Author Topic: Airfix Pucara  (Read 16289 times)

Offline Weaver

  • Skyhawk stealer and violator of Panthers, with designs on a Cougar and a Tiger too
  • Chaos Engineer & Evangelistic Agnostic
Airfix Pucara
« on: October 08, 2015, 07:03:58 AM »
Okay I've made a start on an Airfix Pucara, with the intention of doing it in stockish trim but with different markings (wait and see  ;), as a relatively simple build given that my time's limited for various reasons. However it turns out that the Airfix Pucara is basically the Special Hobby one in a different box, and the standard is OLD Special Hobby, i.e. no locating pins and vague instructions, so it's going rather slowly at the moment. Not sure If I'll be able to finish it or not.
"I have described nothing but what I saw myself, or learned from others" - Thucydides

"I've jazzed mine up a bit" - Spike Milligan

"I'm a general specialist," - Harry Purvis in Tales from the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke

Twitter: @hws5mp
Minds.com: @HaroldWeaverSmith

Offline KiwiZac

  • The Modeller Formerly Known As K5054NZ
Re: Airfix Pucara
« Reply #1 on: October 08, 2015, 09:38:05 AM »
This was one of those kits I was super excited to buy and when I got it home was disappointed at the moulding quality (my skills weren't up to it back then). Good luck! I'm excited to follow along because, well, who doesn't love the Pucara?
Zac in NZ
#avgeek, modelbuilder, photographer, writer. Callsign: "HANDBAG"
https://linktr.ee/zacyates

Offline Tophe

  • He sees things in double...
  • twin-boom & asymmetric fan
    • my models
Re: Airfix Pucara
« Reply #2 on: October 08, 2015, 12:43:12 PM »
Airfix Pucara, with the intention of doing it in stockish trim but with different markings
Uh? instead of an Argentinian COIN fighting British-speaking insurgency in the Malvinas... will you dare to build a UK-bought Pucara fighting Spanish-speaking insurgency in the Falklands? (it seems UK is specialist to buy abroad what can be designed and produced at home) ;)
Source: the book "Project cancelled"...

Offline kitnut617

  • Measures the actual aircraft before modelling it...we have the photographic evidence.
  • Holding Pattern
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  • I'd rather be dirtbike riding...
Re: Airfix Pucara
« Reply #3 on: October 08, 2015, 05:27:32 PM »
However it turns out that the Airfix Pucara is basically the Special Hobby one in a different box, and the standard is OLD Special Hobby, i.e. no locating pins and vague instructions, so it's going rather slowly at the moment. Not sure If I'll be able to finish it or not.

This was one of those kits I was super excited to buy and when I got it home was disappointed at the moulding quality (my skills weren't up to it back then).

I bought the Airfix Falklands Commemorative Box when it came out (six kits in the box), mainly because I was interested in what the kits were as I wasn't aware they had released a kit of all the aircraft involved (it didn't have the Vulcan though --) 

--- there's three in there which aren't Airfix originals ---

Offline Weaver

  • Skyhawk stealer and violator of Panthers, with designs on a Cougar and a Tiger too
  • Chaos Engineer & Evangelistic Agnostic
Re: Airfix Pucara
« Reply #4 on: October 08, 2015, 06:42:19 PM »
However it turns out that the Airfix Pucara is basically the Special Hobby one in a different box, and the standard is OLD Special Hobby, i.e. no locating pins and vague instructions, so it's going rather slowly at the moment. Not sure If I'll be able to finish it or not.

This was one of those kits I was super excited to buy and when I got it home was disappointed at the moulding quality (my skills weren't up to it back then).

I bought the Airfix Falklands Commemorative Box when it came out (six kits in the box), mainly because I was interested in what the kits were as I wasn't aware they had released a kit of all the aircraft involved (it didn't have the Vulcan though --) 

--- there's three in there which aren't Airfix originals ---

SH Pucara, PM Mirage and Heller Super Etendard?
"I have described nothing but what I saw myself, or learned from others" - Thucydides

"I've jazzed mine up a bit" - Spike Milligan

"I'm a general specialist," - Harry Purvis in Tales from the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke

Twitter: @hws5mp
Minds.com: @HaroldWeaverSmith

Offline Weaver

  • Skyhawk stealer and violator of Panthers, with designs on a Cougar and a Tiger too
  • Chaos Engineer & Evangelistic Agnostic
Re: Airfix Pucara
« Reply #5 on: October 08, 2015, 06:44:53 PM »
Airfix Pucara, with the intention of doing it in stockish trim but with different markings
Uh? instead of an Argentinian COIN fighting British-speaking insurgency in the Malvinas... will you dare to build a UK-bought Pucara fighting Spanish-speaking insurgency in the Falklands? (it seems UK is specialist to buy abroad what can be designed and produced at home) ;)
Source: the book "Project cancelled"...

