TIE Fighter - Sienar Fleet Systems TIE/Ln Superiority Starfighter

[Mike]

TIE Fighter - Sienar Fleet Systems TIE/Ln Superiority Starfighter

1:48 Finemolds

In association with

First seen in the original (and best) Star Wars trilogy, TIE stands for Twin Ion Engine - the acronym for which was made up after the shooting crew likened the shape to a bow tie and it stuck. It harassed Luke and Han throughout all three films, and has become probably one of the best known space craft shapes because of this.

The original 1:72 scale TIE from Finemolds has been with us for a number of years now, but the 1:48 kit has been a long time in coming, following on the heels of the 1:48 X-Wing released a couple of years ago, and reviewed here. Now we have the 1:48 TIE fighter we can all secretly dogfight the two... sorry... I mean display the two adversaries together in our cabinets.

The kit arrives in a shiny blue top-opening box reminiscent of the new trilogy kits, and has a trio of TIEs preceding a distant Star Destroyer - all three appear to be built up examples of the kit, which bodes well.

Inside the box are four sprues of grey styrene, two of black, a small sprue of clear parts and the decal sheet. A folded instruction booklet completes the package, although all of the preamble text is written in Japanese, with no English translation. The instructions however do have Japanese and English, which should help avoid any disasters.

Cleverly, Finemolds have moulded the large angled solar panels in such a way to ease painting for those that aren't comfortable masking complex shapes. The two black sprues contain the black panels, while two of the grey sprues contain the framework, although the edges of the black panels will need to be painted in the external grey color, as they protrude from the framework to form the sharp angles around the edge of the "wings".

One sprue gives you all the parts for the "knot" of the tie, and detail here is as good as the rest of the kit. There is a full cockpit interior, including the pilot seat, control column, those odd faceted side panels, and the circular rear wall. There are decals for each facet of the wall, so no complex painting will be needed there. A crew figure is also provided, so for most of us there will be plenty of detail to be seen through the front glazing. The top crew hatch is provided as a clear part so that the narrow windows can be masked during painting. The main windscreen is also separate from its frame, which could also help with easing painting, depending on your technique.

The crew figure is nicely moulded, and is joined on the final sprue by an Imperial Officer dressed in their familiar simple grey uniform, jackboots and cap. The balance of the 4th sprue is taken up by parts for the stand onto which the fighter sits. A Star Wars decal is included for the benefit of anyone that's been stuck behind a wardrobe this last 30 odd years and doesn't know which film it comes from.

The decal sheet is generic and includes the aforementioned flashy lights for the cockpit, several stencils, and a large black Star Wars logo for the stand. There are no self-adhesive stickers this time to cater for the younger audience, which although was a nice touch on the X-Wing, doubtless added to the cost of a model that probably isn't really intended for the very young.

The painting guide includes Gunze Mr Color paint callouts, but helpfully includes FS numbers to help out locales that don't have easy access to this brand.

Conclusion

Speaking personally, I've been waiting ages for the popular Star Wars kits to arrive in a more detail friendly scale than the original 1:72 kits, and I'm sure I'm not alone. The detail on the kit is good, and Finemolds' attention to design doesn't let us down with what looks to be a simple build process. It's great to see the TIE Fighter in all its glory in this scale. What's next? Y-wing? I do hope so.

Buy it Now

Review sample courtesy of

[Madmonk]

Great review Mike, the FM range of Star Wars kits is second to none. The original 1/72 kit had a couple of Stormtroopers with it so a bit disappointed that they didn't put them in the larger kit.

As for the next kit it would be nice to see a Vader TIE fighter or a Naboo starfighter.

Might have to get one just to make sure your review is correct!!

[Obi-Jiff Kenobi]

Good review, Mike. Looks like a very nice kit indeed. Better than the old AMT ones.

[crookedmouth]

I am going to have to build this one! I reckon it'd look great dogfighting with a Sea Vixen or Wyvern on my study cieling. Dunno what the wife'd say though and it's a lot of money too

Edited March 7, 2011 by crookedmouth

[Cimmerian]

Thanks for the review Mike - Ive been itching for one of these!

One question though - Are there no clear parts in the kit? Or are they going for studio scale stylee with no canopy etc.

As for the next kit it would be nice to see a Vader TIE fighter or a Naboo starfighter.

Ditto - the recent revell offering left a lot to be desired!

Having just built the 1/72 Interceptor Im all over the fine molds starwars stuff , very nice -

Have a little piccie - hope you dont mind:

That Falcon in my stash is winking at me now

[Mike]

One question though - Are there no clear parts in the kit? Or are they going for studio scale stylee with no canopy etc.

Yes there are... I'm a dope & didn't post the pic. I'll rectify that in a minute

[Pilgrim_UK]

Any UK suppliers yet and wonder if they would ever bump these up to 1/32 or 1/24.

Bit odd having a clone trooper on the front or is it just me.

Edited March 10, 2011 by Pilgrim_UK

[Obi-Jiff Kenobi]

Bit odd having a clone trooper on the front or is just me.

That's down to Lucasfilm's licencing arrangement. Because they're currently making and showing the CG animated Clone Wars cartoon, pretty much all licenced products have the same Clone Trooper, to try and homogenise all Star Wars products, and raise awareness of the cartoon.