The Toro  

by Dave Bailey

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Silly Week 2007

 

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.

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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 

Photos and text © by Dave Bailey, aka The Rat