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MPM's 1/72 DC-2 PAA/EAL

By Chris Banyai-Riepl

Overview

When MPM first released their 1/72 DC-2 kit, it came with military markings. This left many modelers clamoring for airline markings, many looking at DC-3 sheets and seeing if they could be adapted. Now MPM has re-released the kit with two airline liveries, Eastern and Pan Am Grace. The plastic is the same as the original kit, so rather than rehash a review I'll just point you to the original and talk about the decals.

The Decals

The decal sheet in the MPM kit is good-sized, as there's a lot of large markings to handle here. Starting with the Eastern livery, this one includes the Great Silver Fleet script for the fuselage as well as the large EAL for the wings. Registration numbers are also included for the wings & tail, and there's also the small Douglas logo in blue and red. The Eastern logo is also included. Much of the decals are printed in black and I'm not sure if that is how it should be or if it should be in blue. Unfortunately all the photos I've turned up are in black and white, so everything is a shade of gray....

The second livery is that of PANAGRA, or Pan American Grace Airways. This livery has the name along the upper fuselage as well as the standard PAA winged globe emblem. Again these are printed in black and I believe they should be in blue. Interestingly, this plane also has several yellow stripes along the wings and tailplanes, although these will have to be painted on.

Conclusion

This is a great kit and now that there's civil markings in the kit as well as an aftermarket sheet we will undoubtedly see more DC-2s built up. MPM has also announced yet another airline release of this kit, this time with KLM markings. It's a great time to want to build civil DC-2s!