AModel Beech Starship

I finished today’s completion some time ago, but it was enough of a struggle that it took a while to write up the summary. It is the AModel Beech Starship. This is one of those types that I have always wanted to model, but in olden days the only available kit was a vac. Not that this kit requires less work than a vac.

The large pieces of the kit are not that difficult to get together, but almost everything requires some sanding, dry-fitting, and foul language. It’s the tiny parts that are the real killer. Since this is a short-run kit, the small parts are connected to the sprues by gates that are sometimes bigger than the parts themselves, often causing damage when removing them. And the instructions are not that great at specifying exactly where all those tiny bits go. Most seams require filling.

Painting the overall white wasn’t all that difficult, but when it came time to mask for the leading edge NMF strips I was breaking off antennae right and left. Even the front canard managed to disengage itself. In the end I decided not to mask the overall kit (overspray would get everywhere) and just brush painted the leading edges. Not a completely successful endeavor.

Painting the canopy surround was rather a pain as well. As was most of the rest of the detail painting. Note the theme developing here. But things really went into the crapper when it came time to decal the model. While AModel kits have definitely improved over the course of their existence, their decal technology hasn’t kept up. They are very thin and prone to tear. Not a good thing when many of the decals are thin stripes.

It isn’t one the best I’ve done, and actually would probably not be seen in public if it weren’t for my core founding principle that anything I build gets displayed on this blog, good with the bad. So what you see is what I got.

Just to add a final layer of insult, as I was transporting the kit down to the garage display cases, I dropped the thing and broke off one canard and one vertical tailpiece. I’m probably lucky the landing gear didn’t go as well. Thankfully photos had already been taken. But that just goes to display the rather snakebit nature of this model. I do love AModel’s kit choices, and still plan to build their Avanti and SpaceShip. But I rather dread the experience.

This is completed aircraft #482 (15 aircraft, 2 ordnance, 12 vehicles for the year 2017), finished in October of 2017.