Mike Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 TIE Fighter & Vader's TIE Fighter1:110 & 1:121 Revell The TIE Fighter is the standard Imperial single-seater attack ship, and attrition rates during the three films it starred in must have been horrific! Named after the bow-tie it resembled, a cranked "special" was also designed as the personal mount of arch baddie, Lord Vader. They have menacing designs in darker colours than Rebel ships, which emphasises their alignment with the Dark Side of the Force, as does the eerie scream of their engines, which as per most Sci-Fi films, can still be heard in the vacuum of space.The KitsThese are both in the Level 3 range, and as such are more of a traditional kit than any of the Level 1 and 2 snap-together offerings as they require glue and paint, and are quite small thanks to the scale, which doesn't seem at all consistent throughout the five kits released so far for no apparent reason. That gripe aside, They arrive in a small red themed box with Kylo Ren (the new baddie) menacing us with a light sabre at the top, with a new style of colour printed instructions on slightly better paper stock. Darth vader's TIE Fighter Arriving on three sprues of Imperial blue/grey styrene with a clear sprue for the windscreen, you get a diminutive but fairly well sculpted Dark Lord sat in the same seat as the standard TIE Fighter, with the same angled tray and side walls, but a different control panel, which we see Vader fiddling with during the flight down the trench in Ep.IV. The top hatch is glued in place on the upper hull with a clear insert, and in the lower half the leading-edge inserts, windscreen and cockpit tub are installed before closing up the hull. A windscreen frame decal is included, and then it's time to make up the wings, which are moulded as one piece with a separate detail insert that hides some ejector-pin marks on the vertical inner side. A scrap diagram shows the correct orientation of the detail, as you wouldn't want them installed upside down! As with the other kits, the decal and painting call-outs are made during construction in Revell colour codes, and don't forget to have some masking tape on hand for those "solar panels" on the wings. TIE Fighter The standard TIE is presented in 1:110, which makes for a bigger kit than Vader's TIE, which is a shame for those wishing to create a small scale Death Star trench diorama. It is supplied on four sprues of Imperial grey/blue styrene with a clear sprue for the canopy and a decal for the framing in dark grey. The detail is better on this larger kit, and the pilot benefits as a result. His cockpit builds up the same way as Vader's, and the upper hull houses the hinging hatch with clear insert, while the lower hull accepts the cockpit tub and windscreen part. Closing the hull up should be fairly easy, as only the seams around the spherical crew compartment are properly visible, and they're quite short. The wings are each one large part with a central boss added to the outside to complete the detail. They side over the fuselage pegs and then it's just a case of assembling the two-part stand to keep her off the desk, with a small hole in the bottom of the crew compartment keeping it in place.ConclusionAgain we have the scale discrepancy reducing the overall appeal to the avid modeller, but individually they are quite nice kits if you do your research and make sure you know what you are getting. All these Level 3 kits are ideally suited to the casual or younger modeller, and with a little care can build into nice models. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 Nice review, cheers. I agree about the variance in scales. Daft or what? As for the engine noise, That's Hollywood! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul A H Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 TIE Fighter & Vader's TIE Fighter 1:110 & 1:121 Revell These rather excellent little kits, ably reviewed by Mike above, are also availble in Model Set guise. This means you get a handy double-ended paint brush, a selection of Revell's own acrylic paint and a pot of Revell's superb contacta adhesive (my personal choice for sticking kits together). While these sets might be of limited appeal to the serious hobbyist, they are an excellent introduction to the hobby for youngsters. Part count is low, detail is good, ease of assembly is... er, easy, and now you get everything you need in one box. I made one with my four-and-a-bit year old son and he absolutely loved it. What more could you want for Christmas? Highly recommendedRevell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garynumanfan Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 ive got darths TIE fighter and TIE fighter , TIE interceptor and all the window decals are all the same size, yet models aren't same scale Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garynumanfan Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 you can get the standard kits for £6 in hobbycraft and £5.99 in WHSmiths.. and Ian Allan books and models shop. The model set ones are in Ian Allan for £15 I think it was Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubster72 Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 The TIE fighter looks to be a rebox of the AMT release, although you get 2 plus a base. Worth seeking out on eBay as they occasionally crop up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garynumanfan Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 did u see the interview with the revell boss on youtube . the interviewer via Skype I think it was , is a dumbo and everything "was awesome".. Revell boss said there would be more star wars models out soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedman Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 The TIE fighter looks to be a rebox of the AMT release, although you get 2 plus a base. Worth seeking out on eBay as they occasionally crop up. The AMT TIE fighters are 1/51 and a completely different sprue layout. This is the original pre-painted Revell snap together "easykit pocket" kit, re-released as a "glue & paint" kit with decals. All of the new level 3 releases are the old "easykit pocket" kits. Also, the reason for the different scales of these kits is that they were designed to fit the same size box. While they are nowhere near as accurate or refined as the Fine Moulds or Bandai kits, they are great fun to build and far cheaper. Here's the result of a full repaint (including interior) of Vader's TIE fighter I built early last year, it was fun to build and I highly these kits for a quick and easy project. