Bf-109F Engine and Fuselage Guns

Published: November 12, 2020
Company: Eduard

The Bf-109F introduced huge engine access doors for servicing the engine. With these hinged doors the Bf-109 was easy to service. This feature is a visually appealing look. So Eduard’s kit is a natural for this treatment. But with the complex look and shape of the engine and piping would they be able to capture it.

Eduard’s set is designed its 109Fs. Packaged in a sturdy cardboard box with protective Styrofoam pieces, the kit includes 46 resin parts, a photoetch fret, and decals to detail your engine. The resin pieces are secured inside of three small ziplock baggies. This prevents them from moving around and if something should break off it is easily found. My example had no breakage. The resin is the typical Eduard resin in light grey with no bubbles or warpage that I could… more

Bf-109F Undercarriage Legs BRONZE

Published: November 12, 2020
Company: Eduard

The spindly stance of the Bf-109 is always a pain on the real 109 and on models of it. They are fragile and susceptible to damage. This is especially an issue when there is no additional support around like the landing gear covers.

Eduard has an answer for that, brass landing gear. This little set is a gem and like a gem it is shiny. There are two brass landing gear legs in the blister package and two resin landing gear covers. The brass parts required very little clean up. The only part that actually needed to be cleaned up was on the mounting surface. The rest of it was beautifully cast without a mold line. The two resin landing gear doors are nice as well. The doors have detail on the inside of them as well, including the brake line. One thing about the brake line on the… more

Bf-109F Royal Class

Published: April 27, 2017
Company: Eduard

The pinnacle of the Eduard product line is the Royal Class series. The particular boxing features two complete Bf-109F kits, one with square wheels wells and one with round ones. Two clear plastic sprues round out the plastic parts. Brassin wheels, tail wheels and exhausts are the resin pieces included. Two pre-painted photo etch frets are included along with six brass frets. The one fret contains the parts necessary to do the F-1 variant of Werner’s Mölders, the first time this variant has been modeled. Then there are three frets for the exhaust shrouds. A single mask set includes the masks necessary for both models. Of course there are marking options, 14 of them to be exact.

Because this is a Royal Class kit there are others ‘goodies’. A beer glass with the Bf-109F… more

Bf-109F Propeller EARLY

Published: April 27, 2017
Company: Eduard

The Eduard Bf-109F kit is a beautiful feat of engineering and looks every bit the part of a Freidrich. But what if you want to add a little bit of detail? Something outside the norm? That is where the Brassin range comes in.

There were three different types of props that were used on the Bf-109F. The Early type of prop was the VDM 9-11207. This type of propeller was used on the Bf-109F-1 and F-2s. This set depicts this prop arrangement.

This particular offering is a realistically thin and proper shaped propeller blades. There are seven resin parts and two small photo etch pieces included in the set. They are packaged in a vacuform blister pack with Styrofoam pieces to protect the pieces during transit. The resin is light grey with no blemishes or bubbles anywhere.… more

Su-25K Frogfoot Control Lever and Pedals

Published: March 6, 2017
Company: Quickboost

Big sprue attachment points and soft plastic are not a good combination for small parts. The KP/Smer kits have just his problem. They are great kits and the most accurate Su-25K available, but there are some things that you can do better.

Enter Quickboost. This two-piece resin upgrade is for the cockpit. Perfectly cast in light grey resin this set has a control lever and pedals. The detail that is on the control lever alone is beautiful. Every switch is there and they are all perfectly cast. The pedals are beautifully done on the control yoke. The pedals are so nice that they have the anti-slid surface. A good paint and dry brush bring out all the detail. These parts are simple replacement for the kit parts.

Easy to remove parts with far superior detail and an… more

Su-25K Frogfoot Landing Light

Published: March 6, 2017
Company: Quickboost

The Su-25 is the Soviet equivalent of the A-10 first utilized in Afghanistan. This mud mover is pretty well represented in 1/48^th scale by KP/Smer. As always there are ways to improve what comes in the box.

Quickboost has taken to updating the Frogfoot to a whole different level. This particular set is designed to upgrade the lights. Packaged in a typical Quickboost resealable package with card stock backing has two resin sprues. The first is light grey resin which holds the two reflectors. The second resin part is molded in clear resin. It has the bulbs and two new clear resin lens.

To use the set you simply have to drill out the landing light hole in the wing. Then you paint the reflector, add the bulb, and use the clear resin lens. Done. Simple, easy and… more

Battle Scooters (1)-USN/USMC A-4C & A-4E Skyhawks in the Vietnam War

Published: March 3, 2017
Company: AOA Decals

Often forgotten about Naval Aviation in Vietnam is the diminutive A-4 Skyhawk. Despite its small size, this nimble little aircraft could carry an amazing amount of bombs. Flown by the Marines and the Navy, this aircraft carried out some of the most dangerous missions in Vietnam.

AOA Decals continues to release Vietnam era subjects and I for one love their choice of subjects. This set is designed for the Hasegawa kits of the A-4C and A-4E.

The instructions are packaged in a 9 x 12 inch Ziploc bag and are printed in full color on four double-sided pages. The instructions are little works of art displaying the side profile for 13 aircraft. The initial page gives you information to make the Hasegawa kit more accurate. Each aircraft is described in detail to let you figure… more

Ladder for F-104

Published: March 3, 2017
Company: Plusmodel

One feature of jets is the need to use ladders to get inside of them. This essential item of ground handling equipment is typically forgotten by model manufacturers. Thanks to Plus Model this key component is finally available.

Packaged in a small top opening cardboard box is a single sprue of light grey plastic inside a plastic bag. There are 15 parts involved in this small kit. The instructions are on the back of the box. The painting instructions are also there but it is quite simple, either yellow or dark green.

Assembly of the ladder is simple enough. The key will be ensuring that everything is squared off.

The dark yellow will highlight this ground handling piece of equipment regardless of the camouflage of your Starfighter.

The kit is a simple kit… more

AGM-114 Hellfire

Published: November 12, 2020
Company: Eduard

The Apache is an impressive helicopter (when it works, sorry former Cobra pilot said a bad thing). What makes it really impressive is the Hellfire missile system. Also carried by the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior and many drones the Hellfire has allowed anti-tank and anti-personnel capabilities unheard of before. The ability to reach out and torch things 10Ks away is always good for the crewmembers and bad for bad guys.

Packaged in a typical Brassin box with foam cushioning. Inside the foam are three small ziplock bags containing the resin parts in light and dark grey resin. There are two clear resin blocks with the missile warheads. I could not find any flaws or blemishes on any of the parts. There are 50 resin parts. The resin covers two eight missile launchers. This is a typical… more

Su-25K Frogfoot Undercarriage Covers

Published: March 3, 2017
Company: Quickboost

The KP/Smer Su-25 Landing Gear covers lack detail and are slightly thick. Quickboost comes to the rescue with this simple set.

This set is packaged in the typical Quickboost way with a cardstock protecting the contents. You get two pour stubs of light grey resin with exquisite detail. There are four doors two for the front wheel and each main gear. Removal of the parts from the pour blocks is simple enough. Then it is just a matter of cleanup, prime, and paint. The parts feature rivet details and beautifully recessed portions.

Another simple and effective set that will enhance your model with minimal work.

Highly recommended

Thanks to Aires and IPMS/USA for the review copy.