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Marc Barris
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Piper Pawnee Brave 375 1/32 Scale Scratch built

May 23, 2017 · in Aviation · · 47 · 3.5K

Finally Finished, with all my travels I finally had the chance of finishing this project, I made a few changes on the model since my last posting, Re built the canopy tub, new canopy, added the spray bars and spray nozzles, new paint job, air driven pump and plumbing.

I am in the middle of a move to Cape Town, so I finished this when the Boss (my Wife) gave me time off.

This will certainly not be the last scratch build project I will do, I had so much fun doing this and I have plans to build a Pilatus PC 6 next.

Hope you like the build.

Marc

Reader reactions:
18  Awesome

8 additional images. Click to enlarge.


47 responses

  1. Very nice build. Great work.
    Those little "Agro-planes" always look a bit funny with their high canopy. πŸ˜‰

  2. Thanks for the comment Hans, they do look a little strange don't they.

  3. Very cool and comic looking aircraft. Beautiful work. No registration...?

  4. Beautifully done! An odd, but interesting aircraft. Thanks for sharing, Marc.

  5. Simply amazing work. You are to be congratulated on a very fine build.

  6. So cool! I've wanted to see some 1/48 "crop dusters" for years but have never found any. Your scratch-built model is really awesome Marc. I've always thought those planes had a bit of a predatory look about them, even a military sort of appearance. Hey, they might do good service as "ground support"?!? πŸ™‚
    Wait. They already do ground support don't they? πŸ™‚

    • Gary, civil aircraft don't get no love. AG airplanes are kinda neat. I suppose you could use the Revell Stearman, provided you knew the mods to it, which are probably variable, anyhow. Remember the troop dusting scheme in "Goldfinger" by that lady with the odd name?

  7. That is simply fantastic craftsmanship, my friend...looking forward to the PC-6.

  8. Hey Gary, yes they do use them for ground support, thanks for the kind comment.

  9. Great to see a Pawnee, and scratch built at that fantastic effort Marc. I remember seeing these buzzing over the fields at home, Glider tow too - tough little aeroplane - great subject Marc - thanks.

  10. Awesome build Marc. You Sir, definitely have some skills... and patience. Two thumbs up ! I really like it.

    As a child I can remember watching these as they worked spraying crops. It amazed me at how low these pilots flew and how tight they turned. Then later in life, a local restaurant had the fuselage of one mounted into one of the outside walls, so that it looked as if the plane had crashed into it. This drew quite a bit of attention. Sadly one of the hurricanes that passed through later "removed" it for them... It was never replaced.

    Cool plane ! πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚

    • Hey there Louis, that must have looked really cool, Yes indeed I remember the old AG Cats and the Pawnee's as a young lad working the farm lands, I remember them flying under power lines. Thank you for your kind comment.

  11. Fantastic build Marc! I don't build much in the way of civi aircraft, but I recently saw where they "weaponized" these for coin role, and may try my hand at a military version.

    By the way - one of my sets of in-laws are from Cape Town, and if my daughter and son-in-law ever move back, I'll look you up. Right now they are in US and headed for Croatia...

  12. Hey there Greg, Its great to hear from you, yes please do look me up, it would be great to have a chat and meet you. We can talk models around a braai.
    Thanks for your kind comment.

  13. Wow what a great built. I like the subject too as it's not so familiar in our country, this type of crop dusting. Great model!

  14. Looks great ! I've seen actual aircraft up close and flying.

  15. Fantasties ou maat! A real winner any way you look at it. Well done Marc. You have my vote at the Nats in PE for this one!

  16. Well done, Marc. Very nice project.

  17. Beautiful sir!

  18. Marc, phenominal work! Shame there isn't an injected kit, it has this goofy charm!

    • Yes, I wish they would make more civil aircraft in 1/32, starting with a PC 6 in 32nd scale as my next project. Thank you for your kind comment.

  19. Really fantastic work Gary. Looks great

  20. Marc, well done, if you could get this positioned in a field it would probably look like the real thing. Very nice !

  21. Fantastic work, Marc, you must be very pleased with the result. I can't help thinking it would make a cool radio control model, complete with working crop spray equipment...

  22. Indeed, that would be something. Thanks for your kind comment.

  23. Hat off - It's simply amazing! You are a stracthbuilding master!

  24. Thank so much for your kind comment Gabor.

  25. Beautiful build. I am always amazed at scratch building efforts that turn out looking better than a kit. I would like to build an Ag-Cat in this scale but have been put off by lack of a kit in any scale outside R/C. I have several hours in this bird. It is somewhere in between a Pawnee and an Air Tractor.

    • Hey there, I have scale drawings for an AG Cat, I wanted to build a turbo prop version of the aircraft, I think I should make that my next project, maybe with the radial engine, mmmmmm you have got me thinking.

  26. Marc, looks like the real thing! Masterful work! Museum model!

  27. The other day I saw an article someplace in my random reading about an Austrailian CAC Wirraway(?) postwar converted to a crop duster. New one on me. Raised cockpit, which changed the look of the airplane. Made sense, though. Swords into plowshares! Jeff Bailey and I were talking yesterday, and Jeff met this older gent who said he'd dusted in a SPAD, of all things, back in the 30s, no less. There's a story for you!

    • Now that's an idea... would look cool though, I wander what color it was painted in.

      • I will ask him next time I see him. He flew one of 3 SPADS for a crop-dusting service. They were dusting rice fields in Texas and the regs down there stated they had to use powdered sulfur instead of the usual DDT, as used (then) in surrounding states. He told me about one of three other pilots releasing the dust a wee bit too soon while he passed over some power lines. The whole dust cloud burst into flames when it touched the power lines and the plane with pilot skidded into the ground. The pilot was able to get out of the smoking plane, walked away and never flew again! I asked the old gent how long he flew and kept up his license ... Bob (the old fellow) said he flew for several years ... and never had a license! Things were different back then - they were able to get away with it. Just like the movie "The Great Waldo Pepper."

        Wouldn't happen today, I'm sure!

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