Scale Aviation Modeller International — November 2017

TYPHOON

Car Door Airfix 1/24 Hawker Typhoon Mk.IB by Angelo Picardo AKits”, and with their latest offering they are not wrong! The box is supersized to begin with, and it is packed to irfix have labelled their 1/24 range of aeroplanes “Super the brim with plastic. Apart from the standard light grey and clear plastic, there is a sizeable decal sheet, as well as a 44-page instruction manual with no less than 232 assembly stages.diagrams are featured throughout; previously The usual exploded assembled parts highlighted in red help to clarify the assembly process. Variations in the details (depending on which scheme is being built) are clearly shown. Colour callouts are for Humbrol’s range of paints.The plastic parts feature some rather nice surface detail. There are engraved panel lines, overlapping panels, raised and recessed rivet detail, and plenty of interior detail to satisfy nearly everyone. The separately packed clear parts are thin and very clear.The possibilities for extra detailing are endless, either with aftermarket accessories or from scratch-built items. Due to the size and complexity of the kit, I decided from the outset to make this as an out-of-the-box build, and did my best to resist the temptation to enhance the detail provided. And I did manage to, mostly!Airfix supply four

marking options, all featuring ocean grey/dark green camouflage over a medium grey underside, with variations in the form of propeller spinner colours and invasion/identification stripes.of building the kit buttoned up, or with the engine and You also have the choice gun bays open. As this kit was first released as the bubble-canopied Typhoon, there are some alterations necessary to turn it into the car-door version; nothing too major, though, only involving the cutting away of some panels.alteration is required, however, A slightly more complex if you choose to represent the 486 Squadron machine. This was an early version, before the rear fuselage stiffening plates were added. To build this option, some very careful carving is required to remove the moulded-on fishplates and preserve the surrounding details.

CONSTRUCTION BEGINSThe whole kit fits around a central frame and spar. Stages One to Fifteen cover the construction of the main spar, engine bearers, and cockpit support frame.along with some heavy mould separation lines and ejector There is flash present, marks, that require careful clean-up before you start. The plastic is soft enough to make this a straightforward task, with little risk of breakage. getting all the various pieces of framework to come together. No problems were encountered

Very quickly, I found myself with a sizeable assembly on my hands, which I painted mostly aluminium. I used Humbrol’s silver 11 for this, followed by a coat of Tamiya’s Smoke. This acts as a wash, darkening the bright silver down to a dull aluminium; a pleasing weathered effect results where the wash collects around joints and surface detail. A bonus is that it also seals the silver paint, which can react adversely with other enamel colours that it may come into contact with.pilot’s seat, depending on which version you build. The more common variant comes with a Airfix supply two types of quilted-effect backrest, which is what I used – even the lacing that attaches the pad to the frame is included. The backrest comes to life with careful painting and highlighting.kits, a well-detailed pilot figure is included, wearing his oxygen mask (a necessity, even at low As with all of Airfix’s 1/ level, due to exhaust fumes leaking into the cockpit!), and carrying a holster for his Webley pistol. If you do not want to include the pilot, the kit includes an injection-moulded seat harness. The detail of the belts and buckles is very fine,

“AIRFIX HAVE LABELLED THEIR 1/24 KITS”, AND THEY ARE NOT WRONG!”RANGE OF AEROPLANES “SUPER

Wing spars and fuselage frame forms the core of the assembly

Before and after. The ignition harness has a lot of flash present

The fuselage features a wealth of detail, built up around the framework

Nicely detailed pilot’s seat

If you want to feature a fully exposed engine, this part of the fuselage needs removing

Fuselage fuel tank after the join has been cleaned up

The fuselage rear deck needs removing

Part D15 has a number of ejector pin marks that need filling

ONE

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM • NOVEMBER 2017 • 7

HAWKER TYPHOON MK.IB 1/

6 • NOVEMBER 2017 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

BOAT

The

Harbour, February 1942.• Bu.No.1063, VJ-1, summer 1943.• Bu.No.1063, VJ-1, 1943 - early 1945.• Bu.No.1063, NACA Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, May 1945 – November 1946.• Bu.No.1192, VJ-2, circa 1939 – 1940. The Sword/Special Hobby plastic is typical of short-run kits of the era, with rather soft detail, huge sprue gates, and the odd broken part. The resin and PE help quite a bit, although fortunately, courtesy of the Editor, I also had available Eduard’s separate JRS-1 Update PE sheet (72642). This sheet has lots more external detail; in particular, the wheel well interiors are very impressive. I’d go so far as to suggest that this set is essential if one is to do the model justice. It’s a shame Eduard did not include it as standard.To round off the package,

