Right on the heels of Eduard’s release of the 1/72^nd scale Fw 190A-8 was their Fw 190A-5. When you open the box, you wonder just what kit the parts are for. You see three trees of light gray parts, one clear tree with four canopies on it a great decal sheet, a photo etch sheet and a mask. Of course, many of the parts are for the A-8 and for future variants of the A-8. And, with all of these extra parts, you have to read the instruction sheet for the correct parts number to ensure you don’t go wrong and start building something other than an A-5. Of course you have to decide which of the markings you are going to build, because there are some differences between them.

Master Models once again provides IPMS USA with examples of machine-shop excellence… We are extremely thankful to Piotr for providing examples of his work to review, and I appreciate the opportunity to use and report on Master Model products via the Leaders of IPMS USA

The Airfix TSR.2 was one of the last models to come out of the Airfix stable back in the late 2000-2005 year group, before Hornby took over and totally restarted their lineup. I bought the kit as it was (1) the only 1/48 non-Vacform version of this aircraft, and (2) thought I could have a great time building it. I also invested in CMK resin to bring it up to a higher level of detail.

What a masochist I am.

With the text printed in Japanese, we are basically presented with a large picture book. Featuring extractions serialized in the Monthly Model Art magazine. Looking at the beautiful illustrations of the Japanese land, naval aircraft and the equipment one can easily tell it has been diligently researched with documented detail and precisely reproduced. I’ve listed a small sample of the topics:

• Type 98 gun sight in several variations
• Type 100 gun sight in several variations
• Torpedo sights and sighting equipment
• Specific drop tanks for fighters
• Wooden rose tank construction
• Type 89 gun camera
• Type 1 gun camera
• Mitsubishi F1M auxiliary floats and construction
• Hasegawa 1/32 Shoki

The Bottom Line: It’s a great reference book, I highly recommend it. I would like to thank Model Art and IPMS for the opportunity to present this fine publication.

When I was offered the opportunity to review this kit, I jumped at the chance. Growing up in the UK, the Wessex was a familiar sight at airshows and at Airports. The kit looks great and when you open the box the size and amount of detail is fantastic!

In the box is:

• 7 x light grey sprues
• 2 x clear sprues
• 2 x Photoetched details parts
• 1 printed paper set of seats and seat belts
• 1 decal sheet
• 1 instruction booklet
• A lot of resin parts!

All the sprues are extremely well molded with super fine details. The plastic is a little softer than I like. A big drawback is the sprues have no part numbers on them so you have to keep turn back to the front of the instruction manual to ensure you are getting the right part from the right sprue!

I’m a sucker for oddities and non-standard schemes when it comes to finishing my model aircraft. I saw the Iliad designs offering for Stearman PT-17 airframes and thought this is the set for me. I was pleasantly surprised to see Iliad design proved a full set of five decal options. So you have five kits in your stash? You’re covered in this one set. Along with a very nice color representation of the each aircraft scheme Iliad Design goes the extra mile to describe any non-standard colors or more specifically non-stand color shades. Each scheme as one would expect come with a short description of each aircraft.