Scale Aviation Modeller International 08.2018

Iskra TS-11

Arma Hobby 1/72 Iskra TS-11 Bis DF by Carmel J Attard

MANUFACTURER: Arma Hobby

SCALE: 1/72

KIT NO: 70004

LEVEL: Junior set

TYPE: Injection moulded

PARTS: 55

DECAL OPTION: one

T

he TS-11 Iskra (Spark)

made its maiden flight

on 5th February 1960

to become the main jet trainer

for the Polish Air Force. It came

second to the Czech L-29 Delfin

in the competition to find a new

trainer jet for the then Warsaw

Pact nations. Poland decided

to continue with development

and production of the Iskra

to meet its requirements and

it is still flying today. Design

of the Iskra is conventional

with two seats in tandem

and a 2,2050 Lb st nationally

developed SO-1 turbojet.

THE KIT

The kit represents an Iskra 100,

which is armed with a 23mm gun in

the nose and four underwing racks

for bombs or rockets. It is injection

moulded in light grey styrene on

two trees containing 51 parts and

another with three canopy parts

and a landing light item. 12-page

instructions contain parts plan,

twelve stages of construction,

colour callout in FS numbers and

the box art on one side and 4-plan

views on the other and very suitable

for reference for decal placement.

The kit supplies markings for one

Polish example in an overall metal

finish with a medium grey anti glare

area ahead of the canopy. Being a

junior set this boxing contains no

resin or brass etch parts and the

bi-lingual instructions contain

detail clear assembly diagrams.

I have previously made

models of the Iskra from two

other manufacturers but the

new Arma Hobby kit is easily

the best kit of this type. With

dimensions and profile that appear

perfectly rendered and having

panel lines finely recessed.

Before starting assembly, the

cockpit detailed side consoles,

which are integrally moulded with

the floor, are first painted in dark

ghost grey and the instrument area

in black with white dial detail. The

cockpit is then assembled having

rudder pedals, two control columns

and the instrument panels, which

are all glued in place along with a

front and rear bulkhead. The front

bulkhead required a small amount

of trimming from the sides in order

to allow the fuselage halves to

close. The delicate fuselage interior

ribbing on sides was given a light

wash to enhance the detail. I also

added a crew figure to the forward

seat which came from my spares

box. I also decided to add some nose

weight to the practically empty

nose compartment to prevent any

chance of tail siting. I shaped a

piece of plastic card to a semi oval

shape which was used to form the

roof of the nose wheel well and hide

the nose weight that I added in the

upper nose section.

Having closed the

fuselage I then turned

to the wings. A little

sanding was needed

on the lower wing so

that it fits flush with

the upper wing parts.

One thing to watch

out for are the pitot

tubes moulded to the

tips of upper wing

parts and therefore

care is needed during

assembly to protect

these although these

are quite stout. After

the wings slotted into

place then there were

a few antennas that

were added to the lower fuselage.

I am surprised that Arma

added so much detail to the

landing gear and main wheel

wells. You also have the option to

pose the wheels retracted though

I presume some filler may be

needed to the wheel well doors.

The canopy needs just a little

adjustment to get the best fit and

all that was needed now was to

mask the crystal clear canopy

and the wheel wells before first

spraying the anti glare panel in

medium grey and the rest of the

model being sprayed with Humbrol

Acrylic Spray AD600 metallic silver.

Allowing the silver to set for six

hours, then all the masking was

removed except that on the canopy.

Decals were applied which proved to

be a flawless process and the model

was airbrushed in Alclad 2 clear

light sheen overall. Canopy masking

was finally removed to reveal a

well-defined canopy framing.

CONCLUSION

A small, simple kit to assemble,

that leaves you with an impressive

model of which encourages me to

have a go at producing the upgraded

version in two-tone grey camouflage

Iskra that Arma have also released.

Thank to Arma for giving me the

opportunity to build this fine model.

62 • AUGUST 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

KIT REVIEWS

056-63-Reviews-0818.indd 62 12/07/2018 11:50