Hobbycraft 1/72 DHC-2/U-6A Beaver, previewed by Scott Van Aken

Shortly after the end of the Second World War, de Havilland Canada decided to orient itself towards civilian operators. Based on feedback from pilots, the company decided that the envisioned aircraft should have excellent STOL performance, all-metal construction, and accommodate many features sought by the operators of bush planes. On 16 August 1947, the maiden flight of the aircraft, which had received the designation DHC-2 Beaver, took place. In April 1948, the first production aircraft was delivered to the Ontario Department of Lands and Forests. A Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) Beaver played a supporting role in Sir Edmund Hillary's famous 1958 Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition to the South Pole.

Some aircraft have been refit with a turboprop engine, though many original DHC-2 aircraft are still in service.

THE KIT

Prior to this one, the only 1/72 DHC-2 was produced by Airfix and that was a British Army version that had a plethora of 'lumps and bumps' on the upper center wing area. If you wanted to do a 'normal' DHC-2, all that had to be removed.

This kit is really fairly basic as kits go. The fuselage halves are molded in clear plastic so you don't have to worry about installing clear bits. Simply mask them over and you are good to go. The interior has seats, a single wheel for the pilot, an instrument panel, floor and rear cabin bulkhead. There is no cabin detail and no decal for the minimally detailed instrument panel.

Once the interior is done, it can be installed between the fuselage halves. There is no positive locating areas for this so one simply has to get it close. Wings are upper and lower halves with a number of separate hinges that will need installed. The engine fits into a single piece cowling and I'd attach it prior to the wings to ensure a good fit. When installing the wings, there is a strut on each side that will need to be added. There is also an exhaust and scoop for under the forward fuselage.

The kit comes with the ability to have just wheels, wheels with skis, or for the adventurous, there are floats. A fair amount of plastic is for this latter option. In this case, there is no tail gear, but a strake instead as shown on the box art.

Instructions are well drawn but there is no color info for the interior or other parts provided. There are three options. Two are US Army. One is the box art plane in overall silver with what appears to be da-glo sections but is listed as red. A nice touch is a silver insignia backing decal for the bright areas. The other Army offering is overall gloss olive drab. The third option in dark green and light stone is from South Yemen. I see they provided a spare Yemeni tail flag in case they are not handed. Decals are nicely done and since this is a 'black box' kit, should work without any major issues, though I'd test one just to be sure. There are a few aftermarket decal options out there if you look around.

Many years ago I built the 1/48 version and the biggest issue I had was that the wings seemed to have a slight forward sweep. Other than that it was a fairly easy build and I expect this one to be the same. As you know Dora Wings has released a modern 1/48 Beaver and I would bet a 1/72 version may soon follow.

KIT #:	HC 1330
PRICE:	$
DECALS:	Three Options
REVIEWER:	Scott Van Aken
NOTES:	1995 release