BPK Models 1/72 Boeing 737-800 Kit First Look
By Michael Benolkin
| Date of Review | March 2021 | Manufacturer | BPK Models |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subject | Boeing 737-800 | Scale | 1/72 |
| Kit Number | 7215 | Primary Media | Styrene, Photo-Etch, Resin |
| Pros | First new-tool 737 in this scale in decades | Cons | Nothing noted |
| Skill Level | Experienced | MSRP (USD) | $119.90 |
First Look
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I've had a love for the 737 series for many decades. In flight training, air traffic control would call out nearby aircraft to ensure you had a visual on them (and thereby not collide), and the controllers would always call the 737 'guppy' as the early variants did look like a guppy (sort of). At one point in my post-military career, I strongly considered joining one of the (then) regional airlines like America West or Southwest as they operated exclusively 737-200s and they were recruiting. I acquired the training manuals and sought out a school to get my 737 type rating so that I could make the career change, but alas, a better offer came along and I remained in the engineering world instead. As it happened, I wound up spending lots of time on the later 737s as I shuttled to the east and west coasts as part of my job.
BPK Models produced the 737-200 eight years ago and Fotios Rouch gave us a first-look at the kit (look here). I had the Aurora/Monogram tooling of the 1/72 737-100 but I never got around to bashing two of them together to get the stretched -200. When I saw that article, BPK had released the USAF T-43 version and that kit joined my own collection. At the time, I wondered why nobody has build the subsequent generations of the guppy? Fast forward to present day and BPK has returned with the first installment from next generation series (-700/-800/-900) with this 1/72 737-800 kit. Of course I snapped one up and I'm quite pleased.
The kit is molded in various shades of gray styrene and presented on 10 parts trees plus front and rear fuselage halves, lower wing halves, one tree of clear parts, one fret of photo-etched parts, and a set of resin parts. You can see by the layout that we may be seeing the -700 and -900 versions in the near future. Among the features and options:
- Nicely detailed flight deck
- Nicely detailed landing gear and wheel wells
- Landing gear can be posed extended or retracted
- Nicely detailed CFM-56 engines
- Clear parts are designed to move seams away from the clear areas and make any seam-filling easier
Markings are provided for one option:
- B738, VH-VXM, Qantas Airways, 2018, 'Spirit of Australia'
I hope there will be some aftermarket decal options for this kit as I can think of a number of schemes I'd like to produce. I purchased my kit directly from BPK and it arrived well-packed for its journey from the Ukraine.