Roy Sutherland of Barracuda Studios is back… and this time with a totally unexpected item; a 1/32 A-4 “kahu” Upgrade for your Trumpeter A-4 to turn it into a New Zealand bird.

Anyone who has been around the modeling community for a while should be familiar with Roy and his company. Well researched and flawlessly executed resin, decals, and other items for (Is it 20 years?)… This set is no exception.

3D printing has arrived at the house of the ‘cuda fish. I have this upgrade in hand and an impressive little bit of upgrade this is. I am no KAHU expert, but have seen the retired birds at work at Nellis AFB (until recently, some kind of contract change). The Kiwi markings are gone, but the overall paint scheme remained.

This set is designed to upgrade your Trumpeter A-4 to a KAHU. The instructions (which you download from Roy’s website) give full instructions on how to remove everything from the printing trestles, and how to use the remaining parts.

From Barracudacast’s website:

“The Aero 1D 300 gallon tanks were widely used, and were carried in this configuration by all variants of the Skyhawk as well as the F4D Skyray. This set consists of a pair of highly accurate and detailed 3D printed droptanks, complete with separate shackles for mounting to pylons. Drop tanks are printed hollow, so they will not weigh down an already large and heavy model. These tanks replace the inaccurate and less detailed tanks found in most 1/32 kits.”

Released to accompany the “KAHU” conversion, it is also valid with the standard A-4. Comprised of four parts for each tank and a set of six mounting brackets (Spares included, heck yes I tested it out)

This took me all of 20 minutes to finish the review set. CAREFULLY remove the parts from their stanchions, lightly sand, and CAREFULLY superglue with slow setting stuff.

From 1948 through the 1950s British and Commonwealth forces fought a ruthless communist insurgency on the Malay peninsula. Thanks to sound generalship and the dedication and resilience of the officers and men, the security forces eventually broke the terrorists' resolve.

This book charts the service of one particular unit, the 1st Battalion, The Suffolk Regiment, throughout their tour of duty between 1949 to 1953, the most critical years in The Emergency. The book describes in text and photos how the Battalion – which was mostly made up of National Servicemen conscripts – was able to operate in the oppressive climate and jungle conditions of the Malay Peninsula. Its success was built on good leadership and those most elusive of factors, good morale and camaraderie.