Special Hobby 1/72 Lockheed Model 9 Orion

SPECIAL HOBBY 1:72 LOCKHEED MODEL 9 ORION
'INBOX Review'

Reviewer: Hrvoje Šafhauzer (rec.models.scale) - October 2009

Kit Details:

Aircraft: Lockheed mod. 9 Orion
Scale: 1/72
Kit: Special Hobby #72019
Parts: 31 in very pale gray styrene + 8 clear injection molded + 1 vacuformed + 23 resin molded
Surface detail: Engraved, finely
Options: 2- or 3-blade propeller (for 9D Special), wheels up or down
Decals: 2 options
Accuracy: See below
Price: Discounted 50% to 50 Croatian Kuna (approx. 6.85 EUR), in Summer 2004.

Aircraft History:

The Lockheed Orion Model 9 was designed and built by Richard A. Von Hake and it was a single engine passenger aircraft built in 1931, featuring both an enclosed cabin with seating for six passengers, for commercial airlines, and an enclosed pilot cockpit. It was the first airliner to have retractable landing gear and was faster than any military aircraft of that time. It was the last wooden monoplane design produced by the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, and it was a design using many identical elements from the Lockheed preceding designs. It primarily used all the elements of the Altair, but included a forward top cockpit similar to the Vega, plus the NACA cowling introduced in the Air Express. Lockheed used the same basic fuselage mold and wing for all these wooden designs.

Although designed with the passenger market in mind, its speed made it a natural for air races. The first Bendix race of 1931 had a showing of two Orions and three Altairs and one Vega in a race that had only nine aircraft competing. On 11 July 1935, Laura H. Ingalls flew a Lockheed Orion, powered by a Pratt & Whitney Wasp engine, from Floyd Bennett Field to Burbank, California, establishing an East-West record for women. Two months later she flew it back to set a West-East record.

The first Orion entered service with Bowen Air Lines in May 1931, and many safe miles were flown in airline service and the headlines told by a few expert speed pilots proved the advanced design and reliability. However, those that went into airline use as a passenger transport had their life span limited, since in 1934 the Civil Aeronautics Authority issued a ruling prohibiting further use of single engine passenger aircraft from operating on all major networks. It also became mandatory to have a co-pilot and thus a two-seat cockpit arrangement on all such flights. The requirements of the ruling brought an end to the Orion, and similar single-engined aircraft, as a passenger-carrying airplane in the airlines. They were then used for cargo or mail carrying, or sold for private use and charter. Because the aircraft had a complicated wood construction and needed to be sent back to Lockheed in Burbank, California to be repaired, they were often disposed of after any type of significant accident. Some of them were fitted with higher-powered engines and designated 9D Special. Between 13 and 16 of the used cargo, passenger, or racing Orions were purchased for service in the FARE (Spanish Republican Air Force) during Civil War and destroyed in use. These were mostly used in liaison and light transport roles, but at least one was allegedly armed with machine guns and used as emergency fighter above Madrid at the end of 1936. With additional weight top speed lowered, and I do not think that climb of the civilian-purposes designed plane would be satisfactory for intercepting duties, but on the other hand Frankist planes of the era were not so fast Ju-52/3m bomber-transports, Bre-19 recce-bombers, Hispano-Nieuport and He-51 fighters, and like. Only Italian-flown Fiat CR-32s were fast enough to present a formidable threat at that time.

Total production in the 1931-1934 period amounted to 36 planes, some with Pratt & Whitney Wasp and others with Wright R-1820 Cyclone engines of various power, with few survivors today due its wooden construction. For the sake of history it is important that the Orion appearance at Swissair routes in Europe spurred development of the even faster Heinkel He-70 Blitz, the immediate ancestor of the venerable He-111 bomber/airliner series, enabling the Gunther brothers to realize their ideas on streamlining the aircraft.

