John Everett Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 A little less than a year ago I built Nichimo’s 1/20 Cessna Skyhawk. A modeling friend saw the finished kit and asked me to build the one which had been in his stash for several years. completed model here: http://www.coldbasementmodels.com/?page_id=2175 The problem was that his kit was missing its engine. (The original owner had mysteriously absconded with both the engine and nose gear strut.) But guess who had made rubber molds of that engine during construction of that first airplane? As it happened, I had enough spare resin castings to cobble together a Lycoming O-320 to replace the missing components. Not as as good as the original metal components, but more than adequate. Patching holes in the floor plate. The original model dates to the early 1980’s and has a lot of weird “features”. We’ll be going with the dark blue interior on this one. Fvdm, KiwiZac, Anthony in NZ and 13 others 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkwrench Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 (edited) Nice!!! I'll be following your build seeing I'm going to be starting my own 1/20 scale 172 soon. How did you reshape the landing gear wheel pants to look more updated? Tim Edited January 20, 2019 by Hawkwrench Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 Excellent! Looking forward to progress on this one. Not one you see built every day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bil Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 A unique subject for sure, takes me back to the early 80s when I took some flying lessons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrish Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 I love these civil aircraft! great to see an in progress build. I'll go get some pretzels and beer, be right back Anthony in NZ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabre F-86 Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 Brings back memories. I learned to fly in 72, in Cessna 150s. Did the check out on a Cessna 172, registry CF-SUX. Never did get a photo of her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Everett Posted January 21, 2019 Author Share Posted January 21, 2019 15 hours ago, Hawkwrench said: How did you reshape the landing gear wheel pants to look more updated? Tim I cut the ends off the original parts and shaped epoxy putty with a good set of reference photos. 109, williamj, Trak-Tor and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkwrench Posted January 21, 2019 Share Posted January 21, 2019 Gotcha, thanks for the tip! What epoxy putty did you use? Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap'n Wannabe Posted January 21, 2019 Share Posted January 21, 2019 Following this one with great interest! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Everett Posted January 21, 2019 Author Share Posted January 21, 2019 17 hours ago, Hawkwrench said: Gotcha, thanks for the tip! What epoxy putty did you use? Tim I'm not sure, exactly. It was Aves. But any putty which hardens to an easily sandable consistency would work just as well. The real trick is to wet-sand down to at least 2000 grit and then prime it with a filler primer like Mr. Surfacer cut about 50/50 with Mr. Leveling Thinner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkwrench Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 Gotcha, thank you sir! Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin H. Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 Loved flying the 172, easy to fly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Everett Posted January 22, 2019 Author Share Posted January 22, 2019 I was at home most of the day and was able to spend much of the time with airbrush in hand. The interior is about 70% done t this point. The kit is based on the 1973 model of the C-172. The airplane we're duplicating (to the degree possible) is a 1977 version. Cessna factory propaganda from 1973: A similar propaganda picture from the later, 1977 model: This is a photo of the revised, 1977 instrument panel. The kit part isn't perfect. But it's pretty close. I've used clear, sticky disks cut from laminating sheet as instrument glass. I know from experience that this model has a very bad problem with "tail-sitting". One needs almost a quarter pound (120g) of weight in the front to keep it on the nose wheel. Fishing weights and lead shot do the trick here. This will be about half the required mass. For as much as the intense blue of this interior might bother me, 1977 did offer the buyer "other options". The two halve may be enclosed by the end of tomorrow. If so, we can expect the exterior painting to require a couple of weeks. Lenny320, rafju, MikeMaben and 9 others 11 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMaben Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 Wow nice John. I've never seen one of these built up til now. A friend of my Dad had a Skyhawk when I was a kid. We used to go "bore holes in the sky" as he used to say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkwrench Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 Nice work on the 172 so far!! Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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