Hello
everyone!
I
want to share here my last completed project: the Fouga Magister of the
Togo Air Force in the 1980s. There is almost no information about the
service of this plane in this little African country. I became inspired by
the Max
Decals
International Fouga set, which includes the colorful
Togo
roundels and markings along with those of
Morocco,
Bangladesh, Finland, etc. After doing some research, I was lucky to find recent pictures of
some machines from the Togo
air force, which confirmed the correct shape and colors of the camouflage
scheme I selected. As a francophone nation, Togo
has been supplied mostly with French equipment. Apparently, the Fouga is
no longer in service there and now only five Alpha Jets are the backbone
of their air arm, supplemented with Puma helicopters and other light
aircraft.
Click on
images below to see larger images
THE
KIT
Heller
was the only company that produced the Fouga in 1/72, at least for a
while. Despite its age (1970’s), its surface finish, interiors and clear
parts are quite good. Raised panel lines and engraved lines for wing flaps
and rudders are fine and precise. Only the fuselage halves gave me some
problem because after being joint together, sanded and painted, some seam
lines were still visible at first sight and required some additional putty
and sanding. Seats, floor and instrument panels were very acceptable.
Landing gear and wheel bays were also well detailed, improving the quality
of the finishing. Scratchbuilding was only required to add the antenna in
the lower fuselage, using some stretched sprue, and for the safety belts
and buckles I used 3M Blue masking tape and spare P.E. pieces I had.
PAINTING
The
decal set from MAX DECALS included a color guide for each version of the
Fouga. Colors described were: Light Gray, Green, Sand and Brown.
For
instance, I sprayed Light Ghost Gray (MM) on the undersurface and then, I
masked and sprayed the upper surface first with Sand (MM), then Flat Earth
(Tamiya) and finally NATO Green (Tamiya). To get hard borders I used “Boli-Goma”,
which is a toy gum with properties very similar to those of the UHU Blue
Tac. It worked very well, but demanded some patience to get the correct
curved shape. Jet exhausts, landing gear and wheels received MM Magnesium
and Aluminum metalizer.
DECALS
It
is a shame that MAX DECALS discontinued this set for the Fouga Magister.
It offered several interesting and exotic versions from several user
countries. Color guide was very basic but useful. Decals proved to be of
excellent quality, soft and with excellent register. They went down
perfectly but I had to be very careful since the first try because it is
very difficult to move them later.
WEATHERING
The
whole model was protected by a coat of Future, applied with a brush after
the painting was completed. I then used pastel chalks for panel lines and a soft
Black+Sienna oil wash to highlight the rudder and flaps lines. After all, a
coat of Semi-Gloss clear coat of MM to protect the entire model.
CONCLUSION
I
enjoyed the assembly and finishing of this kit. It was my second
camouflage attempt and the first one using three colors and hard borders.
It looks pretty good in those colorful Togo markings and allowed me to get something different this time.
If you find
this kit in your closet or on e-bay, don’t let it go. I hope you like
this little seen version of a well known trainer/COIN airplane. Also, I
want to express my gratitude to Roy McKay (a.k.a. “roym”) from Ireland, who
sent me part of his MAX DECALS sheet and allowed me to finish this
project in very few time.
Saludos
desde Monterrey, México!
Fernando
|
|