1/144 Minicraft USAir MD80

by Jon Keib

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Growing up on the East Coast USAir was a familiar sight around the Northeast. One trip to the hobby store, *A-hem* for paint, I came across this kit. I had read about the Minicraft MD-80 before and many said it was on par with their 737 line-up. So along with my paint I headed out the door. Opened up the kit and saw the wonder that was boxed up. The USAir decals were bright and colorful, but as was stated before the striping is of different widths. Never the less I wasn't worried, Construction went flawlessly, a little bit of filler here and there and I was ready to finish.

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Now USAir had a few finishes on their DC-9 family, the MD-80's they received in the merger with PSA where refinished Bare-metal with red and blue striping. I had a sheet of Bare-Metal Foil and went for it. If you have worked with BMF before you may have noticed a slight grain effect running on one direction. I found that buy doing a section then on the next section I turned the foil 90 degrees it achieved a nice effect. The decals where a different story. the nose didn't want to settle down. I cut the striping back to under the cockpit windows and hand painted the strips around the nose. A little weathering,  an APU exhaust, and some thrust reverser soot finished it off. Not a bad kit at all, I recommend it to anyone who wants a Mad-Dog on their shelf. Well back to the bench.

Jon

Photos and text © by Jon Keib