Monogram 1/48 A-37B Dragonfly


This kit has been around since the latter half of the eighties. I've built one before but that was before an airbrush, the internet, references so let's not talk about that one ;o)

The kit can be found cheap (it has been re-issued by Revell Germany in 2002) and it is a beauty in many respects. It does not have recessed panel lines, but if you have ever been close to the real thing you know this is exactly right! On a real Dragonfly many details stand out raised from the surface, so actually the fact that this is so on the model is an advantage.

Fit was rather poor in the wing-root area, but with some care an step by step gluing this can be overcome. I used a little putty in the wing root. One thing to keep in mind that this one is a definate tail-sitter and you must add as much weight as possible to the area forward of the main landing gear. There is no room in the nose, but you can put some lead in right behind the cockpit and in the wing tip tanks forward section. Go to your local tire center, they have tons of lead lying around, including flat square pieces that are ideal for this kit.

I built the A-37 out of the box, only adding seat belts made from airbrushed Tamiya tape and aluminum foil, antanna to the back and the horizontal stabilizers, and glass pearls for the anti-collison and tail lights. I also dropped the ailerons slightly since gravity did that on the real thing when they were parked.

When dry fitting the wing, make sure it is not warped, like the one in my example was. All in all, a nice build, suitable for beginners and experienced modelers.

Exterior painting started with airbrushing the tip-tanks and rudder white. Then, I carefully placed little blobs of Play-Doy and airbrushed the tanks and rudder red. After removing the blobs the neat polka-dot pattern of the 520th Fighter Squadron (which could also be found in other color-combinations like yellow/black and dark blue/white for other squadrons) operating out of Bin Thuy air base emerged, and I was quite pleased with the result. I masked off the tanks and rudder with Tamiya tape and then painted the rest of the model with Model Master Tan, Humbrol Olive Green, Tamiya Olive Drab, and Revell Light Gray for the lower surfaces. I guess this kit proves one can use all brands of paint on top of each other. It was the first time I used cut out paper masks to make the demarcation lines between the colors soft. I attached the pieces of paper with double-sided tape and it worked very well. I will be utilizing this method more often from now on. In areas where paper was a bit tricky to use I used Play-Doh saucages to achieve the same effect. Using Play-Doh can be great, just keep in mind that it can leave residu on matt surfaces and that it will harden within half an hour, making it harder to remove. You can remove dried Play-Doh residu with a wet cotton swab. The camouflage pattern in the kit instructions are absolutely wrong, don't follow the instructions. I did some research many years ago based on all the photos I could find and I put what I found on paper. If you trust my research enough, you can find the pattern as I think it should be here. Note that since then I discovered the tip-tanks color is NOT wrap around as in the drawings. Otherwise (and really always), check your references! The official cammo-pattern taken from the USAF's T.O.1-1-4 manual can be found below.

Pre-decaling coat was Humbrol Gloss, Post-decaling coat was Model Master Semi Gloss, thinned heavily. The Monogram decals are worthless. I tried some stencilling first, but the stuff curled everywhere and I couldn't get it to settle down nicely. If you can, buy the Revell Germany issue. It comes with very good quality decals, albeit not for an early SEA machine. I only used the kit's VNAF fin-flash (after careful trimming because the boogers were printed out of register). After a cry for help on the trading forum at Hyperscale John Pearson kindly sent me his Hobbycraft 1/72 C-7 Caribou VNAF decals for which he had no use. Incidentally these are exactly right for a 1/48 VNAF A-37B. Thanks, John! Finally, some wash (burnt umber / turpentine) was applied here and there, followed by a coat of Model Master Semi Gloss.