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1/72 scale T-28 model of SWORD
The third SWORD model would be made of the "Congo" air force during the unrest in the mid 1960s. During the Congo crisis mercenaries were active such as Major Mike Hoare doing operations against the Simba Rebellion in August 1964. Albertville or Albertstad, a town on the western shore of Lake Tanganyika, was one of the towns attacked. A T-28D aircraft coded "FG 282" was operated by CIA pilots or other mercenaries and beginning 1966 seen at Albertville. Later on the town was called Kalemi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The town is next to the outflow of the Lukuga River from Lake Tanganyika to the Lualaba River.
This T-28D had apparantly a standard US Navy scheme but with Congo markings painted on.
The model was made to show this particular aircraft and it was decided to separate the flaps and droop these down with the single hinge giving a "gap". With a razor saw the parts were cut out and gaps at the spar closed with plastic card.
The various cuts and gaps were filled with putty.
The kit assembly was for the rest straight forward and as described on the earlier made Sword T-28.
Some puttying and sanding is required. A base grey coat was airbrushed, followed by the white lower areas and white rudder. For the upper US Navy gray I airbrushed Gunze Sangyo H324 Light Gray. The black area behind the exhaust pipes was airbrushed black after masking.
The decals were home made for the peculiar aircraft, using the method described here.... The bull emblem on the nose is about 8 mm width, the Congo roundel about 11 mm long.
The propeller has no spinner cap and undercarriage set installed. The model got a semi-gloss end varnish finish airbrushing Johnson Future. The canopy hoods were set in place, note the the forward hood is tilted at an angle when slided aft.
(I had to use a "pogo stick" / metal wire as not enough nose weight can really be set in place).
CONGO / "CIA"
[ More info about Congo can be seen on the MB-326 page here.. ]
Later on I fitted a .50 machine gun pod with 100 rounds. This was made from scrap using a Academy A-37 kit fuel tank.
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Created this page May 8, 2019