Background

The world’s first and most-produced supersonic trainer, the Northrop T-38A Talon has trained over 5,000 military pilots since its introduction to service in 1961. Of the nearly 1,200 T-38A’s produced, the US Air Force continues to operate over 500 of the type as of 2014, of which most will be upgraded to T-38C configuration with new wings and improved avionics, including heads-up display and inertial navigation systems, and will continue to operate them until at least 2020.

The First World War, which marked its 100th Anniversary this year, was the first truly “Industrial War”. The slaughter on the battle fields, at sea, and in the air was aided, and the conflict prolonged, due to the industrial capacity of the belligerents to churn out the machinery of warfare. In particular, the relatively new invention of the internal combustion engine provided new killing “machines” in large numbers: the aeroplane in the sky, and the tank on the ground. And while both sides utilized aeroplanes for reconnaissance, bombing and aerial combat, it was the British and then the French who came up with the tank, the German and Austro-Hungarian forces having next to no tank production of their own during the war. The vast majority of the tanks utilized by the Germans on the Western front were in fact captured Allied tanks!

This latest offering from Aerobonus is typical of their line of figures. There is one pour stub containing four pieces of flawless light grey resin. There are two arms, body and head. That sounds all kind of boring but this figure is molded as if he were exiting a late war Bf-109. The two separate arms are set to lay on the top of the canopy frame. The arms are added on a natural seem line. The legs are already set to have one leg on the seat and the other on the canopy sill, no assembly required on them. Overall clean up is relatively easy. The pour stubs are small and easy to remove.