Lion Roar has been providing ship modelers with extensive sets of ship-specific photo etch for some time, and now offers generic railings for nearly any WWII era Japanese vessel. The package contains two identical sets of stainless steel rails, each containing three different types of rails. One type is the “drooping chain” type that is usually found on the main deck (as well as the second deck on battleships), and two types of “solid” rails usually found on the upper decks or superstructure. The solid rails are of a three-dimensional nature, requiring that the extra long stanchions be folded over themselves to provide supplemental, angled supports to each stanchion. This is a new twist that I’ve never seen this before on PE deck railings.

The Vought F8U-3 Crusader III was thought by some to be “the best fighter never produced.” The Crusader III was an evolution of the F8U-1 Crusader, with a larger fuselage, more pronounced air intake, and a more powerful propulsion system. It retained the variable-aspect wing found on the earlier aircraft.

The book follows the development of the Crusader III from conception to retirement. It is filled with period photos that would be invaluable to anyone wanting to replicate this aircraft. It also includes drawings that were used during the evaluation of the aircraft, comparing it to competitors’ aircraft, such as the F3H Demon.

Thanks very much to Hobbyboss for providing IPMS/USA this marvelous review kit; I thought we were done with Me262 improvements, but I was wrong… at an excellent price!

When Dave Morrissette told me the Trumpeter Me262 was an outstanding kit, I bought one and put it away for another day. He was right – excellent detail and superior presentation. Now, take that excellence, shrink it to 1/48th scale, and you have the Hobbyboss Me262. In this case, it is the single seat nightfighter. Markings are provided for one version, that being Werke Nr. 170056, the history of which you may research yourself (no spoon-feeding here!).

The overall kit is state of the art; surface details are restrained, fit is excellent, and I only had a couple of areas that are probably of my doing that required extra work.