Minicraft B707s and C-54s/DC-4s from S&M Models

[buzz]

Fyi, Mel told me today that these will be the next Minicraft kits he'll have available. The B707s will include all engine options. He didn't mention prices or if they'll include decals or be base kits.

 

Roy

Edited June 17, 2020 by buzz

[Eric Mc]

I'll be looking out for these. The C-54/DC-4 is particularly nice.

 

[Trenton guy]

Yes the Dc-4 is very nice. Even nicer were the Minicraft L-188 Electra, Lockheed Constellation and DC-6. No, I’m not talking about the crude kits of those aircraft the are currently in the Minicraft catalog but their absolutely gorgeous predecessors that never saw the light of day. I saw the test shots on the Minicraft stand at the only IPMS-UK Modelworld I have been privileged to attend. One of the last at Donington. Does anyone else remember them. Release was long delayed. When it finally came we got the crude kits we still have. As best I have been able to piece it together, Minicraft had a falling out with their Far Eastern toolmaker. Circumstantial evidence suggests it was Academy. Minicraft the sought another (not very good) toolmaker in China. The result is what we have now.

 

the real mystery is, what ever became of those highly detailed and accurate tools. For years I have expected them to appear in an Academy box but that looks to be a vain hope. Minicraft was sold to a new owner a few years after that episode. I had an opportunity to discuss the matter with the new owner, while at an IPMS-USA convention a number of years later.  Although, he had purchased the assets of the old Minicraft, he had never heard of the truly first class Electra, Constellation, And DC-6 tools.

 

i suspect the the Minicraft/Academy break up was ugly and the three tools were collateral damage and somehow destroyed. Sort of like the man who was going through a difficult divorce and cut the family home in half with a chain saw (true story, I was the government official that the frantic spouse called for help).

 

Does anyone else remember those test shots and can anyone else add anything to the story. We still need a good Electra.