Belcher Bits BK9 North American Harvard Mk I Page 1/4 July 2014

Belcher Bits BK9: North American Harvard Mk IThe very first North American Harvard Mk I, retained by the company for trials, 1939. Photo courtesy Boeing.

IntroductionNorth American’s NA-16 trainer was

the sire of a long line of military trainers,theAT-6 Texan being the most famous. How-ever, there were many other variations onthe same airframe.

The RAF ordered 400 NA-16-1Etrainers as the Harvard, and in 1939 Canadaorderd an additional 30. These aircraft weresimilar to the BC-1 and featured old-stylefuselage and wings but with retractableundercariiage and the R-1340 engine.

The KitThis kit includes a complete

Occidental Harvard Mk II kit, necessaryresin parts to convert the kit to a Mk I , a setof EZ Mask canopy masks and a set of de-cals with schemes for an RCAF Mk I

FuselageEarly NA trainers had what is known

as a short-arm rear fuselage, which was 6”shorter than the later T-6. The difference inlength is all at the after end. The elevatorsare actually in the same location relative tothe wing, but the later long-arm fuselages

moved the vertical fin back 6 inches. Fur-thermore, these early machines all had thefabric sided fuselages. Just for interest’s sakethere were a couple later variants which hada metal covered short fuselage, but all longfuselages were metal covered.Assemble thekit interior, using Figs Aand B. Interior col-

Resin Parts Guide

Figure A

Figure B

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Figure C

our is interior green with aluminum lacquerrollover structure. Seats would have beenbare metal; the pilots used seat pack para-chutes. Paint the instrument panels and sideconsoles black; the instruments can bepicked out with a white pencil, or by care-ful drybrushing.

Glue the resin fuselage halves (PartsA) together with the upper cowling piece(part 15) and forward instrument panel (part12) using Fig. C. Kit part 10 will need a lit-tle trimming to allow the fuselage halves tomate properly. When you glue on part 15 sothe panel lines up , It will protrude beyondthe front of the fuselage a bit, so that mustbe trimmed. There will also be a small gapat the leading edge of the canopy rail. Fillthis gap with small scraps of plastic because

one weakness is the fit of the cowling andthe engine. I find the engine sits too far for-ward, and the attachment of the cowling is abit undefined. I recommend that you sanddown the exhaust stubs on part 19 so thatthe thickness is 0.156” (4mm), and trim thering on the back of part 20 so that it fits topart 19. This will shorten the whole engineassembly enough so that it doesn’t stick outtoo far into the cowling. Glue part 19 to part20 and then glue these to the front of theresin fuselage halves. There will be a step,but fair it in with some putty. When the cowl-ing goes on, this area will be in the gap be-tween the cowling and the fuselage.

CowlingYou can assemble and paint the en-

gine separately, and glue the cowling on af-terwards. . The interior of the cowling wasalso probably natural metal, but could havebeen zinc chromate primer. Remove themoulding ring from the front cowling andsand the cowling lip to a smooth radius.There are 3 ‘fingers’ moulded inside thecowling and these are used to support itagainst part 20 when it is installed. Note thatthe top two fingers go on either side of thetop center cylinder. If all goes well at finalassembly, there should be about a 1/16”(1.5mm) gap behind the cowling.

The Ocidental kit includes the longexhaust pipe (part 54) which was typicallyfitted to RCAF machines. This extension tothe standard exhaust pipe incorporated acockpit heater. The kit part is too simpli-fied, and is missing the internal heater tube.Check out some closeups on the internet andsee if you want to detail this area a bit.

WingA word on wings. The first trainers

had a nasty tip stall. One early fix was to fitslats on the outer wing leading edges. Thishelped, but the problem still existed. Later,the wings were de-skinned, the structuretwisted down 2 degrees at the tip and newwing skins installed. The problem was onlyever solved with the ‘new’ wing first seenon the AT-6 which had the twist built in and

Figure D

Figure F

Figure E

the canopy will not fit if you glue part 15further back. I would also recommend leav-ing off the tailwheel until the end.

The resin fuselage will require somegrinding or filing on the bottom to fit wellwith the centre section. Best to do this atthis stage so you can test fit the centre sec-tion easily.

Engine AssemblyI have built several of these kits and

Belcher Bits BK9 North American Harvard Mk I Page 3/4 July 2014

had a small sweep-forward to the trailingedge. The Harvard Mk I (like the BT-9s andNavy NJs) had the old style outer wing witha straight trailing edge. However, it musthave incorporated the built-in twist mod,since slats were never fitted. File off the threeprotruberances on the leading edge of eachwing and sand the leading edge smooth.

