CF-105

I have a school project coming up where we need to pick something from Canadian history from 1950-1999 and im going to do a presentation on the CF-105 Avro Arrow and I would like to have a model to go with it. Ive decided on the Hobbycraft 1/72 (though there isn’t much choice) and ive been looking at reviews around the web for and problems encountered with it. I don’t need my model to be totally accurate or detailed, just to look nice enough to fool a bunch of grade 11 social study’s students into think it looks right.

Now then I have 2 questions

  1. Are there any MAJOR problems I may run into with this kit, Im talking about fit problems or trouble decals etc. not details.

  2. I haven’t been able to find a kit in any of the hobby shops in my neighbour hood and so Im probably going to order from squadron mail order, and the one thing I need to know is how long it would probably take to ship to Canada, my project is due March 30th and with spring break being from the 18th to the 26th I think I can finish it over my week long break, but if its going to take more then 3 weeks to ship im not going to bother,

From a construction standpoint, Hobbycraft’s 1/72 Arrow doesn’t present too many challenges. It needs a bit of care getting the intakes to mate cleanly to the fuselage.

If you decide to model it gears down, remember that you have to cut the gear doors apart, they are molded with a gear up presentation in mind.

As for ordering one, why bother with Squadron when Hobbycraft are a Canadian company and you’re in Canada? Find their Web site and see if you can order direct from them. It would likely take less time than from Squadron and you won’t need to wait for Customs to do their thing with it.

Have you checked out Aviation World in Vancouver? I’ve heard they are pretty good.

If you are looking for mail order, go with a Canadian Hobbyshop. There are several here in Calgary that have great selection, Unlce Bills Hobby shop, Invader Hobbies, PM Hobbycraft, and Model Land are the best ones, they all have websites too so a google search should get you to their sites. Last time I was in Uncle Bills and PM Hobbycraft (the two closest to my work) they both had a 1:72 Hobbycraft Canada Avro Arrow on the shelf.

Get into the history of the CF-105. It is an amazing airplane and was way ahead of its time. It contributed greatly to supersonic flight and may have been cancelled because it was too good! the true story may never be know because of classified information, but what is “out there” is great stuff. How much of the information is fact, and how much is fiction, I do not know but, it is good reading.

I found the kit at a hobby shop nearby so thats one problem solved but I want to model it with the gear up and with it in flight and i wanted to know if anyone knows an easy way to make a stand to have the nose pointing up and it to appear in flight?

Rob: The best way is to get a couple of pieces of clear plastic rod that will fit up the tailpipes, from an Industrial Plastic shop,…then make a wooden base, drill two holes for the plastic rods and…instant flight.

As was mentioned earlier, get some good reference material from your local library…lots of books on the Arrow are available.

In 1974 while I was at the CAF Staff School, I did a paper on the Arrow and it was interesting to hear of all of the variable reasons for the cancellation. The major fact was the tremedous cost over-runs…$880,000,000.00 for the airframes and engines and another $293,000,000.00 for the attempted developement of the Sparrow missile and its fire control unit.

One thing that you must know is that the Americans did not influence the cancellation! In fact, they offered 100 ship-sets of the Hughes Falcon missile if we would continue with the development. There are plenty of people out there that have taken that terrible CBC movie as fact…far from it…It was mostly garbage.

The Liberals knew that Diefenbaker was going to win the election and so decided to continue work on the Arrow then let the Conservatives take the heat for the cancellation. And it was felt by the engineers that I interviewed, that Crawford Gordon, head of AVRO Canada was the person who ordered the complete destruction of the project…you know the types…“If I can play, then you can’t play with my ball”

Good luck on your project

Barney http://www.barneysairforce.com

You can order the kit from Great Hobbies (they have stores in Edmonton and Charlottetown) online at www.greathobbies.com. They are very quick and responsive. I just checked the website and they have this kit in stock at $15.99. Best part is because they ship from Alberta, they don’t include sales tax (they do include GST - those Tory’s, first they butcher the Arrow, then they create the GST). Now strictly speaking you are supposed to calculate the PST on the price and kindly remit it to the provincial tax collector, and I am sure you will!

OK the project is going well, There isnt alot of parts to this kit especialy if you model the landing gear up like I did, Im at he painting stage and Im a littl worried, Ive never airbrushed glass paint before and Im not sure exactly how to do it to get a good effect, The main colour is also white which im also worried about because white paint is a fickled mistress and dosnt cover all that well, any tips would be appreciated.

What do you mean by glass paint? As for white, make sure you prime it well first. Use a really light gray. Then use light coats of white, and just keep piling them up until the white is actually white.

The way I do white paint is to primer and then shoot three light coats of FLAT white. Flat white “grabs” a little better and you’ll get better coverage. If you need a gloss finish use either Future or a clear gloss coat.

my bad, gloss paint I should proof read more often

Rob: White is terrible as you know but if you use 600 wet sandpaper before spraying, you will get a much better finish as the paint will then grip the plastic better. As was mentioned, use a white flat primer, sand lightly with 1200 grit wet paper, then shoot the Gloss White…applying light coats.

I painted my Arrow 20 years ago with a single action Badger airbrush and it still looks very good.

Barney