Special Hobby 1/72 Hispano Aviacion HA-220 Super Saeta By Chris Banyai-Riepl

History

The Hispano HA-220 Super Saeta was developed from the HA-200 trainer when the Spanish Air Force found it necessary to have a dedicated light close air support aircraft. To convert the trainer, Hispano used more powerful engines, replaced the rear seat with a fuel tank, and added hardpoints on the wings. The first HA-220 arrived for squadron service in 1971, and the type served for ten years until being retired in 1981.

The Kit

Like the original, this kit is based off of Special Hobby's earlier HA-200 Saeta trainer. This kit uses polyurethane resin parts to replace the plastic trainer parts in the kit, with a new cockpit and weapon pods being the most obvious changes. In addition to the resin and plastic, the kit comes with a small photoetch fret and a small decal sheet. The parts feature recessed panel lines throughout. Since this is a development of an older kit, it is not up to par with recent Special Hobby releases, which means that more cleanup and care will be required in building this model.

Starting with the interior, this is where much of the resin will end up. There is a one-piece cockpit tub that incorporates the sidewalls and rear fuel tank. A resin seat gets some photoetch seatbelts, while a resin control stick and instrument panel finish out the interior. The finished assembly fits into the two fuselage halves, as does the resin engine face bulkhead. Another insert provides a shelf for the modeler to put the recommended 10 grams of nose weight.

Once the fuselage is together, the rest of the assembly is standard. There is a separate resin nose cap incorporating the intake trunking. The wings are split into upper and lower halves, with the completed wing sides butt-jointed to the fuselage. The tailplanes are solid right and left halves, and also have a butt-joint to the fuselage. On the underside, the jet exhaust pipes are separate resin pieces that fit underneath the wings. The landing gear is detailed with photoetch oleo scissors on the main gear struts.

As this is the military option, this means hanging sharp pointy things underneath the wings. This kit comes with some very nicely done Matra rocket pods as well as a pair of gun pods. Cast in resin, the detailing is excellent on these. Also included are some fuel tanks (or perhaps napalm?), also cast in resin, as are the six racks used to mount these items to the wings.

For marking options, be ready to camouflage, as all three feature a camouflage consisting of dark green, sand, and light blue (with one adding another shade of brown into the mix). All three are from 214 Esquadron (as all HA-220s were), and all three have the same marking layout, with the unit badge on the tail, a small white square with a black X on the rudder, and black fuselage codes. Aircraft represented are numbers 107, 114, and 111. All three have different camouflage patterns, some easier to do than others. The decals are nice, with just a slight bit of misalignment in the white around the unit badge.

Conclusion

This will be an interesting addition to Spanish aviation modeling and will make a great counterpoint to a Spanish Phantom or Mirage. While this kit might take a bit more work than more recent Special Hobby releases, there is nothing outside of the abilities of any but the most novice modeler.