AIR Modeller - Issue 54 (2014 06-07).pdf

MENGAIRMODELLERJUNE/JULY2014 54JUNE / JULY 2014 • £6.50 UK $14.95 www.mengafvmodeller.com & polishCHOCKS AWAY ON REVELL’S NEW 1:32 SPITFIRE MK.IIA Issue 54 cover_Layout 1 11/05/2014 14:30 Page 1

AIR 54 June July 2014 corrected_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 11/05/2014 14:04 Page 222

1 2 Mirage IIIS Albert Tureczek shows us there’s life in the old Revell 1:32 kit. 12 Me Bf 109G-14 One of Germany’s final fighters modelled by Josef Blazek. 20 CH47-D Chinook Eric Powell details Trumpeter’s 1:35 green giant. 28 Spitfire MkII A The Editor ploughs straight into a test shot of the brand new 1:32 Revell kit. 40 Big Bird B-17, Part 5 The Editor continues his build of HK Models spectacular 1:32 Flying Fortress. 46 Air Born New releases. 56 AN-26 Aleksandar Šekularac builds the big Russian transporter in Serbian Service CONTENTS Meng AIR Modeller welcomes contributions from interested parties, but cannot accept any responsibility for unsolicited material. The contents of this publication including all articles, drawings and photographs originated by AFV Modeller ltd become the publishers copyright under copyright law. Reproduction in any form requires the written consent of the publisher. Whilst every care is taken to avoid mistakes AFV Modeller ltd. cannot be liable in any way for errors or ommissions. Meng AIR Modeller is published Bimonthly by AFV Modeller ltd Old Stables East Moor Stannington Northumberland NE61 6ES Tel: 01670 823648 Fax: 01670 820274 email: david@mengafvmodeller.com Editor and Designer: David Parker Deputy Editor: Mark Neville Sales Director: Keith Smith ISSN 1747-177X We are now on Facebook, ‘Like’ us to follow what we are doing and follow our build projects. AIR 54 June July 2014 corrected_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 11/05/2014 19:26 Page 1

In 1961 the Swiss Air Force decided on a serious upgrade of their aerial defence capabilities and ordered the Marcel Dassault Mirage III. With the Doppler terrain following radar, Mach 2 capability and the IBIS fire control system the Mirage was cutting edge technology in 1961. 100 of these supersonic fighters were ordered in 1961 but they had to be customised to fit special Swiss requirements. These alterations were structural and so extensive that the Swiss Air Force received a very different version, which was known as the MIRAGE III S. The changes included a complete new radar and fire control system, the HUGHES TARAN 18, which could fire the AIM 26B Falcon and the SIDEWINDER missiles instead of the French MATRA 530. Further alterations included an extendable nose gear, strengthening of the airframe, leading edges, landing gear and the adaption of JATO bottles. The original Doppler radar had only limited use in a mountainous region and takeoffs and landings in this environment put a special strain on the airframes and landing gear. The aircraft also were stored in mountain caverns and the extended nose gear helped in lowering the tail fin in order to pass the low entrances of these caverns. Once in service however, the Swiss Mirages performed outstandingly, were loved by the pilots and remained in Service until 1988. In 1980 all aircraft underwent an extensive midlife update, which featured the addition of canard wings and the adoption of a two tone Low-Viz grey paint scheme as the most recognisable features. Beside the MIRAGE III S the Swiss Air Force also operated the Recon version III R with the camera nose and the III B trainer version, in total 61 machines, of which only three were lost due to accidents. ALPINE MIRAGE ALBERT TURECZEK BUILDS THE VETERAN 1:32 REVELL KIT MIRAGE III S 2 AIR 54 June July 2014 corrected_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 11/05/2014 18:48 Page 2

THE MODEL The model is a real classic and I bought mine in Perth/ Scotland in 2003, when I was there for the Scottish Nationals. It was very cheap and still had the same box art as it had way back when I got it for the first time as a Christmas present in 1974. I have always had a weak spot for the Mirage and I wanted to add another one to my collection. I knew the kit already and was very aware of the task ahead, which would not be an easy one. The kit is 60’s style with all the flaws and shortcomings of the period, in other words, a real challenge. The basic shape however and the dimensions are very sound and provide a solid starting point. 3 AIR 54 June July 2014 corrected_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 11/05/2014 18:48 Page 3

GETTING TO WORK My project started with a nail, a simple metal nail available from every DIY supplier. I started to work on one to shape the distinctive nose pitot of the Mirage III, to me the single most characteristic feature of the plane and a clear focal point on the model. No other fighter has this specially drop-shaped pitot and the kit part here is a joke. After shaping the nail and even hollowing it at the top with some superfine metal burrs I had a fine MIRAGE Pitot. All I had to do now was to build the model around it. I started the building with the nose, with the pitot fitted into the two nose halves and secured with Resin on the inside. To be on the safe side I added some weight inside the nose cone to avoid “tail-sitting”. The kit provides the entire jet engine which will have to be incorporated into the two fuselage halves, together with the cockpit. The cockpit with pilot figure is shaped very roughly, typical of a late sixties kit. The instrument panel was a flat piece of plastic with a nice decal. THE COCKPIT I started by building up the side panels with the consoles, switches and chart pockets. Next was the rear bulkhead and the uneven floor with the pedals. The rear cockpit bulkhead in the Mirage III is a very complex thing and was built up mostly with Evergreen styrene parts. The Martin Baker Mk 5 ejection seat was built from Styrene sheet containing the cushion, which was shaped from Milliput. The distinctive handles for the release were added from lead wire. The rather complex pilot harness with the belts was made from various folded sheets of lead foil. The Swiss Mirage had very different instrument layout from its French sister. The HUD and the instrument panel had a different appearance all together and the interior colour was overall mint green. I mixed the colour from metallic green and aluminium, 4 AIR 54 June July 2014 corrected_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 11/05/2014 18:48 Page 4

because I could not find an exact match from standard colours. The instrument panel was built up with two pieces of Evergreen styrene sheet on top of each other. I drew the circles of the instruments on the top sheet and punched them out with my WALDRON Punch and die. After this I placed them on top of each other and airbrushed a thin matt black layer on both sheets. Now I had the perfect black circles on my lower sheet, on to which I could draw the markings. For this I used a very sharp scriber from FLEX-I-FILE. This instrument allows you to change the tips to different strengths according to the job you need them for. After finishing that I had to put the needles into the gauges. The needles were cut from very thin sheet and placed inside the bezel with the help of a No 11 surgical blade and some gloss varnish. Some instruments needed a little colour spot in red and white and the artificial horizon was made from a piece of styrene rod, sanded to a half round shape and painted blue/white, with the measuring lines scribed on. After finishing up this job I placed the top sheet over the base sheet with a little distance added by some very thin plastic pieces glued between the two sheets. To complete it I punched out round bezel glass from clear plastic sheet and closed every instrument gauge with it. I used MICRO STIX from FLEX-I-FILE to place the glass parts onto each instrument and sealed them with clear coat. The switches and levers were made from rod, and various pieces of wire. Only one thing remained for me before the cockpit module was ready for fitting: The control stick. It had to be replaced with an entirely new and custom-made stick, which also had to be painted mint green. The canopy and front windshield were too thick and distorted the view through it, so I thinned it out by sanding both parts down. This way I could align the windshield perfectly with the airframe. This was not a problem for the canopy, as I would place it in open position. I built a frame from plastic strip around the glass canopy. 5 AIR 54 June July 2014 corrected_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 11/05/2014 18:48 Page 5

