Model Aircraft 2016-11

F/A EX MA -18 TR CH A OR NE T

EXCLUSIVE - MIG MASTERCLASS

final

combat

Hartmann’s Bf 109 K-4 Blue Bandit

F-16 Nellis Viper L 1 MIG-O2REPLICA R E AL T

combat edge

f-80 shooting stars

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CAT FASTR-GR.1 JAGUA

E HE LIN T F O AST

S XP-40 CURTIS

NOVEMBER 2016 Vol 15 Iss 11 £4.50

Delta Blues

Printed in UK

Mirage 2000

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Scale Aircraft Conversions White Metal & Resin Aircraft Parts Since 1990

48008 F7F Tigercat Landing Gear (Ita/AMT)

48207 T-45 Goshawk Landing Gear (Kin)

(replacement for 1/48 Italeri/AMT) MSRP $18.95

(replacement for 1/48 Kinetic) MSRP $16.95

48314 RF-84F Thunderflash Landing Gear (TanM)

48315 T-33A Shooting Star Landing Gear (GWH)

14424 C-141B Starlifter Landing Gear (Rod)

(improved for 1/48 TanModel) MSRP $16.95

(for 1/48 Great Wall Hobby) MSRP $16.95

(replacement for 1/144 Roden) MSRP $13.95

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CONTENTS

32  Buffs in Britain Neil Atterbury of Four Elements Photography reports from RAF Fairford on the deployment of USAF B-52 bombers

Model Aircraft Extra

Age is Just a Number...

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his issue contains a number of subjects close to my heart – namely USAF Aggressor aircraft, the SEPECAT Jaguar and the incomparable B-52! When looking at Neil Atterbury’s superb ‘Buff’ images, I was reminded of a once in a lifetime trip to Griffiss AFB just after ‘Desert Storm’ in the early 1990’s when a plethora of these mighty birds were laid out on the tarmac, literally as far as the eye could see! Looking at the wrinkled skin panels and weathered engine nacelles I pondered just how much longer these aircraft would be in service. The eager crews said they could ‘go on forever’, a comment I treated with the proverbial ‘pinch of salt’, but how wrong I was!!! It also goes to prove that in an age of stealth and drones a bomber with a huge payload is still an important asset! I’m not going to comment as to how much longer the B-52’s will

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35   Model Aircraft Extra -

SU-33 Flanker

Alan Kelley builds the 1:48 Kinetic kit, with background details and a walk around

grace the skies as I was wrong one before…….. As I said, I’m also pleased to have the Jaguar and an F-16 Aggressor in this month, but that’s not all, as we have a superb double feature from Bri Wakeman on the F-80 a ‘Real to Replica’ feature on the MiG-21 and other articles covering the Mirage 2000, the XP-40 and the Fw 190. As always MAM is packed with top quality material with some of the finest builds you are likely to see in a monthly magazine, and you just don’t get this variety or number of subjects covered anywhere else! Happy modelling

Andy

44  Combat Zone Anthony Tucker-Jones takes a close look at the contribution of the Ju 52 transport aircraft to the Nazi war effort

57  Casemate Competition

Operation Barbarossa 1941

54  Hartmann’s Final Combat

Sun ick Roh adds his distinctive style to the 1:32 Hasegawa Messerschmitt Bf 109 K-4

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MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2016

5 VOLUME 15 ISSUE 11

6  Blue Bandit –

10  Fast-Cat

14  Combat Edge –

20  Real to Replica –

Nellis Viper

Jezz Coleman builds the 1:48 Airfix Jaguar GR.1 in the colours of No.41 Squadron

Shooting Stars!

Mig-21

28  Grumman’s

50  Last of the Line

60  Delta Blues

66  MIG Masterclass –

Sunhwie Hwang builds the 1:48 Tamiya F-16 from the USAF’s 64th Aggressor Squadron

Awesome Avenger

James DiCesare details the 1:48 Academy TBM-3

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Chad Summers builds the 1:48 Planet Models Curtiss XP-40Q-2

Brian Wakeman joins the MAM team with a 1:48 double build of early USAF F-80 fast jets – and sunglasses are recommended!

Mario Serelle details the 1:72 Tamiya Mirage 2000C as the ‘Jaguars Last Stand’ in the Brazilian Air Force

Ian Cooper builds the Eduard kit along with some full sized references

‘Reich Defender’

Mario Serelle guides you through painting and weathering the Eduard Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-8

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F-16 – AGGRESSOR SQUADRON

Blue Bandit

Nellis Viper

Sunhwie Hwang builds the 1:48 Tamiya F-16 from the USAF’s 64th Aggressor Squadron

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he 64th Aggressor Squadron is one of the more unique units within the United States Air Force. During World War II and the 1960’s they were a regular fighter squadron, and when it was reactivated in 1972 under the 57th Fighter Wing, its mission was to execute the so-called ‘aggressor’ task. This meant they had to deploy throughout the United States and overseas to teach adversarial tactics and provide dissimilar air combat training to USAF flying units. The unit was also a tenant during the Red Flag exercises in which it prepared aircrews for combat by replicating tactics used by the enemy forces during battle situations. This aggressor squadron program had its origins in the post Vietnam era, and by 1975 the benefits of evaluating obtained foreign aircraft like the Mig-17, Mig-21 and Mig-23 flown over the at test ranges in Nevada began to be applied to operational fighter squadrons to hone the flying skills of all front-line fighter pilots during the Cold War. In order to replicate the performance of these aircraft, a lightweight fighter was chosen,

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the F-5E Tiger. This jet served very well into the eighties, and when was in urgent need for replacement, surplus F-16s were utilised to. This too was a lightweight performer, but drastically improved the overall fighter performance, and therefore the challenge aircrews had to face. Originally F-16 use was very short-lived. At the end of the Cold War, the entire air force

adversary program was looked at and the 64th fell foul of cuts, and was disbanded in 1990 and succeeded by the 414th CTS, which stood up the next year. However, in 2003 a reorganisation of the aggressor squadrons took place and the 64th was activated again in favour of the 414th CTS. It regained its twenty-four, Block-32 Vipers that it left in 1990, and these

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MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2016

7 BLUE BANDIT – NELLIS VIPER

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F-16 – AGGRESSOR SQUADRON

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MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2016

Manufacturer: Tamiya Scale: 1:48 Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded Kit Number: TA61101 Afterburner Decals - ‘F-16C Nellis Aggressor Vipers’ Mastermodel - F-16 Static Discharger Set Wolfpack –A N/ALQ-188 Pod Hasegawa –Weapons Set D Aires - Lockheed Martin F-16 early wheels Aires, F-16 Exhaust Nozzle Crossdelta - F-16C Falcon Stiffener Plates for Block 25/30/32/40/42 TwoBobs - AIM-9/ AIM-120 CATM/ACMI Markings

were painted in camouflage schemes identical Soviet manufactured aircraft that pilots could potentially face in combat around the globe. Colour schemes include ‘European One’ shades of green no longer used, ‘Navy Blue’, two shades of blue and one of sand beige, ‘Navy Grey’, one shade of grey and one od beige (MiG-29), ‘Desert Brown’, two shades of brown, ‘Air Blue’ two shades of blue and one of grey (Su-27), and ‘Forest Brown’, two shades of brown and one shade of green (MiG-23). The tail consists of a black and yellow chequer board tail band with ‘WA’ in the centre. The Air Combat Command logo is placed between these and the serial is at the bottom of the tail. What can you say about the Tamiya F-16 that has not already been said in this magazine? It’s a superb kit and I only needed to make a couple of changes for more realism. I had to rework the GPS panel in front of the seat, and I also needed to add the correct type of stiffener plates on the fuselage, as each F-16 Block has its own style - so check your references. The colours were my own personal mix using a number of different manufacturers products, and the markings came from the excellent Afterburner ‘F-16C Nellis Aggressor Vipers’ sheet. I also added a wingtip mounted Wolfpack AN/ALQ-188 ACMI pod, as this added another dimension to the overall look. I also added a pilot figure to show a ‘blue bandit – ready to roll!’ MA

BLUE BANDIT – NELLIS VIPER

F-16C Bock 25/32

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I added a pilot figure to show a ‘blue bandit – ready to roll!

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JAGUAR GR.1 - 41 SQUADRON

Memorial Fast-Cat Jezz Coleman builds the 1:48 Airfix Jaguar GR.1 in the colours of No.41 Squadron SEPECAT Jaguar GR.1A Manufacturer: Airfix Scale: 1:48 Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded Kit Number: AA07104

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ow many kits could possibly build in a lifetime? A lifetime that is too short for some of us, and this particular project has a special meaning to those who belong to the Facebook Scale Modellers, and this Jaguar build for me was part of a Memorial Group Build Mr Rod Buchanan, who sadly passed away in March 2016. Rod was a founding member of Facebook Scale Modellers and always took the time to support and comment to all posts of members and modellers both old and new, and as such I was not going to pass up this opportunity to remember Rod. I knew that the SEPECAT Jaguar was a aircraft Rod had worked on in his RAF days, and happened to be one of his favourite aircraft. So with that in mind, a search though my collection revealed an old Airfix 1:48 Jaguar GR.1A, and a set of Xtradecals for an aircraft of No.41 Squadron. The kit itself is typical

of a kit of that era basic cockpit detail with the decals adding the dials and control panels, so construction was pretty basic and before I knew it the office had been installed and fuselage halves we joined up and put aside to dry. The wing sections needed a little work to remove the flash, but rest of the kit built up very nicely, and I only had to add a little filler here and there t tidy things up. Onto the painting stage, and I always like to begin with a coat of black primer as a basing technique. As this Jag was going to be a two-tone grey bird, I began on the undersides with Tamiya Neutral Grey thinned to about 75%, adding the first marble coat of random squiggly lines, and then slowly building up the paint. Then it was on to the upper surfaces, using the same technique, this time with Tamiya Light Grey and I used some Blu-Tac to achieve a nice soft edge to colours. The tail section was masked up and painted with Tamiya White, and once dry I added a coat of Johnson’s ‘Klear’ ready for the decals.

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MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2016

11 MEMORIAL FAST-CAT This stage of the build has to be my favourite parts, when the model comes to life. The decals were applied over several evenings, as there were a lot of smaller stencils to add. Once dry another quick pass with ‘Klear’ sealed everything in, and an oil wash was added into the recessed details, and once dry and excess was removed with a soft cloth. All the smaller other parts such as the undercarriage payload and canopy were then painted up and attached as the build was reaching its final stages. I wanted to apply some

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JAGUAR GR.1 - 41 SQUADRON

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finer details here so I scratchbuilt some FOD covers from plastic card and some ‘Remove Before Flight’ tags from some cellophane offcuts painted red and dipped in Johnsons ‘Klear’ with a small loop of fuse wire to tie them to the aircraft. To finish I added a flat coat to bring everything together. All in all this kit was an absolute dream to build no major problems and is my personal tribute to Rod. It’s true what they say you never know whom much people think of you until you are not around anymore. RIP Rod Buchanan, from everyone that had the pleasure of knowing you, you will be sorely missed. MA

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COMBAT EDGE SHOOTING STARS

SPONSORED BY

COMBAT EDGE

F IG H T ING

COLO U R S

hooting tars

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COMBAT EDGE

F IG H T ING

COLO U R S

Brian Wakeman joins the MAM team with a 1:48 double build of early USAF F-80 fast jets – and sunglasses are recommended!

