Canada's newest jet trainer. I have an interest in Canadian military aircraft so this one was a natural purchase for me. Markings were going to be an interesting obstacle as the aircraft has them mostly in white. No way to make them using my skills, but thankfully Mike Grant Decals came up with a solution.

I started this kit during the dinnertime news, and four hours later I had a kit ready for paint. Buildup is very straight forward and the only part that caused frustration was the wing fences. There are no marks on the wing that show their location and their size/design does not allow them to be friction held in place. This lead to an interesting juggling act; kit held between my kneecaps, tweezers holding fence, and glue being applied. The only major sanding had to be done where liquid putty was applied to the intake seam.

Photos of the new scheme so far have been limited to the Department of Defense (DND) website and the odd press photo. I was fortunate to obtain a set of slides from Patrick Martin Photography, and found that the blue is a very close match to Model Master's Blue Angle Blue. A test dab on an IPMS Canada colour guide also shows Blue Angle Blue as a near match for "Roundel Blue." Mike Grant Decals offers a set of markings for our NATO Hawks. These have been printed using an ALPS printer, and although I have never used that style of markings before they were no problem to get to lay down. They responded well to the Gunze decal set. Photo evidence shows additional stenciling beyond this set and the kit markings. However in 1/72 scale they are simple a dab of yellow or white.

I enjoyed this buildup and spent no more than ten hours total on this model.