The Flying Balalaika

Historical Background

The MiG-21 was a continuation of jet fighters designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Opytnoe Konstructorskoe Byuro (OKB) [Experimental Design Bureau], starting with the MiG-15. In 1954, after gathering combat data and pilot feedback during the Korean War, the Mikoyan OKB designed a new Mach 2-capable fighter prototype designated Ye-1. When the design proved underpowered, it was reworked and redesignated Ye-2. These early designs featured swept back wings but from Ye-4, a tailed delta design was used. The Ye-4 made its first flight on 16 June 1955 and made its first public appearance during the Soviet Aviation Day in July 1956. The tailed delta design, coupled with a lack of available information, led the 1960-61 edition of Jane's All The World's Aircraft to list the aircraft as a Sukhoi design and used an illustration of the Su-9 'Fishpot'.

Given the designation MiG-21 (and NATO ASCC codename 'Fishbed'), the Soviet fighter was powered by a single Tumanskii R-11 turbojet, aspired through the nose intake, like the earlier MiG designs. Airflow to the engine is regulated by a shock cone mounted on the intake. This shock cone also acted as housing for a radar. Up to PFM variant, the canopy opens forward whilst later variants are sideways-hinged. Armament originally consisted of just two 30mm NR-30 cannons, but following an incident over the Taiwan Straits in which a Chinese MiG-17 came back from combat with Taiwanese Sabres in 1958 with an unexploded AIM-9 Sidewinder in its tail, the gun armament was reduced to a single gun in order to accommodate two K-13 (the Soviet copy of the Sidewinder) IR-guided missiles and also to preserve somehow its already short range (The MiG-21 was designed as an interceptor, hence it has a short endurance). Subsequent variants have more fuel but at the expense of other performance figures. The bis is the final version of the Fishbed, entering service in 1972. It has a larger spine (but not as large as the SMT variant), a Tumanskii R25-300 turbojet producing 15,400lb of thrust with afterburner, a GSh-23-2 23mm gun pack under the belly and four underwing hardpoints.

As of today, the MiG-21 is the most produced supersonic aircraft in the world with a production run lasting from 1959 to 1985. 10,645 units were built in the USSR, 194 in Czechoslovakia and 657 in India (and counting unlicensed J-7 copies built by China). The Fishbed's simple design and low maintenance costs enhanced its marketability among the Third World countries which have limited defence budget, training programs and/or skilled pilot pool. It was also one of the Soviet designs which saw combat around the world, notably in the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and Vietnam. Despite being of an earlier design, many Fishbeds remain in service around the world allowing companies from Russia and Israel to offer upgrade packages to Fishbed users. The MiG-21 is nicknamed balalaika due to the similarity of the shape of its wings with the Russian stringed instrument.

The Kit

Until Zvezda released their MiG-21 family some time ago, Fujimi's Fishbeds were arguably the best in 1/72 scale. The kit features good moulding and nice surface details. Fujimi moulded the parts as modules to save costs - the sprue which contains the spine and tail were labeled 'MF/bis' - accurate for this kit but not for those who buy the MF version! While browsing the internet, I found that reviewers critisize that the fuselage is too long, the shape of the nose is not accurate, the tail is larger whilst the stabilisers too small! To my untrained eyes, when dry-fitting the major parts, it does look like a MiG-21bis to me. The kit provides decals for two marking schemes - a camouflaged Finnish machine and a silver/natural metal Soviet aircraft.

Construction

Fujimi provided a simple cokpit - just the tub, instrument panel and seat (plus a pilot figure, which I did not use). Instrument panel faces and side consoles are in the shape of decals. Fujimi has you paint the cockpit interior Gunze H22 Grey but looking at internet sources, it was actually a bluish green colour. I also can't nail down this colour exactly in my MiG-29 and MiG-31 kits so I end up painting the cockpit using Gunze Light Green and add a blue filter. It actually looks nothing like the real deal but that's the best I can do. Kit seat is OK but I used a resin KM-1 seat from Neomega. The seat was painted according to references found at www.ejectseatcolor.com site. I then assembled and painted the exhaust before trapping the cockpit, exhaust, nose landing gear bay and the radome between the fuselage halves. But before that I drilled the locating holes for the drop tank and the cannon.

I then added the fuselage spine and the tailfin. A bit of putty was used to close some small gaps. The location holes for wing pylons were drilled and the wing halves were mated. Even though the instructions show that only holes for one pylon per each wing need to be drilled, I found that there were extra hole locations for the second set of pylons. They were thus drilled too. The flaps were separate, allowing one to pose them in the 'down' position but I glued them in the 'up' position. Then I added the horizontal stabilisers - purists might want to replace these with aftermarket parts as the shape does not really conform to the real ones. The various air scoops were also added at this stage. As usual, the landing gears and the small parts (including the pitot boom) were left off until after painting.

