Hey all,
Since I'm nearly finished with my Minicraft build, I thought I'd share the experience with you.
Out of the Box
Minicraft 1/48 UH60L Blackhawk
I purchased this one at a local hobby shop and consequently paid a bit more than I should have for it. However I like to support these shops when I can because it's nice having them around and they are becoming a thing of the past lately. If you want this kit, I've seen it on Hyperscale for $10 w/o shipping.
This kit out of the box was not impressive. In all fairness, the mold is at least 10-15 years old so I guess you shouldn't expect miracles. To make matters worse, my kit had a broken tail rotor blade and a haze which covered the entire clear plastic pieces. After emailing Minicraft, however, Sharon at customer service gladly replaced the defective clear parts with shiny new ones. Although it took two attempts by mail to get it right.
Another thing which hits you right off the bat is flash, lots of it and injector pin marks. Two of a modelers favorite things, right? The model comes sealed in one plastic bag with the clear parts sealed separately. It is molded in dark green plastic and includes an obscure decal sheet which most modelers will mainly discard. If you're going to build this one aftermarket parts including decals seem to be a must.
The directions are somewhat unclear in many sections and are vague as to painting and where certain parts attach. Since there are not really many parts, it is not very difficult to build however. You'll need your favorite filler though as there are plenty of gaps especailly where the fuselage halves meet.
The interior is sparsely detailed using decals for the instrument panel and some benches throughout the cargo hold. I eliminated all but one row of benches and left the seats for the gunners as well. Edward and verlinden sell detail sets for this bird and if you're going to attempt this build are highly recommended.
I chose to model an Ejercitos de Colombia, Colombian blackhawk in a three tone green dark green and grey scheme...similar to the US Army's Pavehawk. I purchased decals from Aztecmodels.com direct...He still has this set for latin american and US blackhawks...the decals are very nice and give you many options including the 'remove before flight' tags.
There are not many options when it comes to 1/48 blackhawks, Italeri being your next choice...Consequently, if you have to quell some urge to build one, I suppose you can manage with this kit...Because of the additional expense you'll encounter just to bring it up to speed, I'd be careful when approaching this build. I decided to close up the cabin and display this model on the tarmack. I'll let the paint scheme and the decals speak for themselves. No interior tours with this model unless you purchase those detail sets.
Well that's all I have for now. I'll try to post pics soon...oh an if someone's reading out there...please let's get a better blackhawk in 48 so I can use up all of these other nice decals.
Take Care,
Doug
P.S. If you want to build this colombian model or other latin birds, check out IPMS Colombia on the web...specifically Edison Franco's models in scale site...He's done a bunch of cool colombian models including the Mirage, huey, and an A-37 dragonfly.