First another model of the Waco CG-4A, this time from Italeri in 1/72. This kit has been in my Treasure trove for many years and I had no great enthusiasm for making it. However, after having completed the little Anigrand 1/144 kit of the CG-4A last month I was interested to see what a larger scale model of it looked like. Not much different from the smaller scale one really. There is more detail here and there but this kit is 45 years old and shows it’s age in several ways, including the cockpit which is more imaginative that you would get in a modern day kit. It is not difficult to assemble and only needed a moderate amount of filler. The nose of the real CG-4A folded up and you can also make the model with the nose up to show the modest interior. There is what could be a hinge to do this if you wanted to make the model that way but the instructions I had - which was for the original release - don’t tell you what those parts are for and, anyway, they were unnecessary since I made the model with the nose down. There are two decal options, for a 1943 invasion of Sicily one or for a 1944 Operation Overlord version, but that comes with the black and white invasion stripes which would have been more work than I was willing to put into this mediocre kit.
Following on the 1950s RAF theme and to make use of the AK Real Color RAF 1950s fighter set that I used to paint last month’s Gloster Javelin, I put together this Xtrakit 1/72 Supermarine Swift FR.5 kit. Long before most of you were born I made the old Hawk kit and thought the finished model was pretty nifty, but kit design and manufacture has moved on a lot since the 1960s with the result that this kit is light years ahead of that old kit. Even so, let me summarize my thoughts about the Xtrakit kit by saying that Airfix now offer a Swift FR.5 and, knowing what modern Airfix kits are like, I reckon you should make one of those instead if you have the option. For example, the ejector seat in the Xtrakit is not one of the high watermarks in kit making so I bought an after-market seat, only to discover that the kit cockpit is too shallow for the seat to fit without major surgery. It was not a good start to what was only a fairly ordinary modelling experience. The kit offers options for two aircraft, one with a High Speed Silver underside ant the other in PRU Blue, so I finally got to use the other pot of paint in the AK Real Colors set.
The highlight of the month was this little Monogram 1/72 Grumman F8F-2, another excuse to use the lovely SMS Dark Sea Blue lacquer paint. This kit dates from the beginning of the 1970s but remained the best kit of the F8F until this year when Hobby Boss released a new kit (which I have yet to see, so I’m being hopeful). This kit is very old in terms of kit philosophy and design but still excellent to outstanding in terms of accuracy and appearance. The only change I made was to substitute some SuperScale decals for the ones in the box.
Here are three I made earlier.
This Heller 1/72 Potez 63.11 is not one of Heller’s best kits but it does capture something of the strange appearance of this little reconnaissance aeroplane. There is a more recent Azur kit of this aeroplane which should prove to be more detailed and accurate when I can work up the enthusiasm to confront that much more challenging kit. I used Modelmaster enamels on this kit, oh that they were still available today.
I can find no mention of this Entex 1/144 Rockwell XB-1A on the interweb so it obviously doesn’t exist. I made this model in 1980, finished in white paint with a clear gloss varnish. Forty years later the white has turned to yellow; that’s the passage of time for you.
At the height of its powers Monogram made some magnificent and big model kits. This 1/72 Boeing B-52D is one of them. It took a lot of work but it remains one of my favourite builds. By the way, did I mention that the kit makes up into a very big model.
