Scale aviation modeller international

stage, and as with the

cockpit side windows,

the openings need a

little adjusting to get the

clear parts to it properly.

If you are building the USAF

option, there are two more

lashed-over holes that need

opening up in the cockpit roof.

The lower wing halves attached

to the upper with no real drama.

The instructions would have you

attach the rocket launchers in

place now, but as they will get in

the way of the decaling process I

found it is best to leave them of

until the very end of the build.

The next two stages deal with

the assembly and itting of the

laps and their separate actuators,

and these went smoothly. But

Stage 24 covers the itting of the

wing assembly to the fuselage and

here you do need to make some

adjustments to ensure a good it.

I also found that the wing

support struts (Part 1D) are a

fraction too long so needed a

little trimming to get a good it.

The engine cowlings came

next and they itted neatly

onto the fuselage, and they

can be posed open to display

the engine if you wish.

Finally, for this stage, four

lifting loops are itted to the

cockpit roof, which are rather small

pieces that need careful cleanup.

PAINTING AND DECALS

Two colour schemes are provided

in the kit. The irst is a US Army

example, based at Fort Rucker,

Alabama, USA, in 1965 in an overall

olive drab, with bright orange

panels on the nose, tail, tips of

the wings, and tailplane. The

second option, and my choice, a

USAF machine lying out of Da

Nang in South Vietnam in 1966.

I started by applying Tamiya

masks over all the clear parts before

I started. The instructions show

the overall colour to be “Natural

Steel”, which I thought was a

bit suspect. After some research

Fuselage closed up, and you can see the

replacement brake cables made from wire

Top view. Windshield yet to be fitted. You can

see the shortfall of the canopy brace

Close-up of brace

Kit’s instrument panel detailed with Airscale

decals

There’s quite a gap between the canopy and

the fuselage. You can also see where I had to fill

a gap in the wing to fuselage join

Kit exhausts were a bit rough, so they were

replaced with scratch built items

The ejector mark problem was solved when I

made the cockpit lining with Milliput

16 • DECEMBER 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL