FW-190A-F Prop & Spinner VDM-9-12153A Metal Blades with External Weights

Published: May 2, 2014
Company: Ultracast

Ultracast offers a whole new and unique assembly for the front of your Focke Wulf A/F. The addition of the external weights is quite common on late war Focke Wulf aircraft. Until now they have not been available in model form without the modeler having to scratchbuild them.

This set is packaged in a small zip lock bag on the cardboard backing. The resin is typical Ultracast, molded in a light caramel colored with no blemishes anywhere. There are no pour blocks on the blades. Minimal flash is present on the spinner and cooling fans. Clean up will be easy with a new hobby blade.

The external weights are flawlessly executed and will add dramatically to the spinner assembly. The blades are thin and perfectly shaped. No pour blocks on the blades means that none of the… more

FW-190A-F Prop & Spinner VDM-9-12067A Metal Blades

Published: May 2, 2014
Company: Ultracast

How often have you wanted to build a FW-190A only to discover that your subject aircraft didn’t carry the ‘normal’ type of prop? It has happened to me a few times. You can either live with it, which I did at the time, or you can shelve that particular aircraft until the new props become available. Well that time has come courtesy of Ultracast.

Like most of Ultracast’s products, this set is packaged in a small zip lock bag on the cardboard backing. The resin is a light caramel colored with no blemishes anywhere. There are no pour blocks on the blades. There is a minimal amount of flash on the spinner and cooling fans. All of which will be cleaned up easily and quickly with a new blade.

The first of three new prop and spinners designed for the Hasegawa FW-190 range is the… more

WWII Luftwaffe Fighter Pilot Mid-Late War

Published: May 2, 2014
Company: Ultracast

If you’ve contemplated, built or painted any figures you will no doubt run across the name of Mike Good. He is the world’s best figure sculptor. He is well known for the perfect proportions, excellent faces and natural poses.

Mike’s latest work for Ultracast is a Mid-Late War Luftwaffe pilot. Packaged in the typical Ultracast style of a zip lock bag attached with a staple to a card stock backing. In this case the card stock carries a photo of the actual figure painted up from the front. This will be very helpful to the modeler.

The figure itself is molded in light caramel colored resin that is perfectly cast with no bubbles or blemishes anywhere. There are five pieces of resin. The largest is the single piece body with minimal flash between the legs. Clean up will be… more

Royal Navy Lynx Crew

Published: February 3, 2020
Company: PJ Production

Packaged in a sturdy cardboard box with the resin pieces protected inside a ziplock bag this offering from PJ Production is perfectly cast in creme colored resin with no defects noted. Three figures, one on each of the three ‘sprues’, these new figures from PJ Productions will make an attractive addition to the Airfix Sea Lynx kit.

Each figure is on a separate pour block with upper body and head, two arms and the lower half. The door observer has two separate legs. All the poses are as if the aircraft is in flight or ready for takeoff. The pilots are looking off to the side to clear the helicopter. The faces, which to me are essential to a good figure, are all nicely sculpted. The figures look to be of a good scale size.

The aircraft commander, pilot in the right seat, is… more

AH-1S Cobra Chopper “2011/2012 Kisarazu Special”

Published: April 3, 2014
Company: Hasegawa

I flew the AH-1 Cobra for 15 years, and to say that I’m intimately familiar with it would be an understatement. I love this helicopter and flew it in combat and as a maintenance test pilot. If the Army still had it in the inventory, I would still be in.

S Model Cobras Explained

The Hasegawa 1/72 scale AH-1S was released a few years ago, and at the time was, and still is, the most accurate AH-1S. Before I go too far, let me explain the difference of the AH-1S that always comes up. The AH-1S was a standard by which all Army Cobras were to be built to. It basically allowed the shooting of TOW missiles and had the T55-L-703 engine. There were FOUR versions of the AH-1S. The first one was very similar to the AH-1Q, had a rounded canopy, an M28 turret system consisting of… more

R-3S / AA-2 Atoll-A

Published: November 13, 2020
Company: Eduard

The MiG-21 family of aircraft is known for their air to air capability. The big part of that capability was the development of the Atoll Air to Air missile system.

The Eduard MiG-21s are some of the best kits available in plastic and that transfers over to the armament as well. But as always plastic can only do so much. That is where the resin comes in. The Brassin range of aftermarket is designed directly by Eduard to replace select parts on their kits. Because it is designed by them they will always fit perfectly.

The resin is a dark grey type with simply no blemishes or bubbles anywhere. The pour blocks are very small and are easy enough to remove. There are 28 grey resin pieces with detail that just can’t be replicated in plastic. You get four launch rails, four… more

Bell AH-1G “Cobra” Photo Etch

Published: January 20, 2014
Company: Brengun

AZ Models AH-1Gs are the first new Vietnam-era Cobras to hit the market in quite some time. While a nice model, there are some limitations that plastic can’t replicate as well as I would hope. This has to be overcome by photo etch, and Brengun has just what the doctor ordered.

Packaged on card stock to protect the PE, the Brengun single fret of nickel plated metal includes some really nice additions to the kit and replaces things that should be replaced. Brengun includes a lot of things to dress up the cockpit: seatbelts, shoulder harnesses, instrument panels, side consoles, handles and gun sights to name just a few. The armor side panel for the XM-35 20mm weapon system is included as well. Sway braces, ejector racks, and rocket pod front and rears round out the upgrades for… more

Mig-21PF/PFM Exhaust Nozzle

Published: November 13, 2020
Company: Eduard

With the release of the MiG-21 PFM, Eduard has reestablished them as the industry leader. Even with the best plastic kits there is always room for improvement. The Brassin range is designed by Eduard using the same CAD work as the kit which ensures that they will fit the kit they are designed for.

The exhaust nozzle is a work of art. Six pieces of flawlessly cast grey resin along with a burner ring made out of nickel plated brass. It sounds so simple when you break it down like that but what you get is some exquisite work.

The parts are perfectly cast and seem to be easily removed from the pour blocks. They will just take some careful painting. Assembly is easy enough. The MiG-21 has such a large exhaust nozzle that it is important to have it properly detailed. The kit… more

MiG-21PFM Interior

Published: November 13, 2020
Company: Eduard

The Eduard MiG-21 family displays some of the best engineering in modeling. The kit cockpit is nice but there are limitations with plastic molding. Luckily for us modelers, Eduard has an answer for that in their Brassin range.

Typical of the Brassin range this set is a mixed media offering with resin and photo etch. The instructions are typical colored pictograph which is quite nice and helpful. There are five pages of actual assembly diagrams.

Also typical of the Brassin range, the resin is cast in light grey resin is perfectly cast with no bubbles or blemishes anywhere. There is one piece of clear resin. The detail is absolutely exquisite. The parts are packaged in a sturdy cardboard box with foam protecting the parts then to further safeguard them the resin parts are… more

DeHavilland Mosquito Spoked Wheels (Diamond Tread)

Published: January 19, 2014
Company: Ultracast

Ultracast has been providing replacement wheels for quite some time. The latest offerings are all designed for the Mosquito. What sets Ultracast wheels apart from the rest of the replacement wheels is the bulge. They are realistically bulged and will add an appropriate weight to your model.

Perfectly molded in light caramel color, there are two wheels per set that are molded with unique treads. The pour blocks are small and placed in an inconspicuous place, the flat spot. Adding them to your Airfix, Monogram or Tamiya model is very easy. Remove the wheel from the block, clean up with a sanding stick, then paint and add.

Also when you order from Ultracast directly you will have to add $9.95 CDN for shipping and handling world wide.

The wheels are easily the… more