Colin W Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 This build was done for the 'Anything but Injection' Group build but for those members who don't venture so far down the page I thought I'd post it here as it was an interesting challenge. This is a resin kit of a famous New Zealndtop dressing aircraft, the Flecther FU24. 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. Here are the kit components. Note the poor quality resin parts, broken propeller and tiny seats for the cockpit. Unusually for a fixed under carriage model, the kit comes with wheel wells! Instructions are a 3 view drawing. Quite a bit of Milliput needed to correct the shape of the fuselage and fill those wheel wells. The nose and rear fuselage were hollowed out with a power tool to reduce the weight at the rear and make space for lots of lead in the nose. Basic structure completed Final paint scheme completed and passing the nose weight test. The kit supplied main undercarriage was under scale, inaccurate and far too weak for the weight of the model. A new one was made from brass wire with wheels from the spares bin. Ribs have been made for the flaps and the vacform canopy fitted over the scratch built interior. Decals were made on my home printer. Finished article. View showing scratch built hopper with exhaust pipes, nose grear leg and leading edge mirrors added. Full build log and more pictures can be found on this link Colin 27 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
621Andy Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 Nice build! They're strange looking beasts. This one was still earning its keep last year: https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1690834 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spitfire31 Posted May 26, 2021 Share Posted May 26, 2021 Fantastic (I was going to write 'fanatical' 😉 ) dedication and skills to create this out of that! Just glueing 28 (?) little flap ribs should be ample qualification for The Modelling Medal, large size. I don't know about "famous", though. Perhaps mainly in top dressing circles? Fab modellling! Kind regards, Joachim 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shorty84 Posted May 26, 2021 Share Posted May 26, 2021 Hi Colin, that is quite a rare bird you've built. You have my utmost respect for actually finishing a Unicraft kit, especially so well. I have one kit and a conversion from them and 'rough' would not even nearly describe the quality of the supplied parts. Cheers Markus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janneman36 Posted May 26, 2021 Share Posted May 26, 2021 A very nice build of a really unusual aircraft! It doesn’t look like an easy build when you see the raw parts, well done 👍 cheers, Jan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k5054nz Posted May 28, 2021 Share Posted May 28, 2021 Top job Colin! As a Fletcher owner I see a couple of omissions (not your fault) but you've done a fantastic job tackling a kit that really needed more work before going to market. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnl42 Posted May 28, 2021 Share Posted May 28, 2021 Excellent work! Talk about slaying that beast! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Russell Posted May 28, 2021 Share Posted May 28, 2021 Excellent work. That kit is top class for Unicrap but there does not appear to be a Tamiya Fletcher FU-24 on the market so you have no choice. You have done a great job in turning it into a nice model. There is a 1/72 version which looks similar. I think it was @k5054nz who actually dreamed up the model. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k5054nz Posted May 29, 2021 Share Posted May 29, 2021 16 hours ago, Ed Russell said: There is a 1/72 version which looks similar. I think it was @k5054nz who actually dreamed up the model. The little one came first and was the result of me emailing every model company I could find - Igor was the only one to reply in the affirmative. It also had fewer errors (wheel wells?!) but I've not seen many built online! I've only managed one but am doing two more for a friend (and another for me). This is the second 48th I've seen built. I should say its development was a complete surprise to me, when I advised Igor of the errors it was too late. Very, very disappointing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted May 29, 2021 Share Posted May 29, 2021 On 5/26/2021 at 9:51 PM, Spitfire31 said: I don't know about "famous", though. Perhaps mainly in top dressing circles? World famous in New Zealand mate. That is a lovely job Colin, well done you, full marks for determination. 👍 Steve. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin W Posted May 29, 2021 Author Share Posted May 29, 2021 Just like L&P. World famous in New Zealand. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Monday Posted May 29, 2021 Share Posted May 29, 2021 Very nice result from a less than perfect kit, no doubt. BM. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted May 29, 2021 Share Posted May 29, 2021 24 minutes ago, Colin W said: Just like L&P. World famous in New Zealand. Perhaps a tiny bit of plagiarism there. Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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