Reviews of products for scale aircraft models.

Book Author(s)
David Doyle
Review Author
Timothy Gidcumb
Published on
Company
Squadron Signal Publications
MSRP
$19.95

From the Author: The Douglas A-20 Havoc was a light bomber, attack, and intruder aircraft of World War II. Used by the American Army Air Forces, nearly one-third of the aircraft served with the Soviet military. In fact the Soviet air forces had more A-20s than the USAAF while many other A-20s fought with the RAF. Illustrated with 192 vintage photographs and detailed line drawings.

David Doyle continues to impressive with the latest In Action book on the A-20 Havoc. This is the third book in the In Action series on the A-20, Jim Mesko authored the first (#56) and second (#144). David has done a great job with this installment and has expanded on the other 2 editions.

This book tells the story of the A-20 Havoc developed out of the DB-7 series of light bombers. A-20s, Havocs, & DB-7s saw action in almost every major theatre of operation during WWII. Used as a light bomber, ground strafer & nightfighter.

Book Author(s)
David Doyle
Review Author
Timothy Gidcumb
Published on
Company
Squadron Signal Publications
MSRP
$19.95

From the Author: Born from encounters with capable Communist aircraft during the Korean War, the F-104 took shape on Lockheed's drawing boards in late 1952. Engineered by a team led by famed designer Kelly Johnson the aircraft, dubbed the Starfighter, first flew on 4 March 1954. Known variously as a 'missile with a man in it' and 'an engine with wings' the Starfighter soon captioned many speed and altitude records, some of which stand today. Through over 160 vintage photos, including more than 60 color shots augmented by color profiles and numerous line drawings, this new 80-page volume chronicles the remarkable 50-year military career of this aircraft, which was used by no less than 15 nations.

Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Aerobonus
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$13.00

The usual Thanks to our friends at Aires/Aerobonus for producing and providing IPMS USA this figure for improving our models… And thanks also to the reviewer corps leaders for making it available to me to review….

This upgrade provides a 1/48th scale pilot figure seated in a K-36 seat for use in one of the Academy SU-27 family. It most certainly can be used in other kits as well… Superb details include leg restraints, the ejection handles molded in place, and all the basics you need to improve your model…

Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Aires Hobby Models
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$7.00

Aires Quickboost has released an easy replacement for the AMK 1/48 Aero L-29 Delfin that enhances the canopy rail. There are no instructions but it is a simple replacement for the kit part. If you have the older Planet Models 12448 resin model kit of the Aero L-29 Delfin, this set will probably work on it as well, although I do not have that kit to test fit.

Quickboost has molded the canopy rail perfectly in light tan resin with no apparent bubbles. The Quickboost canopy rail is supplied on one resin sprue with a thin resin attachment to the part that will minimize any cleanup.

Although most paints will adhere to resin alone, I would recommend that you wash this part to remove any remaining mold release and prime it first. This part will need to be installed with your favorite CA (super glue) or epoxy, as the normal plastic glues or solvents will not react with the resin.

Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Aires Hobby Models
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$13.00

Aires Quickboost has released an easy replacement for the Hobby Boss 1/48 Kamov Ka-27 Helix kit that replaces the four kit seats with four resin seats with safety belts. There are no instructions but they are a simple replacement for the kit parts that use three parts to construct each seat. I am not aware if there are any other 1/48 kits of the Helix available that could use these seats, but they may be applicable on other 1/48 Russian helicopter kits with some modification.

Quickboost has molded the four seats perfectly in light grey resin with no apparent bubbles. The Quickboost seats are each supplied on their own resin sprue with a thin resin attachment to the part that will minimize any cleanup.

Book Author(s)
Wesley D Archer
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Pen & Sword
MSRP
$24.95

Originally published in Hardcover in 1933 by William Heinemann, this diary immediately became a bestseller, largely due to the incredible WWI in action photographs. The publisher was told that the author had been killed in action in 1918 and that the suppliers of the typewritten manuscript wished anonymity. The diary had no named author, and had no dates or any squadron references that could be checked. The spectacular pictures did create some doubt, but in post war Britain, no one wanted to dishonor a WWI hero. Fast forward to 1983 when a collection was donated to the Smithsonian and the contents were recognized by noted WWI historian Peter M. Grosz, who along with Karl Schneide, deduced what had happened. The book was re-printed in October 1985 by Greenhill Press with an Introduction by Karl Schneide of the National Air and Space Museum revealing the details of the hoax.

Review Author
Paul R. Brown
Published on
Company
Master Model
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$6.00

This set provides replacement pitot tubes for the Su-24/39 Grach (Rook), better known as the “Frogfoot” in the West. The Grach has two nose mounted pitot tubes. The left pitot is a simple needle point pitot tube, while the right pitot has multiple vanes and spikes about halfway down the pitot, similar to many other Sukhoi fighters.

Review Author
Dave Koukol
Published on
Company
AOA Decals
Scale
1/72, 1/48, 1/32
MSRP
$7.50

Having built many US Navy jets in various scales for over 36 years, I can resoundingly state that the thing I hate most about painting them is masking and painting tailhook stripes. Although some manufacturers have included the striping decals with the kits, the vast majority have not.

Thankfully, AOA decals has introduced a new series of decal sheets in 1/72, 1/48, and 1/32 scales to provide those stripes when the kit manufacturers haven’t. Received for this review was the Combo sheet, which includes all three scales. Individual sheets for 1/72, 1/48, and 1/32 are also available. Decals are simple sets of black stripes of appropriate width and spacing, and are printed by Microscale.

Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$9.00

Quickboost provides you with one set of Vought F4U-5 exhausts. Of note is the re-sealable packaging that Quickboost uses that makes the parts easy to review and then stuff back into the package securely. There are no supplied instructions; you simply swap out the kit provided five plastic parts with the new Quickboost replacement. The genius here is going from five parts that must be aligned properly with a single piece that provides alignment inherently. Even better, the exhausts are already hollowed out!

Although most paints will adhere to resin alone, I would recommend that you wash the parts to remove any remaining mold release and prime them first. The landing light and venturi tubes will need to be installed with your favorite CA (super glue) or epoxy, as the normal plastic glues or solvents will not react with the resin.