Reviews of products for scale aircraft models.

Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
Company
Furball Aero-Design
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$27.99

The USS George H.W. Bush is the latest aircraft carrier in the US Navy arsenal. The carrier was deployed in 2017 as the flagship of Operation Inherent Resolve. On its decks were the many variants of the F/A-18, in the guise of the C, E, and F as well as the EA-18G. Furball Aero-Design has gathered this information and provided it to the modeler.

The decals are packaged in a large ziplock. They are printed by Cartograf so you know they are world class decals. The colors are in perfect register with good color saturation. My decals were so large that I couldn’t seal them. I cut the bottom and top of the sheet to make it fit the packaging.

Review Author
Rob Booth
Published on
Company
Twobobs Aviation Graphics
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$14.00

If you build modern aircraft subjects, you’re probably already familiar with Two Bobs Aviation Graphics decals. Owner Bob Sanchez is a USAF vet who has put in plenty of time around modern jet aircraft. His firm produces some of the best quality decals available for unusually marked and typical line examples of modern aircraft subjects.

The subjects of this set are nineteen examples of B-2 “Spirit” stealth bombers of the 509th Bomb Wing, stationed at Whiteman AFB, MO. They include the “Spirits” of America, Arizona, Indiana, Ohio, Texas, Missouri, California, South Carolina, Washington, Kansas, Nebraska, Georgia, Alaska, Hawaii, Florida, Oklahoma, Kitty Hawk, Pennsylvania and Louisiana, each with their distinctive gear door graphics markings. There are only 20 B-2’s in the USAF inventory, and one is assigned to testing duties. So this set allows you to model any of the current inventory stationed at Whiteman.

Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$16.95

No doubt the Tamiya Bf-109G-6 is an impressive kit right out of the box. But what if you want something more impressive? Well help comes from an unexpected source, Eduard. As the Tamiya kit is in direct competition with Eduard’s kit I was surprised by the amount of detail set that Eduard offered to upgrade the Tamiya kit.

This set is packaged in a standard blister pack that Brassin item typically packaged in. The parts are held in place by foam. The six resin parts are molded in light grey resin with no blemishes anywhere. The detail is impressive. The hardest part is removing Part 91. It is very delicate so be careful when removing it. There is a fret of brass photo etch pieces. It contains five pieces. The instructions are easy to understand and are on a single page.

Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
Company
Master Model
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$7.00

The Do-335B-2 Zerstrorer version of the late war German fighter plane had two wing-mounted 30mm cannons in addition to the standard 30mm armament in the nose.

Master has provided some remarkable parts to replace the kit ones. Packaged in the standard card stock backed zip lock baggie. The individual items are packaged separately to ensure that they are safe from damage. The set comprises two resin pieces, the muzzle flash suppressors, and seven beautifully turned brass parts. There are two cowl-mounted 30mm barrels, as well as the wing mounted ones which the flash suppressors are fitted to. A pitot tube is included along with a FuG-25 underwing antenna. The propeller blast tube is also included and makes this set very complete.

Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
Company
Amigo Models
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$23.75

The Su-35 is a super maneuverable Russian fighter plane. One of the reasons for this is the vectored exhaust nozzles which can direct the exhaust in a variety of directions allowing the super maneuverability required in a dogfight.

Amigo Models has released a set of exhausts for the Kitty Hawk Su-35. Packaged in a small cardboard box the parts are protected by bubble wrap and resealable bags. The resin is a very light grey resin. The parts are superbly cast but more importantly extremely well detailed. They are quite thin as they should be. The interior of the burner cans is simply breathtaking in its detailing. The detail on the inside and out is simply beautiful. Removal of the burner ring is tricky but the rest are really easy to remove. Time and patience will reward you with perfectly formed pieces.

Book Author(s)
William Harrison
Review Author
Hub Plott
Published on
Company
Guideline Publications
MSRP
$20.47

This book covers the RAF Hawker Fury and RN Nimrod. Number 116 in the very familiar Warpaint series by Guideline, this book follows their tried and true format. Beginning with the discussion of the prototype the book then moves into production models and service. All variants are covered.

Begun as a private venture, the sleek inline engine Fury was the first main RAF fighter to reach speeds in excess of 200MPH. Besides the RAF the Fury also served with what are now Iran, Portugal, South Africa, Yugoslavia, Spain as well as one Panther radial engine model with Norway for trials. The naval version of the fury, the Nimrod, served well with the Royal Navy as well as with Denmark. Japan and Portugal trialed the Nimrod but no orders were forthcoming!

Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$9.95

Eduard has initiated a new line of masks that are rather unique in that they provide masking for the outside and inside of the canopy. While this is not a new solution it is the first time that pre-cut masks have been available. If you are like me you mask the outside and paint the inside color so that it shines through and call it a day. The drawback of this method is that while the correct color it is shiny.

In the past canopies have been rather thick and as such caused distortion so that if you masked from the inside it might not be perfectly aligned with the outside and vise versa. Modern kit canopies are significantly thinner than previous kits. So that opens up the possibilities of masking the inside.

Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$24.95

The Tamiya Bf-109G-6 has produced quite a nice model that is beautifully engineered. Because it is plastic there are things that are overscaled. Enter Eduard with their sets designed for their competitors 109.

This set is in the standard Eduard photo etch packaging with a resealable package and protected by thin card stock. The set contains two sets of photo etch, a single pre-painted fret made out of nickel plated brass and a larger brass fret.

The smaller one is pre-printed and is from the ZOOM set. The primary colored part is the instrument panel. The instrument panel now features simulated glass on the gauges. They look great. The only thing that would change would be to flat the outer face before you assemble the instrument panel together.

Review Author
David Wrinkle
Published on
Company
Platz
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$38.81

Most of you should be at the least generally familiar with F-15 Eagle in its role as a twin engine all-weather tactical fighter. The F-15 was introduced into service in the United States in 1976 and just two short years later in Japan. The Japanese government made its initial purchase of F-15J “Peace Eagles” built by McDonnell Douglass in the late 1970’s before continuing to build additional J models and Pratt-Whitney engines under license. The F-15J is based on the US F-15C/D model for those of you familiar with the Eagle.

Review Author
Michael Reeves
Published on
Company
Academy Models
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$39.00

Kurt Tank’s design team late in the war was striving to design aircraft to rival rumored Allied jet fighters, like the Gloster Meteor. Unfortunately for the Reich, fuel shortages and the end of the war prevented most of the fighters designed after the Me-262 from ever seeing combat. One of these was the TA 183 “Huckebein”. The Americans captured data and plans for the fighter from the Messerschmitt plants- and these evolved into designs of the swept-wing FJ-2/3/4 Fury and the Air Force version- the F-86 Sabre. The Soviet spoils of design plans led to their MiG-15.