Bell UH-1N/Bell 212

Published: September 24, 2010
Company: Italeri

The Bell “Hueys” have been a workhorse of rotary wing groups in many air forces for decades. The UN-1N/Bell 212 is the twin engine of the ‘Huey’-family, sporting an enlarged fuselage.

This kit is a re-issue of the venerable “Twin Huey” from Italeri. The kit comes in two sprues (molded in medium gray plastic) plus a third sprue of clear parts. There is no flash and no ejector pin is located in any visible area. (Good engineering there!) The sprues include 7.62 mm machine guns. Decals look very nice, although the green on the Italian national markings seems to be a little bit out of register.

Not surprisingly, construction begins with the interior. You have the option of installing a “fabric” bench for personnel carrier or to leave the whole cabin open for cargo. The… more

"The Bug" Photo-etch Workstation

Published: January 1, 2009
Company: The Small Shop

Photo-etch bending could sound intimidating but it shouldn't, particularly if you have the right tools for it. The Small Shop has designed "The Bug" to be the one-stop photo-etch bending tool. The tool is very well designed; compact, versatile, easy to use and made of aircraft grade aluminum.

The rotating head has a 2-inch straight edge for long bending lines, a "swiss comb" side with 6 "teeth" for boxes, and a variety of fixtures to fold parts of different sizes and material strengths, or for scratch built handles. All of these in a compact 2x2.5 inch base. It should be mentioned that some of hold-down fingers are reinforced for bending thicker brass, while others designed for thinner, more delicate parts. It is a nice touch from the Small Shop to include a razor blade (used… more