Revell Micro Wings series - Revell 1:144 scale

[bootneck]

Revell Micro Wings WW2 Aircraft Kits

1:144 Revell

Revell Germany has issued a set of World War Two era aircraft in their new Micro Wings 1:144 range. The set consists of eight individual aircraft kits in a format ideally suited for beginners or for a more experienced modeller to have a basic kit for further enhancing.

The kits appear to be re-issues from Revells Mini Series from the 1970s which consisted of 28 kits of British, German, Japanese and American aircraft. If this is the case then, hopefully, there is the possibility of the remaining aircraft being re-issued - such as the Thunderbolt, Hellcat, Airacobra, Zero, Shoki and Hayate to name a few.

The Kits

Each kit comes in a handy sized carton approx 14cm x 9cm x 20cm (which is reminiscent of a small carton of chocolate bars once provided by well known chocolate makers in Birmingham) and contains a single sprue, decals, clear parts and instructions. The carton has all the hallmarks of Revell’s flimsy style of packaging however, in the case of these kits, the carton is stuff full therefore there is not such an issue with the box collapsing under the slightest weight.

There is a single sprue containing the airframe parts and any peripheral hardpoints and armaments. A canopy is provided in clear plastic.

A nice addition with these kits is the inclusion of a two-piece display stand in clear sprue as this allows for the kit to be built in a flying mode such as an action scene. Display stands were notably absent in model kits for the last couple of decades and it is nice to see their return in some producers offerings.

Some of these kits have basically minimal parts to make up the aircraft; fighters mostly, however some, like the Tyhoon and Tempest have additional items such as hardpoints for bombs and rockets.

Some flash is evident on the sprues however not as much as could be expected when considering the age of these moulds. I have checked each sprue and they really only need slight attention to clean the parts up ready for assembly.

The cockpit area is lacking any detail however, at this small a scale, this could be overcome by painting the inside of the fuselage black. The more adept modeller should not have any difficulty constructing a basic cockpit layout with the use of some strategically placed pieces of scrap plastic card.

The decals are produced in Italy for Revell and are quite crisp with decent register. The German markings are particularly nice with the black crosses looking just right. As with most European kits, swastikas are not provided on decal sheet nor are they implied on the box-art (this is due to European legislation) however I think it possible to source these as aftermarket accessories.

The instruction sheet is a single A4 sheet, folded to A5, providing four pages of assembly details plus a painting guide and marking placements relevant to that kit.

A final touch is the provision of a little nameplate depicting the relevant aircraft. This is to be found on the main sprue and, once painted up, can be glued to the base of the display stand and shown as a display model.

Conclusion

This is a nice series of kits depicting WW2 aircraft and I am pleased to see them re-issued. They are simple to construct and would suit the beginner (or as an economic present from Grandad etc. ) however the detail is good enough for the average modeller to paint them up into really nice portrayals of WW2 aircraft. In addition, the opportunities to convert or add extra detail is there because, if you do mess it up, it will not cost more than an average cup of coffee.

The pricing of these kits puts them in the pocket money range for youngsters, is also good for the wargamers who may wish to obtain a few of each type and the 1:144 modelling set.

I imagine that Revell will probably wait, before making any decisions on whether to issue any more kits from this range, based on whether these first eight sell well or not. I will certainly be getting some more, mainly as I like them and they are cheap, but hopefully to try to get Revell to re-issue the rest of the range.

These kits are nice little offerings and at a budget price as well. I think they will be popular for the 1:144 enthusiasts and hopefully Revell will re-issue more.

 

Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit

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[Fifer54]

Thanks for a great review! It's certainly made me want to get some of these little kits . . .

[Rick Brown]

I'm just building the Hurricane as a cheap, quick modelling fix. So far I'm finding fun but I certainly have to use reading glasses to see it!

I've also found that Humbrol liquid poly takes quite awhile to work on this plastic. Also, there's quite a bit of flash.

I'm no expert on Hurri's but it looks like one to me!

Thanks for the review.

Rick.

[rio]

Have bought a lot of the Hurricanes, but use them for the decals from the Sweet 1:144th scale kits.

rio

[Troy Smith]

HI

a chap posted some of the 2013 releases due from Revell, and they are redoing the 8 US types.

http://www.plastik-modellbau.org/blog/revell-neuheiten-2013/2013/#more-16641

Mustang

Thunderbolt

Corsair

Hellcat

Warhawk

Wildcat

Dauntless

Airacobra

I used to see [and built ] the first 4 US types [along with the 4 Brit and 4 German] back in the late 70's when they were commonly available, but never saw the last 4 at all!

They vary in accuracy, of the sprue pics above, the Typhoon, Tempest and 262 look pretty decent, but the Bf109 and Fw 190 are not so hot.

I can assure you the Hurricane has a very poor fuselage shape, as did it's bigger 1/72nd version it was derived from, as a lot of these seemed to be scaled down version of the 1/72nd kits.

Interesting thread here on 1/144th http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=234908290&st=0

page 2 has a list of the Japanese kits mentioned above.

cheers

T

[bootneck]

Thanks Troy,

Yes, the follow up series should be quite interesting. Their prices make it affordable to buy a few of each, for conversions/updating.

all information is useful, as it helps the younger modellers to learn about the lineage of some of these kits.

cheers

[MPaul]

These are quite good little models. I have just made the Spitfire and still have the Typhoon to make

My skills arent up to most on here, as I am just starting out, this being my first kit, but hope this may give an impression of the kit.

[Basosz]

that's not bad MPaul. Keep it up and you'll be as good as or better than most of us here. The stand makes these kits really nice.

[MPaul]

Well I am currently building the Typhoon.  This had much more flash than the Spit, though it was easily cleaned up.  

 

There was also large gaps at both port and starboard wing roots.  I have sorted this with squadron white putty (my first ever use of putty/filler) and its come out ok.  No WIP pics, but again, I will post up pics of the finished kit just to show people.  It will be my first ever airbrush use too, so it may be a disaster lol.

[MPaul]

Well I have done the Typhoon

It had to be changed a little colours wise under the fuselage due to limited paint and a failed first airbrushing attempt.

Anyway, the kit had a lot more flash on it than the Spit I made, and I actually had to use filler on the wing roots, as there were some huge gaps (for this scale) of about 2mm .

Anyway, my modelling skills are still developing, and this was a quick build so didnt do loads to it anyway:

Edited January 26, 2013 by MPaul

[bootneck]

Another nice kit, thanks for showing it here.

Looks really good with those rockets on their rails

cheers

[MPaul]

No problem Mike.

They are simple, but actually enjoyable kits to put together.

Figured that any I make I would post in here, as an addition to your review, just to give some idea of what they look like built.

[Bear13583]

I built the hurricane a while back.............

[fmansam]

i think they look good,

they would be ideal to use on a diorama hmmm, i think my cadet sqn could build these with minimum fuss!!!