I.Ae 38 "Naranjero" - Baron Rojo 1/72nd scale 3D-printed kit

 

After the latest post -the Autogyro with Argentinean registrations- here is an ill-fated product of the local industry.

I will never know what compels me from time to time to grapple with a kit that is almost beyond redemption. This blog is sprinkled with examples of such thing. In some cases, like this one, I sort of feel obliged because the kit was a gift, in this particular occasion by my older son who is also a modeler. The manufacturer surely put many hours and much love in this endeavor, no doubt, but the technology employed did not help this kit. It was obvious from the very beginning that whatever good intentions the kit manufacturer had, the results were not really satisfactory. But again, whoever produced this kit did not get rich and spent many hours designing and printing the parts. As this sort of kit tends to do, it slept the sleep of the unjust for a long time in the closet… until one fateful day when I thought of giving it a chance.

The doubts, tribulations and lamentations con be followed in the step-by-step construction article here:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2022/10/fma-i-ae-38-naranjero-argentinian.html

This rara avis was conceived as a cargo plane able to utilize short and unprepared airstrips. But the “Naranjero” program floundered due to poor resources, limited availability of materials (it never got the engines it was designed to use, but much lower-powered ones instead) and changing policies. So after its disappointing trials the IAe-38 ended up being first abandoned to the elements -as photos show- and was eventually likely chopped off. It was underpowered and underfunded, no matter the good intentions and the many hours of hard word by a lot of people.

It lumbered through its trial flights, never to achieve full potential or any practical use. Still, this white (orange?) elephant was a sight to behold, and has its place in Argentinean aviation history.

If you have visited the step-by-step construction ordeal to make it into a somewhat credible replica, you may come to the conclusion that the real plane and the kit share a common fate, a dream that struggles to materialize, in spite of the good intentions.

The resin kit of the same plane released by Unicraft is also plagued by inaccuracies and it weights a ton as it is mainly solid resin. Another Argentinean kit manufacturer, Los Huarpes, released yet another IAe-38 of which I can’t comment as I have never seen the kit. This plane is still waiting for a manufacturer able to release a credible kit with good industry standards -and hopefully with open cargo clamshell doors. The problem though, is the lack of truly detailed reference material and photos that could clarify obscure points. This kit has one advantage: it is lightweight compared to the resin blocks offered by the others, as it is just the printed shells, but the printing definition is so coarse that the parts can be used as a grater.

Changes to the kit: 

Master was made and a new canopy vacuformed

Props replaced by home-made items

Wheels replaced

Generic cockpit interior added (no photos of the real thing could be found, but there is a schematic drawing)

Vertical stabilizers replaced

Missing intakes and exhausts under the wing added

Landing gear doors replaced

Nose LG replaced

Antennas added 

The plane can be seen represented in drawings and as scale models on the Net in orange color (following its Spanish language unofficial nickname: "Naranjero" “orange carrier” or “orange bearer”) but it is also presented by some modelers as green and gray-green. It is at this point not really clear what color it was, so it’s all speculation/educated guess. The canopy was painted white and had a surrounding area in anti-glare black paint. I went for red-orange, not because it was supposed to carry oranges (the intention of the government official that first commissioned it) but because some prototypes in Argentina were painted a reddish orange. Primer color (whatever type of primer it was given we also don’t know) could be an option too (if it wasn’t painted before trials, which is unlikely). The plane never wore any marks or decoration during its few trial flights.

So after countless hours, many additions and modifications and no little frustration during several years, here I present to you, a long way from the kit’s discouraging starting point, the result of the efforts to honor my older son’s gift. The model is still some stretch away from real accuracy, but the end result makes a not dishonorable representation of the real thing.

Completing this challenging, protracted build, gives my hope that perhaps one day I will able to finalize my 80% done Fokker F.32, Boeing 80 and the two civil SM.55. One day.