Minicraft 1/144 Douglas DC-8-71 “Delta Airlines” Reviewed by Chris Banyai-Riepl

Overview

First flying on May 30, 1958, the Douglas DC-8 came out after the Boeing 707. While being second is, well, second, it had some benefits, namely that of expanding on what the 707 provided. This led to several airlines waiting for the DC-8, which had a roomier interior, rather than purchasing the 707. By the time the first DC-8 flew, sales had reached 133 aircraft, just shy of the number of 707s sold.

In 1966, Douglas improved their successful DC-8 by stretching it over 36 feet. This made the DC-8 the largest airliner in the world, at least until the 747 arrived. Even then, it remained the largest single-aisle aircraft until the introduction of the 757-300 in 1998. The Series 60 DC-8 was further improved in the early 1980s through a re-engining campaign. This replaced the older JT-3D engines with economical CFM-56 engines. This new Series 70 DC-8 became quite successful, and today roughly half of the DC-8 production still flies commercially.

The Kit

Minicraft’s latest airliner release is one that has been anxiously awaited by modelers. Prior to this, the only injection molded option was the ancient Revell kit, which was not bad, really. The new Minicraft kit, though, is an excellent replacement for that oldie. Molded in white and clear plastic, this kit features finely recessed panel lines, extensive detailing throughout, and a beautifully printed decal sheet. Utilizing CAD/CAM techniques, the result is easily the best airliner kit that Minicraft has put out to date.

Starting with the fuselage, here is the first sign that Minicraft is a modeler’s company. The fuselage halves have cut marks on the inside of the fuselage, indicating the sections needed to shorten this to a DC-8-62/72, or the earlier DC-8-50 series. The wing root is well engineered, with a deep well in addition to the traditional interlocking tabs seen on other Minicraft kits. The nose is separate, with two options provided: one with open chin scoops, and one with them blanked off. The cockpit section is a solid clear piece, allowing the modeler to either use decal windows, or mask clear ones.

Moving on to the wings and engines, these are as nice as the fuselage. The wings are molded in upper and lower halves, with the trailing edges integral with the upper wing pieces. Normally this would result in somewhat thick trailing edges, but not here. The trailing edges on this kit are razor thin. The wings have separate tips, with two options provided: short for the 50/61/71, and long for the 62/72 and 63/73 variants. Again, a nice touch by Minicraft, as this saves the modeler a bit of work. The engine nacelles are simply beautiful. A one piece front cowl eliminates any seam inside the intake, while the rear section, split into right and left halves, incorporates the engine pylon. Separate fan discs and hot section round out the engine nacelle, with the end result looking every bit the part.

Equally detailed is the landing gear. The main gear assembly consists of the main strut, two separate retractor arms, four separate wheels, and two doors. After a bit of cleanup and some detail painting, this will really look great. The nose gear is similarly detailed, with a separate retraction strut, landing lights (molded in clear), oleo scissors, and tires. Also molded in clear are the wingtip and wing root lights, adding another level of detail.

Capping this already beautiful model is an exquisite decal sheet. This sheet contains much more than other Minicraft releases, which hopefully indicates a shift towards more detailed decals in their future releases. The Delta scheme has a cheatline running through the windows, as well as the widget on the tail. The windows and door outlines are incorporated in with the cheatline, making it very simple to apply. In addition to the basic livery decals, this sheet also has quite a bit of detail markings, including decals that fit inside the engines and on the pylons. These additional details will really make this model stand out.

Conclusion

This model represents a significant leap for Minicraft in terms of quality and detail, and I hope that it marks a new era for this manufacturer. I am looking forward to building this, and perhaps a couple more (that DHL yellow and red cargo bird is very tempting). My thanks to Modelairliners.com for the review sample. Visit their website to get your DC-8. Better hurry, as they’re going fast