Scale aviation modeller international

bomber in the Atlantic and Arctic and as a medium bomber and transport aircraft on the Western, Eastern, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and North African fronts. the V-1 flying bomb, early versions of which were launched from aircraft rather than from ground In 1944, Germany had developed (ski-jump) launchers, as they were later in the war. The aircraft chosen to carry out this task was the He 111H. These had to carry the V-1s at extremely low level to avoid detection by British radar, climbing sharply to about 1,500ft

(450m) as they approached the coast before releasing the V-1. A number of variations, including the He 111H-6, H-16, H-21 and H-22, were modified to carry the V-1s. After modification, all these aircraft became known as the He 111H-22. the V-1 flying bomb was such a The use of the He 111H-22 and success that over 100 aircraft were modified to He 111H-22 standards and delivered to KG53 for the sole purpose of launching the V-1 at British targets. remained in service in Spain German-built He 111s

after the end of the Second World War, being supplemented by Spanish licence-built CASA 2.111s from 1950. The last two German-built aircraft remained in service until at least 1958. FIRST IMPRESSIONS As with all ICM offerings, the Heinkel comes supremely well packaged in a stout box with a separate lid and looks glorious upon opening said box. It comprises seven well-moulded sprues in grey and one in clear for the nose

glazing and various windows. The clear parts look absolutely fantastic, while the grey ones seem to have a slightly grainy finish to the external surfaces. with lovely clear instructions in English and what I take to be Ukranian. Inspection of the parts It’s beautifully presented on the sprues reinforces these good impressions; panel lines are consistent and subtle, with rivets appearing where they are supposed to. Parts are almost totally free of flash and most of the inevitable ejector pin marks

ICM 1/48 Heinkel He 111H-3 by PeteR BarkerMAINSTAY OF THE LUFTWAFFE THeinkel Flugzeugwerke in 1934, ostensibly as a modern, rapid airliner and transport for civilian use by Lufthansa, he Heinkel He 111 was designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter at but with the full intention of creating a medium bomber for the then-nascent Luftwaffe.- the Henkel 70 - was used as A previous successful design the starting point, evolving into a larger twin-engine aircraft, initially powered by a pair of BMW VI engines of 660 hp each. The first flight took place on February 24th 1935 and testing showed that despite its modern, streamlined design, the top speed was inadequate for what was intended. Thereafter many more variants appeared, identified by different letters of the alphabet, with a number of experimental versions being given the letter “V”. The

aircraft illustrated in ICM’s kit, and the one used in the Battle of Britain, was the He 111H, which came into being when the DB600A engines of the ”P ”variant were replaced with Junkers Jumo 211A power plants (1,100hp), whose somewhat greater size and weight were regarded as unimportant considerations in a twin-engine bomber design. of the Luftwaffe bombers during the early stages of the Second World War, but the Heinkel, which had fared well in combat before This was the most numerous the Battle of Britain, proved to be barely adequate once its weak defensive armament was exposed. Nevertheless, it was capable of remaining airborne after sustaining heavy damage. the He 111 was used in a variety of roles on every front in the European As the war progressed, theatre. Apart from its role as a strategic bomber during the Battle of Britain, it served as a torpedo

BOMBER

Blitz

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6 • SEPTEMBER 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

1/48BY SACCO DE VRIESHEINKEL HE 111H-3BY PETER BARKER

Expeditionary Force purchased 10 examples for training. The Caudron G.III preserved at the RAF Museum Hendon was still flying in Belgium in 1935. THE KITWhen this kit arrived, the editor passed it to me to write a preview and to build it. He asked if this could be a quick build and that was my intention... When I opened the box for

the preview I was immediately impressed by the contents. The plastic looked really good on the sprues, the decals were well-printed and in register, also included is some photo-etch steel and brass, and an instruction booklet that looked reminiscent of those supplied by Wingnut Wings. For the preview I had test-fitted the cockpit nacelle and wings and was really impressed with the fit. So, everything was in place for the quick build, references had

