Colin W Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 Hi Chaps (and Lady as I see Heather is in this GB already) Plenty of scope for me here in this GB but I have decided to build the Unicraft Resin kit of a Fletcher FU-24 which I originally planned for the NZ Group build before defering after Andy Scotts untimely death in September. The kit I planned for this might make an appearance later in the 'Unarmed GB". This model combines 2 equally rare things, a New Zealand made kit and a New Zealand made plane. After WW11 top dressing land with fertiliser was big in New Zealand and huge numbers of war surplus Tiger Moths were used for the task with hoppers of Super Phosphate fitted into the front cockpit. As the Moths began to expire in the early 1950's, an alternative was needed. In typical Kiwi spirit, a group of farmers decided to build their own plane for the task and this was the result. Some were built in the US and assembled in NZ but most of the 300 eventually built were made in NZ. Some are still flying today 40 Years later. The kit was definately not mastered by Wing Nut Wings. The box contains a warning about the brittle nature of the resin. Why a better resin was not used is unknown to me but this is very brittle and trying to cut parts from the casting blocks just caused it to shatter and crumble. The massive rear overhang suggest a lot of nose weight will be necessary while the tiny nose suggests opportunity will be limited. The poorly cast fine resin undercarriage similarly suggests it will not be able to take the load of the base kit never mind the necessary nose weight. If you can see in the pictures, the propeller, seats and one undercarriage leg had already snapped before I recieved the box so it might have to be built with wheels up. Oh dear fixed undercarriage, looks like I need plan C! The kit is by Unicraft whom I have never heard of before. There are 9 main components which will get used. 2 wheels which might get used, and a few bits which will make handy templates but wont get used. There are no decals but lots of colourful options to build and paint. I am in fear of dropping it in case it shatters so this will be a challenging build. Colin 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnl42 Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 Looking forward to seeing you slay this beast! As a professor would say, that will not be a trivial result! 😱 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mjwomack Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 A Plan C? A hospital ward clerk I work with always talks about The New Plan A! That might be British Covid stoicism personified,😊. She's a 🌟 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 Arrrrr Unicraft, I know it/them very well!!!! Mmmm that resin will be VERY brittle and flash......say no more. He's gotten better with some of his later releases, the early stuff is fun!! The owner is a nice guy, he's done a couple of re-casts for me a few years back. I do know the Fletcher very well, my father was at one time Operations Manager for James Aviation in Fielding NZ in the late 60's/early 70's. They used a variety of version of the Fletcher as well as other aircraft. They were tough aircraft the operated off some truly frightening farm airstrips/paddocks!! My father did have some amazing photos of them in operation, don't know what happened to the photos, maybe my brother has them now. I'm lucky enough to have gone for rides in a few of them, either in the "Loader Drivers" compartment (that door behind the cockpit, though more used to carry stuff, the driver would sit up front, though it was better place to be than in the Piper Pawnee's where they'd have sit in the hopper up front of the cockpit!!!), or if I was lucky enough I'd sit up front between the pilot and my father....no seatbelt of course, was only 2 sets! Arrr the days before OH&S spoilt all the fun! Good luck with the build, you'll have some fun with it, am really looking forward to seeing the complete aircraft. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 Interesting subject. Old Model decals in NZ do decals for it. FieldAir ones for example. Worth a try. PS: one could convert one to a sky diving example. I saw a couple at Lake Taupo Airport NZ with people jumping out...... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin W Posted March 22, 2021 Author Share Posted March 22, 2021 On 3/18/2021 at 6:18 PM, trickyrich said: I'm lucky enough to have gone for rides in a few of them, Thanks for the note Rich. When I got my NZ PPL my instructor took me to some strips in the Waikato where I wondered if I could get my tiny PA28 in. At one particularly short sloping paddock I spotted a Fletcher parked in the trees. Obviously a very capable machine. I never had a chance to hitch a ride but saw a few at various airshows over the years. Well with that huge wing the performace should be good! I made a start on this today with the dremel, reducing the fuselage down to something serious. I started cutting the cockpit walls down to about 1mm from the cast 5mm then moved on to the nose to make more room for lead and finally to the rear fuselage to reduce weight so I need less lead. No pictures as it was quite a snow storm and I didnt want to get the resin dust on the phone! Enough of a mess as it as. On 3/18/2021 at 7:11 PM, Paul J said: FieldAir ones for example Thanks for idea Paul. I quite like some of the Field Air schemes but I haven't thought that far ahead yet. Colin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin W Posted March 29, 2021 Author Share Posted March 29, 2021 I've been focussing on my Mig17 in the Africa GB but this is coming to an end so I spent some time over the last few days working on the Fletcher. Main The components I think I can use have been cleaned up and removed from their casting blocks. An interesting selection of parts. The fuselage has a door in each side when in reality only the port door exists. Its the first time I've seen wheel wells on an aircraft with a fixed undercarriage. The wheels are lost in a haze of resin but are completly wrong anyway. The seats are clearly left over from the 1/144th scale kit they made previously. The instrument panel is also too small. Propeller and undercarriage are best not mentioned. What is worth a mention is the resin. This really is like glass. Rock hard to sand and brittle like I've never seen before. I've made a start with the nose weight and then basic cockpit. Fuselage doors sealed and new IP, seats, wheels and prop sourced from the spares bin. You can see the marks from the Dremel in the thinned resin sides and the substantial nose weights! Fights On! 