LTD models IAR 80 A in 1/48

[yak face]

First off let me apologise to anyone whos stuff I may have missed , other things have been taking up my time recently .
Anyways heres something I picked up at one of the shows last year- the LTD models IAR 80 A in 1/48 scale . Ive long been interested in this aircraft , and I do like a Romanian scheme . This is a limited run kit and as such requires a great deal of fettling and care during the build . I paid £10 for it and it came with extra decals too ( albeit for the later IAR 81 )
It features fine recessed panel lines and a basic cockpit and two vacformed canopies but with a big dollop of care should tutn out ok . Heres the sprues and stuff

[Neil Merryweather]

Looks like a Corsair without the gull wings

[Jim R]

I've not heard of LTD Models. At £10 it looks to be quite a bargain. These short run kits are not for the faint hearted but as you say, for the experienced, willing to accept a lot fettling and care, they can build into great models of unusual subjects. This doesn't look too bad and I'm sure you'll sort it.

[adt70hk]

Interesting!

I was also thinking Corsair like.....or a cross between that one of the later war Soviet birds....LA7?

Looking forward to this coming together.

ATB

Andrew

[JR]

I shall follow and sit near Andrew, he can explain the finer points of planes.

[yak face]

Made a start on this yesterday. As with all limited tun stuff theres a lot of cleaning up to do- every sprue gate is massive and overlaps the mating surfaces plus there are some monster ejection towers to remove . The cockpit is quite basic but a reasonable starting point. First off I cut out the middle of the floor and added a few bits . The seat had some sides and bracing added as well as a trim wheel and a couple of levers . I made a new control column with (i think ) the brake lever . The rudder pedals were sanded down and straps made from wine foil.
The cockpit sides feature ribbing but not much else so after finding a few reference pics I added the oxygen bottle and drilled shroud , pipe and various other bits - im not going too mad as it will probably have a closed cockpit ( it’ll be bad enough cutting out a vac form canopy without trying to seperate it too!)

[tr1ckey66]

Radial engined fighter, Romanian scheme - what’s not to like?!!!
Never heard of the IAR - 80 but it looks like a superb WW2 fighter. To my eye it looks very ’late war’ but, having just done a quick Google search, it seems it actually entered service in 1941. As Neil says, it looks like a Corsair (with the cockpit set way back from the nose) but is also reminiscent of a few other late war fighters.

Looking forward ro the build Tony. I’m sure you’ll spin your magic on this limited run kit.
ATB

Paul

[yak face]

Radial engined fighter, Romanian scheme - what’s not to like?!!!
Never heard of the IAR - 80 but it looks like a superb WW2 fighter. To my eye it looks very ’late war’ but, having just done a quick Google search, it seems it actually entered service in 1941. As Neil says, it looks like a Corsair (with the cockpit set way back from the nose) but is also reminiscent of a few other late war fighters.

Looking forward ro the build Tony. I’m sure you’ll spin your magic on this limited run kit.
ATB

Paul

Cheers paul , its an aircraft ive always loved the look of , with the long nose and lean design . Its a fascinating backstory too , the fuselage being copied from the PZL 24 , even with that it was still a very potent fighter and ended up fighting against allied and axis opponents very effectively. Cheers tony

[Jim R]

Nice start Tony. Already much better detail in the cockpit.

[Neil Merryweather]

Wow, silk pursery in evidence from the start!

[A_J_Rimmer]

Lovely improvements to that cockpit - well done.

It's a cracking little aircraft. IIRC, Hobbyboss did a 1/48 version a while back too.

[papa 695]

Nice one Tony, great work so far.

[flyjoe180]

Off to a great start Tony

[yak face]

Bit more done today , although the recent nice weather means bench time is a rarity . The cockpit has been painted up and I added some etched harnesses from the spares box - not specifically for the IAR 80 but near enough. Its all a bit rough and ready but under a closed Vac form canopy itll be fine . Ive also been looking at the engine . Not much will be seen once its in the cowling and the props on but it still needed a bit of attention. The engine moulding doesnt feature the push rod tubes so these were added from styrene rod , all 28 of them !

[JR]

Great detail there in the office Tony .
Also like the additions to the engine .:thumb2: