Quickboost has added an aftermarket detail set that seems to me to be a questionable choice on their part. It is a set of resin exhaust ports for the Accurate Miniatures 1/48 SB2U Vindicator kits. As can be seen in the photos below, the Quickboost parts (pictured between the kit parts on the sprue) are virtual duplicates of the kit parts with only a small improvement in the sidewall thickness…Something that most model builders of average skills should be able to duplicate by using a number 11 Xacto blade or a pin vice with a suitable drill bit to increase the opening in the kit parts. The Quickboost parts are nicely cast and can be separated easily from the casting block and attached with super glue if the modeler chooses.

The Product

Packaged in what has become the standard aftermarket small parts blister pack and sporting a colorful shield very similar to the USAF SAC shield, we find four small white metal parts making for one pair of gear legs. The parts look very nice and should clean up nicely. The castings themselves are identical to the kit parts and should swap out with no foreseeable problems. The white metal in my sample seemed a bit soft and bent easily without intended manipulation. White metal parts and plastic model kits have a long history and can work well together.

History

This could be classified as a “paper” airplane, since it only existed as a design. The project was initiated as a search for greater performance and alternative power sources. Germany provided assistance on the project and research progressed quickly and it is assumed that design of the Katsuodori took place in the middle of the war. The Katsuodori had a tailless fuselage with a sharply swept wing. The plane was to use four solid fuel rocket boosters to propel the aircraft to speed, and then switch on the ramjet propulsion system. The plane could use a droppable dolly for a land take-off or it was planned to be carried by a bomber with removable struts. When the Me163 design and production was complete, it killed further research on the Katsuodori, as the Me163 was a proven design, flying in Germany.