Stearman aircraft are twin-seat biplanes first built in the mid-1930s and popularized by their use as a trainer for military pilots. Thousands of these aircraft rolled off assembly lines and introduced American pilots to the fundamentals of being a pilot. When the war ended, thousands of surplus trainers went on to do every civilian job from crop dusting to barn-storming aerobatics. Ease of maintenance and great handling made them popular wherever they went. Kit features a full interior sub frame, fixed support struts and landing gear plus a detailed multi-part engine.
Decals are supplied for two aircraft:
1. US Army Stearman no. 456 in classic blue and yellow trim
2.US Navy Stearman no. 88 in overall yellow
Skill Level: 3
Instruction manual illustrated ( See the PDF here )
Scale: 1/48
Length: 6-1/8″
Height: 2-5/16″
Wingspan: 8-3/16″
Parts: 60
MSRP: $16.95
Street Price: $13.99 (approx)
On 2014, Revell USA bring us a big surprise with this new tooling PT-17 Stearman. Before that only the Lindberg kit was available, not a bad kit but and outdated one. Now Revell bring us a very easy kit to build for novice and youngers,with very detailed plastic, including decals for two version and two different propellers as well. Instructions are very easy to follow and the kit can be build in a weekend just out of the box. For my version I used the Yellow Wings Decals aftermarket (1:48 Yellow Wings Decals USN N2S-3) and added the rigging using guitar strings. They are so many options and variables for this kit, that you can built it even as a IDF trainer plane!
This kit was a fun project to work with, already built two of them and expecting to build more in the future, with not issues at all, and a excellent example for showing new ways to inspire using easy build kits. I expect to see more new planes coming from Revell in a future.
Highly Recommended!
My sincere thanks to Revell USA for the review sample.
