1/72 Heller DH 89 Dragon Rapide

by Gabriel Stern

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Nice kit of an attractive pre-WWII plane that also saw some service during the conflict and after, including some small airline users.
Heller reproduced the graceful lines of the original quite well. Just for those among you that still have the box in the stack: in my sample one wingtip was the victim of a short shot during molding, requiring careful filling/sanding. Some flash is present here and there. A decent interior is represented including floor, seats, bulkheads, control column, ruder pedals and instrument panel. Fit is fairly good in almost all parts, but the fuselage is flimsy and will probably require some of your attention and gluing tricks. Transparencies are clear but you will have to tweak here and there to make them fit. Nothing horrible though. Heller devised a rigging system that involves certain steps to be taken in early stages of the building. This will present you with some interesting challenges during assembly and decaling -not to mention masking/unmasking the lateral windows- becoming a "cat's cradle" of sorts. You will have to correct the fit of the two parts that make for the horizontal tail, or the hinge line, view from above, won't be straight. The surface of the lower wing is bumpy, because is just one piece (no upper/lower halves) and there are some very visible sinking marks all over that are difficult to correct (I didn't).
I made this one as another gift for Thomas (the friend who also was the recipient of the Short Stirling) for Christmas, who also flew in this one once upon a time.
Very notable is the fact that ALL the struts lengths were right on the spot, without any need to play around to get them in place. I would suggest you leave the struts that go from the engine pods to the fuselage until everything else is dealt with.
Cans of white primer and aluminum paint were used in this one (caution there, thin coats and wear a mask!), with traces of weathering from Tamiya smoke. The usual Future was applied to the  transparencies and before / after decaling.
This time the photos were taken (sorry fellows) with the web cam. The usual camera is somewhere in a box (I know is there...)

Gabriel

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Photos and text © by Gabriel Stern