Saturday, November 28, 2015

Scratchbuilt 1/72nd scale Curtiss Robin "St. Louis Robin 1" record holder completed

Here is the completed model of the Curtiss Robin "St. Louis Robin 1", of endurance with in-flight refueling record fame.
The posting with the step-by-step construction of the model and some notes is here:

This Robin as mentioned before was especially converted for the task at hand, and many differences from the stock Robin can be observed. To start with the catwalks and their additional supports in the nose area which allowed the crew to exit the plane and service the engine in flight; the rearranging of windows and doors; the elements associated with the massive fuselage fuel tank; the necessary changes in the fuselage top to facilitate the refueling operation; and finally some minor other details seen in photos.

I am grateful for the opportunity Jack Abercrombie gave me to work in this model, soon to be displayed at the Greater St Louis Air & Space Museum. Jack, curator of the museum, provided invaluable material and input throughout the various faces of the building process to achieve an accurate as possible replica.

I am also grateful to Mika Jernfors, from Arctic Decals, who provided some of the decals for this project. His decals are top-notch quality and he is a great guy. You may contact him if you have a special project and need to order some decals, but please give him adequate time so he can better fulfill your needs.
You may reach Arctic Decals using the link at the side bar of the page.


































Here compared with a Bellanca CH-300 (this kit is from Khee-Kha Art Products):
The Bellanca was slightly portlier: