Wez Posted September 24, 2020 Share Posted September 24, 2020 This is my introduction the this Heller Classic GB, the T-28 Fennec/Trojan was originally released in 1981 although this boxing comes from the latter day re-release from 2019, this comes with better decals and the underwing gun pods. I'll be using the Pavla resin cockpit, Armory resin wheels and the Quickboost resin engine, depending on which aircraft I end up making (because I have both the Modeldecal and Berna Decal decal sheets for this type), I may use the Rob Taurus vac form canopy or the the one that comes with the Pavla cockpit set... I'll post some more pictures of the kit and other decals once I return from my current travels! 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted September 24, 2020 Share Posted September 24, 2020 Great stuff Wez That's an amazing number of decals for one aircraft ! Best of luck cheers Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted September 25, 2020 Share Posted September 25, 2020 I know this thread has been a long thing coming Wez, so great to see it finally up here. Funnily enough, I only just acquired one of these kits yesterday, however mine is in the mid-90's Heller box without those gun pods and not so nice decal sheet. She looks to be a really nice kit and will look even better with those additional AM bits attached. Might even entice me to get mine done! Cheers, best of luck and following on.. Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted September 25, 2020 Share Posted September 25, 2020 Some nice extra goodies there Wez. My historical knowledge is patchy, but would these Fennecs have seen action in Algeria? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted September 25, 2020 Share Posted September 25, 2020 Heller certainly went to town on the decal sheet for this one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted September 25, 2020 Share Posted September 25, 2020 2 hours ago, CliffB said: My historical knowledge is patchy, but would these Fennecs have seen action in Algeria? Most definitely Cliff. If my memory serves me correct the French operated 254 Fennecs and they were very active over Algeria. Now that I think of it, I kinda like the thought of a Twin Texan / Trojan pairing myself! Cheers.. Dave 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted September 25, 2020 Author Share Posted September 25, 2020 8 hours ago, CliffB said: My historical knowledge is patchy, but would these Fennecs have seen action in Algeria? Hi Cliff, As Dave has explained, yes, they were used in Algeria to replace the Texan in the Light Attack units. The Fennecs were all converted from ex-USAF T-28A Trojan's, being brought up to T-28B/D standards using apparently, overhauled ex-B-17 engines. The kit itself falls between two stools, it has the high canopy of the T-28A (not all Fennec's did), the underside airbrake which wasn't fitted to the Fennec, but has the cold air scoop in front of the windscreen and the Fennec underside pylons, you have to be careful with it, hopefully I'll tiptoe my way through the minefield! 5 hours ago, Rabbit Leader said: I kinda like the thought of a Twin Texan / Trojan pairing myself! Do it, do it! 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fightersweep Posted September 25, 2020 Share Posted September 25, 2020 Looking forward to this one Wez! I did pick up a T-28 myself. It's quite a sizable lump of styrene that looks good in the box, except the canopy of which mine had a flaw. Considering Heller was one of the few companies that fairly consistently offered the open canopy option with a lot of their kits, I was surprised that the T-28 was not one of them. Nice selection of aftermarket goodies too! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted September 25, 2020 Share Posted September 25, 2020 2 hours ago, Wez said: Do it, do it! Let me scrounge a Texan first, that should get then modelling juices flowing! Cheers.. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted September 27, 2020 Author Share Posted September 27, 2020 OK, so as promised here's the kit, I've also included the Friendship Models Wee Friends M1 Carbines and M3 Grease Gun. Guns were carried for crew protection in case of the aircraft being brought down by anti-aircraft fire. The M1 was standard equipment, the M3 Grease Gun resembles the Phimat SMG that was actually carried, it's close enough in 1/72nd and I'll defy any of you to prove otherwise! Anyway, here's a picture... 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted October 2, 2020 Author Share Posted October 2, 2020 For those that don't know, the T-28S Fennec replaced the Texan in the French Light Attack units in North Africa. All Fennecs were converted from surplus T-28A Trojans and were brought up roughly to T-28B/D equivalent standard but with some typically French nuances. The original 800hp R-1300 engine was replaced by a R-1820 engine of 1,425hp, according to some sources these engines were remanufactured, ex-B17 engines, certainly the extra power would be appreciated in the desert heat. Rumours are that the French bought the basic airframes for $4,000 but by the time all of the modification required had been made, each airframe cost $100,000. I have no idea if this is true! The Fennecs routinely carried 4x 12.7mm machine guns in two pods under the wings as well as a selection of rockets, I've yet to see a picture of a Fennec carrying bombs, this was a substantial increase in firepower over the Texans! Heller's kit is a bit of a mixture, it has the high, bulbous canopy that was fitted to some but not all T-28A's and thus Fennecs can be either high or low canopy (as fitted to the T-28B onwards), versions. It has the underside airbrake which was a feature of the T-28B onwards but not T-28A's or Fennecs, it also has the curious oval shaped underwing pylons moulded into the kit which I think are French specific. It also features the added armour around the forward cockpit and the cold air intake forward of the windscreen that was fitted to the Fennec. The kit has some very fine raised detail which ill need to be preserved (because I'm not going to rescribe this baby)! The resin cockpit by Pavla offers some extra detail as does the Quickboost engine and Armoury wheels. An extra detail are the white metal SMG and Carbine carried for crew protection in case of the aircraft being brought down. These latter are by Friendship Models and are quite exquisite! The Pavla set comes with a vacform canopy but I've also invested in the Rob Taurus vacform canopy, the latter is particularly clear, the original kit one was scuffed and has some flow marks in it. The boxing I'm using is the most recent version which now includes the peculiarly shaped gunpods and an impressive new decal sheet (shown earlier in the thread), but I've also got the Berna decal sheet to give me a bit of variety if I want it. It has a new instruction sheet too which highlights the differences between a Fennec and a Trojan. Anyway... ...here's the resin bits and the white metal small arms... ...canopies (Rob Taurus front, Pavla and kit original at the back)... ...references, unsurprisingly, these have an American bias but provide useful details, they do however repeat some incorrect information about Fennecs which isn't borne out in photographs)... ...and a further reference along with the Berna decal sheet, this book has some really good photos of Fennecs as you'd expect... This site has some useful references material too! Looking forward to the off tomorrow, hope you all are too! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted October 2, 2020 Share Posted October 2, 2020 Nice, Wez @Wez. As you know, I have all of these bits and the Grossnier books and, one day, will get around to at least one build. :). I’ll be following your build avidly. Martin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dom Barr Posted October 3, 2020 Share Posted October 3, 2020 This promises to be a beauty! I notice Moroccan roundels on the sheet- one of my favourite air forces, hands-down. Nice one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted October 3, 2020 Author Share Posted October 3, 2020 When I was a kid, I was allowed to do modelling on grey, wet days, as it's chucking down with rain here in Hampshire so it's an ideal day to do some modelling. I started tackling the Fennec as the first of my builds for this GB so before bacon butties for breakfast it was off to the bench with a mug of tea. The first thing was to fill the holes in the airbrake, I could use filler but due to the depth of the holes I was concerned about shrinkage so I glued some suitably sized rod in the holes, I had started off by cutting 12 sections of rod to fit, but once I'd propelled a few of these around the bench I decided to stick the rod in the hole, glue and then snip the rod. Next it was time to be a bit boring... ...drilled the exhausts out on both sides... ...the kit correctly includes the additional armour added around the front cockpit, the lowest one on the right side only, has a hole for an oil breather pipe in it, the location is shown by a moulded circle but I decided to drill it out... ...I've now taken a break for bacon butties, the next order of the day is to remove the moulding blocks from the resin parts. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted October 3, 2020 Share Posted October 3, 2020 Great start Wez and I’m intently watching on to see how you go about building an accurate Fennec. I’ve acquired one of these kits too and have already learned a number of things I didn’t already know. That hardcover book looks great, please make sure some photos from within get captured as you go about your WIP. Cheers.. Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted October 5, 2020 Author Share Posted October 5, 2020 I know I said I intended to start separating the resin from the casting blocks but I didn't get time to do that on Saturday and yesterday, we went down to Hove to see our daughter (at a responsible distance), so I didn't get much time to do any modelling on Sunday, but what I did do was... There are a number of vent and intakes that are far too shallow for my liking or have no depth whatsoever, I don't like that so I did something about it... ...first some vents... ...then some intakes... ...disaster nearly struck here, having opened up the oil cooler intake to give it some more depth, I snapped the intake fairing off, fortunately it glued back without any obvious seam... ...this was my second cowling from the spares box, I'd already gouged some deep grooves in the original cowling being a bit ham fisted. Hopefully tomorrow, I'll be able to get around to separating the resin. 