Landing Gear for Victor

Published: May 10, 2017
Company: Scale Aircraft Conversions

Thanks to Ross at SAC for sending us improved metal landing gear for the new 1/72 Airfix Victor, and thanks also to IPMS USA leadership for sending it to me….

Another of SAC’s expansive line of white metal upgrades to the basic kit plastic! The set consists of 17 parts: Two duplicate sets of main struts and nose gear, and bomb bay door actuators. The bomb bay actuators were not used in this build but may come in handy if they ever release this kit with the free-falling “dumb” bomb load to show off in the cavernous bomb bay.

The main gear is improved by two parts replacing a three-part assembly; the central strut has been modified, in that the SAC strut is not split like the airfix strut, which has the central trunnion top part and side bearing arms slide into the… more

OV-10 Bronco: Designed for Counterinsurgency and the Vietnam War

Published: February 4, 2020
Company: Fort Worth Aviation Museum

Thanks to Mr. Ashby Shoop for providing me a copy of this booklet during it’s development, and the Fort Worth Aviation museum for sending a finished E-copy to me to review after purchase.

If you are looking for a quick reference on the OV-10, the Folks at the Fort Worth aviation Museum have a new document which provides an excellent, concise history of the aircraft. Included are development and early history of what the requirement is that led to the Bronco, who worked on it, and the history of how the aircraft evolved. The majority of the book focuses on Marine air and navy use; Air Force operations are touched on but not in detail.

What really adds value to the book are descriptions of loadout and operations, which confirm configuration of particular offensive… more

SAC Yak-28 Firebar Landing Gear

Published: April 19, 2017
Company: Scale Aircraft Conversions

Thanks to Ross at SAC for sending us improved metal landing gear for the new YAK-28 Firebar from a new manufacturer, Bobcat models, and thanks also to IPMS USA leadership for sending the SAC bits to me to review.

Another of SAC’s expansive line of white metal upgrades to basic kit plastic! The set consists of 15 parts: front and rear main gear, and replacements for the wing tip gear.

Firebar was an oddball aircraft designed during the rapid development era after World War II in the 1950’s, with an unconventional landing gear setup similar to the B-47. The main gear was centered on the aircraft datum line as a bicycle, with stabilizing gear on the wing tips. It worked, but in crosswinds the aircraft could easily be in trouble on landing or takeoff. The B-52 rarely has… more

Merlin Engine Set for Mosquito FB VI

Published: April 8, 2017
Company: Eduard

As usual, IPMS USA are, as usual, appreciative to Eduard for kindly providing an outstanding example of one of their new items to review, and to the IPMS USA reviewer corps leaders for sending it to me..

This set is one of the few times I have opened a box and said “what HAVE I gotten myself into?” Yes, I asked for it, but the answer is because I thought it would be a cool addition to the kit. I didn’t realize how much there was to this set…

Enclosed are several pages of drawings and detailed instructions, and two complete engines along with cowling, hoses, and some wiring runs. Boxes galore, magnetos, supercharger with more defined details… it’s a true miniature of the Merlin.

The detail is far and above what is provided in the Tamiya kit’s engines, which are… more

Jet Provost T.3 Landing Gear (Airfix)

Published: April 8, 2017
Company: Scale Aircraft Conversions

Thanks to Ross at SAC for sending us improved metal landing gear for the new 1/72 Airfix Jet provost T.3, and thanks also to IPMS USA leadership for sending it to me.

Another of SAC’s expansive line of white metal upgrades to the basic kit plastic! The set consists of six parts: Two duplicate sets of main struts and nose gear for the kit.

Not much to say here; build your kit, leave off the kit gear, and install the SAC gear. Paint, add the painted wheels, paint the nose tire, and you are done.