Painting and decaling

I have another quirk to tell here: if the military machine is widely exported, as far as possible, I will depict it in its parent country's service, even though the export items have more attractive colour scheme and markings. As in this case, the Suomen Ilmavoimat (Finnish Air Force) option is actually more attractive with its camouflage scheme and the Black Lynx markings but I chose the more plain V-VS scheme. I painted the radome and other dielectric panels Tamiya XF-67 NATO Green and then masked them off. Fujimi's instruction called for the entire aircraft to be painted Gunze 8 Silver. However, after looking at photos, it looked like the MiGs were in natural metal. Therefore, I painted the model using Tamiya AS-12 Bare Metal Silver. Decaling is fairly straightforward. For both options, Fujimi provides numbers 0 to 9 and its entirely up to you to choose. For this model I chose '59' with the second digit chosen by my wife. There is not much to do as there were only a few stenciling plus the six Red Stars. However, the decals provided has yellowed somewhat. The panel lines were then enhanced with 2B pencil.

Finishing

The rest of the parts can now be glued. What made me worried is that many of the small parts such as the air data probe, gun gas deflector and small antennas are just surface jointed with no locating stub whatsoever (indeed some were frequently knocked off later when I clean the model from dust). For weapons, I replaced the kit's AA-2 Atoll with AIM-9B Sidewinders from Hasegawa Weapons Set (they ARE similar in appearance) and the outer pylons were loaded with AA-2-2 Advanced Atoll (a SARH-guided version of the Atoll) from Dragon Soviet Weapons set. A final spray of Tamiya Semi-Gloss Clear sealed the decals and I finally place the canopy in the open position.

Conclusion

Although it has some shortcomings, Fujimi's can still compete with the best (which in this case means Zvezda) with its simple build process and good detail overall. Like I said, purists might want to replace the horizontal stabilisers and cut down the fuselage (or buy a Zvezda kit) but to me, it still looks like a MiG-21bis.

Malayan Tiger

Historical Background

In the mid-1950s, Northrop Corporation started the development of a low-cost, low-maintenance fighter with the designation N-156. It was partly to meet the US Navy's requirement for a small jet fighter to operate from its escort carriers. The requirement disappeared with the withdrawal of the escort carriers but Northrop continued the development of the N-156 as a single-seat fighter (N-156F) and a two-seat trainer (N-156T). The aircraft featured area ruling ('Coke Bottle' fuselage) and was powered by a pair of the small General Electric J85 turbojet. In general the design seeked to reverse the trend of ever increasing size, weight and cost in fighter design. In 1956, the trainer version was selected by the US Air Force to be its next advanced trainer, replacing the T-33 as T-38 Talon. Despite successful tests, the fighter version did not catch the attention of the US military - the Air Force interest in it waned whilst the Army was not allowed to operate fixed-wing aircraft and it looked like the programme would be scrapped.

However, the Kennedy Administration revived the project with the requirement for a low-cost export fighter in 1962. The N-156F was declared the winner of the F-X competition and was designated F-5A, nicknamed 'Freedom Fighter'. In 1970, Northrop won the International Fighter Aircraft competition. The IFA was held to select the replacement for the F-5A, with better air-to-air capability against aircraft like the Soviet's MiG-21. Initially designated F-5A-21, the aircraft was subsequently designated F-5E Tiger II (the first Tiger was Grumman's F-11). It featured a more powerful version of the J85, a lengthened and enlarged fuselage, enlarged leading edge extension for better maneuverability and radar. Fixed armament remained the same : a pair of M39 20mm cannons. Various customer-specific equipment can also be fitted such as ECM, INS and TACAN. The F-5 family (which also includes F-5B and F-5F trainers and RF-5A and RF-5E Tigereye) was an export success - more than 1,500 were built by Northrop with a few hundred more built by licensees in Canada, Spain, Switzerland, South Korea and Taiwan.

The F-5E became the first supersonic aircraft in the Royal Malaysian Air Force when it received its first batch of Tigers in August 1975* to replace the CAC CA-27 Sabre then in service. Besides its air superiority role, the Tigers were also used in close air support duties, supplementing the Canadair CL-41G Tebuans. 14 F-5Es and two F-5Bs (later sold to Thailand and replaced with a similar number of F-5Fs) were delivered. A further two F-5Es and a single F-5F were delivered in the early 1980s as attrition replacements. They served with No.11 and No.12 Squadrons at Butterworth. In the late 1980s, No.11 Squadron was disbanded (reformed in the 2000s flying Sukhoi Su-30MKMs) and its aircraft absorbed into No.12 Squadron. With the introduction of the MiG-29 and F/A-18 Hornet into RMAF service, the Tigers were placed in reserve. There were reports stating that the surviving airframes were to be converted to reconnaissance role. However, the status of RMAF's Tiger remain uncertain as of today, even though there are photos of at least one of them wearing a new overall grey colour scheme.

