General Aviation (GA) has had some interesting developments in recent decades with new aircraft types such as Light Sport Aircraft and Ultralights.  Most commonly available model kits of GA aircraft include the traditional light planes mostly developed in the years following World War II.

Three classic private aircraft manufacturers emerged after WWII as the major producers of light aircraft, Cessna, Piper, and Beechcraft.  Each company made and sold light aircraft that have become iconic in our culture and many thousands are still flying today thanks to their innovative engineering.   Some of these have been produced as model kits over the years.  If there is one go-to company to find kits of these planes, it’s Minicraft Models.

Bandai Models created their "Weekend Wings" series circa 1973.  The kit nicely depicts the Beechcraft Bonanza V35 with its distinctive V-tail.

Entex acquired Bandai's tooling and really didn't do much with the box art.

Minicraft acquired much of the Entex tooling when that company ceased buisiness.  Here's an older release under the Minicraft name.

​Minicraft began with tooling for light aircraft that was originally produced at another company.  Bandai Models originally produced the Piper Cherokee, Piper Super Cub, Beechcraft Bonanza, and Cessna 150 in 1973.  Entex Models sold kits from this tooling after that, and Minicraft bought many of the molds from that company when it went under.

There were a few diversions in the 1980's when Revell of Germany did a run of these GA kits.

Beechcraft discontinued the V-tail on the Bonanza in 1982.  Minicraft updated the tooling to produce the newer F33 variant.  Did you know that the Bonanza has been in production continuously since 1947?  That's a record!

A Minicraft Bonanza that can be found in hobby shops today.  Another nice Minicraft feature is that the kits come in very sturdy boxes.  You can stack them higher without worrying about "Squash."

The Bonanza looks good in yellow!  A three-bladed prop was also added recently by Minicraft.  Without fixed landing gear hardpoints, the Bonanza wasn't an easy seaplane conversion, so Minicraft doesn't have a floatplane version. 

The original Beechcraft V-35 parts.  The engines in particular are very nicely detailed in these kits.  

In the general aviation world, the Cessna 172 is king.  More Cessna 172’s have been built than any other airplane—over (44,000 and still counting!).  In 2005, Minicraft decided to round out its line of private sport aircraft classics by tooling up its own Cessna 172 in 1/48 scale.  This kit is extremely well done.  The look of the parts matches its older siblings with nicely engraved panel lines.  The Lycoming engine in particular is better than what you’ll find in the Bandai kits.  The “wheel pants” in the kit are separate from the tires, so the modeler has the option of “pants-on” or “pants-off.”
 
Minicraft hasn’t been sitting on its laurels with the Bandai tooling either.  They created a conventional-tailed F-33 variant of the Beechcraft Bonanza by tooling new parts for the Beech V35 Bonanza kit, which has the iconic V-tail of the original Bonanza.  Each of the (non-Bonanza) kits has also been released with new floats.  Markings include some interesting military versions and several of the kits have Civil Air Patrol schemes, which has been largely ignored by other manufacturers.  Between new parts and options for military markings, Minicraft has created enough kits for modelers to build a pretty impressive collection of historic General Aviation aircraft.

The most recent addition to Minicraft’s general aviation aircraft line is their all-new T-34 Mentor.  The Mentor was created as a military plane, specifically a trainer, although Civil Air Patrol markings also place it technically in the civil aircraft category.  It joins the Minicraft Cessna 150 and Cessna 172 as model kits that portray the Civil Air Patrol, the civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force.  The real Mentor’s design was actually based on the Beechcraft Bonanza V35 and the builder will notice many similarities between the Mentor and Bonanza kits even though the Mentor kit is all-new plastic—Minicraft started with a “clean sheet” to create this kit and it is state-of-the-art, designed with the builder in mind.   Engineering measures were taken in the tooling design to eliminate visible ejection pin marks and sinkholes.

All of the Minicraft kits have full interiors with nicely detailed seats and instrument panels.  Except for the Mentor, they also include engines with removable cowlings.  The Mentor has a very nicely appointed interior and installing the multi-piece canopy parts in the open position will allow that detail to be seen easily.  The interior frame has integrated wing spars which provides positive alignment for the wings and detailed sidewalls for the landing gear bays.
 
All of Minicraft’s General Aviation kits go together in similar fashion to a typical 1/48 scale WWII fighter model.  If you happen to be a non-modeler who has come across this page searching for info about these models, you’ll need glue at minimum to finish these kits.  I’d recommend Testors Liquid Cement for Plastic.  An X-Acto knife with a #11 blade will come in handy for trimming parts.  A fine paintbrush and bottle of Testors flat-black paint will do well for painting tires and prop blades.  The fine paintbrush (I like a 000) does nicely for painting small parts, and it helps provide for precision-application of that Testors liquid glue.

Minicraft's new T-34 Mentor kit.  Right after WWII, money was sparse for new aircraft designs.  The Beechcraft Mentor had a new fuselage with tandem cockpits, but shared the Bonanza's wing.  Minicraft started with a clean slate to design this kit; it has no relation to the old Bandai Bonanza.  Did we mention our kit review for the Mentor?

With exception of the Piper Super Cub, all these models have tricycle landing gear.  On the real aircraft, the mass of the aluminum skin, little thicker than a soda can, is much lighter than the engine in front, and the plane sits on its forward landing gear just fine.  The models, however, will be “tail sitters” unless some weight is put in the nose to counterbalance all that heavy plastic behind the mains.

Compare the wing bottom pieces between the Mentor (top) and the Bonanza (bottom).  Both aircraft types shared the same wing design.

Landing gear doors to the old Bonanza kit.  Note the ejector pin marks (in the process of being filled) in the middle of the part.

The new Mentor kit has finely detailed ribbing on the landing gear doors with no ejector pin marks.  The tabs to secure the doors to the wing are a very nice feature.

Bandai thought this issue through when they tooled up the kits originally, and all except the Super Cub include stands and nice logo-nameplates.   Displaying the model on the stand eliminates the need for weight in the nose.

Minicraft's 2-seat Cessna 150 in its latest guise.  included Cartograf decals allow other registrations and more traditional schemes if these swoopy stripes don't float your boat.

Minicraft offers the T-34A, Cessna 172, and Cessna 150 in Civil Air Patrol markings.

Brudder Dick built this CAP Mentor from the Minicraft kit.  Look for a in-depth review of this kit here if you haven't checked it out already!

​If the original, black “U-stands” aren’t to your liking, Minicraft has a new clear stand available that will also take care of this issue for an “in-flight” display (Note that this stand comes with the Mentor kits).  However, things get a little tricky if one wishes to display the built model on its landing gear while leaving the nicely detailed engine viewable.
 
Loading as much weight as possible in the engine block itself and hiding the rest at the firewall on the interior side underneath the instrument panel is a viable option, or using a small clear piece of plastic under the tail is a very simple solution.  Dem Brudders will explore in other articles additional tricks for hiding weight in one of these civil aircraft with an engine that you want to show off, or a glass-nosed bomber.

Minicraft continued the "Weekend Wings" series used by Bandai and Entex in its early issue of the Piper Cherokee.

Today's version of the Minicraft Piper Cherokee includes four different Cartograf decal schemes!

Newly tooled floats provide an option to build seaplane versions of the Super Cub, Cherokee, and both Cessnas.

It’s fairly common for these GA aircraft to be painted in overall white, maybe with some colorful stripes.  The kits are molded in white or light gray plastic, which is helpful whether or not one wishes to paint their model.  To get a contest job, generally a small amount of putty-work might be needed, and I’d recommend using Squadron or Tamiya’s white putty, which will blend in with the light-colored plastic.  This will not show through a white finish.

