Overshadowed by powerful engines, high speeds and heavy weapons, some aircraft served a very different purpose in military aviation: observing the ground, carrying information and operating from relatively small airfields. The Piper L-21B Super Cub was one such aircraft in the post-war period. This dossier covers my 1/48-scale build of the PM Model kit in Turkish Army Aviation markings; the aircraft’s service history has its own dossier.
The Aircraft in Brief
The L-21B was the military counterpart of the PA-18-135 Super Cub, powered by a 135 hp Lycoming O-290-D2. In Turkish Army Aviation, members of the Super Cub family—the L-18B, L-18C and later L-21B—were used for artillery observation, liaison and training from the 1950s, and secondary accounts place some in training duties into the 1970s. Its high wing, wing struts and fixed tailwheel undercarriage gave observers a good view and allowed operations from simple airfields. The Army Aviation school moved to Güvercinlik in 1958. Turkish artillery aviators flew observation missions in Korea in 1950–51, but those early aircraft were L-18 variants, not the L-21B modelled here. The full service history, technical data and sources are in the companion history dossier: Piper Super Cub: Turkey’s Forgotten Observation Aircraft in Korea.
Scale Model: PM Model PM-502, 1/48
For this build I chose the Turkish-made PM Model PM-502 Piper L-21B “Super Cub” in 1/48 scale. Both the box artwork and the kit’s original painting guide show the aircraft marked 13422. The guide also offers US and Japanese marking schemes, but I chose the Turkish Army Aviation option.
The completed model is immediately recognisable by its broad high wing, slender supporting struts, narrow fuselage and conventional tailwheel landing gear. Instead of the dense detail found on some larger and more complex military aircraft, the Super Cub has a relatively simple geometry. That simplicity can make individual construction details even more noticeable: the way the wing sits above the fuselage, the alignment of the struts and the fit of the clear cockpit parts all affect the silhouette.
The Turkish Army Aviation Marking Option
The model featured in this dossier carries the letters “K.K.” on its tail. PM Model’s original PM-502 painting and marking guide explicitly labels this option “Turkish Army Air Corps” and illustrates the fuselage number 13422, the tail insignia and the wing markings. That provides direct documentary evidence for the kit manufacturer’s Turkish Army scheme.
The same marking guide specifies “Khaki — FS 34087” for the Turkish option. A kit instruction sheet is not, however, an official aircraft register. I have not independently linked 13422 to an airframe construction number, unit, airfield or service date. I therefore present my build as an L-21B finished according to PM Model’s Turkish Army Aviation scheme—not an exact reconstruction of a documented operational event.
Building Experience: A Simple Kit with a Troublesome Engine Cowling
The parts in PM Model’s L-21B generally fitted together reasonably well. This is not, however, a highly detailed kit. With relatively few parts and limited surface and interior detail, it makes for a short build rather than a long, intricate project.
The engine compartment was easily the most frustrating part. The manufacturer included an engine, which sounds promising on paper. Once the cowling is fitted, though, almost none of that detail remains visible. Worse still, getting the cowling to close properly proved unexpectedly difficult. I had to use fine sandpaper and modelling putty repeatedly to address the poor fit around the cover.
In other words, the kit includes engine detail that can barely be seen in the finished model, yet the surrounding parts do not come together as neatly as they should. That is a disappointing compromise.
Apart from the cowling, assembly was generally straightforward. The wing struts, traditional landing gear and generous glazed cockpit area create the Super Cub’s distinctive appearance. I was able to complete most of the build fairly quickly; the engine cowling accounted for the extra work.
Painting and Markings
I kept the paint scheme simple. The kit’s Turkish marking guide calls for Khaki — FS 34087; I interpreted that appearance using Tamiya XF-62 Olive Drab on the fuselage and wings. These are different colour-reference systems, and I do not claim a measured one-to-one match. I used XF-85 Rubber Black for the tyres and XF-1 Flat Black on the engine and a few other components.
For metallic details, including parts of the engine, I used X-11 Chrome Silver. The engine also received X-18 Semi-Gloss Black. Altogether, the recorded paint list consists of five Tamiya acrylic colours.
The restrained palette was enough to reproduce the model’s military appearance. On the finished aircraft, the red-and-white wing markings, fuselage number 13422, Turkish flag and K.K. lettering on the vertical tail stand out against the olive-drab finish.
The Finished Model
After completing the aircraft, I photographed it from several angles against a white background. The front and rear three-quarter views show the relationship between the high wing, cockpit and supporting struts, while the side views better reveal the long, narrow fuselage and tail arrangement.
The kit’s main strength is not its wealth of detail. Rather, it offers a fairly quick way to add a distinctive aircraft associated with Turkish Army Aviation to a collection. Despite the trouble I had with the engine cowling, the finished model captures the Super Cub’s straightforward and recognisable lines.
Conclusion
The Piper L-21B Super Cub represents a category of aircraft that rarely receives the attention given to fighters and bombers, yet played an important role in the everyday operation of military aviation. Derived from the civilian PA-18 family, it was adapted for duties such as observation and liaison and served with the Turkish Land Forces over a period of many years.
PM Model’s 1/48-scale kit provides an opportunity to recreate that history in Turkish markings. It is a simple, relatively quick build with limited detail, although the poorly fitting engine cowling required extra work with fine sandpaper and putty. In the end, it allowed me to add another modest but historically interesting aircraft to my Turkish Army Aviation collection.
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