Westland Lynx Mk.88A, HMA 8, Mk.90B

Published: August 16, 2012
Company: Airfix

Airfix has returned to the forefront of modeling with the release of the Westland Lynx family. This release is the naval version of the Lynx. Airfix has also released an Army version. Typical of most naval aircraft, the helicopter can fold its blades and tailboom for storage onboard ship.

This release contains 331 pieces of light blue/grey plastic. My review copy had no flash that I could see. The parts are all packaged in a heavy gauge cardboard top-opening box. The box is packed with the parts and decals. The parts are sealed inside a plastic bag inside the box. Thankfully, the clear parts are packaged in a separate plastic bag. The decals are on a large sheet inside the instructions book, so be careful when opening it up.

The instruction booklet is 23 A4 pages thick… more

F8F-2 Bearcat Exhausts

Published: August 15, 2012
Company: Quickboost

These two piece exhausts are perfectly molded in light grey resin with six very thin exhaust stacks. There isn’t a lot to say in a review about these pieces. They are perfectly cast, drop in replacements for the kit parts and hollowed out to perfection. I know I could never hollow them out as good as Quickboost without ruining most of the tubes. So for that reason alone these are a great investment.

The packaging doesn’t say it but I’m sure you could make these fit your Hobbycraft or Hawk kit as well.

Highly recommended.

Thanks to Aires and IPMS/USA for the review copy. You can obtain yours by contacting www.modelchoice.net or your local hobby shop or online retailer.

A-37 Dragonfly Gun Barrels

Published: August 15, 2012
Company: Quickboost

With the release of the Encore (upgraded Monogram) A-37 there is renewed interest in this little dragonfly. The kit is really nice, despite its age.

Perfectly molded in light grey resin these two gun barrels have the shrouded miniguns inside of thinned fairings. The addition of these little jewels will add to the look and aid you from having to clean up a seam on the shroud. This will ensure the shroud is round. You’ll also have hollowed out gun tubes inside of the shroud.

Highly recommended.

Thanks to Aires and IPMS/USA for the review copy. You can obtain yours by contacting www.modelchoice.net or your local hobby shop or online retailer.

Punch & Die Set

Published: August 1, 2012
Company: CB Model Products

This latest tool from CB Model Products is one of the best yet. This high precision punch and die set consists of 12 hardened steel punches and a clear acrylic/metal guide plate assembly. There is a desiccant included to help keep the rust off the metal parts. These pieces are contained in a compact plastic case with a nice hint and procedure sheet.

The steel punches are machined with a slight angle. These punches are designed to be used on up .030 styrene. The punches come in .040”, .051”, .058”, .069”, .080”, .088”, .101”, .110”, .119”, .127”, .140” and .151”. That should take care of most needs in 1/72, 1/48, 1/32, and 1/35th scales. You may want to wipe the parts down with some WD-40 and a rag to preserve these delicate parts for the long term.

The acrylic base is a… more

A-26 Invaders- Invading Esquire Girls - Part 1

Published: May 26, 2012
Company: Bombshell Decals

Bombshell Decals came on the decal scene with …well, a bang. Their latest release is based on the Monogram A-26B Invader. The glass nose version was used in Korea and was quite colorful with its overall gloss black paint scheme. The subjects of this sheet are two aircraft which sported Esquire girl nose art.

The decals are printed by Cartograf, so you know they are in perfect register and will respond well with setting solutions. In my opinion, Cartograf decals are the best in the world. The decals are on a single sheet of 5.5” x 8”. You can see the quality in the decals by looking over the Esquire girls. They are perfectly rendered and are some of the best looking pin-ups available in decal form. They have perfect shading and blending to make them exactly like the real thing.… more

Cylon Raider

Published: May 19, 2012
Company: Moebius Models

If you are as old as I, you remember the original Battlestar Gallactica series with Lorne Green and Dirk Benedict. Well, when the Sci-Fi Channel reimagined the Battlestar Gallactica series, there were some changes that upset some potential fans, myself included. One was that Starbuck, Benedict’s character, was now a woman and that was just the beginning. I didn’t watch the series when it first came out and now I regret it. I’ve since bought the series on DVD and have taken a liking to it. If you can just forget the old series, and it is easy to do, then you will absolutely love the new series.

As in the first series, some of the key vehicles are the Vipers and the Cylon Raider. Moebius Models has taken on the task of modeling the new space ships. The Cylon Raider is an homage… more

FW-189 Masks

Published: November 13, 2020
Company: Eduard

The Great Wall FW-189 is a really nice kit but one thing you notice about the airplane is the large expanse of windows around the cockpit. The whole procedure of masking the canopy would just about kill me and take hours of work. Now, if you are like me and like to get on with the painting, anything that will make canopy masking faster and easier is just what I’m looking for.

The Eduard masks are designed from “Kabuki” tape. This means that they are made from a really pliable tape that you can visually see is down around the edges, just like Tamiya tape. Besides all the windows and because this sheet is so large, Eduard also gives you masks for the wheels. If my counting is correct, there are 93 individual masks included on this large sheet. Can you imagine having to cut that… more

Air War over Khalkhin Gol - The Nomonhan Incident

Published: May 15, 2012
Book Author(s): Vladimir R. Kotelnikov
Company: SAM Publications

There are many little battles that led up to the Second World War. Some you know about most of them, but many, such as the battle over Khalkhin Gol, you know nothing about. Some of it has to do with the location, the China/Russian border in Mongolia. This is a unique look at this early air battle between the Russians and the Japanese.

Fought over barren hills and plains, the story of the Khalkhin Gol battle is marred by inconsistent data from the Soviet and Japanese sides. The Soviets call the battle the Nomonhan Incident. Both sides say the other attacked first and, despite the best research, we will probably never know who did what first. What is known is that early Soviet and Japanese Army fighters and bombers met up and had some fierce battles.

These battles were… more

Fw-190A-7

Published: February 3, 2020
Company: Eduard

The FW-190A-7 was one of the last versions that Eduard had not covered directly, the other being the A-9. You could always build one from their Royal Class kits but never as a standalone kit. Well, Eduard has stepped up to the plate and has hit another home run.

I’ve built the A-5, F-8, A-8, and D-9, so I have some experience with this series of kits. That said, this kit is just as good as those kits and why shouldn’t it be? It contains the same parts.

The kit contains six sprues of RLM 02 plastic with minimal flash. One sprue of clear parts, two frets of photo etch, one of those being pre-painted, and a set of masks rounds out the parts. Of course, there are two decal sheets which contain markings for four aircraft. The instructions are printed on high quality paper… more

Spitfire Mk.I/Ia, IIa Fishtail Exhausts

Published: April 29, 2012
Company: Quickboost

Quickboost has always helped out the modeler by providing hollowed-out exhausts and other drop-in replacements for kit parts. This latest addition is the fishtail version of the Spitfire exhausts. It is molded perfectly in light grey resin with perfectly hollowed-out exhaust stacks. The fishtail would have made it near impossible for me to do that same amount of detail.

Like all of the Quickboost items, clean up is easy and you just have to replace the kit part. Easy, inexpensive and perfectly cast.

Highly recommended.

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