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XF5U-1 Flying Flapjack 1:48 KittyHawk At a time when engineers were struggling to squeeze every ounce of speed from the piston engines that had almost reached their limit in terms of power, there were some radical solutions proposed, and one such aircraft was the Vought XF5U, which began gestation during WWII as a carrier fighter with high top-speed, but good slow handling characteristics for deck operations. By mounting the two props at the edges of the disc-shaped blended fuselage/wing and giving them opposite directions of rotation, the prop-wash cancelled the energy sapping vortices, giving the aircraft a higher top-speed and allowing it to use a smaller lifting body to achieve its performance. That benefited carrier stowage as well as saving materials, so a great deal of effort went into developing the concept. Based on a smaller prototype, the test aircraft was constructed and began ground trials that ended up with some small hops, but never fully-fledged flight if you'll excuse the pun. Vibration issues remained by the time the project was cancelled in 1947, by which time it was over-budget and being closed upon rapidly by the jet-age. It was doubtless an interesting proposition that struggled to find its feet due to the radically different technologies needed to make it function reliably, but it was ultimately to be the more promising jet engines that sealed its fate. The Kit An unusual choice by KittyHawk, but an interesting one nonetheless, from an age where anything was considered to steal a march on the opposition. The kit has been tooled to represent the development airframe, however the box art shows a what-if scene of a Flapjack scything through the sky having just destroyed a Japanese fighter that was attacking an Allied bomber stream, firing cannons at the next target "off-screen". Very nice artwork it is too. Inside the box are four sprues of mid-grey styrene, which are irritatingly (from a reviewer's point of view at least) still linked in pairs, having been folded at their centres at the factory. Clear parts are individually bagged, and a separate ziplok bag contains a tiny sheet of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, and three decal sheets of varying sizes. The instruction booklet is portrait A4(ish) with a glossy colour cover with fold-out inners that contain the colour guides. The rear cover has had its fold-out pasted closed at the factory however, and another page in thinner stock inserted in the centre of the booklet, possibly due to a mistake in the profiles, or more likely due to the large Animé/Manga style decal that has been removed from one of the decal sheets for wider release. The sprues are square, so there's a reasonable amount of room in the box, because the Flapjack was a small aircraft. The part count is also fairly low due to the blended nature of the design, with two large top and bottom fuselage/wing surfaces taking up the majority of two of the sprues. Construction is therefore straightforward and consists of creating the small cockpit from a floor panel, seat with PE belts, side and rear panels, plus the instrument panel, which has a decal for it and the side consoles. Rudder and control column finish off the area, and little more is needed due to the small opening in the fuselage. The two main gear bays are also built up from panels, and have the five-part gear legs and two-part twin wheels added before they are installed. Spacer ribs help to hold them firmly within the fuselage once installed too, which is good design. The small tail wheel uses the same construction method, although the twin wheels are single parts due to their size. Two exhaust tubes are made up and installed in the lower wing, at which point the four assemblies can be added and the airframe closed up. A turtle-deck behind the pilot is added, and twin main-bay doors are inserted on separate hinges, as are the tail wheel bay doors. Cockpit glazing is in two parts, and is thin with very little in the way of distortion, allowing the canopy to be posed open or closed. A gunsight is added before gluing the windscreen in place, after which the various airframe details are brought together, such as the twin intakes in the leading edge; twin tails and elevators; two inserts in the top and bottom engine humps; the two part elevons with separate mass-balances and formation lights in clear; the crane-like arrestor-hook, which deploys from the upper fuselage; and of course the twin props. The blades are separate from the spinner, which is made up from two parts each for the cylindrical extension and the spinner itself. Happily the blades are keyed, so will be easy to get set up to the correct angle. If you're doing the prototype, all you need do is bring these final assemblies together and add the clear nose dome, but KH have thoughtfully supplied a pair of bombs and pylons if you wanted to go a bit whiffy. There aren't parts for guns however, so you'd be expected to add those yourself from tubing. Markings There appears to be a decal for a Japanese manga style character missing from the three sheets, as evidenced by the half-moon edge of one of them. A small picture on the box contents page gives that fact away as do the stuck-together pages in the instruction manual, and a blanked off image on the box, so I guess that one of these little aircraft featured in animé somewhere along the line, but KH probably thought that the average Gaijin wouldn't be interested. From this boxing you can build one of three airframes, as follows: US Navy – Midnight Blue with red prop blades & substantial walkways on upper surfaces. US Army – Uncle Sam Wants You – Midnight Blue with large Uncle Sam decal and stars on the upper surfaces, red/white rudders & red prop blades. US Navy – All over silver with red prop blades, and red/white rudders. The decals are spread across three sheets, with the national insignia, walkways and striped rudder panels taking up the majority of one sheet, while the tiny sheet contains just two images of Bugs Bunny on a flying carpet. The sheet with Uncle Sam on also contains the instrument decals, but the words "I want you" has the I replaced with a bullet, and O an oozing bullet-wound, which I've not seen before and find a teensy bit disturbing. The figure image seems to have been culled from one easily found on Google, so I hope they don't run into any copyright issues! Quality of the decals is good, with sharpness, register and colour density up to standard, and the thin carrier film tightly cropped. Conclusion A nice model of an interesting technological dead-end during the last days of WWII that should provide a quick easy build due to its simplicity, although detail hasn't be sacrificed at all. If you read our reviews regularly, you'll see I like the esoteric so you can imagine that this one is right up my street. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of and available soon from major hobby shops

Bell P-39Q/N Airacobra KittyHawk 1:32 The P-39 Airacobra was designed in 1937 in response to a tender by the U.S. Army Air Corps. In many respects the P-39 Airacobra was an unusual aircraft. The basic idea was to install a powerful engine as close as possible to the aircraft's centre of gravity in order to improve maneuverability and stability. An Oldsmobile T-9 37 mm cannon fired through an opening in the propeller spinner. The P-39 was the first American fighter to fitted with a freely rotating nose-wheel. The Airacobra also aroused interest in the British Air Force; the RAF however later rejected the aircraft. The Russian Air Force also expressed strong interest in the aircraft and initially took delivery of 179 units. The U.S. Army Corps also equipped some of its newly formed units with theP-39, including the 8th and 35th Fighter Groups which operated out of New Guinea. Often underrated in the West the P-39 proved to be an exceptional aircraft in the Far East. Its top speed of 580 km/h was sufficient to dominate an A6M Zero in a dogfight. The Model There’s something about the P-39 that even get’s my normally maritime modelling juices flowing, and having a new one released in 1:32 is always good to see. The kit comes in a very attractive top opening box with an artistic impression of the aircraft in flight high above the clouds, (not the normal operating area for a P-39, but there you go). Inside, there are four double sprues of light grey styrene. Thankfully, Kittyhawk haven’t folded these over, as is their usual modus operandi as the box is big enough to have them laid flat. Also included in the kit is a sprue of clear styrene, a small etched sheet and two decal sheets. The mouldings are very nicely reproduced, but, and it may just be me, the details are a little soft. It may just be the styrene, or my eyes, but they are lacking some sharpness seen in other manufacturer’s releases. There is also a small amount of flash, although, thankfully, this is only seen on the sprues themselves, rather than the parts. There an awful lot of moulding pips, which will make cleaning up of parts a little more time consuming. The kit does feature a lot of the interior with a lot of panels that can be left open to show it all off, which in this scale gives the modeller a great opportunity to really go to town with the super detailing, yet detailed enough out of the box for the less ambitious/OCD modeller to enjoy. The instructions are a little messy, but clear enough to see what goes where, just needs a little careful reading to fit all the parts in their correct positions. Construction starts in the middle, with the assembly of the lovely little Allison engine. The block and cylinder heads all come as two part sub-assemblies, which are then glued together, followed by the exhaust manifolds, a large two part cooling fan, crankcase, fuel pipes, carburetor, and a host of smaller items. With the engine assembled, construction moves to the cockpit. The long floor section also includes the floor for the gun bay and engine bay and is fitted out with the joystick, prop shaft extension, and a couple of control boxes. The cockpit area is then fitted with the two spent cartridge chutes, and three part seat, which is provided with a full harness. In the gun bay area, four two part oxygen tanks are fitted, whilst in the cockpit area the throttle quadrant, complete with trim wheel are glued into place. The gun bay is assembled from a selection of trays, braces and semi-bulkheads. The top tray is fitted with a couple of radio/navigation boxes, whilst fitted under the tray is the 20mm cannon, which is made up of two parts and glued to the three piece ammunition tray. The instrument panel consists of two styrene parts onto which the various decal panels are added. The completed panel and rear cockpit bulkhead are then fitted into their respective positions within the cockpit area. The two machine guns fitted above the 20mm cannon are glued to the two piece ammunition tank, after which they are fitted into the gun bay, along with the 20mm ammunition belt and its two guides, whilst the engine assembly is fitted behind the cockpit bulkhead. Above the engine the radio tray is attached to the cockpit bulkhead and is fitted with radio set and control box. The nose wheel bay is now assembled from seven parts and fitted with the nose wheel oleo, which has a separate scissor link and fitted with the two part wheel, and the nose leg retraction actuators. The propeller hub is assembled from five parts and fitted to the forward end of the gun bay via the propshaft fitted earlier. The fuselage halves are then detailed with the fitting of several fuse boxes and the radiator core before the cockpit/gun bay/engine assembly is glued to one half of the fuselage. Aft of the engine there is another tray, this time fitted with what looks like a gyro compass unit. This tray fits in the top half of the rear fuselage, whilst there is what looks like a piece of fuselage structure fitted behind that. The fuselage can now be closed up. The propeller is made up from a separate back plate, two piece hub and three separate blades. The spinner is then attached and can be fitted with one of two styles of cannon muzzle depending on the mark being modelled. The roll over hoop is then fitted aft of the seat along with the engine and fixed gun bay panels and the propeller assembly. The cockpit canopy is attached and the removable gun bay panels fitted into place. With the fuselage turned upside down, the radiator exhaust ramp is fitted, along with the oil cooler ramps, rear fuselage panels, two piece DF aerial loop and two piece rudder. The cockpit doors have separate clear parts and can be posed open or closed. The main wheels consist of two part wheels, single piece oleo, two piece scissor links, upper and lower outer bay doors. The single piece main wheel bays are glued to the upper wing sections, along with the four piece gun bays, after which the wings can be closed up and fitted with the separate flaps, which can be posed retracted or deployed, machine gun pods, with separate muzzles, identification lights, navigation lights, oil cooler intakes, separate ailerons, plus the upper and lower machine gun bay doors. The completed wings are then joined to the fuselage, along with the horizontal tailplanes, complete with separate elevators and the upper fuselage panel is attached. The inner main gear doors are then glued into place, along with their actuators. The modeller has the choice or loading the aircraft with either a single bomb or drop tank. Both are made from two halves and fitted with two cradles before being attached to the centreline. Decals There are two decals included in the kit, one large and one small. The larger of the two contains all the national insignias for the four countries schemes included on the paint charts, along with the id markings for each option and the stencils for one aircraft. Whilst beautifully printed in very bright colours and mostly in register, the centre spots on the French and Italian roundels are slightly off centre making them look a little droopy. The Soviet stars and US Stars N Bars are perfect though. The smaller decal sheet contains the instrument panel decals, and the banner, playing card and crest markings for three of the colour options. The options provided are:- P-39Q, GC 111/6 “Travail”. Armee de l’Air P-39Q-5-BE “Snooks 2nd”, 71st TRS, 82ns TRG, 5th AF, USAAF P-39Q-5-BE, 1st AE, 30th GvlAP, 6th IAK, Co of 1st AE, 1st Lt. A. P. Filatov, 1945 P-39Q, 1st AE, 213th GvIAP, Co of 1st AE Assistant, 1st Lt. M. I.Orlov P-39N-1-BE, 9 Gruppo, 4 Stormo, Italian Co-Belligerent AF, June 1944. Conclusion This is a very nice new kit of the P-39Q/N with plenty of detail and marking options. Overall a quality kit, although it is let down by a very slight softness on some of the details, whilst at the same being beautiful and crisps in other areas. The interior detail is very well done, and will provide a good base for those modellers who wish to add more. The choices of markings is good, just a shame that all the roundels aren’t centred. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of and available soon from major hobby shops

These were done for the P-40 STGB, which was very enjoyable (like all Group Builds!) I decided to do an Aleutian theme, since I grew up in Alaska and that campaign has always interested me. All of them are 1/72, and the build thread is here. First up is an Academy 11th FS P-40E Aleutian Tiger. I tried a few modifications in an attempt to correct some of the Academy kit's peculiarities: bulbous spinner, upright canopy and straight spine. The spinner was replaced with the Quickboost resin set, and the canopy was replaced with an AZ one, and the spine was reshaped a little in order to accept the canopy. Next is an AZ/Legato Kittyhawk IA of No 111 Sqn RCAF. This is a Sword P-40K 'deputized' by 111 Sqn and used by Ken Boomer to score the RCAF's only aerial victory to take place over North America. Last up, a Swork P-40K of the USAAF 344th FS based on Shemya Island in 1945.

