I’m having a hard time finding anything like a piper cub or beechcraft bonanza or cessna 150, especially in 1/48 scale.
What I have found are the minicraft kits, but I’ve heard that the transparencies are cloudy.
Are there any good, not-overly-expensive civil air kits in any scale out there, or should I go back to hellcats and warharks? [:D]
There are very few civil aircraft aircraft in 1/48 scale. General aviation is a much overlooked subject. The minicraft kits are the most easy to come by.
Revell Germany have reissued Hasegawa’s 1/48 Learjet, Cessna Citation and Dassault Falcon; if the bizjet side of civil aviation grabs you at all.
Modelcraft has a 1/48 Cessna 172. I’m not sure of its origins, but its a bit of a pig to build so I suspect its a reissue of something older. Modelcraft recently reissued Matchbox’s 1/72 DeHavilland Twin Otter with civil markings, its a pretty good kit if you can find it.
Hobbycraft have 1/72 and 1/48 kits of DeHavilland Beavers and single Otters. A Canadian aftermarket outfit called Whiskeyjack, makes some civil decals for them. I believe Hobbycraft also has a 1/48 Piper L-4 in civil markings.
On the limited run side of things, I think there is at least one 1/48 kit of a Pilatus Porter out there, but I don’t know if it comes with civil markings.
Years ago, AMT made 1/48 kits of a Beech 17 Staggerwing and a Stinson Reliant. If you’re an e-bay person at all or are drawn to the consignment section of your LHS (if it has one) you may be lucky and find one.
AMT also reissued Esci’s 1/72 Fokker F-27 Friendship in the late 80s or early 90s, its a pretty decent kit given its age. If that category of aircraft is of intrest, Hobbycraft made a 1/72 DeHavilland Dash 8 in the late 80s, its a pretty spartan kit and takes a bit of work to make the most of her, but she’s a respectable representation of the real deal.
Hope thats some help to you.
In 1/72 scale, aari/otaki has some GA aircraft, I think a cessna 172 and a bonanza.
And I believe that Nichimo (could be bandai or another japanese manufatcurer) had a large scale (1/32 or 1/24) Aerosubaru.
I found a review of the Nichimo kit, it’s 1/20!!!
http://modelingmadness.com/reviews/civil/poifa200preview.htm
And I found this list, altough there are a lot that where noted earlier.
http://www.lhshop.nl/?shopid=LM4289cbf4efa936957254348140&parent_id=216
all i can add to this list is the airfix 1/72 cassna 337/O2 kit (only has millitary markings though) and piper cherrokee 6. heller with 1/50th Stampe sv4, cessna 150 and jetranger. also aurora did some civil stuff including the piper axtec, apache and aero commander. all in 1/72
best regards.
Greg