Andwil’s North African Pony - Finished-

[Andwil]

I’m joining in with a kit that was the first one I pulled out of the stash once the results of the 2025 Bunfight were in.  In truth it qualifies for the Vietnam, 80s, Post War Twins and Twin Boom GBs, it is the calendar that puts it in this one.

 

Hasegawa’s old 1/72 Bronco.  I bought this many years ago, I don’t know why, other than it is an interesting looking aircraft.

 

 

Here’s what’s in the box:

 

 

Typical old school Hasegawa, quite basic cockpit and landing gear, but nicely detailed with fine raised panel lines, minimal flash, moulded in very hard plastic.  I have a bit of aftermarket to dress it up a bit:

 

 

Reskit wheels which will require some modification of the gear legs (nose wheel is unfortunately unusable as Hasegawa have moulded the wheel on the nose gear leg and it’s beyond me to scratch a replacement leg), a Master pitot and a mask set for the canopy (it’s designed for the ICM kit, but it’s the same plane isn’t it?)

 

The old decals are past it so I will be using these:

 

 

I’ll be finishing it as an overall green Moroccan Airforce machine.  Other than the wheels and pitot and a bit of extra detail in the cockpit it will be a straightforward OOB build.

 

To get the ball rolling I have made  start on filling ejector marks on seats, cockpit floor and undercarriage doors:

 

 

added some weights to the fuselage and booms:

 

 

which I hope the rather spindly undercarriage will be strong enough to support.

 

Assembled the props, sponsons, wing and tail booms:

 

 

 

 

Some plastic rod had been used to fill the holes in the wing as I will not be using the rather poor pylons provided.

 

Work will continue with the cockpit

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[81-er]

A great choice of subject AW, I didn't realise Morrocco operated the Bronco. You’re also off to a really good start

 

James

[modelling minion]

Great to see another Bronco in the GB, I remember building this kit many years ago! You are off to a great start too. 

Very pleased to see you building her in Moroccan markings, an often overlooked operator. 

2 hours ago, 81-er said:

A great choice of subject AW, I didn't realise Morrocco operated the Bronco. You’re also off to a really good start

 

James

If I remember rightly they appeared briefly on screen in "The Living Daylights", with a few other interesting Moroccan aircraft. 

[81-er]

I might have to rewatch that again then, for reseach purposes...

 

James

[modelling minion]

4 minutes ago, 81-er said:

I might have to rewatch that again then, for reseach purposes...

 

James

Obviously purely for research 😉, though I always thought that Timothy Dalton was a better Bond than he was given credit for. 

[Andwil]

I did say this would be a mainly OOB build, but Hasegawa’s very basic cockpit and the void behind the back seat really needed addressing given the large amount of glazing.  So I to with plastic card to add some detail, not necessarily 100% accurate but enough to make the cockpit look busy with the void filled, some side consoles and throttles and bent wire control columns (the kit had none).

 

 

Hopefully will look better under primer.  The seats are still a work in progress.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[modelling minion]

I think that you have made a big difference to the look of the cockpit, very nice work. 👍 

[Andwil]

Last night I had another read through of Rade @parip’s wonderful build of the Academy OV-10 and concluded that the Academy kit, is, shall we say, very influenced by the Hasegawa one, with a few added details.  I’d go as far as saying the parts would be readily interchangeable.  A quick dry fit of the sponson to fuselage and booms to wing show the exact same fit issues, so I expect I’ll be adding plastic card shims as well.

 

I will be building mine wheels down though and won’t be doing anything about the very shallow gear bays as they’re underneath and won’t be seen.  I can’t imagine anyone picking my model up and turning it over!

 

AW

[Andwil]

The cockpit has been painted dark gull grey and assembled.  I used the ip decals, but just cut them out and glued them to the panels.  The seats got some padding from milliput which covered the ejector pins and some basic belts from wine bottle foil.

 

 

 

Having done that I was able to close up the nacelle.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[modelling minion]

I think that the cockpit looks really good, very nice work 👍. 

