This pandemic thing and my unexpected retirement has resulted in all sorts of spare time, so I've been building models. This is the fourth one in as many months, something I haven't done in a lot of years.

The model is the Hobby Boss 1/48 IAR-80, an indigenous WWII Romanian fighter based loosely on Polish PZL designs. The airplane saw quite a bit of combat against both the USAAF and the RAF and was among the fighters intercepting the bomber raids against the Ploesti oil refineries. I discovered this one many years ago, but I think this is the first mainstream kit of this relatively unknown aircraft.

It's a nice little kit, fairly well detailed, low parts count, all the things I like in a model. It's accuracy has been questioned by the rivet counters, but it looks like an IAR-80 to me, so of I went. There's a small PE sheet and decals for two aircraft included. What you see here is about two days of work. Of course I got started before checking my references, so the seat and cockpit floor are not quite the right color.

I'll throw in a plug for the excellent book on this aircraft by master modeler Radu Brinzan, which is a must have if you want to build this aircraft. A friend and I are hatching a plan to scratchbuild a 1/4 RC IAR-80. We'll see what happens.

4 attached images. Click to enlarge.

I agree with Spiros (@fiveten), this is a great choice. I knew little about the plane until I recently read a book on the Ploesti raids. I had always assumed the Luftwaffe provided all of the defense of the oil fields. I can tell you that retirement can be good, once you figure it out. Stay busy and stay safe.

Jamie, @jetmex
This looks like a fun little kit to build...and you have made some very good progress so far. Count me in as watching you build it. It always helps to get as much information on your project as you can, as this will help you make it as accurate as you can (if that is what you really want)...Sometimes ignorance is bliss !

Stay safe buddy.

Back on the bench...

When building some kits, you hit a point when the honeymoon ends and I reached that point today. I noticed that the sprue attachments are numerous and also manage to intrude onto mating surfaces. There are also ejection blobs everywhere, especially on very fine parts where they are difficult to remove. I almost cut the tailskid apart trying to clean it up, and did cut an attachment tab off thinking it was a sprue stub. It came to head doing the engine, where every cylinder is attached to the sprue right between the rocker covers. Turned into an hour of cleaning it all up to get everything to fit correctly:

The rudder and flaperons are separate parts, though why the rudder was molded in two pieces and the flaperons weren't is beyond me. Rudder fit fine, but the flaperons will need some tweaking to get them in correctly. I'll do those after I clean up the seams. Engine looks ok, but I'm happy it will be covered up! Someone with more motivation than I have could do some detailing in the engine compartment, but I think I'd find an aftermarket engine to do that:

The cowl is in two pieces and unfortunately, you can't assemble it first and slide it over the engine, so I'll have to paint it after it's on the airplane.

I've nearly knocked the tailskid off more than once, so if anyone else builds this one, leave it off until you're just about done. And the tiny guns are molded into the wings, so be careful of those as well.

Jaime, the wall is there sometimes, but with multiple builds in progress it is just to leave it for a week or month or whatever. There clearly are some major challenges with this kit that must be overcome.

And like Spiros, I shall be looking forward to learn more of this one - thanks for sharing!

This build is really coming along nicely, Jaime (jetmex), even though there are some challenges along the way. Anything that protrudes on my models usually ends up lost in the carpet, things could be worse. I know some cowlings are tapered and need to be in separate pieces, but some seem needlessly complex. I once build a kit that had the cowling in four pieces.

Fill her up! - looking like an IAR-80 by now.

Hi Jaime @jetmex! Your IAR looks great!
As for the undersurfaces, after doing your detailed (up to your liking) research, then decide and go!
We are here to admire the result!