Zebra
SPECIAL HOBBY
T
his month we have three
rather diverse releases
announced by Special
Hobby. First up in 1/72 scale is
the civil Do 27, also in 1/72 scale
is the FH-1 Phantom and last but
by no means least in 1/32 scale
Special hobby have released the
dive bomber version of the IAR-81.DORNIER DO 27 “CIVILIAN
SERVICE” 1/72
After the Second World War,
many German aircraft designers
feared the possible ban on aircraft
production and began to leave
the country. Among them was
Claudius Dornier Jr, the son of the
famous German aircraft builder. He
settled in Spain where he founded a
company named Oficinas Técnicas
Dornier (OTEDO). In the mid 1950s,
the Spanish Air Ministry was
looking for a new STOL aircraft and
having received the order for such
an aircraft, Dornier designed the
Dornier Do 25 type, a high wing
aircraft for a crew of four. Two
prototype airframes were built by
CASA company in Spain, while in
Germany, in the rebuilt Dornier
works, the type was redesigned
as the Do 27, powered by the
Lycoming GSO-480-B1B6 engine.
This type was also finally put into
production, becoming the first
aircraft to be mass-produced in
Germany after the war. In total,
428 airframes were built in several
different versions and they were
operated by all three services of
the newly built German military.
At the same time, a 50-unit batch
was also being produced in Spain
for their military, named the CASA
C-127/U.9. The types many versions
differed mainly by the style of the
undercarriage, engine and propeller
used, the shape of the tail fin or
by having either single or twin
controls in the cockpit. The Dornier
Do 27 was not only used by air
forces of many European countries,
namely by Portugal, Belgium,
Sweden, Switzerland and some
others, but also elsewhere over
the globe. It could be seen flying
in several African countries, in the
State of Israel and also in Turkey.
The type found its way tocivil aviation market too and
was quite liked by ’bush pilots’
for its excellent performance
in harsh conditions. In Europe,
the Do 27 served as touring
or skydiving aircraft.
This nicely detailed model
originates in steel moulding tools
and comes on five sprues of grey
styrene and one sprue of clear
part. Both the front cockpit door
and the large fuselage window
on either side of the fuselage
can be posed open to show off
the busy interior of the model.
The decal sheet offers markings
for three machines; Option A,
portrays, arguably the most
popular civilian Do 27 ever, the
Zebra-striped machine which was
owned by biologist and filmmaker
M.Grzimek and was flown in the
skies of Africa. Option B brings
an all-yellow Swiss machine and
the final marking option depicts
a quite unique machine which
had an Australian registration
and was operated in Papua-New
Guinea (administered by Australia
prior 1975) by a Christian mission.
The airframe was painted in
white and two shades of green.FH-1 PHANTOM “DEMONSTRATION
TEAMS AND TRAINERS” 1/72
This was the first US Navy jet
aircraft to be operated from an
aircraft carrier and the first jet of
the US Marines. Its fame was later
superseded by the MD Phantom II.
The McDonnell company was
established in 1939, and in 1940
it received its first contract for a
production of subassemblies for
other producers. In January 1943,
McDonnell’s design team was
assigned a new job when the US
Navy commissioned a jet fighter
aircraft to be built which was to
be known as the FD-1, later to be
renamed to the FH-1 in 1947 (in US
Navy system, the
letter D denoted
the Douglas
company).
The team, led
by K Perkins, put
forward a concept
of a straight
wing monoplane
of all-metal
construction with
power plants
supplied byWestinghouse. The machine was
fitted with six machine guns in
the nose section and the Phantom
military nickname was chosen. The
type’s Model 19 powerplants proved
to lack the necessary performance
and were quite unreliable. However,
the prototype XFD-1 machine begun
its taxiing tests fitted with this type
of powerplants, to be more precise it
was fitted with just one engine. On
26 January 1945, an accidental hop
occurred during taxiing which was
considered the type’s very first take
off. The flight tests went on until
1 November 1945 when the plane
crashed, killing its pilot, W Burke.
It was hard times for the company,
indeed. The original order calling
for 100 examples of the aircraft was
cut down to just 30 airframes by the
end of the war, however, eventually,
as many as 60 airframes were
requested. The flight tests went on
with the second prototype, during
these tests the very first landing
and consequent take off from an
aircraft carrier occurred, making
the Phantom the very first naval jet
aircraft to achieve this milestone.
The production machines
differed from the prototypes by
having their tail fins squared off,
the windshield was simplified, fuel
tanks enlarged and a provision
for another tank carried under the
belly was also made. The very first
production airframes, the FH-1,
went to VF-17 unit, making it the
first jet aircraft unit of the US Navy.
The unit was later re-equipped
with the more modern Banshee
type and renamed to VF-171. The
second Navy unit to operate the
Phantom was VF-172, while the first
Marines unit to do so was VFM-122,
which, led by ace pilot Marion E
Carl received their FH-1s during
the Autumn of 1947. It was also
this unit that formed an Aerobatic
team named the Marine Phantoms.
A second team was established
at the Naval Air Test Centre at
Patuxent River, named the Gray
Angels, but was also unofficially
known as the Admirals‘ Group as
its members were Rear Admirals
D Galler, E A Cruise and A Soucek.
The FH-1 Phantom was not in
first line service very long with
the type rapidly being transferred
to the Naval Air Reserve. And by
1955, the Phantom had retired
from active service. In 1964,two airframes were sold by the
US Government to Progressive
Aero Inc for civil jet pilot training
but again were rapidly retired.
Special Hobby have produced a
1/72 Phantom jet back in the 1990’s
but this version is a completely
new, 3D-designed, cutting-edge
model which, apart from the name
Phantom, has absolutely nothing
common with the previous one!
There are three sprues of grey
injected moulded styrene, one
clear sprue and a fret of photo-
etched details. The decal sheet is
by Cartograf and caters for four
machines, three of which are in the
standard dark blue while the fourth
option portrays a civilian machine
in white overall with red trim.- Option 1, FH-1,750 operated
by the NATC and flown by
Rear Admiral Apollo Soucek,
member of the Gray Angels
aerobatics and display team. - Option 2 FH-1, 108 assigned to
Naval Air Station Grosse Ile,
1951, with the fuselage band in
Orange. On the occasion of a
public show, this airframe was
carried an enlistment poster
underneath its canopy, the poster
is also in the decal sheet. - Option 3, FH-1 of the Marine
Phantoms display team of
VMF-2, with yellow trim. - Option 4, FH-1 N2482A, as used
for the pilot training at the
Teterboro School of Aviation, 1964.
IAR-81 BOPI “DIVE BOMBER” 1/32
In the late 1930s, the Polish PZL
P.11 and P.24 all-metal, high wing
fighter planes were produced
under licence by I.A.R., Industria
Aeronautica Romana. As it was
quite clear that such type of design
was nearing obsolescence and the
future belonged to low wing fighters
with retractable undercarriage
and enclosed canopy, a design
team led by Ion Grosu was formed
with the aim to produce a modern
warplane. Using the P.24 ́s fuselage
structure, a new fighter plane was
created and named the I.A.R.80.
The first prototype airframe was
fitted with the I.A.R. 14K-IIc32
fourteen cylinder, double-row
radial, delivering 870 hp and was
taken aloft for the first time on
April 4, 1939. The new fighter had
performance approaching that
of contemporary foreign designs38 • JULY 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
034-39-News-0718.indd 38 11/06/2018 15:37