service. Please contact our office for further information.
1 Bristol Beaufighter £13.00 39 Supermarine Walrus £13.00 77 Curtiss P-40 £15.00 115 Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle £14.00
2 Blackburn Buccaneer £13.00 40 Canadair/Commonwealth Sabre £16.00 78 Aer Macchi C.202-205 Folgore-Veltro £15.00 116 Hawker Fury and Nimrod £17.00
3 Junkers Ju 87 Stuka £13.00 41 Fairey Fulmar £15.00 79 Consolidated PBY Catalina £17.00 117 Douglas F4D/F-6 Skyray & F5D Skylancer £15.00
4 North American F-100 Super Sabre £13.00 42 Boulton Paul Defiant £13.00 80 Saab Draken £17.00 118 NAA B-45 Tornado £16.00
5 Hawker Typhoon £13.00 43 Lockheed F-104 Starfighter £18.00 81 Junkers Ju 52 £14.00 119 Grumman F9F Panther £15.00
6 Avro Shackleton £14.00 44 de Havilland Venom £15.00 82 BAC Jet Provost £17.00 120 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 £17.00
7 Junkers Ju 88 £13.00 45 Martin B-57 Canberra £16.00 83 Fairey Battle £17.00 121 Douglas A-4 Skyhawk £26.00
8 Hawker Hunter £17.00 46 Handley Page Halifax £17.00 84 Grumman F6F Hellcat £18.00 122 Albatros D.I - D.III £16.00
9 Grumman F4F Wildcat/Martlet £13.00 47 McDonnell F-101 Voodoo £15.00 85 Supermarine Scimitar £15.00 123 de Havilland (Canada) Chipmunk £15.00
10 Vickers Wellington £13.00 48 Westland Lysander £15.00 86 Vickers Wellesley £15.00 124 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 £17.00
11 de Havilland Sea Vixen £13.00 49 Fiat G.91 £15.00 87 Grumman Avenger £18.00 125 Bristol Britannia, Argus and Yukon £17.00
12 Fairey Swordfish £15.00 50 Bristol Beaufort £15.00 88 Lockheed T-33A £15.00 126 Grumman F-14 Tomcat £26.00
13 Focke Wolfe Fw 200 Condor £14.00 51 Lockheed Neptune £16.00 89 Avro Lancaster £18.00 127 Cessna T-37 A/B/C and A-37 A/B £21.00
14 BAC Lightning £18.00 52 Fairey Albacore £15.00 90 Boeing B-17 £18.00 128 Bristol Scout £15.00
15 Short Stirling £14.00 53 Avro Anson £16.00 91 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 'Fishbed' £27.00 129 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 £18.00
16 Hawker Sea Fury £13.00 54 Westland Whirlwind F.Mk I £13.00 92 Grumman HU-16 Albatross £17.00 130 Ilyushin Il-28 £18.00
17 Gloster Javelin £14.00 55 Hawker Tempest £14.00 93 Messerschmitt Me 262 £15.00 131 Auster in British Military & foreign air arm service £18.00
18 Douglas Skyraider £14.00 56 Blackburn Firebrand £14.00 94 Supermarine Attacker £15.00 132 Boeing B-52 Stratofortress £25.00
19 de Havilland Hornet and Sea Hornet £14.00 57 Handley Page Hampden £14.00 95 Westland Sea King £18.00 133 Douglas C-47 Skytrain/Dakota £25.00
20 Supermarine Seafire (Griffon engine) £15.00 58 Supermarine Swift £14.00 96 Consolidated B-24 Liberator £27.00 134 Aero L-29 Delfin £21.00
21 Armstrong Whitworth Whitley £14.00 59 Lockheed Hudson £14.00 97 North American RA-5C Vigilante £18.00 135 DH.89 Dragon Rapide & Dominie £17.00
22 Gloster Meteor £20.00 60 English Electric Canberra £20.00 98 Avro York £17.00 136 Airspeed Oxford & Consul £18.00
23 Fairey Gannet £15.00 61 Savoia Marchetti S.79 Sparviero £14.00 99 McDonnell Demon £17.00 137 Douglas SBD Dauntless £28.00
24 Dornier Do 217 £14.00 62 Handley Page Hastings £14.00 100 Republic F-84F and RF-84F £20.00 138 Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk £18.00
25 Short Sunderland £14.00 63 Vickers Valiant £14.00 101 de Havilland D.H.82 Tiger Moth £16.00 139 de Havilland (Canada) DHC-2 Beaver £18.00
26 Bristol Blenheim £15.00 64 Convair F-102 £15.00 102 Convair B-36 £16.00
27 de Havilland Vampire £20.00 65 Westland Wessex £17.00 103 Avro Manchester £14.00
28 Fairey Firefly £17.00 66 Bristol Bulldog £13.00 104 General Dynamics F-111 & EF-111A £20.00
29 Hawker Sea Hawk £15.00 67 Folland Gnat and Ajeet £13.00 105 Sopwith Pup £14.00
30 Avro Vulcan £16.00 68 Bristol Brigand £13.00 106 Sikorsky S-55/H-19 & Westland Whirlwind £18.00
31 RAF/RN Phantoms £17.00 69 Martin B-26 Marauder £14.00 107 Ilyushin Il-2 ‘Sturmovik’ £15.00
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34 Avro Lincoln £16.00 72 Vickers Supermarine Merlin Seafire £14.00 110 Westland Scout & Wasp £16.00 No.2 Messerschmitt Bf 109 £25.00
35 Fairey Barracuda £15.00 73 North American B-25 Mitchell £15.00 111 Vought OS2U Kingfisher £16.00 No.3 de Havilland Mosquito £25.00
36 Handley Page Victor £16.00 74 Hawker Siddeley Harrier £17.00 112 Douglas A3D Skywarrior £20.00 No.4 Cessna Bird Dog £12.00
37 Gloster Gladiator £17.00 75 BAe Sea Harrier £15.00 113 Panavia Tornado ADV £17.00 No.5 NAA P-51 Mustang and Derivatives £22.00
38 Republic F-105 Thunderchief £15.00 76 Grumman Tracker/Trader/Tracer £17.00 114 McDonnell F-4 Phantom II £25.00 No.6 Dambusters and the Lancaster £20.00