Why wasn't there a Bandai/Entex Cessna 172?  Perhaps Bandai decided not to compete with Nichimo, which had already released their 1/48 Cessna Skyhawk around the same time.

Piper's Super Cub is perhaps the ultimate bush plane.  Minicraft added a version with floats.

For the non-modelers just wanting to build a model of “their” plane, a fairly nice model can produced with the white-plastic finish.  However, applying a thin overall coat of white paint before putting on the decal stripes will help enhance the realism of the finished model.  Many new modelers use spray cans, but an airbrush is the best way to get a smooth finish that enhances the finely engraved kit details and provide a base for decals to adhere fully.

The wing bottom from the Bonanza.  It's all engraved detail.  This is quite impressive for the 1970's!

Minicraft's Cessna 172 was tooled in 2005.  Level of detail here is consistent with the older kits, but a level better.  Note the door latch!

Here's the engine from the 2005 Cessna 172 kit.  The cylinder cooling fins detail is very nice.

​Many of the kits come with multiple decal schemes.  In fact, it is not uncommon to find a decal sheet in the kit that can depict American, Canadian, and European registrations.  Some of the kits also include a comprehensive number sheet if you are trying to build a model of your own plane.  

Minicraft's Cessna 172 in Civil Aircraft Patrol markings.  The CAP is the civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force specializing in aviation education and plays an important role in search-and-rescue operations.  This release utilizes the "pants-off" option--there are no wheel spats.

The Cessna 150 in CAP guise.  The Cessna 150 is one of the original Bandai kits.  The spats and wheels are molded together, so you don't have the option of "pants off" without some extra work.  Still, this little kit is a gem!

I’ve seen just a few models from these kits at model shows.  Considering the quality of the molding of the older kits, it’s surprising.  The recessed details on these kits and general engineering of the tooling resemble kits from the likes of Hasegawa, Fujimi, and Tamiya of the 1970’s that gave those companies a reputation for the best quality kits you could get.  Bandai of Japan is today known as a producer of exceptional model kits.  One reason their Gundam line has exploded in popularity is because of the innovative processes to produce finely detailed parts that fit together precisely.  In recent years, their Star Wars kits, engineered to the same standards, have become second to none in that genre.  Apparently, Bandai got an early start down this road by producing their civilian aircraft series.  

The engine to the Cessna 150.  The real motor, a Continental O-200-A, isn't much bigger than a lawn mower engine, but it'll put out an amazing 100 horsepower!

Through the twists, turns, and changes experienced in the model kit industry since the 1970’s, Minicraft Models acquired this tooling.  Instead of simply re-popping kits from these molds, they’ve considerably enhanced the line with interesting modifications, premium decals, and even state-of-the-art new kits.  In our opinion, this series is severely underrated by modelers.  Try one today—you’ll be pleasantly surprised!

LEARN MORE:  The Civil Air Patrol is a great place for young people in the USA ages 12-18 to learn about aviation.  Their eduction programs are also available for all ages, but young people can "test drive" the military experience through the cadet program to see if an actual military enlistment is for them once they reach the appropriate age.  While I was a Boy Scout, I had an opportunity to attend some aerospace workshops run in part by CAP volunteers.  During two weeks being "herded" by some senior CAP cadets, we learned a proper military salute, and they also taught us how to march in formation!  To this day, I regret not joining the organization when I was young.

While the CAP doesn't have a formal basic flight training program, the education programs will certainly help a student pilot in ground school studies.  CAP members in your local organization can likely help you find a good flight instructor that will probably save money compared to a standard flight school.  Existing pilots can earn certain FAA ratings and hone their skills.

Of course, the CAP provides a valuable service to our country through its search-and-rescue and disaster relief programs.  Cadet members will have opportunities for orientation flights in actual military aircraft, a perk that most civilians can never get!  The CAP has a fleet of over 500 planes, most of which are Cessna 172's and 182's.   Cadets will also have opportunities for flights in these aircraft.

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