Master Model of Poland produces small brass parts for detailing models, be they aircraft or ships. They have parts for aircraft in 1/32, 1/35, 1/48, 1/72, and 1/144, mostly pitot tubes, refueling probes and gun barrels.

This product is a single pitot tube for a 1/144 F-104. The instructions are quite simple. 10 Cut off the kit pitot. 2) Drill a hole for the brass part. 3) Install the brass part, using CA glue. 4) Paint the part.

This pitot was particularly welcome because the Revell F-104 I built a while back didn’t have a pitot. So I was able to skip step 1. That doesn’t mean I could completely pass it, as I had to use a sanding stick to flatten the point on the nose cone so the drill wouldn’t slip every time I tried to drill the hole. Also, a .3 mm hole is pretty big, considering the size of this part. I stepped down to a .15 mm drill, and it was actually a little large.

This Master Model set provides a quantum leap over the respective parts in the eighties era ESCI, Matchbox, Monogram, and even the nineties era Tamiya series of 1/48 kits. This set is specifically for 20mm cannon barrels without flash hiders. If you are looking for a set with flash hiders, Master, again, is to your rescue as they have released their set 48-128 that features the four 20mm cannon barrels with flash hiders. As it is, this set gives you two muzzle versions of the 20mm cannon barrels sported by the Douglas Skyraider.

The Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien ("flying swallow") is a Japanese World War II fighter aircraft used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service. The Japanese Army designation was "Army Type 3 Fighter" Allied pilots initially believed Ki-61s were Messerschmitt Bf 109’s and later an Italian aircraft, which led to the Allied reporting name of "Tony", assigned by the United States War Department. It was the only mass-produced Japanese fighter of the war to use a liquid-cooled inline V engine. Over 3,000 Ki-61s were produced. Initial prototypes saw action over Yokohama during the Doolittle Raid on 18 April 1942, and continued to fly combat missions throughout the war.

Development of the F-86 actually started before the end of WWII, initiated by North American Aviation. Using captured data from the design of the ME-262 showed that a swept wing was the only way to fulfill an Army Air Force requirement for a 600 mph speed for the new design. Progressive modifications led to the fighter that effectively countered the threat of the Mig-15 during the Korean War.

The kit comes as three sprues of light gray plastic, along with one clear sprue. Parts are cleanly molded, with engraved panel lines and no flash. Cockpit detail consists of raised details on the instrument panel and side consoles, a three piece pilot seat, and a control stick. There is nice detail on the wheels, wheel well interior, and the inside of the speed brake wells. The interior of the wheel well covers and speed brakes themselves also have well detailed surfaces. Rounding out the details are several pieces that complete the interior at the rear of the canopy.

Dariusz Karnas is a skilled modeller and amateur aviation historian. He lives in Przemyśl, Poland. He has authored or contributed colour plates and / or scale drawings for over one hundred publications. These include MMP’s Polish Wings, Scale Plans, and Inside series as well as books in the MMP Yellow series: Fieseler 156 Storch 1938-1945 (2012) and Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-15 (2004). You can find Dariusz Karnas on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/people/Dariusz-Karnas/100008987326348 .

This is the third volume of the “Inside” series of books featuring the instrument panels of various Polish WWII aircraft. MMP Books previously released Vol 1 which covered the Bf-109F-4, Bf-110E, Fi-156 Storch, Fw-190A-3, Hs-123, and the Ju-88A-4. Volume 2 featured the Bf-109E, Me-262A, Ju-87A, He-111, Hs-126 and the Do-17.