Civil Aviation?

Hi Dans1120 I remember building both those types some years age but am not sure who did them but it may have been aoshima. I think that Academy may have done these a/c now . is it the V tailed bonanza your after? if so i will look out for some on the "net" for you. the Cessna 172 that i built was a seaplane but there was a landplane version i'll let you know what i find there is also the Airfix piper cherokee and Chipmunk the chippie is an RAF one but it is just a paint job to make it civilian there is the Airfix Beaver that could be made into a bushplane and the Airfix Auster and the Heller Saab Safir that could be done as a civilian too....Greg

Modelcraft makes a 1/48 Cessna 172 with land and floatplane options, its not a bad kit. I believe they also make a 1/48 Norduyn Norseman, their catalog this year features a 1/72 DeHavilland DHC-6 Twin Otter in civil markings, this may be a reissue of the old Matchbox kit.

Hobbycraft Canada has had 1/48 and 1/72 DeHavilland Beavers and single Otters in their catalog for several years. They also had a 1/72 DeHavilland Dash 8 kit for a while.

The Esci 1/72 Fokker 27 was reissued by Ertl in the late 1990s and is an excellent kit if you can get it.

I know those aren't all light aircraft, but they have been out there if you wanted to aim at larger than light aircraft sometimes.

Modelcraft also do a Cessna 150 (1:48). I built one for my younger brother, the plane he did his PPL in (at Ormond beach, Florida, N704FE). Not exceptionally good quality, but for lack of competition..

Yeah, Dans-----
There's bugger all in the way of civilian aircraft available in practically any scale.
There's also a whole bucketful of general aviation a/c I'd love to see as good quality injection molded kits - including many of the sexy little composite ultra lights (from a distance they look like normal full size a/c but are smaller) and experimental stuff (the things the Rutans make, or a Jabiru, for example).
Maybe one of these days the big manufacturers will make a series of aircraft models that weren't designed to drop bombs or carry missiles...........I'd buy them. I bet lots of others would, too..........
Cheers,
LeeTree

Heller also had a number of civil light planes such as the CAP 10. The kits were scaled at 1/50. As mentionned earlier, Airfix also had a number of 1/72 light civil planes. I did build a number of them, my all time favourite being the Britten Norman Islander. The Short Skyvan was another one they had, but most were single-engined little kits that were very good indeed.

Another possibility is to look at kits of flying models. They come in various scales and would provide you with at least a basic shell to which you could add on. Without the A/C gear and the engine, I'm pretty sure the shell itself would not cost too much.

Hello Dans,

Great Topic! Although having been a reader of this forum for just a few weeks, I was already under the impression that I was the only modeller not interested in Jet Fighters and WW-II aircraft.
Esci/ Ertl did a beautiful (and not expensive) 1:48 172 as a floatpane as well as with wheels.
Heller has a 1:50 (these darn Heller Scales) Cessna 337 (you know: the one with the pull and the push-props), military though in a white mold; easy to turn into a civilian plane.
In addition to djmodels1999 reply: Airfix re-released the Skyvan (and I keep hoping they will do the same with the Islander, djmodels you lucky #%*&!)
Academy has (had?) a Cessna 150, Piper Super Cub, Piper PA28 (if I remember correctly) and a Beech Bonanza V-tail, all in 1:48.

Good Luck,

Gertjan

Hi I forgot about the airfix skyvan and islander/defender kits, they also did the cesnna skymonster"oops"skymaster LoL and cesnna bird dog. Geejeez I got an islander from www.kingkit.co.uk i dont know if they have anymore but its worth a try if you want one. I am going to try and get another because my dog ate the last one ( I kid you not ) this thread has reminded me that i have a Heller STAMPE in 1/50th that i started when i was about 8 yrs old and never finished. I must dig it out to see if it is salvagable.
Also if you want vintage civil stuff what about the airfix or airoclub tiger moth and frog/novo gypsy moth i have done a tiger moth as G - A I V W the tiger clubs floatplane.
there is also the Airfix beagle/scotish aviation basset that could be done as a beagle 206 and the s/a bulldog. there are a few buldogs on civilian registers now as the RAF has sold theirs but it would be a nice conversion to the civilian beagle pup as both a/c are similar but quite different...Greg

I just remembered that a few years ago I saw a 1/48 Stinson Reliant in AMT/Ertl boxing (now there's a rarity).

A year or so ago I built a 1/72 Siebel fh-104 Hallore transport by the Czech firm Pavla. It had a post war Czech decal option that included civil registers and Czech military insignia all at once.

I saw a piper cub in 1/48 in Academy boxing yesterday at a local hobby shop, looks like it comes with a nice stand if you want it in flight.

I still wish Italeri or Revell Germany would come out with a 1/48 Piaggio P.180 Avanti. That things been around for 20 years and is drop dead gorgeous, how its evaded getting a kit made of it is a mystery to me.

Gertjan,

that Cessna 337 was also released as a civilian bird. I got one once but I do not know what I ever did with it... Mystery...

Huma Models of Germany have a fairly large number of civilian birds if you are into older stuff. Sword/Azur also have a few interesting subjects from the 'Golden Years'... And so have William Brothers of the US.

And let's not forget Matchbox who had some nice DHC models, the Norseman and the Dominie (Biz-jet).

Many years ago AMT had 1/48th kits of the Beech Staggerwing and Stinson Reliant. They were pretty nice kits for their time.

Also, I believe Academy has re-issued the Bandai(?) 1/48th Cessna 150, Beech Bonanza, Piper Cherokee and Piper Super Cub.

Doesn't Hobbycraft have a 1/48th J3 Cub ?

Jim

Oh yes - if your bag is aerobatic airplanes, Airshow Models has some very nice 1/32nd resin kits of the Christen Eagle and various versions of the Pitts S-2. They will also be doing an Extra 300, Pitts S-1, DeHaviland Super Chipmunk, and Stearman.

Jim

Here are a couple of reviews for Cessna kits, both by Arii:

1/72 Skyhawk
http://www.fortunecity.com/meltingpot/portland/971/Reviews/50s/cessna-172-skyhawk.htm

1/72 Skymaster
http://www.fortunecity.com/meltingpot/portland/971/Reviews/60s/skymaster-cessna337.htm

The lines on the Skymaster look okay, but the Skyhawk looks more like a Cessna 150 than a 172 to me.

My local hobby shop has a bunch of Academy (I think) Pipers, but no Cessnas. I think the scale is 1/72.

I think the time is ripe for a series of new kits with more accurate lines and better detail. Scale, whether 1/72, 1/48, or 1/32, doesn't matter to me much. 1/72 scale would be really cute, though.

Look at Roden's new 1/72 Bristol F.2b (http://www.rodenplant.com/HTML/framegallery.htm)! Look at that engine detail. I'd love something like that for a Cessna 172 or 182.

Regards,

-Drew

Does anyone know wher a paint scheme for a Dehavillan Beaver might be found?

kd4gfy, are you just looking for pics of Beavers? If you are, I can e-mail you some. By the way, KD4GFY sounds like a ham callsign. Am I correct? I'm a ham, by the way. ; )

God Bless

Kevin

kd4gfy, I just did a quick search and found a few sites with good pics. http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Lab/7146/beaver.htm

http://www.fach-extraoficial.com/ingles/beaver.htm

http://www.jetphotos.net/showphotos.php?aircraft=De%20Havilland%20Canada%20DHC-2%20Beaver

The Beaver has always been one of my favorite planes. One of these days I'm going to build a model of one.

God Bless

Kevin

Thanks for the info Kevin
Yes I am a Ham. I checked the lnks and found a Pic that I used to detail my GWS Beaver---It is a stand of scale modle but Works for me. I am yusing it for a camera platform. Dont see a way to post Pics here or i would.

God bless you also brother
beau

Glad to help. So you are building an RC Beaver? I've always thought that an RC plane would be a great way to get aerial photos. Seems like it would be kind of tricky, though. Hope it works!

God Bless

Kevin

Hey Dans !! (et al.)

Hopefully I'm not being redundant..but Amodel, from the Ukraine, produces a 1/72 Rutan Voyager.
They also make a PZL Wilga. I built both. The quality is a little rough, but all of the little problems were easily overcome. I enjoyed them both.

Take care,
DeP