Avia B.534 Detail Set

Published: February 3, 2016
Company: Eduard

Eduard recently released a Quattro kit of the Avia B.534, a Czech biplane which participated in World War 2. I got to review the kit, and now I’m doing a second build utilizing Eduard’s PE upgrade for the Avia.

The Kit

You get a single PE fret with enough add-ons to do a single aircraft. There is a lagniappe here, as there are 4 instrument panels, so you can do another 3 with… more

Avia B.534 Quattro Combo

Published: February 2, 2016
Company: Eduard

The Aircraft

When the first B.534 flew in 1934, the aircraft was well ahead of its contemporaries in other air forces. The British were using Hawker Furies, the US had Curtiss Hawks and the Russians had the I-15. With the German takeover of much of Czechoslovakia in 1939, many of these planes were taken over by the Luftwaffe. The B.534’s combat record is sparse, although some flown… more

Hand Truck

Published: January 30, 2016
Company: Brengun

This kit is one of those spiffy little diorama add-ons that you sometimes would like to add, but nobody makes it. Well, Brengun comes to the rescue here.

I have had some experience with one of these “vehicles”, when I worked in receiving for Sears. And the war story follows:

I was moving a refrigerator out to the floor for display. It wasn’t quite balanced because of the floor… more

Carrier Deck Star Tie Downs

Published: January 23, 2016
Company: Brengun

This is my second review of Brengun Carrier tie downs. The first was the “cross” style. This is the newer, more modern star type.

These items are used as the anchor for tying aircraft or anything else that needs to not move, to the deck. A hook at one end of the tie down is put around one of the star legs and the other end is adjusted to hold the aircraft in place.

On the WW2… more

Spitfires, Naši se vracejí

Published: January 17, 2016
Company: Eduard

This is another issue of Eduard’s marvelous 1/144 Spitfire IXe kit. This time you get FOUR Spitfires in the box, with eight possible markings.

I was curious about what the Czech language phrase means. I tried several translation sites, but none of them worked. I finally went to Eduard’s web site and contacted them, asking what Naši se vracejí means. I got an almost immediate… more

Carrier Deck Cross Tie Downs

Published: January 17, 2016
Company: Brengun

Brengun has come out with a spiffy idea for making your US Navy 1/144 carrier-based aircraft base look even better. It’s a set of PE tie down anchors for the carrier deck.

The tie downs in this set are the “older” cross style. The newer ones, on newer ships are star type. The original tie down anchors on wooden deck carriers looked kind of like a grating which ran from one side of the… more

Hellcat Fuel Tank

Published: January 5, 2016
Company: Brengun

This little accessory is an add-on for the older 1/144 Hellcat kits. It contains two resin fuel tanks, plus a PE fret with the extra mounting hardware you don’t find on kits from the 20th Century.

I started out the project with the Platz 1/144 Hellcat. But after I assembled the Platz fuel tank, I decided that it was pretty close in appearance to the Brengun, so I went to a less… more

De Havilland Comet 4B

Published: January 4, 2016
Company: Airfix

The Comet was the basis of the rebirth of the British civil aircraft industry after World War II. Development began before the war ended, but the first comet didn’t fly until 1949. The Comet 1 had a serious problem, however. About a year after the first commercial flights began in 1952, Comets began breaking up in the air. The problem was traced to the repeated pressurization and… more

Spitfire Landing Gear

Published: December 21, 2015
Company: Scale Aircraft Conversions

This is another of SAC’s marvelous landing gear replacements for 1/144 scale aircraft. One of the worst things to fix on a finished aircraft is the broken landing gear which occurs from either a move or less than careful handling, usually by a friend of spouse. I was at a display when a spectator started to pick up one of Brian Baker’s planes. I tried to stop him, but he said “I know what I’m… more

MD-3 Carrier Fire Tractor

Published: December 14, 2015
Company: Brengun

Here’s another addition to that 1/144 carrier deck diorama/vignette you’ve wanted to do. This is the fire fighter version of the MD-3 Carrier Tow Tractor.

The Kit

You get two of everything except decals. And since you’re probably not going to do the same vehicle twice, that’s OK.

Pre-Assembly

You have to cut the tractor body and the fire-fighting gear off of… more