Clever canopy
The design of the canopy / clear parts is very interesting – you can either mask up the canopy as usual – option A, where the canopy is integrally moulded with the canopy frame, or, option B, add the separate clear window parts to a separate plastic canopy frame. It’s good to have a choice – I can’t remember seeing both options included in a kit before – clever!
Canopy masks included
You’ll see from the photo in the grid that these have been included and this will save you some time if you use the traditional approach to masking rather than the separate windows.
Decals and instructions
Decals first; these seem to be well printed and look like they are on nice thin carrier film. In addition, colour looks accurate and saturation also looks fine. My hope is that the yellow ‘Thunderbolt/lightning’ fuselage markings have a strong yellow print that will look ‘solid’ when applied – not so easy to mask and spray given their overall design. The subjects themselves are typical of the type and ZM has chosen about as well as they could from possible options.
The instruction book is certainly comprehensive with each stage illustrated with multiple exploded diagrams that look pretty clear at this stage. This is something we’ll comment on during the build so more info on how the stages are put across later, but you’ll see from the accompanying extracts they look impressive.
Here’s my summary
This should prove to be a popular aircraft model, appealing to many. The price is reasonable too when you consider the huge amount of detail offered. I’m really looking forward to the build so that you can see exactly how this release shapes up, but so far, so good.
You’ll soon be able to see how it all goes together and what I make of it and you can make your own mind up.
SMN Quick summary Star rating out of 5
| FEATURE | STAR RATING (out of five) |
|---|---|
| Quality of moulding | **** |
| Accuracy | **** |
| Instructions | **** |
| Decals | ***** |
| Subject choice | **** |
| Overall | **** |