8 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted October 5, 2020 Share Posted October 5, 2020 Good recovery on that cowl and nice clear photos showing you’re mods and progress. That’s all going into Rabbit Leaders big bank of Fennec info which I might say started off quite empty indeed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted October 12, 2020 Author Share Posted October 12, 2020 This build hasn't really started yet, there's been more deconstruction than construction and so it will continue with this instalment. But first, some positive effort, here's the airbrake filled, looks quite smooth, we'll see what it looks like with some paint on, it might need some further effort... ...now some deconstruction, because I'm using the Pavla cockpit in this build, I need to do something to make that possible, the detail set provides new instrument panels which come with new coamings so... ...so there's a bit of patching up to be done there Finally, time to make a choice. Conventional wisdom has it that as all Fennecs were converted from T-28A's, they all have the high canopy, whilst it's true they were all converted from T-28A's, the canopy bit isn't true. Fortunately, it's real easy to spot in photo's you just have to know what you're looking for. This aircraft is a high canopy Fennec and this is a low canopy Fennec, the way to tell is to look at the roll over brace between the two cockpits , forward of the aft cockpit coaming. High canopied aircraft had the tall inverted V structure, low canopied ones didn't. So having found a photo of the aircraft I want to model and having found it's a high canopied version, it was time to subject the Pavala cockpit to some surgery (apologies for the poor quality of the photo)... The next instalment will include some construction - honest! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 Thanks for the high vs, low canopy explanation Wez. So is the kit part ok to use OOB and is the Rob Taurus AM part just a ready made replacement of the kit canopy? Cheers.. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted October 12, 2020 Author Share Posted October 12, 2020 23 minutes ago, Rabbit Leader said: Thanks for the high vs, low canopy explanation Wez. So is the kit part ok to use OOB and is the Rob Taurus AM part just a ready made replacement of the kit canopy? Cheers.. Dave That's a good question Dave and tbh, I can't really tell. The kit canopy is good for a high canopy aircraft, it wasn't something I consciously considered, I just wanted to pose the canopy open and felt I needed a vacform canopy. I think the only way I'm ever going to tell is when I've cut it from the backing and do a proper side by side comparison. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 Very nice work, Wez. You may have said but matching decal sets with photos is a challenge. I’ve certainly struggled in my attempts ;(.... Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted October 13, 2020 Author Share Posted October 13, 2020 7 hours ago, RidgeRunner said: Very nice work, Wez. You may have said but matching decal sets with photos is a challenge. I’ve certainly struggled in my attempts ;(.... Martin It is a bit of a chore I admit Martin, I went through all of the photos in the Crosnier book and all the photos on the Frenchwings website, if I couldn't find a match, that one was eliminated. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted November 22, 2020 Author Share Posted November 22, 2020 I know things appeared to go all quiet on this build and to be fair, there's been a couple of real life things that have kept me away from the bench but I did promise some construction for the next part of this and the construction I've been doing has been vexing, with little obvious progress, but progress has been made. The thing that's been occupying my mind is the engine. The kit engine isn't a particularly good representation of the R-1820 so I went for the Quickboost replacement. Now while the basic detail on it is good, you can tell it should form the basis of a far more detailed Aires upgrade, but you don't get that with the Quickboost edition, so something had to be done about this. So here's the basic engine after initial painting/drybrushing/highlighting has been done... ...next came the pushrods, 18 of them, I actually made 25 but they went ping! So here it is now with added pushrods! Next came the ignition harness itself, the first attempt used a solder main harness but wasn't very successful, next I adapted the ignition harness/pushrods from the Heller Texan engine by chopping the pushrods off and then drilling holes in the remainder to accept some wire for the individual ignition leads. For the latter I'd pulled strands from the screening on a reclaimed USB cable, while this worked the wires were a bit thin and in reworking this it crumbled in my mitts! Curses! So I had a good long think and decided rather than work from the inside out, work from the outside in. So I drilled the holes for the ignition leads in the cylinders, one in the forward part of the upper cylinder head and one on the top of the cylinder. Here's the forward set going in... ...followed by the upper set. Buoyed on by my success, I fashioned the main harness from some soldering iron wrapped around a scribing tool and then superglued it in place. This left me feeling rather keen and eager so I glued it into the cowling... ...now I know it's not perfect but it's better than what it could have been so I'm quite pleased with it. The next thing to deal with is putting some detail into the wheel wells and the cockpit! Phew! It's nice to be able to move on! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnson Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 Very nice work Wez. When I got to the bottom of the thread I couldn’t remember if I was looking at a 1/72 or 1/48 kit. Pretty amazing detail and work for 1/72! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyOD Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 That engine looks the business. Eye-wateringly fiddly at that scale? Interesting that your decal sheet looks OK, think I might have got one from a duff batch in my new yellow boxing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now