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 Rank: Pro Groups: Joined: 24/08/2009 Posts: 48,827 Points: -13,348
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Hello all,
Welcome to my review of a much awaited new kit of this aircraft from Airfix.
A brief history of the aircraft type
The BAC Jet Provost was a British jet-powered trainer aircraft that was in use with the Royal Air Force from 1955 to 1993. It was originally developed by Hunting Percival from the earlier piston engine-powered Percival Provost basic trainer, and later produced by the British Aircraft Corporation. In addition to the multiple orders that were placed for the RAF, the Jet Provost also attained several export deals with overseas operators, resulting in the type serving in many air forces worldwide. The design was also further developed into a more heavily-armed variant for ground attack missions, which was marketed as the BAC Strikemaster.
Airfix 1:72 Hunting Percival Jet Provost T.3 (Kit # A02103)
I have been modelling for many years and remember building the first Jet Provost kit that Airfix did which I think was initially produced back in the 1960's (I built mine in the 1970’s) and it was typical of the era with poor detail and fit, shape inaccuracies and clear parts as thick as a crystal brick, but this newly tooled release is such a world apart from the kit of old with Airfix’s excellent new standard of detailing.
The build starts with the cockpit, which has two nicely detailed ejection seats for the two pilot figures which are included (though mine will be added to the rest of them in the spares box), and there is a reasonable amount of detail to the sidewalls and floor. The seats could be enhanced further with some scratchbuilt belts to replace the moulded ones and a few other details but is perfectly acceptable as it comes in the box. The kit includes a very nicely detailed decal for the instrument panel. There is also a useful reminder in the instructions to put some weight into the nose section (2.5g is recommended, I’d add a little more just in case!) if you want it to sit correctly on the tricycle undercarriage, absolutely vital not to miss this point if you don’t want a permanent tail-sitter!! Something which is now becoming quite normal in the latest generation of ‘newly tooled’ Airfix kits, is the two part cockpit canopy so that you can build it in either the open or closed position. The canopy parts are crystal clear, beautifully thin and the frames are crisply moulded.
Moving on to the wings, Airfix have really thought about how to help the modeller in terms of ease of construction and accuracy when fitting the parts, incorporating neat little systems like the use of a one piece lower wing section, so that the dihedral of the wings is spot on every time. I have read build reports elsewhere that the system works very well and that when the upper wing halves are fitted the fit of wing to fuselage at the wing root is perfect! There is an equally clever system used to fit the tail plane as well, which is moulded in one piece and which fits into a slot between the vertical stabiliser and fuselage, with the separately moulded tailcone locking it all together from behind and making it all fool proof when trying to keep the tailplane perfectly horizontal. After the construction of the main fuselage and wing assemblies there is just the jet intakes, undercarriage and a few other final details to be fitted so this is not a complex build but the detail throughout is very nicely done.
There are two or three small faults with this kit, the first being with the main canopy section where the central frame (which divides the two sides and arches over and between the two crew members) is moulded externally as part of the rest of the outer frame, whereas in reality it should be internal. It is a simple matter to sand the offending section of frame away and restore the clarity by polishing with some micro-mesh and then to mask and spray it on the inside of the canopy. The second error is the omission of a couple of small vents on the engine panel immediately behind the cockpit canopy on top of the fuselage, which are very obvious in most photos of the aircraft that I’ve seen. It is a simple matter to fashion them from some plastic sheet or rod and then glue them into place, but something that really shouldn’t have been missed by Airfix? The last error is with the wingtip tanks which in reality have the red/green navigation lights fitted aerodynamically on the forward tips. These have not been provided as clear parts by Airfix, which is a shame but replacements could easily be made by sanding and polishing some thick clear sprue to shape then painted and fitted in place after sawing off the moulded tips on the two tanks? If you’re not as confident, you could just paint the tips silver then use some Tamiya red/green clear paint over the silver to represent the lights.
