Special Hobby

1/72 Lockheed C-60A "Lodestar"

Kit Number: SH 72112

Reviewed by  Brian R. Baker, IPMS# 43146

MSRP: $41.95 Distributed by MPM: www.mpm.cz History The Lockheed Model 18 "Lodestar" was a progressive development in a series of twin tail, twin engine high speed airliners beginning with the Model 10-A "Electra", which first appeared in 1934. These were Lockheed's first modern airliners, with retractable landing gear, all-metal structures, controllable pitch props, and enclosed cockpits. Contemporary with the Douglas DC-2, the 10 passenger Electra was smaller and slightly slower than the Douglas product. A total of 148 8-10 passenger Model 10-A Electras was completed, alongside 129 examples of a smaller, 6 passenger Model 12-A "Electra Junior", some of which were military aircraft. Most Model 12's served as executive transports, and a few went to the Netherlands East Indies, where, fitted with power turrets, they were used as light bombers. In 1939, Lockheed expanded the basic design, creating the Model 18, which became known as the Lodestar. The fuselage was lengthened from the Model 14's 44'-2.5 " to the Model 18's 49'-9 7/8". Wing span remained the same, although the Fowler flaps were increased in area, and 1000 hp. Wrights replaced the lower powered engines of the Model 14. The tail unit was also enlarged slightly. Up to 26 passengers could be carried. Throughout the production life of the airplane, various engines were used, including Wright R-1820's, Pratt and Whitney R-1830's, and Pratt and Whitney Hornets, and a total of 624 was produced. After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the Army and Navy took over many Model 18's, and further production aircraft were delivered directly to the armed services. Available records indicated that although many were transferred to the British, most were used within the United States, judging from the large number of survivors at the end of the war. These were designated C-56, C-57, C-59, and C-60, depending upon engine and internal arrangements. The survivors were declared surplus at the end of hostilities, and many were sold to individuals for corporate or airline use. The Lockheed PV-1/3 and B-34 Ventura was a direct development of the Lodestar, and many of these wound up in civilian hands after the war also. Some civilian Lodestars and Ventura's were extensively modified in the sixties, with larger engines, large paddle-bladed props, different window arrangements, and even tricycle landing gear. As of 2008, there are 96 listed on the U.S. Civil register, not to mention a number of them in various museums. Sources of Information There is quite a bit of information available on civilian Lodestars, and less on the military versions. The aerofiles.com website has the serials on all of the military aircraft, along with some of their history. This is in addition to a general history of the type in the "aircraft" section. Numerous books on propeller driven airliners also have articles on the type, along with many photos, so getting an accurate color scheme should not be too difficult. I didn't see many photos of military types with the usual bizarre markings. And strangely, I didn't see any reference to the type in Bill Larkins' excellent book on surplus military aircraft of World War II, although some of the Navy versions are covered. There were many executive conversions of wartime Lodestars flying in the postwar years, and I saw and photographed many of them. There were detail differences in such things as engines and radio antennas, but most were similar. The upgrades cleaned them up a bit and got some added speed, as the major feature of this airplane was its speed compared with a DC-3. If you are doing a civil version, be sure to check the photos carefully for specific details. The Kit Special Hobby is to be commended for bringing out a kit of this historically important airplane. It consists of six sprues. Many of the parts are intended for the companion kit, the Hudson, so you'll have a lot of extra parts left over, which could actually be used to upgrade an old Airfix Hudson kit. There are a few inconsistencies with this kit, such as the astrodome which is shown on the three view drawings of all three versions, whereas none is included on any of the sprues, and no mention is made in the assembly instructions. As far as the extra parts are concerned, I went through the sprues and cut off all the extra parts and got them out of the way. That made it easier to work with the parts that should be used. The kit suffers from the usual problems associated with limited issue kits. There were a few sink marks, but mostly on interior surfaces, although there were some on the Fowler flap fairings. There was some flash, but this was minor. The front windshield was cracked on my example, requiring some filling, but this was corrected and it is invisible from the outside. A major problem is the instructions, which are quite vague about the location and positions of certain parts, notably in the interior and landing gear assemblies. Drawings of the completed assemblies would have been very helpful. The navigator/radio operator's seat does not fit in its proper location, but you can't see this from the outside, so it doesn't matter. The side benches common to C-60A aircraft are easy to install on one side, but difficult on the other side, as there is