I'm pulling a bit of an 'Enzo' for this GB and hope to complete four builds, all 1/72: 1. Academy P-40E as a USAAF 11 FS 'Aleutian Tiger'. I know this scheme has been done to death, but it wouldn't be a proper Aleutian collection without it. I bought the Quickboost spinner and propeller set for this kit, and I may try and attach a different canopy if my skills allow. 2. AZ/Legato Kittyhawk IA of RCAF 111 Sqn that served in Alaska, and it points out the fact that the British Commonwealth was active in the defense of US territory and North America itself. 3. Sword P-40K of RCAF 111 Sqn as flown by Sqn Ldr Ken Boomer when he achieved the RCAF's only aerial victory to take place over North America. Of note is that his aircraft was indeed a P-40K and not a Kittyhawk III, as for a period weather conditions were too dangerous to bring in more aircraft and several USAAF P-40K's were 'deputized' by 111 Sqn with RCAF roundels replacing the USAAF stars, but otherwise retaining USAAF markings and serial numbers. 4. Sword P-40K of the USAAF 344th FS based on Shemya Island, in a silver scheme - just because I think it would be fun to make a silver Aleutian P-40. The plan is to start the P-40E and Kittyhawk IA together and then follow on with the P-40K's if things are going smooth enough. I grew up in Alaska, but have never visited any of the Aleutian Islands (the state is gigantic). Even though I now live in 'the lower 48', the Aleutian conflict still retains my interest to this day. It is often referred to as the 'Forgotten War' in Alaska. It is so forgotten that I think that the rest of the country feels that the phrase should refer to the Korean War. Above are a few references for the builds. Thanks Mish, Mungo, Dazdot and Wyvern for organizing this group build - can't wait to get started.

My entry into the Lesser Built Air Forces Group Build is the 1/32 T-6 Texan by Kittyhawk. When this kit came out Zotz decals did “North American T-6 ‘Texan in the African Wars’”. I zapped that puppy up as soon as it was available. After looking at the choices on the sheet (there are 12!) I was drawn to the aircraft serving in Biafra due to its very different camo scheme. Of course astute observers will notice, nice camo scheme, but where are the national markings? It seems I am using a very fancy decal sheet that has many and various colorful options solely as a painting guide! It does not appear to have any markings on the craft and all of the stencils were painted over when the camo scheme was applied. Looks like I will have to be forced to buy a few more of these kits to justify the purchase of the decal sheet. (Hey any reason, no matter how small or illogical, will work when it comes to feeding the stash monster.) My next task is to do a bit more research to see how these were used, the weapons load and if there were any markings on them. I am looking forward to this build as this will be my first Kittyhawk kit.

Aerospatiale SA.365F/AS.565SA KittyHawk 1:48 Developed from the single-engined Aerospatiale SA 360 Dauphin variant, the twin engined SA 365/AS365 Dauphin 2 is one of Eurocopter's most successful designs. This workhorse is widely used as a corporate transport, airborne law enforcement platform, emergency medical services (EMS) helicopter, electronic news gathering platform, and search & rescue helicopter. One of the distinctive features of the Dauphin is its fenestron tail rotor as first used operationally in the Aerospatiale/Westland Gazelle. The military version of the Dauphin is the Eurocopter AS.565 Panther, developed from the AS.365 N2, which is used in ASW, ASuW and SAR roles. The model The kit comes in a surprisingly small, yet deep box with an artists impression of the helicopter overflying a French aircraft carrier. Inside is packed with medium/light grey styrene, of which there are seven sprues, along with one clear sprue, one small sheet of etched brass, There are also a small, yet colourful sheet of decals for the outside and a smaller sheet for internal use. The kit looks superb on the sprues, having finely moulded panel lines, fastener and other surface details. There is no sign of flash on the parts, but just a bit on the central areas of the sprues. Strangely, the sprues are moulded in pairs then folded over which looks a bit awkward at first, but they are easily separated. There doesn’t appear to be any noticeable faults like sink marks anywhere on the parts and whilst the sprue gates aren’t particularly large the removal of the main rotor blades should be done with care as the gates are on both the leading and trailing edges. They will also require some careful cleanup to keep the fine edges undamaged. The instructions and exploded views are well drawn and very clear as to parts location. The build begins with the construction of the main rotor gearbox, which comes in five parts including the lower swash plate. Onto this the gearbox supports, cyclic and collective jacks, other ancillary items are attached. Moving onto the main rotor, the four blades are attached to the head by upper and lower ink arms. While it doesn’t mention it, it doesn’t look too difficult to have the rotor blades posed in the folded condition. The main rotor spindle is the fitted to the underside of the rotor head, along with the pitch control rods, intermediate fixture and upper swash plate. The spindle is then fitted into the main gear box and the whole assembly is completed by the fitting of the rotor head top cap. The build then moved to the interior, with the fitting of the front and rear bulkheads, centre console, which is made up of three styrene parts and the etched instrument placards. The cyclic and collective sticks are then fitted into their respective positions. The instrument panel is an etched brass part onto which a decal is laid. Decal solutions will be need for them to lay correctly and bed down around the instrument bezels. Four smaller etched parts are then fitted along with further decals on top. The cabin seats are then attached to the cabin floor and the pilot and co-pilots seats are fitted with etched seatbelts and fitted to their positions. There doesn’t appear to be any belts for the cabin seats which is a bit of a shame as they should at least have lap belts. Once the instrument panel and glare shield is fitted, a two piece frame is then fitted between the front and rear rows of cabin seats and the rear cabin roof attached between this frame and the rear bulkhead. The upper console is made up of two sections, when joined together the forward section is fitted to the front of the cabin floor, and lies over the glare shield, whilst the rear section is attached to the cross frame. Two small fire extinguisher bottles are fitted to outside of the two pilots’ seats and the winch control is fitted to the starboard side of the cabin. Another frame, which is the attachment for the windscreen is then attached to the cockpit floor either side of the cockpit seats. On the underside of the cabin/cockpit floor the nose and main undercarriage