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AIRFIX 1:72 C.A.C. CA-13 BOOMERANG
Boxart from the Airfix kit
Older kit boxart supplied by Walter Fischer
Reviewer: Gavin Dore (rec.models.scale)
Kit review submitted - approx October/November 1998
Aircraft:
The Boomerang was the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation's only indigenous
fighter for Australia in World War 2. The declaration of war with Japan in the Pacific
caught the RAAF with only a handful of outdated fighter examples and prompted them to
replenish their stock with more modern warplanes. A deal with US saw them secure a
promise for a batch of P-40 Kittyhawks, but due to other order commitments and their war
with Japan also, the Australian order was delayed.
Fearing that they might be caught with little in the way of airborne resistance the CAC decided to produce an emergency fighter based on the Wirraway trainer. The prototype used the wings, landing gear and tail unit of the trainer married to a completely new fuselage and made its first flight in 1942. These were subsequently designated CA-12 Boomerangs and were delivered to the RAAF, reaching operational status in early 1943.
By mid-1943 Boomerangs had replaced all Wirraways on the front-line but were more efficient as ground attack and forward air-control planes. Three versions of the Boomerang were produced consequently given CA-12, CA-13 and CA-19 designations.
The Kit:
Airfix produce one RAAF CA-13 version in injected moulded plastic replicating two
aircraft based in New Guinea. From my experience in modelling over the past ten
years I have always known this kit to be extremely popular purely because it was the only
one available in scale 1/72. When Airfix stopped producing these kits a fair few
years ago you could only pick these kits up at Model swaps for a hefty price. Even
more so given that I am an Australian where these kits were eagerly sought after -
especially from ex-servicemen. Recently Airfix has re-released this kit but I am
lead to believe that has not been upgraded from the effort available many years
ago (Note: Airfix plan to re release this kit in 2003 see notes below - Ed).
The original Airfix Header card
Anyway, onto the kit itself. The box is small and houses just 25-30 parts including a one-piece canopy and is really a simple kit to build. Unfortunately the detail on the aircraft is a bit exaggerated with prominent raised panel lines that should be filed down for a better representation. I went through a quick dry-fit process and found the engine to be a bit out of proportion given that the Wasp engine on the real aircraft has a very distinctive shape. But only die-hard Boomerang addicts are going to notice this easily.
Construction:
Construction was quite quick and easy except for some problem areas which I will get
onto. Don't expect much in the way of interior cockpit detail, you are simply provided
with a pilot figure and a seat to affix to the inside of the aircraft - not even an
instrument panel! I was forced into having to scratchbuild my own interpretation
which looked much more representative on the finished product. The other thing to
note is that if you have a closed canopy you will find that it distorts the interior so
all that good work won't be fully appreciated.
The first problem to overcome is getting the engine cowling and air intake to mate onto the aircraft. This was a complete source of frustration and required great amounts of sanding back the connection point and filling it with putty before it would mate easily, and look good. Second was getting the wing joined properly to the fuselage. The fuselage sits on the one-piece underside portion of the wing while the two upper components are attached to the lower wing and against the fuselage - here's hoping that makes sense! This required a great deal of patience, attention and heaps of putty to get it to join properly and look right, taking several hours and applications to get a decent result.
The next problem was attaching the engine exhaust stacks to the side of the fuselage - they were a little smaller and out of shape compared to the slot they were meant to be placed into. However, with a bit of sanding down and putty this was more a nuisance than a frustration.
I know I said above that this was a simple kit in spite of the problems just mentioned. The rest was really a quick glue and attach job. With the right fit you could fix up an unpainted model in a matter of minutes! And I should say that the remainder of the kit went without a hitch providing you have putty on hand, being typical of Airfix early '70's kits!
Versions & Decals:
The two examples that the kit replicates are an overall foliage green CA-13 from No.5
Squadron, RAAF, based in Bougainville, New Guinea 1944 and a typical Earth Brown,
Foliage Green CA-13 from No.4 Squadron, RAAF, New Guinea, 1943.
The instructions give Humbrol colour references and I note that it recommends using Hu75 Matt Bronze Green and Hu29 Light Brown as the exact enamel codes to use. Foliage Green in my opinion is a little darker than this and I used Hu149 or FS34092 on my aircraft as a better representation. Reference to light brown is also incorrect with the aircraft having a more dark earth brown scheme but Hu29 is Dark Earth not light brown as stated and I accepted this as an accurate colour. For undersides of both aircraft examples the Hu23 "Vellum" colour is recommended, I assume this was the name given to that paint back in the 70's as my reference says Hu23 is "Duck Egg Blue". No matter what it is called it is still the right colour to paint the undersides.
Reference suggestion:
If you can get your hands on the publication "Wirraway, Boomerang and CA-15" in
Australian Service (the latter plane being a late war indigenous CAC prototype resembling
the P-51 Mustang) by Stewart Wilson then you will have all the information you need on these three
unique aircraft manufactured in Australia, including correct colour references, history
development etc. Soft cover is >200 pages and it retails for about
$22AUD
(postage extra) from Aerospace Publications Pty Ltd.
Overall:
Overall this is a simple kit for those who are not fussed with a bit of fit problems
in the areas highlighted above which even all but the very basic novice should be able to
overcome, bearing in mind the kit's age which needs to be taken into account. It's
the only offering in 1/72 that I am aware of and I picked this kit up for less than $5AUD
at K-Mart, so it should be fairly cheap wherever you get it from (I
have seen it for about $7-$10 AUD in toy stores in 2002 - Ed). On the basis of
all this it is certainly recommended.
Additional
Comments (thanks to Matt Denning):
Airfix are intending to reissue this kit again in 2003 with a new
decal sheet for a different CA-13; being A46-122 coded MH-R from RAAF 83
Sqn. August 2003 - apparently this kit has now been released and the
decal option is subject of a restoration project currently occurring in
Toowoomba, Queensland - Ed.
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Photo Credit: Unknown
The airfix reproduces an aircraft with almost the same fuselage serial -
kit being BF-S
Note: the positioning of the engine exhaust, shape of cowling and wing landing lights
These parts are subject of accuracy criticism (especially overall cowling shape) in
Airfix's reproduction