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A P R I L 2024 · V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 93
IPMS UK
IPMS UK
By John Tapsell
I
was reminded recently why I choose to
make models as a hobby, in preference to
innumerable other pastimes. More importantly,
I was reminded of the danger in assuming that
others who may have the same interest in theory,
can actually have a very different reason for
pursuing their chosen hobby.
I’ve been building models since I was about
six or seven years old. I was introduced to it by
my dad, who had imself pursued a particular
branch of the hobby for some years. Dad’s
passion was sailing ships. I remember him
building a variety of such vessels, from small
Lateen-rigged Mediterranean vessels to
larger galleons and clippers. The one I recall
most vividly was a
1/96 scale Revell
kit of the Cutty
Sark, displayed in
a large glass case.
However, there
were others too.
In a strange way
it also introduced
me to the variety of models available. The
lateen-rigged Barbary Pirate Felucca was
made by a company called Pyro. I have no idea
what scale it was (very small) but I remember it
most because dad used the box to store some
of his paints and glues and the box art stuck in
my mind.
I was introduced initially to 1/72 scale aircraft
but soon became an omnivorous builder,
tackling ships, cars, tanks and even the
occasional spaceship. Under dad’s tutelage I
tackled the more complex models of the Scott’s
Discovery, Columbus’ Santa Maria and a smaller
model of the Cutty Sark. What it didn’t prevent
me doing was spending equal amounts of time
building Spitfires, Shermans and many other
more modern subjects.
As I grew older, my tastes gravitated towards
armour and settled on 1/35 scale for preference.
The watershed came in my early teens. We
were due to return to the UK from Australia
after living out there for several years. I simply
couldn’t bring my extensive collection of aircraft
with me but at least some of the armour was
transportable. I didn’t have a vast amount and it
was small and easily packed into boxes.
Some 40 years down the line, my modelling
tastes have remained focused on armour,
although I now build mostly in 1/48 scale and
still throw in the occasional aircraft. What has
changed though is my modelling ethos. I need
to spend time researching my projects. I want
them to reflect something real. The detail needs
to be accurate, not just to the vehicle type, but
to the sub-variant or the operating unit too. It’s
not enough to build a representative example of
a Humvee for example - it needs to be ‘correct’ to
the time period or unit in whose markings I want
to complete it.
94 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
Therein lies the danger. Because those are
the reasons I build models and because those
reasons set the standards by which I judge
my own work, it is very easy to impose those
standards on others and assume that they
too are obsessing about whether the correct
shade of Olive Drab is best represented by the
Tamiya shade or by the Vallejo option; or that
they actually care whether the vehicle they are
building is correctly fitted out for the one they
want to portray. There comes a point when you
have to step outside your own preferences and
appreciate when somebody else may have a
different agenda to you.
Being open to using different materials
is important - this 1/50 scale Rolls Royce
Armoured Car is in white metal
The Rolls is a fundamental part of the history
of the Royal Air Force and arguably played a
significant role in the survival of the RAF in
the 1920s.
It’s the same when you consider (or perhaps
more accurately, don’t consider) just what it is
that drives other modellers to build aircraft or
cars or ships. But let’s be honest, can any of us
hold up our hands and claim we never build
something outside our usual genre? Model
making is a broad church. it encompasses many
different subject areas and despite what some
might say, the value in understanding your
fellow modellers is hugely important. They may
use techniques that you haven’t seen before.
They might use products that you haven’t heard
of. By opening you mind to what they are doing,
you can develop your own skills further.
Which brings me back to dad. Sailing ships may
have been his passion, but he was big enough
and wise enough to give me the freedom to
explore other modelling subjects and develop
my own interests. It was the love of the hobby
as a whole that he passed on to me, not just a
love of the things that he enjoyed about it.
Dad died suddenly a
couple of years after
we returned to the
UK, but the ensuing
40 years hasn’t
dimmed my passion
for the hobby, or the
willingness to try
new subjects from
time to time. I need to do it to remind myself
that there’s more to this hobby than AFVs and
obsessive research projects. If I can ever track
one down, I have a yen to build that old Barbary
Pirate Felucca, not because it’s necessarily a
great kit, but because it helped inspire me to
pursue this hobby in the first place.
1/35 scale might have seemed an odd choice
for Academy’s RQ-7 Shadow drone but it’s ideal
as a companion for a modern ground vehicle.
The Shadow was a trailblazer but there now
other drones in 1/35 scale and indeed much
larger aircraft too.
 CLASSIFIED

