aircraft modelling (modelling masterclass)

The essential guide for the serious modellerOSPREY MASTERCLASS

AIRCRAFT MODELLINGBRETT GREEN

A complete guide to building and finishing Hundreds of colour photos Step-by-step instructionsTechniques for the expert Ideas for more creative modelling Create realistic & eye-catching models

© Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com

OSPREY MASTERCLASS

Aircraft Modelling

Brett GreenSeries editor Marcus Cowper


First published in 2010 by Osprey PublishingMidland House, West Way, Botley, Oxford OX2 0PH, UK44-02 23rd St, Suite 219, Long Island City, NY 11101, USAE-mail: [email protected]

© 2010 Osprey Publishing Limited

All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposeof private study, research, criticism or review, as permittedunder the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, nopart of this publication may be reproduced, stored in aretrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by anymeans, electronic, electrical, chemical, mechanical, optical,photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the priorwritten permission of the copyright owner. Enquiries shouldbe addressed to the Publishers.

ISBN 978 1 84603 932 4E-book ISBN: 978 1 84603 933 1

Editorial by Ilios Publishing Ltd, Oxford, UK(www.iliospublishing.com)Page layout by Myriam Bell Design, FranceIndex by Alison WorthingtonOriginated by PDQ Media, Bungay, UKPrinted in China through Worldprint Ltd

10 11 12 13 14 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the BritishLibrary.© Osprey Publishing. Access to this book is not digitallyrestricted. In return, we ask you that you use it for personal, non-commercial purposes only. Please don’t upload this pdf to a peer-to-peer site, email it to everyone you know, or resell it. OspreyPublishing reserves all rights to its digital content and no part ofthese products may be copied, stored in a retrieval system ortransmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical,recording or otherwise (except as permitted here), without thewritten permission of the publisher. Please support our continuingbook publishing programme by using this pdf responsibly.

Editor’s noteUnless otherwsie noted, all images are from theauthor’s collection.

AcknowledgementsI am delighted to be able to present Roy Sutherland’sbeautiful 1/48-scale Spitfire Mk 24 in this new OspreyMasterclass title.Thanks to Mick Evans also, for his very attractivefull-sized resin gunsight and control column modelsin the Messerschmitt Bf 109 chapter.I am very grateful to Eduard, MPM, Tamiya, TailBoom, Afterburner Decals, Red Roo Models andJ.B Wholesalers for the many of the kit, accessoryand decal products used between these covers.Dr Charles E. Metz came through again with someuseful suggestions about references for this project.Rodger Kelly took the wonderful in-action photos ofthe Royal Maces F/A-18 Super Hornets aboard KittyHawk on her last cruise in 2008. Thanks Rodger.And last but certainly not least, thanks to my wifeDebbie and our children, Charlotte and Sebastian,for their continuing indulgence.


CONTENTS

Introduction 4

Chapter 1 Building a state-of-the-art injection- 6moulded kit straight from the box

Chapter 2 Building a new generation limited-run kit 23

Chapter 3 Working with resin conversions 42

Chapter 4 Improving a simple snap-together kit 55

Chapter 5 Working with large-scale resin kits 75

Chapter 6 Building a current generation long-run injection- 80moulded kit

Chapter 7 Upgrading an older kit with resin cockpit and 90wing fold

Chapter 8 Converting a model kit the old-fashioned way 99

Chapter 9 Kitbashing two mediocre kits for a better result 119

Chapter 10 Improving detail on an accurate injection-moulded 133plastic kit

Chapter 11 Upgrade and conversion using resin and photo-etch 150

Chapter 12 Adding detail to an older kit 174

Chapter 13 Sources and references 187

Index 188


4

INTRODUCTION

Building scale model aircraft

is an absorbing pastime that

can encompass a broad range of

interests and skills. A proficiently

wrought scale model can evoke

a period in history, or represent

an attractive addition to

the mantelpiece.

Despite competition from

hi-tech leisure pursuits and the

spiralling cost of mainstream

manufacturing, the hobby of scale

aircraft modelling has reached a

pinnacle of variety and quality.

Thanks to new short-run plastic

injection-moulding technologies

and the superiority of resin details,

modellers in the 21st century

can build an impressive replica

of almost any military aircraft

that ever flew.

With the emergence of the

Internet, we have access to

technical and historical resources

that earlier generations could only

dream of. The Internet also puts

us in real-time contact with other

modellers and historians across

the globe. There has never been a

better time to build plastic models.

It would appear that there is a

new modelling sunrise in the east –

both Eastern Europe and Asia.

Eastern Europe, and the Czech

Republic in particular, has long

been a rich source of limited-run

kits and aftermarket accessories for

desirable, rare and esoteric aircraft

subjects. From the years before the

fall of the Iron Curtain, companies

such as MPM and Eduard

produced kits in vacform, resin and

low-pressure injection-moulded

plastic. Back in the 20th century,

most of these kits were pretty

challenging to build and quite basic

in their presentation, leaving the

addition of detail parts up to

the modeller. Today, we are hard

pressed to pick out the products

of these companies from those

of some long-established model

companies from the west. This is a

genuinely new category of plastic

models – no longer the rough

representations of past years.

What this new generation of

limited-run models lacks in terms

of locating pins, they more than

make up for with the provision

of resin and photo-etched detail

parts, high-quality markings and

previously unavailable subjects.

Some proficiency is still required,

but these kits are not beyond

the skill of the moderately

experienced modeller.

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In the last decade, China’s

hobby industry has been

transformed from a producer

of toys to a major modelling force

to be reckoned with. Companies

such as Trumpeter and Hobby Boss

are churning out an unprecedented

number of new releases with an

emphasis on large-scale and

spectacular subjects. This period

is not without its growing pains,

as the Chinese companies in

particular struggle with chronic

accuracy problems and inconsistent

pricing policy. However, these

issues will likely be ironed out

in the coming years.

Meanwhile, the traditional

market leaders such as Tamiya

and Hasegawa continue to raise

the bar for plastic aircraft models.

In particular, Tamiya has recently

released a 1/32-scale Spitfire

Mk IX with a remarkable level of

detail and engineering innovation.

Many commentators claim that this

is the best plastic model aircraft

ever released. We can be sure that

future releases will incorporate

many of the innovations found

in this new Spitfire.

The aftermarket industry moves

ahead in leaps and bounds too.

While companies such as Eduard

and Aires enter a new phase of

almost mass-production with

ambitious release schedules and

remarkable quality, the cottage

industry is also thriving at the

other end of the scale. The best

of both of these categories share a

high level of detail and minimum

preparation for parts that will

greatly enhance or convert your

plastic aircraft models.

This new Masterclass title will

examine all these categories of

kits and accessories, and provide

step-by-step illustrated examples for

getting the most out of your plastic.

We will look at state-of-the-art

plastic kits from Japan built

straight from the box; and we

will take a walk down memory lane

to update a venerable Monogram

kit using some old-fashioned

modelling techniques.

We will build a limited-run

Czech Spitfire Mk Vc, and also

use resin parts to convert Tamiya’s

Spitfire to the same variant. What

is the easiest approach? We’ll

discuss that in Chapters 2 and 3.

These projects are supplemented

with reference photos of the real

thing too, so you can see how

your model should look upon

completion. In total, we present

ten start-to-finish projects to

demonstrate both basic and

advanced modelling techniques.

Brett Green


Prior to Hasegawa, we have

seen 1/48-scale Zero kits

from Lindberg, Monogram and

Arii/Otaki. Tamiya also released

an A6M5c Zero back in the early

1980s. This featured a

combination of raised and recessed

panel lines and a nicely detailed

cockpit. Tamiya’s older Zero

remains a respectable kit today,

and is still widely available.

It was therefore quite a surprise

in 2008 to hear that Tamiya was

planning a brand new A6M5/5a

Zero in 1/48 scale.

To be perfectly honest, I have

not always been terribly inspired by

Japanese subjects. However, as soon

as I opened the box of Tamiya’s

new Zero, I knew that I was

looking at something special.

TAMIYA’S 1/48-SCALE A6M5/5AZERO IN THE BOXTamiya’s new 1/48-scale

A6M5/5a Zero comprises

115 parts in grey plastic; eight

parts in clear; four standing pilot

figures made up of 21 additional

grey plastic parts; polythene caps;

a self-adhesive canopy masking

sheet and decals for three

marking options.

Moulding quality is perfect.

Surface detail is mainly by way

of very finely recessed panel lines,

with some subtly raised fabric

strips on control surfaces. Selected

rows of subtle rivets are present

along some of the panel lines.

The detail is extraordinary. The

wheel wells are authentically deep

and busy. The engine is made up of

only six parts, but this engineering

simplicity does not compromise

detail. Cooling fin detail is crisp,

and a separate row of pushrods

makes painting a breeze.

The cockpit is the best I have

seen in a 1/48-scale plastic kit.

The seat is realistically thin and

lightening holes are all present and

correct. Sidewall detail is deep and

accurate, with the various quadrants

and boxes added from separate parts.

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BUILDING A STATE-OF-THE-ARTINJECTION-MOULDED KIT STRAIGHTFROM THE BOXThere has been no shortage of 1/48-scale Zero kits in recent history. Hasegawa released their 1/48-scale

A6M family during the 1990s. These were accurate and well-detailed kits, eventually covering virtually all

variants from the A6M2 to the A6M8.

Tamiya’s new 1/48-scale A6M5/5a Zero

is a beautifully detailed kit and a

pleasure to build.

6


7

The floor features a separate clear

viewing window. The instrument

panel is a minor masterpiece,

mounted on the front of the

ammunition bins and with the

gun breeches included. The panel

features decal instruments, which

look fantastic if carefully aligned.

Options include the choice of

open or closed cowl flaps, open

or closed landing flaps and two

styles of drop tank. A number

of detail differences between the

A6M5 and the A6M5a are also

accurately portrayed.

Polythene caps are used to

secure the propeller assembly

and the drop tank.

The clear parts are thin and

completely free of distortion. The

canopy is supplied in three parts,

and the centre sliding section will

fit well in either the closed or open

positions. Other clear parts include

wing tip navigation lights and the

nicely detailed reflector gunsight.

Markings are supplied for three

aircraft – two A6M5s and a single

A6M5a. All aircraft are finished

in IJN Green and IJN Grey. The

decals are in register and opaque.

In addition to the aircraft markings,

the decal sheet includes printed

harness straps for the pilot’s seat.

Two decal sheets are included.

The first contains Hinomaru flags

(the national flag of Japan) and

individual aircraft markings,

while the second includes mostly

stencil markings.

In addition to the aeroplane

and a seated pilot figure, Tamiya

supplies four standing Japanese

pilot figures, each sporting

different flight gear. Two of the

pilots are wearing Samurai swords.

The figures are very well detailed.

A self-adhesive canopy-masking

sheet rounds out the package. This

is manufactured from material

similar to the current Eduard

masks and Tamiya masking tape.

The outlines of the canopy frames

are marked on the sheet but they

are not die cut. You will have to

carefully cut the frames out of

the sheet with the aid of a sharp

hobby knife and a ruler.

A6M ZEROFIGHTER ‘DETAILUP’ PARTS SETTamiya has also released separately a

small multimedia upgrade for their

new 1/48-scale Zero. This comprises

a photo-etched fret with harness

straps, undercarriage indicators and

wheel chocks, three turned-metal

parts (20mm cannon barrels and

pitot tube) and a coil of copper wire

representing rope for the chocks.

The Tamiya Zero can certainly

be completed with decal harness

straps and the plastic cannon

barrels and pitot tube, but this

Detail Up set adds an appropriate

touch of class to an already

superlative model.

Most of the detail parts may be painted before they are

removed from the sprues. This is thanks to the thoughtful

placement of sprue attachment points on the edges or rear

of parts.

Literally all of the cockpit, engine and wheel well parts

were fully painted and weathered while still on the sprues.

This makes handling easier during painting, and minimizes

the risk of losing small parts.


8

CONSTRUCTIONI was not planning to build this kit

straight away, but when I lifted the

lid I was inexorably drawn into

action. ‘Well,’ I thought, ‘maybe

I will just paint some of the parts

on the sprue.’ Famous last words –

there is no way I could stop once

I had started.

Tamiya’s helpful planning means

that virtually all of the interior

components – cockpit, engine

and wheel wells – can be entirely

painted before a single part is cut

from the sprues. This is thanks

to the sensible location of sprue

connectors on the sides and rear

of most parts. Pre-painting the

interior components in this way

will eliminate the risk of losing

parts, and make it much easier to

handle the parts during painting.

I followed Tamiya’s suggestion

and used their new IJN Cockpit

Green, colour number XF-71, as the

basecoat for the cockpit parts and

the fuselage sidewalls. I also adopted

the formula for the Aotake (green

bamboo) wheel wells provided in

the kit instructions – three parts

Tamiya X-13 Metallic Blue and one

part X-25 Clear Green. I was a little

doubtful about the combination of

the clear and metallic acrylic paints,

but the colour covered well and

looked great on the plastic. The

engine cylinders were sprayed using

Alclad II Aluminium, and the

crankcase was painted grey.

With this quilt of different

colours on the sprues, the next step

was to apply an oil wash. A thin

wash of lamp black and raw umber

oil paints was mixed and applied

selectively along the edges of

structural detail on the interior

sidewalls, cockpit parts, engine

components and wheel wells. The

sprues were then set aside to dry

overnight. The following day the

oil wash had settled into the various

crevices and natural shadow areas,

emphasizing depth and leaving the

general impression of grime.

Now the detail parts were

picked out with a fine brush and

acrylic paints. The kit instrument

panel is a solid plastic part with

raised bezels and flat dials.

Instrument detail is supplied

on the decal sheet. I dipped the

painted and weathered instrument

panel in Future floor polish in

preparation for the decal dials.

After a few hours, the main

instrument cluster decal was

applied in one piece to the panel.

At first, the decal seemed stiff and

unyielding, but a brushed coat of

Solvaset decal setting solution

quickly helped the previously

recalcitrant markings conform

to the raised detail. This process

was repeated for the two smaller

instrument clusters at the top of

the panel and on the side console.

When the decals had set,

I sprayed the instrument panel

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The engine is made up of only six parts, but detail is not

compromised.

Tamiya’s ‘Detail Up’ multimedia set was used to enhance the

basic kit. The stainless-steel photo-etched set was annealed

over a candle for a few seconds to soften the metal. Note the

telltale discolouring of the metal after this treatment.


with Polly Scale Flat Clear, and

then applied a drop of Future

floor polish to the lens of each

instrument. I was generally very

happy with the effect, but I did not

line up the decals perfectly with all

the dials. Next time, I will punch

the instruments from the decal sheet

and apply each one individually.

Before assembling the painted

cockpit parts, I added the photo-

etched harness from Tamiya’s

Detail Up set. These parts appear

to be made of thin stainless steel.

I was concerned that this material

might not be sufficiently flexible

for the harness straps to be bent

into natural draping poses, so I

annealed the metal before removing

the belts from the fret.

This is a fast and easy process. I

simply held the small photo-etched

fret over a household candle for a

few seconds, and then dipped it

in cool water. You can tell when

the metal has been annealed, as

the shiny metal discolours to

shades of orange, brown and blue.

The treated fret was prepared for

painting with a coat of clear

Tamiya Metal Primer straight from

the spray can. The belts were then

painted in Gunze Tan acrylic

before being cut from the fret.

Once annealed, the harness straps

were easy to handle, holding their

shapes when bent into place.

Inevitably, I dropped one of the

lap belts on the floor while folding

9

Tamiya’s A6M5 cockpit is magnificently

detailed. The only extra parts are the

photo-etched harness straps from the

Detail Up set. I did manage to lose one

of the lap harness straps. This was

replaced with a strip of lead foil.

Instruments are from the kit decal sheet,

applied to the painted instrument panel

and finished with a drop of Future floor

polish on the lens of each dial. Sidewall

detail is equally good. Once again, all

the detail seen here is straight from

the box.


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OX It is essential to follow the sequence

of assembly for the nose. Part C7 is a

brace for the upper nose decking. This

image shows the correct positioning for

this part.

Once the bracing has been installed,

the cockpit tub and instrument panel

sub-assembly may be inserted through

the bottom of the fuselage. I secured

the cockpit with Tamiya liquid cement

brushed around the edges of the

rear bulkhead.

A number of alternate panels are

supplied for the different versions of the

Zero. These require inserts in the wings

and fuselage. The fit of all these inserts

is excellent, but all traces of sprue

connectors must be eliminated from

the edges of the parts prior to assembly.


11

There is some minor flex at the wing

root. Two clamps were used to ensure

perfect alignment between the wing

and the root at the fuselage while the

glue set.

The forward fuselage is made up of three

separate panels. Take your time to ensure

that the parts are properly aligned.

The deep wheel wells are positively

located with the assistance of two large

pins. The mount for the drop tank

polythene cap may be seen in the

photo too.


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OX The upper deck is installed first.

Note that this part must sit behind

and below the raised tab at the

front of the fuselage. If this part is

accurately positioned, the side panels

will fit perfectly.

There were no steps and only a few

tiny gaps on the completed airframe.

A smear of Tamiya Surfacer was applied

to the rear wing root and the bottom

stabilizer joins. The excess was wiped

off with a fingertip while the liquid was

still wet.

A smudge of Tamiya Surfacer was also

applied to the wing roots.


it, and could not find the small

brown painted belt on the dark

brown carpet under my desk. I

therefore cut a replacement from

lead foil and installed that instead.

The painted cockpit

components were now cut from the

sprue and assembled. All the parts

fitted precisely. The instrument

panel is part of a subassembly

that slides on to the front of the

cockpit floor. The fit is so solid

that glue is probably not strictly

necessary. The fit of the sidewall

components is equally good.

The appearance of the finished

cockpit is even more impressive

than the engineering of the parts.

In my opinion, it even pips Tamiya’s

1/48-scale P-47 cockpits – the

previous holder of this honour.

The fuselage halves can be

joined before installing the cockpit

tub. A brace is inserted between

the nose halves – part C7. This

adds rigidity to the nose, and acts

as the mounting position for the

upper nose deck, part C3. It is

important to get the positioning

of this upper deck correct or the

side panels will not fit properly.

Part C3 must be pushed down

onto the brace, part C7. This will

result in the front of the deck

sitting below the raised tab at the

front of the fuselage. Check the

photos to see how these parts

should look when assembled.

A number of alternate panels

are supplied for the upper and

lower wings. These inserts fit

perfectly providing the waste

material from the sprue connectors

is completely removed from the

edges of the panels.

The balance of construction was

completely trouble free and almost

embarrassingly fast, although a little

fiddling was required to properly

locate the intake assembly

underneath the engine cowling.

When fitting the wings to the

fuselage, I noticed a bit of flex

at the wing root that might have

resulted in a step between the

parts. I clamped the wings while

the glue set, resulting in perfect

alignment between the wing and

fuselage at the wing root.

Very little filler was required –

just a smear of Mr. Surfacer on the

starboard wing root, underneath

the horizontal stabilizers and where

the trailing edge of the wing meets

the bottom of the fuselage. This is

one of the best-fitting kits that

I have ever built.

PAINTING ANDMARKINGSThere is not a lot of variety in

the camouflage options for an

operational A6M5 Zero – pretty

much any colour you want as long

as it is IJN Dark Green and IJN

Light Grey. Weathering would

therefore be important to add some

interest to the standard scheme.

I wanted to portray an aircraft

that had seen heavy use in the

punishing Pacific theatre, but

I did not want to ‘chip’ the

paintwork excessively.

I started with the base colours.

Tamiya offers IJN Light Grey and

Dark Green in its spray can range.

I like the toughness of these spray

paints, but they can result in an

orange peel texture when applied

straight from the can. To avoid this

problem, these lacquer paints were

13

Tamiya’s IJN Light Grey and IJN Dark

Green were decanted from the spray

cans into glass jars.


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OX The spray lacquer paints worked

beautifully in my Aztek A470 airbrush,

avoiding the possible orange peel effect

sometimes encountered when applied

straight from the spray can. Here, the

light grey lower surfaces have been

masked in preparation for painting

the green upper surfaces.

The base colour was mottled with

two paler shades of green to deliver an

irregular effect. The result looks extreme

in this photo, but later coats of gloss,

flat and weathering will tone the

contrast down considerably.

The entire nose may be assembled

and painted separate to the airframe.

Here, the cowl and propeller assembly

have already been sprayed with two

glossy coats of Future floor polish in

preparation for decals.


15

Tamiya’s self-adhesive canopy masks

were carefully cut out and applied to

the kit’s clear parts.

The insides of the clear parts were

masked with Post-it notes, trimmed

to size and stuck to the handle of a

paintbrush using Blu-Tack for easier

handling during painting.

The model has now been sprayed with

two glossy coats of Future floor polish.

Tamiya’s kit decals performed very

well under an application of Solvaset.

Note that the mottled appearance has

all but disappeared.


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OX The yellow ID stripes on the wing

leading edges are supplied on Tamiya’s

decal sheet. They are perfectly opaque,

fit well and look great. The top of my

port side decal was a bit wonky, so I

decided to correct it.

A self-adhesive Post-it note was used as

a straight edges mask. Dark green was

sprayed along this straight edge to

correct the upper line of the ID stripe.

The green upper surface camouflage

should wrap around the wing leading

edges. Post-it notes were also used for

this masking task. A short length of tape

was used to mask the edge.


17

The result was a nice sharp demarcation

between the top and bottom

camouflage colours in line with the

yellow ID stripes. I hand-painted

the curved area of the camouflage

wrap-around on the lower wing tips.

The main airframe received two thin

coats of Polly Scale Flat acrylic before

further weathering.

A 50:50 mix of Tamiya acrylic IJN Green

and Japanese Interior Green, heavily

thinned with alcohol, was sprayed

liberally on the wing roots and control

surfaces, and in random patches

elsewhere. I did not want to simply

shade the insides of panels.


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OX The addition of selected panel line

highlighting with semi-gloss black

paint, and subtle chipping with a

silver pencil, lends more depth to

the effect. The main subassemblies

have been weathered and prepared

for final construction.

More weathering was applied to the

bottom wings before completion.

Tamiya’s Detail Up set includes beautiful

metal 20mm cannon, with fared

barrels and hollow muzzles. These are

a lovely finishing touch to this already

excellent model.


19

The undercarriage legs and gear doors

align perfectly. The drop tank is securely

held in place with a single polythene

cap. The tank may be removed if

desired (for refuelling perhaps). Tamiya

has perfectly captured the lines of

Mitsubishi’s most famous progeny.

The random fading effect, plus pale

and dark vertical streaking, has also

been applied to the fuselage sides.

The engine cowling has been finished

with a coat of Model Master Acryl

Semi-Gloss. The different sheen

compared to the wings and fuselage

adds extra interest to the subject.


decanted from their spray cans into

glass jars.

The lower surface was sprayed

IJN Light Grey. Demarcation lines

were masked off and the upper

fuselage and tops of the wings

and tail planes were painted

IJN Dark Green.

The large expanse of IJN Dark

Green was broken up with a random

mottle of two progressively paler

shades. This looked a bit overdone,

but experience has shown that gloss

and flat coats will considerably

subdue the effect later.

Sure enough, when I sprayed the

model with Future floor polish as a

gloss coat in preparation for decals,

the mottling virtually disappeared.

The engine cowling and propeller

assembly were painted separately.

Although Tamiya’s decals looked

a bit thick on their backing sheet,

I decided to give them a go. I was

particularly interested to see how

the yellow leading edge ID stripes

would look when set. As it turns

out, the decals performed very well

over the glossy Future coat. Solvaset

decal setting solution was brushed

over them, eliminating any

remaining visible decal film and

settling the markings into panel

lines and around structural features.

The ID stripes looked as if they

had been painted on, and with far

less time and trouble. However, one

of the stripes was not completely

straight (my fault), so I set about

correcting this obvious problem.

A self-adhesive Post-it note was

used as a low-tack straight edge.

IJN Dark Green was sprayed in

several very thin coats along the

edge of the straight paper mask,

avoiding a build up of paint along

the demarcation line. Voila!

Problem solved.

Post-it notes were also used to

paint the Dark Green camouflage

that wraps around the leading

edges of the wings and tail planes.

After the model had been

sprayed with two thin coats of

Polly Scale Flat, some of the

mottling resurfaced, but the overall

effect was still very bland.

I mixed a paler version of the

upper camouflage colour using

equal parts of IJN Dark Green

and IJN Cockpit Green, thinned

heavily with isopropylene alcohol.

My original intention was to just

to fade the heavy traffic areas on

the wing roots. However, when

I had painted these patches with

the paler shade of green, I was

so happy with the effect that

I decided to extend it to random

areas on the wings and fuselage.

I was careful not to simply

shade the insides of panels,

as I wanted to avoid a geometric

chequerboard. My ‘random’

application was therefore carefully

executed using a combination of

spots, shapes and mottles,

sometimes inside panels and

sometimes crossing structural

features. Fabric control surfaces

received a solid application of the

pale green shade. The pale mix was

also used to create a series of thin

vertical stripes on the rear fuselage.

A thin, dark mix of Tamiya Flat

Black and Red Brown was now

prepared and loaded into the

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The focus of the fading effect was the

wing roots, where the traffic of pilot

and crew would have had the greatest

impact. A silver pencil has also been

used to represent bare metal in the

most heavily worn areas.


21

The option of dropped flaps breaks

up the shape and colour of the

finished model.

Tamiya’s 1/48-scale Mitsubishi A6M5/5a

kit is an instant classic.


airbrush. This was used to

highlight major structural features

such as panel lines on the forward

fuselage that would be subject to

exhaust fumes and general grime,

control surface hinge lines and

various spots and streaks on

the upper and lower surfaces.

Camouflage demarcation lines were

softened with this mix too, as was

the border between the camouflage

colours and the yellow ID stripes

on the wings and propeller blades.

Tamiya Semi-Gloss Black acrylic

paint was thinned with water and

applied to control surfaces and

major panel lines. A silver artist’s

pencil was used to add very

selective chipping to the wing root

and fuselage sides. Weathering was

also applied to the undercarriage

parts and drop tank.

I wanted to emphasize the

different gloss levels between

the main airframe and the engine

cowling. The cowling was sprayed

with Model Master Acryl Semi-

Gloss for a smooth, satin finish.

A few ‘chips’ were also added to

the engine coal using Testors’

Metalizer Aluminium applied

with the tip of a toothpick.

Final assembly was a breeze.

The propeller assembly and drop

tanks simply pressed into place

thanks to the very efficient

polythene caps. The canopy,

dropped flaps and undercarriage

were similarly precise. I used

water-based Gator Glue to attach

the canopy parts.

The metal cannon barrels

from Tamiya’s Detail Up set were

glued in place. No painting or

preparation was required, and they

(along with the pitot tube) looked

fantastic. Installing the tiny aileron

balance horns was left until last,

but I still managed to drop one

and lose it. This was replaced

with the tip of a toothpick glued

to two pieces of fine wire.

The antenna wire was cut from

smoke-coloured invisible mending

thread and secured with two spots

of superglue.

CONCLUSIONAlthough Hasegawa’s A6M family

is accurate and quite well detailed,

Tamiya’s new kit easily snatches the

crown as best 1/48-scale Zero.

Tamiya’s A6M5/5a is

beautifully detailed, with perhaps

the best 1/48-scale cockpit

straight from the box seen to date.

Options are very useful, and the

model is a pleasure to build thanks

to the thoughtful planning of

Tamiya’s designers.

Even if you are not a big fan

of Japanese aircraft, you would

be doing yourself a favour by

sampling the sheer excellence

of Tamiya’s new 1/48-scale

Mitsubishi A6M5/5a Zero. I do

hope that Tamiya will be working

through the whole Zero family.

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MERLIN SPITFIRESCLOSE UP

The Museum’s Mk VIII was

the last Spitfire taken on

charge by the Royal Australian

Air Force. It was manufactured

in England during 1944, and

shipped to Australia where it was

delivered to the RAAF in April

1945. Its RAAF serial number

was A58-758. The aircraft was

immediately placed in storage

and never saw active service.

Post-war, this Spitfire was

employed by Sydney Technical

College as an instructional

airframe. Mr Sid Marshall

purchased the aircraft in 1982 and

stored it in components Mr Colin

Pay of Scone then acquired and

restored the Spitfire. After four

decades of storage and disassembly,

BUILDING A NEW GENERATIONLIMITED-RUN KITThe Temora Aviation Museum has not one, but two late-Merlin Spitfires. These are the only two Spitfires

in flying condition in Australia.

The Spitfire Mk VIII was a later

development, but shared many of the

characteristics of the Spitfire Mk IXc. This

beautifully restored example is displayed

at the Temora Aviation Museum.


