B.A.C. Jet Provost T.Mk.5 and Strikemaster - 1:48 Fly Models

[Mike]

B.A.C. Jet Provost T.Mk.5 and Strikemaster
1:48 Fly Models

Rapid development of front line strike aircraft for the Royal Air Force during the early sixties highlighted the need for a basic jet trainer more capable than existing jet powered equipment. Of primary concern, was the lack of a pressurised cockpit in the Hunting-Percival Jet Provost T4 placing the crew under severe physical strain when used at high altitude. Hunting-Percival, which was by now (1964) a part of the British Aircraft Corporation, responded to this problem in a private venture, and by taking the last two T4 aircraft, XS230 and XS231 from a previous RAF order, work began at Luton to convert these airframes to the prototypes for what was to become the Jet Provost Mk.5.

Following three years of work, XS230 re-emerged and made its first flight in T5 form on 28 February 1967. Now looking significantly different, with a re-designed front fuselage to accommodate a pressurised cockpit and a modified cockpit hood to clear the new ejection seats, the result was an altogether more bulbous shape. Other, less obvious modifications included stronger wings designed to carry bigger tip tanks, and a new avionics package.

Despite the obvious weight penalties associated with such complicated modifications, XS230 was still powered by the original Rolls Royce Viper 201 of the T4. XS231 however, was built to the same specification, but was fitted with a more powerful Viper engine, capable of 3000lbs of thrust. Both of the new prototypes were sent to Boscombe Down for tests, evaluation and subsequent acceptance by the MoD.

The first example off the production line and the first T.5 to enter RAF service was XW287. Delivery to the Central Flying School at RAF Little Rissington took place on 3 September 1969, with the Royal Air Force College at Cranwell, and 1FTS RAF Linton-on-Ouse joining the Central Flying School as initial users of the type. Delivery of the 110 T.5s. eventually ordered continued throughout 1970 with No.3FTS based at RAF Leeming, No.6FTS based at Acklington and No.7FTS at Church Fenton all received the new aircraft. The Jet Provost T.5A also equipped several RAF aerobatics teams such as the Poachers from RAF Cranwell and "The Swords" based at RAF Leeming with 3FTS.

It was envisaged that the T.5 would take the place of the T.4 on certain roles such as high altitude training as previously mentioned however, the majority of T.4s had to be retired much earlier than anticipated and the T.5 had to take on wider responsibilities. As a result, the RAF decided to update its fleet of Jet Provosts. 94 of the original T.5 order were consequentially upgraded to T.5a standard with a new avionics suite, spin strakes and modified wing leading edges. The latter being carried out in an attempt to give clear warning of a stall. The original clean wing could stall with little warning, a trait which could catch out the novice pilot.

By 1976, all of the aircraft modified to T.Mk.5a standard had been returned to active duty which would continue for the next 15 years. Another version of the Jet Provost was the 'T.5B' although this was an unofficial designation, whereby twelve of the original T. Mk.5a’s were converted for use as navigational trainers, complete with refitted tip-tanks by No.6FTS alongside the Jetstream T.1s and Dominie T.1s based at RAF Finningley.

Although a replacement for the Jet Provost was agreed in 1988 in the shape of the Shorts Tucano T.Mk.1, it was to be another five years before No.1 FTS and No.6 FTS were to retire their T.5’s. The Central Flying School, the Royal Air Force College and No. 7FTS having retired their fleets two years earlier. So it was that September 1993 saw the end of the Jet Provost’s 38 year career with the Royal Air Force.

The B.A.C 167 Strikemaster
Produced alongside the T.Mk.5, The BAC 167 Strikemaster was essentially a modified and lightly armed version of the Jet Provost, fitted with an up-rated engine and a strengthened airframe. Although marketed as a light attack or counter-insurgency aircraft, the Strikemaster was purchased by air forces looking for a capable advanced trainer. It also incorporated under-wing hard-points, new communication and navigation gear, up-rated ejection seats, a revised fuel system, and shortened landing gear. A total of 146 airframes were built, all for overseas customers including Botswana, Ecuador, Kenya, Kuwait and New Zealand where the type was affectionately known as “Blunty”. Other foreign operators included Oman, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and South Yemen with Sudan being the last export customer.

