Lift Here Cessna 310

[Space Ranger]

I've just received one of these, and here's a preliminary in-the-box review.

Lift Here is a Serbian company which has produced some interesting and unique kits. This is the first one I have purchased. Scale is 1/72.

Kit is molded in a dense, white resin which makes the extremely fine engraved detail hard to see. The majority of the fuselage is a on-piece part, with a cavity for cabin interior details. Cabin top/windows/windshields is a one-piece item, vacuum-formed in clear plastic; two copies are included. The cabin top and windows are is also given as a one-piece resin part with glass areas indented for those who do not want to detail the cabin. Interior details include seats, instrument panel, instrument panel glare shield, and control wheels, but no guide to their placement is included. Wing including engines is one piece. Decals are included for two USAF U-3As, one in the original blue-and-white "Blue Canoe" scheme, the other in the later white-over-gray scheme.

Dimensionally, the kit has some serious issues. Based on factory scale drawings of known accuracy, the wingspan is right on, but the engines are 2 mm too far outboard. The fuselage is 3 mm too long, and about 2 mm too deep through the cabin area. Vertical fin is 2 mm too high. Horizontal stabilizers have 2 mm excess chord at both root and tip, and are 2 mm each too long in span. Prop diameters are 5 mm in excess. These dimensional differences might not matter if we were talking about a 1/72 B-36, but the 310 is not a big airplane (wingspan 35.77 ft, overall length 26.025 ft). The 310 has a distinctive appearance, and these differences, even though small, will be obvious and will make the completed model look strangely bloated, especially if one is familiar with the aircraft.

Cessna's 310 is one of my all-time favorite aircraft, and I was disappointed when my examination revealed these errors. My advice would be to wait for Aircraft in Miniature's 310B. I provided detailed dimensional data and other details to AIM for that kit, which has been designed using Catia software, so it should be far more accurate than Lift Here's.

Edited October 19, 2014 by Space Ranger

[vozdushniy]

I see you copied and pasted the very same text on several message boards and discussion forums. I guess it was urgent. I have no intention to debate in such way. The fuselage mould has the filling channel on the very tip of the nose, so the cast part needs to be filed down a bit.

I did not make fuss about our decals being pirated by our buyers (who have their own decal businesses, for example) by inventing the aircraft with number 19 and 21 instead of our 20 ("19" and "21" did not exist), or compiling their new decal set from several ours. You may find some examples easily.

I didn't do it when I send review samples and never read any review in any form.

Not even if some people intentionally mix us for someone else's company. Or when asking for another shipment, because "the first was lost in the mail"; the mail is tracked.

It is nice when people play fair, indeed - I wish you good luck with your future spot-on model.

Thank you,

LiftHere! Models

[Space Ranger]

I posted my review on several forums, not because I considered it "urgent," but because there are modelers I know who belong to one forum but not the others and who have expressed interest in this kit.

I think my assessment of your product was very fair; I did point out some of the features that I like ("extremely fine engraved detail", the extra clear cabin top and the solid cabin, for example; I did forget to mention the attractive box art and the manner in which the parts are sealed in a plastic bag so as not to get lost). I don't understand your remark about pirated decals; I do not condone copyright violation. I also don't understand your remark about claiming an item was lost in the mail; I don't do that either. For the record, my kit was purchased from Cooper Models here in the US; David Cooper is a reputable vendor, and the kit I received from him appears to be just as you produced it.

I understand that resin moldings have extra bits of resin where the mold is filled much like injection plastic moldings have sprue, but that is not the source of the dimensional errors I quoted. It is obvious that you take care to produce a quality product, but it is unfortunate that you apparently relied on some inaccurate data in this case. When completed, your Cessna 310 will no doubt look enough like a 310 to satisfy the majority of builders, but for someone who has had an interest in the airplane since it made its appearance in the "Sky King" program on US television in the late 1950s, it will look a bit odd.

For the record, I have no vested interest in Aircraft in Miniature; I am not an employee or stockholder. It is a one-man business in the UK (I am in the US) whose owner has an interest in civil aircraft and belongs to the same Yahoo interest groups I belong to. When I learned he was interested in producing a kit of the 310, I forwarded to him all the information I have accumulated over the years. Had I known that you were interested in bringing out a kit of the 310, I'd have offered to assist you as well. My only interest is in seeing that an accurate model of this airplane is produced.

Also for the record, I wish nothing but success for Lift Here, and I if I can assist you with future products, do not hesitate to contact me.