Search the Community

(A build from more than 3 years ago, related to the Azur Delta build that I previously posted. Before the release of the Azur kit, the only way to get a Delta was to grab the old and venerable William Bros Gamma kit and mate it to a vacuformed after-market set that left a lot to be desired. But when there is a will, there is a kit, so we had to make with it. The results of course are cruder than the model made with the Azur kit, but who can refuse a modeling challenge?): Northrop Delta used on the Ellsworth Antarctic Expedition I have been always fond of this Humpty-Dumpty plane. The Esoteric partial conversion kit depicts a Northrop Delta 1D, that is the version with the "roundish" top and not the one that looks more like a Lockheed Orion. As it is, I could go with The Richfield Eagle, the Honeywell Delta - but I'd have to modify a bit the windshield- or the Ellsworth Antarctic Expedition (modifying it to adapt the skis). The Esoteric Models conversion is very old, and it is after all something meant to help modelers to have a replica of the Delta, conspicuously absent from the market until the Azur release, so it is kind of unfair that one would criticize it. Let me, then, be unfair, and say that it is quite bad. It is very crude, the molding is indistinct, the wing karmans have a too prominent edge, the stab fairings are overdone, the cowl stretches the styrene into a thin film at it's front, the location for the stabilizer halves is a deformed blob, the fuselage nose again has a too prominent edge, and the instructions don't instruct and do not include a 1/72 drawing of the parts. Oh, forgot to mention that the windows and door are inaccurately located, by quite a bit. Any good news? well, the outline matches quite well the plans I have. It had decals for the Coast Guard, but I trashed them. The Esoteric "Body Job" conversion is very simple: one vacuformed styrene sheet with two fuselage sides, a -marred- cowl, and the fin/rudder also -and predictably- in two halves. I have nothing against the Coast Guard, but I rather build a civil plane. There is no interior whatsoever, no engine, no clear parts, no prop, etc. Depending on what you are building you may use components from the William Bros. Gamma, but consult references, since engines and props and other bits (not to mention interiors) were very variable. And since you are at it, check the windows and accesses, that also varied greatly from plane to plane and even at different times for the same plane. Now go and get a W. Bros Northrop Gamma if you have this conversion, if that's not the case...good luck. Alternatively you may want to wait until I finish this laborious conversion at which point a kit is very likely to hit the market* *(AND IT DID, with the Azur kit).