Year of the Tiger
W
e already knew
Kittyhawk were going
to release a new tool
1/32 scale F-5E Tiger II and now
we have details of the markings
being supplied on the decal sheet.
No less than seven options
including two from VFC-111 The
Sundowners with that squadrons
famous rising sun tail markings
and sharks mouth under the nose.
You also have two other scheme
from the USAF the first is an
early one with an overall natural
metal finish with yellow stripes
and the second in a Vietnam war
camouflage scheme. Other options
include aircraft from South Korea,
Iran, Mexico, Singapore and
Brazil all in different camouflage
schemes. Bearing in mind that
36 nations used the type so
I am sure we will see further
boxings of this kit and Kittyhawk
have already announced a two
seat F-5F later this year.
Personally, I would like some
Swiss and Austrian options
which would also enable us to
produce an F-5N Aggressor as
used by the US Navy. And maybe
even a Tigereye reconnaissance
version as used by Malaysia,
Singapore and Saudi Arabia.Italian Falcon
T
wo late for the Czech New
section so a welcome
addition to The SAM is
the new announcement that
Sword is going to release an all
new 1/72 scale Reggiane Re2000family.. Two boxings will be
available the first covering the
Re2000 and a second covering the
Re2000GA. The box art we have
seen must be the most impressive
that we have seen from thismanufacturer and should help
draw attention to these new kits.
In addition, a very limited
box set of just 500 examples
will also be produced that will
contain the following versions- Reggiane Re 2000 Falco
- Reggiane Re 2000 GA Falco
- Reggiane Re2001 Falco II
- Reggiane Re 2002 Ariete
- Reggiane Re2002bis Ariete
- Reggiane Re 2005 Sagittario
Two Seaters from China
D
ue from Trumpeter
in the next month is
the two seat version
of there Delta Dart tooling in
1/72 scale to produce an F-102B
which like many two seaters is
actually more attractive than
the single seat versions.The second two seat is not
a trainer but the Fairy Firefly
Mk.1 carrier fighter in 1/48 scale,
following a long Royal Navy
tradition of having two crew
despite the loss of power and
manoeuvrability caused by this
decision. By the time the type
entered service the Royal
Navy was flying Sea Hurricane,
Grumman Hellcats and Vought
Corsair single seat fighters..
So the type never really
served in the fighter role instead
metamorphosing into a useful
Ground attack and Anti-
submarine aircraft with the latermarks serving into the 1950s with
the Royal Navy and as late as the
early 1960s with Royal Netherlands
Navy. So this all new injection
moulded tooling of the Firefly will
be welcomed by many especially
if Trumpeter carry on to produce
the later marks in due course.AND THE
WINNER IS...
Airfix 1/24 Scale
Hawker Typhoon
Competition Winner
Miss M Allan from
Mid Lothian, Scotland
Our thanks to the record
number of readers who took
part in this competition
and there will be more
to come in 2018.THE JAPANESE METHOD
T
here is a certain Japanese
manufacturer who
constantly reissues new
versions of there older kits.
Airfix is also doing the same in
both scales but at least they are
using new toolings rather than
something first produced in the
1970s. In fact, in some cases, thesenew releases will be more sort
after than the original boxings.- Messerschmitt Bf109E-1/E-4
- North American F-51D Mustang
- North American Mustang MK.IV
- Supermarine Spitfire F.Mk.22/24
- Hawker Sea Fury FB.11
“E x por t Ed it ion” - Bristol Blenheim Mk.1F
- Supermarine Walrus
“Silver Wings” - Gloster Meteor FR.9
- Supermarine Walrus
That’s All Folks
Or was it, for a very short time
a twenty eighth release was
shown on the Airfix website
an all-new tool 1/48 scale
Supermarine Spitfire Mk.XIV.
So maybe we still have a few
more surprises to come from
Airfix this year after all?44 • FEBRUARY 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
042-47-News-0218.indd 44 12/01/2018 11:57