From the get-go, I could see that this was going to be a pretty easy build. There are two sprues of grayish-green plastic and one sprue of clear parts. The latter looked a little grainy, but a dip in Pledge Floorcare Multi-Surface Finish (PFM) fixed it.
Options are minimal: open or closed canopies, two NASA decal markings, and a travel pod.
Assembly was absolutely straightforward, starting with the cockpit. The decals for the instrument panels fit great and went down perfectly.
Everything else went together easily, but a problem arose later. I’ll get to that shortly.
Joining the fuselage sides went smoothly. Step 5 has you install Part No. B14 (the lower wing and rear fuselage) and Part No. A3 (the underside of the forward fuselage). It’s kind of an odd part breakdown, but they fit.
The intakes needed a little blending with a sanding stick, but no filler.
Step 10 presents a choice of main wheels, depending on the decal option being built. I chose Option 1, a chase plane for space shuttle Columbia at White Sands Space Harbor in March 1982. So I installed the resin wheels. (You get two marking choices and three sets of main wheels. Hmmm … perhaps a sign of other Talons on the horizon.)
The aforementioned fit problem becomes apparent in Step 13. The front instrument panel (Part No. A4) sits high, interfering with the fit of the windscreen. I ripped out the panel and sanded down the points where it meets the side consoles and floor. After also trimming the top of the panel, everything fit. But it didn’t look quite right.
I left off the landing gear, gear doors, and speed brakes to ease painting. That was pretty easy in this case — it’s white!
The decals went down like a peaceful dream.
I only spent 11 hours on Wolfpack’s T-38. Now I want one in an aggressor scheme!
Note: A version of this review appeared in the October 2014 FineScale Modeler.