FIAT G-91Y in 1/48 by ADV.Models

[rafrobbo]

Hello folks,

just in case you are a G-91Y Yankee fan or love Italian cold war jets, here is a look inside the wonderful ADV.Models kit I got from Andrea, the master craftsman who makes these.

I ordered the kit on Monday evening and it was here (carefully bubble wrapped and well labelled) on Saturday morning.

Really good service and I am more than impressed with this kit. It's a resin kit, but the parts are so fine and well cast it looks and feels like polished grey plastic. Additional details come in brass and etch.

Anyway, on to the model peek:-

The kit comes in a very sturdy box a bit larger than A4 and all the items were carefully packaged and bubble wrapped. Fuselage and wings are in their own sponge packets and the smaller items are split into 5 bags.

It comes with a very nice decal sheet for 2 aircraft in the earlier schemes with the large white number codes of 8 or 32 Stormo, a ton of stencils and very well set out and clear A4 instructions with real jet pic's to assist. Colour call outs are referenced on the back to the exact FS number/code.

On to the kit parts.

The fuselage and wings have a beautiful smooth finish (look at the glare/reflection from the wing surface!) and very refined panel lines. The wings have posable flaps and slats with etch slat links/arms (16 in total!).

Another nice touch is the undercarriage legs cast in brass to take the weight of the resin (fuselage is 9.5" long so I think this will be quite a chunk when everying is assembled).

This picture does not do the kit justice, but I have looked at this model 4 times since saturday and still haven't found an air bubble or faulty engraving.

First bag contains cockpit tub with throttles etc in place, Martin Baker bang seat, undercarriage bays, 7 pieces for the jet pipe's & engines, airbrake actuator arms, canopy frame and weighted wheels.

Next bag contains fin and tailplanes, flaps, pylons, intake roof, more cockpit parts (coaming, front console rear deck), undercarriage doors (mains can be posed open or closed) and the airbrakes.

Third and fourth bags contain drop tanks and fins, slats, intakes, aerials, actuator/hyd rams, arrestor hook, control column and everything else I forgot to list.....and two sets of vacuform canopies.

Also to the right on the picture above the vacform canopy is a little jig for for making the trangular frame assembly that locates on each side of the nose over the cannon barrels. This is a nice touch rather than relying on just photo's, pliers and guess work.

The last bag is another nice extra, turned brass pitot and gun barrels, a 1mm brass rod to mount the tailplanes and 4x 0.3mm bits of wire to make the gun barrels guards I mentioned before, using the supplied jig. Look here to see what I mean by the frame thing http://data4.primeportal.net/hangar/giacom...1y_04_of_64.jpg

Forgot to take a pic of the decals but if you want a view let me know and I will post one later.

All in all a fine model, just add glue, paint and some hours!!!!

It isn't cheap but it does come with extras like brass U/C and it is the only game in town in 1/48. It is also limited edition so if you want one contact Andrea on [email protected]. He will let you know price for current exchange rate and postage to your destination.

Lastly, no I am not on the payrole, I am just very pleased with this kit that I have wanted and been impatiently waiting for since I first saw the release news on BM last year. Hope this will help make your mind up too. Now how about a new G-91 Gina or a G-91T...italian with dayglo...yes please Andrea.

cheers Robbo

[General Jumbo]

That looks great. Did Matchbox not do one of these in 1/72?

[Giorgio N]

That looks great. Did Matchbox not do one of these in 1/72?

They did, still today the only ever mainstream kit of the G.91Y. Unfortunately the Matchbox kit needs a lot of work to be brought to a good standard. As many italian modellers, I have one and I'm hoping one day I'll have the courage to start adding all the details required....

[Don McIntyre]

<sigh> Would that Revell had produced this given their recent (relatively) low price points…

This is a gorgeous kit, though. I hope that they do well with sales.

[Mike]

It's a beauty alright, but well out of my price range sadly

[Colin W]

Hi

There was an Esci 1/48 kit which is now very old. I have one in the stash somewhere but its very old and wont be up to this standard.

Colin

[rafrobbo]

Hi

There was an Esci 1/48 kit which is now very old. I have one in the stash somewhere but its very old and wont be up to this standard.

Colin

Hi Colin,

you are right, there was an old Esci kit which was re-released by Italeri, Occidental and Heller I think, but it was the early single engined G-91R1/3 Gina rather than this later G-91Y Yankee.

The G-91Y was only used by the Italians unfortunately, but the Gina was used by Italy, Germany & Portugal. I believe it was also trialled by the US Army!

Cheers robbo

[Julien]

That looks nice, dare we ask how much?

Julien

[Don McIntyre]

That looks nice, dare we ask how much?

Julien

IIRC it was $156 which at today's rates comes out to £95.27.

[Julien]

IIRC it was $156 which at today's rates comes out to £95.27.

For a complete resin kit thats better then some I have seen and the quality looks top rate.

Julien

[Dr Evil]

Mine arrived today after being suitably inspired by Robbo's review and he's spot on, the pictures don't and couldn't do it justice.

It's a stunning package.

Now I've got it I really don't care how much it cost, you wouldn't be able to prise it from my cold dead hands......

Edited June 1, 2012 by Dr Evil

[Blackat]

 

This girl is a sweetness

I start to dress her