Reviews of products for scale aircraft models.

Book Author(s)
Greg Baughen
Review Author
Michael Novosad
Published on
Company
Casemate Publishers
MSRP
$45.00

From the website

Overview

In May 1940, the German Army and the Allied forces they faced were fairly evenly matched. Two months later Britain was on her own, hopelessly outnumbered and facing imminent defeat. Should the RAF have done more to support the Allied armies in France? Could the RAF have protected the British Army better at Dunkirk? How narrow was the margin of victory in the Battle of Britain? Was the RAF ready to deal with an invasion? Why were hundreds of American combat planes and experienced Polish and Czech pilots never used? All these questions and more are answered in Greg Baughen's third book in the series. Baughen describes the furious battles between the RAF and the Luftwaffe and the equally bitter struggle between the Air Ministry and the War Office- and explains how close Britain really came to defeat in the summer of 1940.

About The Author

Review Author
Timothy Gidcumb
Published on
Company
Ultracast
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$5.31

The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and enabled a rapid entry into production and operational service. The Warhawk was used by most Allied powers during World War II, and remained in frontline service until the end of the war. It was the third most-produced American fighter, after the P-51 and P-47; by November 1944, when production of the P-40 ceased, 13,738 had been built, all at Curtiss-Wright Corporation's main production facilities at Buffalo, New York.

Review Author
Allan Murrell
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$39.95

This is a re-box kit and update with new parts of the Eduard release from 1998. It represents the famous Bell Aircraft Corporation’s X-1 X-plane that first took man past the sound barrier on October 14th 1947 piloted by Capt. Charles E “Chuck” Yeager.

In the box is:

  • 2 x light grey sprues
  • 1 clear canopy
  • 1 decal sheet
  • 1 mask sheet
  • 1 photoetch detail set
  • 3 x resin wheels
  • 1 instruction booklet

All the sprues are extremely well molded with very little flash and great detail; the decals allow you to finish the aircraft in 4 different versions.

Construction

First is the construction of the cockpit which is well detailed, and the photoetch helps a lot to make this a very impressive cockpit when complete.

Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$29.95

Eduard continues their Brassin series armament releases for 1/32nd scale aircraft with Mk. 82 low drag, general purpose bombs which are in use around the world. This set is your basic dumb bomb with a low drag configuration with no guidance systems or retardation fins. This set is comprised of thirty parts; twelve of which are the bomb fronts and the fins. The remaining eighteen are fusing/plugging options. There are three choices- standard fuse and the extended fuse and lastly, the plug installed to the nose to cover the internal parts. Casting is excellent with no pinholes and great definition. There are no seams on the parts to sand.

Review Author
Craig Gregory
Published on
Company
Hasegawa
Scale
Grade A Large
MSRP
$62.99

The Hasegawa Eggplane Series is just plain fun. They assemble quickly, are generally well engineered, and for me provide an immediate platform to practice my budding modeling skills. I “assembled” plastic models as a kid; messy tube-glue seams and hand brushed finishes. I reenter the hobby a few years ago by joining the local IPMS chapter and enrolling in the club’s Adult Building Course. Since, then I have built a few successful projects with the skills learned in the ABC and practice on my Eggplanes.

The F-2 & T-4 “ADTW 60th ANNIVERSARY” box set are my 4th and 5th Eggplanes. The box set is a reissue of previous releases of the F-2 and F-4 with special ADTW 60th Anniversary decals. The 2 kits are packaged separately with individual instruction sheets and a combined decal sheet. I proceed as two individual builds.

Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Aires Hobby Models
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$14.00

Quickboost provides you with a product to replace your one-piece Po-2 horizontal tail surfaces with the capability of displaying the elevators in alternate position. Please note this set does not depict elevator tabs that are present on some aircraft. The packaging is the standard polyethylene bag secured to a header card with staples. There are no supplied instructions but then again, the three parts are a direct replacement for the kit’s horizontal tails surfaces.

Although this product is designed specifically for the ICM 1/48 kits (48251, 48252, and 48253) it should take zero- to minimal-modification effort to mount this set in the Admiral kits (4807, 4808, 4809), the Gavia kits (002/0399, 004/0600), the AZ Model kit (AZ4870), the Jadar-Model resin kit (48 001), or even the older Sierra Scale Models 48-46 vacuform kit.

Review Author
Jarrod Booth
Published on
Company
Hasegawa
Scale
1/200
MSRP
$52.99

Hasegawa continues their fantastic line of small scale airliner aircraft, with this release of the military Boeing KC-767J tanker and E-767 AWACS versions. I have built a number of their other civil airliners, and they are designed to build easily and fairly quickly, by all levels of modeler. I have included pictures of the instruction sheets that cover the history and details of these ex-airliner, Japanese Air Self-Defense Force aircraft.

The two kits come in Hasegawa’s standard sized box, and packaging. Inside are two clear plastic bags, each of which contain the individual model sprues, clear parts, large ballast screws, a stand and poly caps. Loose in the box are two sets of instructions and one good quality decal sheet. Each kit also includes the extra parts specific to the tanker and AWACS.

Review Author
Scott Hollingshead
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$7.95

One of the latest releases from Eduard in their rapidly expanding Brassin line are a set of late wheels intended for use on the new Tamiya F-14A (kit 61114). Consisting of eight resin parts along with a set of masks to aid in airbrushing the wheels and tires, the set can be used to dress up the appearance of the Tamiya kit, especially for modelers that like the representation of weight on their tires.

This set consists of resin main tires with separate inserts for the outer and inner wheels as well as front wheels, which are cast as single assemblies. The Tamiya kit provides main wheels that are molded as front and back halves, while the front wheels are molded as single pieces. Assembly and installation instructions are provided on the inside of a bi-folded sheet of paper that include the calling out of only two Gunze paint colors, Tire Black and White

Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
Aires Hobby Models
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$14.00

Aires continues its releases with this excellent set to make the horizontal stabilizers moveable on Trumpeters 1/48th scale F9F Panther. The set is comprises four perfectly molded parts with two for each side.

Casting is perfect and prep work takes about five minutes. Carefully cut the four parts free with a razor saw and then sand the edges smooth that were cut loose. They are already keyed to fit directly into the kit parts. A little clean up and they fit perfectly. One thing to note too, the set duplicates the kits surface detail very well with all the needed rivets. To finish, glue to the kit and angle the moveable parts to the same angle and paint.

This is a wonderful quick to add set from Aires and will give you kit more visual interest. Highly recommended

My thanks to Aires and IPMS/USA for the chance to review this great set.