been checked, paints purchased as needed and the bench cleared!CONSTRUCTION I must confess I am one of those modellers who rarely follow the instructions too closely, so instead of starting with the cockpit, I assembled and painted the pair Copper State Models 1/48 Caudron G.IV Late Version by Tim Upson-Smith of Le Rhone rotary engines first. Once assembled they were given a coat of Revell Aqua Colour Aluminium, before the induction Treasons for this, some of which we will explore during this article. But before I begin the build portion I’ll start with a quick look at surviving his model has been on my bench on and off for just over a year; there are many examples of the Caudron G.IV. G.IV you will have to visit either the Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace, Le Bourget, in Paris, France, or the If you want to see a Caudron National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. The Paris example has been beautifully restored, whilst the Washington example has been conserved so it still retains as much as possible of its original finish. I have not, as yet, been lucky enough to visit either of these museums, but both are certainly on my list! (The Caudron G.IV in Paris, C.1720, is Option B in the colour schemes offered by

the Copper State Models kit.)in the UK, but we do have a Caudron G.III displayed at the RAF Museum Hendon, which is a single-engine We may not have a Caudron G.IV aircraft on which the twin-engine G.IV was based. There are some similarities between the two, so where the two types share parts I have provided some detail photos of the Hendon exhibit in this article.not the most well-known First World War aircraft, but it was a surprisingly useful type, with a The Caudron G.IV is perhaps good rate of climb, a modest bomb load of c. 100 kg, and a machine gun for the observer on a flexible mount. The type entered service with the French Air Arm in November 1915, staying in front-line service for just over a year. the UK, and in 1918 the American It was licence-built in Italy and

CAT’S CRADLE

A FRENCH KIT DETAILSMANUFACTURER: COPPER STATE MODELS KIT NUMBERSCALEDECALSBY CARTOGRAPH): 1/48 SCALE : 4 MARKING OPTIONS (DECALS : CSM 1027 PARTSPLASTIC PARTS OVER 4 SPRUES (1 SPRUE DUPLICATED)4 CLEAR FILM PARTS74 PHOTO-ETCH PARTS: 113 INJECTION MOULDED GREY

6 • SEPTEMBER 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM • SEPTEMBER 2018 • 7

1/48BY SACCO DE VRIESCAUDRON G.IVBY TIM UPSON-SMITH 1/

Percival Vega Gull’s First look at Dora Wings 1/72 Percival Vega Gull’s by Tim Upson-SmithDW72002: Percival Vega Gull (civil service) DW72004: Percival Vega Gull (military service) 57 injection moulded grey plastic parts 9 injection moulded clear parts 47 photo-etched steel partsCanopy and wheel masksFilm instruments I aviation has been overlooked by a lot of model companies, which is a shame as this period produced some of the world’s must confess that I have been looking forward to this release, as 1930s Golden Age most attractive aircraft. The box art for both versions is superb; I especially like the civil box art showing Alex Henshaws Gull flying over a DH 88 Comet. instruction booklet credits John Adams of Aeroclub with providing the drawings on which the kit is The introduction on the based and for providing every help and assistance during the kit’s development. As Dora Wings state, ”You’re the man John!“ I found this statement about the cooperation between the established company Aeroclub, and this newer company, Dora Wings, rather heart warming. Long may it continue! So what do we find inside the top-opening box? Let’s take a look: we have an A5 colour-printed instruction booklet, which has a brief introduction to the type, a sprue layout diagram, and the step- by-step construction diagrams. illustrated in colour at the back of the booklet. Strangely though, no colour names or manufacturer’s The marking schemes are paint codes are given, so you will need to do a bit of research for the interior colours and then match the paint to the decals for your chosen civil option. This will be easier for the

military version, as three of the options are all-over silver dope and the fourth option in the standard RAF dark earth and dark green over pale blue undersides. The civil options include two Gulls with red fuselages and two with a turquoise fuselage, which looks to be almost the same colour as the cockpit of Russian MiG’s from the 60s and 70s!provided in the civil version are:• G-AEKE, the winner of the 1936 Schlesinger Race, flown by The four colour schemes

VP-KCC, flown by Beryl Markham C.W.A. Scott and Giles Guthrie. Turquoise fuselage with silver dyed flying surfaces.in her September 1936 Atlantic

G-AFBW, flown by Alex flight. This is in the same turquoise scheme as option A.Henshaw 1938 in Cypress. This aircraft has a red fuselage with

G-AFBC, flown by Lady Sherborne white trim line (provided as a decal). The flying surfaces are finished in silver dope.
in the 1952 Kings Cup Air Race, race number 67. The fuselage is red with silver doped cowling, fin, rudder, and flying surfaces.The military service boxing also

has four markings options, 3 of which are overall silver dope.NZ571 42 Sqn RNZAF, Rongotai, 1944. This Gull is dark green and dark earth

over pale blue undersides.OO-ANC, requisitioned by the Belgium government during the

Phony War in 1939. This silver doped Gull has Belgian roundels over the civil registration.

