This Boeing-Stearman PT-17 Kaydet - I never imagined what an epic build it would turn out to be. Not that I thought it would be easy-peasy, but there are a number of features of the plane and of this Roden kit which I fancied would make its assembly relatively untroubled. For a biplane.
Yes, biplanes put off a lot of modellers because of the connected challenges of erecting the top wing and of rigging. And this plane employed double rigging, for the landing wires running from the wing root up to the outer struts, and more unusually, between the top of the fuselage up to the top of the fuselage struts. But this aspect ought to be manageable for modellers in 1:32 scale. Slight catch - there are stiffening rods (I assume there's a technical term for them!) between the wings, holding the rigging in place. Thankfully it wasn't much of a problem to drill through them and so thread most of the wires as they should be.
But more of a problem was Roden's practice of moulding thin parts like struts to scale thickness. This is something which impressed me very much when I noticed it originally - in comparison, the struts and so on which you see on 'old school' kits look unrealistically fat. In terms of authentic detailing, it's nice, but at this scale there can be practical problems. Especially when as in this kit the struts have to support a hefty upper wing. It's moulded in two pieces, but there isn't much empty space in there. And in this particular kit the left side outer strut was warped. The one you see in the top picture is a replacement; you can see how I fitted it here on the right. It's actually two struts carefully glued together for the correct length. I didn't try bending the warped section back into shape? Have you ever tried doing that? Not worth the grief!
Once I'd finished that strut to my satisfaction, I decided risking straightening the floppy rigging wire on that side. The risk involved snipping the wire at the base, not knowing whether I'd be able to make the shortened length stick. After some time spent holding it in place waiting for the glue to firm up, I breathed a sigh relief when it it did. However, you have to apply pressure in the course of such work, and I found I'd bent one of the undercarriage legs. I repaired it, but it'll be weaker now than it was.
Which brings me to my final unwanted challenge, the tailwheel. They're often tricky to fix because they're naturally on the centreline, and most model kits split the fuselage halves left and right; you will readily appreciate that if a hole for a tailwheel stem is moulded in, it has to be half in one part, half in the other, which means plenty of opportunity for misalignment and wobble. It's a bigger issue in this kit, as I could see when I realised that the tailwheel was just not going to support the plane at that end without bending over to one side. As I said above, there's a lot of plastic in this kit and the scale thickness tailwheel assembly can't cope with it. So I devised the bodge you see here. I carved and glued an extra plastic piece to fit under the existing bottom layer, drilled a new hole in it, and then after removing the weak original stem I drilled right into the wheel itself and drove a steel pin into it. So it is visible if you look carefully, but at least I don't have to worry about repeated failures in that section any more.
Uh... I'm not fairly representing my feelings about the kit. I like it. The Stearman is anyway a handsome looking aeroplane, and I'm not surprised so many are still around, actually doing their designated job of training pilots and giving joyrides. These famous old colours of blue and yellow enhance the look. Except... I have regrets about the blue. I was a bit complacent - I saw 'medium blue' and thought, that'll do; but it's too dark and not nearly bright enough. I think I was fooled by the pictures I found during research, and here's a warning to fellow modellers in a similar position, when the plane concerned is vintage but still in widespread active use. The thing is, owners of these precious artefacts don't always paint them in authentic colours. I found all shades of mid-range blue on present day examples of the Stearman, including the one I used. But I can't deny that a lighter brighter blue is more common and the shade it should be. By the time I came to this conclusion, I'd gone too far in the build to roll things back. The header picture is misleadingly lit: in most lights, the black lettering doesn't stand out well at all. At least one unfortunate error is now helpfully subdued: you'll see a red panel on the port side under the cockpit indicating a fire extinguisher. But if you squint and look very carefully, it's actually spelled 'FIRE EXTINGUITHER'. Whoops.
Hang about, I'm meant to be complimenting this kit. Here above is the cockpit assembly, a rather neat cage which despite being busy with its various bits fitted in with no trouble. NB I bought the seatbelts and instrument panels separately from the aftermarket. The interior might be tricky to photograph (right) but it is very visible and using the kit's decals for the dials wouldn't have looked so good. Happy to 'cheat' there. (Remember you can click on any of these pictures to enlarge for a closer look)
So, it's steadier on its feet now, and the struts and rigging while still a little slack in a couple of places, overall look truer and straighter than they did. Too bad about the murky blue, but all said and done it is a definite blue, while the yellow is healthy and strong. I didn't comment on the engine: you will have spotted its brazenly naked display with everything hanging out: there was a challenge! I spent a lot of time working out the best order of assembly, and I don't think I've previously had so many engine parts to deal with before. But we got there in the end. One last regret - I should have ignored the instructions and painted the propeller with a wood finish. I realised late on that black is only seen as far as I know on the metal propellers sometimes employed. This here is clearly a wooden propeller. But I don't feel like ripping it off now to redo. To anyone who asks, where's the oily wash etc., I would point them to any pictures they can find of examples of the Stearman. These planes seem to be kept in very good condition, as they should be, and if anything the engine here isn't smart enough!
A very pleasing model - thank you, Roden!
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