The Nanchang Q-5 (Chinese: 强-5; pinyin: Qiang-5; NATO reporting name: Fantan), also known as the A-5 in its export versions, is a Chinese-built jet ground-attack aircraft capable of supersonic speed in level flight, which is similar to its predecessor Soviet MiG-19. However, the aircraft is predominantly flown at subsonic speeds due to its primary role being close air support.

Despite the age of the technology on which the airframe is based, the aircraft is still being flown and still being developed. One of the earlier developments was the Q-5Yi: Torpedo attacker for navy, though only a few manufactured. YJ-8 anti-ship missile was also being considered, but the program was cancelled due to budget problem even though the missile was well developed, and afterwards missile test launches were conducted from Type 24 missile boat. In the eighties, YJ-81 was once mounted for test, but this proposition was soon rejected when it was decided to let JH-7 take the role.

THE KIT

This is a kit that wasn't quite what I thought it was. I thought it was a standard Q-5, but when I got it, I realized it was a limited run type that never saw a lot of service. Trumpeter has designed the fuselage halves as a single piece so no chance of the standard nose section with this one. It is obvious from the number parts you won't be using that all but the fuselage halves are the same for all the various Q-5/A-5 boxings.

Molding is what we've come to expect from Trumpeter and you get the obligatory photo etch fret. In this case it includes the wing fences, some antennas and some circular bits that are not used with this boxing, but are probably for the fins of the bombs included in the weapons sprue. On that subject, there are more weapons than the guided bombs and rocket pods that are to be used with this variant.

Cockpit has a tub, two piece seat with a control stick and instrument panel. A decal is provided for the panel. This assembly, the roof of the not used bomb bay and 10 grams of weight are put into the fuselage halves before closing them up.

The wings are upper and lower halves and you need to open pylon holes prior to gluing. The main gear wells are molded in the lower wings. Once you attach the final compressor stages to the exhaust section, that at the wings can be attached to the fuselage. Fin is two pieces with the tail planes a separate piece. The kit has shallow intakes and one of the small p.e. rectangles fits inside the intake. A separate windscreen and canopy are provided and shown in the closed position.

Landing gear are adequate for the scale and I'm not sure why they mounted the main gear attachment point a a separate piece, but they did. The gear all have separate retraction struts. There are a few air scoops to attach, but all the small ones are thankfully molded in place.

As mentioned, this airplane has a bomb bay, but in this version it is modeled with a cover over it. The sprues have separate doors and an outer bay with a depression for a large weapon; again not used on this version. All the gear doors are separate and have well defined attachment areas. All that is left is to attach the ventral strake, wing pylons as well as the YU-2 torpedoes and the rocket pods. Note that the box art shows fuel tanks on the outer pylons, but these are not mentioned in the instructions. They are, however, in the kit so you can attach them instead of the rocket pods if you wish.

Instructions are well done and you are provided markings for two planes that differ only in nose number. Both options are painted in white, a fairly standard color for Chinese naval aircraft. The small sheet is well printed and should provide no issues. 

CONCLUSIONS

This is not a complex kit and knowing how well Trumpeter kits usually build, will be one that can be completed in a fairly short time. Some may not like the p.e. and I do prefer plastic for antennas and sensors, but there it is.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanchang_Q-5

January 2019

Copyright ModelingMadness.com. All rights reserved.