Eduard include a nicely-printed 28-page booklet explaining the role played by the JRS-1 immediately following the Pearl Harbour attack, as well as a number of useful reference photographs of the airframe now under restoration at the Udvar-Hazy facility in Washington (the Smithsonian website has more). significance of 1-J-1 at the time of Pearl Harbour, I decided to finish the model in the scheme Despite the historical representing 1-J-1 a little later in life, as seen at Ford field in February 1942. By this time, the garish pre-war colours had been over-painted with blue-grey and grey, and the temporary early-war red and white rudder stripes were added. The build is a moderately complex affair, given the multi-media nature of the model and the THE BUILD limitations of short-run moulding

Iflying boat, the four-engine S-42. It was used by Pan American Airways (Pan Am) to open up long-range n the early 1930s, Sikorski designed and built a successful commercial passenger services between Miami and Rio de Janeiro, and it quickly became known as the Pan Am Clipper. success of the S-42, and recognising a market for a smaller and more economical version, Sikorski set about With the demonstrated designing a two-engine “Baby Clipper”, the S-43. Flying first in 1935, the S-43 was used by Pan Am on Caribbean routes, in North Africa by the French, in China, and in Norway. When the US military showed an interest in the aircraft for utility use, the Army Air Corps acquired five (designated OA-8), and the

US Navy 16 (designated JRS-1). were present at Ford Island airbase in Hawaii at the time of the Japanese attack Ten of the Navy’s JRS-1s in December 1940, and all survived. Several of these unarmed aircraft took part in the subsequent search for the Japanese fleet, and one well-known airframe of that heroic action (1-J-1, Bu.No.1063) survives to this day. This airframe is currently undergoing restoration at the US National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institute’s Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy facility in Virginia. To the team undertaking the restoration, Bu.No. 1063 is known as “The Boat”. airframes were built.In all, fifty S-

EDUARD’S KITEduard’s issue of the JRS-1 follows their recent trend of releasing other manufacturers’ plastic with their own brand enhancements. In this case, the plastic dates back to 2003, when it was issued by Sword. It was subsequently re-issued by Special Hobby in 2006 with some resin enhancements, notably the interior seats and engines.

Hobby kit a stage further and added more resin (spinners and prop bosses), etched brass for the cockpit and some exterior Eduard have taken the Special details, and masks. Seven colourful schemes are offered, five of them charting the history of airframe Bu. No.1063:• Bu.No.1063, VJ1, 1938-1939.

• Bu.No.1193, VJ-1, Guantanamo Air Base, Cuba, 1938.Bu.No.1063, VJ-1, Pearl

KIT DETAILSKIT“ TH E BOAT ”MANUFACTURER: SIKORSKI JRS-1 LIMITED EDITION : EDUARD SCALEPRODUCT CODEPANEL LINESKIT PARTSAND AROUND 100 PHOTO-ETCH (PE).: 1/72: 105 PLASTIC, 23 CLEAR, 31 RESIN, : RECESSED: 2118 TYPESTATUSPLASTIC.DECAL OPTIONS: INJECTION-MOULDED PLASTIC.: REISSUE OF SPECIAL HOBBY : 7

BASIC PARTS, THANKS LARGELY TO EDUARD’S PE ADDITIONS “A NICE MODEL FROM THE AND THE COLOUR SCHEMES”

Detail on the main parts is reasonable, although not as crisp as more modern offerings.

The fuselage interior has a number of knockout marks which need to be removed.

The fabric effect for the control surfaces in nicely done. The smaller parts are less well done, with flash and misshapen, broken parts.

engines, and control surface balance horns. Eduard add Brassin spinners or exposed prop bosses (right).The Special Hobby issue includes resin seats,

Eduard 1/72 Sikorski JRS-1 Limited Edition “The Boat” by Huw Morgan

SIKORSKI JRS-1 1/

ACK

Big

each stage is neat, but I found the lack of integrated painting information tiresome. I had to flick back and forth to the illustration of the final assembly to identify which part needed to be which colour, and even then the colours of some items are not identified, which led to some guesswork. With the open nature of World War I aircraft, it’s inevitable that painting needs to be done throughout the build process. In this case, I sprayed the inner fuselage halves with Tamiya XF- Buff to represent the doped linen, and painted all the structural parts a home-mixed wood brown colour. The larger, flat wooden items like the floor were painted with Tamiya XF-60, adding a grain effect using burnt umber oil paint. photo-etch parts for rectilinear bits like the racks went reasonably Whilst the bending of the steel well, as soon as any curves were introduced I found it very difficult to get smooth lines. Plus, the previously applied primer paint simply fell off. As an example, getting the broad seatbelts to look

anything like draped fabric was impossible – I ended up painting them three times. As the build progressed, I found that masking tape would pull even Halfords primer off the metal surfaces!notwithstanding, all the sub-assemblies fit very well into the fuselage halves. I took the Photo-etch trials opportunity to add some internal bracing using elastic thread, and I was particularly pleased with the way the decals really enhanced the look of the instrument panel.

