The P-38 Lightning was used in both European and Pacific theaters during World War II. It operated from paved strips as well as fields barely straight enough to throw rocks at. If there was one critical part of the aircraft on which the pilot placed his life during takeoffs and landings, it was the tires.

Ultracast, located north of the border in Canada, offers quite a few accessories for many different modeling subjects. This offering, #48227, is a block tire tread design replacement for any 1/48 scale P-38 kit. The package contains three spoked wheels, two main and one nose. All are cast in a tan resin, and have the pour gate still attached at the flattened bottom of the tire. A razor saw removed the gates quickly, and painting was the next step.

History:

The Rumpler C.IV was one of the outstanding high altitude reconnaissance aircraft of World War I, and it was produced in substantial numbers during 1917 and 1918. Preceded by the C.1 and C.III biplanes, the C.IV had excellent performance, and it could fly higher than most Allied fighters of the time. In addition, it was able to outrun some of them in a shallow dive, making these aircraft extremely popular with their crews. They served throughout the remainder of the war, and a few survived to be used as civilian airplanes in the immediate postwar period.

The Book:

In 1950, Volkswagen brought out a vehicle that, like the Beetle before it, would become an icon of the 1960’s – what we now know as the Micro-Bus. It was available in many different versions over the years: panel vans, pop-up camper vans, and even as an open-bed pickup truck. But one of the most popular was the Samba Bus, also knows as the 23-window van due to the large number of windows. There have been a number of versions of this vehicle in kit form over the years; let’s take a look at the latest one from Revell.

The kit is molded in white, with chrome and clear trees as well. Four vinyl tires and a large decal sheet round out the list of parts. All engraving is crisp, and there is no flash to speak of. Seams are fairly light and easy to remove.

The instructions are a 12-page booklet of clearly-drawn line drawings. Parts are named and numbered, and there are numerous paint call-outs that appear to be fairly accurate.