The master metalworker of Poland, Piotr, just keeps cranking these things out… THANKS VERY MUCH for sending IPMS USA another of your growing line of turned metal Pitot tubes, and thanks also to IPMS USA leadership for sending it on to me to review….

This is the now-expected, much improved upgrade to the kit plastic. Consisting of 1 metal pitot tube and a radome adaptor directly replacing the kit pitot probe, this is an easy addition to improve the longevity of your kits’ appearance… The usual warning about being careful with the needle-like probe applies.

The Mirage III pitot tube is a multiple- angle, different diameter item; look at the finished product to get what I am saying. There is just no way for us mortals to turn a needle into a tube looking like this with the boundary-layer differences of the actual item. It’s really interesting how this all works, but that’s a physics lesson for others to teach.

THANKS VERY MUCH to our friends at Eduard for providing IPMS USA another of your huge line of resin aftermarket kit improvements, and thanks also to IPMS USA leadership for sending it on to me to review….

This is a simple upgrade to the kit plastic that makes a HUGE difference in the blood pressure of the builder. The Hasegaga GR7 and 9 kits’ Harrier hot and cool air exhaust duct nozzles are molded in halves, with an almost-impossible-to-fill centerline assembly seam. These Brassin nozzles come complete as single-cast, seamless ducts with all the appropriate depth and detail we have come to expect from Brassin. The nozzle vanes themselves are EXTREMELY thin and look like the real thing.

The latest title in the “Spot On” series published by Mushroom Model Publications focuses on a variety of special camouflage schemes featured on F-104 Starfighters from around the world. The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter was a single-engine, supersonic jet interceptor developed for the U.S. Air Force in the late 1950s. The plane was remarkable for its speed and set a number of word records; however, it was more notable for its controversial safety record and the Lockheed bribery scandal. Despite these misgivings, the F-104 family of planes was flown by U.S. pilots into the mid-70s, and with more than a dozen countries around the world until 2004, when Italy retired the last of their F-104S planes.

THANKS VERY MUCH to our friends at Eduard for sending IPMS USA another of your huge line of resin aftermarket kit improvements, and thanks also to IPMS USA leadership for sending it on to me to review….

This is a specialized iteration of the Sniper targeting pod as carried by the Harrier Mk 9. Included in the set are the pod body, forward sensor section, three clear resin parts ( three protective glass fairing covers), and a photoetch set with four brackets and two different end plates. Also included are two separate resin sets of delicate but strong sway braces, and a separate block resin bracket for a different lot number of pod. There is also a decal sheet to finish off!

Detail is fantastic; the avionics cooling scoop is hollow, and the pod fore/aft section mounting bolt recesses are very well done. Eduard have listened and included excellent instructions on all their most recent releases with color and assembly details.

This book arrived and I must say that I was impressed from the outset. The quality of the book and the material contained inside is typical JaPo. The title sounds like it is just about the Czechoslovak unit, No.311 Squadron, but this book is about a whole lot more than that.

The B-24 was the most produced American airplane in WWII. Its use by Coastal Command is better known in England but not so well known in the US. The use of the Liberator as a precision bomber in the US has overshadowed the vitally important mission of U-Boat patrol. This book fills that void.

JaPo is well known for packing their books with a plethora of information. This one is no different. There are 320 pages of text, photos and color profiles. There are 550 photos with a number of them in color. The 70 color profiles are really impressive and show the differences in turrets, radar, antennas and anti-shipping ordinance.