Special Hobby CASA C-212-300/400 (SH72489) 1:72 'Long-Nosed CASAs'

[Mike]

CASA C-212-300/400 (SH72489)

Long-Nosed CASAs

1:72 Special Hobby

 

 

The CASA C-212 Aviocar was developed in response to a need by the Spanish Air Force for a new cargo aircraft, putting its ageing fleet of Dakotas and Ju.52s out to pasture.  It first flew in 1971, and its designers, CASA began receiving orders shortly thereafter.  It started life as an eighteen seat un-pressurised transport that could carry out multiple roles for the military, but with a watchful eye on potential civilian customers too.  The initial 100 series was used for transport, reconnaissance, VIP transport and civilian service, with some license built in Indonesia, who switched to the improved 200 Series as it was developed, with an extended fuselage and more powerful engines to improve its carrying capacity.  In the late 80s the 300 Series was introduced with winglets to improve fuel efficiency and range, with new engines, although they output around the same power, but through a pair of four-bladed propellers.

 

The 400 series came into service toward the end of the 90s, and improved further on the type’s load carrying capacity, with slightly more powerful engines, and new avionics that were moved into the nose from under the floor.  During the noughties production was moved entirely to Indonesia, transporting the jigs and equipment there to continue production by Indonesian Aerospace, while the Spanish factories retooled for its replacement, the NC-212i that is powered by a pair of new turboprop engines with more power and revised four-bladed props.

 

 

The Kit

This is a new boxing of the kit we originally reviewed in 2018 on its initial release, with new parts added along the way, some of which appeared in an Azur Frrom boxing of the -300 a while back.  This boxing gives the modeller the option of a -300 or -400 series, with lots of spare parts that will be left on the sprues after the build is complete.  The kit arrives in a shallow top-opening box, and inside are five sprues of grey styrene, two small sprues of clear parts, a small base of 3D printed parts in a separate Ziploc bag, a decal sheet and the A5 instruction booklet printed in colour on satin paper, with profiles for the three decal options on the rear pages, accompanied by an advert for some of the aftermarket that Special Hobby produce for the C-212 under their CMK brand, and a few other kits from the Special Hobby stable.  Detail is good, with crisp panel lines, sensible parts breakdown to assist with creation of the numerous variants that have been released.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction begins with alteration of the fuselage, which must have the forward section removed by cutting, to be replaced by a new section that can be found on the same sprue, giving your CASA a longer nose.  Both sides are cut and lengthened, adding a door insert on both sides forward of the wing, and a smaller door behind the main landing gear sponsons.  The fuselages have either circular porthole-style windows inserted from within, or after cutting and sanding the thinned inners to a square with radiused corners, the corresponding alternative windows can be installed for one of the decal schemes.  The paired cockpit side windows are also glued in from within at this stage, mounting the instrument panel and its three decals in the starboard side as you go, and inserting a couple of tail bumpers under the base of the sloped rear.  The cockpit is built on a short floor section with the side and centre consoles moulded-in, adding two seats and control yokes, plus a rear bulkhead with quilted sound insulation and an access door behind the crew.  This is trapped between the two fuselage halves during closure, along with the front windscreen panels that are moulded as one.  Two aerials are cut from the top of the fuselage, while a few antennae and blisters are added underneath, fitting the nose-wheel on its two-part strut on an insert under the nose, with small lights on each side.  The main gear sponsons are fixed to the portions that are moulded into the fuselage halves, including some of the internal structure, remembering to install the main gear struts with their moulded-in scissor-links as you do.  The tail fin is moulded into the fuselage halves, and has a single-thickness rudder panel that is shortened before installation, plus the two elevators and their flying surfaces, the former from two halves each, the latter single thickness.  More antennae of various styles are included depending on which decal option you have chosen, some of which must be shortened during fitting, others would benefit from holes being drilled out to mount them in.  The main wheels are added to the struts, building them each from two halves.

 

As this is a high-wing monoplane, it is the upper wing that is moulded full-span, gluing the lower halves to it, adding four triangular actuator fairings into slots in the underside, and removing the wingtip light blisters, drilling two holes further back in each tip to accept the new wingtip fins later.  Two engine nacelles are made from identical pairs of parts, adding a cowling front to them along with the prop, which is moulded as one, and trapped between the back-plate and spinner.  A styrene washer holds the axle in place before installing the front cowling if you wish to leave the props spinning, or you could leave it off and add the props later, making dealing with the delicate seams a little easier in the process.  The two nacelles are added carefully to the underside of the wing, fitting the 3D printed exhaust guides for one of the schemes, and inserting the wingtips at each end.  There are some alterations needed to make the flying surfaces more accurate, removing a protruding trim-tab and filling the remainder on one side, and filling the panel line underneath, plus removing the actuator strut at the inner edge.  The completed wings are dropped over the fuselage, taking care to align them well, fixing two probes on the nose in front of the windscreen, plus a crew step under their hatch.  Finally, a pair of rail-type antennae are fitted on the tail fin, one each side, locating on a pair of recesses near the top.

 

 

Markings

There are three decal options on the sheet, each with very different schemes and operators that should maximise their appeal.  From the box you can build one of the following:

 

• CASA C-212-300M, 8021, No.44 Sqn., SAAF, Waterkloof, South Africa, 2008
• CASA C-212-400, ARBV-0217, Escuadrón Aeronaval de Patrullaje Maritimo, Armada Bolivariana de Venezuela, 2008
• CASA C-212-300, PA-61, Escuadrilla de Alas Fijas,  Prefectura Naval Argentina, 1990s

 

 

 

The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas.  This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film.  It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain.

 

 

Conclusion

The C-212 was in production for over 40 years, with almost 500 airframes built during that time, and many countries operating it in either civil or military guises.  This kit gives the modeller a modern tooling of the type, plus some interesting decal options.

 

Highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of