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Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
Tamiya
Scale
1/100
MSRP
$60.00

Tamiya has re-released its Space Shuttle Orbiter kit. It has included a few new sprues to depict more modern payloads, like the “Raffaello” multipurpose module, the Orbiter Docking Systems, and a few others.

Even when the kit boxing is called “Atlantis,” the boxing actually provides markings for the whole Shuttle Fleet and for all the program stages (early, mid, and late). The markings plus the extra parts makes this boxing the best value of all the Tamiya Space Shuttle boxings.

Given that this is a re-release, you get a 20+ year-old molds and kit engineering with a combination of recessed and raised detail. There is almost no flash, but some significant sink marks, mainly on the bottom of the model and around the nose. This kit has been criticized for not having tile detail; however, considering all the filling and sanding required on the bottom, it is actually better not to have tile detail. A modeler could scribe the detail, if so desired.

Review Author
Rob Benson
Published on
Company
Italeri
MSRP
$3.50

Packaging and Initial Impression

The paints are contained in 20 ml plastic poly bottles with flip caps. The clear gloss is contained in a 35 ml plastic bottle with a flip cap. The bottles are clearly labeled with simple instructions of “shake well” and “for airbrush dilute properly”.

My sample bottles tended to spit paint a bit when “flipping” the cap open, but that may be a simple consequence of opening them at 7500 ft where I live. The dropper in the cap and a squeezable bottle provide a nice controlled dispensing of the paints and clear coat.

Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$6.50

QB 48446 (Rotol Spinner) and QB 48447 (Spitfire Spinner), each $6.50

The Italeri Hurricane is getting a lot of attention from the aftermarket manufactures. Quickboost has released two resin Rotol propellers for it. One of the sets has the typical Rotol spinner (more pointed); the other set has a Spitfire spinner (more blunt). I’ve read that during the Battle of Britain there were some Hurricanes fitted with Spitfire spinners.

A nice feature of these aftermarket sets is the provision of a “tool” to ensure the proper pitch of all the propeller blades. After sanding off the back of the spinners, the tool provides you with a “seat” for the spinner, and then you only need to tack the propeller blade in place with a drop of superglue.

Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
Aires Hobby Models
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$21.50

The Italeri Hurricane has been molded with the option of having both the escape door and canopy open, allowing a great view of the cockpit. The original cockpit is fine but there is always space for enhancement and Aires is offering a nice resin and photoetch cockpit detail set for it.

Sadly, the review sample I got only had the Hurricane photoetch fret on it. The resin parts were for a different model, probably a “George,” as the cockpit layout and seat look a lot like a Japanese cockpit to me.

As such, I cannot comment on the fit of the parts or any other assembly issue (I just did not have all the right parts!).

Based on the parts breakdown, this detail set is intended to be a full replacement “drop-in” cockpit. Based on the picture from the Aires website, the details is very fine and it should be a nice improvement over the plastic parts. The detail on the photoetch fret is superb.

Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$6.50

Quickboost has released several items to enhance the Italeri Hurricane. Among them are these “drop-in” replacement parts for the gun barrels. They are very nicely rendered in medium grey resin, with crisp panel lines and good depth for the barrels.

During construction, however, I ran into problems. The replacement parts are a bit too wide to fit in their slots in the wings. Maybe the problem is due to my construction of the wings, but neither the starboard nor the port gun barrel would fit.

I’ve measured the slots and the resin parts and maybe the problem is that both the replacement parts and the slots have the exact same width (20.0 mm, measured with a caliper). Perhaps the resin parts should have been a tad narrower to be able to fit in the slots?