Grumman OV-1A/JOV-1A Mohawk

Roden 1/72
 

Reviewed by Mick Evans

Roden's 1/48 scale OV-1A/JOV-1A Mohawk  is available online from Squadron.com

On opening the box for this kit I was surprised at the high quality of the parts and the detail provided on them. Roden has continued to improve the quality of their kits to a point that they are comparable with releases from the major kit producing companies.

The kit contains 18 clear plastic parts and 186 plastic parts crisply moulded in a light grey styrene. The cockpit detail is excellent with no less than 38 detail parts provided. The main instrument panel is moulded in clear plastic with a decal to be placed at the rear. The decal is printed in reverse to allow the markings to show through the clear panel. Each ejection seat is a sub assembly in itself with 8 parts provided for each seat.

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

A quick trial fit of parts proved that most major parts assemble together well with no difficulties. The transparencies are nice and clear and the areas to be painted are frosted for good paint adherence. The undercarriage wells and legs have great detail. One major problem spot is a rather large ejector pin mark right through the center of the rib detail in each main wheel bay, which will be difficult to repair. The ejector pin marks in the nose wheel bay should be easy to repair, as it is a smooth flat surface with no detail near them. A good weapons load of drop tanks, rocket, and gun pods is provided. For those who wish for more choices will have to dig into Hasegawa weapons sets for alternatives.

The decal sheet looks very good with all colours in perfect register. The carrier film is very thin so care will need to be taken when applying to the kit.

Markings are supplied for 4 US Army aircraft operating in Vietnam, 2 in high visibility markings in a dark olive drab scheme, and 2 in low visibility markings in a lighter faded olive drab scheme.

This kit is highly recommended to all levels of modelers.

Highly Recommended.
 

Thanks to Squadron.com for the review sample.

Model, Review and Images Copyright © 2004 by Mick Evans
Page Created 09 July, 2004
Last updated 09 July, 2004

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