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Revell / ICM C-45F Expeditor last kit for 2015


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Hi everyone

After a few failed starts of kits over the last couple of weeks that I've decided to put on the back burner I have since decided what kit will be my final kit for the year. And after tackling some big kits, I've decided to build something a little smaller.

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This was an impulse buy yesterday while passing through Truro and the local toy shop, Revell's boxing of ICMs C-45F Expeditor.

I was also thinking of purchasing the kit in its ICM packaging but was put off by a few ICM kits boxed by Revell in the past, Mustang, spitfire and Bf-109F-4 to name them really and was not really confident in tackling something like them, but for £16.99 I went for the gamble and ICM have come a long long way in the quality of their kits, so much so I just purchased the Revell 1/48 DO 215 boxing aswell.

Anyway, after a few test fits of the kit and being happy with the results I've decided to throw this onto the workbench immediately, ordered the eduard etched and masks from MJW models (thanks Mike) which should be here soon, but a start can be made straight away over the week end.

I like the fact that Revell have finally caught up with the quality of their instruction manuals, although the boxes are still the same flimsy card box with just a different design on the box. I'll be going with the royal navy version based in Malta during 1949.

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Test fitting, it's has this cuteness to it

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It should be a very straight forward and quick build this, nothing too complex at all.

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So far this is a really simple kit to build, ICM have defiantly come a long way in the quality of their kits. I could see me finishing this before Xmas.

Since I'm waiting for the aftermarket parts for the cockpit and seat harnesses I've started with the wings, engines and undercarriage.

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I was going to send these direct to thepureness but he asked me to post them here. Photos are taken from the Alberta Aviation Museum in Edmonton, Alberta and the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton, Ontario - all pictures are my own.

http://s37.photobucket.com/user/millsforester/library/C-45

Eventually I'll get better at taking plane pictures but it's a start.

Cheers,

foresterab

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Thanks Martin,

Still trying to figure out what angles and aspects of airplanes to take pictures of but figured I could help out with some of the Canadian versions of planes at least as I visit the different collections.

Cheers for now,

foresterab

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So my etched has arrived and on with some more of the build, cockpit instrument panel done, one annoying thing was the carpet monster made an appearance and devoured one of the etched levers, with nothing in the stash as a suitable replacement I had to make do with this

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I've masked up the clear parts and made a error while appling some glue and for some unknown reason at exactly the wrong time I sneezed and got a nice dab of tamiya cements on part of the windows, I did some sanding and polishing, it wasn't perfect but it did.

Anyone that has built this will know the frustration of the cabin seats, there is 5 very thing parts attached by 5 points to the sprues, and D 5 below, and D4 on one rear seat

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Every single part, no matter the techniques I used to remove from the sprue broke, and even just handling the parts with my lady/man hands they just fell apart a few times into 4 breaks per part, these parts are way too fragile. but after some work, I got something acceptable.

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well, interesting fact around the eduard etched set is they provide seat belts for pilot seats and 2 passenger seats, then the remaining 3 seats either have just the shoulder belts and no waist belts, and the final seat has nothing. Which I find quite odd.

The breakdown of the seats into the fuselage it quite odd with all the seats including the pilots attached to the wings, see below

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With the fuselage and wings attached and the internal colour painted on the canopy, wing roots needs a little tidying and then we can start some painting.

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How come yours isn`t covered with filler like mine??? Mine has been the jinxed model from hell which has fought me at every turn and having got to the stage of fitting the canopy that was awful too and one of the side parts was missing so I`m waiting for one to arrive in the Christmas post!!!

I wish mine looked as nice as yours!

Cheers

Tony

Here is my previous Battleaxe C-45 from yonks ago! I`ve added it here as it is my very old take on the same scheme provided by Revell,....although photos have since appeared proving that my `811' code is the wrong style,.....so I`ll be buying a Revell kit to add the correct one to my kit,....thanks for showing what the kits alternative scheme isl. I`ll gladly delete this pic,..no worries.

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Edited by tonyot
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How come yours isn`t covered with filler like mine??? Mine has been the jinxed model from hell which has fought me at every turn and having got to the stage of fitting the canopy that was awful too and one of the side parts was missing so I`m waiting for one to arrive in the Christmas post!!!

I wish mine looked as nice as yours!

Cheers

Tony

Here is my previous Battleaxe C-45 from yonks ago! I`ve added it here as it is my very old take on the same scheme provided by Revell,....although photos have since appeared proving that my `811' code is the wrong style,.....so I`ll be buying a Revell kit to add the correct one to my kit,....thanks for showing what the kits alternative scheme isl. I`ll gladly delete this pic,..no worries.

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Please keep it there, always good to see other builds of the aircraft, even when not the same kit. thanks for the post, and filler is yet to come

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Although not my usual genre it looks like a decent kit and yes, much better than ICM's older offerings. The RN scheme gives it extra appeal. That thin part breakage sounds like what I went through on my HMS Spiraea. Too many thick sprue attachments to a single thin part with the inevitable result.

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some updates, undercarriage is on, de-icing areas, I've got to get the exhausts and front undercarriage doors on, then I'll be putting on the gloss, the kit looks very clean as the moment, and really needs to look a little dirtier I think.

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Its looking very smart! I would keep any weathering very light as all the pictures of post war 728 Squadron aircraft I have seen, tend to show them to have been well looked after. I think Tony pitched it about right with his build of the Battleaxe kit.

Martin

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So we are onto the decals

they are gone on ok, I hate the decals that leave the red dot from the center of the RAF/RN roundel as an additional decal instead of the whole roundle decals, I'm always thinking "does that look in the center or not" with them

Letter on the under wings was very bad, the decals broke into several parts as the touched the water. I've managed with some luck to get them looking good enough.

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going to leave the decals to dry overnight, then get a gloss seal in the morning before work.

It is far from my best work, an also my first attempt at an overall NMF, but with acrylics I feel i'm not going to get the type of finish I want, going to have to think about alcads.

please forgive my bin, my daughter got a frozen one, so I took her spare

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