6 The reworked clear parts were polished to high gloss appearance. And the framing covered with metal foil, just like the rest of the model. ENGINE Revell promoted the engine as a special feature of the kit when it was released. It was a module, which could be taken out of the model to be displayed. The module was placed inside the model into a bulkhead, and this bulkhead is important to the structural stability of the model so I decided to use it, but without the engine. Instead I built a new one with the characteristic waved surface in layers, which could be permanently mounted into the bulkhead. I made the layers from lead sheet in several modules, which were glued into one another. For the engine I used parts from a cannibalised electric shaver which came in very handy! The afterburner section was another story. There is an excellent resin up date afterburner section available from a group of Swiss modellers calling themselves “Matterhorn Circle”, but I had made a promise to myself to avoid all aftermarket products and use only kit parts and things I could make on my own, so this tempting option was avoided. The parts for the exhaust were cut from metal foil. The large exhaust nozzle contains an inner nozzle, which can be regulated in diameter involving a lot of structural parts to be added. I could not use lead foil for this task, it was simply too soft and I had to find a stiffer metal. I found this on top of the wine bottles from Hardy’s, an Australian producer. The foil is much stiffer and thicker then the usual lead foil but can be bent and shaped and even ground with a motor tool. This provided me with an excellent alternative to lead foil and I have used it extensively ever since. My wine cellar now always stores a necessary amount of the relevant bottles. A mix of plastic rod and other foil was used to recreate the rather complex inside of the exhaust section. After finishing construction I painted the parts with polished steel from Humbrol. This could then easily be polished to the desired effect. AIRFRAME The overall shape of the airframe is captured amazingly well by the Revell kit, right down to the twisted wingtips, but that is about all the compliments I can pay it. The panel lines are all raised, and they are scattered randomly across the surface, not even close to the real thing. I did not really mind that because all of the raised detail would have to be sanded down anyway so my starting point was a clean surface. Armed with accurate plans and drawings I could recreate a whole new surface. For this I used templates from HASEGAWA and my scribing Instruments. The air intakes, which are a focal point of every Mirage model, were redesigned. They are too thick at the edges and the cone is not clearly defined, but is made in one piece with the back plate. I separated the two AIR 54 June July 2014 corrected_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 11/05/2014 18:48 Page 6

7 parts and replaced the back plate with a very thin one from sheet styrene. After this the edge of the cone towards the airframe could be sanded to a very sharp edge. I covered the cone with lead foil and added the missing access panel. The air intakes were glued onto the new construction after they were sanded as sharp as a knife edge. There is a gap between airframe and air intake, which was filled with resin. The Gun ports on the underside of each air intake were missing completely. Only a little recess hinted at the position of the Mirage’s main armament, the 30 mm DEFA gun. I cut out the space needed for the gun and created the inside with metal foil. The gun barrels were assembled from Copper tube from ALBION ALLOY, painted with polished steel. Finally the muzzle deflectors ware added, made from EVERGREEN sheet styrene. All over the airframe there are lots of vents, grills, outlets and small air intakes. Revell depicts these with small plastic humps, if at all. I removed all those humps and cut holes into the surface. After this I added the intakes or small ventilation panels made up from stiff Metal foil, which was cut to shape and recessed into the surface to align the newly fabricated additions smoothly into the surface. There were quite a lot of these surface additions and they were very time-consuming. But these small details really create a difference to the standard model. The surface alterations also included an emergency release box for the pilot situated on each side of the cockpit behind the canopy. Revell provides these with very nice decals, but I wanted a 3D version of this feature and cut the holes into the airframe to provide some homebuilt emergency exit release boxes, AIR 54 June July 2014 corrected_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 11/05/2014 18:49 Page 7

complete with the release handle, bent from wire and the glass cover, which had to be broken on the real one to gain access. The tail cone, containing the exhaust nozzle is provided as a removable part by Revell but this results in a poor fit of the part onto the model with a big step between airframe and tail cone, because the tail cone is simply too large in diameter. The brake chute housing on top of the tail cone, situated between airframe and vertical stabilizer is too thin and too short and had to be removed and replaced by a new design. I made one from Rod and resin. In the same process I narrowed the tail cone in diameter and aligned it with the airframe. Talking about fitting there is another issue with Revells big Mirage. The wings fit to the airframe reveals a gap of considerable width on both sides and the thickness of the wing does not work with the thickness of the wing-root. I used resin to correct this. I also separated the flaps from the wings to re-position them at s slightly dropped angle. The wing and flaps are moulded in one piece and support each other. Cutting off the flaps resulted in the collapse of the wings and I had to build an internal structure to correct this. This was made from plastic and resin, which also could cover for the inside edges of the dropped flaps. The position and anti- collision lights were replaced all together, or rather they were designed and built in as they are completely absent on the model. For this I used mainly coloured LEGO glass parts. On the wing surface I had to drill out the housings and create the lights with foil, covered by glass made with the Punch & Die set. The fairing for the lights on top of the tail fin were made from metal foil fitted with coloured and clear glass parts. The next point on the surface list was the creation of the tensioned metal skin effect. The metal panels on a plane is never completely smooth. I created the variations in the surface by sanding and grinding the surface with rubber points and polishing cloths from ALBION ABRASIVES. This was followed by the addition of rivets, thousands of them. I recreated these by 8 AIR 54 June July 2014 corrected_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 11/05/2014 18:49 Page 8

