RarePlane 1/72nd Seversky Vacuform kit converted to racer

The League of Extraordinary Gentlewomen

Setting aside Amelia Earhart, vaguely known by the general public and easily recognizable by the aviation community, not much credit has been given to women in the field, in spite of their many contributions (and in some cases sacrifices).

(The completed model is posted here:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2020/10/seversky-ap-7-jacqueline-cochran-1928.html

I have tried to pay a kind homage to a few of them in our own little way:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2020/07/twin-wasp-northrop-gamma-jackie-cochran.html

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2017/04/elisabeth-lions-record-caudron-c610.html

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2018/07/lockheed-electra-10e-amelia-earhart.html

The list of winged women is long: "Pancho" Barnes, Jean Batten, Bessie Coleman, Ruth Elder, Amy Johnson, Ruth Nichols, Elinor Smith, Louise Thaden, Bobbi Trout, Amalia Celia Figueredo, Adrienne Bolland, Maureen Dunlop and many more.

Many years ago I built this very same kit, to the level I could do then:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2013/05/rareplanes-172-vacuformed-seversky-p-35.html

The opportunity to perhaps up the job a bit has presented again in the form of a very kind invitation to contribute a model for a display titled "Women in aviation", to be held in the future (hopefully, given the current situation) at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.

This was the plane flown by Jacqueline Cochran to Victory at the 1938 Bendix race. The previous year she was the only women to finish the race.

To render a Seversky AP-7 (the correct denomination of this specific version) I am using again a RarePlane P-35, modifying it as needed to reflect the differences.

I am aware that other, more modern kits exists, but my nostalgic inclinations and the tickling of the challenge made me once again incline for an atavistic vacuum-formed kit.

For the decals this time I am indebted to Morgan Girling, my appreciative thanks to her.

 Where all begins...

The contents. This must have been one of Gordon's early releases, as the surface is bare, and you are advised to get prop, wheels and such from other kits. Gordon kits will eventually develop into little vac masterpieces:

 The decals sent by Morgan (thanks!):

The parts are easily removed from their backing sheet:

Accessories kindly provided by the spares bin:

The parts are sanded carefully, truing them, and thinning where necessary (trailing edges).

Once more a combination of rasps and sanding tools is used, which greatly accelerates an otherwise very tedious job:

Edges thinned from inside:

Removal of surplus plastic on the cowl front:

A last swipe with fine sandpaper wrapped on a tube:

The different cut-outs are practiced. Tailwheel well:

Cockpit:

Luggage hatch:

And door made of clear plastic, later to be masked and painted:

And interesting difference in the plastic between the RarePlane Seversky and Vega (that I am building in parallel), is that the Vega, a later RarePlane kit, has a more rigid, harder and shinier plastic, whilst the Seversky has an opaque, soft, and more flexible one. I Must say I prefer these later kits' plastic. None of them has become brittle with time, fortunately.

The wings are deprived of surface detail. The lower half doesn't even have the aileron outline as the upper half:

Some surface detail is therefore added:

Bulkheads are fashioned. The last one closes the luggage compartment. Believe it or not one of the marketing angles for this plane was to sell it as a spiffy personal transport; but how many Howard Hughes those guys thought existed?:

The wing halves are glued, previous inclusion of some resemblance of structure inside the well. The wheel covers are being prepared. Cochran's 1937 Bendix winner did have different wheel fairings -more prominent at the back and partially separated from the wing-, so if I end up using this kit instead of the one in route they will have to be replaced:

The wing roots molded on the fuselage have to be sanded back:

Fuselage must be protected:

There:

Ready to insert spars:

May end up separating the rudder anyway.

So here is the state of union of parts so far. The rudder has been separated. The transparencies prepared. The wing roots capped and the spars added. Surface detail has been engraved now on the tail components too. The tailwheel has been fashioned, and an isnt. pan. and seat found:

A new engine was found that fits perfectly inside the cowl:

The interior bits start to be added:

Gradually more structure and details are added:

The cowl gills are thinned and gently pried a bit open:

There was a very small loop antenna and a cylindrical object on the aft part of the canopy, both are fabricated:

And in case you feel tempted to think: "What if I get a nice kit and do a comparative build?", just don't, that is if you were thinking of the Choroszy release of the Seversky SEV S-2 racer flown by Fuller (#77).

