Reviewed by Geoff Coughlin
Our thanks to Revell Germany for the review sample: www.revell.de
NB – check out the In-Progress Review (IPR) that’s coming very soon from James V.
Well, here’s another long-awaited scale model – the Eurofighter Typhoon F2. Many of you will remember Revell’s 1:48ths scale stable mate of this same aircraft and had an opportunity like me to build it? Well, if you liked that release, you should also like this one. Everything seems to come at once with this kit hot on the heels of the Trumpeter offering and it has to be said that kit package certainly left a bit to be desired in terms of value for money and accuracy – especially in the cockpit?
So what’s on offer this time from Revell? Well, you certainly get plenty of sprues in the box – a good start with 10 grey plastic and one clear sprue trees. An instruction book in classic Revell format with exploded views and a decal sheet, also in classic Revell style. Let’s look at these all in closer depth…
Main sprues
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Fuselage: Parts feature finely recessed panel lines and it is good to see that the four ‘square’ panels on each side of the fuselage centre section are just visible, rather than heavily moulded. They are barely visible on the real aircraft and so this is a good start. The large fuselage air intake under the nose looks very similar in construction to the smaller scale kit and that may prove problematic to construct as it did when I built the 1:48 scale version. Having said that, let’s wait to see how this area goes together in James’s IPR? A nice touch is the inclusion of an IFR probe – not usually seen on parked aircraft, but what the hell, you can always show it deployed to add interest to your finished model?
Separate engine: now as the current trend seems to want, a detailed kit of the Eurojet EJ 200 engine is included. This can be displayed on a separate trolley that has also been included. I’m not a great fan of this aspect usually (and nor is Les V. – see his Full Review of the Trumpeter AV-8B in this scale!), however, you’ve got to hand it to Revell because they have included the option for an open engine bay with internal detail ribbing on the doors so that you can at least present your finished scale model in a realistic fashion if you want to? So this is definitely a plus point in the package.
Cockpit: Next up the cockpit: raised detail here and it seems pretty well moulded, if a little ‘soft’. The Martin Baker Mk.16A seat looks pretty good too, although you will probably want to remove the simple moulded seat harness and add your own scratched or aftermarket belts? The seat was one of the best features in Revell’s 1:48 kit and it’s good to see this quality has been carried forward into the up-scaled release. The main instrument panel has the correct 3 large CRTs and the side panels, although simple do compare quite accurately with the photographs I have. The rear cockpit decking has a different arrangement of boxes and detail to the images I have, but even the images I have access to could be development aircraft. Simply check your own references and add or alter as you like?
