In the early sixties
it was becoming apparent to the Spanish government that it needed a more up
to date aircraft for maritime surveillance, and it began procuring surplus F3D
Skyknights from the U.S. Never given an official name, the crews took inspiration
from its rugged looking fuselage and christened it Toro, or Bull. They
served well into the 1980s, and many can still be found in museums and as gate
guardians.
Click on
images below to see larger images
The model was the
ancient Aurora pressing, which dates back even further as a Comet product. The
detail is primitive, but the general fit is excellent and it certainly looks the
part. The paint scheme is loosely based on a picture of a Spanish
Grumman Albatross I found on airliners.net. I decided to jazz up the stand by
using the molded pattern on it to sort of reflect the national insignia, which
looks better than boring grey plastic. The name on the stand was raised, so
scraping off the paint with a #10 blade made it stand out.
I have no idea of
the scale, but the wingspan is about 6-1/8 inches, around the same size as a
1/72nd Spitfire. I opened up the cockpit and scratched an interior. Nothing too
fancy, but better looking than the 'flat deck with head attached' that was
typical of many kits of that era.
Dave
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