pressing the tip of a sharp needle into the plastic surface. A slight polish afterwards created the rivet effect. For alignment I used templates from HASEGAWA, VERLINDEN and masking tape from TAMIYA. LANDING GEAR The landing gear was one of the major headaches on the kit. While having depicted the overall shape pretty well, Revell falls short from the target here. The undercarriage is a joke and does not even come close the complex construction of the real thing. I started by cutting out the main wheel wells and replacing them with new deeper ones made from sheet styrene. Having them in place I had to build up all the inside structure and details of all the wheel wells, for which I used various plastic structures and sheet in different thickness. The wheels are too thin, but were the only parts I used from the original landing gear. I widened them by adding 1mm plastic fillet between the two halves. Sanding them to the proper shape and profiling them was no difficulty. The nose wheel needed a little less thickness. The brake housing on the Main wheel inside was built up and the rim was extra detailed on both sides, before I duplicated them in resin. After this the entire landing gear was built up using plastic rod and a good deal of ALBION ALLOYS metal tubes and slide fit tubing sets. They come in very handy here, but I need them to expand their range even further in the future! I had a hard time finding useable oleo struts and eventually they were provided by using dental burrs. I found the metal burrs also replicate the particular colour of these special parts exactly. The only trouble was that they had to be cut and shaped, in order to fit. Not an easy thing to do as they are made of hardened metal but Carborundum separation discs and an instrument from the dental range did the job for me. Another challenge is the position of the Main gear struts. When viewed from the front the main landing gear angles inwards and first straightens to vertical at the height of the wheel. This presented a structural problem for me, as I had to ensure the stability of my design to carry a considerable weight of the finished model. I decided to bend steel rod and weld steel profiles on each side of the angled struts with our micro laser welding gear. (This is a precision tool, which I fortunately have access to at my work). I now only had to place an aluminium tube inside the main wheels to correctly position the wheels. The nose wheel strut has a forked shape where it protrudes from the wheel well. I kept the main nose gear strut, but removed everything else. The nose gear was built in a similar way to the main gear with metal tubing and plastic parts. I added 3mm lenses from GREIF to fit my model with the specific twin landing light mounting of the MIRAGE III E/S. After that there was an awful lot of wiring to be done! I used various diameters of copper wire, insulation and lead wire of various thicknesses. Next on the to do list were the wheel well doors. They were stripped of their moulded on details, reshaped and refitted with new parts. After this treatment they were set aside to await their final positioning on the model. EXTERNAL TANKS AND MISSILES The Swiss Mirage also featured a special 1000 litre external tank. This tank could not be dropped and was fixed to the aircraft. Revell provides a fighter-bomber version of the jet and both tanks had hard points to 9 AIR 54 June July 2014 corrected_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 11/05/2014 18:49 Page 9

