Noorduyn Norseman Forest Service -modified Revell 1/72 kit

[dogsbody]

What I have for Norseman drawings:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chris

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The floats' work for the other build continues:

 

 

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

17 hours ago, dogsbody said:

What I have for Norseman drawings:

 

 

Chris

Great!

THANKS!

That covers the Mk5.

I am building what I think is an Mk4.

[72modeler]

Thanks, Chris! I have bookmarked that puppy for future reference- thanks for sharing it!

Mike

[dogsbody]

Just now, Moa said:

Great!

THANKS!

 

Hey, no problem! Sometimes I do post things that aren't vulgar and disgusting.

 

 

 

Chris

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

My subject had lights on the wings, thus they are drilled and home-made lenses are provided:

 

Comparing photos of my subject with the kit, the most evident detail that has to go are those additional hatches. There are deleted:

 

 

 

I can't find photos of the back of my subject showing the window on top of the cabin, but it seems to be ahead of where it should in the kit, compared to photos of other planes.

There are a few sink marks that will need attention later on.

The kit's cowl is the same as in the photos of my subject, so one less issue.

The engine as said is very poor, and the prop is not really good either, both will be replaced.

 

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

In 1/72, I see two other kits of the Norseman, a Formaplane (vacuum-formed) and a Choroszy release in resin.

Both look fairly nice -from a distance, looking at small photos on the Net.

[dogsbody]

While putting some reference books back on the shelf last night, I found this booklet. I forgot that I had it and don't remember when I got it. Aging sucks!

Anyway, there are a lot of detail pictures and drawings in it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chris

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

1 hour ago, dogsbody said:

While putting some reference books back on the shelf last night, I found this booklet. I forgot that I had it and don't remember when I got it. Aging sucks!

Anyway, there are a lot of detail pictures and drawings in it. 

 

Chris

Yeap, have to move that roof window back.

Thanks, Chris!

[Vingtor]

18 hours ago, Moa said:

Great!

THANKS!

That covers the Mk5.

I am building what I think is an Mk4.

The Mk.V was basically a civil version of the Mk.VI/UC-64. Noorduyn had reserved the "number" V (for Victory), hoping to sell a great number of aircraft after the war. However, the large number of surplus Mk.VIs, and a number of Mk.IVs available made it hard to sell the Mk.V.

 

I must confess my interest in the Norseman comes from writing this book some years ago: https://www.europeanairlines.no/product/noorduyn-norseman-mk-iv-mk-vi/. It covers the type in Norwegian service, but also general history and describes the two variants, with profiles and plan drawings.

 

 

 

[Vingtor]

1 minute ago, Vingtor said:

I must confess my interest in the Norseman comes from writing this book some years ago.....

 

Oops, I now see that it was mentioned a couple of posts earlier.... 😴

[dogsbody]

I admit that I forgot I had this book, but I bought it because it's about a Canadian designed and built aircraft that was built in fairly large numbers.

 

There are lots of great detail pictures and drawings in it, too. An excellent book, Nils.

 

 

 

Chris

[Vesa Jussila]

One more nice project coming together. My project is waiting for floats. Donor is currently missing.

 

[John Aero]

The only Norseman I saw in the wild was a Norwegian float plane at anchor at the old German seaplane base at Tromso (Norway) up in the Artic circle in the mid 70's. Just off the slipway were loads of smashed wooden Norseman airframe parts where they had just broken up several others. In the hangar was a floatplane Beaver.

[Vingtor]

16 minutes ago, John Aero said:

The only Norseman I saw in the wild was a Norwegian float plane at anchor at the old German seaplane base at Tromso (Norway) up in the Artic circle in the mid 70's.

AKA Skattøra. Built by the Norwegian Naval Air Arm in the late 1930s, but finished but the Germans.

16 minutes ago, John Aero said:

In the hangar was a floatplane Beaver.

Painted in Widerøe's green livery, but actually owned and operated by the CIA.....

 

Nils

[John Aero]

Interesting re the Beaver. Thank you for the information. I have an air progress drawing of the Norseman IV.

 

John

[AaCee26]

1 hour ago, Vesa Jussila said:

One more nice project coming together. My project is waiting for floats. Donor is currently missing.

 

Hi Vesa,

 

Donor for the floats is very close as they were from a Dornier Do 22, shortened a bit. RS Models will release one soon if you don't have an AviationUSK kit available.

 

Cheers,

 

AaCee

[Roger Holden]

3 hours ago, Vingtor said:

 

I must confess my interest in the Norseman comes from writing this book some years ago

 

 

Yes; that's a quite superb book you produced there. Got one at Telford about 10 years ago and I can honestly say there are few better....

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Airscoop hollowed:

 

Correction of details,continues, checking against photos of intended plane:

 

Details are added:

 

Rigging holes for the tail feathers:

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

1 hour ago, John Aero said:

The only Norseman I saw in the wild was a Norwegian float plane at anchor at the old German seaplane base at Tromso (Norway) up in the Artic circle in the mid 70's. Just off the slipway were loads of smashed wooden Norseman airframe parts where they had just broken up several others. In the hangar was a floatplane Beaver.

There is a poem somewhere in that image, John.

Let´s play a bit, with a sort of free-style Haiku:

 

Birds of water and sky

Broken wings

Sleeping and dreaming

of white clouds

Time is silent

but the waves still whisper

lapping on the shores of memory

[John Aero]

I like that Moa. My memory, though nearly 50 years ago, is still of the bright varnished wooden pieces, with some lapped by the water at the slipways edge. It wasn't my only encounter with the Men in Dark Glasses on my travels.  😎

 

John

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The kit's top window is occluded, and the new position, a bit back, is marked in pencil.

I did not cut it yet, since I can't corroborate my subject had it, I keep looking:

 

Meanwhile the medium hinge line in the back door (only in one side) is filled:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The modified kit floats for that other project -and the culprits of me starting this kit- are almost ready:

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Decals for this Forest Service model are being printed as we speak by Arctic Decals 🥰, I was very lucky, as the owner had already gathered and worked on similar material for other projects, thus facilitating the task (and most importantly, shortening the production time!).

As many of my modeling supplies have apparently fallen into the Post Office Universal Maelstrom     and I have so many delayed projects due to that issue, I will not be holding my breath. This of course has nothing to do with manufacturers and hobby stores (and to some extent, to be fair, we can't blame only the USPS, given the circumstances we are all aware of, although the information they display in their absolutely dysfunctional website is inaccurate and outdated. I spent two hours trying to communicate with customer service, by phone and email. After wasting a lot of time filling their forms and replying to silly questions that did not apply, the form would say something like -you are good to go, please click "send"-, When you did, the form will get blank again, without having sent anything, GRRRRRR!!!!).

I will, as I have done with other projects so far, complete the model as far as I can , and then... probably... start yet another project?

 

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

 

And now, the usual color conundrum, or as the great Greek philosopher, modeler and olive pitter Styrenedes used to call it "χρωματικό παράδοξο":

 

Many Norseman were painted aluminium and orange*, which makes sense as high vis colors when their service required it.

And this is an ex-military machine.

Again, many planes in the Forest Service would have patches of yellow, orange or red, as seen in color photos, which makes sense, as they operated in a wooded environment and needed contrasting colors for obvious reasons.

But Arctic Decals owner and myself are nagged by this feeling that at least that tail was beautifully green, as the Forest Service logo, if not all the areas in the darker hue.

I think I will have to go for some orange variation, as logic dictates that, but still...

 

 

*(The Dodo that crash-landed in a white house of certain Washington neighborhood, in spite of being orange, is completely unrelated to this build)