Caudron C.460 racer - 1/72nd SBS Model resin

 

(The completed model is posted here: https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2021/07/caudron-c460-racer-172nd-sbs-model-resin_19.html

SBS Model kits are the Rolls Royce of resin kits. They are as close to modelers' paradise as it gets. They excel in every department: technology, detail, casting, engineering, instructions, decals, cast metal parts, photo-etching accessories, research, masks, fit, boxing, clear parts molding, and so on and so forth. They are so fantastic, that I almost feel it's a bit of a sacrilege to build them, so perfect they are.

I have built several of their kits during the last years, all in this blog (Latecoere 28, De Havilland DH88 -two of them-, Farman 190, Caudron C.600 Aiglon -two of them, Macchi M.C.72), and if they started as superb kits, now they are indisputable kit jewels, as they kept -even if it seemed impossible- improving. This offering even includes dies -top and bottom- to curve into shape the photo-etched landing gear doors. Now, that's just the cream on top of the cherry on top of the cake!

I have never encountered a single pinhole or bubble, nor a malformed part. They have elevated casting to an art form, and one of the drawbacks of resin kits, the generally burdensome removal of the parts from their pouring blocks, is made easy, clean, and practical, thanks to minimally-invasive stems, perfect definition of the casting, clever positioning of the parts, protective devices that harbor the parts from damage, and very intelligent minds at work, no doubt, behind the brand.

Praise does not stop here, as their civil subject choices are superlative, releasing one wonderful, appealing, historically significant bird after the other.

As incredible finesse is incorporated in the moldings, care and patience are a must, as the kit won't build itself after all. Instead of concerning yourself as usual with correcting, improving, and making the parts fit, here is the opposite: you would like not to mar the perfect parts.

 

Photo-etched ancillaries:

And more, plus masks:

The dies to form the landing gear doors:

Cast metal parts:

It's always a pleasure to see intelligent solutions to long standing problems:

The usual SBS finesse and detail:

No solid heavy nose block here that you have to saw for hours to remove; instead, a clean, light, lean, perfectly detailed part that is separated from its pouring block in less than a minute:

Even part of the engine is included, to be seen behind the nose air intake:

Just a few of the many interior parts to enhance the cockpit:

All major parts are now separated from the casting blocks:

Unlike other resin offerings, locating devices are present:

Tabs will secure the tail feathers in place, no weak butt-joints here:

The three-piece nose:

Dry-run of the engine/front:

And dry run of all the components, all ok. Hardly ever seen in other kits:

Bulkheads glued to one side, some assembly in progress in the cockpit pan. I lost the joystick to the Twing Dimension, so I fabricated one from fine metal tube. Prop blades were glued to the spinner. The prop rotates clockwise looking at the plane's nose standing in front of it, be sure to position the blades accordingly. When in doubt, look at photos of the plane, there are more than plenty on the Net.

If you don't want to deal with masking the prop colors (aluminium, black anti-glare on the back of the blades, and blue spinner),you can paint the blades and spinner separately, but I will go all black, mask the back of the blades, then apply aluminium, mask the whole blades, and finally apply blue before unmasking everything.

Some of the additional goods. I am pretty sure the canopy masks are laser-cut. If that's correct, what sophistication!:

The dies and the LG doors:

Pressed into shape. This I think is better done in stages, pressing a bit more every time, and not all at once. The second done (repeated light presses) worked better. For the first one (we have to learn somehow, don't we?) I tried in one go, and the bend was too sharp, and I cracked one of the die thin walls:

As per the instructions' suggestion, the wing halves are glued together. The bits that adorn the fuselage inner sides are in place. The prop was drilled on the back to get a better hold for painting. The rudder pedals were added. Inst. pan. and engine are set to be painted before assembly:

The ancillary parts for the LG mechanism, tiny (to scale) and potentially exposed to damage, are further protected by a thin web on the back of the cast. Notice that you get two spares for those linkages, and one spare for the mountings (to the right):

Some parts being prepared for an airbrushing session:

Here are the three-component assembled inst. pan, and the painted partial engine:

SBS does not state the interior colors. I read online comments that will have it as grey. Photos show the same tonal value as some wood prominently present in the foreground and background, but the seat bucket, that was likely aluminium, has a similar tonal value. So grey or light wood, as the fuselage was made of it? More research is needed.

