In Box Review – Bandai First Order TIE Fighter Set & Poe's X-Wing Fighter (003 & 004)

When Bandai started releasing their new Star Wars kits a few years ago they raised the game to a whole new level. Just focusing on vehicles we had a whole new range of 1:72 scale fighter sized models, and 1:144 scale larger sized spacecraft. And now, spotting another gap in their range, Bandai have started producing their fighter sized craft, in a smaller scale.

The 1:72 scale models are excellent. They are finely detailed and innovatively engineered in such a way that it is possible to snap fit them without any glue. In addition you have a choice of decals or stickers for the markings which opens up the models to a whole range of people, from children who want a simple toy, to model makers who want a finely detailed scale replica.

But can this excellence be scaled down? I've decided to take a look at two sets which feature vehicles from the Force Awakens film, the First Order TIE Fighter set and their adversary, Poe's X-Wing Fighter.

The first thing that come to note is that these are very compact offerings. No instruction manual, the instructions are printed on the inside of the box lid, although they are clear and in both Japanese and English. No decals this time, only stickers, I think they've taken a view that most people won't be comfortable with applying such small decals.

Looking at the plastic, there is, once again, plenty of detail despite the size. The part count is low and there's no clear parts, and as before they'll both snap together. The TIE Fighter set contains two TIE Fighters. One standard First Order fighter and one Special Force's fighter (the twin seater that Finn and Poe escape in during the film).

First Order Special Forces TIE Fighter Sprue (one of two TIE fighters in the box)

Poe's X-Wing Sprue

Each of the boxes also comes with a stand. In the case of the TIE Fighter set there is a twin stand or one single stand (which means you won't able to put both on single stands). If you don't want to use a stand then there's optional base plates to both TIE Fighter bodies which means you won't be left with a hole where a stand would connect.


I have seen these models advertised as 1:144 scale although in both cases the box does not mention a scale. Other models in the range, such as the Star Destroyer and Millennium Falcon (although there is an actual 1:144 scale Falcon) are clearly not. I measured a TIE fighter and compared it to a 1:72 FineMolds (original) TIE fighter and it seems to be in the same region, scale wise. This means they could easily accompany the larger 1:144 craft, such as the Millennium Falcon should you wish to create a battle diorama.

As I had them open I thought I'd go above and beyond an in-box review and start building. As you can see, a few minutes work and you'll have yourself a very nice little TIE Fighter. It's also worth noting in the picture you can see that the way the wings and cockpit top join it means you can't put this together in the wrong way. This is the same for every part, once again, an example of the thought that has gone into producing these models.

Bandai First Order TIE Fighter Set & Poe's X-Wing Fighte - Overall In Box Score: Promising. I'm scoring both kits together as they both offer a detailed but easy to assemble model. I have seen more complex 1:144 kits with clear parts and decals but these kits appear to be purposely simpler to appeal to a wide range of modellers. Certainly they're much better than any other Star Wars snap fit kits on offer.

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Build Review - Airfix Hawker Typhoon Ib (A02041) – Part 2

For me one of the main objectives of this build was learning to paint late WWII RAF colours correctly. My initial attempt on an Airfix Spitfire had not gone according to plan. Having finally built a Typhoon to my satisfaction I was determined that this time I would get the painting right.

I started by undercoating in a light Tamiya Grey and by pre-shading the panel lines with a flat black. I'm still not 100% convinced that this is worth doing.

Pre-shading

While it seemed to have some effect on the lower, and lighter, surfaces of this particular model it didn't really seem to make much difference on the upper, camouflaged, surfaces. Also I felt that with effect could also be achieved by post-shading and by washes later in the build.

On to painting proper and the undersides. The actual colour for the undersides of RAF aircraft is called Medium Sea Grey. To achieve this I used the following:

1. A base coat of Vallejo MA (Model Air) Barley Grey (71.051). I tried to make sure some of the black panel lines showed through.
2. Vallejo MA Pale Blue Grey (71.046) to the centre of each panel.
3. A thin coat, sprayed at lower pressure, of Vallejo MA Medium Sea Grey (71.049) to selected panel lines to add a slight bit of variation.

