Have any of you guys built this kit? I am about to start it for my Grandmother, my Grampa used fly one of these. So are there any tips or tricks you guys can share with me about this one? Thanks in advance! [tup]
Sorry, I forgot to mention, its a Minicraft kit.[;)]
I built a 1/48 Bonanza a while back. But honestly I do not remember which company it was. Its been hanging from my ceiling for several years now.
I finished it in natural metal with a gloss black cowl.
It was a pretty simple build. Good luck with yours.
This little kit has been in at least 6 different company boxes, if not more. It is a nice little kit and will take some care and fitting to get it together. The clear parts are very thick and out of scale, and you could add a little detail to the cockpit, eg seat belts. Other than that it is a nice kit and builds into a good scale replica of the “Butterfly Tail Bonanza”. Paiinting the stripes in that scale will be a challenge. Enjoy the build.
rangerj reminded me of a few things. I agree the clear parts were a bit thick. With some sanding/ trimming I am sure they will work fine. I also went with the NMF to avoid painting the stripes. It was beyond my skills at the time.
Ok, thanks guys. I am going to have to put some stripes on it if its going to resemble my Grandfaher’s plane. Thanks for the advice gentlemen![tup]
It’s a Beechcraft, not a Beachcraft. I have many hours in a variety of Beeches–piston singles and twins and turboprop twins. Also, it was never known, at least among pilots, as “the butterfly-tail Bonanza,” rather the “vee-tail Bonanza” a.k.a. the vee-tail doctor-killer–the latter because so many rich MDs bought them and flew them while 1/assuming they knew everything there was to know, and 2/were too busy to keep their flying skills at the level the Bonanza required in IMC.
Stephan
Yes, I realized I spelled it wrong after I typed it, but due to errors that kept popping up from the forum, I decided to leave it. That is funny what you said, my Grandma told me that my Grandpa bought the beechcraft after 1 lesson and flew it from Terre Haute to the Greencastle airport (about 50 miles) wiht no license! Mind you this was in the 50’s-60’s but still, and he only had one eye he could see out of, but still managed to get his license! From what my Grandma told me, he flew that plane everywhere he could.
Yes, the Bonanza was a remarkably easy airplane to fly, very forgiving. I once flew one for about 200 miles with the rudder lock still in place, and even landed in a moderate crosswind. (Don’t ask…) Problem was, however, when you were IFR and let it get away from you, it picked up speed rapidly. The typical accident scenario was an upset, often in a t’storm, followed by a dive, then the pilot desperately trying to pull it out. Overloading the aircraft in that fashion typically pulled the tail off–early vee-tails had a weak spar, and the later ones weren’t a hell of a lot better–and then the wings came off. Interestingly, the wings always failed , not upward as one might intuit, because the airplane wanted to bunt when the tail came off.
VFR, Bonanzas were no problem.
Stephan
I built one of these a few years ago. It is a very simple kit, but they are pretty simple airplanes. I guess you could scratchbuild some modern radios and a GPS to go in the panel.
The clear plastic is very thick and distorted, so don’t bother detailing the interior if you are going to use the stock windows.
I suspect this kit is out of scale. I wanted to put a pilot figure in the one I built, so I tried fitting in a 1/48 WWII pilot figure. It didn’t even come close - unless the pilot figure represents a 7’2" pilot. Maybe the figure was out of scale.
I have a Bonanza in my stash along with a Cherokee 140 and Cessna 152. I wish one of the major kit manufacturers would release a new 172, Dakota, or A-35. I’d buy a case.
Minicraft makes a couple new 172 kits, at least the site I looked at said they were new tooling. They weren’t in stock yet there, but they had a picture? I found them at www.hobbylinc.com ., but www.greatmodels.com has them to.
I’ve got Minicraft’s Cessna 150. Aparently they made it the acrobat model cuz it’s got windows thru the wing. I’ll agree the windows are thicker than my egyptian friend’s leg hair. I’ll be building it for my grandfather. I plan on doing the model so it looks like it’s comming in for a landing.
The Beech V-35 makes a fine display if given a little TLC. [:)] I thermoformed new transparencies using the kit supplied pieces as molds… which sure improved its first-glance appeal! [;)]
Also, for those about to build, or wanting to build a Cessna 150, I would highly recommend getting the “Heller” 1/50th release of this aircraft!
http://gunsagogo.org/c150heller.jpg
It’s a LOT better representation of a modern aircraft… (wheel paints, cowling, glass, wing tips, etc etc)
Take care,
Frank