1:144 ATR-42 - Landing Flaps (for Xscale Kits)

A regional from Toulouse and Naples

The ATR abbreviation comes from the French and Italian company that Aérospatiale and Aeritalia founded in 1981 to build an aircraft for short routes together. The result was a high-wing machine with a T tail and a pair of Pratt & Whitney Canada turboprop engines. The prototype flew in 1984, around forty-five passengers fitted into the cabin and the type proved itself so well that it is still built in modernized versions. A passenger will still meet it routinely on regional routes all over Europe.

The way the type came about is worth a mention as well: the parts were made in France and in Italy and both countries carried the program in equal shares. By European standards of the 1980s it was an unusually balanced partnership, which has lasted the type to this day.

A high wing works in favor of the detail

On a high-wing aircraft the underside of the wing is at eye level on a shelf, so a lowered flap comes into its own more on it than on an aircraft with the wing below. The set has the flaps in the position for landing and the adjoining part of the trailing edge, with which the space left by the strip cut away is filled in.

The recommended order of work is the opposite of what would be expected: first the seating is tried dry, and only then is the cutting done. When the cut comes out straight, the fitting does without putty and a light sanding is enough. Once it has dried, it is advisable to accent the edge of the slot lightly with a darker shade, otherwise it is lost in the light of a shelf. Anyone building a whole fleet of regionals will see the difference at first glance – a straight wing out of the box and open high-lift devices look like two different models side by side.