With some careful manipulation, the fuselage halves and the two upper deck panels close up without any drama; only the flat fuselage bottom needs some minor filling to disguise the seam. now be rigged using Uschi van der Rosten elastic thread, and the etched side and upper panels The engine bay structure can added. It appears that the panels are produced to represent the construction of the originals, and (although not mentioned in the

Huw Morgan builds Copper State Models Armstrong Whitworth F.K.8 (Mid Production) Premium Edition Tpurpose”, in the terminology of the day) aircraft, although the concept was not fully recognised at the time. Built he 2-seater F.K.8 was one of the first true multi-role (“general- by Armstrong Whitworth during the Great War, the F.K.8, nicknamed “Big Ack”, served alongside more famous names like the R.E.8. Despite being relegated to the chorus line, the F.K.8 was strong, reliable, and well-liked by its crews. Over 1200 were built, with 649 remaining on charge with the RFC at the end of the war. replacement for the Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2c, Originally intended as a the F.K 8 was designed by Dutch aircraft manufacturer Frederick Koolhoven as a reliable reconnaissance

platform and light bomber. Powered by the 160 hp Beardmore straight-six water-cooled engine (itself a development of an Austro-Daimler design), it was sturdy and easy to fly. The distinctive tall vee-shaped radiators were modified several times during the life of the airframe, and the nose cowling had a number of different shapes.struts, the F.K.8 pioneered With sliding pillar oleo the idea of independently sprung landing gear. However, these proved unreliable, and were later replaced with the then-conventional triangular strut undercarriage from Bristol F2 Fighters. the RFC, the F.K.8 was operated by Paraguay and Apart from its use by the Kingdom of Hejaz (now part of Saudi Arabia)

COPPER STATE’S KITCopper State have produced highly detailed 1/48 scale kits of early-, mid-, and late-production versions of the F.K.8, which were reviewed by Associate Editor Tim Upson-Smith in Volume 23, Issue 7 of SAMi. The plastic is nicely produced, and the standard version of the kit includes all the bits necessary to make a well-detailed model, including a full engine. The plastic parts have a few knockout marks, but these will become virtually invisible as the build progresses. here includes some extras: a 13-part resin replacement for the The Premium edition built Beardmore straight-six engine, a fantastic metal exhaust stack by O.Semyaniv (reminiscent of the now-defunct Moskit brand), and three photo-etch frets. The main fret, the one with most of the detailed parts, is rather difficult to use, as it is produced in what appears to be nickel steel. This material is reluctant to hold any paint (despite roughening of the surface and priming), and is so stiff that some of the complex bending required is hard to achieve successfully; smooth curves for the cowling are particularly difficult. this, Copper State have included a second brass fret of “spare Perhaps in recognition of parts” with two copies of the complex cowling front, and a copy of the rolled gun blast tube. The third fret appears to be made of a copper alloy, significantly thicker than the

others, which includes the control horns and the AW badges. and tail surface tape detail is rather heavy handed, with Although plain, the wing over-emphasised stitching that will need sanding back slightly for a realistic effect. Colour call-outs are for generic colours only, and the decals look to be very nicely printed.SOME JOINERYThe build begins with the construction of several sub-assemblies to fit inside the fuselage; the forward bulkhead gets the engine bearers, gun, PE ammunition box, and control stick. The main fuel tank is assembled from two halves, and the observer’s position gets a floor, seat, and some very nice multi-part etched racks for the spare Lewis gun magazines. I started having some doubts about the presentation of the instructions; the use of colour Moving through this sequence, to show new parts added at

KIT DETAILSMANUFACTURERMODELSSCALEPRODUCT CODE: 1/48: K1030: COPPER STATE PANEL LINESPARTSPHOTO-ETCH. METAL EXHAUST MANIFOLD.TYPE: 102 PLASTIC, 14 RESIN, 82 : INJECTION-MOULDED: RECESSED STATUSDECAL OPTIONSDOPED LINEN.: NEW-TOOL: 4, ALL PC10 OVER

The instructions are in the form of coloured 3-D design drawings, using blue to indicate parts to be added at each stage. Painting instructions are rather incomplete though. Four schemes are offered, all with PC10 upper surfaces and doped linen undersides.

The decals are well printed by Cartograf and look to have good colour density.

IS EXCELLENT, WITH EXEMPLARY “COPPER STATE’S ENGINEERING FIT THROUGHOUT”

F.K.8 (MID PRODUCTION) 1/4 8

Hobby Craft 1/48 Piper J3 Cub by Dick Clark

careful trim to fit properly.windscreen and clear roof panel before going any further, in order I decided to fit the front to seal the cabin up to avoid any dust getting inside. The roof panel was rather a loose fit so I taped it in place while the Glue ‘n’ Glaze set. All this use of such a slow-setting glue meant this was never going to be a rush-job! before fitting the front windscreen, just in case I had any problems Once it was set I masked it up and it fell inside. I masked the front windscreen with Bare-Metal Foil before fitting it to the fuselage, simply because it was easier to do this off the model. Fitting the front bulkhead was

