Scale: 1/35 - about 9"/22.9cm long assembled

Parts: 19 resin

Instructions: 2 pages, with painting/marking instructions

Decals: ALPS printed waterslide

Molding Quality: 10 - excellent all around.

Detail: 9 - nice raised details, consistent engraved panels

Accuracy: 9+ - looks spot on from the images I can find.

MSRP: $85 USD (~$130.33 CAN/ € 80.07 EUR) available from Federation Models

Overall Rating: 8 - Looks like an excellent kit, even though the price is a bit steep.

I'll leave my thoughts on the late 70's TV incarnation of Buck Rogers to my review on this fighter's main opponent.

Image: Underneath the fuselage

Image: Instructions are clearly illustrated

What You Get

Alliance's new kit comes ins a sturdy box jammed with resin. There is a large, one-piece fuselage, 18 other detail pieces, ALPS-printed decals and one sheet of instructions (printed front and back).

The resin is perfectly cast, with no obvious flaws in my sample - no pits, no bubbles under the surface (that I could see), and very fine mold seams. Clean-up should take no time. The resin is the hard, off-white stuff favored by Alliance - easy to sand, but not so soft as to pick up scratches and dings from normal handling. Detail overall is quite nice. The scribing in particular is worth mentioning - it's consistent in width and depth over the entire surface, something you don't always see on a garge kit. Taping the parts together indicates there will be few, if any, fit issues.

Instructions are much better than previous Alliance efforts. The exploded assembly diagram is large and clear, with color images of a model under construction included as visual aids. The painting and marking guide on the back of the sheet is equally good.

Markings are provided only for the Earth Directorate insignia and the rainbow band on the engine. They're crisp, in register and wholly adequate. If you want something different, the J-BOT sheet for the Monogram kit should fit this one.

Accuracy

So, it's a nice looking kit, but is it all that much better than the Monogram?

In a word - yes. For those wondering, Alliance's kit is not simply a recast of the Monogram. For starters, the hull between the engine/gun booms has been lowered a full 1/8" to bring it in line with the filming miniature. The engines are more detailed, as is the canopy - and both are far better replicas of the original. The Alliance model has positionable flaps as well as the nose gear missing from the other kit. About the only thing this kit does not have is an interior - but that part is in the works.

Conclusions

About the only flaw I can find with this kit is the price. It seems a bit steep to me ... but considering the amount of effort poured into making it as good as it is, I wouldn't say the price is exhorbiant. Since the long out-of-production Monogram offering runs $50-75 most places these days, Alliance's price is competitive, considering the quality of the product.

If you like the subject, you'll like this kit. It's simple enough to be your first resin project, as long as you've built a plastic model or two. Recommended.