Ford Tri-Motor (Zorn - 1:33) in SCADTA colors

[Rubenandres77]

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.

[Texman]

An extremely well done start!

[whulsey]

Can never get enough of Fords!

[Zathros]

Mi Amigo! I look forward to this build! Good luck. This is definitely on my list of models to make.

[AgaPablo]

Very nice choice indeed, I'll love to see it finished soon.

¡Animo!

[Sammuel]

I also downloaded the kit and will be building it in the future for a friend who is getting their commercial Lic. I think it would make a great gift.

I will be following this build, so I could pick up some tips. The seats you have completed look great! Your attention to detail is spot on. Keep up the great work.

Sam

[wag]

Your attention to detail is amazing. I'll be watching this thread.
Wayne

[isievert]

Wow Ruben such a clean and precise build! Looking forward to more!!!

[Rubenandres77]

Thanks to all for your words. This is a nice model to build. Very friendly.


Work continues on the interior.

First, I would like to show one of the additional details: the fire extinguishers. According to the 1929 instruction manual, there were two on the Tri-Motor. One near the door can be seen in some photos strapped on the floor behind the rearmost seat, and in some cases hanging besides the toilet’s door. The second is attached on the floor behind the pilot’s seat. In some photos the second extinguisher can also be seen hanging from the front bulkhead, besides the pilot’s door.

Apparently, the extinguishers used in the airplanes had a handle used to pump the chemicals out of the nozzle in the other end.

The kit does not include parts for the extinguishers, so this is scratch building.

I tried to get a similar shape by means of a tightly rolled piece of paper, a pin, and a couple of triangular pieces of paper. After assembled and glued they were painted with golden ink to give it a metallic finish.



Those “extinguishers” are just 12 mm tall (half inch). The straps and bracket were made with paper and cardstock respectively. I know they look terrible in the photo, and not well-proportioned. But in real life they are so tiny and look so different! (Damned unforgiving macro photos!!!!)



The first extinguisher is installed before the rear bulkhead is mounted for easy positioning.



This side photo shows all the seats glued plus the extinguisher, the toilet, and the water tank. The toilet is included in the kit, while the water tank is also scratch-built.




The right wall accessories are mounted before glueing the wall to the rest of the cabin. The wash bowl is included in the kit. The design is quite simple but very effective.

I have not found direct photographic evidence of how the cabinets looked like, so they are just my guessing. I only know they were aluminum parts painted with lacquer. I opted for a simple look, which should work just fine and in accordance with the rest of the design. The cabinets are simple scratch-built box-type objects, very easy to design by hand in a couple of minutes. I spent like fifteen minutes building them and adding the accessories.

The white smaller box inside the left cabinet represents the first aid kit that was included as standard equipment in the Tri-motors. There is spare toilet paper too (just another tightly rolled paper). On the right cabinet you see the hand towels. They were imitated using tissue paper. Both cabinets are barely half inch tall (12mm tall).



Inside the rear bulkhead you get the hinged door, and the toilet paper.



Now… why to put so much detail in the toilet compartment? As I use to say: even if it can’t be seen, I’ll know it’s there!!!


After details are added, is time to glue the right wall.


More angles of the work until now. You will see one cabinet has a mirror (a piece of kitchen aluminum foil).








The only thing that is left to be added is the “jump seat” used by the flight assistant, located just on the door. I will add it later when the cabin is fully closed.

One final note: the seats of the Tri-motors matched the interior walls. However I decided to use the green cushions because that color adds more contrast and life to the overall looks. And since the interior of the fuselage will be mostly dark once closed, a bit of contrasting color was needed in order to see something through the windows.

See you soon!

[peter taft]

This is remarkable and way coooool