Aires in their AEROBONUS line has started offering resin aircrew figures. This is a great initiative, because there have not been a lot of quality aircrew and ground figures for those of us who want to add one to a plane or scene; a figure can give a model context and a better sense of scale. This product lines includes pilot which are seated (molded to the ejection seat), standing and in the case of this review, climbing into the cockpit. What is nice about a climbing pilot is that you get the sense of animation as well as scale without the pilot obscuring all of the work you may have put into the cockpit.
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Hobby Boss has recently re-released the TriStar kit of the Pz. 38(t) under their own label. Fortunately for me, the last time I worked on this particular vehicle it was using the elderly Italeri kit some years ago, so I can approach this model with no previous expectations. Let’s take a closer look at the kit.
Aires Quickboost has released an easy set to convert the AMK 1/48 Aero L-29 Delfin to the L-29R reconnaissance version. The major differences were the camera bay that fits under the forward fuselage and the installation of semi-permanent auxiliary fuel tanks on the wing tips. The supplied instructions identify proper placement of the new Quickboost parts. If you have the older Planet Models 12448 resin model kit of the Aero L-29 Delfin, this set will probably work on it as well, although I do not have that kit to test fit.
Quickboost has molded the camera bay and the auxiliary fuel tanks perfectly in light tan resin with no apparent bubbles. The Quickboost auxiliary fuel tanks and camera bay are supplied on two resin sprue with thin resin attachments to the parts that should minimize any cleanup.
Eduard Models continue to expand its line of aftermarket details sets. This time is a pre-painted photoetch fret for Martin Baker Ejection seats. In particular you get ejection handles for
- Martin-Baker Mk.5
- Martin-Baker Mk.7
- Martin-Baker Mk.GRU 7
- Martin-Baker Mk.10
- Martin-Baker Mk.12
- Martin-Baker Mk. 16 US 16E
- Martin-Baker Mk.16A
In my opinion this is an excellent idea. There are plenty of sets for seatbelts but very limited on the area of handles. The fact that they are prepainted makes it even more useful as those small yellow & black stripes are challenging the paint, to say the least.
Application of the parts is trivial. Remove, fold and glue in position. It took me longer to assemble and paint the plastic ejection seat than to actually apply the detail parts.
The Ampersand Group, Inc. and David Doyle in conjunction with Hobbylink Japan have published another book on U.S. Army Half-tracks in the Military Modeling Series. Part 2 is a continuation of their previous book, Part 1, with Part 2 covering half-tracked multiple gun motor carriages and gun motor carriages.
What you get is an 8-1/2" x 11" glossy hardbound book covering 448 pages with high resolution black and white glossy, detailed historical photos covering the different variants of the half-track based vehicle. The book is divided into 8 chapters with Addendums, Appendix and a Bibliography: