Building the IRMA Kit No. 8  Avro Canada C-102 Jetliner

Finally our  IRMA Kit No. 8 Avro Canada C-102 Jetliner is out on the market! This is our largest kit yet and proved to have costs beyond all of our estimates, however, IRMA has promised to deliver and we have! As you can see this kit too includes interior detail second to none. This is in keeping with our promise to our IRMA Members and customers: IRMA does NOT release an inferior product!

Photograph by Zane R Nobbs

This kit contains 101 resin parts and decals for the prototype version. It can be built with landing gear down or retracted. Flaps can be open or closed and ailerons, elevators and rudder can be positioned in any format you wish. We have also included hinges so the passenger entrance door can be built open or closed.

Photograph by Zane R Nobbs

The decals are via Vintage Flyer Decals and include sets for each version of the prototype as well as masking materials for those that prefer to paint rather than use all of the decals.

Photograph by Zane R Nobbs

Before beginning the kit, we recommend looking over the information included with the decals and deciding which version you wish to complete. This will be a major portion of how you will paint, decal and detail your Jetliner.

Photograph by Zane R Nobbs

There are two types of masks in the kit, the traditionsl masks to select where you want to paint before applying the decals and reverse masks in which you paint an overall coat and then do the details. More about that shortly.

Photograph by Zane R Nobbs

If you want to do a "what if" livery, then Vintage Flyer Decals has sets for Trans Canada Airlines, TWA and a few others. You can find quite a selection at: www.vintageflyerdecals.com.

Now let's number our parts and begin building!

Photography by Zane R Nobbs

Parts List:

1. Nose/Cabin

2. Cockpit

3. Port Steering Colume

4. Starboard Steering Colume

5. Cockpit Floor Support

6. Forward Fuselage

7. Forward Fuselage Floor

8. Forward Fuselage Floor Support

9. Forward Jump Seat (optional)

10. Port Passenger Seats Row 1

11. Starboard Passenger Seats Row 1

12. Port Passenger Seats Row 2

13. Starboard Passenger Seats Row 2

14. Port Passenger Seats Row 3

15. Starboard Passenger Seats Row 3

16. Port Passenger Seats Row 4

17. Starboard Passenger Seats Row 4

18. Port Passenger Seats Row 5

19. Starboard Passenger Seats Row 5

20. Port Passenger Seats Row 6

21. Starboard Passenger Seats Row 6

22. Passenger Door Window

23. Passenger Door

24. Passenger Door Lower Hinge

25. Passenger Door Middle Hinge 1

26. Passenger Door Middle Hinge 2

27. Passenger Door Upper Hinge

28. Passenger Door Handle

29. Aft Fuselage & Tail 

30. Aft Fuselage Floor

31. Aft Fuselage Floor Support

32. Port Passenger Seats Row 7

33. Starboard Passenger Seats Row 7

34. Port Passenger Seats Row 8

35. Starboard Passenger Seats Row 8

36. Port Passenger Seats Row 9

37. Starboard Passenger Seats Row 9

38. Port Passenger Seats Row 10

39. Starboard Passengers Seats Row 10

40. Port Passenger Seats Row 11

41. Starboard Passenger Seats Row 11

42. Port Passenger Seats Row 12

43. Starboard Passenger Seats Row 12

44. Jump Seat 2 (optional)

45. Jump Seat 3 (optional)

46. Port Wing

47. Port Outer Fan

48. Port Inner Fan

49. Port Aileron

50. Port Outer Flap

51. Port Inner Flap

52. Starboard Wing

53. Starboard Inner Fan

54. Starboard Outer Fan

55. Air Speed Indicator

56. Starboard Inner Flap

57. Starboard Outer Flap

58. Starboard Aileron

59. Rudder

60. Port Tailplane

61. Starboard Tailplane

62. Starboard Elevator

63. Port Elevator

64. Port Nose Wheel Door

65. Starboard Nose Wheel Door

66. Nose Gear Strut

67. Front Axle

68. Port Nose Wheel

69. Starboard Nose Wheel

70. Auxiliary Axial (spare)

71. Port Main Landing Gear Outer Door

72. Port Main Landing Gear Inner Door

73. Port Main Landing Gear  Strut

74. Port Main Landing Gear Axle

75. Port Main Landing Gear Outer Wheel

76. Port Main Landing Gear Inner Wheel

77. Starboard Main Landing Gear Inner Door

78. Starboard Main Landing Gear Outer Door

79. Starboard Main Landing Gear Strut

80. Starboard Main Landing Gear Axle

81. Starboard Main Landing Gear Inner Wheel

82. Starboard Main Landing Gear Outer Wheel

83. Cockpit Canopy

84. Port Fuselage Window 1

85. Starboard Fuselage Window 1

86. Port Fuselage Window 2

87. Starboard Fuselage Window 2

88. Port Fuselage Window 3

89. Starboard Fuselage Window 3

90. Port Fuselage Window 4

91. Starboard Fuselage Window 4

92. Port Fuselage Window 5

93. Starboard Fuselage Window 5

94. Port Fuselage Window 6

95. Starboard Fuselage Window 6

96. Port Fuselage Window 7

97. Starboard Fuselage Window 7

98. Port Fuselage Window 8

99. Starboard Fuselage Window 8

100. Port Fuselage Window 9

101. Starboard Fuselage Window 9

102. Decal Sheet for Avro Canada C102 Jetliner Prototype

Assembling the Jetliner:

Before assembling, please consider the interior and exterior paint scheme desired.

To begin with, we recommend washing all resin parts in water with a mild detergent to remove any casting release agent so you can start with a clean surface. Also, if canopy or windows look foggy or dirty, sitting in room temperature water overnight will remove all for a clear surface, however, before handling clear parts let them dry thoroughly.

Prior to assembly, the Jetliner will need some weight up front so it doesn't become a trail-dragger. The floor so each section is designed in a way to allow metal weigths to be inserted. The floor should stay level for about two layers.

Photograph by Zane R Nobbs

One great way to do this is with the flat weights used for pinederby racing which you can get from your local hobby shop, or online. These are segmented to they can be cut or broken off to the proportions needed. Cutting looks to be safer.

Photograph by Zane R Nobbs

With the flatest weights for the underfloor and the rest in the empty space of the fuselage and cockpit, two layers are feasible and much more likely to help your Jetliner sit correctly on its tricycle landing gear arrangement.

Photograph by Zane R Nobbs

For this example additional weight was also added in the engines. These were drilled out with a 7/16" (1 cm) drill bit about 3" (7.6 cm) deep for round weighs of a smiliar length to help hold the front down.

Photograph by Zane R Nobbs

Don't worry about too much weight as the landing gear legs are metal and made to withstand internal weights, as is typical of most resin and many plastic models.

Photograph by Zane R Nobbs

Once prepared, begin by attaching port (part 3) and starboard (part 4) steering columes into the cockpit (part 2). Attach cockpit floor support (part 5) inside nose (part 1) then slide completed cockpit (part 2) into nose (part 5). Set entire assembly aside for later.

Now take the forward fuselage floor (part 7) and attach port side seats (parts 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20) then starboard seats (parts 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21) and glue forward fuselage floor support (part 8) into forward fuselage (part 6). Now fasten completed part 7 into forward fuselage (part 6). Attach passenger (part 23) to forward fuselage (part 6). Unless the door is to be opened, then attach hinges (parts 24, 25, 26, 27) to door and position on forward fuselage. In either case, attach door handle (part 28) to door center. Set entire assembly asside for later.

Next, take the aft fuselage floor (part 30) and attach port side seats (parts 32, 34, 36, 38, 40) and starboard seats (part 33, 35, 37, 39, 41). Fasten aft fuselage floor support (part 31) into aft fuselage (part 29) and fasten completed aft fuselage floor (part 30) into aft fuselage (part 29). 

Joint completed nose (part 1) to comopleted forward fuselage (part 6) to completed aft fuselage (part 29) so that the entire fuselage is now one unit. Let dry thoroughly before moving on to next portion.

Starting with the port wing (part 46) fasten this to the fuselage making sure to align pins in wing root to the holes in the fuselage. Now attach starboard wing (part 52) to the other side, again aligning pins to holes. Reference drawing to make sure wings dry at approporate angle. Objects can be placed under the wings to ensure proper alignment.

Next, join port tailplane (part 60) to tail and starboard tailplane (part 61) to the other side making sure to align pins to holes. Again be sure that tailplanes are at correct angles using objects to support them until dry. Insert port engine fans (parts 47, 48) and starboard engine fans (parts 53, 54) into engine nacelles. The rudder (part 59) can be attached to the tailfin at this time also.

