History

The Chukar target drone was developed and produced by Northrup Ventura in 1968. It can be launched from land based or ship based zero length launchers. JATO rockets were used to accelerate it to stable flight speed and a Williams J-400-WR-400 turbojet provided 121 pounds of thrust for propulsion. It could travel at speeds up to 400 knots and had a ceiling of 40,000 feet. It was ingeniously designed to include passive or active radar, wingtip infrared flares and a smoke system for visual tracking. It can be rigged with flotation equipment for recovery over water. After a training mission a parachute is deployed and telemetry information on defensive missile performance can be downloaded. The drone is named for the Chukar Partridge, a game bird that thrives from the Western Mediterranean, through the Middle East and into Asia.

The Kit

The kit is composed of 15 3D printed parts, all mounted on a single printing frame. Only 9 of these parts will be required depending on the version you are building, as there are 3 types of JATO bottles, two types of nose cone and alternate parts for display of the launcher in stowed or ready for launch configuration. Decals are included for four markings, including 2 for US Navy, 2 for UK Royal Navy, and 2 for IDF/Air Force. A color instruction booklet includes depictions of the four paint schemes and decal placement guide. Color call-outs are for Gunze Sangyo and Mr Hobby paints only.

Assembly

Care must be taken when removing part #8 from the support trees, since the support’s diameter is very close to the diameter of the actual part. Although the parts are crowded together, just remove them starting from the outside working your way in and the parts are removed safely from the support trees.

Special Hobby have designed a very helpful keyed lug which inserts between the nose cone and the body of the drone, aiding alignment for what would otherwise be a mere butt joint. Part #8 was a little warped and I used the hair dryer method to straighten it before assembly and painting. Since these parts are very small, very little heat is needed and the parts are thin, so be advised they heat up really quickly.

Parts are designed to slot together and I only needed to scrape off a microscopic amount of resin on the joining surfaces to ease fit and alignment. The resin is flexible and you needn’t fear breaking unless you are extremely rough with the parts. I used a piece of looped wire to apply thin superglue at each contact joint. The final assembly is quite stout for its delicate appearance.

After priming with Tamiya Fine White Primer, more imperfections were evident. Missed support remnants and lines were addressed with a blade and fine sanding. The surface of the resin is matte in texture and it may be a good idea to lightly wet sand areas like the wings and tail as this rough texture may transmit through primer and paint.

I chose the first option on the instruction sheet, which requires the rounded JATO bottles and the shorter, more pointed nosecone. I base coated the drone with rattle can Tamiya Pure White TS-26 and then masked the wings and tail before applying Model Master Acrylic International Orange. The launcher was airbrushed with Vallejo Golden Yellow with hand-brushed details picked out with silver. Adequate lighting and magnification are a plus when applying masks to this tiny model as the parts are very small. Decals were in register and released quickly from the backing paper, even in cold water, and they smoothed down over a glossy surface without any trouble. A clear flat coat unified the model’s appearance.

Conclusions

Special Hobby have made the most of current 3D printing production to provide a truly enjoyable kit of a little-known subject. The low parts count, rapid assembly and a variety of options make it enjoyable by beginner or seasoned modelers alike. At $25 retail it also doesn’t hurt the wallet. This might be a good kit as a first 3D printed model. Thank you to Special Hobby for providing this example for review and thank you to IPMS USA for the opportunity to review.