You can see by the ‘before and after painting” pictures that I’m getting old and sloppy, but you get the idea. The nose gear has the anti-shimmy tire incorporated along with the gear, which makes it a better option because the kit gear has the tire split to account for the… more

Junkers Ju 88 Landing Gear & Engine Supports

Published: April 8, 2017
Company: Scale Aircraft Conversions

Thanks to Ross at SAC for sending us improved metal landing gear for the ICM/Special Hobby JU-88, and thanks also to IPMS USA leadership for sending it to me.

Another of SAC’s expansive line of white metal upgrades to the basic kit plastic! The set consists of 11 parts: Two main struts, one tail gear strut/retraction cylinder, wheel/tire assembly, six gear strut supports, and two engine supports for the kit.

The ICM kit contains two complete engine assemblies in addition to the basic kit. I used a set of replacement resin cowing and exhausts for the inaccurate kit cowl intakes, so I was not able to use the engine supports. I did, however, appreciate the strength provided by the metal gear after using the resin parts for the kit. With the thin nature of the gear axles in… more

Metal Landing Gear for B-17G

Published: April 6, 2017
Company: Scale Aircraft Conversions

Thanks to Ross at SAC for sending us improved metal landing gear for the new tool 1/72 Airfix B-17G, and thanks also to IPMS USA leadership for sending it to me….

Another of SAC’s expansive line of white metal upgrades to the basic kit plastic! The set consists of six parts: Two set of main gear struts, two extension support struts, and two-part tail gear for the kit.

Not much to say here; build your kit, leave off the kit gear, and install the SAC gear. Paint, add the painted wheels and tires, and you are done.

The mains are simply dropped in place with superglue, and the side supports glued to the other extension side support. Same process with the tail gear; the main offset axle and mount are cemented with superglue to the other side strut, and installed in… more

Vietnamese SPADS (1) VNAF AD-6/A-1H Skyraiders in the Vietnam War

Published: March 22, 2017
Company: AOA Decals

AoA (Angle of Attack) decals: Been around about a year, and now we know they are focusing on Vietnam War subjects … We sincerely appreciate this new decal manufacturer sending IPMS/USA their latest releases for a review! (…and the usual thanks also to IPMS USA Reviewer corps leadership for sending these my way...)

This sheet is could easily be used on several models if you have a garage or basement totally dedicated to 1/32 models AND are independently wealthy to purchase several A-1’s in this scale…

A few airframe stencils in included for one model, along with national insignia. This sheet focuses on the main markings for the aircraft, particularly since several of these SPADS were repainted with camo and as such did not receive replacement stencil markings.

… more

Mig 21 in Czechoslovak Service Dual Combo

Published: March 12, 2017
Company: Eduard

As usual, IPMS USA are eternally grateful to Eduard for kindly providing yet another magnificent example of their new items to review, and to the IPMS USA reviewer corps leaders for sending it to me.

Eduard are rightfully proud of their Mig 21 series; the 1/48 kits are the best in the market, and cover the majority of the available Migs in service. This particular boxing is of their new 1/144 dual kit featuring eight Czech-marked examples with nose art, display schemes, etc. Bare metal, brown and green over gray, winter camo, all are there. The whole kit exudes quality and value.

All through the build I was thinking “This is fun and I don’t want to screw it up!” Contest models coming out of this region contain some of the finest details out there in my opinion, and I… more

Metal Landing Gear

Published: March 6, 2017
Company: Scale Aircraft Conversions

Thanks to Ross at SAC for sending us improved metal landing gear for the massive Boeing 777, and thanks also to IPMS USA leadership for sending it to me….

This is ‘du rigeur’ SAC white metal upgrade to the basic kit plastic! The set consists of 9 parts: Two main struts, two strut retraction cylinders, the nose gear, retraction arm, and a drag brace, and two centering and leveling cylinder assemblies for the main trucks.

The landing gear on the 777 is a monster in real life; it has six wheel/tire assemblies on each wing, and is quite a piece of kit for supporting this highly-successful airliner and cargo hauler. On the kit, it makes sense to have similar strength. For 1/144 scale, it’s a big model. Zvezda’s plastic is pretty strong, but the SAC gear makes it better…… more