Canada's one and only indigenously designed and produced fighter ever to make it to squadron service was the AVRO CF-100 Canuck, often called the Clunk due to it's boxy shape. First flown in 1950, the Clunk served as a successful interceptor during the dark days of the Cold War both in Canada and in Europe. CF-100s were also sold to Belgium, the only export success. The last Clunks served with 414 Sq and were retired in the 1980s. 

The Canuck started service in natural metal with nice, colorful squadron markings. Those that served in Europe were painted in a camouflage scheme of OD, green and grey. The only kit of the CF-100 is the Hobbycraft version. Unfortunately, this was one of Hobbycraft's initial kits and suffers from lack of experience in building kits. It can be made into a decent representation of the CF-100, but it takes work. Unfortunately, the aftermarket folks have not produced any bits for this kit. It really needs a nice resin cockpit and wheel wells!

Decals are another side, though and Arrow Graphics, a Canadian company, has produced a number of sheets. This is fortunate as the Hobbycraft decals are trash. I built a Mk 4 soon after it was released and I had to resort to white glue to keep the decals on the kit!

The Arrow Graphic sheet is for a Mk 4 version of 440 Squadron serving in Europe. To prevent registration problems, the roundels and tail flags are of separate bits that need to be combined. The sheet itself has a continuous carrier film over all the markings, so careful trimming is required. I have not used any of Arrow Graphics sheets of this age (1986) so cannot comment on their performance, however, they HAVE to be better than what comes in the kit!

The instruction sheet is quite adequate for painting the kit and decal placement.

Review copy courtesy of me and my wallet!!!

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