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MiniArt is a Russian, I think, company that has produced a line of 1/72 scale buildings. These could be of use not only to the small scale modeler, but also to the model railroader as well.
Airfix has been busy lately coming out with newly tooled model kits, and the A-4B/4P Skyhawk continues that trend. The A-4 Skyhawk was a very successful light attack design by Douglas for the US Navy (and foreign buyers) and had a very long and effective career. There are many books that will go into great length on the development and history of this aircraft, so I will only deal with the build of this model kit. 73 parts are molded in a soft gray plastic (two more are clear parts), so be careful and don't sand to aggressively. Some have mentioned that the recessed panel lines are too deep, but what I found on my model was the fuselage lines got less deep towards the top and bottom of the fuselage and I had to rescribe these to match the rest of the fuselage, but it only took about 15 minutes to do so.
One of Scale Aircraft Conversion’s latest releases is a nice metal landing gear set for the Monogram 1/48 T-28 series. I was currently reviewing the Roden T-28D and, miraculously, this was a nice fit on that kit, too. The set contains the three gear struts, the additional part for the front gear, and the gear door attachment linkages for the bottom gear doors. All the parts are well cast in white metal with small seams which are easily sanded off.
Fit is excellent, as you can see from the pictures. I can say that having the front landing gear in metal is good as there is a fair amount of weight in the kit to keep it on its gear and metal is much more stable.
This is another great set from SAC for a reasonable price. Recommended especially with the weight over the nose gear. My thanks to Scale Aircraft Conversions for the review sample and to IPMS/USA for the change to review it.
Quickboost has a pair of great detail sets for the Trumpeter 1/32 F/A-18E/F kits. The parts reviewed here are the ECS (Environmental Control System) exhausts which are located on the back of the new Hornets. There are two sets. First is a late version which is a direct replacement of the kit parts. Simply sand the kit parts smooth and sand off the casting block and attach. The Quickboost parts have more of a correct angle to them and deeper intakes and are very well cast.
The second set allows you to backdate the kit to one with the early set of ECS exhausts. In this case, a little surgery will be needed to allow the part to sit into the kit. There is a picture included to show the needed cuts. The casting is again flawless.
THE KIT
You get two finely done brass parts in a plastic envelope, which is inside another plastic envelope. Good plan – loose parts of this size would be a disaster, not to mention impossible to find. I liked the instruction sheet, it was simple, to the point, and uncluttered.
ASSEMBLY
I had some problems with this project. I had originally planned to replace the pitot on my Jaguar T.2 with this pitot. Wrong part, I had to build a Jaguar GR1. And then the paint job. I had run out of RAF Operation Granby Sand paint, and didn’t have any around. So I decided to mix my own. Been a while since I mixed paints, and I got it entirely too reddish the first try. Threw it out and retried. Much closer on the second try. I am proud and happy that the RAF decided to go single colour on their Jaguars.