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 Arrr Unicraft resin I know it well! Interestingly I remember the old Non-Turbo Prop Fletchers used by James Aviation had the fuselage door on the starboard side only. It must have been an option to have it on either side. Gosh those seats are tiny....definately not for a Kiwi pilots bottom!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 Another Unicraft kit ! Heres to the next installment of your build, good luck Cheers Pat 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin W Posted March 31, 2021 Author Share Posted March 31, 2021 Well some real progress on this. From a derth of reference material I have been rescued by @ianwau and @k5054nz who have provided excellent pictures and a set of plans. Even shots af one in Thai markings! Hmmm. A clash of opportunities! Maybe Field Air one side and Thai the other? I passed over the opportunity to buy Pacific Air last week on TradeMe NZ. Maybe Jacinda Ardern will make an offer on our behalf? Cockpit mainly done, Fuselage joined and wings on. Starting to look like a Fletcher. I see Milliput in my future. Colin 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritJet Posted April 1, 2021 Share Posted April 1, 2021 That's coming together nicely and has to be the best casting I've ever seen in a Unicraft kit, normally they are like a honeycomb with all the bubbles and very brittle. They do some interesting subjects but I've been burned a few times so will only buy them if I can have a look at the parts first! Any decision on the markings yet? Steve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin W Posted April 2, 2021 Author Share Posted April 2, 2021 Bog smearing time. I laid some plastic card strip along the lower stbd fuselage half to remove the distortion of the kit halves then faired it in with Milliput. I filled those wheel wells too! Some rough file work to get back the shape. The resin is so hard it makes the Milliput seem soft. Same on top. Touch up with Squadron Green stuff. Looking good now! Colin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin W Posted April 7, 2021 Author Share Posted April 7, 2021 Quick update. After 3 applications of Build paint and Tamiya filler I am almost at the point of final paint. Presumably quite a few models in the 'other then injection' GB are languishing t a similar point. I need to make a decision on the decals soon. Colin 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mjwomack Posted April 7, 2021 Share Posted April 7, 2021 14 minutes ago, Colin W said: Presumably quite a few models in the 'other then injection' GB are languishing t a similar point. If anything, I'd say you're one of the pace-setters. All the more impressive given how 'unpleasant' it looked at the start of your build 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin W Posted April 26, 2021 Author Share Posted April 26, 2021 Well I've sunk to the bottom of page 3 so definitely not a rapid build. I confess the poor quality of the kit has really slowed me down (and I got diverted building the new Revell E Type Jaguar which was much easier). I have added the ribs on the flaps to the upper surface, finished the cockpit, added the canopy and built a basic undercarriage from brass rod and tube. The nose is not fixed as it needs a scissor brace yet. Anyway the last coat of Mr Surfacer white was sanded down this morning and I was happy so I hit it with Mr colour 107 Character white. Phew. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 Hi Colin Great to see this one coming together, don't lose faith, it can be done and it wouldn't be as much fun without a battle would it ? Cheers Pat 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 It looks immaculate in its white paint. Well fettled sir! Regards, Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin W Posted May 6, 2021 Author Share Posted May 6, 2021 Well I have been workig on this but a few things still getting in the way so thanks for the KUTA @AdrianMF and @JOCKNEY One of the hold ups has been choosing a scheme which is still possible to make the decals as MS Office has down graded WordArt making it next to useless. I have chosen the SuperAir Fletcher ZK-CQB Decals created and printed. The top sheet is on clear and the bottom sheet is on white to get the Superair white letters. A little bit of masking gets to here. So today here's where I'm at. Finish line in sight! Colin 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 I thought it was going to be red, blue and yellow for a moment 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted May 8, 2021 Share Posted May 8, 2021 OH very nice!!!!! 🥰 gosh compared to that pile of resin you started with......well done.... feeling very nostalgic seeing her. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted May 9, 2021 Share Posted May 9, 2021 10 hours ago, trickyrich said: OH very nice!!!!! 🥰 gosh compared to that pile of resin you started with......well done.... feeling very nostalgic seeing her. I take it that's for the aircraft rather than a Unicraft kit ? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 .... gosh Pat you're almost so excited that you're besides yourself!!!........... or at least repeating yourself! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnl42 Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 Dang, that looks good! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin W Posted May 12, 2021 Author Share Posted May 12, 2021 Well finally managed to finish this! Whew what a lot of work but it's very unusual so worth while to add to the NZ collection. Colin 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mjwomack Posted May 12, 2021 Share Posted May 12, 2021 It's simply brilliant. Amazing transformation from the pile of parts you started with; it's like you used fertiliser or something?!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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