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Back in Time

tarting out life as the XP-80 and finishing life as the rather cumbersome looking F-94C Starfire all-weather interceptor the Lockheed Shooting Star series certainly left its mark on history. Most synonymous with the Korean War where it saw extensive service, it would be be eclipsed by the famous F-86 Sabre, even though the World’s first jet-to-jet combat aerial victory was scored by an F-80 over the Communist North’s MiG-15. Over time the P-80 was replaced by the F-84E/G Thunderjet in

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COMBAT EDGE

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COLO U R S

COMBAT EDGE SHOOTING STARS

Korea and in turn the P-80 was relegated to the ground support and reconnaissance role. However, the P-80 took the United States Air Force into the jet age, so has cemented its place in aviation history. There are many fans of the Shooting Star out there in the model world, and until now the old 1970s vintage Monogram kit being the only game in town, however, this is becoming scarce and is tricky to build. So when HobbyBoss decided to announce a complete series of P-80 aircraft we wondered and anticipated what they may

produce. Complete with over 100 parts, which are cleanly moulded with good surface detail, and together with a etched set with six-seat belt/shoulder harness, overall tooling is good. However, you do get a annoying split fuselage, forward and aft reminiscent of F-86 Sabre kits. Also included is a rudimentary General-Electric/ Allison-built J-33 turbo-jet that lacks detail. The intakes present a shape problem and prove an issue to amend, and furthermore you only get the standard ejector seat – whereas early P-80As were manufactured with a bucket seat with armour plate. Many – ‘A’ model airframes were retrofitted, so please check your references if you want to build an ‘A’.

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COMBAT EDGE SHOOTING STARS

SPONSORED BY

COMBAT EDGE

F IG H T ING

COLO U R S

Building Stars Lockheed RF-80A Shooting Star Manufacturer: HobbyBoss Scale: 1:48 Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded Kit Number: HB81724

HobbyBoss RF-80A

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s this is a double-build I am using both The HobbyBoss RF-80A offers only one the Monogram and HobbyBoss kits, and option, an Olive Drab machine, 44-85467 both build extremely well (although the FT-467 operated by the 15TRS/67TRG, K-14 in Monogram fit is far from perfect) with Korea, 1952 and part of Operation ‘Stovepipe’. both having new forward fuselage parts Conflicting reports state they flew between two to represent a P-80A/B or RF-80A. The RF-80A’s and four aircraft with various yellow markings. modified nose contours integrate a distinctive While the sister 45TRS/67TRG used step to take one K-17 and a pair of K-22 cameras, with no sign of the later moulded small starboard porthole. These replaced six standard .50 calibre machine guns on the P-80A/B model. Both come with a choice of either standard 150 US-gal (568 litre) Misawa 265 US gal (1003 litre) Fletcher and 230 US-gal (871 litre) tanks along with two 500lb generalpurpose bombs. Note that the Its surprising what may ‘A’ model never carried the large be achieved with a mix Misawa wing tip tanks, but they of different shades of are still useful to keep, even if the the same colour shape seems too bulbous.

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a dark blue band with white polka dots. These aircraft were used as weather reccon flights for pre-strike missions. Like any conventional model the breakdown of parts is straightforward and a decision was taken to cement the forward and aft parts together first. This provides a way to remove the awkward seam line where the engine bay splits (on the real aircraft) for servicing. The HobbyBoss cockpit is adequate having the sidewalls engraved, with a seat, joystick and rudder pedals all included, but no camera control box, just the K-14 reflector gunsight for the fighter version. These were all painted a mixture of Lifecolor UA004 Interior Green with the instrument panels UA 735 Deep Cockpit and switches in various colours. The rest of the kit builds swiftly and fairly easily. The wheel bay detail is adequate and only requires extra plumbing for realism. These bays were again painted UA004 Interior Green with Scale Aircraft Conversions

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COMBAT EDGE

F IG H T ING

I added some colour to the camera windows with resin covers painted in red and attached with CA glue. Eduard’s new RBF tags are superb and easy to manipulate into shape

COMBAT EDGE SHOOTING STARS

If using a light shade over a dark base it is worth using a foundation colour of white

COLO U R S

Lifecolor pigments were an excellent choice

Walkways were easy to produce with the help of thin strips of masking tape, and small Silver pencil scratches and pigments added realism

I also simulated the marks from grubby boots in the harsh Korean climate

#48240 metal gear replacing the plastic items. The ‘B’ model had strengthened wings to carry pylons, bombs or additional tanks. Dry fitting the flaps showed they are designed to be lowered with lack of any detailed wing interior and disappointingly shaped intake profile an issue mentioned that maybe hard to remedy. That said though most issues are fixable except the intake problem. Everything was then given a coat of grey primer, and colour wise many may prefer natural metal with their collective colourful markings, but to overcome the imperfections with the kit I opted to go with the World War Two style

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finish of Lifecolor UA222 Olive Drab FS34088, and Xtracolour X133 Neutral Grey FS16270, both colours were complemented with variations of Lifecolor Olive Drabs and French Blue - Greys to show degraded paintwork. Lifecolor LC01 Matt White as a base preceded the Chrome Yellow bands of Colourcoats ACUS11 FS23538. This is advisable for the yellow to work and not be translucent in appearance. Final painting was to mask the walkways and apply a coat of Lifecolor LC02 Matt Black. A pair of F-51D style (150 US-gal) fuel tanks was painted with Colourcoats ACRA18 and left to dry, and my attention turned

The wheels bays were painted coated Lifecolor UA004 Interior Green with piping picked out in Alluminium

to decaling. Not the best choice in the world and the density of colour could be better, but some were used as a basis with the rest coming from the ‘spares –box’. They all conformed to the surface detail with ease after a few drops of decal solvent. Once all was sealed with Johnson’s Klear, a new product from Adam Wilders Nitro-Line NL02 deep Shadow Wash and NL19 Grey-Brown brought all the fine detail to life. Gentle weathering with Lifecolor PG105 Dry Dust and PG106 Damp dust pigments took place on the walkway areas after a silver pencil perfected a number of small scratches for added realism. Once the canopy, speed brakes and undercarriage were attached, the model was completed with a mix of Xtracrylix Matt-Satin varnish.

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COMBAT EDGE SHOOTING STARS

SPONSORED BY

COMBAT EDGE

F IG H T ING

COLO U R S

Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star Manufacturer: Monogram Scale: 1:48 Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded Kit Number: 5404

Monogram – QF-80B Target Drone

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eleased in 1977 by Monogram the overall shape of the model appears far superior to the recent Hobbyboss offering, although the fit is extremely poor. The underside belly–to-wing fit was atrocious, and slivers of 1mm plastic card attached with CA glue are the only answer to cure this problem. The fuselage split is identical to the HobbyBoss kit and the J-33 Turbo-jet is more defined and maybe left open for inspection. Unfortunately by today’s standard the airframe carries the raised lines, which if preferred would be easy to re-scribe. The wheel bays landing gear and speed brake wells are acceptable but could be improved on. Like all Monogram kits of this era their selling point was the quality of cockpit detail, even on this model was adequate, though very little can be seen with the canopy closed. The Interior was painted Lifecolor UA004 Interior Green with ejector seat in mid-grey and detailed as the HobbyBoss model. Moulded in silver plastic they include three different sets of fuel tanks, and two 500LB bombs and pylons. To break up the dazzling orange colour scheme the four fuel tanks were painted in Colourcoats ACRA18 and Xtracolour X331 Corogard. The decals had degraded but there are plenty of aftermarket decals to choose from. The wings

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incorporate a small trim tab missing from the HobbyBoss. The level of inner flap detail is also superior and the intake fairings/splitter plate appears to be the correct shape. Breezing through my reference books the most appealing jets were the QF-80 manned/ un-manned Target Drone Conversions, some flying as early as 1946. Sperry Gyroscope began converting a number of airframes from 1951 under Project ‘Bad Boy’, and

Lifecolor PG105 Dry Dust provided walkway wear for the humid conditions of Florida

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COMBAT EDGE

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COMBAT EDGE SHOOTING STARS

Xtracolor X104 Insignia Orange FS12197 provided the main colour

Adam Wilders Nitro-Line Deep Shadow Wash and Grey-Brown brought the panel lines out

Xtracrylix Matt Varnish sealed everything in

Adding more wear, and also note that the port aileron is in Zinc Chromate Yellow

many were still flying until at least 1962 in various guises. QF-80A/B/C and JQF-80Fs were all seen painted in bright reddish-orange schemes over those golden-years. Various aerial configurations were made during this period when they were operating with the 3205th Drone Squadron, at Eglin AFB. To interpret the aircraft being built was hard to work out, as year-on-year they seemed to change profile! Albion Alloy fashioned the transmitter aerials, in addition to Evergreen

styrene creating the blade aerials. Being one shade of red-orange it is wise to prime the whole surface White. Then Xtracolor X104 Insignia Orange FS12197 provided the major colour with Lifecolor LC05 Matt Orange useful for a panel or two. Masking the walkways/anti-glare panel forward of the windscreen was using Lifecolor LC02 Matt Black. Johnson’s ‘Klear’ was again used and the majority of decals came from my ‘spares -box’. Pigments were Lifecolor PG105 Dry Dust and Adam Wilders Nitro-Line Deep Shadow Wash and Grey-Brown brought the panel lines out. Once dry a final Matt Coat from Xtracrylix Matt Varnish sealed the build. MA

Lifecolor paints were used to shade a number of the panels

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MIG-21 IN DETAIL

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REAL TO REPLICA

Mig-21 in Detail

Housed in the National Cold War Museum at Cosford is this ex-Hungarian Air Force MiG-21PF ‘503’ X003-6783

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MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2016

21 REAL TO REPLICA – IN DETAIL

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MIG-21 IN DETAIL

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MIG-21MF

Czech It Out! Ian Cooper builds the 1:48 Limited Edition Eduard MiG-21MF

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his is Eduard’s limited edition MiG-21 MF and apart from the kit and the added etched parts, you have no fewer than thirty-nine different finish options! To help with reference, a gorgeous 128-page full colour book is provided with original images of MiG-21 MFs in service with Czechoslovakia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The book is written in Czech and there are no English titles, but a full English transcript is downloadable as a PDF from the Eduard website. A separate booklet containing full colour camouflage schemes for each of the options is also provided along with a detailed instructions booklet. I chose ‘8208’ purely because of the colour scheme, as the combination of the brown-green camouflage, white tail stripe and a sharksmouth was just irresistible.

I used a custom paint mix for the cockpit…….

