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Super Tweet

history

The Cessna A-37 Dragonfly, or Super Tweet, was an American light attack aircraft. It was developed from the T-37 Tweet basic trainer in the 1960s by Cessna of Wichita, Kansas. In August 1967, 25 A-37As were sent to Vietnam under the "Combat Dragon" evaluation program.

The aircraft flew from Bien Hoa Air Base on USAF "air commando" missions. These missions included: close air support, helicopter escort, FAC, and night interdiction. Combat loads included: high-explosive bombs, cluster munition dispensers, unguided rocket packs, napalm tanks, and the SUU-11/A Minigun pod. For most missions, the aircraft also carried two additional external fuel tanks on the inner stores pylons.

While in Vietnam, the A-37As flew thousands of sorties. None were lost to enemy fire. The A-37A was formally named the "Dragonfly", but most pilots called it the "Super Tweet".

Construction

Construction of my Trumpeter A-37 Dragonfly began with the cockpit that went together nicely—detail here is very good. The ejection seat is enhanced by adding kit supplied PE seat belts. Instrument panel detail is also excellent with separate decals for individual dials and gauges.

I like to build my aircraft models with closed canopies. However, the kit two piece canopy did not fit well in the closed position. I did a good deal of sanding on the front and back of each clear piece to get them to fit flush in the closed position.

According to the instruction guide, you are to place weights in the nose before joining the two fuselage halves. This is a joke because the nose gear wheel well fits into the nose. The wheel well takes up all of the space in the nose leaving no room for any weights. To keep the model from becoming a permanent tail sitter, I filled the entire nose wheel well with lead weights so the model barely sits on its three wheels.

Joining the fuselage halves was a bit challenging because of the tight fit. Joining the wing assembly to the fuselage was also a bit challenging because of a number of gaps that had to be filled and sanded. In fact I had to do the filling and sanding thing with almost every seam.

One nice thing about the kit is that it provides a wealth of gun pods, rocket pods, bombs, and fuel tanks. I equipped my Dragonfly with: two fuel tanks, two LAU-3 rocket pods, two Suu-11 Minigun pods, and two Mk.81 250lb bombs. The whip antennas were made from piano wire.

Painting

The paint guide for the Trumpeter Dragonfly kit calls for a SEA camouflage. However, I chose not to go with SEA camouflage. Instead, I painted my Dragonfly with MM Gunship gray. The engine air intakes, wheel wells, and landing gears were painted with MM Flat White. The fuel tanks, rocket pods, and Miniguns were painted MM Light Ghost Gray. The Mk.81 bombs were painted Olive Drab.

Decals

The decals for this kit were excellent. They are well printed, easily placed on the model and snuggled down nicely with a light application of Micro Sol. After applying decals, I wiped the model with a damp cloth, then hand brushed a light coat of Future over the entire model. To finish the model, I airbrushed the entire model with a coat of Model Masters Semi Gloss Lacquer.

conclusion

Even with the fit issues and all the filling and sanding, the finished model came out looking pretty good; frankly it surprised me. I was pleased with the finished model.