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Project Notes

#623 Wirraway

Building the Special Hobby 1:72 CAC Wirraway, as stationed at Seletar in 1941 - just up the road from me (no electronics).

Build

Notes

I picked up the CAC CA-3/5 Wirraway “First Blood over Rabaul” Special Hobby No. SH72331 1:72 kit on special.

Not only is it an interesting Australian adaptation of the North American NA-16, but it was stationed just near me at Seletar in 1941.

The kit is the first I’ve tried from Special Hobby. I’ve heared mixed reactions, especially for “short run” kits. Overall I enjoyed the build, with a few minor issues:

  • no part numbers on the sprue (must cross-check with the instructions). This appear spretty common for Special Hobby
  • kit was not designed with much in the way of positive locator features, making fit a little difficult.
  • cockpit details are a bit crude, doubt the accuracy.

kit_cover kit_parts

Paint Scheme

CAC CA-3, A20-47 C/No 45, GA-B, No 21 Sqn. RAAF, Malaya 1940-41

Color/Part Feature Recommended Paint Paint Used
Earth Brown fuselage camo H71/C22 90% + H47/C41 70.921 English Uniform + 70.941 Burnt Umber, ~5:1
Aluminium Dope lower fuselage MC218 77.701 Acrylic METALCOTE Aluminium
A. Silver/Natural Metal   H8/C8  
B. Flat Black   H12/C33  
C. Metal Black   H28/C78  
D. Dark Grey   H82/C31  
E. Dark Earth   H72/C22  
F. Burnt Iron   H76/C61  
G. Tire Black   H77/C137  
H. Foliage Green FS34092 fuselage camo H302/C302 70.895 Gunship Green
I. Light Blue   H323/C323  
J. Aircraft Grey Green BS283 cockpit interior C364 70.870 Medium Sea Grey + 70.924 Russian Uniform WWII 50:50

kit_scheme_b

Construction

build01a

First test of 77.701 Acrylic METALCOTE Aluminium… nice.

build01b build01c

build02a build03a build03b

Credits and References

About LEAP#623 scale modelsCraft
Project Source on GitHub Project Gallery Return to the LEAP Catalog

This page is a web-friendly rendering of my project notes shared in the LEAP GitHub repository.

LEAP is just my personal collection of projects. Two main themes have emerged in recent years, sometimes combined:

  • electronics - usually involving an Arduino or other microprocessor in one way or another. Some are full-blown projects, while many are trivial breadboard experiments, intended to learn and explore something interesting
  • scale modelling - I caught the bug after deciding to build a Harrier during covid to demonstrate an electronic jet engine simulation. Let the fun begin..
To be honest, I haven't quite figured out if these two interests belong in the same GitHub repo or not. But for now - they are all here!

Projects are often inspired by things found wild on the net, or ideas from the many great electronics and scale modelling podcasts and YouTube channels. Feel free to borrow liberally, and if you spot any issues do let me know (or send a PR!). See the individual projects for credits where due.