Kiwi trainer 1/72

[Whirly]

Hello, this is a late entry for a subject very rarely seen built in modelling forums. I had this kit in my stash for nearly twenty years and I thought this could be the right chance to finally build it.

Let's start with an overview of the box contents:

 

 

The package is really rich, but coming to the really important things you need a good stomach!

 

 

On top of this I have two fantastic canopies, still perfectly transparent after all this time but...   badly crushed!

Unfortunately the flimsy box did nothing to protect them and when I received the kit (second hand) I could do nothing to replace them from the manufacturer since the kit was already out of production. So plan A always was to mould my copy after duplicating with Milliput the original shape as best as I could. More of that later.

 

 

Ok, this is the starting point and here below you can see the main pieces after a quick clean up.

Thank you for looking!

 

 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Welcome aboard, looking forward to this. 

[LDSModeller]

10 hours ago, Whirly said:

late entry for a subject very rarely seen built in modelling forums

 

Very Nice Choice, and not an oft seen subject.

I certainly remember these at Wigram with the CFS (Central Flying School), the sound

of the Lycoming engines very much softer than the snarl of the Pratt & Whitney of the Harvard

 

NZ1931 in formation with fellow Red Checkers

(RNZAF Official - RNZAF Museum - Used with Permissions)

 

A lot of folks outside of New Zealand probably don't know this, but there was another aircraft similar

to the Air Trainer, and that was the AESL Airtourer - only 4 were BOC and flew operationally

NZ1761

(RNZAF Official - RNZAF Museum - Used with Permissions)

 

Later on the Air Trainers had a different scheme as below at RNZAF  Base Whenuapai, during an Air Show

Still with the Red Checkers

 

Look forward to your build progressing

 

Regards

 

Alan

 

 

Edited April 9, 2021 by LDSModeller

[AndrewW]

Hello,

   Nice subject , I'll sit in on this if I  may got a feeling there's something like this lurking in my man cave .

                                                          Cheers Andrew

[Whirly]

Thank you @Corsairfoxfouruncle !

 

@LDSModeller Hi Alan, I'm glad there is some interest in this airplane: it is quite confusing to sort through all the variations and you just showed in a few images the main ones. I plan to do it in the first Red Chequers livery as per your first image, later yellow/black colors are ruled due to being CT-4Es.

 

Anyway, before speaking of painting schemes I discovered there is quite some work ahead. @Rob S pointed me in the right direction noting that the fuselage is way too narrow, unfortunately he is right and a quick check with images of the aircraft confirmed that. I think it is a mistake related to the only three view available which is completely wrong and the master was done following it....

 

So, armed with thick plasticard, I added 3mm to the fuselage width to see how it looks.

 

 

 

Not bad. I considered that going this way I will have to make a new canopy, but since mine are already beyond redemption...

I pressed some Milliput inside to have a starting point, will see how to procees once it is dry.

 

 

 

And here is the current status, covered in filler awaiting for sanding. I had to enlarge also the engine face so I went completely through opening the cooling apertures, I will add later a new base for the spinner.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking!

 

 

[Anthony in NZ]

Well done mate...I love this little plane

 

I plan on maybe doing one in 1/32 one day.

 

Loving your work, keep it up!

 

Cheers Anthony

[stevehnz]

An interesting approach to this. Having one of these in stock too, I'll be keen to see what you do with it. I hadn't realized it had this problem, I take it the entire front end is too skinny?

Steve.

[JOCKNEY]

Hi @Whirly

Really interesting choice and a new on on me.

Sorry about the canopy, but looks like you have a plan.

Best of luck.

Cheers Pat 

[Whirly]

On 4/13/2021 at 9:42 PM, Anthony in NZ said:

I plan on maybe doing one in 1/32 one day.

 

Loving your work, keep it up!

 

Thank you Anthony! A big scale scratchbuilt would be really nice, biggest problem I fear is finding correct plans: all the drawings I saw over the net are wildly inaccurate. Maybe you have one of those treasured Australian books with better drawings?

 

On 4/13/2021 at 10:43 PM, stevehnz said:

An interesting approach to this. Having one of these in stock too, I'll be keen to see what you do with it. I hadn't realized it had this problem, I take it the entire front end is too skinny?

Steve.

 

Yes Steve, this seems to be the consensus from the little experience of other modellers I have found. Checking with images of the real plane seems to confirm that.

 

On 4/15/2021 at 12:51 PM, JOCKNEY said:

Hi @Whirly

Really interesting choice and a new on on me.

Sorry about the canopy, but looks like you have a plan.

Best of luck.

Cheers Pat 

 

Thank you Pat. I have a plan but it's only in my mind, will see how well it develops in reality!  🤞

[Whirly]

Boy, what a fight this kit is!

Seems the width problem is just a minor issue counting all the details to rebuild/add.

I managed to add the tailplane after much refining the joint and checking countless times the relative position of fuselage and fin. Lacking a good three view to aid alignment of the pieces is a real problem.

 

 

I cleaned up the metal seats and cockpit parts, that's all is provided. Much more is needed with that big clear canopy!

 

 

And then the wings. Oh dear! Incredibly thick, I worked a lot to refine the shape of that horrid soapy plastic. Panel lines are nearly invisible, maybe better given the delicate nature of the subject so I hust filled the few traces remaining. Much to add here too: big wingtip lights you can see in raw status, then we need a landing light in the left wing and those tiny wing fences...