The Harvard Mk I was one of thenewer generation of aircraft with retractablelanding gear (like the later T-6). For thismodel, we will use the kit centre section withresin outer wings.

I recommend doing the wing sepa-rately from the fuselage since it involves glu-ing the outer wing panels to a centre sec-tion, it will be easier to ensure the same di-hedral on both wings. Glue the kit wings(parts 32,33,34 and the flaps 31) togetherand when dry, cut them off flush with theoutside edge of the fairing strip. Glue theouter wing panels (resin part C) to the cen-tre section. I find the best way to do this isto tape the centre section down securely anduse modelling clay to support the outer wingin position. Tack in place with cyanoacrylateglue. Once satisfied both outer wings arecorrect, flow some more cyano in the jointand fill any gaps with putty. Note that theouter wing parts are centred vertically onthe butt edge but the trailing edges are inline. If you want to drop flaps, you are infor a world of work and on your own.

When dry, fit the completed wing tothe fuselage. Some filling will be requiredat the joint between the wing and the fuse-lage along the root.

Tail AreaI recommended doing the wings first,

so that when you come to glue on the tailparts, it will be easy to line everything ei-ther in line or at right angles. The verticalfin (resin part B) is glued in place , liningup the after edge with the end of the fuse-lage. File that surface flat, test fit the rudderand glue it in place .

The port and starboard resin tailplanes(resin part E) can be glued in place andseams filled. Remember these should be par-allel to the wing centre section.

Landing GearThe kit landing gear is used as shown

in Figure G. Ocidental gives you three tires;do not use the one with a cross hatch treadpattern, but sand the other tires smooth. Thewheel hub can be reversed and used withflat side out.

The tail wheel from the kit (part 11)is used but with modification. Cut off themounting pins and the rear section aft of thetailwheel strut. Sand the top flat and glue inposition where indicated on the dawing.

CanopyDepending on the way you like to deal

with canopies, you may want to fit the fixedportions such as the windscreen (part 49)and the rear canopy section (part 53a) priorto painting. The Occidental kit includes op-tional canopy sections for early and laterHarvards; be sure to use the early ones withthe additional canopy frames; kit parts 50a(front), 51a (middle) and 52a (rear).

This kit includes a set of EZ Maskcanopy masks for your convenience. Thisself-adhesive film is pre-cut to fit the

Figure G

Occidental kit canopy, and will definitelysave you time in masking. Mix a smallamount of detergent with water, use a sharpknife to lift the canopy mask section off thebacking and a pair of tweezers to dip it inthe soapy water. Place it where indicated onthe canopy; the soapy water will allow youto move it into position. Once the mask isproperly positioned, press it in place and patit dry. Once all the masks are positioned anddried, the canopy is ready for painting.

Final StepsFollowing painting, clear wing land-

ing light covers part 48 (starboard) and 48a(port) are glued in place on the port and star-board wings respectively. The Occidental kitdoes not make any attempt to show thelamps; these could be made from small bitsof sprue or railroad lamp lenses.

On the starboard side just aft of theaccessory section are two small venturi. Toosmall for resin parts, you should make theseup from stretched sprue ends.

Glue the pitch control weights (parts24A) to the kit prop (part 24) hub. The propis natural metal with black on the rear facesof the blades.

References:1. North American Aircraft 1934-1998Vol. 1, by Norm Avery, published byNarkeiwicz / Thompson2. North American NA-16/AT-6/SNJ,Warbird Tech Series Volume 11, by DanHagedorn, published by Specialty Press3. T-6 Texan in Action, by Larry Davis,Squadron/Signal Publications.4. Harvard! by Dave Fletcher and DougMacphail, published by DCF Flying Books.5. The Incredible T-6 Pilot Maker by W.Ohlrich and J. Ethell, published by SpecialtyPress, 1983.6. NorthAmerican’s T-6 by Dan Hagedorn,published by Specialty Pres, 2009

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Harvard Mk I, Camp Borden, 1939The first Harvard I built, 1321 is typical ofearly markings for these aircraft in RCAFservice. Overall trainer yellow, with blackantiglare panel ahead of the cockpit.Roundels only on top of wings, registrationnumbers plus roundels underneath.Fire extinguisher panel was red with blacklettering.RCAF Harvard Is were in serial numbers1321-1350. Another (N7020) wastransferred from RAF stocks and enteredRCAF service as 3560.Ref: Harvard!, p.17

Decal Guide