DC-9 kits in 1/144th scale are a bit hard to find today, but this Minicraft release in an older Hawaiian Air livery qualifies as one, since it was listed under the DC-9 Super 80 series name instead of the newer MD-81 marketing name for the same aircraft type.
Kit quality was quite good and it was relatively easy to build. Cockpit clear part needed some fitting and puttying in the fuselage assembly.
Engine detail is above average, the intake ring part design eliminates hard-to-fill seams. Optional tailcones are included, for this model I used the correct older pointy type instead of the moreaerodynamic "beaver tail" part.
All white and gray areas were airbrushed with Revell enamels (04 and 371), while silver details were masked and brushed. Decaling seemed to be a bit frightening task at the first glance, the violet-red decoration pattern, windows, doors and fuselage text were all printed as a single decal on each side, but with patience and care everything went together really well.
The whole model was finally sealed with a thin coat of Johnson floor wax, as these planes were really shiny and gloss in reality too.
I've had problems sometimes with Minicraft's door engravings vs. the decals, but in this case everything was spot-on.
I'm quite pleased with this model and how it turned out, it fits my impressions of the actual DC-9s nicely.
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