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VH-SNJ Harvard III with a difference (1/72 Heller kit) [Finished]


Derek_B

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Hi everyone, I'm building a 1/72 replica of VH-SNJ, a former RNZAF Harvard III currently owned by the Zuccoli family and living at their Aerotec facility in Toowoomba.

 

My starting point is the Heller T6-G kit, with some extras to be added to make this a very special Harvard...

 

Starting point is the Heller kit... here are the wings

51172118078_6e88ed32d0_c.jpg

 

For this "Hot Rod Harvard" we need some surgery, first step is to remove the outer wings:

51171212592_182e4dba24_c.jpg

 

Next, we need some surgery for the "donor" outer wings. Starting with wings from a Special Hobby CA-12 Boomerang kit, once again we separate the outer wings from the centre-section...

51171878981_009f487344_c.jpg

 

What on earth is going on here?

 

Well, this Harvard was (for a short period) fitted and flown with CAC Boomerang outer wings!

 

Yes, really!

 

Back in the late 1980s Guido Zuccoli commissioned Saunders Aircraft of Chino, California to build up an airworthy CAC Boomerang for him. No Boomerang wings had survived intact and so Saunders constructed a pair of outer wings from scratch. The complete Boomerang arrived back in Australia in October 1992 and was the first airworthy restoration of a Boomerang. At the same time, Matt Denning had been reverse engineering authentic Boomerang wings (based on wreck parts) and began constructing wings for his project and for Greg Batts. Guido also obtained a set of Matt's more correct wings and fitted them to his restored Boomerang, leaving him with a spare pair of Boomerang outer wings. He decided it would be fun to fit them to his Harvard and see how it performed! As an accomplished aerobatic pilot, he was thrilled with the dramatically increased roll rate of 6 foot shorter wing, as well as 10% higher cruise speed and increased rate of climb.

 

Back to the model... more updates coming soon...

Edited by Derek_B
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Before gluing the fuselage halves together, I needed to decide on the cockpit colour... the usual dark green, or was it something else? A short query on the Facebook group of the Aviation Historical Society of Australia yielded a response from Marco Zuccoli-Handley, son of the late Guido. He sent me a cockpit photo confirming that the interior was a light grey, matching the outside of the fuselage.

 

So time to prime the cockpit interior...

51172842629_a159c433ab_c.jpg

 

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Just ordered a set of decals for this build, from Old Models in New Zealand. https://www.oldmodelsdecals.com/RNZAF-70-85.html

 

OMD0824 - RNZAF Harvards 1970-77 - 1/72
They describe the decals as below:

"DIGITAL. This is the final scheme worn by the NA Harvards in RNZAF service from 1970 to retirement in 1977. This scheme also includes the Red Checkers markings. 1/72"

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Some progress to report... fuselage halves have been joined and the wing centre-section has been attached.

 

The outer wings are being prepared for attachment. First step is to fill all the landing lights, gun ports, shell ejection ports and remove the blisters which covered the cannon magazines on the undersides of the wings. The replica wings were smooth and featureless.

 

51190092225_71a7d0f2f7_c.jpg

 

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The outer wings have now been attached. It's starting to look like a plane! 

 

51193406710_d8826ae189_c.jpg

 

And for a comparison to the standard wing planform, here is the "Hot Rod Harvard" next to the Hobby Boss "quickie" 1/72 T-6G kit...

 

51192555693_9230ee604e_c.jpg

 

51191632357_0f8db26f05_c.jpg

 

Hardly surprising that she cruised 10% faster with these tiny outer wings!

 

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Derek, interesting story and good to see a variation on the theme, thanks for participating in the GB.

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I also have to secretly admit I'm doing this conversion at 1/32 scale also, but this one will take much longer than the 1/72 version! So it won't be appearing on this Group Build (other than the tease below)...

 

Here is the Kitty Hawk 1/32 Texan kit, shown with outer wings from the Alley Cat 1/32 CAC Boomerang resin kit. Of course I'm not actually going to use these wings (I'll modify the outer wings from the Kitty Hawk kit) but this shows what a bigger model of VH-SNJ in "Hot Rod" mode will look like...

 

47992971006_b304628958_c.jpg

 

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First layer of paint is on. Glad to be rid of that yellow plastic! I'm just painting this from rattle cans, and couldn't find a Tamiya or Mr Colour grey light enough for this RNZAF shade, so this is Dulux dura max enamel "Tranquil Retreat" from Bunnings! Red is Tamiya TS-49 Bright Red.

