One more excellent re- release from Revell; the copyright date is 1994 on this one, and I remember being able to purchase it for about the same price as it is being offered today. Thanks to Revell for providing IPMS USA this review item and the opportunity to build this kit again without collector prices!

This is a basic kit; originally released as a MASH bird, with a co-release of the MASH cast in another kit, targeted for the TV audiences. It is an accurate 1/32 kit of a late H-13; earlier versions had a single flat tank with non-tip weighted main rotor blades… Later ones had more power, twin fuel tanks, and weighted rotors to maintain rotor energy during autorotation. Up front, this is not a simple build.

The story

The Pfalz D.XII was the logical development of the line of Pfalz fighters developed for the German Air Service during World War I, and it was tested and entered limited production towards the middle of 1918. The superb Fokker D.VII was already in mass production and widespread service, and the Pfalz product, while close, was not quite up to the Fokker standard in speed and maneuverability, only exceeding the Fokker in maximum diving speed. A clean two bay biplane, entering service when the steel tube fuselage D.VII was in service, the D.XII, while better than the D.III, could not compete effectively with the D.VII, and always remained an “also-ran”. It had its weaknesses, including the main landing gear, which had a tendency to collapse during any heavy landing, and its complexity did not endear it to maintenance personnel. In short, pilots preferred the D.VII.

The Quickboost line of after market parts just keeps growing and growing. This time they’ve done the Revell B-17G flying fortress engines. I was really excited when I saw that they were up for review because I had just purchased Revell’s new B-17G. Once the engines arrived I dove right in and started looking at the engine instructions and noticed that something just didn’t look right. I found out that the Quickboost parts are for the OLD Revell B-17G kit, not the new one. The engines in the new kit have been totally redone and have quite a few more steps to them than their older version. I went to Revells’ web site and checked the instruction sheet for the older version of this kit and also included the instructions for the newer kits engines. I didn’t have one of Revells’ older kits but I did have a Hasegawa B-17G in my stash.