The Italeri 1/72nd WACO CG-4A Glider (Finished)

Hi Gary,

Can I ask.... you quoted 2nd Lt Howard.M Thompson 

Where did you get this reference from?

I am doing some really important research on 2nd Lt Howard M Thompson who was a Glider Pilot.

I would appreciate any time or information you have on this. 

THanks.

Stuart

Jay Jay,

Thanks for the tip!  I may have to look for that.  However, the glider tow ropes were 11/16" diameter nylon, generally wrapped around by a communications cable of insulated copper wire.  They prefered nylon for its strength and stretch characteristics.

Interesting article on glider tow ropes.

http://www.mylubbock.us/docs/silent-wings-museum-file-library/glidertowropes.pdf?sfvrsn=2

Gary, just a little tip on the tow cable.  Power Pro braided fishing line looks just like steel cable when painted . it's pricey, but of course you can get it in any size you need.

tempestjohnny

Gary. This is a great build. Can't believe Italeri screwed up the cockpit that much. You should be proud of this one. John

Brandon, Bish, John,

My thanks for your comments, guys.  You're being way too kind, but I appreciate the sentiments. 

I've already begun cleaning her up a bit from my over-zealous attempt to weather her, and I think she's actually looking better now.  I've repainted the slats on the wings, and will use a decal to represent them.  I just need to print it out.

I also found some nylon thread to use as tow rope, and it's attached to the front of the tow point on the glider.  I also need to wrap it around with black thread to represent the communication cable.  Right now, I'm working on a jeep and looking for something to use as a base.

And I am not sure what Italeri was thinking when they did the cockpit.  I have not found any reference pictures that look anything like what they provided.  There are enough reference images on the internet to give you a guide to scratchbuild something.

Thanks again!

Gary

That looks awesome, and it just got added to my "must build" list. Nice work, mang!!!

BK

The 1/72nd Italeri WACO CG-4A glider is finished.  For those of you who don't like long-winded explanations about the build, here are the pictures.

The model represents a CG-4A of the 301st Troop Carrier Squadron which was towed aloft on June 7th, 1944 behind a C-47 for "Mission Hackensack", taking off from Merryfield, Somerset. Onboard were 1st lt. Hammitt E. Porter, pilot, and 2nd lt. Howard M. Thompson, co-pilot.  Cargo was 5 extra personnel (either the 325th Glider Infantry, or 401st Glider Infantry); water-can, 5-gallon; trailer, 1/4 ton; cl 60mm HEL; AT mines (Boxes) and a mine detector.  No losses were recorded for this mission, so I assume the glider landed okay.

Concerning the model, it went together decently, and except for my own mistakes, there were no major problems.  I do suggest a couple of things:

1. The cockpit is nothing like a real WACO glider.  With such an open canopy, I suggest doing a bit of scratchbulding.  There are no pilot and co-pilot figures for this model, so if you want those you'll have to scrounge some up.
2. Leave the cargo floor out until the two fuselage halves are together.  I made the  mistake of gluing the cargo floor to one fuselage half, and then had a real problem getting the seams to match up.  I never did get the bottom seam done to my satisfaction.
3. Some of the parts are delicate and easily broken.  Leave as much off as you are able until the final steps.  You will be glad you did.
4. I skipped the slide mechanism for the cockpit.  The front of the model is supposed to be able to open and close, but it's fiddly and since I was going to pose this particular model in a take-off position, I left the mechanism off and glued it shut.

5. If you care about such things, Italeri left the rear support struts and suspension cables off.  You will have to scratchbuild these if you want to show them.

Oh, and I would leave attaching the cockpit until last as it allows you to fix problems with the windows and doors in the fuselage.

I have noticed in these pictures that I've probably added a bit too much mud on the frame and wheels (one reason there is no shot of the bottom).  It was raining lightly that morning, so you would expect some mud and being behind a C-47 you would get some kicked up in the backblast.  But it doesn't look right to me, and I'll clean her up a bit before she goes into the diorama.

Since the CG-4A is cloth covered, she should look a bit different from a regular OD aircraft, and I tried to get some variation in the OD paint job.  But, these were fairly brand new aircraft, and they were only flown once, so I doubt they would have faded very much in the time before D-Day.  The mud would probably only come from the grass field in which they were sitting during their time awaiting use, from rain, and the tow aircraft props.

