Background

The Albatross joined the Royal Malaysian Air Force in the early eighties. It was obtained from Canada . A total of 2 aircraft were obtained serial M35-01 and M35-02 which served with No 1 Squadron in Kuala Lumpur .  The Albatross history with the RMAF was brief as both aircraft had numerous spare part problems and were often unserviceable. They were phased out and today there is one on display at the RMAF museum in Kuala Lumpur .

The Kit

This is the 1/72 offering by Monogram was a very basic rendering of the Albatross. It had raised panel lines with limited detail perhaps due to the age of its release. Construction was challenging as the fit was not good in certain areas namely the wing and fuselage joint. It required a lot of sanding and test fitting to get this to sit. I also added the pilots as there was no cockpit present.  

The decals round national insignias were done by Richard Chaffer (Gekko Graphics) and are super decals. The fin flashes were local produced decals and the identification markings and TUDM scribes were printed by me. I finished the aircraft in a mixture of blue grey and white to try and get the colour used by the Malaysian Albatrosses. I also went over board with weathering this one. It was weathered with water color washes. Some paint chipping and dry brushing were applied here and there to further show the aircraft as used. Panel lines were filled up with pencil.