The Tamiya F-35 kits are some of the best in any scale so it is not unusual to see aftermarket companies produce parts to try and improve them. In this case, Aires has created a replacement set for the F-35A exhaust nozzle.

The Tamiya kit parts are really nice, so what does Aires offer to make you spend a bit more modeling money? Let’s take a look.

The set includes 3 resin parts, which are almost a direct drop-in replacement for the 4 parts Tamiya molded. The instructions indicate where you need to cut to remove the parts from the supports. You do have to trim a small bit off of kit part A5, but that is easily accomplished.

The resin parts are easily removed from the resin supports with a razor saw. I did this outside while wearing a respirator due to the resin dust created. I sprayed the inside of the exhaust pipe with white and did the detail painting following Tamiya’s instructions, since no painting instructions are included with the resin parts.

Background and Historical Notes

From The Kit Manufacturer’s Notes:

Bronco NOGS US Attack Aircraft

In 1970, two OV-10A Bronco aircraft were modified to evaluate their nighttime combat capabilities. The modification was designated NOGS—Night Observation Gunship System. The aircraft received an extended nose section with a turret housing a forward-looking infrared system and laser rangefinder (FLIR) in its lower half. Under the mid-fuselage, engineers mounted a turret with a 20mm General Electric M197 three-barrel cannon, which was aimed using FLIR.

In late 1970, both aircraft were sent to China Lake Air Base for testing, and by April 1971, they were deployed to Vietnam for combat trials. Operating as part of the light attack squadron VAL-4 “Black Ponies,” the aircraft conducted evening and night missions. The YOV-10D aircraft flew in various configurations: either in pairs, paired with an OV-10A, or with an escort of two OV-10A aircraft.

ICM has been releasing quality kits, figure sets, and recently paints to support their vast library of releases. Today, we see a set dedicated to WWI Armored Vehicles. These are water-based acrylic paints that can be brushed as is or airbrushed after thinning with either distilled water or ICM brand thinner. They come in screw top bottles that are wide-mouth and not dropper bottles, so I used my handy pipette to dole out smaller quantities for testing.

What’s Inside the Box

This set includes six 12mL plastic bottles featuring the following colors: