1/72 Socata TB9 "Tampico"

[billn53]

After having finished up 2020 with a couple of "boom-boom" military planes, I feel a need to offer penance to the modeling gods with a civil aircraft or two. A couple months ago, Bangseat posted pics of a 3D model he had printed and built. It was of a Socata TB9 "Tampico" single-engine light aircraft commonly used for flight training.

 

 

The Tampico has a special place in my heart, as it was the plane in which I earned my private pilot license way back in October, 2011.  Consulting my logbook, I see I have something over 120-hours in Tampicos! Harry (Bangseat) graciously sent me one of his prototype kits, with my promise to test build it and report back any problems.

 

Here we go!

 

First, a bit about the TB9 Tampico:

(From Wikipedia) The Socata TB is a series of light single engine piston aircraft developed and manufactured by French aircraft company SOCATA. The letters TB within the designation stands for Tarbes, the French city where the aircraft is manufactured. The TB series have become widely used training and touring aircraft and are often used for instrument training. They are defined by their superior (and contemporary) fit and finish and interior size compared to other four-seat single-engine aircraft, they are relatively roomy at 49 inches (124 cm) at the shoulder, plus or minus. In part, this is due to the fuselage having a pronounced "round out" above the wing. Adding to the actual spaciousness, the side windows extend up well into the roof line, giving the Socata an airy feeling. Due to the larger fuselage, and relatively heavy weights, TB series aircraft have lower performance figures than a similarly sized and powered but narrower aircraft [I can attest to that!], and the trade-off of speed for comfort is often cited by TB owners.

(From AOPA website) The standard Tampico has a 160-hp Lycoming 0-320 and a fixed-pitch propeller. The Tampico includes fabric covered front bucket seats that two pilot reports called 'comfortable', and large windows that extend over the top of the fuselage and down the sides to the elbow level, allowing a better than average outside view compared to similar aircraft. Cabin entry is via two gull wing doors located on either side of the cockpit. Pilot reports judged the circuit breaker panel, located at knee level, difficult to check, and complained about visibility over the Tampico's long nose during a best-climb-rate pitch attitude. Plane & Pilot Magazine reports that the slotted flap system utilized on the Tampico helps to simplify landings and reduce the stalling speed. At full flap deflection, the stall speed is decreased by eight knots. Aerospatiale's fleet of single engine aircraft were praised by AOPA Pilot Magazine for convenient cockpit layout, but noted that the similarity of the vertical engine and fuel gauges at the top center of the instrument panel makes it initially difficult to quickly distinguish among them. The center section of the instrument panel contains the avionics stack, circuit breaker switches, engine controls, stabilator trim, fuel selector, and a hand-held microphone that extends down and then out between the two front seats at arm level, an arrangement reported 'convenient' and 'comfortable'. The fuel system includes two 21 gallon wing tanks, with 40 gallons of usable fuel, for about 3 - 4 hours of endurance. 

The Tampico is known to be a docile and comfortable aircraft. The control forces are heavy, giving a steady and solid feel to the aircraft. One drawback is the slow cruise speed, reported averaging 95-100 knots true compared to the advertised book figure of 107 knots. Climb is reported as anywhere from 700-1000 fpm with the climb prop installed. The Tampico has a wide center of gravity limit allowing for a reasonable combination of passengers and baggage.

 

N507PC, of 1 World Aero at Fort Meade, MD. This is one of two Tampicos I flew for my primary pilot training.

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the other one:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is me on the afternoon of October 22, 2011, having just passed the flight exam for my private pilot license. I should be smiling, but instead I was just worn out. It had been a very long day!

 

 

 

 

A few detail shots:

 

Interior

 

   

 

U   

 

And, the cause for one of my more "interesting" landings:

 

 

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Let's take a look at Harry's 3D-printed kit...

 

Box art could be better (LOL)

 

 

20-odd parts, nicely wrapped:

 

 

A nice, single-sheet set of instructions:

U

 

Fuselage:

 

 

Some light surface striations from the printing process which, Harry assures me, will sand out easily:

 

 

Nose cowl and propeller parts:

   

 

One-piece interior and some very fragile looking control yokes:

   

 

Nice detailing on the wings, but again, those striations will need to go away:

 

 

Unfortunately, the large wing pieces arrived slightly warped (the bane of 3D printing). Hopefully, a hot water bath will allow me to straighten them.

 

 

Stabilators:

 

 

Landing gear items. I hope the legs are stronger than they look.

 

 

And lastly, a single clear piece for the cockpit roof and canopy glazing. I'll see if I can clean this up, or instead use it to make a vacuform replacement.

