This is another of those little parts from Master Model of Poland which can save your model. In this case, it’s the refueling probe on the 1/144 Vulcan. The kit part is plastic. It sticks out there most of an inch in front of the rest of the aircraft, just inviting someone to bump it and break it off. With this metal replacement, you won’t have to worry about that. In fact it could cause injury, as it’s finer than a straight pin, and if you hit it, it could hurt.

The Part

What you get in the package is a small piece of finely turned metal. I’m not sure if this is brass, as it’s silver colored.

The instructions say to remove the kit probe from the base part and drill the hole in the base part. Since I had already finished this Vulcan, I didn’t think I could do that. But when I cut the kit probe off, the base was loose. So much for my gluing skills.

Master Model has released three new gun barrel sets for the P-38 Lightning, one of my favorite aircraft. This one is listed as the early version with 4 x .50 cal. Brownings, with drilled cooling jackets & early and late 20mm cannon tips. These are mostly seen on early versions of the plane but the instructions have photos of some later birds sporting the drilled cooling jackets, so check your references.

The detail is beautiful with drilled out jackets and barrel ends. The early 20mm also has some additional detail.

Construction depends on which kit you are using. Many have separate barrels so these are just simple replacements. Other kits (like the Hobby Boss) will need to have the original barrels cut off and holes drilled for the barrels. Either way the detail on these is much better than any of the kit guns.

I don’t think the Focke Wulf 190 needs much introduction, so I’ll keep it short. When introduced in 1941, much to the surprise of the RAF, the fighter design was found to have excellent maneuverability, while being rugged and well-armed. The design went thru a number of changes, with the FW-190A-8 version becoming the most produced model. The FW-190A8/R2 was noted for its increased firepower, with 20mm cannons being replaced with 30mm ones, and increased survivability due to additional armor in and around the cockpit.

The advance THANK YOU to Furball aero design for sending IPMS USA these decals, and the fearless leaders at the reviewer corps for allowing me once again to do a review!

Every once in a while a product comes along that makes you wonder “why didn’t someone do this before?” In this case, framing on F-105’s is the subject.

I have struggled myself to paint the framing on canopies. Anything below 1/48 scale, “forget it”, and even then when it was attempted by yours truly, well, it was really awful. Because it’s so noticeable around the focal point of a model, the cockpit, office, whatever, it generally became an exercise in frustration.

These new decals by Furball, however, take care of the problem. You get two sets of decals: one designed for the F-105D single-seat and one set for the F-105F/G two seat models.

Scale Aircraft Conversions has produced replacement gear for the Italeri/Testors 1/72 scale C-130 family of kits. The white metal replacements are an identical fit replacement for the kit plastic parts. The supplied items include two main gear struts and the nose gear assembly. Some other SAC packages include replacement wheels, as well, but this is not the case here. You will need to use the Italeri/Testors kit wheels for your build.

A side by side evaluation (see photos) indicates an identical replacement that should provide a greater strength assembly with a significantly improved weight capacity and abuse tolerance. However, use some care, because in this scale, even cast metal parts are very fine and fragile. I found it easy to accidentally bend them out of shape with my heavy-handedness.

In some cases where original equipment was left in a natural metal finish, painting may not be necessary. As always, check your reference photos.