1:72 Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet Part-1

A joint project of two schools of aviation

The Alpha Jet came out of a Franco-German agreement on a common trainer and quickly turned into an export success. While the Luftwaffe used it mainly as a light attack machine, elsewhere it filled the role of an advanced flying school. The combination of two engines, calm handling and low operating costs earned it service on three continents, in many cases to this day.

Foreign operators on the sheet

This first part concentrates on machines outside the home countries of the program. It lists an Egyptian aircraft in the version for local production, a machine in the colors of the Moroccan Air Force, which ordered two dozen of these trainers, and Nigerian aircraft deployed in West Africa during operations in Sierra Leone. It is precisely the African chapters in the history of the type that tend to be rare in the modeling market.

The workmanship

These are classic waterslide decals with good registration and a thin carrier film. Besides national insignia and serial numbers the sheet also contains the small service markings that on trainers make up a substantial part of the appearance.

Working with the sheet

It pays to cut the individual elements as close to the printing as possible and to lay them on a gloss surface. On the Alpha Jet there is a lot of marking on the vertical tail and on the engine nacelles, where the surfaces are curved; there a decal softener applied with a brush in two doses helps. Once dry, the surface is unified with a clear coat according to whether the machine wears a glossy school finish or a matte tactical camouflage.