Kind of in the right ball park, but watch this space..... ;)

Didn't you know that everybody knows that everybody else does everything better, cheaper and faster than us, particularly the Americans?  ::) :(
"I have described nothing but what I saw myself, or learned from others" - Thucydides

"I've jazzed mine up a bit" - Spike Milligan

"I'm a general specialist," - Harry Purvis in Tales from the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke

Twitter: @hws5mp
Minds.com: @HaroldWeaverSmith

Offline kitnut617

  • Measures the actual aircraft before modelling it...we have the photographic evidence.
  • Holding Pattern
  • *
  • I'd rather be dirtbike riding...
Re: Airfix Pucara
« Reply #6 on: October 09, 2015, 09:00:34 AM »

I bought the Airfix Falklands Commemorative Box when it came out (six kits in the box), mainly because I was interested in what the kits were as I wasn't aware they had released a kit of all the aircraft involved (it didn't have the Vulcan though --) 

--- there's three in there which aren't Airfix originals ---

SH Pucara, PM Mirage and Heller Super Etendard?

Erm ! that could be four that are not Airfix originals, I'm fairly sure the variant of the Skyhawk Argentina used (and is in the box) hasn't been done by Airfix

Offline Weaver

  • Skyhawk stealer and violator of Panthers, with designs on a Cougar and a Tiger too
  • Chaos Engineer & Evangelistic Agnostic
Re: Airfix Pucara
« Reply #7 on: October 09, 2015, 11:30:14 AM »

I bought the Airfix Falklands Commemorative Box when it came out (six kits in the box), mainly because I was interested in what the kits were as I wasn't aware they had released a kit of all the aircraft involved (it didn't have the Vulcan though --) 

--- there's three in there which aren't Airfix originals ---

SH Pucara, PM Mirage and Heller Super Etendard?

Erm ! that could be four that are not Airfix originals, I'm fairly sure the variant of the Skyhawk Argentina used (and is in the box) hasn't been done by Airfix

Well looking at pics on the internet, the Skyhawk in the Falklands box looks like the old Airfix A-4D-1 moulding. The Falklands set pre-dated the new-tool A-4B/P.
"I have described nothing but what I saw myself, or learned from others" - Thucydides

"I've jazzed mine up a bit" - Spike Milligan

"I'm a general specialist," - Harry Purvis in Tales from the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke

Twitter: @hws5mp
Minds.com: @HaroldWeaverSmith

Offline Weaver

  • Skyhawk stealer and violator of Panthers, with designs on a Cougar and a Tiger too
  • Chaos Engineer & Evangelistic Agnostic
Re: Airfix Pucara
« Reply #8 on: November 26, 2015, 08:27:08 PM »
Sorry for a lack of updates/photos, but I've had problems, not the least of which is this dodgy kit which needs far more fettling than you'd expect. In particular, I've glued the wings on, only to discover that the wing-root farings on the fuselage don't even vaguely match up with them, being MUCH deeper and very conspicuous. The lower front fuselage is also a poor fit on the upper, being narrower for most of it's length. Add those to the ton of putty I've had to use elsewhere and I see a lot of sanding in my future....
"I have described nothing but what I saw myself, or learned from others" - Thucydides

"I've jazzed mine up a bit" - Spike Milligan

"I'm a general specialist," - Harry Purvis in Tales from the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke

Twitter: @hws5mp
Minds.com: @HaroldWeaverSmith

Offline Tophe

  • He sees things in double...
  • twin-boom & asymmetric fan
    • my models
Re: Airfix Pucara
« Reply #9 on: November 28, 2015, 12:49:44 PM »
Maybe there will be a time extension after November 30th... Do you have a picture of the building try?

Offline Weaver

  • Skyhawk stealer and violator of Panthers, with designs on a Cougar and a Tiger too
  • Chaos Engineer & Evangelistic Agnostic
Re: Airfix Pucara
« Reply #10 on: November 29, 2015, 03:34:53 AM »
Here's some pics. It's a bit of a pig.





