The IRIS-T (infra-red imaging system - tail / thrust vector controlled) is a heat seeking missile developed by a consortium of European countries as a replacement for the AIM-9 Sidewinder. The program was led by Germany, but included other NATO countries such as Greece, Italy, Norway, Sweden and Spain and the IRIS-T has been exported to several countries such as Austria, South Africa, Saudi Arabia and Thailand. The IRIS-T became operational in 2005 and is carried on the Eurofighter Typhoon, F-16 Falcon, F/A-18 Hornet, Tornado and the Gripen.

The set includes two complete IRIS-T missiles, 2 seeker covers and 2 sets of different launch rails – 2 LAU-129’s for the F-16 (and presumably the F-18, Eurofighter and Tornado) and 2 Lavett RB99’s for the Gripen. Each missile consists of 6 parts, the main body, 4 guidance fins, and a photo-etch motor exhaust. The set also includes two separately cast seeker covers. Unlike Eduard’s 1/48 version of the IRIS-T, the seeker heads are cast as part of the main body of the missiles instead of separately in clear resin, but as they would be very tiny parts in 1/72^nd scale, this is understandable. All of the parts are all cast in Eduard’s standard dark grey resin with crisp details throughout. Take care removing the missile bodies from the pour stubs as the stub attachment point is also where the etch exhaust nozzle part is attached and it needs to be nice and flat to look right, so you will need to take care to ensure that your cut is straight.

The tail fins are cast separately and easily separated from their casting blocks. I used locking tweezers to hold the each fin and then ran each one over a medium fine sanding stick to remove the remains of the pour stub before installing them. Eduard has molded the missile body with nice flat slots where the fins attach, so proper placement is fairly easy, but be sure to check the alignment of the guidance fin with the corresponding missile wing as they should line up with the wings on the main body. I used slower setting super glue to give me some time to get each fin set in line. I opted to attach the etch nozzle exhaust after the fins were all attached as the fin mounts extend beyond the end of the missile body, allowing me to use them as guides to get the exhaust part in the right place. When you attach the exhaust, check your alignment with the diagram at the left top of the instructions as the arms on the exhaust should be in between the wings, not in line with them.

Each type of launch rail has a small brass piece to be installed at the aft end of the rail, so make sure the ends are flat once you have removed the rails from their pour stubs.

Eduard’s instructions call for the missiles to be painted Gunze H308 or Mr. Color C308 which is FS 36375 light ghost gray, so I used Modelmaster 36375 to paint the missiles and the missile rails. The actual color for the missile rails may differ depending on which country’s aircraft you are modeling, so check your resources first. If you do not use the seeker covers there is a thin steel band just aft of the seeker heads that will need to be carefully painted. In addition, I would paint the seeker heads themselves chrome silver, even though the instructions are silent on this.

A quick coat of Future prepared everything for decaling. There are 6 decals for each missile and 4 for each missile rail. The decals go on quickly and nestle right down with Micro Sol and Micro Set. I did notice that decal #13 seems to be a little short as it does not go all the way around the missile body like I expected it to. Take your time with decals #9 and 11 to make sure that each stripe lines up all the way around the missile. There are different decals for each of the two types of launch rail and they add good detail to the rails. Once everything was dry I painted everything with clear flat.

If you are using the seeker covers, they need to be carefully separated from the pour stubs and sanded back round. I painted mine Testors insignia yellow as the real covers are a dull yellow in color. In order to attach the covers you need to saw off the tip of the missile body as shown on the instructions and attach the covers using superglue. As you will note in the photographs, you need to double check your alignment of the covers as I managed to get one slightly off kilter.

The hardest part of this build is deciding what jet to mount the missiles on. I have both a Gripen and a Eurofighter partially built, so I will see which is done first and what country’s markings I choose to determine which kit they end up on.

I enjoyed this set and I am again impressed by how well Eduard does its homework on their weapons sets. This is a great set and I highly recommend it.

Thank you to Eduard for the review sample and to IMPS-USA for letting me review it.