For a hobbyist like me, there’s nothing more exciting than opening the box from a new manufacturer. The anticipation of learning what they did differently, how the plastic cuts, what level of detail did they achieve and myriad others questions we all banter back and forth are answered when you open the box. The new Beacon Hobby multimedia ship kit of the Jack H. Lucas and their associated upgrade kit is the subject of these very questions. This appears to be Beacon Hobby’s first ship kit as far as I could see. They came out swinging with this release by not only launching the Arleigh Burke flight III ship, but an upgrade kit designed and produced by the manufacturer. This was really exciting for me because I expected everything to fit and be designed to mate up exactly. I can tell you that they did not disappoint me! All the detail is done crisp and clean and, with the upgrade kit, it adds an element of scale to a lot of the fine detailed parts that they opted to include.

This is a simple metal upgrade for Hasegawa’s early 1980’s/90’s release 1/32 radial-engine FW-190 kits, and their “Dora FW-190 kit." Out of the box, it’s a great and easy kit for almost anyone to make a decent Wulf… but this SAC gear adds the additional “peace of mind” when dealing with the long legs and (as on many plastic kits) “always waiting to be broken off” tail gear.

It’s an easy one-for-one replacement to install this gear, and the cool part is it can all be installed at the end of the build if desired. I show the model with the gear in place before painting the project, as this gear lends itself to such shenanigans…. Just like an Armor kit!

I make no claims to being an airbrushing expert. I own three brushes (an Iwata, an HP, and an inexpensive “no-name” unit) and while on some days, the airbrushing gods smile down upon me, there are other times that despite my best efforts, I’d be better off using a toothbrush and poster paints. I had heard a lot about this brand and jumped at the chance to do the review.

My first impressions were highly favorable - a very nicely packaged product. Two things that jumped out at me were the exploded parts diagram on the bottom of the box (see below) and a nice bag of spare bushings and O-ring seals. I was a bit surprised to see how many discrete O-rings are used I the construction of the airbrush but time will tell if this means better performance, easier, or more complicated maintenance.