History

The de Havilland Canada Dash 8 or DHC-8, is a series of twin-engined, medium range, turboprop airliners, introduced in 1984. DHC became part of Bombardier Aerospace in 1992, and Dash-8 varients are still in production under that marque. Almost 1200 Dash 8s of all models have been built, and Bombardier has booked new orders through 2016.
The original -100 model could carry 37 passengers 1100 miles at a cruising speed of 310mph. 299 of this model were produced and serve in all corners or the world.

Contents

All the castings are very clean and free of bubble, ripples or mold marks. The surface details are finely engraved and pleasing to the eye.
The fuselage is a single solid piece except for the nose cone. The instructions advise to drill a hole into the flat front of the fuselage to install a nose weight, before mounting nose cone. A weight is not specified. From experience I'd guess 20 g should be sufficient.
The wings are solid castings incorporating the engines, there is a left and right. There is a recess in the top of the fuselage to recieve them, with a good amound of overlap to allow a strong joint with CA glue.
The vertical tail is a single piece, as is the horizontal. The mating surfaces are clean, flat, and sharp edged. When fit up dry, they appear to mate perfectly. Little if any filling will be required on the joins.
Landing gear parts are on two "sprues". The details are resonable given the scale.

Instructions

The instructions are minimal, but with so few parts, there is little to be done that is not obvious. There is a single page with three-views, decal placement guide, and a few assembly tips.

Decals

There are decals for two different Canadian airlines. The offset printing is excellent. The decal is printed on a solid sheet of film, so care in cutting out will be required.

Conclusion

I did not attempt to measure the kit for accuracy, but I have full confidence in Welsh models to produce precision tooling.

For the 1/144 scale airliner enthusiast, this is a much appreciated model kit. Welsh models have developped a high competancy in cast resin kits in recent years, and this release is flawless.

Please remember, when contacting retailers or manufacturers, to mention that you saw their products highlighted here - on AEROSCALE.