The Kit

Mini Hobby Model was a new name to me. But from appearances and word of mouth, it looks like Trumpeter's alter ego. The kit comes in a relatively large box for a small 1/72 plane. The box art is quite strange as it depicts a USAF F-5E flying over a battlefield, complete with burning tanks and aircraft - the USAF (and USN) only use the F-5E as adversary aircraft in training! Upon opening the box, it looked like this kit is actually a copy of Italeri's. The major difference is that the wings are no longer integral to the upper fuselage and that the panels are engraved. The bad points of the Italeri kit were retained however. This includes : ejection seat split in the middle and oversized Sidewinders. To add insult to the injury, the MHM kit have the following deficiencies not present in the Italeri kit: no demarcation line on cockpit transparencies, wrong shape of the windshield, overly thick horizontal stabilisers, wrong LEX position, less detailed landing gear and wrong shape for the external fuel tanks. Decals are for a USAF Aggressor and a Swiss machine (the Italeri kit includes a third option, a RMAF aircraft).

To spruce up the kit, I picked an Eduard Zoom PE Set for the F-5. This is basically a basic PE set which concentrates on the interior of the aircraft especially the cockpit. As I intended to build a TUDM machine, I bought a Scale Nutz decal sheet but was disappointed when the sheet only includes the national insignia, 'TUDM' titles, squadron symbol and serial numbers only. So I stopped the project temporarily whilst waiting for VFA Productions to release their F-5E decal sheet. Also during the hiatus, I managed to procure a Tamiya boxing of Italeri's F-5 so the Italeri kit will act as a donor to replace the MHM kit's bad parts.

Construction

As usual, construction started at the cockpit. I sanded off the details on the kit's instrument and side panels in order to accommodate the PE parts. The Eduard replacement parts  for the instrument panel consists of a clear celluloid piece with bezel and dials marked on them and the instrument panel face. The instrument face was stuck to the celluloid using white glue and the assembly was glued to the plastic using tiny drops of superglue. I should have painted the bare plastic white as it could allow the 'dials' to be more visible. The plastic rudder controls were also replaced with PE. The side panels were painted light grey using Tamiya Surface Primer and then painted Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black. I intended to use thinner to remove some of the black paint so that the grey paint under the relief shapes can be exposed, but I think I waited too long and the black barely came off. The PE for throttle control was not used because I simply can't handle the tiny bits! I felt that the ejection seat look a bit anorexic so I added a little putty to the seat back to simulate cushion (plus it hid the ugly seam down the middle). The cockpit was then painted Gunze H317 (Dark Gull Grey). I did not use the MHM stick as it was poorly molded and used the Tamiya's instead. I then installed the PE parts for the seat, which includes seatbelts and oxygen hose.

Before closing up the fuselage, I installed the two clear parts representing landing lights on the bottom half of the fuselage. The cockpit assembly was glued to the upper half and the tailplanes were also installed at this time. I however used the tailplane from the Tamiya kit as it was more in scale than the thick MHM part, despite the fact that it has raised panel lines. The fit at the rear of the fuselage was not good and I have to fill the resulting gap. The intakes were added and the wings fitted. Dry-fitting shows that the LEX is too far forward and I have to cut the mating tabs to align the wings into the proper position, using the Tamiya part as guidance. I also replaced the vertical tail with the one from the Tamiya kit. Then it was time to paint the model.

Painting and Decaling

As I mentioned earlier, I wanted to build this model as a Tiger in RMAF service. I bought VFA Production's 'RMAF Tigers and Scooters' decal sheet. The sheet provides decals for early (aluminium) and later (camouflaged) marking schemes and also a rare 'Aggressor' scheme. I originally wanted to the Aggressor aircraft but eventually decided to do the 'regular' camouflage scheme. I first painted the exhaust area using Gunze 8 Silver and Gunze 61 Burnt Iron. When dry I masked off the area and went on with the rest of the fuselage. RMAF Tigers were painted using FS36495, FS36440 and FS36375 greys. I painted the colours using Gunze Aqueous. The radome and the anti-glare panel was painted XF-1 Flat Black. For markings, I chose aircraft M29-01 of No.12 Squadron. The decals were printed by Microscale and adhere well to the glossy surface. All decals were then subjected to Mr Mark Decal Softer.

Finishing

The remainder of the parts can now be glued. I however replaced the landing gears with the ones from the Tamiya kit. The AOA vane was also replaced with an Eduard replacement. The cockpit transparencies were replaced with the ones from the Tamiya kit. I decided to pose the canopy in the open position. However, since this kit is a copy of Italeri's, it also features a very simplified canopy opening mechanism. For weaponry, I discarded the kit's fat Sidewinders and replaced them with AIM-9Js (RMAF actually use AIM-9Ps but any difference is internal) from Hasegawa's weapon set. I did not put any other ordnance as RMAF's Tigers were rarely seen with underwing weapons. Finally, the panel lines were enhanced using 2B pencil and Tamiya Semi-Gloss Clear were sprayed over the model.

