Star Wars Kylo Ren's Command Shuttle

[Mike]

Star Wars The Force Awakens Kylo Ren's Command Shuttle
Level 2 - Revell

Although we don't yet know the full story behind the new J.J.Abrams take on the Star Wars universe after the Emperor's demise, we know that Kylo Ren is the lead baddie (or is he?), and he's the one running the show over at the First Order, which is the re-branded and re-structured remnants of the old Evil Empire. He gets around in this black monster, which bears a family resemblance to an Imperial Shuttle of old in the folded configuration, and with the central fin missing. He's also bound to have a behemoth space station salted away somewhere, but we'll have to wait & see on that score.


The Kits
This is another of the snap-together styrene kits in the Level 2 range, and as such it is more detailed and larger than the lights & sound Level 1 kits (toys) I reviewed recently. It arrives in a bigger box, and has six sprues in grey black styrene, plus one containing a red painted clear part. The details are painted at the factory, although most of it is simply a different shade of almost-black with a slight greenish tint. Only the exhaust nozzles have been hit with a shade of silver and the canopy with red to give them a bit of a glow.

The first thing of note is how big these wings really are. They're over 30cm long, so when it's built, you're going to need some headroom wherever you want to store/display it. There are contrasting inserts in the wing edges, and the cannons in the leading wing-root edge are carried over from the old shuttles. The lower hull has a crew compartment and bulkhead added along with an articulated access-ramp, which is covered by a blank bay to block your view of the interior. The canopy and wing root bulkheads are slotted in place along with a few other smaller parts, and the hull is closed up, with a pair of exhaust nozzles added to the rear.

The wings slot into the hull's bulkheads on long pins for strength, and you then install the landing gear skids in retracted positions by leaving the gear legs off, or in landing pose by adding the legs beforehand.

Conclusion
This is a construction toy, and a pretty good one at that, with plenty of external detail to entertain the eye. It's a big kit, so if you're supervising the build you'll need to look out for joints that would benefit from gluing, but if my son gets as much fun out of these bigger kits as he has done with the Level 1 kits, they'll be a great buy for any kids you know of any age.

Highly recommended.

Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit

[Shar2]

That does look rather cool. Why do the baddies get the best looking ships?

[Mike]

They get to paint 'em black

[Mike]

I also forgot to add the picture of the completed model

[Mike]

Update: I built this last night while watching TV, and it goes together well. You do need glue on the major joints if you want it to stand up to repeated handling, and it will also reduce the creaking substantially, especially at the wing roots. Some of the pins need a damn hard push to get them fully inserted, so supervision and strong thumbs are probably a good idea

[spruecutter96]

Another Revell kit to find very heavily discounted at your favourite on-line model-supplier in about a year from now....

Cynical, moi.....?

Chris.

[John_W]

My Son has built a fair few of the current Star Wars easy kits, and they go together remarkably well. A touch of Tamiya liquid cement on some of the joints and small parts help sometimes.