Reviewer’s Name: Dave Coward
Initial assessment…
This is the second offering from AFV in their aircraft series. It is a straightforward reboxing of the initial F-5 but with different decals. I decided to hang off from this initial offering and wait for this one as I preferred to colour schemes and on my first look in the box I am very, very impressed. AFV have been well know in the armour world for some time now, hence the name AFV (Armoured Fighting Vehicles) but this is their first aircraft kit and judging by the quality I really hope that there are a lot more to come.
So what do you get…
The kit comes in a solid and well produced box with a great bit of art work on the front and has `Special Parts – First Edition Only` on it – I’m intrigued!!
The instructions…
On opening the box everything is very well packaged and I first decide to scan the paperwork. The instructions are clear and concise and my only minor criticism is that fact that the colour schemes at the back are in black and white. The colours used in the each of the four schemes are referenced to a colour list at the start of the instruction which cross reference each colour to Hobby Color Paints, Mr Colour Paints, Mr Colour Spray, Humbrol Paints, Revell Paints and Life Colour Paints – all very useful. Talking of schemes the kit has 4 offerings as follows:
- VFC-111 3 tone grey scheme
- VFC-111 3 tone grey scheme with rising sun tail and tiger teeth
- VFC-111 2 tone grey and blue scheme with rising sun rudder and tiger teeth
- VFC-111 3 tone brown scheme with rising sun rudder and tiger teeth
The special parts turns out to be a colour vinyl folder that holds an A4 print of the box art – very nice but not quite what I expected!!
The Parts…
These come on 7 grey plastic sprues and 1 clear sprue. The quality of the moulding is very good and the sprue gates are nice and thin so minimizing any possible scaring when removing parts from sprues themselves. There is no flash present and the clear parts have no seems that need removing – a common issue these days. All of the parts have recessed panel lines that are not overdone and the riveting detail is just right. An initial dry fitting shows an excellent fit and the level of detail in the cockpit is very good again with beautifully moulded instrument panels that will come up really well with some careful dry brushing.
The kit provides stores in the form of 2 sidewinders, a ACMI pod and 3 fuel tanks – just right for this kit – I just hate kits that have `tons` of stores of which most are not accurate. Finally there is a ladder included and there is the option of opening or closing the canopy. There is even a PE fret for the canopy framing and some grating.
Decals…
These are well printed and in register, my only criticism is the rising sun is a one piece decal – I would have preferred just the red areas and sprayed the white but this is a personal choice and doesn’t detract one bit on the overall excellent quality of them.
Summary…
A fantastically well produced debut aircraft that looks like it will build into a great representation of a US Navy Aggressor. I can’t wait to get on to this so look out for a build report in the near future.
Very Highly Recommended
Dave C.