Can anybody give me some details on the 1/72 Airfix O-1? Squadron has them on sale and I’m thinking about ordering two of them (Gotta have one US and one Canadian). I recently got their TBD-1 and liked it (except for the decals that is) and was wondering if the Birddog was about the same detail wise.
Not sure about the detail of this kit but it would probably be a fun build. Even with an Airfix kit you can do a lot with it, if you’re willing to put in the extra effort needed. Here is a pic of an O-1 I took at a recent model show/comp here in Australia. No more than it costs, go ahead and get them and see what you can do! Worse thing that can happen is you have some new practice models eh?
It’s a nice little kit, A child of it’s time detail wise but can be made into a very nice model and looks great OOB. Personally I’d replace the cabin top windows as they are a little thick and tend to suffer from sink marks but thats a small job. some piccies of another built one on here.
http://gregers.7.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=7767&highlight=cessna
All the best.
Greg
Here’s one from my stash of unbuilt kits . HTH , John
I’m making one at the moment, as a review build - for one of FSM’s competitors…[:I] It is, as the others have said, a nice lttle kit. Cockpit detail’s a bit basic, and is worth adding more, because although the glazing is a bit thick, the fore and aft transparencies are big and clear enough to see detail, and the roof lights let in enough light for you to be able to see it. I replaced the kit roof transparencies with white glue, for ease of masking and better clarity and having the glazing more flush wiht the aircraft skin.
You’ll probably want to rescribe the surface detail, and there are areas where things like raised ejector-pin towers interfere with fit. The cockpit floor also only fits where it touches. But there’s nothing that an averagely-competent modeller ought not to be able to cope with.
The biggest problem I found was that all the larger decals - larger than the Vietnam AF Stars and Bars - broke up when I tried to remove them from the backing paper, despite having been soaked in warm water for over 30 seconds, and my using a paintbrush to remove them. I was able to salvage most of them (though there’s a reason why the review, when published, will only show pictures taken from the port side of the aircraft…) but the wing uppersurface code letters broke up and folded over, so I had to replace them with items from my decal bank.
I’m also doing a review build of the newly re-released Airfix Henschel Hs.123 at the moment, and the decals are made by the same printer. I’ve overcoated them with three coats of Future to help them hold together better.
Cheers,
Chris.
Every now and then, it’s nice to work on kits that are of the old molds with sparse detail and relive again the joy of modelling when we were younger. No PEs, no resins, just plain and unadulterated fun build.
Thanks guys, My order has been sent. I have no problem with the lack of detail as I am a modeler and not an assembler. The decals though do concern me, but I have enough spares in my box to fix most problems.
Overcoating the decals with Future should solve the problem - although, of course, you’ll have to trim the decals right up to the edge of the carrier film. If you use the Vietnam AF option, there aren’t all that many of them, and apart from the break-up issue - which may, after all, be a problem unique to my sheet - they’re much better than almost any decals Airfix have produced in the last decade or so.
Cheers,
Chris.