[Serpiko]

G-91 P.A.N.

THE PLANE

In the late '50s, following a NATO request for a low-cost lightweight fighter, Italy peesented the G-91, which was essentially a downsized version of the Sabre developed by FIAT. Although the plane was judged superior to its direct competitors, political and economical interests led many countries to cancel their orders. In the end, The G-91 was adopted by Italy, Germany and, later, Portugal, mostly in its R (recon) versions.
In 1963, preproduction G-91s were converted to P.A.N. version and became the new "mount" of the "Frecce Tricolori" until 1982.



IN THE BOX

This time, the interior of the fuselage shows the REVELL logo. Therefore, there's absolutely nothing wrong with this kit, I can only recommend it, and long live Deutschmark, who is waving a broom at me. :mrgreen:
No, seriously: the first look is impressive. Despite the small scale, there's plenty of details and internals. These sprues probably come from a recent Revell multi-version G-91 kit, as there are several unnecessary optional parts, such as rocket launchers and large droptanks. No flash, recessed panels, two-pieces canopy, detailed gear bays, cockpit and ejection seat... everything looks just good!
As with the Sabre, there are decals for every single plane in the formation. Although gauges panels are detailed, there are also decals for them, in case you want to avoid some headache painting them.



BUILDING

The cockpit isn't particularly difficult to build because pedals, rear and side panels are molded in one piece with the floor. You only have to add the stick and assemble the seat, that comes with two sides plus the main piece. Seatbelts are molded on it. I was happy with stock details, I only added the two ejection handles on the headrest (my first scratch building!)
The two fuselage halves have slots and pins that help fixing internal parts in the correct positions. Such parts are the assembled cockpit, the gauges panel, gear and airbrakes bays and the exhaust pipe. Also, remember to add some weight inside the nose to prevent the model from sitting on its tail. If all parts are placed correctly, the two fuselage halves will fit without problems.
Being this a multi-version kit, there are alternative nose cones and "cheek" panels options. In this case, we need the "pointy" cone (the one without the recon camera) and the plates featuring two MGs on each side. Be careful not to glue the cone upside down!

(NOTE: weapon bays interior is partially detailed, although no guns are provided. Several photos portray real G-91 PANs with gun muzzles, but I can't tell you for sure wether they actually carried internal armament or not. So, IMO, there's no reason to build gun bays opened in this case.)



Wings and tailplanes must be fixed horizontally, with no dihedral. Unfortunately, while upper and lower sides of the wings fit OK on eack other, there are other minor fitting problems:
- Wing roots are straight, while the fuselage has a slightly curved profile. Some filler may be needed.
- Pylons: first of all, if you want to add droptanks, then WAIT, because you need to apply a wing-sized decal under each wing BEFORE attaching the pylons (which appear to be ambidextrous). This said, there are holes on each wing: The pylons are supposed to "hook" on the leading edge while fitting a rear pin in that hole. But this way, they tend to face outwards. Make sure to try dry fitting, you will need to either remove the pins or sand the internal of the "hook".
- Wing "spoilers": same as with the pylons.

Also, provided instructions state that you should cut off the existing pitot tube (right wing) and replace it (sic) making a 9mm long "wire". Honestly, I can live with the stock pitot!

Tailplanes don't cause any problem. But there are two small intakes to be applied below gun bays, and these suffer the same problem as wing roots, being straight while the fuselage is curved.



It's now time for Undercarriage and airbrakes. Since I liked the detailed internals, for the first time I decided to build everything in extended position. Now that the job is done, I'm quite happy with the result, but I think I could have chosen a simpler subject to start building gears down! I mean, nothing wrong with the kit, it's just the shape of the gear itself. Legs and wheels fix OK, the hard part comes with covering panels of main legs: they both have to be split in three tiny pieces, which stick to three different places (belly, wheel and wing). Luckily, the instructions sheet includes a figure showing also the correct angle for all pieces.
Remember to glue the smallest gear panel (referred to as part Z of pieces 35a and 36a - clear, huh? ) on the gear leg and NOT on the wing, or it will interfere with the application of the large wing decal.
Front gear and airbrakes require no particular attention, Just make sure to fix the two airbrakes in the same position.

The canopy is a simple job, as it only consists of two pieces. To complicate things a bit, I experimented a simple way to make it liftable: the mobile part isn't glued, but it's only fixed in position by two small pieces of transparent tape at the joint. (The tapes are "reinforced" by a bit of glue, and the external tape lies under the paint layer.) It's somewhat fragile, but this way the canopy is free to rotate up and down.



PAINTING AND DECALS

The livery is exactly the same as the Sabre, except for the black antidazzler on the nose. It is provided as a decal, which only requires a little care to wrap correctly around the nose.
This time, there's a problem with the big tri-color decals: they appear to be a little too large, expecially those under the wings. My advice is to slice off about 1mm from both their front and rear edges (green and red bands) before applying them.
Apart from that, same good quality as before.

CONCLUSIONS

Although taking care of details made this a longer work, and despite the few flaws in the finished job (all of which are my fault) I'm particularly happy with the result. I recommend this kit, because its minor flaws don't hamper the overall high quality. If you're looking for a G-91 kit, this one from Revell won't disappoint you.

See you later with the third kit!

[EDIT] If you can't see images, it's only Mediafire's fault!