FM 1/72 Nord 1500 Griffon II

Background

In the 1950s, the aerospace industries around the world were working hard to push the edge of the envelope now that the sound barrier had been broken. In France circa 1955, Nord developed a concept aircraft that was designed around a new engine that was a combination turbojet and ramjet. The aircraft was re-engined with an ATAR 101, redesignated Griffon II and went on to reach Mach 2.2.

The Kit

Fonderie Miniature (FM) has released an impressive multimedia kit of the Griffon II in 1/72 scale. Comprising of one tree of injection-molded styrene, the main kit is molded in light gray and is a typical limited run kit. There is a minimal amount of flash on a few of the parts, otherwise the molding is crisp and features nicely scribed details.

The cockpit is make up of a resin tub with photo-etched parts. The extensive inlet and exhaust duct has resin parts to respresent the engine on either end. The landing gear is provided as white metal parts.

Markings are provided for the test aircraft.

While construction of the kit is very straightforward, the one area that will require a bit of work will be the finish. As this aircraft was (is) bare metal, it should be a simple matter of shooting Alclad or SNJ on the model and declaring victory. Unfortunately, there is a slight texture to the styrene that will have to be buffed out or a nice application of Mr. Surfacer used (though this will also eliminate the nicely scribed panel lines). This is by no means a show-stopper, but this would be a good time to find an experienced car modeler and learn how to buff out the styrene effectively.

Conclusions

This is a nice addition to the scale flightline and represents a rather eye-catching subject. The first time I saw this aircraft in the French Air Force Museum in Paris, I was struck by its advanced lines and how ironic that the F-16 Fighting Falcon would evolve some 20 years later with many of the same lines.

My sincere thanks to Squadron Mail Order for this review sample!