Chinese Z-10 Attack Helicopter

Published: July 14, 2013
Company: Hobby Boss

The Z-10 is a Chinese attack helicopter whose mission is anti-armor and battlefield interdiction. Its development began in the 1990’s and its maiden flight was in 2003. China had seen a need for a dedicated attack helicopter because in the past it had only used up-armored transport helicopters and required a more specifically armed and mission-oriented helicopter in the future.

The Z-10 has a standard gunship configuration, with a narrow fuselage and stepped tandem cockpit, the gunner in the front and pilot in the back. The Z-10 has sloped sides to reduce radar cross section, and armored plates to protect all vital systems. The prototype was powered by two Canadian Pratt and Whitney PT6C-67C turboshaft engines. At first glance, it looks a lot like an Apache attack helicopter.… more

F6F Hellcat Engine

Published: July 7, 2013
Company: Quickboost

Quickboost has added the engine for the Eduard F6F Hellcat to their line of resin aircraft accessories. This latest addition is molded in a grayish resin – smooth, seamless, and bubble-free. Usually, the mold blocks are small and very easy to remove. These are a little more involved but not too bad, only larger. There is one on the back of the engine that needs to be given a little more attention to remove straight and be sanded smooth.

Comparing the Quickboost engine with the Eduard engine, you can see that the Quickboost engine has fewer parts than the Eduard one. Both seem to be detailed, but resin usually can better represent details than plastic. Basically, it’s up to the modeler to decide what he wants to do.

I very highly recommend this product if you want a nice… more

A-4B Skyhawk Gun Barrels

Published: July 7, 2013
Company: Quickboost

Quickboost has added the gun barrels for the Airfix A-4B to their line of resin aircraft accessories. This latest addition is molded in a grayish resin – smooth, seamless, and bubble-free. They are easily removed from the mold block, taking only a couple swipes with a saw blade to remove.

Comparing the Quickboost gun barrels with the Airfix barrels, you can see that the Quickboost barrels are more to scale and have the ends drilled out. If you tried to drill out the Airfix barrels, you would have quite a job ahead of you and could possibly destroy one or both.

I very highly recommend this product if you want a really nice and detailed set of gun barrels. All that you need to do is cut off the molding block and drop them in place with a little CA glue. It’s a very easy… more

TSR.2 Landing Gear

Published: July 7, 2013
Company: Scale Aircraft Conversions

Scale Aircraft Conversions makes various landing gear sets out of lead-free white metal. Some come with the wheels attached, if needed, while others might have the wheel bay included to help with added weight, but most only come with the new landing gear struts. This offering is for the Airfix TSR.2 and is a welcomed addition because, in 1/72, this is a large model that can get a little heavy on its plastic gear.

The detail of the metal parts is crisp and looks flawless. The advantage to these parts is their strength, so they shouldn’t warp with time under the kit’s weight. They will also hold up well while you work with it – no accidentally snapping plastic gear struts apart. To attach the new landing gear, you will need to use CA glue. On SAC’s website they recommend a thicker… more

P-47 Thunderbolt .50 Browning M2 Barrels

Published: July 7, 2013
Company: Master Model

Master Model is a company that makes turned brass aftermarket parts, specifically pitot tubes, refueling probes, gun barrels, and antennas.

The first thing I would like to point out is how good the packaging and instruction sheet are. The packaging consists of a zip-lock type bag while the part is in a smaller bag, keeping it from moving all over and getting lost as you work. The instruction sheet is very clear and easy to understand, detailing a mere 3 steps. Cut off original part, drill a hole (0.8 mm), glue in the new metal part. Just be careful drilling the hole, especially in 1/72. The bottom of the sheet has a 1/72 scale template of the barrel spacing on the wing. I just laid the wing down over it and adjusted the distance as I glued the barrels in with CA.

When… more

P-51D Mustang Seat

Published: June 4, 2013
Company: Quickboost

Quickboost has added the seat for the P-51D Mustang to their line of resin aircraft accessories. This latest addition is molded in a grayish resin, smooth, seamless and bubble-free. The seat is molded in one piece and is easy to remove from the mold block.

The package doesn’t state that it is for any particular kit, so it should work well with any of the P-51D Mustang kits. I compared it with the Tamiya kit’s seat. Talk about a noticeable difference – the detail on the Quickboost part is outstanding. From the photos you can see that the Quickboost seat has the belts molded , and you can almost feel the seat material in the cushion under the belts. You will definitely want to have the canopy open for this.

I very highly recommend this product if you want a really nice and… more

F-8E Crusader Ejection Seat

Published: June 3, 2013
Company: Quickboost

Quickboost has added the ejection seat for the F-8 Crusader to their line of resin aircraft accessories. This latest addition is molded in a grayish resin – smooth, seamless, and bubble-free. Noteworthy is that it is easy to remove from the mold block by taking only a couple of minutes with a saw blade.

The package doesn’t state that it is for any particular kit, so it should work well with any of the F-8 Crusader kits. I compared it with the Heller and Academy kit parts. Talk about a noticeable difference – the detail on the Quickboost part is outstanding. I left the pieces of the Academy seat unassembled in one of the photos to show the number of pieces there are. Big plus for Quickboost, the seat is only two parts. The initiator rings that are at the top of the seat are… more

F-102 Landing Gear and Nose Bay

Published: March 31, 2013
Company: Scale Aircraft Conversions

Scale Aircraft Conversions makes various landing gear sets out of lead-free white metal. Some come with the wheels attached, if needed, while others might have the wheel bay included to help with added weight, but most only come with the new landing gear struts. This set comes with the forward wheel bay included so there is added weight up front. I’m pretty sure you will still have to add weight to the nose, but this is a great help.

The detail of the metal parts is crisp and looks flawless. The advantage to these parts is their strength and that they won’t warp under the kit’s weight over time. They will also hold up well while you work with them – no accidentally snapping them apart. To attach the new landing gear, you will need to use CA glue. On their web site they recommend… more

Buccaneer Landing Gear

Published: March 17, 2013
Company: Scale Aircraft Conversions

Scale Aircraft Conversions makes various landing gear sets out of lead-free white metal. Some come with the wheels attached if needed, like this set for the Buccaneer, where the kits wheels are molded onto the struts. Others might have the wheel bay included to help with added weight, but most only come with the new landing gear struts. I had the Airfix model so I don’t know how the CMR wheels are molded.

The detail of the metal parts is much crisper and looks flawless. The advantage to these parts is their strength and that they won’t warp under the kit’s weight over time. They will also hold up well while you work with them – no accidentally snapping them apart. To attach the new landing gear, you will need to use CA glue. On their web site they recommend a thicker gap-filling… more

F-8E/J Pitot Tube

Published: February 4, 2013
Company: Master Model

Master Model is a company that makes turned brass aftermarket parts, specifically pitot tubes, refueling probes, and antennas.

The first thing I would like to point out is how good the packaging and instruction sheet is. The packaging consists of a zip-lock type bag, while the part is in a smaller bag, keeping it from moving all over. The instruction sheet is very clear and easy to understand, only needing 3 steps. Cut off original part, drill a hole (0.8 mm), glue in the new metal part – complete. Just be careful drilling the hole, especially in 1/72.

When compared to the kit part – there is no comparison. The kit pitot tube looks like a little blob of plastic, while the Master Model part is a complete work of art. Once you use a couple of these pieces you will be… more