AMT/ERTL Star Wars Jedi Starfighter Kit First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away (it seems like last year in my local theater), George Lucas completed his final installment to the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy depicting the rise of Darth Vader. In this episode, we're also introduced to the 'current' version of the Jedi fighter, which has evolved over the span of time of these first three movies. This version is still a few steps short of the familiar TIE fighter seen in the original trilogy.

AMT/ERTL has released this version of the Jedi Starfighter from Episode III. The Episode II Jedi Starfighter was done previously by Fine Molds.

From the stunning box art, you can see that this Starfighter is essentially gray and yellow, though there are other color combinations shown in the movie. The problem here is that while the instructions show a nice listing of colors used in the kit, there are no indicators showing which color goes where on the model. Bummer. At least this project isn't rocket science.

Assembly begins with the cockpit tub. There are a variety of headrest options for the pilot's seat, depending on the species of the pilot. Otherwise, assembly is quick and straightforward. You'll have to refer to the brief cockpit sequences to obtain color information.

The cockpit tub is the most intensive part of the assembly as the rest of the kit goes together quick and easy. The instructions seem to indicate that there are options available for the retractable attack spoilers, but there is only one set included in the kit.

A display stand is provided for the kit to display the model in flight. There is no landing gear option nor is a pilot included.

This is a cool little kit. I hope they'll fix the painting instructions in the next release of this kit, but it shouldn't be too hard to figure out - I mean it isn't like this Starfighter will ever physically exist now, right? This kit is definitely recommended.

My sincere thanks to RC2 for this review sample!