A26 Invader by Italeri. I was tempted to do up the Cuban version flown by both the FAR, current government of Cuba, and the FAL or
"Bay of Pigs" invasion forces. This kind of points up my obsession with this aircraft. Birthed in the second world war and refined by wartime demands, it was a very well designed a/c for it's day. Beyond serving in US use in three wars, WW2, Korea and Vietnam, it was also used extensively overseas by US allies and proxies including Indochina, the Congo, Indonesia, Angola and Biafra.(!)
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Great inspiring action shot. Note: Boeing officially licenced product logo. |
"If it ain't Boeing, I ain't going" Old ad campaign that bled over into aviators circa WW2.
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Building and pinting the cockpit first helps alot. |
I didn't have a suitable aircraft interior anti rust colour so I mixed up my very own aircraft zinc.
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Note that I also painted all of the interior while it was on the sprue and as I assembled it. |
I remembered to paint a bunch of the small interior bits on the sprue. Since most of it is inside, no one will know...
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A bit of bog was helpful, mostly it fit very well. |
I had a couple gaps, where I had slightly mis-aligned a wing and it had knock on effects down the road. Nothing too bad, but annoying as the kit itself was quite good.
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I decided that putting the wheels on first would help the masking...YMMV. |
The A-26 is a sexy beast indeed, I can imagine some young bomber pilots realising that they got handed a real hot rod. Same engines as the
much heavier B-26 and 10,000 lbs lighter, 4,000 combined horsepower in the two Twin Wasp engines. 570kph!
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Tamiya cans are very nice, all of the ones I've used so far are tops. |
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After this I just did a bit of weathering and added antennae. Now another garage twin engine beauty. |
I have a more brief post about my OV-10 Bronco build, also in 1/72 coming soon. What goes with these three?