Liberty Quality 1/72 Beech 1900D Air NZ link - All Black

[Tony P]

Hi Guys,
Decided to pull this out:

20140421_155724_resized.jpg (141.28 KiB) Viewed 40698 times

and hopefully it will look something like this:

air_nz_beech1900.jpg (99.42 KiB) Viewed 40698 times

[hrtpaul]

Interesting subject mate. What kit is it?

[Nillus]

Challenging paint job.
Looking forward to this build.

[Capt NG]

Look forward to this one being done mate.. Good subject.

[tor lives]

That's looks very interesting indeed. The thing about the B1900D is that it is so ugly it is intriguing.
Can ya give us some details about this kit Tony, cause I would love to grab one and do it in Impulse "blue cockatoo" colours.
Ray

[Nillus]

The 1900 is an aerodynamic embarrassment.
So many afterthought strakes and splines.

[Tony P]

Apparently Beech in their wisdom wanted to make the 1900D with the same components as the King Air. Same wing, tail etc to save costs. So with the taller fuselage all the different add-ons were required. I've tried to find out why each one was needed but never found the info.

The kit is made by Liberty Quality in Brazil by a dude called Odair. I bought this kit about 5 years ago. Liberty stopped making the kits due to illness but I just found out he has started making them again.

The kit is resin but unlike a resin I have seen. It feels almost like fibre-glass. The one stand out feature is that the passenger windows are moulded into the resin fuselage in clear resin. I have no idea how this is done but it looks great. Paint masks are included for these and the cockpit. The cockpit section is vacform. I hate vacform. I can never cut them right. They give you two, just in case. There are also coloured clear resin pieces for the navigation lights and clear for the landing lights.

The casting is not as crisp as say a RVHP king air kit but with a bit of work it should go together ok. The fuselage halves match up so that is a plus.

There is no passenger interior even though you have clear windows. In 1/72 scale I believe you should have seats at least. Luckily I have some resin seats from a discarded East West Airlines Hudson project (the same aircraft as the Temora Hudson).

The props, that are not pictured, are in the feathered position which is normal for the aircraft parked. They look a little rough. I was thinking of white metal replacements but the 1900D props are quiet large in diameter. So the kit ones will have to do.

The kit comes with Delta Connection decals. Like Ray, I wanted to do the Cockatoo Impulse scheme or the Newcastle Knights scheme. Doesn't look like this will happen anytime soon. So once I saw that Oldmodels decals were doing the All Black scheme, I jumped at the chance. I was a little disappointed when I received the decals as they were inkjet printed. Which meant that the white ferns were printed on white paper within a black border. I thought once cut, the edge would be white on a black fuselage and the decal black would be a different shade of paint black. Even on the sheets, some of the elements had different shades of black. So turfed it for a year. Then I read a month back that Oldmodels were re-printing this scheme using digital silk. So no more black out lines and the white elements are white on the seat with clear backgrounds.

Anymore questions, just ask. Here is a pic of the two impulse schemes:

IMPULSE4.jpg (91.39 KiB) Viewed 40681 times

138828015_qVDnH05L_IMPULSEBEECH1900DSYDRF157619.jpg (112.5 KiB) Viewed 40681 times

Also a video of a 1900D display. Nice short landing!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_o4xxZW4o8

[Dylan]

Greetings TOAM
I am really looking forward to this one. you are either going to love me or hate me, I am an AME working on the 1900D. so if there is ANY reference you might need I am at your service. but I will be picking out issues with the kit.

is it possible to see the topside of the wings? I would like to see how they did the back of the nacelle.


"Apparently Beech in their wisdom wanted to make the 1900D with the same components as the King Air. Same wing, tail etc to save costs. So with the taller fuselage all the different add-ons were required. I've tried to find out why each one was needed but never found the info."

well thats a bit of a long story, the D model is an evolution of the C model. the C is a stretched heavier King air. with a few refinements. most of the extra aerodynamic bits are a result of them using the same type design as the C model. they took the CAD drawings of the fuselage and literally stretched it upwards. oval windows vs the round ones on a C. the extra taillets hanging down from the horizontal and the large strakes under the fuselage are a result of beech not being able to redesign the vertical stabilizer. directional stability was an issue on the early D model prototypes. the wings are completely different from the King Air family, although very similar in shape and span.

as I tell my student pilots in the Maintenance portion of groundschool. in the early 90's when the smart kids were all designing stealth bombers and 777's, the bottom part of the class was working for Beech.


Btw I looooooove that all blacks scheme.

cheers
Dylan

[Tony P]

G'day Dylan,

I'll get a photo of the topside tonight when I return from work. I'm also happy for you to point out issues as I go along. Thanks also for the offer of references. I'm sure it will come in handy especially around the nacelles as they do not fit very well and knowing what angle the should be at will be very helpful.
Thanks also for the historical aspect. Forgot about the C model (has anyone seen the DSTO one in Adelaide?).

in the early 90's when the smart kids were all designing stealth bombers and 777's, the bottom part of the class was working for Beech.

Haha Good one! like it.

Thanks again Dylan.

Tony

[Tony P]

is it possible to see the topside of the wings? I would like to see how they did the back of the nacelle.

Here you go.
[attachment=0]20140422_195530_resized.jpg[/attachment}