Plastic Model Kit - Allision Prop Jet 501-D13 Engine

Not for beginners. I been building models all my childhood in to adult hood. This model is great if you have experience. But could be problematic for someone that hasn’t built a model before. Fully functional internal gears blades rotate pitch control HPT, LPT and compressor case all turned together pretty cool if you can do it right I pulled it off. Really cool model to build and just look at.

This is a re-pressing of a Revell kit that dates back to the early 1960’s I think. It has stood up well, There is very little flash even on the fine pipe work or the compressor or turbine blades. The plastic itself seems to be of good quality. The colours are a bit eye-watering, possibly emphasising the educational aspects by distinguishing the different engine parts. I’m planning on using Alcad on the ‘hot’ end, combustion changes and turbine.I build one of the Revell versions in the early 1990’s and it would work in that rotating the compressor section would turn the prop INFINTESIMALLY but as the instructions make clear DON’T turn the prop and expect to see everything whirling away downstream, the plastic armatures/axles are no where strong enough for that sort of torque. I’m planning on replacing the axles with a brass/steel/aluminium rod or thick walled tube, and hopefully a couple of smallish bearing races, The planetary gearing at the front end is more substantial, but I might look at metal replacements there as well. The gearbox is not under any real stress so could be PVA’d together for later updates. Put a low speed motor at the turbine it should be possible to approximate those working models the engine makers used to display.If you want a desk model I’d suggest firmly attaching the stand to a heavy base, as the stand is narrow and the centre of gravity is high.Overall, I’m very glad Atlantis have made a good job of this re-issue as I’d been looking for another copy, but the 2nd hand prices were ridiculous. Packaging was good with same colour spruces in same bag, and the boxing survived the US - New Zealand trip uncrushed orparts shaken loose.Buy with confidence and enjoy

Having worked on these engines in the past as a machinist you get to see some of the small details that some engine fitters do not see and these details have been captured in this model. Some of the blade counts might be short but the effect is not lost. I would have given five stars but the kit fell short in that it had incomplete assembly instructions. These can be downloaded from the Atlantis website so no loss there but something to be aware of.

Personally, I couldn't be happier that finally someone re-issued this kit! If you check on what an original kit from the 60's is going for, you'll appreciate this even more.There is some flash as the molds were probably pretty worn out, but if you're not into "instant gratification" this will keep you occupied for a while. Some of the flash is on the very fragile turbine blades so extra care is in orderwhile cleaning these up. It builds into a nice, large kit.It looks like this will become my "quarantine project"...….

This kit is flawed. It must be missing an entire part tree/sprue. There are a whole number of parts missing in this kit. I tried moving on to other parts of the assembly on this kit, but kept coming up with missing parts repeatedly. They forgot to put all of the parts in the box. Now I have an expensive kit, that is worthless, and can't finish. I can't return it either, because I've assembled half of the entire thing. I've built thousands of model kits, and this has never happened before. Do not waste your money.

I haven’t put it together yet…. Seem to have great detail..Should be a fun project…….Wish they made a PW J 79 with afterbunner with the same detail

Interresting plastic model kit, lot of movin parts.Not optimal fit for some parts.

this kit is NOT for a beginning modeler. Lots of small pieces and it helps to know a little about these engines to understand exactly how/where things go. Instructions are "meh" at best but adequate.