 

 

I must say, I'm very impressed by this kit. It has the sexy Tampico-look and detailing is very nice. Assembly should be very straightforward. It's also the only game in town for a Tampico, in any scale. The main challenges result from the 3D printing process: removing surface striations, addressing the wing warping, and improving the clear part. Also, Harry has forewarned me that significant nose weight will be needed to prevent a tail-sitter. There's not much room forward of the main gear, so he recommends using Tungsten putty vice lead.

[Bangseat]

Thanks Bill! I will join you at Club Tampico for a Piña Colada if there's room at the bar..

[billn53]

Just now, Bangseat said:

Thanks Bill! I will join you at Club Tampico for a Piña Colada if there's room at the bar..

I’m already there, and have a seat saved for you 🍹

[billn53]

This afternoon I began work in earnest on Bangseat's little Tampico. I removed all the major parts from their printing supports, then I began to address the surface striations remaining from the printing process. I'll use the fuselage to illustrate my approach...

 

First, I airbrushed the fuselage with Mr Surfacer 1200, thinned with Leveling Thinner. When that was dry, I softly sanded the fuselage with a fine grit sanding sponge, until the tops of the striations began to appear. My strategy is to alternatively fill in the bottom of the striations with Mr Surfacer and remove the top of the striations with my sanding sponge. Here's the fuselage after the first round of spraying & sanding:

 

 

The surface is already noticeably smoother. I might, of course, need to re-scribe some panel lines after I'm done. A couple more rounds and she should be ready for paint.

 

Most of my time today was spent trying to improve the clarity of the kit's clear piece. I used the forward windscreen as my test subject. I sanded the outer and inner surfaces with fine-grit sandpaper, then worked the surfaces with progressively finer grades of polishing compound. Once I had finished that, I applied a clear gloss coat.  Here's the final result:

 

 

Before & After:

 

 

Not perfect, but better than some injection molded canopies I've used. Haven demonstrated that I can improve the clarity of the windscreen, I'll repeat the process for the side windows.

 

Tomorrow's task: Straightening the warped wings.

 

 

[rob Lyttle]

Hi Bill, this looks (more than) interesting... Great project, and loads of 1st hand insight! 

What kind of plastic is produced like this, and glue? 

Your work on the fuselage is going to pay off, but I got to say that what you have now is a remarkable representation of wood grain. That is something that could be useful one day, especially with old biplanes etc. 

Well done to bangseat for producing the kit, and good luck with this project 👍

Did he send you plenty of Decal options? 😅

[Smudge]

Very nice. Great subject. I think these little 3D printed models could really take off and be a great source for offbeat and unusual subjects.

 

Maybe someone could do a Cessna 150/152 or a Grumman Cheetah?

 

Following along.

 

 

[billn53]

6 minutes ago, rob Lyttle said:

Hi Bill, this looks (more than) interesting... Great project, and loads of 1st hand insight! 

What kind of plastic is produced like this, and glue? 

Your work on the fuselage is going to pay off, but I got to say that what you have now is a remarkable representation of wood grain. That is something that could be useful one day, especially with old biplanes etc. 

Well done to bangseat for producing the kit, and good luck with this project 👍

Did he send you plenty of Decal options? 😅

I frankly do not know what the material is, Harry would be able to answer your question, I’m sure. As for decals, I’ll be printing my own and, naturally, they will be for N507PC (the Tampico I learned to fly in). 

[Bangseat]

Hi @rob Lyttle, the material is UV photoactive resin, specifically this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/ELEGOO-405nm-ABS-Like-Photopolymer-Printer/dp/B08166BZBN

 

It is nice to work I find, softer and easier to re-scribe than trad polyurethane resin.

 

Decal wise, I am working up to a proper "release" (will list on eBay probably) and there will be a couple of options in the box:

  

Great work on that canopy Bill!

[Vesa Jussila]

Nice one! I will take my seat and follow.

[jasper]

Nice subject , love to see more civil / private aircraft !

[VT Red Sox Fan]

Looking great Bill--looking forward to following!  Best, Erwin

[alt-92]

Nice The kind of subject that is very suitable for 3D printing, lacking IM kits.

I grew up with SOCATA Rallyes buzzing around our local airfield (we were right under the circuit) with the odd Tampico and many a Cessna 172. 

 

[billn53]

I made some good progress on my little Socata yesterday. First, I finished polishing and clarifying the clear part's windows:

 

 

Then, I turned my attention to the single-piece interior: 

 

 

There were a couple of things about the interior layout that didn't look quite right to me. To begin, take a look at this photo. Notice that the forward seats sit even with the exterior door handle, and that the instrument panel is even with the forward windscreen pillar.

