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Packaging

Bf 109 E Cockpit

Review Author
Gary Telecsan
Published on
Company
Aires Hobby Models
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$19.95

This set consists of 11 resin and 19 photoetch parts, and one sheet of film from which 4 parts are to be cut. There are two more each of photoetch and resin than are shown on the instructions, but there was no issue with assembly. The set is intended to replace the cockpit floor, seat, sidewalls and instrument panels which come with the Academy kit. I confirmed that it will also fit the Tamiya E-3, and with some more drastic surgery, could be made to fit even the Hobbycraft kit.

The first pictures are of the packaging and the set’s parts and then a shot of the kit’s fuselage halves, from which you will have to remove the sidewalls. I do not picture the process here, but it can easily be seen that the Aries sidewalls are much nicer. The kit cockpit floor and seat are also very simple.

Parts in set

T-34T Post War Tank Retriever
Review Author
Mark Aldrich
Published on
Company
Celticwerks
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$18.00

I have been a dedicated TreadHead for many a year now. That love also has a few sub divisions of TreadHeadiness. Yea, like that is a word. I have always thought Recovery Vehicles were so neat. Whether they were based on an actual combat vehicle like the M-31 and M-32 or completely their own design like the M-88. They all look so neat! The Russians were just like any other Army in the world. In the event of war or just a simple vehicular break down, combat vehicles need to be recovered and moved back to a location where they can be repaired. The first VT-34 vehicles were simple T-34s with no turret. Over time, they went from simple pulling tractors to very advanced combat recovery vehicles.

Package and contents

E-2C 2000 Hawkeye Cockpit Interior
Review Author
Fred Wilms
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$14.95

Construction

Edward has produced an E-2C Hawkeye photo-etched cockpit installation and seat detail system, pre-finished and with adhesive backing. Photo-etched parts were in perfect condition. The instructions were excellent for the most part, but I believe they forgot to show where the face air outlets (eye balls) and fire warning instrument system were located. Per my research, I placed it below the overhead eyebrow. The parts were easy to install. Make sure the instruments, control pedestal and side consoles are filed flat, removing the instruments molded in the details before adding the new panels. A word of caution: some patience is required when installing the throttle, flap, and steering controls, as they contain many tiny parts.

Comments

This kit is recommended for the experienced modeler, due to the numerous tiny parts.

Box Art

Barrel of a Gun: A War Correspondent's Misspent Moments in Combat
Book Author(s)
Al J. Venter
Review Author
John Ratzenberger
Published on
Company
Casemate Publishers
MSRP
$34.95

This book has nothing to do with models or modeling. If you are into modeling that part of the world, you might find a useful picture of a vehicle or aircraft.

The author, Al J. Venter, is a South African war correspondent who has covered Africa and the Mideast for 40-some years He has about 20 books to his credit, a few of which are on diving. I have read none of them, so this was a first for me. There is no doubt that he is not, and never has been, sitting behind too many desks.

From the publisher's data sheet and the book end covers, I gathered the purpose of this book is the show that it's a dangerous profession -- well, yeah, think Ernie Pyle. It was fortuitous (I guess) that as I was reading this, the Egyptian government was being overthrown -- the media became the target of the "pro-government" forces and there was the scene of Katie Couric almost swallowed by a mob -- all that brought the theme home, maybe as well as the book did.

Packaging

P-47D Oil Cooler
Review Author
Roger Rasor
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$3.80

Quickboost recently released a set of detail parts for the 1/72 Tamiya P-47D that shows their unique focus on accuracy. Set QB 72 282 provides model builders with a pair of oil coolers that will not only add an often-overlooked detail, but also correct a distortion that is molded into the kit fuselage parts. Tamiya’s practice of simplifying kit construction usually leads to molding as much detail as possible into major parts. This sometimes leads to less than perfect shapes here and there (such as those oval shaped rivet depressions along the mating surfaces of both fuselage halves).

The oil cooler louvres molded into the kit’s fuselage halves are incorrectly angled upward so they will release from the molds. This inaccuracy becomes very obvious when the kit's parts are compared to the Quickboost replacement parts (as shown in the photo below).