1:48 EMB-314 Super Tucano wheel bay plugs (for Hobby Boss)

A turboprop combat aircraft from Brazil

Embraer built the Super Tucano on a proven trainer and turned it into something that looked backward in the age of jets: a slow propeller aircraft with an armored cockpit, ejection seats and pylons under the wing. It turned out that this is exactly what works better against irregular forces than a fast jet attacker. Long endurance over the target, the ability to work from short and unpaved strips and low operating costs won it orders from Colombia to Afghanistan, and in the US Air Force it serves under the designation A-29.

The most tiresome part of painting

Wheel bays cause everyone trouble when spraying. Taping them shut means cutting out irregular shapes that still will not sit down in the corners, and spraying with the doors closed spoils their edge. Shaped plugs bring that step down to a few seconds: you push them into the opening, they fill it all the way around, and after painting you take them out. Inside there remains a clean surface with no paint creep and no adhesive residue.

Where they help most

The benefit is greatest on models that get several coats - primer, main shade, camouflage overspray and varnish under the decals. Each time the cutting out is avoided, and each time the boundary is the same, so no steps build up. The plugs can also be used outside painting, for instance to protect the bays while sanding filler, when dust otherwise gets exactly where it cannot be blown out from. They are made to match the shapes of the kit from Hobby Boss.