Now turn the entire assembley over to attach underside details. Fasten port aileron (part 49) to port wing followed by port outer flap (part 50) and port inner flat (part 51). Do the same for the starboard wing attaching starboard aileron (part 58) followed by starboard outer flap (part 57) and starboard inner flap (part 56). Then fasten port elevator (part 62) into port tailplane followed by starboard elevator (part 63) into starboard tailplane.

For landing gear, start with the nose. Fasten port nosewheel strut (part 66) inside landing gear compartment followed by attaching port front landing gear wheel (part 68) to front axle (part 66) and inserting through hole in nosewheel strut (part 66) attaching front starboard landing gear wheel (part 69) to opposite side. Fasten port front landing gear door (part 64) and starboard front landing gear door (part 65) to respective sides of landing gear compartment. If landing gear is to be retracted, then just fasten doors flat over compartment.

On the port side attach port landing gear strut (part 73) into port landing gear box. Fasten port outer landing gear wheel (part 75) to port landing gear axle (part 74) and insert through hole in port landing gear strut (part 73) attaching port landing gear inner wheel (part 76) to other side. Next attach port landing gear outer door (part 71) and port landing gear inner door (part 72) to their respective sides. If landing gear is to be retracted, then just fasten doors flat over port compartment.

On starboard side attach starboard landing gear strut (part 79) into starboard landing gear box. Fasten starboard outer landing  gear wheel (part 82) to starboard main landing gear axle (part 80) and insert through hole in starboard landing gear strut (part 79) attaching starboard main landing gear inner wheel (part 81) to other side. Attach starboard main landing gear outer door (part 78) and starboard main landing gear inner door (part 77) to their respective sides. If landing gear is to be retracted, then just fasten doors flat over starboard compartment.

Attach air speed indicator (part 55) to completed fuselage and turn entire assembly right-side-up. 

Using clear, white glue, attach cockpit canopy (part 83) to front of fuselage. Now fasten port side windows (parts 84, 86, 88, 90, 92, 94, 96, 98, 100) to port side of fuselage followed by starboard side windows (parts 85, 87, 89, 91, 93, 95, 97, 99, 101) to the starboard side of the fuselage. Then insert passenger door window (part 22) into passenger entry door. 

Auxilliary axle (part 70) can be used for either pitot tube or aerial antenna.

Painting by Robert William Bradford of the Canada Air and Space Musuem

Painting:

From the sources IRMA has been able to locate, it appears that the lower half of the interior, cockpit and passenger seats were painted a flat green. The top of the cockpit and passenger cabin were painted a tan color.

Externally the original scheme of the prototype was entirely bare metal with a yellow tail and yellow under the engine pods with a yellow segment from the nose across the passenger windows to the tail. In the second paint scheme a black stripe covered the top of the tail as well as black leading edges on the wings and tail for the de-icer boots. Final paint scheme added a white top for better temperature control. 

See decals and masks for details on the painting for your Jetliner.

Landing gear was bare metal and landing gear compartments were zinc-chromate green.

Illustration by the CANADIAN AVIATION HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Decals:

Decal placement positions are included with the Vintage Flyer Decals. In general the civilan code letters "AVRO" were placed in black on the top side of the port wing and bottom side of the starboard wing, while the rest "CF-EJD-X" were placed on the top side of the starboard wing and bottom side of the port wing.

The fusealge orignally contained "AVRO" in black blocked letters inside the yellow stripe on the nose with "Jetliner" in red cursive just below. After the initial flight "CANADA" was added after "AVRO." On all versions the civilain registration letters "CF-EJD-X" were included in black blocked format after the last passenger window inside of the yellow stripe. See the Vintage Flyer Decals insert.

The tail included the "AVRO CANADA" logo near the top and between two black lines and under the tailplanes the details were included for the aircraft. Here again we would encourage the Vintage Flyer Decals insert for more detailed reference.

For this article IRMA would like to thank Dr. James "Jim" C Floyd, the Canadian Air & Space Museum and the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum for references and materials to ensure the highest level of accuracy.

- Zane R Nobbs©, International Resin Modellers Association - IRMA©, 2015.

Photographs, illustrations and models by Zane R Nobbs,  CANADIAN AVIATION HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Canada Air and Space Musuem, Canadian Air & Space Musuem and Vintage Flyer Decals 

All text, photos and illustrations copyright © IRMA 2015 and respective owners