Modelcraft 1/48 Norseman UC-64A

Robert Noorduyn drew on his experience working for Fokker, Bellanca and Cierva when he designed his Norseman, a simple, sturdy bushplane. It featured a high wing, a reliable engine and fabric covering over its steel tube fuselage and wooden wing. Undercarriage options included floats for bush work, skis for winter and wheels. Originally built by Noorduyn Aircraft Ltd. at Cartierville Quebec, it first flew in 1935 and 17 examples had been delivered by 1939, mostly to bush operators and several to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. But the coming of war resulted in significant contracts, especially from the US government, and more than seven hundred had been delivered by war’s end. Many were de-mobbed and have been used by civilian operators and air forces large and small from Canada’s north to New Guinea. The type remained in limited production until 1959. As of this writing, Transport Canada still lists twenty on the Canadian civil register.

Modelcraft Canada released their 1/48 Norseman 1995 and I have had the review sample in the stash ever since. Moulded in easily worked translucent white plastic, it is a simple kit of its time and I count about seventy parts. No metal or resin is included nor are any dedicated aftermarket parts available. The kit offers optional exhaust pipes, 2- and 3-bladed propellors and even wheel, ski and the original float undercarriage, none of which requires any cutting or extra skill to use. There is no flash anywhere and the windscreen and windows are acceptably thin and quite clear.

Interior parts include a pair of seats and a control column of the throw-over type sitting on a simple floor. What’s there looks fine but more detail from plastic card and wire will go a long way to improve the look, especially if the modeler wants to open up the doors. I did notice the Matchbox pilot didn’t make the cut for this kit and that’s a shame because he’s one of the better representations I’ve seen in 1/72!

This boxing is labelled a USAAF UC-64A and has a very nice decal sheet (labelled as the externally similar UC-64B) offering the choice of two USAAF schemes. First is an invasion striped one in standard Olive Drab and Neutral Gray based in the UK in 1944. The other is a sharp aluminum doped example from Alaska in 1946, the latter one featuring red Arctic survival markings. The example in the collection of The National Museum of the United States Air Force carries these markings.

It has been said (emphatically by one online builder) that the Modelcraft kit is merely a scaled-up Matchbox kit and I assumed that was the case until I opened the box. While the majority of the parts indeed seem remarkably similar but for their size, that is not the whole story. The kits diverge significantly in the engine and cowling and that easily missed difference is what interests me.

The earliest production examples were powered by the well-proven Wright R-975 Whirlwind radial in a close-fitting tapered cowling and that is the version Modelcraft have modelled. The kit engine is a fair representation of the Wright radial though it could benefit from detailing.

But the bulk of production got the dimensionally larger and more powerful Pratt & Whitney R-1340. The smooth sided cowling of the Wright first sprouted helmet fairings to accommodate the Pratt and eventually a new untapered cowling replaced it entirely. Matchbox chose to model the later version. The practical upshot of all this palaver is that the nice decals in this kit aren’t much use without the builder first performing rhinoplasty.

The Norseman was fabric covered; thank goodness the kit makers bypassed the gross burlap treatment so often seen masquerading as fabric surfaces. The restrained fuselage surface detail is just right but the wings, fin and rudder, tailplanes and elevators suffer over-zealous ribbing on both the upper and lower surfaces. Examination of the real thing reveals very subtle ribbing on the upper surface only and a lower surface that is virtually flat. A further note, the fuel tanks molded on the lower surfaces of the wings look very good and will only need a basic wash to make them come alive.

So, there it is, a simple kit that can be built with simple tools. The kit as moulded will be easy enough for a newcomer to the hobby and a blank slate for those who want to show off their skill.

Excellent reference material is supplied by Warner Bros. via their 1942 flag-waver Captains of the Clouds. I’ve spent pleasant afternoons with James Cagney, Dennis Morgan and Alan Hale along with a host of Warner Bros. supporting players. The first half of the film follows their adventures as Canadian bush pilots and that is where we meet the Norseman, the original prototype CF-AGO re-registered CF-HGO for use as Cagney’s mount. Providentially, ‘AGO used the Wright engine so the Modelcraft kit fills the bill nicely. Long scenes, both flying and in close-up, were filmed on location near North Bay, Ontario and feature not just the Norseman but also a Fairchild 71 and a pair of Waco cabin biplanes as flown by Cagney’s friends and competitors. All in glorious Technicolor and not a colorized frame in sight.

The latter half of the film shifts as the main characters join the wartime RCAF as instructors and the action moves to extensive sequences of flying training at active RCAF stations in Ontario, among them Uplands, Trenton and Jarvis as well as the bombing range in Lake Erie. Types seen include the rarely publicized Fleet Finch, plus Harvards and Yales, Ansons and Battles, and even Northrop Nomads, a feast for the colour scheme enthusiast. The film ends with a long sequence of Hudsons being delivered across the Atlantic and even a Hurricane posing as a Bf 109. This visual treat is available for sale on DVD.

Captains of the Clouds, Warner Bros-First National 1942, re-released on DVD by Turner Entertainment Co.

Captains of the Clouds - the making of a BCATP Classic Movie an article on the excellent Vintage Wings of Canada website

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noorduyn_Norseman

Examples of the Norseman are on display at:

Canada Aviation and Space Museum, at the former RCAF Station Rockcliffe at Ottawa Ontario

Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, Mount Hope Ontario

The National Museum of the United States Air Force

Bob Perry

July 2025

Copyright ModelingMadness.com. All rights reserved. No reproduction in part or in whole without express permssion from the editor.

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and fairly quickly, please contact the editor or see other details in the Note to Contributors.

Back to the Main Page

Back to the Review Index Page

Back to the Previews Index Page