One of the areas that the 1/32nd scale Hasegawa Bf-109 kits lacks is the wheel wells. There is no lining and the detail is a little heavy. Aires now offers an option.

The Aires set includes two resin wheel well inserts and a small fret of photoetch. The parts are molded in light grey resin without any imperfections that I could see. The instructions are adequate for the job at hand.

Start the addition by deciding whether or not you want the round or squared off wheel wells. If you elect to use the squared off one, you’ll have to do it now. Then start thinning out the upper wings and the area around the wheel well opening. You will have to remove a good amount of plastic and thin out the upper wing, but nothing that a Dremel tool with sanding bit can’t fix. The process was actually quite easy. I removed some of the stiffeners in the kit wing but it wasn’t really necessary.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Dutch and the English were both great maritime nations. Their trade routes were far reaching and their trading companies rich and powerful. It was inevitable that a conflict would arise between them. In a series of three wars called the Anglo-Dutch Wars, the two countries fought for naval supremacy and for control of the seas and trading rights. A little political intrigue was mixed in just to make it interesting.

The first war, caused by commercial rivalry, took place from 1652-1654 during the time of English parliamentary and military rule by Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector. Cromwell eventually decided that the two Puritan nations should be allies instead of antagonists and opened negotiations for peace.

Thank you to David Lajer at Aires for this review item (I don’t know if he did the work on this one, but it is beyond amazing…I hate the expression “Awesome”… too fluffy for something as utilitarian as an afterburner, but this is just a great set!).

If you have ever had the chance to poke your head up the tailpipe of a MiG-23, you would be amazed at the complexity of the afterburner on that engine. Now, take that same thought, shrink down an actual engine to 1/32nd scale, and you would have this kit. Really.