10 accept the bombs. The Swiss did not use this configuration and I removed the moulded on hinges on the parts. The tips of the tanks also need to be sharpened. The tanks lack any surface detail and after sanding I rescribed them. Covering them with metal foil was quite challenging due to their convex shape. Also quite unique for the Alpine Mirage was the Sidewinder AIM- 9. The kit provides two external hard points and two missiles. The launchers can be used after a thorough rework; the missiles however are useless. I raided my scrap box and fount two 32nd Sidewinder from the TAMIYA F-14 kit. They were not AIM 9, but still a good starting point. I stripped the fins, sanded, reshaped and detailed the tail fins and cut some new ones from Metal foil. These fins I anchored inside an ALBION brass tube and fixed them into the missile. They are not moveable however, but they give that impression. The Swiss Air Force had a really strange colour for their Sidewinders. I would call it desert pink, at least that is what I painted mine with. The launch rail is part of the flap and had therefore be separated and replaced because of the dropped flaps of my model. FINISHING TOUCHES The Swiss MIRAGES were organised in two squadrons, and I chose mine as a member of FLIEGERSTAFFEL 16. simply because I loved the blue emblem on the tail fin with the dragon in it. The decals supplied with this kit are the only real improvement on the kit since I had the first one in 1974. The decal sheet is impressive and the largest and most comprehensive decal sheet I have ever seen. There are decals for at least 5 machines, French, Swiss and Australian, complete with all the relevant stencilling, and are of the highest quality. I had singled out a machine stationed in Buochs with a different serial number than provided on the sheet. The Alpine MIRAGES had their coding on the tail with all the fighters having the letter J for JÄGER and the photo versions an R for Reconnaissance, followed by a 4 digit number. The Swiss used a special shaped “3” which was provided correctly on the decal sheet for the tail, but not for the nose gear door. Even my Letraset scrap box did not feature these special numbers. I solved the problem by dividing two numbers and using the upper part of the number 7. The rest of the decals were great to work with and did their job very well. This left me with one thing only, the access ladder and the wheel chock, sixties style. The MIRAGE access ladder is a tiny aluminium construction, painted in signal yellow, which could be plugged into the side of the cockpit. They look really cool and they are not provided in the kit and I wanted one. I took my hobby to my work again and bent the frame from 1.3 mm steel wire. Then I welded the whole construction together with our Micro welding Laser unit, which I use every day. That was a relatively simple task. The same method was used for the wheel chocks. Now the model was finished and needed a proper display base. To show the interesting belly of my Mirage, which was actually much more work than the upper side I decided on a mirror. I selected an oval one and wanted the Swiss cross to be in the middle. Being a Dental Technician has provided me with certain privileges over the years and this is another one. We have a sandblasting unit at work so I masked the Swiss cross in the middle, leaving the rest to be sandblasted. A Saturday morning was used on this project and it rounded up my Alpine MIRAGE project. AIR 54 June July 2014 corrected_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 11/05/2014 18:49 Page 10

11 CONCLUSION It is just like with a renovation of an old house, you start by tearing down and throwing out. You have to choose what to keep, what to rework and what to replace. A lot of modellers find that very stressful and they don’t want to waste precious time on these kind of kits. I love this challenge even though I also appreciate the wonderful new kits pouring onto the market. They do not challenge the creative side in me. Taking on a project involving an old kit like this really puts the challenge right at my doorstep and even though I cannot make these kits as fast as a modern kit and use up a lot of time on them, the result is worth while for me and the chance of meeting “clones” of your model at the next model show, because it is the newest super kit everybody has to built is remote. I just wish I had the Mirage I originally built during my Christmas holidays in the 1970s. It would be really interesting however to see both beside each other today! AIR 54 June July 2014 corrected_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 11/05/2014 18:49 Page 11

12 Messerschmitt AIR 54 June July 2014 corrected_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 11/05/2014 14:43 Page 12

13 The inspiration for this build were some documentries about the last days of World War II in Czechoslovakia that were shown on Czech television recently. I saw a lot of interesting paint schemes and planned a tank project, but during the evening I found on the Montex website a nice set of masks with Master barrels for a 1:32 scale Messerschmitt Bf-109G-14 from the last days of the Second World War which operated from Pilsen in May 1945. I immediately started looking for a suitable kit and accessories. For the construction I chose the Hasegawa kit. The kit has been around for a number of years and contains good quality moulding, but in many places lags behind modern standards. In order to improve the model I used a photo etched set from Eduard, Quickboost exhausts, Aires G-10 cockpit and of course the afore mentioned masks and barrels from Montex. AIR 54 June July 2014 corrected_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 11/05/2014 14:43 Page 13

