SPA Modeler

speedgraflex wrote: ↑Tue Feb 17, 2026 5:41 pm Stuart, It’s not circling the trash can, is it? I’m curious about this one. I’d like to see pictures even if it’s just pieces! Is this the Bandai kit from the Seventies?

Hi Bruce,

Oh no - not at all. It was Lyle's build that ended up in the bin (I'm not sure what happened to Declan's). I keep pulling it our of the box and having a look at it now and then. I quite fancy building a Light Aircraft, and whilst I'm looking forward to building my Yak-18T I thought I'd better try and finish this one first.

According to scalemates it is the old Bandai kit - although it a more recent Minicraft boxing. I have to say this kit was in pretty poor condition when I got it - I had to put gloves on and wipe the box down with wipes, as it was covered in mildew and what I think (I hope) was Tobacco smoke - no wonder it was cheap!



Here's were it stands currently. If I recall correctly I was in the process of painting up the interior and sanding and carving the clear parts to make them a better fit. There are some issues with this kit, and I might well re-read this whole thread to remind myself of what they were.



I'm not sure about the interior to be honest, I might well repaint it. If I recall, I was going to glue sand to the floor, and then paint it up to resemble the carpet most of these aircraft have. I was also going to make some seat belts.

Nice looking aircraft though - I was thinking about fitting a three-blade propeller but actually I do think I like the look of the two-blade.



I can see some of this getting done whilst I decal up the Spitfire and Airacobra.

Cheers!

So watching the build I posted of this model on page 1 - things I need to sort out.

• Main gear leg position - the hole is in the wrong place on the L/H side.

• Replace Exhausts with brass tubing.

• Nose weight

You could also use fine grade sand paper for the carpet.

Nice idea Mike - that could work well too.

I got a hammer ready if you need it....

Oh I have several!

This is awesome Stuart! I like the look of this plane. I built a 1/72 scale one of these from Arii as a commemoration to my brother who died in a accident in college some years back. He was a pilot and was just waiting on his multi-engine license to be sent to him and then he was going to fly out to California to meet up with me and do some skiing in "real mountains". It was He was studying to be an aviation lawyer and this was going to be his first aircraft that he was going to buy to fly around in. His multi-engine license arrived on the day of his funeral. I also have a 1/72 scale model of the Cessna 172 that he learned to fly in.

Keep this one coming Stuart! You got the skills to finish this, don't let it beat you!

Man that's really sad - I'm so sorry to hear that Mark.

speedgraflex wrote: ↑Wed Feb 18, 2026 2:49 pm Thank you so much for obliging me with superb photos, Stuart! This is one aircraft design that truly is timeless and utterly identifiable in profile. You’ve done a very tidy and complete job of preparing, processing and based on what I’ve read, testing of the model’s fit. I like Medic’s suggestion and that will work really well. You could also paint some of that foul smelling grey gunk (I disposed of the bottle long ago) of Mr. Surfacer in a very well ventilated area (outside?) and stipple the texture as well. This would be secondary to what I read about the alignment of the landing gear strut, though. I’m not sure how you plan to address this. Do you have a copy of the instructions? I would appreciate seeing what olde Bandai via Revell via Minicraft suggests you do there, and I can’t find the instructions on Scalemates. Living vicariously here!

Mr Surfacer might work Bruce, although I only have the fine stuff.

I'll take some pictures of the instructions and the issue with the gear when I get a mo - The landing strut issue should be an easy enough fix. From what I can tell the mounting hole on one side is out of position by about 1/2 mm. So I'll either slot the hole, or reduce the diameter of the peg to give it a bit more wiggle room.