Airfix

1/72 Fokker Friendship

Kit Number: A05003

Reviewed by  Paul Bradley, IPMS# 35554

MSRP: $22.50 Website: www.airfix.com The Fokker F-27 Friendship was one of the first of the so-called "DC-3 Replacements" that aircraft manufacturers came out with in the 1950’s and 60’s; unlike many of those types, it was a success, with over 790 airframes being completed. It’s simple, yet rugged airframe, combined with efficient Rolls-Royce Dart turboprop engines made for good short-field capabilities and low operating costs – two major factors for second- and third-level operators. Many remain in service to this day, including the updated Fokker 50 and 60 aircraft. The type was also manufactured under license in the US, where it was known as the Fairchild F-27. This kit was first released back in 1960; while it had been re-issued on a number of occasions since then it hasn’t been included in Airfix’s catalog for around 20 years, and had become something of a collectors’ item. This boxing is therefore welcome; all the more so as Airfix has added some extra new pieces to help update what is a rather basic kit. This extra sprue contains a new, longer nose piece that more accurately represents the vast majority of F-27 production, as opposed to the short nose seen on early production models, and portrayed in earlier boxings of this kit. The change was due to the addition of weather radar and adds about 6mm to the length, but more than that, alters the appearance of the aircraft. Rather than just supplying a new piece and having the modeller remove the old nose, Airfix have altered the fuselage moulds by removing the existing nose just ahead of the nosewheel bay rear ‘bulkhead’. Both the old and new noses are included on the new sprue, giving modellers the option of recreating one of the first production types. Also included on the new sprue are a set of propellers with square-cut tips, and new nose undercarriage bay doors. Unfortunately, there is no new interior detail, and the previously included air stairs have been omitted (though leaving the rear door open would only have exposed the bare interior). The bare passenger cabin really stands out and it would have been nice if Airfix had included even a floor and rear bulkheads, let alone a set of seats. An opportunity missed, I feel, as I don’t see an aftermarket company coming to our rescue. The box contains 5 sprues molded in light grey, all parts having fine raised panel lines, plus a clear sprue. The cabin windows are included, but these are a hopeless fit and I immediately discarded them. Also included is the highlight of the kit - a brand new decal sheet featuring markings for: NLM Fokker Heritage Flight, 2008. Trans-Australian Airlines, 1965. THY Turkish Airlines, 1971. This sheet just fits within the bottom of the box and is of much better quality than the decals included in their recent Nimrod and 1/48 Canberra kits. It is in register and well-printed, in contrast to some of their recent efforts. Obviously, they have been listening to their customers – thank you, Airfix! As far as accuracy is concerned, there are a number of issues with the kit. The fuselage cross-section is not quite right, being a little less pear-shaped than it should be, but there’s little to be done about this. The fin fillet is too small and should be almost twice as tall as it is depicted. Finally, the new nose contours don’t seem quite right, but it’s hard to put my finger on exactly what’s wrong there. Study of photos is recommended. Finally, there are only 9 window openings on each side, where there should be 10. Airfix get around this by including an extra "black" window on the cheat lines on the decal sheet. Having said all that, this is a far better kit than the Esci mold, which has a lot of problems (such as a too-small fuselage cross-section and very inaccurate and wrongly-placed engine nacelles), some of which are realistically not fixable. Fit of the main parts is reasonable, with some filler needed at the tailplane roots and nacelle fairings, while the new nose is not a perfect fit either and looks somehow not quite right. I vertically extended the fin fillet by 6mm, using plastic card faired in with filler. The undercarriage is very basic and could stand some detailing by the modeler. Most disappointing is the representation of the engine exhausts – a flat oval to be glued to the outsides of the nacelles. I discarded these and drilled out the openings, into which I inserted a short length of plastic drinking straw to the appropriate diameter (My wife thinks I’m weird when I save these after a restaurant meal…). Not perfect, but much better. I imagine most people will either use the TAA or NLM decals, as these are both very colorful options, so I decided to use the Turkish ones. The model needed four coats of white paint before I was happy with the coverage, and I found the colors and marking sheet for this option to be a little confusing, as the colors seem to change from view to view. The internet was of little use as I could find no period photos of period THY F-27s in this scheme. The decals are a major improvement on previous Airfix offerings, but are not by any means perfect. I found that they silvered a bit, despite a coat of Future over the paint. In an effort to get them to lay down properly, I used some Microset, but this just badly wrinkled them…..Oh well, I’ll just have to refinish the model I suppose! In conclusion, a brave attempt at rescuing an old kit, but more internal detail and an attempt to fix the fin fillet would have been appreciated. The kit shows its age at every step, but it is still the best Friendship available. Reservedly recommended. My sincere thanks to Hornby/Airfix for the review sample; Airfix kits can be found at their website and also at all leading hobby distributors.