Platz 1/144 C-46D
By Matt Bittner
Introduction
It's my belief that Platz is one of those modeling companies that not many know about, but should. While most of their releases have been in 1/144, any plastic injected kit they put out compares favorably - if not more so - than most of the other "big name" companies. Hopefully modelers will see that, and start giving Platz the respect they deserve.
Yes, most of their releases have been in 1/144, but all of those kits are true modeling gems. However, if you're looking for pilot-less aircraft in 1/72, Platz is also the company to seek. With the Global Hawk and X-47B on the market (amongst others) - as well as the definitive T-33 in 1/72 - they are the company to track down for building what has become known as "drones".
The Kit
The Platz 1/144 C-46D consists of 52 pieces of grey, injected plastic and two clear - the main windscreen and the dome cover for the top of the fusealge. Decals are extremly well done and complete, and provide markings for no less than 41 different Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) aircraft (39 have the same basic finish, with differences in the aircraft number, and the other two are finished a bit different) and one United States Air Force (USAF) transport that was flown during the Korean War. All aircraft appear to be painted in aluminum; the USAF transport had black undersides; 39 of the JASDF machines had a day-glo orange nose and fuselage-stripe (provided as decals); and the other two JASDF aircraft were just overall-aluminum. Note that the side-windows are represented by decals, although - if you so desire - you could cut them out and put clear in them. It would be a little work, though, and there is no interior - aside from the cockpit - supplied with the kit. Note also that exterior colors are called out in only Gunze and Federal Standard (FS) numbers.Construction should go quickly, unless you're also using the Platz photoetch set (reviewed elsewhere). You'll start assembling the cockpit by gluing the control columns onto the one-piece cockpit, and gluing that to one fuselage half (be aware there are no color call-outs for anything except the finished model). Once the cockpit is in and painted, then glue the fuselage halves together, followed by the horizontal tail pieces, windscreen and nose-cone.
The next major step in the instructions is assembling both wings, which includes gluing the engine/firewall piece to the assembled halves; gluing the cowl-sides to that, followed by the cowl front and underside (hopefully the gaps in this area will be manageble). The next six pieces you may want to add after painting - the four exhausts and two prop blades.Steps four and five of the instructions you may want to hold off until after painting as well. These steps are gluing the landing gear and gear doors to their respective places. It would be easier to glue all this together after the kit is assembled and painted.
Now the wings are glued to the fuselage, resulting in an airplane. This step also has you add the antennas and such to the bottom of the fuselage, along with the tail wheel and doors. Again, those too are best left off until after painting.Finally, the last step has you add antennas and such to the top of the fuselage. You'll want to leave off the clear dome-top of the upper fuselage off until the very end, but if you're careful enough - and since the JASDF aircraft were all one color - you could get away with adding all antenna prior to painting.
Conclusion
This is a beautiful kit, and should go together relatively quickly. The JASDF schemes are very nice to look at, and with the choice of 42 distinct aircraft, your most difficult choice will be which one to build. If you use the photoetch supplied separately, then the Platz 1/144 C-46D will really look awesome when finished.Many, many thanks to Platz for sending this top-notch model in for review.