Important Note: The Rosemont/Roseplane items listed in this document are currently out of production. However, new molds are going to be cut, and they will be re-released at a future date. Watch the Rosemont Hobby Shop site for release details.
Upper wing :
This is one area that has some inaccuracies, depending on what drawings you go with. Since I decided to go with the Datafile drawings, I performed only one of the corrections. The top wing is about .5 mm too short on both tips, plus is about .5mm too narrow in chord. It was decided that this amount of discrepancy was so small, it didn’t need correcting. However, the cockpit cutout is too "deep", so add sheet plastic to build it up. Use the Datafile drawings as reference. Also be sure to remove the bogus "fabric weave".
Lower wing :
The lower wing is practically spot on. It suffers the same length problem as the upper wing; the discrepancy being so small that correction wasn’t necessary. The ailerons were cut out and repositioned. This was accomplished by using some flat brass which came from the frame of a used photoetch set, cut to length and width for the hinges. "Slots" were cut in the wing to mount the hinges in, and glued in with superglue. Once in and the glue was dry, the edge of the hinge that goes "into" the aileron was rounded. Ailerons were re-added after all construction, but before painting. Also be sure to remove the bogus "fabric weave".
Fuselage :
As was mentioned earlier, be sure to remove all "fabric weave", which includes between the ribs of the fuselage. Sand down the ribs as well as the cockpit coaming since they’re over-scale. The molded in "venturi tube" was sanded off, being replaced with a scratchbuilt new one. The lower part of the fuselage where the landing struts meet the forward part of the fuselage is all wrong. The Revell part is rounded, where a mounting pin is to be inserted from each of the landing gear struts. This area should be concave, and your best bet is to study the Datafile for the correct shape. The Glencoe 1/48th kit has this area correct, so could also be used as a reference.
Cockpit :
The decision was made to use the Airwaves photoetch set for cockpit parts. Not a good decision, since the "tub" that forms the sides and "floor" of the cockpit was too wide. The "floor" was cut from the sides and the sides glued into the cockpit. Once dry, and the fuselage was together, a new "floor" was added made out of plastic rod. (On the real aircraft, it's not really a floor but cross pieces between the cockpit sides). The rudder pedals and the foot rest under the rudder bar were used from the Airwaves set. The seat was also used, but as it comes on the Airwaves sheet it's much too big, and would have stuck out of the cockpit. Once the seat was cut down to the proper size, the Airwaves seat belts were added. The fuselage cockpit sides, plastic rod floor, and control column were all painted a “medium gray”. The Airwaves sides and rudder bar “floor” were painted "brown" to replicate wood.
Horizontal tail surface :
Remove the "fabric weave" and, using liquid cement only, position the flying surfaces down. Once you add the horizontal tail to the fuselage, there is a stabilizer connecting bar missing. Basically, this just runs between each "half" of the stabilizer, and sits on top of the fuselage. See the Datafile for further details.
Vertical tail surface :
This area requires some modification. Not to the shape, as the shape is basically correct, but to a few things Revell left off. First of all, the "fin" part of the tail is supposed to extend down to the fuselage, at the aft end of the horizontal surface (past the stabilizer connecting bar). Also, the fin is supposed to extend down to the horizontal just in front of this point. Basically, Revell's "cut out" in the vertical surface is too much. I just ended up adding sheet styrene to the kit part until it looked correct. I also separated the rudder - not only because I wanted to reposition it, but it also helped with the "fin" reshape. You will also need to add control horns to both sides of the rudder.
Struts :
All struts besides the landing gear (more on this later) are scratched out of Contrail strut stock. Follow the Datafile for the correct lengths of the interplane struts, then measure the gap between the fuselage and upper wing - once the upper wing is glued onto the interplane struts - for the length of the center struts.
Landing struts and surrounding area :
The only thing that needs to be modified on the landing gear struts is the removal of the mounting pins from the forward part of the struts. Replacement wheels should be found, since the kit supplied ones are too small. The best replacement wheels are made by Rosemont. The axle/cross bars will need to be replaced, as Revell provides a snap in affair that is supposed to turn. These were made by making a brass rod axle and trapping this in two pieces of plastic to create the airfoil shape of the cover.
Other details :
The cowl is completely wrong. You could correct the kit part, as there is a lot of plastic on it which allows you to cut and shape at will. Or, you could take the easy way out and purchase the Rosemont replacement cowl, as was done on this model. The kit engine can be used, since there is nothing wrong with it. However, the propeller will need to be replaced. It is also best to replace the Vickers guns with a Rosemont replacement, or a suitable alternative.
Finishing :
The following Polly Scale colors come close to the chips sold by Jim Kiger (?) and Replicraft.
The model was finished as Zenos Miller's aircraft, as depicted on the cover of Over the Front, Vol. 11 No. 3. The 27th Aero's eagle, checkerboard and numerals came from SuperScale, while the roundels came from Americal/Gryphon.
Page created by and © Matt Bittner (mbittner(at)juno.com) 1998-1999
Last Updated Friday, October 1, 1999.