24

Temora’s Spitfire Mk VIII cockpit is

mostly original. The configuration

is almost identical to that of a Spitfire

Mk IXc. Here we can see the instrument

panel, slightly overshadowed by a large

cover over the modern avionics

mounted on the instrument coaming.

The starboard cockpit sidewall is quite

bare, as it was on the wartime aircraft.

Black leather cushions are fitted to the

Spitfire’s composite seat. We can see

the characteristic brown colour of the

composite material. Some modern

avionics are also visible behind the

seat on the starboard sidewall.

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The well of the Spitfire’s floorless cockpit

is a jumble of wires, actuators and

structural details. The large quadrant

and trim wheels may be seen on the

port sidewall here too.

Note the slight bulge at the rear of

the tail wheel doors to accommodate

the tail wheel when retracted. This

retractable tail wheel was not fitted

to the Spitfire Mk IX.

All Spitfire Mk VIIIs were configured

with the universal ‘c’ wing. Most, if not

all, Mk VIII Spitfires featured the narrow

inboard bulge for the 20mm cannon,

plus two .303in. machine guns

outboard on each wing.


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Temora is also home to a Spitfire Mk XVIe.

In contrast to the Mk VIII, this Mk XVI is fitted with tubular exhaust stubs. Main wheels are the later style with four

lightening holes.


27

Radiator face detail.

This Mk XVIe is fitted with the late-style

double-kinked elevators.

A side view of the Rolls-Royce Merlin 70

engine in Temora’s Spitfire Mk VIII.

Note the bare copper coolant pipes.

The curved oil tank under the engine

and the long supercharger intake are

obvious from this angle.


this marvellous aircraft took to the

skies again in 1985. It has been

part of the Temora Aviation

Museum’s collection since 2002,

and regularly takes parts in

flying displays.

The aircraft is painted in the

Ocean Grey and Dark Green

camouflage worn by RAAF

Spitfires in the South-west Pacific.

These markings represent the

personal aircraft of Wing

Commander R. H. (Bobby) Gibbes

AM WG CMR DSO DFC.

The Spitfire Mk XVI was

manufactured at Castle Bromwich

in late 1944, and undertook its

first mission with 453 Sqn RAAF

on 24 March 1945 wearing the

codes FU-P.

After being written off by the

Royal Air Force in 1951, this

aircraft started a film career, first as

a prop in MGM’s 1955 adaptation

of the Douglas Bader story,

Reach for the Sky, and again 12 years

later as a non-flying extra in

The Battle of Britain.

Sir Tim Wallis purchased the

partially restored airframe in 1987,

completing the project and

shipping the Spitfire to New

Zealand as the centrepiece of

the Alpine Fighter Collection.

Temora Aviation Museum

acquired the aircraft in April 2006.

It is currently finished in the

colours and markings of its first

sorties over the skies of northern

Europe with 453 Sqn RAAF.

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IT The small bare metal reservoir behind

the propeller is the glycol tank. Ethylene

glycol was used as the coolant in the

Spitfire. Note the circular black filler cap

near the top of the tank. Tamiya missed

this feature. Also missing from the

Tamiya kit is the filler neck for the oil

tank. This may be seen in the photo a

little more than halfway back on the oil

tank, curving upwards.

The top of the Rolls-Royce Merlin 70.


SPECIALHOBBY/CLASSICAIRFRAMESSPITFIRE MK VCThe Spitfire Mk Vc was the first

of this famous breed to use the

so-called ‘universal’ ‘c’ wing.

The ‘c’ wing could be fitted with

up to four 20mm cannon or eight

machine guns, but the most typical

fit was two 20mm cannon and four

.303in. machine guns.

The ‘c’ wing armament was also

used on the Spitfire Mk VIII, IX,

XVI and 18.

Although the Spitfire Vc was

built in significant numbers, we

had not seen this variant produced

as a 1/48-scale injection-moulded

kit until 2008.

Both Classic Airframes and

Special Hobby released Spitfire

Mk Vc kits in late 2008. The

mouldings are identical except

for propeller assemblies and

different marking options.

In 2009, Eduard from the

Czech Republic threw their

hat into the ring too, releasing

the same plastic sprues

supplemented with their own

colour photo-etched parts plus

a lovely set of resin, hollowed-out

flared exhaust stacks. For this

project I used the Classic

Airframes boxing.

29

Limited-run kit parts are usually not

labelled on the sprues, and generally

require more time and effort to clean up

the plastic. I find it helpful to remove

and prepare all the parts before

commencing construction. Here, the

parts have been stored in resealable

bags prior to assembly.

Both Classic Airframes and Special

Hobby released this 1/48-scale Spitfire

Mk Vc with minor variations in 2008.

In 2009, Eduard also released their own

boxing of the same plastic sprues with

their own colour photo-etched parts.


IN THE BOXClassic Airframes’ 1/48-scale

Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vc is

a good example of a modern

limited-run kit. It comprises

94 parts in grey plastic, nine parts

in clear injection-moulded plastic,

plus markings for four Spitfires

operated by the USAAF.

The kit looks fabulous on the

sprue, with crisp and consistently

recessed panel lines and fasteners,

subtle fabric texture on the rudder

and elevators, and fine detail parts.

There are some spurious raised

fasteners moulded prominently

just forward of the cockpit on the

fuselage sides. These should best

be sliced off or sanded back.

Moulding quality is very high,

with just some fine flash on smaller

parts and ejector pin circles on the

bottom of the ailerons.

The cockpit is well equipped

with separate lower sidewalls

and structural features moulded

in place, The seat mounts and

‘bottomless’ floor are delicately

presented. The seat is thin and

looks authentic with its backrest

cushion moulded in place.

The raised detail on the plastic

instrument panel is supplemented

with decal dials applied in two

layers. These look fantastic and

settle onto the panel perfectly after

careful placement and a generous

coat of Solvaset. I am not entirely

sure about the profuse presence of

yellow on the dials, but it certainly

adds some colour to the area!

Cockpit detail is further

enhanced by a photo-etched fret.

This includes a nice Sutton

Harness, rudder toe straps and

additional seat detail.

The wheel wells are a mixed bag.

The leg sections are very well

detailed, but the circular main

wells are devoid of any

structural features.

The propeller assembly is

the Rotol wooden version with

the pointy spinner. Check your

references carefully as the Spitfire

Vc could be fitted with other styles

of de Havilland and Rotol props

and spinners. Alternative propellers

are available from several

companies including Ultracast

and Red Roo Models.

Classic Airframes’ Spitfire Vc

is packed with options, although

many are marked ‘not for use’ in

this particular boxing. Even so,

with aftermarket decals you

might make use of some. These

options include:

• Three styles of wheel hub (three

spoke, four spoke and covered).

• Four styles of cannon bulge

covers (narrow C, narrow E and

two styles of wide C). Different

styles of cannon barrels and

caps are provided too.

• Vokes tropical filter or standard

lower cowl.

• Separate wing tips. Both

standard and clipped are offered.

The clipped wing tips are

cleverly supplied in clear plastic

so the navigation lights may be

masked before painting.

Ailerons and the rudder are

separate, but the elevators are

moulded in the neutral position as

part of the horizontal stabilizers.

Personally, I would have preferred

to see the ailerons moulded as part

of the wings. Separate elevators

would have been nice too. The

cockpit entry door is also moulded

separately and may be posed open.

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Multimedia parts are fairly limited

in this release. The cockpit mainly

comprises crisply moulded plastic parts,

supplemented with a photo-etched

Sutton Harness and rudder toe straps.


31

The absence of locating aids means that

extra care must be taken when aligning

and assembling parts. Clamps are very

useful to hold parts in place while

cement sets. The interior sidewalls

are being mated to the inside of

the fuselage.

I used an Eduard colour photo-etched

instrument panel. The yellow colour of

the dials is questionable, but the overall

effect is very impressive. Waldron

placard decals have also been used

to spruce up the front office.

The instrument panel and rear bulkhead

are too wide to fit between the cockpit

sidewalls. I trimmed the width of these

parts after test-fitting to allow the

fuselage halves to meet without serious

centreline gaps.


This kit is a joint project

between Special Hobby and Classic

Airframes, so the bottom of the

rear fuselage has a wedge-shaped

opening to accommodate the

A-Frame tail hook for Special

Hobby’s Seafire. On this Spitfire

kit, a blank insert is provided to

fill the gap.

The clear parts are thin

and transparent. The decals

are beautifully printed and in

perfect register.

PREPARATIONThe Special Hobby/Classic

Airframes Spitfire Vc presents

some construction challenges, but

careful preparation, some minor

modifications and the right

attitude will minimize the pain

and deliver a nice result.

Preparation is very important.

There is a little more flash (excess

plastic) than you might expect to

see on a long-run injection-moulded

kit from a company like Tamiya or

Hasegawa, but this should not be a

serious hurdle. The parts are not

numbered on the sprues, so you

will need to take some care to keep

track of them. For limited-run kits,

I generally remove the plastic parts

from their sprues and clean them

up with a hobby knife and sanding

stick before even thinking about

construction. This allows me to

test-fit the major components –

especially the fuselage and wings –

and plan for any remedial action

well in advance. I then sort the

parts into major categories (for

example, wing and undercarriage,

fuselage and tail planes, cockpit)

and pack these into separate

plastic bags.

CONSTRUCTIONNot surprisingly, construction

commences with the cockpit. Test-

fitting showed that the instrument

panel and rear bulkhead were too

wide to fit between the cockpit

sidewalls. You can either trim some

material from each side of these

parts (A8, A26 and, to be safe,

A24), or you might prefer to cut

the lower fuselage sidewalls into

sections (parts A3 and A29),

leaving spaces for the bulkheads

to fit in between. I trimmed the

sides of the parts for my project.

I found that I needed to deviate

from the instructions on a number

of occasions to ease construction.

Here are a few tips for smoothing

your modelling travels:

• The bottom of the lower

fuselage sidewalls may interfere

with the fit of the wing. A few

millimetres were trimmed off

the bottom of parts A3 and

A29 to avoid this problem.

• The main wheel well parts

(C13 and C34) should be glued

and clamped onto the bottom

wing half before the end caps

(parts C24 and C25) are

wedged into place.

• The cannon bulge inserts fit

pretty well, but they will fit even

better if you clamp them front

and rear while the glue is setting.

• Some sanding of the wing roots

and general fiddling will

improve the fit of the wings to

fuselage. I still wound up with

a narrow gap on each side, but

the dihedral is fine and a little

Milliput will fix the situation.

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A bit of extra time spent checking

the fit of limited-run kit parts before

committing to glue will save much

more time and grief further down the

track. The result is quite satisfying when

you gaze at the nicely detailed cockpit

ensconced between the fuselage halves.


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Wheel wells are supplied as separate

parts. These should be clamped firmly

to ensure that the top wing parts will fit

without gaps.

The wings and fuselage are temporarily

secured with clamps and Tamiya

masking tape. Tamiya tape has also

been stretched from wing tip to wing

tip to ensure the correct dihedral and

to close the wing root gap.

The Vokes filter under the nose should

be modified per this diagram to allow

the parts to fit properly. This extra

wedge interferes with the fit at the

forward lower wing join.


• More problematic is the

relatively large gap (a little more

than a millimetre) at the lower

trailing edge wing join. I filled

this with Milliput White

two-part epoxy putty.

• The wedge-shaped lower

fuselage insert fits very poorly.

I positioned mine so there was

only a gap to fill on one side.

• The Vokes filter (parts G1 and

G2) is moulded with a locating

aid where the chin meets the

wing. I found that the filter fitted

better when this webbing was

cut out. A little trimming was

also required to improve the fit. I

installed one half to the fuselage

first, getting it lined up properly

before installing the other half.

• The horizontal stabilizers fit

much better if the locating slots

in the fuselage are widened.

Once this was done, the fit

on mine was perfect.

• The ailerons should not be

pushed all the way in to the

wing hinge. The hinges may also

need some sanding to permit the

edges of the ailerons to meet the

wing. I used superglue to attach

the ailerons to the hinges only.

This leaves a noticeable gap

between the front of the aileron

and the wing, but this is not

uncommon on many aircraft.

• A little sanding was required to

improve the fit of the wing tips,

but the result was quite good.

• I cut off the mysterious raised

fasteners on the fuselage in front

of the cockpit.

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With the surgery performed, the fit is

very good. Tamiya Extra Thin Liquid

Cement was used. This is a strong and

fast drying adhesive that can be applied

to closed seam lines. The cement is so

thin that capillary action draws it into

microscopic gaps.

The horizontal tailplanes will fit much

better if the locating slots above the

empennage are significantly widened.

As moulded, the slot is too short to

allow a proper fit.


35

One of the vices of limited-run kits is

the likelihood of gaps. These two large

gaps are on the lower rear fuselage.

The lower rear panel is an insert to plug

a hole intended for the ‘V’-shaped tail

hook on a Seafire Mk II, not used on

this version.

Special Hobby has captured the outline

of the Spitfire Vc very well.

Minor gaps and steps were dealt with

prior to painting. Tamiya Masking Tape

was laid down to limit the unwanted

spread of putty.


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that was used to fill these gaps. Milliput

may be shaped with a wet finger for

up to half an hour after application,

does not shrink and sets to the same

consistency as the surrounding plastic,

so it is easy to sand and polish.

Here are the large gaps on the bottom

of the model, filled with Milliput prior

to sanding and polishing.

Some of these gaps can be seen after

sanding and polishing. The result is a

smooth surface returned to the plastic.

A slipper tank was borrowed from

Tamiya’s Spitfire Vb for the bottom

of the fuselage. Plastic strip was added

to the wheel wells, representing

structural detail.


37

The wing root and nose gaps and seam

lines have been eliminated here too.

Resin cannon fairings from PD were

employed for this project. The flat rear

faces of the fairings were drilled out

to accept copper locating pins. The

corresponding position on the leading

edge of the wing was drilled out too.

With the cockpit opening masked,

painting got underway with a coat

of Alclad Grey Primer applied with the

Testor Aztek A470 airbrush. The primer

coat revealed a few lingering seam lines

at the wing root, so these were sanded,

filled with Gunze Mr. Surfacer, sanded

again and polished.


• I added some fine plastic strip

on the inside of the main

sections of the wheel wells

to represent structural detail.

PAINTINGWith the cockpit opening masked,

painting got underway with a coat

of Alclad Grey Primer applied

with the Testor Aztek A470

airbrush. The primer coat revealed

a few lingering seam lines at the

wing root, so these were sanded,

filled with Gunze Mr. Surfacer,

sanded again and polished.

The bottom of the model was

painted Mr Color Azure Blue. This

is lacquer paint. The base colour

for the upper surfaces was Gunze

acrylic H72 Dark Earth. The

camouflage pattern was drawn onto

the upper surface with a 2B pencil.

The disruptive camouflage pattern

was then applied freehand with the

airbrush using Gunze H73 Dark

Green. Although the base colours

are in place, there is still a long way

to go for this paint job.

Masks were cut into wide self-

adhesive tape using an Olfa circle

cutter. These were applied to the

upper wings and fuselage. The

circle on the fuselage was used as a

locating guide to the open mask.

Paler versions of dark earth and

dark green were mixed up and

sprayed inside the circular masks.

Care was taken to match the edges

of the darker camouflage pattern.

These circles represent

overpainting of earlier, larger

national markings.

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The disruptive camouflage pattern

was applied freehand with the airbrush

using Gunze H73 Dark Green. Although

the base colours are in place, there is

still a long way to go for this paint job.

The bottom of the model was painted

Mr Color Azure Blue. This is a lacquer

paint. The base colour for the upper

surfaces was Gunze acrylic H72 Dark

Earth. The camouflage pattern was

drawn onto the upper surface with

a 2B pencil.


39

Masks were cut into wide self-adhesive

tape using an Olfa circle cutter. These

were applied to the upper wings and

fuselage. The circle on the fuselage was

used as a locating guide to the open

mask.

Paler versions of dark earth and dark

green were mixed up and sprayed

inside the circular masks. Care was

taken to match the edges of the darker

camouflage pattern. These circles

represent overpainting of earlier, larger

national markings.

Masking tape was generously applied to

the wings and forward fuselage before

painting the white leading edge stripes.

We don’t want to cover our nice

camouflage pattern in white overspray,

do we?


MARKINGS,WEATHERING ANDFINISHING TOUCHESThe markings for my model

represent 54 Sqn RAF based in

Darwin during 1943.

Although these markings look

like RAAF roundels, this is in

fact a British squadron based

in the Antipodes.

Aeromaster Decals’ 1/48-scale

sheet no. 48-667 ‘Aussie Mk.V Spits’

offers these markings. The decals

were applied over two coats of Future

floor polish. After the markings had

been allowed to dry overnight, several

thin coats of Polly Scale Flat Clear

toned down the finish

The clear canopy parts were

masked and sprayed Gunze H73

Dark Green. The frames were also

sprayed with Polly Scale Flat Clear

before the masking tape was

removed. Additional weathering

included a selective application

of black/brown streaks and spots.

With the paint job now complete,

the finishing touches including the

aerial mast, undercarriage, pilot’s

mirror were added.

CONCLUSIONI am very pleased to finally see a

decent quality 1/48-scale Spitfire

Mk Vc.

Classic Airframes’ and Special

Hobby’s 1/48-scale Spitfire Vc

offerings are well detailed and

feature plenty of useful options.

Bear in mind that this is a limited-

run kit so you will need to spend

some extra time preparing parts,

checking fit and making

adjustments as required. This kit

will not fall together – you will

be using your modelling skills.

Even so, the extra effort will result

in an accurate, attractive kit of this

important yet previously neglected

Spitfire variant.

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Aeromaster decals have been applied

over a glossy coat of Future floor polish.

The PD resin de Havilland propeller

assembly may be seen here too.

Several thin coats of Polly Scale Flat

Clear tones down the finish and blends

the decals. Note that the fin has also

been lightened with the pale

camouflage colours.


41

The clear canopy parts were masked and sprayed Gunze H73

Dark Green. The frames were also sprayed with Polly Scale Flat

Clear before the masking tape was removed.

Additional weathering included a selective application of

black/brown streaks and spots.

LEFT: All the finishing touches have now

been added – aerial mast,

undercarriage, pilot’s mirror.

BELOW: The Special Hobby/Classic

Airframes Spitfire Mk Vc really looks the

part. A bit more effort is required than

your typical long-run injection-moulded

kit, but if you are willing to put in the

time, the results will be worthwhile.


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WORKING WITH RESINCONVERSIONSThe Spitfire Vc was an important variant that saw service in most theatres, but Airfix, Hasegawa and

Tamiya all produced their 1/48-scale Spitfire Mk V kits with the ‘b’ wing.

The difference between

the Mk Vb and Vc is the

wing-mounted armament. These

differences are more extensive

than it might seem at first glance.

On the Vc, the access panels for

the guns changed, the position

of the upper-wing blister moved

forward, the blisters themselves

altered shape (in fact, there were

several shapes depending on the

armament fitted to the new

universal wing), the shape

of the cannon fairings changed

and more.

Australians have a particular

interest in the Spitfire Vc because

the early Spitfire squadrons in the

Pacific and at home were all

equipped with this mark.

Prior to the release of the

limited-run Special Hobby/Classic

Airframes/Eduard Spitfire Mk Vc

kits, the only option for modellers

wanting this variant was a

conversion. Probably the best of

these is Red Roo Models 1/48-scale

Spitfire Vc resin conversion set.

Indeed, some modellers simply

do not like limited-run models

and would prefer to work with a

long-run injection-moulded kit

and resin conversion parts.

Fortunately, this resin set is still

available so the choice is entirely

up to you.

Red Roo Models’ 1/48-scale

Spitfire Vc conversion comprises

14 parts in caramel and cream

coloured resin. It is designed for

the Tamiya kit. In addition to the

wings, Red Roo supplies a tropical

filter and a replacement propeller

and spinner, alternate cannon

bulges, barrels and a new oil

cooler intake.

The casting quality of all

the parts is very high. The panel

lines and fine details look good

compared to the Tamiya kit parts.

The conversion addresses most

of the differences between the ‘b’

and the ‘c’ wing, but there are still

a few accuracy issues that need to

be addressed. Firstly, and most

noticeably, the inner machine gun

on the ‘c’ wing moved one rib

further out, so instead of lining up

with the inner end of the aileron,

the access door should be outboard

of that panel line. This panel

should be rescribed for those who

want complete accuracy. Also, the

gear legs canted further forward on

the Vc aircraft. This should be an

easy fix – shim the locating pin at

the top of the gear legs and adjust

the alignment in accordance with

reference photos.

TAMIYA’S 1/48-SCALE SPITFIREMK VBTamiya signalled their intention

to return to 1/48-scale aircraft

production with their 1993 release

of their Spitfire Mk I. Their

Spitfire Mk Vb followed in 1994.

Tamiya was clearly focused on

creating a model that was simple

to build but uncompromising in

detail. They succeeded.

Tamiya’s 1/48-scale Spitfire Vb

comprises 59 medium-grey styrene

parts on two sprues and ten clear

parts. Decals are provided for two

aircraft. The instructions are well

presented and very straightforward.

Options in this kit include a

choice of windscreen and main


canopy parts, alternate positions

for the cockpit door and two styles

of wheel hubs.

Surface detail is superb. Panel

lines are crisply engraved. The width

of the panel lines varies, just as on

the real aircraft. For instance, the

chunky panel lines of the engine

cowl are fearlessly depicted. The

quick-release fasteners on the cowl

are also beautifully rendered.

The cockpit is adequate for this

scale but the seat is a bit thick and

oversimplified. The Spitfire did not

have a cockpit floor. The kit deals

with this feature by using a single

part with footrests and framing

moulded above a false partial floor.

This looks fine in the dark recesses

of the bottom of the cockpit.

The wings feature integrally

moulded cannon barrels. If you

are building this as a Mk Vb, care

is required not to damage these

parts during assembly. The wheel

bulge is moulded on top of the

wing halves creating a realistic

wheel well. Some sources suggest

that these bulges are not authentic,

but I have several wartime photos

of Spitfire Vs that clearly show

them in place. However, the two

reinforcement strakes on each wing

are a museum feature and will have

to be removed.

There are a few ejector-pin

marks on the inside surfaces

of some parts. Fortunately these

are all out of sight once the kit

is assembled.

CONVERSIONConstruction is quite

straightforward. The lower wing on

each side must be cut off outboard

of the wheel well. The new resin

wing then replaces the plastic

upper wing and the outer portion

of the lower wing. In fact, this

method is similar to a resin

43

A limited-run model kit is not your only

choice for building a Spitfire Mk Vc. In

this project, Tamiya’s Spitfire Mk Vb has

been converted to the ‘c’ wing variant.


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The cuts are finished off with a sharp

hobby blade. This is a small Olfa knife.

It is important to score lightly and

repeatedly to remove the excess plastic.

Red Roo Models released a resin Spitfire

Mk Vc conversion comprising 14 resin

parts. The main elements were the

replacement wings. These were cleverly

designed to overlap the bottom wing,

ensuring a strong bond.

Surgery to the kit is essential. Here,

self-adhesive Dymo tape has been

applied as a guide to cut the bottom

outer wings from the centre section.

A scribing tool is being used to start

the cutting line.


45

The top of the resin wing parts overlaps

what remains of the bottom of the

plastic wing. See the structural detail

cast onto the bottom of the upper wing

inside the wheel wells.

The resin wings have been clamped to

the bottom wing while the superglue

thoroughly sets. The fuselage and

wing assemblies have only been taped

together to check for possible problems

later in construction.

Tamiya’s cockpit detail is reasonably

good, and the configuration is certainly

close enough to the Mk Vc as to make

little difference. The only additions

were an Ultracast resin seat with

cast-on harness and decals for the

instrument dials.


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The next stage of construction was

crucial. The bottom centre section

of the wing was carefully aligned and

glued to the assembled fuselage.

The fuselage halves may be joined

with the cockpit floor and bulkheads

inserted from underneath afterwards.

The decals for the instrument dials are

quite effective.

The central cockpit elements have been

pressed into place through the large

opening in the bottom of the fuselage.


47

Now the large resin wings were

attached to the lower centre section

using superglue. The gaps and

misalignments will be dealt with shortly.

The bottom centre section protrudes

slightly beyond the trailing edge of both

resin upper wings.

A number of narrow gaps remained

after the resin parts were installed.

The most noticeable of these were

where the resin and plastic sections

of the wings met. This area was first

masked then filled with Milliput White.


conversion available years ago

(and now long out of production)

by Bringuier Aviation Products.

The benefits of this method of

replacement are that the bond

between resin and plastic is very

secure, the dihedral is guaranteed,

there is only one join to fill and

it is quite simple. Details such as

the bulges and cannon barrels are

simply glued on to the resin wing.

Instructions are supplied on a

double-sided A4 sheet of paper.

The text and diagram do a good

job of outlining the potential

problems and solutions

associated with this project.

In particular, the instructions

talk about the need to fill a

small gap in the sidewall of the

wheel well when the outer wing

is removed.

PAINTINGUnlike many post-war British and

Commonwealth aircraft, this Spitfire

was not painted silver. It was

stripped back to bare metal.

A bare metal finish has a unique

appearance, quite different from

painted silver. The reflectivity

of the surface may vary on the

same airframe from very shiny in

some areas to very dull in others.

Alloys used on different panels

may be distinctly different shades.

Oxidization or staining may form

on unprotected surfaces. The result

might be a patchwork of different

48C

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A little extra work at this time results

in a more professional finish when the

model has been painted.

Cannon fairings, the spinner cap and

wing bulges are supplied in cream

coloured resin. The bulge is actually too

tall, but I picked this up after installation

– too late to do anything about it.


metallic effects on a single airframe.

This may be one of the most

demanding and exacting finishes

that a modeller will ever attempt.

Preparation is the key. The

metallic finish will only be as

good as the surface over which

it is sprayed. If the surface of

the plastic is less than completely

perfect, the metallic paint job will

amplify any blemishes.

Alclad II is a recent range

of metallic lacquers that does

not require thinning or any

protective coating. A very wide

selection of metallic shades is

available in the Alclad II range.

In addition to raw metallics,

Alclad also offers various tints

and primer coats.

Alclad II delivers a very thin

coat on the surface of the model.

Combined with its metallic sheen,

this means that even the tiniest

imperfection on the surface of the

model will be amplified to

horrifying proportions. Surface

preparation is therefore especially

important for metallic finishes.

The surface of the model

should be polished with

Micro-Mesh cloths before even

a primer coat is applied. After

polishing, carefully examine the

plastic against the best available

light and at different angles. If you

can detect any scratches, scuffs or

seams, now is the time to eliminate

them completely.

49

A base coat of Alclad Grey Primer

exposed a few remaining steps and

gaps. These were sanded back prior

to the application of the metallic paint.

A bare metal finish is the most revealing

and least forgiving of all paint jobs!

A new layer of grey primer was sprayed

onto the model. The primer was lightly

polished to ensure that the surface as

perfectly smooth.


If you are planning a regular

metallic finish, a coat or two of

grey primer will be sufficient. If the

model is destined to be finished in

highly polished chrome, a gloss

black primer will be required.

Alclad offers both the grey and the

gloss black primers in their range.

Alclad’s primers and metallic

paints seem to produce an

especially large and noxious cloud

of vapour, so make sure you have

adequate ventilation and, ideally,

a respirator before you start.

Once the primer coat has been

applied, the model should once

again be polished and checked for

any lingering flaws. After these

have been dealt with, we are ready

for the first metallic coat.

In this case I commenced with

Alclad Aluminium Shade A. A fine,

misting coat is plenty to start with,

and the nozzle of the airbrush

should be fairly close to the surface

of the plastic – no more than

about 10cm away. Alclad dries very

quickly when applied properly, so

the model will be ready for the fine

second coat almost without pause.

Do take care when spraying into

the curve of the wing root and

other complex shapes, Try to follow

the contours with the tip of your

airbrush to minimize air turbulence

and avoid noticeably grainy finish.

When the base shade has

achieved complete opaque coverage

after two or three coats, set the

model aside to completely dry for a

few hours. (You really should do this,

but I can hardly ever contain my

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Unlike post-war British and

Commonwealth aircraft, this Spitfire

was not painted silver. It was stripped

back to bare metal. Alclad II Aluminium

was used as the base colour. This is

a lacquer-based finish with tiny

metallic particles, resulting in a

very convincing finish.

The rudder on this aircraft was painted

foliage green. This was sprayed and

the area forward of the empennage

masked off in preparation for the white

identification markings on the horizontal

tail surfaces and the fin.


51

The leading edges of the wings were

likewise masked for the theatre stripes.

The cannon fairings and stubs were

painted white too.