The Kit
Although not the first kit of the Provost/Strikemaster to be released in this scale, the new offering from Fly Model is the first injection moulded kit, albeit with some resin parts included. Previous kits of the type have been of the “multi-media” variety, which whilst being produced to a very high standard in terms of quality and detail, they are a daunting prospect to many of the modellers that I have spoken with and many will remain un-built as a result. The new injection moulded kit will, I’m sure, appeal to a much wider market and the number of completed models and works in progress that I have seen appears to prove the point.

Supplied in full colour, the end opening boxes feature nicely done artwork, although the spurious serial number depicted on the T.Mk.5 kit has already caused some consternation among some of us. Paint schemes and decal placement are detailed on the reverse, and instructions common to both variants are in the familiar black and white booklet format and provide more than adequate information to aid construction. Both kits feature three common sprues moulded in beige coloured styrene, although the sprue containing the underwing tanks and associated pylons will be largely redundant in the Provost kit. Finely detailed components, are not always successfully injection moulded, and all of the type specific parts are provided in resin.
 

The styrene parts are well detailed and feature finely engraved panel lines comparable to some of the larger manufacturers, and which look very good when painted and highlighted. Construction starts as one would expect with the cockpit area. The main floor, rear bulkhead, instrument panel and coaming are injection moulded, with resin detail parts including cockpit side walls, throttle pedestal, control columns and rudder pedals, all of which appear to be well cast with no defects. The cockpit is completed by the addition of two nicely cast resin ejector seats though the type supplied with the splayed head-box is applicable only to the Strikemaster. A nose gear well is not provided as the doors are only open during cycling of the gear and remain closed when the aircraft is parked up. Small doors for the front leg are supplied however. The omission of any nose gear bay will allow the available space to be packed with ballast to prevent tail-sitting.

With the cockpit complete and the tail-pipe installed, the fuselage halves can be joined. No locating pins are incorporated, though this should not cause any problem if care is taken during this phase of the build process. There is a small amount of flash in evidence, although this will be easily removed with a sanding stick, and only one ejector pin mark, located inside the main air intakes is likely to cause a problem unless removed before assembly. Access to this area will be severely limited once the two components have been glued together.

The wings are made up of top and bottom halves into which is fitted the undercarriage bay. Here again, little will be visible as the main doors remain closed. Addition of either tip tanks or plain wing tips completes this area of the build.

The tailplanes, which are one piece mouldings are one area of slight disappointment in that the elevator dynamic balance ahead of the hinge line has been totally missed. This is a distinctive feature and relatively easy to rectify with a little work. The addition of resin trim-tab actuators for tailplane and rudder completes the main areas of the build, leaving only the undercarriage and various detail parts to install together with the pylons and weaponry on the Strikemaster option.
 

The canopy components and landing light covers make up the final sprue supplied in the kit and will benefit from a little polishing work followed by a dip in your preferred gloss coat. Unfortunately, the canopy does not incorporate the MDC which is a prominent feature of the Strikemaster and some of the later T.5s, and that would be tricky to replicate yourself.

Both the Jet Provost and Strikemaster options provide the builder with a choice of four colour schemes:
 

 

• Starting with the T5.a, we have a brown and green camouflaged aircraft with the serial 327 on the rear fuselage. This is presumably XW327 now resident in America however I have not been able to confirm this as yet.
• Next up is XW325 in the red, white, blue and L.A. grey colours of No.6 FTS though now in private ownership.
• The third option is XW328 in the red, white and L.A. grey colours of No.1 FTS again privately owned.
• Finally there is XW354. Another privately owned example currently operated in Canada and wearing an unusual blue and grey camouflage scheme.

Strikemaster options include:

• A New Zealand Air force machine in the three colour camouflage top surfaces with light grey undersides.
• Next, we have a camouflaged machine of the Royal Saudi Air Force with the distinctive red fuselage panels and wing tips.
• A black and red aircraft of the Colombian Air Force follows.
• The final Strikemaster scheme depicts another camouflaged aircraft. This time in service with the Royal Omani Air Force.

