MiG-15 UTI Photo-etch

Published: October 14, 2015
Company: Eduard

Shortly after it released its Royal Class 1/72 MiG-15 set, which included a MiG-15 UTI trainer as one of the 4 kits, Eduard released parts of the MiG-15 as overtrees.

One of the first items released was the photo-etch set for the MiG-15 UTI. As this is an overtree set, it did not come with instructions, however, as Eduard’s webpage for the MiG-15 Royal Class kit includes a link to the kit’s instructions, all you have to do is download the portion of the instructions that relate to the MiG-15 UTI and you are all set to go.

The set provides photo-etch parts to completely overhaul both the front and back cockpits of Eduard’s MiG-15 UTI kit with replacements for both instrument panels and details for the side consoles and cockpit sidewalls. To install the front instrument… more

Su-35S Landing Gear

Published: September 23, 2015
Company: Scale Aircraft Conversions

As with most of SAC’s landing gear sets, this set provides drop in replacement parts for the three main gear struts for Hasegawa’s new Su-35S kit. The set consists of a nose gear strut and two main landing gear struts. The three castings are very sharp and crisp. I used a brass wire wheel in my battery operated Dremel tool and slow speed to polish up the struts and remove the casting seams. I then primed the struts with Tamiya grey primer and painted them with a Tamiya light grey, with the oleo sections picked out with chrome silver. I had hoped to show them off installed on the Hasegawa kit, but the kit I ordered is apparently either on the slowest boat or is taking the long way around the world to get to me, as it is still in transit from somewhere.

The set paints up really… more

Type 97 Fighters Part 2

Published: September 18, 2015
Company: Lifelike Decals

This sheet is the third of three limited edition sheets produced by Lifelike Decals for the Hasegawa 1/72 Ki-27 Fighter (code-named “Nate” by the Allies). The sheet provides markings for seven different aircraft from the Japanese Army. The set includes color side views of all six aircraft illustrating the left side markings of each aircraft and overhead views showing the wing markings of the various aircraft. One of the aircraft features a cool scalloped black tail that also covers the horizontal stabilizers and Lifelike includes a paper template that you can use to make masks for the tail of this aircraft.

Five of the aircraft are overall light grey and one is dark green over light grey. Each aircraft has very distinctive markings that will provide you with an interesting… more

Type 97 Fighters Part 3

Published: September 18, 2015
Company: Lifelike Decals

This sheet is the third of three limited edition sheets produced by Lifelike Decals for the Hasegawa 1/72 Ki-27 Fighter (codenamed “Nate” by the Allies). The sheet provides markings for seven different aircraft from the Japanese Army. The set includes color side views of all seven aircraft illustrating left side markings and overhead views showing the wing markings of the various aircraft.

Six of the aircraft are overall light grey and one is dark green over light grey. Each aircraft has very distinctive markings that will provide you with an interesting choice of which to use. As with the first two sheets, the aircraft depicted are from a wide variety of units and several are directly associated with specific pilots as noted in the instructions. Inside the instructions,… more

Type 97 Fighters Part 1

Published: February 10, 2020
Company: Lifelike Decals

This sheet is the first of three limited edition sheets produced by Lifelike Decals for the Hasegawa 1/72 Ki-27 Fighter (codenamed “Nate” by the Allies). The sheet provides markings for seven different aircraft, six from the Japanese Army, and one from the Manchurian Air Force. The set includes color side views of all seven aircraft illustrating the left side markings, and overhead views showing the wing markings.

All of the aircraft are overall light grey with very interesting and colorful markings for aircraft from a wide variety of units. Inside the directions Lifelike provides a summary description of each aircraft, including any particular pilot that the aircraft was associated with. The descriptions also include references to published photographs of the aircraft and… more

GBU-49

Published: September 14, 2015
Company: Eduard

The GBU-49 is an American laser guided bomb consisting of an Enhanced Paveway II GPS/INS-equipped guidance section and a 500 lb. bomb. It is one of the weapons of choice for the MQ-9 Reaper and is often carried by USAF F-16s with two GBU-49s on triple ejector racks on the middle wing pylons.

The set consists of two bomb bodies with the tail fins and guidance sections molded as single pieces except for the seeker head (resin) and the nose and aft guidance fins (photo-etch). Two options are provided for the seeker head, one with the seeker head exposed and the other with the plastic ground cover in place. I chose to use the heads with the cover installed as I plan on displaying the bombs on a parked, but armed aircraft.

The PE fins are well made and very thin, so care… more

Storm Shadow/SCALP EG Cruise Missile

Published: September 13, 2015
Company: Eduard

The Storm Shadow/SCALP EG is an air-launched cruise missile developed for England, France and Italy. The missile is a follow-on development of the earlier Apache anti-runway missile, carrying a warhead instead of multiple sub-munitions.

The set consists of two resin missile bodies, two resin intake spikes, resin wings and fins (both retracted and extended versions), resin mounting brackets for the Tornado and a brass fret with two circular exhaust rings, two brass mounting brackets applicable to the Eurofighter, the Mirage 2000 and the Rafale and brass cover plates for the wing swivels. The set also includes miniature mounting lugs to attaching the missiles to the pylons. This is topped off by an excellent decal sheet. As the set includes the lower fins in both the retracted… more

Mk. 84 Bombs

Published: September 10, 2015
Company: Eduard

This set is scaled down version of Eduard’s 1/48 Brassin Mk. 84 2,000 lb. bomb set. As with the 1/48th set, this set includes two bomb bodies with standard low drag fins for normal drops, and three options for the nose – a fuse extender, a standard fuse or a nose cap, and a small photo-etch brass ring for the tail.

As with most US bombs, painting is easy – olive drab overall with a little silver or steel for the fuse. An option not noted in the instructions would be to paint the bomb blue to represent a cement filled training bomb. I left the fuses off until painting was complete so as not to knock them off. I sealed the paint with a nice coat of Future to prepare the bombs for decaling.

The set includes a comprehensive set of decals with yellow stencils for the olive… more

Mk. 84 Bombs

Published: September 10, 2015
Company: Eduard

Eduard continues to expand its Brassin weapons range with this set of Mk. 84 2,000 lb. bomb set. The set includes two bomb bodies with standard low drag fins for normal drops, and three options for the nose – a fuse extender, a standard fuse or a nose cap, and a small photo-etch brass ring for the tail.

As with most US bombs, painting is easy – olive drab overall with a little silver or steel for the fuse. An option not noted in the instructions would be to paint the bomb blue to represent a cement filled training bomb. I left the fuses off until painting was complete so as not to knock them off. I sealed the paint with a nice coat of Future to prepare the bombs for decaling.

The set includes a comprehensive set of decals with yellow stencils for the olive drab live… more

Phone Box

Published: September 10, 2015
Company: Hauler

For those who want to try something different, Hauler has created a series of accessories that can be used to complement models of different eras and interests. This set is an old fashioned phone booth that was probably modeled after a 1930s English phone booth as the phone included is the old style phone with a hand held cone shaped earpiece with the cone shaped receiver on the front of the phone itself. The kit is composed of 3 resin pieces (floor, roof and phone) and a photo-etch fret with the four sides of the box, the door, a four-sided roof sign, a two part roof decoration, 2 dials, 2 handles and 4 hinges.

Construction of the phone box itself is very straightforward, requiring just three ninety degree bends and a bit of super glue to attach the left side piece to the back… more