L7272 ex G-AFWG was delivered to the Secretary of State for Air in 1939 and allocated to the Air Attaché in Buenos Aires,
Argentina. Overall silver dope.• T-6 ex -L7272, sold to the Argentine Government in 1946. The aircraft retained its overall silver dope finish.
in a resealable bag and the clear parts are bagged separately inside it. The decals, masks, and photo-etch are also bagged separately, The plastic parts are bagged
which is a really nice touch as it ensures the parts arrive in perfect condition. The decals are printed in the Ukraine by Decograph and are in perfect register and look
to have good colour density. type and the kit supplies them for both the canopy and wheels. No The masks are the grey vinyl
mention is made in the instructions of how to fit them, but if you have used masks before it should be fairly self-explanatory. The photo-etched steel fret offers
lap belts, the instrument panel, and some internal and external detail, including the pitot tube.moulded and feature raised or The plastic parts are well-
recessed details as appropriate. There is a bit of flash and moulded seam lines present that will need

to be cleaned up, but nothing major. Depending on the version you are building there are various optional parts, so it might be worth marking the parts you need on the instructions or removing the parts you don’t from the sprues before you start.The transparencies are supplied as multiple parts, with the cockpit doors being provided as separate parts. The parts are not the clearest I have seen but by the time they have been dipped in Johnson’s Klear/Future and the frame lines painted I think they should look fine. This looks to be a really nice kit from Dora Wings, but due to the lack of colour notes I would CONCLUSION recommend it to perhaps the more experienced modeller who doesn’t mind doing a bit of research before they start. For me personally that is half the fun of our hobby, but I know it’s not for everybody. of interest in British inter-war civil aircraft from kit manufacturers, which I for one applaud. Long may There does seem to be a revival it continue, as companies like Miles and Percival designed and built some very pretty aircraft, which I would love to see produced as mainstream injection moulded kits. supplying us with this kit for review. Once my current project is finished this will be going on to my bench, so look for a full build soon.My thanks to Dora Wings for

F-14D TomcatFirst look at Tamiya F-14D Tomcat Jthe F-14A was released in 2016 it was obvious that further variants would follow and two ust as we were about to go to press we received Tamiya’s new F-14D Tomcat. When years later we have the final Tomcat variant the F-14D.F-14D models were ordered but this was cut back to just 37 new Originally over 300 new build build aircraft and 18 upgraded from existing airframes.features of the D are the twin pods under the nose containing The main distinguishing an infrared track system and TV camera rather than the single pod of earlier models. The other recognition feature shared with the F-14B is the General Electric F-110 engines with their noticeably different exhaust pipes. The new Tamiya kit correctly captures all of these features as well as the various other smaller changes of the F-14D.the underwing stores, which illustrate the D Models change from out and out Interceptor Where this kit excels is in to a Multi Role Aircraft.weaponry and equipment to produce an aircraft in a number of different roles starting with the The kit supplies enough original Fleet Defence role using a mix of Sidewinders, Sparrow and Phoenix missiles. , For the Reconnaissance role we have a nice representation of the TARPS reconnaissance pod. This is the best I have ever seen in any scale with a

