A perfect addition to your diorama or display base is this Aires Aerobonus figure. This German or Austro-Hungarian Pilot figure is designed to be used with any German or Austro-Hungarian WWI aircraft (Albatros D.III / D.V, Berg D.I / D.II, Fokker E.III / E.IV, E.V, D.VII, Oeffag D.III, Pfalz D.III, D.XII, Phonix D.I / D.II / D.III, Siemens-Schuckert D.III / D.IV, etc.) Aires Aerobonus provides you with a resin figure with side bars to protect the figure. 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. The supplied instructions provide color drawings for painting.

Hauler has produced a nice World War Two Japanese Pre-fabricated Steel Pillbox. These were mainly used on Betio Island in the Tarawa Atoll. They had two internal levels, the upper was an observation area where the top opened to give a higher view. The lower area had to machine gun ports, a small arms port and a door. This is a very nice resin set.

In the box is:

• 1 x Resin Pillbox
• 1 x Photo Etch sheet
• 1x Instruction sheet

The Pillbox is very crisp and well molded with great detail.

Construction

The build starts by removing the excess resin form the lower part of the pillbox using a razor saw. The next stage is the Photo Etch gun port shutters. The one thing missing from the kit was the door which these Pillboxes did have; I will make one myself to add later.

Many thanks to Mr. Ross MacMillan of Scale Aircraft Conversions and the IPMS Reviewer Corps for allowing me to try this neat substitute and replacement set for the Special Hobby AF-2 Guardian. I am pleased to report on another sweet add-on and upgrade. The Guardian has a somewhat spindly appearance and having skinny but strong metal “legs” really helps!

The white-metal parts arrived in a blister pack, backed by the distinctive SAC company logo. The weight of the parts is very noticeable. All parts are free of sprues with the exception of two retractor struts. The parts require very little buffing, cleanup and polishing. I did use a Dremel tool to buff some of the parts and brought a very nice natural metal tone to them. But blue paint covers all of that shine.