This is a kits that I waited 4 years for. And I must say it was worth it. The model is a 1:72 scale resin kit with photo etch parts. The first thing that impressed me about this kit was the way it was packaged. Packed in a 175mm X 125mm box with bubble rap between each layer of parts.

Included in box was 6x A4 pages of drawings and instructions. Also a very nice decal sheet with both the old and new SAAF badge.

Layout have changed. Please click on layout picture to see how the current layout looks.

The next major work was with the adding of the photo etch parts on top of the exhaust outlets (slit curve). And adding the main wheel gear to the fuselage. To do this properly one need to drill a 0.5mm hole through the one strut and secure it to the fuselage with a pin cut short.

Before any spraying was done 95% of all assembly was done. This included the fitting of the canopy which was to me the hardest job of all.

The cockpit is sprayed in matt black with lime yellow instrumentation. The body is done in a 3 tone camo of "Dark Earth", "Dark Green" and "Pale Stone". Weapons and blade are "Light Green".

Man what can I say, this was the first time that I worked with resin and what an experience. On the kit side a lot of work was required but when one takes it's time one can reproduce an awesome Rooivalk helicopter. Total time spend on this kit was 28 hours.

A small thing that worried me about the kit was the decals. Looking at reference photos of the current Rooivalk I picked up that some decals were not included. I spoke to the designer about this and I was informed that this kit was from a specific era. Since the release of the kit till the taking of the photo I have, the marking have changed 4 times.

All I can say is what a kit to have in my collection !