Scale Aviation Modeller International – April 2019

F/A-18D ATARS

First look at Kinetic Gold 1/48 F/A-18D ATARS

T

he Advanced

Tactical Airborne

Reconnaissance is a

camera and sensor package

itted to the two seat F/A-18Ds

of the United States Marines.

All four Marine squadrons

have three aircraft itted with

the ATARS package and are

now the only reconnaissance

asset assigned to US carriers

after the retirement of the

TARPS equipped Tomcat.

Unlike, the recent Kinetic

Gold M-346 this is not a new

tool kit instead they have

added a couple of new part

runners to there very nice

F/A-18C/D kit. This is the most

accurate 1/48 scale Legacy

Hornet available today and

the distinctive recon nose was

already included in the previous

boxings though without all of

the parts needed to complete it.

Two of the new runners

are moulded in grey plastic

and supply details for ATARS

nose bays as well as a. AAQ-28

Sniper pod and its associated

mounting pylons. The inal

new runner supplies all the

clear parts for the ATARS

nose bay but the stand out

addition is the large decal

sheet that has been produced

in conjunction with Dave Roof

of Flying Leathernecks, so you

know it is going to be the most

accurate sheet possible thanks

to Dave’s reputation as the font

of all knowledge on modern

US Marine aircraft. This sheet

supplies marking for three

ATAR aircraft

all painted in

the standard

grey tactical

camoulage.

• McDonnell Douglas
  F/A-18D ATARS,
  BuNo164876,
  VMFA(AW0-352
  Moonlighters, Taszar Air
  Base, Hungary, Operation
  Allied Force. This aircraft
  made the irst operational
  use of the ATARS system
  over Serbia in 1999.


• McDonnell Douglas F/A-
  18D ATARS, Bu164876,
  VMFA(AW)-224 Bengals,
  Bu164876, CENTCOM area
  of responsibility, Operation
  Inherent Resolve over Syria,
  2017. Tail rudder feature
  black tiger stripes.


• McDonnell Douglas F/A-
  18D ATARS, Bu164876,
  VMFA(AW)-224 Bengals,
  This option has all of it’s
  upper surfaces and lanks
  covered with black tiger
  stripes which are supplied
  on the decal sheet.

CONCLUSION

If you are in to the US Nav y

and Marine operations this

is a must have purchase. And

I am sure the Tiger stripped

aircraft on the box art will also

tempt many casual buyers.

Though I am not sure why this

kit has been placed in the Gold

range as 98% of all the parts

are in the normal F/A-18C-D

boxings which can still be

built from this kit if you source

the decals from elsewhere.

A full build of this kit

will feature in a future

issue and we thank Lucky

Model for supplying us

with this review sample.

Small scale Giant

First look at Great Wall Hobby Messerschmitt Me323 D-1 “Gigant”

in 1/144th scale by Robert Podkoński.

T

here were only about 200

Messerschmitt “Giants”

heavy transport

planes produced, but it should

still be seen as historically

important. In fact, Me 323 was

the motorized version of Me

321 heavy transport glider,

intended from the outset to

be used during “Seelöwe”

operation. Even though the

Messerschmitts “Giants” were

of quite outdated welded steel

tubes and wood construction

covered with fabric, some

of their then novel features,

like front opening clamshell

loading doors, multiwheeled

low undercariage, cockpit and

the wing installed high over

the rectangular cross-section,

practically unobstructed cargo

hold, are still used in modern

heavyweight transport planes.

THE KIT

The Messerschmitt Me 323 has

not been well represented in

plastic scale models. In fact,

until now only the old and long

out of production Italeri kit in

1/72nd scale has been the only

option. Taking into account the

dimensions of the plane, it is

not surprising that a Shanghai

model manufacturer, Great Wall

Hobby decided to produce there

new version of the “Gigant”

in 1/144 scale. The completed

model’s wing span will still be

around 15 inches and it will be

almost 8 inches long even in this

small scale. Despite its size and a

number of parts, the kit

comes in a surprisingly

small, top opening box

adorned with a picture

of two Messerschmitt’s

transports in light.

Inside the packed box

one inds no less than

13 separately bagged

sprues with more than 250

parts. There are also, of course:

a decal sheet, instructions

and a big, full colour painting

scheme poster. Three marking

options are included, all in the

typical splinter camoulage

of RLM 70/71 over RLM 65,

difering only in code letters

and quick identiication marks.

• 
  
  
  
  1. DT+IL, II./KGzbV 323
     operating from Tunis in 1943
     with yellow areas on wingtips
  
  
  
  

undersides and yellow band

on the fuselage (pictured

on the top of the box);

• 
  
  
  
  2. RD+QL, II./TG 5 operating
     from Corsica in 1943 without
     any quick identiication marks;
  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  
  3. RF+XA, I./TG 5 operating
     in Germany in 1943 with
     white band on the fuselage.
  
  
  
  

The colour schemes are bigger

than the actual scale of the

model, so one can easily produce

44 APRIL 2019 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

FIRST LOOK