Cessna 172 Floatplane

Roughly what it will look like when finished. 

Rudder controls. Will have to scratch build something. 

Cockpit thus far. Rudder control, fire extinguisher, and pilot’s seat still to be installed. Possibly also a dog on the rear seats. 

Another view. Behind the rear seats I’ll put a life jacket, emergency kit, 2 boat bumpers, and an anchor with rope. 

Approximate dimensions for the paddle on the float. 

The paddle so far. It will actually be an aluminum shaft with black plastic blade and grip, hence the different blade shape. 

Inspiration for the boat bumpers. 

Inspiration for the anchor. 

Scratch-built anchor. Still waiting for the chain, then will add rope. 

I’ve read that the regular Cessna 172 kits requires a lot of nose weight or else they will be tail sitters. Not taking any chances. 🙂 

Inspiration for the life jacket. 

Two attempts - one from plasticard, the other from several layers of masking tape (which is impossible to cut!) 

Plasticard life jacket with a layer of masking tape for texture. Looks better than the all-masking tape attempt. Maybe I'll put that one under the rear seat. 

Somebody please explain to me why the floor and side panels are 3 different colors even though I used the exact same bottle of paint. 

Cockpit details (excluding pilot): anchor with rope and chain, life preserver, emergency kit, 2 boat bumpers, fire extinguisher, cord for headphones, dog, and paddle (for one float). All scratch-built except for the dog and fire extinguisher. 

Fire extinguisher installed. Squeezing the rudder control in there will be interesting…. 

Cockpit is finally starting to come together! 

Close up view of the back. 

Cockpit with back wall in place. Had to cut the boat bumper so the fuselage would close properly. 

This pilot figure (from the Hasegawa MH-6 kit) was a poor choice - a lot of surgery was required (including shortening his legs and the seat supports) and he still barely fits. Making the connecting bar for his headset was also a nightmare. At least the black wash gives the seatbacks better definition. 

Another close up on the emergency gear. 

Had some super glue issues when gluing the dog in position, so now it looks like his front legs are in a pool of drool that dripped onto the floor.