Introduction

Encore specializes in pre-existing kits bundled with plastic, resin and vac formed upgrades to enhance the detail of an otherwise plain kit. Excellent flight control surfaces, cabin doors, seats, etc. all in resin that add detail and can be posed open or in neutral position in the case of the flight controls.
The kit in question is the 1:72 C-45/Model 18 Electra with heaps of resin goodies. Being a member of Aeroscale I participate in group builds, in this case The Lottery. My lot? Something so far out of my area of interest it makes for truly interesting subject matter! A Canadian bush plane of all things! So my choice was the Encore kit with a conversion to floats donated from another kit.

What's in the box?

What do you get for you dollars? Let’s look at each individual set of parts of the kit:

The plastic.

The sprues have a slightly rough cast to them but nothing that requires remedy. The panel lines are deep and wide, and depending on your idea of what panel lines should be this will either upset you or be of little consequence. A decent coat of Mr. Surfacer will help to lessen the effect. The locating pins are HUGE and could prove problematic when assembling the kit as they would afford little movement. Reducing them or removing them altogether is likely the best course of action. The plastic is well cast but feels a little on the soft side. There is not much surface detail but there were no visible faults in the plastic either. The styrene makes for a simple kit that will build with little fuss if care is taken.

The Resin.

The real treasure in this kit is the resin detail set which is well cast with fine details and should be easily separated from the casting blocks. There are two complete engines broken down to individual cylinders and crankcase, cowlings, instrument panel, centre console, wheels, seats, control surfaces, exhausts, propellers, and last but not least a cabin door with a gentle curve to match the fuselage.

Decals and Instructions.

The Decals are printed by Aero Master and are very thin and in register. The decals for the fuselage of the Australian version are thoughtfully split along the centre line to make their application easier, the same goes for the decals for the nacelles.
The instruction sheet is well layed out with plenty of colour call outs and line drawings which seem to leave little doubt as to what goes where. The sections to be removed are in red and easily identified and should be easily removed so that the resin replacement parts can be substituted.

Conclusion

Does this kit represent value for money? I believe so. Encore has combined a simple kit with all the resin parts necessary to turn this into an eye-catching model. The aftermarket parts are worth the cost of the kit alone in my opinion. I highly recommend this kit to the more experienced modeller. This kit might tend to lend itself to someone who wants to move to the next level and work with resin. This is one of those kits that gets me enthusiastic for the build, I WANT to try out all those lovely resin parts and see what I can produce from the contents provided.

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