Saturday, January 23, 2010

1/144 Curtiss-Wright C-46 "Commando" by Miniwing






This has to be the largest kit produced by Miniwing todate, it pretty much fills the box and has a certain 'heft' that other smaller kits do not have!

Whilst the C-47 "Skytrian" aka "Dakota" gets all press, there were other transport aircraft out there and this C-46 "Commando" is one of the significant others.

In the sameway that the C-47 was derived from the passenger DC-3 the C-47 was also derived from an airliner project (it may also have been a competitor produced to the Boeing B-307?)

Anyway, back to the kit...

The kit is as usual has high production values and is a nicely produce kit, cleanly cast and nicely detailed.

The casting captures the shape well and has the signature crease along the length of the fueslage, the fuselage is in three parts, two halves and the tail section. Everything looks straight and some minor trimming on the tail plug maybe requied, but this is a strong kit with thick walls on the fuselage so there should be no problems. It might be worth considering some careful drilling and inserting of pins to help the stabilisation and join of the wings to the fuselage, again this is obviosuly a matter of taste?

There is a large amount of detail in this kit with regard to panel lines and the like.
It is possible to build this in a "Wheels up" or "Wheels down" setting, the undercarriage should be strong enought to carry the weight of this beast, but you will certianly want to keep it out hte way of any little people!

The decals are basic but produced to the usaul YKRAFT standard and providedes variation for two USA schemes.

Whilst the C-46 did not serve with many airforces it did go one to provide service to many airlines, so there could be some scope for the adoption of other schemes and colours?

Available: January 2010
Price: 35.10 EURO
Contact: http://www.miniwing.cz/

Also available unedited Large pics in Super HD (3027 x 2304)
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8 comments:

smeg1959 said...

I know of three other C-46's in the scale. Platz have two - see http://www.platz-hobby.com/products/772.html and http://www.platz-hobby.com/products/773.html. I thought these were OOP, but there they are on the Platz website, complete with a 6090 yen price tag. The other is the diecast Atlas offering - fairly basic and weighs a ton!

rkmasu said...

The problem with Platz C-46 was a model with 4 bladed props...and I think the decals was JASDF post war,and another version was a Ultraman anti-monster squad version..
This one from miniwings have 3 bladed props common used in WW2..and also have clear canopy...and decals and painting of USAF

bluedonkey99 said...

Smeg

They may be listed, and they may have a price.

But the button says " Contact Us" and clicking it doesnt take you "how to contact" page, not a shopping cart!?

A set of "Ultra Man" Man Decals would be cool.

Maybe we should contact Ykraft!?

rkmasu said...

jasdf C-46 http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10025478
Tdf (ultraman squad) C-46
http://www.platz-hobby.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=771&language=en
http://www.airline-hobby.com/shop//photos/PLZ-PC04%20TDF%20Flying%20Diver%20Curtis%20C46%20Box-C.jpg
usaf
http://www.airline-hobby.com/shop//photos/PLZ-PC05%20USAAF%20US%20Nay%20Curtis%20C46%20Box-C.jpg
source:
http://www.airline-hobby.us/forums/showthread.php?p=2790

144hack said...

Glad to see it. These guys fill a lot of gaps in my Vietnam War and this makes another one checked off. Seems like Miniwing is wandering into some big airplanes.

bluedonkey99 said...

I think if it sells well as expected, it may lead to other larger projects!

certainly it hold true to the Miniwing ethos of trying more diverse products.

rkmasu said...

I will be satisfied if they not make to much big kits(this is a Anigrand category)..
So I think stay in single engines ,2 engines light bombers,transports size are nice niche
things as .. A-20 boston/havoc/P-70, Ventura/harpoon, blenhein/beaufort, tu-2,pe-2,Bloch 174(a colorfull plane!!),Breguet 693...just to keep in WW2 twin engines...and since they did the nice S-2 tracker..why not the Savage?
since Miniwings makes jets..a Super etandart,a Vantour, a J29 Tunnan, a Su-24 fencer, a T-2 Buckeye ,a Banshee,

smeg1959 said...

It is interesting that Miniwing is looking to larger aircraft. The C-46 is like a C-47/DC-3 on steroids. Having said that, look what happened in the F-Toys range. Who would have expected a Lanc and Flying Fort in boxes not that much larger than those containing Sturmoviks and Mossies? And Cafe Reo/Algenon Product really justifying the "Big Bird" name with the Emily.

I echo Roberto's sentiments regarding possible twin-engined entries, adding a few other notables like the Me410, Petlyakov Pe-2, and something from the Potez 63 series.