Kinetic 1/48 EA-6B 'Dark' Prowler Kit First Look
By Michael Benolkin
| Date of Review | October 2021 | Manufacturer | Kinetic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subject | EA-6B Prowler | Scale | 1/48 |
| Kit Number | 48075 | Primary Media | Styrene |
| Pros | Nicely detailed kit with scribed detailing and folding wing option | Cons | Nothing noted |
| Skill Level | Experienced | MSRP (USD) | $39.95 |
First Look
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For a look at the original release of this kit and a brief history of the Prowler, look here.
When Kinetic Models first released the EA-6B Prowler around 11 years ago, it was easily the best kit of the subject on the market. If there are any doubts, look at the masterpieces entered in the recent Kinetic Models/Lucky Model 2014 Global Contest. Five of the top awards went to Prowler builders. If there was one problem with that first release, it turned out to be the wings. Kinetic designed the wings with separate inner and outer sections so they could be folded or use the included plug to position the wings extended. The problem was that the wings didn't always match up which frustrated some modelers. In 2014, Kinetic retooled the wings so they'd come out of the box with the wings extended but had cut lines inside each wing section for those who still wanted to fold those wings. Problems solved.
With this latest release, the kit is still molded in light gray styrene and presented on 11 parts trees plus one tree of clear parts. All of those aftermarket cockpits and photo-etched detail sets released for the previous releases will work here as well. Among the features and options:
- Detailed front and rear cockpits
- Nice GRU-7 ejection seats (needs crew restraints)
- Positionable boarding ladders
- Positionable canopies
- Positionable wings (extended or folded)
- Positionable leading edge slats
- Positionable training edge flaps
- Positionable stabilators
- Positionable wingtip speed boards
- Positionable tailhook
- Positionable landing gear
- Optional tow tractor
The external stores options in this kit include:
- 2 x external tanks
- 3 x ECM pods
- 2 x AGM-88 HARM
This release has options for two Naval Reserve aircraft:
- EA-6B, 161833, VAQ-209, AF/500, Joint Base Andrews, 2009-10, CAG aircraft
- EA-6B, 161884, VAQ-209, AF/500, Joint Base Andrews, 2010, Skipper's aircraft
These are some colorful markings designed by Fightertown Decals and printed by Cartograf. Since Kinetic continues to provide their color data using Mig paints, we have the standard paint chart for the Intruder/Prowler family here.
To this date, these EA-6B Prowler kits (second and third releases) are still the best in any scale (less than 1:1).
My sincere thanks to Lucky Model for this review sample!