This kit is pretty
basic. It's manufactured by Zveda but boxed and distributed by Italeri. Parts
fit ok, but some unions leave gaps. I used a lot of zap a gap and some
putty. I didn't have good reference photos when I began to build it, so I sanded
some of the shapes to a sleek look (as you can see below). It turned out
completely inaccurate, but cool looking. Or at least I think so.
The cockpit is very simple and uses decals for the instruments. I only added a
HUD and skipped the, included, pilot figure to speed things up.
The all-black scheme seemed to simple, so I came up with this crazy-polygonal
camo. I think it goes well with the odd shaped jet. It may not camouflage the
plane, but it breaks up it's shape. I first painted the white areas and masked
them. Then I placed the gear well's cover with silly putty. This turned out
great as it sealed the wells and was easy to remove.
I used the great cartograph decals included in the kit and added the eagles from
an 1/144 A-90 "Ekranoplan". My only complaint is that some decals are
missing. The instructions show more decals than the ones included, that is.
Click on
images below to see larger images
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I even added my
initials (CHAM), in dark gray, to the bottom of the plane :) .
This is a pretty simple, but enjoyable, kit. It's big, for a fighter in the
scale, as it measures: 36cm (14in) long, including the antenna, 24cm (9.5 in)
wing span and 8.5cm (3.3in) tall. I was amazed to see it's quite bigger than my
F-15E.
I bought one of this kits (no. 1212) about two years ago and the gave it away to
a local modeling club raffle. I regretted it later. Then, last April, I
received another kit as a birthday present, by my cousin Oscar. What goes around
comes around!
Carlos
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