Big Planes Kits 1/72 E-7A Wedgetail kit review

Disclaimer: All opinions and comments expressed in the 'Comments' section do not reflect the opinions of Nigel’s Modelling Bench. All opinions and comments should contribute to the subject. Nigel’s Modelling Bench does not condone written attacks, insults, racism, sexism, extremism, violence or otherwise questionable comments or material in the 'Comments' section, and reserves the right to delete any comment violating this rule or to block any poster from the channel.

[JimOHalloran]

I bought my kit from BPK directly, and a few weeks down the track Aleksey contacted my to say they'd found a part was missing from a batch of the Wedgetail kits, and he'd already put it in the mail to me. Great customer service!

[NeilMicklethwaite]

Oh no - another kit I am going to build vicariously through you. I may just buy this and the Poseidon for the stash until I am capable of building them.

Another great review - Thank you 👍

Incidentally I saw the first RAF E-7 ping on ADSB last week at the company who are fitting them out at Birmingham Airport.

[stefanedholm]

Hi Nigel. Scandinavian is Scandinavian Airlines which is, or at least was, owned by Denmark, Norway and Sweden. In the beginning they had Scandinavian Airlines on the sides of the airplanes, with a kind of stylish viking dragon head also. If you search online for airplanes from the sixties seventies, there should be plenty images of. Love your videos, you waffling amd all the tips you give on how to do things. Cheers from Sweden!

[brettt]

Just to advise that the E-7A Wedgetail is the result of 'Project Wedgetail' (named after Australia's indigenous eagle) and the RAAF are the launch customer, so should be, using 'Nigels Modelling Bench's own philosophy, only built with RAAF markings only. I recommend the one with the actual Wedgetail Eagle nose art commemorating the RAAF's centenary of operation!

[rileyk]

One of my favorite little features on the 737 is a little glass tube that sticks down from the belly near the wheel wells. If a tire blows and is flailing to the point where it will do any damage in the well the tire will break the little glass tube, which dumps the pressure on the landing gear actuator on that side and allows that leg to free fall.

Never blown a tire on the 737 but I blew a nose tire on the CRJ once. Never noticed anything out of the ordinary until we landed.

Never flown anything that had TPMS, only brake temps...

[dazza]

I can see a bayraktar coming to my stash real soon.
Cheers Nigel great review 😊

[johnnyhollis]

Hi Nigel, that could of been interesting! A little cctv in the undercarriage bay would be easy to fit up perhaps? Nice little review!😉

[SteveRitchie-ovoz]

Hi Nigel, Airborne Early Warning & Control, I live in Oklahoma City where the E3 are stationed, I'm going to hate to see them go as well. Great review, can't wait to see the build.

[andrewwalker]

Hi Nigel, you seemed (to me) to suggest in your review (around 30:48) that the aircraft was called a Wedgetail due to a change in the tailfin. It is actually named after the wedgetail eagle, Australia's apex flying predator.

[johnwoodall]

This is a Great Model Nigel, Based on the 737-700 & it's a great Plane to Fly as well.
The other being the P8 Posiedon by the same Model Manufacturer is based on the 737-800 Airframe.
I hope you get the Great Accolades you Deserve...

[wombat_models]

Hi Nigel, the E-7 AEW&C aircraft is based on the Boeing 737 Next Generation design and is roughly similar to the 737-700ER.

[DavidRLentz-bi]

David R Lentz, Columbus, Ohio, USA (Monday, 12 August, 2024)

Glad to hear you lot are all right—if a bit late!
And a delightful review of the E-7A Aircraft.
Some years past, I had built Heller’s 1:72nd-scale kit of Boeing’s E-3B Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) USAF Aircraft. Also, the Boeing 707-300B TWA Airlines passenger jet (I think a re-boxing of an ESCI model?), from which airframe this military æroplane had derived. The French Air Force (Armée de l’air) had designated their version as the E-3F (the Heller kit has alternate parts, insignia, markings, stencilling, etc., to make one or the other).
A few of them also had become the first USAF executive transport expressly for the official use of the President of the United States of America, who at the time was President John F. Kennedy (“Air Force One” is just the call-sign of ANY aircraft under official USAF ægis aboard which the U.S. President is making passage).

[michaelkoff]

Nigil. I work on the 737 aircraft. If you need detailed photos of the landing gear bay. I can get them. There is 100 miles of plumbing and wiring inside that bay. The model only depicts a few items that are there. Also, flap actuator mechanism runs through there as well

[rastarn]

Wedgetail was developed and designed to Australian specifications for the Royal Australian Air Force, with most of the early work being done in Australia. Australia was also the launch customer for the type. Other countries, including the US, decided to buy it as well, after it was already in Australian service. Hell, it's even named after Australia's largest eagle species. You really ought to do the Wedgetail in the RAAF scheme by your stated reasoning. 🙂

[sams]

Here's an old man's story for you: when I was in the Air Force in the 60s my sergeant supervisor would go out at least once a day sometimes twice and drive the total length of the runway looking for foreign object debris because the air force is very mindful of what FOD, foreign object debris can do to their very expensive aircraft. So it makes me wonder if the Concorde could have been saved had somebody just inspected the runway for debris.

[davewalker]

Just like Thunderbirds with Fireflash, Trapped in the Sky episode

[briansklarski]

Maybe BPK can offer the engines for making a better AMT kit as aftermarket options?

[michaelkoff]

This model is based on the 737-700 Next Gen series. The other kit they have is based on the 737-800 Nex Gen series.

[michaelkoff]

Yes, the windows are covered over with what they call a window plug. It is a thin aluminum piece placed over the window. These were converted Airliner versions for export. The Nex Gen 737 went out of production. In favor of the 737 Max. These military 737s were built from the airliner fuselage with window cutouts. Boeing did not make these any different from the airliner. The windows are still behind the interior facia.

[Iain]

Yes its an interesting bit of kit. Sold to the RAAF and then ran into technical troubles which raised the ire of many but once operational they proved their worth in the Middle East and apparently one is in Europe helping NATO monitoring the Ukraine.