The kit includes a very nicely printed decal sheet with two options for markings. The first is for a T.3 with No.2 Flying Training School at RAF Gaydon, in Warwickshire during 1967. This one features plenty of Dayglo Orange stripes over a main airframe colour of ‘Light Aircraft Grey’ which makes it a very colourful choice and the stripes are provided on the transfer sheet which will save a lot of masking work. I’ve heard they are suitably opaque not to show the underlying colour which is good news. The second option is for an aircraft from No.1 Flying Training School based at RAF Linton-on-Ouse, North Yorkshire in 1984. This one is in the standard RAF training colours of the time which is red, white and light grey. I will be buying a second kit to enable me to build both versions. Additional to the instruction sheet there is another loose single page included which shows where all of the airframe stencils are located, something which seems to be becoming a standard feature of the latest Airfix releases.
Summing up
All in all, this is a real gem of a kit from Airfix and one which has been long awaited by 1:72 aircraft modellers (including me!) and is just so different from that old original Airfix Provost. From my perspective it is gratefully received and will be a most welcome addition to my display cabinet when built. I would love to see a new release of this aircraft in 1:48 scale from Airfix!!
There is a very nice review and build of this kit inside the November 2016 (Issue #72) of ‘Airfix Model World’ magazine.
I will be building this kit in the very near future as part of my series of 1:72 aircraft models on the forum, so watch out for it appearing in the 'Finished Build Gallery'. Thanks for looking.
Kev  ModelMania attached the following image(s):
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 Rank: Super-Elite        Groups: Registered
Joined: 31/05/2010 Posts: 5,679 Points: 17,011 Location: Wiltshire
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Kev Very nice review. Will be interested to see how it all goes together. They are certainly some bright markings you get with this one. Happy Modelling
BUILDING: Hachette Spitfire Mk 1A, Constructo Mayflower
SUBSCRIPTION COMPLETE (Awaiting building): USS Constitution, Sovereign of the Seas, 1:200 Bismarck (Hachette)
COMPLETED: Porsche 911, E-Type Jaguar, Lam Countach
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Excellent review Kev, will be watching to see the magic happen when you start!
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Rank: Super-Elite  Groups: Registered
Joined: 19/06/2013 Posts: 4,588 Points: 13,553 Location: West Yorkshire
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Nice review Kev, seems a little sloppy for Airfix to not have provided clear nav lights on this new kit.
May still get one as it brings back some memories from my early days of working on them.
Al
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Rank: Super-Elite   Groups: Registered
Joined: 30/01/2013 Posts: 4,604 Points: 13,607 Location: Monmouthshire UK
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Looks a lovely little kit, I'd also be all over a 1/48 scale kit of this....and while their at it how about a 1/48 Chippie T.10 too Steve
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Rank: Super-Elite Groups: Registered
Joined: 19/06/2013 Posts: 4,588 Points: 13,553 Location: West Yorkshire
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stevie_o wrote:Looks a lovely little kit, I'd also be all over a 1/48 scale kit of this....and while their at it how about a 1/48 Chippie T.10 too Steve Like your thinking Steve Al
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Rank: Pro Groups: Joined: 24/08/2009 Posts: 48,827 Points: -13,348
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Thanks for the comments guys, much appreciated.
@ Tony & Daran - I won't be doing build diaries for my 1:72 aircraft builds as I indicated in the first paragraph of my post at build #1 (The Bell X-1) in the 'Finished Build Gallery', so it won't be possible to see it come together I'm afraid, sorry about that but I hope the end result will be worth looking at? These small scale kits take longer to paint than build so there really isn't much to show in a diary, and it's a lot of extra work doing a diary which takes too long to do for each one, which is why I've chosen just to show them as finished models? I hope you understand and don't mind guys?  
@ Steve - Yeah, definitely want a 1:48 kit of this aircraft and totally agree mate, I too would soooo love a large scale kit of the Chipmunk. I had a couple of flights in one when I was in my youth as a member of the Air Cadets (424 Squadron) - happy days!! 
Kev
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Rank: Pro Groups: Joined: 24/08/2009 Posts: 48,827 Points: -13,348
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Just a few shots of build progression would be nice, otherwise it gives the impression you can't be bothered yet expect members to be interested in the end result  ..
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