RAF Medium Sea Grey & Invasion Stripes

Another objective of this build had been the airbrushing of D-Day invasion stripes. Although this kit came with decals many don't so I thought this would be a good time to practice. The colours used were:

1. An mix of Vallejo MA White and Aged White (71.001 & 71.132). How much depends on how yellow you want it to look. This was applied over the whole area and then masked off in order for the black to be sprayed. It really pays to make sure the masking is tight here, especially in the numerous panel lines.
2. The black was Tamiya Nato Black (XF-69). I prefer using this shade of black at this scale as it's a muted black compared to the XF-1 Black which looks too bright to me.

And with that the lower surfaces were done. I hadn't done the rear invasion stripes yet, as they overlapped onto the upper camouflaged areas.

For the upper surfaces the RAF colours are Ocean Grey and Dark Green. I decided this time to use Tamiya's RAF colours as my starting point (XF81, 82 & 83). If you look the instructions for older Tamiya kits you will see they were all mixes. These are more recent paints which Tamiya brought out to be used with their 1:32 scale Spitfire kits

Starting with the Ocean Grey, this was applied all over and highlighted in the areas that wouldn't be covered with the Dark Green.

1. Tamiya Ocean Grey 2 (XF-82) was mixed with slight amount of Medium Sea Grey (XF-83). The main reason for adding the Meduim Sea Grey was that I felt the base surface with black pre-shade was a bit too dark. Without the pre-shade I would have probably used The Ocean Grey on it's own.
2. I then highlighted panel lines etc with Vallejo MA Barley Grey (71.051). Unfortunately the picture below was taken in bad light and doesn't really show this well.

RAF Ocean Grey

For the Dark Green:

1. I put down a coat of Tamiya Field Grey (XF-65) with a small amount of Dark Green 2 (XF-81). The reason for this was it muted the blue tones from the grey which I was spraying on top of. In previous attempts the green seemed a bit off if I just used XF-81 over the Ocean Grey.
2. I then highlighted the green by using Dark Green (XF-81) on it's own. Of course if you choose to spray each colour over the undercoat, rather than spray an all over Ocean Grey coat, you could probably use this colour on it's own.

RAF Dark Green & Invasion Stripes

The Sky coloured band was then added to the rear fuselage, this was simply Tamiya Sky (XF-21). The invasion stripes were painted the same as before. The one thing I will say is that I found the invasion stripes to the rear fuselage incredibly difficult to do. Getting them straight took numerous attempts due to the curvature of the surface I was applying them to and it used far too much masking tape. It was not helped by the fact that the whole model was masked at this point and fairly hard to judge their position when I had very little of the model exposed.

In the end I had to remove the excess paint with a wooden toothpick in order to get them straight. With hindsight I think would be better to do this first and then mask off the whole invasion band area and spray the camouflage around it.

Despite this last bit killing my enthusiasm for some time I have to say I'm satisfied with the result. I achieved the two things I wanted to, spraying accurate RAF colours and spraying the invasion stripes.

Now onto the decals.

Build Review - Airfix Hawker Typhoon Ib (A02041) – Part 1

As I'd mentioned at the end of a previous post I'd had a few issues when building Airfix's 1:72 Hawker Typhoon.

Source: (Lower Image) Hyperscale

The issues centered around the base of the wings, the flexible nature of this piece had meant that when it came to fitting the wheel covers, to depict the aircraft in flight, they wouldn't fit without considerable trimming and so looked quite untidy.

Out of curiosity I decided to open up another kit and see if they would actually fit prior to assembly and, as shown in the picture below, they clearly did.

This got me thinking, maybe there was a another way to build this kit, starting with the lower wings so I didn't make the same mistake again. And while I was at it, I'd photograph each step and share.

The Build

The first step was to attach the cockpit floor and the wheel wells to lower section of the wings. The wheel covers were then inserted from the other side. As I'd already established, the fit was perfect.

I then attached one side of the fuselage to lower wing piece and fixed the air intake into the correct position. From here on in I continuously test fitted the other side of the fuselage and the top side of a wing. In order to make sure the fuselage fitted there was a slight bit of filing required at the rear of the air intake and each time it snapped into place which meant care had to be take when removing it.

