Wings of Intent: December 2020

(the completed model is posted here:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2021/03/cessna-bobcat-civil-pema-enlo-argentina.html

The sort of chubby, but well proportioned and cute Cessna Bobcat is a very attractive plane, in its own stumpy little way. Created in 1939, it was then bought in numbers to do the ole bang-piff-pow, but fortunately reverted to a civil role later on. I had recently acquired a nice little 1/72nd Cessna T-50 Bobcat kit made by Kovozávody Prostějov (KP), the thinking being that the plane was -and still is- so common in the civil market that I would have paint schemes galore to choose from. A folder was created and many photos were gathered. Recently a fellow countryman sent me a few images of some very tempting machines that operated in Argentina. Problem was, as usual with early and vintage aviation, that the colors could not be properly ascertained, but what we usually call educated guessing may lead to the right path.

The KP kit has a very nice surface treatment, seems correct, the level of detail is good except regarding the engines, that are just a bit basic for modern standards. They can be of course used, as not a lot of them is actually really seen, but better aftermarket ones could improve the final result. No resin or P.E. bits, and, to my disappointment, no masks, that I had to purchase separately. Still, very clear clear parts (not always the case you can repeat that word), and a comprehensive and seemingly good quality decal sheet with many civil options, for which KP has my congratulations. Kovozávody Prostějov is a manufacturer's name that is a source of delight for my otorhinolaryngologist, as after pronouncing it I have to schedule an appointment so he can find my tongue back. Then I have to go back again after pronouncing otorhinolaryngologist.

Contents, clear parts separately packaged and decals inside the instruction booklet:

Nice decal sheet, with many options, including "Songbird", a nod to the American market:

Sprues:

Not exceptionally good engines, but ok:

Nice surface with subtle, refined detail:

Some attention to the smaller parts:

Again, fine-tuned hand in the masters:

Nice clear parts:

After the customary wash, it's noted that the ejection pin marks should be removed, otherwise they will get in the way of a good fit:

The wings and vertical tail will most likely need some very careful sanding from inside to avoid a too thick trailing edge and ensure good fit:

The care for the surface detail is evident, praise should be given:

Ejector marks being removed. The plastic is on the hard side:

The props are not that crisp, and the blades are a bit thick, thus there are sanded and polished:

The mating surfaces need some careful sanding to improve fit and thickness at the tip, but do not overdo it:

A number of parts are being glued before painting them:

Tail also needed some sanding:

Ejector marks removed and edges trued:

Paired parts are given their numbers with a permanent marker before extracting them from the sprues:

Again, the edges needed truing, and again, don't overdo it:

Glued, ignoring the instructions, which will have you embrace the engine between the two cowl halves, making sanding, cleaning and painting more difficult:

The kit wants to you to put a sort of disk as an exhaust, that won't do:

Small tubes from the craft store will be better:

The location is drilled and later the tube will inserted. By the way, only one cowl had the exhaust position marked, I had to mirror the other side:

A nice addition are LG scissors, absent or poorly rendered in many kits. They are quite ok, but many of these smaller parts would have been better as photo-etched details:

As per norm I tend to really complicate my life with kits, but for this one I will try to make my life easier, as a divertimento, to take breaks from the Fokker F.32 and the Friedrichshafen FF49c, which are complicated enough. But an easy life isn't really in the cards for modelers, and beloved wanted her new gym bike assembled. Pft! only 34,604 parts, weighing a ton, so Xmas day is spent thus:

Now, you would ask yourself: how planes are piloted? well, with a control wheel in part, which are included in the sprues, but not in the instructions. They anchor on the I.P., by the way. My 1/72nd pilot is terribly upset!:

I just could not live with the mediocre props, and replaced them with better resin items from Khee-Kha Art Products:

After the sanding of the wings from inside, they still did not "close" properly, due to some molding particularity greatly exaggerated in the sketch below:

Again the scrapers come useful:

I think I may replace those not-so-good engines for better Engine & Things resin ones, they are better shaped and have a resemblance of the sump/intake. This will necessitate the addition of a firewall, but will allow me to thin the trailing edge of the cowl for a more realistic look, separating it as in reality from the nacelle:

