IAR-80A Romanian Hunter

Alex-Ovidiu Mihailescu
Nice ! But you made a mistake at camouflage. Here is how it should have looked like [img1]

Chris Greathouse
Nicely done.

Nathan Dempsey
Wow Alex, I wish I would have had that reference. I love that stepped wave pattern. Also how the upper camo wraps to the bottom on the fuselage.

Thanks James & Chris!

Wim van der Luijt
Nice finish, one of my favourite planes of all times

Nathan Dempsey
Thanks Wim!

I feel bad that this kit languished on the upper shelf 90% complete for years. I saw Roland's He112 build and it inspired me to finish her.

Wim van der Luijt
how is the kit? i have the same one, including the wheel set

Nathan Dempsey
Overall the kit had nice detail, but the fit wasn't perfect and needed much patience. The panel lines are very fine, which I like. If I built again, I would add etch to the cockpit and add side walls to the wheel wells, as they are open to the fuselage. I also felt the Resin tires were a bit too flat considering this aircraft isn't carrying any heavy weapons, however they looked better than the kit parts which were malformed in my kit.

Wim van der Luijt
👍 thanks, every little bit of extra intel will help

Stephan Ryll
very nice build Nathan 👍

Alex-Ovidiu Mihailescu
Well guys I have to give you bad news. The LTD kit is a shadow of what it should be. It has shape errors and the worse are the rear fuselage canopy and engine cowling.
Take a good look at the photo I have posted above. And every machine from no 1 to 300 was painted as above when it left the factory. Colours should be British dark green and dark earth on the upper surfaces. Underside should be sky blue.
Check Radu Brinzan books on the subject.

Nathan Dempsey
No problem Wim. I do the same thing for kits in my stash. There's quite a few note cards in those stash boxes from our great mates here.

Thanks Stephan!

Wim van der Luijt
@Alex: I'm no rivet counter and the other kit in 1:48 has a terrible undercarriage.....if it's the best that's on the market I'll build it

Nathan Dempsey
It was the only kit on the market in 1:48 when I started the build. Since I'm not building for competition, unless the kit is cartoonish with accuracy I'm ok with it. It only goes on my shelf with its comrades of history.

Neuling
I like those colors and the smooth paintwork .........

Alex-Ovidiu Mihailescu
Nathan , Wim I was only emphasising the problem with this particular kit . And back then good plans were hard to get. As for the Hobby Boss kit , well they made a lousy job. Because they had everything they needed to make a great kit .
As per Nathan's model it shows the use of good skills and is a nice model.

Nathan Dempsey
Thanks Neuling! The paints used on this one were Aeromaster Enamels (Floquil).

Alex - Thanks for your kind words. I'm not sure how any new kit could be inaccurate with all the modern tools available to the manufacturers, but it still happens for sure.

Bart Goesaert
Nice model nonetheless... Always thought one resembled more a racer then a fighter...