By Olivier Cabourdin - © 2002

I received the cosmo wing kit on last monday. Here is a small "out of the box" review :

Well wrapped in 2 sachets zips, themselves packed in chips of polystyrene : that didn't fear anything... and besides, it arrived intact !

The kit is composed of 15 resin, 2 rectangles of plastic card and two parts colored plastic card.
The used resin is the white creamy polyurethane one, and without bad smell. A instruction notice for the decals, and, by way of consequence: a set of decals. The decals are besides numerous, so the
instruction notice is far from being useless !

On the other hand, no assembly instruction : it is necessary to look on the web site and to print him. That's a pity ! Although it is not really a worry, that's give an impression of an incomplete product.
Without the instruction, there are some parts where it is difficult to find where they have to go, like the small colored plastic tip (from where do theses parts come from ? it's curious, there is a date write on it !?), also like the small nozzles and the two plastic card rectangles. In the same way, that obliges to make some research for the painting. The resin parts are rather well cast : some few bubbles easily workable, and the molding joints are very light and will be eliminated easily. A very good idea : there are some little tank of resin at the end of wings, the result is that end of the wings are perfect, whit out bubbles or lack of resin. The same technique has been used on the upper fins. On the other hand, it has not been applied on the lower fins, and bubbles find there way to lodge in these extremities. Nozzles are cylindrical (that seems a silly remark, but it is not always the case with
garages kits !). The end of the two warhead/missiles/fuel tank (cross the useless mentions :-) !), at the center of the forward wings, need to be sand a little to get a correct shape. The other
pieces are well done, so nothing to say.

On the accuracy side : well, being an anime subject, it is difficult to be pronounced. From a shot to another, the drawing can change a lot. For example, so some shots present it with a slighter fuselage. In any case, compared to production drawings, this kit is accurate, and the final result seems to look very nice.

--- PAUSE: reading of the instruction on the web site ---

It is well done, and answers to some questions and puts me some others: in Canada, the bread is fasten with plastic card ! In France, the baker takes a sheet of paper and surround my "baguette"
with it ... what lets the crusts free and you can nibble them while walking ! ... Well, I tease you here ! These small tips of plastics remind me something, but I could not point it on until I read it ; that's recalled me the bread I bought when I was in San Franscico (awful their bread, as their coffee besides :-) !).

Ok, get back to the cosmo wing. I thought that the colored parts will also have to be use for the upper
antenna, but it is a plastic card rectangle that goes here (after shaping) and the colored parts are only for the lower ones.

The small nozzles finally find their place, centered in the recessed areas, at the back of the main wings.

Conclusion

A little model kit, which should not take too much time to build, and that permits to get a beautiful replica of the cosmo wing, whereas the original model from Takara is out of production since a
very long time, and also, to complete an Harlock/Albator collection. On the modeler point of view : I will add, as for Fingers : "Mr. Cadbury, could you make it a little bigger "?