Published on
Company
Hasegawa
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$79.95
Overview
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Published on
Company
Airfix
Scale
1/76
MSRP
$11.99
For those old-timers in the hobby, the name Airfix may bring back many a fond memory of simple kits that only generally resembled what they were supposed to, and could be put together on a rainy Saturday afternoon at the kitchen table. However, since being taken over by the toy giant Hornby, Airfix has been in the process of re-inventing itself. Old kits are being updated and new ones issued as well. Their latest military vehicle offering is a King Tiger. It's all-new molding, as Airfix never did a King Tiger. There are 89 parts on three sprues. The molding is good – nice and crisp. However, they chose to mold all the tools and cables, etc., onto the hull. This makes adding zimmerit tricky and requires careful painting to pick them out.
Published on
Company
Starfighter Decals
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$12.50
I bought this upgrade set at the Orlando Nationals to upgrade the Monogram P-36 which I was going to do with the Yellow Wings decals, which I have also reviewed.
The Monogram P-36 has been around for a long time, first released in 1967. While it’s not a new kit, it has decent shape and fit. But the interior is just a seat and an instrument panel. Starfighter Decals, part of Mark’s Models and Toys, comes to the rescue with resin parts.
You get wheel wells, a seat, cockpit sides, a floor, an instrument panel, and a stick.
Mark Tutton made the masters for the resin parts, and he’s done a good job. Everything in the cockpit went together well, and I’m happy with how it looks.
The instructions call for an aluminum interior, or possibly interior green. Since the 77th Pursuit was at Moffett Field when they had this aircraft, and they were there in late 1939 to mid 1940, I chose the green.
Published on
Company
Yellow-Wings Decals
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$12.95
Yellow Wings Decals specializes in the “between the wars” period, 1930-1942, when there was a lot of aircraft development and the American military aircraft were incredibly gaudy. I’ve heard that the yellow wings on these aircraft were to make them easier to find when they made emergency landings or crashed somewhere off the field.
The Aircraft
This is the first of a series of special decals which will include more than one aircraft type. This set is for:
Published on
Company
Hasegawa
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$52.99
Aircraft History
The F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is a similar, yet fundamentally different, follow on to the F/A-18A-D “legacy” Hornets. Entering production in the late 90s, the Super Hornet, or “Rhino” as it is known in the fleet, improves upon many of the “legacy” Hornets’ shortcomings, most notably fuel capacity. The Rhino also increases power and payload over the Hornet, as well as offering updated avionics. Visually, it’s distinguished from the “legacy” Hornet by large squared-off stealthy jet intakes replacing the previous oval-shaped intakes, as well as the aft fuselage and wings being bulkier and larger overall. Ultimately, the Rhino is positioned as a money saving jack-of-all-trades for the US Navy, replacing the roles served by venerable aircraft such as the F-14, A-6, S-3, KA-6D Tanker, and in the guise of the EA-18G, the EA-6B.
Kit Contents