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Bob Torres
62 articles

Rareplane 1/72 Republic P-43 Lancer

April 3, 2021 · in Aviation · · 13 · 2.5K

's , my first vac-form build. This is an old vac-form kit released at 1972, single sheet with decent details. It was not a horrible build but did have some minor issues to deal with. My first plan was to use a resin engine and propeller to replace the part that was part of the vac-form but did not work out that way. Instead I remained using the vac-form engine and took a propeller from the old Airfix F4F (FM-2) Wildcat and rework it to make it look right. The landing gears were all scratched built and the side walls in the cockpit. The rest is from the vac-form sheet. I build this for a FB multimedia model kit group build this past autumn and it ended up being an enjoyable build. Will not win anything but I do like the way it looks. You can see the P-47 in this airplane.

Reader reactions:
10  Awesome

6 additional images. Click to enlarge.


13 responses

  1. Superior job on an interesting plane, Bob (@v1pro). Anyone who can build a vacuform and remain sane is a great modeler.

    • George, thank you. I had a few moments like I was working with either an egg shell or an old fashion Christmas ornament. Super glue saved my sanity.

  2. Quality build of a not so easy cut it out and see how you go kit.

  3. Even completing a vac is a triumph, let alone a really nice result, like yours, my friend @v1pro.
    Congratulations!

  4. Lots of compliments on how you tackled this model, Bob.
    It looks great.

  5. I am very glad to see someone attempting successfully a vacform kit. Bravo!
    Great result and an interesting addition to the collection.
    P-43 is an intermediate step between the famous P-47 and the the rarely modelled Seversky P-35.

  6. Great job, Bob. Awesome subject. It’s nice to see someone still building a vac.

  7. Great looking build!

  8. Thank you all, this kit does look pretty cool on the shelf. It is a lot smaller than what I was expecting, a tab smaller than a F4F Wildcat but still one of my favorite builds last year. I have more vac-forms kits in my stash and hopefully I will eventually have them build.

  9. Nice build! I have been trying to score a Pavla Lancer on ebay, but never seem to find one at a decent price. I'll not attempt Vac-form stuff! Got too many injection molded kits in the stash to make me want to wander off the reservation...

    • Thanks, the Pavla kit is a hard one to catch at a decent price. I lucked out last year and found one in a hobby store website for $12 or $13 after doing a google search. That will be built later on.

  10. Very nice Bob! I have a ton of vac-forms but have only built one of them, sigh. This little model has inspired me to get on with it.

    • Thank you David. It took me years to finally build one, at the end of last year I built my second one. I really enjoyed building these two kits. To be honest I did not find anything hard about the builds but they do take longer to make. This year I plan on at least two vacuform builds. Looking forward on your vacuform build.

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