Scale Aviation Modeller International — February 2018

F28-1000 Fellowship

F-RSIN 1/144 F28-1000 Fellowship by David Matthews-Smith

D

espite being a popular

short-haul, short-field

airliner, which has seen

many decades of service in most

corners of the world, modellers

have had to wait a long time for

an injection moulded kit of the

Fokker F28. Thankfully, F-RSIN

have boldly stepped into the void,

providing two different kits that

allow all three principal variants

(-1000, -2000, and -4000) to be

modelled out of the box, or with

minor modifications (the least

common variant, the -3000,

requires swapping wings and

fuselages from a -1000 kit and

a -4000 kit, with the bonus of

producing a -2000 version, in

addition to the -3000). These kits

are especially welcome, given

the wide range of colourful and

nostalgic liveries the aircraft

has worn around the globe.

When choosing to build this kit, it

is important to understand the ethos

of F-RSIN. F-RSIN have the courage

and passion to provide models

of airliners that the mainstream

model manufacturers are less

willing to produce. Modellers need

to be mindful of this simple fact

of modelling life when working

with a relatively short-run kit –

and be prepared for a little extra

work to clean up small parts and

perhaps add extra details such as

aerials, etc – rather than face the

alternative of no model at all.

F-RSIN’s standard box labelling

is quite clear: “...for the enthusiastic

modeller”. These kits are for

modellers – not ”assemblers”

who expect parts to fall together.

So, this enthusiastic modeller is

looking forward to building several

of F-RSIN’s different variants

of this distinctive airliner.

BACKGROUND

Given the worldwide success of

the F27 Friendship twin turboprop

airliner, Fokker naturally wanted

to develop a pure jet successor,

adopting the popular rear-engine,

T-tail arrangement, but optimised

for short, regional landing strips,

and therefore characterised by the

modest wing sweep and tail cone

clamshell airbrakes. The original

F28-1000 fuselage was stretched to

produce the longer -2000 version,

offering increased passenger

capacity. The subsequent -3000 and

-4000 variants introduced wings

of greater span, combined with the

shorter and longer fuselage options

of the earlier versions, respectively.

THE KIT

F-RSIN have produced two different

kits, the F28-1000 and -4000

versions, allowing all four variants

to be modelled reasonably easily.

The British Airways F28-2000

version comprises the long fuselage,

long wingspan sprue of the -4000,

which only needs the wing tips to

be shortened to produce the -2000

version. This review focuses on the

short fuselage, short wing -1000

version, which is available in Air

France (pre-”bar code” scheme);

British Airways (Landor scheme);

Air Anglia; Aerolineas Argentinas;

Air UK; SAS; or USAir liveries. If this

generous selection isn’t enough for

you, there are over a dozen other

schemes already available from a

range of decal manufacturers.

The single sprue of reasonably

soft grey plastic provides a classic

breakdown of parts, including

fuselage halves, wing halves, and

engine halves with separate fan disks

and nozzles, plus basic undercarriage

components, amounting to 44 parts

in all. There are no clear parts or

window or windscreen cut outs,

but windows and windscreens are

included with all decal options.

No locating pins are provided on

the fuselage halves, but these short

components are flat with no twist or

warping, allowing them to be joined

accurately without any bother.

Locating pins are provided on the

engine pylons to ensure positive

location on the rear fuselage, while

robust tabs are provided to locate

the wings, tailplanes, and fin.

Relatively fine panel lines are

engraved on the fuselage halves,

being more restrained than the

much deeper lines of the Revell F100.

The engraved panel lines on the

wings are less consistent, however,

almost disappearing in places on the

underside of the wings (although

many modellers would argue that

panel lines are inappropriate on a

1/144 scale kit anyway). Options to

correct this include: 1) filling all panel

lines, 2) filling and re-scribing, or

3) applying decal panel lines, taken

from three-view drawings (or using

the Jet Set Air France decal sheet,

which provides a decal for the upper

wing surfaces, including the wing

walkway lines, plus outlines for the

flaps, ailerons, and lift dumpers).

Fine surface blemishes can be

found on the tailplanes and tail

section of the right fuselage half, but

a coat of primer or fine surface filler

and a quick rub with very fine emery

paper should quickly deal with these.

Moderate flash is a typical feature

of these kits, requiring patience and

perhaps some relaxing music to

make the necessary task of cleaning

up the smaller parts more agreeable.

Some modellers may choose to

drill and gently cut out the plastic

infill between the undercarriage

oleos and compression struts for

improved realism, and others

may choose to replace the short

wing fences with plastic sheet or

brass (which will also be required

to add the distinctive V-shaped

VHF aerial behind the cockpit,

and the HF ”towel rail” aerials on

the belly ahead of the wings).

The instruction sheet is relatively

simple, but identifying several

smaller items on the sprue is

difficult, along with establishing

where to position them on the

model. F-RSIN have already provided

me with further details regarding

these parts, which I shall address in

a build review, already in progress.

DECALS

The USAir example of the F28-1000

kit has three decal sheets. First

is a crisply printed ”universal”

silkscreen-printed details sheet,

which includes windscreens

and windows for short and long

fuselages; wing walkway lines and

escape route markings for long

and short wingspans; white and

grey door outlines; plus cargo door

outlines and other details. A separate

laser-printed sheet provides

full cheat lines, tail markings,

fuselage logos, and a full fleet of

registrations. A small third sheet

has silkscreen-printed white USAir

backgrounds to provide the white

outlines to the main logo titles.

CONCLUSION

This is a long-awaited and welcome

addition to the field of 1/144 airliners,

allowing the principal versions to be

built, and offering a range of modern

and nostalgic colour schemes. Those

modellers familiar with previous F-RSIN

kits, covering subjects often not provided

for by the larger manufacturers, will be

aware of the need for extra patience in

preparing and building this kit. It should

not be considered for an overnight build.

Acknowledging F-RSIN’s

standard “...for the enthusiastic

modeller” box labelling, care and

patience, plus a willingness to

provide additional details to taste

will allow a pleasing model of this

popular airliner to be produced.

This review kit was willingly

funded by this particular

”enthusiastic modeller” and

fan of the F28 Fellowship.

56 • FEBRUARY 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

FIRST LOOK!

052-57-FirstLooks-0218.indd 56 12/01/2018 12:03