Trumpeter A-37B Dragonfly Light Ground-Attack Aircraft 1:48

[Mike]

A-37B Dragonfly Light Ground-Attack Aircraft
1:48 Trumpeter

Designed and built by Cessna, is to the T-37, as the British Strikemaster is to the Jet Provost. It was developed from the Tweet basic jet trainer to fulfil the light ground-attack role, and saw action in Vietnam and beyond. The Dragonfly was vastly uprated from the Tweet to carry sufficient munitions to effectively carry out the Counter Insurgency (COIN) role, carrying a GAU-2B/A Gatling gun, stronger wings with three pylons each for stores, strengthened landing gear and uprated military-grade avionics to dovetail with the other assets on the battlefield.

The initial batch of airframes were designated A, and after installation of new engines, additional strengthening of the airframe to enhance durability, and an in-flight refuelling probe with the attendant hosing running around the windscreen, almost 600 were built. After Vietnam, the aircraft continued in service, adding observation to its list of tasks, as well as export sales to numerous air forces in South America and South East Asia, a few of which remain in service at time of writing.

The Kit
Previously in this scale we have had the ageing Revell Monogram offering, but this is a new tooling from Trumpeter, who initially led with the A, and now give us the more numerous B. It arrive in a standard top-opener blue-striped box, showing a SEAC camouflaged B, and curiously enough, an OV-10 Bronco in the background. Another possible future kit, maybe? Hopefully. Who knows?

Opening the box you are greeted by five sprues in grey styrene, one in clear, a sheet of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, two decal sheets, two painting guides, and a separate instruction booklet in landscape format. Detail throughout appears to be very good, and the external panels of the fuselage and wings has an interesting patina that should prove a good key for your first coat of paint after which it would disappear. The big goldfish bowl canopy covers the side-by-side cockpit, which is first in line for construction, using a complete tub that is well detailed, has separate rudder pedals and dual control columns, plus a pair of three-part seats that have PE seatbelts added. The instrument panel covers the front of the cockpit, and you get a set of decals to augment the neat moulded in detail, but you'll need a steady hand or masking tape to mark out the black panels on the grey backdrop, because the decals are instruments only. The coaming has a number of parts added to the top before it is added into the fuselage. Before the fuselage can be closed up, the nose wheel bay needs constructing from three parts, with detail sufficient for most needs. With these two assemblies built up, they slip inside the fuselage on locating lips moulded into the fuselage sides. There is also cockpit sidewall detail on both sides, which should be painted at the same time as the cockpit to save duplication of effort. The wings are full-width on the underside, and the intakes with their front compressor blades are attached to the front of the wing-roots. The intake trunking is built from vertically split halves, with another circular part blanking it off with the blades and bullet moulded in. The exhausts are moulded as a single cylindrical part each, with the rear of the engine moulded into another circular part. The top wings are added, and here you will notice that the tip-tanks are moulded in, so get those well lined up to minimise clean-up later. The fuselage and wings are joined from underneath, so check fit before you apply the glue, adding a spreader bar from sprue if you need them, although from past experience with Trumpeter's fit, this probably won't be necessary. It is always worth checking however. The air-brake in front of the wing is a single part that sits under the cockpit, and has ribbing detail moulded in on the underside of the cockpit… you did remember to paint it, didn't you? You can pose this open or closed at your whim, with the two landing lights added under the wings. The tail and rudder are moulded into the fuselage, but the elevators are separate parts that are added using the usual tongue and slot method. A PE blade aerial is glued toward the top of the tail, along with a small forest of additional parts around the small hump-back behind the cockpit. The air-to-air refuelling probe sits on the nose, but this feeds the tanks indirectly by a pair of faired-in hoses that pass each side of the cockpit like a doctor's stethoscope, disappearing into the top of the wingroot. A pair of FOD guards are included on the sprues, which is a pretty rare occurrence, but as these aircraft were frequently pictures wearing them, it's a nice touch to have them in the box. The separate nose cone tip is aligned by a pin at the lower edge, into which you place two small clear lights. The canopy is in two parts, and can be posed open or closed by using a longer or shorter central strut. The windscreen has a small instrument added to the top-centre, and the hood has two side rails and PE rear-view mirrors installed before it is attached to your choice of opening jack.

The landing gear is simple, with each leg consisting of a main strut, retraction jack and one-piece wheel. The nose-wheel fits between the arms of a yoke, while the main wheels attach to pins projecting from the brake hubs. The bay doors have hinges moulded in, and the inner main doors have an additional jack part added as per the real thing. A number of antennae are added to the underside, and the built-in intake FOD grilles are built up from laminated PE, which is bent to follow the profile of the recess into which it fits. You can choose the pose that suits you, from stowed away, hanging down (often seen), or in place over the intakes. Just check your references to ensure you are using them correctly.

The Dragonfly was a bomb-truck, and two of the sprues are filled with four fuel tanks and other munitions, as below. Each one has a pylon with separate sway-braces, and the fuel tanks have small PE strakes added to their undersides before installation.

2 x LAU-3 rocket pods
2 x SUU-14A/A rocket pods
2 x M117 bomb
2 x Mk.81 bomb
2 x SUU-11 minigun pods

The final page of the instruction booklet shows which munitions could be carried on which pylons, but check your references for likely configurations if you are going for a realistic load-out.

Markings
Three schemes are available from the box, two of which are from American operations in Vietnam, the other a lesser known scheme from Chile. The decals are well printed with good registration, colour density and sharpness. There are plenty of stencils for the airframe, and a whole page of the painting guide is devoted to the painting and decaling of the weapons. From the box you can build one of the following:

• South Vietnam 516th Fighter Squadron, 41st Tactical Wing, 1st Air Division, 6807912 – Four colour SEAC camouflage with blue fuselage band with white stars, and yellow/red additions to the national markings.
• Chile, Grupo 12, FACH, J-63 – overall grey/green camo with Chilean shield, and white 632 on opposing wings.
• USAF, 182nd Tactical Fighter Group, South Vietnam, 69-389 - Four colour SEAC camouflage.

Conclusion
A well detailed kit of an oft ignored aircraft that looks surprisingly purposeful when loaded up with fuel and munitions.

Highly recommended.

Review sample courtesy of