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ITALERI
1:48 AC-130U SPECTRE
'INBOX Review'
Reviewer: "MM" (taken from rec.models.scale)
Well, shelled out a lot of $ for the latest Italeri 1/48th release of the AC-130U; won't be going out to dinner anytime soon, and the car repair may have to wait, given the expense of the kit...
Although I was cautiously optimistic that a nice kit was in the works, I knew that an accurate and nice kit would be difficult without major rework to the molds. With that in mind, I can't say I'm surprised at what the kit offers, and anyone who purchases the kit will have some work ahead of them...
What you get:
- AC-130A sprues for the fuselage and wings
- C-130E/H sprues for the engines (four blade prop, short engine
sponsons)
- C-130J sprue, for the cockpit console and a few vents/intakes and
entry door.
- A single new 'U' sprue, which includes:
: left forward landing gear sponson which features the ALLTV and its
mount
: tailcone with ECM blisters
: fuselage fairings with ECM blisters
: engine IR shields (useful for other versions of the gunship)
: extended pitot tube (again, useful for -H version/conversion)
: various fuselage 'baffels' forward of the 25mm, 40mm and 105mm cannons
: fuselage 'plug' to be fitted between the 40mm BOFORS and 105mm
Howitzer (however, this seems incomplete, as the fuselage in this area
has some major recontouring, and this is NOT supplied or changed)
: QRC-84-02A IR jammer for the wing stations; bland MER's are included,
but should probably be replaced with the Monogram items.
: 25mm, 40mm and 105mm gun barrels with associated textured fairings,
which are to be glued directly to the fuselage, without any further interior detail. The exception is the 40mm, which requires the builder
to cut a hole in the fuselage to fit the item...(at least its scribed
for you)
: various antenna/protrusions for the top of the fuselage and verticle stabilzer, but nothing new for the bottom of the fuselage (which I
think may be a mistake, as photos seem to suggest multiple 'bumps' on
the bottom of the aircraft)
: clear parts for the observer's bubble window on the cargo ramp;
requires the modeler to cut the hole, which is scribed.
The instructions indicate a lot of cutting of scribed lines is needed
to fit various parts.
Decals are minimal and include two aircraft:
- -70128 in Euro-1 camo scheme, 'ED'
- -70514 in overall Gunship Gray scheme
Overall, the modeler has a good base to work with, but will require a bit of work to make a nice and accurate model, especially if you prefer to show the cargo ramp open and want to show the guns.
References:
World Air Power Journal Volume 8, 9 and 23
Air Commandos: The Quit Professionals; Air Force Special Operations
Command, Randy Jolly, 1994
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SMAKR
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