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MiG-21MF Manufacturer; Eduard Scale: 1:48 Kit Type: Multi-media Kit Number: 1199

The book that accompanies the kit provides the only known colour photograph of ‘8208’ in what was known to be an East German scheme. As the exact colour scheme of this aircraft is not known, Eduard used existing photographs of ‘8208’, together with East German Air Force MiG21F-13 coded ‘623’, to construct their idea of the full scheme. For most of its time, initially with the Czechoslovakia Air Force and then the Slovakia Air Force, ‘8208’ carried its plain green-brown scheme. In September 1986, however, it took part in the major ‘Druzba’ Warsaw Pact exercise, and 8208’s squadron received a white band on the fin and fuselage. Flying out of a reserve airfield located at Dlouha-Lhota near Pribram ‘8208’ also received the sharksmouth, eyes and gills on the very last day of the exercise. The black and white photograph of ‘8208’ in the book provided, shows the aircraft fitted out with three 4901 fuel tanks but only two are provided with the kit. I decided not to use the 8001 fuel tank provided with the kit and to go with just the two 4901 tanks. I have built an Eduard MiG-21 before and that was a real pleasure. I was, therefore, looking

…….which as some very nice etched parts

forward to building the MF version, knowing there would be no major fit issues, and as anticipated everything went together well. The gear bays were painted and weathered before fuselage halves were joined together, and as is often the case, the exhaust, cockpit and nose cone were all incorporated at this stage along with the central part of the main gear bays. The wings and horizontal stabilisers were then attached along with the spine that runs between the tail and the cockpit. The flaps (very slightly lowered) and rudder (slightly turned) were

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MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2016

25 CZECH IT OUT

I used a home made jig and Tamiya paints for the camouflage

The combination of the brown-green camouflage, white tail stripe and a sharksmouth was just irresistible for this build

The aircraft received its splendid markings during a Warsaw Pact exercise, and these have been well replicated by Eduard

The combination of the brown-green camouflage, white tail stripe and a sharksmouth was just irresistible for this build

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then added. Mr Surfacer was then applied with a brush over joints and fine sanded to make sure everything was smooth. The panel lines were then re-scribed where they had been lost through filling and sanding, and a metal template was provided with the kit, which was most welcome. I used Tamiya paints through my airbrush, which, for this build, meant I had to mix colours to create the cockpit green. Three colours were used for this X-3 Royal Blue, X-14 Sky Blue and X-15 Light Green, and the result was close enough for me! The underside blue was XF-23 Light Blue and the main camouflage colours were XF-61 Deep Green and XF-52 Flat Earth. For the underside and main camouflage colours, I mixed different shades using a touch of white to achieve an element of shading. I also preshaded the underside. XF-26 Deep Green was used for the nosecone and top of the tail, and the metal sections were painted using different Alclad shades. The hard lines between colours

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MIG-21MF

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XF-26 Deep Green was used for the nosecone and top of the tail

A view of the upper…….

were masked using Tamiya tape, whilst ‘Blu-Tac’ was used for the main camouflage pattern. Following painting, the masking was removed and Johnson’s ‘Klear’, diluted with Tamiya thinners, was sprayed on for the gloss coat. The decals were then applied using Micro-Sol and Micro-Set. This was followed by another coat of diluted ‘Klear’, and then a panel line wash of thinned black oil paint brought out the details. Finally, a coat of Tamiya flat coat was added to seal everything in and then the landing gear, bay doors and drop tanks were added before the ejection seat and cockpit canopy were attached. A thoroughly enjoyable project! Thanks go to Creative Models for providing the build kit. MA

www.creativemodels.co.uk

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….and lower surface camouflage colours

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GRUMMAN AVENGER

Grumm an

Aweso m

James DiCesare details the 1:48 Academy TBM-3

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s a modeller my area of interest has always been World War II Navy aircraft. That being said, the Grumman Avenger is one of my favourite subjects, so I was excited to be able to build another example of this iconic aircraft. These moulds for the Academy kit featured here were originally property of Accurate Miniatures who burst onto the scene in the late 1990’s - early 2000’s, and were lauded for their detail and engineering. The Avenger quickly earned a reputation as an astounding kit, and I built my first in my early 20’s when Accurate Miniatures were in their infancy. Even then I was impressed with the kit, so I was excited to see if it held up to my modern expectations and improved skills. Accurate Miniatures would fall on hard times, and unfortunately end up going out of business only having released a handful of kits. Fortunately for fans of these kits

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Grumman TBM-3 Avenger Manufacturer: Academy Scale: 1:48 Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded Kit Number: 12285

For painting the main cockpit colour of interior green I used Mr Paint MRP-131

they’ve since begun being reissued by Italeri and as with the Avenger here, Academy. Most of the focus of this build will be directed to the interior. The Avenger flew with a crew of three, and their crew stations are each in great detail that was not only amazing when the kit was first released, but still holds up all these years later. For painting the main cockpit colour of interior green I turned to my new favorite, Mr Paint MRP-131. Mr Paint is a relative newcomer to the paint market with their lacquer-based paints. Their colour matches have been praised, and I can say that having used them exclusively on this build that I find their shades to be superb, but their real advantage is in how well they perform through an airbrush. The interior parts were first painted with my airbrush, and then I used a brush to pick out details like panels, control boxes, wires, and

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MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2016

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TBM-3 AVENGER

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Avenger

The interior parts were first painted with my airbrush…..

cockpit and torpedo bay. When the paint dries an enamel wash of dark green was applied to add depth to recesses. Normally, I would do more shading in the cockpit and internal areas, but beside the pilots station most of the interior is obscured on the finished build, so I spared myself the time of doing that here. I would be remiss to note that Academy hasn’t done the best job of adapting the instructions that accompanied the original release of this kit. Accurate Miniatures was known for their instructions supplying not only traditional line

I cannot recommend this kit highly enough, especially if you are keen on adding to your World War II collection

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drawings, but also text instructions. Academy has redacted the written instructions, and has provided only the original line drawings - verbatim I may add. The problem with this approach is that it leaves out some crucial information that newcomers to the kit really should really be privy to. For example, you have to install the gun turret before closing up the fuselage. This information is provided in the original text, but in the Academy kit the instructions imply that you should build and install the turret after closing the fuselage. This is not going to work. Fortunately, I’ve built the kit a couple of times before, so I was aware of this. I painted the turret here also using MRP-14 Interior Green and then Gloss Sea Blue for the exterior colour. This is much easier than trying to mask and paint it after assembly. I highly advise you do lots of dry fitting and testing before committing to any assembly. The kit goes together quite beautifully, with no filler needed at all. However,

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GRUMMAN AVENGER the interior assembly is large and intricate, and has to align perfectly. That coupled with the weak instructions mean you need to proceed with care. Once the fuselage is closed around the interior assembly things proceeded quite rapidly. I opted to paint the wheel wheels before assembling the wings using MRP-99 Navy White. This makes things a bit easier later on. The Avenger’s landing gear area is a touch complex, but assembly is straightforward. The wing attachment is another testament to the engineering of this kit. The wings slip into cutouts on the fuselage halves with some authority, and the fit is once again excellent. With the wings and other pieces attached it was time to move onto painting. I specifically selected Mr Paint for this build because

….and then I used a brush to pick out details…..

of the reputation they have earned for their precise colour matches, and I must say that their threetone Navy colours are great representations of the real thing. I began by painting the undersurface of the wings and the belly of the aircraft in ‘Navy White’. When this was dry I moved to ‘Intermediate Blue’. Colour Schemes on Avengers seemed to vary during wartime with

some being hard edged and some feathered. I opted to go feathered with this build. Now it was time to lay down the top colour of Glossy Sea Blue. The canopy pieces were then masked off, and the ball turret - which I had painted earlier was also masked. The great thing about this kit being issued by Academy is that they have been sourcing their decals from Cartograf for quite a while now, and this kit is no exception and those provided are much better than what came in the original release. You get two marking options, and I opted for an aircraft aboard USS Bunker Hill. After laying down a nice coat of gloss varnish the decals were applied, and using my trusty

...and I was ready to close up the fuselage halves

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31 TBM-3 AVENGER

Black pigments were used for some exhaust staining

Markings were for an aircraft from the USS Bunker Hill

The cockpit glazing shows off the interior……

Gunze setting solutions, they set flawlessly. The decals were followed with a protective satin coat, and I then moved to adding a dark wash. I opted to go light with the weathering, choosing only to let the wash add some light grime. Some black pigments were then used for some exhaust staining, and the model felt complete. This is my third build of this kit, and I have to say I still hold it in very high regard especially given its age. So I cannot recommend this kit highly enough, especially if you are keen on adding to your World War II collection. MA

The Cartograf decals performed flawlessly

…..but needs careful masking

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USAF B-52 BOMBERS

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Photo-Recce

Buffs in Britain

Neil Atterbury of Four Elements Photography reports from RAF Fairford on the deployment of USAF B-52 bombers

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uring early June 2016 B-52H Stratofortresses of the 23rd Bomb Squadron ‘The Barons’, left their home of Minot AFB in North Dakota, and headed for the UK for a series of exercise deployments. The aircraft worked with US and Allied forces during exercises Baltic Operations ‘BALTOPS2016’ and ‘Sabre Strike’. ‘BALTOPS’ was primarily a maritime exercise around the Baltic Sea involving seventeen NATO and non-NATO partner countries, with the B-52’s role being that of ‘Maritime Interdiction’ and ‘Mining’ operations. ‘Sabre Strike’ was a land exercise over multiple locations in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania with the B-52’s working with foreign JTACS (Joint Terminal Air Controllers) and Army units. The B-52s also worked with German Eurofighters, Polish and American F-16s as well as Swedish JAS39 Gripens. The aircraft also carried the ‘Sniper’ targeting pod in order to to perform NTISR (Non-Traditional Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) missions, and as Lt Col Maginness, 23rd Bomb Squadron Commander, advised “if it is an air to ground munition the B-52 can carry it, and this includes stand-off missiles, laser guided bombs, GPS guided and freefall bombs, mines of course cruise missiles”. MA

www.fourelements.photography

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USAF B-52 BOMBERS

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MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2016

35 MA EXTRA – STINGERS

Model Aircraft Extra

‘Striking Stingers’ at Sea

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he F/A-18C Hornet continues to serve as an all-weather jet aircraft that with the US Navy and US Marine Corps. In its fighter mode, the F/A-18 is used primarily as a escort and for fleet air defence and in its attack mode it is used for force projection, interdiction and close and deep air support. The Hornet demonstrated its capabilities and versatility during Operation ‘Desert Storm’, shooting down enemy fighters and subsequently bombing enemy targets with the same aircraft

The US Navy and Marine Corps have never been shy of adding flamboyant markings to their aircraft on the same mission, and breaking all records for tactical aircraft in availability, reliability, and maintainability. Hornets taking direct hits from surface-to-air missiles, recovering successfully, being repaired quickly, and flying again the next day proved the aircraft’s survivability. All F/A-18s

can be configured quickly to perform either fighter or attack roles or both, through selected use of external equipment to accomplish specific missions. This ‘force multiplier’ capability gives the operational commander more flexibility in employing tactical aircraft in a rapidly changing

A VFA-87 jet heads for the bow

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MA EXTRA – STINGERS

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A ‘Blue Diamonds’ birds is marshalled onto the cat track

A checkerboard adorned VMFA-312 jet

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37 MA EXTRA – STINGERS

‘Blue Blaster’ on the cat

One of the ‘Death Rattlers’ from VMFA-323

battle scenario. The fighter missions are primarily fighter escort and fleet air defence; while the attack missions are force projection, interdiction, and close and deep air support. The F/A-18C and D models are the result of a block upgrade in 1987 incorporating provisions for employing updated missiles and jamming devices against

enemy ordnance. C and D models delivered since 1989 also include an improved night attack capability. The US Navy and Marine Corps have never been shy of adding flamboyant markings to their aircraft, and in this article we pay a little homage to some such ‘Striking Stingers’!