INTRODUCING THE NEW CLASSIFIED PAGE: SCALE

AIRCRAFT MODELLING & MILITARY MODELCRAFT INT.
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A P R I L 2024 · V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 95
SHOW DIARY

2024 UK SHOWS By Geoff Cooper-Smith of 580 Modellers

T
hanks to Geoff at 580 Modellers for all the time and effort he has
put into this list over the years. Pressure of work sadly means he’ll
no longer be providing updates to the show calendar, but his last
efforts were so comprehensive that we have been living off the fat of
them like a camel …

Moving forward we will add any new dates sent to us, so please send all
notifications to the Editor at gary@guidelinepublications.co.uk

2024 Shows 16th June (Sunday) MAFVA Nationals

07th April (Sunday) East Midlands Model Club Hinckley Show
Hinckley Leisure Centre, Argents Mead,
Hinckley. LE10 1A
Contact Alec Chinnery: alec.chinnery@sky.com
07th April (Sunday) Yeovil Model Show
Westfield Academy, Stiby Road, Yeovil. BA21 3EP
Contact Ken Bugler via: yeovilmodelshow@gmail.com
13th April (Saturday) Sword & Lance
Northern Echo Arena, Mowden Park RFC,
Darlington. DL2 1DL
Contact via: swordandlance.co.uk
13th April (Saturday) Poole Vikings Scale Model Exhibition (IPMS Dorset
& Poole Vikings Model Club)
Parkstone Grammar School, Sopers Lane, Poole.
BH17 7EP
Contact: ianwithsandra@yahoo.co.uk
27th April (Saturday) Scottish National Scale Model Show
& 28th April (Sunday) Live Active Dewars Centre, Glover Street, Perth.
PH2 0TH
Contact: scotsnats.org
12th May (Sunday) The Scale Model Show (Tangmere Scale Modellers)
Boxgrove Village Hall, The Street, Chichester. PO18 0EE
Contact: Tangmerescalemodellers@gmail.com
18th May (Saturday) Mildenhall Model Fair (Mildenhall Scale Model
Club)
The Jubilee Centre, Recreation Way, Mildenhall.
IP28 7HG
Contact: gswenko@btopenworld.com
Burgess Hall, Westwood Road, St Ives, Cambridgeshire.
PE27 6WU
Contact: cole.thomas@talk21.com
23rd June (Sunday) IPMS West Norfolk, West Anglia Scale Model Show
Littleport Leisure Centre, Camel Road, Ely. CB6 1EW
Contact: ipmswestnorfolkwasms@gmail.com
30th June (Sunday) Plymouth Model Show
YMCA (Plymouth Kitto Centre), Honicknowle Lane,
Plymouth. PL5 3NG
Contact Ken Cork via: ekcork@btinternet.com
18th August (Sunday) North Devon Model Show
The Park Community School, Park Lane, Barnstaple.
EX32 9AX
Contact: sera@staplesandvine.com
01st September (Sunday) Stoke Model Show
The Prestwood Centre, Staffordshire Show Ground,
Weston Road, Stafford. ST18 0BD
Contact: ipmsstokemodelclub@gmail.com
07th September (Saturday) Scale Scotland
Murrayfield Stadium, Roseburn Street, Edinburgh.
EH12 5PJ
Contact via: www.scalescotland.co.uk
15th September (Sunday) IPMS Farnborough Model Fest
Hart Leisure Centre, Emerald Avenue, Fleet. GU51 5HS
Contact: modelfest@virginmedia.com
22nd September (Sunday) Model Show Edition IV (IPMS Keighley)
Carlton Academy Keighley, Greenhead Road, Keighley.
BD20 6EB
Contact: keighleyplasticmodelclub@gmail.com

25th May (Saturday) ModelKraft (Milton Keynes Scale Model Club) 22nd September (Sunday) IPMS Gloucester Show 2024
Oakgrove Secondary School, Venturer Gate, Milton Churchdown Community Centre, Parton Road,
Keynes. MK10 9JQ Churchdown. GL3 2JH
Contact: secretary@mksmc.co.uk Contact Jeff Brown: gundylunch@sky.com

