US Helicopter Pilots (1960s-1970s)

Published: December 3, 2023
Company: ICM

ICM has produced some stellar helicopter kits, but the thing for me is finally we have good Vietnam era figures for helicopters. This is their first set of 1/35th scale, having made the change from 1/32nd to a more common 1/35th scale helicopters.

Packaged in a sturdy cardboard side opening box with a card stock covering, this set includes two sprues of light grey plastic that show no signs of flash or mis-molding. There are 41 parts molded with good detail. Four figures are included, along with four flight helmets. The instruction sheet is full color and shows you what the figure should look like when finished. It also has references to ICM paints. I did paint the figures mostly with the ICM paints which performed well, but I didn’t have all the colors needed in the set.… more

AH-1W/T+ Cobra

Published: September 10, 2023
Company: Red Fox Studio

The MRC/Academy AH-1W and AH-1T+ are the only kits available of these versions of the Cobra in this scale. Like all Cobras, the interior is very visible through the big canopy. The kit cockpit cries out for detail and Red Fox answers.

Red Fox Studios has designed an instrument panel set for these kits. It comes in a small baggie with a hard paper backing. The actual parts are protected in a separate Ziplock. The parts are slightly different than some other 3D Acrylic parts. Red Fox 3D acrylic renderings are on a metal backing with the raised acrylic over that. The parts come off the protective backing quite easily. All you’ll have to do is remove the molded-on detail and add the Red Fox parts with superglue or PVA. No further modifications are necessary.

The set… more

AH-1G Cobra

Published: September 10, 2023
Company: Red Fox Studio

The new ICM/Special Hobbies AH-1G Cobra kit is well overdue. With its release the AH-1G Cobra has come into the new millennium. One of the nice features of the ICM/SH kit is the five-piece canopy that will allow you to pose the canopy doors open and view the interior. Even closed up the canopy is very clear and you’ll be able to see the interior very well.

Red Fox Studios has designed an instrument panel set for these kits. It comes in a small baggie with a hard paper backing. The actual parts are protected in a separate Ziplock. Red Fox 3D acrylic renderings are on a metal backing with the raised acrylic over that. The parts come off the protective backing quite easily. All you’ll have to do is remove the molded-on detail and add the Red Fox parts after dipping them in water.… more

Reggiane Re 2000 (Special Hobby Kit)

Published: September 10, 2023
Company: Brengun

Brengun continues to put out multi-media kits for various manufacturers. This particular set is designed for the Special Hobbies Re 2000 in 1/48th scale.

Packaged in a resealable package with heavy card stock backing to protect the photoetch, the set includes one fret of nickel-plated photoetch and one clear acetate film. The photoetch fret includes seatbelts, instrument panels, interior parts, and landing gear doors. The acetate will need some white added to the rear of the film, prior to adding it to the PE part.

The additional detail will add to the look of the cockpit and the landing gear covers. The instrument panels will just require some paint and dry brushing to bring out the detail. The PE landing gear cover is more to scale than the kit plastic part. All the… more

Mi-24D Internal Additional Fuel Tank

Published: September 7, 2023
Company: Hauler Brengun

The Mi-24 Hind is a formidable attack helicopter, but unlike the Western attack helicopters, there is a crew compartment in the back. If you want to show something a little different you can add things in there. This set is designed for just that.

Contained in a blister pack are six resin pieces, perfectly cast in a dark grey resin, along with a small decal sheet. The tank is held in place by two support struts and two supports and has one fuel line. Instructions are on a small sheet of paper printed in black and white. The instructions are easy to understand that there is a photo of the actual tank mounted inside of a real helicopter. With the tank painted yellow it will stick out quite prominently.

This is a great option to add to your Hind that will make it stand out… more

Piper L-4 Grasshopper

Published: September 7, 2023
Company: Iliad Design

With the release of the Special Hobbies and Sabre Kits, the Piper L-4 kits the market cried out for some marking options. Iliad Designs answered the call with their L-4 offering.

Enclosed in a 6 x 9 Ziploc baggie, are an instruction sheet and one sheet of decals. The instructions are in full color on both sides for SIX colorful options. They are just not the plain-jane OD over Neutral Grey, although there are four, but there is also a silver doped one and one in sand camouflaged. For those looking for something different, there is one French aircraft and one with D-Day stripes with a French fin flash. How about a US Navy one? Yup, Iliad has you covered. The side views are on the front and the plan views are on the back. A little bit of the history of each aircraft is covered on… more

Vietnam USAF Airfield

Published: August 10, 2023
Company: ICM

Boxing up multiple kits into a single boxing and offering a discount is not a new concept, however, it has yet to be as effective as what ICM currently offers in their product range. This offering offers two great aircraft and a set of figures to compliment them. A diorama waiting to be put together.

As there are three kits in this boxing, the O-2A Skymaster and the OV-10A Bronco along with USAF Personnel in Vietnam, I’ll offer three reviews in one as well.

Pilots & Technicians

First off, the personnel. This single sprue contains the parts for five figures found on a USAF flight line.

Finding figures in 1/48th scale for Vietnam is a pretty hard chore. Whether you want to depict USAF or Army helicopter pilots your choices in the past have been… more

AH-1G Cobra (Late) Landing Gear

Published: August 2, 2023
Company: Scale Aircraft Conversions

I’ve built two ICM AH-1Gs in 1/32nd scale. They are great kits, but the landing gear mounts can be fragile in the hands of a ham-fisted modeler like myself. On the two I built I had to pin and glue the gear back on a couple of times. It was frustrating as it was near the end of the build.

The difference between the early and late gear is the early gear has the fairing around the crosstubes. The late are just the round crosstubes.

Inside SAC’s typical blister pack are two white metal landing gear and four parts for the ground handling wheels. Mine were perfectly cast and were exact replicas of the kit landing gear, but stronger. This set does NOT have the aerodynamic fairings installed. Many of the later Vietnam era Cobras had the fairings removed to save weight but more… more

7. /JG-53 Bf-109G-6 'Cartoon Aircraft'

Published: August 2, 2023
Company: Iliad Design

Oh great another 109 decal sheet. Well yeah, but this one is different. This one has cartoon characters on the sides. Big cartoon characters!

Contained in a standard ziplock bag is one decal sheet with markings for six airplanes from 7./JG-53 based in Sicily in 1943 and two smaller sheets with fuel stencils. I believe they are printed by Cartograf these are some gorgeous decals for some very unique airplanes. The sheet is the standard 9x6 decal sheet with markings for the known cartoon aircraft. All of them are basically marked the same with the exception of the cartoon character. The decals provide you with all the aircraft numbers and characters. You get crosses, swastikas and fuel stencils for eight aircraft . Four sets of JG-53 emblems are included. There are no additional… more

Tally-Ho on the FAC, USAF OV-10A Broncos in the Vietnam Era

Published: July 26, 2023
Company: AOA Decals

AOA has provided us modelers with some great Vietnam markings for aircraft of all types. This latest sheet covers the OV-10A as used by the USAF in Vietnam.

Included in the 8.5 x 11 ziplock baggie are instructions and decals for 19 USAF aircraft. They are pretty much the same style of paint scheme as used by Air Force FACs in Vietnam, white on top of the wings with grey used on the rest of the airframe.

One unique airplane is the inclusion of a Pave Nail modified OV-10A. It is the beginning of guided munitions deliver. For more info on this system, check out: https://www.loran-history.info/Operation_Tight_Reign/PAVE%20NAIL.pdf

The instructions are on four sheets of… more