parts are attached to their respective positions. Each is made up of a single piece oleo, wheel, (two on the nose oleo), and retraction jack. Inside a well between the main undercarriage bays the retractable harpoon is fitted. With the interior done is time to start with the construction of the fuselage, which fits around the completed assembly. First to be attached is the lower fuselage, followed by the side pieces which fit to the cabin frame. Then it’s onto the engine bays, constructed from front, central and rear bulkheads plus the fuselage side panels. A two piece main gearbox fan assembly is fitted centrally to the top of the cabin frame. There are rotor head drive shafts fitted to each bay and are surely prime points of extra detailing should the modeller so wish. The rear nose panel, upper cockpit glass, and cabin roof are all attached, along with the two piece rear cabin/tail transition section, windscreen and cheek glass panels. The front and rear cabin doors are each fitted with their clear window parts and attached to the door hinge points/slides. The nose cone is assembled from upper and lower halves and strangely the instructions call for a bulkhead and radar dish to be fitted beforehand, but with no way of seeing inside it may be better to use this area for extra nose weight. The two halves of the tail cone are then glued together and fitted to the rear of the fuselage followed by the tail itself which is also in two halves with the two piece fenestron assembly sandwiched between. There are alternative tails depending on which version is to be modelled. On the underside of the fuselage there are quite a few aerials, to be fitted, along with the fuel dump pipe, steps and rear door slide covers. The horizontal tail plane is attached to the underside of the tail cone and fitted with the two end plates, don’t try to get these parallel to the fuselage as they are meant to be canted in slightly. Optional parts to be fitted are the weapon support mounts and what looks like a small searchlight. The air intakes are each constructed from three parts, as are the engines with the intakes fitted to the main gear box bay and the engines to their bays above the drive shafts. The two sides of the gearbox cowling are then fitted. The main rotor gear box and engine bay access doors are fitted into position, with the option of posing them open should the modeller wish. Finally the winch housing is assembled out of two halves onto which two support struts are attached along with the hook, with the completed part attached to the starboard side above the rear cabin door. There are two torpedoes included in the kit to be used with the Marine ASW option. Each torpedo comes in upper and lower halves with the propeller/shroud and parachute container moulded into the lower half. Using the supplied crutch plate the torpedoes are mounted, one per side onto the weapons hardpoints fitted earlier thus completing the build. Decals The decal sheet is quite small and contains insignia for four aircraft schemes of which only the following are identified:- Flotille 36F, No.522, Base d’Aeronautique Navale HYERES, France. In a scheme made up of two shades of grey. AS.565.SA, Flotille 36F, No.486 Base d’Aeronautique Navle HYERES, France. in a much more colourful red and white scheme over the top of the greys The two other schemes are aircraft No.318 in an overall grey green, or aircraft No.247 in green and mid stone. The sheet also contains a selection of stencils, and warning signs, is very nicely printed with good register and quite matt in appearance. There doesn't appear to be too much in the way of carrier film, but the aircraft ident numbers look like they will need a good gloss coat tp prevent silvering. Conclusion This is the first Kitty Hawk kit I’ve had to review and overall I am very impressed with it. The details and very nicely done and whilst the build could be a little awkward in places with so many separate panels to fit, with a bit of care and attention it should build into a great looking model. As always with a release like this there are other options which modellers would prefer, and I’m sure these will be catered for in the near future. Highly recommended Review sample courtesy of and available soon from major hobby shops

Have been quietly working on the new 1/48 Kitty Hawk F-101A/C Voodoo, bit of a challenge to say the least but satisfying for all that, least until I decided to apply the main colour. Despite the instruction in the kit which show a shiny NMF I decided to try to match the dull aluminium colour that most photos taken of Voodoos at RAF Bentwaters show back in the early 60's. I read somewhere that the aircraft were painted in 'Corroguard' and the nearest Humbrol equivalent is HU56 Aluminium so I set up the airbrush, stirred and shook the tinlet of paint, and thinned it to a ratio about 1:10 with Humbrol thinners. The intention was to spray the undersides plus the tail fin first, then the top surfaces as a second spray. Unfortunately all did not go well. The tail fin shows that where the HU56 went on well it looks very good however there are speckled areas. The view of the main body/wing under surfaces shows worse: And just to really add to things there seems to be a 'tide mark' along the fuselage! Not sure what is causing this. Maybe I didn't mix the paint properly (the tinlet was several years old), maybe I am not cleaning my air brush properly, maybe I am being too ambitious and trying to cover too much surface area, perhaps in doing so I am 'drenching' the area with paint. Not sure what to do now. I still have the top spray to do yet so I could apply a very light sandpaper then respray the affected areas. If that shows no improvement then it is Mr Muscle and start again I guess Michael

North American T-6G detail Set Eduard 1:32 Last month we reviewed three etch sets for the Kittyhawk T-6 Texan HERE. Eduard have now released a fourth. This new set covers the exterior of the model and also includes a complete set of flaps. Exterior and Landing Flaps (32354) This single sheet set contains additional detail parts for several areas of the model. Firstly the engine is taken care of with new webs that fit between the cylinders, just below the rocker covers. There is also a new retaining ring that fits inside of the cowling; to fit this requires the removal of some internal detail from the kit part. Next area is the undercarriage bays with the installation of new bay skins for the front, rear and inside bulkheads plus a section of the bay roof. The undercarriage legs also get some treatment with replacement eye brackets and scissor link, whilst to the rear of the aircraft a new exit plate and rudder control rod, complete with control horn is fitted. The majority of the sheet is taken up with the replacement flaps which also require much of the moulded kit detail to be removed before fitting. The flaps need to be carefully folded to achieve the correct shape around the end pieces. The central flap section looks to be the most problematical, (I know I keep saying this, but care and patience are the watchwords with this kind of assembly). To create the best possible result these parts will need to be annealed whereas you can get away without this with most of the other etched parts. The flap bays are quite simple, but will look very effective under a coat of paint. Conclusion With the addition of the previously reviewed sets the Kittyhawk Texan will look great; this set is really the icing on the cake. The set is as we have come to expect from Eduard, with nice relief etching and fine details. The flaps themselves look a little fiddly, but in this scale shouldn’t be too hard for those with experience of using etched parts. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Hi everybody, This is my first "in progress" post. I am by no means a professional builder and the purpose of my post is purely for interest to those wanting to see how the new Kittyhawk Mirage F1 single seater goes together. Photography is also not my strong point so please forgive the quality of my (Cellphone taken) pictures. This is the kit: My attempt will be to turn it into this: This is the South African Air Force example of the Mirage F1C, called the CZ in SA. This aircraft was the first example painted in the blue/grey air superiority scheme. Shortly after it was painted in this scheme this aircraft shot down an Angolan Mig-21MF with its 30mm canon. Soon all F1CZs were painted in this scheme. The initial impression of the kit is very good. Mould quality is excellent and the kit has a lot of detail. Certainly an improvement over the Esci/Italeri example. The kit is however not without faults of it's own. the main problem for me being the shape of the intakes. More on it here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234948924-kittyhawk-mirage-f1-intake/ I decided to use the Pavla intakes. Although originally designed for the Esci/Italeri kit, it can be made to fit this kit. Some sanding is required but the general result is acceptable. I also used some plastic card to build up the area where the intakes join the fuselage to get a better fit as the Kittyhawk kit is slightly deeper in this area: I'll post more pictures shortly Victor

Grumman TF-9J Cougar 1:48 Kitty Hawk History Initially, the Navy envisaged no requirement for the Grumman Design 105, believing that the Lockheed T2V-1 SeaStar would fill all its requirements for a carrier-capable two-seat trainer. Nevertheless, Grumman was authorized to complete an F9F-8 airframe (BuNo 141667) as a two seater under the designation YF9F-8T. To provide space for the second cockpit, the forward fuselage was extended by 34 inches. The two crew members (student in front, instructor in rear) sat in tandem under a large rearward-sliding canopy. An auxiliary windshield was provided internally ahead of the instructor's seat, which enabled the aircraft to be flown with a partially-open canopy. To save weight, two of the four cannon were removed and the ammunition capacity was reduced. The first flight of the YF9F-8T took place on April 4, 1956. In the meantime, the T2V-1 Sea Star had run into lots of problems with its boundary-layer control system, a feature which was in the mid-1950s still a relatively new innovation. In addition, the T2V-1 was unarmed and could not be used as a weapons delivery trainer. This led the Navy to take a fresh look at the two-seat Cougar, and they eventually acquired 399 production F9F-8Ts between July 1956 and February 1960. The production F9F-8Ts featured some structural strengthening, and most were fitted with a in-flight refuelling probe in the nose, which increased overall length from 44 feet 4 1/4 inches to 48 feet 8 3/4 inches. Late production F9F-8Ts were equipped at the factory with the capability of carrying two Sidewinder missiles under each wing, but this capability was seldom retained in service. The type entered service with the Naval Air Training Command in 1957. They equipped five squadrons. The F9F-8T played an important role in training most of the pilots who were later to fly combat missions in Vietnam. The F9F-8T was also used for the first demonstration of the Martin-Baker ground level ejector seat when Flight Lt Sydney Hughes of the RAF ejected on August 28, 1957 from the aft cockpit of an F9F-8T while flying at ground level at 120 mph. Later, F9F-8Ts were operated by the Naval Parachute Facility at NAS El Centro, California for ejector seat tests. For these tests, they were operated with the rear section of their canopies removed. A radar-equipped night fighter version of the F9F-8T was proposed by Grumman in 1955. It was to have carried an AN/APQ-50 radar and was to have been equipped with an all-missile armament. However, the performance was considered insufficient to warrant production. In 1961, Grumman proposed a modernized version of the F9F-8T with updated systems and a Pratt & Whitney J52 turbojet in place of the J48. However, the Navy selected the Douglas TA-4F instead, and the updated two-seat Cougar project was abandoned. In 1962, the F9F-8T was redesignated TF-9J in accordance with the new Defence Department Tri-Service designation scheme. In 1966-67, four TF-9Js of H&MS-13 were used in the airborne command role to direct airstrikes against enemy positions in South Vietnam. This marked the only use of the Cougar in combat. The two-seat TF-9J continued to serve with the Navy long after its single-seat relatives had been retired to the boneyards. The last squadron to use the TF-9J was VT-4, which finally relinquished its last TF-9J in February 1974. Two F9F-8T trainers were acquired by the Argentine Navy in 1962, and served until 1971. The Cougar was the first jet to break the sound barrier in Argentina. One aircraft (serial 3-A-151) is on display at the Naval Aviation Museum (MUAN) at Bahía Blanca, while the other was sold to an owner in United States The Model This all new kit from Kitty Hawk has already caused something of a stir within the modelling forums, probably more due to the fact that the single seater/s will also be released than the twin seater was first. There of course have been some concerns expressed about some area, particularly the shape of the windscreen and the canopy, but from what I can see in my hand it looks pretty accurate and not like the pre-production test shots. Although, having said that the main canopy could have done with more of a bulge and undercut on the sides as, while it is there in the kit part it’s not really bulging enough. The rest of the kit is beautifully moulded with no sign of flash, as we expect from new kits these days. There are a few flow lines on the wing surfaces, but they don’t impinge on the surface detail. The ejection pin marks are mostly in non-visible areas with only the ones on the cockpit side consoles that may cause concern. Although these will be covered up by the console decals it might be an idea to fill and sand them down to ensure they are not visible under the decals. There are no sink marks visible