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| The French designed prototype CM-170 Magister made it's first flight on July 23, 1952. The two-seat aircraft was the world's first basic turbojet-powered trainer to be mass produced. |
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| Germany was the first export customer for the Magister. 40 aircraft were produced in France by Fouga and a further 194 aircraft were license built in Germany by Flugzeug-Union-Süd - a consortium of Messerschmitt and Heinkel.
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| The first French produced Magisters were delivered to Flugzeugfuehrerschule-A (FFS-A) in May of 1957 and the first German built Magisters delivered in November of 1958. The Magister remained in service with the German Air Force until 1969. |
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| The distinctive V-tail of the CM.170 Magister originated from the Fouga CM.8 glider. |
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| Many nations purchased Magisters for trainer and light-attack duties. Some were fitted with machine guns in the nose, underwing rocket pods, bombs, and even air-to-surface missiles. Israel proved the Magister's combat worth during the Six Day War in June 1967, when the Magister flew ground attack missions in Egypt and Jordan. |
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| This kit must have been fairly state of the art back in 1975 when it was first released. Although the rivets and surface details are raised, they are very well done and look surprisingly good when completed. |
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The single piece canopy is overly thick but very clear. With a coat of Future floor wax it turns out acceptable. |
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| After 32 years of exposure to the elements, my decal sheet was in sad shape. The protective cover sheet had become adhered to some of the decals. I assumed they would be unusable, but after an extra long soaking and careful scraping away of paper fibers I was able to use them after all. |
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| Airfix did a nice job on the tiny tail wheel which prevents students from over rotating the Magister and damaging the tail. |
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| The decal sheet includes surprisingly well printed stencil data for battery and radio compartments, etc. They are clearly legible with a magnifying glass. |
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| It's not surprising that the Magister has very smooth handling characteristics with this smooth stylish shape. |
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| My home made exhaust tubes worked pretty well and at least look better than empty holes in the fuselage. |
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| This is a fast easy build with high nostalgic value and a great addition to any fan of early jet aircraft. |
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| Here's a shot of the underside. There is no detail at all in the nose wheel bay, but the main gear bays are reasonably well detailed. |
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| I inserted stryene tubing into the empty exhaust openings to avoid seeing into the empty fuselage. |
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| Simplified controls are provided in the cockpit, but they are barely visible after the thick canopy is glued into place. I used strips of masking tape to create seat harnesses. |
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Kit: Airfix #02047-5 |
Scale: 1/72 |
Value:
This kit has been in and out of production many times since it's original release in 1975 so it often retails for under $10.00 (US) which is nothing less than a bargain! |
Decals:
Decals are provided for Patroille de France (French aerobatic display team), Belgian Air Force and Luftwaffe (West German Air Force). Decals are opaque, printed in nearly perfect register on a nice thin carrier. Overall they are very well done. |
Assembly:
The kit includes 58 parts molded in light gray with fine raised rivets and panel lines, 4 transparent parts including an "in-flight" stand, one decal sheet and one 2-sided instruction sheet with brief history.
Construction begins in the cockpit as one would expect. The cockpit tub is fairly well detailed with seats and side panels molded in place, there are ejector pin marks on each seat that need filling. Instrument panels with raised detail and control sticks are provided, all reasonably accurate. An instructor's periscope is provided for use with the German and Belgian markings. Twin footless-figures are included in nostalgic hands-on-legs-pose which I chose not to install. The single piece canopy is thick but fairly clear, careful sanding and filler is required to fit it into place.
Parts are provided to assemble with landing gear up or down. Some of the gear doors are overly thick and will benefit from thinning. A transparent stand is included to display in flight. No exhausts are provided so I created them out with styrene tubing - to prevent seeing into the empty fuselage. There is no mention of adding weight to the nose but this kit will tail-sit if not added. The fuselage and wings fit together well with only a bit of sanding required, filler was needed at the wing roots.
Research photos showed Luftwaffe Magisters in a very dull bare metal finish, in some lighting they almost appear gray. I painted my Magister with Testors silver mixed with a few drops of Modelmaster White which achieved the look I was hoping for.
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| After Market Parts Used: None |
Customizations:
Seat harnesses created from strips of masking tape. Exhaust openings were thinned down and styrene tubing inserted to create better looking exhaust. Undercarriage doors were thinned down. Aerial made from stretched sprue. |
Recommendation:
Despite a couple of small parts, this is an easy kit to assemble and should be an enjoyable build a modelers of any skill level. Especially recommended for fans of early jets and military trainers. |
