NZ-based 1/72 Fleet 16B Finch

[KiwiZac]

Hi all,
Just a build I've had underway for ten years or so. A friend's Fleet which lives at Omaka Aerodrome here in NZ (and is currently for sale if you're keen).

Untitled by Zac Yates, on Flickr
Untitled by Zac Yates, on Flickr
Untitled by Zac Yates, on Flickr
Untitled by Zac Yates, on Flickr
Untitled by Zac Yates, on Flickr

The friend who owns the Fleet is the same one involved in the RAAF Tiger Moth I posted earlier, so I had to do this:
Untitled by Zac Yates, on Flickr
Untitled by Zac Yates, on Flickr

Graham also owns a Stearman and is putting together a Bristol F2B replica...

[Brian da Basher]

That's very nicely done, especially the rigging!

Quite a corker, old bean!

Brian da Basher

[apophenia]

Nice build of a lovely subject! Is this the Azur kit?

[KiwiZac]

Is this the Azur kit?

It is. It came with the parts for the inline-engined Fleet 10 as well. But very fiddly in places - dry-fit and cut four times, glue once! The wing struts seem a bit short, for example...

Thanks for the kind comments! I was pleased to see owner Graham's reaction to the photos, he seemed quite touched. It's a great machine I've not had the pleasure of flying in, and I hope it goes to another owner in NZ.

[apophenia]

Sounds like a right clunker of a kit ... making your build all the more impressive 

On the wing struts: In light of all the other fit problems, they probably were short. Mind you, with the Fleet's 'flat' upper wing and equal span lower panels, the real thing's wing gap looks quite odd from some angles ...

[KiwiZac]

I trimmed the struts a little, generally only at one strut, because the wing had a crazy-high angle of incidence. Ah well. It's rigged, there's no way I'm putting in new ones, and the owner of the 1:1 subject didn't mention it when he saw the photos so I say it's done! 

I put lots of work into the cockpits through scratched and painted detail - including the battery under one of the seats - but you can't see them. Maybe I need to borrow Dad's DSLR to take some macro shots!! I'm pleased and, as I said earlier, Graham really enjoyed seeing the pics.