Special Hobby 1/72 Delta 1D/E “US Transport Plane - Late”Reviewed by Brad Cancian
Item: SH72329
scale: 1/72
Price: 19 Euros, direct from Special HobbyReview kit kindly provided by Special Hobby at
https://www.specialhobby.eu/delta-1d-e-us-transport-plane-1-72Northrop’s little DeltaDeveloped in 1932, the Northrop company followed on the success of their earlier “Alpha” and “Gamma” monoplane designs to create the “Delta”. This aircraft was an all-metal, single engine low-wing monoplane, with fixed undercarriage protected by spats. The type was intended to be used on short domestic routes and was made in a number of different variations, differing by powerplant, and cockpit / cabin layout. The 1D and 1E versions had a wider cockpit, able to accommodate two pilots. Deltas saw service with many nations (both in civil and military capacities) throughout the 30s and 40s, with many pressed into service in World War Two. During that conflict, Deltas were used in a multitude of roles, including general purpose, transport, aerial survey, reconnaissance, anti-submarine patrol, and training.
The KitThere have been few releases of the Delta. Azur firs produced a delta kit in 2016, and this kit forms the basis for the Special Hobby kit. This boxing (SH72329) was first released by Special Hobby in 2017, and has been followed in 2018 by two different Canadian air force boxings in 2018 and 2019 respectively, the first offering a revised tail fin, and the second offering floats.
This boxing consists of four sprues of medium grey plastic, a clear sprue, and decals.
The first sprue consists of the wings, and wheel spats. The wings are nicely moulded, with a single piece lower wing, and two separate upper wing panels. Panel lines are crisp and the surface of the plastic is smooth. The sprue gates are large and there is a little flash here and there; some care will be needed when removing the parts and during clean up. Interestingly, the prominent under-wing light fairing (visible on the box top) is missing.
Several options for wheel spats are provided, with some modifications being needed for certain variants (though these are clearly called out in the instructions.
The second sprue consists of the fuselage halves, tail feathers, and engine cowl parts. Horizontal stabilisers are in two halves, with control surfaces moulded in the neutral position. Some care will be needed to remove the cowl from the sprues and during clean up to keep everything round.
Again, parts are crisply moulded, but the panel lines are a little soft in some places along the fuselage. These lines are not complex and should be easy to crisp up, if you so wish.
There are some ejector pins that may need to be dealt with to ensure a good fit.
The next two grey sprues contain the detail parts, including the cabin, cockpit, wheels, engine, propellers, and various other detail parts.
Detail inside the cabin is fairly light on, with minimal details such as a floor and seats being present. What is there though is nicely moulded. There is a little more in the cockpit, to keep things busy, including some nicely moulded control yokes and instrument panel. No seat belts are included.
The other details are nicely done, in particular, the wheels are well executed, and the engine detail is crisp. That big engine up front is a focal point, so some may wish to add extra details such as wiring, and so on.
The last sprue is the clear sprue. This is again nicely done, with the areas to be painted on the big cockpit glazing being moulded with a slight texture (though this appears to make the part look ‘foggy’, the actual window panels are fine). Interestingly, the cabin windows are flat pieces with no ‘backing’ to hold them in place against the interior of the fuselage. This will likely present some challenges during construction.
InstructionsSpecial Hobby’s Instructions are provided in their modern, high-quality booklet. Presented in 8 glossy pages, construction occurs over 11 steps. The instructions are comprehensive, with a parts layout, clear instruction and paint call outs (in Humbrol and Gunze paints), and full colour four angle painting profiles. Variations and modifications required for each colour scheme (mainly spats and antenna details) is also provided.
Three colour schemes are catered for, these being:
• Delta Serial Number 42, A61-1, RAAF, Australia 1942. This aircraft was originally bought by the Australian government in 1940, registered VH-ADR, and then pressed into RAAF service in 1942 as A61-1. This was the only Delta to serve in the RAAF during the war, and it was written off after a crash in 1943.
• Delta Serial Number 74, US Army Corps of Engineers, Gura, Eritrea (Italian colony), Africa, 1942. This was an ex-US Coast Guard machine, as seen in scheme C.
• RT-1 (Delta Serial Number 74), V150, US Coast Guard, 1936. Used as the personal transport of Henry Morgenthau, the US Secretary of the Treasury, through 1935-1940. It became the aircraft seen in scheme B above.
DecalsThe decals, like all recent Special Hobby releases, are crisply printed with solid colour and excellent register. These are printed by Aviprint, so I envision no problems with these decals whatsoever. Sadly, no decals for seatbelts are provided, though a decal for the instrument panel is a nice touch.
Accuracy and Buildability:Not having any detailed publications on this aircraft, and not being a particular expert as to this aircraft, I can’t comment conclusively about accuracy. As noted above, the under-wing landing lights do appear to be missing. These should not be too hard to add, but will require drilling through the lower wing in the right spot, and adding some kind of light cover. I do foresee some minor construction challenges in a couple of areas; In particular, the cabin windows. As mentioned, they sit flush against the fuselage sides, and don’t have any ‘tab’ or edge to secure them solidly into the fuselage; the only mating surface being around their thin edges. I imagine this was done to avoid sink holes that can come with thicker clear parts, but it makes their attachment tricky. My recommendation would be to try and place tape along the outside of the fuselage halves and install the windows carefully from the inside using a white glue, then use particular care when handling and masking down the track. Secondly, the undercarriage legs / wheel attachments (parts B31, x4) also look like they could be a bit flimsy within the spats. These attachments are not a ‘leg’ per se, rather, two ‘hooks’ on either side of the wheel. I would consider strengthening this attachment in some way to keep the wheels solidly locked in. Otherwise, I think the kit should build rather simply given the smaller number of parts and simplicity of the Delta itself. Online builds suggest a minimum of problems with the kit from a fit perspective.
ConclusionsThe Delta is a lovely subject to release; it’s lines hark back to a classic age of aviation, and the extensive use of the aircraft offer many options for different colour schemes. This one should build relatively easily, if one takes note of the potential little challenges here and there. There is certainly scope for this to be either a quick build, or one that provides a solid basis for a detailing project. No matter the approach, once built you’ll have quite a nice and unique looking little aircraft to grace the shelf or the competition table. At 19 Euros, the kit is also reasonably priced.
Highly recommended!
Our very sincere thanks to Special Hobby for the review sample!
