History

The English Electric Canberra traces its roots back to 1944 when the Air Ministry issued a requirement for a successor to the De Havilland Mosquito 'with no defensive armament and a high-altitude capability to evade interceptors'. Taxi tests began in May of 1949 and the first flight was May 13^th, 1949…..and yes, it was a Friday! First delivery to the RAF was May 25^th, 1951 t0 101Sqn, Binbrook and in the next 3 years, 23 squadrons received the aircraft. The Canberra proved so successful that it was exported to many other countries (15) and also built in Australia and the U.S. there were (including prototypes) 40 variants of the Canberra. The B9i).6 was the interim interdictor version for the RAF pending delivery of the B(I)8. Based on the B.6 with a detachable ventral pack housing four 20 mm Hispano Mk. V cannon for strafing; also had provision for two wing hard points. LABS (Low-Altitude Bombing System) for delivery of nuclear bombs.

Recently I was given the opportunity by IPMS USA to review Aires Focke-Wulf Fw 190F-8 fuel point with covers for the 1/32 Revell Focke-Wulf Fw 190F-8 kit. One of the first things to notice with this product is the excellent presentation of the packaging with the sealed flap on the back of the package to allow for easy access to parts.

Upon removal of the resin fuel points and covers, you will notice the great detail that we have come to expect from Aires QB products. The molding on the fuel points and covers is excellent and it comes off of the resin block with little effort along with the help of a razor saw.

Eduard continues to expand its series pre-painted seatbelts in the “steel” series. I think that Eduard Models call this product line “Steelbelts”.

When working with this new line of seatbelts (steelbelts) the main thing that jumps is how thin they are. Reading in the Info Eduard (June 2016 issue) they say they are 0.04 mm thick. I should probably say they are 0.04 mm thin. They are pre-painted and also have some shading (weathering) on them.

You apply them like any other metal aftermarket piece, using a dab of superglue. That is all that takes to use the steel seatbelts. About 1 minute per seat and it is very easy to do (if you have experience with small parts).

Pros

• They are very flexible and easy to pose in any position you would like.
• They are pre-painted and have nice stitching detail on them.
• You can bend and re-bend them a few times and they will keep their last shape.

Cons