The International Cessna^® 170 Association

Does or did anyone ever make a plastic model kit of the Cessna 170? Other than Guillow, or whoever, that is--I've seen their model boxes & it seems like they are balsa wood and tissue construction and don't necesarily look too much like an actual 170. The boxes are pretty cool, though.
The "Historic Aviation" catalog (800-225-5575) has a 1/48 scale plastic model kit of the Bird Dog listed for $16.95, this is pretty much like what I'm looking for. Only a likeness of the 170, of course. I might order up the Bird Dog model if I can't find a 170.
I went by a local hobby/modelers shop today, they only had a few models that weren't warbirds or airliners--a Skyhawk and a Cherokee was about it. Not too exciting.

Eric

You could always get one of the (now out of production)
Monogram C-180 plastic models (it's of an early 180)
and cut/fabricate some rounded / to-scale 170 tailfeathers
out of plastic styrene (should be able to find that at a good hobby
shop). The boot cowl and cowling is of course different
on the 180 but some filing, trimming, filling + plastic model putty
might get you close.

FWIW, you reguarly see the Monogram C-180 kits on
eBay for $20-$25 bucks.

I dont know if it interests any one but a company in Idaho sells a scale model kit of the 170. I am not sure weather it is the A model or B model. Ikon nwst is the name of the company and they have a web site if anyone is interested. I built a quater scale Monocoupe 145 that they sold a few years back and found it to be a nice kit. The pictures on the web site do not look as nice for the 170. I considered building it but it did not have beautiful round wing tips so I decided not to. Bill K

I've been a modeller for over thirty five years - plastic and radio control - and I have never seen an injection molded Cessna 170. The Monogram Cessna 180 Bela mentioned is as close as you'll get.

List of Cessna 170 model kits I'm aware of:

Comet 170A solid balsa display kit, c.a. 1949
Comet 170A Structo-O-Speed rubber powered flying model, early 1950's
Berkeley 170B, gas powered free-flight or R/C, span 72" c.a. 1955
Keil Kraft 170B, gas powered free-flight, span 36" mid 1950s (England)
Jetco 170B, gas powered free-flight or R/C span 36" c.a. 1959 (same designer of the Keil Kraft 170, Bill Dean)
Guillows 170B, rubber powered free-flight, span 18", c.a. 1961*
Sterling 170B, rubber powered balsa, span unknown, 1970s
Guillows 170A, gas powered R/C, span 45", c.a. 1978*
IKON Northwest 170B, 1/4 scale gas R/C, late 1990's (not very scale, especially for a nine foot model...)

* I have these two - the 18" Guillows has been in continous production since 1961!

I'm sure there are more, (but not too many!) There is a thread on the E-Zone (electric powered models) on a beautiful scratch-built 170, I'll try to post a link to it...Russ Farris

No ragwing's I guess

Nope, I've never seen or heard of a 1948 170 model kit. Not that it hasn't
been done, but if one was made it didn't recieve wide distribution. Since the rag wing was only built one year, it didn't get the exposure to the modeling public the later ones got. No doubt, some one has scratch built one, though... I'll keep looking! Russ Farris

russfarris wrote:I've been a modeller for over thirty years -

Guillows 170B, rubber powered free-flight, span 18", c.a. 1961*
Guillows 170A, gas powered R/C, span 45", c.a. 1978*

* I have these two
Russ Farris

Russ: Your collection of models is painfully incomplete. I have several unbuilt Jetco 170s that I am saving to sell when I need college tuition money for my daughter. They are the best kit but I would trade one for Berkeley 72.

If and when my glorious employer, US Airways, comes out of Chapter 11
part 2, I'll be the first in line to buy one of your wonderful Jetco kits!!!

It's a shame the 170 was never an injection molded plastic model. Lindberg Models made the Bonanza, Stinson 108, Sea Bee, Navion and Mooney Mite back in the 50's - simple models with little detail. I remember building the Bonanza back in 1965 or so. That and the Convair B-58 Hustler were my favorite airplanes then, and still are...except for N8143A! Russ Farris

Russ, you'll just have to make it to the 2007 convention in GLS (Galveston) then. There's a genuine B-58 hanging from the rafters in the Texas Air Museum we'll be guests of. Wow!. Now THAT's an airplane! I still recall the sonic booms of the late 50's/early 60's with relish.

I found on ebay a "Comet S2 Cessna 170 Shelf Model". From what Russ says this is a balsa wood model. When assembled, do they actually look like a 170? Some of those balsa/tissue paper jobs only look like the actual airplane if you smoke some crack & poke yourself in the eye with a stick-- don't want to do that (again). So I'm only interested in a realistic looking model. You can't tell anything from the photo of the box, it shows a nice quartering top-view of a 170 A or B.

Eric

I can tell you a bunch about that particulair TB-58. It is one of 7 (if I remember) that were converted from B models (bomber) to TB (trainer bombers). I was involved in selecting that specific plane, disassembling it in Tucson, flying/transporting it back to Fort Worth via C-5A & reassembling it for display (in Fort Worth) & hoping to see it displayed once again one of these days in Fort Worth were it was manufactured.

It was quite a site when we went out to select it and had 60 of them to choose from. I won't bore you with more details here, but if you have an interest send me a PM.

This is the pilot lounge (aka BS'ing lounge). Please post for
all of us to read (I for one would love to hear about it). I like all
NOS stuff (NOS = Neat Old Sh_t).

170C wrote:I can tell you a bunch about that particulair TB-58. It is one of 7 (if I remember) that were converted from B models (bomber) to TB (trainer bombers). I was involved in selecting that specific plane, disassembling it in Tucson, flying/transporting it back to Fort Worth via C-5A & reassembling it for display (in Fort Worth) & hoping to see it displayed once again one of these days in Fort Worth were it was manufactured.

It was quite a site when we went out to select it and had 60 of them to choose from. I won't bore you with more details here, but if you have an interest send me a PM.

Go ahead, Frank! Tell us about it!

ok, back to models. There's a completed static model for sale on a popular auction site. 16" wingspan. Copy of a green '55 in TX.

http://tinyurl.com/5kjh9

Eric, unless you have some modeling skills I would recommend not bothering with the Comet kit. The fuselage, for example is solid balsa that you carve and sand to final shape. Finishing the thing by sanding, filling, sanding (you get the idea) is well beyond the patience level of modern man, even if the 55 year balsa isn't dried out. Let this one go to a kit collector, where it belongs!

I can appreciate why stick and tissue construction looks so wrong to you, but keep in mind these models were meant to fly, and on minimal power...rubber bands! The only way to keep it light enough is open framework construction. The sunlight shining through the translucent covering is quite beautiful; its like an artistic impression of an airplane.
Modern composites have made some inroads in light weight construction, but open balsa covered with synthetics (sorta like model Ceconite) still are common.

For what you are looking for, about the only option is a solid mahogany model like the one in the previous post. They are generally made in places like the Phillipines. You can have one made to match your airplane, and I even suspect they could build a 1948 170, given the three-view drawing. I don't know much about the prices, but the ones I've seen have a very high level of craftmanship - scale accuracy seems variable, though. The 170 on ebay is close, except the prop looks wrong.
Hope this helps, Russ