Kit Review: AFV Club non-scale Kit No. AFQ 001; ROCAF F-CK-1A Ching Kuo Indigenous Defense Fighter; 22 parts (21 in grey styrene, 1 clear styrene); price unknown
Advantages: nice little caricature of ROCAF fighter aircraft; suitable for posing with =93Egg Plane=94 models
Disadvantages: er, how can you tell?
Rating: Recommended (see text)
Recommendation: to anyone who is a fan of the F-CK-1 or has a good sense of humor
According to Wikipedia, the F-CK-1 fighter began development after President Carter announced his =93One China=94 policy and cut off arms sales to Taiwan, which also quashed sales of the F-20 fighter to the ROC. Starting in 1980 they worked on developing an indigenous defense fighter (IDF) and rolled out the first prototype of this aircraft in
1989. The aircraft was accepted for service in 1994 in both =93A=94 (single seat) and =93B=94 (two seat) versions, and by 1999 131 tota= l airframes had been built for the ROCAF. It was named in honor of ROC President Ching-Kuo who pressed for its creation.Based on its appearance the aircraft borrows heavily on both the F-16 and F-20 designs and seems a synthesis of the two airframes into one. It combines =93shoulder=94 air intakes and twin engines with a very F-16- esqe airframe and layout.
Back in 1976 the first kits of totally ground-up caricature aircraft kits =96 dubbed =93Egg Planes=94 =96 first appeared on the market. At firs= t based on airliners, they morphed out into combat aircraft as well and were popular as whimsy with a large number of modelers. (At the 2009 IPMS National Contest, one of the winners in Humor in Modeling was an F-16 =93Egg Plane=94 facing a C-17 and asking =93Mama?=94)
This kit comes in under that same philosophy and is a caricature of an F-CK-1A (wish they had chosen a better designator for it!) and provides a chubby little model about 3" long and 3" in span when built. A =93Deal=92s Wheels=94 type pilot of four parts dominates the cockpit, so you don=92t even need to think about dealing it!
The fuselage is split =93Egg Plane=94 style into top and bottom sections, with parts mounting flush (e.g. no wheel well details either) and carries two half-buried missiles in the belly and one on each wing mount.
Decals and painting instructions are provided for two different aircraft from the two Ching Kuo fighter wings with three different unit markings (don=92t ask me, but I would guess one of the aircraft was swapped out at some point). For such a tiny and whimsical kit there are a LOT of decals, so be prepared.
Overall evaluating this sort of model depends on your sense of humor and your admiration for the prototype. Kudos to AFV Club for giving modelers the choice!
Thanks to Miin Herng Tsueng for the review sample.
Cookie Sewell