H“Grasshopper”, but that’s confusing, because just about any light observation aircraft in American WWII service, aving recently completed SMER’s 1/48 Piper L4 Cub (aka capable of operating from unprepared grass fields, was called ”grasshopper”), I was delighted to find this model of the civilian version for sale at the Yeovilton Model Show.heck” moments when I checked inside the box once I got it home. As is usual for I had one of those “Oh, Hobby Craft kits, the box was way bigger than it needed to be. Lifting the lid off I saw, as expected, just one large sprue of grey plastic parts and ... no fuselage! But just as the first wave of mild panic threatened, I realised that the fuselage was moulded in clear plastic and I’d just seen right through it! I gather this was common with Hobby

Craft kits, although it was the first time I’d encountered it. Up to that point, I was quite a fan of their models. Also in the box were a small sheet of rather crude decals and two instruction sheets. Once upon a time some poor devil had got one with no instructions, I suppose. the cabin, which is – to put it mildly – basic. Most strangely, the seats slope down towards the foot end. I did momentarily Construction begins with contemplate cutting the seat supports off and turning them around, but my moment of madness swiftly passed. I did cut a new cabin floor from plastic card, just to give a level surface to work with – the floor as moulded has two large steps right in the middle, and a prominent where the pedals should be! location point under the instrument panel, roughly normal polystyrene cement what sort of glue one uses for the parts that fit directly to the clear fuselage, because superglue will fog the clear plastic, and One must be very careful with won’t work. Mostly I used De Luxe Materials Glue ‘n’ Glaze, which holds parts quite firmly, but it does take a while to set.was at least able to use normal modeling glue to fit the seats With the new floor in place I and control columns to the floor. The instrument panel and rear bulkhead did need Glue ‘n’ Glaze, though. The instrument panel is completely featureless, and no decal is provided, so, even though very little can be seen, I detailed it with a few dials from the spare decal box. Photo-etch seat belts were also sourced from the spares box. glued together with Glue ‘n’ Glaze, although a drop of thin CA glue was run into the tail The fuselage halves were fin join; this was far enough away from the windows to not have to worry about fogging. I fitted the main undercarriage supports (which come as one piece that fits into a space under the fuselage) with CA glue, feeling this would help keep the fuselage halves firmly together. Once this was set I added the rest of the undercarriage struts, which needed a

PRETTY NEAT REPRESENTATION OF “I THINK I’VE ENDED UP WITH A ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL LIGHT AIRCRAFT DESIGNS EVER”

The upper surfaces of the wings. Top – as moulded; bottom – with ribs added to aileron ends.

The very basic interior, with added photo-etch seatbelts and instrument panel decals from spares.

The lower surfaces of the wings. Top – as moulded; bottom – with plastic strip added to replicate the main rib pattern on the upper surface.Using a Berna clamp to hold the new floor in place while the Glue ‘n’ Glaze adhesive sets. Note also the rear bulkhead already fitted.A Berna clamp and a clothes peg being used to hold the fuselage halves together while the slow-setting glue sets.

With glazing and main undercarriage supports fitted, the forward bulkhead has been taped in place while the glue sets. Once set, this join was reinforced with a few drops of CA glue.

CUB

A Civil

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PIPER J3 CUB 1/4 8

THE HEART OF THE BEASTI turned my attention to the Mercedes D III engine, choosing the 200 hp version, as indicated for Option E. I’ve lost count of how many of these engines I have made over the years, and each time I curse gently over the odd breakdown between the crankcase and the cylinders. There are six little cylinder stubs moulded on the crankcase, which need careful masking to ensure they stay black when you paint the rest of it silver. Why they could not be moulded as part of the main cylinders has always puzzled me, as has the omission of spark plugs and leads in this otherwise superb little engine. I used the aftermarket plugs from Tauro Models, which are bordering on microscopic and strained these old eyes mightily during their installation. from copper wire; I have tried other media in the past and I find copper gives the most natural “hang”. The kit includes decals for the The ignition leads are made red band on each cylinder as well as an engine number and three silver decals representing engine

data plaques on the crankcase. CREW ACCOMMODATION With the engine finished and carefully packed away, it was time for the cockpit. If you’ve not built one of WNW’s cockpits then I recommend you do so, and soon; they are marvels of miniature plastic engineering. Everything is finely moulded to scale, but is also quite fragile as a result, so the kit parts will reward gentle handling and cleaning up. Side frames and other tubes are painted light grey-green. The instrument panel and floor are given a wood-grain treatment using oil paints dragged over a tan base, as are the grips on the control column if you’re feeling particularly masochistic. the rounds picked out in brass, The ammo bins are silver with while the fuel tank is either brass, or a colour referred to in the instructions as ”T”, even though there is no actual colour reference given. There’s another colour, ”V”, mentioned on page 13 – again with no colour reference. (In previous boxings ”T” is grey, Tamiya XF-22, and “V” is steel, Tamiya XF-56. Ed.)