Next I assembled the cockpit on the half of the fuselage that wasn't attached to the wings. I remove the locating pins that would fix into other side as they weren't really need. This was because I continued test fitting to make sure everything was in place and that it hadn't moved from the correct position. Once the glue had set the cockpit was painted. If you're adding the pilot, as I was, then you will see next to nothing, especially given that Typhoon cockpits were painted black inside.


Once the pilot had been put in place, (I filled away his back and cut off his feet to make him fit cleaner), it was time to glue the second side into place. Just make sure the tail wheel and the clear light to the base of the aircraft have been put in place.

After allowing time for the glue to set I moved onto the wings. The gun bays were put in place, but as I was doing an in flight model these would be covered up by the top halves of the wings. I also made sure I drilled out the holes for the rockets launchers as there's no indication of their position of the exterior side of the wing.

And there we have it, both the top halves of the wings attached without any issues. I then added the flap to the base of the air intake just to finish things off. The instructions tell you to do this when joining the two halves of the fuselage but on both builds I found it to be far too awkward. It's much easier just to remove one the pins and slot it in later.

A minor bit of filling was required, the join at the base of the air intake is not the best. But after that it was all ready for some paint to be applied and that will be my next build post.

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.

I Never Thought I'd See The Day When...

This last weekend I decided to have one of those moments we all have when we suddenly realise the stash is getting a bit large and maybe something has to go. Naturally I thought this would involve a selection of "vintage" kits being put to one side ready to be listed on eBay. But something unexpected happened.

If you're a regular reader you'll know that I've not really had a bad word to say about Tamiya kits and to a certain extent that's still the case. But this weekend the unthinkable happened and one of my pristine Tamiya kits ended up on the "for sale" pile! The kit in question is Tamiya's 1:72 Messerschmitt Bf-109E-4/7.

Tamiya's Bf 109E-4/7 Trop

 
Sometime ago I wrote an in-box review of two Bf-109 kits, one from Airfix, the other from Zvezda. I didn't include the Tamiya kit because I figured it would be a forgone conclusion that it's a good kit. And that's the thing, it is. I'm sure it'll go together well, the three colour schemes are interesting  and the addition of three spinners is typical of Tamiya's attention to detail. OK so the fuselage shape is a few millimetres out, not noticeable to the naked eye, but that's forgiveable in my opinion.

Why is it going? Well it is better than Zvezda's offering, but the more I think about it, the more impressed I am with the Airfix kit. And it's not just their Bf-109, they just keep on delivering excellent kits with each round of releases. And when you also consider my first ever review (titled: "The Worst Kit You'll Ever Build?") was of an Airfix kit, I can't help but be impressed by the continual improvement from Airfix, so all credit to them. (Revell take note, it is possible to invest time and effort into producing high quality budget kits, rather than buying up other people's old kits).

So there you go, I never thought I see the day when I'd sell a Tamiya kit over an Airfix one.

A Re-Review - Vallejo Model Air

A while ago I wrote a review of Vallejo's Model Air range of paints. I stand by my comments that they work really well and from a technical point of view they are still the best paints I've used with an airbrush. However a few months on and I feel I really need to add something to that review, a disclaimer if you like.

Disclaimer:

While the paints are excellent the colours are not. If you buy one of their themed colour sets expecting to be able to use them straight out of the box then you are likely to be disappointed. Simply put, the colours are not even close to what they claim to be.

RLM colours? Not even close.

So far I've investigated both their RLM and RAF colours and found them both to be some way of what they are meant to be. Greens in particular seem to be nowhere near the shades they should be. Want an RAF green? You'll probably need to use their Russian green. Luftwaffe greens? I've no idea where they've got the colours from. Light blue undersides for your Luftwaffe aircraft? You'll probably need to mix in more grey into the supposed blue than blue, and so on.

You can probably see where this is going, when I refer to my Academy 1:72 Me 163B build and as to why there's been little in the way of progress. Yes you guessed it, I sprayed it in RLM 81 and 82 straight out of the bottle and now it looks like something from a cartoon. The undersides are fine so now I've got to find a way of removing the topside colours without ruining the rest of the paintwork or the interior.

