Background About ResKit

ResKit products are designed and manufactured in Kyiv, Ukraine. Founded in 2015, the company produces high-quality, detailed resin aftermarket parts, engines, wheels, and conversion kits for scale model aircraft, armor, and dioramas. Despite the ongoing war, they continue to produce and ship their products from Ukraine.

Historcal Notes

There is a considerable amount of information regarding this system, and I feel some place for further research is needed. I recommend using Wikipedia and searching for “AGM-130C” for a wealth of information.

Product Description

I should mention that there is another resin option by another manufacturer for this same weapon set, but it is not nearly as detailed or precise, which is quickly evident, especially in the surface details. While this kit is shown for the pylon for an F-16I, F-15E and F-111F, I believe you’ll also find photos showing it mounted on other aircraft as well.

Beginning with the AGM-130C missiles (2 pcs) (BLU-109 warhead): You will find a beautiful and well-engineered kit containing a four-page color instruction sheet, seven 3D printed assembly sections, a 3D clear section and a small, highly detailed decal sheet. I am a total newbie to the 3D printing process, including which adhesives to use when putting these pieces of the 3D resin together. Consulting some of our local IPMS Seattle Chapter members, I was recommended to use black CA (Tire Glue). While this is designed for installing RC tires, it is also useful for modelers and features a carbon and rubber-toughened formulation for added flexibility and has a longer cure time.

This led to another rabbit hole for me, and this is what I found: I used my usual quick Amazon review to find a source for ‘black Cyanoacrylate’, and I ordered two small containers, one from a previously unknown company (to me at least) called Alecpea and the other from well-known Bob Smith Industries. While the latter required six days to fulfill, the Alecpea was delivered the next day (with Amazon Prime). I have used the Alecpea product (product: 20g ‘medium-thick 500 CPS black’ CPSCA5008 with 40–60 second bonding) and found it to be great. There are two other advantages to the Alecpea bottle (aside from the larger size) as it comes with six small removable tiny tip sections and a small tip piercing needle, which results in an open tip before each usage. The prices were $6.99 (2oz) & $14.75 (1oz) respectively.

Additional caveats:

• Black Cyanoacrylate — when working with the black CA, I discovered it is a very permanent black, which I found to be impervious to every thinner I used and almost impossible to remove. I suggest using it with rubber gloves to avoid the resulting black stains left wherever this CA is employed.
• Decals – I want to mention several aspects of the decals provided in the kit. The registration is spot on, with so many details given, they are hard to believe. Regardless of how you remove them, for the most part they are very tiny. An impure thought or motion will cause you to lose them. I experimented with both room temperature and warm water and in both instances, they floated off with no resistance. My other problem was that they are very thin and easily break when moving, even with a wet brush.

Painting Outline

I first sprayed Mr. Surfacer 1200 (B-515 Surface preparation), then used Real Color Paints RC 024 (Olive Drab Faded) and RC 025 (Dark Olive Drab No. 31 USAAF). In application, there is very little discernible difference between these two colors. No pin wash is used, as these external stores are almost always seen only in their pristine, freshly painted condition.

I then applied a sprayed overcoat of Alclad II Lacquer’s Aqua Gloss Clear (ALC 600). This was followed by a final sprayed coat of VMS’s Varnish HD Matt Topcoat (VMS.AX05M), which produces a great matt finish.

Recommendations

As you can tell from my previous comments, I strongly recommend this kit as it really is great! It will add some fantastic detail if arming an F-16I, F-15E, or F-111F with the AGM-130C. I want to thank the ResKit folks and IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review this terrific accessory kit.