The Handley Page Hampden was a British medium bomber that entered service with the RAF in 1938 and served with some distinction until late 1942 as a bomber and 1943 as a torpedo bomber. Noted for its distinctive fuselage shape, earning it the nickname “The Flying Suitcase,” the aircraft was named for an English Parliamentarian of English Civil War fame.

Previously kitted mostly in 1/72 by several companies, this is the first mainstream IM kit in 1/48 of the Hampden (ignoring - if you can - the abomination that is the short-run FM kit…) and ICM are to be congratulated for their audacity in producing this unusual but worthy aircraft in this scale.

This particular set, contained in the familiar SAC blister packaging, is a perfect match for the SAC metal Landing Gear set 48472 for the F-35 C. See the excellent review by Rod Lees.

There are two parts — each representing the right and left-wing hinges. Upon inspection, no flash is detected, and they are cleanly cast. As with all SAC products, the pewter is pliable and can be adjusted as needed for a perfect fit. The two SAC parts are designed to replace kit parts EE39 and EE38, discussed in steps 61 and 62 within the Tamiya instructional guide.

Although I am a fan of metal landing gear for increased strength and stability, replacing these particular kit parts is negligible, in my opinion. Viewing the kit parts side-by-side with the metal parts, I found the kit's parts to be crisper. For this reason, I would be more inclined to stick with them, especially since the wing hinges are not parts which really require increased strength.

HobbyBoss issued a new and more modern F-111 kit a while back (2010 I think) replacing the aging Academy kits. It had a lot of features and for styrene, a decent but simplified cockpit. It was missing seat belts, detail on the instrument panel and other parts. Reskit for Kyiv, Ukraine to the rescue with a magnificent, highly detailed multimedia cockpit. Opening the box, there are 42 3D printed parts, 4 injection molded parts (the canopy and windscreen), a masking set and a fret with dozens on photoetched parts. Preparation starts by removing the supports on the 3D parts. I warmed mine a little with a hair dryer and used a hobby knife and sprue nipper and the part were free quickly. I used a sanding stick to remove any nubs and we were good. One note here, there are instructions to assemble and build the seats and add photoetch belts. In the kit, I found two perfectly printed seats but no mention of them. I used them as the seat belts looked better than the photoetched.