Hobbycraft

1/48 CT114 Tutor ‘Snowbirds’ model kit

Product Article by Tony Edmundson

 

 

Click on images below to see larger images

The long awaited and anticipated 1/48 scale version of the Tutor by Hobbycraft is certainly not a disappointment as was their sorry 1/72 release back in the 80’s. When that kit came out, the reviewer was an Airframe Technician at CFB Moose Jaw working on the CT114 and eagerly awaited a correct and proper version of the Tutor. I amassed a total of 10 years working on the CT114 including a 2 year stint as Airframe Tech with 431 Air Demonstration Sqn ‘Snowbirds’ in ‘90-’91

This kit captures the overall shape of the Tutor quite nicely and the decal sheet features two versions of the Snowbirds scheme (the 74-76 scheme and the 77-86 version of their colors) and is of good thin decal media. Having built the Belcher Bits Tutor when it came out and being greatly impressed with that kit, this review might compare the two kits somewhat and some of my observations where already mentioned by Mike Belcher on Hyperscale previously.

This kit has the best attempt at getting the intake shape right in all the Tutor kits in all scales. All that it may need is a bit of sanding to round the edges. You may want to provide an interior to your intakes with plastic card however. Nose strakes are molded in with the fuselage and are nicely done. The Belcher kit had you make a separate piece of plastic or brass and sandwich it in between nose halves. A good idea for the resin would be too thin for molding those pieces. The ejection seats are good as stock items and really don’t need too much dressing up other than lap and shoulder belts and oxygen and Comm cords.

Now that I have praised the kit (and it deserves a lot of praise), I do have some problems with various areas of the kit. The windshield is too rounded up front; it does have a flat area close to the middle. The nose cone glazing is only of the pre ‘77 variety and a pointed nose is more aptly seen on the Tutor. The main wheel hubs are too small and the tires too large and the nose wheel is too small entirely. The smoke tanks included, have the conical ends too pointed, they should taper more. It seems the Matchbox ‘trench digger’ got hired by Hobbycraft on a part-time basis. Some of the panel lines are in the right place and others like the wing-root luggage doors are entirely wrong. The speed brakes are too small and the intake oxygen panels are wrong. The trenches are exceptionally deep on the wing upper surface for some unknown reason.

The rudder’s top and bottom edge seem strangely un-parallel. The main gear leg door is the wrong shape.

The intake splitter plates are not flat on the real aircraft (see pictures). There is a couple of small plastic pieces that go on each upper aileron that are supposed to represent ‘Aileron Trim rods’ but, only the left aileron had them, and the small lump of plastic doesn’t do it justice. The instrument shroud is molded in clear (why?) and then the painting instructions say to paint it ‘Khaki’. They were usually black and faded to grey with use.

These are nit-picks from a person with many hours ‘elbows deep’ inside the Tutor, so please don’t get the idea that I didn’t like the kit or that its a real dog. Detailers will want to fill the cockpit with more goodies as the canopy shows everything that is in there. Mike Belcher is making his 1/48 scale Tutor Decal sheet available and the sheet is a beauty. I recommend getting it. This kit is a welcome addition to my line of Canadian 1/48 scale jets and will build out--of –the –box into a fine depiction of the CT114.

I’ve included some black & white photos that I took back in 1988 while working in the Periodic Maintenance hangar in Moose Jaw. Sort of a mini walk-around showing a few details of the CT114 Tutor.

Click on images below to see larger images

photo 1 photo2 photo 3 photo 4

Photo #1 

  • -shows cockpit with side blankets removed
  • -shows seats on table with seat removed and handles raised
  • -note different able routing and paint on handles

Photo #2 

  • -aft section support dolly is a modified T-33 dolly – get it from a Monogram P80 kit
  • -nose cone shows the correct glazing and light arrangement for a post ’77 Tutor
  • -small light in nose is amber
  • -left bottom show aft section bulkhead, right is fuselage engine bay with engine removed
  • -color of engine bays are dirty white or cream

Photo #3 

  • -interior of L/G door could be painted AL or DarK Green both having white 1" border
  • -flex brake line is covered with Teflon – Light Blue
  • -interior of nose wheel bay is painted AL
  • -interior of avionic bay is Zinc Chromate green – door is Zinc Chromate yellow
  • -avionic trays are anodized aluminum

Photo #4 

  • -interior of speed brake is black on painted Tutors, Dark Green on natural metal aircraft
  • -hoses have sleeves that are either red, black or blue
  • -intake splitter plate is not flat or dished-it is actually convex and the outer edges follow the contours of the fuselage
  • -bottom pictures show the aft section break line and the engine bleed air outlets

Tony Edmundson

Photos and text © by Tony Edmundson