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While waiting for the weekend so I can get the airbrush out, I decided to start a new, relatively simple project: NASAMS.

From this point on, unless otherwise stated or completely obvious, all abbreviations are written using the Latin alphabet.

Not that I couldn’t carry on with Cruella – I still have the metal tracks to assemble – but I’d had my eye on this kit for a while. So, after Nadya and the girls had dinner, I set up the kitchen table.

First, a few words about NASAMS. The National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System, also known as the Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System, is jointly developed by Norway’s Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (KDA) and the US company RTX Corporation, formerly Raytheon Technologies Corporation. It is a short- to medium-range air defence system. What I found interesting is that it can launch a fairly broad range of existing air-to-air missiles – the kind fighter aircraft use against other aircraft. The latest version, NASAMS 3, can use the original AIM-120 AMRAAM, the AMRAAM-ER (Extended Range), and the short-range AIM-9X Sidewinder.

Now, the model. It is made by Trumpeter and is relatively recent, dating from 2023. That suggests it should be fairly easy to assemble, with the parts fitting together without too much cleanup and filing. The instructions have ten steps, but you choose between the transport configuration in step 9 and the combat configuration in step 10, so there are really only nine steps to complete. The kit includes two camouflage schemes and decals. Unfortunately, unlike MENG kits, for example, there is no additional information, not even identifying which country’s army the markings represent. There is also a small photo-etched fret and even two metal tubes with springs.

The photo-etched fret is small, and its parts are relatively large, but almost all of them need bending and gluing together. We’ll see how far I get with those.

The steps themselves looked simple enough, so I sat down hoping to get through at least the first three, if not the first four:

Well, not quite. As soon as I took out sprue A, I realised how much I had overestimated myself 😂 I’ve mentioned before that I’m not particularly fond of Russian truck kits: their chassis consist of large but very thin parts that bend alarmingly and still have to fit together… That’s exactly what you get with A1 and A3, the starting parts here. On top of that, the moulding makes cleaning them up for a good fit a bit of an adventure. All right, a fairly small adventure; it wasn’t that bad. A little trimming with the scalpel, a little filing, a little softening with cement, and everything fell into place.

I moved on to the two “beams” made from C5, C13 and C10, assembled in that order, and… More of the same.

The other “box” isn’t particularly difficult. It still needs a little adjustment, but nothing like the previous two assemblies. Then I reached my own little modelling nightmare: the photo-etched parts.

A tip: glue photo-etched part PE-5 on first, and only then the straightforward B43, which needs no further explanation.

As for PE-5, this tiny piece needs six precise folds to form a box. This is where the little MasterTool bending tool in the photo below comes in handy. If only it were that easy! The finished shape means that whichever fold you make first, it gets in the way of at least one of the later folds: you simply can’t put the part back in the tool.

But with a little persistence and care, I managed it. I’m actually proud of how well it turned out!

So, after around 55 minutes of work, this is where I got to:

Tomorrow after work we’re playing our D&D campaign, Vecna: Eve of Ruin, so I won’t be building. I hope to continue with at least step 2 on Thursday 😉