December 11, 2008

FineMolds' 1/48 Sanka Mk. B ~ In-box preview

No far behind Bandai's release of their 1/72 Sky Crawler kits, comes FineMolds with their 1/48 version of the Sanka Mk. B.

Sky Crawlers is a 2008 Japanese anime film adapted from the novel series by Hiroshi Mori, which follows the journeys and tribulations of a group of young fighter pilots involved in dogfight warfare, and is set during an alternate historical period.

The Sanka Mk. B was designed to represent the ultimate in propeller aircraft development, evolutionary rather than revolutionary.  The strong resemblance of this aircraft to the Kyushu J7W Shinden is anything but coincidental.

Box Art

This kit features a high level of interior detail, clear canopy parts, landing gear than can be built extended or retracted, and geared counter-rotating propellers. No base is included with the kit, so you'll have to come up with your own.

What You Get

Parts.	More parts.	Even more parts.	Decals & parts.	Instructions.	Inside instructions.	Promo flyer.

Artwork

 

Scale: 1/48
Manufacturer: FineMolds
What you get: 108 styrene parts, instructions, decal sheet & a promotional flyer for Sky Crawlers.
Price: ¥3,400 (about $36.10) plus overseas shipping, available from HLJ.com
Molding Quality: very nice, crisp detail, excellent parts fit and no flash that I could see
Detail: good surface detail with recessed panel lines
Accuracy: unknown, since it's a fictional aircraft
Pros: excellent parts fit & detail, water-slide decals, unusual model
Cons: price, only available (so far) from overseas hobby stores, no 1/48 Skyly J2 yet.

Final comments: Excellent kit, not as petite as the Bandai kits, and if it's anything like previous FineMolds releases, it'll be a joy to build. Here's hoping they'll release it's nemesis, the Skyly J2.  Highly Recommended.