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garynumanfan Posted January 15, 2016 Share Posted January 15, 2016 how did you get the window decal on TIE fighter to fit , as the decal is same size as window decal on darths TIE,but models are different scales Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedman Posted January 15, 2016 Share Posted January 15, 2016 how did you get the window decal on TIE fighter to fit , as the decal is same size as window decal on darths TIE,but models are different scales There was no decal, the kit used to come pre-painted prior to the new release, I striped and repainted the whole thing and masked the windows before spraying. It wasn't hard to do as the frames are very pronounced and as the new release has exactly the same parts it'll be just as easy to do. I cut the tape roughly to size for each pane and once it was in place I used a cocktail stick to get the tape right into the corners. Then I ran a scalpel along the edges and removed the excess. Hope this helps 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garynumanfan Posted January 15, 2016 Share Posted January 15, 2016 ok thanks ...the ones ive bought in last few weeks ..months ..have all had window decals instead of pre-painted windows.. The TIE fighter has the same size window decal as Darths TIE, yet both models are different sizes and scales . Im puzzled to think why Revell would expect one size of decal to fit both scales Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garynumanfan Posted January 15, 2016 Share Posted January 15, 2016 sorry I think im confusing you ..I meant the 121 and 110 scale ones...those all come un painted and the windows are in clear unpainted plastic , with the window frames as a decal...but both 121 and 110 TIE and Darths TIE, are different scales and model size, yet the window decal is same size in both kits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garynumanfan Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 my question was more aimed at Root Admin ...His pack shows the unpainted version with the different sized models yet with same sized window decals.. How does a small window decal fit a larger model Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 The decal sheets are not the same for both kits if you look closely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 Two different scales? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedman Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 Two different scales? Revell decided to resurrect "fit-the-box" scaling. I think it's a Sith thing... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garynumanfan Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 ive got theTIE fighter and Darths TIE , models are different scales yet the window decals are both the smaller of the 2 sizes, so the window decal is too small for the TIE fighter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garynumanfan Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 if you look at Darths TIE its 1/121 , but the TIE fighter is 1/110...so the window decal in the TIE is not going to fit..its too small Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garynumanfan Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 I have the TIE fighter , Darths TIE , and TIE interceptor , ive just measured all 3 decals and they are 17mm across...where as the one that you need to be able to fit the TIE, would need to be about 23mm to fit...ive just measured the TIE window size on the model , and it would need to be at least 23mm to fit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garynumanfan Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 and its not a case of the wrong decal sheet being put in wrong box . all 3 decal sheets are marked with the name of the model its supposed to fit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dudikoff Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 (edited) While they are nowhere near as accurate or refined as the Fine Moulds or Bandai kits, they are great fun to build and far cheaper. I don't think they're THAT much cheaper. The Bandai 1/72 Tie Fighter was at 14 EUR (a bit under 11 GBP) plus s&h from Japan (plus customs if you're unlucky), but you can't order them directly anymore because according to the license owners you have to be content with these old kits. What a shame. Bandai was really doing a great job with these kits.. Edited February 4, 2016 by Dudikoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garynumanfan Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 have you seen the new revell kits...theyve done a slave 1 too...but they are all funny scales again , think slave 1 was 1/90th Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garynumanfan Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 i saw them in a model shop last week...there was an x wing as well...but none of the scales matched...now theres another surprise NOT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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