WACO YKS, 1/72 Khee-Kha Vacuformed

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

A build from 9 years ago:

 

Another carefully crafted vac kit from Khee Kha Art Products of Alaska, the WACO YKS is a welcome addition to the growing line of bush planes kitted by this talented manufacturer.

This iconic biplane, of which still many cross the skies today is what we define as a classic.

Many WACOs rode on floats, and many were modified to accomplish certain tasks; that aside the many models and marks that the factory itself delivered.

For that reason it is a good idea before construction to select the actual plane you want to model and get some references, to be able to pint-point details, colors, markings and so forth. Research is an exciting part of the building process, and usually prevents the commission of mistakes regarding appearance, mistakes that are more difficult to correct after the model is built and somebody points them out to you.

Construction started by separating the parts and sanding them according to the instructions. The molds have very good surface detail, be careful not to obliterate it. Some lines are a bit faint, so mark them to be able to score/cut/sand at the right place. By the way, those instructions are extensive, detailed and well written.

Fuselage windows were open at this time too.

I opted to represent a plane that had another engine (Continental), so I put aside the neat resin one that came with the kit (images depicts the well cast and detailed resin bits included in the kit (engine, two props of different style, instrument panel/dashboard, tail wheel, control column, transparent material for the side windows and the two –one spare-windshield)

Advised by Khee-Kha’s owner I also modified a few details that slightly differed from the “6” variant in the landing gear area. This informs you about the adaptability of the kit, since with little tweaks you could expand the range of machines that can be represented. Being Khee-Kha’s owner a fan of bush planes, he of course offers aftermarket resin floats and decals for other versions that you can purchase separately.

Wings and stab halves were joined, locking tabs glued to the fuselage halves and the interior parts cut from the backing sheet and built-up. I had a pair of suitable white metal wheels so I put aside the vac ones provided. The wheel pants were glued and refined to accept the wheels at this stage.

I had to scratch the control wheel/pedestal, but that part is now included in the kit as a resin bit.

Once the interior was finished and painted, I joined the fuselage halves, and had to do a little shaving on the cabin floor and instrument panel to have a comfortable fit.

I was a bit enthusiastic while sanding the cowl opening, so had to glue a pre-curved flat styrene rim on the cowl mouth, to restore proper shape.

Once the fuselage was set I started to locate spars for the wings and stabs, as seen on the photos. I departed a bit from the kit’s instructions since I feel comfortable with my own method, but the kit instructions give you a very good way to deal with the issue.

The horizontal tail actually got the spar where it should be, and a connecting piece that united the halves at the front, lodged in the fuselage cutouts for the variable incidence as the original. Later on the elevators were separated from the stab and given a relaxing angle.

The windshield transparency was carefully trimmed and set aside for the moment.

The side windows were patterned as per their openings, cut and adjusted to fit; as you can see in the photos I added some thin rubber padding to a pair of tweezers after getting fed-up of marring transparencies. This allows the clear part to be held and proceed with minor sanding preserving the surface of the part.

Other details as per photos were dealt with (exhaust pipes, carb intake, nav lights, rudder control horn, bottom wing linkage fairings, fuel gages under the upper wing, etc).

As you make progress on the building start to think about your decals since they don’t come with the kit (as said, an option can be purchased from the manufacturer separately for one machine).

In order to further expedite construction I replaced the kit landing gear and wing struts for Contrail (plastic) and Strutz (brass) material. I also added a lower fuselage fairing where some landing gear reinforcement struts go.

The upper wings were glued to fuselage, via a metal tube spar previously inserted after its dihedral was given to it.

The model needs a few struts, but fortunately no other rigging than tail bracings and control leads for the rudder horns.

Home made decals were printed and a custom paint mix prepared for the model representing NC31663.

I am truly grateful for the help received from the National WACO Club, which kindly provided information on WACO liveries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JWM]

Very nice result and excellent guide - I have that one in my stash, good to see, what can be achieved!

Regards

J-W

[Courageous]

On floats would have been better 

 

Stuart

[Graeme H]

Another Moa masterclass

[Baldy]

What a delightful aeroplane that is. And a lovely model of it from you Moa. Thank you for the vac-form masterclass too - you do make it look simple.

