The Fuji T-1A was the first Japanese-designed aircraft produced after World War II. Designed by Fuji Heavy Industries and powered by a Bristol Siddeley Orpheus turbojet engine, the prototype took to the air for the first time on January 1, 1958. 46 T-1As were built before the T-1B superseded it on the assembly line. They served as training aircraft until they were retired, with the final flight occurring on March 3, 2006.

This finely molded kit comes with 62 parts on three sprues, and two clear parts on a separate sprue. All the panel lines are engraved, and the fit is excellent. The kit comes with a photoetched (PE) painted fret for detailing the cockpit and the landing gear. While the instructions are in Japanese with only a descriptive paragraph in English, they are easy to follow.

Hobby Boss has released another large, 1/18^th scale aircraft for your modeling enjoyment. Along with their 1/18^th Me262, FW 190, Harrier and Huey we now have the F-86 F-30 'Sabre' to grace our ceilings. (About the only place to display this behemoth.)

Some of you may be having flashbacks but these kits seem to resemble those that were once available from Merit International and before that 21^st Century Toys. The markings in this kit are similar to those offered by Merit International, so I'm going with the inference that this Sabre kit may once have been marketed by someone else.

Thanks to Casemate Books (an imprint of Pen & Sword Books) & Casemate Publishers for the review copy!

Alexander Morrow received a PhD in European history from Georgetown University, and has taught history at Georgetown, Franklin & Marshall University and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Alexander is a prolific writer of military history and fiction.

Agostino von Hassell graduated from Columbia Journalism School and has taught at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. He too is a prolific writer of military history, but also of food history.