Arado Ar-196A Wheels & Paint Masks

Published: April 25, 2011
Company: Aires Hobby Models

Aires has an obvious love affair with the Ar-196 from Italeri. They offered up no less than two cockpits in their own range. In their Quickboost range they have a corrected cowling, exhausts and weapons. Now the only thing missing from those sets is addressed, the wheels.

Aires provides two main wheels with perfect circumferential tread. They are cast in light grey resin with no bubbles. They are suitably bulged but not overly flat. There isn’t much more to say about the wheels themselves as they are just perfect.

Aires also includes a set of masks which will prove useful in the painting process. There are four masks for both sides of each wheel.

Adding the wheels is as simple as substituting the kit wheels with the resin ones. Simple, easy to use and perfect in… more

World War II German Aircraft Weapons

Published: April 22, 2011
Company: Italeri

Ever have to rob a perfectly good kit for just the bombs? I have and I regretted it later when I either wanted to build it or sell it. Italeri has a solution to this problem, bombs and lots of them. The latest release contains two identical sprues of 53 parts each and the decals that go with them. You can build AB70, AB-250, AB500, the ER-4 Bomb rack, ETC 50 bomb rack, PC1400, PD500, SC50, SC250 with Dinort fusing, SC500, SD250, SC1000, SD1700, Pfeife Geraete, 300 and 900 liter Fuel Tanks and WB81 gun pods from the kit. That is a lot of ordnance. There are multiple aircraft that can be armed with this set. Included in the instructions are the load out plans for various aircraft such as the Ju-88, He-111… more

Arado Ar-196A-3/A-4 Cockpit Set; Ar-196A-5 Cockpit Set

Published: April 20, 2011
Company: Aires Hobby Models

Editor's note: P/N 4498 = $35.50; P/N 4503 = $37.50

The Italeri (also boxed by Tamiya) Ar-196A-3/A-4 and Ar-196A-5 are beautiful kits. They have huge canopies though and the kit cockpit while nice really just screams out for more detail. Enter Aires. What they provide is nothing short of phenomenal. Comprising resin, photoetch and film pieces this set is comprehensive to say the least. While marketed as a cockpit set this set also includes parts for other parts of the model, such as the engine, gun cowling and pontoons. It really is a kit upgrade set not just a cockpit set.

The resin is molded in both light grey and light yellow resin. All of it is blemish and bubble free. My example had a couple of pieces broken off of but it was nothing that was drastic and the… more

Remove Before Flight- Israel

Published: April 19, 2011
Company: Eduard

This fret of photo-etch is pre-printed on both sides with the Hebrew rendition of “Remove Before Flight”. Included in this release are covers for ejection seats, seventeen yellow warning tags for the interior, and twenty three exterior red flags. I’ve used similar items before the US “Remove Before Flight” tags. These are easy to drape for a realistic look. You have to be careful to not chip the pre-painted print so you can’t fold it back over on itself but by using your fingers you can give a candid look to them to the flags.

The printing is of the quality I’ve come to suspect from Eduards pre-painted sets, very clear and perfectly printed. Using them is easy enough. Drill a hole where you want it on the model and insert the ‘string’ into the hole and add a small drop of glue… more

Messerschmitt Bf-109F Wheel Bay

Published: April 19, 2011
Company: Aires Hobby Models

I love the Hasegawa Bf-109s and the newest Bf-109F-4/Trop is no exception. One of the areas of the kits that could be better is the wheel well. As provided the kit wheel wells have the G-6 kidney shaped areas which obviously isn’t correct for the Friedrich. Aires provides you with the correct wheel wells by providing you with two pieces of light grey blemish free resin and a fret of photo etch.

This set requires that you remove the molded on wheel well and thin the upper wing. Then Aires replaces it with the resin one with the photoetch on top of it. The resin wheel wells have superb detail inside, including the zip in liner. The photo etch will require you to build it up in layers for the proper thickness of the stiffeners but this is easy enough to do.

Although… more

Messerschmitt Bf-109F Wheels and Masks

Published: April 19, 2011
Company: Aires Hobby Models

I hate using rubber tires on my model kits. So whenever anyone such as Trumpeter comes out with a kit that has them I cringe at the thought of using them. Luckily for me, Aires offers a replacement set of wheels. You get two main wheels, a tail wheel and the strut.

These perfectly cast replacement parts are simply gorgeous. These are some of the best wheels for the Friedrich I’ve seen. They are beautifully cast in light grey resin. Of course just having wheels is not Aires style, so they include a set of masks for them. The tail wheel itself is as good as a casting as you are ever going to see. The area between the forks and tail wheel is hollow and simply perfect. The pour stubs are easy to remove.

Although designed for the Trumpeter kit you could easily use this set on… more

Messerschmitt Bf-109F Tropical Filter

Published: April 19, 2011
Company: Quickboost

The Trumpeter Bf-109F-4 is a nice kit but there are some pieces that could be better. One of those things is the Tropical Filter. This beautifully cast three piece affair is simply inserted into the supercharger scoop and your Freidrich is a Tropical version. I see no reason that this filter couldn’t be used to upgrade the Hasegawa kit filter. This set could also be used on the Bf-109G-2/4/6 kit as well.

You get an open filter assembly with two mounts. The filter has some really fine screen that is perfectly cast and representative of the real thing.

Highly recommended

Thanks to Quickboost, Aires Hobby Models and IPMS/USA for the review copy.

Focke Wulf Ta-154 Air Intakes & Pitot Tube

Published: April 19, 2011
Company: Quickboost

The Dragon Ta-154 Moskito Tri-kit will benefit from this simple update set. Cast in light tan/grey resin the six pieces will add to the look of the kit. The set includes five air inlets and a pitot tube. The air inlets are hollowed out perfectly, especially noticeable in the larger ones. The set is the easy to use and simply replaces kit parts. I guarantee I could not have gotten such a deep cut that looked as good. The pitot tube is very thin and perfectly straight. The only thing I worry about is the fragility of the pitot tube. Overall, a very simple upgrade to the Moskito.

This set could also be used on the Promodeler Ta-154.

Thanks to Quickboost, Aires Hobby Models and IPMS/USA for the review copy

Spitfire Mk. V Stabilizer

Published: April 19, 2011
Company: Quickboost

If you are like me, you like to articulate your elevators but you are never happy with the way it comes out. Well Quickboost makes that a whole lot easier. This set has four light tan resin pieces which replace the kit horizontal stabilizer and elevators. The trailing edges of the stabilizer are thinned and have a concaved area that the elevators, which are rounded on the leading edge, will slot into. The Tamiya kit is a really nice looking kit and this set will just make it that much nicer. It is up to the modeler to position the elevator as they wish. Don’t forget to offset the control stick.

Highly recommended

Thanks to Quickboost, Aires Hobby Models and IPMS/USA for the review copy.

Messerschmitt Bf-110 Oil Tanks

Published: April 19, 2011
Company: Quickboost

I love the look of the Cyber-Hobby Bf-110s, especially the separate engines. One of those things that even slide mold technology won’t mold as well as I’d have liked is the oil tanks. Quickboost offers you two replacement oil tanks complete with the filler ports and lead in holes for wire for those so inclined. A very simple resin addition that could be a beginning for a scratch builder.

The oil tanks are molded in light grey resin that is blemish free. They would be very nice addition to your model. If you have never worked with resin or done any scratch building this is a good first kit to try it on.

Highly recommended

Thanks to Quickboost, Aires Hobby Models and IPMS/USA for the review copy.