The HobbyBoss IAR-80 is a nice kit. There are some limitations when dealing with plastic. One of those limitations is the inability to mold things like cooling vents on gun barrels and the need to keep the parts round and also keep the small barrels out of the end of the vents. I can’t seem to do any of those things effectively. So why not use resin barrels as they are simple and easy to use?

Molded on a light grey pour block are four gun barrels with perfectly formed cooling jackets and the guns themselves protruding nicely out of the front of the cooling jackets. The kit guns are just round tubes sticking out of the wings. There is no detail and they are very simplified. You have to remove the kit guns and drill holes for the new guns. The Quickboost guns are significantly better than the kit ones. Removal of the guns from the resin pour block is easy enough just paint and add to the model. Simple and effective, just like most of Quickboost’s products.

Quickbost has produced a set of resin replacement propeller assemblies for the Hasegawa 1/72 scale Lockheed P-3 Orion kits. The resin replacement is a simple drop-in for the kit’s plastic parts. The supplied items include a separately cast spinner, post and blades with a cast resin assembly tool for inserting the blades at a consistent pitch. There is no modification required to the kit to use this prop assembly.

David R. Higgins is the author of several military history books, including five previous titles for Osprey's Duel series. These include King Tiger vs IS-2 (Duel 37), Mark IV vs A7V (Duel 49), Jagdpanther vs Su-100 (Duel 58), Panzer II vs 7TP (Duel 66), and M48 Patton vs Centurion (Duel 71). David has also authored books for Osprey in the Raid and Combat series. David authored a hardcover book for Casemate in 2010: The Roer Battles: Germany’s Stand at the Westwall, 1944-45. David has been prolific in periodicals, having written nearly 50 articles for magazines such as Strategy & Tactics, Armchair General, World at War and Modern War, and has appeared on television's ‘Greatest Tank Battles'. David attended the Columbus College of Art & Design and received a BFA from Ohio State University. He currently lives in New Albany, Ohio.