Caudron Renault C.714 "Cyclone"

[strobez]

Ok, I decided that late or not, I'm going to jump in to the OKGB as well.  So here's the project outline -

The Setting: 1950 - The Kingdom of Asran, a small desert country you've never heard of in the Middle East.

In late 1949, when the Old King of Asran died, his final wish was that the royal succession would by-pass his elder, progressive-minded son, Abdel in favour of his more moderate/conservative second son, Zak.  This sparked an all-out civil war, with the loyalists  - those respecting the dead king's wishes and the need to retain conservative values in a tumultuous changing post-WWII world - on one side, and the Anti-Government Forces - those seeking the progressive development of Asran's oil-field reserves with the backing of nameless Soviet-block outside interests - on the other.  As a small but wealthy nation, the rightful government of Asran recruits a mercenary airforce - made up of ne'er-do-wells with sketchy pasts but superior aerial combat skills - to supplement their regular forces.

The Man: Greg Baker
One member of the mercenary air force was the Canadian by the name of Greg Baker (who? me?).  Originally a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), Baker had seen significant action during WWII, fighting alongside Royal Air Force (RAF) in the Far-East and North Africa. Dissatisfied with a return to quiet civilian life in the urban wilds of Alberta, Canada, Baker went abroad seeking his fame and fortune.  After a series of adventures too lengthy to describe here, Baker ended up drunkenly signing a 3-year contract in a bar in Paris (a major Asran recruiting station it turns out!) and inadvertently enlisting in the Asran mercenary air force - known as "Area 44".

The Plane: Caudron Renault C.714 "Cyclone"

Based on the Caudron racers of the late '30's, the Caudron C.714 was an attempt to make a lightweight fighter out of non-strategic materials.  However, as with most attempts to re-tool racers for combat, the end result was basically a disaster.

The French Air Force had ordered 20 C.714s in late 1938, with options for a further 180, and production started at a Renault factory in the Paris suburbs in the summer of 1939.  However, the first production models didn't appear until early 1940 and after a series of tests, it became apparent that the design was seriously flawed. Although light and fast, its wooden construction limited it to a modest engine size and four .30 caliber machines guns, the Caudron was an ineffective weapon when matched up against modern German combat aircraft.  As such it was withdrawn from active service almost immediately and the remaining order was to be diverted to Finland (to be flown by French pilots) and/or free Polish fighter squadrons.

Unfortunately, events in France resulted in only six aircraft being delivered, and an additional ten were waiting in the harbour when deliveries were stopped. The six aircraft that arrived were assembled, tested and given registrations CA-551 to CA-556. The aircraft were found to be too unreliable and dangerous to use, and were not committed to combat. Two of the aircraft were damaged during a transport flight to Pori, however the rest of the aircraft were maintained on the roster until they were retired and scrapped in late December 1949...

In "reality" though, in early 1950 they were sold on the black market to an arms dealer known as McCoy.  McCoy had a nose for conflict and, after the death of the King in Asran he could smell war on the wind and began amassing product to be sold to mercenaries and government forces alike.  Having purchased the four remaining planes, McCoy cobbled together a single, flight-worthy specimen (and a stockpile of spare parts to be sold at a later date) and unscrupulously sold it to the latest recruit to Area 44, Greg Baker - who's limited funds prevented him from buying anything else (although he had his eyes on a F4U-1 Corsair!).

The Kit: 1/72 Caudron Renault C.714 by Heller (Nr. 80218)

This is the 1993 boxing of the 1970 Heller tool (https://www.scalemates.com/kits/163284-heller-80218-caudron-renault-714).  The build will mostly be OOTB with a few scratch-built enhancements (mainly to the interior) along the way.  No real plans to include any after-market details (expect maybe PE seatbelts... I LOVE PE seat belts for some strange reason).

p.s. If the storyline above sounds familiar, it basically because I've transposed the storyline from the Area 88 manga, originally based in the late 70s/early 80s, to the late 1940s/early 1950s.  I already had plans to include the C.714 into my overall Area 88 mega-project, but there's no reason it can't serve a dual role here in the OKGB as well.

[NARSES2]

Interesting idea

[strobez]

Alright, so we're off and running... better late than never!

First off is the pic of "what's in the box". It might be an old tool, but it's quite clean.  Not a lot of flashing or sink marks, although there are some ejector pin marks that will need to be dealt with.




So, first I cut the main fuselage pieces off the sprue, did a little bit of trimming, and taped the fuselage together for a dry fit. Somewhat surprisingly, the first seems good. It's nice that you can see the Heller stamp on the inside... but that's going to have to go.




Of course, there's not much of a wheel well. That'll have to be scratch built since they're basically just holes in the undercarriage. Luckily, from what I've seen, a proper wheel well isn't that complicated.




