Authentic Airliners E195 kit

[richellis]

Authentic Airliners 1/144 Embraer E195 resin kit

Complete resin kit with etch parts

The Embraer E jets are a series of narrow-body, twin-engine, medium-range, jet airliners produced in Brazil. This kit is of the E195 the longest member of the family, but the others are available as E170, E190 and the E195. This kit was well packed in a good box, with lots of bubble wrap. Smaller parts are bagged, and the very small delicate bits are in a little matchbox.

The fuselage is split into 3 parts

The resin is of a high quality and is well cast, with nice fine panel lines, and no bubbles. There is a high level of detail on the fuselage parts, which includes doors, and cockpit windows. Location holes are provided for the wingsand tail to form a strong bond to the fuselage.

The wings have the same fine detail and the trailing edge is very thin and will need a quick rub with some very fine sand paper just to tidy the trailing edge. Care will need to be taken to avoid damaging this edge during the build! The winglets are separate items, with the tail and stabs again well cast.

The engines are provided as two parts. The fan is well cast, and the intake looks just the right shape to me.

The under carrage parts are cast in resin, and I hope they are up to supporting the weight of the model. The casting is first class with only some minor flash on some of the more delecate parts. A few seconds with a sharp scalpel will soon have them sorted.

The kit includes a small photoetch sheet that has the various antenna, windshield wipers and main undercarrage doors on.

Conclusion

This is a nice kit. The resin is well cast with no bubbles or miss cast parts. There is minimal flash, what there is will be easy to deal with. It is a well thought out kit. The moulding tabs that need removing will be easy to do with a razor saw, and a bit of careful sanding will reduce the need to use filler. The shape of the aircraft looks to be very good to me. I would recommend this kit as a good starting point if you have not done one before.

Any bad points, well niggles really. No instructions in my kit, but there is some instructions for the E170/ E175 kit on the Authentic Airliners web site, but its not that hard to work out! Also there are no decals. I'd like to see some window/ door/ details included.

I would recommend this kit, and am glad to see Authentic Airliners back!

review sample courtesy of

Edited December 2, 2010 by richellis

[Antony Robertson]

Have to agree with Rich, its a lovely kit and builds into a great looking model.

Only thing i can think of to say is that if you buy the decals for it, be careful with the engine panels as they are for a 170/175 and not the 195, which has a different engine and therefore different access panels

What the kit looks like when together

Antony

[Mike]

Nice finish Antony - doesn't "community" have two Ms though?

[richellis]

Very nice, Ill be ordering some of those decals when it hits the bench!

[Antony Robertson]

Nice finish Antony - doesn't "community" have two Ms though?

Mike

I've had this kit built for over 2 years and never noticed it was spelt wrong!

Oh well, just another decal error that needs correcting by the manufacturer

Antony