In the standard Airfix box you
get four grey sprues, the two fuselage halves and one clear sprue, all
rattling around and therefore the canopy parts are quite scratched.
The overall appearance is quite encouraging, nicely engraved panel lines,
akin to the type on the Airfix 1/48 Buccaneer and Lightning.
The main area for concern is the rudimentary cockpit interior and
instrument panel. There is a four-piece ejection seat, but it’s woefully
inadequate, even if there were a pilot to add to hide it with the canopy
shut. But seeing that the canopy is moulded in two pieces, why shut it?
Stores consist of an ECM pod x1, fuel tank x1 and Exocet missile x1.
The undercarriage could possibly benefit from some detailing in the way of
brakes lines etc, but shape wise, it looks pretty good. The main wheels
are very well moulded.
There is a seperately moulded arrestor hook and an attempt at a nose
mounted refuelling (IFR) probe, which can also be displayed opened.
Other areas of note are a separate tail jet pipe, intake splitter plates,
good undercarriage and airbrake retraction arms and various antenna and
lumps 'n' bumps about the airframe.
So, overall there is the good basic shape and details to get a good model
if built OOB with a pilot in the cockpit with the canopy shut, but this
also means it is a good starting point for those who wish to add details
like undercarriage bay and cockpit details. Its a sound model overall and
a dry fit of varying parts shows a good fit on most of the main airframe
parts which certainly bodes well.
Markings options are for two machines, one of the French Navy from No.11
Flotille, Landivisiau, France, 1999 feat. 50th anniversary sqn markings
and Kosovo mission markings, overall two tone grey upper camo with light
grey undersides and a black nose cone.
The other option is for an Argentinean Navy machine from 2nd Escuadrilla,
Puerto Belgrano, 1982 Falklands Conflict, with two Exocet mission
markings. Colours are Dark Sea Grey uppers with white undersides and black
nose cone.
Decals are well printed, but of slightly out of register and possibly a
bit on the thin side of opaque. There are extensive stencil data too on
the decal sheet , which is a nice touch.
If nothing else the Neomega cockpit set should be added as this is the
area that REALLY needs some help.
Included are resin parts for: -
- MB Mk.IV Ejection seat
- Cockpit tub
- Rear panel
- HUD
- Instrument Panel
- Rudder pedals
- Seat rails
- control column
- port side panel
- starboard side panel
This is a quantum improvement to the kit
and really enhances the overall look, a dry fit shows that very little
work will be needed, its almost literally plug 'n' play. It just needs
careful painting. It all fits in the Airfix kit quite easily with only
minor surgery needed to enable the instrument panel cockpit coaming/HUD
unit to fit into the upper fuselage. The cockpit 'tub' fits easily and is
more or less a direct replacement for the kit part. Only thing the ejection seat
needs is a set of pull handles which are easily
fashioned with fine wire.
Click on
images below to see larger images
After this is all painted and
installed, the horizontally split fuselage halves are joined together at
which point you have to trap the lower parts of the main wings between
them. This is rather novel, but works well in practice. The top halves of
the wings are then attached and there are separate flaps that allow you to
model them in the deployed position. One point though is that the flaps
and leading edge slats on the Super Etendard are not hydraulically
operated, so do not droop when they lose hydraulic pressure, they are
mechanically operated by electric power used when the aircraft is powered
up and therefore stay in their respective locked up positions on the
ground. A dry fit of these parts shows that if they are modelled in the
lowered position, they would fit very well and look the part. Therefore
they're only really useful if the model is depicted in flight or in take
off/landing configuration. Though seeing that there is no pilot figure
included in the kit, it does seem rather a strange option. Wing to
fuselage joints needed a blend in with some correction fluid and sanding
and the sides of the nose area either side of the cockpit opening needed a
bit of filler to blend it in too.
The tailplanes are an interesting assembly, they comprise of a two-part
tail unit and a two part, all moving tailplane. When at rest, the Super
Etendards all moving tailplanes tend to sit at a slightly up angle due to
the relaxed controls. I wanted to show this on my parked model, so some
surgery was required. First off the rearward facing ECM bullet fairing was
moulded to the horizontal stabilisers, so this had to be removed and
repositioned into the tail and filled and sanded to a flush fit. The next
obstacle to overcome was the scuff plates which move with the stabilisers,
these are moulded in on the vertical tail; so had to be removed. The
problem here is that they need to be added to the stabilisers, so I put
some masking tape over the areas to be removed and burnished them down to
get the outline and the drew round the shape of the scuff plates with a
fine permanent marker, removed the two pieces of tape and stuck them down
on to a sheet of clear acetate was the correct thickness (Just handy then,
that the Neomega package was the right size and thickness!) I then cut them
out and superglued them to the stabilisers. To enable these to be fixed
after painting. I drilled a fine hole through the tail and added some
copper wire to one stabiliser and then drilled out a hole on the other
stabiliser to allow the wire through the tail and connect the stabilisers
together thus allowing them to move. I left off the main wingtips as these
were to be modelled in the folded position and would ease the painting
process when added later.
