Scale aviation modeller international

enclose the wonderfully furnished

cockpit within the confines of

the fuselage, I consoled myself

with the thought that much of the

detail would remain visible, if I

later opted to pose the separately

moulded entry hatches in the

open position. The tubby fuselage

effortlessly closed around the

cockpit, and the rest of the

airframe quickly took shape.

The three curved upper-nose

panels feature wonderful louvre

and air scoop details, and these

encase separately moulded machine

gun barrels. The stubby lower

plane and tailplanes were added

(without their thin supporting

struts at this stage), as were the

angled inter-plane struts. These

were cemented to the lower wings

and would be painted in-situ.

The chunky undercarriage was

also added, setting the angle with

the previously mentioned cardboard

jig. Separate flaps are included,

which feature their associated

warning tabs, which protrude

from the upper surface of the lower

plane when the flaps are deployed.

These items too were cemented

in place in the open position, to

be painted in-situ. Everything

fit perfectly, though a smear of

filler was required to disguise the

join-lines of the lower plane at the

wing roots and across the belly.

I had already decided to paint

the model in five sub-assemblies:

the airframe, minus the engine and

forward ring-cowl, but complete

with the undercarriage; lower plane

and inter-plane struts as described

above; the engine; the partially

assembled ring-cowl; and the main

plane complete with ailerons.

Painting began with a dark

brown base coat (shadow coat)

as per my usual practice. This

revealed no problems that

needed attention before painting

proper could commence.

ENGINE AND COWLING

The multi-piece cowling ring is

masterfully moulded in individual,

curved sections that include nine

cowling panels and three mounting

frames. The breakdown of parts

matches that of the real aircraft,

giving the modeller the option to

display the engine in its entirety if

so desired. However, if one wishes

to paint the engine separately,

and fit the cowling afterwards,

the assembly must be done in

sections, as the fully assembled

cowling wraps tightly around

the engine, making it impossible

to remove once fully assembled.

The engine gives the assembled

cowling its structural integrity.

To prevent any mix-up of

the individual and similarly

proportioned cowling sections,

I removed each from the sprue

and cemented them directly to

their corresponding section, until

I had assembled the lower half

of the cowling ring, as per the

instructions. The sections fitted

together positively to create a

perfect semi-circle, into which

the engine slotted comfortably.

I then left the half-cowling

in place around the engine so

that it would set correctly.

The remainder of the cowling

was assembled into two more upper

sections. The engine as supplied is

perfectly adequate, but benefitted

from some minor additions: spark

plug leads made from stretched

sprue, and valve tappet rods cut

from short lengths of Albion Alloys

metal rod. The latter items would

have been entirely acceptable as

provided by GasPatch, but for the

thick sprue-gates with which these

delicate items were attached to their

sprues. These proved impossible to

remove entirely without damage

• and each pair of plastic rods had
  two such attachment points.

SPLINTERS AND SHADOWS

Exterior painting commenced

with the undersides, though

before the light blue

(RLM65) was applied,

the upper surfaces

were roughly masked

off with torn paper

strips, to keep overspray

to a minimum and to

preserve the dark shadow

coat. The semi-complete

airframe, the upper plane, the

lower cowling, and several small

components, including the steps

and the tailwheel, were given a

coat of RLM65, though hints of

the shadow coat were preserved

along the panel lines to give an

instant weathered appearance.

When dry, the undersides were

masked, and thin UPC tape used

to create a hard demarcation line

between the upper and lower

camouflage colours. My paints of

choice came from the Colourcoats

range, produced and distributed by

UK-based Sovereign Hobbies. This

family concern produces a large

range of authentic military colour

enamel paints, which can be bought

from their website. The vast range

includes a selection of pre-boxed

colour sets. The Colourcoats set

appropriate to my chosen scheme

contained the three upper surface

colours of RLM 61 Dunkelbraun,

RLM 62 Grun, and RLM 63 Hellgrau.

The first colour is a dark

26 • JANUARY 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

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