Extreme appreciation to Eduard for their having once again provided a sample copy of a long-awaited product, the F-8E Crusader, and the usual wave of thanks to the IPMS USA leadership for ensuring I received it!

This upgrade provides additional detail for the recently re-released Hasegawa F-8E crusader under the banner of Eduard, in the form of a hollowed out intake with visible depth to the intake. Just four parts here; two very thin PE baseplates with rivet detail, and the scoops themselves.

Installation steps: drill the two mounting holes in the afterburner position on the model at the pre-located drill hole wells from the inside, then carefully remove the PE baseplates from their fret. Dress the cut marks with your favorite method, then set aside.

Extreme appreciation to Academy and their USA distributor Model Rectifier Corporation for sending out this new version of their venerable F-4B/N kit, and the usual cheerleading wave of thanks to the IPMS USA leadership for sending it to me.

This kit sat a while in the link. I’ve built two of the Academy F-4’s, a “B” and a “J”, and had impressive results from even MY feeble modeling skills. Kits like this take a bit of time to construct, but are well worth it in the end.

What’s in the box are the same parts from the previous Academy Rhinos, with the exception of single color gray plastic, with no white, black, and gray parts. Yes, also clear parts. The decal sheet is new, for two plain-Jane gull gray over white F-4B’s from the Vietnam era for VMFA 531, The “Gray Ghosts”. The last version is the overall Light Gull Gray scheme with a Dark blue fin and markings. Yep, I went for some original color!

What's in the Box?

• 13 grey plastic sprues
• 1 plastic lower hull
• 1 Photo etch sheet
• 2 bags of magic tracks (one left and one right)
• 1 decal sheet
• 1 set of Instructions

Background

The SU76I was based on the German Panzer III and Stug III chassis. It was armed with a 76.2 mm gun. Approximately 200 of these captured vehicles were converted by the Russians. A new superstructure enclosing the 76.2 mm gun was added to the tank. The tank was issued to self-propelled gun units starting in autumn 1943, but it was withdrawn from the front in early 1944. Some SU-76i were recaptured by the Germans who added a Panzer III commander’s copula fixed on the roof. I found this to be very interesting in that the original vehicles had been re-purposed twice.