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In-Box Review
1144
Embraer E-195
Embraer E-195 Air Dolomiti
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by: Jonathan [ JCLAPP ]

History
Commercial operations of the E-195 began in September of 2006. Over 170 aircraft have been built or are in production at the time of this writing, serving with at least 10 different carriers.

Azul Brazilian Airlines rosters no less than 66. With seating for up to 124 passengers, and various configurations available, the E-195 is in the same class as the B-737-600 and the A-318.

The E-195 and the slightly shorter E-190 are powered by GE CF34-10E engines and have a typical operating range of 2000 Nautical Miles.

Instructions
The instructions are a 12 page stapled booklet in four colors.

Parts and directions are provided for landing gear up or down.

The kit
This is new tool by Revell, manufactured in Poland, the copyright is 2015. The parts compose two sprues in white styrene, and the cockpit windows, a single piece in clear styrene.

The overall design appears accurate, though I havent done any measuring.

The surface details and panel lines are very fine and attractive. The shark-fin winglets are cast integrally with the upper wing half, and are beautifly thin and straight, as are the single piece horizontal stabilizers. The engines look good, they are built up of eight parts each.

The struts and wheels are nicely rendered. There is some work involved to separate the landing gear doors for the wheels-down option.

There is a one piece cockpit interior, reasonably appointed for this scale, and ready for painting. The cockpit window clear part is rather thick, I think there will be little to see in there when the model is closed.

The sprues are reasonably well executed. There is some detectable flash along some edges, which is disappointing considering how new the tool is.

The attachment gates are rather large and numerous throughout, which will require considerable work to clean up. There is one large and obvious sink mark on the upper surface of each wing corresponding to wheel well details underneath. There are also shrinkage marks on some other thicker pieces, noticeably on the flap jacks, which, being mounted under the wings, may reasonably be ignored.

The cabin windows in the fuselage sides are open holes, Some of which have a bit of flash in them. There is no clear glass insert piece to fill the holes, as Revell airliners of old generally had. The cabin windows on the decal sheet are only metal outlines.

It is not clear if the intention is that the clear decal carrier film should be the only glazing. If the model builder is supposed to fill the openings with Krytal Klear, or some other widow maker, prior to applying the decal, there is no mention of such in the instructions.

The option of filling the holes with compound and fairing flush, as airliner modellers are wont to do, is complicated by the absence of dark window decals. This is an unfortunate drawback to the kit which will require some thought.

Decals
The decal sheet is "Made in Italy" , it looks quite nice, with lots of grills, doors and other detail items.

There is only one option, the subject is Air Dolomiti. Based in Munich, Air Dolomiti has about 30 destinations around central and southern Europe.

Conclusion
This is a reasonably well made kit in a moderate price range, though it has some slightly challenging technical issues for the modeler to contend with.

It is a welcome addition to the airliner modeling repertoire.

Please remember, when contacting retailers or manufacturers, to mention that you saw their products highlighted here - on AEROSCALE.

SUMMARY
Highs: Handsome, finely etched panel lines and thin foils.
Lows: Obvious sink marks and open cabin windows that require filling.
Verdict: A fine looking E-195 can be made with basic modeling skills.
Percentage Rating
80%
  Scale: 1:144
  Mfg. ID: 04884
  PUBLISHED: May 20, 2016
  NATIONALITY: Germany
NETWORK-WIDE AVERAGE RATINGS
  THIS REVIEWER: 85.00%
  MAKER/PUBLISHER: 75.85%

About Jonathan (JClapp)
FROM: MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES

Copyright ©2021 text by Jonathan [ JCLAPP ]. Images also by copyright holder unless otherwise noted. Opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AeroScale. All rights reserved.


   
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