Reviews : Roden Beechcraft GB-2 Staggerwing

When I first opened the kit, and saw the small side windows to be glued in, I had a flash back 60n years or more. I was given, for my sixth or seven birthday of either a Twin Comanche or Twin Bonanza; it had a lot of flush glass window area, which at the time I butchered, of course.. It was 1/48th scale, I's sure judging from the size of this kit, and reminds me of an area where I haven't improved much over the years. This is not an easy kit, by most measures; like a some of the European kits I have built lately, they mold very small parts beautifully, but attach them to very thick stems on the tree, which need very careful trimming, but fit together well when done, as dos the kit as a whole' The overall fit and detail of the kit are excellent, and it has been a fun build, save fir the side windows. Thay needed trimming and were still to big for the openings, and reaffirmed the flashback I had! I ended up cutting small pieces of clear packaging to fill the areas. But, my bad. What a great aircraft to have the chance to build. Perhaps the grandfather to all bizjets, and maybe the sexiest biplane ever built, and ended up being stunted by WWII, the Roden kit is worthy of the airplane. the detail is very good, the instructions aren't bad (with the exception of leaving out the rear bottom fuselage part from the instructions), the decal and paint scheme choices are numerous. Like I said, a fun build of a great aircraft.

I bought this kit on the suggestion of a pilot with a much more comprehensive knowledge of commercial aircraft from the prop era. I would have to say this kit taxed my modest building skills, especially in regards to the glass canopy windows and getting the port and starboard halves of the fuselage to align correctly and tightly. One thing that surprised me was the consistency of the plastic compared to most others I've built: the plastic was noticeably softer and I quickly had to watch myself when trimming away flash and/or doing general cutting on pieces. I was happy to see there was indeed a kit for this more obscure plane, but was a little disappointed in the degree of detail. I only wish I had taken this kit a little slower, as the plane is very unique and rather beautiful. The decals weren't for the faint of heart being very fragile and not that crisp.