Junkers Ju-52

Heller’s Junkers Ju-52/3M in its “Where Eagle’s Dare” or as Heller would have it, Blindflugschule 3’s 1941 camouflage. 

Interestingly, Blindflugschule means ‘Blind Flying School’ which, as far as I can make out, is where Luftwaffe night fighter pilots learned their craft. So, whether they actually used the Ju-52 to train in or it was just the ‘bus’ to transport them to and from the school, I’ve not yet managed to find out.

Anyway, this Heller kit has been a challenging one but, I hope you’ll concur, I managed to get the better of it in the end. 

The base white was airbrushed using AMMO by Mig Jimenez primer and the green was hand painted with Hataka’s WW2 Luftwaffe range. 

Heller would not rate as one of my favourite kit providers but when you want to build an unusual model, like that other interesting kit producer AZ, they rarely disappoint

Alouette III Helicopter

This is the Heller 1:72 scale Alouette III helicopter in the colours of 1 Esc de Helicopteros, Taskforce 40, Falklands of the Argentine Navy in 1982. 

The Argentine Naval Aviation operated a total of 14 Alouette III helicopters. A single SA316B was on board the ARA General Belgrano when she was sunk by torpedoes fired by HMS Conqueror during the 1982 Falklands War. A second Alouette III played an important role during the Argentine Invasion of South Georgia. 

I built this helicopter to portray its involvement in the invasion of South Georgia, also known as the Battle of Grytviken or Operation Georgias, which took place on 3 April 1982, when Argentine Navy forces seized control of the east coast of South Georgia after overpowering a small group of Royal Marines at Grytviken. It was one of the first episodes of the Falklands War, immediately succeeding the invasion on the Falkland Islands the day before.

I’ve built this helicopter to portray its involvement in the invasion of South Georgia, also known as the Battle of Grytviken or Operation Georgias, which took place on 3 April 1982, when Argentine Navy forces seized control of the east coast of South Georgia after overpowering a small group of Royal Marines at Grytviken. It was one of the first episodes of the Falklands War, immediately succeeding the invasion on the Falkland Islands the day before.

Update: In May 2023 I was loaned an amazing book with the title "Falklands The Air War" published by the British Aviation Research Group. This attempts to document every aircraft used by both sides during the conflict. Under the Alouette, it records my 0736 helicopter in March 1982 as being with 1 Escadrille as '3-H-111", but not confirmed as being used operationally during the War though in service at Espora.

It was helicopter 0699 which in March 1982 was with 1 Escadrille as '3-H-110' that was deployed with ARA Bahia Paraiso which landed Argentine Marines on South Georgia. It was flown during all phases of reconnaissance and capture of South Georgia from 25 March to 3 April 1982. Slightly damaged by gunfire at Grytviken on 3 April it was immediately repaired and returned to service. It survived the war to then be involved in a fatal crash near Espora on 21 April 1983. 

So, one day, I may change that last '1' to a zero! However, this may not in itself be sufficient. I took my painting guidance for the Alouette from archive photos which I believed to be contemporary, however, this new found resource speaks of there being know now changes having been made to the markings of the Alouette for the emergency period. This meant that they wore dark brown and green camouflage with the only light marking being a small national flag on the forward part of the boom. The serial was applied in tiny digits on the door and the code was in larger script on the rear boom. So quite different to that I've seen for '3-H-111'. Meanwhile, an anonymous Alouette used for ambulance duties was painted overall white with large red crosses on the side doors and a small one on the nose. Food for thought ...  

This kit was a real challenge, probably because I bought it half started with glue sticking bits to the box and the cockpit stuck together totally wrong but it finished up looking OK and an interesting addition to my Falklands War collection.

Fouga Magister CM 170

FSS ‘A’ Acro-Team's Fouga Magister

My final air display team aircraft build (probably) is a unique one. During early 1960 the FSS ‘A’ Acro-Team based at Landsberg in Bavaria, was formed equipped with French-built Fouga Magisters of the West German Air Force and flown by RAF flying instructors! Having had no Air Force in 15 years, the German pilots had insufficient experience for the 1960s displays, however, by April 1961 the team was joined by two Luftwaffe members. 

A tragic air accident in June 1962, involving a team of F-104F Starfighters, resulted in a ban on all military aerobatic flying and any opportunity for the RAF instructors to recommence display flying training faded when the British Mission (Germany) was terminated in 1963. 

For my Fouga Magister I managed to find a 1980s Heller kit. Just as with the Alouette, bought in the same transaction and being of the same era moulded in blue plastic, this was a simple build. The obvious version to complete would have been the Patrouille de France display Team from 1978, but I found the back story of the FSS ‘A’ Acro-Team, with its dedicated chapter in David Watkins’ excellent book “The History of RAF Aerobatic Teams from 1920”,  just too interesting!

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The Kit

Brand: Heller
Title: CM 170 Fouga Magister
Number: 220
Scale: 1:72
Type: Full kit
Released: 1980 | Initial release - new tool