Cobra Airforce - Oxford review

[crossmr]

Hopefully will be my last one for a few days I'm running out of shelf space and this plane is far bigger than I expected. I'm not quite sure where I'm going to put it.

I hope people are enjoying seeing the Oxford sets. I had no idea they were this good before I started this last week.

Set Name: Cobra Airforce Group OAF-28000

Price: 21500W ($17.95 USD)

Pieces: I really wish Oxford did a piece count. A lot. Much more than the tank. Maybe 2x as many?

Size: Plane - 33 cm long, 30 cm wide, 11 cm tall, truck - 14 cm long, 8cm high, 6cm wide, Vulcan cannon - 14 cm long, 12 cm wide, 11 cm tall (size depends on orientation a lot)

Construction time: 1.5-2 hours

This is the biggest set I've done thus far, and yet still so cheap. This is the Oxford Airforce group. Comes with a stealth fighter, a "tag car" (truck), and a vulcan cannon emplacement. The emplacement can be towed by the truck. Connects and drives well.

Box

Box is big and high quality. The back has a picture of an alternate design. I think it's a kind of a repair bay for the aircraft.

Instruction book

Instruction book is broken into 3 parts. The cannon, the truck, then the stealth fighter. It's big and high quality like all Oxford's books. Shows the pieces needed for each step and in steps where lots is going on it points out where each piece goes.

Pieces

Lots of pieces here. Some good unique pieces too. The long cylinders for the cannon are nice. As well there are lots of tires (6), a pair of doors, the windshield for the truck has far better clutch than the jeep. In fact I'd say this windshield clutches as well as a Lego windshield. Not many extra parts. The stealth fighter is a wealth of unique pieces. double sided wheels, wings, big hinges, hinged canopy. There are 6 big pieces that make up the main wings and body of the aircraft so great for a custom build. The cannon also has a radar dish piece which is unique, and there is a turret piece on the vulcan cannon to allow it to turn. Not much <insert that tiresome argument> on this set at all. Everything is piece built.

Construction

Construction took somewhere around 2 hours. I stopped a couple times to write a message or too, so if I was really focused, maybe I could do it in 90 minutes. Construction was smooth. Nothing crazy. Everything held together well. Pieces snapped fine. I did have trouble with one set of aircraft wheels. It looked like a little flashing was left around the pegs, so I had to give em a good shove to get them on. They spin fine though.

Minifigures

This is the first military set I've gotten where everyone isn't soldiers. You get a commander, 2 soldiers, a pilot, and a maintenance guy. the pilot is grey, the maintenance guy is dark blue (the flash makes him look a little different). we have 4 different faces in this set. The commander has different glasses than the maintenance guy/pilot. 1 soldier is smiling, and 1 is grimacing. I gave that smiling guy the shovel. He can whistle while he digs.

Lots of accessories. Normal weapon sprues but also maintenance sprues. Some shovels, tools, etc. Some extra "weapons" are included in that. A hammer (hey it is South Korea after all), and an axe. I guess the drill could be used as a weapon in a pinch. I will say that I do not like the pilots helmet. It is the only low quality thing in this set. It isn't up to the standard of the soldier's helmets, and the visor isn't even transparent. I'd buy a small Lego racer just to get him a quality helmet. Otherwise everything is nice. The maintenance guy's cap looks fine and has a shorter peek than the Lego style.

Design

These are based on real designs like some of their other sets. Here is our vulcan cannon:

and here is the stealth fighter

I'm not sure about the truck.

Completed model

Just fantastic. The stealth fighter looks really nice, and it's quite big. The playability is great here. Truck with towing features. the vulcan cannon can be folded up for transport or braced for action. Lots of accessories including tools and weapons. 5 figures. The truck has room for people to ride on the back (which the tank lacked). The truck also has a canopy but it's fixed. You gotta pop the roof to get the driver out. Stickers are nice and the "warning" stickers actually look nice on the cannon. I will say this though, I wish there was an included targeting computer for the cannon. There is a brick there, but nothing to go on it. Luckily the tank set included a targeting computer sticker and nowhere to put it. Tried it out and it fits not bad and looks okay. Makes the model feel a little more complete from a playability point. I do wish the aircraft had a bomber bay. if I get enough extra parts (I don't have my loose Lego here) I might try and build some bombs to sit under it. There is clearance for it.

Conclusion

Minifigs - 9/10 I'm deducting a point for the bad helmet, otherwise a nice selection. Tank still has your best bet on figs per $ though.

Parts - 9/10 great parts. Nothing really juniourized, lots available for custom builds.

Playability - 9/10 Lot's going on, but bomber needs bombs.

Design 9/10 - based on real world designs. The truck could do with a hinged roof. Bombs for the bomber

Price 10/10 - $17.95 for all this? fantastic.

Great set. It is right up there with the tank in terms of value. This is the first set I've grabbed that has sticker for the soldier's helmets. Most of the stickers are very noticeable close up, but in regular light sitting a couple feet away they don't stand out as much as they do with the flash. Except for those too bright green ones on the tank. Those still stand out.

What's next? There are 3 more big Military sets, but:

1 has been done on this forum already (missile launcher/transport truck one)

2 the tank/jeep combo has only 2 models and I already have the jeep. the tank is different but the tank is also present in the third set

3 This is the biggy. It's around 55,000W (Almost $46 USD) but it has alot. Attack chopper, radar truck, jeep, different style transport truck, and the other style tank and what appears to be at least 10 minifigs!!

I'm also looking at acquiring a couple of the smaller sets and having a look at those as well (like the checkpoint and even mini-er jeep)

[Artifex]

That looks really cool. And a lot like Lego. Sorry for my ignorance, but is this Oxford toy Lego compatible?

[crossmr]

That looks really cool. And a lot like Lego. Sorry for my ignorance, but is this Oxford toy Lego compatible?

Yes. Completely except for the Minifigure legs. Their hip joins are different, but head gear and accessories work fine.

[Artifex]

Nice to know, thank you!

[SirWacky]

This is awesome cool

This actually looks accurate!

Thanks for the review!

[crossmr]

This is awesome cool

This actually looks accurate!

Thanks for the review!

Yes, I'm surprised how much attention they paid to little things like that little bit sticking out on the upper right front of the turret. The Stealth fighter could do with just a tad more girth in the middle, but it is pretty close for a non-simulation level set.

[prateek]

Cool set. That plane is one badass plane.

[Peppermint_M]

Indexed.

How shiny. I love Jets.

Thank's again.