Each issue of Scale Aircraft Modeling has the same basic design and format. That's not a bad thing as it is jam packed with superb aircraft builds and tips. In this issue, there are five feature articles, an Aviation in Profile piece, and seven Compact Build Reviews.

The Feature articles for this issue start with DAI Williams build of Wingnut Wings 1/32 Fokker D.VII. Mr. Williams covers how to make single color areas less drab and add contrast. He also used Albion Alloys thread, Bob's Buckles turnbuckles and AVIATTIC lozenge decals to improve the kit.

Next up is James Ashton's build of the newer Revell 1/32 Spitfire Mk. II. He gives it the full meal deal with Barracuda cast everything and spends a lot of time getting the finish just right on this heavily weathered plane using multiple techniques..

Aerobonus continues its run of diorama/aftermarket add on sets with a 5 gallon waste oil drain tank. The set consists of 5 resin parts and decals and is perfectly formed with no flash or air bubbles.

There is one choice to be made and that is with the high or low fill spout. I cut the main pail and dump pan free with a razor saw and the cur the handle and the low fill support free with nippers and cleaned all of it up very gently with sanding sticks. Some care is needed as the handle is very fragile. All that was required then was to super glue the support, the pan and handle on the main pail. I primed with Alclad gray and let it dry overnight.

The directions called for a red pail and support and I painted these Insignia Red. The pan was painted silver and the decal added. A wash of brown (to look like oil stains) and a few silver marks for scratches and we're done.

The Ship

Launched in April 1943 and commissioned four months later, USS Intrepid (CV-11) participated in numerous actions in the central and western Pacific from early 1944 until the end of the Pacific War, including Leyte Gulf and Okinawa. She was hit twice by kamikazes but was still on station at the end of hostilities. Intrepid underwent modernization twice during the 1950s, which enclosed her bow and gave her an angled flight deck. Reclassified as an Anti-submarine Carrier (CVS-11), Intrepid was the lead ship for the NASA’s Mercury Aurora 7 and the Gemini 3 splashdown recovery. From April 1966 to February 1969, she made three deployments to the waters off Vietnam. She ended her active career back in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, being decommissioned in 1974 with over 30 years of service. In August 1982, Intrepid was reopened as a museum ship in New York harbor.