Conclusion

A satisfying build despite the shortcomings of the kit. Some modelers (including me) might prefer MHM's offering over Italeri's purely on the basis of the engraved panel lines. Yes, there were some extra effort that need to be done by the modeler, but it was nothing a reasonably skilled modeler cannot do.







*Some sources mentioned that the RMAF was the first operator of the F-5E in South-East Asia. This is wrong as The Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF) of South Vietnam was actually the first, operating F-5Es from at least after the general US withdrawal in 1973. 

Donkey Up North

Historical Background

In 1933, Nikolai N. Polikarpov of the Polikarpov Design Bureau began designing an advanced fighter. It was to be of monoplane configuration, with retractable undercarriage and fully enclosed cockpit (the canopy was removed on later variants). The engine of choice was Wright Cyclone 9-cylinder radial engine (later built under licence by Shvetsov) enclosed in a NACA-type cowling. Similar to the Gee Bee R-1 air racer, the new aircraft has short, stubby fuselage. The prototype TsKB-12 was accepted on 22 November 1933, before it has even fly. The aircraft was of mixed construction, with wooden fuselage  and steel alloy wing spars. The wing skin was made of aluminium on the center and the leading edges with the rest in fabric. Armament consisted of a pair of 7.62mm ShKAS machine guns in the wings with 900 rounds of ammo. Service trials of the now-named I-16 began in March 1934. The aircraft was shown to have superior speed and climb rate and also good roll rate. In short, it was the most advanced fighter aircraft in the early 1930s.

The I-16 was used in combat by the Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War from 1936 where it reigned supreme over the biplane Heinkel He 51, Fiat CR.32 and Arado Ar 68 flown by the Nationalists and their allies. It maintained that position until the introduction of the Messerschmitt Bf 109. It was also bloodied over the skies of the Far East by the Chinese against the Japanese and also during the Battle of Khalkin Gol (The Nomonhan Incident). However by this time (1939) it was acknowledged that the design has become obsolescent. The addition of armour, radio, battery and flaps in subsequent variants have degraded the type's performance. However it remained in front-line service by the time the Germans launched Operation Barbarossa, making up roughly a quarter of the V-VS strength. The main German fighter, the Bf 109, had the advantage of ceiling, rate of climb, acceleration and horizontal and diving speed whilst the I-16 was more maneuverable than the early Bf 109s and could fight the 'E' version of the Bf 109 on equal terms. Still, of the 1,635 I-16s at 21 June 1941, only 937 were left two days later, mainly being the victim of sudden Luftwaffe bombings of their airfields. On the 30th the number dropped further to 873. To help stem the aerial onslaught, a number of I-16 pilots chose ramming as their tactic, sacrificing themselves in the process.

The I-16 was nicknamed Ishak (donkey) because of the similar pronunciation with 'I-16'. The Spanish Republicans called them Mosca (fly) and Rata (rat) the by the Nationalists. The Finns called the I-16 Siipiorava (flying squirrel).

The Kit

Eduard released the first of their 1/48 I-16 kits, the Type 10, in 2006. It was met with rave reviews (with the usual dissenting voices however) by the modeling community, being superior to the Hobbycraft/Academy kit. The Type 10 was followed by the release of Types 17, 24 and 29 and also the aptly named Royal Class. Each of the release has their subtle differences just like the real aircraft (the real Type 24's salient points were four machine guns, flaps, tailwheel and second door flap on the right side).  All the kits feature top-notch engraving and surface detail plus PE parts and painting mask. Eduard also released their so-called 'Weekend Edition' kits, which are simplified  (no PE and masks and just one marking option) version of the the original releases. The Weekend Edition of the Type 24 features markings for an I-16 flown by Major Boris Safonov, 72SAF, Northern Fleet.

Construction

In a break from the norm, Eduard have you started from the fuselage halves. Me, being a traditionalist, started my build from the cockpit. The parts were painted Tamiya XF-5 Flat Green and details in Flat Black. The instrument panel was made up from plastic and decal only without PE alternatives in the original release. Next, the sidewalls and the relevant parts on them were painted XF-66 Light Grey. The exhaust stubs were then glued to their respective places - a quite difficult job as there were no positive location markers. The fuselage halves were mated together and the assembled cockpit module inserted from the bottom. Next, the upper and lower wing halves were glued together and the assembly mated to the fuselage.

The rear fuselage assembly consisted of the tailplanes, tailcone, tailwheel and the rudder. All have mating tabs sans the rudder. The engine was painted steel and inserted into the cowling. As this the Weekend edition, there was no PE cowling vent cover so the vents are in the 'fully open' position. Finally the gun breech covers were glued and the rest of the parts were left off until after painting.

