Special Hobby 1/48 AF-2 Guardian ‘Fire Bomber’ Reviewed by Zac Yates
Item: SH48225
scale: 1/48
Price: 48.40 Euros, direct from Special HobbyReview kit kindly provided by Special Hobby
https://www.specialhobby.eu/af-2-guardian-fire-bomber-1-48Contents: seven grey and one clear sprues; 36 resin parts; one PE fret; three decal options.
Background:The Grumman AF Guardian was the first purpose-built anti-submarine warfare carrier-based aircraft to enter service with the United States Navy. It consisted of two airframe variants, one for detection gear, the other for weapons. The type was the largest single-engine piston-powered carrier aircraft ever to see service. The Guardian saw service in the maritime patrol role during the Korean War, however it proved unpopular with pilots, being underpowered and heavy on the controls; the aircraft suffered from a severely high accident rate. Shortly after the end of the war, it began to be replaced by the Grumman S2F Tracker, the U.S. Navy first purpose-built ASW airplane to combine the hunter and killer roles in a single airframe. The last AF retired from active service on 31 August 1955, but it remained in service with the US Naval Air Reserve until 1957. (From Wikipedia)
Guardian N9994Z is on display at the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona, USA (pictured here in May 2011) but is painted as N9995Z – one of the markings options in this kit! [Photo by Bzuk at Wikipedia – used under Creative Commons] Between 1962 and 1966 the Aero Union Corporation of Chico, California, purchased five Guardians and converted them for use as firebombers. These aircraft served faithfully until 1973, when the United States Fire Service dropped contracts for single-engine aircraft due to high accident rates. Today five Guardians survive – all former Aero Union examples - albeit in museums or otherwise ground-bound.
Special Hobby’s modelSpecial Hobby introduced the Grumman Guardian to its range in 2014 with a release of the AF-2S “Submarine Killer”, and this is the fourth boxing of the base kit.
Some parts have flash but nothing too major, and there are ejector pins on many parts that may require removal. There are no locator pins or tabs except for the cockpit. Speaking of which, the instrument panels feature terrific raised and engraved detail which can be painted, or the included decals used. The grip on the control column is delicately detailed and photoetch rudder pedals are supplied.
Surface detail is engraved and looks accurate compared to photos of real Guardians. The fabric control surfaces have a very subtle fabric effect – almost a hint – and there are engraved rivets all around the engine compartment. The propeller has separate plastic blades and a resin hub, and the main wheels come in two halves. Parts are supplied to box-in the main wheel wells but the detail seems simplified and could benefit from some extra research and work by the modeller.
The new parts exclusive to this boxing are single-piece retardant tanks that go where the bomb bay was on service examples: an angular tank fairing is used for the first marking option, and a rounded version is used by the other two options. A US Navy Guardian could be built from this kit as the rear compartment, “guppy” radome halves, arrestor hook and various antennae etc are included, so if one had the requisite decals and instructions they could easy replicate a serving aircraft. These parts are crossed off on the parts diagram so the builder can isolate them and avoid wondering where they’re meant to go. A distinctive feature of many Guardians was the small auxiliary vertical fins mounted on the horizontal stabilisers. The third marking option does not have these fins and one must cut and sand or file the parts in order to make the part flush.
The resin parts are numbered 1-15 but there are considerably more than that: a complete R-2800 engine is provided with separate cylinders (including several spares), magnetos, exhaust stacks with hollow ends and a scale thickness (red: fragile) collector ring, as well some cockpit and other parts. They’re all finely moulded and although they are packaged together in a ziplock bag without protection there’s no damage to the review sample’s parts. The detail on the engine will largely be missed without some surgery, however, as there is no option for open engine cowlings.
Comprehensive decals are provided for the instrument panels and side consoles but they are very plain black with white dials/switches etc. A photoetch fret provides the aforementioned rudder pedals, seatbelts, oleo scissor links and several other parts.
Instructions and Markings:Instructions are up to Special Hobby’s usual high standards.
The kit features three marking options, all Guardians operated by the Aero Union Corporation of Chico, California, USA.
1. BuNo.123088/N3143G/E30, 1962. This is the box art aircraft in a very striking scheme of White over Orange with minimal markings of the white registration on the rear fuselage sides and the 30E code (which is black with orange shadows) on each side of the engine cowling. A pre-cut mask is provided for an orange cheatline along the mid-fuselage and great care will need to be taken while applying this.
2. BuNo.126792N9995Z/21. This aircraft wears an overall White finish with an orange band around the rear fuselage, which doesn’t quite wrap around, with a black-border for which decals are provided. Aside from the white registration with a delicate black shadow and the 21 on the port upper and starboard lower wings, it wears the code E over 21 (Black with orange shadow) on the vertical stabiliser.
3. BuNo.126759/N3144G/E30. This example wears an identical scheme to the previous aircraft but with 21 on the wings and 30E – identical to but using different decals than option one – on the vertical stabiliser, and the tail band wraps around the fuselage. The registration also has a slightly thicker shadow. The painting instructions note this aircraft is sometimes mistakenly believed to be BuNo.123100, and that it wore several different paint schemes with Aero Union including with an orange nose with the 30E code on the cowling.
[bDecals:[/b]
The decals look to be typical Special Hobby fare: clear, in register, but somewhat thick with a fair amount of carrier film on the smaller decals.
Summary:There are two other options for the modeller wishing to add the Guardian to their stash in 1/48: a vacform by Combat Models and a resin kit by Collect Aire. The Special Hobby kits make these kits redundant because of cost, availability and ease of build, the only downside being the lack of a folded wing option. This boxing in particular is the only game in town for an out-of-the-box firebomber as aftermarket products would be required for the others.
Highly recommended.
(Review sample kindly supplied by Special Hobby. Please support the businesses that support your Forum.)
