This subject is something of a "grail kit" for me. I've always loved it. A 1/72 kit is out there from Halcyon and it's not bad but has been out of production so long that it's now both old plastic and prohibitively expensive. I actually had it at one time but tried to build it when my skills were much worse, and it eventually ended up...somewhere else. Along comes Prodos Games. Prodos has their AVP game in 28mm (or 32..depending on the version) which is approximately 1/56-1/60 scale, and a year or so ago they brought out the "cheyenne" dropship which is a version of this kit in the gaming scale. That size brings this model in at a bit over 16 inches long and 10+ inches wide. It's designed so you can display it with gear up or down, and with the wings/weapons pods open or stowed. With a little creativity, you can find ways to do both.
I also have this kit, which I got earlier in the production run. There are distinct differences I see in the quality of the parts of the two kits, but most of the issues are workable. One issue that was *not* recoverable was the the casting of the forward wing bomb pods. The resin is not fully cured and is not curing. To complete the kit I was working on, I had to pull the pieces from my own kit. I am still waiting for Prodos to come back with a reply about that. 3 messages so far, 0 responses. Does not bode well. But anyway, that is future-me's problem now.
One of the biggest challenges of this kit is the assembly. There are some appreciable gaps in the seams, and while they may seem daunting at first, it can be worked with an appropriate amount of patience and quite a bit of green stuff. In the end, the result can be made to be pretty nice.
If you're looking for screen-accuracy, then this will not be ideal for you. There are many good basics here, but there's also quite a bit that was done differently for either expediency or for ease of use in the game. If you really want to, you can customize the build, and get an even better result than just an out-of-the-box assembly. I actually did that, choosing to rework the cockpit and add some lighting, as well as customizing it to where I could display it either gear-down/ramp down or gear-up/in flight. The wings, both forward and back, are positionable as well.
In the end, I am moderately pleased with the result. I did a video series of the build and I will link them below in the order I published them if you'd like to follow the build. For the cost, this is a bit of a labor of passion. It's not an inexpensive kit, but it is a very large, and somewhat well detailed offering for a subject you can't get anywhere else. If you're very very focused on a screen-accurate kit, then settle in and plan to do some re-work. However, it really can be done with this, even if it will require more than a little scratch building.
Like I said above, this is a "grail kit" for me. It's a rare offering for a popular subject and it's in a scale that I like. I like working in the gaming scale as I have so many thing in that size for various games and there'a always the opportunity to play with your toys with your friends. The person I built this for seems to be happy with the result and that's what matters for this build. I have started mine, as I used it to test out some options for building this one, and that will likely get attention through the year as I fiddle with details here and there. I'm doing more reference research and may accurize mine a bit more for display purposes. I'll still do the lighting with on-board batteries and will also make a flight stand, just in case, but I do like the potential for diorama builds for display.
While there are a lot of things one can complain about with this kit, there is also quite a bit of good to say as well. In the end, my opinion is that if you're a big fan of the Colonial Marine's Dropship.. it's hard to pass up this limited edition kit.
Video 1 - unboxing and first look
Video 2 - first assembly steps
Video 3 - more assembly and build concepts
Video 4 - cockpit customization
Video 5 - cockpit and magnetization ideas
Video 6 - Process for handling the gaps
Video 7 - wrapping up the assembly and first main painting steps
Video 8 - base color choices and painting
Video 9 - final view and reveal of the finished product
Some Photos of the final product are here:
