- Availability: Hannants
- Cost £ 35.60
- Reviewed by Les Venus
Watch out for this project coming very soon to Build Now – Les is almost there with this one and you are in for a treat!
Want some inspiration? Check this out…
Reference for the JP3 – You’ll want to get that orangy-red Day-Glo colour right, so check this out: http://www.colorserver.net/showcolor.asp?fs=38903
Background…
I have been familiar with CMR for some time; their range of Spitfires in 1:72nd have assumed almost legendary status and for many are seen as definitive in any scale. More recently and what drew my eye was the new range of 1:72nd scale Vampires which from what I have seen are simply extraordinary in terms of detail and accuracy with even the smallest nuance between marks recognised and incorporated. I have been sorely tempted to build one, but I just can’t build 1:72nd scale kits any more – they are too small for these aging eyes……then I started ship building and now, as you’ll see from these pages of your SMN, I have built in 1:72nd scale, 1:144th and, yes, 1:350th scales so a whole new world has again opened up before me. What a great hobby this is. But back to the plot all of a sudden it dawned on me that I could have a bash at some 1:72nd scale models. Moreover having seen the editors superb Hannants Xtrakit 1:72nd scale Swift I went back to get myself a Vampire, but…………………then I saw it, the latest release from CMR, an RAF JP Mk.3/4 and I had to have one!
Now I am a graduate of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell and at my graduation parade I was privileged to have a Jet Provost flypast, something which has always stayed in my mind. Moreover as my time as ‘Adjutant’ there the gate guard then and today is a lovely JP 5. So it had to be done and so here it is.
Packaging…
The box is a sturdy little corrugated affair onto which is pasted a really super colour print of a Red Pelicans T4, reminding me of the Squadron Prints I had hanging in my office at the College. Wonderful! This aside it’s a fabulous package simple but effective and I dare anyone to resist it. Now I am mid way through a great 1:32nd scale MiG-17 just now but I am putting that to one side to build this lovely kit right away it’s that good!
References…
Normally I go Hunting around (ok pun intended) for references on my models but with this kit even that’s been done for the builder, as CMR has included in the box a super 7-page black and white photo reference in great quality and detail. It’s going to be a great source of not only reference but inspiration too.
Instructions and Colour Options…
Instructions are in A4 and are clear and precise. They include a helpful parts list and from what I can see should make the build simple for even the most inexperienced of modellers. The painting guide is also outstanding giving four view images of no less than 5 possible options. For many, me included will be a source of much ‘umming and areing’ to decide which of the options to build which include:
- The Red Pelicans Aircraft from RAF Little Rissington in 1964
- A Aluminium and Day-Glo Orange Day fighter Scheme T3 of RAF Little Rissington in 1960
- A Red white and Dove Grey T4 of 3FTS RAF Leeming of 1969
- A Camouflaged T4 of 79 Sqn 1 TWU at RAF Fairford of 1983
- A dark earth and buff camouflaged T52 of the South Arabian federation Air Force, Khomaskar, Aden in 1967
So as you can see some wonderful options and why the aluminium scheme is crying out to me; the Aden version is just so interesting and I have never seen one before…….oh decisions, decisions!