Minicraft

1/144 Douglas DC-8-73

Kit Number: 14544

Reviewed by  Jim Pearsall, IPMS# 2209

MSRP: $38.00 Review kit provided by Minicraft Models (www.minicraftmodels.com). The Aircraft Boeing's 707/720 series of airliners was hugely successful, so Douglas, leader in the airliner market for many years, came up with the DC-8 series. While not as successful at the DC-9, the DC-8 did manage to sell one DC-8 for every two 707s sold. Unfortunately, the public recognized the 707 name, and anyone who saw a DC-8 thought it was a 707. Kind of like the ones who call any light aircraft a "Piper Cub". Douglas also thought of the possibilities of freight hauling, and came out with the DC-8-60 series, (-61, -62 and -63), which were stretched DC-8s designed for hauling heavy cargoes long distances. These aircraft were truly impressive, with extended fuselages. The long, slender fuselage became the trademark for the DC-8. The 707 series could not be stretched because they didn't have the ground clearance of the DC-8s, and the tail would drag on takeoff and landing. The -60s were later the basis for the "Super 70" series, with the same fuselages, but with CFM-56 engines, which were quieter. The concern here was the environmental impact of the noisy JT-3D engines. Also, the extra power didn't hurt. The aircraft depicted in this kit is a -73 which was owned by Southern Air Transport, a CIA connected company. Although airliners.net has photos of SAT DC-8s in Stockholm and Hong Kong, they also show up at LAX, Miami and Louisville, KY. The last is because SAT leased aircraft to UPS. The conspiracy theorists will have a field day with that one! The Model This kit is advertised as having "high precision CAD designed tooling". OK, if it's state of the art, it ought to be a pretty good build. There are 4 sprues, 3 white, and 1 clear. The diagram is good enough, and the instructions are clear enough that even I had no problem finding the parts I needed quickly. There is no interior, but if you want to make your own, or take one from another airliner, there is a clear part. I painted mine. Construction and Painting The fuselage halves fit cleanly, and I only had to use putty here and there to get the seam even. Score one for Minicraft. Getting two pieces of plastic this long to match up all along the seam is an accomplishment. Also, their mold designers got it right when they did the cooling, as I have seen a number of large kits made very difficult because the kit parts were put in the box while still warm and pliable, and the whole thing warped. The nose cone didn't fit as well as the other parts, though. It was slightly oversized, but this was fixable with a Flex-i-File and a touch of putty.

I painted the entire fuselage gloss white, and added the silver to the leading edge of the vertical stabilizer. I decided not to leave the windshield clear and used the decal.

The wings also went together cleanly. There was a fit issue with the wing tips, but again a light application of putty and some sandpaper made it OK. Painting the wings was probably the most time consuming part of the whole build. Three colors in 4 bands down the whole span of the wing requires some fine masking work, and double checking to get the tape straight.

The CFM-56 engines were quite nice. Everything fit on these. The only problem I had was that in handling I broke the fine, delicate and fragile extension off the back of the engine mount on one of the inboard engines. Now comes the good part. When I fit the wings into the slots in the fuselage they were TIGHT. No flex, no wobble, nothing out of alignment. The instructions tell you not to paint the wing where it fits inside the fuselage, and to avoid getting paint inside the fuselage mating point. They're right. The fit is so good that another coat of paint would get in the way. The engines fit on the wing the same. They weren't difficult to insert, but once they were mounted, you didn't really need glue. Same with the horizontal stabilizers. A good tight fit, good alignment, and if you didn't want to make the installation permanent, you could do it without glue. This was all good for me. I used a tiny amount of glue on the wings, engines and stabs, and it really looks good! I save the landing gear till last. This went together well, and the instructions don't lead you astray. I did put the wheels on the struts a day before I put the gear on the wing to be sure the wheels were solid. One last quibble. The nose gear doors come in 2 parts, and must be cut into 4 parts. Then the front 2 doors are mounted in the closed position, which is difficult, and leaves a noticeable seam. I think it would be much cleaner to make it as 1 part, which is then cut into 3, leaving 1 piece to glue in the closed position. My opinion. Decals Here's one of those places where I wish they didn't do me certain favors. The top and bottom wing have inspection ports which are indicated with panel lines. And there are decals to go over these. They were a bear to align, as those fine panel lines disappeared when I put the Micro Sol ® on the surface. I was gratified at how well those loooooong decals went on the side of the fuselage. Otherwise, the decals were just as expected from a state of the art kit. Not too fragile, but laid down well, didn't look thick on the surface, and didn't silver, even though there was about an acre of clear on the wing for those inspection panels. Overall Assessment Recommended without reservation. This is probably the best fitting airliner kit I have ever built. There will be decals available for this kit, as I found a number of photos of -73s on Airliners.net which were not SAT. Hope they're as good as the kit decals. The marketing hype about the good fit is actually true. The two places where I noted less-than-perfect fit are just that … less than perfect. Not bad fit, just not up to the very high standard set everywhere else. Thanks to Minicraft Models for a great kit and John Noack for sending me this beauty.

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