With the invasion of Russia in 1941 by German forces, and their encounter with hitherto unknown powerful tanks such as the T-34/76 and KV-1, the German forces clearly required a mobile anti tank weapon to help counter these Soviet tanks. In February 1942 the arms firm of Alkett came up with a tank destroyer design (Panzerjager) that utilized components of the Panzer III and Panzer IV tank, and mounting an 8.8cm long barreled anti tank gun, the Pak 43/1. This was basically the same gun that was later to be mounted in the Tiger II tank.

These gun barrels and pitot tube from Master Model are made for the 1/32 Bf109F, G1 - G4. The model that I used them on was the Monogram "Pro Modeler" Bf109G-4, which is a Hasegawa rebox. They fit perfectly and are a superior enhancement versa the kit parts.

The set comes with two barrels and one pitot tube made from brass. The barrels are both the same size, but be sure to check your instructions when installing as my kit shows them off set.

I highly recommend this set, especially if you are looking to give your kit that little extra zing. I would like to thank Master Model and IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review this kit.

The Aircraft

The SR-71 was a flying legend. Anyone who wasn’t directly involved with the aircraft knew little about it, and those who were involved weren’t talking. The aircraft’s existence was declassified in 1964, but not much else was said. The problem the SR-71 was created to solve was that the U-2 was too slow, and thus Soviet SAMs could reach it and shoot it down. The SR-71 was supposed to be so fast that SAMs couldn’t catch it.

During this project, I had the help and advice of Ray Knight who lives on the next street over, on the same block as I do. Ray was a fuels man on SR-71s at Beale AFB back in the 80s.