Various panels were masked off in

advance of spraying a slightly darker

shade of Alclad Aluminium. The

masking is time consuming, but

the spray job is remarkably quick!

The varying metallic shades make a big

difference to the finish. The differences

are subtle but apparent.


impatience to proceed for more

than 15 minutes. Despite my

non-compliant behaviour, I have

rarely encountered any problems.)

Individual panels may now be

masked off and sprayed in different

shades from Aluminium B through

to E. Other metallic shades are

available too, including Pale Burnt

Metal, White Aluminium, Gold,

Copper, Magnesium, Steel and Jet

Exhaust. In this case, I only used

Aluminium shades B and C for

variation. Buffing is not required,

and does not make a huge difference

to the sheen of Alclad in any case.

In addition to the multi-shade

metallic finish, the model was also

masked to allow for theatre markings

and a few unique attributes. These

included a white tail and wing

leading edge stripes, and a Foliage

Green rudder, probably a

replacement from another aircraft.

These markings were masked with

Tamiya tape, but the tack of the

adhesive was reduced by first

applying it to my not insubstantial

forehead. As strange as this sounds,

it does work! Tamiya acrylic XF-2

Flat White paint was used for the

theatre markings. The black anti-

glare strip above the engine cowling

was also masked and sprayed, this

time using Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black.

DECALSDecals were sourced from Red Roo

Models too, item no. RRD4831

‘Spitfire Vc, 85 Sqn RAAF, Late-

War’. They performed perfectly

right on top of the Alclad finish.

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was a black anti-glare strip on top

of the engine cowling.

The metallic finish and the various

markings are now complete. One of

the advantages of this ultra-smooth

metallic finish is that it is usually not

necessary to paint a gloss coat before

applying decals.


CONCLUSIONI built both the Classic Airframes

limited-run Spitfire Vc and the

Tamiya/Red Roo conversion in

parallel, and it proved to be a very

interesting exercise. On the one

hand, it took more time to clean

up and align the parts of the

limited-run kit from Eastern

Europe. However, on the upside,

this was the first time that a

Spitfire Mk Vc was available

straight from the box, the kit

was accurate in outline and detail

is very good.

For the concurrent conversion

project, the base Tamiya kit was

less accurate to start with (mainly

the shape of the semi-elliptical

wing), but the resin conversion

parts corrected this shortcoming.

Some surgery to the kit parts

was necessary, as was filling and

sanding of the almost inevitable

gaps. The project did result in an

accurate and attractive Spitfire Vc

in 1/48 scale.

53

RIGHT: The windscreen and canopy

were masked with Tamiya tape and

temporarily tacked to a paintbrush. The

windscreen was painted Tamiya XF-1

Flat Black, while the middle and rear

canopy sections received a coat of silver.

ABOVE: Decals were from Red Roo

Models too, item no. RRD4831

‘Spitfire Vc, 85 Sqn RAAF, Late-War’.

They performed perfectly right on top

of the Alclad finish.


So, what is the best way to get an

accurate Spitfire Vc in 1/48 scale?

I would rate the degree of difficulty

and the effort expended for both

projects as essentially identical.

The decision will come down to a

matter of personal preference. Some

modellers can’t stand working with

limited-run kits. Others loathe

resin conversions and cutting up

a perfectly nice plastic model.

The choice is yours!

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Some light weathering was applied in

the form of cordite streaks and subtle

highlighting of selected panel lines.

The undercarriage parts still fitted

perfectly. Smaller details such as

the antenna mast, propeller blades

and pitot tube were attached

following weathering.

The combination of the Tamiya kit and

the Red Roo resin conversion results

in a very satisfactory 1/48-scale

Spitfire Mk Vc.


55

MESSERSCHMITTBF 109G-6 CLOSE UP

The airframe was extensively

photographed between

1999 and 2002, before it was

reassembled and put on display in

the main section of the Australian

War Memorial.

Here we have access to

areas generally not visible on

museum (or even operational)

aircraft, including the fuselage

interior, radio compartment,

empennage, wheel wells and more.

Let’s take a closer look at

Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6,

Werknummer 163824.

IMPROVING A SIMPLE SNAP-TOGETHER KITThe Australian War Memorial in Canberra is fortunate to have a Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6 in entirely

original condition. This aircraft was rebuilt at Ludwig Hansen & Co Flugzeug-Repatur-Werk in Münster

in December 1944, and features many interesting configurations and late-war camouflage characteristics.

It was captured by British forces soon after the rebuild.


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IT This is Messerchmitt Bf 109G-6,

Werknummer 163824, prior to

reassembly while it was still in storage

at the Mitchell Wing of the Australian

War Memorial in Canberra.

The red tint on the engine bearers is the

remnants of an anti-corrosion coating

applied prior to transport to Australia.

It is not a Luftwaffe-applied feature.

The absence of a seal around the rear

of the Erla clear vision hood is an

indication that the late-style canopy

was factory fitted. Note the different

shades on the pilot’s stowage door

(probably a faded RLM 66 Black Grey),

and the surrounding panel, which

seems to match the upper surface

camouflage colour.


57

The unpainted, dimpled panel inside

the lower central wing is a rarely

glimpsed feature of the Bf 109.

This is a view of the tail wheel strut

with the empennage of the airframe

removed. The strut and the oleo scissors

are painted RLM 02 Grey, but the

fuselage station and interior have been

left in bare metal.

LEFT: A fuse panel is mounted inside the

fuselage opposite the radio hatch cover.

Note the wooden base with a thin coat

of RLM 99 Yellow Green primer failing

to obscure the woodgrain pattern.

RIGHT: The FuG 16ZS radio unit is

mounted on the fuselage station

forward of the hatch. This wooden

mount is also finished in RLM 99 Yellow

Green primer. All of these internal

components are entirely original and

in remarkably good condition.


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IT The piebald camouflage of this example

reflects the chaotic state of the Third

Reich in 1944. This wing appears to be

painted in RLM 81 Brown Violet in a

patchy overspray, along with a more

solid application of RLM 83 Dark Green.

The aileron is RLM 75 Grey Violet.

A close view of the aileron reveals the

thin application of the paint and a

second, paler shade. The red primer

of the fabric strips may also be seen

beneath the thin paint.

The starboard wing sports a completely

different scheme – jagged, pale RLM 75

Grey Violet and RLM 83 Dark Green.


59

The interior of the wheel wells shows

the structural detail. The pressed wheel

bulge may be seen here too.

This Bf 109G-6 is now on display in the

new Aircraft Wing of the Australian War

Memorial. Although the room is very

dark and the Gustav is mounted high

on a pole, a number of otherwise hard

to see details are now on display.

Although this is a G-6 variant, the oil

cooler housing is the deeper version

usually associated with the G-10.


21ST CENTURYTOYS’ 1/32-SCALEMESSERSCHMITTBF 109F-2The Messerschmitt Bf 109F

was a major transformation of

the famous ‘Augsburg Eagle’. The

airframe was streamlined with a

newly designed engine cowling,

large spinner, rounded wing tips,

revised flaps and many mechanical

modifications compared to the

earlier Bf 109E.

The Bf 109F entered service in

1941, at around the same time as

the RAF introduced the Spitfire

Mk V. RAF Fighter Command also

switched to offensive operations

over France and Belgium during

this period, creating a new

challenge for the Luftwaffe.

The new Spitfire was superior

to the Bf 109F in most respects,

and it would not be until early

1942 with the general introduction

of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 that a

Luftwaffe fighter aircraft would

gain a temporary upper hand.

Despite this seesawing combat

on the Channel front, the

Messerschmitt Bf 109F achieved

stunning success over the grassy

steppes and frozen tundra of Russia,

and the harsh desert of North

Africa during 1941 and 1942.

21st Century Toys has been

making a name for itself in the

collector’s market with their large-

scale, pre-assembled and painted

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been painted on the back on a propeller

blade. The red stencil markings are of

interest too.

The tail wheel features an unpainted

hub and whitewall tyre.


aircraft and military models. Now,

21st Century Toys has expanded

into plastic construction kits.

This first generation of 1/32-

scale kits includes a Messerschmitt

Bf 109F-2/F-4. We have been

waiting for a Friedrich variant

of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 in

1/32 scale for a long time. Revell’s

1/32-scale Bf 109F from the 1960s

displayed some fatal accuracy issues,

and Hasegawa seems to be in no

rush to expand their excellent

1/32-scale Bf 109 family.

So do we finally have a

decent 1/32-scale Messerschmitt

Bf 109F? 21st Century Toys’

Messerschmitt Bf 109 is nicely

detailed; offers useful options

including drop tank, bombs,

workable undercarriage and slats;

fits together well and is simple

to build. On the other side of

the equation, the clear parts are

quite thick, recessed panel lines

are wider and softer than we would

normally see on a mainstream kit,

and there is some ambiguity about

exactly which variant this

model represents. Even so, at

around US$10.00, it is an

indisputable bargain.

Straight from the box, the kit

actually best depicts a Bf 109G-2,

as suggested by the panel

arrangement, closed tail wheel

well, style of oil cooler fairing,

supercharger intake and wide

propeller blades. Some extra work

will still be required for total

accuracy. A full list of these

modifications, plus a closer

61

LEFT: 21st Century Toys produce

a range of 1/32-scale World War II

fighter kits, including this Messerschmitt

Bf 109F-2/F-4.


inspection of the parts in the box,

may be found in my detailed review

on the HyperScale website.

I decided to finish my kit as a

Bf 109F-2. I gathered the various

accessories and conversion parts

needed for the task.

COCKPITWith my initial look at the 21st

Century Bf 109F, I thought that

the cockpit was a bit underdetailed.

I quickly changed my mind after

I started working on the kit. The

finished cockpit looks very good

with only minimal extra work.

I decided to simply add harness

straps and rudder toe straps.

The harness is the flexible resin

item from Cutting Edge. The toe

straps are strips of lead foil.

There was an ejector-pin circle on

the armour headrest that I covered

with Mr. Surfacer.

The only other addition was a

length of fuse wire to complete the

fuel line on the starboard sidewall

(the front part in front of the

inspection tube is not moulded to

the sidewall).

I spent a couple of hours

painting up the cockpit. The results

were better than I expected. The

sidewall detail looked shallow when

unpainted, but was very convincing

after painting and weathering.

I added a few placard decals from

MDC and Reheat before sealing

the paint job with Polly Scale Flat.

With the cockpit finished,

construction of the main

components could take place.

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Construction is straightforward, with

the major parts being attached via stout

screws. The big holes are covered with

plastic caps.

Surface detail is a little heavy, but

accurately positioned.


63

LEFT: The multi-part, seated pilot figure

is beautifully sculpted.

RIGHT: A few minor enhancements were

made to the cockpit, including flexible

resin harness straps from Cutting Edge

and rudder toe straps cut from the lead

foil covering the top of a wine bottle.

A missing section of the fuel line was

also added to the starboard sidewall.

Even straight from the box, the cockpit

looks great after a careful paint job.

Tamiya acrylics were used to finish

the cockpit, with RLM 66 being the

base colour.

With the cockpit complete, basic construction is a snap – almost literally. The fuselage and wings have been glued together at this

stage, with the dihedral being set with masking tape stretched between the wing tips.


AIRFRAMEAs I was building my model as a

Bf 109F, I cut open the tail wheel

well before joining the fuselage

halves. This does not affect the

fit or functionality of the tail

wheel strut, which is secured

inside the fuselage.

Before assembly, I painted

interior components including the

wheel well and inside of the rear

fuselage plus the landing gear legs

in Gunze RLM 02. While the

airbrush was loaded up I also

sprayed the inside of the gear

doors. Inside the wings, the

radiators are blanked off with

raised plastic sections. The front

of these were painted black to hide

the lack of radiator faces.

The main undercarriage legs

must be installed before the wings

are assembled. A plastic plate is

screwed over the gear legs which,

in theory, allows the gear to be

retractable. I am not willing to test

this as the legs are held very tightly

in place. Perhaps the softer plastic

of the pre-assembled kits makes

this easier. I can advise that the

legs are very secure, and sit at

the correct angle, when they are

installed. The leading edge slats

are moveable, and these must also

be installed before the top wings

are glued in place.

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The way the kit is engineered means that the landing gear legs

must be glued in place as the wings are assembled. Caution is

required to avoid damaging the legs during subsequent

assembly, painting and handling.

The kit offers working leading edge slats. This is a nice touch,

but the slat well is nothing more than an open space.

The main joins are gap free. Check out the excellent fit of the

wing root.

The empennage is a separate subassembly but fit is also

impressive in this area. Even before painting, you can barely

discern the difference between the panel lines and the join.


Next, the tail sections were added

to each fuselage half. I figured that

this order of assembly would

provide the best alignment along the

panel line. I was right. Before gluing

the tail sections to the main fuselage

halves, however, I first cut off the

rudder. I have a spare tail section

from a Hasegawa Bf 109 and I

decided to adapt this better-shaped

item to the 21st Century kit.

The tail wheel strut was now

mounted on its pin, the cockpit

tub was placed between its locating

tabs and the instrument panel

installed on one fuselage half.

The panel is located securely in

slots inside the fuselage resulting

in a very positive fit.

The fuselage halves almost

snapped together. A tiny bit of

fiddling was required to align the

cockpit and instrument panel, but

the locating pins along the fuselage

provided a strong and accurate fit

for the fuselage halves.

I faithfully followed the

instructions and inserted the three

screws in their holes on the fuselage

sides. However, these made very

tight going and I was eventually

worried that I would damage the

plastic. I gather that this method of

construction was designed for the

softer plastic of the pre-assembled

kits. As it turns out, Tamiya Liquid

Cement was perfectly adequate for

the plastic seam lines, so next time I

will not bother using the screws at all.

65

Blanking plates for the leading edge

slats were cut from plastic card and

glued into place.

The screw covers were fitted in place

but these left noticeable circles. These

recessed circles were slathered with

Milliput two-part epoxy putty. Several

hatches on the starboard side spine

were filled at the same time.


At this point I smugly ignored

the instructions, and glued the

full-span lower wing to the fuselage.

I should have followed the

instructions though, as I wound

up with a gap at the wing root on

one side when test-fitting the upper

wing halves. I cut open the joins at

the lower front of the bottom wing,

and glued the top halves in place

before re-securing the bottom wing

to the fuselage. The result was a

perfect fit at the wing root, the

lower wing at the rear fuselage, and

a very good fit at the lower front

wing section. You can save yourself

this extra step by simply following

the instructions and assembling

the wing before offering it to

the fuselage.

ADDITIONS ANDMODIFICATIONSWith the basic assembly done,

it was time to make a few changes.

The moveable leading edge slats are

a nice idea, but I thought that they

looked a bit clunky due to the

see-through effect behind the

slats into the interior of the wing.

I decided to blank off the area

behind the slats. This would mean

that the slats would no longer

be workable, but I could live

with that.

I measured and cut two lengths of

plastic strip to fit over the mounts,

creating a diagonal blanking plate.

I test-fitted the blanking plates in

position and then, when satisfied,

ran a bead of liquid glue along the

upper and lower joins while it was

still in place. I think these blanking

plates improve the finesse of the

model in this area.

Now it was time to deal with

those pesky plugs covering the

screws. There are five of these

plugs, and the fit varies from OK

to poor. Regardless of the fit,

however, they all need to be filled

and sanded. I like to use Milliput

White for this type of job.

Milliput is a two-part epoxy putty

that remains workable for at least

half an hour. It also has structural

strength. Best of all, the hardness,

when dry, is about the same as that

of styrene, so you don’t have to be

Charles Atlas to sand the putty

down to the level of the

surrounding plastic.

I mixed up a small batch of

Milliput by briskly kneading

and rolling two equal-sized balls

together. The heat generated from

this mixing process also makes the

putty softer and easier to work with.

The putty was selectively

pressed into the gaps and recesses

and then the excess removed (to

make the job of sanding easier).

While I had the Milliput mixed,

I used the leftovers to fill the

unnecessary hatches and redundant

locating holes (e.g., for the DF

loop and the cannon gondolas).

My model was destined to be

finished as an ‘F’, so I sliced off

the four scoops on the nose and

the raised pips under the canopy

(these are to mount an umbrella

on tropical versions).

I filled these small scars with

Milliput too. I also added a small

amount of filler to the join line

on the engine cowl, where the top

cowl meets the main fuselage.

There was no separate panel

here on the real aircraft.

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Circles were also filled on the nose,

in addition to a few small gaps

between the top and the side

of the engine cowling.


The only actual gaps left during

construction were at the bottom

rear of the engine cowls, and one

side of the leading edge of the

wing root close to the fuselage.

Overall fit was very impressive,

especially the traditional trouble

spots of the fuselage seam lines

and where the bottom of the wing

meets the fuselage. There were no

gaps whatsoever in these areas.

I left the Milliput to set for

about three hours. By this time the

putty was hard enough to sand

without sinking. I started by

sanding the bulk of the excess

putty off with 400-grit sanding

paper, followed by wet sanding

with MasterCasters’ purple then

blue sanding sticks. These look like

traditional sanding sticks at first

glance, but they have a flexible core

in the middle. They work well and

are very durable.

My original plan was simply

to cut the rudder off my spare

Hasegawa tail and glue it to the

21st Century kit fuselage. It was

not quite that straightforward.

When test-fitting, I found that the

Hasegawa rudder was too tall for

the 21st Century fin. Comparison

to drawings suggest that the

21st Century fin was around

1mm too short and between 1 and

2mm too narrow.

I first cut off the top of the

21st Century fin, as the antenna

mast is a bit clunky anyway. Next, I

glued plastic strip of the appropriate

width on either side of the fin, and a

single, wider strip to the top of the

fin. These were shaped to conform

to the kit part using a sharp hobby

knife and a small sanding stick.

The Hasegawa rudder, including the

top panel of the fin, was then glued

on to the 21st Century tail.

The resulting fit was quite good.

A swipe of Tamiya Surface Primer

(similar to thick Mr. Surfacer) was

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ABOVE LEFT shape of the kit rudder

and fin is less than perfect. The top

of the fin was cut off and lined with

plastic strip.

ABOVE RIGHT: The top of the fin and

the rudder from a Hasegawa 1/32-scale

Bf 109G-4 were glued in place to

improve this area.

LEFT: The outline of the 21st Century

Bf 109 is quite accurate. All the

various circles and hatches have been

sanded down.


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intake from Eagle Editions were used

to replace 21st Century’s somewhat

clunky parts.

Eagle Editions’ beautiful spinner was

also used. Note that the panel line

between the top and the side of the

engine cowling has been filled and

sanded. This was not a panel line on

the real aircraft.

Although they were not intended for

this kit, fit of the resin parts was good.

A little filler was needed at the rear of

the bottom cowl though.


all that was required to blank off

some tiny see-through gaps at the

hinge line. With the surgery to the

tail complete, I added the four thin

reinforcing strips to the rear

fuselage from fine styrene. I

brushed a layer of Tamiya Surface

Primer over the sanded-down

Milliput to make sure that all the

tiny imperfections were filled.

Last year I built a 1/32-scale Bf

109G-2 using Hasegawa’s kit and a

few pieces from the Aires Bf 109F

conversion. This meant that I had

the narrow supercharger intake,

shallow oil cooler housing and

appropriate propeller blades

left over.

I was delighted to find that

the oil cooler housing and narrow

supercharger intake fitted almost

without modification. The only

surgery required was to cut off the

rear locating pin from the intake.

I drilled a small hole in the leading

edge of the oil cooler housing and

installed a fine piece of wire

to represent the actuator rod.

I also decided to use an Eagle

Editions spinner.

The entire model was sanded

once more with the blue

MasterCasters sanding stick.

Several rounds of sanding

smoothed the very slight orange

peel texture of the plastic. Various

missing and relocated hatches were

scribed onto the fuselage using a

thin stainless steel template.

69

The model is looking very much like a

mid-production Bf 109 now.

The only extra work required is scribing

the circular fuel filler hatch underneath

the canopy on the port side.


The Aires propeller blades

and the corresponding area on

the spinner were drilled out. Brass

tube was glued into the ends of

the propeller blades to ensure a

robust fit.

I also used one of the spare

vacform canopies from Aires’

1/32-scale Bf 109F conversion.

This is thinner and offers a more

‘in-scale’ appearance than the rather

chunky 21 Century canopy. The

distinctive side quarter windows in

the bottom of the windscreen are

much better too. I did use the

21st Century rear canopy section

though, as it was a perfect fit with

the kit’s fuselage spine.

The Aires canopy was quite

cloudy, but a bath in Future floor

polish made it sparkle. Some extra

hardware was added to the clear

parts, including grab handles for

the top corners of the windscreen

and a canopy release handle, all

formed from brass rod and strip.

With the kit’s surface now

prepared, the cockpit and landing

gear was masked and the model

given an overall coat of Tamiya’s

Grey Fine Surface Primer straight

from the can.

PAINTAll paint was applied with my

Testor Aztek A470 airbrush fitted

with the fine tan-coloured tip.

My model was destined to wear

the striking colours of Leutnant

Max-Hellmuth Ostermann,

Staffelkapitan of 7./JG 54 in the

autumn of 1941. The kit supplies

markings for this aircraft.

One of its prominent features

is a yellow nose and fuselage band.

However, I often have trouble

getting yellow paint to cover

properly. I also find that acrylic

yellows take a long time to dry and

are very prone to fingerprints and

damage even weeks after application.

Recently I have managed to avoid

these problems. I started with a coat

of white primer on the nose, mid

fuselage and lower wing tips.

This was lightly sanded and

polished before a coat of Tamiya

Spray TS-34 Camel Yellow was

sprayed on the area. I decanted a

quantity of this gloss yellow paint

from the can into a disposable

container and applied the paint

using my Aztek airbrush. This

acrylic lacquer still needed two coats

over the white primer, but it dried

fast and coped well with subsequent

handling. Once thoroughly dry, the

yellow sections were masked using

Tamiya masking tape.

I based my painting and

markings on a colour photograph

on page 13 of Monogram’s old

Close-Up 9: Bf 109 F (Monogram

Aviation Publications, 1990).

This photo is clearly captioned as

Ostermann’s Bf 109F, and shows

the aircraft with a narrow yellow

fuselage band in front of the

Balkenkreuz and the number in

front of the band.1 However, there

are some key differences between

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base and a piece of brass tube inserted

to reinforce the join with the spinner.

1. The fuselage number is almost completely obscured by the wing in the colour photograph on page 13 of the Monogram Close-Up. However, the bottom right-hand side of the number can just be made out. It is white with a narrow black outline, but it is curved. This would suggest that the number is not ‘2’. Digits witha curved bottom right corner might include 3, 5, 6, 8 or 9. So is this the same aircraft repainted, or another of Ostermann’s mounts? I would be interested ifanyone has additional information.


this colour photograph and a good

quality three-quarter rear view

wartime photo of Ostermann’s

Bf 109F, which shows the fuselage

cross painted directly over a wide

yellow fuselage band, and the large

number 2 immediately forward

of the cross. This conforms to

the kit marking guide and decals.

Unfortunately, I did not receive

this image until after the model was

finished (I am grateful to Goran

Edkvist for sending this photo).

The first camouflage colour was

Polly Scale RLM 76 Light Blue,

applied to the lower surfaces and

fuselage sides. Next, Polly Scale

RLM 75 Grey Violet was applied

to the top of the wings, tailplanes

and fuselage spine with the Testor

Aztek airbrush fitted with the fine

tan-coloured tip. A first-pass mottle

of RLM 75 was also sprayed onto

the fuselage sides and fin. Similar

to the treatment of the RLM 76, a

paler shade of RLM 75 was mixed.

Small, random streaks were sprayed

over the base colour.

A disruptive coat of Polly Scale

acrylic RLM 74 Grey Green

followed this. The camouflage

pattern on the wings was masked

using paper held off the surface

of the plastic with tiny blobs of

Blu-Tack. This technique delivers

a slightly feathered edge.

I painted the irregular fuselage

mottle according to the colour

photograph in the Monogram

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Prior to painting, the model was

sprayed with grey primer and polished

to highlight any lingering problems.

The entire nose, the fuselage band and

the rudder were painted yellow before

masking. The base camouflage colour

is Polly Scale RLM 76 Light Blue.


Close-Up 9: Bf 109 F. In this photo,

the yellow rudder also appears to

have been mottled with RLM 75

around the victory marks. I roughly

masked the area to receive the panel

of victory marks and sprayed a soft

mottle around it.

I also used the colour photo as a

reference for the spinner. The front

of the cap appeared to be ‘thirded’

in white, while the rear part of the

spinner was a constant dark colour.

I chose RLM 70 Black Green and

white for the forward section, and

black for the rear. Propeller blades

were painted RLM 70 Black Green.

DECALSThe model received a coat of Polly

Scale Gloss acrylic before the

markings were applied. I find that the

Polly Scale clear finish can be more

easily controlled than Future when

spraying, does not run on horizontal

surfaces, and yet still delivers a hard,

shiny finish ideal for decals.

I used the 21st Century kit decals,

which are very thin, perfectly opaque

(even the large white numbers) and

settled down beautifully into panel

lines. The completed paintwork was

sealed with a two thin coats of Polly

Scale Flat acrylic.

The finishing touches were now

applied, including the canopy, pitot

tube (from brass tube and rod),

wing tip lights (small resin coloured

‘bulbs’ covered with a ‘lens’ of

two-part epoxy glue), aerial wire

from nylon monofilament and

resistors formed using small blobs

of Krystal Kleer.

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to the top of the wings, tailplanes

and fuselage.

This was followed by a disruptive coat

of Polly Scale acrylic RLM 74 Grey

Green. The camouflage pattern on the

wings was masked using paper held off

the surface of the plastic with tiny blobs

of Blu-Tack.


CONCLUSIONWe often speak of scale aircraft

modelling as if it is one hobby.

In fact, there are as many different

interpretations of the hobby as there

are modellers. In my opinion, there

is no single ‘correct’ goal, whether

accuracy, artistic attractiveness, or

something as simple as finishing a

model that looks vaguely like the

intended subject aircraft. If the

individual modeller is satisfied

with their result, that is enough.

There has been much discussion

recently about factors that will

bring about the death of our

hobby. The long list of these fatal

influences includes Mike Grant’s

‘smoke ring’ decals, Spitfire

fuselage lengths, the rise of die-cast

collectibles, video games and the

emphasis of surface detail on

particular kits. Without doubt,

21st Century Toys’ new inexpensive

kit line will be added to this

Doomsday list.

Even so, I believe that this

model will be appreciated by

an assortment of people for

different reasons.

My ten-year-old son loves the

recent series of 1/72-scale Hobby

Boss aircraft kits. We have sat

down and built a few together.

I can see a time in the near future

when he would be delighted to

be able to buy 21st Centurys’

1/32-scale Bf 109 with his own

pocket money, and build it in one

afternoon. Thinking back 40 years

to myself at ten years old, that

scenario sounds kind of familiar.

Similarly, for modellers coming

back into the hobby after college

and family, these kits will represent

73

I painted the irregular fuselage mottle

according to the colour photograph in

the Monogram Close-Up 9: Bf 109 F. In

this photo, the yellow rudder also

appears to have been mottled with RLM

75 around the victory marks. I roughly

masked the area to receive the panel of

victory marks and sprayed a soft mottle

around it.

I used the 21st Century kit decals,

which are very thin, perfectly opaque

and settled down beautifully into panel

lines.


a way to create a nice model with

basic skills, and encourage our new

recruit to try something more

ambitious next time.

Even the more experienced

modeller might feel jaded

sometimes. This kit could represent

a refreshing sorbet between heavier

courses. Or if someone prefers

painting to construction, this artist

might use 21st Century’s Bf 109 as

a plastic palette for their penchant.

There is no doubt that, in a

side-by-side comparison to

Hasegawa’s 1/32-scale Bf 109

family, the Hasegawa kits are clearly

superior in terms of surface finesse,

detail and finish. Despite this,

there is an important place for

the 21st Century kit for less

experienced modellers and, with a

sticker price of around US$10.00,

modellers on a budget. I also

enjoyed spending the extra time and

effort making the model into a

more accurate replica of the Bf

109F. I think that 21st Century

Toys has admirably captured the

overall look and feel of the Bf 109.

The completed paintwork was sealed

with a two thin coats of Polly Scale

Flat acrylic.

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75

KG13ASTEUERKNUPPEL

LUFTWAFFE

CONTROL STICK

Master modeller and author

Maurizio Di Terlizzi

launched his own brand of resin

kits called ‘Tail Boom’ in 2007.

His earliest releases were helicopter

related but his latest products have

been a radical departure.

Tail Boom’s newest release is a

1/1-scale KG13A Steuerknuppel

Luftwaffe Control Stick for many

mid- to late war Luftwaffe fighters

including the Messerschmitt

Bf 109G, Me 262 and Focke-Wulf

Fw 190.