14 I started with the cockpit which I had to modify from the G-10 version to a G-14 but the conversion was not too complicated as it was only necessary to move or remove a few instruments. The quality of castings from Aires was great and therefore it was not necessary to add any further details. For a more realistic look I replaced the photo etched seat belts with textile belts from HGW. The kit’s instrument panel was used because after using the decals the result was more realistic than the resin casting from Aires. In preparation, the cockpit was primed; this is an important step when using different mediums as it will unify the surface ready for the top coat. For painting I used a shade of RLM 66 from Aqueous Hobby Colours range by Gunze. Centres of panels and instruments are lightened by adding a drop of white paint to the base colour for contrast and to create an illusion of depth. Details were hand painted using Tamiya acrylics and then everything was coated with gloss varnish- Gunze Super Clear III. I started the weathering with black which increases the contrast still further in the cockpit. I left the parts to dry thoroughly overnight and the next day, I wiped away the excess black. Gradually, I spotted individual shades of light oil paints to lighten raised areas which lift the detail still further. Pigments were applied for realistic dirt and dust that is visible in photos frequently used aircraft, this is especially prevalent on rough airfields used towards the end of the war. Finally, the little details were cemented in place in order that the whole assembly was ready to be mounted into the fuselage. AIR 54 June July 2014 corrected_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 11/05/2014 14:43 Page 14

15 Next step was detailing of the wheel bays. The Hasegawa kit lacks any details on the side-walls of wheel bays, but the quick solution to this problem is with PE parts. By their nature they are quite difficult to fit unless they are pre formed. Before gluing main parts I added the complete lines of rivets and other surface details. This step is slightly time consuming but the model looks so much better for it. I think it is very good to spend time improving a model with rivets in a large scale such as is 1:32. To help keep the lines equally spaced and parallel, I used a pencil to outline where I wanted to apply them. The rivets were formed using a riveting tool and the surfaces were smoothed by a gentle rub down with 2000 grade sanding paper. The basic construction was very simple. The fit of the model is very good with only a small amount of filler required in a few places. For the gluing I used a combination of Gunze Mr. Cement S and Mr. Cement Deluxe. This combination results in very strong bonds and therefore risk of damage is very slight. Once dry, a quick final tidy up with 1000 grade abrasive was used in preparation for the painting stage. AIR 54 June July 2014 corrected_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 11/05/2014 14:43 Page 15

16 My favourite paints are Tamiya and Gunze. In my opinion they are ideal combination of adhesion, robustness, fineness of pigments and authentic tones. I started the painting with the yellow ID areas. It is better to start colouring with brighter shades such as red, yellow or blue in advance because their pigment does not cover very well and colour density is lost, so I recommend weathering these using post shades after completing the camouflage. As with most modellers, the next shade to be painted was the RLM 76 light blue and when this was dry, highlights were applied by lightening the base colour with white. Now it was time for the upper surfaces but unusually I started with the RLM 74 which is the darker shade; and you won’t be surprised to hear this was also highlighted with a lighter tone. I really like this technique as it adds depth to the model and is quick and efficient. The overall effect is to lighten the paint which is fine as subsequent weathering will darken things down again. All that was left to finish off the camouflage was the RLM 75. The RLM 74 was masked before the usual routine of lightening the base tone. This now left the fuselage mottling and my method was to use masks. It is necessary to put the masks in the right place because touch ups would be quite a challenge. Now the entire model was varnished with Gunze Super Clear III as a base for decals. The stencils in the kit decals were poor quality so I replaced them with Revell’s from their new release which are a big improvement. To aid adhesion of decals I used Mr. Mark Setter and Mr. Mark Softener by Gunze. Now I could start creating wear and tear of this heavily used aircraft. On most of my models I use the same procedure consisting of wash, filters, post shades, abrasions and dust. The first one is a wash that is applied over the entire surface. I let it dry overnight and the next day wipe the paint from the surface using a cotton bud dipped in thinner. Around the cockpit and in places where the ground crew would work I apply filters. It is a very effective method for fine resolution of individual parts of the aircraft and helps towards a more realistic model. For streaked grime and scrapes, I switched to oil colours and AK interactive enamel products. It is important to constantly refer to images and references in order to keep the process looking realistic. AIR 54 June July 2014 corrected_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 11/05/2014 14:44 Page 16

Montex Masks are ideal for the white balkancruz, decals would have a large area of carrier film to hide in the centres 17 All that was left to do was to attach the canopy, landing gear, propeller and antennas. These small parts I always paint and weather separately for easier handling and attach them at the end. I made the cable of the antenna from the plastic sprue stretched out over a flame. I painted the wire to black and fixed it in the appropriate place, with that the Messerschmitt was finished. AIR 54 June July 2014 corrected_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 11/05/2014 14:44 Page 17

