MQ-9 Reaper
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Kinetic Model Kits, 1/48 scale

Reviewed by Brett Green

The MQ-9 Reaper is a high altitude, long range Unmanned Aerial Vehicle currently in service with numerous military and civilan arms of the US Government, plus Italy and the United Kingdom. The Reaper represents a significant improvement over the groundbreaking MQ-1 Predator, with more than double the speed and maximum altitude of its predecessor. It can also carry 3,000 pounds of weapons, including up to 14 Hellfire missiles, or GBU Paveways, JDAM bombs, Sidewinder missiles and more.

This model was first releaed under the Skunkmodels Workshop brand back in 2011.

I am pleased to see it appear again with a substantially expanded decal sheet, this time as a Kinetic model kit.

This was the first and remains the only injection moulded MQ-9 Reaper as an kit in 1/48 scale.

Kinetic's 1/48 scale scale MQ-9 comprises just 78 parts in grey plastic and a further three in clear. Markings are supplied for seven countries and many individual aircraft options.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 

Thumbnail panels:

Moulding quality is very good. This time around the plastic seems to be a darker shade of grey. It's nothing more than aesthetic, but I like it.

The panel lines are recessed, perhaps a little heavy in places by today's standards, but by no means offensive.

The wing span is 418 mm - a very respectable size but easier to fit on your display shelves than the re-released Kinetic Global Hawk! The wings are moulded as upper and lower halves for each side.

Detail nicely done around the engine nacelle, propeller assembly plus well-rendered undercarriage legs and wheels.

Also included are four AGM-114 Hellfire missiles and two GBU-12 Paveway II Laser Guided Bombs.

Clear parts are provided for the camera lens and the wingtip navigation lights.

The decal sheet is new, covering a generous eight different countries. These are USA, Netherlands, Italy, RAF, France, Spain and the RAAF. There are many marking options thanks to the multiple serial numbers provided - eleven for the RAF alone.

Decals are designed by Crossdelta and printed by Cartograf. They are in register and appear to be very high quality. This time around stencils are printed on the main sheet.

With only 81 parts, the kit breakdown is simple. The fuselage is supplied in top and bottom halves, betweem which the separate wing halves are trapped. Speaking of the wings. each is also made up of a top and bottom half. On my sample, the thin bottom wing halves were bowed between the stout sprue connectors, but they are easy to straighten when freed, and the upper wing halves are reinforced with no sign of warpage or bending.

Kinetic's 1/48 scale Reaper is well detailed but with only 82 parts including ordnance, should be a fast build.

At USD$12.99, it is ridiculously good value too. That would be a good price for the decal sheet alone!

Thanks to Lucky Model for the sample

Review Text Copyright © 2020 by Brett Green
Page Created 27 November, 2020
Last updated 12 January, 2021

Back to HyperScale Main Page

Back to Reviews Page