nothing to attach it to until the fuselage halves are together, and then it is too late. There are two luggage racks above the windows on the inside, and the drawings of these are inverted, and this will cause some confusion unless you are very careful. One very confusing feature was the fact that the parts are not in any kind of numerical order on the sprues, and you'll spend some time looking for some of the smaller ones. This is not a biggie, but it can be frustrating at times looking for parts. Another problem is the engine nacelles, the interiors of which need to be glued to the upper wing section before assembly. The main gear struts need to be installed before the wing halves are joined, creating a fragile structure that can easily break off if you're not careful. There is also a small bulkhead that needs to go in before the main gear is attached, and this has to be correct or the gear struts will not fit. The cockpit interior is very good, and the photo-etched seatbelts are especially well done. You can actually see some of the detail through the cockpit windows. The engines are a little rough and require some trimming, but the end result on these is good-they look like Wright Cyclones. Instructions on engine location are vague, and I had to check references to make sure that the engine was positioned with the top cylinder in the center top position of the cowling. On the landing gear, the little forward fairing located in front of the main gear strut is actually "L" shaped, not "U" shaped as it is in the kit. I had to check my photo file to see what they actually looked like on the airplane. Then I trimmed it to the correct shape. The exhaust stacks, which are actually fairings, are correct for the forward sections, but the long rear units need to be bent to conform to the shape of the engine nacelle. Also, the mountings for the pitot tubes and the DF loop antenna 'football" are not clearly marked, so I had to estimate these. There are a couple of thingies sticking out of the belly which I would assume are fuel drains, and these need to be located correctly. They are shown in the instructions but not on the three views. I used them, as they showed in the photos I have. The engine cowlings have no real method of attachment to the nacelles, except that they just slide over the forward portion of the nacelles. They fit and line up fine, but it takes some doing. In addition, the fronts of the cowlings were not very round, and required a bit of trimming to correct the problems. Basic assembly, however, was not difficult, but it did take some special care. Quite a bit of filling was needed, but fit in most areas was excellent. The wings and tail unit lines up easily, and the landing gear alignment was quite simple. You just need to think out the assembly process logically, and you should have no problems. By the way, although the cabin enclosure was fine, I had trouble with the myriad of small side windows, so I resorted to Crystal Clear. The result was acceptable, and it saved a lot of masking. My Model This particular issue of this kit provides decals for three aircraft. One is a BOAC Lodestar, G-AGIH, which operated on the England-Stockholm route during World War II. It appears to be dark earth and dark grey over silver, a most unusual color scheme, especially with the big English civil registration letters on the fuselage. Second is a Lodestar of 20 Transport Flight, RAF, which was operated from Norway immediately following the war, flown by Norwegian crews. This aircraft was olive drab overall with RAF markings. The third variation is a Royal Norwegian Air Force Lodestar used postwar, 1948-1950. It is overall light grey with RNAF markings. Since I try to build representative types for my collection, and since I probably will not build another C-60, I opted for a newly manufactured C-60A-5-LO, 42-56079, c/n 18-2572, as operated by the Army Air Forces during 1943. There is a good in-flight photo of this airplane in Peter Bowers' United States Military Aircraft since 1908, and the nice thing is that the airplane is STILL IN EXISTENCE as of 2008. I chose the olive drab over neutral grey color scheme with the red bordered stars and bars used during a short time period in 1943. One source stated that the plane was damaged in an accident in Tennessee during the war, but it must have been repaired and put back in service. I checked the number on Aerofiles.com, and discovered that the plane was sold surplus after the war, licensed NC59270, and was used by the International Paper Company, of Mobile, AL, until rather recently. Latest records show that it has been sold to a buyer in the British Virgin Islands. Maybe it will continue flying for a long time. Recommendations This kit is the only show in town as of the moment, and it is a fairly easy build, considering its complexity. You'll wind up with a lot of useful spare parts, and a very nice model of a historically significant airplane. You could even do a Japanese version, although this would take some careful research. And if you're into civilian types, the opportunities are endless. On second thought, maybe I'll get another one and do one of the General Motors' birds I recall seeing and photographing as a kid fifty years ago. Highly recommended. Thanks to IPMS/USA and Special Hobby for the review sample.

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