nice representation of the internal cameras something I have never seen reproduced before. Finally we have a choice of two bomber load outs using GBU-12 and GBU- laser Guided Bombs as well as the GBU-31 JDAM joint attack munition. To support the bombing role, you also have a nice representation of the AN/AAQ-25 LANTRIN targeting pod which is mounted under the port wing glove pylon.supplies full markings for all the of the ordinance as well as the One of the two decal sheets airframe stencilling. If you like colourful markings this sheet will not disappoint as it supplies marking for all four operation squadrons including three examples with very attractive full colour markings, while even the fourth subdued example still feature a rainbow on the rudder as well as a full colour unit crest.• F-14D, VF-2, Bounty Hunters, CAG Bird, USS Constellation May 2003 .• F-14D, VF-11, Red Rippers, CAG Bird, USS Carl Vinson, 1995.• F-14D, VF-101, Grim Reapers, September 2004.• F-14D, VF-213, Black Lions, USS Theodore Roosevelt. March 2006This new kit is sure to be popular due to its widespread distribution and ease of construction and is a fitting tribute to the last of the proper US Navy fighters.Our thanks to Tamiya’s UK importer the Hobby Company for supplying the review sample which is now available from all Tamiya stockist.

FIRST LOOK! FIRST LOOK!

Navy Technical Air Intelligence Unit in late 1945, dismantled and shipped to the United States. This sole remaining Shinden was reassembled, but never flown, being eventually transferred to the Smithsonian Institution in 1960. to be retrofitted with a Japanese adaptation of the German Jumo 004, Plans existed for this airframe their 900kp Ne-130 axial turbojet, when they became available.

For me, authoritative factual information is paramount, and for this project, one rare publication stood out – Koku Fan’s Profile THE MODEL No.153, dedicated to the Kyushu J7W1 Shinden, published January 1986. Most of the text is in Japanese, but the wealth of this 64 page soft-cover booklet lays in its superlative collection of

68 well-printed monochrome photos, a number of which are in full- or double-page presentation. every aspect of the aircraft’s This title covers virtually conception, fabrication, trials, and final disposal, in an unmatched single archive of original images. Complementing all this are eight double pages of well-executed overall and sectional drawings, clarifying a number of features in precise technical detail. In I short, this single volume was indispensable to me in this project.If you are faithfully modelling Japanese Navy Air Force’s (IJNAF) Kyushu J7W1 Shinden (Magnificent n considering the interesting design of the revolutionary canard-configured Imperial Lightning) interceptor from the late Pacific War, it’s clear that its configuration was utterly dominated by its armament and engine.The forward section, with four fixed 30 mm cannons in its streamlined nose, and the rea r-mounted supercha rged 2,130 HP Mitsubishi Ha-43 Type 12 eighteen-cylinder air-cooled radial (driving a unique 3.4 m diameter six-blade Sumitomo constant speed pusher-propeller), are all contained within the streamlined fuselage’s 9.66 m overall length. These were truly innovative, and potentially destructive, features for a single-seat fighter of that period.Developed by the IJNAF as a single-seat, short-range, point-defence, land-based fighter, and conceived to counter the American B-29 Superfortress threat, the Shinden was to be armed with

the aforementioned four 30 mm cannons in the nose (the principal offensive armament), two 7.9 mm machine guns, and two 30 to 60 kg bombs (which were token gestures to comply with initial IJN requirements).was expected to be a highly capable interceptor, with a maximum speed Heavily armed, the Shinden of 750 km/h (469 mph), range of 855 km (531 miles), and a service ceiling of 12,000 m (39,360 ft). It was initially proposed in early 1943 and subsequently evolved by the First Naval Air Technical Arsenal, with the first example completed in April 1945.On 3 August 1945, the first prototype took off from Itazuke Air Base, with Lieutenant-Commander Masayoshi Tsuruno at the controls. These trial flights were generally successful, but the two prototypes were the only Shindens actually completed. was scrapped; the surviving example was claimed by the US After the war one of these

This page clearly illustrated the close of my partial build, leaving the Kyushu J7W1 Shinden’s fascinating armament and engine configuration fully exposed The supporting very well rendered instruction booklet successfully conveys every aspect of this intriguing build, as exemplified in their layout of components

The faithful replication of the Kyushu J7W1 Shinden’s potent concentration of four Type 5 30 mm cannons in the nose is well captured in this model One of the highlights of this model was the very detailed multi-part Mitsubishi Ha-43 Type 12 eighteen cylinder air-cooled radial engine

SHINDEN

A SKELETAL

Zoukei Mura’s 1/48 scale ‘Super Wing Series’ overall presentation of the exceptional Kyushu J7W1 Shinden is first class, as was signposted through their nice box-top artwork

