Amodel

1/144 UC-123B/K Provider

Kit Number: 1408

Reviewed by  Jim Pearsall, IPMS# 2209

MSRP: $17.98 Imported by Squadron Shops: www.squadron.com . The Aircraft The C-123 began as a glider, the XCG-20, with prototypes built by Chase Aircraft Company. Design work began in 1943, with the XCG-14, 16, 18 and finally XCG-20. At the behest of the Air Force, the Chase Company added a pair of R-1820 radial engines to the XCG-18, and this became the YC-122 Airtruc. 9 were built. Then they tried adding a pair of R-2800s to the XCG-20. This was the C-123. In May of 1953, Henry Kaiser, famous for the Liberty Ships, Kaiser Aluminum, and the Kaiser-Frazer automobile, bought 49% of Chase Aircraft. The first production run of C-123s was produced under the Chase name at Kaiser's Willow Run, Michigan plant, which was also producing C-119s. This may have been a really bad bit of timing, as the Korean conflict suddenly de-escalated with the truce, and the demand for aircraft suddenly stopped. Or it may have been a personality conflict between Henry Kaiser and the whole USAF. All Kaiser aircraft contracts were cancelled in July of 1953. This wasn't the end of the C-123. Selected aircraft manufacturers were invited to bid on Kaiser's unfulfilled contracts, and Fairchild aircraft became the new builder of what was now called the Provider. The 123 was overshadowed in Vietnam by the newer, bigger, more glamorous, turboprop C-130. The most memorable use of Providers was the "Ranch Hand" aircraft, which sprayed defoliant to open up roadsides and lessen chances for ambushes. "Remember, only you can prevent a forest". But if you want to do a model of the 123, you have your choice of markings: Cambodia, Republic of China (Taiwan), El Salvador, Laos, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Republic of Korea, South Vietnam, Thailand, USAF, US Coast Guard, US Federal Aviation Administration, and Venezuela. Not to mention the civil C-123 used in several recent movies. Who can forget Nicholas Cage in "Con-Air"? Who would like to? Show of hands, please. The Model The kit is pretty much an example of a 21st century plastic model. Recessed panel lines, interior, several choices for the aircraft. Markings are for a USAF or South Vietnamese C-123 B or K. The spray bars for the "Ranch Hand" aircraft are included. One problem I encountered early on was that the connection between the parts and the sprues was heavier than I really liked. This could be because of a limitation in the molding equipment, and I'd rather have a little extra work than no 1/144 C-123. On the other hand, it would have been nice if these connections had been somewhere other than the leading and trailing edges of the wings. Not a show stopper, just an inconvenience. Construction When I opened this kit, there were a few small parts bouncing around in the bottom of the box. Not an unusual occurrence for a kit which has survived a trans-Atlantic shipment. But as I checked for broken parts I found that one of the clear parts was missing; one of the smaller forward windows. Since MMD/Squadron is the distributor for these kits, I called Squadron Mail Order's toll free number. Missy answered, and I told her my problem. She confirmed that I had recently bought this kit from Squadron, and asked me what part was missing. She was perfectly willing to go that extra mile to make sure I had a complete kit. Since the windows on a 1/144 C-123 are quite small, I told her thanks, but if I couldn't put in a replacement window of my own, I should turn in my modeling knife. The object of this call was to check Squadron's customer service. Thanks Missy, it's fine. The fit of most parts was OK. The fuselage halves lined up OK, the wing halves matched and weren't warped. But there were some "fit issues". The first steps are to assemble the cockpit, the bulkhead behind the cockpit, the steps down to the cargo floor and the nose gear well as an assembly which is then put inside the fuselage halves. The assembly is just too big to fit in there.

Of course I was able to fix this, and with the fuselage assembled, I proceeded with the rest of the build. The wings fit pretty well, but I had some assembly problems with the nacelles and the wing. Mostly my problem, though. On the other hand, I had to cut down the engines by about 25% in diameter to get them to fit inside the cowlings. And I had to open up the holes in the front of the engines about 25% to get the props to mount. The only other place where I had a problem with dimensions was the underwing tanks. There are 2 pins on the tank pylons and 2 holes in the top of the tank. They don't have the same distance between center on the pins and holes. It's trivial to cut off one of the pins, but someone isn't doing the Quality Checks. There's also some putty and file work to get the nose cone to fit right. Perhaps this goes back to the fuselage fit problem, though. So let me stop here and take a look at the good parts. Other than some fit issues, which are fixable by a modeler of moderate skill (me), the kit has the look and feel of a C-123. There is plenty of room under and in front of the cockpit to add weight to get the model to sit on its' nose wheel.

The props and wheels are not some misshapen blobs, as you see all too often on 1/144 kits. The interior and control panel are there, and there's a center console, as well as the overhead console, which has to be glued to the inside of the canopy. There's some detail inside the nose and main gear wells, and if you want, the rear ramp can be built either open or closed. The exhausts are tiny little parts on both sides of the nacelles, but they weren't ignored. The underwing tanks and the jet engines both fit pretty well. The tanks wind up round, not figure 8 shaped or egg shaped when viewed from either end. The jet engines have the weird trapezoidal look which the real thing had, when viewed from just about any angle. Painting and markings After getting pretty well into this project, I decided that I really didn't want to do the grey C-123 shown on the box top. I wanted to do the camouflaged one. No problem. Our friends at Testors sell 34079, 34102, 30219 and 36622, the 3-color Vietnam camouflage. Then I discovered I had a problem with my decal spares box. No white/grey lettering for the tail codes and serial for a 1/144 aircraft. OK, more research. And I found it. Volume 23, Issue 3 of Scale Aircraft Modeling. Aircraft 55-577 from the 14th Special Ops Wing used black tail markings. This I can do on a laser printer. I had to paint the bottom of the aircraft black, but considering all the other work I was putting into this kit, it was not a sacrifice. After the painting was done, I put in the windows. A fellow modeler had said that Elmer's ® glue worked as well as Micro Krystal Kleer ®. Well, here's the window I used using Elmer's. I guess that's why they call it "white glue". The others were done with Krystal Kleer. Oh, yes, the cockpit had to be cut down to allow the canopy to line up with the fuselage top. Width was OK. Since I used "home-made" decals instead of the ones provided in the kit, I won't comment, beyond saying that I have used kit decals from Amodel kits before, and they worked just fine for me. I used the "stars and bars" from a 1/72 Hasegawa A-37 from the decal spares and my laser printed tail codes. Overall Assessment I bought this kit a bit too soon. I now find that there is another Amodel C-123 in the Vietnam camouflage, with the tail markings, etc. And I'm pretty sure that if you want to do a "Ranch Hand" Provider, the spray tubes will be in that kit too. So it goes. There are fit issues, but nothing that any of you can fix in a few minutes. Especially if you remember the problems I ran into, and fix them before you assemble. So is it a bad kit? No. The outline and detail are certainly up to modern standards, and Amodel is certainly to be commended for producing a kit in 1/144 which no one else has thought worth doing, and they have brought it out at a price which the average hobbyist can afford. Thanks to my daughter Sarah, who sent me a Squadron gift certificate for Christmas, which is how I bought this review kit.

About the Reviewer: Jim Pearsall has been building models since the 1950s, and joined IPMS back in the late 60s. It's about time his modeling skills got good enough to place at a local contest. And since he's retired, they have.

Information, images, and all other items placed electronically on this site are the intellectual property of IPMS/USA ®.