I don't know too much about the history of this vehicle, but being an avid model railroader, it looked like something fun and different to build. Now that the bug has bitten I want to collect the whole series of Armored Rail Cars and make a complete train. This is a typical Trumpeter kit: well packed, with each parts sprue in an individual bag. You get three sheets of photoetch and one sheet of decals. Also included is a section of track to place the finished model on.

I must be one of the few modelers left that hasn’t built at least one of these since this kit was introduced more than thirty years ago. The 1/48^th F-4, along with the Century Series and Naval Aviation jet aircraft molded by Revell and Monogram back in the 1970s and 80s are truly classic models: exemplified by outstanding detail throughout (for their day), but particularly in the cockpit and wheel wells; finely raised panel lines, and the sometimes less than stellar fit of some of the component parts. All of this offered at a consistently affordable price.

This particular version of the venerable F-4 has been in and out of production a number of times since 1979. This kit represents the latest incarnation. A quick glance at the inside of the wing or the underside of the tailplane will confirm this kit’s ancient lineage, as well as something new about this particular molding’s place of birth.

It’s hard to find words to describe this cross between the famous IL-2 Sturmovik and a T-34 tank. Like its WWII cousin, the IL 40 was born as a jet powered heavily armed and armored ground support aircraft. First flown on March 7, 1953, this beast carried 4000 pounds of armor plates protecting the crew and vital airframe components.

Weapons were carried internally and on external hard points. Additional firepower consisted of four 23 mm cannons mounted on the underside and another in a remotely aimed stinger protecting the rear quadrant. This kit represents the refined prototype as the original had air intakes at the wing roots and the cannons in the nose. As many other aircraft designers discovered, cannon gasses don’t mix with jet engines and as a result the guns on the IL 40 were moved back and the intakes moved as far forward as possible.