One of the ‘Mighty Shrikes’ heads for the wire

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War Party

Working on the very nice cockpit

Alan Kelley builds the latest 1:48 Kinetic F/A-18C in the markings of VFA-87 ‘Golden Warriors’

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ere we have the superb new Kinetic F/A-18C, which comes moulded in grey styrene, with an etched fret. The surface detail looks superb on first inspection, with fine, recessed panel lines, and the cockpit and wheel wells are well-detailed and great fun to paint and detail. The accompanying decal sheet gives you the option of modelling one of seven aircraft – two US Navy, three ‘Top Guns’, one Swiss and one Finnish version. For the Swiss and Finnish versions you also have the option of removing a cover on the nose to place the searchlight featured in this version of the aircraft. There is also a sheet of extensive markings for the many weapons included in the kit. However these are not that accurate, as there is an AGM-88 Harm missile provided, there are instructions for decal placement but no decals provided. There are decals however, for the AGM65 Maverick - but no missile comes with the kit. This leads me onto what is biggest flaw with this kit - the instructions. On first inspection whilst they are a massive

improvement over the ones for the SU-33, a closer inspection shows they are littered with errors. During the construction progress there were several times when I had to scratch my head to figure out a part placement, and often times the wrong part was indicated, so I really had check every piece before committing to glue to ensure it was correct. That said, if you can live with the instructions, then this will build up into a great representation of the only available late model-C Legacy Hornet in 1:48. I used several additions to the kits during the construction and I added a resin Mk14 (SJU-17) ejector seat from my ‘spares-box’ and an Eduard a Brassin GBU-12 Paveway II. I also had to purchase the Eduard Brassin AGM-88 to get the correct markings. There is also no LAU-127 launch rails supplied so I purchased an Attack Squadron set, and finally a Wolfpack Productions AN/ ASQ-228 ATFLIR was used on my F/A18 which I chose to do in the colours of VFA-87 ‘Golden Warriors’ (War Party) 2013 CAG scheme. I had seen several images of this aircraft looking rather beaten up and weathered, which really appealed to me. First stage of the construction process was to remove all the parts from the

F/A-18C Hornet I used an SJU-17 seat from my ‘spares-box’

Manufacturer: Kinetic Scale: 1:48 Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded with etch Kit Number: 48031

I finished the model in the colours of the VFA-87 ‘Golden Warriors’ (War Party) CAG scheme

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The main wheel wells look superb when painted and detailed…. ….as does the nose well

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sprues, clean them up place into bags for the relevant section of the aircraft. I decided to cut the wing for the wing-fold at this early juncture, which proved to be a straightforward process, and moved onto the cockpit. The cockpit tub on this release is configured for a two-seater version - suggesting we will see a ‘D’ soon. A cover has to be glued over the rear cockpit which has two tabs on the underside that need removed for it to fit, but there is no mention of this in the instructions. Once this was done I glued the side consoles on, fitted the rudder pedals and control column. This was then primed in black. For this and most of the other priming on the aircraft I used the new Alclad Mil-Spec Flat Black enamel. This paint can be sprayed directly from your airbrush and gives a really hardwearing durable finish, but I did find that it needed polishing once it had dried to remove the quite grainy texture. I decided at this stage to not use the kit supplied instrument panel. Although accurate for the late C model, the bezels for the individual instruments are very deep, meaning it would be

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MA EXTRA – STINGERS very difficult to add any instrument detail. I chose to use the Eduard set designed for the Hasegawa kit and this fitted almost perfectly with only a little bit of sanding to the coaming required. I sprayed the office Mr Hobby Aqueous H315 and the side consoles were painted Vallejo 995 German Grey, before picking out the detail using various shades of silver, white and red. I marked in the warning areas in yellow. For the placards and stencils I used very fine lines of white paint. The rear deck was painted H77 Tyre Black, which is more of a dark grey, and gives a much effective scale effect. A dry brush of dark grey was then added and dust simulated using Lifecolour Liquid Pigments Black Grey and Colonial Sand from their Detail Emphasizer set. Next up was the ejector seat, and whilst the kit seat isn’t bad, I had a SJU-17 in my ‘sparesbox’, so decided to use it and suitably painted and detailed. I moved onto the wheel wells next, which needed to be painted and installed before I could assemble the fuselage. The detail moulded into the wheel wells is very good and crying out for some fine detail paintwork. As this was going to be finished in white I primed them first in light grey, and once dry I began

to build-up the white using Tamiya XF-2. I added the base colours to the pipes and tubing using Vallejo 995, and lightened this with a touch of white and added the highlights. Clamps and connectors were simulated with red, silver, blue and yellow acrylic paints as required. Once dry I sprayed the entire area with AK Interactive Gauzy Clear, before running a wash of Alclad’s Hogwash Dirt and Grime around the wells. The front wheel well was painted using a similar technique to the rear wells, and there are two pieces of etch to be added- one on each side, and don’t

I swapped the kit vertical stabilisers for more accurate ones from a Hasegawa kit

follow the instructions here! The final parts to be added before joining the fuselage together were the intakes and exhausts, and is a noticeable seam on the intakes that needs filled before installation. I did this using Perfect Plastic Putty and painted them white and glued them into place. The next stage was to glue the fuselage all together. Kinetic do not make this easy- the top and bottom go together without any real issues, but when you go to add the nose a lot of fettling is required, and even then it leaves several gaps that need filled. I also noticed it was slightly thinner than the corresponding fuselage section, so this gap had to be filled. Due to a panel line being located there it was easy to hide the slight lip. I also had to remove the locating pins for the nose to fit it correctly. The fit of the intake front faces was very poor indeed, and to make them fit I had to manipulate the front of the fuselage upwards and then hold this in place with a long, tight strip of tape. This left a sizeable gap that needed to be filled with putty. The next step was to add the vertical stabilisers, and I chose to replace the kit parts with a set from a Hasegawa

The airframe was primed using the Alclad Mil-Spec Flat Black

The outer wing panels and their LAU-7 launch rails

Building up the colours on the undersides…..

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kit as the tops of the Kinetic stabilisers were the wrong shape and slightly too short. The rudders are also separate on the Hasegawa stabs allowing the natural parked droop to be included. I then added all the ECM blisters and fairings, antennas and static probes. I then painted the speed brake at this stage and on my chosen scheme this is red. Before painting the fuselage I needed to add the HUD and front windshield. The HUD on the kit is etch, but it doesn’t fit very well and will foul against the windshield once the HUD glass is added, so I robbed the HUD from a Hasegawa kit. To create the green tint I dipped the clear pieces in Alclad Armoured Glass paint and I have to say that this product is fantastic. I then removed the seam from the clear parts and polished them with Micromesh sanding cloths. At that stage I went to glue the windshield in place and unsurprisingly it didn’t fit, and you have to remove almost the entire bottom edge

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41 MA EXTRA – STINGERS

And on the upper surfaces, and her we see the black and red of the CAG scheme also applied

The decals went on with no fuss

of the glass before it will fit. This was all masked up ready for painting. The airframe was primed using the Alclad Mil-Spec Flat Black as I wanted to give it a heavily weathered appearance, and once dry this gives an almost indestructible base layer. It is important to keep the paint mixed and the pressure right as it can leave quite a gritty finish. Any of these areas were polished smooth. I then added various shades of Tamiya Brown XF-64 and Dark Yellow XF-60 on the bottom and Mr Hobby H402 Green Brown and H460 Rot Braun on the upper surfaces. This would give the appearance of dirt around access hatches and panels, and I then started to build the grey colours up using H317 and H338. I set the pre-set on my airbrush to allow only a very fine line to be sprayed and began to build up the colours starting in the centre of each panel and working my way outward. The wing tips were painted using a similar technique, before being gloss coated using AK Interactive Gauzy. The top of the fuselage and vertical stabs on the VFA-87 scheme is black, with red edges, so I masked off these areas and sprayed them with a shade of Tyre Black lightened slightly with XF-50 Field Blue. Once this was done I then masked off the edges and added in

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the red areas. The masks were removed and revealed that no touch ups were required. The entire airframe was gloss coated ready for decals, which conformed perfectly. The next stage was to start the weathering process. I have seen quite a few photos of this particular aircraft with quite a build-up of dirt and grime on the fuselage panels and a fair bit of fading on the upper surfaces and fuel tanks. I gave all the panels a wash using Ammo of MIG Blue Black, and then I applied dots of Streaking Grime and Dark Streaking Grime and Rainmarks Effect onto the entire airframe, working on one panel at a time. Once dry I moistened a brush very slightly with odourless thinner and began to blend all the colours together. I built up an accumulation around the access panels and simulated dirt streaks in the direction of airflow.

The bottom of the fuselage was done slightly differently. A lot of the images I have seen show the edge of the panels looking cleaner due to handling. So I built up the effect using Ammo of MIG Streaking Grime. Once this had dried I used a very fine brush and Rainmarks Effect and lightened the edges. This was blended slightly leaving quite a convincing finish. This was all finished off with a flat coat of Mr Hobby H-20 thinned with Tamiya X-20A. As mentioned previously, the one area where they are instructions are painfully poor is around the ordnance. The Hornet carries two AIM-9M Sidewinder missiles, attached to LAU-7 launchers, mounted on the wingtips. These launchers are included on the sprues but there is no mention of them anywhere in the instructions. Luckily I had an old set of instructions for the 1:32 Academy F-18, which proved invaluable. Disappointingly, there are no LAU-127 launchers included in the kit for the option of doing twin

Everything now ready for final assembly

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MA EXTRA – STINGERS

all sub-assemblies until I had everything ready to go, just in case I accidentally broke or damaged any parts. Everything came together nicely and I was really pleased with the final result. Kinetic are really making strides in kit design and their moulding techniques. This kit has some fit issues and in some places is over-engineered but this is nothing that can’t be fixed. It does build up into a really good representation of the Legacy Hornet and, to be honest, I would take the opportunity to build another someday. The instruction sheet, however, is very disappointing and hard to use in places. MA

mounted AIM-120 AMRAAMs. So as mentioned I purchased a set from Attack Squadron, as I wanted to use this configuration, along with a second fuel tank. On the other wing I would add the AGM-88, along with the GBU-12 Paveway II. I used the Eduard Brassin resin set for the JDAM, and eventually purchased the Brassin AGM-88 set. This was in part, as result of the markings for the HARM being omitted from the kit. One thing I noted is there is a gap in the market for a replacement resin 330-gallon fuel tank - considering how many modern aircraft carry them, and a Brassin/Attack Squadron drop

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in replacement would be greatly welcomed. I used the kit tanks for these. These were all painted, decaled and sealed ready for final assembly. I left the wheels, landing gear and bay doors to last. The kits wheels come in three pieces, but leave a gap once the front and back parts of the tyre are fitted over the one-piece hub. I cut thin strips of masking tape and added them to the wheels to simulate the tyre tread. This was glued in place using thinned white glue, and then painted. The rest of the gear legs were glued together, painted and decaled without any issue. Onto final assembly, and I deliberately left

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JAGUAR

7 ! F2 ER MD RD E-O PR

THE SEPECAT

A C O M P REHENS IVE G U ID E

Cover for illustration purposes only

British, French & International Versions By Andy Evans orn out of Anglo-French accord and later discord, the SEPECAT Jaguar became one of the most capable and formidable fast jets of the 20th Century. The Jaguar has served with distinction in the Close Air Support and Reconnaissance roles with the Royal Air Force and Armée de L’Air, and enjoyed some export success with Oman, Ecuador, Nigeria and India, who are now the last operators of the aircraft. Slated for retirement from RAF service in the early 1990’s, the Jaguar was suddenly thrust back into the spotlight with the Gulf War, and proved to the decision makers just what a capable and versatile aircraft they had, and one worth future investment rather than just the scrapman's torch. This new Datafile from SAM Publications is not only an account of the Jaguar's airframe, operators, roles and systems, but also a celebration of a much-loved aircraft, and one sadly missed in our skies. Includes full details of the aircraft in service, comprehensive walk arounds, colour profiles, scale plans and how to model the Jaguar in popular scales.

