Of all the classic collector kits, the Jetco Shark 45 is the one that best epitomizes what kit manufacturers went through back then. Most would buy the rights to a model, then do a re-design so that it would fit in one of their standard boxes. The position of "Kit Engineer" was probably a very valued position back then. If some one is interested in buyinmg a Jetco Shark 45 kit and wonders if the kit is complete, all you have to do is shake the box a little bit, then carefully take the lid off and inspect it. The Jetco kit is kind of like a Chinese jig saw puzzle and there is very little room even for air in the box. If it rattles when you shake iot, something is missing. If you look inside and see any open space, something is missing! If it doesn't rattle and looks nice and orderly and full inside, DON"T BOTHER TO UNPACK IT!!!! You'll never get it all back in the box they way it came out. At least I never could! I have several in my collection and used the parts from a couple of the kits as patterns to scratch build mine from the Jetco plans. Jetco would have you glue several die cut pieces together to form a block instead of using a bigger box to hold all the necessary block parts. That is why the Jetco kit tends to come out heavy, and why the model build from the kit or plans is a bit smaller than the magazine plan built kit or the RSM kit. But it does fly well, and it is a genuine marvel of "kit engineering."
Type at you later,
Dan McEntee
Topic: Jetco Shark 45 NIB kit - advice wanted (Read 1792 times)