Scale aviation modeller international

like the Hurricane, P-36, MS 406

and Bf 109D. Various changes to

the planes armament led to the

I.A.R.80 A, B and C sub-versions

being created, and also the I.A.R.81

C which was designed for the

fighter-bomber role in the spring

of 1941. A specialised dive bomber

version, the I.A.R.81 BoPi was

also built, fitted with a hinged

underbelly bomb rack of design

similar to that of the Stuka. When

the bomb was released during the

dive, the rack swung it outside the

propeller arc. Two batches of the

BoPi version were built, machines

c/n 91-105 and c/n 151-175

The Romania Air Force ́s fighter

and ground attack units were

equipped with the I.A.R.80/81

type right from the beginning of

the country ́s involvement in the

Second World War and until the

end of hostilities. Fifty I.A.R.80s

were in service during the attack

against the Soviet Union on 22 June

1941. The 6th Group (61st and 62nd
      squadrons) and the 8th Group (41st
      and 60th Squadrons) were engaged

at the Stalingrad front during the

autumn of 1942. The 1 August 1943

saw I.A.R.80 & 81s defending the

Ploiesti oil plants from attack by

USAAF B-24 Liberators, during

‘Operation Tidal Wave’, when the

Rumanian fighters downed some

of the heavy bombers. On 10 June

1944, I.A.R.81Cs from 6th Fighter

Group confronted P-38 Lightnings

belonging to the USAAF 82nd and

1st FG (American pilots mistakenly

reported having fought Fw 190As).

Romania joined the Allies on

24 August 1944 and changed back

the national insignia worn by its

aircraft from crosses to traditional

blue, yellow and red roundels.

Being under Soviet command, the

I.A.R.80/81 units saw combat over

Hungary and later also during

the liberation of Czechoslovakia

over the areas of Moravia and

Slovakia, where they enjoyed and

suffered their final victories and

losses. Remaining airframes of

the 80/81 type were kept in service

in Romania until the 1950s, some

of them were also rebuilt in 1950

to an advanced trainer version

known as the I.A.R.81DC.

In the box you will find in total

seven injection moulded sprues

made using steel tools, one clear

styrene sprue with canopy parts

and other smaller clear items, a

nicely detailed set of resin parts

and a fret of photo etch. The model

comes complete with the centre-

line rack bomb and underwing

bombs and their racks. The decals

offer four Romanian options, two

of them in a three-tone scheme, the

other two in two-tone camouflage.

In future news, we can look

forward to 1/48 scale kits of the

Grumman AF-3S Guardian and

in 1/72 scale a Douglas C-41A US

Transport plane and a Northrop

Delta MkII/III in RCAF service.

Towards the end of the year,

with any luck, we will see the

release of the 1/32 scale Westland

Whirlwind Fighter, a 1/48 scale

Siebel Si 204 and an all new tool 1/72

scale the Sunderland flying boat.

YOU NEED THIS MAGAZINE!

EYES IN THE SKYRevell 1/144 E2-C Hawkeye

FIRST LOOKRevell 1/48 Beaufighter TF.X (Test Shot)

Kittyhawk 1/32 F-5E Tiger IIJasmine Models 1/48 Late Hellcat Skeleton

SWEET LITTLE THINGSSweets 1/144 Type 96 Claude

...And Much Much More

SMALL SCALE TONYTamiya’s New 1/72 Kit

BOMBERBuilding Revell’s Upgraded Ju-88 in 1/32 Scale

Technik

JULY 2018Vol 24 Issue 7 £4.75

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whot xec 4 ulo sgviueides

VolPrinted in UK 48 IssJULY 2018 568 £4.75

JULY 2018 Vol^17 Iss 07 £4.75Printed in UK

EXCLUSIVEHATAKA MASTERCLASSFlying Gas Station

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SHACK

AIR RACE SPITFIREMk.XIV 1947

combat edgeAGGRESSIVE TALON – T-38

Zero HourA6M5

Avro’s AEW.2Swing-RollStinger

Zerstörerin WinterBf 110C-4

BANSHEE Airframe Guide F2H-2/F2H-2P

SAM-Pocketmags-July-1|2-2018.indd 1 11/06/2018 13:04

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