« Last Edit: November 29, 2015, 04:35:23 AM by Weaver »
"I have described nothing but what I saw myself, or learned from others" - Thucydides

"I've jazzed mine up a bit" - Spike Milligan

"I'm a general specialist," - Harry Purvis in Tales from the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke

Twitter: @hws5mp
Minds.com: @HaroldWeaverSmith

Offline Tophe

  • He sees things in double...
  • twin-boom & asymmetric fan
    • my models
Re: Airfix Pucara
« Reply #11 on: November 29, 2015, 02:45:45 PM »
Good! With the putty you put on, all seems perfect! ;)

Offline Weaver

  • Skyhawk stealer and violator of Panthers, with designs on a Cougar and a Tiger too
  • Chaos Engineer & Evangelistic Agnostic
Re: Airfix Pucara
« Reply #12 on: November 29, 2015, 06:10:17 PM »
Thanks Tophe: if only....

I just broke one of the VOR loop aerials that go on the side of the fin. Luckily VOR aerials are more often blades these days, so it's getting an avionics update.  ::)
"I have described nothing but what I saw myself, or learned from others" - Thucydides

"I've jazzed mine up a bit" - Spike Milligan

"I'm a general specialist," - Harry Purvis in Tales from the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke

Twitter: @hws5mp
Minds.com: @HaroldWeaverSmith

Offline Weaver

  • Skyhawk stealer and violator of Panthers, with designs on a Cougar and a Tiger too
  • Chaos Engineer & Evangelistic Agnostic
Re: Airfix Pucara
« Reply #13 on: November 30, 2015, 02:51:51 AM »
Making progress, but unfortunately, making fun new things means I've been 'nearly' ready to start painting all day. Now way it's going to be finished without an extension, I'm afraid.

On the upside, I had a fortuitous find that will make an excellent underwing store.
"I have described nothing but what I saw myself, or learned from others" - Thucydides

"I've jazzed mine up a bit" - Spike Milligan

"I'm a general specialist," - Harry Purvis in Tales from the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke

Twitter: @hws5mp
Minds.com: @HaroldWeaverSmith

Offline Weaver

  • Skyhawk stealer and violator of Panthers, with designs on a Cougar and a Tiger too
  • Chaos Engineer & Evangelistic Agnostic
Re: Airfix Pucara
« Reply #14 on: December 06, 2015, 09:16:34 AM »
The undercarriage on this thing is a disaster of bad design. Long struts split into two with a butt joint for no reason, almost no location marks (let alone holes) and the holes there are don't match the pin patten on the legs... >:(
"I have described nothing but what I saw myself, or learned from others" - Thucydides

"I've jazzed mine up a bit" - Spike Milligan

"I'm a general specialist," - Harry Purvis in Tales from the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke

Twitter: @hws5mp
Minds.com: @HaroldWeaverSmith

Offline LemonJello

  • MARPAT Master
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Re: Airfix Pucara
« Reply #15 on: December 06, 2015, 09:32:32 AM »


No pressure, though.

Offline Tophe

  • He sees things in double...
  • twin-boom & asymmetric fan
    • my models
Re: Airfix Pucara
« Reply #16 on: December 06, 2015, 12:32:41 PM »
Yes, try finishing it anyway, even imperfect we may enjoy it... ;)

Offline Weaver

  • Skyhawk stealer and violator of Panthers, with designs on a Cougar and a Tiger too
  • Chaos Engineer & Evangelistic Agnostic
Re: Airfix Pucara
« Reply #17 on: December 07, 2015, 01:49:26 AM »
Got the undercarriage on aaaaand..........


It's a tail sitter. Even with the nose space filled with steel balls. ::)

Tried pulling the front of the engines off again and filling the nacelles with steel: didn't make the slightest difference (downside of slim turboprops over nice, fat radials...). Filling the space under the rear cockpit floor (which is sealed off by bulkheads fore and aft) by drilling a hole in the bottom might possibly make a difference, but tests suggest otherwise, so rather than keep trying and failing, I'm going to cut to the chase and install a clear rod under the tail. My first ever..... :-[
"I have described nothing but what I saw myself, or learned from others" - Thucydides

"I've jazzed mine up a bit" - Spike Milligan

"I'm a general specialist," - Harry Purvis in Tales from the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke

Twitter: @hws5mp
Minds.com: @HaroldWeaverSmith

Offline arkon

  • Paper Building Maestro
Re: Airfix Pucara
« Reply #18 on: December 07, 2015, 08:20:27 AM »
Display it on the Tarmac with tied own chains to keep it from sitting on the tail😉
the paper gods demand sacrifice

