CA-28 Ceres cropduster

[KiwiZac]

Hi all!

I've decided on the newly reissued Airfix 1:72 T-6G as the basis for my Ceres build. I aim to make a representative CA-28 that's good enough for the casual observer, but not incorporating EVERY airframe change to satisfy the diehard expert. That means I will not lengthen the fuselage or widen the centre section.

Changes to be made to the basic kit include:
- fixed gear and filling in the wheelwells
- new turtledeck incl redesigned canopy and hopper top
- leading edge slats and wider chord flaps
- hopper box underneath
- new curved "D" rudder and rounded wingtips
- new pitot tube

These changes are what I feel are within my capability, and still result in something that looks pretty much like a Ceres  .

So today I ripped into the box, first job being to separate the fuse halves from the sprue and cut away the original triangular rudder. The fuse halves were glued together and, when dry, sanded to remove the raised panel lines and the mounting point for the dorsal ADF loop. The coaming between cockpits was also removed.

After sanding the vertical stabiliser I fished out an old Airfix Boomerang rudder from my bits box, this was sanded to fit and cemented in place. A turret mounting from an Italeri Junkers 52 just happened to be the right size and shape for the hopper top, so excess styrene from the edges was trimmed and the lip sanded back. This was cemented over the forward cockpit with scrap styrene from a FROG Oxford helping to establish the proper angle. The original kit cockpit floor was cut in half and the rear half positioned behind the hopper top, allowing for locating the new cockpit.

Inbetween cementing and trimming, I delved in for an old Academy T-6 canopy, from which I used the foremost potion and the rear two panels. The Windscreen itself was too small for a Ceres, so I sanded back a P-40 one. The Harvard canopy panels were sanded shorter, one panel cut in half vertically, and the rounded rear screen sanded flat. This will be painted over. The tailwheel is, I think, ex-P-51D. I've selected it as it looks beefier, and hence more agricultural, than the kit's one .



You can see in the background some of the other small parts I've located so far - a pair of P-51 mainwheels, prop from a Dauntless, strut to be used with the hopper box, and a strut for mounting a mirror. The yellow engine is a Cheetah from the aforementioned Oxford and, despite the smaller number of cylinders, is better detailed than the kit's engine and will be used in its place.

Next up is the challenge of creating the distinctive intake under the cowl, as well as building up the fuselage sides with sheet styrene and filler. Lots of filler.

This will be painted in a spurious NZ scheme, similar to those seen on the GA200 Fatman. Green and white looks good .



BTW, I know most of you have NO idea what the heck a Ceres actually is, so here's a pretty picture of an Aussie one:

Wikipedia can tell you more if you like

[Eddie M.]

It's good to see your work again Zac, especially with a subject not too many people tackle these days. I watch the cropdusters around here and I'm amazed at their skill. Uh-Oh. I just had an idea of doing a cropduster in Blue Angel colors!

[pyro-manic]

Good grief, that thing's ugly!

Interesting project.

[apophenia]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And the full-scale Ceres was a nice bit of component recycling.

Obviously, Zac is just as clever at recycling. This one's going to be fun to watch.

[KiwiZac]

You're ugly!

Apo, thankyou for your support! The Ceres was indeed a clever development. I can't help but think how differently a Harvard-derived dresser would turn out.......

Eddie, thanks a ton . Amazingly I was spurred on by another Kiwi modeler having recently done just this!.....re your Blue Angels agplane, Heritage Aviation does a 1:48 Piper Pawnee.....

* * * UPDATE * * *
Work ceases tonight with a little more work done:
- kit wingtips sawed away, rounded wingtips carved from sheet styrene and fitted
- kit flaps also sawed away and replaced with sheet styrene
- sheet styrene used to build up a frame for the new cockpit, three small pieces providing shape for the rear area
- cockpit painting underway, seat mounts shortened
- sheet styrene cut to partially fill wheel wells

Apologies for the lack of pictures tonight but my sister has borrowed my camera, pics tomorrow!

[sotoolslinger]

Cool project Zac man

[GTX]

A Harvard duster would look much like a Ceres, I'm guessing. CAC got it right.

Damn that looks cool!

Regards,

Greg

[McGreig]

Great stuff - an interesting conversion and an unusual subject. I'm looking forward to seeing your progress shots 

I'll admit that I'd never heard of the Ceres before reading this thread but now that I've seen the pic, I'm very tempted to sacrifice my Azur NA-57/BT9 to produce an armed version for the COIN GB. The biggst problem would be how to get red stars on it - - -

[unlikeKansas]

Great stuff - an interesting conversion and an unusual subject. I'm looking forward to seeing your progress shots 

I'll admit that I'd never heard of the Ceres before reading this thread but now that I've seen the pic, I'm very tempted to sacrifice my Azur NA-57/BT9 to produce an armed version for the COIN GB. The biggst problem would be how to get red stars on it - - -

The CA28 was a development of the Wirraway, so effectively there's already been an armed version of the CA28 Ceres in real life.

However the Ceres was substantially different from the Wirraway

Per Wikipedia: The only major components used in both types without alteration were the tail group and the landing gear.

The fuselage was completely new, with a 41 cubic ft (1.16 cubic m) hopper installed between the engine and the high-mounted single-seat cockpit.

The Wirraway wing was substantially altered for use in the Ceres. The outer wing panels had slotted trailing-edge flaps and fixed leading-edge slats, while the centre-section was substantially altered to accommodate the hopper, the higher weights of the Ceres, the different flaps (the Wirraway had split flaps) and the new type's fixed landing gear with CAC Mustang main wheels as opposed to the Wirraway's retractable gear (the same landing gear legs were used however).

The increase in wingspan and wing area of the Ceres compared to the Wirraway was also incorporated in the centre-section, and the end result was an aircraft with much more docile stalling characteristics than those of the Wirraway.

The engine was the same type, a Pratt & Whitney R-1340, but altered so that it was direct-drive instead of geared as on the Wirraway. The three-bladed variable-pitch propeller was also different, being of wider chord and smaller diameter compared to the Wirraway's to suit the Ceres' different operating regime and the direct-drive engine.

For more details on the CA28 read Stewart Wilson's Wirraway, Boomerang and CA15 In Australian Service, where there is a few pages dedicated to the CA28 at the end of the Wirraway section.

[KiwiZac]

Apo, that picture is gold!!!!!!! But yeah, you HAVE to add spray booms or the like. That would look wicked!

McG, I'm looking forward to seeing progress shots too! I'm so very sorry but my sister STILL has my camera!!! So no pics, but work is progressing very well!

- the upper decking is almost complete, with only minor sanding around the aft portion left to do
- leading edge slats have been cut from sheet styrene, the wing sanded back and then the slats cemented in position
- pilot's seat and canopy are all in place, with a gap under the windscreen to be filled
- horizontal stabs in place, mainplane and fuselage cemented together
- filler applied to exhaust recess

Thanks to a very kind fellow modeller I have a number of vital firewall-forward Wirraway kit components on the way to me, thus allowing me to ditch the Armstrong Cheetah radial and original Airfix cowl.

I have, however, made one major error: the new cockpit area is entirely too tall. You'll see more clearly in the pictures once posted, but in essence both the upper decking and canopy should have been shorter, so now the aircraft looks a little odd......but still like a Ceres .

[apophenia]

Thanks Zac!

It occured to me that the RCAF (and others) had plenty of use for Harvards after WWII but nobody wanted the fixed-gear Yales. Ag aircraft usually have a fixed-gear, hmm... [Image deleted to spare Download File]

Anyway, end of non-Ceres hijack! Zac. How are you planning to do the rounded Wirraway/Ceres wingtips?

[KiwiZac]

BRILLLLIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANT! Great. Now I have to find a Yale kit. Thanks a lot. Loving the spray booms BTW

Sheet styrene. Cut out a small rectangle roughly the size you want, cut off two corners on the same side, then sand to shape. They're a tad thin compared to the wing so I may introduce a little putty.

[apophenia]

Thanks Zac! And, notice, this time I even remembered those pesky spray booms 

Your wingtip approach sounds like simplicity itself (I'm probably the only one on this forum who'd make a botch of it).

[KiwiZac]

Seeing as it's been a month since my last post with this build, I thought it was about time I posted a progress shot



As I said before, I've buggered the new cockpit area and made it too tall. Likewise the new flaps are far too wide in the chord. Meh, it still looks like a Ceres!

I sawed off the moulded firewall to accomodate the new, Wirraway power-egg, and even then there appear to be issues. For the moment this build is on the backburner as I focus on my 1:35 Loach, but rest assured, you'll see pics as soon as progress happens.

[B777LR]

Nah, nothing is wrong with it, its cool