Scale aviation modeller international

It’s worth noting that before

closing the fuselage, some nose

ballast is required to avoid the

model being a tail sitter. The

space under the cockpit floor, in

front of the cockpit tub, and in the

forward parts of the nose wheel/

avionics bay should be packed

with as much weight as you can

fit in to prevent tail sitting.

Separate parts are provided for

the small ventral panels which span

the fuselage joint. Personally, I’d

prefer these to be represented by

recessed panel lines, since I find

a cemented joint is often difficult

to form in such a way as to retain

a consistent wash. One panel

surround is included as a photo-

etch part, which when attached

looks somewhat crude, but less so

once the paint has been added.

WINGS

The wings are cleverly engineered,

including the photo-etch flap recess

ribs and separate engine intake

ducting. There is a joint between the

ducts and the forward edges of the

wing inlets, which ideally should be

filled. I must admit I didn’t bother

though, as the joint lines are barely

visible once complete and painted.

I opted to remove the integrally

moulded (and very fragile) pitot

tubes, and what I believe are fuel

dump pipes just outboard of the

ailerons. These were replaced

with some Albion Alloys brass

tubing during final assembly.

ASSEMBLY

Assembly of the main airframe

components was straightforward,

with the wings making sure

you do not forget to attach

the intake boundary layer

splitters beforehand!

The horizontal T-tail, separate

elevator, and rudder are almost a

perfect fit, and the wing-mounted

fuel tanks fit without any issue,

although a smear of filler along the

joint line of the mounting pylons

doesn’t go amiss. The surface-

mounted fuselage air brakes can

be posed open or closed, once their

tiny photo-etch hinge plates have

been attached. This is a fiddly

job, with the location features

for the plates being rather vague.

Once fitted, however, they are a

perfect fit within their fuselage

indents. Hydraulic actuators are

provided if you choose to display

them in the open position.

UNDERCARRIAGE

The undercarriage bays and

legs are well detailed, although

I added lead-wire brake lines to

enhance the moulded-in originals.

I did notice that there was a very

slight longitudinal mismatch of

cylindrical features, which was

also reflected in some similar parts

in the rest of the model. Just a few

minutes’ work with a scalpel blade

improved things significantly.

The main wheel hubs and tyres

are separate items, which greatly

simplifies painting. The nose wheel

yoke is split in order to fit the

one-piece wheel. On first sight this

appears to be a rather fiddly detail,

but in reality it works well with

the aid of some decent tweezers.

The nose leg itself, which

features a separate actuator piston,

appears to be rather flimsy (no

doubt a result of scale fidelity), so

on my next model I will replace

it with a white metal example

from Scale Aircraft Conversions.

The main wheel bay doors are

also nicely replicated and these

include the separate hydraulic

actuators for the inboard pair.

PAINTING

I treated myself to a set of

Eduard pre-cut canopy masks

(EDCX451), which fit perfectly.

Once the wheel bays, cockpit, and

intakes were masked, painting

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