Hi all,
Something a bit different from Argentina: an Argentine-designed aircraft, built in my home city of Córdoba, finished in British markings. A-515 flew operationally from the Falklands/Malvinas in 1982 and was captured at the end of the conflict. Shipped to the UK, it became ZD485 and was the only captured Pucará to fly in Britain, logging around 25 hours of test flying with the A&AEE at Boscombe Down. It then spent over four decades at the RAF Museum Cosford, and last year it moved to the South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum. Its life after the conflict, from front line to test aircraft, is what drew me to it.
The kit – Special Hobby SH72177 “In Foreign Service”, one of the few 1/72 options with British, Uruguayan and Colombian markings. It includes nice photo-etch and resin for the cockpit and wheel wells.
Fit is typical Special Hobby: fair in most places, but the wing-to-fuselage joint is poor and needed progressive shimming, filler and rescribing. Also note: it needs nose weight, and the instructions don’t mention it!
Painting – FS33531, FS34227 and FS35526 over a black base, with soft transitions and moderate wear. I kept weathering restrained, since this aircraft spent its British life as a test aircraft rather than in combat.
The finished model
For an Argentine modeller, it was a special project: a design from Córdoba seen through British eyes. The full build article (in Spanish, with a built-in translator) is on our club’s website: https://ipmscordoba.com/el-pucara-zd487-de-guerrero-de-malvinas-a-banco-de-pruebas-britanico/
Cheers from Córdoba, Argentina,
Ale