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Lockheed RF-80A

Sword 1/72 Lockheed RF-80A: Shooting Stars Over Korea by Steve Corvi

MANUFACTURER: Sword

SCALE: 1/72

PARTS: 54 grey plastic, 5 clear plastic, 5

resin

TYPE: New-tool

OPTIONS: 2

HISTORY

T

he Lockheed F-80 was

the first operational

jet in the USAF, which

served in fighter, bomber, and

reconnaissance roles. It did not

incorporate the swept-wing

configuration of the contemporary

F-86; instead, the airframe had

a conventional straight wing

layout with the centrifugal-

type Allison J-33 jet engine.

The RF-80A was powered by

the then-newer GE J-33-GE-11

centrifugal flow engine, which

produced 3850 lbs of thrust. For

cameras, the RF-80 was fitted

with K-17 and split-vertical K-22

cameras. It entered service in

1948 and was the USAF’s major

reconnaissance jet aircraft,

flying many sorties over North

Korea and China’s Yalu river

regions. It was also the chase

plane during the famous X-plane

flights of the late 1940s.

THE KIT

The Sword kit is the first dedicated

kit of the RF-80 in 1/72 scale,

although there have been a few

nose conversions for other 1/72 kits

of the F/P-80 (especially the Airfix

kit), in both vacform and resin.

Sword released versions of the

P/F-80 kits, and they are excellent

limited-run kits that build into nice

examples of the type. This kit is the

first dedicated 1/72 RF-80 in one

box, with everything the modeller

needs to build the kit without

resorting to the aftermarket.

THE BUILD

The kit requires that you cut the gun

nose off and use an injected clear

nosepiece for the recce version.

The fit is good, but I recommend

you measure carefully before

committing to cutting the nose. The

cockpit is a good representation

of the front office but requires

some careful painting. I used

Mike Grant instrument decals

to get the panel looking smart.

With appropriate washes

and dry-brushing, the resin seat

painted up well, as does the cockpit

itself. I painted the interior of

the fuselage with interior green

and aluminium colours, with

washes to lift out the detail. At

the same time I also painted the

resin wheel wells and wings to

prepare for the main airframe

construction. The main colours

I used were Gunze H464 Chrome

Green and Tamiya XF-1Flat Black.

To make the build go easier, I

employed some scratch-building by

62 • NOVEMBER 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

KIT REVIEWS

056-65-Reviews-1118.indd 62 12/10/2018 15:58