Airfix Dogfight Doubles MiG-17F 'Fresco' & Douglas A-4B Skyhawk (A50185) 1:72 Airfix

[Julien]

Dogfight Doubles MiG-17F 'Fresco' & Douglas A-4B Skyhawk (A50185)

1:72 Airfix

 

 

It is good to see the return of "Dog fight Doubles" most of us have built them before and we will have a memory of them. This time Airfix have combined their newer tool A-4 and MiG-17 in a Vietnam themed box, As well as the two kits they include paints and glue to aid the construction, and one of their black triangular stands to display the two models in flight  / a dog fight if the modeller wishes.

 

MiG-17F 'Fresco'

Although outwardly similar to the MiG-15, the MiG-17 was in fact a heavily revised design that drew upon the lessons learned in the development of the USSR's first swept-wing fighter. While the forward fuselage, landing gear and engine were carried across from the MiG-15, the rear fuselage was longer and more tapered. The wing was entirely new as well, being both thinner and more sharply swept. This both raised the maximum speed of the aircraft and aided controllability at transonic speeds. Although it shared its armament with its predecessor, it also gained a radar gun sight, cribbed from a captured F-86. The MiG-17F was fitted with an afterburner, which significantly boosted the rate of climb and meant supersonic speed was just about possible in a shallow dive. The MiG-17 was built in huge numbers, with over 10,000 rolling off Soviet, Chinese and Polish production lines. It was used in combat by several nations, most notably in the Vietnam War where it was credited with 28 aerial victories. 

 

The MiG-17 hasn't been all that well represented by manufacturers of plastic kits over the years. Efforts from the likes of Hasegawa, KP and Dragon all have their problems and are all showing their age, while the otherwise rather good AZ Model kit is limited run and by all accounts the moulds are starting to show their age. Enter Airfix with an all-new tooling. Inside the box are three frames of grey parts, a small frame of clear parts, instructions and decals. The parts are nicely moulded but the panel lines are on the heavy side, which is always more noticeable on a small kit like this. From reading Airfix's workbench blog it's clear that this is a Lidar-scanned model, so the dimensions and general arrangement of shapes should be spot on. Despite this, there has been some debate about the accuracy of the kit on this and other forums. I have found our own KRK4m's analysis very helpful in that he confirmed the kit is very accurate in scale and general outline, but has an issue in terms of the leading edge of the wing (easy fix) and the aerofoil cross section (not an easy fix). Of course the stark reality is that these issues won't concern most modellers, so with that in mind, let's have a look at what is in the box.

 

 

 

 

Construction starts with the cockpit, and like most kits of the MiG-15 or -17, the cockpit tub is made up of parts that also form the inner part of the intake fairing. Moulded detail is actually very nice. Not on a part with Eduard's MiG-15, but then the two models are not really comparable in terms of engineering and philosophy. Decals are provided to add extra detail to the instrument panel and sidewalls. I'm not sure what happened to the ejection seat, but Airfix appear to have carried this across from the MiG-15 rather than replicating the seat commonly fitted to the MiG-17. Should this trouble you greatly, aftermarket alternatives are available. Once the cockpit sub-assembly is complete, the engine exhaust and afterburner can be assembled. Because the external faces of the jet exhaust also double up as the insides of the air brake assembly, there are alternative parts with and without moulded detail for this area - a really nice touch from Airfix. Once both of these parts are assembled, the fuselage can be joined. A clear part which represents the radio compass cover must also be fitted at this stage. 

 

 

Once the fuselage halves have been joined, the front-lower part of the fuselage, which includes the muzzle detail for the cannons, can be fitted, along with the engine air intake fairing. The wings are next. If you wish to fit the optional drop tanks, you will need to drill the pre-marked holes in the lower wing surface at this stage. The wings are pretty simple to build, with the wing fences moulded in place. The kink in the wing leading edge is present and correct, but you may wish to re-profile the leading edge if the apparent lack of sharpness troubles you. Personally I can easily live with this on an aircraft so small. With the wings in place, the tail planes can be assembled. The landing gear is nicely detailed and there are some nice touches such as detail moulded on the inside of the gear doors. As mentioned above, the air brakes can be fitted in open or closed positions, although you'll need to have committed to one option or the other earlier in the build process. The canopy is nicely made and has the periscope moulded in place. There is even an oil drum included to prevent the model from sitting on its tail if you didn't manage to cram in the necessary 20 grams of weight.