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THE BIG

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JU 52 TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT

COMBAT-ZONE

Hitler’s ‘Aunty Ju’

The Ju 52/3m started with a civil aviation role but proved its military worth when Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe to ferry General Franco’s Spanish Nationalist troops at the start of the Spanish civil war in 1936

Anthony Tucker-Jones takes a close look at the contribution of the Ju 52 transport aircraft to the Nazi war effort

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he highly distinctive three engine Junkers Ju 52/3m transport aircraft started life in the early 1930s in a civil aviation role, but became Hitler’s military workhorse. The 3m stands for drei motoren or three engines, but it was to gain the affectionate nicknames ‘Tante Ju’ (Aunt Ju) and ‘Iron Annie’ from the Wehrmacht. The Luftwaffe variant the Ju 52/3mg first saw action in 1936 when Hitler in support of General Franco ordered 20 aircraft ferry 10,000 Spanish Nationalist troops from Spanish Morocco to Spanish mainland. With the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 the Luftwaffe immediately took over Lufthansa’s fleet of 59 Ju 52/3mce and used them extensively along with its existing Ju 52 in airborne assault operations and supply missions. In an airlift

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capacity ‘Tante Ju’ was capable of carrying double its own weight. Employing auxiliary fuel tanks it had a range of 1300km (808 miles). However, it could only manage a maximum of 275km/h (171mph), with a cruising speed of 210km/h (130mph) and was defended by a single dorsal and ventral position machine gun. As a result it was very vulnerable to air attack and flak. This meant that while it was to conduct sterling work transporting supplies and troops throughout the war losses of airframes and aircrew were enormous. In early April 1940 some fifty-two aircraft were used to transport paratroops and infantry during the invasion of Denmark and Norway. At the time of the Norwegian campaign also in early 1940 the Luftwaffe had 571 Ju 52 transports available. Almost 300 were lost during the attack on the

Camouflaged for winter operations this Ju 52 is bringing reinforcements to Demyansk

Netherlands, this represented an entire year’s production; of a force of 493 aircraft over 270 were damaged or lost during the highly flawed airborne invasion of Crete in May 1941. Following the Battle of Moscow some 3,500 German troops were trapped in the Kholm pocket south of Leningrad from 21 January to 5 May

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45 COMBAT-ZONE – AUNTY JU

The Ju 52 suffered very heavy losses during the invasion of Crete in May 1941 when it was used to deliver airborne troops

The Ju 52 also served in a medical evacuation role on the Eastern Front

The Ju 52s resupplying German divisions at Demyansk averaged 276 tons a day

1942. A Much larger pocket was also encircled at Demyansk southeast of Lake Ilmen. Once it became apparent that Soviet field batteries and anti-aircraft guns made it impossible for transport aircraft to land, the garrison at Kholm had to be kept resupplied using DFS 230 and Go 242 cargo gliders. When glider losses became unacceptable containers were dropped by parachute. The situation had Demyansk was far more desperate and of a much larger scale. Four Soviet armies had breached the lines of the German 16th Army between Demyansk and Staraya Rusa, trapping six divisions numbering around 100,000 men. Colonel General Keller commanding Luftflotte 1 at Ostrov met with the Luftwaffe’s chief of air transport Colonel Fritz Morzik. “To ferry a daily quota of 300 tons to Demyansk,” Morzik said, “I need a standing force of at least 150 serviceable machines and we only have half that number. To double it you

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will have to draw on other fronts and drain the homeland of all available machines.” “Secondly,” added Morzik, “to operate in winter needs more ground staff and better technical equipment. I require mobile workshops, vehicles to warm up the aero-engines and auxiliary starters.” The latter was a hard request to meet; the shortage of ground personnel often meant that aircrews had to service their own aircraft. Morzik knew that the severe weather was affecting everything

from engines, fuel lines, hydraulics, instruments and the radios. All of which required constant attention to keep an aircraft air worthy; in addition taking off and landing was dangerously hampered by flat tyres the result of brittle and cracked rubber. Morzik along with his operations chief, Captain Wilhelm Metscher, over saw the relief operation from Pleskau-South. Luftwaffe transport units were gathered at Pskov, Korov’e Selo, Ostrov and

Trying to Keep the German 6th Army resupplied at Stalingrad cost 266 Ju 52 along with over 200 other types of transport aircraft

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JU 52 TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT

Preserved Ju 52 at the National Museum of the US Air Force, Wright-Patterson AFB

Riga to shift the 300 tons of supplies a day from Germany and across Eastern Prussia in a fleet of cobbled together old and converted transport aircraft. The Ju 52 units had a total of 220 aircraft but just a third were serviceable, so nowhere near enough for such an ambitious operation. Keller had little choice but agree to Morzik’s demand and send out a request for every available ‘special purpose’ unit. One such formation under Major Beckmann found itself redeployed from the deserts of North Africa to the snowstorms and forty degrees below zero of the Eastern Front. The first flight of Ju 53/3m into Demyansk, a former advanced tactical 800 by 50 yard airfield, was made on 20 February 1942. Initially it was hoped that flights by low-level single aircraft or small formations would get through, but these were pounced on by Soviet fighter aircraft. In addition at low-level approaching aircraft had to run the gauntlet of a 55km long flak corridor created by Soviet anti-aircraft artillery. Initially the Luftwaffe organised formations of 20 to 30 transports flying at 2,000 metres where possible with fighter escort. In response three fighter regiments with MiG3, Yak-1 and Hurricane fighters were despatched by the 6th PVO Fighter Corps to shoot down the Ju 52s. They lay in wait over Demyansk and as the German transport aircraft came down singly to land they attacked from astern. As soon as the escort fighters appeared the Soviet pilots would dart away. Despite the most appalling weather, prowling enemy fighters and flak, for three months - from 20 February to 19 May 1942 - the six trapped German divisions were kept alive

Luftwaffe personnel pose in front of their Ju 52

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A three engine Junkers Ju 52 takes to the skies. The Ju 52/3m transport aircraft threw a vital lifeline to German units trapped by the Red Army during 1942

thanks to the bravery of the Luftwaffe’s ‘Tante Ju’ pilots. They delivered a total of 24,303 tons of supplies and five million gallons of petrol. In addition 22,093 wounded were flown out of the Demyansk pocket and 15,446 replacements flown in. From the Luftwaffe’s standpoint supplying Demyansk by air had been a total success but it had come at a terrible cost. While an average of 276 tons a day had been flown in some 265 valuable Ju 52 transports and 383 crew had been lost. The latter was a particular blow, experienced aircrews had been expended and the pilot training programme was disrupted because instructors were used to fly on the extensive supply route. The Ju 52 losses amounted to over half the total production of the aircraft for 1941. At the same time those aircraft that survived were damaged in taxiing accidents on the frozen runways, engines had been pushed to their limit, hydraulic systems and tyres worn out. The success at Demyansk convinced Hitler that he could rely on the Luftwaffe to rescue

the army whenever need be. This conviction would cost the Luftwaffe and the Wehrmacht dearly less than a year later at Stalingrad. Under P S Stepanov the Soviet 102nd Fighter Aviation Division defended Stalingrad. Stepanov’s commanded consisted of 80 fighters most of which were either the obsolescent I-15 or the outgunned and underpowered I-16. To try and compensate for this he requested a regiment of Yak-1s. General Novikov responsible for air force planning and operations despatched a regiment from Moscow equipped with brand new Yak-7bs and Yak-9s. Massed Soviet artillery opened up on the Romanian 3rd Army’s positions on 19 November 1942 as a prelude to trapping the Germans at Stalingrad. General Pauls’ 6th Army had the choice of making a fighting retreat or allow itself to become trapped between the Don and Volga Rivers. Wanting to know what was happening Lieutenant General Martin Fiebig commanding the Luftwaffe’s 8th Air Corps in the Stalingrad area telephoned 6th Army’s chief of staff, Major-General Arthur Schmidt, with Paulus himself listening in. “The CinC proposes to defend himself at Stalingrad” responded Schmidt. “And how do you intend to keep the Army supplied?” asked Fiebig. “That will have to be done from the air,” came the reply. “A whole army?” gasped Fiebig “But it’s quite impossible! Just now our transport planes are heavily committed in North Africa. I advise you not to be so optimistic.” He then phoned his boss Colonel General von Richthofen. He in turn phoned Hans Jeschonnek the Luftwaffe’s chief of general staff. “You’ve got to stop it!” demanded Richthofen. “In the

The Tunisian air lift came at a cost - in April 1943 about 100 Junkers 52 were shot down near Cape Bon

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Luftwaffe’s sacrifice was for nothing. Paulus’s 6th Army surrendered on 2 February 1943. By the end of the battle for Stalingrad in total 676 Ju 52s had been lost – over 60 per cent of the total strength committed. Heavy losses of the Ju 52 on the Eastern Front meant production could not keep pace. Throwing a lifeline to the German Army trapped in North Africa proved equally costly and 100 Ju 52 were shot down in April 1943. In 1941 some 451 Ju 52 were delivered from the factories, but with over 500 destroyed. As a result a production line was set up in France at the Amiot factory in Colombes with subcontractors in the Paris area. The first French built Ju 52 were accepted in June 1942, with 40 more delivered in the next six months and 321 the following year. Assembly was also arranged in Budapest from German sub components and 26 were completed in January 1944; of these just four went to the Luftwaffe and the rest to the Hungarian air force. When production in Germany, France and Hungary ended in mid-1944 a total of 4,845 ‘Tante Ju’ had been built. However, the Luftwaffe’s transport units were already damaged beyond repair thanks to the fatal losses at Stalingrad the year before. Nonetheless the Ju 52 performed miracles for the Nazi war effort right until the very end. MA

