This edition represents a re-printing of two books by Duncan Grinnell-Milne. The first, An Escaper’s Log, was originally published in 1926 by John Lane. The second, Wind in the Wires, was first published in 1933 by Hurst & Blackett. This edition combines his two autobiographies.
A generous thank you goes to Aires Hobby Models/Quickboost for this review item.
The German Heinkel He111 civil prototype was demonstrated publicly in 1936. By the end of 1936 the bomber version, He111B, was entering service with the Luftwaffe. There were dozens of He111 variants developed over its 10 years of service making it a popular aircraft in the modeling world.
Quickboost has released a nice set of resin exhausts for the Airfix Heinkel He111P-2. The delicate parts come in a clear re-sealable plastic bag packaged with a small card insert showing a photographic image of the parts, part number, name of the parts and the recommended kit, Airfix. What is not included in the bag is a set of instructions. This is not a problem as the resin parts fit the exhaust locations the same as the kit parts.
The Eduard Bf-109s are some of my favorite models to build. They look great when done up. Of course there are limitations that plastic can do. So that is one of the reasons that we do resin aftermarket parts. Brassin is the Eduard resin line. It combines resin and photo etch in perfect harmony.
This set is designed for the Eduard Bf-109F series. Contained in a typical vacuformed plastic container you get five pieces of perfectly cast light grey resin and a masking set.
Removal of the parts from the sprue is easy enough. Nothing dramatic except the molded in detail which is impressive to say the least. I did have to sand down the spokes for both wheels. Each wheel is beautifully rendered. The tail wheel assembly is a single piece and looks great despite being a single piece.
Adding the parts to the kit is fairly straight forward. Don’t forget to add the tail wheel before you close up the fuselage.
The Eduard Bf-109s are some of the best engineered models ever. I’ve enjoyed building them from the get go but there are parts of modeling I don’t overly enjoy. The main one is masking the canopies. Eduard has designed the kit and the canopy masks.
The Eduard masks are made out of Kabuki tape similar to Tamiya tape. I think this is some of the best masking material available. It is pliable and conforms to compound curves.
Since Eduard makes the kit and the masks they fit perfectly. The Eduard masks for the G-5/6 gives you the inside mask for the rear canopy. This set does not. No big deal just an observation.
With the release of the new Bf-109F-4 from Eduard we are treated to numerous ways to upgrade the kit should you want to. Eduard has always been known for their photo etch so it is to be expected that they would offer something in photo etch for this kit.
This set of photo etch comes in the normal Eduard resealable package with card stock keeping the photo etch safe. The actual fret is brass with really good detail. The primary areas addressed by this set is the wheel wells, landing gear doors and the flaps.
The wheel well portion offers an accurate rendition of the wheel well insert with the appropriate cutouts. The landing gear doors provide you with two different styles of landing gear covers. I chose to use the ‘normal’ doors. They worked out just fine but you will need to curve them slightly to be accurate. They are suitably thin too. Also to the landing gear are the brake lines and the tie down rings on the bottom of the landing gear strut.
This upgrade provides a 1//32 scale improved seat for the HK B-17. It comes in three different options, with two seats to a package. One is the plain seat, one has basic seat cushions and backpad, and one has seat cushions, backpad, and the lap-belt. As the B-17 was (from my references) rarely equipped with over-the shoulder harnesses until later versions, the lap belt is the ultimate in final detail. As you can see in the side-by side view, the kit seat (in basic gray plastic) is about 3/8” taller than the Resin2detail seats. I believe the Resin 2 detail seats are more accurate.
Following up the first book in this series, The Russian Aviation Colours 1909-1922: Camouflage and Markings, Vol. 1 Early Years, comes MMP’s latest tome. This book, focused on the ‘Great War’ is planned to be followed by at least two additional volumes on ‘Red Stars’ (Volume 3), and ‘Against Soviets’ (Volume 4). The authors leaned heavily on Russian private archives, as well as archives, libraries, and museums.
The book is a nice hardbound, with a nice glossy cover, and 176 pages on high-quality stock with a matt finish. Mainly clear black and white period photos are supplemented with modern day color photos, color period posters and postcards, color side and top views, and color unit emblems and personal markings. The text is in English and quite readable.
Dive-bombing. Torpedo-bombing. Night fighting. The Junkers Ju 88 could do it all - and then some. Over the hot, dusty battlefields of North Africa, the A-5 tropical relied on extensive air filters to keep out sand and dirt. Rommel's Afrikakorps relied on the Ju 88 for support strikes against Allied armor and positions. The broad-winged Ju 88 could carry 3-4,000 lbs. of bombs to targets at moderate range. Used effectively as part of Rommel's combined arms strategy, the Ju 88 helped Germany reverse Italian losses in North Africa and nearly carry the continent.
I’ve always had a soft spot for the Gladiator, as in my opinion it is one of the best looking biplane aircraft ever designed. The Gladiator prototype first flew in 1934 and entered service in 1937, just a year and a half ahead of the Hawker Hurricane. The Gladiator was utilized by 18 nation’s air forces during the war, and its last recorded combat operation being flown by the Finns in February of 1943 ended with a Soviet R-5 recon plane being shot down.
This resin set by Aires is not my first experience with their products. Like their other products, the resin is smooth, bubble and blemish free. What I really like is that the part includes the attachment tab for locating the stabilizer to the fuselage. As a builder, you really only need to know that the part will drop right in and a resin friendly glue will be necessary to attach the fuselage. Certainly don’t forget to wash the part clean before priming and painting.
This upgrade provides a 1//32 scale improved Oxygen (O2) tanks for the HK B-17. It comes in two different options, with four each (eight total) O2 Tanks. Four tanks have mounts and brackets, and four are just O2 tanks with no brackets or mounts.
When held next to the kit O2 tanks, the size difference is very noticeable. The HK tanks are all too small; the Detail2Resin tanks are correct. Remove the tanks from their pour stubs, then primer with gray or white , (I used Tamiya White) and then paint gloss yellow(again, I used Tamiya Camel Yellow) . Weather a bit, then paint the mount straps silver or steel; the mount itself was usually interior green.
As this is a basic seat with all parts molded in place, the overall work goes very quickly, with no parts or additions required. The detail really stands out once all the drybrush work has been accomplished. Much easier than making your own mount and straps out of foil In my opinion!