The Kit:

When entering into a hobby shop in Zagreb, Croatia, and looking for model kits, the owner proposed me "an offer that I could not refuse" to buy some multimedia short run kits at 50% discount, since they were moving to wargaming and artisan things only. Now that price was acceptable, and I selected three of various aircraft from different manufacturers, plus a Zvezda kit, and this Lockheed model 9D Orion was one of them. The owner claimed that it was in Romanian AF colors, but I instantly recognized Spanish Republican red-yellow-violet painted rudder and red band wing and fuselage markings – just within my taste since in my past I made too many civilian planes converted to "bombers" or the like. Last year that particular shop wound down, following the destinies of others that closed in last seven years of so, a sign of dwindling interest in hobby(s) like this requiring manual and precision work (and yes my Whyalla based model shop has also closed down for similar reasons unfortunately - Ed).

Standard "typical Czech side-opening feeble thin cardboard box contains 2 A4-size pages folded to give 8 A5-size pages of the instructions, and a strong heat-sealed polyethylene bag. The bag houses one sprue of short run, almost looking white, very pale gray styrene parts, a sprue of clear parts, one vacuformed cockpit canopy, a small heat sealed polyethylene pouch with resin parts and decals situated in transparent polyethylene pouch. Styrene parts, of the softish type, are finely engraved and I found little flash, but as usual for a short run kit there are no locating holes, slots, pins and lugs. Airframe main components are there, plus engine cowlings, landing gear legs and covers, wheel halves and three propeller blades. Covers would require some thinning maybe, but one should decide during the build. There are 8 windows to be inserted into the fuselage, with previous trimming called for by the instructions, and these appear to be clear enough since there are no parts for passenger cabin interior. Only one vacuformed canopy is provided so one should be very careful when trimming it for positioning. Cream-colored resin parts cater for the detailed landing gear bays, a Wright Cyclone engine block with separate cylinders, including a spare one, exhausts two propeller hubs, 2- and 3-blader, and very detailed pilot cockpit including seat with the harnesses. In a pouch these appear to be blemish free. No dreaded photo-etched parts here. Note that when photographed using the flash, the parts appear to be darker.

The first page of the instructions covers history and technical data in Czech, English, German, and French, while second one starts with the parts layout and numbering, and key for instructions, followed by the 6 steps of the assembling instructions. Painting details for interior are provided in Humbrol codes only, and there are the instructions for making some parts from stretched sprue or drilling some parts.

Accuracy:

I do not have any scale drawings for this plane so I can not comment on the accuracy, and I did not like to remove the lower wing from sprue for measuring span correctness. An internet built review of kit stated that the rudder shape is not so correct, but I can not confirm it. After building, and comparing with available data, one can ascertain accuracy.

Painting & Decals:

The last two pages of the instructions provide painting and decaling instructions for two options, in Humbrol paint range only, but giving the generic names in four languages too.

Decals are provided for two aircraft: One is white with red upper wing panels, civilian registered Orion 9D Special plane NC-13747, from Western Airways in 1934, and fuselage and engine cowling red-bordered black trim is provided, as well as the wing walkways. This one should have a three-blade propeller.

The other one is an anonymous dark green over light gray Spanish Republican AF plane, with white fuselage and cowling trim provided. The decal sheet is printed by Italian Cartograf and should not present any troubles.

Conclusion:

OK, this is a short run kit from earlier vintage and as such is not for the beginners. Yielding from my, not so nice, experience when building the Pavla Messenger, before applying one should not only check fitting of the cockpit into fuselage interior, but also test fit the canopy to joined fuselage to verify that there would be no overhanging over parts for material thickness. Furthermore, some reviews of other short run kits with resin wheel wells indicate that some sanding of the resin well back surfaces, as well as thinning the upper and lower wing interior surfaces, could be called upon to get a proper fit. Also, the propeller blades attaching to resin hubs with uniform and correct pitch could create the problems if one does not have decent experience or, even better, an assembling jig - remember cyanoacrylate or epoxy glue would be required there as well as when dealing with other resin parts.

So test fitting, after test fitting, after test fitting, and probably some putty would be required when building this one. However short run kit aficionados would like it. Only thing is that availability shall be checked at local/internet dealers since I presume that this kit is one dating from end of last century.

Review courtesy of my impulse to buy such kits when affordable (and keep them in stash until getting enough courage or will to deal with them).

References:

Kit Instructions;
Wikipedia, online encyclopedia.

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