1:72 Fiat G.91R/4; Fuerza Aérea Argentina; Malvinas, April 1982

Dizzyfugu · March 28, 2025, 11:43:25 AM

The kit and its assembly:
This relatively simple what-if model (no hardware mods, just a fictional livery and story for it) was originally inspired by a Claveworks Graphics profile, found while browsing the web. It depicted an Argentinian G.91, painted like a Pucará from the Falklands war – and, in hindsight, a blunt transfer, because it used the livery of an ex-earmarked-for-Mauretania aircraft which had its desert camouflage overpainted with pale green and brown, and with the desert color showing through on the nose (due to wear) and the fin (because there were no ladders/platforms high enough at Port Stanley where the newly arrived Pucarás had hastily been painted over.
That concept had been lingering in the back of my mind for years, and now I was "in the mood" to pull a Revell Gina out and start building a respective interpretation of the inspiring profile.

The Revell kit is nice and goes together well, and thankfully it is a variant (the Portuguese Tiger Meet aircraft) that allows to build an R/4 OOB. The only changes I made are dropped flaps, some different blade antennae and a plausible offensive ordnance, consisting of a pair of LAU-130/A 2.75" unguided missile launchers (left over from an Italeri AH-1) and a pair of ubiquitous 500 lb Mk. 82 bombs with "Snake Eye" tail retarding devices for low-altitude deployment (from an Airfix A-4, I think).

1:72 Fiat G.91R/4; 'A-252, Grupo 3 de Ataque, Fuerza Aérea Argentina (FAA, Argentinian Air Force); Port Stanley (Malvinas/Falklands Islands), April 1982 (What-if/Revell kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Fiat G.91R/4; 'A-252, Grupo 3 de Ataque, Fuerza Aérea Argentina (FAA, Argentinian Air Force); Port Stanley (Malvinas/Falklands Islands), April 1982 (What-if/Revell kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

More to come soon.

PR19_Kit · March 28, 2025, 12:10:16 PM

It comes moulded in YELLOW?

[That says 'Yellow' but you can't see it in colour.

Is it an old M'box kit still in its old colours?

DogfighterZen · March 28, 2025, 01:24:33 PM

kitbasher · March 28, 2025, 02:40:56 PM

Quote from: PR19_Kit on March 28, 2025, 12:10:16 PMIt comes moulded in YELLOW? [That says 'Yellow' but you can't see it in colour.

Is it an old M'box kit still in its old colours?

Matchbox did a G.91Y, IIRC the 'Yellow Peril' is a Revell original.

Dizzyfugu · March 29, 2025, 01:28:33 AM

Yes, that's an original Revell mold, and it's a single-engine variant with parts for an R/1 and R/3. There's an alternative boxing for a German Gina, too. Together with the Meng kit IMHO the best mono-engine G.91 around, while Matchbox' Yankee has two engines and a longer fuselage (from the trainers, just with a single seat). IIRC the only IP kit of that type, even though there are resin kits/fuselage sets.
The yellow plastic is blinding bright, though. But the decal sheet comes with all black stripes for the Tiger Meet aircraft the boxing represents - but I am not certain how well these can be applied...

Nevertheless, more things to show from the Malvinas/Falklands:

Painting and markings:
The more challenging part, because I wanted the model to "tell the story" of being hastily transferred into a combat zone and then receiving an improvised and not perfect tactical camouflage on top of the original peacetime livery. For the latter I settled upon an all-over light grey scheme, inspired by some Portuguese Ginas.

1:72 Fiat G.91R/4; 'A-252, Grupo 3 de Ataque, Fuerza Aérea Argentina (FAA, Argentinian Air Force); Port Stanley (Malvinas/Falklands Islands), April 1982 (What-if/Revell kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

To create the overpainted finish (and to cover the kit's bright yellow plastic!) the model first received an overall coat with Revell 374 (RAL 7000). The landing gear bays as well as the cockpit tub were painted in slightly darker US Neutral Grey (FS 36251), while the air intake and the landing gear struts became dull aluminum (Humbrol 56).

1:72 Fiat G.91R/4; 'A-252, Grupo 3 de Ataque, Fuerza Aérea Argentina (FAA, Argentinian Air Force); Port Stanley (Malvinas/Falklands Islands), April 1982 (What-if/Revell kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The camouflage on the upper surfaces was added on top of that, and – with a very good paint reference about the FAA's Pucarás during the Falklands conflict – I settled for mixed tones, because that was the same case in 1982: anything was used and stretched, resulting in a wide range of shades of green and brown, often very pale, and sometimes not properly applied (see my comment about the Claveworks profile above). For the green I mixed Humbrol 78 (RAF Cockpit Green) with90 (Sky) to create a pale lichen green. The brown was to be rather reddish, and I mixed Modelmaster 1701 (US Army Earth Red, FS30117) with Humbrol 168 (Hemp) to soften and dull the tone down.

1:72 Fiat G.91R/4; 'A-252, Grupo 3 de Ataque, Fuerza Aérea Argentina (FAA, Argentinian Air Force); Port Stanley (Malvinas/Falklands Islands), April 1982 (What-if/Revell kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

An unevenness of the single colors was accepted to underline the makeshift character of the paint scheme. Furthermore, areas where original roundels and tactical markings would "shine through" were spared or so thin that the original grey underneath would be visible, too. For the same reason the canopy frames remained partly grey and spotty. In contrast to that the yellow ID bands were created with decal sheet material and applied as "solid" markings.

The decals came from an Airfix Pucará sheet, but the tactical code was modified. Stencils were taken from the Revell kit and an Argentinian Mirage III.

1:72 Fiat G.91R/4; 'A-252, Grupo 3 de Ataque, Fuerza Aérea Argentina (FAA, Argentinian Air Force); Port Stanley (Malvinas/Falklands Islands), April 1982 (What-if/Revell kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Fiat G.91R/4; 'A-252, Grupo 3 de Ataque, Fuerza Aérea Argentina (FAA, Argentinian Air Force); Port Stanley (Malvinas/Falklands Islands), April 1982 (What-if/Revell kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The model received a black ink washing and some post-panel-shading, supporting the shaggy look. Soot stains around the guns were done with graphite, and finally everything was sealed with matt acrylic varnish.

Next stop: the Falklands in 1982.

DogfighterZen · March 29, 2025, 02:49:58 AM

Looks very good in that camo, Dizzy.

Dizzyfugu · March 29, 2025, 06:53:40 AM

Yes, it works surprisingly well.

Pellson · March 29, 2025, 07:20:44 AM

I have one of those as well, (hideous plastic colour, but the model itself seems to be rather nice. At least when compared to the old Airfix offering..

Looks in Argie colours too.

NARSES2 · March 29, 2025, 08:11:07 AM

Quote from: Pellson on March 29, 2025, 07:20:44 AMLooks in Argie colours too.

Does, it suits them

Dizzyfugu · April 03, 2025, 03:01:31 AM

No progress here, since I have been busy with other projects and "distractions" through the job.

Dizzyfugu · April 10, 2025, 02:14:12 AM

Still nothing new here. Lack of photo mojo, and too busy... $:-\$

Pellson · April 10, 2025, 03:31:32 AM

Quote from: Dizzyfugu on April 10, 2025, 02:14:12 AMStill nothing new here. Lack of photo mojo, and too busy... $:-\$

You know, we're harder to scare away than this..

Dizzyfugu · April 25, 2025, 01:47:25 AM

Some news here: I was finally able to put the model thorugh a photo session! There's hope!

Dizzyfugu · **Today** at 05:01:56 AM

Finally, done...

1:72 Fiat G.91R/4; 'A-252, piloted by Cdr. Kennedy "Ken" Andros Grupo 3 de Ataque, Fuerza Aérea Argentina (FAA, Argentinian Air Force); Port Stanley (Malvinas/Falklands Islands), late April 1982 (What-if/Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Fiat G.91R/4; 'A-252, piloted by Cdr. Kennedy "Ken" Andros Grupo 3 de Ataque, Fuerza Aérea Argentina (FAA, Argentinian Air Force); Port Stanley (Malvinas/Falklands Islands), late April 1982 (What-if/Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Some background:
The Fiat G.91 was a jet fighter aircraft designed and built by the Italian aircraft manufacturer Fiat Aviazione, which later merged into Aeritalia. The G.91 had its origins in the NATO-organised NBMR-1 competition started in 1953, which sought a light fighter-bomber (officially, the competition was seeking a "Light Weight Strike Fighter") to be adopted as standard equipment across the air forces of the various NATO nations. The G.91 was specifically designed to fulfil the requirements of this competition, being relatively lightweight and capable of operating from austere airstrips while also being armored and suitably armed while remaining relatively affordable in comparison to many frontline fighters. On 9 August 1956, the prototype conducted its maiden flight. After reviewing multiple submissions, the G.91 was picked as the winning design of the NBMR-1 competition.

During 1961, the G.91 entered into operational service with the Italian Air Force, and with the West German Luftwaffe in the following year. Various other nations adopted it, such as the Portuguese Air Force, who made extensive use of the type during the Portuguese Colonial War in Angola and Mozambique. The G.91 remained in production for 19 years, during which a total of 756 aircraft were completed, including the prototypes and pre-production models. The assembly lines were finally closed in 1977.

1:72 Fiat G.91R/4; 'A-252, piloted by Cdr. Kennedy "Ken" Andros Grupo 3 de Ataque, Fuerza Aérea Argentina (FAA, Argentinian Air Force); Port Stanley (Malvinas/Falklands Islands), late April 1982 (What-if/Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Fiat G.91R/4; 'A-252, piloted by Cdr. Kennedy "Ken" Andros Grupo 3 de Ataque, Fuerza Aérea Argentina (FAA, Argentinian Air Force); Port Stanley (Malvinas/Falklands Islands), late April 1982 (What-if/Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Fiat G.91R/4; 'A-252, piloted by Cdr. Kennedy "Ken" Andros Grupo 3 de Ataque, Fuerza Aérea Argentina (FAA, Argentinian Air Force); Port Stanley (Malvinas/Falklands Islands), late April 1982 (What-if/Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

:72 Fiat G.91R/4; 'A-252, piloted by Cdr. Kennedy "Ken" Andros Grupo 3 de Ataque, Fuerza Aérea Argentina (FAA, Argentinian Air Force); Port Stanley (Malvinas/Falklands Islands), late April 1982 (What-if/Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Design of the G.91 was reminiscent of the North American F-86 Sabre, more specifically the late model F-86 Sabre Dog "snout" nose interceptors. The low air intake aspirated a single Fiat/Bristol Siddeley Orpheus 803 series turbojet, capable of up to 5,000lbs of thrust. Wings were swept and afforded a single hardpoint on the early Italian R1 production models, while the German variant was fitted with two such pylons per wing. The innermost positions on these machines were cleared to handle the heavier ordnance loads and external fuel tanks. Identifiable to the series was its single boundary layer fences running partially across the top of each wing, outboard of the inner/main underwing pylons. All tail surfaces were equally swept, following in line with that of the main wing assemblies. The undercarriage was a conventional tricycle arrangement, but capable of operations on semi-prepared airfields. Overall, the aircraft was a simple and rugged design, which made maintenance under poor conditions easy.

The G.91 R/4 was basically an Italian R/1, upgraded with better avionics from the R/3 and two additional underwing hardpoints. This variant had originally been designed for Greece and Turkey, but the first production run of 50 aircraft was never delivered to their intended operators and eventually taken over and operated by Germany in 1960. They were, however, foreign bodies within the German R/3 fleet and therefore already put up for sale in 1965. Portugal bought 40 of these, and Argentina procured the remaining 10 machines, together with 10 more revamped Italian R/1s which were brought to R/4 standard. They replaced worn-out F-86F Sabres in the ground attack/close air support role. Additionally, four former Italian G.91T/1 trainers were procured for transitional and advanced training.

