This is a highly detailed and intricate kit in its own right, and makes a definite improvement in the flaps provided in the Airfix kit. Since the Blenheim, and many other aircraft types of the era as well, had flaps with only one exterior surface, the inside detail is quite visible when the flaps are lowered. This kit provides a set of metal flaps, which are to be held together with superglue, and a very detailed set of instructions. I have done landing flaps for other kits with Eduard accessories, and they are well designed and easy to assemble. However, for the reasons I gave in the Airfix Blenheim kit review, I chose not to use these for my Airfix kit, and will probably adapt them to a Frog kit shortly. However, I have no doubt that if you do decide to build a Blenheim with the flaps in the “down” position, these flaps will be a definite improvement over those included in the kit. Highly recommended if you choose to add this feature to your model.

This is an excellently done photo etch set for the cockpit interior of the new Airfix Bristol Blenheim Mk. 1 kit. Although appearing to by small, the sheet provides just about everything you could want in the interior of the Blenheim, and since the glass canopy of the kit is very nicely done, any interior detail will be plainly visible. Some parts, such as the control wheel, some of the engine and flap controls, and some sidewall panel detail should be removed and replaced with the PE parts. Other parts can be added to existing structure, such as instrument panels, seat belts, etc. There are a few parts to be added to the rear turret, and one rather large piece of metal is to be placed on the right cockpit sidewall, and although there are no instructions as to color, it probably should be painted interior green.

Italeri recently released the first ever kit of the Mirage IIIC in 1/32^nd scale – an elegant and iconic aircraft of the cold war that served (and continues to serve) in a variety of air forces around the world. Now they’ve come out with the Mirage III E/R variant. This version of the full-size craft was first marketed in 1964 and featured a slightly longer fuselage - about a foot - in order to increase the size of the avionics bay situated aft of the cockpit. This also had the consequence of increasing the internal fuel capacity a bit, which was good as the Mirage III was always known for its relatively short range. All this bumped the cockpit forward a bit, and the difference shows in that the rear of the cockpit just aligns with the top lip of the intakes, whereas it sat further back on the IIIC.