Academy Minicraft Cessna 150 Aerobat 1:48 – step-by-step build guide

A couple of years ago my wife bought me a flying lesson at Retford / Gamston Airfield. The aircraft that was used was a Cessna 150 Aerobat registration G-PHUN used by the Gamston Flying School. The Cessna 150 is a two-seat tricycle gear general aviation airplane that was designed for flight training, touring and personal use. Following this I began to take more notice of the various Minicraft or Academy Cessnas appearing on a certain web based auction site, so once a 150 came up at the right price, I thought about a replica of G-PHUN.

Just before we get started, here’s a look at how it all turned out…

The Plan

Very simply the plan was to replicate G-PHUN as closely as the kit and my patience would allow. So, in addition to photos that were taken on the day, I trawled the internet to get as many images of G-PHUN and her similarly painted sisters as possible.

There were various detail differences to the kit in terms of aerial and light positions etc as well as the obvious in terms of paint scheme and markings. I also decided that it would probably look better on a small base, but more of that later.

What’s in the box

The instruction sheet is basic covering what is effectively a folded A4 sheet, that being said the kit make up is simple with few parts. The plastic is on three runners (including one for the clear parts) packed in two plastic bags. The fuselage parts were separated to fit in the one bag.

The parts are generally nicely moulded with some flash evident around the smaller items in particular. The panel lines are a little on the heavy side, and a few fit issues become evident (specifically on the fuselage) as the build progresses. The clear parts are rather thick but polish up well enough for a good exterior appearance.

Getting Started…