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filthy weather we have here there’s not a hope of supplying an Army of 250,000 men from the air. It’s stark staring madness!” Three days after the Soviet offensive started they captured the Luftwaffe’s airfield at Kalatsch as the two pinchers of their offensive snapped shut. Predictably the fighters of General Rudenko’s 16th Air Army then set about the Luftwaffe’s 200 mile air corridor to Stalingrad. In many cases the Luftwaffe’s transport aircraft were sitting ducks; often flown by experienced and irreplaceable instructors they were cut to pieces. For example on 30 November 1942 Colonel Kitayev’s regiment from the 283rd Aviation Division pounced on 17 Ju 52s and their escort of four Bf 109s. In the aerial melee that followed one Bf 109 was shot down along with five of the transports. For the Luftwaffe maintaining the air bridge to Stalingrad was a disaster. During the eight weeks of the Soviet air blockade the Red Air Force claimed 676 transport aircraft, 227 bombers and 162 fighters. From 24 November 1942 to 31 January 1943 according to German sources the Luftwaffe lost 266 Ju 52, 165 He 111, 42 Ju 86, 9 Fw 200, 7 He 177s and one Ju 290 – a total of 490 aircraft which equated to more than an entire air corps. Once the Axis armies supporting the Germans at Stalingrad had been smashed the

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CURTISS XP-40Q-2

Curtiss XP-40Q-2 Manufacturer: Planet Models Scale: 1:48 Kit Type: Cast resin Kit Number: 104

Last of the Line Chad Summers builds the 1:48 Planet Models Curtiss XP-40Q-2

W

hile it will never be nominated for the title of ‘ultimate piston engined fighter’, the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk proved to be a solid platform. It fought in nearly every theatre of World War II, and was continuously upgraded to get the most out of the basic airframe. The XP40Q represented Curtiss’ final attempt to squeeze the last ounce of performance from the design. The XP-40Q was basically an ‘N’ model with a cut-down rear fuselage, wing mounted radiators, squared-off wingtips, and a bubble canopy to improve overall pilot visibility. Despite the best efforts of the Curtiss designers, the XP-40Q did not get into full scale production - even with a top speed of 422mph - as the Air Force already had its premier fighter in the P-51 Mustang. So the XP-40Q went no further than the three prototype airframes. I really enjoy building limited run resin kits

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and those from Planet Models are some of the best on the market. The 1:48 ‘Q’ featured here is completely conventional in nature, with the fuselage cast in left and right halves and the main wing is cast as one solid piece. The cockpit detail is sufficient, although not overly detailed, given what is possible in this medium. The landing gear is resin with the main gear legs cast with a small metal rod to add strength. Detailing inside the main gear bays is sufficient but the tail wheel bay is non-existent. The main wheels are well cast and contain some nice tread detail and a good ‘weighted’ effect. Canopies are vac-formed and two are included, and I also replaced the seat with one from Ultracast. Construction followed the typical sequence of cockpit, fuselage, wings, and ancillaries. I primed all the cockpit parts using Tamiya Flat Black, followed by a coat of Interior Green, mixed using equal parts of Tamiya Flat Green

I primed all the cockpit parts using Tamiya Flat Black, followed by a coat of Interior Green

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51 LAST OF THE LINE

The fuselage and wings were filled, sanded and any missing panels rescribed

I pre-shaded all the panel lines with Flat Black followed by coats of both Neutral Grey and Olive Drab

A Warhawk just isn’t a Warhawk without a Sharksmouth on its nose and Tamiya Yellow Green. This was followed by a black oil based wash. Once dry, I airbrushed successively lighter coats of Interior Green and highlighted instrument details and some of the structural high spots using custom mixed shades of Vallejo Acrylics. The instrument panel is a multi-piece assembly created from a main resin back plate, printed film, and an etched faceplate. After assembly, this was painted using Vallejo Flat Black and various shades of grey. Instrument bezels were simulated using small drops of fiveminute epoxy. With the cockpit assembled, the fuselage halves were joined using CA glue. The fit was good with only a small amounts of filler required along major seam lines, and as the wing was a one-piece assembly, its fit to the fuselage was pretty quick. The forward nosepiece is moulded separately and while the fit to the fuselage is good, the shape doesn’t follow the nose contour perfectly, so some sanding and rescribing of lost panel line detail was required. The machine gun barrels are moulded separately and need to be carefully removed from their casting blocks. With the major assembly complete, I sanded everything down

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The decals settled down very nicely

I highlighted the panel lines with AK Interactive Black Panel Line Wash

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CURTISS XP-40Q-2

To finish I applied a coat of AK Interactive Ultra Matt

using progressively finer grits of sandpaper, and added any details that were lost. To me, a Warhawk isn’t a Warhawk without a Sharksmouth on its nose, and fortunately the prototype of the XP-40Q received these characteristic markings. This version was finished in a two-tone scheme of Olive Drab over Neutral Grey. Since I found the basic scheme was a little bland, I took some artistic license and chose to use some aftermarket red bordered insignias and paint the spinner red as depicted on the Planet Models box art. I pre-shaded all the panel lines with Flat Black followed by

base coats of both Neutral Grey and Olive Drab. The airframe painting followed pretty much the same process that was used for the interior using various lighter and darker shades of the base colours along the panel lines and inside of each panel line to create the desired varied effect. Everything was then sealed with Johnson’s ‘Future’ and the decals were applied. I followed this up with another coat of ‘Future’ prior to highlighting all the panel lines using AK Interactive Black Panel Line Wash. When this had dried, I applied a coat of AK Interactive Ultra Matt. Each of the twelve-engine exhaust tubes are supplied as separately cast pieces and need special care. I also found the supplied resin cockpit coaming was poor, so I scratchbuilt

a replacement. As previously mentioned, the main gear legs are cast around small metal rods for added strength. The details on these units are a bit weak, but with a clean up and detail painting the results are acceptable. The canopies are clear but the frames are a bit ‘subtle’. So I highlighted the cut lines using a permanent marker to make sure I didn’t have any issues when cutting the windscreen and canopy free. I then masked off the canopy frames and painted them with my custom Olive Drab mix. The fit of the windscreen and canopy are quite good although there are really no positive locating markings.

A Warhawk just isn’t a Warhawk without a Sharksmouth

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Construction was completed by attaching all the odds and ends including propeller blades, gear doors, aerial, radio wire, and pitot tube. No navigation lights are provided so I used my references to determine their correct location and simulated them using MV Products Lenses. Planet Models provide a great base for creating a unique Warhawk variant. It looks a bit like a blend of Mustang and Warhawk, although the real aircraft was a bit too much like the latter. With so many early, mid, and late P-40’s on the market, Planet Models XP-40Q-2 allows you to create the ‘last of the line’ and fill an important gap in any Warhawk collection. MA

No navigation lights are provided so I used MV Products Lenses

Planet Models provide a great base for creating a unique Warhawk variant

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MESSERSCHMITT BF 109 K-4

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MODEL AIRCRAFT SHOWCASE #1

Hartmann’s Final Combat

Sun ick Roh adds his distinctive style to the 1:32 Hasegawa Messerschmitt Bf 109 K-4 in the markings of Major Erich A Hartmann of JG52 on his last sortie on the 8th May 1945

T

he kit used for this project was a special edition of the Bf 109 issued by Hasegawa in 2002 and a little difficult to find now. The cowling needs a bit of work, and the canopy is not quite the correct shape, but if you show it in the open position and add some hinges and a chord it’s workable. For the colour scheme I used Mr Hobby RLM 74, RLM76, and RLM 85, the latter darkened a little. The camouflage was airbrushed ion freehand and masked off accordingly. I also used various Vallejo colours for the detail painting. I also added a number of Ammo of MIG washes to better bring

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55 HARTMANN’S FINAL COMBAT

Messerschmitt Bf 109 K-4 ‘Hartmann’ Manufacturer: Hasegawa Scale: 1:32 Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded Kit Number: 32174

out the details and sealed everything in with a coat of Vallejo Matt Clear. This was an interesting project, and I hope you enjoy the photographs and they inspire you. MA

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MESSERSCHMITT BF 109 K-4

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57 CASEMATE COMPETITION

Barbarossa

Competition

M

odel Aircraft has got together with Casemate Publishing to bring you an exclusive monthly competition to win one of their latest military titles. Founded in 2007, Casemate UK is a major specialist publisher and book distributor in the UK, European and Commonwealth markets. The publishing arm of Casemate is

one of the leading publishers in the fields of military history, defence studies, and military science worldwide. Casemate’s publishing list covers subjects as diverse as Roman History, Napoleonic Wars and the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts of today.

So for your change to win a copy of: Operation Barbarossa 1941 – Just answer this simple question:

When did Operation Barbarossa commence? A) June 21 B) June 22 C) June 23

Send your entries to... Model Aircraft/Casemate Barbarossa Competition Media House, 21 Kingsway, Bedford, MK42 9BJ Or email: [email protected] Competition Rules Employees/volunteers working for SAM Publications Ltd, Casemate Publishing and associated companies or their families are not permitted to enter. Entries are limited to one per person/household. No correspondence will be entered into. The judges’ decision is final. Winners’ names will be published in a future edition of Scale Military Modeller International. All entries must reach Media House by 25th November 2016, when the prize draw will take place.

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ACADEMY F-4B

MODEL AIRCRAFT SHOWCASE #2

Spook from Saratoga Nick Williamson builds the 1:48 Academy F-4B in the colours of VF-103

A

cademy has made great waves over the past few years by releasing a new set of F-4 Phantom kits that have rivalled the long-standing Hasegawa offerings. When they were first released, I had my eyes set on the B variant, as I had never built one, and when opportunity arose, I grabbed it with both hands. The kit is very nicely detailed, and although there are a few spots that are head scratchers, it build up almost flawlessly.   Like most kits, I started with the cockpit section, and here everything is very detailed. The cockpit sits atop the nose wheel well, and plugs into the lower forward fuselage. Once this is built up, I simply aligned the parts on a flat surface and fixed them together. At this point, I build up the wheel wells, and from there the intake trunks were assembled, and the engine faces installed. The outer intake housing parts suffered from sink marks, so I filled those in with putty, and painted them white. However, they aligned nicely, but you will want to make sure you’ve got a good fit at the bottom, where a slight gap may

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present itself between the intake and the lower fuselage. From here I assembled the tail, and installed the trailing edge flaps. For this particular build I set the flaps up and canopy closed.   I started with priming the entire aircraft in Tamiya flat black, and then added a base Gull Grey colour building up small patterns over top of the black. This is similar approach to the traditionally known ‘post shading’, but I like

this effect more because it gives greater tonal variation. Once the main colours were in place, I then turned my focus to the metal shades around the exhaust housings. I carefully masked off different panels to provide tonal contrast and used mixture of Alclad and Xtreme metallic paints. I then moved onto metal areas on the horizontal stabilators, and once these were finished, I then came back over the exhaust

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MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2016