01st June (Saturday) IPMS Salisbury Scale Model Show 29th September (Sunday) St Ives Model Show
Wyvern St Edmund’s Sports Hall, Church Road, (IPMS Brampton Scale Model Club)
Laverstock, Salisbury. SP1 1RD Burgess Hall, One Leisure St Ives, Westwood Road, St.
Contact: modelshow@ipmssalisbury.co.uk Ives, Cambs. PE27 6DW
Contact: bramptonshow@hotmail.co.uk
02nd June (Sunday) The Northern Model Show (IPMS Tyneside)
Parks Sports Centre, Howdon Road, North Shields. 05th October (Saturday) Abingdon IPMS Show
NE29 6TL Larkmead School, Abingdon, Oxon. OX14 1BB
Contact: robsullivannms@gmail.com Contact Simon Fisher: jv44sf@gmail.com

08th June (Saturday) Figure World North 20th October (Sunday) Annual Scale Model Show (Lincoln Scale Model
The Galtres Centre, Market Place, Easingwold, Club (IPMS))
North Yorks. YO61 3AD Lincoln Christ Hospital School, Wragby Road, Lincoln.
Contact: colin.chandler41@btinternet.com LN2 4PN
Contact: secretarylincolnmodelclub@gmail.com
15th June (Saturday) Suffolk Scale Model Show 2024
Ipswich and District Indoor Bowling Club, 136 09th November (Saturday) ScaleModelWorld 2024 (IPMS-UK)
Rushmere Road, Ipswich. IP4 4JU & 10th November (Sunday) The International Centre, Telford. TF3 4JH
Contact via: facebook.com/IPMS.IPSWICH/

96 W W W. S C A L E A I R C R A F T M O D E L L I N G . CO. U K
AND FINALLY COMING NEXT MONTH

Gloster Meteor F.8 A look at the Coming Next Month

second-sitting of the mighty ‘Meatball’
I
n the next issue of Scale Aircraft Modelling the editorial team present
By Colin ‘Flying’ Pickett the usual eclectic mix of historical and reference material, news,
reviews, and, of course, the best in modelling features, both out-of-

A
very welcome
the-box and beyond. Here are a few of next month’s highlights:
re-release from
Airfix, with
their highly regarded
Meteor F.8 being
brought to us in its
1
aerobatic guise, as Two Hundred
the aircraft was used
by numerous display
North
Gloster Meteor F.8
teams in the 1950s Colonel Peter Foley’s
to demonstrate pilot Kit No: A09182A
skill and the aircraft’s Scale: 1/144
F-105 in 1/72
abilities. Type: Injection moulded plastic By Keith Peckover
The kit is formed of a Manufacturer: Airfix
hefty 165 parts, which www.airfix.com
means that a high
level of detail is included in the cockpit and wheel wells along with fully-
2
featured gun bays and engines so will make for a remarkable replica. Other Enter the Mentor
features include options to display the engine bays open, the cockpit open
or closed, undercarriage up or down, as well as the air brakes extended or Sky Models 1/48
retracted. The kit is moulded in the newer dark grey plastic, which makes Beechcraft T-34C
the detail look sharp and crisp. The model parts are covered with neatly
engraved panel detail as well as raised features in sharp relief, which will be By Jon Bryon
even more refined with careful painting.

The box contains two decal options from either side of the globe:
Gloster Meteor F.8, Serial Number WL181, Evergreen Display Team, College
of Air Warfare, RAF, 1963-64, depicted in standard day camouflage with 3
Orange high visibility panels.
Two big sticks in
Gloster Meteor F.8, Serial Number A77-875, The Meteorites Aerobatic Team, 1/144
RAAF, Williamstown, 1956. Shown in all over high-speed silver with a blue
tail fin and wing tips. The diagram also shows some insignia red on the tail Hobbycraft and Roden
surfaces but it is not totally clear where so further research will be required. B-36s
Either option will make for a stunning model, with Airfix’s helpful full
colour painting guide being a worthy reference. By Huw Morgan

Overall this is a highly competent rendering of this legendary early jet

fighter for the slightly more experienced modeller and a model worthy of
adding to any collection. 4
RIAT Round-Up
Mike Verier looks at some
of the highlights of RIAT
2023 from a modeller’s
perspective.

5
Spitfire Mk XIV
conversion in 1/32
By Gordon Scott

Plus all our usual updates on kits, decals and

accessories, book reviews, columns, and more.
Please note – this contents list is speculative and the vagaries of
deadlines and print schedules can sometimes result in the magazine’s
contents changing later in production.

