RoR Review 20100130 – Revell Star Wars Magnaguard Fighter

Revell Snap Tite Star Warsâ„¢ Magnaguard Fighterâ„¢

Review and photos  by Stephen Wilder

Kit 85-1866

This kit is another pre-decorated snap-assembly kit in the fully-licensed Star Wars™ line from Revell.  It comes in a nicely decorated two-part box (Figure 1), which now features a matching glossy white bottom half as opposed to the more common plain cardboard.

Figure 1

I counted 42 pieces in this kit, not including the stand.  All sprues were bagged separately, and no parts were damaged in my kit. 

As expected from a Snap Tite kit, assembly went quickly.  I was able to build this kit in about 45 minutes, using sprue nippers, a knife, a pair of pliers, and a toothpick (more on that later!). 

An impressive feature of this kit is its paint job.  Multiple shades of purple have been applied by Revell on the main components, including some wild graphics on the upper fuselage.  Detail parts come pre-painted in reds, creams, tans, and grays, leaving only some minor touch-up work for the builder in the paint department.  There are no decals or stickers provided or required.

Assembly was fairly straightforward, though it is somewhat advanced for a skill 1 kit.  Two items push this kit beyond the “beginner” category – assembly step 2 and the number of fine detail pieces.

Step 2 is where the canopy is mated with the cockpit.  In this step, four pieces are held together with a pin (part 10).  I had to use a toothpick to complete this step.  In Figure 2, I threaded the toothpick through the canopy, cockpit arms (parts 15 and 13) and the control stand (parts 6 and 9). 

Figure 2

I then pushed the toothpick through the aligned pieces with the pin (part 10), as shown in Figure 3. 

Figure 3

In Figure 4, I completed this step by snapping the pin in place on the canopy. 

Figure 4

The pre-decorated feature has a drawback – the need to touch up the paint job after standard assembly steps.  Most of the sprue attachment points are hidden, but several are located on visible areas of the tail booms and wings.  I don’t have any purple paint to match this craft, so I had to mix some of my own.  To do this, I used blue, red, gray, and white paint, mixing them on a disposable paper plate (see Figures 5 and 6).  I “eyeballed” the color, getting one that was simply close enough. 

Figure 5

Figure 6

I then brushed this custom purple color onto the model only at the sprue attachment points (Figure 7).  The interior of the tail boom intakes were factory painted in a cream color. 

Figure 7

These needed some touch up as well ( see Figure 8 ) – I had some Polly Scale Aged White on hand, which matched this color closely.

Figure 8

Including touch-up painting, I was able to complete this kit in about an hour. 

Figure 9

The finished kit looks rather nice, especially with its intricate paint job.  A two-piece gloss black stand is included, allowing the builder to display the kit in flight.  Piping details (pieces 23-25 and 32-34) add an uncommon level of detail (and complication) for a skill 1 kit.  See Figures 9 through 11 for pictures of the finished kit.

Figure 10

As a side note, this craft is called a Porax-38 class starfighter – WWII aircraft enthusiasts should instantly recognize the P-38 influence!
Figure 11

Finished Dimensions:
Length:  8 3/4″
Wingspan:  8 3/4”
Scale:  Approximately 1:58

Pros:
Beautiful pre-decorated finish with intricate graphics, good level of detail, nice fit

Cons:
Complicated step 2 sequence