FMA IA 58 Pucara Kinetic Gold 1/48

FMA IA-58A/D Pucara. Major Carlos Tomba

This was a fine quality model by Chinese manufacturer Kinetic only let down by extremely poor instructions, lack of comprehensive painting guidance, and no ordnance whatsoever!

Apart from that, the build itself was relatively straightforward. The real challenge was masking and painting the camouflage. I used the new stretchy masking putty by AK for the intricate pattern which only roughly conformed to the actual one depicted in the instructions.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Falklands conflict in 1982 so it was an appropriate project! 24 were deployed by Argentina to the islands but were destroyed by the British at Goose Green and Pebble Island before the start of major hostilities. Some captured Pucaras were returned to the UK and displayed in museums.

Here is what Kinetic says about the Pucara

… Argentine ground-attack and counter-insurgency (COIN) aircraft manufactured by the Fabrica Militar de Aviones. It is a low-wing twin-turboprop all-metal monoplane with retractable landing gear, capable of operating from unprepared strips when operationally required. The type saw action during the Falklands War and the Sri Lankan Civil War.

The Pucara (Quechua:Fortress) was designed for operations from short, rough airstrips. The retractable tricycle landing gear, with a single nosewheel and twin mainwheels retracting into the engine nacelles, is fitted with low pressure tyres to suit operations on rough ground, while the undercarriage legs are tall to give good ground clearance for underslung weapons loads.

Some of the pieces of lead I used for weight in the nose and engines as this is a notorious tail sitter!
Needed a LOT of weight!
Masking and pre-shading, although the latter wasn’t all that successful!
Had twin 20mm machine guns either side just below cockpit
Has a lovely sleek, shark-like profile. The sloping nose with large canopy gave excellent all-round visibility.

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