Review: Dragon/Cyber-Hobby 1/72 Sea Vixen FAW.2

[LudvigN]

Here is a special treat I gave to myself. Its a bit pricey, but it looks to be the only decent 1/72 kit of the Sea Vixen. I was always jealous on everyone who got the 1/48 from Airfix which looked like a cracking kit, but 1/48 is just too big for me. I always adored this aircraft cause of its unique appearance and its one of those aircraft that defines my love of Cold War-jets. I also longed to have a decent kit since I returned to the hobby. If you want to read more about the Sea Vixen, heres a link to Wikipedia.

Price: SEK 408 / £34.99 / €44.37 / $56.08 + shipping

That price is from Hannants, but I got it alot cheaper on eBay, from the far east (50$ shipped to Sweden).

The Kit:

The kit comes in a big box (for 1/72) and is neatly packed in mostly separate bags. You get 5 sprues and 1 clear sprue. Besides that, you get two sheets of decals, made by Cartograf, and lets you choose from 6 different individuals. The first thing that strikes me, is the recessed detail on the fusilage and wings. It looks great! Not too deep, not too wide. Its not like Tamiyas newer tools (like the F-16) where the details is so comprehensive, it starts too look like a 1/32nd kit. Still, it really holds up on this scale. The kit comes with some ordnance and the options is explained (i think) in the instructions on when/what/where to attach them. Although I adore this aircraft, I dont know a great deal about it, so I cant comment the accuracy of this kit.

Cyber-hobby/Dragon has released the FAW.1 2011, but from what Ive heard, that kit had alot of inaccuracies which are supposed to fixed in this version (only what Ive read). This release is from 2013 and its one of those flash-free new toolings that we love to see. Lets move on to the pictures and we'll start with the non plastic content....






Instructions look like those from standard Dragon-kits. Ive never built a Dragon kit before, and Ive heard some mixed messages about their instructions, and this looks quite complex, to say the least.





The decals looks superb, and, its got a SHARK MOUTH!!!! Lets just say Ive already decided which scheme to go for





Heres the reason why the decals look so awesome:



Lets move on to the plastic:



The clear parts looks the deal with no center seam and crystal clear properties.





The fusilage comes in a top/bottom layout and shows the option of having the wings folded which is a great bonus in my opinion.





An example of the fine recessed detail:









Nicely detailed wheel wells:



The seats looks ok, but some awkward EPMS on the wheel bay doors:



I see some EPMs in the intakes, why this still happens in this millenia is above my knowledge...



Conclusion

The pickings are slim if you want to build a Sea Vixen in 1/72nd scale. The only other options I know of is either the FROG-kit with various reboxes which dates back to the 70s. There is also a newish russian kit from "Ark", but I havent seen any reviews of this kit so far. This leaves us with the Dragon-kit. Im very pleased that this kit exists, not only is it a new tooling, its also a splendid tooling, with no flash, superb details, awesome decals and good looking clear parts. I cant say anything about the fit yet, but as long as its doable, I would not try anything else than this kit when it comes to Sea Vixen. You also get 6 different markings to choose from. The only downside for this kit is for me the price, although, personally I think the details and decals justifies the price, I still think they could've thrown in some photo-etch or resin for this price.

+ No flash
+ Very nice recessed detail
+ Folded wings-option
+ 6 different markings (including shark-mouth )
+ Cartograf decals
+ Nice details (seat, wheel wells etc)
+ Nice clear parts
+ Finally a good Sea Vixen in 1/72

- Strange ejector pin marks on such a new kit (intakes, wheel bay doors)
- Expensive kit, alot of money for a 1/72 model
- Would have been nice to see some photo etch included.
- Unnecessarily big box
- No weighted wheels

Although pricey, this kit looks like it, with your help, will produce a good looking model. I know what I will build for the upcoming "In the Navy SiG"

Hope you enjoyed this inbox review and found it helpful. Until next time,

cheers