Special Hobby L-4 Grasshopper Engine (P48002) 1:48

[Mike]

L-4 Grasshopper Engine (P48002)

(Continental O-170-3)

1:48 Special Hobby

 

 

2022 saw the release of a brand-new tooling of this lightweight aircraft, the militarised variant of the Piper J-3 Cub, and not too long later, up pops this gorgeous 3D printed engine and cowling for it, offering significantly higher levels of detail than can be achieved with injection moulded styrene. As usual with their resin sets, it arrives in the familiar clear vacformed box, with the resin parts safely inside, and the instructions sandwiched between the header card at the rear.  Due to the delicate detail of the parts, they are cocooned in a hollow foam square, with another sheet behind it to protect it during shipping and storage.

 

 

There are ostensibly two parts on separate printing bases within the box, but the cowling actually consists of four parts on one compact base.  The outer cowling splits in two as you remove it from the base, and inside are another two parts that are used as heat deflectors over the two banks of pistons of the flat-4 Continental engine, and using two colour diagrams inside the instructions, you can connect up the cylinders with wire from your own stocks, which pass through the heat deflectors, and locate at the rear of the engine.  To add it to your model, you simply remove the front of the fuselage as per the two diagrams marked in red, insert the engine’s backplate in the opening, and reuse the small square kit part underneath.  After adding the heat panels and wiring up the motor, the two-part cowling can be fitted over the engine, or left off for a maintenance diorama or similar.  You might notice a few layer lines on the sides of the cowling parts, but these are so small as to be nigh-on invisible to the naked eye, and will disappear under primer and paint.

 

 

Conclusion

The detail on the engine, especially as it is a single tiny part, is stunning, and the finesse of the cowlings is equally impressive, adding so much detail to your model that it looks like you could turn the prop, start it up and fly away… providing you were an inch tall.

 

Very highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of

 

 

 

Edited November 27, 2022 by Mike
I wrote this half asleep, so got the scale wrong.

[hsr]

The title says 1/72, but the part is 1/48

[Mike]

20 minutes ago, hsr said:

The title says 1/72, but the part is 1/48

Yep. Been a bit tired and spaced out today.