Merlin
Models 1/72 Scale Curtiss F6C-1 Schneider Racer
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History
Since the USA was the current record holder the 1926 Schneider Trophy
race was held at Chesapeake Bay, Virginia. The American team was widely
favored to win and entered a team of Curtiss R3C seaplanes piloted by
very experienced Navy and Marine flyers. An F6C-1 was also entered as
a reserve plane, and had to be used after an R3C-3 crashed on landing
when its pilot, Lieutenant Champion, became ill. He recovered and went
on to fly the F6C-1 in the race but the Italian team won comfortably
in its highly-streamlined Macchis.
The Kit
 Most
Merlin Models products were relatively crude injection-molded kits but
this F6C was one of a few in the range that was made of white metal.
Consisting of 40 parts the kit was to a somewhat higher standard than
most Merlins but still somewhat crude. Surface detail is good with very
nice representation of the wing ribbing but cockpit detail is crude and
incomplete, lacking any representation of the instrument panel or detailing
on the cockpit sides. There is very little flash but many of the parts
need to be carefully straightened, especially the struts and propeller.
The upper wing is cast in one piece and is very heavy - add in
the weight of the overly-thick fuselage halves and I'm skeptical that
the flimsy struts can support the weight of the wings and floats although
once in place they might be just strong enough. An optional wheeled undercarriage
is provided but I'm certain that it would collapse if used. There is
no clear material provided to make a windscreen. There are no decals,
either, but since all  markings
except the tail stripes were overpainted for the race this isn't really
a problem. There is a nice three-view drawing on the reverse of the instructions
but for some perverse reason there is no scrap frontal view of the wheeled
undercarriage option.
Conclusion
This is an unusual kit best left to rabid collectors. Biplanes are
much more suited to vac-form construction and the F6C was available from
Esoteric Models, whose kit was far superior to this one. Expect to pay
around $25 or so to add either F6C to your collection.
Late update! My colleauge, Matt Bittner, has advised me that Olimp Pro
Resin has released both an F6C-1 and a -3. The latter comes with floats
so could be used to build a Trophy racer.
Happy New Year to all my readers! As always, until next month, "Build
what YOU like, the way YOU want to" (and I don't want
to build this one!), have fun, and be sure to visit Al's
Place (which I recently updated, BTW) while you're surfing the 'Net!
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