C-124C Globemaster II

Defiantly for ages 14 and up. As there are no pin holes to hold glue an parts in line. But overall a very excellent kit and Roden is the only company to have the Globemaster. Easy instructions with very good decals. I painted my kit in the Antarctic Supply paint scheme. That flew out of Palm Beach Air Force Base in the 50s.Found one small spot near cockpit where plastic had a chip missing. But easily fixed.

This kit lacks locating pins and requires some advanced modeling knowledge, but results in a fine representation of Old Shaky with some loving effort. The windows are outlines, but could be opened up if you don't want to use decals. If you open them up, they are slightly oval rather than round to be correct. The outline shape of the kit is quite accurate, and there are a few extra parts like a partial wing spar and nose doors, none of which are used, so it appears that Roden contemplated making the kit with more options, but then changed their mind. The kit has a minimum of panel detail, but the decals look usable. With a little care and imagination, a very nice model can be built from this kit as the cowlings and propellers are corrected from the incorrect ones in the C-124A kit, and this one has the thimble radome which was lacking in the other kit. Since it is easily usable in making a very nice looking model, and it's easily affordable, I ranked it highly.

The good news is that Roden has developed a reputation for releasing kits of airplanes neglected by the modeling industry, the C-124 among them. Sadly, Roden's kits vary widely in quality, fit, and details, and building them is NOT for the faint of heart because they have the qualities of limited production kits, meaning no locating pins, some filing, sanding, filling and more sanding being required. The C124 has been long ignored in injected plastic kits, so Roden's release immediately captured the interest of rare airplane modelers. The kit captures the overall look of the C-124 well, but detail is marginal, and fitting many parts requires modeling skill, as there are no locating pins and minimal attaching tabs to help locate major components and keep them aligned once glued together. That said, this is the only game in town for C124 fans wanting an injected plastic version, and for an experienced modeler, it provides the opportunity to use and develop modeling skills that either have been long dormant after the shake and bake modern kits, and a very nice model can be the result. MODELING SKILLS REQUIRED.