Reviews of products for scale aircraft models.

Book Author(s)
Dariusz Karnas
Illustrated by Artur Juszczak
Review Author
Paul R. Brown
Published on
Company
Stratus
MSRP
$25.00

Part of MMP’s Polish Wings series, this book focuses on the TS-11 Iskra, a Polish designed primary jet trainer. Designed in the late 1950’s in response to the need to train pilots for the Polish Air Force, the Iskra went on to serve for over 50 years with the Polish Air Force. While the design looks vaguely similar to that of the Temco TT-1 Pinto, unlike the Pinto, the Iskra was a very successful aircraft with more than 400 being built of its various variants. As an indigenous design, the Iskra’s primary customer was the Polish Air Force, however, India also purchased and operated 50 of the aircraft for jet pilot training.

Review Author
Paul R. Brown
Published on
Company
Special Hobby
Scale
1:72
MSRP
$6.00

This set is intended to be a quick upgrade to the gunner compartment of Special Hobby’s Ju 87D or Academy’s Ju 87G Stuka.The parts are 3D printed and as expected the detail is exquisite. As there are only three parts to the set, for most people this will be an easy upgrade. Unfortunately, my experience went the other way, but to be honest, with one exception, that was all my fault.

Book Author(s)
P Skulski
Review Author
Paul Mahoney
Published on
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$35.00

MMP Books continues to produce high-quality references that are specifically aimed at the modeler. The latest in their “Orange” Series is this volume on the Reggiane 2001 and 2005 (as well as some further developments in the series).

This book consists of 176 pages, including black and white period photos, scale line drawings, color profiles, original manual pages and more.

Review Author
Andy Taylor
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1:48
MSRP
$7.49

Quickboost is known for its resin upgrade accessories for 1/72, 1/48 and 1/32 scale aircraft. The resin reproduces details often not available in plastic model kits. This exhaust stack does a great job of replacing the kit’s plastic equivalent and literally just falls into place with some sanding.

With the release of Arma’s new 1/48 P-39 aircraft series, this accessory (designed for the Hasegawa P-39s) makes the exhaust stack pop even more with its detail. While researching exhausts on P-39 aircraft, different model numbers had different exhausts (most Airacobras had six per side, the P-39F and P-400 had twelve per side), so be sure to research the particular aircraft being modeled as Quickboost also makes other P-39 exhausts for the P-39, P-39Q/N, and P-400 Airacobras (along with other detail sets, including engines, flaps, gun barrels, etc).

Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
Company
ICM
Scale
1:48
MSRP
$108.00

The Mistel concept was born in the 1930's, but came into use as a weapon in the waning months of the war. It consisted of a control plane, a war weary Bf-109 or a FW-190, mounted on top of a Ju-88 variant. In the Mistel 1 configuration, it was a Bf-109F and a Ju-88A. When mounted with a 1800 or 2000 lb bomb nose it could destroy bridges and other key targets. There were at least three variants of the shaped nose charge. It was used operationally to prevent the Russians from crossing the Oder and against the Western Allies as well. It was grossly overweight for the Ju-88 landing gear and tires. Because of this it had to operate from improved airstrips and was still subject to blowing out the tires and destroying both airframes before takeoff. Even when it could get off the ground, flying it was not easy. The Bf-109 was a tiny aircraft, and it had to control both aircraft.

Book Author(s)
Alan Durkota
Review Author
Hub Plott
Published on
Company
Aeronaut Books
MSRP
$44.99

From Wikipedia: The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians, and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. The medal is normally awarded by the President of the United States (the commander in chief of the armed forces) and is presented "in the name of the United States Congress." It is often, but incorrectly, referred to as the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Review Author
Pat Villarreal
Published on
Company
ICM
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$99.00

ICM has released a new 1/48th scale Bristol Beaufort Mk. I, Bombing Raid version with decals devoted to No. 22 and No. 217 Squadron. For this boxing, there is an additional Sprue W (3X) that will turn this Mk. I into a bombing raid ordnance configuration versus the torpedo version of the previous boxings (there is no F2 or torpedo trailer sprue in this kit). This is PART 2 of this kit review and PART 1 can be located here:

In the Box

The box and contents review are in PART 1.

Review Process

For this build review, I decided on the Bristol Beaufort Mk. I, L9878 MW-R, No. 217 Squadron, Autumn 1941, as the final configuration. This is a box stock build but I did not follow the instruction build sequence since there are area of improvements noted below that may help the builder.

Review Author
Ron Bell
Published on
Company
Atlantis Model Company
Scale
1/70
MSRP
$21.99

This is Atlantis Models re-release of their old (1956) North American F-100C, one of the iconic American jets of the Cold War. As usual, Atlantis has cleaned up the molds and re-done the decal sheet but this is a typical 1950’s model airplane. Minimal parts (37), no interior except a pilot molded into a seat part that was ubiquitous to Revell airplane models of that era and the ever-popular Revell “Swivel Stand”. The model has the then normal raised decal locators but has engraved control surfaces. The canopy is nice and clear and fits pretty well. The decal sheet is quite attractive and having done many Atlantis kits I can safely say that it is well done and the decals behave.

Book Author(s)
Vladimir Kotelnikov with Gennady Sloutskiy;
Illustrators: Andrey Yurgenson
Review Author
Andy Taylor
Published on
Company
Helion & Company
MSRP
$29.95

The author begins the book with the following introduction,

While other great powers were in search of colonies across the oceans, Russia was gradually expanding its territorial borders.Starting from the middle of the nineteenth century the country began annexing territories in Central Asia, its northern part had already been controlled by the Russians.

The people who stood in the way of Russia’s expansion included the nomadic Kyrgyz and Kazakhs (until 1822 they were known as Kyrgyz-Kaisaks), and three major states further south: the Kokand and the Khiva khanates and the Emirate of Bukhara. The areas included present-day Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Chinese Xinjiang, bordering Iran and Afghanistan.