 

 

I see the deadline approaching, hope to gain speed.

 

Thanks for looking!

[LDSModeller]

3 hours ago, Whirly said:

Much more is needed with that big clear canopy!

 

Hopefully these will help out?

 

NZ1945 CT4B Cockpit

 

CT4B Canopy Rollover pylon/seat harness

 

Regards

 

Alan

[Whirly]

On 4/27/2021 at 11:17 AM, LDSModeller said:

 

Hopefully these will help out?

 

NZ1945 CT4B Cockpit

 

CT4B Canopy Rollover pylon/seat harness

 

Regards

 

Alan

 

Sure they help, thank you Alan!

[Whirly]

Some more progress to report, however at glacial pace!

 

The canopy was treated just like the front fuselage, much filing and sanding will follow.

 

 

 

I added some furnitures to the cockpit for a start: a central console, a rear shelf and a "bulkhead" behind the seats.

 

 

 

Now the fin... I sawed away the front part since it is thick like a brick. I patiently shaped some brass sheet from an old etched ladder with a much better effect as you can see with all glued and treated with Mr Surfacer 500.

 

 

 

 

Then I finally glued the wings to the fuselage with a couple of metal pins to reinforce the joint. Unfortuantely there is a big difference in thickness between the wings (which are already less than refined) and the stubs on the fuselage, so I had to remove a lot of material with a scalpel and a riffler file to level the joint.

 

 

 

The underacarriage mounts too need some care. I removed the plates under the wings as they were an obstacle to refining the wing roots and appeared anyway wrongly shaped. Then I roughly cut the shape of the front u/c "well", I will refine it later.

 

 

 

And finally the wing landing lights, I'm quite happy of the result.

 

 

 

Thanks for looking!

 

 

[stevehnz]

Heck Whirly, this is a huge revamp but you're doing a great job. 👍

Steve.

[Whirly]

Hi Steve, thank you!

 

Looking ahead to the painting stage: the instructions specify Grey 16440 and Orange 12199. The latter seems too orange compared to images but I know reds and oranges can be really treacherous in photographs. Anyone who have seen this paintscheme in the flesh can confirm the correct hues?

[LDSModeller]

4 hours ago, Whirly said:

Looking ahead to the painting stage: the instructions specify Grey 16440 and Orange 12199. The latter seems too orange compared to images but I know reds and oranges can be really treacherous in photographs. Anyone who have seen this paintscheme in the flesh can confirm the correct hues?

I'm pretty sure the Grey was Gull Grey (equivalent FS16440), the Orange type colour was

International Orange/Dayglo -Bear in mind these colours would have been manufactured here in New Zealand

to Defence Force DTD's, (still reference FS Number though).

Humbrol (years ago made a pretty close rendition of Int Orange Dayglo, They still make one (Humbrol 18).

but can't vouch for its actual color, as I haven't used it recently.

 

I can check with, some folks I know, that were around then, who were Airframe Riggers (Aircraft Safety/Surface Technicians) for you?

 

Regards

 

Alan

[Whirly]

Hi Alan,

 

no need to check: I'm pretty convinced by your recollections. I also found this recent post where the builder added some red to International Orange which seems quite correct to my eyes.

By the way, I appreciated your photo contributions: I plan to build soon a Red Chequers Harvard in the Group Build so they will be most useful!

 

 

[Anthony in NZ]

My word, this is really really beautiful, love the work you are doing!

[85sqn]

10 hours ago, Whirly said:

Hi Alan,

 

no need to check: I'm pretty convinced by your recollections. I also found this recent post where the builder added some red to International Orange which seems quite correct to my eyes.

By the way, I appreciated your photo contributions: I plan to build soon a Red Chequers Harvard in the Group Build so they will be most useful!

 

 

It was MRP paints for interest. Looks like you're making great progress 👍

[Whirly]

Hello everybody,

first a belated thank you to @Anthony in NZand @85sqn for their appreciations.

Then I have to apologize for the lack of updates: as it often happens, real life got in the middle and I had very little good modelling time in the last few weeks, even considering the welcome extension to end of May.

 

So, despite seeing no real chance to finish it by the due date, here is the latest progress.

I pondered a little on the u/c legs and decided not to use the kit supplied items: they are (quite) a good shape but this white metal is more like butter than metal and I doubt they would remain straight for any lenght of time.

That said, I replaced the offending items with Strutz brass aerofoil filed to shape. It is not totally correct but will surely be much stronger!

 

 

Then came the wing fences. Nothing is supplied and working with thin plastic sheet was a no-no since they are so small.

The old photo-etched ladder set came again to the rescue and after some cutting and filing managed to obtain more or less the shape needed.

 

 

U/c and fences are now in place and tidied up. This took a lot of time unfortunately but couldn't find a better way.

 

 

 

I shot a good coat of Mr.Surfacer to even up things and then started with a thin white layer followed by the red orange.

Image is crap, too little light, but it came out quite good. This move was intended as a morale booster since I felt in muddy waters for too long and needed something encouraging to look at.

Problem is that I still have to furnish the cockpit, solve issues with the new canopy and install it! 

Then there is the crooked propeller etc. etc.......

 

Thanks for looking!

 

 

 

[Anthony in NZ]

Well that looks beautiful, and the best scheme they were ever in!  Sometimes we need to jump ahead on a feature of a kit to make us feel like progress is happening.

 

Absolutely LOVE what you have done with this kit!

 

Cheers Anthony