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Cessna C-185 Skywagon (KPM0234) 1:72


Mike

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Cessna C-185 Skywagon (KPM0234)

1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov

 

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Cessna have a history of producing civil aircraft with the occasional military variant forthcoming now and again.  The C-185 was a development of their own 180 series, which was a 4-6 passenger light aircraft although the last two passengers would have to be children or headless.  It had a strengthened fuselage and more powerful motor from Continental (with some exceptions) that allowed it to fly at a maximum speed of almost 180mph.  It first flew in 1960, with production beginning the next year and continuing well into the 80s, with a hiatus after which a reduced selections of variants were available of both the 185 and the 180 from which it was developed. 

 

Like many Cessna aircraft it was a jack of all trades, and it found itself being used in many situations, even with floats added to some airframes so they could land and take-off from rivers, lakes and even the sea.  The back seats are particularly cramped, and only just qualify as back seats because of children needing less headroom, so many owners removed them and used the space for baggage or for some other function.  Its rugged engineering and fuel-injected engine leads to a light maintenance burden, and it is a relatively easy aircraft to fly although it is known to be somewhat tail heavy at times.  Its low stall speed of just under 60mph led to some aircraft being fitted with balloon tyres and used as bush aircraft, landing in very cramped places at the back of beyond.  Although production finished properly in the early 80s, there are still a good number of the type about.

 

 

The Kit

This is a new tooling from KP, and it’s a very civil offering.  The Skywagon is a relatively small aircraft even in 1:1, but at 1:72, it’s about the size of a WWII fighter, so arrives in the same style of small end-opening box, with a single sprue of parts in grey styrene, plus a separately bagged clear sprue, a sheet of decals and a short instruction booklet.  Staring at the solitary sprue, there is a little flash in evidence on the sprues, a soupçon of which has strayed onto the parts themselves, but it’s quick work getting rid of it and is always much better than short-shot parts.  The surface of the aircraft’s skin is moulded with finely engraved panel lines and a few rivets, with a choice of two rudder fins, wheel types and a two- or three-bladed prop, as either could be fitted at the owner or maintainer’s preference.  One of the tails and an underslung stowage locker aren’t used on this edition of the kit, but will come in useful for other boxings.

 

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Construction begins with the cockpit, which is based around the floor, which has moulded-in rudder pedals and a shallow centre console, plus bases for the twin front seats, and the bench-style rear seats, then a bulkhead behind where the fifth and six seats would otherwise be.  The seats have decal shoulder straps, and the instrument panel has a decal included to add some detail to the area before inserting the yokes in the left, right or both as befits your decal choice.  The fuselage halves are prepped by adding three window panes in each side, and upon joining the halves together around the cockpit, a front bulkhead is inserted too, but you are advised to adjust this by sanding in order to get a good fit with the fuselage and the rounded windscreen part.  The fuselage is completed by adding the front of the engine cowling with the two mirrored D-shaped intakes and central hole for the prop shaft.

 

The elevators are both single parts each and have the prototypical corrugated flying surfaces moulded-in, as does the full-width wing, which has curved tips moulded-in, but they can be cut off and replaced by a pair of straight tips that are on the sprues.  A pair of strakes are added to the half-way joint on the topside, and a clear lens is inserted into the leading edge of the port wing, then the wing is glued to the top of the cockpit to form its roof, so remember to paint inside.  The wing supports stretch from holes in the underside of the wing to the sides of the fuselage, and the landing gear struts are mounted in more holes nearby, with two part tyres at the end of each.  The instructions mention mounting twin rocket-launchers under each wing, but that’s for the military variant.  You wouldn’t be very popular with control if you pressed the wrong button and launched a few rockets at them on approach.  The tail-wheel with integral strut is mounted under the rear.  You have a choice of three props, two blades with or without spinner, and a three-bladed unit with a different spinner for obvious reasons.  Adding the rudder finishes the structural part of the build, then you have a choice of three sensor fits on the top of the fuselage. The first option has a single blade antenna on the spine, the second has a raised blister in the same place, while the third has twin blades over the cockpit, and another two on the starboard fuselage just next to the tail fillet.

 

 

Markings

There are three decal options on the sheet, all of which are pretty colourful compared to your average military aircraft, in vibrant red, white or blue.  From the box you can build one of the following:

 

  1. C-GTAA, Canada
  2. G-BDKC, Great Britain
  3. F-BNLC, France

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The decals are well-printed in good register, with a thin glossy carrier film close to the printed edges for the most part, but with a few that are a little larger.  This shouldn’t cause too much of an issue however, as the film is thin and has a relatively soft edge.  There are seatbelts and an instrument decal on the sheet, which should add a little realism to your finished cockpit.

 

 

Conclusion

This is the first kit in injection moulded plastic of this type in any scale, so if you’re in the market for one, you now have what you’ve been waiting for!

 

Highly recommended.

 

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Review sample courtesy of

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