Minicraft

1/144 Douglas DC-8-71

Kit Number: 14514

Reviewed by  John Kelly, IPMS# 3010

MSRP: $38.00 Review copy courtesy of Minicraft Models (www.minicraftmodels.com This kit was first released in 2005 and was the first issue of what promises to be a series of DC-8 kits with varying engine and wing configurations. A review of the DC-8-73 was completed by Jim Pearsall and is listed elsewhere on this website. This kit represents any of the 13 DC-8-71s operated by Delta Air Lines between 1981 and 1982. Decals are provided for every aircraft in the fleet. The kit has 59 parts in light gray plastic (although I have another copy in white plastic) and 8 parts in clear plastic. The kit provides wingtips and an additional nose part for the other versions. It does not, however, provide the earlier JT-3D engines.

The DC-8-70 series aircraft conversions were driven by the necessity to comply with new noise-reduction regulations that came into effect in the late 1970s. No new DC-8-70 series aircraft were built; all were conversions from earlier DC-8-60 series aircraft already in service. Although only the engines and pylons were changed, most of the airlines took the opportunity to apply other upgrades while the aircraft were out of service. One of the changes was the air conditioning system. The intake vents in the nose, which originally fed the air conditioner, were blocked off. The small fuel cost of the additional drag caused by the blocked-off vents was not considered serious enough to offset the significant cost of putting a new nose on the aircraft. Delta converted all of its DC-8-61 aircraft by 1982 and sold the last one to UPS in 1989. The instructions say that Delta converted 48 of these aircraft to -70 series configuration. That is true, however Delta owned only 34 DC-8s of all types and most of those were earlier short-bodied aircraft that were not converted. Delta was a contractor for Douglas and completed many of those conversions. In all 110 DC-8-60 series aircraft were converted to -70 series configuration. Construction is typical for this type of kit. Kits of aircraft with a long fuselage, like this one, often require some sort of reinforcement to prevent the fuselage from flexing during the final sanding and polishing. I cut nine pieces from the kit sprue and glued them to one fuselage half before assembling them. The plastic of this kit is thick and strong, and may not need the reinforcement, but it is a lot easier to do it and not need it than to wish I had done it when it is too late. Assembly is quick and the parts fit is excellent. The wing-to-fuselage joint is especially good, with the wing fitting snugly into a socket in the fuselage and interlocking with the tabs of the wing on the other side. I needed no filler on the wings or tail planes. There were some minor filling concerns on the fuselage and around the clear windshield piece. One feature of Minicraft kits is the clear windshield and forward fuselage section molded as one piece. Previous kits have had the windshield outline deeply engraved onto the part. This kit did not. Presumably this is to avoid having to deal with the engraved outline if you choose to use the windshield decal instead of masking the windshield and leaving it clear. I usually use the windshield decal, so this lack of engraving was actually helpful, but I would think it would be an annoyance for someone who wants a clear windshield and needed a masking reference guide. The engines are little masterpieces. The nose is a deep casting that fits snugly to a separate fan part. This design eliminates that often impossible inside seam on the engine intakes. The pylons are molded to the engine nacelle halves, eliminating a potential engine-pylon seam-filling job that is often aggravating. One interesting touch: the aft engine parts, which are very deep and delicate castings, were manually twisted on the sprue so they would fit into their individual plastic baggie without breaking. The instructions tell you to leave the assembled engines off until the wing is painted. It is good advice. The engine-to-wing fit is snug and precise. There is no filling required around the pylons after they are attached to the wing. Like all airliner models, painting is usually more difficult than it looks. I started by painting the leading edges of the fin, wings and tail planes, with Alclad White Aluminum, then painting the flaps and training edges of the wings and tail planes with Alclad Semi-matte Aluminum. The underside was painted with Alclad Aluminum. I painted the Alclad first as it dries hard as stone and won't be affected by masking tape. Next, I painted the wing and tail center sections with ModelMaster Canadian Voodoo Gray. The panel lines in the wing help here, but be careful, you need a really crisp, straight line. Finally I masked off the lower fuselage and painted the fin and upper fuselage ModelMaster Classic White.

The decals were somewhat intimidating at first. They are printed by Cartograf of Italy, and their color and registration is perfect. But they are big. The cheat line/window decal is one piece and it includes all the windows, doors and titles. They are also very thick and glossy, which is perfect for this kind of model. I applied the decals to the still-unattached engines first; more to get a feel for how they would work rather than out of any sense of a proper order. Next I tackled the long decals. The directions tell you to be careful of stretching them. I have had bad experiences with name-brand decals stretching, and it ain't fun. After a brief dip in warm water and a few minutes wait, they were ready. They slid off perfectly and lay on the models as if they belonged there. No stretching, no curling, no cracking. I used a little Solvaset on the engine, wing and rudder decals where there was engraved detail. The rudder hinge line is very deeply engraved, so I had to cut that decal with a new razor blade so it would settle onto the surface. The only problem I encountered was with the windshield and the anti-glare panel. I must not have aligned the forward part of the cheat line decal properly, as it was slightly askew at the nose. It was not obvious until I applied the windshield decal - carefully centering and aligning it with the cheat lines, only to find the anti-glare panel was now asymmetrical. A little trim with the razor blade and a little touch-up with gloss black paint and the problem went away. The final finish included brush-painting the anti-glare panel with clear flat and polishing the fuselage with Model Wax, a cream wax used by car modelers to give their models that final glow. I think it is more realistic than the overly bright gloss of Future floor wax and it serves to even the finish and protect the decals. It does have to be applied carefully, however. It makes the model slippery, and being a polish, it will remove paint and decal ink if you are too enthusiastic in your application. I liked this kit. I build a lot of airliners and this is one of the best I have ever built. The fit is excellent, the detail perfect for this type of model, and the decals among the best I have seen. I could only wish that some of the earlier Minicraft kits could be redone to this standard. Recommended without reservation, although younger modelers may need help with that long window decal. My thanks to Minicraft, via IPMS, for the review kit.

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