The phenomenon that began with the TV Series Star Trek has permeated American culture since the inimitable sixties when our favorite villains, the Klingon’s, invaded our space. This kit has been issued a number of times since then attesting to the popularity of the show and delighting the Sci-Fi hobbyist as well!

The Kit

This review covers the AMT Klingon Bird of Prey (BoP) 1:350 Scale AMT Model Kit #949. This kit is molded in light green styrene which is a close approximation of the final color and could be built as such. On the other hand, for the best look, painting and highlighting the model is needed.

Master Box LTD is an Ukranian company specializing primarily in 1/24, 1/32, and 1/35 military and historical figures. They also produce some fantasy subjects, and a line of 1/72 WWI AFVs, and 1/35 vehicles. The company tends to package figures in groups to support a stand-alone vignette or diorama.

This kit features four figures from one of Germany’s elite infantry units during World War II, the German paratroopers, or Fallschirmjäger. Unlike other countries during World War II, the Fallschirmjäger were part of the Luftwaffe, as opposed to the regular army, and as such had some notable differences in their uniforms and equipment. Master Box captures these differences perfectly.

Scale Aircraft Conversions is known for making replacement landing gear for a wide variety of kits in virtually every scale in which model aircraft are available. This set is designed to replace the plastic gear in the Academy F-35A kit. The packaging says it’s for F-35A/B, but Academy doesn’t do an F-35B yet. The only F-35B kit in 1/72 that I know of currently is the Fujimi kit and these landing gear are a bit shorter and less beefy than the ones in that kit. Perhaps the guys at SAC know something we don’t.

The set includes both main gear legs and the nose gear with their separate retraction struts. The struts are very sturdy and are made to be drop-in replacements for the kit parts. The parts require very little clean up, though some parts do occasionally become a bit bent during shipping. No worries there, though, since they are very easily straightened. Recommended, especially if you want landing gear that are sturdier than the kit ones.

This photoetched sheet provides a lot of detailed parts for the interior of the Airfix F4F-4 Wildcat kit. A total of 18 parts are provided on a sheet measuring about 2 inches by 1 ½ inches, which should tell you that some of the parts are extremely small. An instrument panel, metal pilot’s seat, and side panel details are included. In addition, some details are provided for the aircraft’s firewall, which can be seen behind the landing gear structure. There is a lot included here, and these will add to the detail if you are trying to super-detail the cockpit. Very detailed instructions are provided, which tell what parts to remove and replace with the PE parts. Be sure to follow the instructions carefully.

Recommendations

This set is highly recommended for adding additional detail to the cockpit of your Airfix F4F-4. It would also be useful in adding details to other F4F kits.

History

The Grumman F4F-4 “Wildcat” was the standard carrier fighter used by the United States Navy and Marine Corps at the beginning of World War II. It differed from the earlier F4F-3 by the addition of folding wings and extra armament. Although the F4F-4 could not outclimb or outmaneuver its chief antagonist, the Mitsubishi A6M-2 Zero, superior tactics and pilot skill usually tipped the balance in favor of the F4F, and eventually, the F4F was replaced by the superior F6F “Hellcat” and the F4U “Corsair”. The Zero, on the other hand, was only slightly modified during the course of its career, and that, along with the larger number of American fighters produced, helped the U.S. Navy’s efforts to defeat the Japanese. The operational history of the F4F is well known, and any serious modeler should be aware of the basic story, so it will not be repeated here.