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Reviewer: Paul Wherran  (rec.models.scale)
Kit Review submitted:  22 May 2004

Kit Details:

MPM #72504; 1/72 Northrop A-17

Aircraft History:

The performance of its Gamma light transport persuaded Northrop to use this as the basis for a light attack bomber which was developed as the Gamma 2C with a Wright radial engine.  The US Army Air Corps bout the type for evaluation as the YA-13, and this was redesignated XA-16 when fitted with a Pratt & Whitney radial engine.  Successful trials produced an order for 110 Northrop A-17 production aircraft.

The first A-17 was delivered in December 1935, and in the same month the company received an order for the A-17A with more power and retractable landing gear, with the base model of A-17 differing mainly with fixed landing gear.

The Kit:

The typical MPM end opening box houses two sprues of medium grey injection molded parts which contain finely engraved panel lines and surface detail.  The parts are a bit thick and need a little bit of cleaning up along with careful detaching from the sprue lugs, or for the sake of those who read lots of kit reviews, a typical limited run good quality kit.  One resin piece is provided for the propeller hub but everything else is injection molded plastic, including the canopy which is well defined and clear.  There are no etched or other resin pieces to add in and enhance detail.

Instructions:

These come in the form of an 8 page A5 sized leaflet with the usual format of brief history, sprue diagram, good assembly diagrams that should be easily followed by the above average modeller and four view diagrams for the two versions which the kit caters for.  It’s a good idea to read through the instructions first as you will spot the cockpit detail drawings nearer the back of the leaflet than the front.  Humbrol and FS Number painting information is provided throughout the construction and for external markings.

Construction:

The cockpit is where construction begins and although there are no etched parts to spruce it up, the plastic caters adequately for most modellers, which is marginally better than what you are likely to find in most mainstream kits.  The seats, instrument panels with detail and sticks are all provided, and will benefit from a little extra effort as a fair bit can be seen later through the canopies.  You will also need to do the usual dry fit runs to ensure everything will fit snugly in where it is supposed to before affixing the halves together.  As I often find with MPM instructions and the fact that there are no locating pins on parts it is not always evident precisely where parts are supposed to be affixed to each other, especially with bulkheads and cockpit floors, so some test runs is certainly advised here.

Once I was happy the parts would fit and enough detail had also been picked out I closed the fuselage halves which need careful alignment and detaching from the sprues.  A rub down and some filler was needed to remove the join lines and have a blended smooth finish.

Next came the wings and these were pretty straightforward other than the usual filling and sanding around the wing roots.  The tailplanes were a little easier but you have to be on the ball to ensure they dry at the correct angle.

When fitting the canopy, which incorporates part of the upper fuselage, so it is all a one-piece affair, it really pays to test fit first and then clean up around the base of the clear part and the mating surfaces on the fuselage.  A bit of effort here is all it took to transform what appeared to be a poor fitting part into a near perfect fitting part.  I immediately masked off the canopy windows ready for painting later.

Colour Schemes:

The kit allows for two versions to be produced which are both in the characteristic middle blue fuselage and yellow wings and tail fin of the interwar USAAC period.  One version is an unidentified example from the 1934-38 period and the other is the example depicted on the boxart from the 13thAS, 34^th AG at Barksdale Field, 1937 which also has a white engine cowling.  Whilst not absolutely correct, nevertheless I decided to use Humbrols 14 French Blue and 69 Gloss Yellow for the scheme.

Decals:

The decal sheet is high quality and from Propagteam and have been covered in enough other reviews.  In short, they are thin, in excellent colour register and have little carrier film.  Applied correctly they went on well and once sealed in with the necessary finishing coats have the appearance of being painted on.  I had no problems applying them, and found them to be excellent.  My only note of concern isn’t with the decals but with the instructions, check your references on the how the star should be positioned, as in my view it should not have the leftward angle the instructions suggest.

Accuracy:

As with most aircraft types of this era, my reference material is sadly lacking, so I had to go with a few photos and drawings on the Internet and compare measurements against some quoted reference material such as world aircraft information files.  From these I assessed the model to be as accurate as you could probably get in the scale given the limitations of my access to reference data, in particular the quoted measurements suggest the dimensions of the model are near perfect.

Overall Recommendation:

As usual you have to applaud some of the unique subjects that MPM seem to tackle, they have certainly gained a niche foothold in some of these areas.  I found this model to be of fairly typical limited run standard that those of you who have built a few MPM kits would relate to.  For the modeller who has a few limited run kits under their belt and has at least intermediate modelling skills I can whole heartedly recommend this kit.

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