Dassault Dornier Alpha Jet E

[Paul A H]

Dassault Dornier Alpha Jet E

1:72 Revell

The Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet was the product of a collaborative project between the French and West German governments signed in the late 1960s and designed to provide both nations’ air forces with an advanced trainer. The outcome was a twin engined jet that flew for the first time in 1973 and which continues to serve to this day. Nearly 500 examples have been produced in total and the type has seen service all over the globe, with operators including Belgium, Cameroon, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Portugal, Qatar, Thailand and Togo.

Revell’s Alpha Jet has its origins in the Heller kit first released in the 1970s. The kit arrives packaged in the usual end-opening box and is comprised of 60 parts spread across 4 sprues of pale grey plastic and a single small clear sprue. As you might expect of a kit of this vintage, there is a little flash present on the parts that will have to be cleaned up, but other than that the moulds seem to be in decent nick. With the exception of the ailerons, surface detail is comprised of raised panel lines, which may disappoint fans of modern toolings.

The cockpit is a fairly basic affair made up of a large tub, two instrument panels, two control columns and two seats. Decals are used to represent the instruments and controls as the plastic parts are devoid of detail. The ejection seats are basic but shape-wise actually look pretty good. Before the fuselage halves can be glued together the main landing gear bay has to be assembled as well. The landing gear legs look pretty nicely detailed but the bay itself is very sparse and features some prominent ejector pin marks. Fortunately very little of this bay will be seen once the model is complete.

The cockpit canopy is reasonably thin and transparent but the frames are a little vague so some care will have to be taken when masking it up ready for paint. The jet exhausts are moulded as a single part, which will save you from having to clean up any awkward seams. Just one decal option is provided, for Alpha Jet E F-TETJ E25 “1000000 Flight Hours” of the Armée de l’Air 2008 as depicted on the box artwork. You’ll need to practice your masking skills though, as the black and yellow paintwork features some sharp demarcation lines. It’s a shame that the decal sheet doesn’t cater for a German version too, as the alternative pointed nose is catered for on the sprue.

Conclusion

Although this isn’t a state-of-the-art kit, all the basics are present and correct and it should look fine once completed. If you prefer recessed panel lines then re-scribing will be the way to go. While you’re at it, you may as well add some detail to the cockpit too. The lack of an alternative decal option is my only other gripe with this kit.

Review sample courtesy of

[Dave Fleming]

Interesting, Revell have previously released the Fujimi kit,a nd I had feared this would be the Matchbox kit - much easier to make a production airframe out of this one!

[Youth]

Thanks for review Dave, surprising only one decal option

Edited November 27, 2011 by Youth

[Panoz]

Interesting, Revell have previously released the Fujimi kit,a nd I had feared this would be the Matchbox kit - much easier to make a production airframe out of this one!

Actually, Revell reissued the Heller kit for the first time back in 1991, with decals for a Luftwaffe version with anniversary markings.

Click, it won't bite!!!

And before that, in 1984, there was this Fujimi rebox.

The Matchbox kit never appeared in a Revell box. (Thank God!!!)

Edited December 10, 2011 by Panoz

[little-cars]

Thanks for review Dave, surprising only one decal option

Sylvain only produced two sets of decals for Revell recently, this one and the 1978 Tigermeet Starttfigher, both in 1/72nd.

I guess they kept it to one set to keep the price of the kit down.

I do have the decals doe this scheme in 1/48th if anyone is interested....

[Youth]

Sylvain only produced two sets of decals for Revell recently, this one and the 1978 Tigermeet Starttfigher, both in 1/72nd.

I guess they kept it to one set to keep the price of the kit down.

I do have the decals doe this scheme in 1/48th if anyone is interested....

Thats fair point an there are after market decal sheets