The kit comes packed in a white

cardboard box. Twenty-five parts

are provided in grey-coloured resin,

a data plate is provided in thin

metal, and another metal part

represents the stays for the

electrical cabling. The kit is

rounded out with a length of

electrical cable. The parts have

been cast directly from a genuine

wartime control column. There are

no casting imperfections on my

sample. Instructions are provided

on a folded A4 sheet, which

includes full colour diagrams of

the parts and of the completed

gunsight. Helpful notes and a

colour guide are also offered.

WORKING WITH LARGE-SCALE RESIN KITSI never thought that I would build a 1/1-scale kit until Maurizio Di Terlizzi graced us with his line of

full-sized model aircraft parts. As soon as I saw both these kits I knew that I had to have them to sit

along side some of the aircraft instruments that I have collected over the years.

LEFT: Tail Boom’s full-sized KG13A

Steuerknuppel Luftwaffe Control Stick

by Mick Evans.

MIDDLE: Tail Boom Models’ control

stick features a working gun button

cover. Here it is closed…

RIGHT: … and here it is flipped open.


REVI 16B REFLECTORGUNSIGHTThe Revi 16B was the standard

reflector gunsight fitted to Luftwaffe

fighters from the mid-war period

onward. Aircraft types included

the Dornier Do 335, Focke-Wulf

Fw 190A and D, Ta 152, Heinkel

He 162, Messerschmitt Bf 109F,

G and K, Me 163 and Me 262.

The Tail Boom full-size Revi

16B kit comes packed in a humble

brown cardboard box. The simple

sticker states the gunsight name

and your individual werknummer.

Only 25 of these gunsights will be

made, so the numbers will not run

too high. Twenty-six parts are

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The kit includes a metal data plate. The curved piece of metal holds

electrical cabling in place. This must be

bent to shape with the aid of a template

drawing supplied with the instructions.

The white markings have been painted

carefully with a fine brush.

Tail Boom’s full-sized resin Revi 16B

Reflector Gunsight by Mick Evans.


provided in shades of grey and

cream coloured resin. The two

reflectors are supplied in clear

resin, while the gunsight lens is

optically ground glass. A number

of metal parts are also included –

screws, a spring, an etched data

plate – making a total of 40 parts.

The parts have been cast directly

from a genuine wartime Revi 16B

gunsight, so any minor nicks and

scratches are entirely authentic.

There are no casting imperfections

on my sample.

The reflector and sun screen are

quite remarkable castings. At first, I

thought that one of these thick clear

parts had air bubbles on two of the

corners. However, after consulting

Maurizio and re-examining the piece,

it turns out that these are perfect

castings of chips out of the edges of

the glass. The edges of the clear parts

feature grinding marks, and the top

of both reflectors have raised serial

numbers – very impressive indeed.

The resin parts require only minimal

cleanup before assembly.

The gunsight body has the

original data plate cast on the

front. An optional separate data

plate is supplied if the modeller

prefers. Personally, I think it would

be a shame not to install this

attractive separate metal part.

PREPARATIONThe castings were so perfect that

they required no cleanup, in fact

the thread on the screws actually

screwed into some of the holes and

held without any glue.

77

The body is a large single resin casting.

Smaller resin parts plus metal screws are

also included.


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More metal parts plus resin screws. All

the resin parts are perfectly cast.

BOTTOM LEFT: The reflectors are cast

from clear resin, but they look for all the

world like antique glass.

BOTTOM RIGHT: A polished glass lens

is included.

The metal data plate lends even more

authenticity.


GUNSIGHTASSEMBLY ANDPAINTINGAssembly is quite simple with the

only real work required being

reducing and cleaning up the

collimator glass retaining ring to

tightly fit around the circumference

of the glass.

The gunsight was painted in

various shades of RLM 66 Black

Grey as detailed in the instruction

sheet, but I made the foldaway sun

shade combining glass too dark

and it needs to be polished back

to a be a bit lighter in shade.

As I had spent many hours

maintaining the cockpit of an

RAAF Mirage IIIO and Macchi

326H weathering the gunsight was

quite simple. The paint wears very

quickly from constant glove contact

and chips easily when knocked with

tools and various other objects.

CONTROL STICKASSEMBLY ANDPAINTINGIf anything, assembling the control

stick was even easier than the

gunsight. Once the resin parts

were cleaned up, they were glued

together using superglue. The only

area that needs extra care is the top

of the handle. This includes a

separate part that must be glued

into place to trap the gun button

cover in place. The problem is that

operating the flap can break off

this separate part. It would be best

to secure this part with two-part

epoxy adhesive, which delivers a

less brittle bond than superglue.

A template is provided to assist

bending a flat length of metal.

Once folded into shape, this will

guide the electrical wiring.

The bottom of the stick was

painted semi-gloss black enamel,

with the handle being finished in

flat black. The pre-printed data

plate is supplied in the kit, but the

white markings were carefully brush

painted onto the completed model.

These are truly excellent kits,

and they are impressive display

pieces when finished.

79

BELOW: Tail Boom’s full- sized Revi

16B gunsight is a very impressive

display piece.

LEFT: The model was painted in subtly

different shades.

RIGHT: Some wear and tear of heavily

used areas was applied.


Despite the clear family

resemblance to the earlier

Wildcat, the Hellcat was an all-new

aircraft. The resulting naval fighter

was stocky in profile, large,

powerfully armed and armoured,

and heavy. The Hellcat has secured

its place in history with a

remarkable kill ratio of 19:1.

A number of 1/48-scale

Hellcat kits have been available

for some time now. The old

Monogram kit was a typical

product of the 1960s with

gimmicky moving parts, accuracy

problems and poor detail. The

ARII/Otaki offering from the

1970s was much better, but was

let down by a low level of interior

detail. Hasegawa’s F6F family dates

from the mid-1990s, but it is still

a nice model – well detailed with

finely recessed panel lines. Perhaps

the most frequent criticism levelled

at this kit is the slightly squashed

and undersized shape of the lower

cowl intake – the Hellcat’s

distinctive ‘grin’.

EDUARD’S 1/48-SCALE F6F-3 INTHE BOXEduard has now entered the fray

with a new family of Hellcat

kits in 1/48 scale. Eduard’s

1/48-scale Hellcat comprises 108

olive-coloured injection-moulded

plastic parts; 17 clear parts; two

nickel-plated photo-etched frets;

one coloured photo-etched fret;

masking sheet for canopy and

wheels; and a large decal sheet

covering five markings options.

BUILDING A CURRENT GENERATIONLONG-RUN INJECTION-MOULDED KITThe Grumman F6F Hellcat was designed as a stopgap upgrade of the lightweight F4F Wildcat, almost

as an insurance policy in the event that the F4U Corsair, then under development, did not live up to

expectations.

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Surface texture on Eduard’s

latest releases has been superb,

and this new Hellcat enhances

that already impressive reputation.

In addition to crisp, finely recessed

panel lines and selected rows of

rivets, the Hellcat fuselage employs

a subtle lapped panel effect. This

really works well. The fabric ribs

on the control surfaces are also

very convincing.

Details are equally good.

The cockpit is supplemented with

the usual complement of colour

photo-etched parts, including a

layered instrument panel, switch

panel and harness straps. For those

who prefer to paint their cockpit,

an alternative (and very nicely

detailed) injection-moulded

instrument panel is also supplied.

The engine is a simple assembly,

with only five plastic parts, but

detail is barely compromised.

Pushrods are moulded in place, a

photo-etched ignition harness is

included, plus several colour photo-

etched parts for the crankcase.

The undercarriage legs and

wheel wells are suitably busy. The

wheels are supplied with separate

hubs and tyres. These appear to

be the plain narrow style fitted to

the prototypes and the earliest

production models, and should be

appropriate for marking options A

and B. If you are building a later

F6F-3, there are aftermarket

Hellcat wheels readily available

from Ultracast and True Details.

The delicate antenna post on the

fin is a separate part that may be

installed following construction and

painting. This is a thoughtful touch

that will avoid the almost inevitable

damage to a post moulded in place

on the top of the fin. The canopy

parts are crystal clear and thin.

Separate parts are supplied to permit

the sliding canopy to be displayed

open or closed. Control surfaces are

all supplied separately. These are

tabbed to assist precise alignment in

the neutral position. Ailerons and

elevators can easily be repositioned

after slicing the tabs off.

The cowl is broken down into

three pieces, and three different

cowl styles are offered:

• The earliest, with exhaust

fairings and lower cowl flap

on each side.

• Next, with the exhaust fairings

but with the lower cowl flap

deleted from each side.

• The later F6F-3 variant with

no exhaust fairing.

As usual, Eduard has supplied

self-adhesive die-cut masks for the

canopy and wheels.

CONSTRUCTIONThis was one of the most pleasant

builds that I can recall. Eduard’s

colour photo-etched parts really

spruce up the cockpit with a

minimum of effort. The ignition

harness for the engine is supplied

on a second photo-etched fret,

and it fits well.

There were only two deviations

from the instructions. First was the

long locating tabs for the elevators,

as I wanted to depict these dropped.

Eduard’s Hellcat cockpit is enhanced

with colour photo-etched parts, all

included in the kit.


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IT The basic plastic parts have received

a coat of Gunze Interior Green and

a wash of thinned oil paint to add

emphasis to shadow areas.

The photo-etched parts really bring the

front office to life.

Don’t forget to install the rear quarter

windows and the photo-etched

diagonal frame behind them.


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ABOVE LEFT: The long locating tabs were

cut off the elevators to permit them to

be depicted in the dropped position.

ABOVE RIGHT: The engine cylinders

and photo-etched ignition harness are

really well done, but the crankcase is a

little bland.

MIDDLE: Basic construction was

completely trouble free and almost

embarrassingly fast. The fuselage was

together in no time at all.

BOTTOM: Fit of the wings was

excellent. Just a smear of filler was

required at the rear of the wing root.


The second variation was to

shorten the length of the main

undercarriage legs. The legs appear

to be the equivalent of unsprung

length, so the model looks a little

stalky. I simply cut away about

2mm above the oleo strut, and

then drilled holes into the top and

bottom sections of the legs before

using superglue and a brass pin to

glue the two pieces together.

Following assembly of the

airframe, the only filler required

was a smear at the extreme rear of

the wing roots, above and below,

where they meet the inboard

sections of the flaps.

PAINTING ANDMARKINGSEduard’s Hellcat Mk I/Mk II Dual

Combo set was released shortly

after I started building their F6F-3

Hellcat. This includes two full

models plus markings for six

attractive British Fleet Air Arm

Hellcats. I could not resist

finishing my F6F-3 as an externally

identical Hellcat Mk I in SEAC

markings supplied in the Dual

Combo package.

First, I primed the entire

airframe with Tamiya Grey Primer.

All paint was applied using the

Testor Aztek metal bodied

airbrush fitted with the fine tan

tip. The lower surfaces were

sprayed with Tamiya XF-21 Sky.

Next, the upper fuselage and the

top of the wings were coated

with Tamiya XF-22 RLM Grey.

This does not really look much

like RLM 02, but it seems to be

a reasonable match for faded dark

slate grey. I made the shade a little

less faded by adding some dark

green to the mix. I was quite

happy with the colour on the

model by itself. A few spots and

streaks of a paler shade of my

Dark Slate Grey mix were sprayed

randomly on the model.

The disruptive pattern was

applied using paper masks lifted

slightly off the surface with small

blobs of Blu-Tack to achieve a fairly

hard-edged demarcation. After

experimenting with a few colours,

I eventually settled on Tamiya

XF-24 Dark Grey for the ‘mixed

grey’ used on the real aircraft.

When the masks were removed,

I was horrified to see that the

contrast between the two colours

was almost non-existent. I loaded

the airbrush with unmixed Tamiya

XF-22 to significantly ‘lighten up’

the dark slate grey sections of

the camouflage.

With all the major colours

applied, it was important to apply

a protective topcoat. I find Tamiya

paints are almost chalky once

applied, and can very easily be

scratched or worn off even with

careful handling. I therefore

immediately applied two light

coats of Polly Scale Gloss to seal

the paint job. This also created an

ideal surface for the decals.

Eduard’s kit decals were used.

I liked the look of the crisp official

markings combined with the

scrawled number on the cowl – also

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A smudge of filler was also needed in the corresponding

position under the wing.

The dropped elevators lend some interest to the rear end. These

parts fit well even without the benefit of their locating tabs.


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The paint job was kicked off with a coat

of primer.

The lower surfaces were masked with

wide Tamiya ‘Kabuki’ tape for sharp

upper surface camouflage demarcation.

Paper masks were cut to shape and

applied to the surface with small balls

of Blu-Tack. This delivers a sightly

feathered edge between the two upper

surface colours.


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Eduard’s markings from their Hellcat Mk

I/Mk II boxing were used to transform

my US Navy F6F-3 to the British Fleet

Air Arm variant. Decals performed

perfectly over a gloss coat.

My version of extra dark slate grey has

been mottled with a paler shade to lend

some variety to the scheme.

The unveiling of the masks revealed that the contrast between

the colours was very low – much less than I was hoping for.

It is never too late to correct an error. I resprayed the dark

slate grey sections with a paler shade to improve the contrast

between the two colours. I was happier with this.


87

A flat coat followed by selective

weathering with an airbrushed mix

of flat black and red brown ties in the

markings with the uniquely FAA finish.

The landing gear legs are slightly too

long, making the model look a little

stalky straight from the box. The fix is

very easy – cut a section out of the leg,

drill and pin. A couple of millimetres

make a world of difference.

Eduard supplies clear landing lights. The

post side has been painted clear red.


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The whip antenna is made from

stretched sprue, while the aerial wire

is nylon invisible mending thread.

The fit of the clear parts is up to the

same high standard as the rest of

the kit.

The sit of the model looks much better

here after the minor surgery to the

gear legs.


supplied as a decal. The decals,

printed by Cartograf of Italy,

performed flawlessly in combination

with Micro Set and Micro Sol.

A coat of Polly Scale Flat Clear

was sprayed over the model before

the airframe was shaded with a thin

mix of flat black and red brown.

This was sprayed along control

surface hinge lines, selected panels,

in a few random spots and streaks

and along the demarcation line

between the dark slate grey and

extra dark sea grey. This slightly

reduces the harshness of the

masked demarcation. A finishing

coat of Polly Scale Flat sealed

the weathering.

CONCLUSIONEduard’s 1/48-scale Hellcat family

is beautifully detailed, features

excellent surface texture and

offers plenty of useful options

to the modeller.

The more I look at the shape of

the Eduard chin intake, the more I

like it. If you do not agree, however,

you have several options available

to you right now in the form of

replacement cowls from Cutting

Edge, Quickboost and Obscureco.

Similarly, if you are building a

mid- to late-production Hellcat,

you might like to replace the

narrow kit wheels with resin

offerings from Ultracast or

True Details.

Whereas Eduard’s last two

new-tool offerings, the Fw 190

and Bf 110 families, have been

challenging to build in some

respects, this new Hellcat is

noticeably more straightforward.

Eduard has responded to

comments about kit complexity

with a model that is quite

simply broken down without

compromising detail in important

areas such as the engine face,

cockpit and undercarriage. Building

the Eduard Hellcat should present

no hurdles to the average modeller.

In a sprue-by-sprue comparison,

Eduard’s new 1/48-scale Hellcat

is also clearly superior to the

ten-year-old Hasegawa F6F kits

in terms of detail and surface

texture. In my opinion, Eduard

has delivered the best F6F Hellcat

available to date in any scale.

89

A heavier application of weathering has

been added behind the exhaust areas

on the lower surfaces.

Eduard’s 1/48-scale F6F Hellcat kits are

easy to build, well detailed and accurate.


UPGRADING AN OLDER KIT WITHRESIN COCKPIT AND WING FOLDHasegawa’s 1/48-scale Hellcat family was released in the mid-1990s, but they are still quite respectable

kits today. Eduard’s new 1/48-scale Hellcats have improved on Hasegawa’s offerings in terms of surface

detail, interior features and the shape of the cowl, but overall accuracy of the Hasegawa kit remains good,

and it can still form the basis of an impressive modelling project.

Before Eduard released their

own F6F-5N, I decided to

build the nightfighter using the

Hasegawa kit. For a little variety,

I also decided to depict this model

with folded wings. There are two

main choices for this task. Cutting

Edge released a resin wing fold in

2003, but the company closed

down in 2008 and the set is

hard to find. Dangerboy from

the USA produced a wing fold

set for Hasegawa’s Hellcats

back in 2000. The moulds

were sold to Lone Star Models

a few years ago and the set is

still available from them online at

www.lonestarmodels.com. For this

project I used the Dangerboy wing

fold, but more on this later.

CONSTRUCTIONConstruction commenced in

the cockpit. An Ultracast resin

seat replaced the kit part, and

Hasegawa supplies an alternative

resin instrument panel. This has

the radar scope cast in place.

All the cockpit parts were painted

and weathered.

Although I had my doubts when

looking at the basic plastic parts on

the sprues, the front office came up

very nicely with nothing more than

careful detail painting. The cast-on

harness straps of Ultracast’s delicate

seat helped too though.

The engine is also quite simple,

although the crankcase is better

detailed than Eduard’s. I added

a wiring harness using lengths

of copper wire cut to size.

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Hasegawa’s 1/48-scale F6F-5N Night

Fighter kit includes a radome and

replacement instrument panel in

butterscotch-coloured resin.

A replacement resin seat from Ultracast

was added to the kit cockpit.

Although it looks a bit basic in bare

plastic, the kit’s cockpit scrubs up very

well after a careful paint job.


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the dials on the instrument panel. Other

details have been picked out with

acrylic paint and a fine brush.

Hasegawa’s crankcase is particularly

nice, but I could not ignore the lack of

an ignition harness. The harness was

added from copper wire.

The wires were painted brown

and folded back. The overall effect

is quite acceptable.


Once again, with careful painting

and weathering the effect was

pretty pleasing. The balance of

assembly was fast and trouble free.

However, I decided that I could

not allow the understated grin

of Hasegawa’s cowling chin go

uncorrected, so I used the

Quickboost resin replacement. This

is a very simple accessory with just

two parts – the main cowling and

an insert at the bottom. An added

bonus is that the cowl flaps are

cast in the open position. Once the

parts are cleaned up and assembled,

the cowl is a drop-fit replacement

for the kit part.

THE WING FOLDDangerboy Hobbies’ Hellcat Wing

Fold is designed for any of

Hasegawa’s F6F-3 or -5 kits in

1/48 scale. Seven resin parts are

packed in securely in bubble wrap

and a stout cardboard box. There

are no casting blocks on the large

parts, and only a few translucent

feathers of flash in a few spots.

The three main parts combine

to completely replace the kit wings.

The central section provides upper

and lower mid-wing in a single

casting, and the outer wing panels

are similarly simple single pieces.

The simplicity of parts breakdown

in no way compromises detail.

Clever undercuts reveal structural

detail inside the wing fold on the

three main parts. This interior

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At least two wing fold sets have been

released for Hasegawa’s Hellcats. These

are from Cutting Edge and Dangerboy.

I chose to use the Dangerboy folded

wing, now available from Lone Star

Models. This is a very simple but

effective conversion.


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commendable. Quickboost’s

replacement cowling can be seen

assembled here too.

Plastic rocket stubs and wing cannon

fairings are attached to the resin parts

using superglue.

The outer wing panels are checked for

fit. In fact, they fit so well that glue is

not required to keep them in place.


95

The view from below, prior to any filling

or sanding.

The Quickboost engine cowling was

almost a snap fit too. Note that a little

filler has been applied at the wing root.

Flame dampers and exhausts complete

basic construction. Now the painting

will begin!


detail is very crisp, as are the panel

lines and subtle fabric effect on the

exterior of the wings.

There are a few tiny pinhole

bubbles visible beneath the surface

of the wing centre section. It is likely

that sanding will open some of these

tiny holes, so a few minutes with a

tube of putty and a sanding stick

will be a good investment. A slightly

raised ridge of resin runs most of

the length of the outer wing trailing

edges on my sample. Light sanding

will make short work of this excess

material, but take care not to

eliminate the delicate fabric detail

of the ailerons. Four additional resin

parts represent the wing fold drop

panels and outer gear well panels.

Construction is as simple as the

engineering of the parts

breakdown. A pin on the outer

wing slides snugly into a keyed slot

in the leading edge of each inner

wing fold. This method is virtually

foolproof and appears quite secure.

In fact, it will not be necessary to

use glue on this join if you want to

occasionally remove the outer wing

panels and admire the interior wing

fold detail to the maximum.

Dry-fitting the main conversion

components with the Hasegawa

fuselage suggested excellent fit.

Following assembly, there was only a

fine gap to fill at the bottom fuselage

to rear of centre wing section join,

and at the upper wing roots.

The radome supplied with

Hasegawa’s F6F-5N is resin.

This was attached to the starboard

outer wing panel with superglue

and faired in with putty.

The fit of the outer wing panels

was so good that I did not need

to glue them in place. They were

left off until the last thing,

making painting and decaling

considerably easier than it might

have otherwise been!

PAINTING ANDMARKINGSYou can’t ask for a much simpler

colour scheme than overall Gloss

Sea Blue! I am not usually an enamel

person, but this time I decided to

use Testors’ Model Master enamel

from the spray can for the sea blue.

I decanted paint from the can into a

jar, and then applied the undiluted

paint using my Aztek A470 airbrush.

The result was a spectacularly

smooth high-gloss finish.

Hasegawa’s kit markings

were used. These were slightly

translucent, so the white was not

quite as bright as I had hoped.

The drop tank and radome were

painted Tamiya XF-2 Flat White

acrylic. The radome was mottled

subtly to represent the irregular

fibrous surface.

The model was finished in a

coat of Polly Scale Flat acrylic to

tone down the high level of gloss.

In retrospect, however, I wish that I

had retained the high sheen.

CONCLUSIONHasegawa’s 1/48-scale F6F family

might be more than 15 years old,

but the kits still scrub up pretty

well, even straight from the box.

The worst aspect of the Hasegawa

is the squashed lower chin, but a

number of aftermarket solutions

are available to fix this issue.

Eduard certainly has the edge in

detail and options, but if you have

a few Hasegawa Hellcats stashed

away, they are still worth building.

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The model was prepared for its glossy

finish with a coat of Tamiya’s Extra Fine

White Primer. This is an ideal surface for

a finish that must be perfectly smooth.


97

Testors’ Model Master Sea Blue was

decanted from the spray can and

airbrushed onto the model for a

spectacularly smooth and glossy effect.

I later regretted flat coating this

gorgeous finish.

Kit decals were applied over the

gloss blue, with a flat coat following.

The white of the kit decals was a

little translucent.

Detail parts such as the undercarriage,

drop tank and propeller were painted

and weathered prior to final assembly.


With its wings folded and dull dark

scheme, the model looks a bit like a

sleeping bat!

Underwing codes and the radome adds

a little interest to the starboard side.

The wider ‘grin’ of the Quickboost

exhaust is a major improvement over

the kit cowling. CH

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Ihave wanted to build one of

these odd birds for a long time

now. Originally, I was going to

modify the old Revell B-25C kit.

When the Accurate Miniatures

kit was released, I thought that

I would sacrifice a Monogram

kit by cutting out the side gun

positions and installing them in

the Accurate Miniatures fuselage.

However, I decided to take

a completely different route that

would provide the opportunity to

exercise some scratch building and

modification techniques. I could

relocate the turret position,

remove the blast panels from

the nose, cut out some fuselage

windows and, voila, a hybrid

B-25D!

THE CONVERSIONThe basis of the conversion

was an original issue 1/48-scale

Monogram B-25J in glorious

silver plastic (no paint required,

especially if you like your natural

metal with mould flow channels).

CONVERTING A MODEL KIT THEOLD-FASHIONED WAYThis 1/48-scale Mitchell is one of the peculiar hybrid B-25Ds used by some Commonwealth, Soviet,

Dutch and RAAF units. These unusual aircraft featured the fuselage side and tail gun positions of the

B-25J, yet retained the turret position and windows of the B-25D.

Monogram’s 1/48-scale B-25J Mitchell,

backdated to an unusual hybrid B-25D.


I originally did some testing of

Micro Krystal Kleer on the old

Revell fuselage for making the

windows. The results were not bad,

but there were some bubbles visible

on the slightly wavy surface

I wanted to finish all the

conversion work before beginning

construction. I started with the

raised blast panels on each side of

the nose. These are very prominent,

so I was concerned that even a

coarse file would not be practical.

I therefore attacked the panels with

a grinding disk in my Dremel

motor tool. I knew that I would

be hacking at the plastic, so my

plan was to fill the resulting rough

surface with Milliput then sand

it smooth again.

Next, I marked out the

positions of the new fuselage

windows and made a start to the

tricky process of cutting them out

by scribing deep outlines with the

aid of a template. I then drilled

out several holes in each window,

which permitted me to get the

tip of a hobby blade into the

opening and nibble out the rest

of the plastic.

The blast panels of the nose

were now smoothed using a coarse

sander followed by progressively

finer grades. I was surprised that

the plastic had not suffered any

major blemishes after the harsh

treatment with the Dremel. A few

spots of Milliput on each side

of the nose restored the surface.

It was also interesting to see that,

even though the panels had been

completely eliminated, the plastic

retained a prominent ghost (maybe

a poltergeist) of the rectangles.

RELOCATING THETURRETOne of the most important aspects

of this backdate was relocating

the turret from the front to the

mid upper fuselage. I started by

cutting a circle template from a

self-adhesive Post-it note using my

Olfa circle cutter. I scribed a line

around the template, also using

the circle cutter.

Next, I fitted my Dremel motor

tool with a round cutting wheel

and sliced into the circle, stopping

each slice just inside the scored

circumference of the circle. At this

stage I simply nibbled away the

remnants of the plastic still inside

the circle with sprue cutter and a

sharp knife.

Test-fitting the turret indicated

that the opening was too big on

the port side. I therefore lined the

semicircle with a sleeve of styrene

strip. The raised protrusion was cut

off with a sharp hobby blade.

Revell’s 1/48-scale B-25C kit

supplies an insert to blank off the

lower gun turret of that kit. This

part was a fairly close fit for the

opening of the original Monogram

B-25J turret position, so it was

superglued in place.

With the grinding and some

of the fuselage conversion done,

I decided to putty any gaps and

gouges. My weapon of choice for

this type of job is Milliput White.

A relatively large amount of putty

on the front of the starboard

side was required to build up

the canopy sill, which I had

inadvertently thinned down while

grinding the blast plates off.

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Revell’s old B-25D may be seen in the

foreground, with the Monogram kit

in the rear. Note the hole for the

forward upper turret in the Monogram

kit fuselage.


DESTAGGERINGTHE WINDOWSThese Aussie Mitchell IIs had

their waist windows in line with

each other, not staggered like the

J model. I finally decided that

I could not get away with leaving

the port side waist gun position

where it was, so I resolved to hack

it out the fuselage side and relocate

it forward.

The first step was to outline the

area to be removed in self-adhesive

Dymo tape. This rectangle was

scribed deeply as a guide to cut the

section out. After a few ineffectual

passes with a hobby knife, I fetched

my razor saw to do the heavy

cutting. Attacking the scribed line

at an angle worked well, resulting in

a fairly clean and narrow cut line.

The excised rectangle was now

ready for modification. The left

side of the rectangle was carefully

cut off and glued next to the

right side of the window. This

resulted in the window being

moved forward.

The modified insert was test

fitted in the fuselage. As a result,

plastic strip was added to the top

and (a narrow wedge) to the right

side to shim the slight gaps left

after the saw cuts.

The join lines were filled with

Milliput White and left to set. At

this stage, somebody described this

project as an example of ‘gritted-

teeth, bare-knuckle modelling’.

101

The blast panels were ground off the

nose of the Monogram kit using a

Dremel motor tool.

The turret for the B-25D was located on

the rear fuselage.


Actually, I did feel as if I spent a

fair bit of time with gritted teeth

while working on this model. It

seemed that every time I found and

overcame an unexpected challenge,

another one popped up. So it

should have been no real surprise

that when I finished relocating the

port side window, another obstacle

was lobbed into the path.

It would seem that not only

were the side windows in a

different position, but the ‘eyebrow’

fairings above the windows was

much larger – in fact around the

same size as the bottom fairing

(thanks to Peter Johnstone for the

information).

Before I decided how to tackle

this little change, I realized that

I would have to rescribe at least the

mid-rear port side fuselage where

the panel lines had been obliterated

during the side window surgery. As

long as I was doing that, I thought

I had better rescribe the whole

fuselage. The raised panel lines

were sanded off, leaving ghostly

lines as a fairly clear template.

