Scale Aviation Modeller International – April 2019

iling, puttying and sanding
in order to make all lush. The
rear ends of booms should be
just butt joined to the main
parts, but I decided to glue a
piece of 1mm diameter plastic
rod inside to reinforce the
joint. Nevertheless, I have not
noticed here, that the it of
these parts is such that makes
the empennage sit too low – in
fact the boom ends should be
modiied a bit in order to have
the horizontal empennage
level with the line that is
marked out by the upper edge
of the passenger’s windows.
All in all, gluing the booms
adequately and squarely is
perhaps the most diicult part
of the construction process
(and I hope my errors here
would serve as warning and
assistance for other modellers
wishing to have the Crusader’s
model in their collections).
The instructions then tell
you to glue the main wheels
and comb-shaped pieces that
represent exhaust pipes inside
the boom sides before closing
them, but I left the wheels till
the end of construction and
blanked the exhaust holes
with slivers of plasticard and
later installed short fragments
of thin hypodermic needle

there. With the main parts

glued together and all the

joint lines puttied and

sanded, I then applied the

masks on the windows

and primed the model.

PAINT AND DECALS

After repairing all the

imperfections revealed with

a primer coat, I polished the

surfaces and painted the model

in its particular copper colour

with an AK Extreme Metal

paint, that I ind just perfect.

Once dy I gave the model a coat

of a gloss to protect the paint

ready for the decals. The decals

are perfectly printed and thin,

and the white is opaque enough

to cover the quite dark surfaces.

The knight’s silhouettes are

doubled up - just in case. The

decals conformed the surfaces

with no need of softening

liquids. After they dried I sealed

them with another coat of gloss.

FINAL BITS.

Next I unmasked the windows

and started attaching the

remaining parts. The propellers

were painted Tamiya Silver

Leaf and their bosses were

given a coat of Tamiya Smoke,

just to get some diference

here. After painting the wheels

I cut grooves in them that

enabled me to install them

inside their fairings...and then

I found out that the empennage

is too low. In order to keep

it above the ground I just

made the tail wheel assembly

considerably higher with a

short piece of thin hypodermic

needle. I know it is not right,

but looks good enough, and

I simply considered the

eventual modiications of

the angle of the booms at

this stage of construction

far beyond my skills (and/or

patience). Finally I attached

the appropriately painted

ailerons’ counterbalances, a

venturi tube undersides and

a pitot probe in the front,

the latter manufactured

again from a piece of

thin hypodermic needle.

Interestingly, the pitot probe

is absent in the instructions,

though it is very prominent

on the box top artwork and

photographs of the real plane.

CONCLUSION

Despite the fact that it is a

short-run kit that needs a lot of

itting, puttying and sanding

I ind it simple enough even

for a beginner. There are some

issues with proper attachment

of booms, but – even though I

failed – I am sure that with a bit

of patience and attention this

can be easily done right. In my

opinion the Crusader’s model

kit can serve as a good starting

point for a modeller who would

like to try his/her irst short-

run. And when inished it looks

splendid (and surprisingly

modern, too) on a shelf thanks

to its colour and shape.

SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL • APRIL 2019

KIT REVIEWS

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