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1/48 Corben Super Ace - +++FINISHED+++


AndyC

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Evening all! Great GB - here is my proposed entry No.4...it's the Williams Brothers kit of the little Corben Super Ace from 1935. A small a/c powered rather quaintly by a modified Ford Model A car engine!

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There is only one sprue!

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The instructions and decal sheet are rather simple - just my kind of build

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I've seen a review on-line and it has its 'idiosyncrasies' but with a bit of patience is OK to build. Hope you like the choice!

Edited by AndyC
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Interesting subject. Something like this doesn't look too tough to build, especially since it seems to lack the rigging of biplanes, yet still has that early aviation look to it. I love the pointy nose profile as well.

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Interesting subject. Something like this doesn't look too tough to build, especially since it seems to lack the rigging of biplanes, yet still has that early aviation look to it. I love the pointy nose profile as well.

Yes, i thought the same. I just love the idea that someone would be buzzing around using a basic car engine as power! Amateur flying at its rawest? Looks a nice little 'plane though

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Are you going to mount the sidewinder?

Darn it - wrong thread - should have been in the What-If build! :banghead: Actually my little girl cat had been playing with the contents of one of my spares box which I had foolishly left in reach and that's what she dug out!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Evening all

Thought it was time to crack on with this little a/c while I wait for my C-17 to dry and my Ju-52 waits for paint :lol:

Although it's only one sprue, like the Pitcairn, it needs a bit of care as it is a short-run mould. First of all, I took the fuselage halves off the sprue and sanded them on 600 grit paper just to ensure flat mating surfaces (there are no locating pins)

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Then it was on to the cockpit with the interior sprayed white (untreated fabric) and then small diameter plastic rod for framing painted Aluminium

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Some boxes and a throttle quadrant were added from plastic section and spare box donors. This will be given a light wash later before closing the halves

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The instructions require some exhaust ports to be drilled - four on the port side only

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The underside of the nose has a large gap in which sits (at the rear) a radiator. On the real thing you could look up and see the underside of the Ford 4-cylider engine - what to do? To give an effect I scavenged an engine bit from an ICM Spit (I actually think its the Merlin rocker cover) and trimmed it to fit. I'll paint it Dark Aluminium and give it a wash and it will pass muster

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The seat is painted (pics later) and I hope to get the fuselage joined tomorrow. As per usual there will be some drilling (for rigging and control wires) to do but the tricky bit will be the spindly u/c legs and wing struts

Thanks for looking

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Evening all

So I managed to get some more done on Mr Corben's little tourer!

Got the seat painted (red for the cushions and silver for the frame) and used 1mm Jammydog tape for the belts. I glued in the control column (which projects through the floor) and the IP

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I then glued and clamped the fuselage halves and waited for them to set

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I then applied filler where necessary (a little over the top of the nose and on the turtle back) and sanded the seams. I made a headrest out of a sliver of plastic rod

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The colour scheme is tricky to mask as it is yellow lower fuselage, black nose and silver wings. I want to leave the wings off until last so I drilled a piece of copper ord into the underside of the wing to locate on the fuselage. I also drilled out the tab control holes

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The various control wire holes were drilled out of the fuselage, tailplane and fin (the latter two were glued in place and are waiting to have some filler applied)

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The undercarriage is a bit spindly and is a complicated piece of jiggery as there are these legs plus a fairing to be fitted as well as two wing struts behind (and there are no locating holes in the wings (yet)

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Dry fit the legs

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Next stage will be to set the front legs and then mark out location holes in the wings undersides and do the same for the struts (which I may yet do in brass rod). Once the tail is filled and sanded, the thing can be primed. The call-out is for yellow but I may do mine Park Green - for a change!

Thanks for looking

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  • 2 weeks later...

It's been a busy last couple of weeks for me with anything other than modelling so it's nice to get back to this (and the others) again.

Now that the fuselage is together and the main struts on, I decided to tackle the tailplane struts and the secondary wing struts. The tailplane ones (underside only) were done using .080 brass rod as this was identical to the plastic kit offering and was easier to use than cleaning up the 'flashed' kit version

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I was going to do the same with the secondary wing struts but these have an aerofoil shape so I bit the bullet and cleaned up the kit versions. These were then attached using poly cement and the correct angle established by placing the top wing in place and laying the fuselage upside down. I was going to drill them but I have decided they can be CA-tacked as the wing will be glued in place first, and the struts will be in compression rather than tension - I hope :yikes:

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I have cut all the remaining bits off the sprues and cleaned them ready for priming (wheels, u/c fairings and prop)

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They and the wing/fuselage have been primed. I have decided she will be in Lemon Yellow and Black with Alclad Aluminium wings!

Thanks for looking

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