Wingnut Wings’ 1/32 Fokker D.VII (Fok) “Early” by Pete R. Barker Iresponsible for my return to modelling after a gap of some twenty years (which were filled with the joys t is no exaggeration to say that Wingnut Wings (WNW) is solely of parenthood). About five years ago, a chance purchase of a magazine that covered a build of their awesome Eindecker saw me thoroughly hooked once again.many Wingnut Wings kits and there is always a thrill in seeing, and then opening, Since then, I’ve constructed their lavishly printed boxes. It feels like a special occasion! This latest incarnation of the D. VII does not disappoint; the box is full to the brim with plastic goodness, and a pleasure to behold. The only question in my mind is, “How will I cock this one up?” up to its usual standard, with comprehensive assembly and painting guides, along with myriad period photographs, The instruction book is most of which are of the aircraft whose markings are on the decal sheets. These decal sheets are, quite simply, magnificent. They include, apart from crosses, stencils, instrument dials, and the like, lozenge camouflage in several different flavours. They also include the streaky stripes that feature in two of the six options. They are printed by Cartograf, whose

reputation goes before them. Experience suggests that they will present few problems in their application. with four or five build options, which means that several unnecessary components, not required for the option WNW kits always come you choose, appear on the sprues. I generally remove these first in order to avoid becoming what we older people call ”confused”. generous with its options (due partly to the various guises in which the D. VII has been previously released), This kit is particularly all supplied on eight grey sprues, one clear, and a sheet of photo-etch (PE). There are microscopically more amounts of flash on some of the sprues that one might expect from WNW – a legacy of the age of the moulds, perhaps? Nothing terrible, but not quite up to the standard I have seen on their more recent issues.

WHERE TO START?My construction began in two areas, neither of them the cockpit. The first thing I did was to stick the wing surfaces together, mainly to give them a good long time to dry. I’m glad I did this since I noticed a moulding shortfall on the trailing edge of the upper surface of the top wing. It was only half

a millimetre or so, but it was certainly there. A swift email to Dave at WNW, and a replacement sprue was soon on its way. Since WNW is based about as far away from the UK as it can be on this glorious planet, it wasn’t going to be in tomorrow’s post, so I settled down to other aspects of the build while I waited for it to arrive.

I WONDER IF THERE ARE ANY SUPERLATIVES YET TO BE USED TO DESCRIBE WINGNUT WING’S OFFERINGS

BARCODE

Th e Fl yi ng

FOKKER D.VII (FOK) 1/

TONKA

Colourful

COCKPITThe Aires resin cockpit is a definite improvement over the standard item, although I think the central, circular display in the pilot’s instrument panel should be rectangular on the GR4. I opted to leave it alone, since trying to correct it could well have resulted in a worse result. The cockpit tub and wheel well bays required a significant amount of scraping and filing of both the resin and corresponding kit plastic before a good fit was achieved. The cockpit floor had to be thinned until it was almost transparent before the nose wheel bay could be fitted below it. of photo-etch to add to the instrument panels, ejector seats, and cockpit sides. The fine details There were several pieces

Building Revell’s 1/72 Scale Tornado GR4 “Dambusters 70th Anniversary” by Garth Nicholson BACKGROUNDFamiliar to most aviation enthusiasts, the Panavia Tornado is a swing-wing, two-seat, twin-engine, supersonic combat aircraft developed jointly by Britain, Germany and Italy. It was designed to fulfil a number of roles, and several variants were produced, including Air Defence (ADV), Interdictor/Strike (IDS), and Electronic Combat/Reconnaissance (ECR). First flown in 1974, and entering service in 1980, the Tornado has been a key part of the RAF’s capability for nearly 40 years. During this time, the RAF have developed their fleet to meet changing requirements, culminating in the GR4 (Ground Attack/Reconnaissance)

variant, which is the subject of this build.kit back in May 2013, after I was inspired to build this hiking over to the Derwent dam in the Peak District to watch the flypast by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’s (BBMF) Lancaster bomber during the Dambusters 70th anniversary. Two Tornados from 617 squadron, then based at RAF Lossiemouth, also took part in the flypast. These aircraft featured specially commissioned tail graphics commemorating the Dambusters raid. The first aircraft (ZA492, call sign “Gibson 1”) was a strike version of the GR4. I believe the second aircraft (ZA412 “Gibson 2”) was a trainer version. THE KITReleased in 1998, Revell’s Tornado GR1 is still an excellent kit, with (for the most part) finely recessed panel lines and selected rivet detail. It does, however, require a few refinements and modifications to convert it into a GR4. the addition of a Forward Looking Infra-Red (FLIR) pod under the The most obvious change is port forward fuselage. Luckily, Freightdog Models produce one in resin. I decided to also add an Aires resin cockpit and wheel bay set. Other refinements include Master Model brass pitot tube and angle of attack (AoA) probes, an Eduard photo-etch detail set, and an SBS replacement resin nose to correct the slight inaccuracy in the complex

curvature of the original. Another key ingredient of the build was a set of Cartograf printed Dambusters 70th anniversary decals, which was included in a 617 Squadron special edition Airfix kit (A73008).necessary aftermarket components, I started by removing the relevant parts After collecting all the from their sprues and checking the fit of the various resin parts. Minimal cleaning up of the plastic was required, although the parts on the clear sprues left something to be desired. The cockpit canopy and Laser Ranger and Marked Target Seeker (LRMTS) pod window were particularly poor, the latter being little more than a blob of plastic rather than having the sharp angled panels of the original.

