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Review Author
Mike Hinderliter
Published on
December 19, 2011
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$4.95

Quickboost has added exhausts for the Academy Hellcat F6F-3/5 to its like of detail sets. They are molded in grayish resin, smooth, seamless and bubble-free.

The exhausts that come in the Eduard kit are okay but just lack the level of detail that the Quickboost parts have. The Quickboost parts are really superior. The biggest plus is that the ends are hollowed out, while the Eduard exhausts are not. This can really save you a lot of time if you were going to hollow out the kit parts, not to mention how great they will look on the finished model. The Quickboost parts for the Eduard Hellcat aren’t just drop-in parts like a lot of other Quickboost parts. The exhausts on the Eduard kit are molded onto the fuselage and will need to be cut and sanded off. Once this bit of surgery is out of the way, you will be very happy with the resulting improvement.

Review Author
Paul Mahoney
Published on
December 19, 2011
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$33.00

The entire crew area of the Focke Wulf 189 is housed under a greenhouse, and thus is highly visible. While Great Wall’s 1/48 kit is very nicely detailed and actually does include some photoetch, these Eduard sets augment the kit’s interior in a meaningful way.

  • Interior SA set is $33.00, Stock # 49565
  • Zoom detail set is $20.00, Stock # FE565

Eduard’s #49565 is the complete interior set, comprising 2 frets – 1 in full color and with self-adhesive backing, and a 2nd with additional interior details. The Zoom set contains just the colored, self-adhesive fret (Fret 1). All the pieces on both sets have Eduard’s typical sharp details.

Review Author
Michael Scott
Published on
December 19, 2011
Company
Zvezda
Scale
1/350
MSRP
$79.00

The British battleship HMS Dreadnought is widely thought to have been the first of the modern battleship designs, culminating in the Missouri class built during WWII. When the Dreadnought was launched in December, 1906, after only slightly more than a year in building – a pace unheard of prior to her building – she revolutionized battleship design and made all other existing battleships obsolete. The reasons for this were simple. She carried a massive, for the period, main armament and relied on only a single caliber, 12" 45 cal, for her main battery. Prior designs had mixed larger caliber guns which created problems when they were all firing and the fire control crews were attempting to determine which rounds to spot and adjust for more accurate fire. With only one large caliber, there would be no confusion as to which battery’s fire was to be adjusted.

Review Author
Paul Mahoney
Published on
December 19, 2011
Company
Lifelike Decals
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$19.00

This is one of three new sheets Lifelike Decals has released covering the Ki-44 Shoki. In looking at Lifelike’s website, I see most of their decals are available in 1/72, 1/48, and 1/32, but these sheets appear to be only available in 1/48 as of now.

Clearly, a lot of time and effort has gone into the research on this sheet. Ten different references books are listed and cited throughout the individual aircraft descriptions.

This particular sheet covers the markings of 4 different “Shoki” aircraft, 3 Ki-44 II Hei versions and one Ki-44 II Kou version. The recommended kit is by Hasegawa, although I’m sure they could be used on the old Arii/Otaki kits.

The 4 markings are as follows:

Review Author
Andy Renshaw
Published on
December 18, 2011
Company
Aires Hobby Models
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$13.50

Aires has been on the scene for some time now, producing some amazing details in resin and photo etch metal. Among aftermarket aficionados, Aires is the top of the pack for the level of detail and quality of casting. This set for the AFV Club 1/48 series of F-5 Tiger II kits is no exception, though installation is a little time-consuming.