Gruman Widgeon - KP 1/72nd kit civil conversion + Arctic Decals

 

The Grumman Widgeon started as a project for the civil market, but ended up serving mostly in a military capacity; it reverted, nonetheless, to its original planned role and it’s still flying today. It can be seen in a number of very beautiful civil schemes and serving in many capacities, pity that many manufacturers don’t care much about civil machines. Here are ten pages of civil Widgeons (some converted to other powerplants):

https://www.airhistory.net/original-type/718/Grumman-G-44-Widgeon

So as an alternative to the not particularly appealing schemes offered in the different boxings of this kit,  here is the USDI Fish and Wildlife Service Grumman Widgeon, based on the relatively recently released KP kit. This in turn is most likely based on the Pavla kit, with some improvements and some other things that were lost in translation. For the complete, extensive report and the step-by-step article please go here:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2025/02/grumman-widgeon-civil-conversion-of-kp.html

I would buy and build this kit again in spite of its few shortcomings. Some features were deleted, others modified, and more than a few things were added to obtain a more convincing replica, all within the scope of some healthy modeling and a little scratchbuilding; so nothing to fear but fear itself… and yet it has to be said that this kit is better suited for modelers with some experience. This kit would be in a much desirable league if released with photo-etched and resin parts, and masks.

To represent this particular machine a set from Arctic Decals was used.

Work on the kit:

-Control horns, aileron and flap linkages were added

-Aftermarket nav. lights used

-Cabin door and mooring hatch were both opened

-Cabin interior was added

-Wing light replaced with home-made reflective lens

-Aft bulkhead and a couple of structural features added

-Cleats and handles added from spares

-Antenna added

-New scratchbuilt propellers

-Side windows replaced with acrylic panes to improve clarity

-Elevator mass balances replaced with home-made items

-Pitot replaced by home-made item

-Molded-in dihedral corrected

I could find at least three Widgeons that operated for the USDI Fish and Wildlife Service. They differed in minor details, like the type of propellers they used and small variations of their painting schemes.

Thanks to Patrice Roman who provided photos that helped a lot with details and to Mika Jernfors for his –as usual excellent- work on the decal set.

So now you can visit on the blog two Fish and Wildlife Service planes (the other being a Republic Seabee), a Boeing 247 with National Parks, and a Norseman from the Forest Service. These agencies -and many others- are invaluable in a number of capacities for the benefit of all the population. Any government damaging in any way these institutions with a long tradition of service for the common good (by indiscriminately firing its employees and cutting without further study their budgets) demonstrates very little intelligence and understanding and a complete disregard for the common citizen. A healthy democracy is the government of the people, by the people, for the people, and not a free for all for billionaires.