History
The SIAI-Marchetti SF.260 (now Leonardo SF-260) is an Italian light aircraft which has been commonly marketed as a military trainer and aerobatics aircraft.
The SF.260 was designed by Italian aircraft designer Stelio Frati, while production work originally performed by Milan-based aviation manufacturer Aviamilano. On 15 July 1964, the first prototype performed its maiden flight (then designated F.260). Shortly thereafter, responsibility for production was transferred to SIAI Marchetti, who had purchased the rights to the design; manufacturing continued to be performed by this firm until the company was bought by Aermacchi in 1997.
The SF.260 has been largely sold to military customers as a trainer and light combat aircraft. In addition, there have been limited civil sales to private operators; during the late 1960s, the type was marketed in the United States under the name Waco Meteor. Armed military versions, sold as the SF.260W Warrior, proved to be popular with smaller air forces, which could arm the type for use in the close air support role. Both piston-powered and turboprop-powered models have been developed.
Info from Wikipedia
In the box
The kit comes packed in an end opening box, with a photo of one of the kits marking options on the front cover.
The rear of the box shows the three marking options available in this boxing.
Inside the box are four grey sprues packed into one bag, a clear sprue, thankfully in its own bag, a set of instructions and a largish decal sheet.
Ejection pin marks are pretty non existent, and flash is not really an issue, except on the rear edge of the wings where there does seem to be a little. A scrape with a scalpel should be enough to remove this.
Exterior detail is quite nice with engraved panel lines, which in the pics look massive but are in fact quite subtle.
All the control surfaces are moulded into the wings and tail in the neutral position.
Interior detail is pretty good, and as there is a large canopy covering the cockpit then you need quite a bit of detail on show.
The instrument panels, of which there is two, as one is for the first two schemes with the other for the third.
Decals are supplied for the dials and switches.
The seats have decals for the belts.
Some detail for the sidewalls is supplied.
Rudder pedals and control sticks complete the interior and once built up and painted should look pretty decent.
Not much of the engine is on show as the cowling covers most of it, but a couple of pistons can be seen through the front.
The undercarriage bays are pretty devoid of detail but the landing gear doors do have a little detail moulded into them.
The main wheels are nicely detailed, and the legs have a bit of detail, but do look a little flimsy, so a bit of care removing them from the sprue is needed.
The nose wheel and leg are one piece.
Sprue E contains some external armament in the form of rocket pods, but these are only used on scheme C.
All the schemes have the wing tip fuel tanks.
The clear canopy is one piece and is very well moulded and is thin and opaque.
A canopy mask is available and sold separately, which would have been nice if it was included in the kit.
Decals, markings and instructions
The kit's decals are very nice, in register and look to good in colour.
Quite a few stencils are supplied for the airframes, and the black wing walks are also supplied.
The instructions are printed on a folded A4 size paper, and consists of 12 pages, including the front and back covers, with the last two, as advertisements for other Special Hobby kits. The booklet is glossy and in colour for most of the build and the three colour profiles.
Colour schemes and decals for Italian, Belgian and Irish M, AM and W version machines are provided.
Conclusion
This is a lovely little kit of this Italian trainer, and has quite a bit of detail for such a small aircraft.
The only downside is that Special Hobby didnt include the mask set for the canopy.
BTW have I mentioned how small the kit is.
Fuselage and wings with a bottle of Tamiya paint for reference.
Mfg. ID - SH72418
Suggested Retail - 11,20 €
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