Minicraft seems to be revamping their line, with new tools of their older Cessna, Piper, and Beechcraft kits. I know the Cessna 172 is a new tool from '06, and it seems like the 150 is a very recently-released new tool as well but this I am not sure about. What I am confused on is that they seem to be selling new toolings of the Cherokee and the Bonanza as well but this is not clear at all... can anyone clarify exactly WHAT is new and what is not?
Here's what I seem to understand so far. As a reminder, this is not a statement/fact - I am asking for clarification on where I am wrong ( " * " Notes kits that I am aware of Old/New Tooling):
- Piper Cub
- 11611 - Old Tool?
- 11663 - Old Tool with Floats?
- 11678 - New(er) Tool?
- Piper Cherokee
- 11610 - Old Tool*
- 11677 - New Tool?
- 11674 - New Tool with Floats?
- Cessna 150
- 11608 - Old Tool*
- 11675 - New Tool?
- 11662, 11666, 11667 - Variations of 11675?
- Cessna 172
- 11635 - New Tool*
- 11651, 11634 - Variations of 11635
- Beechcraft Bonanza
- 11609 - Old Tool*
- 11676 - New Tool?
- 11670 - New Tool based on 11676 but with parts for the F33 (Straight Tail)
So what are we really looking at? There is really no clarity on Minicraft's website as to what is really new, and what is just a reboxing, and no one is answering their emails/phone when I try to contact them about this.
For example, they state "New Tooling" on the floatplane version of the Cherokee, but not on the wheeled version which makes me wonder if the "New Tooling" is referring only to the floats portion of the kit.
Same thing with the Bonanza - the box says "New Tooling" but says "...for tail and 3 blade propeller" which leads me to believe that everything else is from the old kit. On the other hand, unless the tail is seperate from the rest of the aircraft, they'd have to re-tool the entire fuselage anyway... see what I mean? Confusing!
Doesn't help that they seem to be reboxing everything in an effort to revamp the entire company image and modernize everything... which is fine and I think their new boxes are gorgeous. However, because all the boxes are new, it seems to make it very tough to figure out which kits themselves are new.