SPA Modeler

First off- much thanks to Italeri for the sample to review.



The kit is nicely packaged- and includes the decal sheet, one clear sprue, and three gray sprues.
Sprue A contains the main fuselage halves and the engine exhaust covers, as well as some cockpit parts.

Sprue B contains the majority of the parts for the rotor, interior, and external ordinance.

Here's a close up of the instrument panel...

Sprue D contains more of the same- exterior fuselage covers, and a lot of the more fiddly parts:


Clear parts seem nicely detailed-

Decal sheet contains stencils, decals for the interior panels, and 5 possible schemes- one for the Royal Army Air Corps in the UK, a US Army scheme, a Japanese Ground Self Defense Force Training School, a United Arab Emirates AF, and a French version.


The instructions seem straightforward and cone with a separate guide for the 5 schemes and for painting and stencilling the ordinance.



Looks to be a pretty nice build and I do look forward to getting started!

Nice! I’m gonna watch this one with interest!

Thanks sir!

Some office shots:



Just closed the fuselage halves up and waiting for glue to dry Gathering firewood on the weekends has put a cramp in modelling....hoping to finish this weekend so I can get back to the shop!

French? That can't be right. They don't have Apaches, they have their Tigre's.
I do see decals from the Dutch airforce on that sheet.

BorgR3mc0 wrote:French? That can't be right. They don't have Apaches, they have their Tigre's.
I do see decals from the Dutch airforce on that sheet.

Yeah, the decal sheet shows no French markings... But it looks like a great kit...

Sorry folks...just went with what it said on the sheet...maybe it was just based in France?

Jeeves wrote:Sorry folks...just went with what it said on the sheet...maybe it was just based in France?

Perhaps it was at the annual Paris air show? When France pulled out of NATO, all other alliance members removed any forces that they had stationed in France. The relationship ever since then has been “complicated”...

France pulled out of NATO? I didn't know that.

BlackSheep214 wrote:France pulled out of NATO? I didn't know that.

Kinda sort of... in 1966 DeGaulle said that France would no longer participate in NATO. All alliance forces stationed there to give operational depth beyond West Germany were removed. France is still a signatory to the North Atlantic treaty, but not an active participant.
In 2009 France rejoined but still maintains an independent nuclear deterrent force. Like I said, it’s complicated. For the latter half of the Cold War, France did not participate in NATO ops or exercises, such as REFORGER. When French policy co incided such as during the Balkan Wars of the 90’s, they took part in NATO ops.
Had the Cold War turned hot during the 70’s or 80’s, there was the question of if France would uphold its Atlantic Treaty obligations.

https://otan.delegfrance.org/France-and-NATO

Jeeves wrote:Sorry folks...just went with what it said on the sheet...maybe it was just based in France?

On the positive side, there is that Dutch version! (I am Dutch)