Curtiss BF 2C-1 by CDW - FINISHED - Hasegawa - 1:32 scale

[Javlin]

looking very good Craig I take it the wing fit has already been explored?

[CDW]

8 minutes ago, Javlin said:

looking very good Craig I take it the wing fit has already been explored?

Fits like a charm

[CDW]

Port side masked and painted silver. Let this dry while I start painting the wings and stabilizers next.

[CDW]

Continuing to add color. Wings are in the paint booth now. Maybe will wrap this little model up in the next few days assuming no major unseen circumstances take place. 
As a side note, I “refreshed” the original decals with Microscale liquid decal film. As is often the case with old decals, the decal paper adhesive was no good. No amount of rejuvenation seems to solve that issue, at least none that I have found. I would have preferred the red fuselage band included with the original decals. Had to resort to the blue band which comes with the Yellow Wings sheet as seen in the photos. A blue cowl will be done to match.

[CDW]

Yellow wings baby.

[AJohnson]

That is looking very smart Craig! 

 

And from bitter experience 👍, I know what a %@*&! Yellow can be to spray and get a good finish! 

Edited June 2, 2023 by AJohnson

[CDW]

10 minutes ago, AJohnson said:

That is looking very smart Craig! 

 

And from bitter experience 👍, I know what a %@*&! Yellow can be to spray and get a good finish! 

I got the worst part out of the way by doing the yellow now. The rest of the wings are silver and easy to paint. A good light undercoat is a must for a yellow finish. Yellow is very transparent and does not cover well. Even then I had to lay this down real heavy to get a uniform color. Need to let it dry all day and tonight even though it’s lacquer.

[Javlin]

I think the blue will be a Nice change Craig most are done red.

[yvesvidal]

3 hours ago, CDW said:

I got the worst part out of the way by doing the yellow now. The rest of the wings are silver and easy to paint. A good light undercoat is a must for a yellow finish. Yellow is very transparent and does not cover well. Even then I had to lay this down real heavy to get a uniform color. Need to let it dry all day and tonight even though it’s lacquer.

 

Did you use the Camel Yellow from Tamiya or something else?

 

Yves

[CDW]

Just now, yvesvidal said:

 

Did you use the Camel Yellow from Tamiya or something else?

 

Yves

I used Mr Color orange yellow lacquer.

[Landlubber Mike]

1 hour ago, yvesvidal said:

 

Did you use the Camel Yellow from Tamiya or something else?

 

Yves

 

1 hour ago, CDW said:

I used Mr Color orange yellow lacquer.

I've used Tamiya's Camel Yellow which I decanted from the spray bottle, which is a pain and can be messy.  Good to know about Mr. Color.

Edited June 2, 2023 by Landlubber Mike

[CDW]

I want to put all the decals in place before I attach the wings, struts and rigging. Landing gear and bombs will go on last.

 

Yesterday I dropped the model from chest height and did some damage which I since repaired. I was lucky the wings were not attached or the damage would have been much worse.

[DocRob]

The Curtiss has become a beauty with the colorful wings and markings. an absolute eyecatcher and you are close to the finish line.

 

Cheers Rob

[CDW]

With a couple of interruptions this weekend, finally managed to cement the wings and strut assemblies together last night and left them to dry over night. Now ready to attach the rigging as I move forward to complete this project.

 

This model had a very good cabane strut arrangement which lent itself to an easy assembly and alignment of the two wings. As a builder of biplanes over many years I can tell you that the cabane struts are always the key to a properly aligned set of wings. Very key.

[CDW]

Spent more time than I wanted finishing up the wing rigging. Had a hard time focusing my vision on the 2-pound test monofilament and the .3mm aluminum sleeves I used to tie down the rigging. Found that I got better results doing it in the morning rather than at night, I suppose because the natural light was better suited for the task than artificial lighting. There remain quite a few things to do to finish up the model, but none so lengthy and tedious as the wing rigging turned out to be. I was fortunate in the beginning to have cut my rigging lines extra-long rather than shorter. Turns out I needed that extra length to work the sleeves and such. It would have been a much more difficult task had the lines been shorter.