Overall, a fairly diverse choice of subjects and the decals, though yet to be tried, appear to be well produced with good colour density and register. All of the prominent stencil markings are provided and these also are very finely printed.

Conclusion
Preceding kits of this aircraft have been well liked and are generally accepted as being very accurate replicas of the full sized machine. For this reason I have purposely avoided making direct comparisons as I feel that each of the kits available should be judged not against each other, but against accepted accurate data. That said, few would question the accuracy of the Aeroclub kit and the scale drawings included. I feel therefore, that the Fly Model kit scales out well against published figures and in my opinion, compares well when checked against these excellent drawings.

A highly recommended kit which will surely be given the treatment by the aftermarket manufacturers given time.

Provost

Strikemaster

Review sample courtesy of


Research & text by Stringbag

[Jon Kunac-Tabinor]

Hi Chris - have to agree, its alovely kit, and the build thread on the forum looks good too.

 

Just a note ( that again has been mentioned on another thread here), the decals in the Strikemaster boxing all seem to represent preserved privately owned, examples, rather than operational airframes.

 

The RNZAF option is one such: It is actually G-BXFP. Originally operated by the Kenyan Air Force as '602', and then with the Botswana Defence Forces as OJ5.

 

As such you'll need to find 14 sqn markings for an ops machine, plus look for the detail changes in aerial fit etc.

 

Cheers

 

Jonners

 

[edit for Chris's name- doh!]

Edited January 12, 2013 by Jon Kunac-Tabinor

[Silver Fox]

Also note that for the RNZAF machine one of the fuselage roundels is the wrong. The kiwi always faces forwards one the fuselage.

 

It is a shame that both kits supply only warbird markings.

[Vlamgat9]

I have both this kit and the Aeroclub one. I am not sure the Aeroclub one is really more daunting a prospect - it isnt a vacform or all resin.

[avro683]

The Aeroclub one, soon to be re-issued I believe, was the first IM,kit in 1/48 of the type. Like the fly kit it contains parts of a different media, theirs being white metal. Hannants had them but are sold out of the JP. Boo hiss.

Edited January 11, 2013 by avro683

[Viking]

Informative review Chris,  I built the Aeroclub one about 10 years ago and would agree that it was a bit more demading than this one looks, particularly the Vac canopy.

 

Cheers

 

John

[woody37]

If you need a build review Mike on the T.5, look this way

[dambuster]

Just for comparison (sorry Mike) here's an Aeroclub fuselage and a Fly one. Reference point was aligning the rudder post and this also aligns the wing root on both models.

Peter

Edited January 11, 2013 by dambuster

[stringbag]

Just for comparison (sorry Mike) here's an Aeroclub fuselage and a Fly one. Reference point was aligning the rudder post and this also aligns the wing root on both models.

Peter

Try comparing the Fly fuselage halves with the excellent drawings supplied in the Aeroclub kit.

 

Chris.

[M4rk]

Just a note on fit, I'm currently building the Strikemaster boxing and have found that the ejector seats do not fit under the rear canopy if you want it closed. This could be my own cack-handedness but I was pretty careful when assembling the cockpit & joining the fuselage halves, so I don't think I've ballsed it up that much. Should be rectifiable but I recommend a lot of dry-fitting with this kit - the wing to fuselage join on the underside is also pretty awful. Still its limited-run so has to be tolerated.

[Mike]

I think the point that Chris was trying to make with his final comment was that the two kits shouldn't be compared to eachother, but should instead be compared to a set of accurate plans. Compared to plans, the Fly kit scales out pretty well overall, as does the Aeroclub kit, with a few items that were mentioned in the review coming to the fore with the Fly kit, and a few for the Aeroclub kit. As with all models, nothing is perfect.

M4rk - perhaps you left a bit too much material from the moulding plug on the seat? Just a thought

[turnerdad]

One thing I noticed when buying mine at SMW last year that the canopy does look slightly cloudy, I checked through quite a few boxings and they were all the same but I'm hopeful a polish and possibly a dip in Klear will address the issue. It looks very nice shapewise to my eye anyway but I'm not an expert on the type. Certainly is a nice kit, I'm enjoying Martin 77s' build.

