When something in 1/144 scale comes up as available for review, I will quite often jump on it. There isn’t NEARLY as much in 1/144 as in 1/72 or 1/48, so I’m quite often looking at a list with nothing for me. When I saw the AOA Decals AC-119 decals in 1/144, I grabbed it. And I’m glad I did.

The Roden AC-119K Stinger is a pretty good kit, but I really wish the Eastern Europeans would start putting locating rings and tabs on their parts. A simple butt joint doesn’t always hold up well to handling. In this case, if you look at my Stinger, you’ll notice that the tail booms don’t line up very well with the fuselage. That’s because I managed to rip these parts off the kit THREE times.

So I’m very happy to review AOA’s decals for the AC-119.

History

The MiG-15 was one of the first really impressive fighter airplanes developed by the Soviet Union after WW II. Utilizing some British jet engine technology and some captured German swept wing technology, the Design Bureau of Mikoyan and Gurevich (MiG) produced a fighter that surprised the Allies when it was first encountered during the start of the Korean War. In 1949, a year after the fighter entered series production, work began on an advanced combat trainer variant to provide pilots with the skills necessary to fly the higher performance fighters. This resulted in the MiG-15UTI. The NATO code name for the trainer was Midget while the Soviet nickname was Babushka (grandmother).

Instructions

The instructions in this kit are similar to those of all of Airfix’s new issues. They are on full size sheets, with one page of general historical information in 5 languages, one sheet of brief modeling instructions in 12 languages, and 19 detailed assembly drawings on 4 pages. There is also one sheet of excellent rigging instructions with 1/72 scale drawings, since this model needs wire rigging to look realistic. The box art has the color guide and painting references, although there isn’t a lot of interior information, especially since not all interior colors are covered. There is no sprue diagram or detailed information on the forward part of the cockpit interior. The photo on p. 20 of the Imrie book should solve this problem.

Fündekals provided these five sample sheets for my review. Each sheet provides numerous decals. The F-102A sheets each provide either five or six sets of individual markings. In the case of the Stencil sheet at least one complete set of markings (many of which I used in completion of my F-102A model, and in the Stars and Bars sheets, numerous national insignia.

The Aircraft

The P-40N was in several respects the final and some would say the definitive P-40 Warhawk or the Kittyhawk Mk. IV. The most distinguishing feature was the extended canopy, which provided the pilot with a much better view from within the canopy. While it can’t be seen from the exterior, this model of the P-40N was powered by the Allison V-1710-87 engine.

The Kit

This kit was a pleasure to build and estimated to take only 20 hours to complete, appears to match the published dimensions in all respects, and provides an attractive addition to the Warhawk or Kittyhawk family of kits (not counting the CMK after-market items noted below).

The Build

The basic kit has a pretty low level of difficulty and would be pretty straight-forward. In spite of my early premonition about the Special Hobby kits, there are small locating pins and holes found in this kit. The very basic steps are as follows: