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CL-215 fire bomber


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Appreciate the comments!!

I ran into a bit of a fit issue with the engine to wing assembly, the airfoil shape of the top wing surface being lower mid chord than the undercut of the engine resulting in a gap. This may be dur to my assembly method and with the CL-415 I will check the fit before gluing the upper wing half to the lower because a simple push up in the mid chord area would solve the problem. Not that it was all that tough to remedy here, I just shimmed the bottoms of the engines with a sliver of .010" sheet...with the plus that I also raised the nacelle above the flap which looks more prototypical as well.

SdkPOPh.jpg

 

vw0rh9N.jpg

 

hVqUovP.jpg

Thanks for looking

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Hi Chris,

 

This kit goes together pretty quick and solid other than the tail sitter aspect you're already correcting. 

 

In regards to the differences between the CL215 and CL415 is the obvious turbine but this also leads to a slightly faster plane and much better performance scooping/dealing with elevation/ peeling out post drop.  Load capacity is similar but the avionics and controls are generations apart.  For reference the CL-215T Alberta uses is a -215 with upgrades bringing it to very very close capacity of the -415's.   I've seen the -215's dropping every 5 minutes on fire due to scoop, bank, bank, drop, bank, bank, scoop....three in pattern and some very happy crews on the ground.    But you don't normally have fires on the shore of your scooping lake either.

 

I checked my photos and I don't have any of Saskatchewan planes in use.  Bunch of Alberta, some Quebec but was am not often able to play photo tourist on deployments...plus tend to be at command post rather than airstrips.   But the Saskatchewan fleet is pretty simple paint jobs.  Check out the history of the Convair 340 they use...used to be Air Force One at one point.

 

This is also a bit of a slow time of year so a good time of year to ask about photos from Lac La Ronge or Prince Albert if you're trying to get more recent photos...they may allow visits come spring but I know it was a big issue last year and this upcoming season is also up in the air in terms of facility restrictions.  

 

Always glad to see another water bomber in progress :)

 

foresterab

 

 

 

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Nice work Chris - it looks great! From what I can see, the main visible difference between the CL215 and CL415 are the two water dump doors of the CL215 versus the four water dump doors of the CL415 (the Heller kit two door arrangement will require re-scribing for a CL415 four door set up).

 

The slide doors on the CL215 seems to only have been installed on a relatively small number of aircraft - most CL215 aircraft have the same 'normal' doors, like the CL415 (I have two Hellenic aircraft to make (CL215 and CL415) at some point.

 

Cheers

 

Derek

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Hi everyone

 

I am told that the major difference between the 215 and the 415 is that the engine nacelles for the kits are attached at the same point whereas in real life the 415 has the nacelles shifted inboard.

 

A French modeller says via Google Translate:  Heller has maintained the attachment points of the nacelles corresponding to the CL-215. As a result, the new nacelles are about 5 mm too much outboard. To correct this, you must:  Cut the bonnets (triangular shape) to the nacelles.  Bond structural reinforcing plates to solidify cut parts.  Swap the previously cut pieces to bring the base of the basket 5 mm inwards.

 

Untranslated he said:  Heller a conservé les points d’attache des nacelles correspondant au CL-215. De ce fait, les nouvelles nacelles sont environ 5 mm trop a l’extérieur. Pour corriger cela, il faut :  Couper les capotages (de forme triangulaire) de raccord aux nacelles.   Coller des plaques de renfort de structure afin de solidifier les parties découpées.  Intervertir les morceaux precedement découpés afin de ramener la base de la nacelle de 5mm vers l'intérieur..
 

About the Heller 415 engine nacelles via Google Translate he says:   The profile of the engine nacelle is a bit too flat, which gives it a tendency to have a high nose once installed. The first modification consists in making a notch behind the side access hatches to the turbine. This will lean down the forward section of the nacelle so that the propeller plane is tilted -3 degrees from the vertical.  The back of the engine nacelle will receive a piece of Evergreen 6mm wide and 22mm long. The perimeter will be connected with putty and all will be shaped by sanding.  The junction of the propeller spinner with the front cowling of the engine casing is a little too broken. It is necessary to refine the cowling to have a less abrupt junction.

 

Untranslated he said:  Nacelles moteur:  Le profil de la nacelle est un peu trop plat, ce qui lui donne une tendance à avoir le nez haut, une fois installée. La première modif consiste à pratiquer une entaille en arrière des trappes latérales d’accès a la turbine. Cela permettra de pencher vers le bas la section avant afin que le plan d’hélice soit penché de 3 degrés par rapport à la verticale.  Le dos de la nacelle recevra un morceau d’Evergreen de 6 mm de large et 22 mm de long. Le pourtour sera raccordé avec du putty et le tout sera mis en forme par ponçage.  La jonction de la casserole d’hélice avec le capotage avant de la nacelle est un peu trop cassée. Il faut affiner le capotage pour avoir une jonction moins abrupte.  NOTE : Je n’ai pas encore procédé à la jonction nacelle/aile, mais les assemblages « a blanc » montrent qu’il y aura du travail de masticage surtout au raccord avec l’intrados.

 

There are a couple of illustrations of the wing modifications - PM me with an email address and I can forward them on to - I can't get images to appear here for some reason!!


 

 

 

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22 hours ago, czechnavy said:

Hi everyone

 

I am told that the major difference between the 215 and the 415 is that the engine nacelles for the kits are attached at the same point whereas in real life the 415 has the nacelles shifted inboard.

 

A French modeller says via Google Translate:  Heller has maintained the attachment points of the nacelles corresponding to the CL-215. As a result, the new nacelles are about 5 mm too much outboard. To correct this, you must:  Cut the bonnets (triangular shape) to the nacelles.  Bond structural reinforcing plates to solidify cut parts.  Swap the previously cut pieces to bring the base of the basket 5 mm inwards.

 

Untranslated he said:  Heller a conservé les points d’attache des nacelles correspondant au CL-215. De ce fait, les nouvelles nacelles sont environ 5 mm trop a l’extérieur. Pour corriger cela, il faut :  Couper les capotages (de forme triangulaire) de raccord aux nacelles.   Coller des plaques de renfort de structure afin de solidifier les parties découpées.  Intervertir les morceaux precedement découpés afin de ramener la base de la nacelle de 5mm vers l'intérieur..
 

About the Heller 415 engine nacelles via Google Translate he says:   The profile of the engine nacelle is a bit too flat, which gives it a tendency to have a high nose once installed. The first modification consists in making a notch behind the side access hatches to the turbine. This will lean down the forward section of the nacelle so that the propeller plane is tilted -3 degrees from the vertical.  The back of the engine nacelle will receive a piece of Evergreen 6mm wide and 22mm long. The perimeter will be connected with putty and all will be shaped by sanding.  The junction of the propeller spinner with the front cowling of the engine casing is a little too broken. It is necessary to refine the cowling to have a less abrupt junction.

 

Untranslated he said:  Nacelles moteur:  Le profil de la nacelle est un peu trop plat, ce qui lui donne une tendance à avoir le nez haut, une fois installée. La première modif consiste à pratiquer une entaille en arrière des trappes latérales d’accès a la turbine. Cela permettra de pencher vers le bas la section avant afin que le plan d’hélice soit penché de 3 degrés par rapport à la verticale.  Le dos de la nacelle recevra un morceau d’Evergreen de 6 mm de large et 22 mm de long. Le pourtour sera raccordé avec du putty et le tout sera mis en forme par ponçage.  La jonction de la casserole d’hélice avec le capotage avant de la nacelle est un peu trop cassée. Il faut affiner le capotage pour avoir une jonction moins abrupte.  NOTE : Je n’ai pas encore procédé à la jonction nacelle/aile, mais les assemblages « a blanc » montrent qu’il y aura du travail de masticage surtout au raccord avec l’intrados.

 

There are a couple of illustrations of the wing modifications - PM me with an email address and I can forward them on to - I can't get images to appear here for some reason!!


 

 

 

Very useful kit correction details there czechnavy, thank you (I have not studied the CL415 in any great detail - yet - so I would probably have picked up on these points at some point).

 

Cheers

 

Derek 

Edited by Derek Bradshaw
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Thanks for the information, I may not bother too much about inaccuracies on the 415 when I get to it (although you never know) I was planning for these two to be out of the box builds...

A couple of shots of all the seam work I had to do;

Ok, so no filler needed on the wing yet

 HIimffd.jpg

A couple of spots on the upper fuselage

6681zQ4.jpg

the nose plug took a bit but, most of it came off in feathering the edge

e9tcRPT.jpg

 

fb3pH8E.jpg

A gap at the cabin roof to fuselage was noted

NXjPgqm.jpg

A shim of .020" filled it in nicely (so far)

TFtA7Ld.jpg

 

eGbMilF.jpg

enough goofing off at the computer, back to work.

Thanks for looking 

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Thanks!!

A brief interlude;

working on a "back burner" project came up with an idea of how to (possibly) obtain a Dash 8 200/ 300 from a 100...

make a mold "in place" of the shapes I need and make my own fuselage plugs.

1jvDg3z.jpg

 

0dVBX4r.jpg

 

87NksgO.jpg

back on the back burner now and off to work on the 215

Thanks for looking

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I love Scoopers, and have one in my plans, so will look your WIP carefully! Would you be so kind to be my Cicerone? 😉

Our activity caused climate is getting hotter and hotter, so these magnificent machines will be more and more busy, unfortunantely.

 

One advice for somebody in the future:

there are two rather basic detail sets, different for CL-215 and CL-415 by bulgarian manufacture, NH-details:

NH-Detail-1-72-Canadair-CL-215-detail-Se

 

36123_1_NHD-A72-010_1.jpg

 

You have instruction's scan on this page as well: https://www.mojehobby.pl/products/Canadair-CL-415-Detail-Set-for-HELLER.html

 

HTH

Best regards,

Michal.

 

 

Edited by socjo1
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Back again, after having removed the main gear leg parts from the parts tree and bending one of them during clean up I realized they are probably (possibly?) too weak to handle the weight of the model. Not wanting to stop long enough to get replacement metal landing gear I undertook to build my own, Here (so far) is the result of that effort. I still have to make scissor links but the gear itself should be strong enough to support the model. I made the gear legs from salvaged spring steel from automotive windshield wiper blades brass tube and brass sheet cut to shapes.

Crude but hopefully passable;

XStYIFz.jpg

 

ozg974h.jpg

 

0bt4Evq.jpg

Thanks for looking

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Maybe we'll end up with a CL-215-415 mini group build eh?

Be advised, the model takes a lot of primer to cover the nuclear powered glow in the dark neon yellow molded color.

I used 4 coats of Tamiya fine white surface primer on the model and almost got it to a grayish color. I put on 3 more coats of Tamiya lacquer flat white then 3 coats of gloss white...it's almost white now!

This is my home made metal landing gear with a coat of Vallejo aluminum (aluminium here I guess?) 

dOKgy6l.jpg

and the model (dry fitted together here

daTcSPR.jpg

 

nFroRts.jpg

Thanks for looking

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50 minutes ago, dnl42 said:

She looks excellent! :thumbsup:

 

What scheme are you going for? My 415 is yellow with red--gloss yellow took oh so many coats.

Thanks

the decals offer an option for a white with green trim Saskatchewan C-FAFO (where I live) so it’s going to be that one. 

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