The Kit

It is hard to believe, that despite their wide range of users and vast numbers produced Magisters are very rare species on the shelves of hobby shops, or they were. Now we have Eastern Express kit in 1:72 and two more in 1:48 scale - Flashback and Special Hobby. I have bought the newer one - SH kit. One quick look into box and I could not wait to get my hands on it. This is a beautiful short run! Sharp details, no flashes and some resin bits. But, mainly, pre-painted photo etched parts. I have to admit, that I had some doubts about their size and shape, but it were the resin parts I had problems with in the end. You have choice of early or latter style rudder and as a bonus for all Irish Air Corps fans, there are green-white-orange decals in the box as well!

Building Process

I started with interior assembly, but not before I cut out open luggage space hatch and both doors. Interior parts are easy to glue together, but make sure, that all bulkheads fits into fuselage halves. On my example they were a little too small, so I had to glue piece of plastic strip on them. Interior resin parts were a disappointment. They are better than their plastic counterparts, but still, rather basic, so I added some wires and small details on the cockpit floor and scratch build luggage space interior, hatch and doors. Photo etched parts are perfect. After some dry fitting and sanding I glued fuselage together and left cure overnight. There was need for some filler here and there, but nothing too serious.

My intention was to show flaps in open position, so I cut them out from lower halves of wings and from fuselage. I used some plastic card to cover holes and to tidy up their interiors. Wings also need to be thinned down on trailing edges. After everything was ready I joined wings and fuselage together. Even despite few dry fit tests, this turned out to be a real nightmare. I used some plastic, filler and super glue to get it right, but it was impossible, from top view, angle of port wing does not match angle of starboard half. I do suspect, that opposite parts are not of the same shape! It is not obvious, when model stands in shelf, but I know...

Painting Process

I tried a couple things, I've never done before, respraying of whole kit with Mr.Surfacer 1000 is one of them. But you can't stay behind and this filler-primer works very well. The real aircrafts had wings and tail painted in aluminum dope. To represent this I made my own mix of Humbrol 56 and 191. No.56 - aluminum, is too dark, so few drops of chrome silver 191 and light grey Surfacer bights it up a bit. Fuselage is gloss black and since I decided to use Alclad metal paint on the engine cowling I sprayed all length of fuselage. I didn't use straight gloss black, but I added few drops of sand colour - don't remember number. This made black a bit "warmer and not too black". Scale effect, that's what "they" call it. I left it dry for two days, masked off engine cowling and sprayed Alclad chrome, for the first time in my modelling life. And it really works! Then I painted numbers with help of plotter cut masks and applied decals. I was running out of time and I rushed final stage... This can be seen, all right, but...

Finished Model

I like earlier schemes. This is obvious when you take a look at my models and Magister is not exception. My choice is No. 34, this plane survived till today and was preserved at Baldonnel, currently has been moved to Collin's Barracks in Dublin, where new aircraft related exhibition is prepared. This machine is in good condition, but it is in colour scheme which mixes older and newer markings together and in which never flew. I finished this kit in three weeks time, quite an achievement for a snail builder like my-self. Just in time for Dublin's Air fair and what a success it was! Natural metal is a real eye catcher. Just one more notice to chrome paint: it should be polished aluminum, but when you see photographs of Magisters line up, their cowlings are like a mirror, so there is really not too much of difference.




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