DONE @p.2 +++ 1:72 G.91X, Fuerza Aérea Hondureña, 1988

[Dizzyfugu]

Day #4, black ink wash and post-shading with the brush:


1:72 Aeritalia G.91X; Fuerza Aérea Hondureña (Honduran Air Force, FAH), 1988 (Whif/modified Matchbox kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Aeritalia G.91X; Fuerza Aérea Hondureña (Honduran Air Force, FAH), 1988 (Whif/modified Matchbox kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Aeritalia G.91X; Fuerza Aérea Hondureña (Honduran Air Force, FAH), 1988 (Whif/modified Matchbox kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

[DogfighterZen]

 

[Dizzyfugu]

Later, in the evening of day #4 - painting has mostly been finished and the decals were added:


1:72 Aeritalia G.91X; Fuerza Aérea Hondureña (Honduran Air Force, FAH), 1988 (Whif/modified Matchbox kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Aeritalia G.91X; Fuerza Aérea Hondureña (Honduran Air Force, FAH), 1988 (Whif/modified Matchbox kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Aeritalia G.91X; Fuerza Aérea Hondureña (Honduran Air Force, FAH), 1988 (Whif/modified Matchbox kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Aeritalia G.91X; Fuerza Aérea Hondureña (Honduran Air Force, FAH), 1988 (Whif/modified Matchbox kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Turned out and looks better than expected!    Still some detail work to do, day 5 will include overall varnish.

[Dizzyfugu]

No new pics from day #5, but the model itself has been finished. Hope that I can take pictures today.

[Dizzyfugu]

Only a rather indirect picture from the project on day #6: Behind the scenes... 


Behind the scenes... by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

[PR19_Kit]

Now that's what I call a model pic studio! 

[TallEng]

Now that's what I call a model pic studio! 

Indeed! One suspects that Dizzy has a more than passing interest in photography 

Regards
Keith

[Dizzyfugu]

It's just a makeshift set that evoilved gradually.  This is the current evolution stage - things started with a normal desk lamp, a board on my printer and the background wall. Then came two small photo lamps with white light, and now I eventually went "big" with three large foldable daylight lamps, because I try to take the pics w/o sunlight influence, so that I have better control about light volume and direction. It's still far from perfect, as well as my rather simple pocket camera, but sometimes magic happens and some really good shots come along. 😄 IMHO, it's more about perspective and maybe light than technical equipment - a good camera does not shoot nice pics by itself. However, glad you like the frequent output. 

As a side note: the pics have become an integral part of the build. I sometimes start work on the hardware with a set of suitable backgrounds at hand and literally build from this inspiration. The beauty pics also help writing and "selling" the background stories. And I like to add the WiP pics, because many "serious"modelers only show pictures of the finished items. There's a little "how to" spirit in my work, too.  ;Dt's more about perspective and maybe light than technical equipment - a good camera does not shoot nice pics by itself. However, glad you like the frequent output. 

[Dizzyfugu]

Finished at day #7, with a final dash for the pics. Here's an 1:72 Aeritalia G.91X; "FAH-425" of the Fuerza Aérea Hondureña (Honduran Air Force, Escuadrilla de Ataque, Primer Grupo Tactico; Colonel Armando Escalón Espinal Air Base (La Lima/Cortéz), 1988  :


1:72 Aeritalia G.91X; "FAH-425" of the Fuerza Aérea Hondureña (Honduran Air Force, Escuadrilla de Ataque, Primer Grupo Tactico; Colonel Armando Escalón Espinal Air Base (La Lima/Cortéz), 1988 (Whif/Modified Matchbox kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr



Some background:
The Fiat G.91 was an Italian jet fighter aircraft designed and built by Fiat Aviazione, which later merged into Aeritalia. The G.91 had its origins in the NATO-organized NBMR-1 competition in 1953, which sought a light fighter-bomber "Light Weight Strike Fighter" to be adopted as standard equipment across the air forces of the various NATO nations. The competition was intended to produce an aircraft that was light, small, expendable, equipped with basic weapons and avionics and capable of operating with minimal ground support. These specifications were developed for two reasons: the first was the nuclear threat to large air bases, many cheaper aircraft could be better dispersed, and the other was to counter the trend towards larger and more expensive aircraft. After reviewing multiple submissions, the G.91 was picked as the winning design of the NBMR-1 competition.

The G.91 entered into operational service with the Italian Air Force in 1961, and with the West German Luftwaffe in the following year. Various other nations adopted it, such as the Portuguese Air Force, who made extensive use of the type during the Portuguese Colonial War in Africa. The G.91 remained in production for 19 years, during which a total of 756 aircraft were completed, including the prototypes and pre-production models. The assembly lines were finally closed in 1977, and the original G.91 enjoyed a long service life that extended over 35 years.


