ragnarec Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 (edited) This is a project I started last year that has been on and off the bench since then. I had initially not planed to make any WIP for this one, but as I have been taking some photos during the process I've changed my mind. May be this will give me enough motivation to complete the model. The Bandai kit of the Super Cub was initially released way back in 1973, togehter with 5 other general avaiation types. Nice kits for the time, but not quite up to modern standards. But as general aviation types are not on the priority list of current kit manufacturers, these oldies have to do. I bought the kit second-hand, and here is what came in the box: I plan to build the model as "LN-RTC" as used by SAS Flying Club around 1980. Decals are from Lima November. Her I have started playing with the parts. The cockpit is not bad, but I decided to add a bit of extra detail. Here, I have added new rudder pedals and control columns, as well as knobs that I guess are throttle levers along the port cockpit edge. Seat belts are made from strips of Tamiya tape and buckles comes from a generic photoetched buckle set I have had for ages. Made by Reheat sometimes in the 90-ties I think. The exact colours used in the cockpit of LN-RTC are uncertain - my guess is light grey overall with dark blue seats. Floor with seats mounted in the port fuselage half. A light wash and gentle dry-brushing brings out the details. Regards, Ragnar Edited July 6, 2021 by ragnarec 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billn53 Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 Great start on this classic GA aircraft. It’s a shame there aren’t more kits available of non-commercial civil planes. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragnarec Posted July 7, 2021 Author Share Posted July 7, 2021 On 7/5/2021 at 10:39 PM, billn53 said: Great start on this classic GA aircraft. It’s a shame there aren’t more kits available of non-commercial civil planes. I agree that lack of kits of light aircraft is a shame. When it comes to the classic and widely used Super Cub, we have a very nice kit from Revell in scale 1/32. In the most popular scale of 1/72, the only injected kit is a now out-of-production short-run kit by KP. In addition, there have been a couple vac-forms. Let us hope that companies like Dora Wings come to the rescue. Dora Wings has recently made new kits of classics like Percival Vega Gull and Caudron Simoun, and we can only hope that they continue this line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragnarec Posted July 8, 2021 Author Share Posted July 8, 2021 The kit comes with a complete engine, and a multi part cowling that gives you the possibility to mount the side panels in the open position in order to show off the engine. I chose to glue the side panels in the closed position. The fit was ok but not perfect. Ather doing that, I discovered that LN-RTC was equiped with a different kind of cowling. What to do ... Well, this is what I did. I removed the to half of the cowling and filled the gap with pieces of sheet styrene. The cowling front was sanded flat and covered by another piece. All humps and bumps on the underside were removed. After rough shaping with files and sanding sticks, pieces of styrene were glued on the top and front and rounded with sandpaper to make the required bulges. Holes in the front were opened up. An aperture was opened up on the underside for what I guess is the carburetor intake. Here, I am in the process of making the "grill" for the carburettor intake. Also shown is the partially assembled engine. Ragnar 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 I like this, great start and great work on the cowling. Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vingtor Posted July 11, 2021 Share Posted July 11, 2021 Great work, Ragnar! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianwau Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 Nice work - especially like your work on the cowl! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragnarec Posted August 5, 2021 Author Share Posted August 5, 2021 Thanks for compliments, @bigbadbadge, @Vingtor and @ianwau! Finally getting there after numerous iterations of filling, sanding and priming. , After some googling, I've understood the issue with the cowling. The kit depicts a PA-18-135, while LN-RTC was an ex military L-18C, equivalent to a civilian PA-18-95. A Suber Cub isn't simply a Super Cub! Not only different cowling, but also different engine. The L-18C had a Continental C-90-8F, while the PA-18-135 had a Lycoming O-290-D. Which means that the engine in the kit is incorrect for LN-RTC. But as little of the engine will be visible in the finished model, I will use the supplied engine as is anyway. Just needs a little paint before being mounted into the cowling. Ragnar 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragnarec Posted August 11, 2021 Author Share Posted August 11, 2021 (edited) Finally ready to install the engine into the cowling. Here, the cowling is test fitted to the fuselage. The propeller supplied in the kit is rather poor, but I din't have anything suitable replacement in the spares box, so I had to stick with it. The blades were separated from the spinner and reshaped before being glued together with a new centre section. The spinner was reshaped and will be mounted back later after painting. I have drilled throug the engine and glued in a section of brass tube. This allows the propeller to be mounted at later stage. The main wheels provided in the kits are really small. I have never seen a picture of a Super Sub with such small wheels. At least LN-RTC had substatially larger wheels. I found a larger wheel in the spares box that after some adjustments can be used. It is shown to the right in the photo. To the left of it is one of the kit wheels. Ragnar Edited August 12, 2021 by ragnarec 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orso Posted August 11, 2021 Share Posted August 11, 2021 For some reason I have the same decals but as I don't build in this scale I wonder why. This is the first time that I've ever seen them being used and looking forward to see the result. It would have been nice to have this decal in 1/72 to accompany my SAS Flying Club Piper Cherokee. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragnarec Posted August 12, 2021 Author Share Posted August 12, 2021 7 hours ago, Orso said: For some reason I have the same decals but as I don't build in this scale I wonder why. This is the first time that I've ever seen them being used and looking forward to see the result. It would have been nice to have this decal in 1/72 to accompany my SAS Flying Club Piper Cherokee. There was some other Swede building the Revell 1/32 kit in the same scheme a while back. The build was posted in the IPMS Sweden forum, and also here at BM in the RFI section, I think. (The decal sheet contains decals for both 1/32 and 1/48 scale.