It's times like this when I find this hobby less than enjoyable. The kit is excellent, for once my skills haven't let me down, just frustrating paint shades from Vallejo...

Review - Vallejo Model Air

RRP - £16.99 (8 colour set), £31.99 (16 colour set)

Time for something a little different, a paint review. Vallejo's model air range are specially designed for airbrushes and to be honest I'm lost for words...!

Overall Score: Incredible, so easy to use, just perfect!

 
OK so in all seriousness I tried these out of curiosity, partly because I didn't feel like mixing Tamiya paints to get RLM (Luftwaffe) colours when I could get them ready mixed. Typically the 8 colour set consists of 6 colours, a matt varnish and thinner.

I've tried the Model Colour range, for brush painting, and I was not impressed so wasn't expecting much. The Model Air paints themselves seem to have a resin like texture which means they flow nicely and are not too wet. For me they've been an absolute revolution and have had as big an impact on what I can do as changing my airbrush did.

I've found that camouflage patterns are much easier to do with paint that is less "wet." And just to show, the picture below took me very little time to do.

The more eagle-eyed amongst you will notice that the model in question is Airfix's 1:72 Bf 109E-4, I'll write more about that later. I'm making plans to retire my Tamiya paints and starting to replace them with the Vallejo Model Air range so I'll leave you with an interesting video on airbrushing with Vallejo paints.

19/03/2015 - There's more that needs adding to this post, a disclaimer!

Build Review - Snap-Fit Hit? Zvezda's Messerchmitt Bf-109F-2 (7302)

I said curiosity would lead me to try building Zvezda's 1:72 Bf-109F-2 and sure enough it did! So surprised was I by how the initial stages of the build went that I just had to share.

This kit is designed to snap-fit together without the need for glue, however I have decided that I wish to glue it and add some extras. But that doesn't mean I wasn't going to see just how well it fitted.

To start with I assembed the cockpit front and rear walls on the single piece that formed the wings, the idea is that you then push this up through the assembled fuselage and it all snaps together. I generally prefer models that provide you with wings in a single piece (where possible) because it eliminates the need for checking angles that comes from having two separate wings.

As you can see it's a nicely detailed cockpit. Although I did use Eduard's photo-etch set, (73475), I didn't feel the need to use the whole set. Once that was done I was ready to assemble the fuselage. I painted the side walls of the cockpit and made sure I didn't forget to add the tail wheel before joining the two halves. Here I elected to use glue, while the parts snapped together I wanted a sold join between the parts, that I wouldn't have otherwise got.

And then it was time to push the cockpit up through the bottom of the fuselage which turned out to be a really firm fit and it all clipped together perfectly.

Finally I clipped in the panel to the base of the wings which contained the wheel wells, couldn't be simpler. The only thing I didn't like was already the attached pitot tube as it's far to easy to bend or break.

So what are my thoughts? To start with I think I prefer this approach to easy kits compared to the Hobby Boss approach of few simple parts. The way Zvezda have engineered this kit leads to a really well thought out kit, intelligently engineered with easy assembly in mind. The bonus is that the detail doesn't have to be sacrificed this way. Plus it gives the modeller more freedom to build the kit in as easy or as complex a way as they feel comfortable doing.

Reading a lot of the modelling forums I see a lot of the more experienced modellers dismissing this kit because it's a snap-fit kit and it appears such a kit is beneath them. It's a shame that such thinking may cause some to miss out, in my opinion (and reflected in my approach) this hobby should be all about experimentation and trying out new things.

Like I said at the beginning of this post this is only the initial stage of the build so I will refrain from any thought of scoring until it's progressed further. But so far, so good!

Update (26th April 2014)

Unfortunately this kit, although very nice fell foul of my nemesis, Tamiya's XF-2 flat white paint. For some reason I find working with white paint (via spray, airbrush or even paint brush) to be extremely difficult and in this case so difficult it pretty much ruined the model.

Completed Review – Tamiya MiG 21 (61602)

Scale: 1:72, RRP - £3.99

A while back I attempted to build one of Tamiya's largely forgotten series of 1:100 aircraft, in this case a MiG-17 which if I'm honest was a less than impressive build. So as a result I've largely forgotten this series until I saw some for sale at the Shropshire Scale Model Show the other week. As they were selling for £2.99 each I thought I might well give them another go.