 

 

 

Inserting the interior so that the seat aligns with the door handle results in the instrument panel being too far forward, interfering with the windscreen:

 

b

 

Also, the seat cushions seem to be a bit too long, and the center console should run back between the seats:

 

 

 

To match my photos, the forward seat cushions needed to be shortened, and the seats moved further apart. Also, the instrument panel needed to be moved a bit toward the rear. I drew up where I wanted things on a piece of thin plasticard:

 

 

 

I cut out the seats and shortened the bottom cushions:

 

 

I then glued the pieces (rear bench, front seats, and instrument panel/console) onto the plasticard in the locations I had marked, and did a test fit:

 

 

 

 

This arrangement better matches the photos I have.

 

I'm not yet finished with my interior work. I need to extend the center console between the seats, for starters. I also need to create a dashboard & combing to fill the gap forward of the instrument panel.

 

 

 

The kit's instrument panel is symmetrical left & right, which is correct for many Tampicos but not for the one I trained in. For my model, I will have to remove the right side instrument cluster.

 

   

 

So, I have my work cut out for me.

 

Last item for this update. Recall that my wing pieces were warped:

 

 

 

I did some research on the web for correcting warpage on 3D-printed parts. The guidance I found recommended heating the parts in hot (not boiling) water, then keeping them straight as they cool. I decided to give it a try.

 

First, I collected the following items: a flat glass plate to lay the heated wing part on, a smaller square of flat plastic to place over the part, and a bag of lead shot.

 

 

 

My procedure was this:  I first heated about 1/2-inch of water in a pot on the stove to about 140F. I placed the warped wing into the hot water and let it sit for about 30 seconds. Then, I fished the part out of the water and placed it on the sheet of glass. I put my square of plastic over the wing, and weighted it down with the bag of shot. A few minutes later, I retrieved the wing and voila! Warp all gone!

 

Here's the proof: The two wings laid one atop the other, straight as can be!

 

 

 

 

[billn53]

When I last left off, I was considering how to tackle the gap forward of the instrument panel:

 

 

 

First thing I did was to cut off the starboard instrument cluster, to match the plane I trained in:

 

 

 

I then filled the gap with Apoxie Sculpt (similar to Milliput). I wrapped the interior piece, including the instrument panel, with Parafilm M to aid removal of the interior pieces after the Apoxie Sculpt had hardened:

 

 

 

This Apoxie Sculpt was a success, leaving me with a foundation I could use to build up the rear contours of the instrument panel:

 

 

 

The back of the instrument clusters (as viewed by the pilot) are very visible through the windscreen, so I wanted to match their shape as best as possible.

 

 

 

 

I began by roughing in the shapes with scraps of resin and styrene:

 

Untitled by billn1953, on Flickr

 

Then shaped them using a scalpel, sanding sticks and a rotary grinder:

 

 

 

You can see in the above photo that I've also added the center console that runs between the seats.

 

The kit's clear part is very thick, so I was unable to completely match the shape of the instrument consoles, particularly where the windscreen meets the fuselage. Sometimes, compromises must be made!

 

 

 

At the opposite end of the cabin, the Tampico has a bulkhead behind the bench seat:

 

 

I added a matching bulkhead from plasticard, primarily to prevent there being a gaping hole when looking aft into the fuselage:

 

 

 

Harry's kit is very nice, but offers plenty of opportunities for adding detail, particularly on the underside of the aircraft:

 

 

 

Items I've taken note of include: Engine exhaust pipe; vents either side of the nose strut that allow engine cooling air to exit; flap actuators (two per side); pitot tube under left wing (between the L and M in the photo above); access steps just behind the wing on either side of the fuselage; and various antennae & lights.

 

I began by detailing the nose cowl. I used a chisel to carve out the cooling vents, and added a bump for the engine exhaust pipe on the starboard side, forward of the nose gear:

 

 

 

I'll next work on detailing the wings. This is best done before the wings are attached to the fuselage. I'll begin by doing the wingtip position lights and the landing & taxi lights on the leading edge of the left wing:

 

 

 

Then, I will add the flap actuators and pitot tube:

 

 

 

Till next time!

 

 

[billn53]

Today, I finished up the cowling details by adding the engine exhaust pipe:

 

 

 

I next detailed and painted the interior, using the color scheme of the Tampico I trained in. Interior work is now complete!

 

U   

 

A lot of the interior detail gets lost when the clear piece is added.