59 MODEL AIRCRAFT SHOWCASE

housing with fine strips of masking tape laid across the rivet patterns, leaving behind the cool effect of the ribbing found on the F-4’s exhaust section.   A quick gloss goat of ‘Future’, and I was ready to move into markings which were to be for a VF-103 bird. The problem is that there are no markings on the aftermarket for this. So I had to do the next best thing and have them created from scratch. Once finished, I applied a wash using black oil paints mixed with enamel thinners, which helped pop the panel lines, but more importantly, added a nice filter effect to the overall look of the aircraft, to further help break up the monotony of a standard Grey toned aircraft. Then all of the smaller items such as the main gear, the wheels, the bay doors and antennae were added, and to finish, a coat of Testors Dull Coat brought everything together. MA

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MIRAGE 2000C

Delta Blues Mario Serelle details the 1:72 Tamiya Mirage 2000C as the ‘Jaguars Last Stand’ in the Brazilian Air Force

T

he Mirage 2000C entered in service with the 1º GDA (First Air Defence Group) of Brazilian Air Force (FAB), ‘Jaguar Squadron’ in 2006 to fill an operational gap left after the retirement of the Mirage IIIE in 2005. Twelve ex-Armée de l’Air Mirage 2000C/Bs were purchased from France to serve until the Gripen E/F was selected as the follow-on fighter in 2013, the same year that the Mirage 2000 was retired. Upgraded F-5EM Tigers then took the charge of 1º GDA operations, and will operate in the role until the first Gripen reaches operational status in 2018. Despite being sold under the Tamiya label, this is the old Italeri Mirage 2000C, first released in 1992, and reboxed by the Japanese manufacturer for their local market. What we have in here is a reasonable kit with some inaccuracies,

but can be built into a nice replica with some minor effort. The cockpit is pretty basic with some raised details, which were complemented by an etched instrument panel and seat belts. The ejection seat looks a bit odd, but as I didn’t have any resin replacement available, I had to live with it. The interior was airbrushed in Grey and the details brush painted with various acrylic colours according to references. A Black wash followed by a Neutral Grey dry-brushing helped the details, and after a semi-gloss coat, Kristal Klear was applied over the instrument lens and Clear Smoke was added to the centre display. Before assembly the fuselage it was necessary to correct the nose panel lines. All details in front of the cockpit were filled with CA glue and new ones re-scribed according to references, including the radome itself, which was completely missed by Italeri. Mating the fuselages halves presented no real problem

The finished cockpit looks rather nice

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Dassault Mirage 2000C Manufacturer: Tamiya Scale: 1:48 Kit Type: Plastic injection moulded Kit Number: 60716 Eduard #SS172 Mirage 2000C Detail Set FCM Decals #72038 Mirage 2000 Decals

and soon I moved to the wings where a small modification was planned. I like to give some ‘movement’ to my models when possible, and repositioning the control surfaces is an easy way

The ‘new’ nose cone is quite different from that originally supplied by Italeri

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MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2016

61 DELTA BLUES The drop tank had its raised details sanded out and new ones scribed

The flaperons were shown in the ‘dropped’ position, adding a little more interested

The painting process began with a Black pre-shade

Black and White was used randomly over the panels to create a uneven layer where the camouflage would be added

Blu-Tac was used to mask the camouflage pattern

Despite being sold under the Tamiya label, this is the old Italeri Mirage 2000C

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MIRAGE 2000C

In my first attempt using Hobby Color H42 Blue-Grey, I thought the shade was too dark

FCM supplied masks were complemented by masking tape for painting the low-vis insignias

The same H42 paint now mixed with White gave more appropriate representation of the French Blue-Grey colour.

The painted markings are great, assuring the correct shades on the national insignias

Deep Grey and Blue Grey washes were used on the upper side to add more interest to the camouflage

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to make your kit stand out. The external stores provided in the kit are enough for a fully armed Mirage 2000C. However, to improve these parts, the drop tank had its raised details sanded away and new ones scribed in. The kit supplied R.550 Magic missiles are way undersized and were replaced by a pair from my ‘spares-box’. The major fitting problem was large gaps between the air intakes parts and the lower wings, but these were easily solved with plastic card inserts. The wing roots also required some filling but after some quick sanding I was ready to start painting. Work began with a classic Black pre-shading over the panel lines followed by randomly applied streaks on the panels. The same Black was then used to darken other panels, and White to lighten others. Brazilian Mirage 2000s wore the same Armée de l’Air camouflage scheme, but French colours are known for not having a direct Federal Standard cross-reference, but FS 36375 is a close and acceptable match to the French Light

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MODEL AIRCRAFT NOVEMBER 2016

63 DELTA BLUES

The exhaust was treated with Alclad products

Weathering the radome started with Rainmarks Effects applied to the nose cone…… …..and a soft brush was then used to blend the effect and provide a weathered look

Grey used on their aircraft. I then airbrushed Mr Hobby H308 highly thinned in several layers to preserve the pre-shading effects. Before applying the Blue-Grey colour, the camouflage pattern was masked with Blu-Tac to guarantee a soft edge between the shades. Then I sprayed the H42 directly from the bottle, but it was too dark when compared to reference pictures, so I decided to mix it 50:50 with White, and the new shade was good enough to my eyes. Next the wheel wells and landing gear parts were painted in Aluminium, the radome was airbrushed in FS 36320, and the antennas and refuelling probe were given their usual colours. Because of the specificity of French colours, FCM Decals thoughtfully supply vinyl masks for painting Brazilian low-viz markings, which have the same Blue-Grey colour of the camouflage. With this done the model received a coat of Alclad Aqua Gloss Clear in preparation for the decals. The FCM decals were applied without problems conforming to every detail. The walkway markings had to be trimmed and adjusted to the Italeri kit, but their black outlines

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Small amounts of Ammo MIG products were used to replicate some stains and leaking fluids in very specific areas

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MIRAGE 2000C

The drop tank was suitably weathered to represent dirt accumulated by handling and storage

gave the final touch to the low-vis markings. Well-done FCM! Weathering began with three different panel line washes from Ammo by MIG. Blue Grey was used on most of the airframe panels, with Deep Grey on specific panels where I wanted a dirtier effect. Black Night was applied to grilles and air vents for better depth effect, and the Blue Black wash was also used on the

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metallic areas like landing gear and exhaust. Radome’s on fast jets gets dirty as well, and to simulate this I choose to apply Ammo by MIG Rainmarks Effects from with a small brush, and then blended this with a soft clean brush as soon as the product was dry to touch. The same technique was used on several access panels around the engine, but this time using the Streaking Grime. The Mirage 2000 had a relatively short service life in Brazil and the aircraft were kept in good conditions, so fluid leak marks were kept to a minimum. The drop tank received some heavier weathering with more Streaking products and watercolour pencils to simulate dirt, scratches and scuffs created by handling these tanks on the ground. Yellow-Green and Aluminium paints were also applied to the tank tip with a sponge to simulate small paint chipping. I’m a big fan of the Dassault ‘delta fighters’ with the Mirage 2000 being the most beautiful aircraft in the range. The Tamiya (Italeri) kit lack some details and may not be 100% accurate for the most demanding modeller, but it nicely captures the aircrafts graceful lines. MA

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Airbrushing and Weathering Techniques. Airframe Album 9 The Arado Ar 234.The ninth title in the Airframe Album series will be an essential companion for anyone tackling the Fly (1/32nd), Hasegawa (1/48th), Dragon and even the Frog kits in 1/72nd scale.114 pages,period detail images.Colour profiles and by Richard J. Caruana

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The tenth title in the Airframe Album series is an essential companion for anyone tackling the Meng (1/32nd), Trimaster/Dragon (1/48th), Academy and even the older Airfix and Heller kits in 1/72nd scale.114 pages.Colour Illustartions,colour profiles,line drawings

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Aircraft described as flying wing have aroused interest of the designers since the early, pioneer years of aviation. This definition is used to describe aircraft with specific design solutions, allowing for resignation from conventional vertical and horizontal empennage and primarily from conventional fuselage.280 pages,126 archival photographs,300 renders,scale drawings 1/72, 1/48, 1/32.Hardcover

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FOCKE-WULF FW 190A-8

MIG Masterclass Reich Defender

Mario Serelle guides you through painting and weathering the Eduard Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-8

T

he Focke-Wulf Fw 190 is one of those World War II aircraft that needs no further introduction, and in my opinion is the most beautiful Luftwaffe aircraft of the era. If the Fw 190 is one of the most famous Luftwaffe fighters, then Eduard’s 1:72 ProfiPack offering is probably its best presentation in this scale. After painting the cockpit parts with A.MIG-218 RLM 66, the coloured etch parts were secured in place. A.MIG-1611 Black Night wash then was used to add depth and dirt, which was followed by a neutral grey dry-brushing to highlight the raised details. Aluminium paint and a Black watercolour pencil were then used to replicate scratches, chipping and scuffs around the cockpit and contribute to the weathered look. After a semi-gloss coat, Kristal Klear was applied to every instrument panel dial to simulate their lenses, and the work in the ‘office’ was done. Moving to the engine, Eduard supplies only the front row of cylinders but that is sufficient considering what can be seen from the cowl opening, but I decided to add some ignition cables made from cooper wire just to add a little more interest. The engine was first painted

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A Black panel wash added depth to the delicate details in the cockpit

Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-8 Manufacturer: Eduard Scale: 1:72 Kit Type: Multi-Media Kit Number: 70111

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67 REICH DEFENDER

The small engine benefited from careful painting and a Black wash

The finished cockpit, and the seat belts will be placed later in the assembly process

The Eduard supplied masks makes masking easy

Painting began with a Black primer coat

The upper side ‘marbling’ coat was created with RLM81 and White

Very diluted The RLM 76 was airbrushed on in thin layers to preserve the ‘marbling’ layer effects

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FOCKE-WULF FW 190A-8

Camouflage painting began with the RLM81 airbrushed in thin layers

With the RLM 81/83 camouflage now applied, a mist coat of RLM 76 was airbrushed to blend the mottling on the rear fuselage

Applying the ‘home defence’ markings Blue Grey and Deep Brown washes were used to accent all the recessed details

The Eduard decals are superbly printed and the options are great

Eduard’s Fw 190 is a great subject to make good use of weathering products and techniques. with A.MIG-191 Steel with details in A.MIG-032 Satin Black. The cylinders details stood out after applying A.MIG-1611 Black Night wash. Before assembling the wings major components, all wheel well parts were painted with A.MIG-217 RLM 02, and then they received a Deep Grey wash to make all nice details stand out. The solid gun barrels were also cut off and replaced with Albion Alloys brass tube. I also decided to separate the elevators from the tail planes and pose them to add a little movement to the finished model. Eduard provides five decal options, and I choose to depict Staffelkapitän Lt. Gustav Salffner’s Fw 190A-8 from 7./JG 300 based at Lobnitz, Germany in 1945. Eduard’s instructions refer to this aircraft as having a RLM 75/83, and maybe 81/83 on the upper surface camouflage. As I couldn’t confirm which one would be the correct, I choose the 81/83 pattern, which was perfect to make use of A.MIG-7209 Luftwaffe World War II Late German Colours Set. So onto the painting and first I gave the entire model a coat of A.MIG-2005 Black Primer and I started to create the base layer with a ‘marbling’