I used self-adhesive Dymo tape

as a guide for vertical panel lines,

and a photo-etched straight edge

taped to the model for horizontal

lines. I made sure that I carefully

applied around three light strokes

to each scribed line.

In total, scribing both fuselage

halves took around 3.5 hours.

An added benefit was that I

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Positions for new windows and

future filling were marked onto the

kit fuselage.

The outlines of the new small

windows were first scribed with

the aid of a template.


103

The new position for the rear upper turret was marked with a

simple paper template.

… then the excess was cut off with a knife.

The front turret opening was plugged with a blank left over

from the Revell B-25D. This was actually designed to close the

lower turret position, but it fitted well here.

Plastic sheet was used to form a raised ridge around the

opening. This was later cut down and sanded.

The hole was made by first cutting slots to the edge of the

circle using the grinding wheel attachment on my Dremel…

The windows were then nibbled out with a drill and

sharp knife.


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The port side waist gun position was

marked for removal using Dymo tape

as a guide.

Some of the hatches were not

appropriate for this variant, so these

were filled at the same time.

Milliput was the filler of choice. The

various scars, gaps and join lines were

filled for the first time, but not the last!


105

A JLC razor saw was used to carefully remove the section of

fuselage containing the waist gun position.

The JLC saw is ideal for this task as it is very thin, and not

much plastic is lost in the operation.

The excised section was cut into two pieces for

later reassembly.

The waist gun position was shifted forward, with the short

section glued aft. Two thin pieces of plastic strip were used

to fill the narrow gap left by the saw.

This surgery brings the previously staggered waist guns in line

with each other on opposite sides of the fuselage.

Milliput was broken out again to fill the join lines of the new

waist gun position.


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The port side waist gun station, now sanded smooth. Note

that the new rear window is also in place, filled and sanded

down. The clear window was cut from the clear cover of a

compact disk case.

The new eyebrows for both waist gun positions were kicked

off with a template of the upper outline cut from self-adhesive

Dymo tape.

Milliput was then used to build up the shape of the ‘eyebrow’.

The two-part epoxy putty was smoothed and shaped with a

damp fingertip.

The Dymo tape was removed and the putty allowed to set

before the eyebrows were sanded to their final shape.

Grey primer was sprayed on the fuselage halves at this stage

to check for lingering gaps and other imperfections. A few

were found and marked with pencil for later repair.

Monogram provides a decent interior for their bomber kits.

The inside of the port waist gun position was covered with

plastic strip to hide the unsightly joins.


applied the D panel arrangement

on the starboard side where the

circular escape hatch used to be.

It also gave me some time to think

about how to achieve the new large

bulged side window fairings.

For the bulges, I first cut a piece

of Dymo tape as a template for the

shape of the higher upper curve of

the new fairing. This was stuck to

the fuselage side.

Next, I mixed up a batch of

Milliput and applied a thin sausage

along the curved upper line. This

was followed by a smaller blob in

the middle of the new fairing. The

putty was then shaped first with

a small trowel, then with a damp

fingertip, until it was approximately

the right size and shape.

The Dymo tape was removed

while the putty was still pliable.

The thickness of the tape left a

realistic ridge similar to the ridge

on the bottom fairing. A few tiny

adjustments were made to fair the

top curve with the fuselage side

using a damp toothpick.

I also found out just as I

finished this modification that the

profile of the B-25D rear fuselage

was different to that of the J.

The D dropped off aft of the

turret, resulting in a rear fuselage

that was seven inches shallower

than the J model at the rear

gunner’s position. I had not picked

this up (it was not in the drawings

of the Aussie Ds, and the Revell

107

The various minor flaws have now been

filled and sanded, and a new coat of

primer applied. The new eyebrows

smoothly bend into the fuselage sides.

Terry Dean Nose Weights produce a

large chunk of lead that is custom-built

to fit inside the nose wheel bay of

Monogram’s B-25J. This is a welcome

cure for tail sitting!


C/D fuselage is the same depth

or even a little deeper than the

Monogram J fuselage in this area),

but it was really too late for me

to do anything about it without

undoing a lot of the work that

I had already done. If I was going

to repeat this project, I would

probably backfill the inside of

the upper rear fuselage halves with

Milliput, lower the mount for the

horizontal tail surfaces (by cutting

it out and removing a section

below it), then sand down the

height and profile of the rear

fuselage by around 3mm.

With the major surgery now

complete, I wanted to make sure

that all the modified sections were

smoothly blended with the surface

of the kit.

The fuselage was treated to

a coat of Tamiya Grey Primer

straight from the can. This primer

coat highlighted a number of

incompletely filled join seams,

a few inconsistent panel lines and

some small gouges that had not

been eliminated. These were

highlighted with a pencil for

later attention.

INTERIORAt this stage I started to fit out the

interior. As the fuselage would be

buttoned up, I did not add any

extra detail to the main interior.

The detail provided by Monogram

was pretty good anyway. The only

modification was to provide some

structural detail around the port

side waist gun window to hide the

scarring of the relocation surgery.

Earlier on, I had installed

oversized windows in each side

of the rear fuselage. These were

cut from a cover of a CD case

following the suggestion of Tony

Bell. The plastic was quite brittle,

but it responded very well to the

‘score and snap’ approach. The

windows were faired in and the

clear sections were masked inside

and out with Tamiya tape.

An article by RAAF researcher

Steve MacKenzie from IPMS

NSW magazine News and Views

Vol. 15, No. 3, provided some

great information about the

modified tail gun position. On the

basis of this information, I cut off

part of the tail at an angle.

The same article provided

information about the early style

fuselage gun packs, and a

ventilation pipe under the nose.

Great stuff.

The opening for the navigator’s

astrodome was cut out of the

forward fuselage roof. The fuselage

halves were taped together tightly

as the opening crossed the fuselage

halves and the forward turret plug.

A circular template was used to

mark out the opening and a

small pilot hole was drilled. Next,

a round dental burr was fitted to

my Dremel motor tool to enlarge

the hole. The job was finished with

a sharp hobby knife to clean up

any jagged residue of plastic.

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bay after some of the plastic structural

detail has been carved away.


My Mitchell would be mostly

buttoned up, so only glimpses of

the interior would be seen through

the nose glazing, canopy, turret

and various windows. I therefore

decided not to expend too much

effort on detailing this large

expanse. I painted the model’s

interior mostly according to

the excellent article on the

IPMS Stockholm website

http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/

magazine/2004/02/stuff_eng_

interior_colours_us_part2.htm.

The cockpit was painted dull

dark green (using Tamiya XF-5

Flat Green) and the remainder

of the interior was coated in zinc

chromate yellow (Tamiya XF-4

Yellow Green), except for the

bomb bay which was masked

off and painted silver.

The most prominent specific

feature would be the pilot’s and

co-pilot’s seats. I added harness

from lead foil cut from the top

of a wine bottle with fine wire

buckles. The yellow life preserver

cushions were simply pieces of

Tamiya masking tape folded to

the appropriate size.

WEATHERING THEINTERIORWeathering was applied reasonably

heavily to permit some effect to be

visible inside the dark recesses of

the fuselage. First, the structural

detail was highlighted with a thin

109

The only additions to Monogram’s

interior parts were harness straps cut

from lead foil. Otherwise, all the kit

interior needs is a careful paint job.

The fuselage and wing parts are glued

together and temporarily secured with

Tamiya tape and various clamps.


spray of a black and red-brown

mix. Next, details such as boxes,

straps, switches and buttons were

picked out with a fine brush.

Finally, a wash of thinned raw

umber and black oil paint mixed

with odourless thinners was

selectively applied to the edges

of various surfaces.

Subsequent to all this painting,

I found a source (HyperScale’s

Plane Talking forum) that suggested

that the main interior colour was

not actually zinc chromate yellow,

but a custom mix of zinc chromate

and approximately 10 per cent

black, resulting in a muddy olive

green shade.

I decided to take an each-way

bet. Rather than repainting the

entire interior, I mixed up a batch

of the new colour and sprayed it

in the bombardier’s and the rear

gunner’s compartments.

BRINGING THESUBASSEMBLIESTOGETHERThe time had come to encase all

that painting and weathering

between the fuselage halves, but

not before ensuring that the nose

wheel would stay on the ground

when the model was finished.

This kit needs a lot of nose

weight. Fortunately, Terry Dean

Nose Weights offers a custom-

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A new smaller blast panel cut from

sheet styrene plus the gun pack from

Revell’s 1/48-scale B-25D has been

glued to the forward fuselage.

The join for the fins has been

reinforced with brass tube.

Corresponding holes have been

drilled into the horizontal tail.


designed solution – a solid white-

metal weight designed to fit inside

the forward wheel well. The main

gear door is closed, so this chunk

of metal does not obscure any

visible kit detail.

Test-fitting of the nose weight

suggested that it would be safer

to trim the raised ribs off the

wheel well ceiling. This offered

a millimetre’s more clearance

and, more importantly, gave a

flatter surface for a strong bond.

The nose weight was glued in place

using superglue.

I was concerned that I might

need more nose weight than

standard as I had moved the centre

of gravity aft when relocating the

turret. I therefore packed a few lead

fishing sinkers in front of the

instrument panel as insurance.

These spherical lead weights

were squashed with pliers before

installation to permit more to be

fitted. Now the fuselage and wing

halves were glued together and

taped to set.

Monogram’s one-piece engines

look pretty ordinary on the sprue,

but I did not want to introduce

any aftermarket to the project at

this late stage so I decided that

they would do. They did look

better once paint was applied, and

they looked better again inside

their nacelles.

I had a little trouble lining one

of the engines up inside the

111

After all that hard graft, the model is

finally starting to look like a Mitchell.

The raised panel lines on the wings

were sanded off and scribed to match

the newly recessed panel lines on

the fuselage.


nacelle. In fact, I had to break open

the nacelle to correct a nasty lean

that the engine had developed

while setting.

The vertical tailplanes are each

moulded with a long locating pin,

but these had both broken off.

I drilled a hole in the positions

of the pins and installed brass tube

to improve the bond between the

tailplane parts. In the interests of

consistency, I rescribed the small

number of panel lines of the

upper surface of the horizontal

stabilisers, and both sides of each

vertical stab.

After I had assembled the wings,

I bit the bullet and determined to

rescribe the upper surfaces of these

large parts too. I took care to leave

some raised details (such as small

rectangular panels here and there)

in place. Once again, self-adhesive

Dymo tape was used as a guide but

this time the raised panel lines were

not sanded off until after the new

recessed lines were scribed. Once

finished, the panel lines received a

thin brushed coat of Tamiya Extra

Thin Liquid Cement. This delivers

a more consistent edge to the

sharp, fine lines.

With the fuselage and wings

now ready for final assembly,

I added a few more conversion

details. These included the nose

gun packages from the Revell

B-25C kit plus a piece of thin

styrene cut to shape as new small

blast panels forward of the guns

on each side.

A piece of plastic rod was also

flattened on one side and glued

to the bottom of the nose. This

represents a fume extractor tube

fitted to these hybrid B-25Ds.

When the glue had set properly,

I scribed a line where the tube

crosses the front main

undercarriage door. Fit of the

main airframe components was

generally pretty good.

I sanded the second round of

Milliput, but the seam line on the

upper fuselage join was particularly

recalcitrant. I eventually terminated

the seam with extreme prejudice

using a coarse MasterCasters

sanding stick to attack the entire

spine, followed by progressively

finer sanders to eliminate the deep

sanding gouges. I had to restore the

scribed panel line detail after this.

The fuselage was primed again

after the sanding was complete.

The wings received a coat of

Tamiya Primer after sanding too.

The fit of the wings to the

fuselage was pretty good. The port

wing was not quite thick enough,

resulting in a narrow gap at the

upper wing root, but I managed to

cram some scrap plastic between the

top and bottom join of the wing.

This mostly fixed the problem.

A swipe of Tamiya Surfacer resulted

in a gap-free finish.

Main transparencies were now

glued in place. The fit was pretty

good. I have read some horror

stories about the canopy and

nose pieces, but the only problems

I encountered were a very small gap

at the front of the windscreen

which was quickly dealt with using

Krystal Kleer (white glue), and a

gap/step on the port side of the

fuselage nose where it (almost)

meets the nose cap and the upper

nose glazing.

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A few gaps and steps were present

around the nose and windscreen

glazings. The clear parts were masked

and the flaws filled with Milliput.

The putty was smoothed with a

damp fingertip, then sanded and

polished when set.


The smaller windows and the

astrodome hole were temporarily

filled with Krystal Kleer as a

masking agent to prevent overspray

from entering the model. When the

paint job was finished, the Krystal

Kleer was pulled out and replaced

with a fresh application to create

the clear windows.

I drilled a second hole under the

fixed machine-gun position in the

clear nose cap for the additional

fixed gun carried by these hybrid

B-25Ds. I glued the machine gun

in the flexible position in the

centre of the nose, but I cut the

barrel off when it was completely

set, and glued it back on when

painting was complete (it had

almost no chance of surviving the

extensive handling during painting.

The nose and canopy

transparencies were masked to

avoid putty fingerprints on these

pristine parts, and to reduce the

risk of damage from later sanding.

Milliput was applied sparingly with

a trowel (actually an old-fashioned

staple remover). As much excess

putty as possible was wiped off

the model with a damp fingertip

while the putty was still pliable.

This minimized the amount of

sanding needed later.

When the Milliput had dried,

I used 1,000-grit Tamiya Abrasive

113

Eduard Mask set number EX 119 was

used to mask the clear parts. In total,

masking with these die-cut flexible

masks took a little more than an hour.

The other clear parts were masked with

the Eduard set too. These masks were

real time savers, and permitted razor

sharp precision too.


Paper to sand and polish the filler.

Although there seems to be quite a

lot of Milliput around the nose and

the canopy, the gaps were negligible.

Even so, it was worth the extra time

to properly fair in the canopy and

nose, completely eliminating the

small steps between the clear parts

and the grey fuselage.

Eduard Mask set number

EX 119 was used to mask the

clear parts. In total, masking with

these die-cut flexible masks took a

little more than an hour – far less

than the time that would have been

required if I was cutting masks from

tape, and more precise too. The

canopy and other masked frames

were painted the interior colour.

I also bought a rather dangerous-

looking Pounce Wheel while I was

at an art shop, and decided to try it

out on my Mitchell to add selected

lines of rivets to the fuselage and

the upper wings and tail planes.

The spikes are widely spaced, but

it works quite well. I used it very

lightly for a subtle (i.e., almost

invisible) riveting effect.

I also modified the rear

machine-gun cover by plugging the

two holes, drilling one new one,

and building up and reshaping

the cover using Milliput.

PAINTINGI spent a few hours getting the

basic colours onto my B-25D. The

lower surface was painted Tamiya

XF-53 Neutral Grey before being

broken up with a mottle of a

50:50 mix of Neutral Grey and

Tamiya XF-19 Sky Grey. The base

colour for the upper surface was

Xrtacrylics’ 1112 Olive Drab.

This dark shade was broken up

with pale streaks and oversprays on

the upper surface. A lighter version

of the colour was also sprayed

onto the control surfaces, as the

fabric faded much faster than the

rest of the airframe.

Some RAAF Mitchells in 1945

featured overpainted roundels. The

new style was smaller, so a dark

patch of fresh olive drab or foliage

green could be seen under the new

roundels. These were masked and

sprayed onto the paintwork before

decals were applied. These aircraft

featured lots of dark stains and

massive chalky exhaust streaks, but

I did not add these until the decals

have been applied.

Polly Scale Flat acrylic was

applied over the decals and the glossy

paint, immediately improving the

appearance of the olive drab finish

to my eye. I post-shaded the upper

wings and part of the fuselage with

panel highlighting, chordwise streaks

and random spots using a very thin

mix of Tamiya XF-64 Red Brown

and Flat X-1 Black.

The model was finally looking

something like I had visualized it.

I was getting worried that even my

faded version of olive drab would

be too dark, but the Polly Scale

Flat coat and the first stage of

weathering have restored my

confidence in the paint job.

The panel structure of these

weary and weathered Mitchells is

so I feel that I have been given

licence to go slightly nuts, but

only slightly.

I thought that I had covered the

gap at the wing root but the flat

coat revealed a persistent seam line.

Rather than putty and sand,

I decided to fill this narrow seam

with Testors’ Clear Parts Cement.

This is a water-soluble white glue

that is thinner than Krystal Kleer

and can be applied straight from

a narrow plastic tube attached to

the bottle. I thought that it might

be an effective way to fill the gap

without the risk of damaging the

surrounding plastic. You can see

the just-applied Testors’ Clear

Parts Cement on the wing root

in the photos.

Some may think that the

weathering looks too stark and

architectural, especially the panel

and hinge lines, but I have more

than a few photos of these Aussie

Mitchells in flight over Pacific

islands and they did really look

like this. If anything, my

rendition is subdued. If you

happen to have Stewart Wilson’s

book, Boston, Mitchell and Liberator in

Australian Service, check the photos

on pages 71 and 78 to see what

I mean.

The chalky exhaust stain was

also typical of 2 Sqn RAAF B-25s.

These were applied first as narrow

streaks of Tamiya XF-57 Buff,

thinned heavily and sprayed

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115

The nose and windscreen clear parts

were sprayed interior green before the

camouflage coats were applied.

A ‘fabric’ cover for the rear machine

gun was fashioned from Milliput.

At this very late stage I decided to add

some lines of recessed rivets using a

Pounce Wheel purchased from a local

craft shop. The effect was subtle but a

nice enhancement.


straight behind each exhaust

ejector, then gradually built up

and flared out to finally join as

one large stain at the ends of the

top and bottom of the engine

nacelles. Tamiya XF-55 Deck Tan,

an even paler colour, was then

used to emphasize the more

directed stains directly behind

the ejectors. The ubiquitous

red-brown/black mix was applied

very lightly at the edges of the

pale stain and in a couple of

streaks. The pale streaks were also

extended to subtler applications

on the horizontal and vertical

tail planes.

A fresh batch of unfaded olive

drab was used to paint over the

repair to the wing root, much

in the same way as it might have

been on the real aircraft. I left the

obvious repair visible, and added

a couple of repair ‘patches’ on

the wings using the same batch

of paint.

FINISHINGTOUCHESI sourced an astrodome from

Squadron’s B-25C/D vacform

canopy set. The astrodome was

cut out of the sheet and the base

was sanded off with a coarse

MasterCasters sander. The vacform

part was masked with Tamiya tape

and glued on top of the astrodome

opening on the forward fuselage

before a gap on each side of the

clear dome was filled with Krystal

Kleer, and the frame/base painted

with olive drab.

The DF football was also

relocated onto the upper forward

fuselage, and holes were drilled

fore and aft for the two short

antenna masts.

Detail parts such as the main

undercarriage, wheels, propellers,

bomb bay doors and entry hatches

were painted and weathered in

preparation for final assembly.

The detail of these parts was

very good. I especially liked the

intricate wheel hubs.

The Eduard masks were

removed from the canopies.

The new fuselage windows that

I had temporarily blocked off with

Krystal Kleer took a bit of effort

to open and clean up. The Krystal

Kleer having been applied a few

months ago, combined with the

paint, led to a stubborn masking

medium. By contrast, the new rear

windows masked with Tamiya tape

(the windows were oversized pieces

of flat plastic from a CD jewel

case, then these were faired in

and the actual window size was

masked inside and out), worked

like a charm.

Nearly there now… but it

always seems to take longer than

you’d expect to completely finish

off that last 1 per cent. The

control surface hinge lines, scribed

panel lines and other structural

details were subtly highlighted with

Tamiya acrylic X-18 Semi-Gloss

Black, thinned heavily with water

and used as a pinpoint wash

applied with a fine brush.

Antenna masts were cut from

brass rod, painted and glued into

pre-drilled holes on top of the

fuselage. The antenna wire is

nylon monofilament (invisible

mending thread).

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These camouflaged Mitchells suffered

from extensive exhaust staining. Strips

of self-adhesive aluminium foil were

used for the turret framing.


Machine-gun barrels were

painted gloss black and installed.

Installing the waist guns in the

assembled fuselage was a little

fiddly, but doable using a hemostat

(long, self-closing tweezers).

The undercarriage did not

present any major hurdles, but

I was worried that the main gear

legs were not going to fit inside

the closed nacelles. They did

in the end though.

Next time I will secure the main

wheels with superglue, as the

plastic cement I used was not rigid

enough to prevent the wheels

bowing out on their axles under

the heavy weight of the model.

The turret framing you see here

is ‘Plan B’. These turrets seem to

often feature clear perspex framing,

and I wanted to depict this. The

easiest method would have been

just to leave the top of the turret

unpainted, but the framing is

usually visible in photographs

so I wanted to emphasize them

somehow. I therefore masked the

turret and painted the frames with

Polly Scale Flat. This achieved

the frosted effect that I was

looking for.

I thought that if I dipped the

canopy in Future, it would look

as if these frosted frames were

underneath the thin perspex dome.

117

The remnants of exhaust stains were

also applied to the fins. Note the new

window in the rear fuselage.

Markings were sourced from

Aussie Decals.


Nice theory, but the Future

completely wiped out the effect –

the whole turret just looked like

clear plastic again! ‘Plan B’ was

therefore put into effect. A number

of photos of these Aussie B-25Ds

show highly reflective turret

framing, so I cut thin slices of

self-adhesive foil to use as the

individual frames.

Once the entire model was

assembled I was still not happy

with the exhaust stain, deciding

that my original depiction was

underemphasized compared to

reference photos. This prominent

area was revisited. First, a new

outline of a dark exhaust stain

was laid down. Next, a 50:50 mix

of Tamiya Buff and Deck Tan was

thinned with alcohol (around

80 per cent thinner to paint)

and sprayed carefully and very

directionally behind the exhaust

ejectors. I was happier with

this effect.

The exhaust stain was also

re-emphasized on the vertical tail

surfaces. The new rear fuselage

window made from a piece of

clear CD jewel case can also be

seen to good effect in the photos.

Silver pencil was used to add

some chipping to the upper wing

roots and the leading edge of the

wings and engine cowlings.

I am fairly satisfied with the

result of this major conversion

project, but I do realize that

there are a number of notable

inaccuracies, and aspects that

I would do differently next time:

• Top of canopy framing is

incorrect for a D (should be

more perspex exposed).

• Co-pilot seat is incorrect.

• Shoulder harnesses were not

used on wartime aircraft.

• Does not have the ‘broken back’

of the B/C/D, and therefore…

• Style and size of rear gunner’s

blister and .50-cal. mount

is wrong.

• Not really happy with Krystal

Kleer windows.

• Should have added some more

weathering and detail inside

nose – highly visible.

• Decal codes slightly too small

and not entirely correct style.

• Canopy and nose frames need

highlighting.

Even so, this project was a great

test bed for new techniques.

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The shape and dimensions of the

Monogram B-25 are excellent,

resulting in a good representation

of this iconic aircraft.


119

The Fury was a thin-winged

development of the wartime

Hawker Tempest, but by the time

this high-performance fighter

took to the air in September

1944, the RAF had already

recognized that the age of the

jet fighter was dawning.

Even so, the Fleet Air Arm still

needed a rugged and powerful

fighter capable of carrier

operations. In the twilight of the

piston fighter era, the Sea Fury

admirably filled this niche until

the introduction of the jet-powered

Sea Venom around 1954.

TRUMPETER’S1/48-SCALE SEAFURY FB.11 INTHE BOXTrumpeter’s 1/48-scale Sea Fury

FB.11 comprises 92 parts in grey

plastic and eight clear parts. The

kit is cleanly moulded with no

obvious ejector-pin marks or other

imperfections on exterior surfaces,

Surface detail is by way of finely

recessed panel lines and rows of

crisply recessed rivets. The latter

will not be to everyone’s taste,

especially on the Sea Fury’s

smooth, flush-riveted airframe.

Dimensions of the kit are in

agreement with most reference

sources, but there are a number

of detail accuracy issues.

The most prominent is the large

cutout in the fuselage spine directly

behind the cockpit. This is not

present on the real Sea Fury – the

spine should continue without any

change to contour or depth right

up to the rear cockpit bulkhead.

The windscreen is not quite

right either. The lower sides are

heavily curved on the kit, whereas

the real Sea Fury windscreen was

almost straight.

The exhaust panels appear to be

the correct height (Hobbycraft’s are

too short), and the hollowed-out

exhaust stacks are a nice touch but

the ‘eyebrow’ above and the lip

below are exaggerated.

The forward cowl looks odd –

the curve toward the spinner seems

to start too early and the fuselage

KITBASHING TWO MEDIOCRE KITSFOR A BETTER RESULTIt can be argued that the Hawker Sea Fury was the ultimate piston-engine fighter. Too late to see service

in World War II, the Sea Fury held its own six years later in the skies over Korea against jet-powered

adversaries.

‘Frankenfury’ – a 1/48-scale Sea Fury

with Trumpeter’s wings, Hobbycraft’s

fuselage and Cooper Details’ multimedia

upgrade set.


opening appears overly sharp,

giving the area a slightly pinched

look. The spinner itself is too

pointy, but Trumpeter did get

the offset oval openings for the

propeller blade right.

The cockpit is shallow. Detail in

the front office is basic and bears

only a passing resemblance to the

real thing. This is especially true of

the seat and the control column.

The wings are generally very

good, with structurally detailed

wheel wells. The outer wing panels

are separate and may be depicted

flat or folded. Wing tip navigation

lights and landing lights are

supplied as separate clear parts.

Ailerons are also separate. This is

very useful, as the ailerons were

deflected outward when the wings

were folded. The openings for the

cannon in the wing leading edges

are offset ovals as moulded.

These should be reshaped to

circular openings.

Ordnance includes two big ferry

tanks and six rockets moulded to

rails. The ferry tanks were rarely

fitted – smaller 90-gallon drop

tanks were more typical. The

rockets are nicely detailed and fit

perfectly in their wing locating

holes, but they do not include any

openings in the rear of the rocket

tubes. In fact, the tubes taper off

altogether just behind the front

of the fins.

The main landing gear legs are

short by around 3mm. Perhaps this

is supposed to represent extreme

compression under the weight

of full ferry tanks. Detail on the

wheel hubs is poor, and the radial

tread pattern is not typical for

the type.

CONSTRUCTIONAs soon as I received Trumpeter’s

1/48-scale Sea Fury, I considered

possible solutions to address some

of the shortcomings. The first idea

that came to mind was using either

Cooper Details’ or Cutting Edge’s

multimedia upgrade sets. These

were designed for the Hobbycraft

Sea Fury, but they address most

of the weak points of Trumpeter’s

kits too.

The Cooper Details set includes

an entirely new cockpit, propellers,

spinner, wheels and 90-gallon drop

tanks in resin; plus a vacform

canopy and white-metal

undercarriage parts for the main

and tail gear. The biggest challenge

would be to adapt Cooper Details’

resin spinner to the Trumpeter

engine cowling, which is arranged

quite differently to Hobbycraft’s

engineering. Some surgery would

be required. The large scallop

behind the cockpit on Trumpeter’s

fuselage spine would have to be

filled, shaped and sanded too;

and the rivets needed filling and

smoothing.

At this point I wondered

if it might be easier to fit the

Hobbycraft fuselage to Trumpeter’s

very nice wing.

Test-fitting showed that only

minor trimming and filling would

be needed to mate these major

subassemblies. The biggest problem

with the basic Hobbycraft fuselage

is the wide, soft panel lines.

I brushed a thick coat of Tamiya

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Hobbycraft’s 1/48-scale Sea Fury

fuselage was test-fitted against

Trumpeter’s mid-wing section. The

result was surprisingly encouraging.


121

The fit was also close at the front and

back underside joins.

Before mating the main parts of

the monster, I dealt with the heavily

recessed panel lines on the Hobbycraft

Sea Fury. These are inappropriate

for the smooth finish of this naval

thoroughbred. Tamiya Surfacer

was brushed onto the panel lines

before sanding.

The rivets on Trumpeter’s wings were

equally unsuitable. Mr. Surfacer was

also applied to the lines of rivets, taking

care to avoid the fine panel lines and

access hatches.


Surfacer over the lines on the rear

fuselage, and a thinner coat of

Gunze Mr. Surfacer 1000 onto the

cowl panels and forward fuselage

lines, as these were visible on the

real aircraft. Once thoroughly dry,

the various surfacers were sanded

down to deliver a much subtler

rendition of panel lines – far more

appropriate for the flush riveted

Sea Fury.

Trumpeter’s outer wing panels

received similar treatment. Two

coats of Tamiya Surfacer, with

sanding in between coats and

afterward, were required to

eliminate most of the prominent

rivet detail. The structural rivet

detail on the inner wing panels was

left intact as I thought it looked

appropriately busy around the

various access hatches and panels.

