Reviews of products for scale aircraft models.

Review Author
Michael Novosad
Published on
Company
New Ware
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$9.09

Company Background

New Ware is a company in the Czech Republic that is well know to spacecraft modelers. They were new to me. I looked into their website and the text is a mix of English and Czech, and it is noted that Russian, German and Italian are also spoken. They offer kabuki-type masks for many of the popular scales from 1/24 down to the diminuative 1/144, plus eggplanes.

Their on-line catalog is broken down by scale, with a further breakdown for model kit manufacturer. Each mask description for the kit noted with details for the contents such as all clear parts, interior (when offered), other clear parts and wheels.

Review Author
David Horn
Published on
Company
Brengun
Scale
1/144
MSRP
$6.42

Brengun produces a wide range of unique resin and photo-etch accessories in 1/32, 1/48, 1/72 as well as 1/144. This wheel set is cast with zero flash with prominent pour blocks up half the wheels. The finish is slightly textured but realistic and raised lettering is not visible however in this scale, reading the lettering should not be an issue to most modelers. The tread is not that deep but visible and realistic to 1/144 scale.

These wheels are for the “legacy” hornets which differ from the “Super Hornets”. Each tire has a slight expanded section for weight on wheels. Depending on your kit, the hub may need to be opened up or drilling the hub deeper to attach to your landing gear. Brake calipers are clearly visible on the main wheels however the outboard features, holes and rim fasteners are a little blended and not that crisp compared to larger scales.

Review Author
Jim Pearsall
Published on
Company
Fly Models
Scale
1/144
MSRP
$19.00

The Aircraft

Daimler-Benz designed several large aircraft, Projects A through C, which were designed to carry air-to-ground missiles. These were huge planes, with 6 engines, and they were supposed to carry 5 or 6 of the “Project F” missiles. The targets were supposed to be Allied airfields and other strategic targets.

The Project F missiles were powered by a single BMW 018 jet engine. The F would be carried to near the target by the C, then released. The pilot would aim the missile at the target, then bail out through the bottom of the aircraft. The warhead was in the nose, weighed 3000 KG (6600 lb.) and was detonated upon contact.

The Project C aircraft apparently never flew, and the F never reached the prototype stage. Therefore, this model qualifies for “Luftwaffe 46”. The four sets of aircraft markings in this kit are supposed to be from the Luftwaffe from September of 1945 to June of 1946.

Review Author
Clarence Wentzel
Published on
Company
Special Hobby
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$29.10

History

The Curtiss P-40 E was one of the few US aircraft available in any numbers at the start of World War II. In addition to US usage, a large number were supplied to the British under Lend-Lease provisions. These were called the Kittyhawk 1A. These were used in various Commonwealth nations and a number were even reacquired by the US. While adequate in performance for it’s time, the performance of the P-40 E was somewhat inferior to the Zero, Messerschmidt and Spitfire.

Early versions of the P-40 were made famous by the AVG (Flying Tigers) and the image of the tiger mouth on the front fuselage intake became well known.

Book Author(s)
Ed. Andy Evans
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
SAM Publications
MSRP
$9.99

SAM Publications is an independent publisher based in Bedford UK. Established over 25 years ago, they have gone onto become a household name in the hobby sector. SAM Publications prides itself on producing quality publications, well researched and affordable to customers. SAM Publications is noted for their magazines, Scale Aviation Modeller International and Scale Military Modeler International magazines, as well as their series of monographs with Modellers Datafiles and Modellers Datafile – Scaled Down.. SAM has not stood still over the past 25 years and has adopted to the ever-changing publishing industry. Technology has played a big part in this and has only enhanced the quality of their publications by allowing them to reach out to authors and researchers all over the world. You can see that most evident in this issue of SAMI, with a contribution from American Floyd Werner (although he will always be a Texan) and his review of the Eduard 1/48 Phantom II.

Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
AOA Decals
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$13.50

AOA Decals specializes in Vietnam to modern era planes and covers all the major scales. This sheet is 1/32nd scale and covers VMA(AW)-533 was previously featured on AOA's first 1/32 sheet 32-001 covering their Vietnam War deployments (1967-69 and 1972-73) and again on sheet 32-003 covering Operation Desert Storm. This new sheet 32-029 expands that coverage of VMA(AW)-533 to now include the intermediate and immediate postwar periods in the early 1970s.

The set includes three sets of markings for A-6A Intruders:

Review Author
David Horn
Published on
Company
Master Model
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$8.99

Packaged in a thin, heat sealed pouch with three parts, two gun barrels, and one pitot tube. Compared to the Academy parts, the Master parts are very fine and detail is the finest I have ever seen and directions are very clear and easy to follow. The gun barrels are very precise and retain concentricity where the kit parts seem thick and may appear warped. As for the pitot tube, I wish I had a 1/32 scale T-38 to compare to but the crisp and consistent shape that is spot on to reference photos. The pitot tube is plenty long for any kit with adjustments to each kit a simple procedure.

Master details is known for exquisite detail on all of their update sets and this review sample is no exception. I am hopeful there will be an injected molded 1/32 scale T-38 released so I can use the pitot tube. I would like to thank Master Models for this review sample.

Review Author
David Horn
Published on
Company
Brengun
Scale
1/144
MSRP
$6.90

Brengun produces a wide range of unique resin and photo-etch accessories in 1/32, 1/48, 1/72 as well as 1/144. This wheel set is cast with zero flash with prominent pour blocks up half the wheels. The finish is slightly textured but realistic and raised lettering is not visible however in this scale, reading the lettering should not be an issue to most modelers. The tread is not that deep but visible and realistic to 1/144 scale.

These wheels are for the “Super Hornets” which differ from the “legacy”. The tread does match reference photos, although shallow, they are true to scale. Each tire has a slight expanded section for weight on wheels. Compared to Dragons EA-18G Growler injection molded wheels, you can see the advantage of the Brengun wheels.

Review Author
David Horn
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$16.95

Scale Aircraft Conversions (SAC) manufactures white metal landing gear that is a direct replacement for the kits plastic landing gear. The metal landing gear offer greater strength over the kit parts as well as having most of the mold lines removed. At times the metal will be bent out of shape but that is easily corrected by bending it back to the correct shape.

This set includes twelve parts, the two centerline main gear struts (front and rear), retract and bracing arms, landing light, and outrigger gear. All the main gear, various linkages, and outriggers are exact copies of the kit parts with most of the mold lined cleaned up.

Review Author
Gino Dykstra
Published on
Company
Brengun
MSRP
$7.72

I’ll be the first to admit that I haven’t used a lot of Brengun products over the years. This has nothing to do with their quality – more like modeling inertia. Often by the time I see a need for additional detail on an aircraft kit, I’ve reached the point of impatience where I simply want to get the thing done. This has not always worked in my favor.

An area where 1/32nd scale kits, especially older ones, often let the modeler down is in the area of the gun sight – one of the most visible aspects of any cockpit from the era. Due to the limitations of injection molding, these are often represented by little more than lumps of plastic with only the faintest resemblance to the real article. Brengun has done something to fix this problem.