1/48 Hobby Boss Embraer Super Tucano A-29

Gallery Article by Juan Carlos Porcella on Aug 18 2017

 

      

Embraer Super Tucano A-29 of the Dominican Air Force

This is the Hobby Boss Super Tucano A-29 representing the Dominican Republic's Air Force's "Escuadron de Combate". The Dominican Air Force purchased 8 of these aircraft to combat drug smuggling from air, land and sea. However, it has been used for search and rescue in coordination with the Dominican Navy and US Coast Guard. 

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The kit is challenging to put it together. I first started with the clear canopy by sanding away the protruding line that comes with it, polished them with nail files and then dip in Pledge or Future floor finish. A fine stretched Sprue was inserted on the inside in order to simulate the "primacord" detonating cord. 

The cockpit was the second challenging phase. I used an Eduard photo etch kit and came out as an excellent details. Although the photo etch parts are self adhesive cyanoacrylate had to be used to secure them in place.

The fuselage fits pretty well but you need to put as much lead ballast in the nose in order to counterweight the heavy tail. Since the surface is very rough I had to polish them in order to avoid silvering with the decal application. When gluing the clear canopy putty had to be used to fill all the gaps. The HUD is a bit tall for the windshield so I had to sand away a bit of the surface.

I used real photos to paint the Dominican Air Force scheme with children's clay to mask the outlines. Tamiya Gloss White and Gloss Black were mixed to achieve the true colors. 

The decals are from FCM Decals which are worth every cent. 

The dull finish was done with Vallejo's Flat Finish which is also highly recommended. The turbo prop exhaust was painted with Alclad II Burnt Metal and Burt Iron.

Hobby Boss did not put to much care on the under surface of this model since it lacks the speed brake, panel outlines and belly tank. 

Juan Carlos Porcella

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Photos and text © by Juan Carlos Porcella