The Focke-Achgelis Fa330 was was a type of rotary-wing kite, known as a gyroglider or rotor kite. They were towed behind German U-boats during World War II to allow a lookout to see farther. Despite its advantages, the use of the FA 330 only resulted in a single sinking when U-177 used one to spot, intercept, and sink the Greek steamer Efthalia Mari on 6 August 1943.

The Allies came into possession of an FA 330 in May 1944 when they captured the submarine U-852 intact. After the war, the British government did successful experiments towing FA 330s behind ships and jeeps, but the development of the helicopter quickly occupied the attention of the military.

Fly models recently came out with two new kits in 1/32 scale, the Arado 234 Blitz jet bomber, and the Fa330 gyroglider. I am a big fan of odd and interesting German World War II aircraft and did not have one of their rotary wing craft in my collection. I couldn’t pass up the chance to give this kit a shot.

Fujimi has issued a Me-262 A-1A in 1/144 scale. I have built all the other scales from 1/72 to 1/32 and when this came up for review, I couldn’t resist. He kit comes with two gray sprues holding 21 parts and a small clear sprue with two canopies. A nice decal sheet with markings for one plane, a Me-262 A-1a Yellow 5 from 9/KG(J) 6 in April 1945. The instructions are on the back of the box along with a paint scheme and color references. The colors are wrong in a couple cases as the plane should be RLM76 on the bottom and RLM 81/82 on top with lots of mottling down the sides.

I’ve been hooked on Steve Ginter’s publications ever since I came upon his first ones which more or less amounted to just decent-size pamphlets in thickness, with no color. Since then, I have managed to glom onto a pretty good collection of his Naval Fighter Series and companion Air Force Legends Series as well.

Each successive Ginter book seems to set the bar a little bit higher, being a little better than the last one. For modelers or historians, they contain a wealth of information, photographs, drawings, specifications, and history. I consider them among the best reference sources in my stash for my facets of the hobby.