Kinetic Model Luftwaffe Anniversary Alpha Jet A (K48087) 1:48

[Mike]

Luftwaffe Anniversary Alpha Jet A (K48087)

1:48 Kinetic via Lucky Model

 

 

At the end of the 60s, with the SEPECAT Jaguar “trainer” had transformed into an attack aircraft, leaving the advanced jet trainer role unfulfilled going forward, so France and Germany began a collaboration to design a new trainer that was to become the Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet, the Breguet part in the collaboration being absorbed by Dassault when they bought the company.  It first flew late in 1973, and went into service with France in 1979 after extensive trials as the Alpha Jet E, fulfilling a similar role to the BAe Hawk in the RAF. The Germans used the jet as a Light Attack aircraft with the A suffix appended, and limited export success brought the Alpha Jet to Francophile countries in Europe and Africa, with a number of ex-Luftwaffe aircraft finding their way to Thailand and Portugal. Britian's defence company QinetiQ bought 6 ex-Luftwaffe aircraft, which occasionally make appearances at airshows.

 

Germany has retired the aircraft now, but many airframes are still in service, with the later MS2 with new avionics, engines, a glass cockpit and improved weapons carrying performance used to train pilots on modern types.

 

The Kit

For years people had been wishing for a new Alpha Jet in 1:48 to replace the horrendous Heller kit, and 2013 was the first time that wish had been fulfilled in injection styrene. Kinetic did their research and produced a new tooling covering both the A and the E, with snub and pointed noses. This new boxing represents the Attack variant in decal form with all the parts for the E still on the sprues.  The A variant is depicted in the anniversary scheme, as well as a Luftwaffe scheme.  The aircraft is compact, and arrives in a large flat end-opening box that has one of each scheme in the box passing the airborne viewer to the right. Inside are three sprues in Kinetic's usual pale grey styrene, a large decal sheet, a small Photo-Etch (PE) brass fret, and the instructions with painting and decaling covered on the back pages in greyscale.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The two-seat cockpit is moulded as a single part with the side-consoles moulded-in that have instrument details present. The rudder pedals for each pilot are attached to a block in the foot well, with instrument panels as separate parts that have raised dials that lend themselves nicely to some Airscale instrument faces, as there are no instrument decals on the sheet again. The ejection seats have nicely moulded side detailing, but the seat cushions are a little bland by comparison, although they should suffice with the included PE belts installed and some sympathetic painting. The headbox has a separate drogue pack, and a pull handle between the pilot's knees is also present. The back of the seat is detailed with a representation of the ejection mechanism that should be partially visible only on the front seat. A bulkhead separates the front from the back of the cockpit, and instrument coaming for the rear-seater finishes the job.

 

The Alpha Jet is a twin engine design, following the Luftwaffe's experiences with the single engine Starfighter, which claimed the lives of a number of inexperienced pilots, and the full intake trunk is included in the kit. Each intake is made up from two parts with an engine face part added to the inner end. These are slotted into the fuselage before it is closed up, and the inner lip extends to form the splitter plate on each side. The tail fin and pointed nose are also made up too, with a small upstand removed from the front coaming during close-up operations. With the intakes installed, the curved outer intake cowling parts are added and can be faired in before the fuselage is closed, which has no cockpit sidewall detail moulded within if that bothers you.  Various other panels attach to the rear of the fuselage and the three-part tail cone is installed along with the air-brakes that can be posed open or closed using different parts.  A small HUD assembly is made up from a PE frame with clear glazing and lens added, to be addded to the front coaming after closureas shown in the instructions.  The main gear roof is fitted under the fuselage, with a divider glued in position earlier on.

 

The canopy is made up of four sections, including a well-blended windshield, two opening canopies and the fixed divider between the two, which has been moulded to have the blast shield integral by having it perpendicular to the rest of the sprue. The parts are thin and clear with well-defined canopy framing on all the parts. The extension of the windscreen part further forward to a panel line break on the fuselage simplifies the fairing in of the part to the fuselage, to give a more realistic blended finish, and places the framing detail well away from any putty and sanding activities.

 

The nose gear bay is sparsely detailed, and comprises of the bottom of the cockpit tub and the hollow nosecone. The front bay doors are usually seen closed on the ground however, with only the smaller rear doors open around the gear leg, so it will probably go unnoticed. The main gear is complex and comprises four parts plus a landing light on each leg, while the nose gear has a separate yoke, and all three wheels have separate hubs sandwiched between the two wheel halves, which can ease the painting if you're careful.

 

The shoulder mounted wings are made of top and bottom halves, with long attachment tabs moulded into the lower, which should make setting the anhedral easier. They have separate flaps that can be posed extended or retracted by using different parts for the actuators, clear parts for the wing tip lights, and two pylons per wing. The elevators are single parts, and slip into the rear of the fuselage with substantial tabs to hold them at the right angle. The two-part fin slots into the top of the tail, merging with the spine, so check fit before you glue to ensure it is both upright and aligned well with the rest of the spine.

 

As with the old Heller kit, there is a large insert under the fuselage reproducing the valley between the two engines, which also covers the main gear bays and includes a slot for the arrestor hook that was popular during that era.  A couple of holes need drilling out from inside before it is fitted, then the gear bay doors all fit in place using tabs that can be cut off to pose them closed, but again, some careful test fitting would be advisable here.

 

The pylons can be filled with up to four drop tanks, and two choices of gun pack under the belly that aren’t used in this boxing, despite being supplied with the kit. It is also capable of carrying rocket pods, Sidewinders, Matra Magic IIs or even two Mavericks, or iron bombs of up to 2,500lbs, although you'll have to source those yourself.

 

Markings

Two decal options are included with the kit, but the primary one is the Luftwaffe's 25th anniversary scheme, which includes those colourful diagonal stripes all over the place. From the box you can depict one of the following:

 

• Alpha Jet 40+29, Serial A29, Fürstenfeldbruck, 1982
• Alpha Jet 40+44, Serial A44, “25th Anniversary JaboG 43”, Oldenburg, 1982

 

 

 

The decals are designed by House of Phantoms and printed by Cartograf, so have excellent sharpness, register and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film around the printing. The inclusion of a standard decal option in the box is also welcome.

 

Conclusion

It has successfully consigned the old clunker of a kit to history for some years, and is still a thoroughly modern tooling of this attractive aircraft, with good detail throughout.  Excellent decal quality, PE seatbelts and HUD rounds out a nice package.

 

Highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of