Review Part 1 – Background and Kit Contents

Background

The Harley Davidson Fat Boy is the latest in Tamiya’s series of 1/6 scale motorcycle kits. This is a large, multimedia kit with plastic, metal, rubber, diecast, and photoetch parts.

From Tamiya’s website:

The Harley Davidson FLFSTB Fat Boy Lo belongs to the Softail series. It uses a 1548cc Twin Cam 96B V-Twin engine, and power is transferred via a drive belt. The Fat Boy Lo's classic form features numerous parts, which lend the bike a heavy feel, and it runs extremely low to the ground. Its fusion of classic looks and state-of-the art design has won the heart of the public around the globe. Tamiya's model replica comes in 1/6 scale! Every detail has been faithfully captured due to extensive research from Tamiya's designers and the cooperation of Harley Davidson.

Kit features:

This Aires accessory wheel bay set is made for the Academy SB2C-4 kit. As you can see from the photos, the kit’s molded-in wheel bay details are found on both the top and bottom halves of the wing. The resin replacement bays are single pieces with additional detail inside each bay. The instructions will have you remove the molded-in details on each upper and lower wing and replace them with a one-piece resin bay. This will prevent any seams from showing inside the wheel well.

You also get replacement pieces for the gun tubes that go through the outboard end of the wheel wells as well as a retraction rod for the landing gear. All of the parts are nicely cast in Aires’ customary medium grey resin; they are well molded and bubble free. This set is certainly recommended.

Thanks go to Aires for providing the parts and to IPMS/USA for allowing me to review them.

The firm Master Model, from Poland, produces a very wide range of exquisite turned-brass accessories for the aircraft, ship, and armor modeler. Their products include Pitot tubes, machine gun and cannon barrels, shells, and spent shell casings in almost every scale you can think of from 1/700 scale for ship models to 1/24 scale for aircraft models.

The pitot tube under review today came in a simple card-backed package with the part contained in a plastic sleeve. It is listed for “all kits” of the BAC/EE Lightning in 1/72 scale. This includes the most recently released gem from Airfix, the recent Trumpeter releases, and kits dating all the way back to the Frog issues of this aircraft.