A P R I L 2024 · V O LU M E 4 6 · I S S U E 0 2 97
www.hannants.co.uk ‘EUROPE’S NUMBER ONE MODEL SHOPS’

NEW DECALS DMF14415 1:144 Tempest roundels & fin flashes, 2 sets £3.60
DMF14416 1:144 Mohawk, Tomahawk & Kittyhawk roundels & fin flashes, 2 sets £3.60
AOA Decals DMF14417 1:144 Hurricane roundels & fin flashes (Pt.2), 2 sets £3.60
AOA35006 1:35 SAR Angels & A Fleet Angel - USN Sikorsky MH-60S Seahawk/Knighthawk. £21.99 DMF14418 1:144 Fw-190 crosses & swastikas, 2 sets £3.00
AOA35007 1:35 Airframe Data & Markings - USN Sikorsky MH-60S Search & Rescue (SAR) £12.99 DMF14419 1:144 Unarmed Hawker Hurricanes. Mk.I, G-AFKX (ex-L1606), Hawker Aircraft
demonstrator & trials a/c, Mk.IIC(Met), PZ818, 5O-K, No.521 Sq., Royal Air Force, Mk.IIC, LF363,
Begemot Fighter Command Communications Sq., Royal Air Force, Mk.IIC/Trop, 2-13, Training School,
BT72056 1:72 Polikarpov Po-2 family. 79 marking variations from Civil Aviation fleet and VVS Imperial Iranian Air Force, £5.40
RKKA, North Korea and Poland. £14.99 DMF14420 1:144 RAF Airacobra roundels & fin flashes, 2 sets £3.60
BT72081 1:72 Sukhoi Su-30SM Flankers Includes prototypes and all Su-30SMs from the Russian DMF7202 1:72 Unarmed Hawker Hurricanes Mk.I/Mk.IIC Hurricanes. Mk.I, G-AFKX (ex-L1606),
Air Force, Armenian AF, Belarussian AF, Kazakh AF, Su-30MKI form Indian AF, Su-30MKA from Hawker Aircraft demonstrator & trials a/c, Mk.IIC(Met), PZ818, 5O-K, No.521 Sq., Royal Air Force,
Algeria AF, Su-30MKM from Malazian AF and Su-30SME form Myanmar AF. £21.30 Mk.IIC, LF363, Fighter Command Communications Sq., Royal Air Force, Mk.IIC/Trop, 2-13, Training
School, Imperial Iranian Air Force, £11.20
Berna Decals DMK144108 1:144 Irish Air Corps insignia 1939-54, 2 sets £3.60
BER24005 1:24 Republic P-47D Thunderbolt Bubbletop French 1944-45: ‘Navarre’ (2 schemes) DMK144109 1:144 Irish Air Corps insignia 1954-present, 2 sets £3.60
£16.20
BER48161 1:48 Dassault-Mirage 2000D based at Nancy-Ochey: 662 coded 3-XA EC 1/3 ‘Navarre’ Milspec
2021, 630 coded 3-XD ETD 2/7 ‘Argonne’ 2016, 660 coded 3-JF ETD 4/3 ‘Argonne’ 2018 + Stencils MPEC48055 1:48 Douglas A-4F Skyhawk US Navy Blue Angels 1978. BLUE ANGELS A-4F/TA-4J,
(3 schemes) £13.80 1978 SEASON DECALS FOR ONE A-4F OR ONE TA-4J £11.99
BER72136 1:72 Dassault-Mirage 2000D based at Nancy-Ochey: 662 coded 3-XA EC 1/3 ‘Navarre’
2021, 630 coded 3-XD ETD 2/7 ‘Argonne’ 2016, 660 coded 3-JF ETD 4/3 ‘Argonne’ 2018 + Stencils Quinta Studio
(3 schemes) £11.30 QL32016 1:32 German WWI 4-Colour Lozenge (upper surface) £5.40
QL32017 1:32 German WWI 4-Colour Lozenge (lower surface) £5.40
Eduard QL48007 1:48 German WWI 4-Colour Lozenge (upper surface) £5.40
EDD48116 1:48 Lockheed-Martin F-35B Lightning II stencils £5.80 QL48008 1:48 German WWI 4-Colour Lozenge (lower surface) £5.40
EDER48009 1:48 Surface panels £9.20 QL72006 1:72 German WWI 4-Colour Lozenge (upper surface) £3.20
QL72007 1:72 German WWI 4-Colour Lozenge (lower surface) £3.20
FCM
FCM32034 1:32 Vought A-7E Corsair II part 1 - VA-147 Argonauts £20.70 Rising Decals
FCM48068 1:48 Pre WWII training biplanes - Brazilian Air Force; DH.82a Tiger Moth, Stearman RD48031 1:48 Nakajima Ki-44 47th Hiko Sentai Includes 3 camouflage schemes: £11.30
PT-17 Kaydet, DH.60M Moth £15.75 RD72089 1:72 Ki-49 Donryu ‘Helen’ x 9 camouflaged aircraft £11.30
FCM48069 1:48 Cats from USS Kitty Hawk - 1991 Grumman F-14B Tomcats £15.75 RD72093 1:72 47th Hiko Sentai Japanese Army Fighters Nakajima Ki-44 and Ki-84 Includes 9
FCM72052 1:72 Messerschmitt Me-262A-1a aces £15.75 camouflage schemes £11.30
RD72108 1:72 Aichi E13A-1 Jake Floatplanes (6x camouflage schemes) £11.30
Mark I Decals
DMF14413 1:144 RAF Mustang roundels & fin flashes, 2 sets £3.60 Xtradecal
DMF14414 1:144 Typhoon roundels & fin flashes, 2 sets £3.60 X72335 1:72 Re-printed!! ‘Blackjack’ RAF 2021 Display Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4 £10.99