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE AFTER-MARKET ITEMS AT THIS KIT”“I THREW MOST OF THE

TORNADO GR4 1/

Fwas not in the underground car park of a shopping centre instead it moved to the top hotel and conference centre on the outskirts or the first time in many years, the largest model show in the Czech Republic of Prague. It also changed from a two day show to just one day, so the organisers must have been a little nervous as to how much all these changes would make to the atmosphere of the show.this was one of the best E Days I have attended; the show was busy from start to end and certainly, Well, the good news in my view most traders were happy at the end of the day. The competition

was well attended and certainly, the numbers of visitors to the show seemed up on previous years. curve when you do a show at a new venue and with the mostly positive feedback from those attending the event I do not think E Day Of course, there was a learning will be going underground again and personally I think the one-day format is a very good idea.models from the competition As usual, I have included some tables, though many walked away with medals some just caught my eye like the 1/72 Bell 47 in a bottle which had many scratching their heads!

E Day Prague 2017PHOTO SCRAPBOOK

SHOW REPORT

SPOOK

Silver Kings

Alan Kelley shows you how to paint and detail the 1:48 Eduard F-4J Phantom with Hataka paints Ain various guises ever since, following up with B, D/N and J releases. Eduard have cademy released their 1:48 F-4B in late 2012 and they have appeared also re-boxed these kits and added several etch and resin enhancements, in the form of the ‘Good Morning Da Nang’, ‘Good Evening Da Nang’ and this ‘Rockin’ Rhino’ kits. This latter version comes with the standard Eduard coloured etch, Kabuki tape masks for the canopies and wheels, and features Brassin wheels, seats, afterburner cans and exhausts. I also decided to use the VF-92 ‘Silver Kings’ markings, included with the kit, as they were beautifully designed by Furball and printed by Cartograph. This squadron saw service throughout the duration of the War, from 1965, until being disestablished in 1975. During this time, they first saw service on USS Enterprise from 1965 to 1969, using F-4Bs, then transitioned to F-4Js during 1969. The squadron deployed to USS America in 1970, before deploying to the USS Constellation in 1971.

the cockpit, and being a typical Eduard enhanced kit, all of the moulded detail here needed Construction began with to be removed, and coloured etch used in its place. So, this detail was removed and then the remaining structure painted Light Grey. This paint was faded by adding a touch of White and going over the centre of the panels. I then used Warpigs Liquid Pigment to add a touch of weathering and wear and tear to the floor and side consoles. I then glued all the colour etch into place, both front and rear cockpit side consoles, as well as the instrument panels. Neither Academy, or Eduard have included the pilot’s throttle controls, so I scratch built these from a leftover spare control column. The seats were left out as these would be constructed, painted and fitted much later in the project. glued onto the bottom of the cockpit and then fixed onto the bottom fuselage. The main gear bays were also to The front wheel well was be built at this stage. I wasn’t comfortable adding the main landing gear so early in the project, but there would be

no other way to get it into place once the wings were glued onto the top of the landing gear bays, so I proceeded as instructed. Also, the actuating arm for the front undercarriage door is exposed once glued in place and is quite fragile. I made the conscious decision to split this in two, leaving the exposed area off until later, when it would not be damaged. The landing legs were painted White, given a Black wash to accentuate the dark areas and shadows, before painting the hydraulic struts Chrome. was the front intakes leading back to the compressor face of the engine. These were glued together The next area to be addressed and I ran some Mr Surfacer down the joints, before painting these White. The compressors faces were given an undercoat of

Gloss Black, before having some Alclad Steel misted over them and left aside to dry. Once this had cured I ran a Black wash around the details adding a bit of shadow to it. The next step was to assemble the engines and add them before the fuselage could be joined up. The main afterburner assemblies are in the form of Eduard Brassin Resin. These are beautifully detailed and are a vast improvement over the kit parts. These were again given a coat of Gloss Black before having Alclad Steel applied. Once dry, I added the etched ignition rings, and to simulate the effect of the burnt metal I used Alclad Hot Metal shades in this area- a combination of Blue, Red, Sepia and Violet tones. The burner interiors were then suitably weathered. I decided to

“I CANNOT RECOMMEND HATAKA PAINTS HIGHLY ENOUGH, AND ONCE YOU GET THE HANG OF SPRAYING THEM YOU WILL NOT STOP USING THEM!”