Meanwhile, the next project for this is a 1/72nd "Follow Me!" jeep.  I wonder if I should just make it plain OD, or really drive myself crazy and do red and white squares?

Thanks for looking!

Gary

She is looking really nice Gary.

Jay Jay

A very merry CHRISTmas to you and yours as well.

Gary, that is simply stellar work on this litttle glider and much inspiration to me. Your C-47/Glider project has reached to the top of my bucket list for 2016 and I am filing your W.I.P for future referance if you don't object.  I already have reserved a ceiling space to hang mine...lol

TY so much for the detailed explaination of your work as it is a tremendous help to us struggling modelers.

Thanks, Jay Jay!  I'm glad this thread has inspired somebody. 

But this thread should be used as a lesson in how NOT to put this model together.  Really, it made me stop and consider what steps I should use in putting together another model that I am working on.  I hope to avoid some of the problems I've had with this one.

There were things about this model I left out of the WIP posts.  I'll try to do a round up in my finished post.

Didn't finish her today as I had hoped.  I stayed up late until well in the morning doing odds and ends (and missing Santa entirely).  I subsequently slept well into the day.  But I did manage to find that missing part  on the canopy!  Guess the Christmas Elves relented and gave me a break!

Hope you and yours had a great Christmas!

Gary

PS> If you ever get ready to do yours, I'll gladly give you all the reference pictures I've collected from the internet. 

A very merry CHRISTmas to you and yours as well.

Gary, that is simply stellar work on this litttle glider and much inspiration to me. Your C-47/Glider project has reached to the top of my bucket list for 2016 and I am filing your W.I.P for future referance if you don't object.  I already have reserved a ceiling space to hang mine...lol

TY so much for the detailed explaination of your work as it is a tremendous help to us struggling modelers.

Merry Christmas!

For Christmas Eve I have another update for you.  The Waco is almost finished now, as my bucket list grows ever shorter.  One thing you may note here are the cookie pans she's sitting in waiting for glosscote.  These I found in the dumpster of our apartment building.

 Every so often people will move out and leave stuff behind (because reasons), so the cleaners will come in and toss all that stuff into the trash.  Sometimes there's something worthwhile that I find when I take my own garbage out, and these were sitting on top of the trash, remarkably clean and in good shape.  So I grabbed them and a couple of other items.  I don't bake, but they will make great parts trays for my models.

I sprayed the model with glosscote, leaving the cockpit off.  There are not many decals, but I did have to do some work on the tail codes to get them to match up to the glider I am modeling.  Luckily, I had enough numbers (and a few touches of paint) to get the serial number right.

While the Microsol was doing its work, I tackled the remaining very tiny parts that were to fit on the canopy.  The tow cable attachment, the pitot tube and something I'm not sure of (?).  It was a struggle to get these on, and the part that I'm not sure of disappeared into the carpet, so I had to remake it.  Have I mentioned how I hate fiddly bits?

Once they were on, secured and painted, I installed another cable piece (not included in the kit) to the pitot.  It runs from the back of the frame to the fuselage just before the wing.  I'm not sure what its purpose is, besides helping secure the pitot tube and frame.

And that's where she stands right now.  Tomorrow, if the weather is good, I'll cover the canopy and give the model a coating of dullcote.  Then I can remove the masking on the windows (and hope no paint has run under the masking).  A couple of other minor tasks (such as small windows along the sides) and she will be done.

Thanks for looking, and I hope everyone has a pleasant and enjoyable holiday!

Gary

Nice, Gary.  Almost there now.

Man, that thing is looking awesome. I would love to add one to the stash.

BK

A quick update on the Waco CG-4A today.  Things are moving along swiftly now as the final steps are engaged.   Barring any further mishaps, she should be ready by next weekend.  I'm jinxing this, I know!

After getting the base white coat of paint on the wings and fuselage for the invasion stripes, I used a piece of plasticard and marked out the stripe intervals on it in pencil.  This short piece of plastic was easier to handle than a ruler, and the marks were already correct without me having to read increments in millimeters.  Using it, I marked out the distances across the white base for the stripes in several places.  Then I could take strips of Tamiya tape and lay them down according to the pencil marks.

I thought I had taken a photo of the masked stripes, but apparently I missed it.  I then brushed the black stripes on with MM flat black paint.   Removing the tape, I found to my surprise 'no runs, no drips, no errors'.  Wow!

I then proceeded, using MM Faded OD, to do some touch up work, spreading it thin with paint thinner.  A bit of spots on the underside grey paint and she was now looking almost ready.  I cut out one of the insignia to see how my placement looked.

Some touch up work on the struts and tires (evident in this photo) remains.

And that's progress so far.  A bit more touch up, securing the cockpit to the fuselage (now that the pilots are once more safely belted into their seats), a spray of gloss-coat so the decals can be applied, and some work on the canopy and she'll be ready to tow!

Meanwhile, a pair of stalwart British types sit idly by waiting for their turn at the paint booth.  But they've been waiting for over 40 years, so they can wait a little longer.  :D

Thanks for looking!

Gary

Bish, Toshi, Jay Jay,

Thanks for following along.  I must admit, I need to learn how to NOT glue on all the fiddly bits until the major parts are assembled and painted, but sometimes it's hard to determine what is best left off, and what is safe to be attached.  I haven't attached the pitot tube and cable attachment point to the canopy yet as  I need to do some work on the attachment point so I can put a cable there.

I do intend to make a diorama of the C47 / WACO in takeoff position.  I would rather do them in flight, but a tow cable would be ~4.86' long, and that would make for a sizable diorama!  Would be interesting to put them on individual stands, but difficult to display.

At the moment, the black stripes are on and I'm finishing touch up work on the paint.  By next weekend I hope she will be finished (or close to it).

Gary

Your C-47/glider is such a cool project and despite the problems you've had on it you're doing a marvelous job  with it.  I'm adding  this to my mental stash list for future to-do someday.

Nicely done!

Toshi

jelliott523

Gary,

Love the Waco! The local warbird museum here in Nampa, ID has an old Waco glider that someone took and made a camp trailer out of. The thing has been brought into the museum and they have peeled the "added materials" back to show the frame and some of the original fabric skin of the glider. Its kind of cool that someone had the ability to look at this thing and say, "wow, I'm pretty sure this was an old Waco glider".

I've heard of such things, including people who made houses out of Horsa gliders over in England.  Guess after the war there was not much use for them.

Meanwhile, it's been a while since my last update. I'm pretty slow. It takes a while for me to work up the courage to attempt the next step in the build process, especially since I tend to bend, break or mess up that next step.

But onward and upwards! Downwards too!

After I had fixed the broken wheel, I decided my next task was to figure out what color to paint the WACO, so I did some tests with various shades of OD. While doing this, I noticed that Italeri had left off some very important struts for the horizontal stabilizers. Plus, I needed to add the cabling from the top of the horizontal stabilizers to the vertical stabilizer.

The struts were easy. I used some plasticard about 1/8” thick and cut out some strips. I then sanded and scrapped them into a rough aerodynamic shape. A bit of adjustment and they were on and looking not bad. Unfortunately, while doing this work, I managed to break off the REAR tail wheel!   I knew applying the fiddly bits would be a pain while working, but I did it all the same, just to show 'em!  It sank into the swamp...

Luckily, I had not applied the bracing strut to the rear wheel, so with that part and some Tenax, the rear wheel was reattached and seems to be holding up fairly well.

I then took some piano wire and cut and adjusted the length to make the cabling for the bracing on the top of the stabs. I had tried some wire-looking thread material, but could not get it to stretch or attach well enough without sagging. The piano wire worked just as well, and didn't give me the headaches the thread did.

Afterwards, I gave the model a coating of Model Master Flat OD, leaving some areas a bit lighter. I then took MM Faded OD Acrylic and brushed it on over the base OD. This left some splotching I hadn't expected, but I used some alcohol and gave the areas a good wipe down, generally leaving the areas with a duller, streaked appearance that I thought looked okay.

I decided to tackle the invasion stripes next, leaving some of the paint work till later so I could touch up the stripes also.  I had some questions concerning the positioning of the stripes on a glider with one source saying one thing and Italeri's instructions making no sense to what I was seeing.  I finally decided to go by a photo of the real thing, and tried to match up my masking with that.  The only item I'm sure of is the directive for the wings that the stripes be 6" from the edge of the insignia, so I based my placement on that and the photo.

It's always good to have photographic evidence.

Masking the model was a task with all the bracing and struts, but I finally managed to wrap up the areas in enough aluminum foil and tape to cover everything.

I removed the front cockpit area before continuing, as one of the pilots had escaped his harness and was rattling around inside.  It would be easier to fix that with the cockpit area separate.

I gave the stripe area a coating of flat white, and after removing the masking found the paint had stayed mostly where it was supposed to.

And that is where she is at the moment. Next up is masking for the black stripes and brushing them on, plus touch up work and finishing for the paint.  Not too much longer now.

Thanks for looking!

Gary

Gary,

Love the Waco! The local warbird museum here in Nampa, ID has an old Waco glider that someone took and made a camp trailer out of. The thing has been brought into the museum and they have peeled the "added materials" back to show the frame and some of the original fabric skin of the glider. Its kind of cool that someone had the ability to look at this thing and say, "wow, I'm pretty sure this was an old Waco glider".

Bish, John:

Thanks for the kind words.  I've been putting another coat of primer on her today, and later on (after that dries), I'll see about masking and putting a coat of OD on her.

First I think I need to do something about bracing wires on the tail section.  I've noticed them in pictures, but nothing on the model.  Well, a bit more scratch-building and she'll be ready.

Gary

Sorry about the gear, but I am enjoying your build.  Always wanted to get one built.  Why did I build the Me-321 first?

Thanks, richs26!  Yeah, those are from Market Garden (probably) as the invasion stripes are only on the bottom of the aircraft.

This is part of a diorama, and she will be behind this:

With luck no more disasters will occur with the WACO.

Gary

Excellent job on the Waco and great comeback for the wheel disaster.  Are you going to do a D-Day or Market Garden one?  If so, don't worry about getting your invasion stripes perfect as in this example found on Wiki Commons:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/C-47s-316tcg-37tcs-d-day.png

The stripes are crooked and ragged.

Bish,

Thanks!  It wasn't as hard to fix as I thought, but it did take some manipulation.

The first thing I did was remove the lower two struts from the bracing, leaving the long piece that attaches to the upper fuselage.  I cleaned up the attachment points and using a #11 X-Acto blade drilled small holes for the new struts to fit into.  I figured this would give them some extra strength.  I then took a paperclip (the bare metal variety) and cut a piece for the main wheel brace.  With some shears and a pair of needle nose pliers, I adjusted it until it closely matched the angle of the bracing on the opposite side.

I then cut a piece for the next strut.  Before assembly, I found the wheel would not fit the new strut, and was too loose, so I wrapped some tape around the end.  It seemed to work.  Then I punched out a plastic disc from some scrap sheet and drilled a hole for the strut to fit through, matching up the opposite side.

After that, some contact cement on the wheel strut, fitting it into the new fuselage hole and on the remaining vertical brace, then allowed that to dry for an hour. I then attached the second strut to form a "V".  Applied some dabs of more contact cement and set assemblage aside to dry.

After a couple of hours, this is the result:

Seems strong enough for now.  I'm not sure how it will hold up over time, but I'll keep my fingers crossed!

Thanks for looking!

Gary

It's been awhile since the last update.  One reason for the delay was the weather.  Another was a disaster.

I had gotten the WACO together and masked for paint, but the weather took a turn for the worse.  It seems like I only have to get something ready to paint and it starts to rain around here.  Go figure.

But after a week, the weather turned nice again and I was able to apply a first coat of primer, just as a color check and to test the seams.  I figured I would have to redo the seams, and after the primer dried I decided to try filling stuff with "Future".It seems to level well and can go on easily, so I thought I would try it. I proceeded to layer it into the seams and across the fuselage.  If didn't work, I could remove it with alcohol and use a different compound.

Unfortunately, while handling the model, disaster struck.  I heard a snap and one of the wheels came off.

Now I knew the landing gear attachments were pretty flimsy, so it didn't surprise me that it had broken off.  It did set me back, and I had to try to figure out how to fix it.  I tried Tenaxing the part back, but it did not hold and broke again.

So now I'm at that point in a build where you go "What do I do about this?"  I'm going to try building a new frame out of wire, tape and contact cement, but I don't know if it will be any stronger than the Tenax.  We'll see.  At the moment, the first part of that reconstruction is drying, and I'll update this post when I see the result.

Thanks for looking!

Gary