Thanks once again to Akiko at MRC for providing IPMS USA the opportunity to review one of their products…and IPMS USA for forwarding it to me to do the review!

This kit is a sleeper. The reason I say that is I would not have purchased it on a whim. It’s a cool-looking “Indigenous” production of the Korean defense industry, designed as an advanced trainer, and incorporates many design elements of aircraft already flying. Their display team, “The Black Eagles,” fly T-50s, and Academy produces a kit with their markings as well.

Molded in “true white” plastic (it almost glows), the part trees have a staggering amount of detail. Academy tends to design their kits with many details as separate items; this results in a bit more complex construction, but also provides kit fidelity in the final product. Take your time and produce an excellent model!

Being a fan of large scale planes (1/32 and above), I was excited when Paul Fisher from Fisher Model and Pattern announced an impending 1/32 F4D-1 Skyray. No one else would have the tenacity and devotion to make one, and as a fan of US Navy planes, this was a dream come true for me. The plane itself has not been made in 1/32 before and is a welcome addition. This is going to be a multi-part build. In this part, we'll take a look at what you get in the box and then dive right into a full build in subsequent parts.

For those not having built a Fisher kit, they are cast in resin with photoetch detail added, and this kit is no different. The parts are cast in a light gray resin that holds detail well. There are approximately 157 parts to the kit. The windscreen and the canopy are molded in clear resin, as are the seeker heads for the missiles.

This five-man crew is designed for Bronco’s British 17/25 Pounder Anti-Tank Gun “Pheasant”, #CB35071. They are dressed for the Tunisia, Sicily, or Italy Campaign. Each crewman is molded on his own sprue, lettered A to E. These sprues are attached to a central sprue rod, so it looks like they could be mixed and matched later with other figures or weapons sprues. We get a loader, ammo handler, seated gunner, an officer pointing, and a guy standing with his hands on his hips. The instructions are on the back of the box, along with paint references for four different brands.

The molding is flash-free and has very nice undercutting details on the pockets and collars. The heads are molded sideways on the sprue, in one piece. The seams run around the heads on the helmet chin straps, which make then a little too thick. But it sure makes for easier cleanup and painting. I left the heads attached to the sprues and used it as a handle while painting.