Next was some detailing to the supplied kit parts. The option for the
extended IFR probe is a neat touch and is best used in the open position, as a dry fit showed, if you want it closed its not the best fit and would
require some serious filling and sanding. I used the kit supplied parts,
but added some detailing using copper wire and plasticard and a dry fit
showed that it was sufficiently 'busied up'.
The airbrakes are nicely moulded and have the option to show them open or
closed, I chose to show them open but on further inspection of photos of
Super Etendards with deployed airbrakes, I noticed the holes that were
moulded as depressions on the kits parts needed opening up, so out with
the mini-drill and they were given a vastly improved look to the stock
parts.
On to the undercarriage which is really very nice and probably one of the
best parts of the kit straight from the box. I assembled all parts then
sprayed them in Alclad Aluminium followed by a wash of Tamiya X-19 Smoke
which served to really enhance the details and add some depth. Whilst I
was at it, I sprayed the undercarriage bays and door interiors in the same
way as well as the airbrake bays.
The canopy parts were in a terrible state, they were simply loose in the
bag of sprues inside the box and were scratched all over as well as being
horribly mismoulded on one side of the main canopy part which appeared to
distort it. After considering my options, I had to go with the kit
supplied parts and use them, as I am not adept at home made vac-forming
especially as I only had the one canopy to use as a master and didn't want
to ruin it. I couldn't find any aftermarket options in vacform either, so
my only option was to grin and bear it. I hadn't tried the Micromesh
polishing system before, but had seen and heard great things about it.
So I
invested in a set of Micromesh cloths which come in varying fine grades.
I
started by sanding the whole canopy with 1500 grit wet or dry and copious
amounts of water to try to get rid of the distorted mismould on the main
canopy part. I followed this using the Micromesh cloths starting with
3600 grade through to 12000 grade and three dips in Klear. This process thinned it somewhat which helped with the clarity.
I added some
details to the inside of the canopy using fine wire and a rear view mirror
using foil and some surplus etch bits n' bobs from the spares box. Overall
I was really pleased on how I managed to save the poor kit canopy as
supplied and will definitely use the Micromesh system again.
The rest of the
build was very straight forward and went according to the instructions. So next
I was on to the painting stages. I opted for the Argentinean navy machine as a
change from the French naval markings and as this year marks the 25th
anniversary of the Falklands conflict....it seemed apt.
The lower fuselage was sprayed in Revell 301 Satin White enamel and then masked
up completely to avoid any over spray from the Dark Sea Grey upper surfaces.
The
upper surfaces were a bit of a problem to get the shade correct. Most references
show the upper surfaces as a blue/grey and most sources appear as Dark Sea Grey
or Extra dark Sea Grey. I went with my instinct and plumped for Humbrol 125 Dark
Sea Grey with a few drops of Humbrol 25 Blue to add the apparent blue tinge.
The
rudder and trailing edges of the taiplanes are painted in the blue and white
colours of the Argentinean flag. These are supplied as decals in the kit, but
applying these could prove problematic, so I opted to paint them on; the white
was sprayed at the same time as the undersides and was masked up according to
the instructions. I then used Humbrol 48 Mediterranean Blue as it's almost an
exact match to the blue that is on the decals.
I glossed up the model ready for decaling with a couple of coats of Klear and
then applied the decals from the Airfix sheet. Some were very slightly out of
register and as there are no aftermarket sets available for this aircraft in
Argentine markings, I really had no option but to press on with them. They all
went on with no problems at all, I tried out a new technique applying the decals
with using Klear as a setting solution. I put a small puddle of Klear where the
decal is to be placed, soak the decal as per usual then apply it to the Klear.
After a minute or so I add another light coat of Klear over the decal, then left it alone to dry naturally.
After all the decals are applied in this
manner, its best to let the Klear dry out and cure thoroughly by leaving it
overnight. When dry the Klear gives a protective coating to the model and decals
allowing for the weathering processes as well as snuggling the decals into all
the recessed details.
I used an oil wash of Payne’s Grey artists oil colour thinned with enamel
thinners and washed it into the panel lines. After a couple of hours, I then
removed the excess wash with thinners dampened kitchen towel wiping backwards in
the direction of the airflow. The good thing about this is that the grey really
makes the white undersides look grimy and dirty and the top less so due to the
colour of the aircraft. I added some gun smoke staining using good old Tamiya
X-19 Smoke in the airbrush, topped off with a couple of coats of Humbrol
MattCote and it was just left to add the open airbrakes, canopy and in flight
refuelling probe before finally adding the undercarriage and the underwing
stores.
The underwing stores were very nice straight from the box. I painted the fuel
tank in the same manner as the fuselage whilst I had the paint in the airbrush.
The Exocet was simply painted white with the grey stripe and black nose masked
off and painted appropriately. I added the decals to the Exocet and applied the
same oil wash to deepen the details .
This was a really enjoyable build overall. Although originally from a Heller
mould, this kit seems a lot easier to find in an Airfix box, and with the new
life being breathed into Airfix of late, here’s hoping it may see a re-release
as it is a brilliant kit that just needs a bit of busying up and TLC to make a
really nice replica of this significant cold war carrier-borne fighter bomber.
Its a pretty, yet purposeful looking aircraft to my eye, though they do say that
beauty is in the eye of the beholder!
Mike
Click on
images below to see larger images
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