Russian Self propelled ladders and baggage carts

[richellis]

With the amount of classic Russian airliners being released presently most of us airline modellers would love to put our builds into a mini diorama when we take some shots for our favourite forum, or to take along to a show. Unfortunately there isn't much of choice in ground support equipment, especially for our classic Russian birds!

Now North Star Models have released 2 new kits in 1:144 scale to stand next to our Russian airliners. The 2 kits are a set of Soviet era self-propelled ladders (air-stairs) and some baggage carts.

The Self-propelled ladder kit comes in a small stout box and the resin is well packed in bubble wrap and a zip lock bag. It is a small kit and I have shown a penny in some of the shots to give an idea of the size.

The base of the vehicle is cast in resin and the quality of the casting is first-class with no bubbles on the surface. There is a large resin block to remove from the front of the part but this is clevarly done so it is joined on the underside of the model part so it doesnt damage the detail while being removed. The detail of the drivers compartment is very nicely done as can be seen in this close up.

What you can't see on the photo is the rib detail on the seat and floor of the cab!

The second main resin part is the ladder/ stair part. This again is a first-class casting and for its small size the detail is superb. The way these 2 parts are cast will allow you to adjust the angle of the stairs to match up with different aircraft.

The wheels and rear axle are the remaining resin parts, the casting is to the same high quality but allot of care will be needed to cut the rear axle off the resin sprue.

There is a small photo-etch sheet that contains various detail parts for the build.

The instructions come over a folded A4 sheet with black and white diagrams outlining the build. They look easy to follow and contain all the detail needed for the build, and I have shown a picture of the instructions below

Baggage carts.

The second kit from North Star models to get the once over is some photo-etched baggage carts. The carts would be suitable in any airport diorama as they all follow the same basic design.

There are enough parts on the sheet to build 3 baggage carts and the detail on the etched sheet is very nice and I have a close up below,

The instructions follow the same layout as the kit above, clear and easy to follow but I wouldn't try to build these without a photo-etch bender and some experience of this type of kit as there is alot of bending and laminating parts together to give depth and thickness.

Conclusion

These are 2 very nice kits for airliner fans, the self-propelled ladders will look great on a Soviet ere apron, and the baggage carts will suit any airport setting.

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