Modellers favouring 1/144 scale can once again buy the Aeroclub Dragon Rapide, as it’s been reissued by Air-Craft as CHRIS CLIFFORD reports.
If you’re short on display space, 1/144 is a useful scale… especially if portraying larger aircraft. The choice of subjects grows continually, too. A worthy item first released in 2012 was Aeroclub’s short-run 1/144 de Havilland Dragon Rapide, which has now been reissued by Air-Craft Models in three different boxings, each with new decals. The real bonus is that besides civilian airframes, you can also replicate RAF Dominie Mk.Is from World War Two as fresh decals sheets are provided.
Above: Sensibly in this scale, no glazing is provided... it being replicated by well-printed decals. Note the wheels are moulded with the engine nacelles.
Here we focus on item ACK144008, De Havilland DH.89/89B Dominie Mk.I. In the box are two small styrene runners, a photo-etched (PE) brass fret, two white metal propeller spinners and a neatly printed decal sheet. This is a typical short-run kit of the period, whereby the runner attachment points are substantial, so a fine razor saw is advisable for removing the parts. No locating pins are present and there’s an absence of clear components… decals being emp…
