Minicraft produces a variety of aircraft kits in 1/48^th, 1/72^nd, and 1/144^th scale, but I always associate them with the wide variety of 1/144^th planes they offer.

Over the years, Minicraft has released and re-released this version of the P-38 a number of times. Many times it’s just a new boxing, or has a different decal scheme, but every time it’s been the same kit. The kit itself was originally the Crown models mold, and like Helen of Troy had a face that launched a thousand ships, it appears that Crown has the mold that launched a thousand boxings of the P-38. The last time I built this kit, it was packaged in a Minicraft/Academy boxing, but the original “new tool” is from 1975. Since that time, this kit has been sold by Crown, AHM, Revell, Minicraft/Academy, and finally Minicraft Model kits. This version is the first to include new parts in the form of a pre-painted canopy.

If you really, I mean really like research, then you know the passion that comes with it. Well so does Fündekals. Their latest release is on the F4U Corsair. This is their second Corsair sheet and it is full of goodies too.

First off, did I miss something? I only got decals. There are no instructions with this sheet. No, that is the norm for Fündekals. To save printing costs, and subsequent costs to you, you can download the instruction booklet online. You can save it and/or print it. The amount of research into the booklet is worth the price of admission.

The decals themselves are printed by B.O.A. so you know they are world class. They are thin, opaque and in register. The sheets are mostly white markings but there are some colorful personal emblems included for the aircraft. The second sheet is the geometric markings for one of the subject aircraft.

Per Wikipedia, the AN/AAQ-28(V) LITENING targeting pod is an advanced precision targeting pod system currently operational with a wide variety of aircraft worldwide. The targeting pod contains a high-resolution, forward-looking infrared (FLIR) sensor that displays an infrared image of the target to the aircrew. It has a wide field of view search capability and a narrow field of view acquisition/targeting capability of battlefield-sized targets. The pod also contains a CCD camera used to obtain target imagery in the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum capability. They are currently in use in over 20 countries in the world.