Condor A-36A Apache, 1/72 scale, Kit # C72016

The A-36A was the USAAF response to testing of the North American Mustang I, built exclusively for the RAF in 1941 and 1942. Since the Mustang I did not have good high altitude performance, the RAF used it for ground attack and reconnaissance. The USAAF belatedly tested their examples and found it performed spectacularly at low levels so they focused on its use as a reconnaissance fighter designated P-51A/F-6A. During 1942 the USAAF wanted a dive bomber in response to the successes demonstrated by the Luftwaffe’s Stuka. The P-51’s impressive performance at low levels prompted the USAAF to look toward that aircraft. By late 1943 three groups were operating the A-36A, the 27^th and 86^th Bombardment Groups (Dive) in Tunisia, Sicily & Italy and the 311^th Fighter Bomber Group in India. 500 A-36A Apache aircraft were built by North American Aviation from October 1942 to March 1943.

This is a limited issue kit and its quality is very good considering this. The fit is poor for the wing fuselage joint, and the wing dihedral is wrong but otherwise it's a good kit.

There are 41 light gray parts and 3 clear parts. Nine parts are not used for this kit as it is also the basis of other versions of the P-51/A-36 stable. There was some flash and the general look of the kit is high quality for a limited run kit.

There are 8 pages of instructions, 2 of which are 4 views for the two decal variations provided. The instructions are in 4 languages, Czech, English, German and French. They were of the exploded view type and very easy to follow.

The cockpit is sparse and is begging for an after market detail set. With the canopy closed it doesn't matter, you cannot see much anyway.

Some care needs to be taken when jointing the fuselage halves. The tail is molded as one piece on the left half and is too thin for the fuselage when mated. I filled in the right side of the rudder and sanded down the tail area underneath the tail planes to make it look right.

The exhausts must be inserted before mating the halves. I prefer to install these after painting as is the case in most other kits of the P-51 series. I pre-painted the forward fuselage halves olive drab and then inserted the exhausts, covered them with masking tape while sanding seams and painting. That works well.

The wings are the only truly negative aspect of this kit. Fit is terrible, and the dihedral is wrong. If someone comes out with a corrected wing, USE IT. To get the wing/fuselage joint close I installed the wings such that the upper surfaces mated properly. This left the lower wing almost 1/8^th inch below the nose contour with a gap at the wheel wells of 1/16^th inch. I used gap filling super glue and an afternoon of sanding and filing to get it right.

The tail planes went on with no difficulty. Use super glue to ensure they fit properly and stay in place.

I spent an hour or so cleaning up the surfaces for painting. The panel lines are lightly engraved and very little scribing was needed.

The canopy fit was okay, but needed a bit of filling at the wind screen fuselage joint.

The propeller subassembly is 5 parts – nose cone, prop blades and back plate. I personally don't like to build props this way because you have to work on the blade pitch to ensure they are correct. The prop does not spin when installed.

The landing gear needed little cleaning, the wheels are useable, but I recommend the True Details flattened wheels/tires. It looks much nicer.

The bombs don’t look like any bombs I’ve ever seen in my references. As with other A-36A kits in this scale, I decided to leave them off in the hopes that I can find some decent bombs later. The nose guns looked right.

I painted my A-36A with AeroMaster neutral gray (43) and Model Master faded olive drab (FS 34087). The gray was lightened with some white to look "right." The yellow identification stripes were painted on using Model Master insignia yellow as the decals looked translucent. I painted the wings yellow, then masked the stripe area and painted the olive drab/gray.

The instructions don’t indicate it but you could build it with the landing gear retracted.

The decals provide for three versions.

1. 42-84067 of the 524^th Fighter Bomber Squadron, 27^th Fighter Bomber Group, Gela, Sicily, Late 1943 (blue surround to star).
2. 42-84067 of the 524^th Fighter Bomber Squadron, 27^th Fighter Bomber Group, Naples, Italy, Early 1943 (red surround to star).
3. 42-83830 of the 86^th Fighter Bomber Group, Tafaraoul Air Base, Algeria

The decals looked translucent, so I decided to paint the yellow identification stripes. The decals are thin and fragile, but laid down nicely with Micro Sol.

The completed model looks right, with the exception of the wing dihedral.

I spent about 12 hours on this kit, about right for me in an out of the box endeavor. For many years there were no kits of the A-36A in this scale so the only option was to convert the Monogram P-51B. After having converted the Monogram P-51B, built the Model News A-36A and now this kit, I'd say the best bet is to use this fuselage, canopy and other details, cannibalize the cockpit from the Model News A-36A, and hope an after market resin wing becomes available.