Rob Hamann; 23-07-2010 - 1

Fokker T.IVa Miku Model resin kit Monoplane torpedo bomber and reconnaissance plane

Scale 1:72 The Fokker T.IVa, which appeared in December 1935, was an upgrade of the T.IV of 1927. It featured closed cockpit, observer and rear gunner turret and was re-engined with the more powerful Wright Cyclone SR-1829-F2 of 768 hp instead of the original Lorraine-Dietrichs of 450 hp. Its performance correspondingly increased to more acceptable values. The airplane was built according to the typical Fokker mixed construction method of the period: a thick wooden wing and a fuselage of steel tubes covered by fabric. The floats were of aluminium.

The T.IV and T.IVa have been specifically designed for the Dutch Naval Air Service for use in the Dutch East Indies. Although capable of carrying a torpedo and on the inventory list as a heavy bomber, it has never been used as such; its task was primarily the pa-trol of the extended area of the current Indonesia. As a bomber it could carry 4 200 kg or 18 50 kg bombs.

Some aircraft remained in service until the Second World War, be it mainly for observer training pur-poses.

The kit comes in a carton box and contains the resin parts, clear vacuum plastic parts for windows, cockpit and gun turrets, a clear plastic sheet with the instru-ment dials printed on it (TBC), a decal sheet for the T.IV and the T.IVa version and instruction sheets. On the box a side view (not on scale) is printed.

Fokker T.IVa Month year

Rob Hamann; 16-07-2004 - 2

Unfortunately the instruction sheets are written in Czech only, although the instructions are clear enough to build the model. They identify all parts and their location and leave little room for mistakes, on condi-tion that all parts are carefully trial fitted prior to mounting them definitively.

The instruction sheets also include a large, worked-open drawing of the real airplane, indicating all parts (in French this time). This is helpful when in doubt what the purpose and exact location is of especially the many small parts of the model. Some additional help of photographs is useful, however.

The parts are of reasonable quality, but need some re-work. Generally they fit well; the main problem I have met was to join the engines, mid wing top part and fu-selage such that no gaps were left and the surface was smooth. Some resin parts are very fine, and should better be replaced by (custom) made parts of metal wire (which I did not do).

Alting (ref.1), Geldhof (ref.2), Hegener (ref. 3), Hooftman (ref. 4), van Steenderen (ref. 5) and Vre-deling (ref. 6) give the dimensions of the T.IVa. Hegener and Viegwereld (ref. 7) also present three-view drawings of the slightly smaller T.IV, which may be used for additional information.

Fokker T.IVa Month year

Rob Hamann; 16-07-2004 - 3

Ref. 1:72 model Span 26.20-26.43 m 363.9-367.1 mm mm Length 17.52-17.80 m 243.3-247.2 mm mm Height 5.99-6.04 m 83.2-83.9 mm mm Engine Two Wright Cyclone SR-1829-F2 of 678 hp each Crew 4 Armament 3-4 Madsen 7.62 mm machine guns, 900 kg bombs or one torpedo

General

I did not take pictures during the assembly, so this report is only illustrated by photographs of the finished model. The parts are well detailed, and need little cleaning, but the small, very fine parts are difficult to clean.

The painting scheme is given below.

19 Silver Propellers, valve push rods of engines

33 Matt black Instrument panel, controls, bombs

64 Matt light grey Seats 87 Matt steel grey Engines 117 Matt US light green Floors 125 Satin US dark grey Overall outside surfaces 129 Satin US gull grey Interior walls, cockpit

Cockpit

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Fuselage

Finding the exact location of all parts in the interior is not easy, but with the help of the worked-open drawing I think I man-aged to cerate a more or less correct repre-sentation. Anyhow, most parts in the inte-rior are not visible any more, once the model is completed why the effort, you would think then). Lower machine gun po-sition. Fitting the windows and construct-ing the gun turrets with their interior has been done with quite a lot trial and error, but the final result is quite acceptable. Al-though the turrets and guns are supposed to be movable, this turns out in practice difficult to realize. The joint between the upper parts of the wing and the needs quite some rework, as well as the joint between cockpit win-dows and fuselage.

Wing

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Floats

I found mounting the floats under wing and fuselage is quite difficult, especially to obtain a

Final assembly

Fokker T.IVa Month year

Rob Hamann; 16-07-2004 - 4

Although the worked-open drawing indicates a double antenna wire between the dorsal stud and the tail, I have modeled it by a single thread of 0.?? mm fishing line.

Some pictures of the completed model are shown below.

References

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Rob Hamann; 16-07-2004 - 5

1. P. Alting, Fokkers in Uniform, Driekwart eeuw militaire Fokker vliegtuigen, p. 62, Rebo Produkties, Sassenheim, 1988

2. N. Geldhof, 70 Jaar Marineluchtvaartdienst, pp. 42-43, 48, 186, 189, Uitgeverij Eisma B.V., Leeuwarden, 1987

3. H. Hegener, Fokker, The Man and the Aircraft, pp. 205-206, 222, (for the T.IV: pp. 140-141, 250), ISBN 0-8168-6370-9, 1961

4. H. Hooftman, Van Farman tot Neptune, Deel I: Romantiek van watervliegtuigen en vliegboten, pp. 113, 116, 125-126, La Rivière & Voorhoeve, Zwolle, 1964

5. C. van Steenderen Jr., Moderne Vliegtuigen, Overzicht der Voornaamste Moderne Sport-, Verkeers- en Militaire Vliegtuigen, p. 75, J.M. Meulenhoff, Amsterdam, 1938

6. W. Vredeling, Fokker D.23, pp. 67-68, Geronomy bv, Maarssen, 2007

7. For the T.IV: Fokker Bulletin, Fokker, Nederlandsche Vliegtuigenfabriek 1919-1929, Vol. V, Nos. 9, 10, 11 and 12, pp. 70-71, 124, 165-167, NV Nederlandsche Vliegtuigenfabriek, Amsterdam, 1929

8. W. Geneste, 75 Jaar Vliegende Marine, Never a dull moment, p. 80, Marinevoorlichting, Den Haag & Uitgeverij Eisma, Leeuwarden, 1992

9. H. Hooftman, Fokker, Bekende en onbekende vliegtuigtypes van A.H.G. Fokker, Neerlands grootste vliegtuigbouwer, pp. 40-41, ARTI beeld encyclopedie 36 , Alkmaar, 1959

10. H. Hooftman, Nederlandse Vliegtuig Encyclopedie, Fokker T-V en T-IX, pp. 12, 98, Cockpit-Uitgeverij, Bennekom, 1979

11. G.H. Kamphuis, 75 jaar MLD, p. 13, De Alk, Alkmaar, 1992

12. T. Postma, Fameuze Fokker Vliegtuigen, p. 52, Luchtvaart in Beeld nr. 1, Omniboek, Kampen, 1978

13. T. Postma, Fokker, Bouwer aan de Wereldluchtvaart, pp. 101-102, 130, Fibula - Van Dishoeck, Haarlem, 1979

14. F. Troost, S. van der Zee & W. van Zoetendaal, Salto Mortale - Fokker in bedrijf 1911-1996, p. 169, ISBN 907557410X, 1998

15. W.C.J. Westerop, Fokker en de twintigste eeuw: een historische relatie, p. 33, ISBN 90-9011870-5, 1998

16. T. Postma, Vermetele vliegende Hollanders, pp. 70-71, 88, ISBN 90 228 3987 7, De Haan, Bussum, 1975