[81-er]

Nice work, AW, the added detail in the cockpit is very nice

 

James

[Andwil]

Today I attached the sponson.  So far just about every part of this kit has had to be wrangled into place after much filing and sanding, followed by filler and sanding.  Suffice to say, fit has not been great.  But little by little it’s coming together.

 

 

 

I can’t wait to get it into primer though, that dark green plastic is horrible and shows every scratch and scar which needs to be polished out.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[modelling minion]

There is always an element of poor fit when we are dealing with older kits but it certainly looks like you are getting the better of it.

[81-er]

It might be a battle, but you're succeeding with it

 

James

[Andwil]

Wing on and the by now obligatory filler added:

 

 

Fettling and dry fitting the booms and tailplane has got them to fit quite nicely so I’m not anticipating too many more problems 🤞

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[modelling minion]

Neat job fitting the wing, it actually doesn't look to bad a joint, and I'm pleased to heat that the booms look to be a decent fit.

[Andwil]

2 hours ago, modelling minion said:

Neat job fitting the wing, it actually doesn't look to bad a joint, and I'm pleased to heat that the booms look to be a decent fit.

It was actually a very tight fit, I had to sand the sides down a bit.  Could have fitted it without glue.  But there was a gap between the front of the wing and the cockpit.

 

AW

[Andwil]

Booms and tailplane now on.  It now looks like a Bronco and not an Olympic toboggan with wings!  I’m hoping it won’t be a tail sitter, it balances about where the main wheels are positioned but tail sits when balanced from the gear leg position 🤞.

 

 

Next challenge the canopy! (must remember to repaint the instrument coaming)

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[modelling minion]

Excellent progress, she's taking shape very nicely. I fear that she might be a tail sitter with the weight of the booms and tailplane. 

[81-er]

She's definitely looking like a Bronco now, AW. Hopefully she won't be a tail-sitter when she's finished

 

James

[Andwil]

On 9/25/2025 at 5:20 PM, Andwil said:

a mask set for the canopy (it’s designed for the ICM kit, but it’s the same plane isn’t it?)

You’d think.  In reality most of the parts needed modifying, the side panels were too big and needed trimming, the windscreen panels were not quite the same shape and required trimming and extra bits of tape to cover gaps.  Only the pieces for the top went on without modification.

 

While burnishing down the masks on the top canopy part there was an ominous cracking sound.  For the first time in my experience I have cracked a canopy.  Fortunately it’s only a small crack and the part didn’t break.

 

The four part canopy went together much easier than I expected, the top needed sanding to fit as it was a bit too long and the port side piece needed some fettling to fit, the starboard one fitted perfectly.  All glued with PVA canopy glue, I hope it doesn’t come apart when the time comes to remove the masking.  All in all I’m glad I’m building this kit now, as I don’t think I could have made as good a job with the canopy if I had built it when I first bought it many, many years ago.

 

 

 

I’ll leave this to properly set, we’re going away for the weekend to watch our son run in the Melbourne Marathon.  When I get back it will be off to the paint shop.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[modelling minion]

You really have done a great job on getting her together, she looks really good. A shame about the canopy cracking but I am glad that it didn't break. 

[81-er]

That's a shame about the canopy, AW, I hope it's not too noticable when it's finished. Good luck to your son with the marathon!

 

James

[Andwil]

Back home after an enjoyable weekend away in Melbourne.  Our son ran the Marathon and finished in a time of 3 hours 5 minutes, which he was very happy with as this was his first full marathon for two years due to a nagging injury.  He was hoping to do it in under three hours but had a few niggles after the 30km mark which slowed him down.  Even so, his time was about a day quicker than I could do it in!

 

Got some primer on the Bronco this afternoon, still have the wings to do and there are a couple of seams underneath that need a bit more attention.  Should get them done tomorrow.  It’s nice to cover up that horrid shiny plastic at long last.

 

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[81-er]

The primer is looking good so far, hopefully those couple of seams don't need too much work to fix and nothing else shows up with the remaining primer. Well done to your son as well, I'd say that's a great time to run a marathon in!

 

James