In my stash are a couple of old ESCI 1/48 Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jets along with the newer Kinetic issue. The Alpha Jet is a beautiful aircraft reminiscent of a dolphin in mid-air, having launched from the water in a playful breach of the surface. The craft was developed as a European trainer jointly by France and Germany. It was perfectly suited for that mission: forgiving, fast, agile and excellent overall vision from the cockpit. The type has served for over 40 years in the training role. Germany used the type as a close support platform. France still uses the Alpha Jet for their colorful demonstration team (Patrouille de France) aircraft, as does Portugal (Asas de Portugal). The Alpha Jet was also used by QinetiQ in the UK by the Test Pilots School, and Top Aces, the German based contract adversary company.

Brengun Models is a scale model and detailing parts manufacturer located in the Czech Republic. Their lines include limited production run multi-media kits and exquisitely detailed photo-etched, turned brass and white metal replacement parts for aircraft in the most commonly produced scales.

Brengun has produced a set of wheels for any 1/72 scale F/A-18E/F or G Super Hornet kit. There are no instructions, but any modeler familiar with resin parts will have no issues installing these wheels in lieu of the kit parts. A close-up evaluation of the parts (see photos), indicates a simple cut and replace installation that provides realistic scale-detailed wheels with significantly improved appearance to molded plastic kit parts. The photo comparison is to the Hasegawa kit. The Brengun wheels have superior hub, brake and tread detail to those supplied in the Hasegawa kit.