FIRST FLIGHT:  A “MODELING ESSENTIAL.”  THIS IS ONE OF THOSE KITS THAT YOU REALLY OUGHT TO TRY IF YOU HAVEN’T BUILT IT ALREADY.  WELL ENGINEERED.  EASIER TO BUILD THAN ITS SIZE SUGGESTS.  MINICRAFT’S LATEST RELEASE INCLUDES NEW, COMPREHENSIVE DECALS.

KIT# 11657 -- 51 TOTAL PARTS --  MSRP $27.99 -- WINGSPAN 19"+ (48 CM) -- LENGTH 13" (34 CM)

Minicraft Models currently sells the only injection-molded plastic version of Howard Hughes' H-4 Hercules, popularly known as the  "Spruce Goose."  In 1/200 scale, it is by any measure a big model with a wingspan over 19" (480 mm).  This model has actually been around for a while.  This will be surprising once you actually view the kit yourself since it holds up well compared to state-of-the-art plastic.  In our Bonus Features, we’ll elaborate.  Minicraft has updated this classic with a new, expanded decal sheet.

​This is truly a kit of an aviation classic.   A short list of landmark aircraft includes names such as Wright Flyer, DC-3, B-17, X-1, 707, X-15, and Spruce Goose!
 
Like many of Howard Hughes’ aircraft, The Spruce Goose has an elegantly clean design and this is reflected in the nicely engineered model kit.   It’s very simple for such a large kit.

Nice box art depicts the first and only acknowledged flight of the H-4 Hercules which occurred 02 November, 1947.  Howard Hughes detested the aircraft's commonly known nickname, "Spruce Goose."

Only 47 parts make up the aircraft model, which is remarkable considering that 32 of those parts are for the engines.   A 4-piece stand that includes a nameplate brings the total parts count for the kit to 51.  Glue is required to assemble the light-gray styrene plastic parts.  You'll want to add a silver finish and small bottles of black and yellow paint will be needed to give the props an authentic look.

Minicraft protects kit contents with plenty of plastic bags.

The Spruce Goose was a clean design with minor exterior details.  The kit captures the fuselage shape and subtle surface features very well.

Later on in the article, we'll show our build of the model.  We used the very first release of the model to compare it to the current Minicraft plastic.  It's pretty easy to build.  We'd recommend that the builder have a little experience with plastic model kits requiring glue; if you've built one or two of those with no problems, you'll really enjoy this kit!

Without engines, the basic airplane has only 15 parts!  32 additional parts make up the engines.  A 4-piece stand plus engines total 51 pieces.  This is factory-fresh Minicraft light-gray styrene plastic.

Assembly is pretty straightforward.  Parts fit is good.  The wing joint may need a small amount of reinforcement including shimming or putty.  Most of the "work" will center around eight sets of four engine parts:  prop, retainer, cowling, and intake. 

Props seem small.  But remember, this is 1/200 scale!

Eight sleek engine cowlings authentically depict Hughes' original design.

A nice nameplate is included.  Those are prop retainers below.

The biggest tip I can offer is to be careful removing the 8 propellers from the sprue!  The props are very accurate making the blades rather thin and it will be easy to break them off if you are not very careful cutting them free from the sprue.  Use a sharp hobby knife, cutting against a small block of wood underneath the prop blade on your workspace and cut carefully to avoid bending and breaking off the propeller blades.  Other than this, there are really no major concerns other than working with fairly large parts.

Slightly rounding the notched underside area of these intakes will add a touch of realism.  Later in this article, we provide a good picture of the intake as a reference.

The latest issue of Minicraft's "Spruce Goose" has a new super-detailed decal sheet made by Cartograf.  Note the accurate font used for the registration numbers.

The model has no interior.  Windows are small; if you scratchbuilt a cockpit, it would be hard to see.  You could do some cutouts for the outboard landing lights, inserting a carved bit of clear sprue.  They're located at the tops of the float pylons.  Don’t bother with adding engine detail; it won’t be seen (large spinners cover intakes).

Here's a cool scratchbuilding idea that won't be too hard:  you can cut out a door opening below the cockpit using the engraved line as a reference.  Scratchbuild a small door using a piece of scrap plastic; you can glue it just forward of the cut door opening to suggest the open door.  A decal representing the inside of the door is included that you can apply to the scratchbuilt door.  The instructions suggest painting the opening black instead, which is easier.  Either method will add another touch of realism to your model.  See photos of the real Spruce Goose later in this article to get more specific information.