NEW KITS HA02435 1:72 Mitsubishi G4M1 Type 1 Attack Bomber (Betty) LUK3249 1:32 Hanriot HD.2 Floats £189.99
All are Injection Moulded unless stated otherwise Model 11 - Rabaul Front Line Inspection & Figure £74.99 LUK3253 1:32 Curtiss JN-4 Jenny £206.99
HA02436 1:72 McDonnell-Douglas F/A-18B Hornet Top Gun
A & A Models £39.99 LUK48-15 1:48 Halberstadt D.II £134.99
AAAM4815 1:48 Antonov An-3 £49.30 HA02437 1:72 Mitsubishi A6M2B/A6M3 Zero Fighter Type LUK48-16 1:48 Curtiss JN-4 Jenny £142.20
21/22 Rabaul Ace Set £46.99 LUK48-17 1:48 Curtiss JN-4D Jenny £142.20
Academy HA02438 1:72 Sikorsky UH-60J Rescue Hawk Niigata Air
AC12586 1:72 USN PBM-5A Mariner Flying Boat, £29.99 Rescue 60th Anniversary £49.99 Mark I Models
AC12633 1:144 Douglas C-47 Skytrain, £10.99 HA02439 1:72 Brewster B-239 Buffalo & Messerschmitt Bf- MKM144124 1:144 de Havilland Mosquito FB.VI ‘Amiens Prison
109G-6 Juutilainen Figure 2 Kits £64.99 Raid’ £23.70
Airfix HA02440 1:72 Grumman S2F-U Tracker Target Tow Plane MKM144177 1:144 Hawker Tempest Mk.V ‘Fighter Aces’ £17.99
AX01008B 1:72 Messerschmitt Bf-109E-4 £8.99 £52.99 MKM144178 1:144 Piper L-4 ‘Pleasure Flying’ £18.99
Hobby 2000
AML H2K48027 1:48 Lockheed P-38J Lightning ETO 1944 ex- Revell
AML72027 1:72 Fiat G.50 Finnish version with resin skis and ACADEMY £27.40 RV3796 1:144 Eurofighter Typhoon - RAF £9.99
injection canopy. Ex FLY £14.99 H2K48028 1:48 Lockheed P-38L Lightning 80th Fighter RV3802 1:32 F-16 Falcon 50th Anniversary £49.99
Squadron ex-ACADEMY £27.40
Answer H2K48029 1:48 Fairchild A-10C Thunderbolt II Special Schemes RS Models
AA48023 1:48 KAI FA-50PH Philippine and Iraqi Air Force. (Ex ex-ACADEMY £47.20 RSMI48009 1:48 Messerschmitt P.1101 £42.50
Academy with new parts, decals and seatbelts). £47.99 RSMI48010 1:48 Messerschmitt P.1101 Nightfighter £42.50
AA72021 1:72 W-3RM Anakonda first version £32.99 IBG Models RSMI92180 1:72 Re-released! Kawasaki Ki-61-I Hei £17.99
IBG72520 1:72 PZL P.11c Polish Fighter - Rare Birds £12.20
Brengun IBG72533 1:72 Focke-Wulf Fw-190D-11 Sorau Factory Series SBS Model RESIN KITS
BRP48010 1:48 L-13SE VIVAT AKVY TMG plane £21.50 £22.50 SBSK7036 1:72 Caproni-Vizzola F.6M £41.99
SBSK7037 1:72 Caproni-Vizzola F.6M Prototype ‘Early
Clear Prop Models ICM Configuration’ £41.99
CP3502 1:35 TB.2 UAV in Polish service Starter kit £36.99 ICM53056 1:35 Phu Bai Combat Base 1968. Sikorsky CH-54A
CP3503 1:35 TB.2 UAV UKRAINIAN NAVY Starter ki £36.99 Tarhe, 2 sets of figures, M-121 bomb, set of landing mat Sova-M
CP4801 1:48 Douglas A2D-1 Skyshark ADVANCED KIT £61.40 £159.80 SVM-72052 1:72 Beechjet 400A £32.40
CP4808 1:48 General Atomics MQ-1C UAV £32.20 SVM-72053 1:72 JETSTREAM SUPER 31 £27.50
Italeri
Eduard kits IT0074 1:72 Messerschmitt Me-410 Hornisse. £19.99 Special Hobby
EDK70156 1:72 Messerschmitt Bf-109G-2 The ProfiPACK IT2830 1:48 Junkers Ju-87G-1 Stuka Kanonenvogel £37.99 SH48200 1:48 SNCAC NC.701 Martinet £54.50
edition kit £25.50 SH48224 1:48 Bell AH-1Q/S Cobra ‘IDF Against Terrorists’.
EDK8281 1:48 Re-released! Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IXc late Karaya £39.60
version “The ProfiPACK edition £28.65 KY144-51 1:144 Embraer 170 PLL LOT (early and special WOSP SH72397 1:72 Re-released! Breda Ba.88B Lince. £23.60
EDK84118 1:48 Focke-Wulf Fw-190A-5 light fighter The liveries) - plastic parts HASEGAWA + silk/digital printed decals.
Weekend edition kit £19.60 £30.40 Unicraft RESIN KITS
UNI72181 1:72 Messerschmitt Me.P.1095 German 1943 jet
Hasegawa KY144-56 1:144 Douglas DC-9-14 - Braniff International fighter project 40.00
HA02427 1:72 Shinmeiwa PS-1 The First Production With (N931EA) - plastic/resin parts Fly CZ + silk/digital printed
Tractor £64.99 decals. £16.99 Valom
HA02432 1:72 Boeing EA-18G Growler ‘VAQ-131 Lancers 2022’ VAL14432 1:144 Bristol Brigand B Mk.I £26.30
£52.99 Lukgraph RESIN KITS
HA02433 1:72 Panavia Tornado IDS ‘Marineflieger’ £39.99 LUK24-004 1:24 Hanriot HD.2 Float £268.20 Zvezda
LUK3248 1:32 Hanriot HD.I £189.99 ZVE7038 1:144 Tupolev Tu-95MS Bear £45.99
 A & A Models Brengun Eduard
AAM4815 1:48 Antonov An-3 BRP48010 1:48 L-13SE VIVAT AKVY TMG EDK11182 1:48 Northrop F-5E FREEDOM TIGER
£49.30 £23.50 £53.50