 

51199721683_c63332f639_c.jpg

 

Checking through my documentation (an article by Matt Denning, in Classic Wings Downunder magazine, issue 4), I noticed an underside view showed that the roundels are in different places on each wing, I'll need to remember that.

 

I also found the following image online, showing the spare Boomerang wings stored against the wall of the Aerotec hangar:

 

Boom.jpeg

(Photographed at the Zuccoli Collection, Toowoomba, Qld 10/4/2000, © V.N. Smith, 2000, Available for use without charge if credited)

Edited by Derek_B
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  • 2 weeks later...

Good news and bad news...

 

Good news, decals have arrived from Old Models Decals in New Zealand. Not a moment too soon! They’re not the sharpest decals I’ve seen, but they will do fine for this build.

 

51219848761_96eca1d81c_c.jpg

 

But bad news... Melbourne has gone into a second week of "hard lockdown", can't travel more than 10km from home, and model shops closed. Hopefully I have everything I need to finish this one. 

Edited by Derek_B
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Working on the small details now. All the main colour is on, just need to add the anti-glare panel and wing-walks. The wing-walks are included in the Old Models Decals set, so I may use those. 

VH-SNJ has been fitted with Mustang wheels, so I looked at stealing a pair from a P-51 kit in my stash. But then I realised the Harvard wheels have the "grooved" tread, not the "diamond" tread like in most Mustang kits.

What to do?

If I had a lathe I would have just filled the diamond treads and added the grooves, but not so easy without the right equipment.

Some interweb searching yielded some delightful resin wheels by Reskit. Plus they had both Mustang wheels (diamond tread tyres) and Harvard wheels (grooved tread tyres). So I figured I could take the spoked Mustang wheels and attach them to the Harvard grooved tread tyres.

Once the wheels arrived in the post I tested my theory, and bingo, the Mustang wheels fitted the Harvard tyres! So in the photo below you can see the original kit wheels (wonderful yellow), the Mustang diamond tread tyres (unpainted resin), below them the Harvard grooved tread tyres fitted with spoked Mustang wheels (painted) and the unpainted resin Harvard wheels still attached to their pour block. Below the Harvard wheels are the "inside halves" of the Mustang wheels with the brake assemblies. These are really fabulous little wheels! They will really dress up this model.

Also below you can see some work in progress on the engine. I've drilled out the exhaust outlet and cut out the gap in the ignition wiring harness tube.

 

51225871781_e0b15b8d4a_c.jpg

Edited by Derek_B
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  • 3 weeks later...

Adding some detail to the propeller hub, similar to the effort by Wez. Added four bosses for the bolts which hold the front & rear hub halves together, plus the two counter-weights. Plus a little detail on the front of the piston. Fiddly work at 1/72 scale!

 

51258255507_40d9162dfb_c.jpg

 

Should come up nicely with some paint.

 

Edited by Derek_B
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Making small steps of progress. Oleo struts painted silver, wheels attached. She's up on her own wheels now!

 

51264597145_5a8f1f6fed_c.jpg

 

Masking the canopy has started. Propeller is being painted. Exhaust manifold was painted silver and dry-brushed with brown for heat/rust... needs another coat. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

In the home straight... currently masking the canopy before painting the frames. Measured up the glazed areas and made my own mask with CAD. This T-6G kit doesn't have the emergency release sections in the canopy frames, so I've added these in my home-made mask...

 

51292493056_52360b3347_c.jpg

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My first attempt at masking a canopy turned out reasonably well. After applying the mask, I sprayed clear, then black, then top-colour grey (insignia white actually) and brushed the yellow trim for the emergency exit sections. 

Attached to the model it looks quite reasonable.

Sadly the Old Models Decals "digital printed" decals are quite thick and have a marked texture, so in certain light they appear chunky. But not much I can do about that.

 

Here is the finished bird:

51301783281_441d5838eb_c.jpg

 

51302501049_fa954338a5_c.jpg

 

51301973248_cb1930d0e5_c.jpg

 

And some other photos in the gallery.

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  • Derek_B changed the title to VH-SNJ Harvard III with a difference (1/72 Heller kit) [Finished]

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