With the large parts prepared,

I started building Cooper Details’

beautiful resin cockpit. Although

this set was released quite some

time ago, the detail remains state

of the art. I did replace the seat

with the Cutting Edge Typhoon

seat though, as the Cooper seat

was not fitted with harness straps.

The Cutting Edge seat has the

harness straps and quilted backrest

cast in place. I had to shave off the

harness attachment points on the

outside of the seat to squeeze it

into the cockpit though.

The Cooper Details cockpit is

the correct depth, is accurate and

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Cooper Details’ 1/48-scale multimedia

upgrade set addresses most of the

remaining shortcomings. This set

includes replacement landing gear,

spinner, propeller blades, a new cockpit

and some smaller details.

Some of the smaller resin parts from

Cooper Details’ upgrade set have been

grafted to the cockpit sidewalls. Note

also the small triangles of scrap plastic

that have been used to recontour the

line of the forward cockpit opening.


very busy. It even includes a

delicate three-part mount for the

master compass in front of the

control column. I decided that I

might not quite be up to this task,

and the compass’s tripod mount

would be largely hidden in the dark

recesses of the black cockpit, so

I simply glued the compass to the

top of a length of plastic rod.

Some of Cooper Details’ smaller

cockpit parts are cast onto a thin

wafer of resin. The resin was

carefully sanded, freeing the tiny

detail parts, which were then glued

to the fuselage sidewalls. I also

glued a wedge of scrap plastic

to the cockpit sill, smoothing the

line from the windscreen to the

canopy rails.

I painted the cockpit dark grey

– representing scale black – and

picked out the details with a fine

brush and Tamiya acrylic paint.

I initially painted the quilted

backrest black, but eventually

repainted it in a shade of medium

green to add a little colour to the

otherwise dark front office.

The fuselage halves were joined

and the cockpit tub fed up through

the wing opening into the

assembled fuselage. Fit was perfect.

Now it was time to mate the

Trumpeter wings to Hobbycraft’s

fuselage. The inside upper wing

panels were first glued to the lower

centre wing section. When this

assembly was offered to the

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Cooper Details’ cockpit is vastly superior

to the shallow Trumpeter front office

and the poor Hobbycraft parts.

The dark cockpit was painted ‘scale

black’ – actually dark grey – with details

picked out by brush using Tamiya

paints. I later repainted the seat’s back

cushion in medium green to lend some

much-needed colour to the dark pit.


fuselage, a few points interfered

with fit along the wing root.

These were carefully trimmed

with a hobby knife and smoothed

with a sanding stick. The process

was repeated several times until a

good fit was achieved.

A few minor gaps remained at

the wing root and underneath the

fuselage where the wing meets

the engine cowling. Also, the bulge

where the fuselage meets the centre

of the wing needed to be built up.

Milliput was used for both of

these jobs. The outline of the

bulge was cut from a piece of stout

cardboard, which was taped to the

bottom of the wing and used as a

template. Once the Milliput had

set, the wing roots and lower wing

joins were thoroughly sanded for

a nice, smooth seamless join.

Cooper Details supplies a

vacform canopy that is better in

shape than either Trumpeter’s or

Hobbycraft’s. The clear vacform

part was packed with Blu-Tack

prior to being cut off its backing

sheet. This improves rigidity while

cutting, and also makes it easier to

see the cutting line.

A narrow ridge of .010 x .020in.

plastic strip was carefully glued to

the front of the windscreen sill.

This ridge was helpful as a

positive mounting point for the

vacform windscreen.

I realized that, in my earlier

excitement, I had forgotten to

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Some minor trimming of the

Trumpeter wing roots was required

to obtain the best fit. Only a couple

of narrow gaps remained.

Only minimal filling was needed

underneath the model. A cardboard

template was cut out to help fair

in the bulge where the fuselage

meets the centre of the wing.


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White Milliput was used to fill the gaps

at the upper wing roots.

Cooper Details supplies a vacform

canopy that is better in shape than

either Trumpeter’s or Hobbycraft’s.

The clear vacform part was packed

with Blu-Tack prior to being cut off its

backing sheet. This improves rigidity

while cutting, and also makes it easier

to see the cutting line.

Sanding and shaping smoothed the

bulge and the joins.


install the exhaust stubs from the

inside of the fuselage. I decided to

adapt Trumpeter’s exhausts, which

are much nicer than Hobbycraft’s

items and are also drilled out.

The backing plastic was sliced off

and the top stack cut away to allow

the exhausts to fit in the shorter

Hobbycraft opening. The balance

of construction was fast and

trouble free. Hobbycraft’s

horizontal tail surfaces were used

because they were easier to fit to

Hobbycraft’s fuselage.

PAINTINGThe model first received a coat

of Tamiya’s grey primer straight

from the spray can. This coat helps

identify any persistent gaps, steps

and seams before the camouflage

paint is applied.

The Cooper Details 90-gallon

drop tanks were fitted at this

stage too. The mounts needed

some reshaping to fit the more

contoured Trumpeter lower wing.

All remaining paints were

applied with my metal-bodied

Aztek A470 airbrush.

The first colour was Alclad II

Magnesium to the bare metal

exhaust panels and the base of

the spinner. The wheel wells also

received a coat of primer yellow.

While the airbrush was loaded, the

inside of the undercarriage doors

were also treated to this colour.

Wheel wells and exhaust panels

were masked with Tamiya tape.

Tamiya acrylic XF-21 Sky was

sprayed onto the fuselage sides and

all lower surfaces. A fine mottle

and streaks of a lighter shade

of sky (with around 10–15 per

cent white added) were applied to

subtly break up the large expanse

of colour.

The sky sections were

masked off with Tamiya tape in

preparation for extra dark sea grey

on the upper surfaces. Wing walk

areas on both wings were sprayed

flat black and masked off before

the grey camouflage.

Tamiya XF-24 Dark Grey was

used to represent extra dark sea

grey. Once again, a pale mottle

was applied over the base colour.

The forward fuselage was also

masked off and sprayed in a faded

variation of the colour (I noticed

this feature in a few contemporary

photos of Sea Furies).

Canopy parts were masked

and sprayed while attached to

a paintbrush using Blu-Tack.

This makes it much easier to

handle the parts while painting.

Markings were sourced from

Aussie Decals’ 1/48-scale sheet

number A48-005, although I used

Xtradecal’s national markings for

the fuselage and upper wings.

All decals performed well using

Micro Set and Solvaset.

Weathering was kept light, with

a thin black-brown mix being

sprayed mainly around the engine

cowl, exhaust panels and control

surface hinge lines. Recessed panel

lines in these areas also received

a thin wash of Tamiya X-18

Semi-Gloss Black.

Two thin coats of Polly Scale

Flat finished the paint job with

just the hint of a sheen.

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A narrow ridge of .010 x .020in. plastic

strip was carefully glued to the front of

the windscreen sill. This ridge will act

as a positive mounting point for the

vacform windscreen.


127

The resin drop tanks, also in the Cooper

Details set, were glued in place before

painting. The contours of the mounts

were sanded to match the bottom of

Trumpeter’s wing. The wheel wells had

been earlier painted in a shade of zinc

chromate yellow. These were masked

off with wide Tamiya tape.

The characteristic exhaust panels were

also masked off after two thin coats of

Alclad Magnesium.

The entire model received a coat of

Tamiya Grey Primer straight from the

can. This helps identify any persistent

gaps, steps and other imperfections

before the camouflage colours

are applied.


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The sky sections were masked off with

Tamiya tape in preparation for extra

dark sea grey on the upper surfaces.

Wing walk areas on both wings were

sprayed flat black and masked off.

Tamiya acrylic XF-21 Sky was sprayed

onto the fuselage sides and all lower

surfaces. A fine mottle of a lighter shade

of sky (with around 10–15 per cent

white added) was applied to subtly

break up the large expanse of colour.


129

Canopy parts were masked and sprayed

while attached to a paintbrush using

Blu-Tack. This makes it much easier

to handle the parts while painting.

Masking tape has been removed,

revealing crisp camouflage demarcation.

Two glossy coats of Future floor polish

have been sprayed onto the model in

preparation for decals.

Tamiya XF-24 Dark Grey was used to

represent extra dark sea grey. Once

again, a pale mottle was applied over

the base colour. The forward fuselage

was also masked off and sprayed in a

faded variation of the colour.


FINISHING TOUCHESTrumpeter’s undersized main

undercarriage legs were replaced

with Cooper Details’ white-metal

items. The mounting points in

the wheel bay were drilled out

to accommodate the new gear.

Cooper Details’ tail wheel assembly

is gorgeously rendered, with a

separate white metal leg and wheel.

The propeller blades from

Cooper Details are also supplied

in white metal. This is just as well,

as Sea Fury props have quite a

significant twist from base to tip. I

carefully twisted the five soft-metal

propeller blades in an attempt to

reproduce this distinctive feature.

Stencil markings on the rockets

and propeller blades were cobbled

together using 1/72-scale decals,

markings from a 1/48-scale Grand

Phoenix Seafire, plus painted bands

and spots.

Whip aerials were cut from

stretched sprue. These were

added to the top of the fin and

on the underside of the folded

starboard wing. The tail hook is a

white-metal item from the Cooper

details upgrade set.

The Trumpeter pitot tube

was replaced with brass tube and

rod cut to length. Brass rod was

also used for the rod antenna

underneath the starboard wing.

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Weathering was kept light, with a thin

black-brown mix being sprayed mainly

around the engine cowl, exhaust panels

and control surface hinge lines.

Recessed panel lines in these areas also

received a thin wash of Tamiya X-18

Semi-Gloss Black.

Markings were sourced from Aussie

Decals, although I used Xtradecals

national markings for the fuselage and

upper wings. All decals performed well

using Micro Set and Solvaset.


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ABOVE: Trumpeter’s undersized main

undercarriage legs were replaced with

Cooper Details’ white-metal items.

Trumpeter’s mounting points in the

wheel bay were drilled out to

accommodate the new gear.

ABOVE RIGHT: Detail parts were

painted, and weathered prior to

final assembly.

RIGHT: Stencil markings on the rockets

and propeller blades were cobbled

together using 1/72-scale decals,

markings from a 1/48-scale Grand

Phoenix Seafire, plus painted bands

and spots.

Whip aerials were added to the top

of the fin and on the underside of the

folded starboard wing. The tail hook is

a white-metal item from the Cooper

Details upgrade set.


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NEXT TIMEThere are a few changes that I

would make next time I attempt

the Trumpeter Sea Fury:

• The fit of the wing tip

navigation lights is less than

perfect, so I would superglue

the lights to the wings before

painting, fill and sand the joins,

polish the clear plastic then

mask the lights before painting.

• The landing lights are simple

disks with no backing, They

look more like clear inspection

panels to view the interior of

the wings. I suggest replacing

these with MV lenses.

• I would cut the rockets off

the rails and replace them with

rockets that have hollow tubes

at the rear.

CONCLUSIONTrumpeter’s 1/48-scale Sea Fury is

like the proverbial Curate’s Egg – it

is good in parts. The wings are the

best aspect of the kit, and they are

clearly superior to Hobbycraft’s.

Trumpeter’s wing fold option is

very welcome, and the positionable

ailerons may be deflected outward

when the wings are folded just like

the real thing.

The scooped-out spine behind

the cockpit, the poorly shaped

spinner and the short landing gear

legs are surprising considering the

number of surviving Sea Furies

(not to mention photos) available

for reference. The shallow,

caricatured cockpit, poor wheels

and the blank-faced rocket tails

are disappointing too.

Even so, I know that many

modellers will be happy with

the kit straight from the box.

Trumpeter’s Sea Fury fits well

and it will be an enjoyable project

with or without corrections.

The good news is that, if

you are keen to address some

of the accuracy issues, you do

have a number of options. The

cross-kitting of the Hobbycraft

fuselage and the Trumpeter wings

will take advantage of the strengths

of both kits. The Hobbycraft

kit may be picked up cheaply

(probably even more so now

that the Trumpeter Sea Fury

is available), so this will be an

inexpensive conversion.

The addition of the Cooper

Details, Flightpath (previously

from PP Aeroparts) or Cutting

Edge upgrades will deliver an

even more accurate result.

If you happen to have a Falcon

vacform Sea Fury in your stash,

you might be able to use this

in a similar fashion. The Falcon

vacform is probably still the most

accurate Sea Fury available in

1/48 scale, and adapting the

fuselage to the Trumpeter wings

should be straightforward for any

modeller with some vacform time

under his or her belt.

You might also decide to use

and improve the Trumpeter fuselage

by blanking off the scallop in the

spine, reshaping the cowl and

spinner, smoothing out the curved

windscreen join and buying a

replacement Falcon vacform canopy.

Whichever route you choose, you’ll

have an interesting time!

The Trumpeter pitot tube was replaced

with brass tube and rod cut to length.

Brass rod was also used for the rod

antenna underneath the starboard wing.


133

A round 1995, Airfix finally

responded with four new

1/48-scale kits. The Spitfire

22/24 and the Seafire 47 came

first. They were a quantum leap in

quality over previous Airfix efforts.

Crisp recessed panel lines, nicely

moulded detail parts, exhaustive

instructions and huge multi-scheme

decal sheets greeted the modeller

upon opening the box. Even better,

they are exhaustively researched kits

and are superbly accurate in shape.

I bought more than a few Airfix

Spitfire 22/24 kits when they were

first released. I spent a number

of evenings studying the kit to

determine how accurate it was.

I compared it to published Mk 22

drawings, the best of these being

the Robinson drawings published

by MAP. The kit compared very

favourably. As late-mark Spitfires

are just about my favourite aircraft

of all time, I embarked on

producing resin upgrade parts to

make this kit even more stunning.

That was back in 1995. All

upgrade parts used in this build

were mastered and produced by

myself, under the Cooper Details

line. My intention with this article

is not self-promotion, but rather to

show what can be done to make

this kit really shine.

IMPROVING DETAIL ON AN ACCURATEINJECTION-MOULDED PLASTIC KITBy Roy Sutherland

In the early days of plastic modelling, Airfix was at the forefront of kit manufacturers. Airfix kits were

considered to be top quality and they were pioneers of constant scale models. Some time in the 1980s, the

Japanese kits began to improve dramatically in quality and detail, and the use of engraved panel lines became

standardized. A few of the ‘old guard’ companies resisted this change, feeling that raised panel lines were

always good enough in the past. The result was that they lost their status as manufacturers of top-quality kits.

LEFT: The insides of the fuselage halves

were thinned, and moulded-in detail

was removed. Upper sidewall detail

was added from strip styrene, wire

and resin parts.

BELOW: The Cooper Details Spit 24

cockpit floor components shown

removed from their moulding blocks

and painted. The rudder pedals have

yet to be added.


DOWN TOBUSINESSWork began by first removing the

moulded-in cockpit sidewall detail

from the inside of the kit fuselage

halves. I thinned the sidewalls

by scraping them with a No. 10

X-Acto blade. I taped the fuselage

halves together and test-fitted the

resin instrument panel and rear

bulkhead. After some minor

sanding and scraping, the parts

slid into position. This is all that

is necessary to get the cockpit to

fit properly when assembled.

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TOP LEFT: The forward firewall, with its

dished panels to clear the pilot’s flying

boots, and the rear bulkhead, with the

seat mounting frame attached, are

shown painted in this view.

MIDDLE LEFT: The resin lower cockpit

sidewalls are assembled and painted,

and are now ready to be installed.

More wiring will be added once the

cockpit is assembled.

BOTTOM LEFT: The replacement

instrument panel bulkhead, with photo-

etched and clear film dial elements

making up the instrument panel. Careful

painting pays dividends, as this area is a

focal point for most aircraft models.

BOTTOM RIGHT: The resin cockpit

partially assembled. The Spitfire’s cockpit

remained mostly unchanged from Mk I

through 24, with more boxes, wires and

systems jammed into the cramped

confines with each successive mark.


135

LEFT: The cockpit, with both sidewalls

attached, awaiting the rear bulkhead to

form a complete subassembly. The whole

unit slides up into the assembled fuselage

halves, to be secured with CA glue.

RIGHT: The upper sidewalls have

now been painted. Careful work with

a 000 Winsor & Newton Series Seven

paintbrush yields good results when

detail painting.

The inner surface of the lower wings

were scraped with a curved No. 10

X-Acto blade to thin the walls, resulting

in a more-to-scale thickness to the gear

bay openings. Note also the boxed-in

shell ejector chutes.

This view of the rear face of the port

gear well shows some of the extra detail

I added with strip styrene and wire,

based on good photos I took of the gear

bays of a surviving Spitfire Mk 24.


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shows more added detail. While the

gear bays are seldom seen on a model

of this size, I do not regret the extra

time spent detailing them.

The rocker covers in the Airfix kit need

some modifications to be accurate. The

notch in the leading edge was filled

with CA, and the profile was reworked

with some aggressive sanding.

The kit tailplanes are accurate, but

I wanted to display my model with the

elevators dropped. The Cooper Details

control surfaces set included the stabs

with elevators already separated.

I added metal pins to ensure a

strong bond.


The resin cockpit parts were

all removed from their moulding

blocks and cleaned up. The upper

sidewalls were detailed according to

the instructions using strip styrene,

resin parts, and wire. Small parts

were attached to the floor,

bulkheads and walls in preparation

for painting. As no mould releases

were used, it is not necessary to

wash the parts, but you might want

to anyway to remove any finger

oils. The overall cockpit was

sprayed with interior grey green

custom-mixed from Tamiya paints.

A dark grey wash was applied to

all parts to simulate the shadows

cast by the full-sized components.

Tiny parts can’t cast deep shadows,

so they need some help. The raised

detail was drybrushed lightly with

a lightened interior green colour.

The instrument panel is a

multi-piece affair comprising

photo-etched brass parts and a

printed clear film dial sheet. The

film dials were cut out, stuck face

137

TOP LEFT: The resin barrels from the Cooper Details Spitfire 22/24 external upgrade set were drilled and pinned before attaching

to the wing. This ensures they will not be easily knocked off.

TOP RIGHT: The trailing edge of the wing needed a little help to achieve the correct sweep to the wing fillet. The missing area was

built up with medium viscosity CA and sanded to shape.

LEFT: The kit radiator fairings are incorrectly moulded with a trapezoidal cross-section, as shown on the right. The inner corners

were repeatedly scribed with a No. 11 X-Acto blade. The sides were then bent to a correct square cross-section.

MIDDLE: The resin radiator cores fit the corrected radiator fairings and add detail. The gun heating tube was added from wire.

This detail is mirrored on the other wing.

RIGHT: The radiator core viewed from the front. The radiator, intake and exit ramps were painted before the fairings were

installed, as painting them after installation is not easy.


down to the adhesive strip of a

Post-it note and painted off-white.

The brass parts were primed with

metal primer and painted scale

black. After dry brushing with

medium grey, the clear dials were

attached to the back of the panel

with Future floor polish. This

allows the dials to be positioned

exactly where you want them,

and also simulates glass dial faces

when dry.

A lot of time was spent

studying colour photos of restored

and unrestored Spitfire cockpits

before detail painting began.

As usual, I painted some of

the buttons and switches red and

yellow to add visual interest. The

seat was painted Model Master

1785 Rust, as the real item was

moulded in Tufnol, a terracotta-

coloured phenolic resin. The back

pad was painted very dark brown

and the belts buff. A thin black

wash highlighted the detail on the

belts and gave them some depth.

Once painting was finished, the

instrument panel and rear bulkhead

were attached to the cockpit floor.

The sidewalls were added, glued

only along the bottom edge. This

will help when fitting the cockpit

into the fuselage. The seat, stick and

gunsight were left off, to be attached

during final assembly. The cockpit

was set aside for later installation.

The fuselage halves were now

mated and left to dry overnight.

The cockpit tub was inserted from

below. Care was taken to make sure

it was seated properly and aligned.

The bulkheads were secured with

Cyanoacrylate (instant glue,

referred to from this point

forwards as CA). Next, I applied

CA to the back of the sidewalls

near the top edge. The walls were

pressed against the kit fuselage

halves and held until set.

After the fuselage seams were

filled and sanded flush, the panel

lines were restored with a scriber.

I corrected the kit rocker covers by

filling the notch in the leading edge

with CA and reshaping the profile

as shown in the corresponding

photo. Corrected resin rocker covers

(ex-Cooper Details) are available

from BarracudaCast. With work

on the fuselage nearly complete,

I turned my attention to the wing.

The windscreen was test-fitted

and I took some time to adjust the

fit to reduce any gaps. The area

of the upper fuselage inside the

windscreen was painted black.

I can’t tell you how many times I

have forgotten to do this and had

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BOTTOM LEFT: The kit carburettor

intake has a prominent seam running

down the interior that is very hard to

remove. The resin Cooper Details carb

intake is seamless, and comes with a

separate shutter. which is shown here

in the closed position.

BOTTOM RIGHT: The replacement

rudder lacks the prominent holes of

the kit rudder, and the split trim tab is

moulded separately. Note the kit rudder

actuator mechanism and fairing have

been removed.


to try and reach a fine brush in

there to paint the bare plastic! The

windscreen was now attached with

liquid cement. When dry, any gaps

were filled with Mr. Surfacer 500

and sanded out. Filling the gaps on

canopies really improves the looks

of a finished model.

TAKING WINGThe Spitfire underwent a radical

redesign starting with the Spitfire

Mk 21, and a new name was even

considered. Cooler heads prevailed,

and the Spitfire lineage remained

unbroken. The redesign consisted

of a totally new wing, and the

beloved elliptical plan form was

abandoned. To Supermarine’s

credit, the new wing was also quite

attractive, and managed to retain

the essence of the Spitfire.

Airfix have done a very nice job

on the wing. It is both accurate and

nicely scribed. I decided to detail

the gear bays. I don’t normally do

this, but this particular aircraft is

one of my favourites. I began by

thinning the lower wing in the gear

bay area. This results in much

thinner edges to the gear bay

openings, which adds greatly to the

realism. I added structural detail

from strip styrene based on detail

photos I have taken of surviving

Mk 22 Spitfires. Electrical and

hydraulic lines were added from

carefully bent wire and styrene rod.

There is no shortcut for this

139

A close-up of the starboard side of the

rudder, showing the trim tab actuator

mechanism added from thin styrene rod.

Extreme close-up of the new rudder

control horn, pushrod and fairing added

from rod and sheet styrene. Little details

like this are easy to make and really add

that extra something to your model.


process. It’s bend, bend, fit… bend,

bend, fit, and so on, until you are

happy with the result. Time spent

detailing gear bays is one of those

debatable wastes of time we so

often come across in modelling.

It’s the builder’s choice. It doesn’t

have to make sense.

There is one obvious error in

this kit: the odd cross-section of

the radiator housings. They are

trapezoidal. Fortunately it is an

easy fix, as described in the

accompanying photo (see page

137). The rest of the wing is quite

straightforward and assembly went

smoothly. If you plan to pose the

ailerons, be aware that they are not

the Frise type, but instead pivot

along a full-span piano hinge on

the bottom surface of the wing.

I replaced the cannon barrels with

the Cooper Details parts, as they

are seamless and have more refined

barrels that are already drilled out.

Not trusting CA alone to secure

them, I drilled and pinned the

barrels to the wing using short

lengths of metal wire.

The wing was mated to the

fuselage and the fit was generally

good, although I did do some

reconstruction on the trailing

edge fairing. I backed the lower

edge of the fillet with Tamiya tape,

spanning the gap that needed to

be filled. Cyanoacrylate glue was

applied to this area and set with

accelerator. I sanded this to shape

a few minutes later. The resulting

patch is very strong and can be

filed to a sharp edge. The Cooper

Details carburettor intake was

removed from its moulding block

with a razor saw and cleaned up.

The shutter was attached in the

closed position (filtered air for

ground running). The interior was

painted medium sea grey, given a

wash and attached with CA.

BRINGING UP THEREARThe kit rudder, while accurate,

is covered with deep holes that

I suppose are meant to represent

rivets, but study of the real thing

shows no such detail. I replaced the

rudder with the Cooper Details

resin part and attached the separate

split trim tab. The trim tab

actuator was fabricated from sheet

and rod styrene. I filed off the kit’s

moulded-on rudder pushrod and

fairing, and replaced it with more

rod and strip. These parts are very

fragile, and care must be taken not

to break them off during the build.

I decided to deflect the elevators

for this model. The kit parts are

fine, but it’s a lot of work to cut

them apart and then shim them

up to fit properly when reposed.

I used the Cooper Details

stabilizers, which are already

separated. The stabilizers were

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A little extra detail was also added to the tail wheel and its

doors. The doors have been drilled and pinned. This adds a lot

of strength to an area that usually gets easily damaged with

casual handling.

The up locks were drilled out and detailed. Mounting lugs for

the gear doors were fashioned from styrene rod.


drilled and metal pins were

installed to add strength, and

attached with CA. A simple card

stock jig was made to assure that

both elevators were dropped the

same amount. It was held in

position against the bottom of the

stabilizers with Blu-Tack while each

elevator was glued into position.

The tail wheel doors were also

drilled and pinned as I find these

parts are frequently knocked off

with casual handling. It has the

added benefit of allowing you to

bend the doors to the correct angle

when attaching them. The tail

wheel leg has a pair of tie rods that

close the doors during retraction.

There were made from styrene rod

and added during final assembly.

All seams were sanded and panel

lines restored where lost from

sanding. Testors’ liquid cement was

brushed lightly into the restored

panel lines to clean them up. A

careful check of all seams was made

to ensure no file marks, flat spots,

pinholes or scratches remained.

THE FUN STUFFThe model was wiped down

with a paper towel moistened with

isopropyl alcohol to remove any

grease and finger oils. The cockpit

was carefully stuffed with

moistened facial tissue to protect

it from overspray. The windscreen

and sliding canopy were masked

off and the painting could

now commence.

I have always custom-mixed my

British colours from Tamiya paints,

but they have recently added the

141

Probably the weakest parts in the

excellent Airfix Spit 22/244 are the

prop blades. They have too much

helical pitch (or twist) to them and

are not very accurate in shape.

New prop blades were mastered

and cast after careful study of

drawings and photographs.

The cockpit and canopy have been

carefully masked in preparation for

painting. Bare-metal foil was used to

mask the clear parts, while moistened

facial tissue was used to fill the

cockpit opening.


three RAF colours necessary for

this build to their line. Thank you,

Mr Tamiya! I began by spraying

the undersurfaces with medium sea

grey. The base colour was darkened

with a drop or two of black, and

some of the major panel lines

were oversprayed to create some

shadowing to them. I try to keep

this very subtle. It sometimes

looks overdone, but once

the wash and markings are on,

the effect becomes muted,

sometimes becoming imperceptible.

Trying to strike a good balance is

an ongoing process.

The undersurfaces were masked

off with Tamiya tape and ocean

grey was applied to the upper

surfaces. The dark green disruptive

pattern was then sprayed freehand

using my Paasche H airbrush.

The 1–1.5in. demarcation works

out to about .030in. in 1/48 scale.

This is not hard to do using a

good airbrush with some practice.

Some prefer to mask this type

of camo pattern and use poster

putty to space the masks from the

surface, but I would rather spend

my time painting. Masking is

tedious! The secret is to dial back

the volume of paint and get in

close, keeping the brush moving

and angled in towards the colour

area you are spraying. Don’t be

afraid to go back with ocean grey

and spray some touch ups to

tighten up your pattern.

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The dark green disruptive pattern was

applied freehand using a Paasche H

airbrush shooting custom-mixed Tamiya

paints. A 1in. demarcation between the

colours was the standard for RAF upper

surface camouflage patterns.

With basic painting finished, the narrow

Korean War theatre bands are applied.

The white is done, and has been

masked off in preparation for the

application of the black.


The ID bands and upper wing

walkway lines were also masked

and sprayed. After all painting was

completed, the whole model was

given a gloss coat using Future

(Johnson’s Klear) and left to dry

overnight. Now the process of

decaling could begin. I discovered

a number of inaccuracies on the

Aeromaster sheet for this particular

aircraft. The upper wing roundels

were so oversized that when the

trailing edge was aligned with the

front of the aileron, the roundel

wrapped over the leading edge of

the wing a good 6 scale inches!

These were binned, and

replacements sourced from

another sheet.

The serial number is unique on

VN307. The ground crew painted

white numbers over the black

stripes and black numbers over the

white. Aeromaster replicated this,

but the placement did not match

the photo of the real aircraft.

I searched my decal archives and

found two serial sheets from

Carpena, one in black and the

other in white. I cut the serials

from each sheet and assembled

them on the model. A fine point

to be sure.

The rest of the markings

were good and the decals worked

flawlessly. After the decals had

dried overnight, I washed the decal

residue off the model, and then

sealed the markings in with a coat

143

All painting is now complete, and needs

only a clear coat to be applied before

decaling can commence. Note the

subtle post shaded panel lines on

the undersurfaces.