NEW ACCESSORIES CSMF32-017 1:32 Gotha Bomber German 2nd Crew Member QD48423 1:48 Fulmar Mk.I (Trumpeter) £24.80
N.1 £13.50 QD48429 1:48 Westland Sea King HAS.1 (Airfix) £32.40
Aerobonus (by Aires) QD48430 1:48 Westland Sea King HAS.5 (Airfix £37.80
Figures (resin) Eduard QD48431 1:48 Westland Sea King HU.5 (Airfix) £26.99
QAB320178 1:32 German WWII Luftwaffe General £12.70 3D printed decal QT48011 1:48 AN/APS-4 Radar Pod WWII 3d-printed (All) £7.60
QAB320179 1:32 German WWII Luftwaffe Pilot £12.70 ED3DL48160 1:48 Lockheed-Martin F-35B Lightning II (Tamiya)
QAB320180 1:32 US Marine Corps WWII Pilot £12.70 £10.30 Scale Aircraft Conversions
ED3DL48161 1:48 Hawker Hurricane Mk.IIb (Arma Hobby) £9.20 Aircraft detailing sets (metal)
AIM - Ground Equipment ED3DL48166 1:48 Messerschmitt Bf-108B 1(48 (Eduard) £9.20 SAC32175 1:32 F-35A/F-35B Lightning II Landing Gear
Diorama accessories ED3DL72028 1:72 Grumman A-6A Intruder (Trumpeter) £9.20 (Trumpeter £34.99
E24025L 1:24 WWII British Trolley - Accumulator (Late Version) SAC35013 1:35 Fw-190A/-6 Landing Gear (Border Models) £24.99
3D-Printed £27.90 SAC48448 1:48 DH.112 Venom FB.4 Landing Gear (Micro-Mir)
GE24110 1:24 Hawker Hunter F.6 & BAe Harrier GR.3 Crew Eduard Brassin £18.99
Ladder 3D-Printed £21.60 Aircraft detailing sets (resin)
GE48033 1:48 BAC TSR-2 Crew Access Ladder Set (set of 2 ED632192 1:32 Messerschmitt Bf-109E rudder pedals early Yahu Models
ladders). (Airfix) 3D-Printed £9.00 PRINT £3.20 Aircraft detailing sets (etched)
GE32110 1:32 Hawker Hunter F.6 & BAe Harrier GR.3 crew ED632193 1:32 Messerschmitt Bf-109E rudder pedals late YMA4920 1:48 Junkers Ju-87B-2 Stuka [RLM66] (Airfix) £5.20
ladder. 3D-Printed £16.20 PRINT £3.20 YMA4921 1:48 Republic P-47D Thunderbolt Late (MiniArt kts)
ED644249 1:48 Westland Sea King HU.5 (Airfix) £11.99 £5.20
AIM - Transport Wings ED644253 1:48 Grumman TBM-3 Avenger (Academy) £11.99 YMA7346 1:72 PZL W-3A Sokol TOPR (Answer) £5.20
Aircraft conversions (mixed-media) ED644254 1:48 Polikarpov I-16 Type 10 (Eduard) £7.99 YMA7347 1:72 Fairey Swordfish Mk.I (Airfix) £2.99