Offline Buzzbomb

  • Low Concentration Span, oft wanders betwixt projects
  • Accurate Scale representations of fictional stuff
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Re: Airfix Pucara
« Reply #19 on: December 07, 2015, 09:45:18 AM »
Aarrgh, nothing worse but plenty of ways to get around it.
I like the tie down idea. The is always the crewman securing a tail panel

Offline Weaver

  • Skyhawk stealer and violator of Panthers, with designs on a Cougar and a Tiger too
  • Chaos Engineer & Evangelistic Agnostic
Re: Airfix Pucara
« Reply #20 on: December 07, 2015, 10:15:15 AM »
Thanks for the suggestion, but I havn't got time to do a base, so clear rod it is. Annoyingly, I couldn't find any of the thin stuff I know (think) I've got somewhere, so it had to be thick stuff about 6mm dia. To make it less gawky though, I had the idea of putting it under the trailing edge of the wing rather than far back under the tail, so it's out of sight from more angles, lost behind the main gear, wing, stores etc...
"I have described nothing but what I saw myself, or learned from others" - Thucydides

"I've jazzed mine up a bit" - Spike Milligan

"I'm a general specialist," - Harry Purvis in Tales from the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke

Twitter: @hws5mp
Minds.com: @HaroldWeaverSmith

Offline Weaver

  • Skyhawk stealer and violator of Panthers, with designs on a Cougar and a Tiger too
  • Chaos Engineer & Evangelistic Agnostic
Re: Airfix Pucara
« Reply #21 on: December 07, 2015, 11:01:16 AM »
The canopy's a freakin' pig's ear: too shallow AND too narrow at the back end to mate up with the fuselage. >:(
"I have described nothing but what I saw myself, or learned from others" - Thucydides

"I've jazzed mine up a bit" - Spike Milligan

"I'm a general specialist," - Harry Purvis in Tales from the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke

Twitter: @hws5mp
Minds.com: @HaroldWeaverSmith

Offline LemonJello

  • MARPAT Master
  • Moderator
  • Member number 100...WooHoo!!!
Re: Airfix Pucara
« Reply #22 on: December 07, 2015, 09:04:06 PM »
Thanks for the suggestion, but I havn't got time to do a base, so clear rod it is. Annoyingly, I couldn't find any of the thin stuff I know (think) I've got somewhere, so it had to be thick stuff about 6mm dia. To make it less gawky though, I had the idea of putting it under the trailing edge of the wing rather than far back under the tail, so it's out of sight from more angles, lost behind the main gear, wing, stores etc...

Excellent adaptation and improvisation.  Can't wait to see this one with it's paint on.  Keep pushing through to the end!

Offline Weaver

  • Skyhawk stealer and violator of Panthers, with designs on a Cougar and a Tiger too
  • Chaos Engineer & Evangelistic Agnostic
Re: Airfix Pucara
« Reply #23 on: December 08, 2015, 06:19:13 AM »
It's as done as it'll ever be: just doing photography and backstory now.
"I have described nothing but what I saw myself, or learned from others" - Thucydides

"I've jazzed mine up a bit" - Spike Milligan

"I'm a general specialist," - Harry Purvis in Tales from the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke

Twitter: @hws5mp
Minds.com: @HaroldWeaverSmith

Offline Weaver

  • Skyhawk stealer and violator of Panthers, with designs on a Cougar and a Tiger too
  • Chaos Engineer & Evangelistic Agnostic
Re: Airfix Pucara
« Reply #24 on: December 08, 2015, 07:40:48 AM »
An Ireland Fortress
The Irish Air Corps' FMA Pucarás






   In April 1982 Argentina deployed 35 FMA IA-58 Pucará counter-insurgency aircraft to the Falkland Islands following it's successful invasion. Following the SBS raid on Pebble Island during which six aircraft were destroyed, the remainder were scattered amongst a large number of remote operating locations. Although this avoided more of them being lost to commando raids, it also prevented them from being resupplied with fuel and weapons once the British landings had started, and this meant that many of the aircraft were captured intact on the ground in perfectly serviceable condition. In total, seventeen airframes were shipped back to the UK, where one of them was test flown by A&AEE at Boscombe Down to assess the type in case of further hostilities.




   Meanwhile, another conflict much closer to home was deteriorating rapidly. The revelations in 1980 by an Irish newspaper of corruption and inappropriate links between members of the Irish government and the IRA, and the subsequent murder of one of the journalists involved, had lead to an unprecedented public outcry, a snap election, and a new government very hostile to the IRA. The arrest of several IRA leaders in the South, followed by a failed attempt to assassinate the new defence minister in retaliation, had only made matters worse, and by mid-1982, a low-level conflict was underway south of the Ulster border that was every bit as nasty as that to the north of it.




