Firstly let us have a look at the Hobby Boss kit, which was recently released here in South Africa. The kit consists of 167 parts including 9 transparent parts of which the canopy has a mould line down the centre. This is easily removed and the clarity restored. However the WO’s (Weapons Operator) front port glasing has not been engraved and will require to be masked. All the parts are crisply moulded in mid grey plastic, a few mould lines are evident and will require removing.

Step 1, covers the cockpit and cabin assembly, with front nose gear bay and main gear bays. Here I elected to fit the undercarriage legs after the bays were installed in the fuselage halves.Assemble the cockpit as per the instructions but remove the WO’s sight from the front instrument panel and replace this with the new Scaleworx part. The WO’s cyclic stick will need shortening by 4mm (it’s just too tall). The cabin is Light Blue but the cockpit is satin black the seats have sand coloured seat covers. Paint the inside fuselage halves at the same time. Two sets of seat belts will need to be added along with some careful dry brushing will highlight the high level of detail. Parts C16 and the two exhaust assemblies should be painted before they are added to the cabin roof. Paint the exhaust outer surfaces with burnt metal and the insides sooty black. In step 2 the cockpit/cabin assembly is trapped within the two fuselage halves. The locating lugs may need some shaving to allow the two halves to come together. Add the main u/c doors at his stage. Leave off the main and tail rotors along with the wheels as well as the horizontal stabilizers.

Cockpit area

Scaleworx conversion set