Star Wars Resistance A-Wing Fighter (06770) 1:44

[Mike]

Resistance A-Wing Fighter (06770)

1:44 Revell

 

 

Star Wars has given us tons of memorable space ships to add to the annals of cool designs, and one that made its debut as a bit player in Return of the Jedi is the Kuat Systems A-Wing.  It has been in various other Star Wars universe shows since and has been seen in the new trilogy too, although I’m yet to see the Rise of Skywalker, so no spoilers.

 

 

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 in the top right corner of the box, which is end-opening, and has twenty five parts either suspended between two clear inserts, or in small bags to prevent loss and chaffing. The kit is in brick red and what I call “Star Wars Grey” overpaint, plus some of the innards in a darker grey.  The interior of the hull contains the light and sound unit in dark grey with the batteries preinstalled, but isolated with a small clear pull-away tab, with the two yellow LEDs projecting down the exhausts to provide some illumination to the cut-away outer exhaust ports.  The clear parts are painted with light grey framing, and a four-colour pilot figure is included with an olive-drab jumpsuit and red/white helmet, which would benefit greatly from a dark wash to bring out the details even if you’re not planning on detail painting.  Everything snaps together as per the instructions, and detail is really quite good for the target audience, with lots of visual interest, plus a clear canopy that can be opened or closed and a pair of light diffuser inserts for the engines.

 

 

Construction is fast, taking less than five minutes once I figured out that numbers AND letters were included on each part (more haste less speed), and everything clips together pretty firmly without the need for glue, although I’d recommend some for the more delicate parts such as the wingtip weapons.  The landing gear is supplied and can be retracted in a rudimentary fashion by pivoting the legs into the open bays that would whistle terribly in atmosphere.  The wingtip weapons have a key on their attachment pin, but be sure to mount them with the hollow “anti-sink-mark” cut-outs facing downward, or fill them and repaint.  As usual with these kits there’s a grille for the speaker to render its tune, which in this case is limited to two sounds activated by a button on the right to the side of the cockpit rear.  On first press it plays a take-off and shooting noise, with a similar swooping and shooting noise, repeating each one in turn on subsequent presses.  As you press the button the yellow LEDs light and stay on until the sound effect has completed, which should give little Johnny or Jemima adequate time to complete their manoeuvres before going dark.

 

 

 

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 for a toy though, and at 1:44 scale it’s a good size.  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.  The canopy isn’t the clearest in the world, but that’s probably due to the flexible plastic is has been moulded in that is unlikely to maim the child if it breaks during rough play.

 

You can get the same kit in blue if you’d prefer, or you could repaint it to a scheme that suits you.

 

Highly recommended.

 

 

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