Everyone knows the F-14D Tomcat and its swing wing design – Top Gun locked that down to the general public. Before the F-14 was built, Grumman produced the XF10F Jaguar, which was the world’s first swing wing fighter. Never heard of it? Me, either, until Planet Models produced a resin kit of it. One reason it never became famous is that only one was ever produced (although a second was started) and, like many early jets, it suffered from being…well, underpowered. Add that to the weird cantilever tail and the other problems, and the plane ended up being a test bed for swing wings, and I can say that lots of good information was learned and ended up in the F-111 and F-14. If you want to see one today, you can’t. Both of them were destroyed, so we have a model left to bring us that part of history.

The word Vulcan conjures different images for different people. If you are into Roman mythology, you think of the God of Fire. If you like the show Star Trek, Vulcan is that red planet Spock calls home. But if you are in the US military or build models of those vehicles, Vulcan is the 20mm Gatling gun that is so deadly on the battlefield.

First used in 1959, the M61 has adorned most of the US aircraft from the F-104 to today’s F-22. Its 6,000 rounds per minute can chew up enemy targets, and it has also been used by the Navy in the Phalanx CIWS system and the Army as the M163 Anti Aircraft weapon.

As with most Soviet-designed aircraft, the Yak-38 Forger has a nose pitot tube. While not as prominent as the pitot tubes on the MiG and Sukhoi bureau aircraft, the pitot is still visibly right in front and on top of the nose. As with previous detail sets in this line, Quickboost provides multiples of the same pitot, no doubt because the pitot is one of the most vulnerable parts to damage during transport and handling. This pitot tube is noticeably longer than the one provided by Hobby Boss in their kit. After a comparison with photos of the plane, it appears that, in fact, the Hobby Boss pitot tube is too short. The Quickboost replacements are accurate in length and shape and are drilled at the tip! The part is also keyed to fit right where the kit part mounts. I have found the resin used by Quickboost to be more durable than the styrene and therefore more resistant to breakage. Highly recommended.