In the Box

Instructions: The instructions were divided into six pages of clearly marked parts and their construction sequence. There was also a page for the four different paint schemes.

Sprues: 3 molded in gray plastic

Clear plastic: 1 sprue

Decal Sheet: With markings for three different countries United States, Japan and Taiwan.

Building the Model

Cockpit

The cockpit was assembled along with other parts into the forward parts of the fuselage sides (the whole fuse is in four different sections). Assembly was not an issue, make sure you get the pilots seat frame and bulked slotted firmly in the cockpit floorboard because the top of the fuse interlocks with the bulked and if the seat is not completely down, the top of the canopy will not fit. Details in the cockpit were not all that pronounced and the instrument panel did not have a decal.

Authored by Chris Goss, this is the tenth volume in the Historic Military Aircraft Series, and the fourth devoted to British combat aircraft of the 1970’s and 80’s, the twenty years which signified the final twenty of The Cold War. Goss treats the four major British recon aircraft separately with their own chapters: the Canberra, Gannet, Nimrod and Shackleton. The book is super illustrated with color photographs of each type and concise tables listing the variants produced: the Gannet with seven, the Nimrod with six, the Shackleton with five, and the Canberra with a whopping fourteen. If there’s a drawback to Goss’s work, it’s that the colors in some of the book’s photographs are slightly muted, typical of the film used in that time. but they’re still accurately portrayed and plenty detailed for the scale modeler to use.

For anyone painting United States Army Helicopters from the Vietnam-era onward, one of the latest releases from Ammo by Mig is an Air Set providing three different greens and flat black for the rotor blades. The bottles include a mixing ball (as identified by the yellow cap) which greatly aids in agitating the paint prior to use. I find the paints of a consistency that allows for brush painting straight from the bottle, and I add a small amount of thinner when airbrushing. This is a great set that I highly recommend if you have any US Army helicopters in your stash.