Since the model is pretty big, painting may be your biggest challenge.  The Spruce Goose was made of wood overpainted with silver.  Use dull-aluminum for the finish, you don't need to go for a chrome or polished metal look!
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A can of silver spray paint designed for plastic model kits should work great, or various metallic finishes intended for application via airbrush will provide the most realistic appearance.  If your silver finish comes out on the shiny side, an application of clear flat will seal the decals and tone down a too-shiny look.  Glue the cowlings with props on the model after you've painted the rest of the assembled plane.

Just three pages of instructions are sufficient to built your Spruce Goose.  On Page 1, Minicraft provides a short history.

Along with easy assembly, finishing the model is easy, too.  Prop blades will be a semi-gloss black, tips yellow, silver spinners matching rest of the plane, the rest of the plane is silver.  I'd suggest painting the cowlings before inserting the painted propellers.  Don't install the cowlings on the wings until after you've painted the plane.  The Spruce Goose made only one flight and was fastidiously maintained in a hangar, so there won’t be much if any weathering.  Generally, a silver finish, even a dull one, catches and reflects light with enough character that weathering really isn't needed.

We reckon there wasn't enough decal stripe to do a full set of wing-walk lines.  However, it's easy to find generic black decal stripes or you can easily print your own.  If you don't want to go to that much trouble, the detail is subtle enough that you can leave them off and still have a spectacular model.

Complete prop markings are included.  Compared to previous issues of the Spruce Goose, the decal sheet will provide a super-detailed look on your finished model.  Even if you have previous issues of the kit, you'll want to add this one to your collection as it has a number of nice extras that you might expect to find in a high-priced aftermarket sheet.

There's a handful of iconic kits out there that most modelers have built at one time or another; we'll call them the "Essentials" of the hobby.  They're enduringly popular because the subject is very popular or because they are well executed kits.  Minicraft's H-4 Hercules "Spruce Goose" is one of those rare kits that fits both criteria; if you haven't built one yet, you really ought to give it a try.

​Dem Brudders give this model four enthusiastic thumbs up!  This is one of Minicraft's most well-known and loved kits and we're sure you'll enjoy it.  Special thanks to Minicraft Models for providing this model for us to review and enjoy!

BONUS MATERIAL

BUILD IT!

As mentioned, a good friend of ours, John Tate, gave us an original Entex Spruce Goose (more about the Entex version later in this article) years ago.  I finally decided it would be a nice model to build for a contest entry in the civil aircraft category, a common aircraft contest group.  It's been a fun build and photos are provided here.  The model is still in progress, but will be finished soon as part of an upcoming YouTube video.  In addition to showing kit parts and how they go together, we'll explore an explosive new theory explaining the possibility that the Spruce Goose made a second top-secret flight with the definitive reason it never flew again.  We'll leave it to the viewer to decide about the truth of our theory!  For now, enjoy these pictures of our build-in-progress...

If memory serves, I started gluing the wings together with the top halves first to be sure the top surface joint was as lined up as much as possible.  The joint can be easily secured with clamps; I used alligator clamps like you see here.  I let the glue dry overnight before putting on the wing bottoms.

The biggest challenges to construction center around the fact that this is a large model.  Parts warpage, common with large kits, can make your life miserable.  Unfortunately, the degree of warpage can even vary from kit-to-kit within the same manufacturing batch.   Shipping and storage—even before the kit gets to the retailer—may also play unseen havoc with large, thin parts as found on the Minicraft Spruce Goose.

Slight warps generally aren't a problem if the seam is glued carefully, alignment is constantly checked, and you use rubber bands or tape so that parts don't shift while the glue cures.  Particularly pernicious warpage might need to be taken care of with hot water; often, the hottest water you can get out of your tap might persuade the warp out of a large part with repeated heating and gentle twisting of the part back into shape.  Remember that plastic melts around 160 degrees Fahrenheit, so if you heat water on the stove, you don't want to overdo it and of course you could burn yourself if you're not careful.

Next, I glued the wing bottom halves on one at a time.  I was careful to line up the seams and used plenty of rubber bands to hold the parts together tightly.  If you use liquid cement, don't apply cement near the rubber bands, otherwise, the glue might run along the rubber band and mar the plastic.

