Julien Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 C-45F Expeditor 1:48 Revell The Twin Beech, or to give the aircraft its proper title The Beechcraft Model 18, is a six to eleven seater twin engines low wing, tail wheeled light aircraft made by the Beech Aircraft Corporation is the USA. Between 1937 and 1969 (an impressive production run) over 9000 aircraft were built. During WWII many aircraft were pressed into service and may more were built for the allied war effort serving as transport aircraft, light bombers, trainers, and for photo-reconnaissance. The Kit This is a re-boxing by Revell of the recently released ICM kit. The packaging would indicate the plastic has come direct from ICM. There are two main sprues of parts, with two small spures, the upper and lower wings; and one clear sprue. Construction starts with adding the glazing to the main fuselage halves. There is a small strip for the 3 main cabin windows, with individual parts for all other windows in each side, Where the kit differs from others is that the main cockpit glazing is supplied as one part for each fuselage half, which wraps around from the side; but does not reach all the way to the middle. There is then a centre section which is added towards the end of the build. The US military could designate the aircraft the C-45, with the C-45F being a standard 7 seven seat aircraft which would feature a longer nose than earlier variants. This aircraft would be called the Expeditor II by the British and Expeditor III by the Canadians. Both British and Canadian Aircraft were supplied under lease-lend. Military Aircraft would end up serving long past WWII which was a testament to the design of the aircraft. Once the glazing is in then the internal structure of the cockpit and cabin can be added. There is a rear bulkhead to the cabin to add along with the bulkhead separating the cabin from the cockpit. In the cockpit itself the instrument panel is built up, the lower part of this featuring the rudder pedals. A single seat is made up which attached to the right fuselage half at the very back of the cabin. Once this seat is installed the main fuselage can be closed up. Construction now moves on to the main undercarriage. The mounting for which come of the rear of the engine firewall. These are a complicated multi part affair and need careful studying of the instructions to make sure all of the parts are in the right places. Once these are complete for both sides they can be installed into the lower wing. It should be noted here that the upper and lower wings are each one part, which when complete add straight to the underside of the main fuselage. Once the engine firewalls complete with landing gear parts are mounted to the lower wing the engine faces are added to the front of the firewall and then exhaust parts are made up and added to the indie of the engine area. The bulkheads are added next to the rear of the landing gear wells. Once the one part ailerons are added to the lower wing the upper wing can be added. The top of the upper wing forms the floor of the main cabin and cockpit. As such two cockpit seats and 4 main cabin seats must now be built and installed onto the floor section. The pilots control columns are also added at this stage. The completed wing/cabin floor assembly can then be joined to the main fuselage. The next construction stage is to make up and install the tailplane assembly. To wrap up construction the tail wheel needs to be built up and installed along with the doors to the compartment. The main wheels are added to the gear legs already installed and the main gear door put in place. The propellers are then installed. If the spinners are to be used then a small amount needs to be trimmed off the hubs. Lastly the rear cabin door is added and the centre section for the main wind screen (though it might be easier to add this to the fuselage before the wing is added). Decals The decal sheet for this kit seems to be again made in Portugal like some other new releases. However unlike other kits recently reviewed the decals here seem of good quality. The look colour dense and are nice and glossy. More importantly for anyone doing the USAF version a main stream model manufacturer seems to have finally figured out that the USAF titles are in Insignia Blue NOT Black. The two decal options provided are; UC-45F, 2nd Electronics Sqn USAF, Olmsted Field, PA, 1948. Expediter C.II no.728 Naval Air Sqn, Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm, Hal Far, Malta, 1949. Conclusion This is a great new tool kit with a couple of good decal options. Recommended. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepureness Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 Currently being built by me here http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234993125-revell-icm-c-45f-expeditor-last-kit-for-2015/ Great build so far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juhu Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 I was so amazed by this kit when saw it. But... do not get me wrong, I am no rivet counter, am building because of a pure joy. Still I expect that today's kit shall be somewhat faithful representation of the real aircraft at least from a reasonable distance. But this in my opinion is not. The first thing that catches my attentions are fuselage windows - they completely miss the typical rounded corners and look somewhat strange. The next thing is the nose shape which just does not look right. Check the pics of the wrecked piece here, it is very explanatory since without engines it revelas the true shapes of the aircraft... http://www.goodall.com.au/photographs/greybull-wyoming-usa70/Greybull%20Be18-N7391C-9.79-junkyard-KKK.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 I can't speak for the nose from those pics, but I'm seeing radiused corners on the windows. odd first post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juhu Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 What I wanted to say is that the rounding is not enough pronounced and the nose has odd "too steep" upper shape , just compare above posted photo I do not understand the remark of the "odd first post". I was having this kit in a focus and returned it with great regret, now I have read other notes belonging to the original ICM kit which states the same as I observed (unfortunatelly! I was kind of hoping to be wrong). If it is meant here to post only positive reactions, disregarding the reality, then I am sorry to cross the rule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted December 17, 2015 Author Share Posted December 17, 2015 Yes the kit windows do have radius corners. I think the nose look good as well, maybe just an angle thing from your pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 It's also a little difficult to judge without the clear parts in place, but the nose does look a little low at the tip from your photo, but as Julien said that could be the angle of the two photos, camera distortion etc. I'd like to see a built up on before judging it too harshly, as even things like colour schemes can affect the perceived shape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepureness Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 This is my current build chaps, side on angle, does this help with the nose? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted December 17, 2015 Author Share Posted December 17, 2015 Looks good to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juhu Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 Hmm indeed... seems I would need to build one for myself to see - nevertheless, I could not resist and bought one today ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 Don't forget to post up a build thread, as I'm sure folks out there would love to see it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepureness Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 Currently being built by me here http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234993125-revell-icm-c-45f-expeditor-last-kit-for-2015/ Great build so far I did mike, first reply to the review 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warreni Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 On 12/18/2015 at 1:30 AM, juhu said: What I wanted to say is that the rounding is not enough pronounced and the nose has odd "too steep" upper shape , just compare above posted photo I do not understand the remark of the "odd first post". I was having this kit in a focus and returned it with great regret, now I have read other notes belonging to the original ICM kit which states the same as I observed (unfortunatelly! I was kind of hoping to be wrong). If it is meant here to post only positive reactions, disregarding the reality, then I am sorry to cross the rule. Problem is you are not looking at the kit from the right angle I don't think. It is also very possible that the plane in the picture has been modified at some time in its life. Best way would be to go off reliable plans of the original. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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