Minicraft

1/144 B-52H Stratofortress

Kit Number: 14615

Reviewed by  Roger Carrano, IPMS# 45853

MSRP: $29.95 Website: www.minicraftmodels.com The B-52 Stratofortress was first flown on April 15, 1952 and the USAF acquired the B-52 in 1955. The B52-H entered service in 1961 and was last produced in 1962. The Stratofortress came into service under the Strategic Air Command. Low operating costs has kept it in service until today and plans are to have this aircraft in use for a few more decades. It was originally designed as a high altitude long range multi-role bomber and has been transformed into the weapon system of today. The B-52 is the longest serving combat aircraft. This new kit from Minicraft (although it is a reissue from Crown) comes with six sprues of light gray styrene and one sprue of clear. The instruction book contains eight pages of which 4 are for assembly, two are for painting and decal placement and the other two are for a brief description and the parts diagrams. The instructions are clear and concise and following them is very simple. Since it is a very small scale, it's almost impossible to have too much detail in the cockpit. However I did manage to paint small colored lights and a close resemblance of an instrument panel. With the "glass" glued on not much can be seen, so the colored effects can fool the eye into thinking that something is in there.

This kit went together without much sanding and filling and with a moderate amount of Zap-A-Gap, the seams came out very well. What took most of my time was the assembly of all the extra weapons that Minicraft makes available in this kit. Minicraft also provides stands for the weapons that are not chosen to put on the aircraft and can be displayed off the aircraft if you so choose. These weapons include the GAM-87A Skybolt (air launched ballistic missile), the SRAM AGM-69 (short range air missile), the ADM-20 Quail (aerial decoy) and the AGM-28 Hound Dog (air launched cruise missile). Also included are wing tip fuel tanks. The few options include the flaps being constructed open or closed and the landing gear extended or retracted. The kit also included the tail gun which was removed later on in service. There are two painting options in this kit with decals provided: one being from the 19 BW at Wurtsmith AFB in 1962 (Cuban Missile Crisis) and the other from the 449 BW at Kincheloe AFB in the early 1960's. I chose a paint scheme of a B-52H from Barksdale AFB which served with the SAC group until 1992 when the SAC was disbanded. The decals are made by Cardograf and, as you know, are one of the best decals around. And they didn't disappoint. However through my own error, I did get some "silvering" by way of rushing them on the wings just before leaving for work and forgetting to push out the bubbles and as luck would have it, the silvering appears on the top of the wings. The decals that I did do properly came out flawlessly. In conclusion, in spite of my rushing the decal preparation, the kit went together quickly with no trouble at all and the fit was right on. I would highly recommend this kit to anyone and it will fit well on an average shelf for display. The only negative thing is that this kit is a little pricey but that is something left to the individual. My sincere thanks to Minicraft Models for offering this kit for review and to IPMS for allowing me to review it.