Any warpage with wings or fuselage that will create a fit or alignment problem should be apparent after parts cleanup; you could dry-fit the parts, securing them with rubber bands or tape, and check the alignment before gluing.

If you decide to glue the seams in phases, it's a good idea to put a rubber band around the opposite end of the assembly from where you start, and check alignment as you go.  On the fuselage, sight along the centerline to be sure the tail sits at the right angle. On the wings, you can sight along the trailing edges to be sure they are straight and match from left-to-right, and sight along the wing top from tip-to-tip to be sure there is no "twist."  Removing one or more of the locator pins might be helpful as well.  The Spruce Goose moldings are fairly large and thin and you'll definitely need to check alignment as you go.

The fuselage also benefits from rubber bands to create tight seams.  One suggestion is to glue them in smaller sections to keep the seams lined up evenly in stages since the parts are so large .  Apply glue to the first third or so of the fuselage, rubber band it and let the glue set overnight, and continue with another section.

​The smaller assemblies, floats and stabs, benefit from rubber bands as well to be sure seams are securely bonded.  Once the glue has dried, I applied a thin coat of primer to all parts, allowed it to dry well, and sanded with extra-find sandpaper (400-grit) to be sure joints and surfaces were smooth.  This extra step probably won't be needed if you're not trying to build a contest model.  Very little putty was needed on the Spruce Goose.  Both the old Entex plastic and Minicraft parts had some minor sinkholes of concern only to the contest model builder.  They're hardly noticeable to anybody other than the extra-picky contest judge.

To improve wing fit, I needed to add a shim to the each side of the fuselage to bring the wing top even with the fuselage.  Some additional sheet plastic might be helpful inside the fuselage to better secure the wing to the fuselage so you can clean up the top wing-fuselage joints without cracks forming.

As with many vintage kits, repeated sessions of putty-sanding-priming will probably be required to mitigate all imperfections or seam mismatches, especially if you're doing a contest-quality build.

​After glue on the seams had set, I hit them with a thin coat of primer and then sanded the seams smooth.  A very small amount of putty was needed.

HISTORY OF THE ORIGINAL "SPRUCE GOOSE" MODEL KIT

In 1972, Entex Models released its 1/200 HK-1 “Spruce Goose.”  It was truly a state-of-the-art kit at the time it was released with fine, engraved lines, mirror-smooth surfaces, and enhanced parts fit that was better than most other kits of the period.  This standard was still new even for companies like Tamiya and Hasegawa.

The initial release of Entex's Spruce Goose came in a box with a photo of the model on a white background.  A special "Howard Hughes Book Offer" would provide a 25% discount on a 74-page magazine about Howard Hughes, who was still alive at the time.  That's a whole quarter savings on the $1.00 magazine.

Entex was a very innovative company turning out some exceptional model kits that could compete with much larger companies such as their landmark 1/350 Titanic.  They also made "Loc Blocs," a building toy that competed somewhat respectably with better-known Lego.  Entex also had a line of excellent handheld electronic games as the 1980's dawned.  However, intense competition with the emerging video game industry led to a severe downturn in sales which contributed to the company going bankrupt.  Minicraft Models acquired many of Entex’s model kit assets.

G-Mark sold Entex kits in Japan in the mid-1970's.

The 1/200 Spruce Goose actually ended up in a Revell of Germany box briefly in the early 1980's.

Some modelers get nervous about building so-called "vintage kits," or models that have been around for a while and re-released from time to time or that have even been in constant production for decades.  Here at 2modeler.com, we were curious to see how well the molds to the Spruce Goose kit have aged since it would be easy to compare our half-century old plastic to a factory-fresh Minicraft kit from the same tooling.  With many classic kits that have a long release history, you can tell that details become muddy, parts fit goes to pot, and some surfaces become pitted.  How well has the Minicraft Spruce Goose tooling aged?

Many of Minicraft's early releases utilized the same box art the kits wore during their Entex years.  After this, Minicraft had several different boxtops with the Spruce Goose in their catalog for decades.

This Minicraft "flights of fancy" box contained a hypothetical version of a Spruce Goose portrayed as a passenger seaplane.  ChromaCal decals provided shiny chromed red markings.  They are really quite striking if totally fictional!

