Detail & Scale produced some incredible references back in the 1980s/90s, and I recall the research within several of them helping to advance my building skills as a young modeler. Recently, the company revitalized itself and has been issuing new (or fully updated) publications with even more comprehensive coverage of aviation subjects. These are now available in digital format as well as traditional printed volumes. As before, there is a brief but detailed history of the subject aircraft, followed by loads of photos of both museum and contemporary aircraft, and a modelers’ section.

The P-38 Lightning Part 2: P-38J through P-38M Variants (also covers the F-5B, F-5E, F-5F & F-5G Photo Reconnaissance Variants) is the first of this newer round of publications I have had the pleasure to read and review.

This is not my first review of a Detail & Wonder after-market landing gear set. And, as previously noted, this landing gear ‘Upgrade Set’ continues to set a very high bar in terms of both accuracy, price, and overall quality.Thanks for taking a few minutes to read these notes.

I’ll be honest, I never expected a Great War balloon kit and boy was I surprised to see this kit up for review. The kit consists of a small sprue of polystyrene parts, a left and right balloon halve (polystyrene), a sheet of photoetch balloon basket lines and a decal sheet. Oh, the best part for those of you how enjoy making dioramas, the kit includes a set of 40 each 3D printed figures in various poses. Wow! You will probably need to take advantage included polystyrene model stand.

Construction is very straight-forward beginning with the two balloon halves. I found the molding very well done and the fit was very good as well. The plastic of the two balloon halves is quite thick, but I think that helps in the grand scheme of things. Even with the great fit, it will be necessary to a little work seam joint. A little extra attention will be necessary at both ends of the balloon where there appears to be extra panels to strengthen the fabric panel seams.

New decals of the F-16C Block 30B Nellis Cajun Aggressors in 1/48^th scale is available from TwoBobs Aviation Graphics. Markings are for the 926^th Wing, 706 Aggressor Squadron based out of Nellis AFB, Nevada, December 2023.

In the Package

There are two (2) decal sheets provided. The main sheet provides the colorful tail markings and stencils. The second sheet is smaller and has some dedicated stencils for the Kinetic kit and ECM pod. They are printed by Cartograf and have minimal excess clear film around the edges. The colors are vibrant and the registry is perfect.

This decal set has markings for 2 aircraft. One for the colorful splinter and tail scheme (SN 85-1501, Nicknamed: “FELON”) and the dark gray “Have Glass V” scheme (SN 86-0222). It also has markings for five AN/ALQ-167 ECM “Angry Kitten” Pods.

From Fab Scale comes a really nice addition to the 1/48^th Tamiya F-14, a 3D printed set of intakes that are in white.

Inside the nice package are left and right intakes still attached to eh printing sprues. The packaging is great as it is firm and makes sure there is no damage to the parts.

Prep is simple, I used sprue nippers to cut off the printing supports. I sanded the end and the parts were good. I test fit the parts into the kit and they slide with in well and the intake fans for the engine from the Tamiya kit fit like a glove. Since they are printed in white, they can be added after the rest of the intakes are painted the correct color for you kit or you could also paint them. They are seamless so there is no need for sanding like the kit parts which are in two pieces.

Definitely recommended as both an enhancement and a time saver when building the kit.

My thanks to Fab Scale for the opportunity to review this set.