Welcome to the Top Flite Gold Edition Cessna 182 Page

Greg Weeks and I both built one of these kits, beginning October 27th, 2001.  We've added scale wing/fuselage fillets, scale cockpits, and functional lighting.  We've also (lightly!) glassed and painted our kits, rather than the usual plastic covering. The construction photos are located in the TF C182 Archive  with a just a few others here.

Greg and I both added the Robart #654 strut, and recommend it, both for looks and functionality.

I've changed one additional thing on my kit, which is to make the dorsal fin more scale-like. I thought the one supplied with the kit came out too thin, and added epoxy/microballoons to mine, to make the transition smoother.

Here's my kit, just before the primer.

Greg and I both added a removable hatch at the tail, for access to the linkages. To make the hatch seam invisible, I first applied a thin coat of PVA to my hatch block. Then I ran a bead of epoxy/microballoons around the hatch opening, attached the hatch, and wiped off the excess epoxy. When cured, (shown here) use sandpaper or a Dremel tool to smooth out the interior perimeter.

Greg and I both filled minor scratches and dings, after the primer, with acrylic auto body putty.

The fuselage gets the same treatment, but needed more... Below are some photos of Greg's plane, which is finished as of 04-04-02

Greg came up with a way to modify the Top Flite muffler so the exhaust would exit at the bottom.

This is the kind of shine you need to have on your primed, wet sanded fuselage, to get a nice paint finish. Here are some nice closeups of Greg's kit, painted and ready to go.

Notice how the wndow tint gives the interior a believable look.

The very lightweight cockpit kit from Top Flite served us both well.

Once it's installed, and the windows are tinted, it's quite sufficient to give a realistic look.

Greg and I both cut the wing trailing edge off, where it meets the fuselage, just behind the rear spar. We then used balsa blocks to create a much more scale-like appearance, creating the wing filliets. We got this idea from Paul Reese, who gave his Cessna kit a similar treatment.