Super Etendard / Super Etendard Modernisé

TG Decals, 1/72 & 1/48 scales

Reviewed by Graham Carter

This fairly new decal company, based in Guatemala but having the decals printed in the USA, continues to produce high quality sheets for the modern jet enthusiast and this beautifully presented set of markings covers the naval Super Etendard in French and Argentine service.

Its hard to believe that this plane was designed in 1955 and yet, with successive updates, is still in service today with Argentina. It only left French service in 2016! Mind you, there are probably almost no parts in common between the initial variant and its latest iterations! Etendard means ‘battle standard’ in English.

The sheet is beautifully printed with excellent gloss finish, perfect register and almost non-existent carrier film. The tiny badges, some of them only 2x3mm, and stencil markings are exquisite. The full colour eight pages of instruction show each aircraft in four views, along with airframe and weapon stencil placement, a swell as extra decals for some different aircraft in the same group. Painting details are given in FS numbers matched to paints from Modelmaster, Humbrol, Tamiya, Gunze, Vallejo, Ammo-Mig, and Hataka - very thorough!! The only downside is that the modeller will have to paint the blue and white rudder stripes on the Argentinian variants using the recommended colours in the paint guide.

The Super Etendard Modernisé is an updated version that enabled the French navy to continue operations long after the retirement of the original model in the 1990s but differs little externally from its predecessor apart from a couple of aerials, and the ability to carry newer weapons.

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Thumbnail panels:

The aircraft covered are:-

Armada Argentina:

• Super Etendard 0752/3-A-202 0n 2010 in standard extra Dark Sea Grey over white undersurfaces along with decals to build the same plane earlier in its career, as well as 3-A-203, 3-A-204 and 3-A-205 , all in the same scheme.

• Super Etendard Modernisé No. 44 in 2020 in the new scheme of FS35237 overall, with patches of Extra Dark Sea Grey on the upper surfaces. This was one of five aircraft sold by France to the Argentine Navy in 2018, the others being 1, 31, 51 and 41. They retained the French numbers and schemes abut the cocardes were painted over with EDSG.

• French Aeronavale

  • Super Etendard No. 41 in standard extra Dark Sea Grey over white undersurfaces,

  • Super Etendard Modernisé No.8 at Kandahar Afghanistan in 2008 in overall FS35237, and

  • Super Etendard Modernisé No 1 of Flottille 17F which made the last Etendard catapult flight from the carrier Charles de Gaulle in March 2016, in the new scheme of FS35237 overall, with patches of Extra Dark Sea Grey on the upper surfaces. Commemorative markings are included, although they are a bit low key. It was later sold to the Argentine as noted above.

These really are superb decals that will allow two complete models to be built.

I recommend these unreservedly to naval aircraft modellers.

My only reservation is that the modeller will have to paint the blue and white rudder stripes on the Argentinian variants using the recommended colours in the paint guide.

Thanks to TG Decals for the sample.

Review Text and Images Copyright © 2020 by Graham Carter
Page Created 29 October, 2021
Last updated 29 October, 2021

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