The MiG-21 is a fighter I've always found interesting, back from the days when aircraft designers still tried to build aircraft that resembled sci-fi rocket ships and so I was keen to see how this one would build.

Opening up the kit and the parts looked good, to my untrained eye it certainly looked like a MiG-21. There are a choice of 4 markings, (two Soviet, one Polish, one Vietnamese) all in silver, so in reality it's a case of painting it up and then just choosing which decals to apply.

As builds go it was absolutely straight forward as there aren't many parts at this scale. Cockpit detail consists of a seat, which once the canopy is on is all you'll see anyway. Apart from that you have choice of wheels up or down. Unlike the MiG-19 the missile pylons and missiles were much less of a struggle to attach which was a relief

 Paint wise I used a base coat of Tamiya AS-12 (spray) and then masked individual panels and airbrushed them with Tamiya X-11. This was mostly down to the fact that these two colours were only silvers I had! A coat of semi-gloss spray and then on with the decals, I decided to go for the Vietnamese variant.

As it happens I know a bit about this particular aircraft, 4326, it's one of several on display outside the Hanoi Aircraft Defence Museum, it's well known as a "Phantom Killer" and among its pilots it counts Nguyen Van Coc, the highest scoring ace of the war. It is actually a MiG-21PF and because the painting instructions weren't quite accurate I made some changes. I referred to the more accurate painting instructions for Academy's 1:48 MiG-21PF kit, of which this aircraft is one of the options to build.

The changes were, a dark green nose cone, and the fin at the rear (rather than black) and the cockpit colour which I changed to that awful Russian interior turquoise. It a shame there aren't any decals for the kill markings that adorn the nose of this aircraft, I guess this version will have to be an early version!

I really enjoyed this build, it was quick, fairly simple but still, the end result is a model that I think looks really nice when on display. It's now got me looking for one in my preferred 1:72 scale!


Overall Build Score: 3 out of 5, a simple and yet good looking kit that was a breeze to build. Let down only slightly by the lazy painting instructions.

Two Times One O Nine - In Box Review (Airfix & Zvezda)

Time for another dual-in-box review, this time I'm going to look at two variants of the ever popular Messerschmitt Bf-109 in 1:72 scale.

In my last comparison in box review I chose two models at different ends of the price scale. This time we're to look at two similar priced products (even though I do have a more expensive Tamiya kit in the stash). The kits are both newer releases, an Airfix Emil and a Friedrich from Zvezda.

Modellers really are spoilt for choice, all of the mainstream companies have released many 109s, and so I had to decide which to look at. I eliminated the Academy and Hasegawa kits early on because they have some serious shape issues, especially the Academy ones. The Tamiya kit is meant to have a better shape but a slightly short fuselage. I actually compared a Tamiya Bf-109E with the Airfix one and couldn't really see any issues myself. So in the end it came down to price, and as I mentioned earlier in this post, I thought I'd compare two similar priced models this time, both retailing at around the £7 mark.

The Airfix kit is once again one of their newer releases and so I now have high expectations whenever I get hold of one of these. The Zvezda kit is also a fairly recent kit, it is however a snap fit kit aimed at beginners.

Airfix Messerschmitt Bf-109E-4 (A01008)

Airfix's 109 soon followed on from their impressive A6M2b Zero which I reviewed previously. And as is the case with their new toolings there's a huge improvement on the older Airfix kits. This particular release follows the same format and like the Zero, looking at the parts makes you want to get on and build it.

Again Airfix decided to go with the single colour scheme option, which is OK I guess if you want to build that scheme. The scheme in question is that of an aircraft flown by Franz von Werra who was famous for becoming the first (and only) Axis prisoner of war to escape from a POW camp in Canada and return to Germany. Back to the decals and being ever so popular the 109 isn't short of 3rd party decal options if you feel like doing something different. If not then the ones with the kit look to be perfectly good quality Cartograf decals.