[popeye the sailor]

WOW.........very nice progress you've made on the Goshawk!    truely a colorful bird!  it had a rather short life though.  it was ordered by the navy in 1933 as the XF11C-3.  twenty seven were built,  and near the time of delivery, (in 1934} their designation was changed to the BF2C-1.  you did a really nice job on the Cyclone engine..........the engine was the main cause of their short life.  at crusing speed,  the vibration from the engine cause the plane to shake badly enough,  to cause problems with the wing structure.  a remedy that Curtiss came up with,  was to replace the wing with a wooden one,  but it was shot down by the navy,  and plans for future planes was scrapped.

 

the cowl coloration shown on the box,  designates the plane as a carrier plane.....could be plane #1......or plane #2,  depending where the {in this case} red is on the cowl.  I painted the cowls on the seagulls,  on the Arizona,  in this way........red was the color for the Arizona if memory serves me.  I haven't checked when the seagulls replaced the Neuports....likely around 1937.  what carriers recieved the Goshawks?

[CDW]

Thanks Denis. This particular aircraft served aboard the USS Ranger.

[Egilman]

7 hours ago, popeye the sailor said:

what carriers recieved the Goshawks?

According to Wiki the Sara was the only carrier assigned BF2C-1's.....

"The only U.S. Navy units to operate the F11C-2 were the Navy's famous "High Hat Squadron", VF-1B, aboard the carrier Saratoga, and VB-6 was briefly assigned to Enterprise."

 

But there is photographic evidence that they were flown off both the Ranger and the Lexington as well... When the Goshawk was assigned to VB-6 from the Enterprise, they never actually reached the point of deployment, so they never actually flew off the Enterprise operationally...

Edited June 8, 2023 by Egilman

[CDW]

3 hours ago, Egilman said:

According to Wiki the Sara was the only carrier assigned BF2C-1's.....

"The only U.S. Navy units to operate the F11C-2 were the Navy's famous "High Hat Squadron", VF-1B, aboard the carrier Saratoga, and VB-6 was briefly assigned to Enterprise."

 

But there is photographic evidence that they were flown off both the Ranger and the Lexington as well... When the Goshawk was assigned to VB-6 from the Enterprise, they never actually reached the point of deployment, so they never actually flew off the Enterprise operationally...

My info comes from Yellow Wings, the decal sheet company. These particular markings are for squadrons assigned to the Ranger. That's about all I know.

[CDW]

Next time you are in a dollar store, look in the section where they sell the nail care products to find this brush-on nail glue. It’s CA glue that comes with an applicator brush in the bottle top. Works like a charm on plastic model parts where you want a quicker bond. I think I paid $2 for this bottle. 

[CDW]

With today's update, I'm left with several or more tasks to finish; need to do a few paint touch-ups here and there, lay down a clear semi gloss coat to seal the decals, a light wash to highlight some of the details , then add my windscreen and clear parts, and last some final rigging. For a 50 year-old model, it holds it's age well I think. We will be lucky to ever see anyone else release a modern kit of this aircraft in this scale.

[Old Collingwood]

Really nice Crag  -  those colours  really Pop.

 

OC.

[CDW]

20 minutes ago, Old Collingwood said:

Really nice Crag  -  those colours  really Pop.

 

OC.

I would call the colors, parade dress. No camo here, none whatsoever. 😄

[Canute]

Very good looking a/c, Craig. She's a beauty. 👍

[CDW]

Final photos

 

Thanks to all for following along, for all your helpful comments and facts, for your likes and in general all the fellowship we enjoy while sharing these little projects.

It's time now to close this one out and head off to another fun-filled adventure....the Vincent Black Shadow to be specific.

[popeye the sailor]

superb looking model..........amazing,  right down to the rigging!   very well done!

[Javlin]

She looks quite Nice Craig.

[realworkingsailor]

Nice job! A great result from an older kit!

 

Andy

[Old Collingwood]

Really nice Craig.

 

OC.

[AJohnson]

Craig, another outstanding model.
Really good to see something different, never heard of the aircraft until your build log, so thanks all for the education along the way!