Consolidated B-24 Liberator Part 3

Published: January 19, 2014
Company: Lifelike Decals

The third 1/72nd B-24 sheet from Lifelike contains more colorful nose art. If you are a fan of pinups and nose art these sheets are really impressive.

The decals are contained in a 6”x9” ziplock bag along with two A4 full color instructions. The decals themselves are printed by Cartograf and Microscale. Between those two decal printers you know you have some of the best printed decals in the world. But what about the research? Lifelike is well known for their research. Even Lifelike can make errors as they acknowledge. Lifelike basis their findings on the latest information available and when the information is lacking they base their finding on educated guesses. Some would find this a weakness in the decals but I think it is an asset. They let you know what is known and what… more

Spitfire Mk.IX Royal Class

Published: September 28, 2013
Company: Eduard

I won’t go into the history of the Mk.IX Spitfire, but let’s get right to the kit. It comes packaged in a sturdy large box with a flat black cove complete with a beautiful gold Spitfire sporting two beer barrels under the wings. On the sides are full color renditions of all the decal options. The box top itself is a piece of art that would look really good framed next to the Bf-109E box top.

Once I got the box top off, I was amazed at the amount of stuff in there. There is no wasted space. Everything is packaged individually to ensure there is no breakage. The first thing to look at is the absolutely beautiful light grey plastic sprues. All the parts are exquisitely done. The model features beautifully rendered rivets and fine recessed panel lines. There are nine sprues… more

WWII German Luftwaffe Pilots and Ground Personnel in Winter Uniform

Published: September 27, 2013
Company: ICM

I always like to add figures to my builds to obtain a sense of scale. ICM has provided some of the best figures in plastic for some time. Their latest release is aimed at Father Winter and the German Luftwaffe.

They come packaged in a sturdy cardboard box with a beautiful painting of the figures on the front of the box top. A single sprue of light tan plastic is packed in a re-sealable plastic bag. Five figures and various components of a German airfield are included on the sprue. I could find no flash, and the faces, which are the basis of a good figure, are beautifully rendered.

The instructions are printed on a single A4-sized page with Model Master color call outs. A parts inventory is on the front side. This is important, as the sprues do not have any numbers on… more

Spitfire Mk.XIV Exhausts

Published: September 27, 2013
Company: Quickboost

Quickboost has always offered quick, easy, and inexpensive ways to upgrade your kits. The latest offering is a set of hollowed-out exhausts for the Academy Spitfire Mk.XIV. Molded perfectly in light grey resin, these two banks of exhausts feature exquisitely opened ends. They are drop-in replacements for the kit parts. Removal is easy enough from the pour blocks. Since the attachments are on the inside, there is no need even to clean them up.

Highly recommended.

Thanks to Quickboost and IPMS/USA for the review parts.

Soviet and Russian Military Aircraft in the Middle East

Published: September 27, 2013
Book Author(s): Yefim Gordon & Dmitriy Komissarov
Company: Hikoki Publications

Nowhere in the world has the clash of East vs. West hardware been more hard fought than the Middle East. Soviet arms were first supplied to Egypt in the 1950s. Since then, Soviet hardware as flourished throughout the region. This hardback, detailing such Soviet-supplied arms in the form of warplanes, is printed on high quality paper with over 375 photos, most being in color. The book is broken down into chapters by country, including Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel (yes, Israel too), Jordon, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, UAE, and Yemen.

The quality of the photos is what really impresses me. Most are in color but they all are quite useful from the modeler’s and historian’s perspective. The black and white ones are mainly older, historical pictures, while modern photos are in color. There… more

MiG-29 Pilot

Published: September 27, 2013
Company: Aero Line

I’ve loved Plusmodel’s Aero Line 1/48th scale series of resin figures since reviewing the first one a while back. This one is no different. With the recent release of the Eduard and Great Wall Hobby MiG-29s, this figure couldn’t come at a better time.

Packaged in a plastic bubble pack, this perfectly cast resin figure is molded in light grey with no blemishes anywhere. It has a minimal amount of flash around the whole figure that literally just falls off when touching it. Clean up is quite easy. This figure is a single piece with a pilot wearing a flight helmet. He has a hand in his pocket and the other one at his side holding his oxygen mask. The carving of these figures is impressive. The face is the most important facet of any figure, and these Aero Line figures are perfect… more

Kfir C2/C7

Published: September 26, 2013
Company: Kinetic Model Kits

During WWII, the French could not design a good-looking aircraft to save their nation; however, that changed in the post-war years. The delta wing Mirage series are beautiful aircraft based on delta wing research from Germany. Utilizing the powerful J79 engine the Kfir was a powerful fighter bomber. The C2/C7 had canards for added maneuverability, as well as more powerful avionics.

This is my first Kinetic kit, and I must say upon opening up the sturdy two-piece cardboard box I was impressed by the presentation. The kit is molded with over 180 light grey plastic parts with finely engraved panel lines. Kinetic seems to have captured the looks of the real thing. Besides the two different versions of the aircraft, there are other options – flaps up or down, canopy open or closed,… more

Fw-190A-5/U12 with Gun Pack

Published: September 26, 2013
Company: Hasegawa

I’ve always loved the look of the Fw-190A-5/U12. Designed with two cannon pods containing two cannons each, it’s one mean machine. For those of us who are old enough to remember, we had the Monogram Fw-190 in the ‘70s, and in that kit they included the gun pods. While not totally accurate, it did make an impression on a little red headed kid. I built it with my kid. Fast forward a few years (okay, so more than a few), and we are blessed with accurate Fw-190s all around, but no U12 versions…until now.

Hasegawa’s Fw-190 kits are easy to build and really accurate. Inside this one, there are five sprues of light grey plastic with no flash or blemishes. The panel lines are recessed and display typical Hasegawa fine quality. Amazingly, the parts count is low at 81 pieces. A sprue of… more

Spitfire Mk.IX Bulkheads

Published: September 19, 2013
Company: Quickboost

Having just finished the Eduard Royal Class Spitfire Mk.IX kit, I can say that this kit is absolutely perfect; however, that is the Royal Class kit. The Weekend Edition of this kit will be lacking two essential items in plastic – the ballistic bulkheads. The Weekend Edition won’t have the PE parts that the Royal Class kit has. Quickboost calls them bulkheads, but they are actually the ballistic protection plates behind the cockpit.

Molded perfectly in thin light grey resin, these two pieces are easy enough to remove from the pour block, and just need paint to upgrade your cockpit. Your other option is to cut your own bulkheads. We all know what a pain it is to get them perfect. Quickboost does that for you.

This set is essential for the Weekend Edition of the Spitfire. If… more

MiG-23ML Flogger G Electronic Bay

Published: September 19, 2013
Company: Aires Hobby Models

You want your Flogger to stand out on the model table? How about opening up the entire nose section? Now we are talking. What can be cooler than complete electronic bays? Normally the whole process would be hours of research, and then hours of scratchbuilding. Thanks to Aires, this will be significantly easier.

You get 25 high-quality light grey resin pieces that feature bulkheads, access panels, and radio/radar equipment. Unlike most Aires sets, this set does not come with any photo etch parts. Everything is rendered perfectly in resin. The bays are deep and have the equipment added from behind. Just exquisite molding.

You think you have to wire the electronics? Nope; miraculously, Aires has even molded the wiring. All the modeler will need to do is artful painting.… more