Painting and Decaling

As with the Yak-3 beforehand, the bottom of the I-16 was painted XF-23. After browsing around, I painted the upper surfaces XF-5 Flat Green. Although not stated in the instructions, the drawings and box art show a thin silver band on the cowling. I masked the surrounding area with Tamiya tape and painted the band using Mr. Color 8 Silver. 

Eduard provided just one marking scheme, that is of Major Boris Safonov of the 72nd Guards Mixed Air Regiment, Soviet Northern Fleet at Murmansk. By the time he was killed on 30th of May 1942, he was credited with 25 kills. He was also twice Hero Of The Soviet Union (the second posthumously). The subject for this Eduard release is the aircraft he was most famously photographed in - number 11 with the inscriptions 'Za Stalina!' ('For Stalin') on the left side of the fuselage and 'Smert Fashistam!' ('Death to Fascists') on the right.  The decals are thin and adhere well with no silvering. As usual, they received the Mr Mark Decal Softer treatment.

Finishing

The remaining parts were now attached. I forgot to drill the locating hole for the gun camera behind the cockpit, so I had to resort to Mk1 Eyeball. The spindly-looking main landing gears were next and despite its looks, were quite strong . The I-16 has retraction cable from the wheels to the wheel wells, to be simulated using wire but since the correct gauge wasn't in my possession, I defer this feature for later. Finally a spray of Tamiya Flat Clear finishes off the built.




Conclusion
Eduard has come up with another with another winner in their I-16 series and have done justice to one of the most significant aircraft in history. The Weekend Edition allows modelers with lower budget or with less abilities to have one in their collection. Another note, despite the title, it took me almost a fortnight to finish the I-16!

The Last Gunfighter

Historical Background

In September 1952, the United States Navy announced a requirement for a new fighter. It was to have a top speed of Mach 1.2 at 30,000 ft with a climb rate of 25,000 ft/min, and a landing speed of no more than 100 mph. Korean War experience had shown that 12.7mm machine guns were too light for arming fighters and in its place, 20mm cannon was specified. The Vought design team came up with the V-383 design. The most innovative aspect of the design was the variable-incidence wing which pivoted by 7° out of the fuselage on takeoff and landing. This gave increased lift due to a greater angle of attack without compromising forward visibility because the fuselage stayed level. Power came from the Pratt & Whitney J57 afterburning turbojet. The armament, as specified by the Navy, consisted primarily of four 20 mm autocannons. They were supplemented with a retractable tray with 32 unguided Mk 4/Mk 40 Folding-Fin Aerial Rocket ("Mighty Mouse" FFARs), and cheek pylons for two (later, four) AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles.

Competition came from Grumman's F-11F Tiger, the upgraded twin-engine McDonnell F3H Demon (which would eventually become the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II), and North American's modified F-100 Super Sabre dubbed the "Super Fury". In May 1953, the Vought design was declared the winner and in June, Vought received an order for three XF8U-1 prototypes (after adoption of the unified designation system in September 1962, the F8U became the F-8). The first prototype flew on 25 March 1955 and exceeded the speed of sound during its maiden flight. The development was so trouble-free that the second prototype, along with the first production F8U-1, flew on the same day, 30 September 1955. On 4 April 1956, the F8U-1 performed its first catapult launch from USS Forrestal. Crusaders went into squadron service with VF-32 Swordsmen in 1957. Since the Crusader happened to be the last U.S. fighter designed with guns as its primary weapon at that time, it was nicknamed 'The Last Gunfighter'. The fighter community also came up with the slogan 'When You're Out Of F-8s, You're Out Of Fighters' (which was later adopted by Vought) as a dig to the gunless F-4 Phantom.

The F-8 was in the thick of the fighting in Vietnam from 1964 to 1968 (plus a lesser role from 1969 to 1973); the Navy's Crusaders flew from the smaller Essex-class carriers whilst the Marine Corps flew theirs from land bases. All deployed Crusaders flew air-to-air and and ground attack missions. The F-8 shot down 19 enemy planes and lost 3 in aerial duels over North Vietnam. Despite the 'Last Gunfighter' moniker, only four of the kills were made with the cannon. This was mainly due to tendency for the cannons to jam in high-g maneuverings. Despite having the best kill-loss ratio, the Crusader was actually ranked third, behind the 'bomber' F-105 in overall kills. The F-8E (originally designated F8U-2NE), introduced in 1961, was equipped with a larger APQ-94 radar, IR seeker and ground-attack capability. 296 were built.