on the review sample, but the sprue gates are quite large and will need some care in removing the parts. In fact this and the rather soft styrene makes the kit feels a little like a short run injection moulding. There are six sprues of medium grey styrene, one of clear, a small etched brass sheet, the decals and a ball bearing to be used as nose weight. The well printed instruction booklet is beautifully printed and the drawings are nicely done although some care will be need as there are areas that aren’t all that clear as to parts location. Construction begins with the assembly of the ejection seats. Now, the kit comes with both types of seat fitted to the Cougar, the early aircraft were fitted with a Grumman designed seat, whilst later aircraft were fitted with Martin Baker seats which had a better ejection envelope and quickly replaced the earlier seats. The Grumman seats are each made up of six styrene parts and a photo etched harness, whilst the Martin Baker seats are made up of four styrene parts plus the etched harness. With the seats assembled it’s onto the rest of the cockpit. The cockpit tub is fitted with the rudder pedals and joysticks for each pilot, followed the instrument panels and there supports. Decals are provided for the side consoles and panels, Alternatively the modeller can use the instrument panels and side consoles found on the etched brass sheet and carefully paint them to suit. The front, rear and mid bulkheads are now attached along with a few detail parts, plus the coamings for front and rear cockpits. The two side panels are then fitted, producing a solid cockpit tub. Before the cockpit can be fitted to the front fuselage section, the nose undercarriage bay is constructed, which also contains the airbrake bay. This is made up of the bay roof to which the four bulkheads that make up the nosewheel bay are attached as is the rear bulkhead of the airbrake bay. The nose wheel consists of the main oleo, lower leg/yoke and a two piece nose wheel/tyre. There are two nose vents that need to be fitted from the inside of each half of the nose fuselage before the cockpit tub and nosewheel bay, complete with nose wheel are sandwiched into position between the two, not forgetting the ball bearing which I presume needs to be glued intot eh extreme nose as it's not actually mentioned. The instructions now call for the various eternal vents and aerials to be fitted to the nose section, along with the nosewheel bay doors, airbrakes, their respective retraction jacks, refuelling probe, clear blast screen, gunsights and intake splitter plates. It might be an idea to leave some of the more fragile items off until later to prevent breakages/loss. The assembly of the midships section of the fuselage begins with the construction of the three part inner main wheel wells which are then attached in their respective positions on the under fuselage panel. These are followed by the tail hook, (which can only be posed retracted), and the inner bulkheads of the wing fold joint complete with separate hinges. The inner wing upper sections are now attached, and if building an earlier version of the aircraft you will need to fit four small plates to the inner walls of the air intakes. Each main undercarriage is then assembled from a single piece oleo, complete with the scissor link, (which looks really fragile and will require careful removal from the sprue gate), and the single piece main wheel, which, when fitted into position has the retraction jack fitted. The colour callout for the jacks moving part is red, which leads me to assume a ground lock is fitted, thus not suitable for a landing display. The red section will need to be thinned down a bit then painted silver for anything other than a parked display with the undercarriage extended. Continuing the construction the tail bumper is added to the rear of the centre section whilst the lower anti-collision light is fitted to the front. The central beam between the main undercarriage bays is attached followed by two aerials to the rear, one on either side of the tail hook bay. The main undercarriage doors are then attached. As per the nose section, a lot of the above parts should be left off until after the build is complete to prevent breakages and loss. The tail section is now assembled with the construction of the tail pipe which is made up of two halves and the rear engine face. This is than sandwiched between the two halves of the tail section which includes the fin and upper rear fuselage. To this the upper and lower rudders are fitted along with the single piece horizontal tailplanes. The completed tail is now attached to the centre fuselage section. The outer wing panels are made up of upper and lower sections and the wing fold panel. To the wings separate two part ailerons are attached as are the navigation and landing lights. The completed wings are then attached to the inner wing panels at the wing fold joint. If the wings are to be posed folded then a couple of the tabs will need to be removed first and these are clearly indicated in the instructions. Before the nose section is attached the centre spine panel is attached to the top front of the centre section, as are the upper anti-collision light, the photo etched spoiler panels and photo etched wing fences. With the nose section attached it’s just a matter of attaching the six pylons, (three per side) the windscreen, with added photo etched rear view mirrors, and canopy. Weapon loads provided in the kit include two drop tanks, four AIM-9B Sidewinders, and four 2.75” rockets. The drop tanks are made up of upper and lower halves, the Sidewinders as single fuselage including two front and rear fins, with a separate pair of front and rear fins added. The rocket pods are again in upper and lower halves closed off with front and rear panels. The Sidewinders and rocket pods also come provided with pylon adaptors Decals The decal sheets, printed by Kittyhawk themselves are very well printed in register, with good colour density and opacity. There is minimal carrier film and the decals are slightly glossy. The largest of the two sheets contains the majority of the markings complete with a full set of stencils, with the smaller sheet containing the instrument panels and Argentine insignia. The four options are:- TF-9J Cougar of H&MS-13 as used in Vietnam TF-9J Cougar of the Blue Angels TF-9J Cougar of Training Squadron 10 (VT-10) TF-9J Cougar of the Argentine Navy Conclusion This has the hallmarks of a great looking kit straight out of the box, although the cockpit really could do with extra detail and I’m not really sure about the fuselage breakdown, but surmise that this is due to the other versions projected to be released. The choice of markings is very nice too, particularly the Argentine machine. All in all a very nice package, but one which I feel will require some care and plenty of trial fits to get right. Highly recommended with the above caveats. Review sample courtesy of and available soon from major hobby shops.

