Visit any grass airfield and you will find at least one Piper Super Cub. I get to see them by the dozens in Oshkosh, Wis., at the Experimental Aircraft Association's annual summer fly-in. Revell Germany's new release is a highly popular sport aviation classic.
The kit features a detailed engine, cockpit, posable door, and window. Markings are for two civilian and two government aircraft.
While the built cockpit looks complicated, with all its framework and sidewall pieces, it went together very well. Revell Germany has added guides to the two cockpit sidewalls so the framework is held at the correct angle. Both seat backs have ejector-pin marks that need filling. The molded-on shoulder belts only go to the top of the seat without an attachment point. The cockpit floor has multiple pin marks that need filling as well.
The decal dial faces do not correspond to the instrument panel's raised dials. I sanded the raised details off before painting and decaling.
Building the engine from the instructions' illustration was a little confusing with regards to the attachment points for the intake and exhaust plumbing. You'll want to install the engine mounts (parts 70 and 71) before installing the intake and exhaust parts. I found the plumbing interfered with installing the engine mounts. The cowl pieces didn't fit around the engine or match up with the fuselage. One solution would be to leave the access doors open.
I absolutely love how the wings attached to the fuselage - almost like the real thing. With the aircraft frame's long pins, sliding the wings up and tight made for a strong joint without glue. Two long tabs on the wing's clear center section slide into the wings for a solid fit.
There's a sprue attachment smack in the face of the windshield; I fixed it by fine sanding and dipping it in Future. Even though the clear parts were in a separate bag, almost all of them had a small scratch or rub mark.
I found sink marks on the strut's airfoils that required filling, and both supports had ejector-pin marks on the inside faces that needed filling. But, with the good attachment points, the whole assembly feels solid on the airframe.
I chose German civilian markings for my model. The decals were thin and went down nicely on a glossy surface.
I spent 26 hours building this kit. With all its fit issues, I can only recommend it to experienced modelers.
Read more
model kit reviews.