Cross & Cockade International is the quarterly publication of a non-profit UK based organization known as The First World War Aviation Historical Society. This organization has been publishing these journals since 1970 with the objective of furthering the study of First World War Aviation History. The second journal of 2014; Volume 45/2 (Summer 2014) continues the organization’s mission by providing a wealth of information on varied WWI aviation subjects. The cover of this journal features a painting by Allan Forbes of a pair of 64 Squadron de Havilland DH5s attacking ground targets. It serves as a precursor to an interesting eight-page feature article about the 64 Squadron and the DH5s they flew.

Following an Editorial page, the contents includes:

This is another of Quickboost’s more-or-less drop-in replacements for kit parts. In this case, it’s the exhausts for Hobby Boss’s Mi-2 Hoplite helicopter kit. The parts in the kit are hollowed out for you already, but the walls of the tubes are a bit thick. The replacement exhausts from Quickboost are direct replacements for the kit parts, but with thinner walls. They fit right into the sides of the cowlings as if, well, they were made for them. They also appear to be slightly more accurate in shape than the kit parts. The kit parts are oval shaped, whereas the prototype exhausts (and the QB parts) have a slightly flattened side to them. This set is definitely recommended as a time saver.

My thanks go to Aires Hobby Models and Quickboost for providing the parts for a rather esoteric subject and to IPMS/USA for allowing me to review them.

This set from Quickboost is designed to replace and improve upon the kit parts for Hobby Boss’s Mi-2 Hoplite. The kit air-intake cowling includes two holes through which you place the air intakes. It also has a molded-in intake in the upper center with a screen engraved in it. The Quickboost parts feature the cowling with two hollowed intake tubes cast in, along with an opening at the upper center. You get a photoetch screen to place over the opening, along with a spare screen. While a bit more fiddly than the kit parts, the level of detail is worth the slightly greater effort. Recommended.

My thanks go to Aires Hobby Models for producing and providing the parts for a rather esoteric subject and to IPMS/USA for allowing me to review them.