North American T-6G detail Sets Eduard 1:32 With the release of the lovely Kittyhawk 1:32 T-6G, it was only a matter of time before Eduard released some etch for it. The two sets reviewed here, three if you include the Zoom set, are for the Interior, and seatbelts. Interior Set (32810) This set comes on two sheets of etched brass, one, the larger of the two, is unpainted whereas the other one is pre-painted and self adhesive. The unpainted sheet is dominated by the two large panels that are fixed inside the fuselage halves, either side of the cockpit and represent the aircraft structure. The sheet also contains items such as the replacement seats, which have much more detail to them, as well as the individual height adjustment levers, rudder pedal pads, new side console facings, and a new circuit breaker box. As with a lot of Eduards sets, some of the moulded kit detail will need to be removed before the etched parts can be added. With this set it’s mainly removing parts from the cockpit side framework, instrument panels and side console tops. Both instrument panels come in two parts the rear part has the instrument painted on it, whilst the front ahs the bezels. The front panel also has extra instrument on the lower panel added along with the landing gear handle. The rear panel doesn’t have a lower panel, but it does have the gear lever. A little dab of aqua clear, or similar will give them the appearance of glass fronts. With the side console tops fitted, the height beam on the framework is fitted out with new throttles, placards, panels and fuse boxes. The trim wheel beam is also given additional detail in the form of trim wheel locking handle, placards and fuel switches. Interior Zoom Set (33137) This zoom set contains only the above pre-painted sheet and allows the modeller to build a reasonably well detailed cockpit without the hassle of getting bogged down with detail that the modeller might otherwise find superfluous. Seatbelts (32814) This small fret of brass comes pre-painted for the most part, but with unpainted clasps, buckles etc. Whilst fiddly to make, it will give the cockpit a real boost as there aren’t even moulded belts on the kit seat, so if you buy only one set this should be it. Conclusion Whilst the Kittyhawk Texan is nicely detailed, you can never have enough options when wishing to add extra, finer detail, and this is where these sets come in. The added finesse of the etched parts can make the world of a difference on kit in this scale. With careful fitting, the detail seen through the heavily glazed canopy will be most rewarding. Highly recommended Review sample courtesy of

Just finished is my 1/72 P-40N ex. Hasegawa, built OOB except for seat belts and the antenna wire. As many know, this is quite an old kit, but I think it built up quite well. I especially enjoyed using my Grex TG on the paint job. Enjoy! - Adam

I'm in the early stages of building my 1/32nd KittyHawk Texan, which I'm finishing as a Harvard IIa based at 20 SFTS Cranborne in S Rhodesia. The instrument panels supplied are just for the Texan but can anybody give me a good reference/photos/drawings of those for the Harvard? I've seen some fairly recently but can I find it again? Max

North American T-6 Texan 1:32 KittyHawk History The Texan originated from the North American NA-16 prototype (first flown on April 1, 1935) which, modified as the NA-26, was submitted as an entry for a USAAC "Basic Combat" aircraft competition in March, 1937. The first model went into production and 180 were supplied to the USAAC as the BC-1 and 400 to the RAF as the Harvard I. The US Navy received 16 modified aircraft, designated the SNJ-1, and a further 61 as the SNJ-2 with a different engine. The BC-1 was the production version of the NA-26 prototype, with retractable tailwheel landing gear and the provision for armament, a two-way radio, and the 550 hp (410 kW) R-1340-47 engine as standard equipment. Production versions included the BC-1 (Model NA-36) with only minor modifications (177 built), of which 30 were modified as BC-1I instrument trainers; the BC-1A (NA-55) with airframe revisions (92 built); and a single BC-1B with a modified wing center-section. Three BC-2 aircraft were built before the shift to the "advanced trainer" designation, AT-6, which was equivalent to the BC-1A. The differences between the AT-6 and the BC-1 were new outer wing panels with a swept forward trailing edge, squared-off wingtips and a triangular rudder, producing the canonical Texan silhouette. After a change to the rear of the canopy, the AT-6 was designated the Harvard II for RAF/RCAF orders and 1,173 were supplied by purchase or Lend Lease, mostly operating in Canada as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. The next variant, the AT-6A, was based on the NA-77 design and was powered by the Pratt & Whitney R-1340-49 Wasp radial engine. The USAAF received 1,549 and the US Navy 270 (as the SNJ-3). The AT-6B was built for gunnery training and could mount a .30 in machine gun on the forward fuselage. It used the R-1340-AN-1 engine, which was to become the standard for the remaining T-6 production. Canada's Noorduyn Aviation built an R-1340-AN-1-powered version of the AT-6A, which was supplied to the USAAF as the AT-16 (1,500 aircraft) and the RAF/RCAF as the Harvard IIB (2,485 aircraft), some of which also served with the Fleet Air Arm and Royal Canadian Navy. The NA-88 design resulted in 2,970 AT-6C Texans and 2,400 as the SNJ-4. The RAF received 726 of the AT-6C as the Harvard IIA. Modifications to the electrical system produced the AT-6D (3,713 produced) and SNJ-5 (1,357 produced). The AT-6D, redesignated the Harvard III, was supplied to the RAF (351 aircraft) and Fleet Air Arm (564 aircraft). The AT-6G (SNJ-5) involved major advancements including a full-time hydraulic system and a steerable tailwheel and persisted into the 1950s as the USAF advanced trainer. Subsequently the NA-121 design with a completely clear rearmost section on the canopy, gave rise to 25 AT-6F Texans for the USAAF and 931, as the SNJ-6 for the US Navy. The ultimate version, the Harvard 4, was produced by Canada Car and Foundry during the 1950s, and supplied to the RCAF, USAF and Bundeswehr. A total of 15,495 T-6s of all variants were built, quite a few of which are still used as warbirds, demonstrations, by flight experience companies, plus used as film extras and stars. The Model This is a wholly new tooling from KittyHawk it’s certainly great to see it being released in 1:32 scale, being their first in this scale. Arriving in a very attractively designed box, with one an artists representation the aircraft in flight over a somewhat rocky area of the US. On each side are colour profiles of four of the eight colour schemes included in the kit. The box is quite deep and it’s easy to see why, as on opening it is full of styrene. The kit is contained on 6 large sprues of bluey grey styrene, with one of clear styrene and a small etched brass sheet for the seat belts. The main sprues, some of which are folded over from the centre, one of KittyHawks little idiosyncrasies, and need to snapped apart before inspecting the parts. Detail looks very refined, with engraved panel lines and raised areas where required. The styrene feels quite soft so take care when removing from the sprues. There is no sign of flash or moulding pips, but there are a number of parts which have quite large injection towers, particularly the inside of the engine cylinder parts, which will need to be carefully removed before assembling. The clear parts are very well protected from damage by being in their own separate cardboard box. The build begins with the construction of the complex looking cockpit. The seat pans are attached to the supports and each fitted with a grab handle and seat a lowering/raising bar. The cockpit floor looks like it’s meant to represent the upperside of the centre wing, but isn’t curved enough as in the real thing there is no floor for the front pilot, only the for the rear. Still once all the parts are added and the completed assembly fitted to the fuselage I doubt much of it will be seen. There is a choice of joystick