Thanks to Neil at HK models for providing the IPMS/USA with this pre-release kit for review. We appreciate and value your contributions and look forward to more releases from your company. Thanks also to the IPMS leadership for trusting me to get this thing done!

As a pre-release kit, I received the HK Models Do 335 without instructions in a basic shipping box. This was a bit of a daunting challenge; could I do it? Of course I whined when I found out the engine compartments and some of the interior were a bit more complicated than I thought. I was subsequently sent a PDF of the basic instructions from the fearless reviewer corps leader, Dave, and I began to breathe again.

Osprey Publishing keeps expanding its Combat Aircraft series with its latest book, F9F Panther Units of the Korean War. I personally think that the F9F Panther is among the most beautiful jets of the early era—together with the F-86 Sabre—so I might be a bit biased on this topic.

Clearly, from the beginning of the book you realize the author, Warren Thompson, is extremely well versed in the Korean conflict, and he is a great researcher. The level of detail and accuracy in his narrative is outstanding. He is really good at combine first hand narratives and mission reports to allow the reader have a sense of the pilot experiences, as well as the overall combat record of each unit, and the strategic situation in the Korean Peninsula during the conflict.

This book, being from Osprey has plenty of pictures; about half of them in color. The book also has 24 gorgeous color profiles by Jim Laurier.

The book is divided in the following chapters:

Quickboost has come out with a direct replacement for the .50 Cal machine gun barrels on the HK Models 1/32^nd B 17 Flying Fortress kit. You get 12 barrels, all the same length and style cast in resin. The packaging is quite adequate. There was nothing broken or warped. The quality of the casting is superb and there is no flash or pinholes. I would assume that the barrels are the proper length. They are a little fatter then the kit ones and look good. Another nice feature is that they are drilled out on the ends.

A word of caution may be necessary, on the HK kit, the kits gun barrels come in various lengths and some have flash suppressors. The quickboost are all the same length and style. A nice feature about these barrels is that they are somewhat generic in nature. I believe they can be used on any Allied Airplane that is 1/32^nd and used .50 Cal machine guns.