WOW! INSIDE-OUT MEGA-BUILD P-51D MUSTANG FROM ZOUKEI-MURA

SMN REPORT:

More goodness from Zoukei-Mura is about to fly your way, with a “build from the inside out” Mustang, that’s just packed with interior detail.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FIGHTING FALCON - THE F-16 FIRST FLEW 37 YEARS AGO

The General Dynamics (now Lockheed Martin) F-16 Fighting Falcon first flew on February 2, 1974, and since its active entry in August four years later, has been in continuous service ever since.

From lightweight fighter to heavyweight attacker

The F-16 was developed originally as a lightweight day fighter, but has evolved into a much bigger, heavier, and more powerful beast since then - it’s now a highly successful all-weather multirole machine  that is flown by the air arms of some 26 different countries. For a jet fighter, production numbers are eyebrow-raising at 4450 manufactured so far, with more orders to come. However, to put that production number into perspective, Russia’s MiG-15 tops the charts with a likely total of some 18,000-plus, though a precise figure doesn’t seem to be available.

1:48 scale F-16 kits to buy

There are more F-16 kits than you can shake a stick at, so we’re just going to pick three of our faves - they come from Hasegawa, and are in big scales. The 1:48 scale F-16E Limited Edition has 146 components, including the conformal fuel tanks that give the aircraft much added range. Aesthetically, they don’t add the the F-16’s dainty looks, but to our eyes, the bumps, blisters, sensors, and other military extras give the aircraft a tough appeal of its own.

F-16 at Red Flag

The Hasegawa F-16i is an Israeli version, also in 1:48 scale. Like the original it has those conformal fuel tanks, very noticeable in the pic above, where you can see a pair of these jets, flying at the 2009 Red Flag combat-training exercise in the skies of the US Nevada Test and Training Range.

SOPWITH PUP BIPLANE FROM WINGNUT WINGS OF NEW ZEALAND

SMN report
For lovers of World War I and big-scale aircraft models, here’s a gorgeous 1:32 scale kit from Wingnut Wings, the Sopwith Scout, or ‘Pup’, a single-seater that was much loved by its pilots. Some 2100 Pups were built during the Great War, and the Wingnut model builds into a very neat representation indeed.

What’s in the box?
The box features handsome art on the cover, while inside there are 128 injection-moulded plastic components and six photo-etch metal detail parts. The Cartograf decals that include markings for six different aircraft. Optional build items include different side and engine cowls, plus fuselage and upper wing. The LeRhone engine is a miniature masterpiece, while detail work throughout is good - just look at the sewn seams on the rear fuselage and the wood-effect around the cockpit. For the nimble-fingered model maker Wingnut provides a rigging diagram, and this of course sets the aircraft off a treat - in fact, it’s essential to make the best of a biplane to this large scale. In all, a highly recommended kit for the Great War enthusiast, and one that will sit realistically with any of the 54 mm military figure sets also available from Wingnut Wings.

About the Sopwith Pup
The aircraft was officially called the Scout, but the ‘Pup’ nickname stuck, and Sopwith used animal names from then on, including the later Camel and Snipe. The Pup's light weight and generous wing area gave it a good rate of climb, ailerons on both upper and lower wings making it a very agile aircraft. It had far less power and armament than the German Albatros DIII, but was more maneuverable - as British air ace James McCudden put it: “The Sopwith would turn twice to an Albatros' once ... it was a remarkably fine machine for general all-round flying. It was so extremely light and well surfaced that after a little practice one could almost land it on a tennis court.”

Deadly deck-landing trials
Sopwith Pups were used in pioneering carrier experiments. On 2 August 1917, a Pup flown by Sqn Cdr Edwin Dunning became the first aircraft to land on a moving ship, HMS Furious. Sadly, Dunning lost his life on the third landing, when the Pup went over the side into the water. Even so, the trials pointed the way to operational deployment, and a few months later Pups began carrier operations. At first, they were fitted with skids instead of wheels, using wires to trap the aircraft on landing. Later versions reverted to wheels, which made deck handling by ground crews easier.

Visit the Sopwith Pup at Wingnut Wings, where there is masses of extra information to look at, here.

The pictures show, top to bottom:
1  Sopwith Pup boxtop.
2-6  Views of the assembled Pup, courtesy Wingnut Wings.
7  Dunning makes flight trials on HMS Furious.