1:72 Fiat G.91R/4; 'A-252, piloted by Cdr. Kennedy "Ken" Andros Grupo 3 de Ataque, Fuerza Aérea Argentina (FAA, Argentinian Air Force); Port Stanley (Malvinas/Falklands Islands), late April 1982 (What-if/Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Fiat G.91R/4; 'A-252, piloted by Cdr. Kennedy "Ken" Andros Grupo 3 de Ataque, Fuerza Aérea Argentina (FAA, Argentinian Air Force); Port Stanley (Malvinas/Falklands Islands), late April 1982 (What-if/Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Fiat G.91R/4; 'A-252, piloted by Cdr. Kennedy "Ken" Andros Grupo 3 de Ataque, Fuerza Aérea Argentina (FAA, Argentinian Air Force); Port Stanley (Malvinas/Falklands Islands), late April 1982 (What-if/Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Fiat G.91R/4; 'A-252, piloted by Cdr. Kennedy "Ken" Andros Grupo 3 de Ataque, Fuerza Aérea Argentina (FAA, Argentinian Air Force); Port Stanley (Malvinas/Falklands Islands), late April 1982 (What-if/Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

By the time of the Falklands War, about fourteen G.91 single seaters were still operational and had replaced all F-86s, which were still held in reserve, though. As one of the few aircraft of the Argentine service capable of flying operationally from the small airfields in the Falklands, as the runway at Port Stanley Airport was not long enough for FAA Skyhawks and Mirages, it was decided to deploy a number of Pucarás and G.91s to the Falklands, with four and three aircraft from Grupo 3 de Ataque, respectively, arriving at Port Stanley on 2 April 1982, and a further ten aircraft in total arriving on 9 April.
Most of the unit's G.91s remaining on the mainland were moved to Puerto Santa Cruz or Comodoro Rivadavia in southern Argentina where they were closer to the Falklands if needed for reinforcements, and they were used to perform coastal surveillance.
The originally all-grey G.91s that were deployed to the archipelago were hastily camouflaged with local paints, receiving individual paint schemes in pale shades of green and brown, similar to the Pucarás. They were also marked with yellow quick-ID bands on wings and fin to avoid friendly ground fire.

1:72 Fiat G.91R/4; 'A-252, piloted by Cdr. Kennedy "Ken" Andros Grupo 3 de Ataque, Fuerza Aérea Argentina (FAA, Argentinian Air Force); Port Stanley (Malvinas/Falklands Islands), late April 1982 (What-if/Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Fiat G.91R/4; 'A-252, piloted by Cdr. Kennedy "Ken" Andros Grupo 3 de Ataque, Fuerza Aérea Argentina (FAA, Argentinian Air Force); Port Stanley (Malvinas/Falklands Islands), late April 1982 (What-if/Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Fiat G.91R/4; 'A-252, piloted by Cdr. Kennedy "Ken" Andros Grupo 3 de Ataque, Fuerza Aérea Argentina (FAA, Argentinian Air Force); Port Stanley (Malvinas/Falklands Islands), late April 1982 (What-if/Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

In their new theatre of operation the G.91s were, due to their on-board cameras and high speed at low altitude, initially primarily used in the reconnaissance role. But with the unfolding conflict and British forces closing in and eventually landing on the Malvinas/Falklands, the Argentinian Ginas also started to carry out light-attack missions against point targets. Most aircraft used in combat were armed with unguided bombs and 2.75" rocket pods, highly limited by the G.91 R/4s' restricted ordnance capacity of only 680 kg (1,500 lb). The 0.5" machine guns were effectively used for strafing the beach areas and British landing ships.
The small and agile Ginas also flew a few anti-helicopter missions, though, using their machine guns, too. Even though the G.91 R/4 was capable of carrying up to four AIM-9B Sidewinder AAMs, none of these weapons were available on the improvised Malvinas airfields. However, a Royal Marines Scout helicopter was downed on 18 April, the only "air victory" the Argentinian G.91s achieved (by A-252, piloted by Cdr. Kennedy "Ken" Andros; A-252 would be destroyed two weeks later at Pebble Beach after having succesfully completed a total of eleven missions), and a Royal Navy Seaking patrolling north of Pebble Island was severely damaged by A-248 on 11 May with gun fire, too, but the helicopter remained airworthy, the crew remained unharmed and it successfully returned to its carrier, HMS Cerberus.