1:72 Aeritalia G.91X; "FAH-425" of the Fuerza Aérea Hondureña (Honduran Air Force, Escuadrilla de Ataque, Primer Grupo Tactico; Colonel Armando Escalón Espinal Air Base (La Lima/Cortéz), 1988 (Whif/Modified Matchbox kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Aeritalia G.91X; "FAH-425" of the Fuerza Aérea Hondureña (Honduran Air Force, Escuadrilla de Ataque, Primer Grupo Tactico; Colonel Armando Escalón Espinal Air Base (La Lima/Cortéz), 1988 (Whif/Modified Matchbox kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Aeritalia G.91X; "FAH-425" of the Fuerza Aérea Hondureña (Honduran Air Force, Escuadrilla de Ataque, Primer Grupo Tactico; Colonel Armando Escalón Espinal Air Base (La Lima/Cortéz), 1988 (Whif/Modified Matchbox kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


The G.91 was also used as a basis for a two-seat trainer variant with a stretched fuselage and further developments, based on this bigger airframe: the twin-engine development G.91Y, which was originally ordered by the Italian Air Force and Switzerland (as G.91YS) and later also operated by Poland, as well as the simpler, single-engine G-91X, a dedicated export alternative.

Like the G.91Y, the G.91X was an increased-performance version of the nimble baseline Fiat G.91, but unlike the G.91Y it was not funded by the Italian government but rather a private venture of Fiat. Like the G.91Y, it was based on the G.91T two-seat trainer variant. Structural modifications to reduce airframe weight increased performance and an additional fuel tank occupying the space of the G.91T's rear seat provided extra range. Combat manoeuvrability was improved with the addition of automatic leading-edge slats. While the G.91Y and X had a very similar appearance, their internal structure behind the cockpit section differed considerably and their tail section was visibly different, while the aerodynamic surfaces as well as the nose section (including the radar-less nose housing three cameras) were identical.


1:72 Aeritalia G.91X; "FAH-425" of the Fuerza Aérea Hondureña (Honduran Air Force, Escuadrilla de Ataque, Primer Grupo Tactico; Colonel Armando Escalón Espinal Air Base (La Lima/Cortéz), 1988 (Whif/Modified Matchbox kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Aeritalia G.91X; "FAH-425" of the Fuerza Aérea Hondureña (Honduran Air Force, Escuadrilla de Ataque, Primer Grupo Tactico; Colonel Armando Escalón Espinal Air Base (La Lima/Cortéz), 1988 (Whif/Modified Matchbox kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Aeritalia G.91X; "FAH-425" of the Fuerza Aérea Hondureña (Honduran Air Force, Escuadrilla de Ataque, Primer Grupo Tactico; Colonel Armando Escalón Espinal Air Base (La Lima/Cortéz), 1988 (Whif/Modified Matchbox kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Aeritalia G.91X; "FAH-425" of the Fuerza Aérea Hondureña (Honduran Air Force, Escuadrilla de Ataque, Primer Grupo Tactico; Colonel Armando Escalón Espinal Air Base (La Lima/Cortéz), 1988 (Whif/Modified Matchbox kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Instead of being powered by the G.91Y's pair of small afterburning General Electric J85 turbojets, the G.91X only carried a single Pratt & Whitney J52 axial-flow dual-spool turbojet engine without reheat, a proven engine that was used in a number of successful aircraft, most of all the late Douglas A-4 Skyhawk versions. The bigger engine increased thrust by 60% over the original, earlier Orpheus-powered single-engine variants, and made the light G.91 a very agile aircraft. However, the J52 was considerably heavier than the small J85s, and despite less complex auxiliary installations, the G.91X weighed roughly 1.000 lb more than the G.91Y.

Performance-wise, the G.91X was, despite its conservative and heavier J52 powerplant, on par with the G.91Y, even though range, acceleration and rate of climb were not as good, the G.91Y's afterburners gave the "Yankee Gina" a significant extra punch. On the other side, the G.91X was more robust, technically simpler and therefore easier to maintain and even better suited to operations from unprepared frontline airfields with minimal infrastructure.
Basically, the G.91X was designed to carry the same sophisticated avionics equipment as the G.91Y, which had been considerably upgraded with many of the American, British and Canadian systems being license-manufactured in Italy, but for the intended export customers in small countries with a limited budget, only a rather basic avionics package was offered, making the G.91X a simple daylight attack aircraft without any smart weapon or guided AAM capability (which the G.91Y lacked, too, only the YS for Switzerland could deploy weapons like the AIM-9 or the AGM-65).