The actual aircraft in its "retirement"

Looking at the parts, they're full of nice details for a budget kit. There's an engine for a start, but don't get too excited as unfortunately it's slightly flawed. The machine guns have been cast into the cowling rather than above the engine, so you'll have to scratch build them if you want to display the engine (and remove them from the cowl). A plus point though is the flaps. Yes at 1:72 scale you have separate flaps, which means you can show them in the down position if you want, a very welcome addition I think.

So all in all, it's business as usual for the new invigorated Airfix, which is no bad thing. And again I'm impressed with what I see. I actually think in terms of quality it's comparable with the more expensive Tamiya kit at half the price.


Zvezda Messerchmitt Bf-109F-2 (7302)

"My first model kit" the box proclaims (in Russian). This is a snap fit kit which seems to turn more experienced modellers away, and you know what, I think they might be missing out.

I opened this box and was actually surprised by what I saw, this is beginners kit with plenty of detail. Realistically it's competing with the likes of Hobby Boss's easy kit range which retail at about £1 less. But rather than going for the low parts and less detail approach Zvezda have gone for more parts, more detail but no glue approach.


And you know what? I'm really intrigued by this approach. I guess the only real question if will it actually "snap fit" and we'll have to wait until I build it before we know the answer!

There's side wall detail, cockpit floor details, an option of using a flat instrument panel with a decal or a painting a raised detail one. In the Hobby Boss easy kits you get none of this. You also get a nicely detailed pilot option (moulded into a seat) which is good to see, or good to add to the spares box as decent 1:72 pilots seem hard to come by!

Looking at the decals, you get two options. One is a standard Luftwaffe camouflage scheme, the other an all white Eastern front scheme which is a refreshing change (and obviously influenced by Zvezda being a Russian company). As for the quality, in my particular box, (and it may just be a case of this one, rather than all) they don't look too good I'm afraid. So much so that before committing to a colour scheme I have sought out a "Plan B" just in case they don't work out.

One final note is oddly enough the packaging. The bigger Zvezda kits come in rough card boxes with no plastic bags and on several occasions I've found the contents to be broken as a result of this final lack of quality control. These easy kits appear to be more tightly packed and I'm pleased to say damage free.


So which to buy?

Tough choice, really there's nothing between them and of course I've already bought them both! So I guess the real question is which to build first? In this case Airfix fully met my (now high) expectations which means my curiosity may well lead me to build the Zvezda kit first, just so see how it performs.

Airfix Messerschmitt Bf-109E-4 - Overall In Box Score: Promising. Excellent value, excellent detail. Looks like you can't go wrong with this one.

Zvezda Messerschmitt Bf-109F-2 - Overall In Box Score: Promising. Such detail! Outperforms its easy-kit competitors and holds it's own with regular kits.

So if you have a preference as to wanting to build an Emil or a Friedrich then I say choose the one you want as these both look like excellent offerings. Otherwise the Airfix kit slightly edges out the Zvezda kit at this stage. But don't discount Zvezda's offering, it's a really good looking kit.

Completed Review – Hobby-Boss MiG-3 Easy Kit (80229)

Scale: 1:72, RRP - £5.99

The MiG-3 has been on my wish list for a while now. I had originally intended to build the Zvezda kit, based on the fact that Zvezda are Russian and so they surely must be able to produce a reasonable kit of a Russian icon. How wrong I was!

The Zvezda kit is actually a rebox of the frankly awful Revell kit which looks more like an abominable mix of a MiG-3 and Dewitine D.520. So this left me with the other option in 1:72 scale, Hobby-Boss's Easy Kit version.

I'm a bit sceptical when it come to "Easy Kits". While I appreciate the idea behind them is to get people into building models I do think the concept is somewhat flawed. Assembling a kit is only half the story and in my opinion painting a kit is always the more difficult part of any build. All I see easy kits as being is a quicker option of beginners reaching a point where they abandon a model because no-one provides them with an "Easy Paint" option to accompany the build.

Putting aside my thoughts on the easy kit part I was well aware that this kit was well regarded in the modelling community and so I was determined to see why.

On opening the box I found two large solid parts, the fuselage and the wings, a sprue of smaller parts and a clear sprue. The shape looked good, like a MiG-3 which was encouraging, even if the smaller parts did look a little soft on details and the plastic felt a little flimsy. Decal options were for two aircraft, one winter scheme, one summer scheme (although it should noted there's no way the red arrow decal will fit over the exhausts on the winter option).

