This model represents one of the four aircraft deployed to the Malvinas/Falklands and operated from the Pebble island airbase. The aircraft were all destroyed in a raid on the island by British Special Forces.

This model is a resin kit produced in Italy by Sky Models. It's an out of box kit with the following exceptions. There are no decals with the kit so I used the excellent set provided by Aerocalcas. Seat belts and buckles were added.

The three 7 shot rocket pods were donated by a friend, and the twin machine gun pod was scatch- built from milliput. The weapons loadout is correct although odd looking. The three rocket and one gun pod loadout was determined by the pilots to give maximum firepower.

The underside was the original finish left by the armada in white with the underside of the elevators painted blue and white. A heavy wash of watercolor was used to bring out the panel lines and some pastel chalk was added for the exhaust and to generally make the aircraft appear more grimy. The stripe on the fuselage was masked and sprayed red as were the wing tips.

Even though the kit has a solid resin nose there is not enough weight to make the aircraft stand on its nosewheel. I had to add some weight to the nose gear bay.

The canopy is vacuform and caused some trouble with fit but lots of careful sanding and dry fitting paid off. I used "blue tac" for masking the camo pattern.

Check you reference photos if you are painting this kit, there are a least two different patterns on the wings.

Conclusion

Many thanks to the Museum of the Argentine Navy  for helpful reference photos.

Overall the kit was a fun one to build and the resin posed no special assembly problems other than the need to use Super glue throughout.