Bell YFM-1 Airacuda

The F.E. Resin and Rareplane kits are it, so far.

Have not seen the F.E. Resin kit yet. Sorry to hear that it's mediocre. The Rareplane kit is quite nice.

Tom

Does anyone even know how to do a vacuform model these days? The whole concept was made extinct by resin kits over a decade ago.

Pat

Hi

You might find these of interest. Regards

Pat Macguire

Yep. Just finished the Rareplane version. I believe the results look pretty good. I will be posting a pic of it on my web site one of these days. There are still some of us around who are willing to pay a price in work to do vacuform rather than the price in dollars the resin kits need :-)

I make a wood keel to support the fuselage halves, then add a wing spar to add strength and ease attaching wings to fuselage.

Aaah! An njection molded kit of the subject.

It just made the top of my "buy now" list.

Thanks Pat, much appreciated.

Tom

I have a couple of vacuform kits in the works. One is a Formaplane Rumpler Taube, something that should have been done as an injecton molded kit years ago. While Choroszy Modelbud and Leudemann Modellbau have done resins, the wings are far more convincing when done in vacuformed plastic than n resin.

The other vacuform kit in the works is a Rareplane YP-37. While I know that Beechnut does an injection molded kit it sucks and I don't have the LF cast resin kit. The Rareplane conversion kit is just fine and it's on the stack.

Tom

That Valom kit has been on NKR's coming soon list for... well, a long time...

Wulf

Did you ever see the old Airframe Taube? It went together nicely, athough the engine section left a bit to be desired. Using a Jane's

1914, I did an easy conversion to an Albatros-built version, called (IIRC) and A.I. No markings, because the pictures I had available all show no national markings. It was fun and one of the best of the Airframe kits. They have a Westland-Hill Pterodactyl that I want to do "one of these days"....

Here is the resin kit I mentioned previously:

I forgot to check the database under YFM-1 and YFM-1A. Valom has, indeed, had both planned for quite awhile.

Tom

The Taube design in its many variations were manufactured by Rumpler, Etrich, Gotha, Halberstadt and Jeanin at least. There have been 1/72 scale kits of the variants by Leudemann, Airframe, Pegasus, Veterans

72 and Choroszy Modellbud. The Pegasus Etrich Taube is the only injection molded kit so far.

Tom

If you go to

you'll find the FE resin kit an the LF resin kit in 1/72. The FE is about half the price of the LF kit. Check it out.

--- Stephen

One advantage is that you can build a lot of interior details into them

- I built a complete interior into a vacuformed 1/32 scale BA-349 Natter once, using a rocket engine from a Hasegawa Komet.

Pat

They generally didn't carry markings in that early phase of the war. Besides Albatross, BFW, Gotha, and DFW all built versions of the Taube. Whenever I see one of those, the term "sitting duck" comes to mind. It doesn't look at all maneuverable, rather like going to war in a very basic first generation ultralight. Pat

Both the Valom 1/72 Airacuda kits are now available in Europe; go here:

here: Sprue images, the whole nine yards. Looks decent!

John

Those look pretty good. Thanks!

One wonders if the kit of the YFM-1B will sell. With it being so "neutered" - what's the attraction?

I'm surprised they didn't do the XFM-1 with the side gun blisters, those really aided the aircraft's unique looks:

's a nice detailed cockpit photo of its instrument panel, control wheel, and rudder pedals here: car type steering wheel on a fighter is very odd looking indeed. That's from this website, which should have a lot of useful detail data for modelers of U.S. aircraft:

Pat

looks:

There's a nice detailed cockpit photo of its instrument panel, control

here:

A car type steering wheel on a fighter is very odd looking indeed.

The Rareplanes kit DOES include the side blisters. Anyone have a suggestion on where to post my picture of the completed Rareplanes model while I get my FTP and web site access going again?