ARGENTINA’S WINGED FORTRESS
Operated by Argentinian, Colombian, Sri Lankan and Uruguayan Air Forces, the FMA IA 58 Pucará (fortress) is the subject of Kinetic’s latest new tooling.
This 1/48 scale kit (K48078) contains six styrene runners (including one clear frame for the type’s capacious canopy), plus a small photo-etched brass fret for the seatbelts, coaming instruments and rear fuselage hot-air vent shielding plates. External panel lines and rivets are replicated as delicately engraved detail, and the undercarriage bays feature convincing internal structure. Where Kinetic’s Pucará excels, though, is in the excellent cockpit, with integrally moulded throttle levers on the side consoles and similar raised relief on the instrument panels; ejection seats are 15-piece sub-assemblies and all of this superb quality can be fully appreciated thanks to the crystal-clear glazing. Options are limited to just raised/lowered flaps and canopy.
Two schemes are included: the first is an Argentinian Falklands war airframe, A-511 as flown by Maj Carlos Tomba, while the second is a Uruguayan airframe adorned with artwork depicting a warthog/boar’s head on the nose. Visit: www.luckymodel.com for more details on this and other Kinetic products.
