Modelers know that dated kits may be turned into fair representations of the plane with some effort, patience and additions. In this case we have a typical early “short-run” kit with all the somewhat nagging issues that come with them: lack of locating devices, indifferent molding, thick edges, thick walls, poor engineering, lack of fine detail, vague instructions, flimsy vac transparencies and so on and so forth. Looking at these kits there is also the ever-lingering question: “-Why did they do part X in resin/P.E. and not part Y, which needed it more”. Still: you will finally be able to build the subject you love, which was neglected by the big names in the industry. I have built dozens of these poor cousins of the industry, many of them to great satisfaction. In this case, besides a few improvements, I decided to keep things relatively simple, and against my building instincts opted for not to opening anything, and just try to render a credible replica. I adapted the kit to represent a specific plane that differed in some regards from the version in the box. For that I worked a bit on the interior, added some exterior details, and refined the parts to attenuate the overall sense of thickness.
Props were replaced; nav lights, wing landing lights and LE light added; dorsal beacon and belly antennas added, engine baffles added, exhausts replaced, landing gear and interior further detailed.
The step-by-step building article shows some of the kit hiccups and a couple of needed corrections:
https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2026/04/cessna-t-50-pavla-multimedia-172nd-kit.html
My intention was at the beginning to use an Arctic Decals set (Wisconsin Central Airlines) but midway I realized that this Pavla rendition was different enough from the KP one that the masks and decals would have trouble adapting to some of the discrepancies. Thus, I looked around for civil alternates and found this scheme which I liked, plus it needed a bare minimum of decals.
As I was finishing it, I used a brand new tintlet of Humbrol yellow enamel, that took more than a week to dry enough to apply the decals and be able to add the final bits. In the -paraphrased- words of Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump: “Humbrol enamels are like a box of chocolates…you never know what you are gonna get”. And is as such that you get some that have the consistency of thick milk caramel, some are thin as water, the same color from another tin will be different enough from the first to be easily noticed, some won’t dry in a month, and so on and so forth. The formula seems to have changed so often that from one year to the next your usual thinner won’t work well, their thinner won’t really work, the opacity of some colors will be a joke… et cetera. When they work, they are great…when and if they work. “Virtually unreliable” would be an understatement. Way to ruin a traditional brand, guys. By the way, and just in case some “advice” wants to come my way: I have used them for decades, and on hundreds of models.
But back to the kit…, if you have one of these oldish short-run boxes, you may give them a chance. If you don’t have them, you may buy them in the second-hand market -if the price is right. Or just buy the newer kit of that plane if it does exist (in this case the KP kit), which will give you a much smoother ride.
Here is the Arctic Decals set I planned to use, but, as explained, given the Pavla kit idiosyncrasies, could not be used. Fortunately I also have the KP kit to bestow them upon:
But if you are looking for some modeling exercise to work out the rust off those fingers (and vastly extend your expletives’ vocabulary) look for these oldies, they won’t disappoint... but have the aspirin bottle at hand.
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