Scale aviation modeller international

Begemot

T

he Tupolev

S B -2

was the

main bomber for

the Soviet Air

Force during the

early 1940s and

examples carried

on in service until

the end of the

Second World War. The republican

forces also used it during the

Spanish civil war and examples

remained in Spanish service well

into the 1950s So a type with such

widespread usage was bound to

draw the attention of Begemot

and I am surprised that they

limited themselves to just 40

options. Painting and location

of all the decals and individual

aircraft details are all covered

1n the normal comprehensive

instructions which is a treasure

trove of information on the

type and well worth keeping

for reference after you have

finished using the decals.

1/72 SCALE

72-073 TUPOLEV SB-2 (1)

Traditionally we have always listed all

the options for Begemot sheets but to be

honest space is quite tight this month so

I am just going to describe a few of the

schemes that caught my eye.

OPTION 1. This is one of the earliest

(19370 and plainest option with an overall

light grey finish and Russian stars.

OPTION 7. This aircraft is an unarmed test

airframe and carries the civil registration

CCCP-n2440

OPTION 10. Has a mottled green scheme

and is one of two options with a ski

undercarriage rather than wheels.

OPTION 33. This is one of seven Spanish

civil war aircraft and carries a scheme

similar to Italian aircraft of the period

light sand and dark green splotched upper

surface camouflage over a light blue

underside.

OPTION 38. One of three nationalist

Chinese aircraft, though finished in a

bland green over grey camouflage. The

blue and white striped rudder and the

high vis nationalist insignia adds a lot of

interest to the model.

CONCLUSION

This is a really nice sheet but I am

surprised that we have no Finnish,

Czech or Luftwaffe examples but

as this title has a small (1) after the

title I think we will see a second

sheet in due course which will

cover the missing operators

In the UK, the range is

available from Hannants and I

thank Begemot for supplying

us with the review sample.

Lima November Decals

I

do like Emergency Service

helicopters and I am working

on assembling a mini theme

in 1/32 scale. And now I can add

two examples from the Norway

thanks to Lima November.

1/32 SCALE

LN32-06 NORWEGIAN POLICE

EUROCOPTER

EC135

In 2004 the

Norwegian

Police received

their first EC

135 helicopter,

L N - O C P. I t

was owned

and operated

by Pegasus

Helikopter AS.

This helicopter

replaced an

older AS355N1 registered LN-OBW. In

2012 they received a second EC-135, LN-

OCB, leased from the Merseyside Police

Department. In 2017 the Norwegian

Police Department placed an order for

3 new Aw169 helicopters with an option

for 3 more. The order was placed with

Leonardo Helicopters.

Both aircraft have a similar

colour scheme but you have

a choice in the shade of blue

used on the upper fuselage.

CONCLUSION

These decals enable you to

reproduce a very attractive scheme

and the instructions include four

colour photographs to enable

you to add all the details fitted

to the airframe accurately. The

decals are first rate and the

Norwegian police coat of arms is

superbly produced in red and a

nice representation of the gold.

Our thanks to Lima November

for the sample which can be

purchased from Hannants and is

also available in 1/72 and 1/48.

Vingtor Decals

T

he latest from Norwegian

Air Force specialist

Vingtor covers the

marking applied to their first

F-35. Needless to say, these

are all grey but at least they

have this country’s unusual

national insignia to add

interest if not any colour.

1/48 SCALE

48-131 LOCKHEED MARTIN F-35A TEST

AIRCRAFT – ROYAL NORWEGIAN AIR

FORCE

Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II,

5087, RNoAF assigned to 62nd Fighter

Squadron USAF, Luke AFB, Arizona 2016.

Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II,

5088, RNoAF

Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II, 5110,

RNoAF

Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II, 5111,

RNoAF

CONCLUSION

The F-35 is now starting to appear

in greater numbers around the

world though it is still not meeting

all its operational specifications.

The Norwegian F-35 is the only

one to have a major difference

from other nations as just like there

F-16 a parachute pack system has

been installed on the rear of the

aircraft. Sadly, no kit manufacturer

has included this modification,

so we have to hope that some

enterprising resin manufacturer

will add it to their range to save

the modeller having to scratch

build this distinctive feature.

Our thanks to Vingtor for the

review sample which in the UK can

be purchased from Hannants.

66 • JANUARY 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

DECALS

066-71-Decals-0118.indd 66 08/12/2017 17:05