To build it was a case of clip the fuselage to the wings, add a piece below the engine and you're just about there! Glue isn't necessarily needed for the larger parts but this isn't a snap fit kit either. There is, to my surprise two canopy options, one open, one closed. However the cockpit is a bit lacking in detail, if you're a scratch-builder then you'll probably feel the need to do something more with it. In my case I opted for the closed version so just chose to add some masking tape seatbelts and left it at that.

Total build time, including cutting and glueing...48 seconds!

From then on it was simply a case of finishing of the model prior to painting. Landing gear was a little on the weak side and I decided to leave off the rockets and only attach the launchers to the wing. All was fairly straight forward, living up to the easy build. Detail wise it's almost spot on, they even included the asymmetrical oiler coolers on each side of the engine! The only accuracy issues that I really noticed were a few missing panel lines and the doors to the tail wheel (there should be a leather cover rather than the doors).

As for painting I touched on that in a previous post, including my first airbrushed canopy. As it happens this model was actually serving as a tester for my new airbrush and so I picked a colour scheme similar to that of the P-51D I was working on. For the top colours I used several coats comprising of Tamiya's XF-62 (Dark Green) and XF-51 (Khaki Drab) and mixes of the two. For the underside I didn't really have any paints to hand that reflected a light VVS blue and so I used AS-7, Grey, which probably isn't as accurate as it could be.

Finally the decals, they were surprisingly good. There are two complete sets so the leftovers are going in the spares box, a man can never have enough good quality spare red stars!

The final result:

So I have say this kit far exceeded my expectations. Bearing in mind this is an easy kit and so I have to judge it on that basis Hobby-Boss have managed not only to produce an easy kit, but one that is more accurate than it's mainstream competitors. For this they have to be commended. Out of the box this is more than passable kit, and it's one with plenty of potential for extra detailing (albeit scratch-building).

I will hopefully revisit this kit at a later date as I practice working on panel lines, but for now it's done.

Overall Build Score: 3 out of 5, a complete surprise! Expensive for an easy kit but accurate beyond any of it's (non-easy kit) competitors. Either a good simple build or a more than worthy foundation for detailed build.

Incomplete Review - Academy P-51B Mustang, Old Crow, (#1667 or #12464) - Part 2

Scale: 1:72, RRP - £6.99

I know what you're probably thinking. "Incomplete", this isn't going to be a good review, but stay with me.

The non-completion of this kit is more due to my own mistakes, all of which were avoidable, rather than the kit itself. I'd made the rather stupid mistake of using the wrong glue for the rear windows which had caused them to fog and to be honest I was never happy with the replacements that I'd made. Also as I was building Tamiya's F-51D at the same time and it was progressing better than this build I've decided to call it a day with this one.

Despite my personal failure with this kit I do have some positive thoughts about it. For a start it's the most accurate P-51B that I've come across. I also have a limited edition 1:72 scale Hasegawa RAF Mustang combo kit (2 aircraft in one kit) which retails at around the £30 mark, (so £15 per aircraft) and they have the wrong wings, those of a P-51D! As a result my Hasegawa kit is probably heading off to eBay some time soon...

When it comes to decals and marking options I think the 3 options are good range. Two USAAF options, one with the standard hood, one with the domed Malcolm hood and an RAF option, again with the Malcolm hood. For a budget kit this an excellent selection. The only issue is, as always, the decals are a little on the thick side.

Detail wise, it's a little lacking in places but the shape is correct and with the availability of 3rd party accessories it can be as simple or as detailed as you like. The Eduard photo etch set (SS250) which I used is highly recommended.

The only real let down were the ever present Academy fit issues, the cockpits never seem to fit easily on all the kits I've tried and I'm sure the wings for this kit wouldn't have fitted if you tried to fit them as the instructions say.

But overall I have say, I like this kit. If I didn't have so many other kits to build at this I would just buy another one and start again.

Overall Build Score: 3 out of 5, for a budget kit it's an excellent representation of the P-51B with a good choice of decals and alternative canopies. As long as you are prepared to deal with some fit issues!