A mainstream injection
moulded kit in the manly scale of this important WW1 flying
boat is something I thought I'd see about the same time
Satan started snowshoeing to work in the morning.Though
I have yet to hear any reports of sub-zero temperatures
in Hell, Roden have not only proved me wrong, they've
once again outdone themselves with this fantastic new
Felixstowe.
Moulded in their usual
light gray styrene there are, according to the box, 229
parts including the beaching trolley. There is a bit of
flash on some of the parts but nothing to cause any concern
and nothing like some of their earlier efforts - the LAGG-3
in particular which was more flash than parts! The two
Rolls Royce Eagle engines consist of no less than 30 parts
each and are beautifully done. The Lewis guns and separate
ammo drums are exceptionally fine mouldings which may
prove a bit difficult to remove from the sprue and clean
up, but will be well worth the effort, and as a bonus
there are two extra guns and four extra drums supplied
which can be donated to the spares box. Roden might do
well to market their guns and engines as seperate accessory
packs as they are a big improvement on the somewhat crude
white metal items we've had until now.
The wings have nice subtle
rib representations and sharp trailing edges, and there
are two different styles of ailerons included. I particularly
like the fact that the lower wing centre section has spars
moulded in which fit into slots in the fuselage (hull,
to be proper) sides and are then covered by the upper
hull piece. This should ensure a nice strong mounting
for those long wings. Roden would have you construct the
entire wing assembly including struts, engines and propellers
as a seperate unit before installing them on the hull
but I'm not sure if I would go with that method personally.
Wing struts are as close to scale as you can get without
compromising strength which will be a necessity with that
huge upper wing.
Roden have captured the
rather complex hull shape very well, this being split
into two halves and an upper decking, the latter with
beautifully done fabric areas around the cockpit. There
is a fairly comprehensive interior, more than adequate
given the fairly small cockpit and gun positions, though
Brengun have done an etched
set for this kit if you want to take it up a notch.
Roden/Toko's earlier kits were somewhat lacking when it
came to fit, but a test of the hull parts shows that they
have made vast improvements in this area and I don't anticipate
any major problems putting this together, despite it's
size and complexity. The eighteen part beaching trolley
is a nice inclusion and will make displaying this monster
much easier. If I can find a shelf big enough for it that
is.
Click, monkey, click!
Markings are included for
four aircraft, three RNAS and one post-war Chilean example
- a rather bizarre choice that last one and one I had
not seen before but full marks to Roden for originality
there! Two of the RNAS choices have the so-called "razzle
dazzle" paint schemes (which to my mind is how an
F.2A should look), the blue and white one featured on
the box top and, my personal favourite, a red and white
example (N4251) based at Felixstowe in 1918. Painting
a complex scheme of chequers and diagonal stripes over
that rotund boat hull will be about as much fun as running
the 300 metres with a porcupine shoved down the front
of your pants, but it would be worth the pain.
Decals look nice and thin
and registration is excellent with the exception of the
white outine of the small roundels being slightly off.
These are for the rather plain RNAS version (sans "razzle
dazzle" paint job) which I don't plan on doing anyway
so I'm not concerned about it.
Roden continue to amaze
and impress me with their choice of subjects and continual
improvement in quality. If there was a Warped Plastic
"kit of the year" award this would definitely
get my vote, although the proof of course will be in the
building. Being a big fan of biplanes and WW1 in particular
this stuff is right up my alley and Roden is quickly becoming
my favourite model company. I just hope their appeal isn't
limited to a few loony individuals like myself who couldn't
possibly buy enough kits (though I do my best) to sustain
a company's profit margin. For the moment at least, there
doesn't seem to be a lack of new releases from Roden so
I can only hope they are doing well and will continue
to do so for a long time. Looking forward to their Sopwith
Camels which can finally put the ancient Revell and Airfix
examples out to pasture.
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