MPC/Airfix 1/72 Ford Trimotor, by John Summerford

The Ford Tri-Motor (nicknamed the "Tin Goose") was a three-engined transport aircraft. Production ran from 1926 to 1933, after 199 had been made.

In 1922, William Stout founded Stout Metal Airplane Co. After he sent a mimeographed form letter to leading manufacturers, blithely asking for $1,000 and adding: "For your one thousand dollars you will get one definite promise: You will never get your money back." Stout raised $20,000, including $1,000 each from Edsel and Henry Ford.

In 1925, Ford bought Stout and its aircraft designs. The Tri-Motor was essentially a corrugated aluminum-skinned version of the Fokker three-engine design. Even though its closed cabin provided reliable passenger service, it was a noisy, drafty, experience.

The Experimental Aircraft Association offers short flights with their Tri-Motor and the Western Antique Aeroplane and Automobile Museum in Hood River, Oregon has an air-worthy example.

Alaska Airlines grew out of a single-plane company established by Linious McGee in 1932. McGee Airlines merged with Star Air Service in 1934. Under the leadership of Raymond W. Marshall, the airline aggressively pursued further purchases to create Alaska Star Airlines in 1942. The middle name was formally dropped on May 2, 1944, narrowly beating out a competitor who had also applied for the name Alaska Airlines.

THE KIT

Airfix released their kit in 1968. I was unable to find a release date for this example, but I am guessing it was in the early 1970s, mostly because the instruction sheet had yellowed considerably and the decals were flaking off the backing paper.

White styrene parts were bagged and the clear parts, including a stand, were loose in the box. Also, in the box, were three clear acetate discs for simulating spinning props. Total parts, including two pilot figures, is 112. The sprues either don’t have part numbers or are misidentified in the instructions. Some of the parts are handed, such as the engine nacelles and struts, so attaching the correct part to the correct location is a challenge. The fuselage is molded in four parts: sides, top, and bottom and the wings composed of five parts. The instructions were printed on both sides of a seven by ten-inch sheet.

I took on this project because the kit was given to me with a challenge to build it. As per usual, the interior was assembled first. Getting it to fit inside the fuselage was difficult. Test fitting revealed that the guides molded into the cockpit sides are not for nesting the flight deck, but for the deck to abut up against. They are molded too proud and needed to be shaved down. Alignment was still poor, so the nose sections of the fuselage sides were glued together first. When that had set-up, the interior was slid between the sides, then the tail taped together. The flight deck was glued in place, leaving the cabin floor to float. The rear bulkhead was glued to one side only. Ultra-thin liquid cement was very helpful in glueing around the seams of the corrugated pieces as the bottom was installed and the cabin floor glued to that.

Two parts in step 1 remained to be installed, the main landing gear strut, and the flight deck glazing. The former was left for later to forestall breaking and the latter’s side windows were scratched. Chucking a buffing wheel from a rotary tool kit into a battery powered drill and using toothpaste as a buffing compound, the scratches were nearly eliminated. A dip into floor polish made the windows acceptable.

Before installing the wing center section, it was checked for alignment and the fit around the glazing. A few tweaks were required. Once that was installed, the cabin top was given a test fit. Creativity was needed to hide the seam with the wing center section. Corrugations were removed at the front end of the piece, echoing panel seams on the wings. A flange was created by sanding them down. With that issue resolved, test fitting the top to the sides revealed that a spreader bar made from sprue was needed to widen the sides for a good fit. The tail pieces went on with some help to keep them square while the glue cured. The clear pieces were masked to protect them during the rest of the build.

Airfix decided that it was a good idea to include the cargo bays with operable hatches in the wings and those could be added to the lower wing panels. All of that was bypassed and the hatches glued into place. Thankfully, they fit perfectly. The lower panels were glued to the center section and the seam with the fuselage filled. The upper panels came next and, again, the seams addressed.

Because of the identification issues, much more time was spent figuring out which nacelles and struts go where than on gluing the parts together. Detail drawings would be very helpful. Numerous photos sourced from the internet were a great help glueing the struts between the nacelles and the wings. The engines were test fitted and set aside for painting and final assembly. Adding the struts and nacelles was a challenge and so was keeping everything aligned during the process. The middle struts for the left nacelle were too short, so two lengths of .030 rod were substituted.

Installation of the landing gear struts came next. Fortunately, that proved much easier than nacelle struts. The wheels were reserved for installation after painting. With the basic airframe completed, it was time for paint.

A rattle can of white primer coated the entire model, as well as the subassemblies. Bits of detritus were scraped from the corrugations. Acrylic red was sprayed over the nose, engine rings, and engine covers. The vents in the covers were hand painted black, and the cylinders steel.

Various ovals and thin strips of masking tape, plus some masking fluid covered the nose. A coat of Alclad II gloss black base was applied, followed by Airframe Aluminum.

Draw Decal is very clear in their instructions that a gloss base is needed for the best results. I assume that is to avoid silvering, but with the metallic finish, a gloss coat was unnecessary.

With some setting fluid daubed on the proper locations, the decals settled down nicely. Unfortunately, the clear film reflects the light differently than the paint and is very noticeable at different angles. I’m not convinced that a gloss coat would prevent the problem, so further investigation is needed. I also wonder if the decal film manufacturers could do anything about it. Anyway, once the decals dried, a satin coat was sprayed on to dull the sheen somewhat.

Retaining rings were glued to the prop shafts on the backside of the engines. I forgot to add the exhaust collector ring to the nose engine after the prop and glued it in place before I realized my mistake. Once a test fit of the ring was done by maneuvering it over the prop and cylinder heads, two more issues became apparent. One, it should have been pre-painted, and two, the stubs didn’t align with the cylinders. The first issue was addressed by wedging toothpicks between the nose and the ring to create enough clearance for a brush to paint the ring. The second issue was covered by using thick glue to complete the connections. Fortunately, it takes a sharp eye to notice the discrepancy.

On the subject aircraft, a cabin heater wrapped around the extended exhaust pipe. In the kit, this is rendered in three pieces and the attaching holes do not line up, so some drilling was done to the fuselage to mount the heater.

Wheels, then the engines, rings, and exhaust pipes were assembled and glued to the nacelles. That left the pitot as the final piece.

CONCLUSIONS

This was a difficult build due to the subject and the mold technology of the time. I have not seen this kit completed and I can understand why. Experience with biplane building, plus filing, drilling, and sculpting skills are needed to assemble the kit.

Careful fitting of the four-piece fuselage results in a tight seam that needs little filler. Perfect Plastic water-based filler made seam filling a breeze. Other sections needed a lot of work. After-market decals are a must and replacement engines are a good option. I spent over 30 hours rising to this challenge.

KIT #:	1102
PRICE:	$
DECALS:	One option
REVIEWER:	John Summerford
NOTES:	Livery from Draw Decal