In the late 1990s, China’s Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group and the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex collaborated on a design to replace Pakistan’s aging fleet of A-5 fighter-bombers and F-7 and Mirage III/5 interceptors. In February 2010, as a result of this effort, the JF-17 entered service in the Pakistan air force with No. 26 Squadron, the Black Spiders.
Trumpeter’s recent 1/72 scale release of this new fighter is an exquisite little model. Molded in light gray plastic, it sports excellent surface scribing, a large number of finely detailed parts, and a photoetched-metal sheet for the exhaust, HUD, and seat harness. Trumpeter also provides an extensive set of weapons and fuel tanks. Two decal sheets, one full of hundreds of stencils, offer three different schemes as well as numbers to do other operational aircraft.
This model follows Trumpeter’s usual construction pattern of subassemblies completed with all the little fiddly bits before installation. From experience, I know I’ll knock these small parts off. So, I waited until the end to attach them. I would suggest, however, that you install the small landing gear doors (parts B2, B3) while the gear struts are off the fuselage. Same goes for the clear landing/taxi lights (parts E4, E5) on the nose-gear strut. These pieces proved difficult to glue on after everything else was in place.
Overall the fit is exceptional, even for the intake trunks with their complicated “stealthy” shape. The only place I used filler was on the forward edge of the intakes where the top and bottom halves come together at the strakes.
For me, the most difficult part of the kit was the exhaust. You have the option of using a plastic piece or the six-piece photoetched-metal section. The plastic exhaust isn’t up to the detail standard of the rest of the kit, so I chose the photoetched metal. The instructions show rolling three tubular sections separately, then sliding each inside the other, telescope-style. Mine were initially too big. I left the larger, outer section alone since it had to mate with the fuselage opening. Then I rolled the two other sections smaller than depicted so they fit inside each other. I did a lot of trimming on the smaller parts, like door actuators, pitot tubes, and missile fins, to obtain a proper fit.
A four-page painting guide provides colors and decal placement. No mention, though, of the landing gear door interior color (it’s white). The decals transfer easily if you flood them with a lot of water; mine didn’t need any setting solution.
I spent about 30 hours on the kit, more than my usual for a model of this size, mostly fiddling with smaller parts. I enjoyed the build and am very pleased with the result. Anyone with the experience of a few kits who is comfortable with tiny parts can produce a nice replica. Trumpeter’s new kit highlights China’s advanced technology in both plastic modeling and real aviation.