Aires now offers a resin a replacement exhaust set for the Revell F-22 Raptor. This set has very well detailed resin pieces molded in the standard Aires grey resin, and are flash and bubble free; as well as a small photoetch set. They also include a 3-page, blue paper diagram, which is a real help.

The resin pieces include the burner cans, turbine faces and nozzles. There is also a small photoetch for the turbine fans and which really will make the exhaust detail just pop out at you when looking at the model from the rear, especially when it is compared to the original kit parts. One thing about the F-22 is that the exhausts are a very distinctive and major feature.

The biggest improvement in this set over the kit parts is that you get one-piece exhausts, doing away with a seam. Also, the thrust augmenters are one piece, another seam you don’t have to deal with.

This set consists of 11 resin and 19 photoetch parts, and one sheet of film from which 4 parts are to be cut. There are two more each of photoetch and resin than are shown on the instructions, but there was no issue with assembly. The set is intended to replace the cockpit floor, seat, sidewalls and instrument panels which come with the Academy kit. I confirmed that it will also fit the Tamiya E-3, and with some more drastic surgery, could be made to fit even the Hobbycraft kit.

The first pictures are of the packaging and the set’s parts and then a shot of the kit’s fuselage halves, from which you will have to remove the sidewalls. I do not picture the process here, but it can easily be seen that the Aries sidewalls are much nicer. The kit cockpit floor and seat are also very simple.

Construction

Edward has produced an E-2C Hawkeye photo-etched cockpit installation and seat detail system, pre-finished and with adhesive backing. Photo-etched parts were in perfect condition. The instructions were excellent for the most part, but I believe they forgot to show where the face air outlets (eye balls) and fire warning instrument system were located. Per my research, I placed it below the overhead eyebrow. The parts were easy to install. Make sure the instruments, control pedestal and side consoles are filed flat, removing the instruments molded in the details before adding the new panels. A word of caution: some patience is required when installing the throttle, flap, and steering controls, as they contain many tiny parts.

Comments

This kit is recommended for the experienced modeler, due to the numerous tiny parts.

Basically this Life Raft Container kit contains three grey resin pieces on one resin casting block. One piece is the cylindrical container, the next is the raft itself and finally, the last is the cover. These pieces can be painted quickly and easily. The assembly is nothing more than cutting a round hole on the side of the fuselage where the container and cover would go. The container is glued from the inside and the cover can be shown in the open position with the raft showing or any position you can think of for your own diorama setting. The included directions illustrate where the hole is cut and also provide a template as to the diameter of the hole to be cut.

I know some people don’t like to cut into their kits “skin” but this is not difficult at all.

I would highly recommend this addition for any level of modeling skills that you may have and definitely great for beginners to build confidence.

The casting of these elevators and stabilizers is as good as the original plastic parts in the kit. The stabilizers have a pocket trailing edge that accepts the rounded leading edge of the elevators perfectly and the fit is better than I could ever do if I had taken the kit parts and cut them apart. The resin is a cream color, but their web site shows some cast in gray, so I guess it depends upon the batch and what kind of resin they were using that day.

I looked through all of my Skyraider references, couldn’t find that many pictures of A-1s with the elevators displaced, except for those taking off or landing. But, if you want your Hasegawa A-1 to have displaced elevators, you really need these. They are a direct replacement for the kit parts.

My thanks to Aires for the review samples and to IPMS/USA these review samples.