The Soviet fighter Yak-3 is part of Zvezda’s new “Snap Fit” series. You get 45 medium gray hard plastic parts and two clear parts with minimal flash. The instructions are very well illustrated with seven sequences of assembly. The detail is exceptional and surprising for a snap fit kit. The three piece pilot figure is a work of art, with the seat pan molded to the pilot. A seat without pilot is also provided, should you wish that option. The kit is designed for snap assembly and can easily be assembled with no glue. However, I plan on using glue. Areas of concern are the sink marks on the upper wings (part 40) and front top cowling (part 41). Filler will definitely be required. You also get two finely detailed instrument panels, one to be used with kit supplied decals and the other with raised details for the instruments if you prefer to paint yours. You also have the option for wheels down or wheels up.

Eduard's color etch sets are really great looking and this one is no exception. This set is made for Trumpeter's 1/72nd F-100F and, when you first look at it, you wonder "where does all of this stuff go?" This set is also self-adhesive, which actually ends up being more trouble than advantage. By the time I had cut a few parts from the fret, I had basically destroyed the backing paper and the adhesive was no longer effective. But, that didn’t slow me down. Gator Glue to the rescue! The cockpit gray of the consoles and instrument panels is more of a light blue than anything related to cockpit gray. I could not find anything in all of my paints that was a close match, so I mixed my own. Don't ask me for the formula, because I have no idea, except that it came close.

Quickboost has added a highly detailed set of resin exhaust pipes for the Hobby Boss 1/32 scale Spitfire Mk.V. They are packaged in the typical Quickboost branded poly bag and are molded on a single casting block. They feature hollow ends and show no signs of flash that would need to be dealt with. They can be removed easily from the casting block with a razor saw blade or No. 11 blade and the cut edge can be cleaned up if necessary with a sanding stick. Because they are resin, they need to be attached with super glue or epoxy cement. Although the package indicates these parts are recommended as easy drop-in replacements for the kit parts in Hobby Boss’ #83205 and #83206 kits with very little adjustment to the mounting tabs, they should work well as detailed replacements for the exhausts provided in the 1/32 Hasegawa Spitfire Mk.Vb and Mk.VI kits.

These detail parts are highly recommended.