Decals…
The 6-inch square decal sheet is high quality and includes perfectly in register stencils and the roundels, so often an area that are a little out are in this case the right colour and in register.
What’s in the box?
The kit itself is a cream colour resin and the quality and finesse of the engraving and the thinness of the trailing edges has to be seen, it’s truly outstanding. Parts are bagged in little sealed units to prevent them flying around the box and this ensures all the parts are in pristine condition. A nice touch is that the undercarriage, a little gem, is in a harder black resin which will be needed to support the weight in the nose to keep it on its wheels.
The fuselage is beautiful but the thinness of the trailing edge of the fin has left a small nick out of the trailing edge. I am not sure yet how to fix this? The cockpit side walls are moulded into the fuselage halves and are superb as are the intakes also moulded into the fuselage. I love the two Mk. 3A Martin Baker seats which will paint beautifully. Separate flaps are also included which will add real interest to this tiny little jet.
The canopy is vacform; something I have not used before, (check out your Techniques Bank for help on using vac-form canopies) so it’s probably a good thing that two are included in the kit! It’s wonderfully thin and clear but is one piece I think I will try and open mine so another reason for a second go I am thinking! It’s also a real bonus to see and Eduard masking set included.
Finally comes the best, an Eduard colour etched set for the seats and cockpit and other fine details truly wonderful and all the more reason to split the canopy!
Summary…
Well you may have gathered that I love this kit. It has all and I mean all you need to make a superb model – in the right hands it’ll be a masterpiece. I will aim to do my best! Yes it seems expensive but I think that cost and value are different… this is high value and in my view worth every single penny.
I suspect that a JP-5 and a Strikemaster will follow eventually and I can see all of these on my workbench at some time.
Strongly recommended to all with experience in resin
Les V.