Kit: No. 1659
Scale: 1/48
Manufacturer: Hobbycraft Canada, 140 Applewood Crescent, Concord, ON L4K 4E2, Canada, 905-738-6556,
www.hobbycraft.comPrice: $39.95
Comments: Injection-molded, 66 parts, decals
Pros: Detailed cockpit and landing gear, recessed panel lines
Cons: Poor fit of nose and exhaust, poor landing gear braces, errors on instructions
The Canadian effort to produce an indigenous, all-weather, supersonic interceptor resulted in the stunning Avro CF-105 Arrow fighter, rolled out on the day the Soviets launched Sputnik, Oct. 4, 1957. The first flight was made March 25, 1958. Five Arrows were completed and flown before the entire project was canceled, Feb. 20, 1959 (known in Canadian aviation circles as "Black Friday"). All airframes (including five more under construction) were subsequently scrapped.
Hobbycraft Canada's new Arrow has scribed panel lines, cockpit basics, featureless landing gear wells with detailed doors, repositioned speed brakes, and a fresh decal sheet. Even for 1/48 scale, this is a large model, and it comes in an appropriately large, sturdy box. The box art shows a photo of a real Arrow on top, with the color and decal guide on the bottom. It shows that the national insignia decals need to be assembled with the addition of the red maple leaf to the blue/white background, but my decals were ready to apply.
The instructions are basic, with only assembly drawings. There is no history, and no color notes for the interior. I noticed the seat cushions are shown installed upside down in step 1, but correctly in step 3.
In step 6, the instructions for the nose gear don't show the retraction strut (part No. A8), and show the wrong angle for the main strut; it should be perpendicular to the fuselage, not tilted back as shown. In step 8, the front nose gear door should be attached to the left side of the bay, not the right as shown.
In step 7, the angle for the braces for the main gear struts are not shown clearly. Out of the box, they are too short and cause misalignment of the main struts with the wings.
The clear canopies are well-molded, but make no provision to be posed opened. Both the pilot and back-seater had left/right clamshell canopies.
I inserted styrene strips along the seams of the upper/lower main fuselage halves to reinforce the long joints. The outside portions of the intakes (parts A3 and A4) were warped inwards, so I had to brace them with sections of sprue to correct the joints.
Each subassembly went together well, but the forward fuselage and the exhaust section were not as deep as the main center section. I had to fill and sand to smooth out the stepped joints.
All the parts have a fine pebbly finish. I knew I had to produce a glossy finish, so I pressed on with glossy paints. I washed all the parts with Fantastic and a toothbrush, then rinsed and air-dried them. Despite the cleaning, I still ended up with "Fisheyes" in my paint job (little spots that repelled the paint). I had to sand off the paint, and in the process, smoothed out the pebbly surface. The second application of Testor gloss white and Italian red enamel was trouble-free.
The decals were well-printed, but they like to stick right away, so make sure you have a big puddle of water on each landing site so you can adjust the decal position. Even after studying photos in Boston Mills Press' Avro Arrow, I couldn't figure out where decals 6 and 7 were supposed to go on the intakes. The walkway stripes on top of the intakes appeared to be about an inch short, so I made up the difference with aftermarket stripes.
The finished model is an eye-grabber, if only for its size - nearly 20" long and with a 12-1/2" span. That measures within a quarter inch of the accurate length and span, nothing to worry about in a model of this size. It's easy to build if you're not fussy. I spent 37 hours on mine, counting two paint jobs. Experienced modelers may want to add detail in the wheel wells and gamble with opening the canopies.
- Al Jones