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Glencoe 1/48 Republic RC-3 Seabee

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  • Member since
    February 2010
Glencoe 1/48 Republic RC-3 Seabee
Posted by paulhelfrich on Tuesday, August 14, 2012 9:29 PM

I picked this up for a few bucks at a contest, mostly because I liked the box art. 

It's an odd little kit - molded completely in clear plastic (everything, including the tires!) with some fit and alignment issues. 


I tried to make the best of it, and put it in some Celluclay water to try and resemble that attractive box art as much as possible.  Hope you like it!

 

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: Twin Cities of Minnesota
Posted by Don Stauffer on Wednesday, August 15, 2012 8:53 AM

Looks great!  I have a Seabee kit in my stash.  Your post encourages me to get it on the bench.

Don Stauffer in Minnesota

  • Member since
    April 2009
  • From: Longmont, Colorado
Posted by Cadet Chuck on Wednesday, August 15, 2012 9:10 AM

Beautiful!  I remember seeing those in the 40's when I was a little kid, at the Milwaukee airport.

Gimme a pigfoot, and a bottle of beer...

  • Member since
    February 2010
Posted by paulhelfrich on Wednesday, August 15, 2012 10:29 AM

Thanks!   I appreciate it.

Paul

  • Member since
    September 2005
  • From: Illinois: Hive of Scum and Villany
Posted by Sprue-ce Goose on Thursday, August 16, 2012 8:56 AM

Clear plastic?
I avoided that old kit because I figured I'd have canopy fit issues.

Looks really nice!

Hobby shops carrying that old kit are going to  see a sudden demand after folks see your build.

Thanks for posting the photos.

  • Member since
    February 2010
Posted by paulhelfrich on Thursday, August 16, 2012 9:33 AM

It's a very odd thing - the kit is completely clear.  The idea is that you'd put the window decals down as masks, paint over them, and then peel them off to reveal the clear plastic underneath.  But the kit has absolutely no interior or cockpit whatsoever, so you'd just be looking into an empty void.  I opted to just use the window decals as decals.  

  • Member since
    September 2006
  • From: Bethlehem PA
Posted by the Baron on Thursday, August 16, 2012 12:09 PM

Very cool, Paul!  I like both the aircraft and the base.  The pilot has a bit of a choppy take-off ahead of him!

For the windows, I wondered if you could have painted the inside as an alternative, since there's no interior detail, and mask and paint the exterior?

The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen.

 

 

  • Member since
    February 2010
Posted by paulhelfrich on Thursday, August 16, 2012 1:02 PM

That probably would have worked!   Good idea.  

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Northern California
Posted by jeaton01 on Friday, August 17, 2012 1:28 PM

Well done, I like it!

John

To see build logs for my models:  http://goldeneramodel.com/mymodels/mymodels.html

 

  • Member since
    April 2005
  • From: Montana USA
Posted by heepey on Saturday, August 18, 2012 12:06 AM

Great looking base for the old bird.

Those clear ones are hard to paint.

The one I have is all white - no windows

dmk
  • Member since
    September 2008
  • From: North Carolina, USA
Posted by dmk on Friday, September 14, 2012 10:41 AM

The Seebee looks great!  Nice dio. I was just reading about these birds in one of the aviation rags.

the Baron
For the windows, I wondered if you could have painted the inside as an alternative, since there's no interior detail, and mask and paint the exterior?

 That's an RC car trick. Some of the bodies for RC cars used to be clear acrylic, and you painted them entirely on the inside, so it took creative masking and careful planning.

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: Twin Cities of Minnesota
Posted by Don Stauffer on Saturday, September 15, 2012 9:19 AM

The latest Aviation History magazine has an article about the history of the Seabee and its predecessor.  Interesting read.  Not many photos, though.

Don Stauffer in Minnesota

  • Member since
    May 2015
Posted by Gordon D. King on Monday, September 17, 2012 7:30 PM

Very nice looking model. A friend of mine used to own a Seabee. It was fun to fly in it. Taking off was a bit scary. It was like riding in a canoe doing 60 or 70 mph.

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