KIT:

Aeroclub 1/72 Fiat G.91T

KIT #

 

PRICE:

$11.95 

DECALS:

Two aircraft

REVIEW &
PHOTOS :

Scott Van Aken

NOTES:

Kit vacuform with  metal and injected plastic

HISTORY

Once the Italian aero industry got back underway after WW2, itmostly started designing training aircraft, some of which were quite successful.When there was a need for a light attack aircraft for NATO, several countries,including the US, became involved in the design of the new jet. As often happensin these types of situation, a number of the initial participants pulled out,leaving just Italy and Germany. The US pulled out as the Army was the interestedparty, and Congress told them they can't have anything that would normally beused by the USAF (like most fixed-wing aircraft).

What resulted was a very nice light attack jet, the Fiat G.91.This aircraft soldiered on for a number of years, being finally retired by theAMI in the early 1990s. The Germans, however, seem to use up aircraft a lotfaster than most countries and ended up transferring a number of them toPortugal, who used them until just a few years ago.

As with most modern jets today, there was a need for a two seatconversion trainer. This is where the G.91T came into being. Unlike Germany,Italy also used the aircraft for a general fast jet trainer, one that pilotsdestined for tactical jets would fly after initial jet training in the MB.326.

THE KIT

Aeroclub's multimedia kitconsists of no etched brass, but lots of metal and vacuformed bits. Basicallythe fuselage and cockpit tub are vacuformed with injected styrene wings and tailplanes. Metal makes up the rest.

The metal is quite well done andis up to Aeroclub's usual standards. You get the four wing pylons, two seats,two control sticks, two instrument panels, two guns, main and nose landing gearand wheels and the speed brakes.

The vacuformed parts consist ofthe fuselage, cockpit tub, wing tanks and everything else except the wings andtailplanes. The injected plastic parts are low pressure with raised detail. Theplastic itself is very glossy and slick. Detailing is fair but a bit soft, notuncommon for low pressure molds.

Decals are for two aircraft, oneGerman and one Italian. I have used Aeroclub decals before and they are verygood. This one was in register and though a bit thick, should work quite well.Though I have not mentioned the canopies, they are vacuformed and well done.There are two of them as the profile for the German and Italian aircraft are notthe same. The German one is not as smooth as the Italian one.

Instructionsare mostly paint scheme. The assembly instructions are verbal only with nodiagrams. They are also rather general: "Assemble the tail group and fillthe gaps".  Definitely not for the beginner. In fact, the verbalinstructions are the same as those for the G.91R kit!

It doeslook like it can be made into a very nice model, and if you want a G.91T in anyscale, this is your only choice. As I mentioned, not for the beginner!

Review kit courtesy of me and my wallet!

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