REAL DEAL???
Now that is one impressive model... As to how real this thing is, well from my experience in graphic design, I would have to say looking at this pic! this is the real deal. Sure you can make anything look real with graphic manipulation, but this is very time consuming, and you gotta ask why bother?
The way to tell at a glance is shadow fall and light reflection... also check out the other monster on the left, this lends cred to pic.
You will notice some great flying pics of models on many R/C magazine covers and ads,
Have you ever tried taking a good pic of a model flying????
next to impossible to get good images without professional equipment and much waisted film...
Heres an example of what I did with an image of Tom Cooks 'Firebird'...this was for a website.
Heres what I started with-