Take your time when applying decals to

make sure they snuggle down into all

panel lines. Stubborn decals can be

gently pushed down or cut to force

them to settle onto panel lines.

Decal solvent is your friend!


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IT With all the major markings applied,

it’s starting to come to life. Still to be

applied are the walkway lines and

stencils. Once all decaling is finished,

decal residue is cleaned up and the

decals are sealed under a coat of gloss.

The panel wash has been applied,

followed by a clear satin coat.

Weathering has been applied, and the

model is almost ready for final assembly.

The finish line is in sight.

Looking forward into the port gear bay,

now painted and washed. While tucked

away in a hard to see spot, all that gear

bay detail looks pretty cool to my eye.


145

A nice unobstructed view of the aft wall

of the port gear bay. Soon the main

landing gear and outer wheel doors

will be added.

The seat, oxygen hose and control

column ready for installation. I tend to

overdo the shading and highlighting in

tiny cockpits. While it may look too

stark in close-up photos, it becomes

much more subtle when installed and

helps add visual interest.

LEFT: A look down into the seat pan,

showing the Q-style harness with its

prominent quick release box that the

other belts plug into. Note the rust

brown colour of the phenolic resin the

real seat is made from.

RIGHT: The painted and washed main

gear legs, with scissor links and brake

lines installed, ready to be attached.

It’s easy to rush through these parts,

but the extra detail really adds visual

appeal to the finished model.


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IT VN307 is complete at last, finished as

she looked in late 1950. Based at Kai

Tak airport, they were tasked with

defending Hong Kong during the

Chinese Communist uprising, a threat

that never amounted to anything.

This close-up shot shows the subtle

weathering that reflects wear and tear

on the wing roots from months of daily

servicing by busy ground crews.

Crowbars, contrary to popular belief,

were not painted red.

The main wheels are also from Cooper

Details, and feature much extra detail,

such as the castellation in the main

axle nut. Getting the gear angles right

is important to making the model

look natural.


147

The empty zero length rocket rails add

interest to the underside of the wing.

The recognition bands were added to

No. 80 Sqn Spitfires during the Korean

War, in case the conflict came east.

The bands were painted on,

and required careful masking and

measuring. The Aeromaster decals

I was using had the spacing of the

serial numbers wrong, so I pieced them

together from two different decal sheets

from Carpena.

This view shows many details: the

fuselage position lights, the rocket rails,

the staining and leaks running back

from the engine and the belly tank

jettison hooks.


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IT The finished gear bay with wheel door

fitted. Note the scratch built retraction

mechanism, and the very light staining

running back from the guns. Keep this

staining light, as modern aircraft guns

don’t use black powder!

The carbon and lead deposits from the

exhausts, streaked by rain and spilled

fuel mark the fuselage sides. The

weathering that looks quite stark in this

photo is almost too subtle in person.

The Mk 24 was the last version of the

Spitfire to see service. It differed from

the Mk 22 mainly in the electrical

system, which changed from 12 to

24 volts.


of Future. Once dry, a dark grey

panel wash was applied using

enamel paint thinned with mineral

spirits. After 20 minutes. I took a

folded-up piece of cotton t-shirt

material lightly moistened with

thinner and gently scrubbed the

excess dried wash from the surfaces.

This leaves the wash undisturbed in

the panel lines. The exhaust stains

were sprayed using thinned dark

brown and light grey enamel paint,

as it’s easy to remove if it doesn’t

look right the first time.

FINAL ASSEMBLYBefore unmasking the cockpit

and canopies, a final satin clear

coat was applied. I mix Testors’

Dullcote and Glosscote together

in a bottle to get a light satin.

I do not like dead flat finishes

for anything other than armour,

figures, and desert aircraft that are

heavily weathered. It tends to leave

aircraft looking lifeless. Further

weathering effects were applied

at this point. Paint chipping

was simulated with silver paint

applied with fine brush. I also

used chalk pastels applied with

an artist’s stump to create dirt

and oil streaking.

The cockpit and canopies

were unmasked, and I launched

enthusiastically into the final

assembly stage. The seat, stick,

gunsight and door were added

to the cockpit. Landing gear

components were assembled and

attached. The prop and spinner,

exhausts, sliding hood, rocket rails

and various small parts were glued

in place. All newly glued joints

were carefully inspected and

touched up if needed. It’s easy

to leave a shiny glue mark on an

otherwise immaculate model.

CONCLUSIONWith that, my Mk 24 Spitfire was

complete. I am very happy with the

result. Aside from the new Tamiya

Spitfire Mk IX in 1/32 scale, the

Airfix Mk 22/24 is, in my

estimation, the most accurate

Spitfire model available in any scale.

I love this kit so much that I created

a ton of aftermarket parts for it.

They were available for a number

of years under the Cooper Details

banner. Some parts are available

again as part of the BarracudaCast

line of resin detail sets.

The only original parts I used

on this build were the fuselage

halves, wings, radiator fairings,

main gear legs and doors, tail

wheel, and the pitot tube! The fact

that the resulting model, by parts

count, is overwhelmingly resin is

not a criticism of the basic kit,

but rather a homage to both the

kit and the subject.

I really enjoyed the build.

I have an Airfix Seafire FR 47 in

the works, and plan on converting

a third kit to a high-backed

Spitfire 21, but then, I am a

little unbalanced when it comes

to Spitfires.

149

The Mk 22 and 24 were fitted with the

huge yet graceful Spiteful tail, necessary

to counteract the torque from the

massive Griffon engine that produced

over 2,200hp. Late-mark Griffon

Spitfires have a special place in my

heart, and this model is one of my

favourite builds.


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UPGRADE AND CONVERSION USINGRESIN AND PHOTO-ETCHThe USS Kitty Hawk visited Sydney in July 2007 following its participation in a joint military exercise

between US and Allied forces off the east coast of Australia. This was Kitty Hawk’s last visit to Australia

before she retired from active service in 2008.

US NAVALAIRPOWER TODAY –ABOARD USSKITTY HAWK

Rodger Kelly is a long-time

volunteer who conducts

guided tours on US military

ships when they are visiting his

home town of Perth. While the

USS Kitty Hawk was still steaming

along the Australian east coast

en route to Sydney, Rodger was

fortunate enough to be able to

hitch a ride on a Carrier On-Board

Delivery (COD) from Sydney

Kingsford-Smith airport to the

deck of CV 63.

Following his carrier trip,

Rodger had the chance to see Kitty

Hawk’s air wing in action. Once the

Kitty Hawk was in Sydney, Rodger

invited myself and two friends,

Chris Wauchop and Al Bowie,

to accompany him on board for

a few hours on 6 July 2007.

Rodger also joined the Kitty

Hawk for her last cruise to Hawaii

in May 2008. During this cruise,

Rodger had the unique opportunity

to watch and photograph the Royal

Maces’ F/A-18 Super Hornets in

action and at rest.

The photographs on these pages

were taken by Rodger and myself

during these visits. We would like

to extend our gratitude to the

US Navy, the captain and crew of

USS Kitty Hawk for their generous

hospitality during their Sydney

visit and final cruise.

USS KITTY HAWK (CV 63)At the time of her retirement in

May 2008, Kitty Hawk was the

oldest of the 12 aircraft carriers

in the US fleet. The ship was

commissioned in April 1961. The

statistics associated with the Kitty

Hawk are staggering. The ship is over

320m long, weighs 86,000 tons, has

capacity for more than 75 combat

aircraft and boasts a crew, including

the carrier air wing, of 5,300.

Kitty Hawk’s long history has

been filled with many periods

of crucial service, including six

tours to support US operations in

Vietnam between 1963 and 1972,

operations off Somalia in 1992

and participation in the coalition

attacks against specific targets in

Iraq during January 1993. Kitty


151

A GBU-16 Paveway II 1,000lb laser-

guided bomb being prepared to load

on a Royal Maces F/A-18E Super Hornet.

AIM-7 Sparrow missiles. It is interesting

to note that the wings and fins are not

installed here.

An F/A-18C is raised to the flight deck

via one of the side deck elevators.


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TOP: Here is the colourful CAG bird for

VFA-192 Golden Dragons, also on board

Kitty Hawk for her last cruise in 2008.

This is an F/A-18C Hornet.

MIDDLE: VFA-27 Royal Maces is

equipped with the new F/A-18E and

F/A-18F Super Hornet. Although the

family resemblance is unmistakable,

these Super Hornets are much bigger

than the earlier F/A-18s.

BOTTOM LEFT: F/A-18E 112 on the

deck. The outer wings are still folded

at this stage.

BOTTOM RIGHT: Royal Maces 405 is

lined up on the catapult. Note that the

Fowler flaps and ailerons are all in the

dropped position.


Hawk was also deployed to the

North Arabian Sea in October

2001 in support of Operation

Enduring Freedom as a floating

staging base for US Special Forces.

CARRIER AIR WING FIVE(CVW-5)Carrier Air Wing FIVE (CVW-5)

is a multi-task element of the US

Navy’s Seventh Fleet that operates

from the northern Pacific Ocean to

the Arabian Gulf. CVW-5 moved

onto the Kitty Hawk in July 1998.

CVW-5 is made up of eight

squadrons and one detachment:

• VFA 27 Royal Maces, equipped

with the new F/A-18E Hornet.

The F/A-18E and F Super

Hornets represent the US Navy’s

premiere all-purpose, all-weather

strike and fighter aircraft since

the retirement of the F-14

Tomcat. The Super Hornet

can carry up to 18,000lb of

ordnance. It can undertake air-to-

air and air-to-ground missions, as

well as aerial refuelling.

• VFA-102 Diamondbacks,

operating the new F/A-18F

Hornet as a multi-mission,

all-weather strike fighter.

The F/A-18F can conduct

day or night, air-to-air and

air-to-ground missions, launch

precision-guided weapons,

provide fighter escort, close

air support, ground defence

suppression, reconnaissance,

FAC and refuelling operations.

• VFA 192 Golden Dragons,

F/A-18C Hornet.

• VFA 195 Dambusters,

F/A-18C Hornet.

• VAQ 136 Gauntlets, EA-6B

Prowler.

• VAW 115 Liberty Bells, E-2C

Hawkeye.

• HS 14 Chargers, SH-60F

Seahawk.

153

Loaded with two 330-gallon fuel tanks

on the wings, 405 is ready for take-off.

The catapult launches Royal Maces

F/A-18F 106 over the Pacific Ocean.

This is the two-seater variant of the

Super Hornet.


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The aircraft becomes a hub of activity

after landing. The wings have been

folded already, and deck crew converge

on the aircraft after shutdown.

A Royal Maces F/A-18F makes a perfect

approach over the threshold of Kitty

Hawk’s deck.

405 makes a safe return after its flight.

The trap cable is still connected to the

arrestor hook.


155

An F/A-18F fitted for refuelling. This

aircraft is attached to VFA-102

Diamondbacks. Sydney’s Centrepoint

Tower can be seen in the background.

A 330-gallon fuel tank. This may be

carried on wing or centreline pylons.

The stout forward landing gear of an

F/A-18F. Note the clear inspection

windows in the undercarriage door.


• HSL-51 Det 3 Warlords,

SH-60B Seahawk.

• VRC 30 DET 5 Passwords,

C-2A Greyhound.

REVELL 1/48-SCALEF/A-18E SUPERHORNETModellers currently have the

choice of three manufacturers

when buying Super Hornet kits in

1/48 scale. Italeri, Hasegawa and

Revell offer F/A-18E single seat

and F/A-18F two-seaters.

We can quickly discount Italeri’s

offerings as underdetailed and

suffering from a number of

serious inaccuracies. The Hasegawa

family of Super Bugs feature finely

recessed panel lines, plus separate

flaps and slats that may be posed

either retracted or dropped.

The outer wing panels may be

modified to be built folded too.

Revell’s Super Hornet kits also

include nice, crisp recessed surface

detail, but the wings are moulded

with the flaps and slats in the

recessed position. Although the

outer wing panels are separate

subassemblies, these are not

designed to be posed folded.

This will be a disappointment

to modellers who like to depict

their models with everything

hanging out, but there are other

benefits to the Revell kit, such

as a better-detailed cockpit and

simpler parts breakdown.

Although conventional

modelling wisdom generally favours

the Hasegawa kit, it cannot be

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exhaust covers when they are idle. This

colourful cover would be an interesting

enhancement to an F/A-18E model.

One exhaust cover partially in place.


ignored that the Revell Super

Hornets can often be found for

less than half the price of the more

sophisticated Japanese offering.

For this project I decided to use

the Revell 1/48-scale F/A-18E.

Revell’s F/A-18E Super Hornet

comprises 159 parts in grey plastic

and five parts in clear – a relatively

modest parts count for a large

jet fighter aircraft. By contrast,

the Hasegawa kit has around

260 parts. Moulding quality is

generally very good, with only a

little flash to clean up here and

there. Parts breakdown is

interesting, with the upper fuselage

and inner wing sections being

moulded as one large upper and

one large lower half. This bypasses

the problem of wing root joins.

A comprehensive suite of

ordnance is supplied in the kit,

another advantage over Hasegawa.

These include two AIM-120C

missiles, two AIM-9X Sidewinders,

two GBU-31-4B JDAM, two

Mk 83 bombs, one AN/ASQ-228

FLIR pod, and a 330-gallon tank.

The boarding ladder is provided,

and the ladder well detail is nicely

done. The wheel wells are great

too, bristling with plumbing and

electrical detail all moulded in place.

I particularly liked that the nose

landing-gear door is moulded in

clear plastic. This permits the

modeller to accurately depict the

inspection windows, although some

tricky masking will be required here.

The horizontal stabilizers

may be left to pivot on their axle.

This actually works quite well.

The landing gear looks good, and

it is also very simple to assemble.

On the downside, the wings’

leading edge extensions (LEX)

are too short. They should extend

further under the windscreen. The

spine is also too tall, resulting in

the canopy not looking quite right

(the base is far too tall for a start).

This is less noticeable when the

canopy is displayed open though.

The other two issues are the intake

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BELOW LEFT: Revell’s 1/48-scale F/A-18E

is nicely detailed, cleverly engineered

and often available at around half the

price of Hasegawa’s Super Hornets.

BELOW RIGHT: Wolfpack Designs from

Korea offer a resin folded wing set for

Revell’s kit.


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Wolfpack’s resin parts have been tidied up, with the casting

blocks and strips removed prior to assembly.

Revell’s flaps and slats will need to be cut off the model.

Here, they have been outlined in pencil to prevent any

unfortunate errors!

Revell’s cockpit parts are reasonably well detailed. The side consoles of the cockpit tub are a bit basic.

The main side halves of the seat did not want to join at the

middle of the rear, so a couple of clamps provided some

friendly persuasion.

Side console detail was ground off the plastic cockpit tub with

a square-ended dental burr fitted to a Dremel motor tool.


159

There are plenty of accessories and upgrades for Revell’s F/A-18E

and F Hornet kits. Here we can see Eduard’s ‘Big Ed’ photo-etched

set, Aires’ resin cockpit and the lamentably unavailable

replacement full-length intakes from Cutting Edge.

I used elements of the Big Ed set, especially in the cockpit.

The colour photo-etched parts are just beautiful, and add

a lot of authentic detail to the front office.

Eduard supplies the side consoles and upper sidewalls too.

They have all been fitted in this view.

The kit seat received a careful paint job, with weathering

techniques used to highlight the harness straps. The stripes

on the pull ring were applied with an indelible black marker.

The cockpit parts, assembled, painted and ready for assembly. The Eduard instrument panel parts include lit-up displays and

separate bezels. I challenge any modeller to paint a panel with

this level of detail and precision!


ducting, which is very short, and

the oversimplified burner cans,

which simply butt up against the

rear of the airframe.

CONSTRUCTIONAlthough I was keen to build

Revell’s kit, I also wanted to

depict the wings folded and the

flaps/slats dropped. Wolfpack

Designs of Korea offer a resin

update set providing just this

configuration for the Revell kit.

This set is made up from

22 parts in grey resin, and includes

single-piece outer wing panels with

downward deflected ailerons, mid

and rear Fowler flaps, flap hinges,

blanking plates, leading edge slats

and alternate-length rocket rails.

I was pretty satisfied with the

detail in the cockpit, but I owned

Eduard’s ‘Big Ed’ photo-etch detail

set. This provides a mass of detail

for the interior, exterior, Remove

Before Flight tags and canopy

masks. I decided to use some

of this set for this project too.

I originally thought that

I would replace the very short

intake trunking with the one-piece

resin parts from Cutting Edge, but

test-fitting suggested that some

serious modifications would be

needed to the kit parts to make

the resin ducts fit, so I gave them

a miss.

The project kicked off with the

resin parts. I spent a leisurely hour

cutting off the relatively minor

casting blocks and cleaning the

parts up in preparation for

assembly. Getting the kit parts

ready took a little more time and

care. First, the flap and slat panels

that were to be cut out of the

upper and lower wing halves

were marked in pencil. There are

a number of panel lines in these

areas and I wanted to make sure

that I cut the correct ones! The

next step was to lightly score the

panel lines with a scriber to deepen

the lines. Once these lines were

well defined, I placed a new blade

in my Olfa hobby knife handle

and continued to score lightly.

When the lines were nearly cut

through, I used my razor saw to

complete the cuts and remove the

flaps and slats from the wings.

With this surgery successfully

completed, I turned my attention

to the cockpit. A square-tipped

dental burr was chucked into my

Dremel motor tool. This was used

to grind the raised detail off the

side consoles of the cockpit tub.

The cockpit tub, instrument panel,

seat and control column were

then painted. Eduard’s colour

photo-etched parts were attached

to the side consoles using acrylic

Gator’s Grip glue. This does not

‘grab’ like superglue, allowing

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LEFT: The kit intakes are very short.

The trunking and the inside of the

intakes were painted with Tamiya’s

Extra Fine White Primer. This delivers a

smooth, satin finish ideal for US Navy

interior parts.

BELOW: The flaps and slats were cut off

with a scriber, a new hobby blade and a

razor saw.


161

The wheel wells and insides of the

undercarriage doors were also sprayed

with Tamiya White Primer.

The cockpit fitted well into the fuselage,

but there was a large gap in front of the

instrument coaming.

The upper and lower fuselage halves

were a decent fit, but clamps were used

while the cement set to minimize gaps

and steps.


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integrity once the flaps and slats are cut

out, but they will retain their rigidity

later on.

The multi-part engineering of the nose

is unique, but it seems to work well.

Fit is tight though, and clamps are

helpful to keep all the parts properly

aligned until the adhesive sets.

Wolfpack supplies resin inserts to plug

the gap in the fuselage left when the

flaps have been removed.


163

A similar gap is also present at the

front of the wing, but this is left to

the modeller to fill. A wedge of plastic

scrap was used to fill the bulk of the

space. This was later completely filled

with Milliput.

The resin leading edge slats and mid

flaps have been attached to the wings

with superglue.

The fit was pretty good. A brushed

application of Tamiya Surfacer corrected

the uneven appearance of this join.


adjustment after the part has been

placed yet still offering a strong

grip for these lightweight parts.

The upper sidewalls were secured

with superglue. Gator’s Grip was

also used to attach the various

panels, displays and bezels to the

instrument panel. It has been

pointed out to me that it is

unusual to see the displays lit up

without a pilot on board, but

perhaps this aircraft is undergoing

maintenance! The seat was used

straight from the box with nothing

more than a careful paint job and

weathering to highlight the harness

straps. The cockpit assembly fitted

snugly into the upper fuselage half

as it was inserted from underneath.

I was concerned that the very

short intake trunking – around a

third of the length of the real thing

– would be very obvious on the

finished model so I thought I would

probably make a cover for the intake.

Just in case though, I still painted

the inside of the intake and the

trunking with Tamiya’s lovely

semi-gloss White Primer. In the end,

the short trunking, seam lines and

ejector-pin marks were not obvious

at all on the completed model.

With the cockpit and intakes

complete, the balance of basic

construction was surprisingly fast.

The breakdown of the horizontally

split wings/fuselage and the

vertically split nose looks strange,

but makes perfect sense as the parts

come together. The fit is pretty

tight at the nose though, so I used

tape and clamps to counter the

tension until the cement dried.

Now that the fuselage and central

wing assembly was ready, I could

take care of some of the smaller

details. The gaps left at the wing

root when the slats and flaps were

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ABOVE LEFT: In common with mostbulged clear parts, Revell’s canopy ismoulded with a raised line down thecentre. This was carefully scraped downwith the back of a hobby blade, andsanded with 1,000-grit abrasive paper.

ABOVE RIGHT: The canopy was thenpolished with successively finer grades ofMicro-Mesh cloths, followed by polishingcream and a bath in Future floor polish.The seam line has now been eliminatedfrom the now sparkling canopy.

LEFT: A few niggly join lines were stillobvious. The worst of these was underthe canopy where the nose cap assemblymeets the main fuselage. This was filledwith a brushed line of Tamiya Surfacer.


removed needed filling. Wolfpack

Design provides resin inserts for

the rearmost gap, but you are on

your own for the one at the front.

The resin plug fits pretty well, and

it only took me a few minutes to

carve a couple of wedges of scrap

plastic to fill the gaps at the front

of the wing root. White Milliput

was used to fill in the blank spaces.

Many bulged kit canopies are

moulded with a slightly raised

centreline seam. This is an inevitable

by-product of the production

process, but it is not something that

we see on a real aircraft. I carefully

scraped down with the back of a

hobby blade, and sanded with

1,000-grit abrasive paper. The

canopy was then polished with

successively finer grades of

Micro-Mesh cloths, followed

by polishing cream and a bath in

Future floor polish. The seam line

has now been eliminated from the

now sparkling canopy.

PAINTING ANDMARKINGSUS Navy fighters are finished in

a simple scheme of dark gull grey

over light gull grey. Once the

intakes, the cockpit opening and

the wheel wells had been blocked

off with masking tape and tissue

paper, the lower surfaces, outer fins

and the fuel tanks were sprayed

Gunze-Sangyo H308 Light Gull

Grey using my Testor Aztek

airbrush. The lower surfaces were

165

The windscreen to nose join also

needed the Surfacer treatment. This was

the first of several applications before

the join line was reduced to an

acceptable level.

More filler was required at the bottom

and edges of the intakes, this time

Milliput White, a two-part epoxy putty.

The intakes and landing gear bays were

masked with tape and tissue.


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pylons, plus the outer fins, were masked

after they were painted with Gunze

H308 Light Ghost Grey FS36375.

Tamiya masking tape was used to form

the crisp demarcation between the

upper and lower surfaces at the nose.

The model then received a coat

of Gunze H307 Dark Ghost Grey,

FS 36320, on the upper surfaces.


167

A slightly lighter batch of dark ghost

grey was mixed and applied in subtle

spots, streaks and mottles to add

some variety to the otherwise

monotonous finish.

US Navy aircraft are exposed to harsh

elements and also suffer from the

constant tramping of deck crews.

A mix of Tamiya XF-64 Red Brown and

XF-1 Flat Black was used to depict this

heavy wear.

The stains and scuff marks were added

according to reference photos of real

Hornets. Once the weathering was

completed, the model received three

thin coats of Future floor polish to seal

the paint job.


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ABOVE LEFT: The gun panel and IFF

device in front of the windscreen were

both masked and sprayed with Tamiya

XF-63 German Grey.

ABOVE RIGHT: With its overall grey

finish, any variety is welcome!

MIDDLE: Markings were sourced from

Afterburner Decals ‘Felix Rules F/A-18E

VFA-31’. They went on beautifully over

the high-gloss Future coat.

Afterburner includes the slime lights

and a full set of stencils in addition to

the unique markings.


169

Two thin coats of Gunze Flat Clear ties

in the decals with the paint job, and

subdues the weathering somewhat.

The fit of the windscreen is still not

perfect, but the canopy is not actually

glued in place here.

The grimy weathering breaks up the

single-colour upper surface, and

conforms to reference photos.


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Revell’s undercarriage parts are simple to assemble yet

nicely detailed.

The outer edges of all the gear doors were brush painted red

with Vallejo acrylics prior to the outside being painted grey.

Revell supplies one of the 330-gallon tanks, but I borrowed

two more from a Hasegawa F/A-18F. Afterburner includes

enough markings for up to four Tomcatter tanks.

Sidewinders, Sparrows and JDAMs are painted, decaled and

weathered in preparation for final assembly.

The flaps and outer wing panels were

painted and weathered separately. This

made it easier to access the fuselage,

and also reduced the risk of damaging

the parts due to excessive handling if

they were attached earlier.


171

ABOVE: The various subassemblies have

all been brought together for the

completed model.

RIGHT: The exhaust cans were painted

using Testors’ ‘Jet Exhaust’, followed

by weathering with the ubiquitous

black/red brown mix and buffing back

with Micro-Mesh polishing cloths.

Revell’s starboard side front

undercarriage door is moulded in clear,

accurately depicting the inspection

windows. Some tricky masking is

required here.


then masked off and the top of

the model painted Gunze H307

Dark Gull Grey.

Unlike their Air Force

counterparts, US Navy aircraft

are filthy and patchy in service.

This is especially true of fighters

and attack aircraft on carriers.

The first step in achieving this level

of in-service grime was to mix up

a slightly paler batch of dark gull

grey, applying this fresh paint

in random spots, streaks and

mottles to represent recent repairs

to the camouflage.

Next, a mix of Tamiya XF-64

Red Brown and XF-1 Flat Black

was used to apply heavy wear.

Stains and scuffmarks were added

according to reference photos of

real Hornets. Once the weathering

was completed, the model received

three thin coats of Future floor

polish to seal the paint job.

The gun panel and IFF device in

front of the windscreen were both

masked and sprayed with Tamiya

XF-63 German Grey.

My original plan was to finish

this model in the markings of one

of the Royal Maces F/A-18Es that

feature in the first section of this

chapter, but Afterburner Decals

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The F/A-18E and F bristle with

ordnance. Here we can see the

330-gallon tank, JDAM bomb and

Sparrow missile on their pylons.

The wing folds were a trouble-free fit.

They were secured with superglue.

Note the position of the narrow

rectangular wing fold cover.


173

kindly sent me a pre-release version

of their VFA-31 Tomcatters sheet.

I had long wanted to build a

Tomcatters F-14, and this would

also be a good excuse to use some

Felix the Cat decals on the fin of a

US Navy aircraft!

The decals, printed by

Cartograf of Italy, were a pure joy

to use. They went down perfectly

over the glossy Future finish. My

only mild complaint is that the

sheet is so full of markings that it

is a bit tricky to navigate around

with a knife or a pair of scissors

cutting out the individual decals.

Full stencil markings are provided

too. There are quite a few of these.

I spent a couple of sessions of a

couple of hours each applying all

of the decals. Two thin coats of

Gunze Flat Clear sealed the paint

and decals.

The landing gear is mercifully

simple. The landing gear legs

and ordnance were painted and

weathered prior to final assembly.

I used superglue to secure the

main gear legs so that I could

instantly freeze the parts into

the correct stance using

Zap accelerator.

CONCLUSIONRevell’s 1/48-scale F/A-18E

Super Hornet is not without its

flaws, but none are what I would

consider to be fatal. This is a nice

kit straight from the box, but the

addition of Wolfpack’s wing fold

set and Eduard’s colour photo-etch

really lift it into a different league.

If you want to experiment with

multimedia upgrades, this would

be a good place to start.

Revell’s 1/48-scale F/A-18E is a nice kit

straight from the box, but the addition

of Wolfpack’s wing fold set and Eduard’s

colour photo-etch really lift it into a

different league.


ADDING DETAIL TO AN OLDER KITThe Macchi MB-326 was a lightweight jet trainer designed by Ermanno Bazzocchi. The efficient

Armstrong Siddely Viper engine was chosen as the powerplant.

MACCHI JETTRAINER CLOSE UP

After a lengthy development

period, the Macchi

MB-326 entered service

with the Italian Air Force in

March 1962. In addition to

its primary role of trainer,

Macchi also scored export success

with the MB-326 being used as

a light fighter and ground-attack

aircraft. The two major export

clients were South Africa and

Australia. The Fighter World

Museum north of Newcastle

in Australia is home to a

complete Macchi MB-326

plus a cockpit.

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175

The front cockpit of Fighter World

Museum’s Aermacchi MB-326H bristles

with instruments, dials and switches.

The right side console in the front

cockpit. Note the black colour of the

basic metal seat.

The rear cockpit duplicates the

instruments of the front, albeit on

a slightly different shaped panel.


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KIT The top of the Martin Baker Mk 4

ejection seat in the rear cockpit.