1:72 Fiat G.91R/4; 'A-252, piloted by Cdr. Kennedy "Ken" Andros Grupo 3 de Ataque, Fuerza Aérea Argentina (FAA, Argentinian Air Force); Port Stanley (Malvinas/Falklands Islands), late April 1982 (What-if/Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Fiat G.91R/4; 'A-252, piloted by Cdr. Kennedy "Ken" Andros Grupo 3 de Ataque, Fuerza Aérea Argentina (FAA, Argentinian Air Force); Port Stanley (Malvinas/Falklands Islands), late April 1982 (What-if/Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Fiat G.91R/4; 'A-252, piloted by Cdr. Kennedy "Ken" Andros Grupo 3 de Ataque, Fuerza Aérea Argentina (FAA, Argentinian Air Force); Port Stanley (Malvinas/Falklands Islands), late April 1982 (What-if/Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Fiat G.91R/4; 'A-252, piloted by Cdr. Kennedy "Ken" Andros Grupo 3 de Ataque, Fuerza Aérea Argentina (FAA, Argentinian Air Force); Port Stanley (Malvinas/Falklands Islands), late April 1982 (What-if/Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Argentinian G.91s initially operated from Port Stanley airport and two small improvised grass airfields at Goose Green and Pebble Island. Two G.91s were destroyed and one of their pilots killed at Goose Green by cluster bombs dropped by 800 NAS Sea Harriers on 1 May 1982.
Two new G.91s were immediately sent from the mainland to fill the operational gap and arrived on 4 May, bringing the small Gina fleet back to nominal strength, even though they remained scattered across the three airfields, what made maintenance and logistics increasingly difficult. The five operational G.91s in the war zone were then grouped at Pebble Island on 7 May, but all were destroyed or rendered unusable in the SAS Raid on the airfield on 15 May 1982. After that no more G.91s were transferred from the mainland because the Argentinian airfields had been conquered or destroyed until then, and aircraft based on the Malvinas had become an easy prey both in the air and on the ground, so that attacks were now only carried out from the mainland, mostly by A-4s which had to carry auxiliary tanks and had be refueled in flight on their way back to carry out these long-range strike missions.

After the war the small remaining Argentinian G.91 R/4 fleet was retired, only nine were eventually flyworthy, three of them the two-seaters. Even though the machines were mothballed like the Sabres before, they were scrapped in 1988 and replaced by newly procured A-4 Skyhawks.

General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 10.3 m (33 ft 10 in)
Wingspan: 8.56 m (28 ft 1 in)
Height: 4 m (13 ft 1 in)
Wing area: 16.4 m² (177 sq ft)
Airfoil: root: NACA 65A112;
tip: NACA 65A111
Empty weight: 3,100 kg (6,834 lb)
Gross weight: 5,440 kg (11,993 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 5,500 kg (12,125 lb)

Powerplant:
1× Bristol Siddeley Orpheus 803 turbojet, 22.2 kN (5,000 lbf) thrust

Performance:
Maximum speed: 1,075 km/h (668 mph, 580 kn)
Range: 1,150 km (710 mi, 620 nmi)
Service ceiling: 13,100 m (43,000 ft)
Rate of climb: 30 m/s (5,900 ft/min)
Wing loading: 331 kg/m2 (68 lb/sq ft)
Thrust/weight: 0.42

Armament:
4× 12.7 mm (0.50 in) M3 Browning machine guns with 300 RPG
4× under-wing hardpoints with a total capacity of 680 kg (1,500 lb)

1:72 Fiat G.91R/4; 'A-252, piloted by Cdr. Kennedy "Ken" Andros Grupo 3 de Ataque, Fuerza Aérea Argentina (FAA, Argentinian Air Force); Port Stanley (Malvinas/Falklands Islands), late April 1982 (What-if/Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

PR19_Kit · **Today** at 06:05:24 AM

An excellent build Thomas, and a superb backstory too.