1/72 Heller CM170 Fouga Magister

Force Aérienne Togolaise

by Fernando I. Moreno Villa

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Hello everyone!

I want to share here my last completed project: the Fouga Magister of the Togo Air Force in the 1980s.  There is almost no information about the service of this plane in this little African country.  I became inspired by the Max Decals International Fouga set, which includes the colorful Togo roundels and markings along with those of Morocco, Bangladesh, Finland, etc.  After doing some research, I was lucky to find recent pictures of some machines from the Togo air force, which confirmed the correct shape and colors of the camouflage scheme I selected.  As a francophone nation, Togo has been supplied mostly with French equipment.  Apparently, the Fouga is no longer in service there and now only five Alpha Jets are the backbone of their air arm, supplemented with Puma helicopters and other light aircraft. 

Click on images below to see larger images

  

  

  

THE KIT

Heller was the only company that produced the Fouga in 1/72, at least for a while.  Despite its age (1970’s), its surface finish, interiors and clear parts are quite good.  Raised panel lines and engraved lines for wing flaps and rudders are fine and precise.  Only the fuselage halves gave me some problem because after being joint together, sanded and painted, some seam lines were still visible at first sight and required some additional putty and sanding.  Seats, floor and instrument panels were very acceptable.  Landing gear and wheel bays were also well detailed, improving the quality of the finishing.  Scratchbuilding was only required to add the antenna in the lower fuselage, using some stretched sprue, and for the safety belts and buckles I used 3M Blue masking tape and spare P.E. pieces I had.  

PAINTING

The decal set from MAX DECALS included a color guide for each version of the Fouga.  Colors described were: Light Gray, Green, Sand and Brown.  For instance, I sprayed Light Ghost Gray (MM) on the undersurface and then, I masked and sprayed the upper surface first with Sand (MM), then Flat Earth (Tamiya) and finally NATO Green (Tamiya).  To get hard borders I used “Boli-Goma”, which is a toy gum with properties very similar to those of the UHU Blue Tac.  It worked very well, but demanded some patience to get the correct curved shape. Jet exhausts, landing gear and wheels received MM Magnesium and Aluminum metalizer.  

DECALS

It is a shame that MAX DECALS discontinued this set for the Fouga Magister.  It offered several interesting and exotic versions from several user countries. Color guide was very basic but useful.  Decals proved to be of excellent quality, soft and with excellent register.  They went down perfectly but I had to be very careful since the first try because it is very difficult to move them later.  

WEATHERING

The whole model was protected by a coat of Future, applied with a brush after the painting was  completed.  I then used pastel chalks for panel lines and a soft Black+Sienna oil wash to highlight the rudder and flaps lines.  After all, a coat of Semi-Gloss clear coat of MM to protect the entire model.  

CONCLUSION

I enjoyed the assembly and finishing of this kit.  It was my second camouflage attempt and the first one using three colors and hard borders.  It looks pretty good in those colorful Togo markings and allowed me to get something different this time.  If you find this kit in your closet or on e-bay, don’t let it go.  I hope you like this little seen version of a well known trainer/COIN airplane.  Also, I want to express my gratitude to Roy McKay (a.k.a. “roym”) from Ireland, who sent me part of his MAX DECALS sheet and allowed me to finish this project in very few time.  

Saludos desde Monterrey, México!  

Fernando

Photos and text © by Fernando I. Moreno Villa