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This kit was first announced by Accurate
Miniatures with a release date of January
2008, though it appears that this is actually a
collaborative effort in that this Platz kit
appeared around the first quarter of 2008,
followed not long afterward by the Italeri
version. As of the middle of July 2008 I have
not seen any announcements for the Accurate
Miniatures' release.
Inside the box you find 23 parts spread over
two sprues. The quality of the moldings is excellent. The finish and detail are very reminiscent of what
you would find in a comparable Hasegawa kit. The parts are molded in a nice medium-hard grey plastic
with excellent detail and fit. The panel lines are recessed and finely done. A nice feature is the one piece
wing that makes construction easier and also saves the modeller the worry of getting the wings level and
with the right dihedral. A nice touch is that the balance weights on the leading edge of the rear stabilizers
are protected with a piece of cardboard over them which worked well since they arrived undamaged.
Unfortunately I can't say that for the rest of the kit, as the nose AOA probe and one of the pitots were
broken in transit.
The instruction sheet is mostly in Japanese, and reasonably easy to follow with regards to the construction
of the kit. The only problem I encountered concerned the decal application instructions for the star and
bar markings on the wings. I had no idea what the instructions said regarding them and photographs I
have seen on the web show Predators with and without them.
The last page has a painting and marking guide for no less than 7 Predators: 94-3011, 96-3027, 97-3034,
AF94-006, 96-3030, AF94-009 and NASA ALTUS. But the usable choices for markings is limited to
only 4 of the options (94-3011, 96-3027, 97-3034 & AF94-006) because the other marking options
require parts which are not included in the kit. The NASA ALTUS has a completely different forward
fuselage similar to the Gnat drone as well as a different layout for the rear stabilizers and fin, while the
other Predator options require a large hump for the fuselage spine.
Not mentioned, but obvious from the inserts provided for the underside of the wings, is the fact that the
kit will at sometime be released in an armed configuration with pylon mounted Hellfire missiles under the
wings.
Decals are by Cartograph. They are opaque, glossy, in register and very thin. The sheet is covered by a
myriad of images where the remainder, once you have built the version of your choice, can be put into the
spares box for future projects.
I built the Predator as much as possible "straight from the box" and followed the construction sequence
for the most part.
Examining how the Predator sits it appeared to me that weights would be needed to prevent a tail sit. The
instructions make no mention of adding any weights to the nose, but I added some anyway just to be safe.
I also did not mount the sensor turret from the inside of the fuselage as directed by the instructions. I
covered over the opening from the inside of the lower fuselage half, then I put the turret assembly
together (parts A10, A15 & A16), and cut and sanded away the lip on the support brackets until the ball
would slip inside the opening to the correct height.
For some reason the parts have an overall pebbly finish. I'm not sure why this is, but it forces the
modeller to do an overall light sanding of the parts to remove as much of it as possible without harming
the engraved panel lines and other details.
The rear wheel wells are extremely shallow, being not much more than a slight dip of about one half of a
millimeter in the plastic. You either accept them they way they are, as I did, or perform some major
surgery to deepen them.
There is a very noticeable depression under the wings not to far outboard of the wing roots. I suspect that
this was caused by not injecting enough plastic into the molds. Fortunately the depression is right where
the inserts (parts B2 & B3) go to fill the mount point for the future Hellfire missiles, so what I did was
glue the inserts in place and then fill and sand the whole area smooth.
There is a small problem with the sensor ball. Pictures that I found of Predators on the web show three
sensor openings. The kit part has but one, so I added the missing openings by drilling two small shallow
holes in the turret ball.
Other reviewers have commented on the unsuitability of the prop supplied in the kit. To me it seems
acceptable and looks to be of the type found on early Predators.
I had to replace the broken parts. The AOA probe was replaced with a length of stretched sprue, and I also
had to cobble together the two pitots for the wing.
The colour option I chose was for Predator, Bu. No. 96-3027. I found two pictures of it on the web. One
picture matched the illustration in the instructions, the other showed the same markings but with the
addition of the WA squadron codes and unit badge on the rear stabilizers, and US insignia on the
fuselage. I chose this option because it added a few more markings to make it a bit more visually
appealing.
Painting was quite straight forward though the masking of the rear gear wells was problematic due to their
shallowness. The kit received a primer coat and any flaws that I could find were fixed. The landing gear,
wheels and wells were painted black, the wells were masked and the remainder of the kit was given two
coats of Aeromaster Light Grey FS36495 enamel (9051). Make sure to paint the tips of the prop yellow
since this is not indicated in the instructions.
After removing the masking and touching up the area around the wheel wells with a brush, the kit
received a coat of Testors Glosscote and the decals were applied. The decals are as good as they come and
stick almost too well. They had a habit of refusing to move once placed on the kit and only a liberal
application of water allowed me to move them enough to align them properly. They respond immediately
to Microsol and sit down very well leaving no silvering to worry about.
To finish, the small items that I left off earlier (wing pitots and nose AOA probe) were attached as were
the landing gear and wheels. The kit then was sprayed with Aeromaster Acrylic Flat and then the prop
and sensor turret were added.
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Conclusion
Overall this is an excellent kit. The quality and ease of building makes this model close to being a "shake
and bake" build (where you could almost put the parts in a bag, give it a shake and then pull out a
completed model). Only a few shortcomings prevent it from being one of the best aircraft kits I have ever
had the pleasure of building and I would recommend it to all regardless of their skill level.
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