Incomplete Review - Revell 1:110 TIE Fighter (06734)

Scale: 1:110, RRP - £5.99 (or £12.99 including paints, glue and brushes)

With the new Star Wars film, The Force Awakens, being released I decided to get into things with a quick and easy build. This was a bit of an impulse buy, I was in my local hobby store when the first batch had just arrived and the owner let me have one before they were even out of the shelves.

I've had fairly strong opinions on Revell and their Star Wars range but I was more than prepared to give them a fair chance here. I really wanted this kit to be a good one.

So to the kit, I was a bit hasty in getting started so I actually forgot to photograph the sprues so I'll direct you to Britmodeller's in-box review. The parts count is small, 22 in all but they do look reasonably detailed.

The wings, (for want of a better word), are both single pieces which was noticeable when compared to other kits in which the solar collector arrays are a single piece with a separate frame that attaches to them. I can see why because it's simpler for the novice builder, but if you want to airbrush them it'll involve a lot of masking as you spray the dark panels and then the grey coloured frames.

Up until now I've been avoiding the elephant in the room. That scale! 1:110. Just ignore this, especially if you wish to combine this with models from other ranges. This kit is actually bigger than the FineMolds kit and the Bandai kit both of which are 1:72 scale (and both of which scale up the same next to each other).

Now I appreciate that we're talking about the scale of fantasy vehicles and so with that in mind I measured up the pilots in all 3 kits. FineMolds and Bandai both were 1:72 scale, this kit was nearer to 1:50 scale. So why put a scale on it the first place? This seems very misleading if you're a modeller as really this is a toy kit. Looking a bit further at the history of this kit it then became apparent that this is actually Revell's 2012 Easykit Pocket TIE fighter, re-boxed and with the parts unpainted. Suddenly this looks like a rather lazy re-release just in time for the new film.

So how did it build? It goes together fairly well, in fact it's almost a push fit kit. The cockpit has a large hatch to the top which is meant to open to allow you to see inside (and see the oversized pilot). Again this seemed to emphasise the toy like nature of the kit.

Unfortunately this where my pride takes a bit of a knock. Due to the tight fit of the parts my dry fitting wasn't a thorough as it should have been and the hinge for the hatch ended up catching on the rear wall of the cockpit preventing the two halves from going together. How embarrassing...

So at that point there was only one place it was going, in the bin. I can't say I'm that bothered as I've already built the FineMolds kit and, despite the restrictions, I have one from Bandai to be getting on with.

I have to say when I saw all these kits in the store I though about getting a few other Star Wars models to quickly build. But with this experience I've changed my mind. I feel that there are much better options out there from Bandai and now, also, from Dragon who've just announced their new Star Wars range for 2016.

Dragon - Phase 1 Star Wars Releases

Overall Build Score: 2 out of 5, The detail is reasonable and a low number of parts makes it ideal for younger modellers. While it is relatively inexpensive it is essentially a repackaged Easykit Pocket TIE fighter from a few years ago without the pre-coloured parts. Combine this with very odd and completely wrong scale(s) make it feel like a somewhat lazy attempt at a cashing in on Star Wars as the new film is released.

Completed Review - FineMolds TIE Fighter - Part 2

Scale: 1:72, RRP - £24.99 (UK import price)

So back to blogging after a break and where better to start than with the FineMolds TIE Fighter. In my previous build review I pretty much covered how well this kit went together, so there isn't much more to say. I will make a quick mention of the masks that were included with the kit for the glazed parts, these were excellent and the decals went on without any problems, despite their small size.

Really all that's really left to do is show some pictures of the finished model.

If you read the my earlier posts, (the build review and this one), then it's not going to come as much of a surprise when I tell you that this is a fantastic kit. Beautifully detailed, authentic looking (when compared to the original film models) and all at a sensible scale. And to top it all off it goes together remarkably well.

The only difficultly for me was understanding the Japanese instructions, but as this kit was only intended for release in the Japanese domestic market that's completely understandable.

Simply put, this is, without doubt, this the best kit I've built to date. Yes, it even out-preforms my favourite model company, Tamiya!

Overall Build Score: 5 out of 5, an essential build for sci-fi modellers (and others). Perfection in model form, a kit that's well thought out, well engineered and true to its film roots in every way.

What's On The Workbench? #3

Bit of quick post, so what's on the workbench at this time?

Well of course Fine Molds 1:72 scale TIE fighter is nearing completion, I'm just itching to write my final review but it's not quite done yet.

Hopefully one day of good light at my desk can see the final details painted and the decals on. But trust me, this one's worth the wait!

Apart from that, I have started work on something else, between coats of paint on the TIE fighter. I'll reveal exactly what in a later post.

But for now a sneak preview, it doesn't exactly fall together thanks to some interesting choices for the sprue runners...

Build Review - FineMolds TIE Fighter - Part 1

Time for an update on FineMolds 1:72, a kit which appears on my to-do list for the coming year.

Upon opening the box it's one of those kits where you instantly notice the detail. The parts are full of little details, which is probably down to FineMolds having access to the original production models from the Star Wars films.

So naturally, I was keen to get started, and like any aircraft build you start with the cockpit, and in this case the excellent little pilot model. The cockpit consists of front and back halves, a floor and two inner side walls and then the pilot, his seat and controls. The side walls are painted black and then decals are added to give the red interior effect (I believe these are moving dials in the film, but it's been such a long time since I've seen them that I may be mistaken).

The rest of the interior is coloured grey, I used Tamiya's XF-53, neutral grey and dry-brushed with various Citadel greys to add a bit depth. The pilot is all black, again dry-brushed to bring out the details. FineMolds also give you some decals for his helmet and shoulder pads which are tiny! With these added he was ready to be seated.

All this went together smoothly, the fit is excellent, clip the front half on and the cockpit was pretty much done. There is a clear panel for the front but I decided to leave this off and paint it separately and so just masked the cockpit front as it was.

Next up were the wings. I believe the technical term is solar collector arrays so forgive me if I refer to them as wings from now on. These consist of a flat panel and then two frame pieces which clip onto either side. The flat panels were sprayed with Tamiya's XF-69, Nato black. I them picked out a few sections and over sprayed them with XF-61, German grey to add a bit of contrast.

After attaching the frames to the panels it was time to fix them to the cockpit and here I encountered my first (minor) problem. The fix initially seemed a bit lose and had me wondering how I would get then to settle at the correct angle. It was only then that I realised I had to apply more pressure and then the wings snapped into place. In fact, they fitted so firmly I doubt glue would be needed to hold them.

I think there may well be something in the instructions to tell you all this but the instructions are completely in Japanese. This is because this model, and the license, are only for the domestic Japanese market and so there's not a word of English to be found like you find in so many other Japanese kits.

And there you have it, in no time at all a TIE fighter built, next up would be painting it which I'll cover in my next post.

What's On The Workbench? #2

After my last post there was a certain inevitability that I'd have to follow it up with a build. So what's on the workbench?

It is of course, Fine Molds 1:72 scale TIE Fighter, I not going to say in this post, other than I'm loving this build so far.

I'll save the detailed report for when I complete this kit (assuming I can avoid any of the kind of disasters that have plagued my recent builds) and leave you a picture of a very small pilot and possibly the smallest decals you'll ever be likely to see.

Until next time.