We closely inspected our factory-fresh Minicraft kit to see if it appears molds have worn.  We did find that the left fuselage half has some minor rough spots below the tail not present on the original release.  It’s minor stuff that will literally take just a few seconds to clean up with some sandpaper, and unless you’re building for a contest, you probably won’t even notice it or care.  It's so subtle it wouldn't show up in a photo so we didn't bother taking one.  So the tooling for this kit as aged remarkably well.  It appears obvious that the original tooling was carefully stored and its handling and maintenance appears to have been effectively managed.  There was no apparent degradation of details and parts fit appears to be good.

Silver plastic from the original 1972 issue of the Spruce Goose.  There appear to have been no tooling changes.  Note the decals; they are bare-bones compared to the current Minicraft sheet.

Original engines on one wing.  The bottom wing is at top in the picture.  Note holes for the supercharger intakes.

Original Cockpit transparency.  We think the clear part from our new kit looks a little better, so some mold cleanup was done somewhere along the way.

The original release of the Spruce Goose was molded in silver plastic so that builders could skip painting if they wanted.  However, the plastic was quite brittle, or perhaps the original kits have become more brittle over time.  As I was removing the props, I broke off a blade.  Minicraft's plastic isn't brittle, but you still should be careful freeing those props from the sprue!

SOME ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE SPRUCE GOOSE

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

The requirement for a large flying boat troop transport emerged in 1942.  Howard Hughes teamed up with liberty ship manufacturer Henry Kaiser to built the what was initially referred to as the HK-1, named after the Hughes-Kaiser consortium.  Three were to be built. Frustrated with the wood-only restriction and Hughes' detail-focused style, Kaiser pulled out of the project and Hughes continued with it himself.  The plane's designation was then changed to H-4 to reflect this adjustment.  An employee contest came up with the name, "Hercules," which Hughes did not like.  It's well known that he loathed nicknames dubbed by the press including Spruce Goose (which has stuck with the general public as the most well-known name for the aircraft) and "Flying Lumberyard."  Hughes himself normally referred to the aircraft as the "Flying Boat."

HOW WOULD IT HAVE PERFORMED?

The Spruce Goose was designed to carry 750 troops.  According to theaviationzone.com, the maximum cargo capacity was expected to be 130,000 lbs.  Dividing that out would average just less than 175 lbs per troop.  To put this capacity in perspective, the C-5M Super Galaxy, carries a maximum payload of 281,001 lbs, not much over twice the capacity of the Spruce Goose.  In stark contrast to the C-5, which required decades of work to correct structural difficulties, no tests of the actual cargo-carrying capabilities or range of the Spruce Goose were ever done.

A period photo of the Spruce Goose taken from an airship.

Howard Hughes, creator of the Spruce Goose at the controls.

So, how well would the Spruce Goose have performed?
 
750 troops would have been a serious stretch in my opinion.  375 would probably have been a more realistic place to start, but even that seems high.  A C-17 with a fuselage just 20% smaller than the Spruce Goose  normally carries 134 troops.  Imagine being one of 750 troops crossing the Atlantic inside the "Hughes Flying Boat," assuming it could successfully carry that weight.

The press made up the nickname, "Spruce Goose" but the aircraft was actually made from birchwood.  Hughes was told prior to the aircraft's design that such a large quantity of aluminum required for the plane could not be allowed due to the urgent wartime need for the material to build fighters and bombers.  Disallowing aluminum for the structure of an airplane is like selling pizza without flour, cheese, or tomatoes, or a hamburger without beef.   Honestly, the fact that such a large wooden aircraft was able to fly at all was a major engineering accomplishment.

Operation Reach 871, a C-17 evacuating Afghan refugees fleeing the country on August 15, 2021.  Reportedly, 823 people were packed in one airplane.

The Spruce Goose prepares for its first flight.  Hughes had announced that this would be a taxi-test only.

Many believed that the airplane would never fly, but on 02 November, 1947, it took flight with Hughes in the left seat.  With WWII over and plenty of cargo aircraft left over from the war, there was no need for further development of the H-4 Hercules.  Outsize aircraft became a viable enterprise as the turbofan engine matured.  The Spruce Goose proved that the Boeing 747 and Lockheed C-5 Galaxy could fly.

Had further development of the Spruce Goose been warranted, it may have been doomed by another problem experienced by other outsized aircraft experiments:  underpowered engines.
 
The Boeing 747 was really the first outsized design to be a success thanks to advances in turbofan power – the engines outgrew the plane instead of the other way around.  It was in production for over half a century and over 1500 were built.

The Martin Mars was making its first flights while the Spruce Goose was being designed.

