SIAI S.211 by Kopro
1/72 scale
Kit No. KPM0347
Retail: $28.00
Decals: Three versions – Singapore, Haiti, and U.S. Air Force
Comments: Detailed cockpit, optional position canopy, includes two underwing rocket pods for armed trainer version
History
The SIAI-Marchetti S.211 (later Aermacchi S-211) is a turbo-fan powered military trainer aircraft designed and originally marketed by Italian aviation manufacturer SIAI-Marchetti. SIAI-Marchetti began to develop the S.211 in 1976 as a private venture, hoping to offer it to the company’s existing customer base of small air forces operating their piston-engined SF.260. The company formally announced the new type’s development in Paris in 1976, and interest was strong enough to justify the construction of two prototypes. On April 10, 1981, the first prototype took its maiden flight.
The S-211 is a small tandem two-seat shoulder-wing monoplane with a retractable tricycle landing gear and powered by a single Pratt & Whitney Canada JT15D-4C turbofan. It was designed primarily as a trainer but also has a secondary close air support capability with four under wing hard points for the carriage of weapons and other external stores.
The Singapore Air Force placed the first order for ten aircraft in 1983; since that time, over 60 aircraft have been sold to various air arms worldwide, including the United States Air Force. Aermacchi has held the production rights to the type since its purchase of SIAI-Marchetti in 1997. The redesigned M-311 is currently under development by Alenia Aermacchi, and the Aermacchi M.345, an extensively redesigned and modernized derivative, is now offered by Leonardo Companies.
The S-211A was a slightly modified and updated variant of the S-211, was a losing contender in the USA’s Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPTATS) aircraft selection of 1995. Among the seven to enter, the Raytheon/Pilatus entry won, which became the T-6 Texan II. The S-211 team was initially partnered with Grumman, and then Northrop Grumman after 1994. The S-211 bore a passing resemblance to the McDonnell Douglas T-45 Goshawk, which the U.S. Navy operated as a trainer from 1988 to 2009.
The Kit
Kovosavody Prostejov’s SIAI S-211 represents this Italian-designed trainer in foreign service. The kit is injection molded in grey plastic and consists of 90 parts, including two clear plastic parts for the canopy. The cockpit features two detailed ejection seats with matching control yokes, but offers decals for the main and side instrument panels. There is no internal sidewall detail, although decals are also provided for the combined seat straps and parachute harnesses. As this is a trainer, the two cockpits are separate assemblies, although they will be located quite close in tandem once cemented into the fuselage.
The airframe features crisply molded engraved panel lines, a separate nose cone for the fuselage (nose weight is recommended), and each wing is a four-part assembly, including separate wing tips. Although at least two pylons are provided for underwing stores for each wing, the kit comes with only two rocket pods as far as ordnance. A particularly nice feature, given the detailed seats, is that the two-part canopy can be depicted open or closed. The kit can be built as an S-211 or an S-311, the chief difference between them being that the S-311 has two ventral strakes fitted to the rear third of the under surface of the fuselage — the two versions are otherwise externally identical as far as kit parts are concerned.
Markings
The kit markings feature unusual offerings and are an indication of the prospective and actual export customers who purchased the S.211, or at least considered it. First is the Singapore version, featuring fuselage roundels (none on the wings) intended to represent the head of a lion; this aircraft has a red-orange and white paint scheme. Second is an aircraft of the Haitian Air Force, painted in Light Grey overall and featuring small red-on-blue roundels. Finally is an aircraft painted as a U.S. Navy trainer, in an overall scheme of Dark Grey, White, and Medium Grey, with low-visibility grey national and Navy markings.
Conclusion
This looks like a neat little weekend kit that will be a lot of fun to build. Highly recommended.
References
- Kit instructions
- https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/SIAI-Marchetti_S.211
- “Beech Wins $7-Billion U.S. Trainer Derby : Defense: Raytheon unit beats Rockwell and Northrop Grumman on one of the decade’s last big military contracts,” Los Angeles Times, June 23, 1995.