Flight testing of two prototypes aircraft ran in July 1968 in parallel to the G.91Y program and was successful, with one aircraft reaching a maximum speed of Mach 0.95 in level flight, slightly less than its two-engine sibling. Airframe buffeting was noted and was rectified in production aircraft by raising the position of the tailplane slightly, and canted fins - similar to the G.91Y, but smaller - were added under the lower rear fuselage to improve directional stability. Unlike the G.91Y, which had been designed to NATO specifications, the G.91X did not feature an arrester hook, just a tail bumper.



1:72 Aeritalia G.91X; "FAH-425" of the Fuerza Aérea Hondureña (Honduran Air Force, Escuadrilla de Ataque, Primer Grupo Tactico; Colonel Armando Escalón Espinal Air Base (La Lima/Cortéz), 1988 (Whif/Modified Matchbox kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Aeritalia G.91X; "FAH-425" of the Fuerza Aérea Hondureña (Honduran Air Force, Escuadrilla de Ataque, Primer Grupo Tactico; Colonel Armando Escalón Espinal Air Base (La Lima/Cortéz), 1988 (Whif/Modified Matchbox kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Aeritalia G.91X; "FAH-425" of the Fuerza Aérea Hondureña (Honduran Air Force, Escuadrilla de Ataque, Primer Grupo Tactico; Colonel Armando Escalón Espinal Air Base (La Lima/Cortéz), 1988 (Whif/Modified Matchbox kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Aeritalia G.91X; "FAH-425" of the Fuerza Aérea Hondureña (Honduran Air Force, Escuadrilla de Ataque, Primer Grupo Tactico; Colonel Armando Escalón Espinal Air Base (La Lima/Cortéz), 1988 (Whif/Modified Matchbox kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


The initial order of 55 G.91Y aircraft for the Italian Air Force was completed by Fiat in March 1971, by which time the company had changed its name to Aeritalia (from 1969, when Fiat Aviazione joined the Aerfer). The order was increased to 75 aircraft with 67 eventually being delivered.
In contrast to this success, the G.91X did not find immediate takers, though, because the potential market of Western-oriented countries was in the Seventies largely dominated by US American military support programs, which aggressively marketed the supersonic Northrop F-5 as a counterpart to MiG-17 and MiG-21 fighters, which had been provided to many countries by the USSR.

One large potential customer had been Israel, but the G.91X was declined in favor of the bigger and more sophisticated A-4N Skyhawk. Turkey and Greece also showed interest, but both eventually procured F-5 variants, heavily promoted by the USA. In the end, only a small number of the G.91X were built and sold to rather small and obscure air forces.

One of these few G.91X operators became Honduras. After the so-called Football War with El Salvador in 1969, the Honduran Air Force (HAF) entered the jet era in 1971 and started a re-organization and modernization program. This included the procurement of 10 old, ex-Yugoslav Canadair CL-13 Mk.4 Sabre. Later, in 1974 and as a result of an institutional growth of the Honduran Air Force, the "Coronel Hernán Acosta Mejía" Air Base, the "Coronel Armando Escalón Espinal" Base as well as the General Command of the Air Force and General Air Force General Staff were created.


1:72 Aeritalia G.91X; "FAH-425" of the Fuerza Aérea Hondureña (Honduran Air Force, Escuadrilla de Ataque, Primer Grupo Tactico; Colonel Armando Escalón Espinal Air Base (La Lima/Cortéz), 1988 (Whif/Modified Matchbox kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Aeritalia G.91X; "FAH-425" of the Fuerza Aérea Hondureña (Honduran Air Force, Escuadrilla de Ataque, Primer Grupo Tactico; Colonel Armando Escalón Espinal Air Base (La Lima/Cortéz), 1988 (Whif/Modified Matchbox kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Aeritalia G.91X; "FAH-425" of the Fuerza Aérea Hondureña (Honduran Air Force, Escuadrilla de Ataque, Primer Grupo Tactico; Colonel Armando Escalón Espinal Air Base (La Lima/Cortéz), 1988 (Whif/Modified Matchbox kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Aeritalia G.91X; "FAH-425" of the Fuerza Aérea Hondureña (Honduran Air Force, Escuadrilla de Ataque, Primer Grupo Tactico; Colonel Armando Escalón Espinal Air Base (La Lima/Cortéz), 1988 (Whif/Modified Matchbox kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Between 1976 and 1978 sixteen other Israeli aircraft were acquired, of the IAI \ Dassault Super-Mystere B.2 \ J-52 S'aar type, six new Cessna A-37 Dragonfly COIN aircraft and fifty UH-1 Iroquois helicopters. By then, the Sabres were in such a poor condition and deteriorated quickly under the harsh local climate, that a replacement was soon needed. The choice fell on the G.91X, not only because of the aircraft's simplicity and ruggedness, but also because of its (though limited) reconnaissance capability as well as the engine and ammunition commonality with the ex-Israeli Sa'ars. A total of twelve G.91X were procured in 1977 and delivered until late 1979, and they were immediately put into action during the 1980s confrontation with the Sandinista government of Nicaragua, with heavy involvements in bombing raids and COIN missions. The Honduran G.91Xs flew frequent attack and reconnaissance missions, and even though they were no fighters the Ginas downed several Sandinista helicopters, including a Mil Mi-24 Hind (rather accidently shot down, though, through a salvo of unguided 5" FFARs which crossed the helicopter's flight path).