styles, depending on the variant being built and these are attached to the cockpit floor, along with a pair of fott runners and a foot rest for the front pilot. The nicely moulded tubular cockpit structure is fitted out with throttle quadrants, a fire extinguisher and radio box, whilst the two rudder pedal pairs are attached to their connecting rods. The instrument panel is made up of upper and lower sections onto which the decals are positioned and a back piece, with the instrument backs moulded into it, is attached to the rear of the upper panel. The floor, tubular sides, front instrument panel and rudder pedal assembly are then assembled. The rear bulkhead is the, made up of the bulkhead, rear decking and semi circular support, is attached to the rear of the cockpit whilst the single piece front bulkhead is, naturally, fitted to the front of the cockpit. A shelf, fitted with two trim wheels, control levers and other items is fitted to the port side of the cockpit from the outside. The rear cockpit instrument panel is then fitted along with its associated coaming whilst the two piece starboard console for the front cockpit is also attached. There are two black boxes fitted to the rear decking, whilst a separate shelf is fitted to the rear bulkhead below it. A two piece rollover bar is attached between the cockpits and three internal structure parts are fitted to the rear deck. To the front bulkhead there is another control box and the two piece oil tank attached. Moving onto the engine, the first parts to be attached are the two cylinder bank halves, (once the injection posts have been removed). The cylinders are then attached to a backing plate and the valve rods are fitted to the front face, along with the magneto to the gearbox cover.. There is an option of having either a short exhaust or a long one, depending on the variant being modelled, each being in two parts, with the completed exhaust then fitted to the collector ring. This assembly is then attached to the cooling gill part along with the intake manifold and the engine fitted to the exhaust and intake manifolds. To the rear of the engine a multi part accessory gearbox is fitted as is an five piece air intake and filter. Four V shaped engine bearers are then fitted to the rear of the engine, followed by three plates that fit onto the outside strut of each bearer. The whole engine assembly is then attached to the front of the cockpit assembly and everything is sandwiched between the two fuselage halves, closing it all up. Once again depending on the option being modelled there are different parts for the front upper fuselage one with a slightly different shape for the SNJ, and the rear of the cockpit glazing, either framed or unframed. The rear upper fuselage is then fitted, as is the two piece rudder, starboard side air filter intake and two foot rests. The horizontal stabilisers are each made up of an upper and lower half and fitted with a single piece elevator. The completed parts are then attached to the rear fuselage. There doesn’t appear to be an option to have the engine cowling open so the four parts have to be glued together and slipped over the engine. The windscreen is now fitted and the option of two types of radio mast, or a DF loop fairing, large blade fairing and even what looks like a GPS fairing, again depending on which scheme the modeller is building. The propeller is made up of the two blades, four piece pitch mechanism and boss. Onto this there is a choice of either a two piece or a single piece spinner, should the option require them. The propeller can then be fitted as can the three piece cockpit canopy. The wheels are assembled from a single piece oleo/axle, onto which the two parts of the scissor link is attached. The tyres come in two halves with separate inner and outer hubs. With the main wheels done, it’s on to the wing centre section. Into the single piece lower part two pieces are added that represent the front spar that can be seen through the wheel wells. These have very prominent injection towers that need to be removed before fitting, fortunately though they are the rear face so any damage won’t be seen. With these fitted the two upper wing panels can be attached and, according to the instructions the centre flap, wheel assemblies and gear bay doors are also fitted at this time, but it may be prudent to leave until later. The outer wings, each of upper and lower halves and landing light innards which, when assembled, can be fitted out with the clear landing and navigation light glass parts, pitot probe, (on the port wing), ailerons, with mass balances and flaps.The outer wings are then attached to the centre section and the whole thing fitted to the fuselage. Finally the under nose air intake and the three piece tail wheel assembly are fitted completing the main build. Since these aircraft were used for weapon training etc, the kit comes with a variety of underwing stores, these include:- Six off T-10 Rockets and their launch rails Two off Matra 122 rocket launchers Four off 250kg Bombs Two off twin 7.7mm machine gun pods Two off 20 gallon drop tanks. Decals There are two large sheets of decals and one small, almost addendum style sheet, with markings for the following options, which I believe are all preserved machines:- USAF aircraft. Ser.No.N9623C, TA-349 “Deb”, in a very flash red white and blue scheme over natural metal. USN aircraft. Ser.No.93449, in a colourful yellow wing, medium sea grey fuselage scheme. USMC aircraft. Ser.No.90917 in overall silver scheme with yellow nose and green stripes on the wings and rear fuselage. Canadian Air Force aircraft. Ser.No. CF-UUU in overall trainer yellow with a blue nose. German Air Force aircraft. I.D. number BF + 056, in overall trainer yellow with green nose including a chequer board panel on either side. Italian Air Force aircraft. Ser.No. MM-54101 in overqall silver with yellow outer wings/tail and extreme nose of cowling. South African Air Force aircraft. In overall silver fuselage, with orange panels on the wings, tialplane and cowling plus medium sea grey panels on the upper wings. Royal Air Force aircraft. Ser.No. FT239 in brown and mid stone over light aircraft blue camouflage scheme. The decals look very well printed, with good opacity and density, in register and without too much carrier film, with the notable exception of the large USAF titles. There are a complete set of stencils for one aircraft included. Conclusion This is a great looking kit, especially considering it is Kitty Hawks first foray into 1:32 scale. The details on the parts are sharp and there is a nice finesse to them, especially the detail cockpit interior. With so many colour schemes offered, it will be difficult to choose which one to do and it’s good to see that it’s not just the schemes that change, with the different parts included; it is possible to represent each aircraft accurately as far as I can tell. There have been a number of grumbles about the cockpit floor, which, whilst it’s not accurate, it is a reasonable compromise to aid in making the kit easier to produce and perhaps build. You won’t see much of it anyway, unless the modeller wishes to de-skin the fuselage, in which case they will have the skills to reproduce the upper wing centre section. For those that want a good sized Texan/Harvard/SNJ in their collection I can highly recommend this kit. Review sample courtesy of and available soon from major hobby shops

Hello all I have been watching here for a few months and hopefully learning a few tricks, mmmm maybe. In this time I have built and screwed up a few kits - learnt from the mistakes. This is going to be a

Hello All, An Airfix Kittyhawk, with a bit of cockpit detailing, new plastic sheet rear windows, plunge moulded undercarriage doors and some other tweaks, finished using the kit scheme and decals (which fought me all the way): I went for Hu 29 and 93, with a 4:1 Hu 34 white:Hu 25 blue mix underneath - next time I will use more blue or less white. It was a fun, low-stress build and I like the scheme and want to do more (but possibly not enough to spoil a Spitfire with a Vokes filter!). Thanks for looking, Adrian