Pitts S 2A
A Model 1/72 Pitts S 2A by Juan Manuel Valea
SCALE: 1/72
KIT NUMBER: 7228
PARTS: 34 White plastic, 2 clear
DECAL OPTIONS: 6T
he Pitts Special (company
designations S1 and S2) is
a series of light aerobatic
biplanes designed by Curtis
Pitts, which has accumulated
many competition wins since
its irst light in 1944. The Pitts
biplanes dominated world
aerobatic competition in the
1960s and 1970s, and even today
remain a potent competition
aircraft in the lower categories.
In 1972, the US Aerobatic Team
won the World Championships
lying only Pitts biplanes. In 1977
Curtis Pitts sold his interests in
the Pitts S1 and S2 to Doyle Child.
Child later sold the rights in
1981 to Frank Christensen, who
continued production at the Afton
plant under the guise of Christen
Industries.The rights for homebuilt
versions of the Pitts were sold
in 1994 to Steen Aero Lab, with
the Afton factory and production
rights being transferred to Aviat.THE KIT
The white plastic parts exhibit some
nice recessed panelling but lots of
lash, and when I say lots, I mean
lots of lots. And on irst inspection
the decals look odd – very matt or
opaque – but in register, providing
six diferent color schemes:
MicroLease, Rothmans, Toyota, and
a Canadian plane. The Instructions
are clear but rather crude, with
classic black and white diagrams
that also include the colour options,
all crammed on one little sheet.THE BUILD
As usual I started with the cockpit.
This comprises a loor, seat, control
stick and instrument panel, with
no sidewall details. I used Revell
Aqua Black for the interior withSilver and Brown for the seat.
Seatbelts were fashioned from
blue masking tape and photo-etch
buckles from my spares box.
The Instrument panel was
painted light grey, with a really
heavy wash of Tamiya Black PanelLiner. Once this had dried tiny
dots of red and yellow were added
to represent switches. Closing
the fuselage was an easy task, but
the it is really bad; this became
a theme for the rest of the build
wherever there was a join.
The kit required a lot of putty,
especially considering how tiny
the plane is. I used my trusty
Tamiya Grey Filler, and for the irst
time I tried Vallejo Acrylic Plastic
Putty. This is very nice, as you can
smooth it with a cotton bud soaked
in wáter, but it cannot be sanded
very much. I found it very useful
to use on places that are hard to
get at, and it is now an essential
addition to my workbench.THE PAINTING
I chose the yellow/black livery (no
further information is provided on
the subject), mainly because those
are the colours of my local soccer60 • DECEMBER 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
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