Talk about a trip down memory lane…I first built this kit nearly 50 years ago. The Snark was America’s first surface-to-surface cruise missile, and was developed back when the expense of a manned bomber fleet made missiles seem mighty attractive. It was deployed from 1958-1961, and passed into history without ever having been fired in anger; which was just as well, being that the mean time between failures of its guidance system was less than the flight time to most of the targets of the time.

The actual box art image is not available on-line; I included the photo the web site uses in the catalog.

The web site lists 198 parts, but there are actually only 31, even counting the two crew figures. The mold is still crisp with very little flash, but the kit does show its age. The panel lines are raised, including raised decal outlines. There are ejector pin marks galore, which are easily seen in photos of the base. The launcher base is, well, basic.

The Contents

You get a heavy duty envelope with 4 plastic sleeves inside. You get:

• 73366 PE, one self-adhesive mostly cockpit, and a really big PE fret for interior and exterior detail
• CX264 Canopy and Wheel mask
• 72493 Boarding Ladder
• 73380 Remove Before Flight Tags (Israeli)

You also get 2 full pages of instructions, folded so that you have 7 separate half pages of instructions, plus a half page instruction each for the ladder and the masks.

The Aircraft

The F-16I Sufa (Storm) is basically a Block 52 F-16, but there are additions and changes. Most of the changes are internal, with Israeli-built electronics and systems, but there are those 2 conformal fuel tanks, built by IAI which really change the look of the aircraft.

The 1977 Chevrolet Monte Carlo was the 3^rdgeneration of this up-scale marketed Chevy before its eventual downsizing in 1978. At the time, all of the Big 3 had a version of a “personal luxury coupe” in their lineup. The General had a full house mix of PLC’s with the Monte Carlo, Pontiac Grand Prix, Olds Toronado, Buick Riviera, and the Cadillac Eldorado. Vehicles of this era were an odd mix of early 70’s flash, style and inferred performance but with the 5mph bumpers imposed in 1973 and ‘74 as well as increased engine emission controls, performance became a shadow of its former self. The standard engine was Chevy’s infamous 305-2 CID design or optionally a 350-4 CID (California only).