PO-2, Best Paper model 1/35

[cjwalas]

I've finished this one up, as far as the actual kit parts go. I will do the rigging on this one as I really need the practice, but not at the moment. I need to study the rigging and figure out what approach feels right. Maybe I'll test some of the suggestions on some scrap paper first!
Anyone who gets this kit should be aware of a slight problem. There are 8 small connecting plates (?) on the wings. Four of these need to be mirrors of the others (as illustrated on the wings themselves), but they are all the same;

Too small an issue for me to worry about on this test build.


The rest of the kit went together very well and the fit is very good. It's a pity I didn't have better paper. The paint work on the kit is noticeably nicer than this paper picked up. Most, if not all of the light weathering has disappeared here.


The kit comes with wheels that are the very short cylinder style, which I don't really care for, so I quickly sanded up some card ones, and I think it makes a big difference on the model.


There are a fair number of small parts and room for some simple detail layering. The engine, machine gun, and wheels are the weakest parts of the kit and really need to be scratchbuilt to bring them up to snuff.


The machine gun is a simple flat with a flat ammo cylinder. I couldn't bring myself to build it that way; I thickened it with a few layers here and there, but it really should be built from scratch. I don't have any reference for the MG mount, but this one seems inaccurate, somehow. Just a gut feeling, but the tripod seems too small. With so many of them in use, I wouldn't be surprised if there were a number of mounts used. I may be totally wrong on this one. I have to check the link that Leif found on this.


This is a pretty darn nice kit for $5, IMHO. It's definitely not on the level of the KK kit, but it was an enjoyable build and has plenty of room for fun improvement. I like the box support approach. I's not as solid and probably not as dependable technique as the traditional formers, but it's pretty simple and easy. I would have liked to see the boxes with less angles and more curves for the wings. My biggest problem was the lousy paper I used. It made the build more of a struggle than it should be. I look forward to the day that I can do the slight resize to 1:33 and work with some good paper. Fortunately, I'm off to Japan next week and my biggest goal is to pick up a couple of reams of quality stuff! When I return, I think it's time to finish this one off with a bunch of thread/monofiliment/wire.
Chris
PS. The one other issue with this kit is that the page of instructions doesn't show some of the assembly very well. The engine exhausts are a little confusing, and as noted, neither Leif nor I could figure out the mystery of part #15!

[Leif Ohlsson]

Good job, and very nice to see you pass the goal posts on this one! Thanks for the heads-up on the wing fastening plates, too. The machine-gun looks excellent to me, my thoughts exactly to double it up in strategic places.

Leif

[Don Boose]

It looks great, Chris! This thread is a useful reference for the Best Model build and, added to Chris Coyle's thread with all of Leif's additional reference materials, we have an outstanding guide to this famous and attractive airplane.

Don