Minicraft 1/200 Hughes HK-1/H-4 "Spruce Goose" kit lineage Q

Howdy, folks![:D]
After much searching on the Internet, I’m still left with questions concerning the lineage of the Minicraft 1/200 “Spruce Goose” that I’m building for the “It Floats and Flies” GB.

First of all, the Minicraft kit (#11607) is excellent, sharply molded with recessed panel lines and about as detailed as the original aircraft was (i.e., not much detail on the exterior!). Fit is great, and basically all is well with this big (?) 1/200 scale kit.

My Q concerns the lineage of this kit. Is this Minicraft version (listed as a 1996 release) an original, or is it a rebox of an older kit? I ask because I ran across two other 1/200 “Geese” at an LHS today, one by Entex and one by a little-known (by me, anyway!) Japanese company called G-Mark.

I didn’t have a chance to open the boxes and check the contents, so I can only go with the boxart photos as far as IDing these kits.

The G-Mark kit has a really cool box, with several photos of the actual aircraft on the top and photos of the model on the sides. In those pix, the model looks very similar if not identical to the Minicraft kit, including the display stand, which is identical.

The Entex kit, however, does not seem related to either kit. The boxtop features a big photo of what can only be described as a very poorly constructed and finished model, which actually seems to be carved out of rough balsa wood, with the canopy penned in with a magic marker (no clear parts). The props and spinners are thickly out of scale, and the display stand is more of a cradle, totally different than the Minicraft or G-Mark kits.

Both the “vintage” Entex and G-Mark kits were on sale for 3,000 yen, or about $28.50 USD. No idea on how old they were (no dates listed on the boxes), but they both seemed a good bit older than the 1996 issue of the Minicraft kit.

Sorry for the long post, but does anybody have any info on the relationship (or lack thereof) between these three kits of the “Spruce Goose?”

Thanks for any info![:)]

Academy and Minicraft used to be one company but split apart several years ago with each side splitting the models bewteen them. So it is possible to find the same kit in an Academy box or a Minicraft box depending on when it was manufactored. As to where it came from before that or if it was one of there own molds, i don’t know.

what are the dimensions on those things?

The 1/200 Minicraft kit is 33.7cm (about 14 inches) long with a 49cm (about 19 1/4 inches) wingspan.

John, thanks for that info. I know Academy was affiliated with Minicraft in the past (as was Hasegawa many moons ago), but I haven’t seen an Academy Spruce Goose.

Thanks again!