Look at that wing root gap! bigger than the socioeconomic chasm! This will need some styrene packing:

The instructions tell you to glue the side windows from inside. Checking the area I discovered a mold flaw to filled the edge of one of the windows:

The offending bead is removed with a small rotary burr:

I make my own lights, so their position is drilled and a couple prepared for later addition:

Some parts ready for primer and some paint:

The cowls are thinned down, especially at their trailing edges for a more realistic look:

The modifications I am making require as explained the addition of firewalls:

Now to shorten those legs just a bit:

Base colors are applied:

Dry-run of the nacelles, the fit is actually very good, needing only a nudge here and there:

Cowls and wheels are setup for ulterior painting:

Back to the KP kit, working on the interior and engines:

Clear parts get their acrylic bath:

The replacement proppies are ready:

The side windows are glued on. All required a bit of scraping to fit. The front transparency seems to be a good fit. There are tabs to locate the interior, problem is that the instructions are vague and unclear (surprise!) regarding the exact position of the interior (above the tab, below it, on it?). No position I tried seems to be a really nice fit, so we will have to wing it when the moment comes to glue the interior in and join the sides:

The fuselage sides are glued together. The fit is ok, but some it needs a little convincing in a couple areas:

Styrene strip liners are added to the wing roots to help close the gap with the fuselage -that was pointed out before:

A dry run of the wing on the fuselage showed that the gaps are now closed, but the airfoil on the wing is shallower that that on the fuselage karman:

Therefore shims had to be propped-in on both sides to augment the airfoil curvature thus matching the molded wing profile on the fuselage:

The canopy was glued on (a good fit, by the way) and wholly masked to protect it. Wing and fuselage, after adjusting the fit, are glued together, and now the task of dealing with the seams begins:

The landing gear is added and then the nacelles. As the main legs were shortened a little bit to improve the height which seemed a bit tall, the back diagonal brace in turn needs a smidgen removed to accompany the geometry, or it will push the main leg far ahead. The nacelles were an OK fit, needing little touch ups. The opening on the nacelles needs to be made wider or it will definitely interfere with the main leg:

The stab halves are sided. The slot on the fuselage side for the left half was partially blocked by solid plastic and had to be carved out for the tongue to fit in:

Stabs added. Once in their respective slots, they did not align properly, seen from the back and the top, so I removed them and worked a bit on the slots to fine tune them:

Have to wait now for the aftermarket masks. When they arrive, they will be applied and then the model given a coat of primer to reveal potential blemishes:

You may paint or add the walkways as decals (absent from the kit's sheet):

A Pitot and what looks like a small antenna will be added after priming and tiding-up:

First coat of primer and some spots that need attention:

The rudder is painted white to create one of the bands of the Argentinian flag the plane wore:

White masked and light blue airbrushed:

In turn the rudder will be masked to apply the silver color:

The masks for the canopy arrived. As you may have noticed, I first deal with an overall masking of the clear parts to deal with surface blemished, and when everything seems more or less alright, then I apply the commercial masks for the last touches of primer and painting. In the background you can see decal material airbrushed with dark matte grey, to use later as a walkway source:

The Peewit masks are very good and fit very well:

Alclad II Gloss Pale Grey Base is airbrushed:

Aluminium color was airbrushed and the wheels painted. Next it will be the clear coat in preparation for the decals:

Gloss coat on and masks off:

The Arctic Decals set has arrived. It's a magnificent set, and has superb and sharp images. It offers images as well as masks, a truly complete set!

A paint match is obtained for the curved areas of solid color. As explained, Arctic Decals provides different approaches to achieve the color scheme. I will be masking and painting the cowls separately, and then filling up the nose tip with hand-brushed paint, after the fuselage side decals are in place. Of course you could also use the wonderful mask set provided if so you wished:

The cowls' fronts are painted in the matching color (other parts unrelated):

The engines are glued inside the cowls, and added to the wings. The fuselage side decals are already in place and the nose tip painted in a matching color, wing regs also in place: