Bede BD-5/5J Snowbirds (CT-175/175A)

kitnut617 · July 07, 2009, 05:15:39 AM

I think this will get me back into building as I've just not had the get-up-and-go lately.

I'll hook out the kit later but here's a photo of the decals I'll be using. The kit (or kits I should say as there are four in the box) is 1/72 and here's also a photo of the Bedes compared to a 1/72 Spitfire wing (Bedes are just dry fitted for this photo) I had asked Bill Burns (CanMilAir) if he could knock up these decals for me after I explained what I had in mind and he very kindly did.

The backstory is the Government of the time slashed military spending in a big way, the Snowbirds with their old Tutors that needed replacing, were among the first to go but a group of well off gents (including some former Snowbird pilots) donated a couple of Bedes which they had, then managed to get hold of a couple more. These though had mixed power plants, two had a prop and the other two were jet powered so a rather entertaining display was worked out to combine the two types and permission was granted by the Government to use the Snowbird name for the team.

philp · July 07, 2009, 12:48:44 PM

Yep, crazy idea and I am looking forward to it.

I still think I could do one of these in Swedish splinter if I could find a kit.

kitnut617 · July 07, 2009, 12:49:36 PM

Here's the kit, an Arii rebox. When I got it I thought I had stumbled on a 'special' because it had four little planes in the box. Turned out that's how Arii issued it ----

Captain Canada · July 07, 2009, 07:30:23 PM

4 little kits and two and a quarter...man, you're laughing !

Great idea, Robert. Bill over at CanMilAir rules, eh ?

The Rat · July 07, 2009, 08:58:05 PM

Put a down payment on a BD-5 back around '73, then he had the engine certification troubles that caused the company to go boobs-up.

Can't wait for this one, please pull a few 'all nighters' at the bench. Pleeeeeease?

kitnut617 · July 08, 2009, 04:18:45 AM

What can I say guys but

thanks for the support.

Robert

Mossie · July 11, 2009, 05:56:48 AM

Never knew this kit existed, then there's two builds in the same GB! Looks like a nice little kit Robert, it'll look good in Snowbirds colours.

Weaver · July 11, 2009, 06:15:15 AM

Such a good idea I'd be wary of the Canadian Defence Ministry seeing this thread......

Eddie M. · July 11, 2009, 10:39:42 AM

I like this aircraft a lot!! Looking forward to see yours finished.

I saw the Silver Bullet in the late 70s and got this promo photo and fact sheet.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v669/scurrfy/misc%203/SilverBullet.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v669/scurrfy/misc%203/SilverBulletspecs.jpg

kitnut617 · July 11, 2009, 01:35:38 PM

So off we go----

After looking at the parts I decided to start with the jet version first and see what problems there might be. Surprisingly, the parts fit quite well but there's not very many of them (good job to seeing as I'm intending to build four of them), and the only problem I've had so far is seeing the parts

How the guys that do the tiny little 1/144 kits get on I don't know.

Anway after placing the seat and cockpit floor in-between the fuselage halves I glue them together, I then glued the seat/floor from behind where you can get to it from the hole in the bottom where the wing fits in. After that I glued the tailplane on then did the second jet the same way.

kitnut617 · July 11, 2009, 01:42:39 PM

I then turned to the prop powered version, there's a little bit more to do to these ones because there's a prop shaft to put in. Only problem here was the shafts are a bit short so I carefully cut a slice of the very end of the fuselage parts as it seemed to be the easiest way to go. I've decided to deviate from the instructions by not glueing the prop on just yet so I had to glue a bit of sprue inside the fuselage to prevent the shaft from disappearing inside once the fuselage and wings are all glued together. After doing that the parts went together the same as the first two.

kitnut617 · July 11, 2009, 01:45:03 PM

hmm! apologies for the terrible photos ---

here's the four fuselages done, I'm going to let them dry and then clean them up a bit before I press onto the next stage.

kitnut617 · July 11, 2009, 02:21:08 PM

Trial fitting the wings to the fuselages reveals a bit of 'see-through' behind the seat so I've splashed some matt black in behind there and also on top of the wing center section.

Ed S · July 11, 2009, 07:19:59 PM

Looking good. I like this mass prodution for a 1 week build.

Ed

kitnut617 · July 12, 2009, 02:47:06 PM

Wings are on and I cleaned one up to see if it would need any filler, I gave it a test coat of paint and it seems to not need any filler. Lets hope the other three clean up as good.