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 Lovely correction work on that engine cowling 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragnarec Posted August 22, 2021 Author Share Posted August 22, 2021 On 8/12/2021 at 7:50 AM, ragnarec said: There was some other Swede building the Revell 1/32 kit in the same scheme a while back. The build was posted in the IPMS Sweden forum, and also here at BM in the RFI section, I think. (The decal sheet contains decals for both 1/32 and 1/48 scale.) IPMS Stockholm forum it should be: https://www.ipmsstockholm.se/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=10858 I can't find anything in the BM RFI section, so may be I was wrong in that regard also. On 8/12/2021 at 10:43 AM, woody37 said: Lovely correction work on that engine cowling Thanks! I made moulds of the wheel master from Oyumaru and casted wheel halfs from white epoxy. The castings din't look quite right, so I decided to redo the master and make another try. The mould material was reused by immersing in hot water. Not perfect, but better and closer to the real thing. After some cleanup I think they can be used. - Ragnar 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragnarec Posted August 28, 2021 Author Share Posted August 28, 2021 Working on the undercarriage. My aim is to recreate the open space between the fuselage and the fabric cover. First, I glued metal rod (from a paper clip) to the edges of the kit item, and then opened up holes as shown in the photo. The top of the fabric cover will be added later from thin plastic sheet. - Ragnar 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragnarec Posted September 6, 2021 Author Share Posted September 6, 2021 The landing gear has been faired in, and I have started on a critical part of this build - the canopy. The plan is just to use the roof window from the kit parts. The side windows will be replaced by clear plastic sheet, while the windscreen will "heat & smash" moulded. I've made a casting of the windscreen from white epoxy that will be used as a male pattern. I've done similar things before, and know that it is difficult to make good copies. Time will show if I succeed this time... As the roof holds the weight of the wings, it is critical to get a firm mounting of the roof. I've made a simple jig from sheet plastic in order to keep everything alligned. Front pillars have been made from copper rod, with plastic strips glued to the front and back sides. After some filling and sanding the goal is to get pillars with rectangular cross section. Here, the pillars are just test fitted. Some more preparation is needed before they can be fixed permanently in place. Ragnar 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragnarec Posted September 16, 2021 Author Share Posted September 16, 2021 I decided to make a new framework for the roof from round plastic rod in stead of using the kit part. This allowed me to get a tighter fit. The kit part also has a rectangular box attached to one of the struts which I can't find in reference photos, and which would have been tricky to remove. The roof has now been attached to the fuselage. I've also added the characteristic V strut under the windscreen, which is missing in the kit. Some more struts need to be fitted before I can start making and adding the side windows and the windscreen. Interesting times ahead 🥴... Ragnar 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragnarec Posted September 22, 2021 Author Share Posted September 22, 2021 Work on the little Cub continues. I've added som more bracing inside the cockpit, and started preparations for fitting the side windows and windscreen. I've spent quite a lot of time on the net studying the framing of the side windows. I've found that it is different on port and starboard side, due to the door on the starboard side and a section that can be slid open on the port side. I made a test pull of the windscreen using some thermoforming platic from Squadron. It was roughly cut to shape and trial fitted to check if my "plan" was feasible. I think that it is! Some more pulls and carefull trimming, and we should be there. Hopefully ... I've also cut out a trial side window from clear plastic sheet. It is test fitted in the picture, although difficult to see. Ragnar 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnl42 Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 That's looking quite good, particularly the mods you've made. It looks like your efforts to reinforce the wing mounting will pay off handsomely. I had problems with Eduard's 1/48 Lysander wing mount and had to rebuild after a catastrophic failure. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragnarec Posted September 23, 2021 Author Share Posted September 23, 2021 22 hours ago, dnl42 said: That's looking quite good, particularly the mods you've made. It looks like your efforts to reinforce the wing mounting will pay off handsomely. I had problems with Eduard's 1/48 Lysander wing mount and had to rebuild after a catastrophic failure. Thanks! I think that the wing mounting will be rigid enough to bear the weight of the wing, but time will tell whether I'm right or not! Mounting side and front windows will also help making the structure stiffer. Ragnar 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragnarec Posted September 24, 2021 Author Share Posted September 24, 2021 5 hours ago, Flight Line Media said: Nice progress, Ragnar! I look forward to seeing this build completed. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted September 25, 2021 Share Posted September 25, 2021 Thus has progressed very well, great work on the cockpit framing and wing mounts etc looks awesome. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragnarec Posted September 25, 2021 Author Share Posted September 25, 2021 1 hour ago, bigbadbadge said: Thus has progressed very well, great work on the cockpit framing and wing mounts etc looks awesome. Chris Tanks. I tend to make things a bit complicated for my self, but as soon as the cockpit windows are on I should return to more standard kit building. I hope... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragnarec Posted January 27, 2022 Author Share Posted January 27, 2022 (edited) I've finally found some motivation to continue this build. I needed to do quite a number of pulls of the windscreen to get a decent copy. I had made the master a bit oversize, and consequently it was a tedious and time consuming task to trim the windscreen to size. But I got there in the end! The side windows were cut from clear plastic stock and were much easier to do. Here all pieces have been glued in place. The windows were masked off with all joints filled with Milliput. Ragnar Edited January 27, 2022 by ragnarec Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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