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Review Author
Greg Wise
Published on
Company
Deluxe Materials
MSRP
$12.00

The Product

According to the manufacturer this stuff is a lightweight, non-shrinking scenic material for creating and casting realistic diorama groundwork. It dries without cracking, bonds to wood, plaster, plastic, foam and can be cut, sawn and filed to shape when dry without crumbling. There is a Youtube Demo - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Cc-1xuL2mI&feature=youtu.be

The Test

After carefully viewing the on line you-tube video I began by preparing an 8X10 oval basswood base. I then tried to roll the product into log shapes and let dry overnight. I believe my sample jar was a little dehydrated, as you can see in the photos my success rate was about 70%. I’m sure this could have been avoided by simply adding a little water. I found out later while experimenting that the product requires very little water as it melts quickly with just a few drops.

Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Airfix
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$75.00

Couple of thank you notes up front; to Hornby for bringing Airfix back from the abyss and turning it around; an Injection-molded 1/48 Javelin is one we could only dream of in the past, and here it is! And to Hornby America, who provided IPMS USA this great model of an iconic British cold war fighter. (And thanks to Dave and Dick for the build opportunity!)

The last time I built a “flatiron” as these were called, was the old Dynavector 1/48 vacuum molded kit about 15 years ago. It had a wealth of detail, and was actually very easy to build. The kit is still viable (I have another one sitting on the shelf waiting to e built), but the Injected version is far better in the full-Monty detail realm. The only tricky part was installing the forest of vortex generators on the wings, as these were brass tiny brass tabs with small spears to push into holes on the wing… surprisingly enough, they worked well on the soft plastic and were very durable. Ah, the old days….

Review Author
David Wrinkle
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$6.50

The Yak-1 kit originally manufactured by Accurate Miniatures and now re-boxed by Eduard is a fine little kit but could certainly use a bit of aftermarket sparkle with this Quickboost exhaust kit. The original kit parts are ok but lack the bored out exhaust stubs.

The Quickboost kit contains a pair of well molded exhaust parts in grey colored resin. Removal from the pour stub is easy by simply making a few scores with your favorite sharp hobby knife. Please be careful - it is easy to score through the part (ask me how I know), and slice the part in half. Once separated from the pour stubs, a few scrapes with my hobby blade cleaned up the part and I was able to place it relatively easily in the fuselage opening. These two parts have a good fit and it looks good when installed.

Review Author
Michael Scott
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$6.50

Quickboost is known for producing finely cast resin details. This seat is no exception. The details are very good but some are fragile, such as the ejection rings, which quickly broke off and disappeared. This isn’t so much a function of the piece, but of careless handling on my part. They are easy to break, so be prepared to make up your own if you snap them off.

Removing the seat from the resin casting plug was easy enough with a razor saw. However, I eventually had to cut more, about 1/8”, from the seat bottom to get a decent fit in the Hasegawa 1:72 F-104C kit. I don’t know if this is a function of the kit or the seat.

Once painted, and with a subtle wash, the seat details pop out. After modifying the seat bottom as above it was a drop fit into the cockpit.

The Quickboost replacement seat is far better than the simple plastic form that Hasegawa supplies, plus, it has seat belts cast in. A worthy addition to your Starfighter.

Review Author
Ron Bell
Published on
Company
Dragon Models
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$50.00

The Vixen was originally developed for the RAF, but was turned down in favor of the Javelin for a missile-armed interceptor. The Fleet Air Arm picked it up and it was tailored to their needs, replacing the Sea Venom. The later versions, the FAW 2 (FAW=Fighter, All Weather) had saddle tanks added to the two booms to increase fuel capacity and thus range as well as better electronics. At the time, it was the heaviest aircraft ever operated by the FAA and was twice the size of the Venom it replaced. Due to all that weight, it only managed to be about 75 mph faster than the Venom, but it did carry the Red Top missile for air-to-air combat, which the Venom could not, as well as the Bull Pup air-to-ground missile. It served with the FAA from 1959 'til 1974.