Minicraft Civil Air Patrol 1/48 Cessna 172

[Navcom]

I've enjoyed many of the build threads here and thought I'd give it a go myself...if nothing more than to organize my thoughts and have those more experienced than myself point out my failures. I wanted to start with something pretty simple and focus on the basics. I found this kit online pretty cheap and it looked to fit the bill perfectly.

It's a little close to my heart as I've flown and commanded for CAP for many years with lots of memories to boot so when I saw the kit, I had to have it. For those who have never heard of the Civil Air Patrol, here's a little background. "CAP" is the United States Air Force Auxiliary. Formed on 01 Dec 42, just 6 days before Pearl Harbor, they were tasked with helping defend the coastline of the United States from German U-boats and ships. Mostly flying smaller aircraft, they started as just eyes in the sky, graduating to carrying bombs, and even credited with sinking a couple subs. At that time, they were part of the US Army Air Corps, becoming part of the Air Force family when the AF became a separate service in 1947. Today CAP flies over 80% of all U.S. inland search and rescue, homeland security missions, and disaster relief missions among others. As an example, CAP was tasked with taking aerial images for use by rescue crews at the World Trade Center site on the afternoon of 9-11. We typically fly smaller aircraft since most missions are search or photo oriented. They are cheaper to operate and more stable in the "low and slow" environment required for the missions.

Minicraft's model is a pretty simple kit...not much there. The detail is not too bad but it's not top notch. Dry fitting some of the parts shows an average fit as well. No biggy...I'm using this kit more as a learning experience than a show piece. Once I get good at this whole modeling thing, I will probably attempt this kit again as a keepsake.

While the kit is a pretty generic model, I think I will try to add some detail in the interior with some belts as well as the electronic search equipment and survival gear. Most of the CAP 172s are split between older 80's vintage Cessna's and newer G1000 "glass" cockpit versions. The 172's are also becoming more rare as many units are flying 182's and 206's. Most wings are relegating 172s to flight training. For this reason, some are pretty ratty looking on the inside...the perfect opportunity for some weathering practice.





I've already removed some of the parts from the sprues when this picture was taken...


Clear parts seem pretty nice...at least to my untrained eye...


Started trimming up and mounting some of the interior components. Next up is some priming and painting.


My first tasks will involve getting the interior done. Hopefully I will have some time in the coming weeks to keep moving on this one. I'm looking forward to both the project and the task of documenting it as well. I would sincerely love any comments or suggestions anyone would like to throw out! I'm in 100% learning mode and loving every minute of it!

[Navcom]

Was going to use the day for some much needed yard work as it was almost 60F today but the clouds rolled in and the wind picked up...cold and gloomy is more suited to modeling. I decided to get started on painting and assembling the cockpit.

I made the decision to make the interior blue as that is what many of our fleet aircraft are. I primed the parts last night and painted them this morning. Now assembling them and doing some weathering...




I noticed the obvious...the stupid pin marks on the floor in front of the rudder pedals! I ignored some on the interior of the fuselage as they won't be seen but these are pretty obvious. Geez!




I painted and dry brushed the instrument panel. The peeled white areas in the corners are from dry fitting in the fuselage...a little friction fit...




Lessons learned so far:

1) Brushing skills are horrible. Must practice more.
2) Eye for detail is horrible. Must practice more.
3) CF bulbs don't like quick deceleration incidents on concrete. Yeah, I dropped a bulb trying to get more light. Apparently I need more practice installing bulbs too.

All that being said, I'm having a blast! I'm not achieving Paul-level professional results but I'm learning and that's what this build is all about.

Next up, try to create some belts and a survival kit, install the yokes, and seal everything up in the fuselage.

[Navcom]

Decided to do a bit more weathering once the belts were installed. I'll take a bit of the wash off after it dries a bit more...

[Daishi12]

Excellent work so far, I like that you have taken a kit that is a little out of the ordinary and is close to your heart. I will be looking forward to your build with interest.

[Navcom]

Thanks Diashi. I'm actually getting a lot done today. It's been nice having a weekend off to just model for the most part...except for some yard work I need to get to.

I've learned another lesson...small clear parts are not my friends. The silly side windows have now been re-glued at least 2 dozen times. Careless fingers keep pushing them out! Plus, I overdid the Future coating and it dried with a couple small streaks on some of the windows. I can live with them but another lesson learned.

Off to the yard before the sun goes down and we are back in the deep freeze.

[Rob]

Interesting project. Sounds like you are getting plenty of lessons! Still, it's a super subject you are getting on top of it and it looks great so far. Looking forward to seeing more

[Navcom]

Thanks Rob. Got another evening of modeling in. Glued up the fuselage and then painted, weathered, and installed the engine...although when it's done, all you will see is the front of the forward cylinders...so I didn't spend much time on the rear of the engine compartment...




Cowling installed, top wing assembly installed...




A little filler, a little sanding, and some tedious masking and she's ready for priming!...




Lessons learned...

1) I HATE small clear plastic parts! My fingers always find them, muck 'em up, push 'em out, and utterly destroy them.
2) Need better skills in prepping canopy/plastic parts to achieve a better fit. They look too much like an 8-year-old did them.
3) Masking is FUN...and tedious.
4) Fingers and toothpicks work better at applying putty than the silly metal putty instrument.
5) Perfect Putty is great! Love the fact that you can remove and rework with just a little bit of water.

