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Review Author
Jim Pearsall
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/144
MSRP
$8.00

Eduard recently released a Quattro kit of the Avia B.534, a Czech biplane which participated in World War 2. I got to review the kit, and now I’m doing a second build utilizing Eduard’s PE upgrade for the Avia.

The Kit

You get a single PE fret with enough add-ons to do a single aircraft. There is a lagniappe here, as there are 4 instrument panels, so you can do another 3 with them.

The fuselage parts are side panels for the cockpit, a set of seat and shoulder belts, a control stick, front and rear radiator grills, and a step. There is also a “ring & cross” gun sight, a tail wheel add-on for the Bulgarian version and a tail wheel protector for the tow tug version. Unfortunately the last 3 items weren’t for the version I built.

For the wings you get the best part of this set…There are PE wing bracing wires.

Review Author
Joe Porche
Published on
Company
Revell
Scale
1/25
MSRP
$27.99

Parts Count

  • 68 White Styrene on 11 trees
  • 66 Chrome Styrene on 4 trees
  • 7 Crystal Clear Styrene on 1 tree
  • 4 Mold rubber tires
  • 4 Steel axle/tire pins
  • 1 5” x 6” Decal Sheet
  • 1 16 Page 20 step Instruction Guide

Lots of parts in this kit as it’s a 2 ’n 1 edition of the 1929 Ford Model A.

Options

  1. One Chassis set up for High Boy version to include stockish frame, deep interior tub, deep firewall, correct length front radius rods, correct length steering shaft, appropriate radiator hoses and exhaust.
  2. Alternative Chassis set up for Channeled version to include channeled frame, shallow interior tub, shallow firewall, correct length front radius rods, correct length steering shaft, appropriate radiator hoses and exhaust.

Buick Nail Head engine includes options for Hilborn Fuel injection or 6 single Stromberg Carburetors.

Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$6.50

Quickboost provides you with a F4U-5 engine reductor, distributor covers, and engine pump. Of note is the re-sealable packaging that Quickboost uses that makes the parts easy to review and then stuff back into the package securely. There supplied instructions note the swap out of the kit provided plastic parts with the new Quickboost replacements. One part, the magneto is not used with the F4U-5’s R-2800-32W Series E engine and appears to be a carryover for a F4U-4B R-2800 engine (QB 48 045). The F4U-5’s R-2800-32W Series E engine was a fairly unique engine and was not used in any other aircraft.

Quickboost has molded the parts perfectly in light grey resin with no apparent bubbles. The Quickboost exhausts provide you with no mold seams to sand off.

Review Author
Jim Pearsall
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/144
MSRP
$29.95

The Aircraft

When the first B.534 flew in 1934, the aircraft was well ahead of its contemporaries in other air forces. The British were using Hawker Furies, the US had Curtiss Hawks and the Russians had the I-15. With the German takeover of much of Czechoslovakia in 1939, many of these planes were taken over by the Luftwaffe. The B.534’s combat record is sparse, although some flown by Bulgaria did attempt to intercept the Ploesti raid, and a 534 flown by a pilot of the Slovak National Uprising shot down a Hungarian Ju-52 in October of 1944, the last recorded victory by a biplane.

Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$8.50

Quickboost provides you with one set of Vought F4U-5N flame dampener exhausts. Of note is the re-sealable packaging that Quickboost uses that makes the parts easy to review and then stuff back into the package securely. There are no supplied instructions; you simply swap out the kit provided plastic parts with the new Quickboost replacements. These Quickboost parts are specific replacements for the kit exhausts which replicate a standard F4U-5 without the flame dampened exhausts. If you wish to do a post-war F4U-5N that had its flame dampener exhausts removed for the standard F4U-5 exhausts, I would point you to the Quickboost 48 661 set that is gorgeous.

Quickboost has molded the exhausts perfectly in light grey resin with no apparent bubbles. The Quickboost exhausts provide you with no mold seams to sand off along with a hollowed out exhaust.