Model #4 Lindberg 0A9 Goose 1:48

This plane is one of my personal favorites and it was on top of my building wish list. It would also serve as a test of my (slowly) improving abilities as I was hoping to build a specific Goose as opposed to the typical production model.

When I was a boy there were few people in the world I wanted to be more than Jake Cutter. If you're not familiar with the name, you might not be old enough to remember the criminally short running TV series Tales of the Gold Monkey. Jake Cutter flew a Goose, and Jake Cutter was cool. Have a look for yourself:

For a young boy already in love with airplanes and Indiana Jones (for whom Gold Monkey was clearly a copycat), Jake Cutter was just about as perfect a hero as I could have. Despite the show's short run, it served as a constant inspiration to me. (Finally, after nearly three decades, long suffering fans were rewarded with a DVD release of the complete series.)

The model itself is fairly straightforward. It seemed inferior to the Revell kit I'd built. Also, for a 1:48 scale it seemed to have both too much detail and not enough. This model had roughly 20 bajillion prominent rivets on the skin, but hardly any interior to speak of. This wasn't a problem for my purposes. The windows appeared too small to be able to see much through them anyways, so I painted the interior with a flat brown hoping it would dull the glaring white of the plastic. As you can see, there was also some fit issues as well:

I was able to add putty and sand these problems out up to my standards. But if you're more serious than I am, it's worth noting that any sanding you do will eliminate the rivets and create a smooth spot:

The biggest challenge on this build proved to be the paint. Masking required a great deal of thought and effort for a new guy like me. In addition, I was still using spray cans at this point. I typically like to make painting a two step process and lay down the main color first (on the sprue), then build, and touch up and and add detail. I couldn't really do that with this project and needed a plan. Obviously, the black on white scheme left little room for mistakes:

There seems to be some discrepancy regarding the top side paint scheme, and I did my best to faithfully recreate it. Thankfully there's a Tales of the Gold Monkey fan site with plenty of photos. This model shows it differently than in other places. I researched it as much as I could and came up with what I thought was accurate.

Another issue that became an obstacle was the propellers. The Lindberg kit is an early 0A9 model, which would be accurate for the time period Gold Monkey took place. But the show was notoriously inaccurate with regards to chronological accuracy (Cutter was supposedly a former AVG pilot several years prior to the AVG being formed). The Lindberg model includes a two-blade propeller while Cutter's Goose was the later G21A version with three blades. This being model #4 I don't yet have a developed scrap pile I can comb through to find extra parts. Thankfully I was able to scour my local hobby store's stash of spare parts and come up with some random (but matching!) tri-blade props. This photo depicts the original white two blade prop that came with the kit, the untouched (left) three blade prop, and the sanded down version (right):

I cut off the "stem" that fits into the "engine" from the original two blade props, and also cut off the prop spinners, then glued them on to the new propellers:

After paint, they look like original parts:

There was no way I would be able to recreate the iconic red swoop and "Cutter's Goose" lettering. A little bit of research led me to Draw Decals where I was able to find this set. They shipped fast and and seemed like quality decals. But I did have to make a cut for the wheel well:

I chose to use only the red decals, and opted to paint the black portions myself. Also, my research indicated Cutter's Goose had a black disc for the main landing gear wheels, so I went with that. I really struggled with these decals, and they required a great deal of shaping and cutting to fit but otherwise appeared to be spot on color and font wise. A more experienced modeler may not have had these issues.

In the end I I'm pretty happy with the final result:

You can see where I tore the decals on the port side. I used Model Master Chevy Engine Red to fill in the blanks. That's pretty close match and it shows up much more in pics than it does sitting on the shelf:

The white paint can be glaring, so to add depth I sprayed some cotton balls with grey paint and shoved them in the engine compartments. I think it was a good effect:

Here's the top end paint scheme I came up with. I had a great gloss finish on it with sharp lines. Unfortunately I decided I wanted a more flat appearance and tried to do it over by hand. That was a mistake:

In conclusion, I had a lot of fun building this one. It was great to connect with such an important childhood memory. I also enjoyed whatever skills I have being challenged. This model sits prominently in my home and it always brings a smile to my face. I won't defend it's craftsmanship or quality of build. But the subject matter makes me happy.

Sadly, N327 is no longer with us. Cutter's Goose crash landed in New York in 2005. But there seems to be a resurgence in interest in amphibian air travel (around my neck of the woods, anyway) so it would be nice to see more of these restored to airworthy condition.

Only the future can tell if the Goose ends up with the respect it deserves, or if it will remain an obscure novelty like the show it starred in. In any event I have wonderful memories of this plane and I'm happy to have the model to remind me of them.

Happy Building!


While The Glue is Drying:

This guy and this guy built great versions of this model.

Model #2: Revell F4U-4 Corsair 1:48

The Vought F4U is one of the most distinct planes of the WWII era and its striking lines make it hard to pass up for hobbyists. The inverted gull wings make the F4U easy to pick out from a mile away. The plane's significance as an integral part of Pappy Boyington's famed Black Sheep squadron makes this an irresistible candidate for a scale model build.

Every little boy knows the Revell name, and the reason why was obvious as soon as I opened the box. The parts were easy to identify on the sprue and the directions were clear. The design was complicated compared to my previous model, but the manageable size made this project far more enjoyable to put together.

One of the cool things about this model was the true-to-life folding wings. Unfortunately, I couldn't make mine work. Despite the overall quality of the model, the "hinges" for the wings were inadequate and unaligned. The tapered fit between the wing and fuselage didn't work either. After a ton of sanding and cutting, I was able to make them work (fold up and down). That said, the design was so flimsy, after a few rotations, both wings ended up breaking off.

I suspect a more experienced modeler would have been more successful, but that wasn't the case with me.

Here you can see my original (cutting) efforts at creating clearance for the wings to oscillate, and also the final solution of heavy glue to keep them attached to the rest of the model:

Although seemingly as delicate as the wing joints, the operable doors for the tailwheel are still working spot on. The wheel (and hook) both operate with a full range of motion and can be stowed away:

I also had a problem with the canopy. There was simply no way for this to fit. It either fit one half of the cockpit with a gap on the other (starboard) side, or it smooshed down on the pilots head and fell underneath the airframe. Luckily, I had picked up some of Testors clear parts cement and I was able to fill it in. Not a bad fix for a second timer!

The Corsair F4U is heavily armed, and I had fun building and painting the various missiles and bombs (with varying degrees of success):

 

I hand brushed Testors Burnt Iron for the cylinder heads and I liked the effect (Yes: I probably should have dusted her off before taking pics):

I'm pretty satisfied with the final product:

From the front, showing off the infamously massive 13-1/2 foot Hamilton Standard prop:

In conclusion, I had a lot of fun building this Corsair. The 1:48 was a much more agreeable scale to my skill level. In consideration of my space requirements and talent level I decided at this point to stick with the scale. For whatever reason, I actually enjoyed overcoming some of the minor obstacles I encountered on this build. I was excited to figure out a fix for the window. I didn't let the wing problems get the better of me, because things break, and this ain't going in a museum.

I struggled with painting the "frame" supports on the canopy, but it taught me that I needed better tools and I now own a fine set of size 0 and similar brushes for all sorts of detail work. I've noticed since this build that my knowledge grows exponentially with each project.

I screwed up the decals and selected a poor choice of paint color. I'm over it. I had a lot of fun building this one and it still looks great on the shelf.

Happy building!

Jeff


While The Glue is Drying:

This guy over at ARC built this model right. And he got his wings to work!