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coat of RLM 76 lightened with White. Next pure White and a darker Grey were applied to different panels to increase contrast in some spots. The camouflage colour was then applied using A.MIG-063 Pale Grey in various thin coats to make the ‘marbling’ effect visible! The same steps were repeated on the upper side, this time using Green and White. The camouflage was then airbrushed using A.MIG-206 (RLM 81) and A.MIG-925 (RLM 83), always working slowly in thin layers. The RLM 83 was thinned even more; the compressor pressure reduced to around 5 psi and the mottling on the rear fuselage was carefully painted. A misty coat of RLM 76 was then added d over the mottling to tone it down

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With the painting and weathering finished, it was time to put it all together

We Recommend Ammo of MIG Products Used in This Feature • A .MIG-7209 – Luftwaffe World War II Late German Colours

REICH DEFENDER

Model Aircraft Choice

• A .MIG-1611 – Black Night PLW

• A .MIG-2005 – Black Primer

• A .MIG-1613 – Blue Grey PLW

and blend in the effects. To add a little dirt to the underside, Red Brown was airbrushed onto selected panels and the effect again blended with a mist coat of RLM 76. I then applied a couple of coats of Alclad’s Aqua Gloss in preparation to the decals, and then I realised I forgot to paint the Blue/White/Blue ‘home defence’ tail band! So the area was masked and painted White, followed by a second mask and the Blue was sprayed on. Another coat

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of Aqua Gloss and the decals went on without problems. Weathering began with panel line washes applied to all recessed details. A.MIG-1613 Blue Grey was used on the RLM 76 areas while A.MIG-1618 Deep Brown was used on the upper camouflage. The landing gear and some selected panels also received a Deep Grey wash for better contrast and dirt effect. To simulate some oil and others leaking fluids I relied on different Brown shades of artist’s oil paint, and small chips were applied to the cockpit area, wing roots and

• A .MIG-1618 – Deep Brown PLW

• A .MIG-1403 – Earth Pigment

• A .MIG-7105 – Tyres and Tracks

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FOCKE-WULF FW 190A-8

All the weathering effects were sealed with a coat of Semi-Gloss varnish

access panels. To weather the drop tank I choose a different approach. Using a sponge, A.MIG-033 Rubber and Tyres was dabbed onto the tank tip, followed by A.MIG-194 Matt Aluminium, again dabbed with a sponge. A The a Black watercolour pencil was used to create some scuffs and Fresh Engine Oil effects were used to create fuel stains. Pigments went to work first to represent staining on the gun exhaust ports under the wings, and to add dirt to the tyres. Adding some mud effect to the landing gear doors was done with A.MIG-1403 Earth, from the Nature Effects range. All the weathering effects were sealed

with a coat of Semi-Gloss varnish, and finally the exhaust soot was airbrushed using a mix of Red Brown and Black, again highly thinned and built up in several thin layers. To represent rain marks over the exhaust soot I used a flat, stiff

brush moistened with alcohol to create delicate vertical streaks over the paint. Now with all the painting and weathering job done, it was time to put all the remaining parts together. The canopy was taped in the closed position and a 0.01mm Rigging Line was glued in place to replicate the antenna wire, so that when the canopy was opened, the antenna wire just stands loose over the rear fuselage. Building Eduard’s Fw 190 was a great pleasure! It’s a small model but very detailed and a great subject to make good use of weathering products and techniques. MA

The canopy was taped in closed position and the antenna wire installed using 0.01mm rigging line

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VOLUME 15 ISSUE 11

Produced by HobbyZone Limited under licence from SAM Publications 21 Kingsway, Bedford MK42 9BJ Telephone: +44 (0)1234 211245 Fax: +44 (0)1234 325927 Email: [email protected] PUBLISHER SAM Publications GROUP EDITOR Andy Evans EDITOR Andy Evans HobbyZone Limited, 21 Kingsway, Bedford MK42 9BJ Email: [email protected] ASSISTANT EDITOR David Francis ASSOCIATE EDITOR Andy Renshaw EDITORIAL CONSULTANT Mario Serelle EDITORIAL CONSULTANT (USA) James DiCesare EDITORIAL CONSULTANT (EUROPE) Vitor Costa The above editorial email is ONLY to be used for editorial submissions. It is NOT for subscription payments or queries, back issues or Modellers Datafile orders. Please send all of these to [email protected] STUDIO MANAGER / DESIGN Jonathan Phillips PAGE LAYOUT Andy Folds SAM PUBLICATIONS EMAIL [email protected] Use this address for back issue orders, subscriptions or subscription enquiries or book orders. Note that we cannot undertake research into specific or general aviation queries and that there may be some delays in responses from the contributors, as they are not based at the editorial address. CONTRIBUTORS Neil Atterbury; Jezz Coleman; Ian Cooper; James DiCesare; Sunhwie Hang; Alan Kelley; Sun ick Roh; Chad Summers; Brian Wakeman; Nick Williamson ADVERTISING SALES Mark Willey Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 (0)1234 224992 PRE-PRESS PRODUCTION HobbyZone Limited PRINT PRODUCTION Stephens and George Print Group, UK DISTRIBUTION COMAG Tavistock Road, West Drayton, Middlesex, UB7 7QE Telephone: 01895 433777 NORTH AMERICAN DISTRIBUTION BY disticor 695 Westney Rd South, Suite 14, Ajax, Ontario, Canada L1S 6M9 Tel: + 1 (905) 619 6565

And Finally... Lighting goes Dutch

A

s one of the original nine partner nations for the F-35 Netherlands Air Force was the second to receive the Lightning into service. The Netherlands and Lockheed Martin have a long-standing partnership of working together since 1914 – with the Dutch operating the Martin Model TA, Electra, Lodestar, P2V-5 Neptune, T-33 Shooting Star, F-104 Starfighter, P-3 Orion, C-130 Hercules, and F-16 Fighting Falcon and now, the F-35. Photographer Rolef-Jan Gort had the opportunity to snap the new Dutch F-35’s in a very enviable air-to-air session.

Contributions and photographic material are welcome, but must be accompanied by adequate postage to cover return. HobbyZone Limited accept no responsibility for loss or damage to materials supplied. © HOBBYZONE LIMITED 2016 Articles, photographs and drawings published in Model Aircraft Monthly are protected by copy­right. Reproduction in whole or in part is forbidden without prior author­ity of the publishers. Opinions expressed by contributors and advertisers are not necessarily those of the editor or publisher. HobbyZone Limited reserves the right to suspend or refuse any advertisement without giving reasons. Whilst every care is taken to avoid mistakes HobbyZone Limited cannot be liable in any way for any errors or omissions. Nor can the publisher accept respon­sibility for the bona fides of advertisers. ISSN: 2046-5386 HobbyZone Limited is a member of The paper used in this magazine is made from timber sourced from sustainable managed forests; the pulp is ECF (elemental chlorine free); the manufacturing mill is accredited with ISO14001 and EMAS for their environmental controls. SUBSCRIPTIONS Cheques/Money Orders in Sterling only made payable to HobbyZone Limited and sent to the address above. Credit card payment accepted by phone. Subscription Hotline +44 (0)1234 211245 AMERICAN SUBSCRIPTIONS Wise Owl is no longer selling subscriptions on behalf of HobbyZone Limited. Current Wise Owl customers can renew their subscriptions at the current rates directly with HobbyZone Limited: Subscription hotline +44 (0)1234 211245 – we are happy to call you back to take your order! Email ordering and customer support: [email protected] Website secure online ordering: www.sampublications.com Model Aircraft, Volume 15, Issue 11, November 2016 (ISSN: 2044-737X) published monthly by HobbyZone Limited, 2221 Niagara Falls Blvd, Niagara Falls NY 14304-5709. Periodical postage pending Niagara Falls NY. U.S. Postmaster. Send address corrections to Model Aircraft Monthly, PO Box 265 Williamsville, N.Y 14231 QUESTIONS TO CONTRIBUTORS If you have a question or query you wish to raise with any of the contrib­utors to this magazine, they should be made IN WRITING to the HobbyZone Limited address. Neither the Group Editor nor any of the contrib­utors are at HobbyZone Limited on a daily basis and the Group Editor asks for all enquirers to appreciate this fact and be patient. Please understand that the staff at HobbyZone Limited do not have access to the information you require and therefore cannot answer your questions on the phone. Please enclose a stamped SAE with all enquiries, if you anticipate a reply. Thank you. SAMPLES FOR REVIEW Model Aircraft Monthly is always happy to review new books within its pages. Any item which you feel is appropriate will be given due consideration for inclusion in the title. Any company, trade representative, importer, distributor or shop which wishes to have books reviewed within Model Aircraft Monthly should send them directly to the editorial address and clearly mark them for the attention of the Group Editor. Confirmation of receipt of the samples will be supplied if requested. For all international companies etc the above applies, but please ensure that the package is clearly marked for customs as a ‘sample, free of charge’ to reduce the risk of unnecessary delays. Thank you. COMPANY/SUPPLIERS ADDRESS DETAILS & GENERAL ENQUIRIES Please note that the Group Editor and staff at HobbyZone Limited cannot help with general enquires about contact details for companies, importers or model shops whose products may be mentioned in Model Aircraft Monthly if the address information is not included with the review etc. Please check the advertisements in this journal for all suitable UK sources and only contact the firm directly if it is noted that there is ‘No UK stockist’. We are sorry, but we cannot help with details of companies which do not advertise in this magazine. Also note that neither the Group Editor nor contributors will undertake specific or general research for enquirers. Thank you. COPYRIGHT WARNING Due to the growing misuse and breach of copyright apparent on the web, HobbyZone Limited hereby gives notice that no-one is permitted to reproduce in any way, (in original form or ‘modified’), anything published in this, or previous editions of this magazine. All design, layout and studio photography is the copyright of HobbyZone Limited. All profiles, scale plans and supporting photographs are the copyright of the individual authors. None of these may be used without prior written agreement from both the author/artist and HobbyZone Limited. Infringement is a breach of international law, so if you see items posted on the web from this magazine other than on the official HobbyZone Limited website (sampublications.com) please advise the publisher immediately.

Next Month in Model Aircraft – December 2016 Good Grief – Chad Summers builds the 1:48 Heinkel He-177

Marineflieger Starfighter – Olivier Soulleys details a Eduard F-104G

Combat Edge – ‘Phantoms Over Vietnam’ – a double bill of US Navy and US Air Force ‘Rhino’s from Peter Marshall and Sunhwie Hang

Mission Profiles - A-29 Super Tucano colours and markings

Marking Time with TwoBobs – Andy Renshaw details a T-6A/B Texan II from VT-10

Combat-Zone ‘ Battle of Britain Bomber’ – resident historian Anthony TuckerJones examines the development of the Heinkel He 111 famed for its role in ‘Eagle Day’

Royal Air Force Ventura - James Ashton tackles the recent 1:48 Revell Mk II kit

Modelling with MIG - Weathering the T-6D Texan. Mario Serelle shows you ‘how to’

Zero’ Fighter – James DiCesare builds the 1:48 Tamiya A6M5

Model Aircraft Extra – RoKAF F-16D – Sunhwie Hang details the 1:48 Kinetic kit with plenty of references thrown in!

Red 2 – James Ashton builds Revell’s big 1:32 Fw 190

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