Scale Aviation Modeller International – April 2019

Supermarine Attacker FB.2

AZ Models 1/72 Fleet Air Arm Jet Fighter by D Croake

MANUFACTURER: AZ Models

SCALE: 1/72

PART COUNT: 46 injection + 1 resin

DECAL OPTIONS: 3

NEW OR REISSUE: Reissue with new

decals

HISTORY

T

he Supermarine Attacker

was the irst operational

jet ighter of the FAA,

introduced in 1951, but only

remained in service for 6

years. A number of aircraft

saw longer service with the

Pakistan Air Force. Production

totaled 185 aircraft, and its

design was unusual in being a

tail sitting jet powered aircraft.

Models of the Attacker in 1/72

scale are not extensive, and

the AZ Models boxings of all

the major types is a welcome

addition to the market. This

boxing is of the FB.2 variant

and comes with 46 injection-

moulded parts on two sprues.

A single piece resin moulded

cockpit and seat form the main

interior details. A single piece

thick canopy is included in a

separate bag. Decal options

are provided for three aircraft,

a Pakistan Air Force example

and two Royal Navy versions.

COCKPIT

The main mouldings have crisp

engraved panel lines, with a

small amount of lash on the

extremities. Some smaller

components do sufer from

some minor warping. Assembly

starts with the cockpit, intakes

and exhaust - assembled and

hand painted as required using

Revell Aqua colour acrylics.

The cockpit was painted black

with details painted in white/

silver. The canopy is thick and

will obscure most detail, so

the interior is kept relatively

basic. Once all the inside parts

are ready, they can be ofered

up to the fuselage halves.

There are no locating tabs,

so an element of trial and

error is needed. The cockpit

tub needed to be iled down

to ensure the fuselage halves

would close. The fuselage itself

is a little bit warped and the

two halves difer in length by

approximately 1mm. The main

objective was to line up the

panel lines, everything else can

be ixed by sandpaper and iller.

WINGS AND THINGS

The wings were assembled and

again there are no locating

tabs for the wings or tail

planes. This is when I decided

to manufacture a crude jig

from matchsticks, and cofee

stirrers in an efort to get

reasonable alignment. Revell

tube poly glue was used to have

a slow curing time to allow

for adjustments. Although

this gives a potential weaker

join, addition of super glue,

following by iller, and careful

handling mean it will survive.

Once assembled, all the gaps,

steps and joins are illed using

Revell Model Filler, left to cure

and sanded to a smooth inish.

Once this stage is complete the

canopy is added and masked

using Tamiya masking tape.

PAINT AND DECALS

The model is primed using

Vallejo Grey Primer and left to

cure. I use Xtracrylix Sky for

the underside and Xtracrylix

Extra Dark Sea Gray on the top,

all of this is done with my Iwata

Neo airbrush. Once the paint

is cured it is given three coats

of Humbrol Acrylic Clear Gloss

for decal application. While the

decals are thin and adhere well,

they are slightly out of register.

However, suitable aftermarket

options can correct this. Once

decaling was complete another

clear coat was applied, and at

this point I decided the gloss

coat would be the inal coat.

Although, perhaps not accurate,

the gloss coat reminds me

of the aircraft sat in the FAA

Museum in Yeovilton in the UK.

A small amount

of staining

using Tamiya

weathering

powders is

used and all

the inal parts,

landing gear, doors and

aerials are added.

CONCLUSION

It’s hard to capture

all the elements

of building a

short run kit in

a short review

article. This kit,

even with its battles, has

resulted in an FAA Attacker

on my shelf, and that makes it

very much a winner for me.

Thanks to AZ Models

for the review sample

50 APRIL 2019 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

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