Kit Review

Straight build

Size comparison with a cigarette pack.

Ace Combat CFA-44 - Various angles (1/4)

Ace Combat CFA-44 - Various angles (2/4)

Various angles

Underside

You'll need to remove the bottom cover to place it on the stand.

Ace Combat CFA-44 - The cover on the underside of the fuselage can be swapped out for the ADMM (All-Direction Multi-purpose M

The cover on the underside of the fuselage can be swapped out for the ADMM (All-Direction Multi-purpose Missile) deployed configuration.

Under the wings, you can choose to mount either missiles (left) or UAV-45s (right).

For the missiles, two configurations are included — deployed (top) and stowed (bottom).

Landing gear can be attached via a swap-out system.

Ace Combat CFA-44 - Landed configuration with landing gear attached. (1/3)

Landed configuration with landing gear attached.

Ace Combat CFA-44 - Two in-flight UAV-45s post-launch are also included, and you can even mount them on the stand using the j

Two in-flight UAV-45s post-launch are also included, and you can even mount them on the stand using the joint parts.

Ace Combat CFA-44 - You can optionally mount either the ADMM or EML (Electromagnetic Launcher) on both sides of the upper fus

You can optionally mount either the ADMM or EML (Electromagnetic Launcher) on both sides of the upper fuselage.

The cockpit detail is pretty bare-bones.

Leftover parts

Ace Combat CFA-44 - Flight poses with various weapons loaded. (1/4)

Ace Combat CFA-44 - Flight poses with various weapons loaded. (2/4)

Flight poses with various weapons loaded.

Ace Combat CFA-44 - Alongside its predecessor, the X-02S. Same camo paint scheme, but the quality difference is pretty signif

The predecessor X-02S [Osea] alongside it.
Same camo paint scheme, but the quality difference is pretty significant.

The 1/144 CFA-44 has been released as part of Kotobukiya's Ace Combat plastic model series. The basic size, build quality, and parts configuration are in line with previous releases, but this time the upper front of the fuselage comes with camouflage paint applied.

There have been Ace Combat kits with similar paint schemes before, but none were as extensively and carefully applied as this CFA-44. Thanks to that, even a straight build gives you the feeling of finishing a fully painted model. Like previous releases, it also comes with various weapon and landing gear swap-out gimmicks — you can optionally mount ADMMs on the top and bottom, an EML on top, and missiles or UAV-45s on the bottom. Two additional in-flight UAV-45 post-launch forms are also included, and they can be placed on the included stand as well.

The overall material feel and build experience is quite smooth for a Kotobukiya kit. The snap-fit is well implemented too, so you probably won't need any glue. It's a kit that lets you build a fighter jet straight from the game with a clean, polished look — and that's really what makes it worthwhile. It's on the small side being 1/144, but if you're an Ace Combat fan or just interested in building a pre-painted fighter jet, this seems like a fun, casual build. :-)

Ace Combat CFA-44 | 2022.7 | ¥5,400

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.