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Schopf Tow Tractor

First look at Big Sky 1/32 Schopf Large Aircraft Tow Tractor

S

omething a bit different

from Big Sky Models this

month, in the shape of the

RAF’s Schopf Large Aircraft Tow

Tractor. I have seen models of

this type of tractor before in 1/144

scale but never in the larger size.

It is used to tow the Royal Air

Force’s Airbus Atlas C.1, Boeing

E.3 Sentry, and C-17 Globemaster:

the first two are already available

in kit form in 1/72 scale from

Revell and Heller/Airfix, while

Kinetic have announced

that a C-17 is on the way.

This kit is made up of 26 resin

parts, which will need some

preparation before use by removing

the casting blocks and the filling

of a few small air bubbles. Like all

resin kits, it is recommended that

you clean the parts well in warm

soapy water to remove any trace

of the mould release agents.

With the preparation out of

the way, construction should be

relatively simple, aided by the

instructions, which use a mix of

black and white photographs and

clear text. The RAF have painted

these tractors in a very colourful

scheme of overall golden yellow

with wasp stripes on front and back,

with the tow bar attachment points

painted in red. If that were not

colourful enough, the RAF has also

painted the rear side

panels with a quarter

of the RAF roundel.

This marking,

plus the wasp

stripes and Royal

Air Force badge

for the doors, are

supplied on the decal

sheet, along with

seven alternative

registration plates.

The decals also

includes all the grey

anti-slip walkways

for the upper body

of the tractor. I

really like the way

these have

been painted in different

shades, just like the real

thing, but the decals have

been printed on white decal

paper with a continuous

film, which means that you

have to cut the images very

closely before application.

This also means that the

badge for the door and

the ID numbers had to be

printed with a section of the

golden yellow body colour,

which may be hard to match

without some paint mixing.

CONCLUSION

As most of the RAF’s large aircraft are

painted in greys with low-visibility

markings, this tractor will certainly

add a splash of colour to any 1/72

scale diorama featuring these

aircraft. And I am hoping that Big

Sky may consider producing a tow

bar to join the aircraft to the tug.

Big Sky is one modeller’s attempt

to provide something a little bit

different. If you are interested in

this kit you can contact Big Sky

Model at [email protected]

for details of pricing and postage,

and we thank them for supplying

us with the review sample.

CONCLUSION

This is an impressive kit of an early

Focke Wulf Fw-190A, and bearing

in mind that it includes resin and

etched brass, plus a really high-

quality decal sheet, I can recommend

it to anyone with a few large scale

kits under their belt. The A-4 and

A-4/U-8 versions however, may

be a bit more challenging.

And I would really recommend

building one of Revell’s Fw190A8s

to display alongside, as the

difference in length and the other

improvements made to the later

airframe become really obvious.

Our thanks to Pacific Coast

Models for supplying us with

the review kit and I hope we will

see some more new-tool kits in

the near future. Does anyone

else fancy some 1/32 scale

Bf109 B to Ds to this qualityi?

Note the Subtle fabric control surfaces

The detail will be easy to emphasise with a

wash or some pre-shading

Eduard’s nice pre-coloured brass adds that

final touch

The parts produced by Sword are in shiny plastic which holds the

engraved detail very well

44 • OCTOBER 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

FIRST LOOK!

042-45-FirstLooks-1018.indd 44 14/09/2018 15:17