Search the Community

Star Wars Venator Class Republic Attack Cruiser FruitPACK (FP12) 1:2274 GreenStrawberry When Mr Lucas announced that the Star Wars universe was expanding after a long hiatus with a prequel trilogy planned, everyone got quite excited, although this was tempered by the dreadful opening crawl that wittered on about trade agreements and had us all nodding off. That was then and this is now, where a great many of us have begun to reassess the Prequels in a new light, but I still think that some of it’s a bit hokey in places (especially the dialogue). One of the more believable new pieces of hardware was the grandad of the Star Destroyer, the Venator Class Republic Attack Cruiser, carrying Clone Troopers and lots of fun hardware, often under the command of a Jedi Knight, which was the source of the other colloquial name of Jedi Cruiser. The FruitPACK This is an amalgamation of three sets that are available from GreenStrawberry, containing resin and Photo-Etch (PE) sheets to give your model a massive boost in detail. The Revell Venator kit has been around since 2005, with the most recent reboxing in 2016, so by now there are probably thousands in stashes waiting for a en excuse to ramp up the details, which are a little sparse and chunky in places. The set arrives in a taped together double-box in black, with the usual Greenstrawberry branding throughout, and it’s a simple task to open it up by cutting open the broad sticker at strategic places, leaving the whole thing adhered to the box. There are two sets in one box, one in the other, comprising the following: 09520-1/2274 Engine & Exterior set 09620-1/2274 Main Hangar 09720-1/2274 Side Panels Of the three, the Main Hangar is the largest, as it forms a large T-shape within the hull of the ship, and all of this is replicated in resin and PE. The engine & exterior set does exactly what it says, while the Side Panels form the “greeblie” infested vertical sections between the top and bottom hull parts, adding massively to what’s normally there. As a side note, there is also a clear set of Side Panels (10420-1/2274), which we’ll look at shortly once we’ve given our full attention to this monster of a set. As usual we’ll deal with each section individually, as they’re also available separately, in case you want to focus attention on one portion of the ship or other. We’ll also be reviewing the lighting kit, which is truly amazing, and comes programmed with start-up sequence and various flickering effects. The resin is separated within heat-sealed channels in a larger polythene bag, and the PE is in a Ziploc bag, with a piece of black paper separating two sheets in one set. The instructions are folded into four, adding some extra protection to the package along with the inflated bags that the resin parts are supplied in. Resin Tips Resin usually comes attached to its pour block, which is where the resin is poured into the mould and acts as an overflow and bubble-catcher for more rustic manufacturers that don’t have access to pressure casting methods. These will have to be removed before you can assemble or paint the parts, so there will be a little extra time needed to prepare the model for construction. With resin, you should take the precaution of wearing a mask when cutting or sanding it, as the tiny particles are harmful to your health if breathed in. Washing the parts in warm water will also improve the adhesion of paint, as there may still be some moulding release agent on the parts when you receive them. Take care not to use water that is too hot, as this may cause deformation to more delicate parts, and this technique can conversely be used to fix warped parts, using cold water to “freeze” the changes in the parts. Engines & Exterior (09520-1/2274) The first task of this set is to remove the moulded-in bay from the underside of the hull, then build up the replacement, which bears a familial resemblance to the “original” from 1977. The bay is made up from a single larger area, with a smaller section attached to one end with a separate roof for the smaller part. This is a shuttle bay, and if you have superior sculpting skills or the Hangar set, you could put something in there for the determined viewer. PE parts are used next to layer up the details around the sides, with two large panels set in the roof, and another even smaller PE bay folded up with tons of small structures along the sides, and a large overhead crane that runs through the main and smaller resin bays, with a set of grabbing arms on a cab. The bay edge is lined with two-layer comb-like parts, and a flat bulkhead behind the bay is given a detail skin, after which the bay is inserted from within. The twin bridges and their fins are next to be augmented, removing the raised windows from around the lower section and the fronts of the twin bridge sections, in preparation for later work. The front of the bridges are wrapped with PE skins that include more realistic recessed windows, and a flat circular panel on the roof, which is of course carried out twice. At the rear of the bridges, another detailed skin panel is fitted to the lower rear with more recessed windows and frames etched in, with more applied to both the sides of the structure, plus another triangular raised section that sits on the sloped front of the bridge. To each side of the bridge are four gun emplacements, which are replaced entirely with new resin parts on both sides that further embellish the top of this large ship. At the rear of the hull above the engines, a pair of new skins are applied to a diagonal panel on each side of the base on which the superstructure and bridge are fitted. The huge engines of the Venator Class are quite visible, the smaller ones being enclosed in long cylindrical fairings. These are made up from two parts, and for the upgrade, the kit's simplified exhaust cones are first removed, then fitted with a folded up set of blades that form a crown within the trunk. The new resin exhaust cones are made of two parts, the outer surface and an inner set of blades on a circular section, which slides inside the outer. These are glued onto the fairings to replace the removed parts, and this is carried out in identical pairs that can then be attached to the model as normal. The four larger engines are built up in a similar manner, but with the radial fins glued into the back of the insert before it is slid inside the larger outer cone. There are four cylinders that fit into the back of the cones, which have their tips cut off and are glued to the back of the PE ring that finishes off the back of the exhaust. Another PE crown is inserted into the short trunk with the blades pointing outward, and is joined by another that has its blades folded inward, with the new exhaust cone and rods inserted into the end. Again, this is carried out in pairs due to slight differences between the exhausts. The smallest exhausts are simply chopped off their trunk, and have new exhausts added to replace them. The final two parts of PE sheet are fixed to the underside of the gigantic “stinger” that splits the pairs of exhausts, finishing off that area. Side Panels (09720-1/2274) This set is almost a drop-in replacement for the kit parts, if you ignore the removal of the parts from their casting blocks, which can in places be left quite rough on the reverse if you aren’t planning on lighting the model (shame on you!). It comprises a collection of eleven resin parts, and a sheet of PE that contains lots of small details. The first activity is to remove the supports from the tip of the bow under the hull, which is where there is a bay door for the ships it carries. The edges are also thinned to better accommodate the parts, with test-fitting always a good idea in situations like this. The side panels consist of four sections for the various facets of the ship, one of which is a side-facing bay. This has a PE bay door applied in two layers before it is glued in place. This is of course repeated on the other side in mirror-image. The bow is open at this stage, and needs its bay door inserting, which is again closed off with a two-layer PE door, with small PE parts added to each side after being folded to shape as per the instructions. The final parts completes the detail on the squared-off side panel just forward of the engine bulkhead. Main Hangar (09620-1/2274) This set is the larger of the three, and adds a huge area inside the ship that will be visible from the bow and side bay doors, providing you remember to leave them open. It consists of fourteen resin constructional elements, plus sixteen blocks with a number of vehicles and ships that will be used to detail the completed assembly. A PE fret of small parts also adds detail to the ships that can’t be done easily in resin at that size. Construction begins similarly to the Side Panels set, removing the upstands in the bow, but adding the side bay upstands into the removal process. The bay is roughly T-shaped, and is created from the trapezoid aft section, which is joined to two straight sections that extends all the way to the nose bay. All the parts so far have “windows” in their sides that are the doorways to small bays where ships are parked and worked upon between missions. The bow bay exit fixes to the last bay section, and the smaller bays are attached to the sides, lined up with the doorways as they are fixed in place. There are five of these bay sections, and they will of course need painting before they are attached, unless you have an L-shaped paint- or airbrush. The kit (or replacement resin) side bay doors are attached to the sloped ends of the aft bay, and the whole assembly is dropped into the hull and glued in place. I’d be tempted to test-fit and glue these parts in place within the hull to ensure that you don’t “bake in” an element of twist or unevenness. The various ships, vehicles and hangar bay storage can be put in any position you want within the bays before you put the four-part roofs on the bay, then invite anyone that might be remotely interested to peek down almost the full length of the hull to see your handywork. I left the accessories until last, as they’re the fun part, and will probably take you a while to make and paint. You get the following in the box: 5 x All Terrain Tactical Enforcer (AT-TE) 20 x Republic Attack Gunship 20 x (Assault?) Shuttle 15 x ARC-170 Starfighter 5 x Low Altitude Assault Transport/carrier (LLAT/c) 12 x boxes of supplies of various shapes and sizes Each vehicle has a resin core with PE parts added along the way. The AT-TEs also have a resin gun for the roof, and six tiny legs to hold it up, applied in a number of stages. The ARC-170s have their wingtip weapons attached, and the LLATs have the carriage mechanism added under the belly, after removing the parallel casting support that each of them has. The shuttles are really small, so it’s tricky to identify them definitively but they are detailed with PE wings and a top fin for each one. The gunships come fully-formed, even down to the top-mounted pointed fairings. A couple of my ARC fighters had a slight casting issue, but as there are 20 of them, you can afford to have a few mistakes or short-shots before you run short. Conclusion It’s a mind-melting set with so many extra details that it would make anyone’s mind boggle, so treat each part as an individual model and work accordingly to complete each element. When it’s done it will definitely blow people’s minds, as well it should. It’s not a cheap set, but it has a lot of content that has taken a great deal of care and talent to create. When I got my kit this was my dream set, but it wasn’t available at the time, so I've been waiting patiently ever since I found out about it. It really does beg for the lighting effects kit to be installed to light up the engines and all the other parts with this set. We’ll be reviewing the lighting set shortly, but suffice to say, it’s a comprehensive almost plug-and-play solution that just needs a MicroUSB power supply. That’s a story for another day though. Incredibly highly recommended. Out of stock at time of writing, but check back regularly – it’ll be back soon. Review sample courtesy of