This is a kit of the primary Clone fighter from Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. The kit is a pre-painted Snap-Tite model, and it leaves a lot to be desired. However, it is a good starting place to a decent model of the ARC-170.

The kit’s 36 styrene parts are molded primarily in light gray, but the pre-painted detail shows up everywhere. I’ll admit it – I don’t like the pre-painted scheme. It’s not bad, but it’s going to be a royal pain in the backside to get paint to match when you have to do touchups from where the parts were attached to the sprues. I’m planning on completely stripping the kit and starting from scratch.

I have read in other reviews about fit problems, especially in the fuselage halves. The pre-painted lines don’t meet up where they’re supposed to (they end short of the actual seam), and the interior lacks any detail beyond the cockpit floor, three seats, and three seated Clone Pilot figures.

If you want a model that you can slap together and put on the shelf with a minimum of effort, this is the kit. If you want a detailed model of the ARC-170, this is as good a place to start as any, but you’re going to need to put a lot of work into the kit to make it decent. Several aftermarket detail sets were available from Starship Modeler, but you would have to check the website for availability.

The completed kit is about 8.5 inches long with a wingspan of roughly 13 inches.

Review by: Rich “Lonewolf” Dula

Entry created: 06/07/09