Some history:
In 1948, after having
been unsuccessfully bullied into submission by Stalin, Yugoslav
president and Marshal Josip Broz Tito was forced to break off diplomatic
relations with Soviet Union and it's allies which nearly resulted in war that
would certainly turn into a long Soviet occupation.
Yugoslavia suddenly found itself alone and in desperate situation
with constant armed provocations on it's eastern borders, combined
with bordering dispute with neighbouring Italy (and NATO) over the
Adriatic port of Trieste. This isolation lasted nearly 5 years. The
country itself which was poor and devastated after barely surviving WW2
and it's armed forces were in no condition to successfully resist anyone.
The Yugoslav
Air Force (JRV) of the late 1940s consisted of a rag tag
collection of tired airplanes from all sides (including Spitfire,
Hurricane, Me-109 and Yak fighters), seriously lacking spare parts and
trained personnel.
Attempts were made
to bolster it's strength by building a number of already obsolete
S-49 fighters (an amalgam of Soviet Yak and prewar Yugoslav IK-3 fighters) but
what was really needed was a modern jet fighter force. A number of local
jet constructions were assembled and flown but eventually abandoned.
Finally in the early 1950s Yugoslavia renewed diplomatic relations with
western powers and until the end of decade received a considerable amount
of financial and military assistance in weapons, training and equipment along
with Italy, Greece and Turkey. In 1952 F-47D Thunderbolt fighter bombers
were first to arrive followed by F-84G Thunderjets & T-33s in 1953 and
finally by F-86 Sabres. The Thunderjet holds a special place in JRV history
being it's first jet fighter. Altogether some 200 examples were acquired
and they had a long and successful career with JRV with the last examples
discharged in 1974! First they served as fighters, than as fighter
bombers and finally as reconnaissance airplanes. Even today one can find several
examples allover former Yugoslavia, mostly at airports but in a sad
and neglected state. However there is an interesting and well preserved example
of a Yugoslav produced reconnaissance version in the rich and
still wonderful Yugoslav Air Museum located at Belgrade international airport,
Serbia.
Click on
images below to see larger images
The kit:
This kit (like
the Academy P-39 and Tempest) seems to draw it's origins from Heller
which isn't that bad. Heller kits were quite nice and accurate for
their time and what Academy did was to modernize Heller molds with recessed
panel lines and improved detail in the cockpit and landing gear areas.
Although it was nice and easy to assemble, it doesn't look that right sitting next
to Tamiya kit. This kit can be assembled as a Korean war E (with exchangeable fuselage side
panels) or the later G
version with air refueling probes in wingtip tanks. Ventral air brakes
(2 versions) and cockpit are nicely detailed and can be posed open or
closed. Landing gear is quite nice although the nose gear is far better
represented with Tamiya. The kit comes with 8 HVAR rockets, 2 bombs, 2 drop
tanks and optional RATO packs. HVARs are wrong in shape and the bombs are
better suited to a WW2 airplane but the drop tanks are lovely with clear
signal light inserts. Clear parts consist of 2 canopies with too narrow
lower edges (a standard framed one and an early clear example
better suited to early F-84s), signal and landing lights for tanks or
undercarriage and a gunsight panel. Decals are best replaced but come with
markings for 3 airplanes: a Korean war E, a French G and a late USAAF
G. All in all a honest and straightforward kit with a very
affordable price but those of us who want better accuracy and decals should
go for Tamiya kit despite it's price.
Building and
decaling
Having built 2
of these (and oddly the first one went together better than this second one) I can say that building was mostly a breeze - jets are so
much simpler than props - and only a moderate amount of filler was used on
exchangeable fuselage panel inserts and nose. Holes for the
air brake were hand drilled and seatbelts were fashioned from Scotch tape.
Painting was a different matter. NMF was achieved with Model Master
metalizers but since I foolishly used Scotch tape for masking and
demarcation which peeled off metalizers along with dried future I was
forced to remove the paint altogether and start again several times and the
result still isn't good enough.
I chose to
represent the most colorful airplane in JRV inventory. Some Thunderjets
came straight from USAAF with so called "Arctic" markings on wing
and tail surfaces which were retained for several years in JRV service -
probably because red is associated with communism ;-) Along with blue noses
and colorful JRV markings they made quite a sight.
This Thunderjet was
stationed near the lovely Croatian coastal town of Zadar (Zara) in the first
half of 1950s and like during hot Korean summer takeoffs RATO packs were
probably used. Decals are from excellent Czech/Serbian collaboration
called Lift Here Decals. Stencils etc. were hand painted as well as the
canopy with a lot of patience and a fine brush.
I hope you like
it because I certainly do
;-)
Josip
|