Kyushu J7W1 Shinden No.1 prototype interceptor in a pristine condition inside an empty hanger. Note the unarmed status of this initial airframe

Partially Modelling Zoukei Mura’s 1/48 Kyushu J7W1 Shinden by Mike Williams

6 • SEPTEMBER 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL Presumed to be Kyushu J7W1 Shinden No.2, judging by its near completion state and provision of ‘tail-wheels’ to the lower aft stabilisers, No.1 had these fitted after her first flight in which her propeller was damagedWWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM • SEPTEMBER 2018 • 7

1/48BY SACCO DE VRIESKYUSHU J7W1 SHINDENBY MIKE WILLIAMS 1/

instructions do that infuriating thing of a “?” and “Option” (for the seat cushions) without telling you why. PLEASE DON’T DO THAT! I was annoyed that the seat I have to write that sentence in just about every review I write: if there’s an option, tell us WHY it’s an option. I did find a picture that showed something resembling the single part (E78), and it appears

to be a cover over the seat (and belts), but I could be wrong. used it because, while it is nice that Kittyhawk supply etched brass, In retrospect, I should have they didn’t fit and don’t look much like the pictures I found of the real things. They also would have you build up the HUD area, which is an invitation to knocking it off well before fitting the canopy, so

I left that for now (though I will mention that while one side of the HUD body has a mounting hole for the lug on the HUD part, the other side doesn’t, so you need to cut the tab off E18 to fit it.). the cockpit is “Air Superiority Blue” and looking at the few pictures The main colour referenced for I could find of Su-35 cockpits it does look more blue than the old-

fashioned Soviet turquoise; I dug through my paints and settled on X160 FS15190 Synthetic Blue Haze.in the lower fuselage part and fit Stage 2 has you make some holes the gun bay, gun, refuelling bay, and cockpit in the top fuselage part. The fit of all three was pretty good. Stage 3 constructs the nose KittyHawk 1/48 Su-35S Flanker by Peter Marshall gear bay. It fits together well, but it does not have loads of Ito me...I mean you, of course...the Kinetic Su-33, the HobbyBoss and KittyHawk Su-34s, and now we have the KittyHawk Su-35S. f you like Flanker variants in 48th scale, then the last year or so has been very kind there are eight sprues of pale grey plastic, one clear sprue, and a small sheet of etched brass. The upper and lower fuselage halves are supplied On opening the compact box as two large pieces, and there is a rather nice-looking instruction booklet and three decal sheets.Four of the main sprues are devoted to weapons, accounting for about 430 of the total part count. The clear sprue has a two-part canopy (which is a little thick, is certainly not crystal clear, and has a seam down the middle) and various small lights and HUD parts. A lot of the parts that you might expect to be made up from two halves,

like the horizontal and vertical tails, the rudders, and the front and rear wing flaps, are moulded instead as a large single part. The detailing on the plastic looks good, the surface is smooth, and the details (on the whole) are sharp but restrained. In a few places it goes a bit thin (the underside of the engine nacelles is particularly noticeable), and there a few bits of flash and a lot of ejector pins that need addressing, but overall it’s ok. THE BUILDStage 1 covers the cockpit, which consists of a multipart ejector seat, 14 or 15 other parts, some etched belts, and a reasonable cockpit tub with some good side console and instrument panel details. These look like they have enough relief that even I have a chance of painting them.

“A CHALLENGING BUILD THAT YOU DO HAVE TO WORK AT TO GET A GOOD RESULT”

FLANKER

A Splintered

1/48BY SACCO DE VRIESSU-35S FLANKERBY PETER MARSHALL 1/

with a drop of Micro-Kristal Klear, and I must say they really looked the part. As I was building this kit out-of-the-box, I refrained from adding seatbelts, but that or some suitable crew figures are really all the cockpit needs in the way of embellishmentsthe inline engine. This is a multi-Next thing to assemble was part affair, which goes together really well and looks pretty good after painting and a wash with an oily brown coat. As only the front cylinder can be seen through the front cowling panel the detail supplied is more than adequate. If you want to open up the cowlings, you could go to town on adding wiring and fuel and control lines to the engine. to move forward at a fast pace, with the fuselage being closed Construction now started up, the bottom wing added, and

