1/72 Planet Models resin Monocoupe 90
More and more kit manufacturers venture into the realm of
civil planes, not only commercial jets, but private planes, planes from the
golden age of aviation, planes from the pioneer period, racers, passenger
planes form the 20’s, et cetera.
Finally our longing for something that does not mean
glorifying killing is answered. Plainly said: the intentionality behind a
bomber plane is not the same as the one behind a touring plane or a record
plane, a racer, and so forth. Finally we can build a model airplane with our
kids and tell them about adventures, challenges and glamour, and not about
cracking the heads open of fellow human beings.
Praised be Planet Models for the launching of several of
these beauties (including the Focke Wulf A-16 passenger plane, the Havilland
DH85 Leopard Moth, the Bugatti 100P, the Hughes H-1 racer –the last three in
1/48-) and may it ease the karma of their previous subject choices, mostly Nazi
stuff.
I am not naive; I know that war sells more than peace,
which, alone, says a lot of whom -as a species- we are. But evolution and
awareness may be even reaching our war machine-plagued modeling universe.
Granted, Planet covered their behinds (marketing-wise) with a version that
caters for the Spanish Civil war, but at least it allows us to build a civil
model out of it too!.
There is another resin kit out there of the same subject,
released by LF Models.
As I was saying, thanks, Planet Models! Now, that
said...yes, some little issues.
The kit has a clean and sharp molding, almost no pinholes,
easily-removable casting blocks, no warps or partially-molded parts whatsoever.
Great so far. Nevertheless, you have to cut open the roof window on both
fuselage sides. Well, no big deal (it seemed), although why, why, we
rhetorically scream? So out with the JLC saw that Steve gifted us a few years
ago. Two across-the-fuselage cuts went well, but you can’t saw the line that
goes parallel to the fuselage, so I started carefully to score it with a new
Xacto. Several times. And then, very, very carefully tried to pry it loose. To
no avail. More scoring, no results. You can’t exert too much pressure, because
the fuselage side may break at the weak window dividers, and we don’t want
that, precious. More and more scoring and then the section came off cleanly.
What was hindering the cut was that the fuselage sides are thick enough to get
in the way of the cutting line, so later on you have to carve it from inside
too. Planet, what the...?. Then it is the nose, just a solid block. Granted,
with some recesses depicting the cutouts in the front, but no engine. Hum. I
know some modelers would be grateful for that (one less step towards
completion, pal!) but that’s not my case. I like my engines there, even if not
much of them is visible. Wheel streamlined pants again are fused solid with
their wheels. I know, it’s a small model, and it facilitates building, but
surely not detail painting.
Nothing of this is insurmountable, and I rather deal with
that instead of with pinholes, resin blobs, sticky parts or dubious shapes.
Be careful with the smaller parts (joysticks, Pitot, etc) as
you cut them loose from the backing web. Wash all parts to eliminate
mold-release residue (again, watch-out for the small bits) and sand to refine
the parts using a mask. Toxic resin dust is no joke.
The vacuformed transparent bits come in a small sheet. They
are crisply molded, but their transparency leaves a lot to be desired. In the
photo you can see how it looks, and, by the way, that’s after washing and
drying it. What looks like droplets or humidity or release agent or oil, are
actually blemishes, solidly transferred on the sheet. In that sheet you will
find two parts not accounted for in the instructions. They are doors, I assume
in case you want to file open the ones delineated in the fuselage and pose the
model to show, to better effect, the excellent interior provided. The
instructions are good. They depict a few parts, with their measures, that you
have to get or make yourself. All easy to deal with. The decals, which I didn’t
plan to use, are from Propagteam, usually of a good standard as previous
experiences with them indicate.
And so it began, by vacuforming a new cowl to replace the
resin solid one and making a vague resemblance of an engine to put inside it.
Since almost nothing can be seen through the cowl slots, no more is needed.
One of the doors was removed and the fuselage sides reduced
in thickness from inside. Even so, the interior assembly, as it is almost
invariably the case with resin kits, had to be sanded down in order for it to
fit. The instructions -again in the tradition of most resin kits- are vague, to
say the least, regarding where to position certain parts, in this case the
instrument panel which should be closer to the pilot and not in the area
at which the instructions generally aim, therefore leaving a gap where the coaming should be. Oi, again,
Planet.
The fuselage was finally closed, the tail feathers added
(not before drilling the holes for the ulterior rigging) and the landing gear
glued at this point. Wings were given pins and matching holes drilled on the
fuselage stub wings. And here another question: since the Mono has 0 dihedral
and a one piece wing that seats atop the fuselage, wouldn’t have been more
effective to engineer the kit likewise? This and other questions may have asked
the Sphinx to Oedipus...
As you can see in the accompanying images aileron horns (not provided) were installed, then the model was primed, checked for blemishes, re-touched, primed again, sanded smooth and airbrushed with the lighter color of the scheme. Decals meanwhile were printed. The scratched door and minor parts were prepped too. The windshield was separated from the clear vacuformed sheet, and to my surprise it was a good fit.
All the other clear bits were home-made.
Masking and painting ensued, decals and details, and this little bumble-bee was ready for departure to its destination at Glen Ellyn airstrip.
As you can see in the accompanying images aileron horns (not provided) were installed, then the model was primed, checked for blemishes, re-touched, primed again, sanded smooth and airbrushed with the lighter color of the scheme. Decals meanwhile were printed. The scratched door and minor parts were prepped too. The windshield was separated from the clear vacuformed sheet, and to my surprise it was a good fit.
All the other clear bits were home-made.
Masking and painting ensued, decals and details, and this little bumble-bee was ready for departure to its destination at Glen Ellyn airstrip.