   In June 1982, an Irish Air Corps Cessna-337 patrol aircraft disappeared from radar near the border, and was subsequently discovered, together with it's dead crew, riddled with heavy machine-gun hits. The IAC commander immediately requested more potent aircraft, but finances and service experience were severely limited, and all aircraft studied were either inappropriate or unaffordable. The UK government, with a vested interest in combatting the IRA, wanted to quietly help, but had nothing suitable to offer. However, as luck would have it, IAC officer Captain John Curran was serving on an exchange posting with the A&AEE at Boscombe Down with the intention of gaining experience as a test-pilot, and he had an opportunity to fly the captured Pucará. He immediately realised that it was just what the IAC needed, and he put together a radical proposal.




   Curran proposed that the UK government give the fleet of captured Pucarás a modest overhaul and then give them to Ireland, with the latter only having to negotiate and pay for a technical support deal with Argentina. Unfortunately, the Argentinian government would have none of it. Still smarting from the recent war, they insisted that the Pucarás were 'stolen property', demanded their return, and refused to be a party to any agreement brokered by the UK. However, Curran and the A&AEE were ready for this. The Pucará was a relatively simple aircraft, no more complex in principle than a civilian light twin turboprop, and the vast majority of it's hardware had been sourced from commercial suppliers outside of Argentina. For example, the engines were French, the ejection seats and undercarriage British, the guns French and Belgian and the avionics American. It was therefore perfectly possible to support most of the aircraft without Argentine co-operation. The one exception was the airframe itself. Curran's solution was that, since there were more airframes available than the IAC could use, one would be put into a test rig at A&AEE and kept ahead of the stress cycles of any operational aircraft.




   This proposal was accepted by both governments and the first re-fitted and repainted aircraft arrived at Casement Aerodrome for conversion training in mid 1986, flown by John Curran himself. Of the seventeen available airframes, twelve were supplied to the IAC in order to maintain an active fleet of eight, with four reserves rotated to even out flying hours. One airframe (with the highest hours) was put into the stress rig at Boscombe Down, and another was retained there for flight-testing. The remaining three aircraft went to UK museums.




   Since the aircraft would be mainly viewed from the ground by hostile forces, they were painted in an overall pale grey colour to camouflage them against the sky. In this respect the IAC started a trend that was later followed by many other world air forces much larger than Ireland's. During the aircraft's service, a number of modifications were tested by Boscombe Down and put into service, including a still-classified electro-optical pod (believed to be a high-magnification LLTV system) and the fitting of BOZ-100 countermeasures pods in response to intelligence information about the possible IRA acquisition of Stinger shoulder-launched SAMs. In the event, no Stinger is known to have been fired at a Pucará or anything else, but the issue of whether the IRA actually had any remains unclear.






    In service, the Pucarás proved very valuable, being mainly used for surveillance, their armour providing much greater protection from ground fire than the Cessnas and SF.260s used previously. On the rare occasions when they did open fire, it was usually with the guns, the old-fashioned mix of individually-selectable cannons and rifle-calibre machine-guns allowing a proportional response without undue risk to civilians. In one famous incident in 1989, two Pucarás challenged a suspicious fishing boat off the Irish coast which they believed to be engaged in arms smuggling. Most unwisely, the boat's crew opened fire on them with a machine-gun. Responding with cannons, the Pucarás had to take violent evasive action when the fishing boat vanished in a huge explosion as it's cargo of ammunition and arms exploded. This incident gained widespread publicity causing the IAC to relax it's normally tight media control in order to gain some useful PR. Unfortunately, the wisdom of this decision was called into question when one of the pilots was killed by a car bomb as he left a TV studio in London.






   The 1994 Peace Agreement saw a huge reduction in Pucará operations, and whilst once popular, the aircraft soon came to be seen as an unwelcome reminder of the Troubles. By 2006, only six aircraft remained operational, and it that year they were replaced, together with the remaining Fouga Magisters, by a dozen EMB-314 Super Tucanos.

« Last Edit: December 08, 2015, 07:42:35 AM by Weaver »
"I have described nothing but what I saw myself, or learned from others" - Thucydides

"I've jazzed mine up a bit" - Spike Milligan

"I'm a general specialist," - Harry Purvis in Tales from the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke

Twitter: @hws5mp
Minds.com: @HaroldWeaverSmith