 

Cheers

 

Malcolm

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

3 minutes ago, Baldy said:

you do make it look simple.

 

Cheers

 

Malcolm

Malcolm, they are simple, but like everything esle, may be not the first, as any other kit media we know.

Vacs are the Cinderellas of the modeling party.

Good news: you can get some to practice on usually for cheap second hand.

Fellow modelers: Go butcher a couple so you can learn the two or three things that are particular to them in kits that you don't care much about, as practice, and then you are on your way.

I have never regretted giving them a go. I actually like them far more than the middle and low ranges of then resin realm.

 

Vac-a-go-go!

 

 

 

[Baldy]

1 minute ago, Moa said:

Malcolm, they are simple, but like everything esle, may be not the first, as any other kit media we know.

Vacs are the Cinderellas of the modeling party.

Good news: you can get some to practice on usually for cheap second hand.

Fellow modelers: Go butcher a couple so you can learn the two or three things that are particular to them in kits that you don't care much about, as practice, and then you are on your way.

I have never regretted giving them a go. I actually like them far more than the middle and low ranges of then resin realm.

 

Vac-a-go-go!

 

 

 

You know what - I think I will and you are right, I see lots of vac-form kits at model shows for low prices so what to lose?

 

Cheers

 

Malcolm

[John Aero]

That is an exquisite little example of the vacform kit. and ASB  Moa.

 

I have been trying to get people to appreciate vacforms for years. they really aren't difficult.

 

John

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

14 minutes ago, John Aero said:

I have been trying to get people to appreciate vacforms for years. they really aren't difficult.

 

John

I know you did, John, and you had some remarkable success at that, which is great.

And yes, you are right, they are not more difficult, just slightly different. You get the gist in a couple models practice if you have a modicum of experience already with "normal" kits.

I have no idea how many I have built in these last 10 years, dozens for sure. They are fun.

I have a few more that will be posted soon.

Cheers

Edited February 8, 2019 by Moa

[Dazey]

Very attractive plane. I'll need to check the Khee-Kha line in 1/72 – I'm a fan of the bush planes (and am becoming a little less scared of tackling vac-form!)

 

Regards,

David

[stevehnz]

I like, rather a lot.  We did have some Wacos, not any YKSs though, operating in New Zealand pre war that were commandeered by the RNZAF but the one of these I want to model was the YKC operated by the LRDG in Egypt & Libya that was flown by a Kiwi soldier.

Steve.

[lars_opland]

Hi All,

I just want to add that the head of Waco's design department was a Brit by the name of A. Francis Arcier.

 

Also, Avro built a very similar plane called the Avro 641 Commodore, which never saw Waco's production numbers, perhaps in part because North America contained the largest existing market for such things. Canadians flew a lot of Wacos, many of them commercially, on floats in summer, skis in winter...

 

Cheers, -Lars

[Wlad]

Lovely build Moa. When I was a boy I was quite taken by the lines of the "Cabin" Waco. So I tried, unsuccessfully, to build a rubber-powered model from kit. As a teenager, after having a few kits under my belt, I built another Waco kit. It looked rather nice, though it had way too much drag for a rubber-powered model, so its flights were short. Your build brought back good memories. 

 

Cheers,

Wlad

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

13 minutes ago, Wlad said:

Lovely build Moa. When I was a boy I was quite taken by the lines of the "Cabin" Waco. So I tried, unsuccessfully, to build a rubber-powered model from kit. As a teenager, after having a few kits under my belt, I built another Waco kit. It looked rather nice, though it had way too much drag for a rubber-powered model, so its flights were short. Your build brought back good memories. 

 

Cheers,

Wlad

👍

[pheonix]

Vacuform kits are greatly improved from the early releases in the late 1960's (Rareplanes always excepted). I know that some modern offerings are still little more than lumps of plastic but the better ones with transfers and resin or white metal parts are significantly better. However I just feel that scratch building is more satisfying.

 

Great model which shows what can be done with experience and care.

 

P