Before we get to that though, there's the non-existent cockpit to attend to.  I'm not a fan of pilot dummies, so I won't be including it. However, there's a ton to do here.  Using some flat plasticard I decided to start with the area behind the chair. The interior shrouds in the aft-cockpit window needed to be boxed in. Lots of sanding and checking the fit, then repeat going on.  It's tricky to do because not only is it on a curve, it's also got a subtle bend to it.




First I carefully measured the front support (the wall behind the seat) and filed it to fit snugly.  Then did the same for the top plank and then the rear support. After some careful alignment, cross braces were glued in place on both the front and rear supports.  Hopefully this will allow the proper alignment as well as fit.




Ok almost there.  Just a tiny fit moe sanding to be done to make it fit snugly.

[Captain Canada]

Neat story and looking good so far !

[TheChronicOne]

Yeaaaaaah buddy!  This is going to be cool.  Looks like a good start so far.

[strobez]

Ok, here's an update. I finished the rear cockpit shroud, including the crazy little radio access hatch. Unfortunately, in order for the canopy to fit over the shroud, I had to cut it open. I hope that tutorial on repairing scratches to clear styrene is accurate...



Well, it seems to fit... after a bit of finagling.



Hmmm... what to do about under carriage and wheel well. I sanded down the interior... now what?



Okay... screw it. Back to the cockpit then.  I stole a seat from an Academy F6F Hellcat and a control panel from an Academy F4U-1.  The seat needed a bit of work to make it look like it belonged in a C.714, but I think it worked.



The control stick and panel are just taped on for now... mainly for a dry fit.



Still needs a few bits added on, but I'm happy with the result so far. I'm especially pleased with the oversized pedals for some reason.



Luckily, everything still seems to fit in place inside the fuselage. Whew!



The control panel seems to be sitting a little deep, but I measured 6 times.  I'm going to try to add the side control panels as well by cutting up another F4U control panel, so I'll need a bit of room to work.



Oh goody! I can still get the canopy on as well.



For reference, I've been using the build log from someone else's awesome job on the 1/32 scale C.714.

[NARSES2]

Lovely work on the cockpit

[strobez]

Thanks NARSES2! I didn't get much done today other than finishing off the cockpit. I'm going to try and squeeze in a bit of sidewall detail, but it's getting tight in there!


I'm happy with the adjustments I made to the seat, but I don't think I can squeeze in any armour plating behind there.



Side view of the current cockpit details. I added some bars and controls.



I cut an Academy Corsair control panel in half and trimmed 1/4 off the bottom and it more or less fits in the cockpit sidewall area. I thinned it a bit, but perhaps more work is needed.



It fits alright and I think it really brings the cockpit to life. A little more filing and it should fit almost perfectly... famous last words, I know.

[TheChronicOne]

Killer attention to detail, Greg! That extra effort is really going to make this a good'n.   

[Dizzyfugu]

Excellent work, and the Caudron is an overlooked aircraft. 

I just hope that anything of the great interior remains visible! 

[strobez]

Thanks guys! I do have an idea to cut the canopy to allow for an open cockpit display. I might be pushing my luck, but I think I've seen it done, so I'll make the attempt.

Having said that, it was a bit frustrating evening for the project though... up to and including having to re-type this posting for the third time.  My plan to box in the wheel well stalled, so I only really got as far as putting in a floor.  Ah well....




I tried using plastic paper to box in the wheel well, but it ended in a gooey mess. I think I might try adding some support posts around the perimeter and stringing it like a fence.  Mainly just use it as a wrap to cover the gaps and slight inconsistencies.

[PR19_Kit]

That's a nice little kit, one of Heller's best of the period.

I built one OOB to hang in the bar of the Polish Air Force's White Eagle Club in Derby back in the 70s some time.

[strobez]

So... I took another crack at the wheel well. This time I roughed out the sidewalls all the way around before applying the styrene paper... worked MUCH better!




Used a razor blade to trim off the excess paper. With the white background, you can see where this is going. It might just work! Oh, you can also see I've scribed the panel lines.



Besides working on the wheel well, I also was able to drill out the air intakes and the engine. I think I might need to break out the epoxy putty to reshape it a bit.  Oh, I also removed one of the engine bumps.

[strobez]

I think the shape issue can be corrected by using epoxy putty...


Now to let it dry and cure before I sand it to fit.


I used the left-over putty to add support to the wheel wells. It's not pretty, but hopefully effective.


Also a little on the inside to fill in imperfections left by the glueing process.


Added a bit of sidewall details. I sure hope this all fits!


Used Tamiya grey putty cut with lacquer thinner to fill in the imperfections left by glueing the pieces together.


Both sides.  I also added in a firewall behind the control consol.


Took a bit of sanding on the top, but I got the wings packed together. Same with the cockpit.


I cut the holes in the engine panelling and then I sanded off and then added a bit of stretched sprue that was filed to shape to the engine. Also drilled the holes a bit more.


Hmm... still need to add a bit of shape to the underwing gun pods...


It's a tight fit, but the cockpit is done.

[PR19_Kit]

Very promising.