[M4rk]

M4rk - perhaps you left a bit too much material from the moulding plug on the seat? Just a thought

 

Nope, I have actually tried removing more material from the base in order to make the seat sit lower down in the cockpit and this has not solved it either. It appears that the headbox & padding in front of it are too wide for the cockpit on both sides. Its forced me to have the canopy open, but thats not a disaster, just a bit annoying.

 

turnerdad - my canopy was quite cloudy as well, but it polishes up ok and when dipped in Klear it's as good as most other kits' clear parts. 

[dambuster]

Nope, I have actually tried removing more material from the base in order to make the seat sit lower down in the cockpit and this has not solved it either. It appears that the headbox & padding in front of it are too wide for the cockpit on both sides. Its forced me to have the canopy open, but thats not a disaster, just a bit annoying. turnerdad - my canopy was quite cloudy as well, but it polishes up ok and when dipped in Klear it's as good as most other kits' clear parts. 

Or maybe it is because the cockpit aperture tapers too much as seems to be apparent when compared with the Aeroclub model.

Peter

[Modelminiatures]

Hi Please may i add to this thread. I have both kits and look great the reviews I have seen built. I would like to do justice to my builds.

I am lucky to be close to RAF Museum at Hendon as well.

I do have a question on the seats.

On looking i can see the MB Mk4 was intstalled however alot of reference in the kits the seats appear to have canopy breakers.

Can anyone point to what should be correct?

 

Thank you Pete Modelminiatures.

[stringbag]

Hi Pete.

It would appear that the seats supplied in both the Provost and Strikemaster kits are the MB. Mk.4P with canopy breakers. I would suggest that this may be to minimise the cost however, it does mean that the seats are incorrect if building the Provost. I haven't found any pictures showing these seats in a Provost as yet, but I'm still looking.

 

 

Chris.

[Modelminiatures]

Hi Chris.

I looked in Google (not good word at the moment). There seem to be many images and I also found these two websites but no indication really about the seats.

I have taken photos of the TmK5A at RAF Hendon which the seat do not have canopy breakers.

 

http://www.jetprovostheaven.com/index2.html

http://www.jetprovostfile.org/

 

There is some great information on these sites.

 

I will keep looking but I am confident that the seats are as you say the MB. Mk.4P.

 

On those websites I also saw another snippet the blades fixed on the nose were only on the TMk5A as compensation for the wing tanks being removed.

Something to think on.

 

Great modeling Pete Modelminiatures.

[stringbag]

That tends to confirm my initial thoughts Pete.

Thanks for the input.

 

Chris.

[KiwiMike]

Hi all (shameless plug time here!!) for those of you who are keen on a Kiwi "Blunty" there are two sets of inkjet decals available from Old Models - one sheet covers the original delivery scheme and the second sheet covers the later RNZAF repaint scheme - and they both have the "proper" Kiwi roundels! We currently have two Strikemasters here in New Zealand, one based at Ardmore, Auckland and one which arrived last year (ex Saudi, I believe) which resides in Chrsitchurch in the South Island.

[Caerbannog]

Hi!

I got my FLY Provost last week and wondered over the strange looking seats too (because of the huge canopy brakers which I never noticed from pictures before). Obviously nobody is offering a resin or wm MB Mk4 without the Strikemaster update. At least I searched the usual suspect (Hannants, Squadron and by Google) but could not find any. Still I think it should be minor surgery to sand the canopy braker down and add the chute detail (?) with tissue or Milliput or whatever is in favour. Or am I overlooking something?

[fmansam]

im surprised no one else has made a JP before,

i did my first live Training rescue on one of these bad boys at scampton in 90'

love the beast, gonna have to grab one

[KiwiSteve]

Thanks mike great review might have to slip this past the missus and grab some of the kiwi decals for it

[Julien]

im surprised no one else has made a JP before,

Did not aeroclub do one before?

[AnonymousAA72]

Did not aeroclub do one before?

Well Julien, reading the rest of this thread you may just be right............

[gruffy]

Ahh joy ! My uncle serviced that very strikemaster! Now if I can only persuade him to let me copy his photos....

It's going to be a very expensive year!