Minicraft recently released a second decal scheme for their Beech Bonanza F-33 kit. Along with the Bonanza model, this display stand was looking for a home and a kind word on the IPMS Review Corps list.

This stand is packaged in an industrial strength clear plastic bag with a cardboard fold-over label stapled to the bag top. There are four parts of clear plastic, attached to the sprue with somewhat discrete attachment stubs. With care the parts can be removed with minimal stub marks left. These can be polished out, or the base can be painted.

The parts fit easily together. The vertical shaft slides into the round base and fits securely without glue. This shaft can be cut down to any desired length. Make sure you insert the solid end of the shaft into the base. The top has a hole drilled for the ball joint. Remember this also if shortening the shaft. I left mine as is.

The other two parts make up the articulated ball joint. The ball joint socket fits into the top of the vertical shaft. The ball part attaches to the belly of the aircraft model you will use. A 5/32”/4mm hole needs to be drilled into the aircraft belly. I superglued the ball shaft into the Bonanza belly after opening up what seemed like an enormous hole. Once glued into position, it is actually quite discrete.

The articulated ball to socket joint is not very tight and didn’t hold the model in any desired position, except where the center of gravity favored – i.e., nose straight down. That’s great if you’re displaying a Stuka dive bombing a British airfield in 1940, but tends to scare the passengers and possibly the pilot in a civil aircraft on a Saturday afternoon sightseeing jolly!! I added a drop of super glue to each of the four socket “arms” which helped tighten it up.

A modeler of any skill level will be able to use this stand with ease. It is a simple and dynamic addition to display most 1/72 and 1/48 scale model aircraft airborne, although I don’t think it would be strong enough for anything too big like a 1/48 scale 4 engine bomber.

My thanks to Minicraft and the folks at IPMS for allowing me to review this fun kit.