AMT 1/48 Stinson Reliant

The Reliant is a high-wing, fixed-tailwheel land monoplane powered with a variety of radial engines.

1,327 Reliants of all types were made from 1933 to 1941, in different models, from SR-1 to SR-10. The final commercial model, the Stinson Reliant SR-10, was introduced in 1938. A militarized version was first flown in February 1942 and remained in production through several additional versions (all externally identical) until late 1943 for the US and British armed forces.

Reliant production can be broken into two distinct types – the straight-wing Reliants (all models up to SR-6) and the gull-wing Reliants (all models from SR-7 and after, including the militarized V-77/AT-19), with there being little in common between the two groups of types. The straight-wing Reliant has a wing of constant chord and thickness which is supported by two struts each side with additional bracing struts. In contrast the taper-wing Reliant has the broadest chord and thickness of the wing at mid-span, with the outer wing trailing edge heavily angled forward and a rounded cutout on the leading edge root, all supported by a single strut. The taper wing has a significant step up between the fuselage and the wing, and the changes in wing thickness gave it a distinct gull appearance from the front. 

The kit is one of Round 2's many repops of older AMT kits and this just happens to be an airplane. This is old school technology with raised pane lines and fairly thick clear bits. There is also minimal interior detailing, but enough to satisfy most. What is there is an instrument panel, control wheels and seats. The two cabin doors are separate and can be displayed open if one wishes.

Wings are in halves for the right and left side. These are held up by a pair of struts. The engine is fairly basic as well and thankfully, the engine cowling is a single piece. Landing gear is sturdy and the kit wheels are to be trapped in the spat halves.

Instructions are well done and there is a single option for the box art plane. This aircraft is in overall white with gold trim. Aside from the fuselage and spat striping, all the gold areas on the wing, tailplanes, fin edges and forward cowling will need to be painted. A paper template would have been nice. Decals are nicely done but I've heard reports that they are brittle and tend to break up so it would be best to recoat them.  

One thing about this is that it is definitely not fiddly. The kit should build fairly quickly and if you don't like the markings option, the plane was fairly widely used by the military so finding photos of those options for references would be the way to go.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stinson_Reliant

September 2019

Copyright ModelingMadness.com. All rights reserved