The Kit

Modelers around the world eagerly anticipated the release of Academy's F-8 a number years back; I was one of them. I unhesitatingly bought one when it was available at Miniature Hobbies (then at SS14 PJ). The kit is well-moulded although a number of parts were marred by ejector-pin marks. For those who want to show the Crusader's unique variable-incidence wing, Academy allows the wing to be posed in the raised position. The cockpit is nicely done with good (but not great) ejection seat. Unlike Hasegawa kits, Academy includes a decent weapons options: four AIM-9 Sidewinders, four Zuni 5-inch twin rocket tubes and eight 500-lb Mk 82 Snakeyes plus the related single and twin launch rails for the Sidewinders and Zunis and MERs for the Snakeyes. Also included is a pair of Matra R.550 Magic AAMs, indicating a future F-8E(FN) release (since released as an F-8P). Markings are provided for two machines : VMF(AW)-333 'Fighting Shamrocks', MCAS Yuma, March 1967 and VMF(AW)-232 'Red Devils', NAS North Island, November 1967. The decals are nicely printed but having built a number of Academy kits before, I was quite wary of their usefulness. 

Construction

The cockpit was painted Gunze H317 and details in Flat Black. Decals were applied to the instrument panel and side consoles. The seat was assembled and it looks quite good OOB, except the faceblind ejection handle is overscale and best replaced with wire. I painted the intake trunk halves white and then mated them carefully to avoid seams which would be next to impossible to sand. The main landing gear bay parts were assembled and painted. The sub-assemblies were then glued to one side of the fuselage halves, but before that, holes were drilled where needed.  The wing parts were then glued; I chose to pose the wing in its neutral position. As for the airbrake parts, I glued them in the closed position. The air scoops for the afterburner were attached and the exhaust was painted Burnt Iron before being inserted into the exhaust shroud. The rest of the parts (landing gears and their doors, stabilitators, canopy, windshield and ordnance) were left off, painted separately and attached later.

Painting and Decaling

As this was a 1960s US Marine aircraft, it was painted using Gunze H51 Light Gull Gray and White. Gunze 61 Burnt Iron was used to paint the exhaust shroud and the radome was painted with Tamiya XF69 NATO Black. The wheel wells were painted XF2 Flat White.

For the markings, I chose the VMF(AW)-333 option - an out of character option I might add. When modeling military aircraft, I usually choose markings for 'war veterans' - aircraft in which markings that have fired shots in anger. In this case, both VMF(AW)-232 and -333 served in Vietnam but the latter's tour in Vietnam was done with Phantoms. However the green shamrock motif on the tail was pleasing to my eyes, so it won over VMF(AW)-232's 'Red Devil' markings. And as I feared, the decals were hard to fix in place but nevertheless I managed to get them all done. To Academy's credit, they provided decals for sealant tapes usually placed on the edge of the cockpit transparencies - both on its own and with the black anti-glare panel (which I use). But because of the un-stickability of the decals, part them were torn off as I handled the model and had to be replaced with the spare decal and black paint. 

Finishing

The remaining parts were then glued to the model with the nose probe, the IR seeker on the nose and some lights being the most vulnerable to the Carpet Monster. As for weapons, I armed my Crusader with air-to-ground load : Snakeyes on the wing pylons and Zunis on the cheek 'Y' pylons. Finally I attached the canopy and voila! The Crusader is completed...or so I thought. When I took the photos, I realised that I forgot to attach the panel (or whatever it is called) at the rear of the canopy! By that time however, the sprues were somehere at the local dump site. Arghhhhh!!!

Conclusion

Academy's release of a 1/72 F-8 was eagerly awaited by modelers and they duly obliged with one of the nicest model kits in 1/72. Shame about the decals though although I believe there are a number of aftermarkets sets available. Academy have also reboxed this kit as F-8J US Navy and F-8E 'VF-111 Sundowners' with waaay better decals from Cartograf.

Monsieur Yak

Historical Background

In 1941, the Yakovlev Design Bureau presented their I-30 proposal as an alternative to the Yak-1 fighter. It was to be powered by a Klimov M-105P producing 1,050hp and armed with three 20mm ShVAK cannons and two 7.62mm ShKAS machine guns. Construction was all-metal although the second prototype had a wooden wing. Operation Barbarossa however caused the project to be abandoned in fall 1941. In 1943, Yakovlev designed the Yak-1M which was a smaller, lighter variant of the Yak-1. The second -1M prototype had plywood instead of fabric covering of the rear fuselage, mastless radio aerial, reflector gunsight and improved engine cooling and armour. Yakovlev's test pilot was so impressed with its the aircraft's performance that he recommended that it should completely replace Yak-1 and Yak-7 in service, leaving only the Yak-9 to proceed. The new aircraft, now designated Yak-3 entered service in 1944, later than the Yak-9 despite the lower designation number. Armament was however reduced to a single 20mm ShVAK firing through the engine crankshaft and a single (after the 196th aircraft, two) 12.7mm Berezin UBS machine guns in the upper fuselage.