A high view of the top of the front

ejection seat. The drogue container

may be seen clearly in this photograph.

The front landing gear features a metal

cover for the wheel and a landing light

on the front of the leg.


177

The main landing gear legs are short

and simple in the extreme.

The fixed wing tip fuel tanks feature

navigation lights. This is the green light

on the starboard side.

The exhaust is protected from debris

by a simple cover. Note the white

navigation light above the exhaust.


1/48-SCALEMACCHI MB-326 ESCI’s 1/48-scale Macchi MB-326

kit dates from at least 1983, but it

is fundamentally a nice little kit

with crisply engraved and very

petite panel lines, minimal

moulding problems, straightforward

construction and good fit.

Italeri recognized the value

of this old kit by re-releasing the

Macchi MB-326 under its own

label in 2004. It is still widely

available today.

The area that most noticeably

lets ESCI’s Macchi down is the

cockpit. The rudimentary tub,

blank instrument panels and side

consoles and oversimplified seats

will be severely lacking under that

large clear canopy. Surprisingly, in

more than 20 years since this kit

was first released, there has never

been a resin cockpit update set

offered. Until now.

OzMods manufacture resin

accessories and multimedia kits

in various scales, with a particular

focus on Australian subjects.

Their latest release is a replacement

cockpit for ESCI/Italeri’s

1/48-scale Macchi MB-326.

The configuration is best suited to

one of the 97 Macchis that served

with the Royal Australian Air Force

and Royal Australian Navy.

CONSTRUCTIONOzMods’ 1/48-scale Macchi

cockpit comprises just nine parts

in grey resin. All the parts were

well presented with no casting

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KIT The nose is tipped with a bare-metal cap.


imperfections present on my

sample. The biggest component is

the one-piece cockpit tub. This is

ready to use, with the casting tub

already sawn off the bottom.

Side console detail is very well

done. Similarly, the instrument

panels feature deep and authentic

detail – a vast improvement over

the ESCI plastic parts. The seats are

another highlight. They are dressed

with the various RAAF cushions

and packs, but they are lacking any

harness straps and ejection-pull

handles. These should be added

using lead foil and wire (or similar

materials). The remaining pieces are

control columns, canopy brace and

canopy support.

STARTING WITHTHE COCKPIT…Surprisingly, upper sidewall detail

is not addressed in the OzMods

cockpit, so the first task was to

measure and mark the interior

sidewalls, then add some detail

using plastic strip and wire. I also

fabricated four oxygen hoses by

wrapping very fine wire around

slightly thicker wire.

Next, harness straps were added

to the seats. I wanted to dress the

seat with the harness straps off

the seat (stowed beside the seats

on the consoles), so I used lead

179

The old ESCI Macchi MB-326 is

dimensionally accurate but woefully

underdetailed. OzMods has come to

the rescue with a resin cockpit update.

Although the cockpit tub and seats are

well done, the update does not address

the prominent detail on the Macchi’s

upper sidewalls.


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KIT These details were added using plastic

strip and lengths of metal.

The extra effort is worthwhile, as

this area is highly visible under the

open canopy.

BOTTOM LEFT: Oxygen hoses were

made by winding fine fuse wire around

lengths of solder.

BOTTOM RIGHT: Painting of the cockpit

commenced with a coat of flat black.

The instrument bezels were masked

off prior to further painting.


foil to permit me to position

the straps after everything else

was painted and the seats

were installed.

I painted all the components

black. The various black panels

were masked off with Tamiya

tape before the cockpit tub and

instrument panels received their coat

of Gunze Barley Grey. This might

not technically be the correct

colour, but the slightly glossy

light grey looked appropriate.

Details were picked out with a

fine brush. Decals were also used

for more precision in tricky areas

such as the instruments and fuse

panels. Many of these were

punched and cut out of the

relatively ancient ESCI decal sheet.

A number of Reheat placard decals

were also applied. Washes were

used only sparingly to maintain

a clean look in the cockpit.

The fit of OzMods’ cockpit

components was perfect. No

trimming, sanding or adjusting of

the kit parts or the resin cockpit

tub was required. There is also

plenty of space for weight in the

nose and under the cockpit to

prevent this model from resting

on its tail skid. I spent more time

on this cockpit than on most, but

I was pleased with the result.

GENERAL AIRFRAMEIn addition to their cockpit set,

OzMods also offers the big

181

The light grey cockpit interior helps

show off all the extra detail.

OzMods’ resin cockpit tub fits well

inside ESCI’s fuselage halves.


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OzMods also offer separate landing

flaps. The moulded kit flaps were first

scored with a sharp knife, then cut from

the wings with a JLC razor saw before

being tidied up with a sanding stick.

The instrument faces and dials were added using a

combination of kit decals and careful painting with

a fine brush.

The seats have been supplemented with straps from lead foil

and wire pull rings.

There is not much spare room in the

nose, but every empty space must be

filled with lead weights to prevent

the Macchi from sitting on its tail.


90-gallon wing tip tanks almost

exclusively used on all but the

very earliest Australian Macchis,

machine-gun pods, flaps and

replacement nose gear for ESCI’s

old kit. I used all of these resin

parts except the gun pods.

Casting of these parts was not

up to the standard of the cockpit.

The wing tip tanks suffered

noticeable crazing and some

misalignment along the centre line.

Even so, this set was better than a

second pair that I also had in my

collection, so I slathered the

affected areas in putty and sanded

the surface smooth. The tanks

eventually looked fine under a

coat of primer.

One of the resin flaps was

warped, but it was quickly

straightened after dipping in hot

water, followed by a second dip in

cool water to freeze the corrected

shape. The flap sections were

carefully removed from the upper

and lower wing halves using a JLC

razor saw and a sharp hobby blade,

while the interior surfaces were

bevelled to accommodate the new

resin flaps. The extra time spent

in the cockpit and on the flaps

was easily compensated for by the

balance of construction, which

was completed in a few hours.

Fit was very good indeed with

only minimal filler required.

PAINTING ANDMARKINGSAll paint was applied with my

Testor Aztek A470 airbrush fitted

with the fine tan-coloured tip.

Painting started with a coat of

Alclad Grey Primer. The black

leading edge boots and anti-glare

strip were also masked and sprayed

at this stage.

Next, the dark grey was sprayed

over the entire airframe. I used

Tamiya Spray AS-4 Grey Violet

for this shade, decanted from

the spray can into my airbrush

paint cup. This colour looks

too dark and too neutral for

the Luftwaffe colour, but was

just about right for my purposes

on the Macchi.

I originally planned to have a

slightly patchy finish on a well-worn

airframe, but I was not happy with

the effect after several attempts. I

also started testing the ALPS decals

from Hawkeye and found that the

white backing decals remained

translucent over the dark grey. I

therefore painted white underneath

some of the larger markings.

At this point, I was feeling a bit

disheartened with the appearance

of the model so I set it aside.

Five months later, I literally dusted

off the plastic and resumed with a

new enthusiasm.

I eventually decided to abandon

the heavily weathered look, and

sprayed over the patches. Two

coats of Future were sprayed

over the model for a glassy gloss

in preparation for the delicate

ALPS decals.

I wanted to build a particular

machine, one of two transferred

from the RAAF’s 76 Sqn to

183

The resin wing tip tanks look awful, but the crazing effect was

quickly dispatched with primer and some sanding.

The OzMods 90-gallon tip tanks are larger than the kit-

supplied items, and are appropriate for this Australian Macchi.


184C

HA

PT

ER

12

• A

DD

ING

DE

TA

ILT

OA

NO

LD

ER

KIT Black de-icing boots and the anti-glare

strip were painted over the grey

primer coat.

Tamiya Spray AS-4 Grey Violet was used

for the base colour. This colour looks

too dark and too neutral for the

Luftwaffe colour, but was just about

right for this project.

Markings were sourced from a number

of decal sets.


185

Smaller details were painted in

preparation for final assembly.

The completed model. There is no

doubt that the additional detail from

OzMods plus a little elbow grease

transforms the model.

All that hard work is rewarded by the

view inside the long cockpit.


25 Sqn in Western Australia.

Before transferring this Macchi,

76 Sqn ‘zapped’ their emblem on

the fin. The 76 Sqn Black Panther

could be seen mauling a pink duck,

their interpretation of the 25 Sqn

Pink Swan emblem.

Hawkeye Models produced

ALPS decals for a similarly

‘zapped’ Macchi in grey/green

camouflage, A27-05, but I wanted

to depict the overall grey aircraft.

I therefore needed new serials and

some different stencils.

I sourced decals from all over the

place, including the mauled pink

swan from Hawkeye, ESCI kit

decals, and several Model Alliance

sheets. Polly Scale Flat was sprayed

over the newly applied decals.

There was no sprayed post-shading

on this model, but I did add a wash

of thinned oil paint to the control

surface hinge lines, and Tamiya

X-18 Semi-Gloss Black thinned

with water in other panel lines.

Smaller parts were now added,

including the undercarriage and

‘disco lights’– the orange strobes

on the top and bottom of the

fuselage. Other details not included

in the kit such as blade and vane

antennae were cut from plastic

strip and card, and glued in place.

The kit canopy parts are thin

and beautifully clear, so I did not

bother to dip them in Future.

OzMods supplies a cross brace and

strut for the canopy, but the exact

placement is not shown in the

instructions and I could not find

a clear reference photo. I hope that

I have it right!

CONCLUSIONESCI’s (and Italeri’s re-released)

1/48-scale Macchi MB-326 is

an underrated kit. The release

of OzMods’ 1/48-scale Macchi

MB-326 cockpit was a welcome

surprise and makes a huge visual

impact on the bare front office of

this otherwise respectable model.

You will be further rewarded for

your extra efforts in the areas of

sidewall detail and seat harnesses.

With the addition of the big

wing tanks and dropped flaps, the

model takes on an aggressive yet

graceful stance. There are also a

huge number of colourful marking

options for this truly international

jet trainer.

TOP: A tiny hole was drilled into the

kit’s nose cap.

BOTTOM: Although previously

unavailable for some time, ESCI’s

Macchi MB-326 has now been

re-released by Italeri.

CH

AP

TE

R1

2 •

AD

DIN

GD

ET

AIL

TO

AN

OL

DE

RK

IT186


187

BOOKS

The Osprey Modelling and Masterclass series,http://www.opsreypublishing.com

Alcorn, John, Lee, George, and Cooke, Peter, Scratch Built!:A Celebration of the Static Scale Airplane Modellers Craft SchifferPublishing: Lancaster, PA, 1993

Graham, Thomas, Monogram Models Schiffer Publishing:Lancaster, PA, 2006

Lines, Richard, and Hellstrom, Lief, Frog Model Aircraft1932–1976: The Complete History of the Flying Aircraft & thePlastic Kits New Cavendish: London 1989

Ward, Arthur, Airfix: Celebrating 50 Years of the GreatestModelling Kits Ever Made Collins Gem: London, 1999

ONLINE RESOURCES

HyperScale, http://www.hyperscale.com

IPMS Stockholm, http://www.ipmsstockholm.org

Missing-Lynx, http://www.missing-lynx.com

Modeling Madness, http://www.modelingmadness.com

Aircraft Resource Center,http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com

Internet Modeler, http://www.internetmodeler.com

Armorama, http://www.armorama.com

Cybermodeler, http://www.cybermodeler.com

Britmodeller, http://www.britmodeller.com

Aussie Modeller, http://www.aussiemodeller.com

SOURCES AND REFERENCESAirbrushes and painting supplies are available from hobby and art shops. Some of the more specialized

accessories may only be available at specific airbrush supply companies. A number of online hobby shops

and specialist airbrush retailers are listed below. I have also noted some useful websites with tips and hints

for the airbrush, and a number of sites with great examples of the airbrush art as applied to models.


188

IndexAAccurate Miniatures 99adhesives

Gator’s Grip glue 160–64Tamiya Extra Thin Liquid

Cement 34aerials: making 72, 88 , 130, 1 31Aeromaster 143Afterburner Decals 1 68 , 172–73aircraft carriers 150–53, 1 51 –54Aires 5, 69, 70Airfix

kit quality 133Spitfire kits 133–49

Alclad products 49, 50antennae: making 22, 88 , 116, 130,1 32 , 186

AR II/Otaki 80Australian War Memorial, Canberra

55, 55–60

BBader, Douglas 28Bell, Tony 108Bowie, Al 150

Ccamouflage and camouflage

techniquesHellcats 84, 85–86Messerschmitts 58 , 71, 72Mitchells 114Spitfires 28, 38, 38–39 ,

142, 1 42Zeros 13, 1 6–1 7 , 20, 22

canopies: masking and painting 7, 1 5 , 40, 41 , 53 , 126, 1 29

Carpena 143Classic Airframes Spitfire kits 29–41cockpits: painting 63, 1 34–35 ,

137–38, 1 80–81 , 181, 1 82control sticks, full-size 75, 75–76 ,

79Cooper Details upgrade sets

for Sea Furies 120, 122–23, 1 22–23 , 124, 1 25 , 126, 1 27 , 130, 1 31

for Spitfires 133, 1 36–37 , 1 38 , 140, 149

Cutting Edgeharness straps 62, 63Hellcat upgrade set 90Sea Fury upgrade set 120, 122Super Hornet upgrade set 1 59 , 160

DDangerboy Hellcat wing fold set

90, 93–96, 93Di Terlizzi, Maurizio 75

EEduard

F6F-3 kit 80–89instrument panels 31Mask sets 1 1 3 , 114product quality 4, 5Spitfire kits 29Super Hornet accessories 1 59 , 160–64

engines: painting 1 9 , 22ESCI Macchi kits 178–86

Ffabric control surfaces: painting

20, 114Falcon 132Fighter World Museum 1 74–78filling materials

Milliput White 36 , 66Testors’ Clear Parts Cement 114

Flightpath 132

GGibbes, Wing Commander R. H.

(Bobby) 28gunsights 76–79, 76–79

Hharness straps

handling photo-etched sets 8 , 9–13

making 9–13, 1 09 , 179–81, 1 82weathering 1 59

HasegawaHellcat kits 80, 89, 90–98

Messerschmitt kits and parts 61, 65, 67, 67 , 69, 74

product quality 5Super Hornet kits 156–57Zero kits 6, 22

Hawker Sea Fury 119–32antennae 130, 1 32cannon 120canopy 120, 124, 1 25 , 126, 1 29 , 132

cockpit 120, 122–23, 1 22–23 , 132

compass and mount 123control column 120control surfaces 120decals and markings 126, 130, 1 30 , 1 31

drop tanks 120, 126, 1 27exhausts 119, 126, 1 27ferry tanks 120fuselage spine 119, 132lights 120, 132painting 123, 1 23 , 126, 1 27–30panel lines 120–22, 1 21 , 1 30pitot tube 130, 1 32propeller, spinner and cowl

119–20, 1 22 , 130, 132rivets 1 21 , 122rockets 120, 132seat and straps 120, 122, 1 23tail and tail wheel 126, 130tail hook 130, 1 31undercarriage and legs 120, 1 22 ,

126, 130, 1 31wheel wells 120, 126, 1 27wheels 120, 132whip aerials 130, 1 31windscreen 119, 124, 1 26wings 120, 132

Hawkeye Models decals 183, 1 84 ,186

Hellcats 80–98aerial 88antenna and post 81, 88cannon fairing 94canopy 81cockpit 81, 81 , 82 , 91control surfaces 81, 83 , 84decals and markings 80, 84–89, 86 , 96, 97 , 98

drop tank 96, 97


189

engine and cowl 83 , 90, 92 , 93, 94 , 95 , 98

exhausts 95flame dampers 95instrument panel 81, 90, 91 , 92lights 87modelling F6F-3 80–89modelling F6F-5N nightfighter

90–98painting 82 , 84–89, 85–87 , 96, 96–97

propeller 97radome 91 , 96, 98replacement parts 89rocket stubs 94seat and straps 81, 90, 91undercarriage and legs 81, 84, 87 , 88 , 97

wheels 81wings and roots 83–84 , 84, 90,

93–96, 93Hobby Boss 5, 73Hobbycraft Sea Fury Kits 120–22,1 20–21 , 123–26, 1 24–25 , 132

Iinstrument panels

applying decals 8–9, 9 , 30, 31 , 137–38, 181, 1 82

painting 92 , 137–38, 1 80 , 181, 1 82

Italeri 156, 178–86

KKelly, Rodger, 150KG13A Steuerknuppel Luftwaffe

Control Stick 75, 75–76 , 79Kitty Hawk, USS (CV 63) 150–53,1 51 –54

Llights: making and enhancing

72, 132Lone Star Models 90

MMacchi MB-326 174–86

actual aircraft 1 74–78antennae 186canopy 186cockpit 1 75 , 178–81, 1 79–82 , 1 85 , 186

control surfaces 1 82 , 183decals and markings 183–86, 1 84

exhaust cover 1 77instrument panels 1 75 , 178,

179, 1 80 , 181, 1 82lights 1 77 , 186modelling 178–86nose gear 183nose weights 1 82oxygen hoses 179, 1 80painting 1 80–81 , 181, 1 82 ,

183–86, 1 84seat and straps 1 75 , 1 76 , 178,

179–81, 1 82undercarriage and legs 1 76–77 , 186

wing tip tanks 183, 1 83Mackenzie, Steve 108Marshall, Sid 23masking

for camouflage painting 38, 38–39 , 71

canopies 1 5 , 40, 41cockpit openings 1 41Eduard sets 1 1 3 , 114straight edges 1 6 , 20for theatre markings 51 –52 , 52

Messerschmitt Bf 109 55–74109G-6 55, 55–60aerial 72antenna mast 67bombs 61canopy 56 , 70, 72cockpit 62, 63 , 65control surfaces 58 , 61, 64, 64 , 65 , 66

decals and markings 72, 73drop tank 61empennage 64engine and cowling 56 , 60,

66–67, 66 , 68fin 67, 67fuel filler hatch 69fuel line 62, 63fuse panel 57instrument panel 65KG13A Steuerknuppel Luftwaffe

Control Stick 75, 75–76 , 79lights 72modelling 109F 60–74nose 66oil cooler housing 59 , 61, 68 , 69

oleo scissors 57

painting 63 , 64, 70–72, 71 –74panels 61pilot figures 63pitot tube 72propeller and spinner 60, 60 ,

61, 68 , 69, 70, 70 , 72radiators 64radio 57reflector gunsights 76–79, 76–79

resistors 72rudder 65, 67, 67 , 71 , 72, 73rudder toe straps 62, 63screw covers 65 , 66seat and straps 62, 63supercharger intake 61, 68 , 69tail wheel 57 , 60 , 61, 64, 65undercarriage and legs

61, 64, 64wheel wells 59 , 61, 64wings and roots 57 , 58 , 64 , 66

Mitchell B-25 99–118antennae and masts 116astrodome 108, 113, 1 1 6bomb bay 109canopy 112, 1 1 2 , 1 1 3 , 114,

117–18cockpit 109decals and markings 114, 1 1 7 , 118

engines 111–12fume extractor tube 112fuselage windows 100, 1 02–03 , 1 06 , 108, 113, 116, 1 1 7 , 118

gun pack 1 1 0 , 112, 117life preserver cushions 109machine guns and covers

114, 1 1 5 , 117nose blast panels 100, 1 01 , 1 1 0 , 112

nose weights 1 07–08 , 110–11painting 108, 109–10, 1 1 3 ,

114–16, 1 1 5–1 7 , 117–18panel lines 1 1 1 , 112rear fuselage length 107–08seats and harnesses 109, 1 09 ,

118tailplanes 1 1 0 , 112turret 100, 1 01 , 1 03 , 1 1 6 ,

117–18undercarriage and legs 117waist gun position 101, 1 04–06window ‘eyebrow’ fairings 102, 1 06 , 1 07


windscreen 112, 1 1 2 , 1 1 5wings 112

MonogramHellcat kits 80Mitchell kits 99–118

MPM 4

Nnose weight techniques 1 07–08 ,

110–11, 1 82

OObscureco 89Ostermann, Leutnant Max-Hellmuth

70oxygen hoses 1 45 , 179, 1 80OzMods Macchi upgrades 178–81,1 79–82 , 181–83, 1 82–83

Ppainting techniques

airbrush camouflage painting 142

bare metal finish 48–52, 49–52canopies 1 5 , 40, 41 , 53 , 126, 1 29

cockpits and interiors 63 , 109–10, 1 34–35 , 137–38, 1 80–81 , 181, 1 82

control sticks 79engines 1 9 , 22fabric control surfaces 20, 114Hawker Sea Furies 123, 1 23 ,

126, 1 27–30Hellcats 82 , 84–89, 85–87 ,

96, 96–97instrument panels 92 , 137–38, 1 80 , 181, 1 82

Macchis 1 80–81 , 181, 1 82 , 183–86, 1 84

Messerschmitts 63 , 64, 70–72, 71 –74

Mitchells 108, 109–10, 1 1 3 , 114–16, 1 1 5–1 7 , 117–18

overcoming problems with acrylic yellows 70

overcoming problems with Tamiya paints 84

reflector gunsights 79, 79Spitfires (early models) 37–41 ,

38–40, 48–52, 49–53Spitfires (late models) 1 34–35 ,

137–38, 141–49, 1 42–44 , 1 47

spray lacquer paint 1 4Super Hornets 1 59 , 1 60–61 ,

164, 165–73, 1 66–71windscreens 53 , 1 1 3 , 1 1 5Zeros 7 , 8–9, 13–22, 1 4–20see also camouflage and

camouflage techniques; masking; weathering

panel linesde-emphasizing 120–22, 1 21highlighting 1 7–1 8 , 20–22restoring 138, 141scribing 1 1 1 , 112

partsrelocation techniques 100–08, 1 01 , 1 03–06 , 108

removing from sprues 29 , 32Pay, Colin 23pitot tubes: making 72, 130, 1 32Pounce Wheels 114, 1 1 5

QQuickboost replacement parts

89, 93, 94 , 98

RRAAF

25 Sqn 18676 Sqn 183–86453 Sqn 28

RAF: 54 Sqn 40Red Roo Models

conversion kits 42, 44decals 52, 1 84

reflector gunsights, full-size 76–79,76–79

relocation techniques 100–08, 1 01 ,1 03–06 , 108

RevellMesserschmitt kits 61Mitchell kits 99, 100, 112Super Hornet kits 156–73

REVI 16B reflector gunsights, full-size 76–79, 76–79

rivets 114, 1 1 5rudder toe straps: making 62, 63

SSea Fury see Hawker Sea FurySpecial Hobby Spitfire kits 29–41Spitfires

aerial mast 41antenna mast 54

cannon 25 , 30, 32, 37 , 42, 43, 48 , 1 37 , 140

canopy 40, 41 , 43, 53 , 138–39, 1 41

carburettor intake 1 38 , 140cockpit (early models) 24–25 ,

30, 31 , 32, 32 , 43, 45–46cockpit (late models) 1 33 ,

134–38, 1 34–35 , 1 41 , 149compared to Bf 109F 60control column 1 45 , 149control surfaces 27 , 30, 34, 1 36 , 140–41

crowbars 1 46decals and markings (early

model) 32, 40, 40 , 42, 51 , 52, 53

decals and markings (late model) 1 42–44 , 143, 1 47

difference between Mks Vb and Vc 42

engine and cowl 27–28 , 43exhaust stubs 26glycol tank 28horizontal stabilizers 30, 34, 34instrument panel 24 , 30, 31 , 45 , 46 , 1 34 , 137–38

lights 1 47machine guns 25 , 42Mk VIII 23–28, 24–25 , 27–28Mk XVI 26–27modelling Mk Vc 29–54modelling late-mark 133–49oil cooler intake 42oil tank 28oxygen hose 1 45painting (early models) 37–41 ,

38–40, 48–52, 49–53painting (late models) 1 34–35 ,

137–38, 141–49, 1 42–44, 1 47panel lines 138, 141pilot’s mirror 41pitot tube 54propeller and spinner 30, 40 ,

42, 48 , 54 , 1 41 , 149radiators and housing 27 , 1 37 , 140

rocker covers 138rocket covers 1 36rocket rails 1 47 , 149rudder 30, 50 , 1 38–39 , 140rudder toe straps 30, 30seat and straps 24 , 30, 30 ,

43, 45 , 138, 1 45 , 149shell ejector chutes 1 35

190IN

DE

X


191

slipper tank 36tail wheel and doors 25 , 1 40 ,

141tailplanes 1 36tropical filter 30, 33–34 , 34, 42undercarriage and legs 41 , 42, 54 , 1 35–36 , 139–40, 1 44–45 , 1 48 , 149

wheel bulges 43wheel wells 30, 32, 33 , 36 , 38wheels 26 , 30, 43, 1 46windscreen 42, 53 , 138–39wing tips 30, 34wings and wing roots (early

model) 25 , 32–34, 33 , 42, 43–48, 44–45 , 46–48

wings and wing roots (late model) 1 35 , 1 37 , 139–40

sprues, removing parts from 29 , 32

Squadron 116Super Hornets 150–73

330-gallon tanks 1 70 , 1 72actual aircraft 1 51 –56boarding ladder 157bombs 1 51 , 157, 1 70 , 1 72canopy 157, 1 64 , 165, 1 69cockpit 1 58–59 , 160–64, 1 61control surfaces 1 52 , 156, 1 58 ,

160, 1 60 , 1 63 , 1 70decals and markings 1 68–69 ,

172–73exhaust cans 160, 1 71fuel tanks 1 53 , 1 55 , 165gun panel 1 68 , 172IFF device 1 68 , 172instrument panel 1 59 , 164intake and exhaust covers 1 56

intake ducting 157–60, 1 59 , 160, 1 60 , 164, 1 65

missiles 1 51 , 157, 1 70 , 1 72modelling F/A-18E 156–73nose 1 62 , 164, 1 64–65painting 1 59 , 1 60–61 , 164,165–73, 1 66–71seat and straps 1 58 , 1 59 , 164undercarriage and legs 1 55 ,

157, 1 61 , 1 70 , 1 71 , 173

wheel wells 157, 1 61windscreen 1 65 , 1 69wings 156, 157, 1 57–58 , 160, 1 61 –63 , 164–65, 1 70 , 1 72

TTail Boom Kits 75–79Tamiya

product quality 5Spitfire kits 42–54Zero kits 6–22

Temora Aviation Museum 23–28Terry Dean Nose Weights 1 07–08 ,

110–11True Details 81, 89Trumpeter

product quality 5Sea Fury kits 119–32

21st Century Toys: Messerschmittkits 60–74

UUltracast: Hellcat replacement parts

81, 89, 90, 91US Navy: Carrier Air Wing FIVE

153–56

WWallis, Sir Tim 28Wauchop, Chris 150weathering

chipping 1 8 , 149engine stains 1 47 , 149exhaust stains 89 , 114–16, 1 1 6–1 7 , 118, 1 71

gun stains 1 48harness straps 1 59interiors 109–10Mitchells 114–16, 1 1 6–1 7 , 118Sea Furies 126, 1 30Spitfires 40, 41 , 54 , 1 46 , 1 47 , 1 48 , 149

Super Hornets 1 67 , 1 69 , 1 71 , 172

wing roots 20, 20 , 1 46Zeros 13, 1 7–1 8 , 1 9 , 20, 20 , 22

Wilson, Stewart 114windows

‘eyebrow’ fairings 102, 1 06 , 1 07

making new 100, 1 02–03 , 1 06 , 108, 113, 16, 1 1 7 , 118

windscreensmounting 124, 1 26painting 53 , 1 1 3 , 1 1 5

wing fold techniques 90, 93–96,93

wing roots: weathering 20, 20 ,1 46

Wolfpack Designs wing sets1 57–58 , 160, 1 62–63 , 165

ZZero A6M5/5a 6–22

aileron balance horns 22antenna 22cannon 7, 1 8 , 22canopy 7, 1 5 , 22canopy masking sheet 7cockpit 6–7, 8, 9 , 1 0 , 13, 22control surfaces 7, 21 , 22cowl 7, 1 4decals and markings 7, 8, 1 5–1 7 , 20

Detail Up set 7, 8 , 9, 1 8 , 22drop tank 7, 1 1 , 1 9 , 22engine 6, 8, 8 , 1 9forward fuselage 1 1 –1 2instrument panel 7, 8–9, 9 , 1 0 , 13

lights 7nose 1 0 , 13, 1 4painting 7 , 8–9, 13–22, 1 4–20panel lines 1 7–1 8 , 20–22panels 1 0 , 13pilot figures 6, 7pitot tube 7, 22propeller 1 4 , 22reflector gunsight 7seats and straps 7, 9–13, 9undercarriage 7, 1 9 , 22wheel chocks 7wheel wells 6, 8, 1 1wing roots 1 1 , 1 2 , 13, 20


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