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Upon opening the box, one is greeted with a simple resin kit of an aircraft so obscure that even though I pride myself on my knowledge of WWII aircraft and have built over 100 resin kits of many obscure aircraft, again I had to look this one up!
The following brief history was gleaned from Wikipedia:
Floyd Werner has come to the rescue with a correction to the Kitty Hawk 1/48 AH-1Z Viper kit by issuing a resin bottom-less turret assembly. Floyd Werner provides great instructions showing exactly what to modify on the kit along with color photos of the turret assembly being installed in an AH-1Z. A re-sealable zip lock bag holds the part and the instructions. This part can also be used in any AH-1J, AH-1T, or AH-1W kit as well since many Cobras have been retrofitted with this turret assembly. Werner’s Wings turret assembly is designed to be used with the Kitty Hawk barrel assembly, but can also be used with the Master AM48056 turned metal barrels with minor modification.
The latest from Werner’s Wings provides an external auxiliary fuel tank for any 1/48 USMC AH-1W, AH-1Z, UH-1N, or UH-1Y kit. Floyd Werner provides great instructions showing exactly how to assemble the three parts along with color photos of various options for installation. A re-sealable zip lock bag holds the parts and the instructions.
Werner’s Wings has molded the external auxiliary fuel tank in grey resin with only a few minor bubbles. According to his website, the external auxiliary fuel tank is designed to be supplied on a resin sprue, but the kit as received has had the sprue already removed from the tank. The two other parts are supplied on a short resin sprue and will need to be detached with a photo-etch razor saw. I used a #73 drill bit to open up the mounting holes a bit and secured the parts with superglue. The connecting hoses are not supplied and will need to be scratch-built.
This little accessory is an add-on for the older 1/144 Hellcat kits. It contains two resin fuel tanks, plus a PE fret with the extra mounting hardware you don’t find on kits from the 20th Century.
I started out the project with the Platz 1/144 Hellcat. But after I assembled the Platz fuel tank, I decided that it was pretty close in appearance to the Brengun, so I went to a less detailed kit. In this case, I had a choice between the Revell F6F5 and the AHM F6F5. I chose the AHM kit for no other reason than it was the easiest to find in my stash.
I built the kit, painted it and applied decals before installing the fuel tank. I also painted the tank as I built the kit. I left the prop and landing gear off the plane until the tank was installed.
Aires has come out with a nice upgrade for the Eduard Fw 190A series of kits with their horizontal control surfaces set. The Aires parts allow you to alter the position of the elevators and provide improved stabilizer to elevator detail. There are no supplied instructions; you simply swap out the kit provided plastic parts with the new Aires replacements. I’ve included photos of both the Eduard and the Aires horizontal surfaces inserted in the Eduard fuselage. The gap on the bottom view is artificial as both the Eduard and the Aires parts are leaning up.
Aires has molded the stabilizer and elevator perfectly in light grey resin with no apparent bubbles. The Aires stabilizer and elevator are supplied on a single resin sprue with thin resin attachments to the parts that should minimize any cleanup.
