Do-335A Detail Set

Published: August 26, 2018
Company: Master Model

The Do-335 has been well represented in 1/48th scale with the old, but venerable, Monogram kit and the more recent Tamiya one.

Master has had a long held reputation of producing some extremely accurate turned metal barrels and this set is no different. Packaged with a card stock protective backing inside a little ziplock bag are the five beautifully rendered pieces. The nose blast tube is in the front spinner, along with two 30mm cannon barrels on top of the fuselage is included. There is also a pitot tube and FuG-25 antenna. All of them are thin and have no mold lines and are perfectly round. Something I cant do in plastic. The best thing about these sets is that they are stronger and thinner than plastic.

The instructions are easy to understand and follow. You will… more

Bf-109G Gun Pods

Published: August 25, 2018
Company: Eduard

The options for the Tamiya kit are plentiful. What more could you ask for? Well how about opened panels, such as the 20mm Gondola gun pods? Having built up both the Eduard and the Tamiya Bf-109G-6s I think the open gun pods on the wings adds visual interest. When accompanied with the positionable cowling arrangement on the Tamiya kit these little gems will set your kit apart.

Packaged in a typical Brassin blister pack with the contents protected by foam and cardboard are twelve pieces of grey resin and one fret of photo etch. The instructions are on two small double sided pages with line drawings that show everything you need to do and the order that you need to do it in.

The set is actually easy to use. Easier than you would have thought. Removing the parts from the… more

Bf-109G-6 Wheels

Published: August 25, 2018
Company: Eduard

The Tamiya Bf-109G-6 is an awesome kit. There are some areas that could use upgrading. One of those areas is the wheels.

Eduard supplies three light grey resin pieces and a mask set inside their typical blister pack. The detail is far superior to the kit offering. The one thing that you will notice is that the wheels have bulged sidewalls and flat bottoms. This is especially nice on the tail wheel which should have a distinct bulge. The bulge is not overdone and looks very convincing.

The instructions are included on a small sheet that points out exactly what needs to be done. The only thing that really needs to be done, other than remove and paint, is to drill a hole for the tail wheel strut in the appropriate tail wheel mount.

The wheels are keyed for the… more

Twin Store Carrier with BD3-USK

Published: August 25, 2018
Company: Amigo Models

Amigo Models, and their separate product line of Advanced Modeling are producing some of the finest Russian accessories available.

The latest for this reviewer is the Twin Stores Carrier with BD3-USK for the Su-34 and Su-35 series of aircraft. The rack itself is designed to be used with either rocket launchers or bombs. This makes for a versatile underwing stores carrier.

The set comes in a resealable package with cardstock backing. The instructions are glued to that card stock. They are printed in black and white. Languages are in English and Russian, but the pictures are easy to understand and shows what needs to be done very clearly.

The resin is cast perfectly in light grey resin. Some of the parts are again wrapped in resealable packaging to safeguard… more

UB-32A-73 57mm Rocket Launcher

Published: August 25, 2018
Company: Amigo Models

A new company to me is Advanced Modeling/Amigo Models out of Russia. The first piece I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing is the UB-32A-73 Rocket Launcher. This rocket launcher is used on a variety of aircraft, including helicopters. I’m used to seeing these launchers on the Mi-24 Hind and Mi-8TB Hip, but it also is used on MiG-21, 23, 27 and the Su-7, 17/22 and 24.

A resealable acetate package with cardboard backing contains 16 pieces of light grey resin. Each piece is separately packaged in its own resealable clear acetate. It is perfectly cast with no flaws noted. The instructions are mounted to the cardboard backing that explains the assembly sequence and decal placement. Each rocket pod has eight pieces, some of them very small, but they are all perfectly cast. Also included… more

Mersu Bf-109G in Finland Dual Combo

Published: August 25, 2018
Company: Eduard

Finland was one of the most well known of the German allies that used the Bf-109. They used Gustavs from the G-2 to the G-6. Finland continued to fly the 109 all the way into the 1950s. They were used against the Russians to good effect.

The Eduard kits are an impressive representation of the Bf-109G. This kit contains two kits. One is the G-2 and the other is a G-6. The G-2 comes with two sets of wings and the G-6 contains the normal bulged wings. This boxing comes with impressive artwork. It has the beautiful air racer version of markings on the front, the markings I’ve always wanted to build. This is why I decided to build this kit. Inside the large box is light grey plastic that allows you to build two aircraft with three choices of wings. My example did not have any flash… more

Mil Mi-8/Mi-17 Hip Landing Gear

Published: August 24, 2018
Company: Scale Aircraft Conversions

The Trumpeter helicopters are really nice kits but the kit’s white metal landing gear are very fragile. They are brittle and break apart. I’ve had this issue with the CH-47D and Mi-8 kit landing gear. Scale Aircraft Conversions offers a replacement set of white metal landing gear for the Hip.

This set includes nine white metal parts for the landing gear. They are direct replacements for the kit landing gear. They are packaged in a cardboard backed blister pack. The detail is nicely represented and should prove no problem for adding them to the kit.

They are not brittle like the kit parts. Some parts will need straightening as they got slightly bent during shipping.

These are a nice addition and stronger than the kit landing gear. These are a perfect replacement for… more

WGr.21 for Bf 109G-6

Published: August 24, 2018
Company: Eduard

The Tamiya Bf-109G-6 allows a lot of options. One option that isn’t included is the WGr-21 Rocket system. The mortar rockets were mounted under the wings of the Bf-109, from the G-2 to the G-6.

This set is packaged in a typical blister pack with 16 light grey resin and one photo-etch fret. The resin is molded in light grey and dark grey not that it matters as both styles are beautifully done. The weld mark on the tubes is awesome.

The fret is made up mostly of templates to first set the angle of support struts and second to then set its location on the wing. The assembly of the set is pretty straightforward once you get the templates made up. You get two separate rockets for your diorama and two rockets to be ‘installed’ in the tubes. The photo-etch parts for the… more

Bf-109G-6 Exhaust Stacks

Published: November 12, 2020
Company: Eduard

The Tamiya Bf-109G-6 has that beautiful engine that can be shown opened or closed. My question was they lead the world in engineering kits, can’t they hollow out the exhausts? Apparently not. So that is where this set comes in.

Eduard provides the answer. Packaged in the typical Brassin blister pack, Eduard provides you with some spectacular exhausts to replace the kit parts. Two light grey resin set of exhausts are included, as well as, a fret of photo-etch. They have beautiful weld lines and are hollowed out. They also are specifically designed for the Tamiya kit. The mounting points on the engine are sided and so are these beauties.

The photo-etch parts are for the deflectors and the front and rear deflectors.

The instructions are printed on a single sheet… more

Team Factory: Carrier Air Wing Eight at War - Operation Inherent Resolve 2017

Published: August 24, 2018
Company: Furball Aero-Design

The USS George H.W. Bush is the latest aircraft carrier in the US Navy arsenal. The carrier was deployed in 2017 as the flagship of Operation Inherent Resolve. On its decks were the many variants of the F/A-18, in the guise of the C, E, and F as well as the EA-18G. Furball Aero-Design has gathered this information and provided it to the modeler.

The decals are packaged in a large ziplock. They are printed by Cartograf so you know they are world class decals. The colors are in perfect register with good color saturation. My decals were so large that I couldn’t seal them. I cut the bottom and top of the sheet to make it fit the packaging.

The decal sheets contain markings for 18 aircraft, five F/A-18Fs, eight F/A-18Es, three F/A-18Cs and two EA-18Gs. The aircraft… more