Powered by the same engine as the Yak-9 (1,300hp VK-105PF), the smaller Yak was a successful dogfighter - agile and easy to maintain. In the Eastern Front it excelled in low- to medium-altitude combat resulting in a Luftwaffe order that 'Pilots should avoid combat below 5,000 meters with Yakovlev fighters lacking an oil cooler intake beneath the nose' (Yak-3's distinctive recognition feature is it's oil cooler intakes are inside the wing roots).

One of the units operating the Yak-3 was the Free French Normandie-Niemen Regiment. Charles de Gaulle, the Free French Forces leader felt that French servicemen should serve in all fronts during World War 2 and on 1 September 1942, de Gaulle announced that the Groupe de Chasse (GC) 3 Normandie was to be sent to the Soviet Union. After the training period, the Groupe was declared operational on 22 March 1943.  They gave good account of themselves and became the focus of Soviet propaganda, so much so that Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Keitel announced that any captured French pilots will be executed. In 1944, the Groupe was expanded into a Regiment. During the campaign around Dubrovka, Josef Stalin ordered the regiment to style itself Normandie-Niemen in recognition of its participation in liberating the Niemen River area. The Regiment fought all the way to East Prussia where it ended the war. The pilots, along with 37 of their Yak-3s (offered by the Soviets as their token of appreciation) returned to a heroes' welcome at Paris on 20 June 1945. The regiment claimed 273 enemy aircraft shot down and lost 87. Four of the pilots - Marcel Albert, Marcel Lefevre, Jacques Andre and Roland de la Poype were made Hero of The Soviet Union.

The Kit

This kit is a reboxing of Eduard's original Yak-3 (catalogue number 8028) in the 90s. While kit no. 8028 is a 'Profipack' (base kit plus PE, resin wheels and canopy masks) release, the Normandie-Niemen kit (catalogue number 8029) has just the plastic parts which came in two grey and one clear sprues. Or maybe one can say that it was the 90s equivalent of Eduard's own 'Weekend Edition' kits (but with more decal options). Moulding of the parts is very good with no flash. There is not much surface detail, after all the real thing was mainly wood - so no panel lines. There is no external stores either as the Yak was almost exclusively a dogfighter. Decals are provided for four machines. Also included is a small errata sheet.

Construction

Naturally, I started with the cockpit. Construction was a breeze as (i) Russian WW2 cockpit was a spartan affair and (ii) parts rendered in PE are now unavailable. The sidewalls and floor were painted Tamiya XF-22 RLM Grey with details picked in white, black and dark grey.  The fuselage halves were then mated together, followed by the wing assembly. The fit was very good although the same cannot be said of the tailplanes. The engine upper cowling was also attached - also not a good fit, resulting in an overhang on the right side. Before attaching the canopy, I glued the gunsight mount, the gunsight and the armoured glass. I then painted the wheel wells Tamiya XF-22 but left the landing gear assembly until later. Before painting commenced, I masked the canopy and the wheel wells.

Painting and Decaling

All the the painting options have the same colours (albeit of differing patterns) : AMT-11 and AMT-12 Greys and AMT-7 Blue. I painted the greys using Tamiya XF-53 Neutral Grey and XF-54 Dark Sea Grey. The blue was a bit problematic; in a previous built, I used a mixture of Tamiya X-14 Sky Blue and XF-1 Flat White. I have run out of X-14 and have to look for a suitable, or at least, the closest match. I eventually settled on Tamiya XF-23 Light Blue. The propeller spinner was painted the French tricolore using XF-7 Flat Red, XF-2 Flat White and a heavily lightened XF-8 Blue.

Eduard provided markings for the following planes:
- White 5, Lt. Roger Sauvage, Eastern Prussia Late 1944
- Yellow 40, Lt. Maurice Armager, Eastern Prussia late 1944
- Double circle, Col. Louis Delfino, CO Normandie-Niemen East Prussia Early 1945
- White 12, Armee de l'Air, Late 1945

I chose the markings for Lt Sauvage's plane. The decals are nicely thin but translucent, especially the arrows causing the colour demarcation line to show up underneath them. They are however quite fragile - the portside arrow broke when I moved them but I managed to patch it back. Finally Mr Mark Softer was applied to all the decals. The fiddly bits were then attached and the model was coated with Flat Clear.

Conclusion

This was my first Eduard kit and I was quite pleased with the experience although the overall finesse was lost with the deletion of the PE parts. It was easy to build anyway and I was hoping to build more kits from this company, especially their Bf 110 and Hawker Tempest kits.

Pacific Diver

Historical Background

In 1936, the Japanese Navy issued a specification for a monoplane dive-bomber to replace the Aichi D1A 'Susie' then in service. Mitsubishi, Nakajima and Aichi submitted their proposals - only Mitsubishi failed to get to the prototype stage. The wings of the Aichi proposal were inspired by Heinkel's He 70 while fixed landing gear was used for simplicity; the low speed of the aircraft also contributed towards it. The aircraft was powered by a 710hp Nakajima Hikari 1 radial engine. However initial tests proved disappointing, so the second prototype was modified to redress the problems. The Hikari engine was replaced with 840hp Mitsubishi Kinsei 3 in a redesigned cowling. The wings were slightly lengthened and  stronger dive-brakes fitted. The outer sections of the leading edge have washouts to counter snap roll problem and the vertical tail enlarged to imrpove directional stability. The changes fixed all the problems except directional instability and ensured that Aichi's proposal prevailed over Nakajima's D3N1.

In December 1939, the Japanese Navy ordered the D3A as Navy Type 99 Carrier Bomber Type 11. Production models differed from the prototype with slightly smaller wings, more powerful Kinsei 43 (1,000hp) or Kinsei 44 (1,070hp) engine and a long dorsal fin which eliminated the stability problem. The changes also made the aircraft more maneuverable, and like Douglas' SBD, can be used as emergency interceptor aircraft. The D3A was armed with two fixed forward-firing 7.7mm machine guns and a flexible 7.7mm machine gun in the rear cockpit for self-defence. Normal bombload was a single 250-kg bomb under the fuselage and two 60-kg bombs under the wings. Carrier qualification trials were done during 1940 on board the Akagi and Kaga. The D3A1 were present in all major naval engagements in the first 10 months of the Pacific War. Apart from the Pearl Harbor attack (which the D3A1 worked in conjunction with Nakajima B5N level- and torpedo-bomber), the 'Val' (name given to the D3A1 by the Allies) were responsible for sinking more Allied warships than any other Axis aircraft. Notable victims of the 'Val' include HMS Hermes, HMS Dorsetshire, USS Langley and, also in conjunction with the Kate, USS Hornet.

In 1942, an improved version, known as D3A2 or Type 12 were introduced and surviving Type 11s were relegated to training units.

The Kit

Hasegawa originally released a 1/48 kit of the Val in the 1970s. To keep up with the times they released a new tooling of the Val in 1999 (which is this kit). The kit came in six sprues with good detail overall. The clear parts include separate canopy panels so one can pose them in the open position. Decals for two aircraft were provided: a green/grey machine from carrier Soryu during the attack on Pearl Harbor (more on this later) and a ame-iro-painted aircraft from carrier Zuikaku, also during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Actually one can built almost any Vals participating in the raid as the sheet includes a 'number jungle' for aircraft from all six carriers of the Kido Butai.

Construction

The cockpit, as usual. received the first attention. The Val's interior colour was different from other Japanese aircraft of the same era. Hasegawa specified a mixture of Gunze Yellow, Green and Brown for that bamboo-ish colour.  I did not have the Gunze paints so I substituted them with Tamiya's equivalent. Detail parts were painted in their specific colours. The rear gun can be made in the 'up' or stowed position - I chose the 'up' position. The fuselage halves was then mated together, followed by the wings and tailplanes. Fit of the wing to fuselage was not good though and I have to fill the resulting gap with putty. However I failed to take into account putty shrinkage which still caused a bit of gap on the right wing (smaller than previously, though). The engine were next, painted in Mr. Color 28 Steel and dry-brushed Mr. Color 8 Silver before being enclosed in the cowling. Smaller parts, dive brakes, canopy parts and external loads were left off until later.

Painting and Decaling

I chose the marking option for the Val flown by Lt. Commander Engusa from the carrier Soryu during the Pearl Harbor attack. However, research have shown that Lt. Cdr Engusa probably flew an ame-iro painted Val, just like every other Vals during the attack. However he did fly the green/grey machine during the Indian Ocean raids in March 1942. Hasegawa specified that the green is a mixture of their Mitsubishi Green and Yellow. I did not have the former, so I substituted it with Tamiya XF-11 IJN Green. The bottom colour was painted using XF-12 IJN Grey. The cowling was painted using XF-69 NATO Black. The tailplane and stabilisers were painted XF-7 Red.

Once the paint was fully dry, it's off to the decaling stage. Hasegawa's decals are quite thick but they responded well to Mr Mark Decal Softer. There weren't much markings to fix though, just the Hinomarus, tail markings, wheel spat markings and the rear marking stripes. Tamiya Flat Clear spray was then used to seal everything off.

Finishing

The smaller parts can now be attached to the model. One note: the ring-and-bead sight could be better represented by a photo-etch metal part. The canopy parts were then stacked according to the instructions except for the pilot's, which I put it in the closed position. The Val was then subjected to a sludge wash.

Conclusion

Some modeler might go crazy with aftermarket stuff to build their models but I think Hasegawa's Val is a good kit by itself out-of-the box. There was really no problem, except for that wing to fuselage fit.