Reviews of products for scale aircraft models.

Review Author
Chris Gibson
Published on
Company
ICM
Scale
1:48
MSRP
$198.00

The 1/48 ICM kit “Conquerors of Europe’s Sky” has three kits included, a B26C Marauder, a P-51D Mustang and the Spitfire Mk XVI.

The B26C is a new tool kit, the P-51D and the Spitfire Mk XVI is an old tool kit which came out back in 2006, so those molds are almost twenty years old.

Included in the B26C kit is:

  • Eight grey sprues
  • One clear sprue
  • One set of decals for three different aircraft
  • One mask template
  • One instruction booklet
  • One instruction page for paint and decal placement

Included in the P-51D Mustang kit:

  • Five grey sprues
  • One clear sprue
  • Decals for one aircraft
  • One instruction book

Included in the Spitfire Mk XVI kit:

Review Author
Will Kuhrt
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$40.95

2025 has seen several versions of Eduard’s P-40E released. Before this year, their P-40s consisted of M & N variants. Included in the 2025 lineup of P-40E Warhawks, Eduard has released a Royal Class Dual Combo R0023, P-40E Pacific Star Combo No 11185, the Kittyhawk Limited Edition Dual Combo No. 11187, the P-40E ProfiPack No. 82241, and the subject of this review, the P-40E Weekend Edition No. 84207.

Inside of the box, five beautifully molded gray sprues, along with one clear sprue, are contained in sealed bags. There are two decal sheets – one for stencils and another for markings also provided. This kit does not contain any PE or 3D printed parts.

Book Author(s)
Jakub Fojtík Ph.D. with scale drawings by Sam Pearson
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Guideline Publications
MSRP
$30.00

Guideline Publications is the UK's leading publisher of modeling and hobby-related magazines. With a world-class portfolio of titles and an international Social Media presence, Guideline Publications has a dedicated readership that is constantly expanding into new areas. This English language book, Aero L-39- L-59- L-139 & L-159 Albatros, is authored by Jakub Fojtík Ph.D. with scale drawings by Sam Pearson. The latest in Guideline’s Warpaint series, 149, was published in 2025. A digital edition will soon be available. The latest on Guideline’s publications can be found on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/guidelinepub/

Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Twobobs Aviation Graphics
Scale
1:48
MSRP
$16.00

Bob Sanchez has been in or around the military all his life. He was an "Air Force Brat" and credits his mom with getting him addicted to plastic modeling and airplanes. At the age of 10, Bob's mom came home with a Revell 1/32 scale P-51B and signed him up for the Military Book Club. From that point on, he was hooked! Bob Sanchez was in the USAF for 11 years as an Airborne Instrumentation/Telemetry Technician and flew on the Advanced Range Instrumentation Aircraft as a Chief Flight Examiner. He finished his enlistment with Project Speckled Trout as a Flight Test Engineer performing airborne Comm/Nav testing on the Air Force Chief of Staff airplane. He has over 1,200 flight hours in numerous aircraft to include the C-135C, EC-135E, EC-18B/D, E-9A, NASA 757, F-16C, F/A-18B, King Air, MH-53 Pave Low, Bell Jet Ranger and OH-6 Cayuse. Currently Bob is the Business Development Manager for a major aerospace defense contractor.

Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$10.00

The most notable Bf-109F-0/F-1 is Adolph Galland’s machine in which he delivered lobsters to a birthday party for Theo Osterkamp. It was one of the earliest Friedrichs. Besides the lobsters the one thing that was unique about this aircraft was the squared off intake for the aircraft. Not the same as the Emil type, but entirely different. I’ve never seen it available before in 1/32nd scale. Werner’s Wings has it in 1/48 but not 32nd scale.

The Hasegawa 1/32nd scale Bf-109F is a very good kit. I’ve built a few of them. This easy conversion piece is a welcomed addition to the 109 line of accessories.

Contained in the usual resealable packaging is a single piece of light grey resin that is flawlessly cast on a single mounting block. Removal is simple as using a saw blade and carefully removing it. Then it is a drop fit for the engine air intake on the kit. No fuss, no muss.

Review Author
Chris Smith
Published on
Company
Arma Hobby
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$35.99

These kits have been around long enough now for me to say it’s the best of its kind in this scale. Since I’ve covered the basics of its construction in a previous review for this site, I’ll focus on details specific to this release. The primary feature of this kit is the inclusion of M-10 rocket or “Bazooka”, tubes. A separate runner of parts contains the tubes and the two types of mounting hardware. Also included are templates to locate the mounting holes on the wings. The quality of these parts is on par with the rest of the kit.

Three different marking options are included on the decal sheet as follows:

Book Author(s)
Andrzej Glass
Illustrated by Andrzej M. Olejniczak
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Stratus
MSRP
$11.99

Stratus goes back to 1991 when they launched Fanatyk Plastiku for modelers in the Polish market. The original editorial team included Marek Bronkowski, Wlodzimierz Debicki, Artur Juszczak, Dariusz Karnas, Robert Panek, and Robert Peczkowski. A collaboration with MMP in 1997 later expanded into book publication in 1999 with Stratus, and since then they have built up a list of hard- and soft cover titles on aircraft and aviation, naval, military vehicles, and military history. Stratus / MMPBooks are distributed in North America by Casemate Publications.

Book Author(s)
Jose Fernandez and Patrick Laureau
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$62.00

One of the latest in Mushroom Model Publications’ White Series, French Bombers of WWII, follows up an earlier volume on French aircraft, 2013’s French Flying Boats of WWII. MMP is calling this book part of their "Rainbow Series." I am guessing that it refers to their large format camouflage and markings set of books in their "White" series that have addressed Bulgaria, Finland, Hungarian, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, and Sweden. This series seems to share a commonality of discussing the specific topic of the evolution of a country's evolution in markings. To that end, this book utilizes many previously unpublished pictures and focuses on individual aircraft and is supplemented with superb color illustrations.

Book Author(s)
Richard A. Franks
Review Author
Tomasz Menert
Published on
Company
Valiant Wings Publishing
MSRP
$29.95

From the Valiant Wings Publishing website: Our eleventh title in the Airframe Detail series is an essential companion for anyone tackling the 1/72 scale kit from Azur-Frrom, the Trumpeter example in 1/48 scale, or even one of the older toolings.

Contents include:

Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
ICM
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$120.00

As a recap, we are building up the old Monogram kit and two ICM kits of the B-26B Marauder with ICM’s 1/48th scale Flak Bait as the main review item. I selected the following schemes for the three kits:

  • “Flak Bait”, 322nd bombardment Group, Spring 1945
  • “Hard to Get”, 497th BS, 344th BG, Cormeilles France 1945
  • “Idiots Delight”, 391st BG, 575 BS RAF Matching England, August 1944

At the end of Part 1, the fuselages were all together and it was time to finish off the kits.