OCIDENTAL 1:48 T-6 TEXAN

Reviewer: Paul Johnson  (Johnno@onenet.com)

One of the legendary trainer aircraft of the Western World. This aircraft entered service in 1936 and is still encountered today with over 21,000 Texan's built. The aircraft was built in a host of different variants with different engine types and fixed or retractable landing gear types. In the hands of several operators the aircraft went under different names, such as the Havard, Yale and others.  The post-war updated variant was the T-6G variant, which this kit attempts to reproduce.

In the box there are about 65 injection molded parts in light grey and attached to two main sprues.  There is a very slight amount of flash evident around the sprue attachment points and a couple of smaller parts, easy to clean off.  The plastic is soft so one has to be careful when detaching parts from the sprue and the panel lines are engraved into the surface. The decals and clear parts come in a separate packet to keep them 'clean'. There are seven clear parts that include the canopy pieces, landing light covers and are very nicely rendered.  The instruction sheet is quite adequate but is not very good with some of the positioning of parts, especially engine components, landing gear and geear doors. It also lacks any painting of individual parts information.

Construction began in the cockpit which is quite well detailed.  It features a base and side frames with foot holes for the rudder pedals, and then includes stick and seat (with molded shoulder harnesses).  The cockpit unit is designed to fit in only one way which makes things quite snug if you do it right.  I gave it an interior Green wash with instrumentation dry brushed in light grey and black.

The fuselage halves went together quite well but required minor sanding on the joint lines to smooth it out.  Small amounts of filler were called upon in a couple of areas but generally went together by itself quite well. The wings were then attached and contain separate flaps for positioning.  They fit well, as do the rear tailplanes, but both require a small amount of filler at the joins. The rudder doesn't line up with the fin upper edge as it should, so this required a slight amount of filing to reshape it correctly.

The engine is molded nicely with distinctive crankcase and raised detail such as cooling fins, cylinders and the like is also visible. A flat plate is provided as a mount for the cowl with the exhaust stretching behind.  The exhaust is closed off so will need to be either painted black to visualise the pipe interior or drilled out for better effect.  The alignment tabs inside the cowl will actually entice you to affix the engine upside down! These need to be shaved off so you can install it correctly, although it is actually rather difficult to do successfully (installation that is).

Detail in the wheel wells is okay but there is no plumbing in them.  Attachment of the main landing gear is snug and easy, almost enough not to need to glue!  The struts are also affixed in a way that if you want to get it out of alignment you have to try! :)  There are three main wheels included in the kit, I am not sure where the third comes from or goes to, and you can have either exposed struts or hubs depending on the example you are building.

External detail is quite good.  You need to research the aircraft you are building (you don't have to stick with the kit's replication if you don't want) as some have different placements for things such as antenna masts and tubes.  You will thus need filler to fill the antenna hole you do not wish to use and if appropriate drill your own.  If I was to do this I would most likely shave off the fixing-pin and butt join the antenna with super glue to strengthen the bond.

There is a pair of machine gun pods and rocket pods included if you are building an armed Texan.  Two versions are produced by the kit which includes a Portugese variant as depicted on the box top and a French T-6.  The instructions provide detailed three view diagrams for colour scheme recommended for both.  The decals have very good register and are thin and easy to get onto the model, however, they did not conform very well to the surface over panel lines.  There is plenty of aftermarket decal sets to produce your own T-6 version (and better decals) but one has to remember to keep one eye on construction and the other on reference material when diverting from the kit subject.

All in all this builds into a very nice kit and launches Ocidental into the arena with something of the like of 'Airfix' style of kits (the better Airfix ones that is, also with engraved panel lines) which is a good wrap on debut.  Fit of all the components was generally quite good with only a small amount of filler and sanding required for the whole construction process.  Perhaps not one for the absolute novice, but certainly a highly recommendable kit for any skill level above. 

Related In-the-box Reviews:  Academy 1/72 T-6G Texan 

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