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History
The Percival Provost was the second
basic trainer aircraft of the Royal Malaysian Air Force after the D.H Chipmunk.
This aircraft holds a special place in the history of the RMAF because it was
the first aircraft used by the RMAF flying training to train military pilots
locally in Malaysia. The Provost was in service from the sixties to the early
seventies when it was replaced by the S.A Bulldog aircraft. The S.A Bulldog took
over the role as the primary basic trainer of the RMAF until the early to mid
eighties and was replaced by the Pilatus PC-7 and PC-7 Mark II which is the
current primary basic trainer of the RMAF. Today there are few Provost’s on
display at various air bases and museums in the country.
The
Model
The model depicted here holds the
old RMAF markings and tail numbers with larger square national markings and
“FM” instead of “M” aircraft registration designates which is used by
all RMAF aircraft today.
The Provost is a 1/72 Matchbox kit.
The Provost is a basic kit with minimum internal detail present. The external
detail however is quite adequate for a kit of this vintage. Fit was very good in
my opinion. I had no major problems in constructing this kit. It was build
straight out of the box with only the markings custom made. The aircraft was
finished with Revell based paints. The checked flag motive was hand painted
while the other parts were airbrushed. The aircraft was washed with a
combination of poster paints and oil pastel to give it the used and dirty
effect.
The Provost with the Bulldog
aircraft (in the last picture) was responsible for training many pilots of the
RMAF. A special thanks to these aircrafts and instructor pilots.
S.B.
(Brian)
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