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Reviews of products for scale aircraft models.
Seatbelt PE fret

Seatbelts Luftwaffe WWII fighters STEEL
Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$19.95

Seats and seatbelts are the two biggest things that are visible in the cockpit. Eduard has been trying to get the look of seatbelts to look like the real thing with the minimal amount of effort for the modeler. They’ve gone from having unpainted photo etch belts, then they were pre-painted, then there was Fabric and lately the Super Fabric. Well enter the latest addition to the seatbelt line, STEEL.

This set contains EIGHT sets of seatbelts for aircraft such as the Bf-109, FW-190 or Me-262. But what is so special about them? Well to start out the belts are .1mm thick at the thickest, such as areas around the buckles. The ‘fabric’ portion is actually only .04mm thick making this realistically thin and easy to shape. They are slightly weathered to make them less stark.

Package Front

OS2U-2 Kingfisher USS Texas, USS Maryland and Cape May
Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
Company
Yellow-Wings Decals
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$14.95

The colorful aircraft of the ‘golden age’ of Naval Aviation are some great looking aircraft. While this period was short lived it was also a time for the transition to war with the corresponding change of camouflage colors. One of the aircraft that went through this period was the Kingfisher. Designed pre-war it soldiered on throughout the war so the variety of marking options is quite varied. The new Kitty Hawk Kingfisher is a beautiful extensive kit that covers the aircraft quite well. Yellow Wings decals adds some flair to it.

Product picture

OS2U-2 Kingfisher USS Maryland, Quonset Point and Sitka Alaska
Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
Company
Yellow-Wings Decals
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$14.95

Yellow Wings is well known for their thorough research and excellent decals of traditionally Navy subjects, in particular from the ‘Golden Era’ of aviation. This particular sheet covers the time Kingfisher during the immediate pre-war timeframe.

Packaged as most decals are nowadays in a ziplock baggie, these decals are further protected by a heavy card stock title card. The instructions are included on three double sided 8.5 x 11 sheets.

The instructions cover all three aircraft. Each sheet contains a profile view, split view of the plan views and a head on shot. The specifications are included. These sheets look very much like the historical data from the National Archives.

Product packaging

Metal Landing Gear for Hawker Tempest

Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$18.95

More metal gear from Ross at SAC; another winner set… THANKS VERY MUCH for sending IPMS USA another of your expansive line of metal landing gear, and thanks also to IPMS USA leadership for sending it on to me to review….

This is the SAC-standard metal landing gear improvement over the kit plastic. Airfix newest releases are just fantastic, and easy to work with, but the landing gear, being part of the new plastic as well, tends to be a bit “soft”. This SAC set has 11 parts; two main struts, two retraction links with extension rams, four gear strut arms, and a tail wheel and strut combo. The tail wheel and strut turn three parts into two, and adds requisite strength to this very vulnerable area on most models

Box art

Spitfire Mk IXc Late, Part 2
Review Author
Rob Booth
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$24.95

Like many aviation enthusiasts and modelers, I have always admired the beauty of Supermarine’s Spitfire design. I am admittedly no expert on the type, but when Eduard announced their 1/72 version of an already well received 1/48 family of this aircraft, I jumped at the chance to do a review build. I also asked for a couple of the supplemental accessories Eduard has issued for the kit. The aircraft’s history is well known and extensively documented, so let’s get on with impressions of this 1/72 scale plastic version.

This kit issue (#70-121) is a completely new mould tooling. This kit is significantly more detailed than nearly every other 1/72 Spitfire kit out there, and the resulting high parts count will take me some time to build. So, I’ll give you my initial impressions in case you’re considering a purchase sooner, rather than later.

Product Contents

RF-84F Thunderflash Landing Gear
Review Author
Timothy Gidcumb
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$16.95

Recently I was given the opportunity by IPMS USA to review Scale Aircraft Conversions adaption of the RF-84F Thunderflash landing gear in white metal for the 1/48 TanModel kit. This set consists of the two main landing gear legs with the lower doors, a nose gear leg with the additional wheel fork and some smaller struts. These are direct replacements for the parts that come in the TanModel kit. When comparing the kit landing gear and the SAC landing gear side by side you will notice similarities between the two, but a lot better detail in the SAC offering including brake lines. The nose landing gear from SAC offers you the option to depict the nose wheel fender removed or you can use the plastic fender from the kit(TanModel kit parts E42 & E43).Overall this is highly recommended for stronger landing gear and added detail and is a great addition to the TanModel RF-84F kit.

Cover

Windsock Centenary Datafile 173 Pfalz D.IIIa At War!
Book Author(s)
Greg Van Wyngarden; Illustrator: Ronny Bar
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Albatros Productions, Ltd.
MSRP
$15.50

Greg Van Wyngarden has taken a new look at the Pfalz D.IIIa service in WWI. This is but the first volume of a two volume set. Datafile number 21 by Peter M. Grosz came out in1995 so it is about time that Windsock revisited the Pfalz D.IIIa! The initial Pfalz D.III aircraft received a poor reception amongst German pilots as it was regarded as inferior to the Albatros D.V. That doesn’t negate the fact that it was still superior to most of the Allied opposition of the time. The Pflaz firm, however, did listen to the pilot’s concerns over the D.III and soon offered improvements in the form of the D.IIIa.

Product packaging

Vickers Valiant - Pitot Tubes
Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Master Model
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$5.00

Another in a long line of excellent turned metal (brass) items from Master Model; IPMS USA sincerely appreciates Master’s support of our reviewer corps!

Up front, Master provides turned-metal pitot probes for the excellent Airfix Vickers Valiant. As usual, Piotr provides an excellent, more scale pitot replacement for the kit item. Metal is the answer!

In side by side comparison, you can see the difference in the Master pitot verses the Kit provided plastic version. The master pitot is far more scale in appearance; and since it’s extremely thin, it pays to be careful with this set. Bend it and cry…. But at least it won’t break off!

This package contains two turned metal probes in a double-bag system; first, the outer protective card with details on the contents, then an internal “small” bag with the scale, strong air data probes.

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