Great Wall Hobby R.A.F. TSR.2 Model Kit (1/144 Scale)

The TSR2, as any British aviation buff will tell you, was the best tactical strike and reconnaissance aircraft that never made it to actve service. Only a small handful of prototypes were ever built, and only one or two of them (I think) ever made it off the ground. Most of them ended up on an Essex firing range after the government of the day pulled the plug on the project.Now, for such an iconic aircraft, there are remarkably few kits around. Airfix produced a badly flawed 1/48 scale kit (now sadly out of circulation) and a half-decent 1/72 kit which is still in general retail (but seems to be ridiculously overpriced at the time of writing). I've been eyeing up this 1/144 scale kit for some time but, offered by a (to me) relatively unheard of Chinese maufacturer and in a scale that I rarely go for, I was somewhat sceptical. However, I finally took the plunge. Well, what a revelation! Where has this kit been all my life?The packaging alone is a lesson in attention to detail. Each sprue is either individually wrapped in cellophane or mounted withe several others with sellotape on a cardboard divider and THEN bagged. All in a surprisingly large and sturdy box with a nicely rendered bit of artwork on the lid.There are five white plastic sprues, a clear plastic canopy sprue and a black plastic mounting stand. One of the main sprues provides a number of wing mounted, ground attack missiles and a ferry tank belly bulge, neither of which was ever deployed on the aircraft in real life and giving the modeller the option to try out a tantalising "What if?" build. The quality of the mouldings is second to none in this scale. Good, hard plastic with fine detailing and neat, engraved panel lines. Fit is almost seamless and the sprue gates are carefully placed to avoid damage to the more visible parts of the aircraft. I'm not exaggerating if I suggest that this kit puts to shame any number of larger scale models.There are a (very) few flies in the ointment. The instructions are entirely in Chinese and there is a relatively minor construction problem with the wing and engine ducting parts that probably won't even be noticed by most modellers.The decals are provided for three of the prototype aircraft... a simple, anti-flash gloss white finish and simple, pale low viz markings. Instead, I chose to complete my build in a standard, tactical green and grey camo pattern and I used markings taken from a 1/72 scale BAE Hawk decal set which seemed to be of about the right size for this much larger aircraft.All in all, this is a real peach of a kit. Virtually flawless and quite appropriate for even a beginner. It deserves six stars.

This is a well made kit, judged to be the most accurate representation of the original aircraft by model reviewers in the know. It's small (16 cm nose to tail) but that's because it's 1/144 scale! Options to have the wheels up/down, air brakes in/out, bomb door open/closed, display stand or not, tail sections move. Decals for the XR219, XR220 or XR222. One of the finest aircraft the RAF never had.

This is an excellent little kit from a good company, but DON'T even consider paying over £111 pounds for this!! PLEASE DON'T!! You can find this kit for far far less (£30-40) at retailers such as Hannants and eModels, for example (I have NO affiliation with either). How a retailer can expect people to consider paying £111 for a plastic model kit, let alone one that is 1/144 in scale is beyond me. This is quite franky a rip off. SMH.