I am currently assembling the 1/4 Scale Taylorcraft from Minicraft Thailand.
This is largely the same kit as the Hangar 9 Taylorcraft with some differences.
Minicraft is the company that manufacturers most of the H9 kits, however certain designs have been licensed to H9 and are not sold through other outlets.

My initial observations of the kit were excellent.
It is very well packaged, all accessories are packaged in sealed plastic bags with each related group of accessories packaged separately.

The colour scheme is different to the one of the H9 version. The wings have a white base colour with the leading edges red back to the main spar.

Wing tips are also different. This kit has conventional rounded wing tip blocks, unlike the H9 kit, which has the wing tips as pr the original Richie plane.

The fuselage has a somewhat similar colour combination, with the main decals being the number of the plane - NC-71724

After reading numerous posts on this plane and contacting Erick Royer who kindly gave me some advice, I decided on the Zenoah G26 to power the plane.
The manual has a section about the fitment of this motor but no templates for drilling of the firewall can be found.

I contacted Hangar 9 (Horizon) to ask them for a copy of the addendum to the manual, however 2 weeks later, this still hasn't happened.
All attempts to contact that company for support have been disappointing, to say the least.

I made up my own templates for the engine mounting with the crankshaft centre sitting at the same spot as the pre-drilled mount for glow engines would have seen.

For servos, I chose the HTec 626 metal gear servos for the tail. 2 servos drive the elevator halfs and one for the rudder. This may be somewhat of an overkill but I have other large projects going where these servos will fit well.
Ailerons are controlled by Htec 605BB with one in each wing.
Throttle and engine kill switch are controlled by standard servos.

I decided to fit a smoke system in the plane. I bought the Sullivan Skywriter pump but so far, haven't fitted it.

The entire cockpit interior is painted white with glossy epoxy paint. I ordered a scale instrument panel from Diamond Panels and despite me living in Australia, they had the panel to me within a week. Most impressive service and excellent quality product.

The included fuel tank was thrown out and replaced with a shorter and wider model. This is to be able to hide it behind the instrument panel. I might use the included one for a smoke tank.

So far, I have all major parts mounted, engine and servos fitted and haven't had to add any weight to balance the plane.

I am now fitting scale details, such as cockpit scale bracing like in the original plane (Thanks to details from Walter D, who sent me a great deal of good info) and jury struts (again thanks to Walter D).

When I get some good pictures together, I will post them.

I have found the kit excellent quality and have used all included hardware except the tail wheel assembly and the split pushrod system.

Will post again on progress.

Ari Palsson
Sydney

Some pictures attached

And another

Hey Ari
Your plane looks great!
I have been setting on the H9 Taylorcraft
for about a year now just waiting for some time to put it together.
Best of luck with yours!

Doug

Thanks stomper,

Have you decided on an engine to use?

When I bought mine, I wanted the H9 version. I checked with local distributors here in Australia and was told that in order to buy one in the H9 version, the price would be as much as 50% higher, as the design and colour scheme was licensed to H9 and it had to be specially ordered.

I then contacted H9 (Horizon) to ask them about the box size because a relative was in the States and I wanted her to bring one back.
The only answer I got from Horizon was that since they couldn't ship to Australia and the shipping within the States was a flat fee, I shouldn't care how big the box was. Since then, I was unable to raise any response from them.

I might try again at a later stage, because I'd love to have a pair of these in different designs.

I like the kit. Minicraft have done a good job on building them and the included accessories are better than I have seen on many ARFs (hardly threw out anything except the tailwheel unit).

I have a Taurus 2.6 gas enigne that will be installed along with JR 811 Digitals

The box measurement is 14"X17"X531/2"

The picture is not of my plane but a good looking Taylorcraft!!


Doug

Here are a couple of more pictures of my Taylorcraft.
As you can see, there are subtle differences between this version and the Hangar 9 version. Look at the wing tips for different shape.

And one more

Where did you get your Minicraft taylorcraft??? Ihave been looking for a hobby shop that I can get the kits from .. I'm looking for the Clipped Wing taylorcraft (hangar 9) that Minicraft is selling.. I can't find the H9 anywhere, and would like to get that kit.. Please forward me the name, number and web page information of the company/shop that you purchased yours from..

How much was it?

Thanks!

I bought mine through the Australian distributor, Hobby Headquarters. Their site is www.hhq.com.au

Unfortunately, they can not ship overseas. Too bad.. anyone know of any other sources for these birds?? or better yet, how about someone selling me their unopened NIB Hangar 9 Taylorcraft. It's the holidays..

Check with Mike's Model Aircraft Supply in Yakima, Wa. Ph. 509-453-8238. He has one NIB at his store. I have one I fly at Big Bird events. Great Airplane.