Cessna 172 VH-DIN from the ATC

[Ed Russell]

The Air Training Corps is a volunteer youth group which has evolved into the AAFC.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Air_Force_Cadets

During the 1980's, the Air Training Corps in Victoria operated a yellow Cessna 172D with the quasi-military markings typical of their aircraft.

 

A history and more pictures can be found here

http://www.adf-serials.com.au/cessna172.htm

Some pictures show it with a different shape anti-glare panel and lacking the ATC badge on the fin.

This is the VFR Models 3D printed Cessna 172 with minor modifications to represent VH-DIN as it was usually seen. The main differences are addition of the landing light and deletion of the seat headrests. The kit is relatively easy to assemble but adding 7g of weight buckled the nosewheel leg, which was replaced with brass wire and photoetch. Putting a receiving hole in the nose wheel caused it to disintegrate but, fortunately, a replacement was found in the spares box. Aside from that, there were no issues with the kit. It is painted with Colourcoats Orange Yellow which seems to fit the average of all the yellows in the half dozen or so extant pictures. The decals were Alps printed from artwork by @72nd SQN.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If there is a demand we will do a short run incorpoating improvements as a Red Roo model.

 

 

[bigbadbadge]

Looks absolutely fantastic in the overall yellow scheme Ed, I like that, great work.

Chris

[gingerbob]

Interesting!  It looks like it is standing on its tippy-toes, though.

[Ed Russell]

@gingerbob - I recommend, if you are a modeller, you build the Airfix Wellington - it has nice flat tyres!

[Ed Russell]

There are a couple of other models around. This looks like a flying scale model. Not exceptionally accurate!

https://novawing24.com/downloads/cessna-172-vh-din-aerofly-fs2/

and one here on Britmodeller

And @72nd SQN did noe but not sure if it's here or not.

[noelh]

Very nice.  I agree with Gingerbob, it does look like it's on its tippitoes. A little tweak would sort that out though. 

 

I'm fond of the 172. I have more hours than I care to remember on the type. 

 

Nice scheme as well.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Beautiful work sir… just wish mine had turned out this nice. 

[Derek_B]

Nice one Ed! An unusual subject, looks great.

[Ed Russell]

Attention @gingerbob and @noelh - I think the import of what you are trying to express is correct. I have to say that I interpreted the rather childish “tippy-toes” as being a reference to some builds you see where the wheels are flattened to the point where the plane could not take off. However a modeller friend pointed out (in received English- not kidlish) that I had the wrong positions for the wheel track and nose-leg rake and kindly sent me pictures and dimensions from his own 1/1 scale Cessna 172. Indeed measuring the model showed the wheel track was 7ft 2in rather than 8ft 1in and the nose leg was about 7 degrees too vertical. So I have fixed these flaws but really, I can’t see much difference looking at the model – perhaps the pictures show more?

 

 

[Ed Russell]

On 8/10/2023 at 1:05 PM, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

just wish mine had turned out this nice. 

Yours is not that bad - it's mainly the lettering that looks a bit irregular. If it comes off easily I will send you a set of decals in 1/48 if we do a 1/72 commercial release.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

2 minutes ago, Ed Russell said:

Yours is not that bad - it's mainly the lettering that looks a bit irregular. If it comes off easily I will send you a set of decals in 1/48 if we do a 1/72 commercial release.

The lettering is the biggest problem I have with my build. So yes I would be very grateful if you can do this. I can probably remove the lettering and touch up the paint without too much trouble. Let me know when you think it might be available and we can figure out postage ? 

[72nd SQN]

Lovely work @Ed Russell - the Yellow Peril - went for a fly around Pt Cook in it and then hung out in the hangers full of all the unrestored Museum aircrfat back when you could, Spitfire’s 262 and 163,, the Adastra Hudson’s, Beaufort, Vampires, Mustang, Ventura, Sabre, Hickory fuselage and soo much other good stuff still all hidden away….

[Tony Edmundson]

nice work even on the landing gear corrections, BUT, in this day and age of 3D scanning and 3D printing;

the kit's  outline (especially the nose area) is not very Cessna 172 shaped.   Way too narrow at the front of the cowling, and should not be so sloped down in front of the windscreen.

 

Still, nobody should mistake it for a Sopwith Camel

 

Cheers, Tony

[Ed Russell]

On 8/23/2023 at 6:54 AM, Tony Edmundson said:

too narrow at the front of the cowling, and should not be so sloped down

Hmm... not sure that I agree here. Looking at real ones and photos it appears, if anything, too flat rather than too sloped! The front looks okay to me but I have not measured it. I will ask my owner friend to measure his.

if you have one and there is some Sopwith Camel confusion, perhaps it has been re-engined! 😃

[Tony Edmundson]

the whole firewall forward is not shaped like a Cessna 172, period

 

Tony

 

ps;  then there's the landing gear

[Ed Russell]

Tony - Look at the second post of pictures and you will see the landing gear has been modified to fit the exact dimensions of the real one. You may not be aware of the evolution of Cessna 172 nose profiles. There are several different shapes which look different from each other, often classed as A to E. To be fair, the heading picture does not show the nose at all (Gabrielle, please move sidways!) but the link leads to pictures of VH-DIN. which was a D-type. This has the smaller elliptical inlets and is quite different to later ones. Numerically there are more of the later than early versions and several, like the one owned by a friend, have had their cowlings replaced. So just looking at pictures on the net or even looking at real 172s at the local airport may not fully inform you about cowls.

VFR Models are on top of these variations and their 172 kit is issued in several versions with early, intermediate and late cowls.