 

 

 

 

 

If I had really wanted to "go to town" with the interior, I would have tried using the kit piece to vacuform a more transparent windscreen and windows. Maybe even open up the gull-wing doors! (Now, I really am dreaming!  )

[Pax_1601]

This build is insipiring to say the least! Excellent work I will follow very closely!

 

[billn53]

Interior done, I glued the clear piece in place. I usually use canopy glue, but because this is not just a canopy but also a significant portion of the fuselage, I opted for watch cement instead.

 

 

 

Next, I will show how I did the wingtip lights and the landing/taxi lights on the wing.

 

 

 

First, I cut out the locations for the lights:

 

 

 

For the landing and taxi lights, I drilled two recesses and inserted tiny rhinestones to represent the lenses. I recently bought a few hundred assorted small rhinestones for just a few bucks. Unfortunately, most rhinestones are faceted so only the very smallest ones are useable.

 

 

 

I painted the area around the lenses in a buff shade, based on photos I have of my trainer, then superglued a block of clear plastic into the cutout.

 

 

 

For the smaller, wingtip position lights I used a plastic sword-shaped cocktail stick. These come packaged in assorted colors and are dirt cheap.

 

 

 

I re-shaped the cross-section to fit my wingtip recess, then drilled a small hole in the end. I filled the hole with paint to simulate the colored light bulb (red for port, green for starboard):

 

 

The red and green position lights were glued into the wingtip cutouts:

 

 

 

After allowing time for the CA glue to set, I carefully re-shaped the clear pieces with my rotary tool and sanding sticks to conform to the wingtip contours. When I was satisfied with their shapes, I polished the clear pieces with Tamiya polishing paste:

 

 

 

And Bob's your Uncle!

 

 

[AdrianMF]

Nice work! 
 

It’s fascinating watching 3D printed kits come into the WIP area. Not quite shake and bake yet!

 

Regards,

Adrian

[billn53]

23 minutes ago, AdrianMF said:

 

It’s fascinating watching 3D printed kits come into the WIP area. Not quite shake and bake yet!

 

I’ve used individual 3D parts before, for details, but this is my first actual kit. The experience has been, as Spock would say, Fascinating. 
 

 

 

[VT Red Sox Fan]

Ok, now my wife is going to ask why I need to buy cocktail sword sticks for my hobby😎  Seriously, great on straightening the wing and the wing lenses—really cool subject, best, Erwin 

[John_W]

Very nice. I live near Elstree Aerodrome and (pre lockdown) we used to see a variety of civil types flying in and out. We need more mainstream kits of these, for us average modelers who don't have your skills.

[billn53]

23 minutes ago, John_W said:

Very nice. I live near Elstree Aerodrome and (pre lockdown) we used to see a variety of civil types flying in and out. We need more mainstream kits of these, for us average modelers who don't have your skills.

This 3D kit of the Tampico is very nice “as is” and builds up into an attractive model out of the box. I’m taking these extra efforts because it’s a special plane to me.  Also, because I have an OCD for detailing. 
 

But, I agree that these light civil aircraft have been mostly ignored my the mainstream model companies. Take the Cessna 172 Skyhawk, for example. It’s been around for newly 70 years, but the only 1/72 kit (afaik) is the old ARII one. I’d love to see a good 3D printed Skyhawk kit, not to mention many other common civil types. 

[TJJ]

You are making a great job of building a type special to you! I suppose there is just not a big enough market for kits of GA aircraft, so many owners commission the big wooden ones – I have just such a Bulldog model, which I flew and picked up secondhand at an airshow stall.

 

I flew the Tampico's predecessor the Rallye 880. This was grossly underpowered and we only made the mistake of taking up three adults once. I can remember flying back from Coventry down the M6 motorway against a headwind. The cars below were going much faster!

[Serkan Sen]

On 1/4/2021 at 7:28 AM, billn53 said:

The main challenges result from the 3D printing process: removing surface striations, addressing the wing warping, and improving the clear part.

I didn't know that there is a demand on 3D printed kits 🙂

May be I can do a good business with my Blackbirds... 🤑

Serkan

Edited January 11, 2021 by Serkan Sen

[Serkan Sen]

On 1/5/2021 at 12:50 AM, billn53 said:

Not perfect, but better than some injection molded canopies I've used. Haven demonstrated that I can improve the clarity of the windscreen, I'll repeat the process for the side windows.

Very big improvement compared to originally printed condition. Do you think that I can also make my canopy and windshield parts  so clear as you did? I have a bottle of clear SLA resin but I haven't used it yet...

 

Serkan