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In-Box Review
P61B Black Widow
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by: terri werner [ ]
Dragon brings us this fighter in 1/72 scale under their Golden Wing Series Premium Edition. Opening the box this is what you will find .................
4 sprue trees containing 92 plastic parts
45 PE parts ( Pre Painted Eduard set )
3 Marking options
Instructions / 10 assembly steps
Assembly begins in the cockpit with the pilot and gunner stations. The instrument panel needs to have detail removed for the 4 PE parts that make it up. It would be best to cut the rudder petals off and super glue them to the back of the new panel. Have these items in PE parts would have given it a more scale appearance. The seats I find to be on thick side, but a sanding stick will take care of this to thin them down. The Pre-colored PE seat belts are a real gem and bring a nice over all effect. Bulkheads have good detail, same can be said for the side walls. The detail is fair which most of the PE parts replace molded on detail such as control panels and engine controls. The floors them self aren't that bad at all , but no details are on the gunners floor. The only detail in the radar station is a seat, floor and bulkhead. There is no side wall detail on the fuselage halves in this area at all. Stabilizer fits well but does need filling at the mating surfaces.
The surface detail is most excellent with engraved panel lines, rivet detail and access hatches. However careful attention when gluing the fuselage halves together to ensure a proper fit. There are sink marks in a few spots (see pictures) so filling these will need to be done. Over all I'm really impressed with the rivet detail at the wing root.
Wings are up next and the two halves fit perfectly with thin trailing edges. Surface detail is excellent. There are some fit issues at the wing root. When mated to the fuselage there is a slight step with caps toward the inner landing flap ( see pic's ) Tail booms are the same, lots of filling and sanding is needed. Wheel wells do have nice detail, with careful painting and weathering the detail will stand out not too bad. Wheel well cover doors are nice detail, however; landing legs are very simple with etch brake lines to enhance them. The wheels them self are good with a diamond thread pattern but they come in two halves which is a drag having to sand and lose the detail. Would have been better to have the tires solid and the hubs as inserts.
Engines are very plain in detail compared to other ares in the kit. The fit in side the cowls is trouble free resting about half way in. When the props are finally installed not much will be seen of the engines.
The canopy is nice and clear but there is no option to have the hatches open. Lots of masking the frame off for no mask are provided in the kit. The fit is excellent with only a small area needed filling by the gunner station left hand side of the fuselage.
The decals are super, printed by Cardiograph three options are provided for the following ....
418th NFS , south Pacific 1944
422th NFS , France 1945
548th NFS , Iwo Jima 1945.
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About terri werner (thegirl)
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