On June 4th 1965, the Ecuadorian Air Force receives the first two T-28A TROJAN trainers. Twenty examples where deliver to the FAE's combat flight school. Shortly after that, combat squadron 2113 takes delivery of the attack version T-28D.
The mentioned squadron had the opportunity to take part of "Trojano Salvaje competition" held in Howard Panama air base back in August 1966 between several continental air forces which operates that airplane. FAE's squadron won the competition and Captain Luis Guevara Vaca manage to score 97 out of 100 gun shots on target wining the individual category.
Today all T-28 has been retired from service and a few of them are on public display as gate guardians at different military air bases trough the country. The one represented on this article can be found at the Mariscal Sucre Aeronautic Museum in Quito-Ecuador.

Consider using more then the 9 grams nose weight recommended for the manufacturer, the kit is a typical "tale seater" After finished the model I had to flatten small fishing weights and slid them trough the front engine cooler to add extra weight to the nose. You can secure them in place by injecting white glue.
The canopy is crystal clear but to thick, it came molded in close position. I just could resist showing off the interior detail so I cut it open.

Modifications

In order to represent the Ecuadorian T-28C you need to eliminate the under wing fairings and fill them using plasticard and putty. Some detail will be erased when sanding but those may be restore applying tiny drops of white glue with a toothpick, if you get them to big or to small you can always wipe them off and try again. You also have to scratch built the canon.

Cockpit

The cockpit was nicely done for such an old kit but, you can always add realism using Eduard photo etched set # 72-181. This after market detail kit contain 46 parts with all the stuff you can dream of, from airbrakes to cockpit panels, seat belts, rear view mirrors, etc.

Paint

For this project I experiment with a new technique. First apply FS 16473 Aircraft gray as a primer and finish it with FS 36375 Light Ghost Gray. After the paint cure, I sand along the raised panel lines with sandpaper # 600 previously submerge on a 50-50% water-dish washer liquid soap solution. The process strips of paint all raised panel lines showing the plastic color, in this case aluminum. I was please with the results, having surfaces which shows two uneven and close tones of gray and bringing up the panel lines.

Decals

Ecuadorian decals for this subject are not available on the market. Nevertheless you can generate the squadron insignia by using a computer and a high definition color printer. For the rest, the numbers are microscale decals and the tale flag painted with insignia yellow, blue and red, Ecuadorian national colors.