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19 I really enjoyed the construction of this model, these older kits can be great fun. I can recommend Hasegawa’s kit to all modellers interested in the Luftwaffe inasmuch as it is well moulded and easy to put together whilst giving the modeller chance to upgrade the detail as they wish. I can’t wait for my next model of a Messerschmitt Bf-109 but this time I will go to town on the detail with a fully exposed engine! AIR 54 June July 2014 corrected_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 11/05/2014 14:44 Page 19

modelled and described by Eric Powell Trumpeter’s 1:35 CH-47D chinook 20 AIR 54 June July 2014 corrected_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 11/05/2014 15:23 Page 20

The Immortal Warrior The first flight of the YCH-47 A Chinook took place in September 1961. Chinook is an American heavy transport helicopter easily recognizable with it’s two rotors and particular sound. More than 1,164 have been built. Crewed by three men they can carry 44 troops or 24 stretchers. The Chinook has a fantastic record of longevity being constantly modernized seeing large deployment in Vietnam and during the Gulf war, they are currently in action in Afghanistan and Iraq. The US Army transformed 479 CH -47 A/B/C to D models from 1982, currently, they are being transformed to standard CH - 47E ICH (Improved Cargo Helicopter). Large external, and internal, load capabilities and high airspeeds allow the CH-47D to do the work of three utility helicopters, and give it the lowest cost-per-ton-nautical-mile of any U.S. Army helicopter. 21 AIR 54 June July 2014 corrected_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 11/05/2014 15:23 Page 21

I was really pleased a kit was released of the famous twin rotor produced by Boeing- Vertol helicopters by Trumpeter in 2005, and in large 1:35 scale it makes an impressive display. There are more than 270 parts moulded in a very nice plastic, also included are several other materials like metal items for the undercarriage and photo etched parts to refine the various air intakes, engine mesh filters and the pilots seat belts. The kit comes with a choice of two different sets of markings, one for Desert Storm 1991, 101st Airborne Division, the other one belonging to the 159th Aviation Battalion. The basic Trumpeter model was built as per the instructions, the whole assembly must be done carefully, with particular care to reproduce the fragile parts of the long antenna set, the rotors, and both engines with 24 parts per nacelle, this represents models within the model! The fit of the kit is very good which is a bonus as it’s the only 1:35 Chinook on the market. Before beginning the whole assembly, I managed to obtain a very good reference book from Aerofax ‘Minigraph 27’ (written by David Anderton and Jay Miller) dedicated to the CH-47 Beoing Helicopters covering all kinds of details, and in great detail! I also spent time searching the internet for details of the Chinooks during the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. Even though the Trumpeter model fits well, the whole assembly must be fixed carefully when joining both parts of the fuselage together, this as always is the most delicate operation. To add adequate accuracy to the model several details like a new antenna frame were replaced by a scratchbuilt set composed of Evergreen and metal wire, which will have a more refined appearance. The unrealistic engine intake nozzles were greatly modified with plastic card and Evergreen strips. Almost ‘from the box’ The Chinook's cockpit arrangement is detailed enough from the box without any great need to add extra detail, the view is limited on the finished model. The multi-part intake screens are really nice but they must be redetailed with styrene strips and plastic rivets. Exhaust nozzles were also changed. The engine nacels are equiped with air intake screens reproduced with photo etched parts and mesh for the appertures, all included in the kit. These were detailed with styrene stips and rods. Retractible searchlights are masked to protect from the airbrushing to follow. Even underneath the antenna locations are rebuilt for more accuracy. 22 AIR 54 June July 2014 corrected_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 11/05/2014 15:23 Page 22

Flare panels and other fittings often seen on the Chinooks during the Gulf War and Afghan conflicts were made with plastic card and styrene strips. To give a more refind finished look, several details like a new UHF antenna were rebuilt with 0.5mm metal rods and Evergreen styrene strips. The engine nozzle is too small and rebuilt with plastic strips and metal bracing rods to reproduce the internal detail. 23 AIR 54 June July 2014 corrected_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 11/05/2014 15:23 Page 23