TWC144017 1:144 Vickers Valiant B.2 conversion set (Micro- ED644256 1:48 Westland Sea King HAS.1 (Airfix) £25.50
NEW BOOKS
Mir) 3D-Printed £24.30
Master
Aircraft detailing sets (resin) Aircraft detailing sets (brass) Answer
AAP26 Boeing P-26 Peashooter Fighter Plane 180 pp,
TWC72054 1:72 Re-released! WE177A (short body) - 3D-Printed AM-32-127 1:32 Grumman F-14A Tomcat early version - nose hardcover, polish/English text) 237 photos, 34 colour profiles
British nuclear weapon series. For use with Vulcan, Sea Vixen, tip & Angle Of Attack probe (Tamiya and Trumpeter £4.90 scale drawings and £43.99
Buccaneer, Jaguar and Tornado. This was the only version of AM-32-130 1:32 Hurricane Mk.IIb - Browning .303 cal barrel
the WE177 which the Royal Navy Sea Harrier could carry. £5.40 tips & bead sight mount £7.99 Dutch Profile
AM-72-154 1:72 F4F-3 Wildcat EARLY (pre-war) - .50 Browning DDP110 Consolidated PBY-5/A Catalina Part 2 MLD 1945-1958
Aires gun barrels with oblong holes & early Pitot Tube £6.10 £14.99
Aircraft detailing sets (resin) AM-72-155 1:72 F4F-3 Wildcat LATE - .50 Browning gun barrels DDP42 Dutch Presentation Spitfires £14.99
AIRE2272 1:32 Panavia Tornado GR.1/ECR/IDS wheel bay with round holes & Pitot Tube (two options) £6.10 DDP45 Grumman Tracker MLD £14.99
(Revell) £46.70 AM-72-158 1:72 Hurricane Mk.IIb - Browning .303 cal barrel DDP48 Lockheed PV-2 Harpoon MLD By Nico Geldhof, £14.99
AIRE4907 1:48 Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot wing pylons - early tips & bead sight mount £6.10 DDP62 RAF Mitchell and (Mosquito 1945-1946) in service with
(Zvezda) £18.80 320 Sqn RAF 1942-1945. £14.99
AIRE7085 1:72 Re-released! Panavia Tornado IDS Detail set Quickboost (by Aires)
(Revell) £18.80 Aircraft detailing sets (resin) Phoenix Scale Publications
AIRE7381 1:72 Convair F-102A Delta Dagger cockpit set (Meng QB32315 1:32 MC.202 air intake (Italeri) £6.60 R2RWHITE01 The McDonnell F-4A/F-4B/F-4N/F-4J/F-4S &
Models) £15.20 QB49096 1:48 Mkoyan MiG-21MF fishbad GS-23 gun pod - late RF-4B Phantom US Navy and Marine Corps Versions By Andy
(Trumpeter) £4.99 Evans 84 Pages. Full Colour £15.99
CMK/Czech Master Kits QB49099 1:48 Su-25 Frogfoot remove before flight covers R2RWHITE05 The McDonnell-Douglas Phantom (British
Aircraft detailing sets (resin) (Zvezda) £4.99 Versions) FG.1, FGR.2 AND F-4J (UK) By Andy Evans 84 Pages
CMK4469 1:48 Lockheed PV-1 Ventura Nose and Turret QB49100 1:48 Su-25 Frogfoot FOD covers (Zvezda) £6.60 Full Colour £15.99
Armament 1 (Academy) £8.10 QB49101 1:48 F-14A Tomcat LAU-93/A launchers (Tamiya) £8.99
CMK6008 1:35 Bell AH-1G Cobra Upgrade Cockpit Set (ICM) £12.40 SAM Publications
Quinta Studio MDFSD12 MDFSD12 Dassault Mirage F1 £17.99
Copper State Models 3D-Printed & coloured Interior on decal paper
Figures (resin) Zvezda
QD32122 1:32 P-40E Warhawk (Trumpeter) £21.60
CATZVE24 Zvezda Catalogue 2024 £7.50
CSMF32-013 1:32 German bomber ground personnel N.1 £24.45 QD48413 1:48 F6F-3E/N Hellcat (Eduard) £13.99

Hasegawa Sova-M Special Hobby

HA02442 1:72 F-15J Eagle 305SQ Nyutabaru 2022 SVM-14013 1:144 CIM-10A Bomarc and B-57E Canberra SH48200 1:48 SNCAC NC.701 Martinet
£44.99 £29.99 £54.50

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