Up next...priming and then what is gearing up to be quite the challenging paint scheme! It's 4 colors (white, red, blue, and gray) and some VERY thin lines so there will be some precise masking and nail biting occurring. I'm still not quite sure how I will mask this beast. Here's one in the real world...




...and a couple of pix just for fun and mood!...

[FishBowlMan]

Great start, mate. I've logged many an hour in flight sim in a CAP C172.

Nice to be able to follow this kit being built. I've seen this for sale a couple of times but not been tempted to buy it. Think I may have to invest.

[rodrant]

Interesting subject , and an interesting build so far . Nice details in your build so far , like the weathering that you made in the engine and interiors . Will follow your next build steps with very interest !

[Navcom]

Great start, mate. I've logged many an hour in flight sim in a CAP C172.

Nice to be able to follow this kit being built. I've seen this for sale a couple of times but not been tempted to buy it. Think I may have to invest.

Thanks! Ahhh...Flight Sim. I remember when it first came out years ago...I think I wore out the keyboard with all the buttons you had to push to get the silly thing to do what you wanted! Then came the joystick and the first flight control sets...genius.

I've flown charter and SAR for years in a whole host of aircraft but the trusty old Skyhawk is still one of the most enjoyable aircraft ever. She ain't fast, glamorous, or snappy (heck, you have to really TRY to get her to spin!), but she is stable and just downright fun.

Got the priming done on her this evening. A few minor blemishes to touch up such as the scribe line around the top of the cowling, but she's pretty much ready for pre-shading. Hopefully get that started in the next few days...

[Navcom]

Interesting subject , and an interesting build so far . Nice details in your build so far , like the weathering that you made in the engine and interiors . Will follow your next build steps with very interest !

Thanks Antonio! Really looking forward to this build. It's not the most glamorous aircraft but it's sure a lot of fun to build!

[Navcom]

With the primer dry, it's time for some pre-shading! Used Tamiya flat black with a bit over 50% thinner ratio. It sputtered a bit at first as seen on the leading edge of the left wing but then went on like butter...





Now comes the painting! I'm excited and anxious at the same time. I have some really skinny masking tape that should work pretty well to get the thin grey line masked off. It's just a matter of determining what order to do it all in.

[FishBowlMan]

Good luck with that, Jeff. I'd originally assumed that was supplied as a decal, but looking again at the photo of the decal sheet, it seems you're left to your own devices for that one.

[Navcom]

Yeah...it's gonna be one helluva challenge!...but a great learning opportunity for sure. I think I have it figured out logistically anyhow. Whether I can pull off a decent enough job remains to be seen.

I got the top white painted this evening. Didn't do too bad except for a couple high-volume runs. It looks pretty decent with the pre-shading in real life!



One problem that is back haunting me are those annoying side windows. One of them separated along the bottom from the airbrush flow. I think I can work with it but it's still really annoying...



If anyone wants to share their best brand of glue/technique for attaching small clear parts like this, I'm all ears!

[Willem]

Looking great so far Jeff and a really interesting and different subject. Bad luck about that rear glass. Did you check out Lee's UV glue review on the channel? Looks like good stuff and possibly more hard wearing.

Hope this helps.

[Navcom]

Looking great so far Jeff and a really interesting and different subject. Bad luck about that rear glass. Did you check out Lee's UV glue review on the channel? Looks like good stuff and possibly more hard wearing.

Hope this helps.

Did not see that! It's now on my watch list for this evening. Thanks!

[Navcom]

Finally got a few minutes to work on the Cessna this evening. Started to lay down the mask for the paint job. This took some thinking but I came up with this...




I used two different masking tape widths...the two smallest I could find. The center grey line was masked first with the larger of the two masking widths. I followed by masking the white stripe on either side with the thinner tape. Then I laid in the mask for the red strip on top which continues onto the vertical stabilizer. I figure I will just mask off the entire bottom from here, paint the red portion, then mask the red and paint the blue portion. Finally, I can simply remove the center tape and paint the grey stripe...and finished!

Another view...



I compromised with the tapes a bit. The actual scale of the stripes are a bit thinner than the masking will produce. There are decals for the center grey stripe area but I have a feeling they would be a bugger to lay down with all the curves. They wouldn't look right. Going with the paint job, even if not the perfect widths, should hopefully produce a better look.

Will be firing up the air brush tomorrow evening if the time presents itself!

[Navcom]

No pictures to post (camera packed up for an outing tomorrow0 but got the blue painting done this evening. All I can say is blue paint is a BUGGER to clean out of an airbrush!

[Navcom]

This one's been sitting for a couple weeks. I have the initial stripe painting done but it's going to require a lot of touch-up I'm afraid. It's not bad...just not real clean edges, especially along the tail...





Unfortunately I'm now more into the Corsair and the possibility of a D-Day build that this one will probably sit for a short period of time. I have the gear started and the prop primed but for now, it will rest. More to come shortly.

[UKguyInUSA]

Looking good, Jeff!

[eoinfinnegan]

Your doing a very nice job, I love the colours