C-160 Transall

[Paul A H]

C-160 Transall

1:220 Revell

The Transall C-160 is a twin-engined military transport aircraft developed in partnership by France and Germany in order to provide the French Armée de l'Air with a replacement for their aging Noratlas fleet and the German Luftwaffe with military transport capability. The C-160 has also been used by the air forces of Turkey and South Africa. 214 aircraft have been produced by since the prototype aircraft’s first flight in 1963. It is due to be replaced in French and German service by the Airbus A400M.

The kit comes packed into a tiny end-opening box, inside which are three small sprues of dark green plastic, a sheet of decals and instructions. This is clearly not a modern kit; there is a fair amount of flash on the parts, panel lines are raised and even the shapes of the roundels are moulded onto the plastic. Nevertheless, as just 24 parts make up this simple little kit even those with modeller’s block should be able to build it in an afternoon!

Construction is simplicity itself. There is no interior supplied, so all that has to be done is fix the nosegear in place before the fuselage halves are joined. The wings and horizontal stabilisers have to be fixed in place next. Revell provide a handy diagram so you won’t get your angles wrong. All that remains to do then is assemble and fix the undercarriage pods in place (these just butt-join to the fuselage) and assemble the engine nacelles and airscrews. It really is that simple!

Two colour options are provided:

• A C-160D of Lufttransportgeschwader LTG 63, Hohn, Germany, 2007; and

• A C-160F of 61eme Escadre de Transport ET 3 /61 “Poitou”, Orleans-Bricy, France, Summer 2002

The decal sheet is small but nicely printed. Incidentally, transparent parts are represented by decals rather than clear plastic, which I think makes sense in this small scale.

Conclusion

This is a basic little kit but it looks like it would be a fun project to occupy a few hours of modelling time. Mounted on a simple stand it would probably make a nice desk ornament.

Review sample courtesy of

[JosephLalor]

Looks like a re-pop from the Heller Cadet range from the 1970s.

Joseph