I flew the Cessna T-37 for 10 years, so building a WW2 Cessna trainer was always part of the plan. I have the 1/48 version of this plane, but I got the KP 1/72 version after seeing an inbox review. Despite my misgivings about previous KP kits, this one looked pretty good.
First, a little background. In 1940, the Army Air Corps was looking for a multi-engine transition trainer that could ease the transition of a new pilot from single-engine trainers to multi-engine aircraft. They chose the Cessna T-50, a popular civilian twin-engine aircraft. The Air Corps called this trainer the AT-17 Bobcat, or UC-78 for the passenger version. If you are old enough, you might remember this plane as the one flown initially on the Sky King TV show from the early 1950s. Canada became interested in the AT-17, ordering 180 aircraft that were called the Crane Mk.1. Rather than the metal props of the AT-17, the Crane was delivered with wooden props. Canada later ordered 460 more Cranes. Cessna diverted 182 AT-17s to help fill the large order, which were delivered with metal props. These new Cranes with metal props were called the Crane Mk.1a to differentiate them from those with wooden props.
This kit looks good on the outside, but it is the perfect example of a limited run kit. The only part in the kit that fit perfectly was the windscreen/canopy, everything else required a lot of test fit, sand, test fit again, sand again, test fit again, then glue. A lot of filler was required. The glass for the side windows was too small by far to fit in the required spots, so I created the windows using Microscale Krystal Klear. I wanted to make the floor in the cabin more accurate. On the actual plane, there is a wooden wing spar that cuts across the cabin floor, separating the cabin into the pilot's section and the passenger section. The pilot's section on the actual plane slopes up slightly from the wing spar, while the passenger floor is flat. The model floor is perfectly flat, so I cut the floor and created a slightly raised pilot's section. Of course, this insured that none of the parts for this section would fit. The worst was the instrument panel, which now rests on the sloped floor. Oops.
I used paint from rattle cans to paint the kit. The kit decals worked great. I used artist's oils to add some weathering to the very bright yellow paint. I still need to add the antenna, but that will need to wait for a while. I have surgery scheduled tomorrow, and I don't know how long I will be away from my workbench. I plan to finish this plane when I can and post to Headlines. Cheers.
12 attached images. Click to enlarge.
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1. I guess this makes the instructions "multi-color".
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1. I added the wing spar and angled front cockpit floor. Bad idea.
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1. Adding this angled floor caused the instrument panel to sit on the floor.
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