1:48 OV-10A Bronco wheels and canopy paint mask outside only (for ICM 48300 kit)

The Bronco: a twin-boom machine for fire control and reconnaissance

An aircraft with two turboprop engines and a boom tail was created to an order that called for a simple machine able to operate from short and unprepared surfaces. It came into its own mainly as a forward air controller: the crew looked for targets, marked them with smoke rockets and directed attack aircraft onto them. Besides that it managed light strikes, reconnaissance and casualty evacuation.

It served with the Marine Corps, with the Navy and with the US Air Force, and after its military service it reached civilian users, who patrolled forest fires or borders with it. A few examples flew in South America and in Southeast Asia long afterward. Characteristic is its excellent visibility from the cockpit, provided by glazing that reaches almost all the way round.

That is precisely the hard nut during painting: the area of glass is considerably larger than on an ordinary fighter and with hand-cut tape the masking takes a good part of an evening. The shapes from this sheet are laid one after another and spraying can start straight afterward. There are also covers for the wheel centers in the package.

The cut matches the model that ICM offers in this size, and it deals with the outer side of the glazing. The frames on the real subject are dark and contrast with the light interior of the cockpit, which is why a precise boundary shows a great deal on a finished model.

It has proved best to spray the inside of the cockpit first and only then to offer the masks up from outside and paint the whole airframe. The glazing is seated into the fuselage last, so that it does not get scratched while the seams are sanded. With this type it also pays to check how the part seats before the masks are stuck on.