After the hostilities with Nicaragua had ended in 1990, the Honduran G.91Xs became actively involved in fighting drug trafficking and flew frequent reconnaissance and attack missions over home soil. By that time, the Honduran aircraft fleet was augmented or replaced (three G.91Xs had been lost through accidents or enemy fire by 1991) with 11 ex-USAF OA/A-37B Dragonflies, 12 ex-USAF Northrop F-5E/F Tiger II interceptors, 12 new Embraer T-27 Tucano armed trainers and four new CASA 101BB-02 attack airplanes.
By 1996, all eight remaining Honduran G.91Xs were, together with the Super Mystères, retired. The surviving aircraft were put up for sale as surplus, and one, already grounded G.91X airframe has been preserved at the Honduras Air Museum.



General characteristics:
    Crew: one
    Length: 11.67 m (38 ft 3.5 in)
    Wingspan: 9.01 m (29 ft 6.5 in)
    Height: 4.43 m (14 ft 6.3 in)
    Wing area: 18.13 m² (195.149 ft²)
    Empty weight: 4,400 kg (9,692 lb)
    Loaded weight: 8,100 kg (17,842 lb)
    Max. takeoff weight: 9,000 kg (19,823 lb)

Powerplant:
     1× Pratt & Whitney J52-P6A turbojet with 8,500 lbf (38,000 N) of thrust

Performance:
    Maximum speed: 1,110 km/h (600 kn, 690 mph, Mach 0.95) at 10,000 m (33,000 ft)
    Range: 1,100 km (594 nmi, 683 mi)
    Max. ferry range with drop tanks: 3,200 km (1,988 mls)
    Service ceiling: 12,500 m (41,000 ft)
    Rate of climb: 58 m/s (11.400 ft/min)
    Wing loading: max. 480 kg/m² (98.3 lb/ft²)
    Thrust/weight: 0.47 at maximum loading

Armament:
    2× 30 mm (1.18 in) DEFA cannons with 120 RPG
    4× under-wing pylon stations with a capacity of 1,814 kg (4,000 lb)




1:72 Aeritalia G.91X; "FAH-425" of the Fuerza Aérea Hondureña (Honduran Air Force, Escuadrilla de Ataque, Primer Grupo Tactico; Colonel Armando Escalón Espinal Air Base (La Lima/Cortéz), 1988 (Whif/Modified Matchbox kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Aeritalia G.91X; "FAH-425" of the Fuerza Aérea Hondureña (Honduran Air Force, Escuadrilla de Ataque, Primer Grupo Tactico; Colonel Armando Escalón Espinal Air Base (La Lima/Cortéz), 1988 (Whif/Modified Matchbox kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Aeritalia G.91X; "FAH-425" of the Fuerza Aérea Hondureña (Honduran Air Force, Escuadrilla de Ataque, Primer Grupo Tactico; Colonel Armando Escalón Espinal Air Base (La Lima/Cortéz), 1988 (Whif/Modified Matchbox kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Aeritalia G.91X; "FAH-425" of the Fuerza Aérea Hondureña (Honduran Air Force, Escuadrilla de Ataque, Primer Grupo Tactico; Colonel Armando Escalón Espinal Air Base (La Lima/Cortéz), 1988 (Whif/Modified Matchbox kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

[Old Wombat]

She looks great, Dizzy!

[Dizzyfugu]

Thank you, turned out better than expected - and the paint scheme also looks good and effective in the suitable environment. 

[DogfighterZen]

Nice!  I also like that scheme, good mix of colors. And the changes are subtle enough that most people won't notice them so that will probably get some folks wondering what the difference from a normal Gina.

[zenrat]

Good job Dizz.  I have never been that keen on the G-91 but this one looks a bit better than usual.

[Dizzyfugu]

And the changes are subtle enough that most people won't notice them so that will probably get some folks wondering what the difference from a normal Gina.

The funny thing is that the transplant parts actually come from a Gina, for a really subtle result. 

[Dizzyfugu]

A late artistic addendum: who does not remember this model kit from the late Nineties...?


1:72 Aeritalia G.91X; "FAH-425" of the Fuerza Aérea Hondureña (Honduran Air Force, Escuadrilla de Ataque, Primer Grupo Tactico; Colonel Armando Escalón Espinal Air Base (La Lima/Cortéz), 1988 (Whif/Modified Matchbox kit) - Fake Box Art by dizzyfugu, on Flickr