Scale Aviation Modeller International – September 2019

C-41A US Transport Plane

Konstantine Malinovski reviews the 1/72 Special Hobby Kit

C-41A

MANUFACTURER: Special Hobby

KIT TYPE: Short run injection moulded

KIT NUMBER: SH72385

T

here is no better

testament to the success

of the aircraft design

than the oicial usage of the

type in the US armed forces.

The entry barriers to the US

market of military equipment

(and especially in the area

of aviation) are so high and

guarded by the domestic

lobbies so vigilantly that only

truly outstanding foreign

types (and there are very few

of those) make it through

the purchasing committees.

C-41A is the US designation

for Spanish designed and built

CASA C.212-200 which was

purchased for the use by US

Special Operations Command

(US SOCOM). The impressive

STOL capabilities of C.212

coupled with respectable

load out and ease of loading

unloading via ramp make the

aircraft very suitable for the

type of activities SOCOM is

involved in. The open sources

state that there are still 6

aircraft on the SOCOM roster

which are widely used in

troops training and support

of the covert operations. It

is not clear how many of the

aircraft are also used the

private military contractors

in the USA and where these

machines come from.

OPTIONS

Getting a little bit ahead of

myself, I would like to say,

that despite the short run

nature of the kit, it does not

pose any issues with the

construction at any stage of

the process. The biggest catch

is that the modeller needs to

make the decision on what

particular version (colour

scheme) to build, even before

the snippers touch the sprues.

Each of the versions has some

very particular and often

very noticeable diferences

and the instructions must be

followed to inish the model of

a very particular aircraft. And

what a choice we have! The

four options relect perfectly

on the shady nature of the

C-41A deployment with one

option for the CIA operated

aircraft, one belonging to

the US Special Operations

Aviation Command and two

versions for planes operated

by infamous ‘Blackwater’

private security contractors.

For this review I have

chosen the irst option in the

instruction sheet (s/n 90-

0178 of the US Army Special

Operation Aviation Command),

a rather garish white machine

with patriotic red and blue

stripes on the tail unit. Outside

of me liking the interesting

looking SOCOM badge, the main

reason for the choice was the

intention to have a bright spot

among the predominantly grey

and camoulaged aircraft in

my collection. This particular

aircraft is rather well publicised

and there are plethora of

photographs of the original

online. The interior of the

cockpit is rather adequate. The

control panel is provided as a

rather high-quality decal and

given that if will only be seen

through the side glazing is

more than enough for any class

of a model. The only thing that

requires adding are the seat

belts (even though they will

not be properly seen). No detail

is provided for the cargo bay,

which is a shame in a way, as

there is an option to build the

aircraft with doors opened, but

perhaps this will be addressed

by aftermarket producers.

BUILDING

The it of clear parts was

also good and after careful

positioning the fuselage sides

went together rather well. Some

minor sanding and puttying

(the latter possibly for my

own peace of mind than of

necessity) is the whole story

of building the kit. Nothing

challenging, problematic or not

itting. The hardest and most

annoying part was masking

the clear parts before painting.

I ind it very tedious work to

mask round windows (and in

the end, they turned out better

48 SEPTEMBER 2019 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

KIT REVIEWS