The kits details were removed and Eduard etch added The finished look

Eduard Brassin The seats are resin items..... .....with etched harnesses

SPONSORED FEATURE

leave the burner cans until later in the build to protect the resin structure and paint. I glued the exhausts and intakes in place ready for the fuselage to be joined up, but before doing this I decided to make up the wing structures as these would be used as a guide for getting the fuselage in place. and was glued together, and I then added the intake fronts and splitter plates. The last step before doing this was to add the HUD and The fuselage slotted in place front windscreen. The HUD itself is etched brass, which I bent into shape and added the glass. The armoured glass on the windscreen was painted in Alclad Armoured Glass. I used the supplied masks on the front windscreen and glued this in place using some Formula

560 canopy glue. In preparation for painting the wheel wells, I used masking putty, which is extremely useful when it comes to painting camouflage schemes. I used Mr Surfacer 1200, thinned with Mr Color Self Levelling Thinner, with a touch of Black added, as this gives a good hard wearing Dark Grey surface to apply the paint too. For this build I used the Hataka AS-18 US Navy and US Marines High Viz Red Line Acrylic Set and HTK-XP03 Hataka Orange Line Lacquer Thinner (HLT). The paint scheme I used was HTK-A048 Light Gull Grey over HTK-A049 Insignia White. I mixed up the first batch of Gull Grey and mixed it with the thinner in roughly a 1:4 basis. This sprayed beautifully through my Iwata HP-C+ airbrush’s .3 nozzle

KIT DETAILSF-4J ROCKIN RHINOMANUFACTURERSCALEKIT TYPE: 1:48: PLASTIC INJECTION MOULDED : EDUARD WITH RESIN AND ETCHKIT NUMBER: 1143

The seats were brush painted with Hataka Blue Line Paints

F-4J ROCKIN RHINO Sponsored by Hataka Hobbywww.hataka-hobby.com 1/4 8

6 Car Door Typhoon. Pt. Airfix 1/24 Hawker Typhoon Mk.IB by Angelo Picardo

20 The Boat Eduard 1/72 Sikorski JRS-1 Limited Edition “The Boat” by Huw Morgan

34 Big Ack Copper State Models 1/ Armstrong Whitworth F.K.8 by Huw Morgan

82 A Civil Cub Hobby Craft 1/48 Piper J3 Cub by Dick Clark

14 The Flying Barcode Wingnut Wings’ 1/32 Fokker D.VII (Fok) “Early” by PeteR Barker

26 Colourful Tonka Revell 1/72 Scale Tornado GR “Dambusters 70th Anniversary” by Garth Nicholson

80 Photo Scrapbook Pictures from E Day Prague 2017

88 Silver Kings Spook Alan Kelley uses Hataka paints on Eduard 1:48 F-4J Phantom

CONTENTS

43 The SAM news 52 First Looks

Airfix 1/48 Walrus Mk.

S.B.S Model 1/72 Macchi M.C. 72

HpH 1/32 Grumman F7F-3P Tigercat

ICM 1/48 MiG-25RB

Eduard 1/48 Fw-190A-

60 Accessories 66 Decals 72 Reviews 78 My Sig Setting up a SIG by Jason Champion 94 Books & Media 98 Back Page

ALSO INSIDE

Sam

THE First Looks!• Walrus Mk.1 • Macchi M.C. 72 • Grumman F7F-3P Tigercat

MiG-25RB• Fw-190A-4see page 52
November 2017 WORLD’S BEST MODEL NEWSPAPER ‘FREE’ http://www.sampublications.com

have two sheets available for the CONCLUSIONThis is a really spectacular kit, and I am very tempted to add one of these to my personal stash. As with Walrus, including an attractive yellow civilian example.many of the Airfix kits made for the enthusiast, it will soon disappear from the model shop shelves. When that happens, your only chance of obtaining one will be by paying a premium price on auction sites.Our thanks to Airfix for supplying us with the sample ahead of the kit’s UK release.

