Last week I printed two kits to build. A coin decided the Ford would be the first of the year (the Savoia with the late engine will come afterwards).
The model is the Ford Tri-Motor (scale 1:33) designed by Peter A. Zorn, Jr. and originally published by Crown Publishers in 1982. As some of you may already know, Mr. Zorn allowed the digital restoration of the kit, and its free release. It can be downloaded from
PaperModelers.com - Downloads - Ford Tri-motor 5-AT paper model (scale 1:33)
The airplane is Ford Tri-Motor 5-AT-D (cn # 111) serving for the Colombian airline SCADTA with register number “C-61” and the name “Cartagena”. The model I will build represents the plane as it looked in the following photo:
Photo form:
Ford_Trimotor_5_AT
As far as I know it is the only existing photo of the “Cartagena” on the web. On the background you can see Tri-Motor 5-AT-D-106 “Tarapaca” also from SCADTA with the wing cargo compartment open. You can also see the burnt remains of the fatal crash of Tri-Motor 5-AT-B-6 “F-31” from SACO. That SACO Tri-Motor is the same plane in which legendary tango singer Carlos Gardel died, so we know the photo was taken at Medellin the last week of June 1935.
The digital kit of the Tri-Motor offers 11 different liveries. But this SCADTA version is not included. I re-painted this version on December 23rd, and has some slight changes respect to the original kit:
Since the kit is for a 5-AT-B version with rounded door and small window behind the cockpit, the details were modified accordingly. The 5-AT-Ds had a square door and the small window behind the cockpit was removed. Seats were redesigned because 5-AT-D planes used aluminum seats (not wicker). Some small details were also modified on the nose. I decided to keep the circular bathroom window because I plan to detail its interior, and it would not make sense to put details inside if they can’t be seen.
It will not look exactly like the original, but I’ll be happy if I can make something very similar.
The kit was laser-printed on 150gsm cardstock. After measuring with a caliper I found the thickness of the sheets is 0.27mm, which is quite good since the pages of the original 1982 book are 0.26mm thick.
The model is built from the inside, and the first step is to assemble the seats.
First: print the parts. The arms and legs of the seats were slightly modified to make them look more like the ones used in “D” Tri-Motors.
Second: carefully score, cut, and fold. Don’t forget to color the edges. I use Prismacolor pincels for the edges.
Third: calmly and precisely glue the parts.
Fourth: repeat until you have enough seats for your Tri-Motor.
Fifth: thank God I am not building a 400-seat Boeing 747.
Next in the process is to assemble the passenger cabin and the bathroom.