Star Wars Kylo Ren's TIE Fighter (06771)

[Mike]

Kylo Ren's TIE Fighter (06771)

1:70 Revell

 

 

Kylo Ren was Supreme Leader Snokes' young(ish) apprentice and plays a substantial role in this sequel trilogy so far, with the promise of more in the upcoming Rise of Skywalker that is on release now (at time of writing), with the hope that it ends the series on a high note.  Ben Solo as he was named from birth usually gets around in a large black Command Shuttle, but also has a modified/prototype TIE Fighter known as the “Silencer” which bears a family resemblance to a First Order TIE in a larger and extended shape.  It is introduced in The Last Jedi, playing an important part in devastating the Resistance’s command crew, and causing some substantial upset over the demise of some much loved characters, and how one major character saves herself.  As of writing I’ve not seen the closing chapter of the saga, so whether it makes a final appearance remains to be seen.

 

 

The Kit

This is a re-release and has been timed to coincide with the new film but has no Rise of Skywalker branding, just the generic Star Wars branding with Darth Vader (Grandad) in the top right corner of the box, which is end-opening, and has twenty parts either suspended between two clear inserts, or in small bags to prevent loss and chaffing. The kit is in dark grey styrene as befits the ship, and the black “solar” panels are pre-painted at the factory to a good standard.  A large chunk of the central hull contains the light and sound unit with the batteries preinstalled, but isolated with a small clear pull-away tab.  The clear parts are painted with framing, and a small Kylo Ren figure in black is one of the smallest parts, which could do with a flesh-coloured blob of paint to make him show up better (in TFA he flies helmetless).  Everything snaps together as per the instructions, and detail is really quite good for the target audience, with lots of greeblies added to the wing panels and hull, plus a clear entry hatch on the top of the cockpit that can be opened and closed.

 

 

I have actually built this kit before now, and it looks really good once made up.  I added a little wash from the Ultimate Wash range (Dark Dirt IIRC), and that really brings out the detail with little effort.  I also masked up the canopy and sprayed some clear varnish over the wash to fix it in place.  The button to activate the lights and sound sits on the rear engine deck, and lights up the engines, playing three sound effects:

 

• A TIE scream
• A volley of fire from its weapons
• A TIE scream with weapons fire at the end for those swooping attacks

 

The sound quality is good for the task in hand, and comes from a small grille under the hull that is decidedly not canon!  Putting my thumb over it doesn’t seem to reduce the volume much, so if you elect to cover it over it should still be audible.  The single red LED that powers the engines is spread across the whole exhaust area by the vertical prism-like vertical stripes, which makes it quite effective.  The only real weak-point of the model is the moulding of the wing-tip weapons in flexible plastic to avoid any eye removal in rough play.  These parts have a tendency to toe inwards slightly, making them look a little bent.  If you were building this as a model, you may wish to find a solution to this by either casting your own parts, or scratch-building some new ones.  I doubt little Johnny/Jemima will care a jot though, as long as they’re having fun.

 

 

 

Conclusion

This is intended to be a toy that gets a pounding from a child of 6 or over, so it’s made of stronger plastic than your average model for longevity.  It does have a good level of detail though, and at 1:70 scale it’s close enough to the kits from Bandai to mesh with their range.  If you decide to give it to a child they’ll be very happy with it (if they like Star Wars), and if you build it as a model, there’s plenty of scope for repainting it and adding some details.

 

Highly recommended.

 

 

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