CASA 212-300 1/72 Special Hobby

   The CASA C-212 is one of the well-known smaller transport aircraft with STOL (short takeoff and landing) characteristics, which serves around the world in a variety of roles. As I have learned, the aircraft was developed as a replacement for the aging Ju-52 and DC-3 in the Spanish Air Force.

   The Special Hobby kit is quite nice and offers different versions in several boxing. The panel lines are quite rough but still acceptable. If the front section is carefuly cut to replace it with the part for the extended version, everything fits reasonably well. The only point needs attention is the connection of the tailplane to the fuselage. More ambitious modelers will probably spend more time solving round windows into the openings and adding more details in the cockpit.

   For the markings, I chose the very attractive Casa C-212-300 of the Argentine Coast Guard (Prefectura Naval Argentina). The unit´s task is protection of coastal waters and inland rivers. For example, in 2016, the coast guard sank a Chinese boat that was fishing illegally in Argentine waters. The patrol boat fleet also includes a small number of aircraft, including five CASA-212s.

   To give my model in the display cabinet the right spirit :-), I found an interesting article about CASA pilot Carolina Núñez. The article´s photos (and text, which is easy to translate) give my model another dimension 🙂

As is well known, white camouflage is not easy to make. I decided to experiment and try to post shade the model with Agama weathering paints and Tamiya shadows. The result is not so good as I would expect. The experience is that basic shading needs to be done with an airbrush and weathering paints should only be used for fine-tuning.

The decals from the kit are printed by Eduard using digital technology, so they were not easy to work with. Fortunately, the blue color raster is one of the better ones, so it was enough to crop the blurred edge of the Tail marking. The rest was just retouching points that I would do in the same way as with other decals. I also added the missing white stripes on the nose.

Although I finished the model more than a year ago, I still feel happy and satisfied. Among the mass of Messerschmitts and Spitfires, this “white winged box” in the display cabinet is a really eye-catching 🙂
   

Note: The text was translated with help of deepl.com translator (free version)