This kit really deserves (a term most justly employed) a separate review, but here is a (bitter) taste of it:

Decals that have broken pinstripes and miss the nose bands (that also had a pinstripe, good luck trying to paint it) and small marks that are not really accurate:

A seemingly overdone and strangely faceted surface:

No part numbers (hey, good luck finding your part!), very small, confusing, and poorly printed instruction drawings:

Horrible -and mean horrible- under surface, with skewed panel lines that do not meet and are at different angles. Compare with plan:

Not to mention pinholes, crumbly bits and other delicacies:

Racer number 77 did not have a window on that side hatch, nor was the hatch standing proud 4 inches from the fuselage, nor was it hinged to the front, but hinged upwards:

Thickly framed transparencies, and, the best part, they are a carry over (as well as other inaccurate features) from the P-35 kit, as Fuller's canopy had a different framing, and a more elongated shape at the very front:

So I deem this kit something dangerously close to a fiasco.

Parts from this model and the Lockheed Vega also in progress are given their base coats:

Additional work is performed on the parts:

Details are added to the cockpit:

The fuselage halves are united:

Just minor things, like landing lights cutouts on the wing and seams puttying:

First coat of primer:

The shaping of the vac clear parts for them to follow the fuselage contour was no picnic, as the kit just provides a flatline base and no guidance. It's now almost there. Clarity, as you may see, it's not optimal. The customary bath in floor polish will improve that a little. 1/72nd renders pretty small airframes...:

 Simple landing gear legs and their sockets are fashioned:

Cochran's Seversky had different landing gear covers than the P-35, therefore this must be corrected. Two wood masters are carved and sanded, and parts are vacuformed from them:

It took two tries. As you can see the kit covers and fairings are much smaller:

The covers in the racer were not only different, but also slightly asymmetrical -spot the curved inner face corner and angled outer face corner of the covers:

You can also see that the aft covers are angled down leaving a space between the fairing and wing surface, this is replicated too:

That air intake is not present in this version of the plane, and has to be removed:

The cavity will be filled with Milliput and the surface restored:

The air intake, headrest and horizontal tail feathers are added:

Tailcone fillets added. As you can see it's details after details:

Wings on:

More corrections and another coat of primer:

Little progress. The LG legs are added, and the tailwheel bay doors are in place:

The control surfaces were fabric covered, and their hue in photos is lighter -due to the aluminum dope- than the surrounding metal, thus gloss white is airbrushed on them. They will be masked before the gloss black is applied for the rest of the airframe:

The later RarePlane kit of this Seversky has arrived. It is, as mention before, a further, much more detailed development of the kit, with surface detail and a slightly different approach to engineering. To the left the older, simpler boxing:

Even the battery hatch on the left fuselage side is presented:

A full interior is this time provided:

The landing gear is presented in a not common way:

The engine, if we take in consideration the age and media of the kit, is quite detailed:

All the surfaces have profuse detail. Not always completely accurate, but hey, for the time:

 Gordon Stevens, in a photo he sent me when we were in touch, before his passing:

(Janet & Gordon Stevens 60th Wedding Anniversary Dinner):

And what do you know, Gordon included a civil option (Doolittle's):

I got yet a third Seversky, the relatively old MPM release. It has resin, film and P.E. parts:

The transparency is very clear:

The panel lines suffer a bit from tiny blobs, and may need careful re-scribing. We can see that the anti-skid areas are overdone, and are better replaced with matte decals:

A very complete interior is provided:

 I also acquired the Peewit set for the masks, that, to my immense joy this time, came as what it's called kabuki paper, far better than vinyl. Glorious! Well done, Peewit!:

Gloss black applied:

The masks are lifted before paint application:

Now it's ready for the clear coat:

The frames on the aft section of the canopy were in fact not metal, but some kind of plastic. They are replicated using Scotch magic tape glued from inside:

The metal paint is sealed with Alclad Aqua Gloss:

 Wheels are added. Several locations are drilled for the Pitot, Venturi, and antenna leads. Trim tabs, and battery hatch are simulated with metal-painted decal paper cut to size. Two louvers around the nose are dealt with using Archer resin transfers:

So many things yet to deal with: nav lights, wing landing lights and their covers, front wheel fairings, nose, canopy and the details mentioned above for which the locations were drilled.

Cowl/engine/prop on. Wheel covers, all lights, aft canopy, directional finder, Pitot and Venturi are added:

Two weathered sections of tube are added in the guise of exhausts, and a smoky trail airbrushed:

Some inspection lids seen in photos are made slightly flattening and sharpening a brass tube, and punching "metal" decals that are then applied:

Model completed. Post with the full photo session when time allows. The decal sheet I was gifted has some minor inaccuracies, but I let that go for this build:

To be continued....