Brengun RQ-7B Shadow UAV (BRS48009) - 1:48 Brengun

[Julien]

 RQ-7B Shadow UAV (BRS48009)

1:48 Brengun

 

 

The RQ-7 Shadow is a tactical unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed the AAI Corporation. The requirement for such a tactical UAV capable of battlefield reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition had been identified by the US Military and originally the RQ-6 Outrider was developed for this, however this programme was cancelled after 3 years of development.  AAI looked at their existing RQ-2 Pioneer and developed this design into the Shadow. The small UAV with a length of 3.4m and a wingspan of 3.8m weighs in at 170kgs loaded. It has a 6 hour endurance, stretched to 9 with increased endurance wings. Take off is from a pneumatic assisted launcher, and landing are automatic with a ground mounted arrestor hook system. The improved RQ-7B arrived in 2004 with an increased payload capacity of 45 kgs and new "wet" more aerodynamic wings.  Avionics have been improved and a new radio relay communications package installed to allow troops to communicate in locations in which radio would not normally work.  Further developments of the system are to be introduced which may include IED jamming and ability for troops to see directly what the UAV is seeing.  Arming the UAV was looked at however the USMC ran out of available development funds and the US Army had shown little interest in this.  The shadow is currently in use by the US Army, US Marine Corps, and the US Navy. Overseas operators being Australia, Italy, Romania and Sweden, 

 

The Kit

This is a re-boxing of the Attack Squadron kit by Brengun which first came out in 2017.  The kit is all resin with a small PE fret and a small decal sheet.  There is one block with the wings, one with the fuselage and tail booms, one with the inverted V tail, and two with all the other small resin parts.  Construction is fairly simple. The wings attach to each side of the main body, underneath the sensor turret is added. The engine then fits onto the rear of the main body, you then have a choice of a resin, or PE propeller. At the rear the twin booms extend out to the inverted V tail.  The basic sprung landing gear is then attached, as are some aerials and the control horns for the flying surfaces.  As the kit is resin all the joints are butt type, so some care will be needed to get everything aligned correctly.

 

 

 

The Decals

There is no printers name on the decals, so could be in house? They appear to be glossy, and in register. The decals consist of serial numbers and warning tests only.  The UVA is painted overall in Ghost Gull Grey (FS 36375) with patches of Dark Grey (FS 35270).

 

 

Conclusion

This is a great kit of this diminutive modern UAV. It is good to see more models of UAVs.

 

Very highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of