Zhengdefu 1/72 EA-6B Prowler

ZHENGDEFU 1:72 GRUMMAN EA-6B PROWLER

Reviewer: Paul Wherran (rec.models.scale)
Kit Review submitted: 22 September 2002

Aircraft:
By the late '50's electronic warfare was making great strides through the miniaturisation of more capable equipment, and the USMC decided that the time was ripe for the replacement of its F3D-2Q Skyknight aircraft. The type selected as the basis for this new type was the A2F Intruder attack warplane, and an electronic warfare derivative was developed as the A2F-1Q, changed to EA-6A before the type's first flight in 1963. It's main distinguishing feature from the attack variant being the fintop fairing that houses the antennae for interception of the enemy's radar emissions.

The first EA-6A conversions entered service in late 1966 and retained partial attack capability, but was generally used for electronic support of A-6 formations. Lessons learned from Vietnam and other theatres meant that an improved and updated variant was required, which spawned the EA-6B Prowler variant.

The Kit:
Packaged in a large blue box and not much unlike that you would associate with a Revell offering. The kit was certainly cheap on the shelves as I picked it up for under $10US and equivalent. Parts are light grey and number just under a hundred with four of these being clear parts and a very small amount of flash can be seen. The plastic is soft and quality boasts a bit of cheapness about it, containing large but shallow panel lines. I would have to say it even gives the model a bit of an inferior look, suggesting panel lines are over scale. It is also, I would suspect, a copy (or rip off?) of the Hasegawa kit.

Instructions:
Seemingly punctuating my suspicions about the origins of this kit, the instructions are identical to one you would normally find in a Hasegawa kit, even with same sort of construction and set out sequence, as well as quoting Gunze Sangyo paint range (written in non-English). It is, however, printed (or photocopied?) onto thin glossy and rather cheap paper, and if you hold it in one spot for too long you will be able to read the text off your fingers! Without the wish or intention to offend anyone here (because I honestly do not know the difference between Japanese, Korean and Chinese) I do assume that the original Japanese text has been translated into Chinese. Only a brief historical outline appears in English.

Construction:
Normally I would run you through a process of outlining where assembly pitfalls occur but in the case of this project it was more the common rule than the exception to one, which means I would be talking about nearly every step having some sort of fit problem. This project is therefore best summed up in a few short words/paragraphs or we will be here forever and I won't be able to tackle the next project to write a review on for you! It took some time from completion of the kit to completion of the review, for this very reason, how do I write a reasonably accurate summary without running through every construction sequence so that you, the reader, get an idea fully of what problems are in the kit and where they occur? So, I will pen in a few paragraphs as best summarising the whole sequence as I can. There are a few other bits and pieces to watch out for, but you will get the idea from what is written below!

Firstly, the few short words I spoke of in the last paragraph are that this kit suffers from poor fit, quality and moulding! That sets the scene of the construction sequence and overall opinion about the kit/project. Badly moulded parts meant that nothing really went in very well and it was only through part determination (I'm not beaten easily folks), part kit bashing (literally?) and part review writing (so I could warn others!) that I actually persisted with this project.

The kit breakdown I assume is identical to the Hasegawa kit, since it is a copy (rip off?) of same, which includes an adequately catered for cockpit featuring seats, sticks, instrument panels and pilot figures. These items suffer greatly from mould imperfections and seam lines that need cleaning up just to get a decent fit. I put some nose weight in to prevent tail sitting, and recommend all do the same.

One of the major obstacles during assembly was just getting the fuselage halves to bond together, needing rubber bands and clamps all along the body to achieve a reasonable outcome. In hindsight a few drops of super glue in the gaps may have also assisted.

Another major requirement in this kit was the use of putty. Probably most of it going into the wing roots. The main wings were surprisingly easy to put together (given the problems encountered elsewhere), as were the tailplanes, but again required filler at the roots. But both sections also needed a fair amount of cleaning up first due to some minor flash, mould imperfections and ejector pin marks.

The undercarriage was one of the worst areas of the kit, being out of scale to both itself (that is, you had larger locating holes but smaller pieces so some legs didn't even match up!) and in dimensions. Shave off the matching areas and replace struts with stretched sprue, affix with super glue and this should see you through. Either that of course, or complete the model with wheels up, and good luck getting those gear doors to fit!

The canopy is again a very poor fit and needs filler to plug up all the holes where it meets the fuselage. The smaller detail parts are not that small and are simply crude off cuts, or so it seemed to me anyway. While the refuelling probe did actually resemble one you had to sand around its attaching end to achieve a flush fit.

The panel lines could be redone by those with both the skill and patience by filling them all in and sanding smooth before rescribing, from scratch (something I think you would only contemplate if it was the only, or most accurate, Prowler on the market!). But of course with other better kits on the market of this example, including the original Hasegawa release, why would you?

In summary, construction was completed with relief more than satisfaction.

Versions:
The kit caters for two versions, both in the standard Gull Grey and White scheme. A US Navy example from VAQ-136 and a US Marines VMAQ-2. The former features tail codes and stripes, while the latter a Playboy bunny symbol.

Decals:
In a word, awful! Ditch and replace them with spares, the unused Hasegawa ones (if you have that kit) or an aftermarket source. For a start you actually have to cut out the individual markings and they appear to be self adhesing or attached to one big carrier film. I did try with a couple of them, but didn't get them to work very well, so I didn't use them.

Accuracy:
I'd suspect that since this appears to be a copy of Hasegawa's Prowler then it's accuracy, as far as overall profile and measurements are concerned, would be on a par. However, mould imperfections and crudely copied parts detract from its overall appearance anyway, especially the inferior looking panel line detail and poor fitting canopy. Measurement wise it is a couple of millimetres under scale in both major directions. It is a Prowler but a poor looking one at that in terms of crispness, clarity and sharpness (I probably said the same thing three times here, but feel each word strongly advocates a different perspective).

Overall:
Terrible! Awful! Avoid! Not recommended!! Poor... and so forth. I am sure you get the picture folks. It seems to be a cheap rip off of the Hasegawa kit (or a poorly copied one) and it shows throughout the whole project. The poor fit in just about every area and the unusable decals of the kit even marks it as a no-no for beginners (it will scare them out of this hobby!). You could not recommend this kit when the presumed original offering (Hasegawa) is far better and superior in every area. Sorry, but this kit is enough to put you off ever building a Zhengdefu example again!!

Related Reviews:-

Hasegawa 1/72 A-6E Intruder

Related INBOX Reviews:-

Italeri EA-6A Intruder 'Wild Weasel'

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