1:72 Phantom FG.1/FGR.2 - Canopy Mask for Airfix

The British Phantom with Spey engines

The FG.1 and FGR.2 versions differ from the American machines more than it seems at first glance. The British installed home-built Rolls-Royce Spey turbofan engines in them, which are bulkier, so the rear part of the fuselage had to be widened and the air intakes enlarged. The result is a machine with greater thrust near the ground and a different silhouette at the tail.

Ark Royal, Germany and the defense of the islands

The FG.1 interceptors served with naval aviation aboard the aircraft carrier Ark Royal and had an extensible nose landing gear leg so that they fitted the shorter catapults of British ships. The FGR.2 entered the air force first in the strike and reconnaissance role and, once the Jaguars arrived, passed to the defense of the airspace. A pair of these versions appeared in the South Atlantic as well.

The canopy frames step by step

The glazing has the same division as on the American Phantoms, so you work from the top down: the large areas first, then the narrow bars. The stencils are cut to the Airfix kit. On dark British camouflage every irregularity under an edge tends to be clearly visible, so press the edges down well and do not hurry with uncovering.

For which modelers the set is suitable

• for collectors of British combat aircraft of the Cold War
• for builders of carrier equipment of naval aviation
• for modelers who want exactly the same frames on the left and on the right
• for anyone building camouflage with sharp transitions