This set provides an upgrade for Hasegawa’s AV-8B Harrier II kit and provides a complete overhaul of the kit cockpit and along with a number of photo-etch details for the exterior of the aircraft.

The cockpit parts include photo-etch rudder pedals, sidewalls, replacement tops for both the left and right-side consoles, two different main instrument panels, a photo-etch HUD bracket with clear film for the reflecting glass, and photo-etch harnesses and other upgrades to the ejection seat. The two instrument panels give you the option to model either an early AV-8B, such as those that saw combat in Desert Storm, or an AV-8B Night Attack Harrier or AV-8B+. The early panel has a single multifunction display, while the Night Attack Harrier and the AV-8B+ panel has two multifunction displays. The casting for each instrument panel is outstanding with exceptionally fine detail.

During the summer of 1944 a series of massive Soviet offensives threatened to destroy the entire German army on the Eastern Front. As the Wehrmacht scrambled to hold what ground it could many formations simply disappeared and the available armored units were used to plug the gaps in the front line. One of the most important elements of the defense was the newly raised IV.SS-Panzerkorps which contained the veteran Totenkopf and Wiking divisions. Although both were well equipped their real striking power lay in the battalion of Pzkpfw V Panther tanks with which each was outfitted, perhaps the most effective armored fighting vehicle produced by Germany during the Second World War.

Shocking in the stark realism of perfected three dimensions...out of the muck and mystery of a hundred million years ago...up from the depths of unknown horror comes an abomination to confound science and terrorize the world. It''s ' Dawn of Drone ' !

While that might be a bit melodramatic and with apologies to the producers of 'Creature from the Black Lagoon' this release from Platz Hobby does illustrate beautifully (in scale model form) the beginnings of the use of drone aircraft in the early 1950's. Platz Hobby's 1/144th scale F6F-3K Hellcat depicts F6F-3K Hellcats used during the atomic weapon tests at Bikini atoll in the early fifties.

For a more detailed description I encourage you to click the link to an article by Dan Gettinger about those events and the early use of drone aircraft (Hellcats/B-17's) as research platforms. [The Drones of the Atomic Age (bard.edu)]