all of the cowling panels fitted around the engine. Care is needed with the cowlings to make sure that you get the best fit possible, and it is certainly worthwhile to take your time test-fitting before adding any glue. with their separate elevators, the rudder, and the undercarriage legs. Next I added the tailplanes The top wing was assembled with its separate ailerons and as per the instructions, the interplane and cabane struts were glued to the underside of the top wing. The fit here was very precise, and once the struts had dried the top wing was offered up to the bottom wing with its attached struts and everything fitted perfectly. the rigging and drilling the holes required. This needed a little planning and some deviation from My thoughts now turned to my usual method, where I usually

drill all the way through the bottom wing and tension the wires on the underside. For this model some of the tensioned from the top. holes needed to be drilled all the way through the top wing as well and then But I am getting ahead of myself, so now I was ready for primer and to choose a colour scheme. Four markings options are offered in the kit, all of which are Second World War German aircraft. Off course, due to regulations in PAINTING AND DECALS some European countries, ICM do not supply any swastikas, so you will have to source your own, but there are plenty of aftermarket sheets available to supply these.• Option 1 is for a Bu131D of 2./JG54 in Russia, March 1942. This option is in winter white camouflage over RLM 65 Light Blue undersides

with a yellow nose and wingtip recognition bands. The rudder on this aircraft features a lot of kill markings, and the nose sports a flying devil artwork. • Option 2 is for a Bu131D of 2./JG54 in Russia, summer 1942. This option is RLM71 Black Green over RLM65 Light Blue, with the squadron shield on the nose.• Option 3 is for a BU131D of Stab III/NJG 1 in Germany 1943. This option is in overall RLM02 and features the squadron shield on the nose.

Option 4 is for a Bu131D, based at Bad Aibling, Germany in 1944. This last option is also overall RLM02 and has the number 102 in red on the nose to add a splash of colour.
Of the four schemes, I went for Option 3 as I rather liked the squadron shield artwork on the nose. Also, the simplicity
my build of the 1/48 scale Copper the build underway. After having writing the preview, I had got I that even before I had finished taken rather too long to complete previewed this kit a few issues back, and what I saw in the box impressed me so much appealed, as this would make made, I fired up my new airbrush painting so much easier.of the overall RLM02 finish With the choice of scheme
State Models Caudron GIV (also in this issue), I needed a quick build to get myself back into the swing of model building. This kit provided the ideal therapy
and proved to be a quick and simple out-of-the-box build. of the finished model the kit comes in quite a large box. Underneath Considering the diminutive size
the top-opening lid you will find a sturdy card box with a fold-down closing lid (this ICM style of box is really handy for storing kit parts during construction). Inside are
three sprues of grey injection moulded plastic, one clear sprue, a decal sheet, and the A4 instruction booklet, which shows the four
marking options, printed in colour.

THE BUILDUnusually, construction starts with the bottom wing – the centre section of which incorporates the cockpit floor – so this is where I started. Also unusually (for me), I actually followed the instructions for most of this build. (Which may explain why it was so easy Ed). quite simple, with few parts, but the real thing has a very simple cockpit too. The colour callouts for this kit are given as either Revell or Tamiya The cockpit on this model is paint numbers, and as my local model shop stocks Tamiya paints, it was these I used throughout this build. The cockpit interior is listed as all-over RLM02, so I assembled the interior and, whilst I had the airbrush out and RLM 02 loaded, I painted the cockpit and all the other parts that were grey green. instrument panels, but they needed a bit of Micro-Set and Sol to make them settle over the raised detail. Once dry, the dials were glazed Decals are supplied for the

JUNGMANN

Bücker Bü 131D

QUICKBUILD ICM 1/32 Bücker Bü 131D Jungmann by Tim Upson-Smith

1/

1/32BY SACCO DE VRIESBÜCKER BÜ 131DBY TIM UPSON SMITH

SHOW REPORT IPMS USA Nationals Fand approximately 60 fewer traders than the UK event. But where it does beat Telford hands down is the competition room which is far larger. Normally we do not know the medal winners until after the event. So, I took most of the photographs of the or those who visit the US nationals from the UK it is a bit of a shock as the event is a lot smaller than the UK equivalate held in Telford during November. There are few club displays ones that caught my eye during the course of the show as many were removed before the medals winners were announced.

Phoenix 2018

SCRAPBOOKPHOTO

THE KITFirst of all, just about everything you’ve heard about the quality of Mach 2 kits is true...but they CAN be built into some nice looking aircraft. Having already finished their 1/72 scale Vickers Viscount and Convair CV-440,

I was prepared for a battle and Mach 2 didn’t surprise me. by a rough finish on most parts As usual, I was confronted with LOTS of flash. Separating 176 parts from their sprues took most of a day, but once cleaned up, they began falling into place (note that the two passenger boarding ramps shown on the box top art are NOT included in the kit). 300, a stretched long-range version, making this a BIG bird. This boxing depicts a Britannia It measures about 20 inches long, with a 22 inch wingspan, so make sure you clear a large area on your workbench before you start work. Like other Mach 2 kits I have

built, the two-sided, single-page instruction sheet is quite basic and you will need to have some further references before starting out. As someone once said about kits like this one, you have to be a “builder” and not just an “assembler” to finish it. LOTS and LOTS of sanding CONSTRUCTION is required to make just about every part presentable, but that is to be expected with limited-run, low-pressure moulded kits like Mach 2. The surface of their plastic is rougher and a little softer than most injected kits, but I find that this actually makes sanding

and scribing a bit easier. Just be careful AFTER you sand that you don’t scar the surface, which is very vulnerable to scratches. I began construction with the cockpit, which provides the basic details, with pilot seats, steering columns, an instrument panel, After preparing all the parts, a floor, and some bulkheads. Unfortunately, there is no passenger cabin interior, and though scratch-building one is possible, it would be a massive project. I decided to build mine out of the box, so the only thing I added was several fishing weights in the nose section. amount of weight I had added was Later I found out that the Mach 2 1/72 Bristol Britannia by Paul CrawleyThe Bristol Britannia was considered one of the landmark airliners from the United Kingdom, and though only 85 were built it saw service with no less than 42 airlines, as well as being operated by the Royal Air Force. Nicknamed the “Whispering Giant”, the Britannia helped bring about the package holiday revolution in the 1960s and 1970s when operated by charter airlines like Monarch and Britannia Airways (which was actually named after its first airliner!)

especially props, I have always liked the look of the Bristol Britannia, but up until now the only kits available of this classic As a lover of vintage airliners, beauty were in 1/96, 1/125, 1/144, and 1/166 scale, as well as a very old 1/72 scale Airways vacform kit (which was one of the first to include white metal propellers and injected landing gear). Since I prefer 1/72 scale, I jumped at the chance to build and review the first totally injected moulded kit in this scale, from Mach 2 of France, which premiered at Telford in 2017.

GIANT

THE WHISPERING

“WITH JUST BASIC MODELLING SKILLS THE BRISTOL BRITANNIA CAN BE MADE INTO A VERY GOOD LOOKING MODEL”

1/

1/72BY SACCO DE VRIESBRISTOL BRITANNIABY PAUL CRAWLEY

6 Blitz Bomber ICM 1/48 Heinkel He 111H- 3 by PeteR Barker

22 A French Cat’s Cradle Copper State Models 1/ Caudron G.IV Late Version by Tim Upson-Smith

42 First Looks Dora Wings 1/72 Percival Vega Gull’s Tamiya 1/48 F-14D Tomcat Eduard 1/72 Spitfire Mk.VII Profipack

68 A Skeletal Shinden Partially Modelling Zoukei-Mura 1/48 Kyushu J7W1 Shinden by Mike Williams

14 A Splintered Flanker KittyHawk 1/48 Su-35S Flanker by Peter Marshall

30 Bücker Bü 131D Quick Build of ICM 1/ Bücker Bü 131D Jungmann by Tim Upson-Smith

64 Photo Report IPMS USA Nationals

Phoenix 2018

74 The Whispering Giant Mach 2 1/72 Bristol Britannia by Paul Crawley

CONTENTS

35 The SAM News 38 Czech News 40 Polish News 46 Accessories

52 Decals 56 Reviews 78 Books & Media 82 Show Diary

ALSO INSIDE

WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM • SEPTEMBER 2018 • 5

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