When I saw this Easykit™ come up on the Revell Germany site I
really did have to have a look at it in the flesh – and before Vader could say
“nooooooooooooooooooooooo” I had ordered a sample for us to all have a “look”
at, notice I said look and not Play???
"TIE noise" then "they came from ...behind...."
Revell of Germany
Kit no 06675: TIE Fighter
Star Wars Easykit™
Kit No: 06675
Kit type: Plastic – ready-made – snap together
Scale: 1:57
Available from: Revell model kits are
available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit www.revell.eu
This 24 piece – skill level 2 kit would not really be part
of the review schedule for most modellers frequenting here or of any “serious”
reviews – but to make sure we include everyone and aren’t too full of ourselves
we thought we would like to give it a go. Too much of our hobby is sometimes
too serious and elitist, younger modellers often find it a barrier to get
serious in this hobby when they are in that transitional phase between the fun aspects
of making things and drift off to other pursuits before serious hobby can
develop.
The kit comes with a
lovely little colour instruction booklet and a collectors card
Now we all know we are big kids at heart – and I thought it
was good that we looked at this very serious product for serious modellers who
need a stress buster (or for kids in the 8 years plus range – it doesn’t give
an upper limit) – something easy and satisfying to quickly blow away the
cobwebs - or indeed something to do with
the kids to help them develop their interest and skills further. You can make
this kit as “snap together “kit – which we will show – also we can show you
where you can add detail to make this a more serious/challenging project.
The contents
This kit comes in
the usual Revell side opening box – with a few sealed plastic bags inside (two
sprues together this time only – getting better Revell!) What I didn’t expect
is a coloured kit! Ready-made really means that here – you need no glue and no
paint to get this baby on the mantle-piece. The kit comes on five pre painted
sprues - yes I thought I was going to have to paint it - no painting required
here! The sprues are moulded in that blue/grey/green colour that the imperials
TIE’s were coloured in in the later films. The earlier star wars TIE’s were a
lighter grey colour in the original star wars.
A look at the sprues...
The grey/blue/green coloured sprues are well moulded with no
real defects (no filling) there is however some scarring on the exterior of the
cockpit which will simply look like wear and tear once assembled. The whole
thing about the TIE’s however is that they are all meant to be in top notch
condition – the direct parallel to the Rebel Alliance prototype T-65 X-Wing
fighter which seemed in the films to be old even though they were meant to be
new! The reason in the films the TIE’s were that grey colour was because of the
difficulty in using them with blue screen filming, gradually as the technology
became better they became a more blue-ish shade – as well as this a
blue/grey/green was added in post-production. Here I go – all serious again –
keep it fun!
Scenes of the
originals being made from resin
The TIE pilot is a little “thick”, but looks ok when sitting
in the cockpit. As well as the pilot his pre-painted tub comes completed and
you can detail it up if you like – or just leave as it is! As it is the cockpit
is perfectly adequate and looks the part to me. This is a good place for
younger modellers to practice a little dry brushing – I am sure a (much) younger
me would have tried it out.
I just rubbed the residue off and he was all jet black
The superstructure of the TIE comes on regular sprues – it feels
funny to be lifting them off all painted. Care must be taken to make sure you
are not overzealous with cutting away the sprue at any gaps as the last thing
you need to do is to need to fill this kit. I would find it pretty hard to
match this colour of the superstructure as no match is given. Again this kit is
to have fun and filling ain't no fun! Let’s put it together – the clock starts…..Now!
Details of the pre
painted kits close up
The Cockpit walls - space age stuff!
Solar panel "wings" are look really good
The instructions come in an eight page coloured card booklet
affair with multilingual instructions of which I don’t know how many languages
were left out – indeed this kit’s appeal is universal - pardon the pun there...
There are only eleven steps to make this lovely little kit –
the first five being the cockpit – if you want to teach your young-un I would
leave all of the parts on the sprues – I could not resist and ripped them all
off and cleaned them up straight away. The plastic itself has no visible sink
marks though there are internal but invisible injection marks – no probs as you
won’t see them, nice work Revell
The cockpit tub goes together very easily and has the
details picked out for you already in silver, gold and black highlights over a
medium grey interior colour. It all fits together well around the pilot, I did
go O.T.T. though and apply some glue to the locating holes which are conveniently
placed around the cockpit.
The central “eye” of the TIE-ger - sorry I couldn’t resist -
goes together around the cockpit tub next – complete with top door and glass
canopies this is pre painted again and the rear compartment goes on at the same
time to make the “eye” cockpit module complete. Now you don’t need any glue for
this as it all fits together well, us a child modeller though I would have
added some Contacta to the seam joining the top and bottom halves of the eye
fuselage. I did add this glue and it made a slight difference to the joint –
making it more airtight – which is good for a TIE fighter don’t you think? The
entry hatch on top remains actionable so you can take the TIE pilot out or
leave him in the cockpit. He has a keeper in his behind quarters to keep him in
position without glue.
The two solar panel wings fit together in a snap action
again. Though again I chose to cement them. Just to make the “wings” as thin as
possible than any other reason. This works very well and you can just join them
to the centre of the eye fuselage via some snap in pieces in the end of the
wings which double up as the actual ends of the fuselage. Very cleverly done
for such a basic kit.
The stand looks almost like a little piano black masterpiece
– its painted plastic really but it looks great – it wobbles if moved too much
but perfectly strong and tough enough for a regular display – I was aching to
tie this to the roof though! Also I was aching to detail this further – give it
a nice imperial background – but that is the old modeller wanting it to all be perfect – this is a fun
kit with one or two main applications, let’s not go too deep into making a
death star to park it in!
The two main things these kits are for are adults wanting a
quick diversion …. And of course children who like star wars but who may also
be interested in modelling – what bait! It’s a lovely little kit which does
snap together quite literally – I would say pack in some Revell Contacta that
you probably got from the same hobby shop – and it’s a great Christmas present
for any modeller – young or old. Kids big or small.
As a bit of a diversion on the Revell TIE Fighter I present
you with the alternative to this £13 pound kit – this one of four only original
kits in resin from the movie – going for a measly $150,000 – 200,000 dollars US
– (link
to article) it was the one seen careening off Vader’s fighter in Star
Wars a New Hope – to me there isn’t much difference except for the scale and of
course the price tag – and the fact you can zoom the Revell kit around the
house instead of locking it up in a safe!! To me it doesn’t look any better than the kit I have on my desk now from Revell as
well.
And that is what a kit like this is for really isn’t it – Whether
it be for an 8 year old or a 38 year old kid – It is a bit of fun…. Isn’t that
why this is the hobby we do - to have fun?
Revell model kits are
available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit www.revell.eu
©2010
Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All rights reserved.