 

 

 

Douglas A-4B Skyhawk

The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk was a carrier capable ground attack aircraft developed for the US Navy and US Marine Corps. It is a delta winged single engine aircraft. It was developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company originally under the A4D designation, latter changed to A-4. The A-4 was designed by Ed Heinemann to a 1952 US Navy specification for a carrier based attack aircraft capable of carrying heavy loads. For this an aircraft was to have a maximum weight of 30,000Lbs, and be capable of speeds up to 495 mph. Initially the Douglas design with a specified weight of only 20000 Lbs greeted with scepticism. Ed Heinemann had in fact designed a very small aircraft. This was to be roughly half the weight of its contemporaries. In fact the wings were so short they did not need to fold for stowage below decks. Having a non-folding wing eliminated the heavy wing folds seen in other aircraft, one reason for a low overall weight. The prototype also exceed the maximum speed the US Navy had specified. In fact not long after the aircraft would set a new world record of 695 mph for circuit flying, bettering the specification by 200 mph.

 

The A-4A was the initial production aircraft with 166 being built. The A-4B was ordered with additional improvements over the initial design. These were to be; Stronger rudder construction, a pressure fuelling system incorporating a probe for in-flight refuelling, external fuel tanks, stronger landing gear, additional navigation equipment, an improved ordnance delivery system, and an external buddy refuelling package. A total of 542 A-4Bs were to be made with fleet deliveries beginning in 1957 only a year after the first A-4B flight was made. US Navy A-4Bs were later supplied to Argentina using the A-4Q designation for aircraft destined for the Navy; and A-4P for those destined for the Air Force. In total over 3000 A-4s were produced by Douglas later becoming McDonnell Douglas. The A-4 went on to fight with the US Navy in the Vietnam war, with the Israeli Air Force in the Yom Kippur War, with the Argentinean Air Force in the Falkland’s War, and the Kuwaiti Air Force in the Gulf War. Skyhawks were used by, Argentina, Brazil, Israel, Malaysia, and Singapore. Last use by the US Navy was in the aggressor role made famous by the Top Gun Film. Some are still in service today with some of the private contractors who have sprung up in recent years to supply services to various countries.

 

 

The Kit

The  kit is a re-release of Airfix's new tool kit from 2012. The moulding are good as is the detail, although a bit of flash is creeping in.  Construction starts in the cockpit. The seat is built up and added to the tub then the rear bulkhead can be added. A pilot figure is supplied if needed however its a bit generic. The control column and instrument panel are added in, the instruments being provided as decal. Next up the engine intake, and exhaust are made up and put to one side.  The intakes are then added to each fuselage side. Once this is done the main intake, cockpit and exhaust are added i, and the fuselage can be closed up.

 

 

The main wing which is a single lower section with left/right uppers is then made up and added to the fuselage, as are the tailplanes. Next up the main undercarriage units and their doors are added to the wing, this is followed by the nose gear. All of the gear doors can be fitted closed if an in flight model is required. The prominent leading edge slats are then added along with the rear air-brakes. These can be open or closed as the modeller wants. At the rear the arrestor hook and final exhaust ring are added.  To finish off the refuelling probe is added to the nose as well as the cannon barrels into the wing roots. A spine antenna is added for the Argentinean aircraft. Fuel tanks are provided for the wings and the centre line pylons. Two slick and two snakeye US 500lb bombs are supplied as it what looks to be a basic British 1000Lb which was used by the Argentinians. 

 

 

 

Decals

The small decal sheet is from Cartograf so should post no issues. Two main decal options are provided;

 

1. 2132 - VA-93 "Blue Blazers" Det Q, USS Benningtom (CVS-20) Sea Of Japan 1964
2. 2014 - 921st Reg, Vietnam People;s Air Force. Mid 1960s

 

 

 

Conclusion

The A-4 is a great kit of an important US Navy aircraft, it should build with no issues.  Although the MiG kit isn't perfect, it is still just about the best MiG-17 available in the scale. It's a shame that the kit has some niggling issues, but it should not detract from the build. Its good to see the re-release of the "Dog Fight Double" Highly Recommended. 

 

 

Review sample courtesy of