A decision was made for a neutral grey interior color. I have painted the Caudron C.600s that color too. Metal parts were primed and then given their colors, resin parts were painted gloss black and then aluminium. Do not forget to paint the removable side fuselage access hatch at this point. The exhaust stubs (For which you also get a couple of spares) were painted in burnt metal color. The wheel hubs were painted metal, and will be masked to paint the tires:

The interior pan is ready:

Ready to assemble:

Fuselage sides joined, wing slid-in as per kit recommendation:

The friend for whom I am building this model wants the canopy and access hatch closed, so that beautiful interior will be seen now only in these photographs.

Nose (still without the tip and engine) and cockpit access hatch are glued on:

The nose tip and partial engine are on, as well as the tail feathers. Once more, everything fitted perfectly, needing only occasionally the slightest of touches. I don't think I ever built a resin kit that fast (not that you should build this type -or any type- of kit fast, easy does it, and one must take the time and be careful, but I am admired as how smooth things go when you don't have to solve issues):

Drilling a little hole where the prop goes and inserting a toothpick helps with handling during priming, painting and checking things around without touching the model much:

We arrive now to another stage of the build, the preparation of those oil coolers that go on the left side and below the nose. One bends slightly to follow the contours of the nose and the other needs quite a lot of bending to follow the nose underneath. You don't want to be doing this on a painted model, so better to conform then now, as mine needed a lot of trial and error. The photo-etched parts, of perfect thickness for the all the other items, are perhaps a bit too thick for these oil coolers, as the metal is quite hard and does not curve easily. Annealing did nothing that I could tell, so I tried to reproduce them in thin aluminium foil. The results were not bad (see images below, the best of them is the one to the right) but not on par with the kit's crisp and neat brass offering:

So I sanded the kit parts down as much as could. Not really an improving in malleability, but at least a thinner edge:

Ready to prime and paint:
 

I think the optimal approach would be either thinner and/or more malleable P.E. parts (as to bend them around the nose easily and not showing too much thickness on the edge) or just perhaps decals of the oil coolers, or even "poked" die-cut self-adhesive aluminum foil? Something to explore, meanwhile, the kit parts were readied anyway for priming and painting.

The canopy is masked and glued in position:

A coat of primer to check the surface:

Playing a bit with blue hues. It seems that a custom mix would be the way to go:

The blue was airbrushed, but alas, my own words proved prophetic -in the sense that any problems with this kit would be most likely created by the modeler-, and at the very end of the airbrushing session the airbrush sputtered and laid down on the wing some droplets. These are not visible on the photo below, but are evident under certain light angles. I will have to wait a bit, sand the areas to remove the droplets, and repaint the wing. No biggie, but annoying nonetheless, as I created the problem myself on an otherwise perfectly going build. As the late Jim Schubert used to say, "modelers are their worst enemies":

On the other hand, I am pretty satisfied with the hue of the blue, which rings true, n'est-ce pas?

After some very light and careful sanding of the wing that fortunately eliminated the droplets (entirely my fault), the model is ready for a new coat on that area. You may notice that the rest has a nice finish. I had airbrushed the wing at the end of the session, and that's when the airbrush decided to cough. Darn diabolical devices:

I tried the blue on a vignette for my dear friend's dog:

No problems this time. Soon, unmasking, landing gear and other bits, and decaling:

This morning in the garden:

Nature's winged magic:

Started assembling the LG. You could either insert the wheels before assembly the components, or after. You will have to carefully pry open a bit the arms to insert the wheel and then push the sides to embrace it. These are small and somewhat delicate components, so care and patience are needed. There are spares, which is fabulous, as I had to use one for the diagonal linkage, having breaking one:

Ready now. Not sure if I will add the covers now or after I anchor the legs. We'll see:

What seems to be a Rough-legged hawk circling the house. Maybe it's after the model!:

Landing gear, Pitot, exhaust stacks, and oil coolers are on. The canopy masks have been removed:

Decals application in progress. The decals are of good quality, with thin carrier and opaque inks, and slide graciously in place. A bit of care is needed to place and conform the long tri-colored fuselage pinstripes, to ensure alignment:

 To be continued...