The Boeing 747 is really the first outsized transport to be built in any appreciable numbers.  Turbofan technology is to thank.  The podded configuration made it fairly easy to upgrade the engines as technology evolved. 

Perhaps some comparisons in potential performance of the Spruce Goose can be made to the Martin Mars, a flying boat with a design somewhat similar to the Spruce Goose.  It was about a third smaller than the Spruce Goose and designed to carry 133 troops (almost the same as the C-17).  It flew a then-record 269 people from San Diego to Alameda, CA in 1949 (450 miles).  Later, its 60,000 lb capacity was put to use as water bomber for fighting forest fires.  Only 7 of these aircraft were built.

EXPERIENCE IT!

THE SPRUCE GOOSE CAN BE SEEN AT THE EVERGREEN AVIATION AND SPACE MUSEUM IN MCMINNVILLE, OR

During the 1980's, the Spruce Goose could be seen with the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA near Long Beach Harbor, where the Spruce Goose was built and tested.

​After the Spruce Goose’s 1947 flight, a climate controlled hangar described as a cocoon was built around the seaplane.  Hughes ordered a staff of 300 workers to maintain the aircraft in ready-to-fly condition, which was done for fifteen years until 1962 when this crew was cut to “only” 50 workers.  This continued until Hughes’ death in 1976.  The Spruce Goose was kept in flight-ready condition for nearly 30 years!  Hughes felt that valuable information about outsize aircraft could still be obtained through research using his Flying Boat.

Note that the font for the aircraft's registration is different than when it flew.  Minicraft's decals portray the original markings.  They were changed during a restoration, apparently.  Also, note that open door.  Minicraft includes a decal to depict this feature in their Spruce Goose model kit!  The following photos were taken at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in 2010.

Originally built under a defense contract, the U.S. Government and Hughes’ Summa Corp had to iron out ownership of the plane once Hughes passed away.  A Hughes official was quoted as saying the aircraft would have been too big to display in a museum.  The Aero Club of Southern California purchased the plane in 1980 and built a large dome to display the aircraft for public viewing where it resided adjacent to the retired RMS Queen Mary.  During the 1980’s, the Spruce Goose remained in this Long Beach, CA location not far from where it was built and so briefly tested.

Here's a good look at two engines with their supercharger inlets.  Note how much the spinners fill the cowlings.  You really can't see any cylinder detail.

This view provides a look at the port landing light at the top of the float strut.  It's represented on the Minicraft kit as an indentation.

Much more than the Spruce Goose can be seen at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum.  This is an actual Mercury capsule, one of just five left over from the Mercury Program that was never flown.  Plenty of important space hardware from the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs can be also seen at this museum.

The Walt Disney Company purchased the Spruce Goose and Queen Mary.  Their evolving plans did not include keeping the Spruce Goose.  An agreement was made and a new location was found in the form of what eventually became the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville, OR.  Relocating the plane over 1000 miles up the West Coast from Southern California to Oregon was a major undertaking that took nearly five months.  The Long Beach dome enclosure became a Carnival cruise port.
 
During much of the 1990’s, the Spruce Goose was restored and the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum was literally built around it.  The founder of the museum, Michael King Smith, son of the original founder of Evergreen Aviation, died in a car crash in 1995.  After this, the museum was run by a foundation in his name.

In 2016, the Smith foundation declared bankruptcy, and the museum was purchased by entrepreneur Steve Down.  Down’s business dealings soon brought the attention of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the FBI followed with a fraud investigation.

The "Spruce Goose" must really be seen in person to be believed.  These pictures give only a minimal sense of the size of this aircraft (note the DC-3, which fits quite comfortably with plenty of space to spare in the area between Spruce Goose's hull and float).  Plan to visit the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum soon; it will be a truly unforgettable experience!

As the Coronavirus Pandemic began in early 2020, things did not look good for the Evergreen Museum.  A shutdown of many public venues removed any chances of receiving operating revenue by the bankrupt owner.  However, in April of that year, the Stoller Family Estate created McMinnville Properties LLC, which apparently will work out pending issues with tax liability and lienholders to keep the museum operating.

The museum appears to have a future, at least for now, and we would heartily recommend planning an aerospace history adventure trip to see not only the Spruce Goose, but a number of other iconic aircraft and spacecraft at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum.  The museum affiliates with the Smithsonian, so chances are, some interesting aircraft will rotate in and out from time to time.