Lockheed F-80C Shooting Star

Published: December 27, 2012
Company: Special Hobby

The first jet airplane I ever saw was in 1948 at the opening ceremonies of Idlewild Airport (now J.F.K.). I was only five years old and while most there covered their ears, I just ate up the sound of jet noise. I never got over it. In the over 60 years, I have been building models, I never got around to building a P/F-80 until now.

The kit I am reviewing is the Special Hobby F-80C in 1/32 scale. Upon opening the box, one is impressed with the size of this aircraft. It is molded in light grey plastic on some very heavy sprues. The molding is nice and crisp with recessed panel lines. The canopy parts are in a separate bag for protection and are just beautiful.

This kit contains a lot of resin parts, such as two separate styles of wheels, bombs, a beautiful cockpit tub,… more

The Generals of WW II Era

Published: December 4, 2012
Company: Master Box Ltd

I have been painting miniatures for over 40 years and have seen some bad and some great. This set of figures depicting important Generals of WW II is one of the best I have ever seen.

It is a set consisting of six Generals, including General George S. Patton, Marshal Georgy Zhukov, General Sugijama Hadjime, General Erich von Manstein, Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, and General Charles deGaulle.

I was totally impressed with the fine casting and how accurate each face was for the particular general. This is something I have rarely seen in my many years of figure painting.

There is a color guide on the back of the box to help the modeler paint each figure accurately. As far as assembly goes, I couldn’t have asked for more. The fit was perfect on each figure… more

P-38J Lightning “Yippee”

Published: November 17, 2012
Company: Minicraft Model Kits

Every once in a while a kit comes along that you feel you must do, only to be disappointed. This is one of those kits.

I happen to love P-38 Lightnings and “Yippee” in particular. “Yippee” was the 5000th P-38 built, and Lockheed decided to make it special. They painted it bright orange (not red, as many thought). On the bottom of the wing they painted “Yippee” in large white letters. I thought I would love to make a model of this aircraft and when Minicraft released it in Sept. 2012, I just jumped at the chance to review it.

To begin with, it’s tiny. The kit is molded in soft, light grey plastic. Not many parts in this one. I noted that there was almost no detail scribing. Particularly disappointing was the canopy, which had no canopy framing indicated. As anyone can… more

T-33A Shooting Star and Cockpit Detail Set

Published: November 13, 2012
Company: Platz

• Platz T-33A JASDF Trainer, stock no. AC-6, $29.00
• Platz T-33A US Bicentennial Trainer, stock no. AC-8, $29.00
• Eduard T-33 cockpit set, SA, color, stock no. 73409, $29.95

This is going to be a strange review in that I am reviewing two of the same kit but with different markings. In addition, I will be reviewing the Eduard photo-etch cockpit detail set.

Let me begin with the T-33A. This is one terrific kit. I have built a few T-33s by different manufacturers, but this is the best, in my humble opinion. When I refer to any parts in the kit, I am addressing both kits.

The instructions are in both English and Japanese. They are well thought out and very clear. Colors are referred to by their FS numbers. There are 58 grey plastic parts… more

T-33 Landing Gear

Published: November 10, 2012
Company: Scale Aircraft Conversions

A short time ago, I got the Scale Aircraft Conversions landing gear for the T-33/ F/94 in 1/48 scale and was amazed by the fine detail.

Now, I am going to build my second T-33A by Platz in 1/72 and this time I have been given the SAC set. Wow, what a difference.

I thought the 1/48 set was great but this one is better. It includes all the parts in super detail. It even includes the landing lights. I really don’t know how they can get such fine detail in a metal casting, but I’ll take it.

Looking closely, I noticed that the tires need a slight cleanup on the tread part to get rid of a small seam line. This effort should take less than a minute.

I would highly recommend this and all of the SAC landing gears. They add that extra pop to any model.

I wish… more

Sea Vixen FAW.9 Air Intakes

Published: November 10, 2012
Company: Quickboost

I have just gotten the Airfix 1/48 Sea Vixen FAW.9 and thought it was a great-looking kit. I thought everything was perfect and didn’t even take a close look at the air intakes. Well, along came Quickboost with a very nicely cast set of resin intakes to replace the kit ones. These are so beautiful I’m not even going to take a second look at the kit ones.

Since no instructions are provided, I would test-fit them to get them on the right sides. Other than that, you are all set.

I would highly recommend this detail set to set your Sea Vixen off from the rest. I wish to thank Quickboost and Steve Collins at IPMS/USA for giving me this set to review.

Sea Vixen FAW.2 Pitot Tubes

Published: November 10, 2012
Company: Quickboost

I have the Airfix 1/48 Sea Vixen FAW.2 and thought the kit parts were just perfect. Then, along came Quickboost with an aftermarket set of pitot tubes. I always thought they were all round, but Quickboost did their homework and made them the proper oval shape. This was news to me, but I am going to take their word that oval is correct and use them.

I was really impressed with the fact that these resin pitot tubes are straight. Most times on a part that long and thin they are warped. Thank you, Quickboost, for straight ones.

I would recommend these as a replacement for the kit parts. You can tell everyone that they are accurate; since they are oval and not round, I’m sure your modeling friends will be impressed with your knowledge.

I wish to thank Quickboost and… more

Sea Vixen FAW.1 Landing Lights

Published: November 10, 2012
Company: Quickboost

Now that I have finished my Cyber Hobby Sea Vixen, Quickboost comes out with a beautiful set of landing lights. In 1/72 scale, they are really tiny and care must be taken to remove them from the sprue or they will wind up eaten by the carpet monster.

On close inspection, they are not just blobs of clear plastic but beautifully formed in the correct teardrop shape. I would give them a quick coat of Future to protect them from glue.

I would highly recommend them to any modeler. I wish to thank Quickboost and Steve Collins at IPMS/USA for giving me this set to review.

F-86 Undercarriage Doors

Published: November 10, 2012
Company: Quickboost

This is a beautiful set of undercarriage doors for the Kinetic (Italeri) 1/32 F-86F Sabre. While the kit doors are nice, these are just wonderful. They are scale thickness and have great detail. They are molded in grey resin and have no seams or flash.

I haven’t started any of my many 1/32 Sabres, but I am looking forward to using them on all of them. I also liked the price of $ 10.25. That is quite a deal.

I would highly recommend this set to put your F-86 over the top. I wish to thank Quickboost and Steve Collins at IPMS/USA for giving me this detail set to review.

Lockheed F-94C Starfire

Published: October 23, 2012
Company: Kitty Hawk

This kit of the F-94C Starfire is a new release by a new company, Kitty Hawk. If this is any indication of future releases, I can’t wait.

I just love the whole line of early Lockheed fighters beginning with the P-80 and the T-33. This is the last of their subsonic fighters and the first one to be radar-equipped. The F-94 is actually an interceptor. It was armed with missiles that fired from four doors on the front of the nose. This was not too successful, as the firing of the missiles often caused an engine flameout. The “C” model added two rocket pods to the wings, and they were back in the interceptor business.

Now, on to the kit. To begin with, the F-94 is a big plane. All of the kit parts are nicely molded. The cockpit is especially well detailed with some perfectly… more