First look at Airfix 1/48 Walrus Mk.1Airfix Walrus I was immediately This is a month of well reproduced. Most of it will The internal detail is equally of what resin and injection-moulded plastic can achieve. And on opening the box of the new Walrus Mk.1impressed with the quality of the surface detail on the metal areas, which feature a mix of raised and recessed detail, and on the doped fabric areas, which feature a nice representation of fabric over ribs. be invisible after construction, kits pushing the boundaries superlatives, with so many though, so the only thing that you need to add is seatbelts, and or retracted undercarriage, to the subtler, like the option to have a landing light in the wings or not. Eduard already have that covered.from the obvious, such as down The kit is packed with options, There is also a choice of general-purpose bombs or depth charges.One feature that will be appreciated by many is the ability to fold the wings. If you look at photographs of the real aircraft, you will see that this can be a weak point, as the hinge point is quite small. Airfix, however, have cleverly engineered a wing spar that makes this a simple task. In fact, everywhere you look you will find clever engineering and plenty of detail. It’s all supported by a very comprehensive instruction manual, which clearly different views displayed, the diagram. With a number of colour profiles for the three marking options, and a separate A-3 sheet devoted to a rigging shows where everything fits.On a separate sheet, you have latter sheet should make the task of rigging a relatively simple one. • Supermarine Walrus Mk.1, 276 Squadron, Royal Air Force, Harrowbeer, Devon, 1944. The marking options provide three different camouflage schemes.rescues tallied on the nose.• Supermarine Walrus Mk.1, 700 NAS, HMS Sheffield, 1941. This was an Air-Sea Rescue aircraft and has nine successful This aircraft was used during the operations that led to the sinking of the Bismark.• Supermarine Walrus Mk.1, 5CF, Royal Australian Air Force, New Guinea, 1943.My only concern with this kit is that the decals are quite thick and some show quite large areas of clear film, which may cause silvering unless applied to a really gloss surface. But Xtradecal already 52 • NOVEMBER 2017 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

FIRST LOOK!

>> AIRFIX – BACK TO THEIR BEST! <<

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BHornet, and the unique EA-18G Growler give the US Navy an unparalleled seaborne strike uilt on the success of the F/A-18C and D ‘Legacy Hornets’, the F/A-18E singe-seat and the F/A-18F two-seat Super and electronic warfare capability. The newer Super Hornet is about twenty-five percent larger than its predecessor, but contains forty-two percent fewer structural parts, and can fly greater ranges with heavier payloads, has more powerful engines and provides greater survivability, and the brand new electronic warfare variant, the EA-18G adds tactical jamming to the aircrafts already impressive abilities. Entering service in 1999, the Super Hornet replaced the mighty F-14 Tomcat in the fleet defence role and also works in conjunction with the ‘Legacy’ Hornets in the strike role. The forward fuselage remains unchanged

from the earlier aircraft, but the remainder of the Super Hornet shares little with the F/A-18C and D models. In July 2002, the F/A-18E/F began its maiden operational deployment on board USS Abraham Lincoln, and in November 2002, the aircraft made its combat entry, striking air defence sites in Southern Iraq with Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs). The aircraft was also deployed as part of Operation ‘Iraqi Freedom’ in March 2003, and has since been used in action over Afghanistan, Libya and Syria and continues in operational deployments around the globe. This new Scaled Down from SAM Publications brings the Super Hornet story to life.

SUPER HORNETMDFSD 7 £14.99+ P&P By Andy Evans

SCALED DOWNM D F^7

SUPER HORNETTHE BOEING F/A-18E/F and EA-18G GrowlerBy Andy Evans

000-CoverFront-MDFSD-OUTPUT-FRONT_MDFSD-07-Cover.qxd.indd 1 11/09/2017 15:

OUT NOW Modellers Datafile Scaled Down SUPER HORNET Boeing F/A-18E/F and EA-18G Growler

SAM-MDFSD-07-Superhornet-Ad.indd 1 18/09/2017 12:

Nobody does it better? Iand then in the 1980s they managed to produce some n the 1960s Airfix produced some of the best box art in the world of the worst but now they are back with some amazing artwork and this month we have two of the best yet for the forthcoming 1/72 scale B-25 and much anticipated 1/48 scale Sea Fury. were available as prints Honestly, I do wish there

as I would love to have both on my workshop wall. Also revealed are the two schemes that will come on the they have certainly picked B-25 decal sheet and two of the more obscure schemes carried by the type.

Fine Tomcat NF-14 Family. The range will start with the F-14A in the skull and crossbones ews from Japan that will please Tomcat lovers as Fine Molds are going to produce a 1/72 scale markings of the Jolly Rogers. Italian Master

Twith Russian manufacturer Yakovlev but when the partnership foundered the Italian he Aermacchi is the latest in a long line of attractive jet trainers, originally designed in cooperation went their own way to complete the design.Singapore and on order for both Italy and Poland Currently in service with Israel and as the M346 Master while Yak produced the similar looking Yak 130. This attractive trainer will subject to Kinetics’ next 1/48 scale and the box top shows that the decal will include three of the prototype aircraft though I am hoping they will also include an Israeli option as well.

Tamiya’s large-scale F-35? Tsurprising as Japan Air Force has already taken delivery of its first examples of the type and he announcement that Tamiya was going to release a 1/32 scale F-35 caused something of a stir and it was not really are scheduled to construct at least 38 more.for the Japanese market with decals to produce This kit will, in fact, be the Italeri kit boxed the Japanese national insignia in either shades of grey or the more traditional red and white. It is unlikely that this version will be released in Europe but I am sure one day we will get a decal sheet featuring these markings. WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM • NOVEMBER 2017 •^43

The SAM All the latest news from around the world

80 Photo Scrapbook Pictures from E Day Prague 2017

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM • NOVEMBER 2017 • 5

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Scale Aviation Modeller International — November 2017

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