LF Models 1/72nd Curtiss A-18 Shrike II
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Background
 There
were only 13 A-18s ever produced. They started life as the Y1A-18 prior
to going to production and the designation was changed once they were
assigned to operational units. It was only in use a short time before
being considered obsolete and replaced by other aircraft, namely the A-20.
The Kit
The LF Models A-18 is an all resin kit, with vacuform clear pieces,
a film instrument panel and photoetch details. There are 43 resin pieces,
21 photoetch and a piece of metal rod for part of the  landing
gear struts. Unfortunately only one each of the canopy pieces are included,
so care must be taken when cutting and sanding them out. There are two
schemes catered for on the decal sheets. The first is from the 13th AS,
December 1939, and the second is from the 8th AS, Barksdale Field, 1938-1939.
Care must be taken with the decals because they appear to be ALPS-produced
and include white "patches" to be put on before the main decals.
This is necessary so some of the colors don't appear because of opacity
reasons. You could always paint these areas of white on the model first,
though.
Construction starts with the cockpit. The resin is very nicely produced
with little to no airholes and the cockpit is definitely some of the best
pieces. LF supplies an very comprehensive cockpit that is also enhanced
with the photoetch. Since the clear pieces are to remain "closed"
detail is more than adequite.
 Once
the cockpit is installed into one fuselage half then the fuselage halves
can be closed up. Once that happens then the rest of the main pieces can
be assembled prior to painting. One thing you might want to consider is
using some sort of pin system to glue on the flying surfaces. They are
all butt-joined and could be a problem later, since the wings are solid
resin. In fact, you might also want to consider scratching the main undercarriage
legs out of metal to help support the weight. I'm not sure if relying
just on the small pieces of struts the metal rod caters for will be enough.
After painting, then there are plenty of smaller details to add, such
as steps, pitot tubes, etc.
 Conclusion
This is an excellent kit with lots of detail. There may be issues to
watch in terms of weight - adding pins to the flying surface glue surfaces,
and the strength of the undercarriage - but otherwise this is a well rendered
kit. It's great that LF has produced a kit of this little produced and
little known USAAC between-the-wars aircraft. Recommended, especially
to those with resin kits under their belt.
I would really like to thank LF Models
for this review sample. |
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