Time to
display another finished product of the 72 Land small aircraft production line.
No one
would accuse me of taking anything seriously, much less a hobby, and I have no
problem at all with doing what-if models on occasion. I’ve done navalized
P-47s, a USAF Corsair, and even a WW2 era B-36. This one is on the more restrained
end of the what-if spectrum: a Eurofighter done up in Red Arrows markings.
I don’t
know who it was that set me on this path, but I do remember seeing a photo
somewhere on the net, and knew that one of them was in my future. Since I had
recently finished 3 Bae Hawks in different-era RA markings, now seemed like the
time. Plus, I had an Italeri two-seater in the stash, which didn’t seem like it
was going to be built unless I thought of something creative.
The
biggest challenge was to mask the White stripe swooping down both sides of the
fuselage. I used the new(ish) Tamiya white tape for curves and it worked well
enough. The big White arrow on the lower surfaces was less of a success, given
that the masking straddled lots of raised detail, vents, flap fairings, deep
curves, and two of the three wheel wells. I think this pretty much used up the
last of my Xtracolour Red Arrows Red paint, so unless the Royal Post rethinks
its policy on air-shipping enamel paints, that is probably my last Red Arrows
type for the time being.
Decals
were cobbled together from various Airfix Hawk Red Arrow sheets, with a serial
number picked more or less at random. The “Royal Air Force” titles came from an
Xtradecal lettering sheet. It will always be a conversation piece, although the
RAF would be unlikely to use such an expensive aircraft for their display team.
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