Pro Resin

1/72 Martin MS-1 resin model kit

Product # R72-047

Product Article by Steve Bamford on Mar 16 2011

This resin model kit is the Martin MS-1 which was a Naval Scout aircraft used by the US Navy and in the fall of 1923, a Martin MS-1 became the first US aircraft to be operated from a submarine.  This was possible as the plane was partially disassembled and stored in a cylinder on deck.  Prior to launch the submarine would surface, plane would be removed from the cylinder and assembled and then the submarine would partially submerge top permit the plane to take flight.  Recovery of the plane was the reverse procedure.

This new resin kit from Olimp Models is part of their new Pro Resin line of resin kits.  This little 1/72 kit comes packed in a VERY sturdy little box.  The fact it was a float plane got my heart beating a bit faster as I love float planes.  Opening the box revealed a wonderful selection of parts.....45 parts in all.  Not too many parts to make it  a complicated kit, but enough parts to give it a high level of delicate detail.  Pro Resin seems to have found the perfect balance in the number of parts for this little float plane.  

Now....this is a resin kit, so it will require the use of CA glue (Crazy Glue) to assemble it and the parts are going to need a tiny bit of cleaning up, but this is very minimal and will not in any way detract from the joy of building this kit.  If you've ever done any work with resin parts before you will have no problem tackling this kit......go slow....be patient and enjoy the build.  I did a dry fit of the fuselage halves and they lined up very well but you will need to clean up the mating surfaces before assembly.....this kit should go together well if the rest of the kit has the same very good level of fit.  

As you can see from the sample of photos of the resin parts below, the fuselage detail on the sides of the fuselage is well done.  The wings have excellently done recessed panel lines and will look quite convincing on the finished kit.  The seat has the tiniest little lap belts that are raised and show a level of detail that is exceptional for 1/72 and will really dress up the tiny single seat cockpit.  The cockpit also has frame member stringers on the sidewalls which should show if you look carefully into the cockpit.

The attachment points for the resin parts is wonderfully thin making the removal of the parts from the resin casting blocks a quick and easy job.  Detail is very crisp on most parts and the finished products will be a treat to behold.  The cloth covered ribbed areas on the rear of the fuselage sides as well as the wings and tail surfaces is beautifully done and looks perfectly to scale. 

I really do get a kick out of seeing the latest kit from Pro Resin as they produce kits of an interesting variety of aircraft, but this tiny float plane really is a treat to behold.

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The kit parts are pretty straight forward and the 4 pages of instructions cover the assembly process in a clear and easy to follow way.  The instructions include paint codes in Humbrol, Model Master and Revell colours.

There are one decal option for the Martin MS-1 that became the first US aircraft to be operated from a submarine, which is an aluminium aircraft with yellow on the top sides of the wings and a wooden prop and red/white/blue striped rudder.  

The decals are very clearly printed....not too thick...not too thin and of good colour coverage.  

In 1/72 you are dealing with tiny, tiny model kits but this kit goes to great lengths to provide cockpit detail that is better than quite a  few 1/48 scale kits I have in my stash.

This is a cute looking little float plane and it will be  a wonderful addition to anyone's display case.  You can buy this Pro Resin kit directly from Olimp Models.

I would like to thanks Oleg at Olimp Models for sending me this review sample.

Steve Bamford

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Photos and text © by Steve Bamford