Aircraft | IPMS/USA Reviews Website

Reviews of products for scale aircraft models.

Fw 190A Control Surfaces

Review Author

Frank Landrus

Published on

January 5, 2016

Company

Aires Hobby Models

Scale

1/48

MSRP

$13.50

Aires has come out with a nice upgrade for the Eduard Fw 190A series of kits with their horizontal control surfaces set. The Aires parts allow you to alter the position of the elevators and provide improved stabilizer to elevator detail. There are no supplied instructions; you simply swap out the kit provided plastic parts with the new Aires replacements. I’ve included photos of both the Eduard and the Aires horizontal surfaces inserted in the Eduard fuselage. The gap on the bottom view is artificial as both the Eduard and the Aires parts are leaning up.

Aires has molded the stabilizer and elevator perfectly in light grey resin with no apparent bubbles. The Aires stabilizer and elevator are supplied on a single resin sprue with thin resin attachments to the parts that should minimize any cleanup.

British FRS 1 Sea Harrier

Review Author

Rod Lees

Published on

January 5, 2016

Scale

1/48

MSRP

$33.00

First: Sincere thanks to Lucky Model for sending us this most excellent kit, and thanks also to IPMS USA leadership for once again believing in my ability to deliver within a deadline….

OK so almost to the year I have the FRS 1 kit in hand; it really is great to have a new, accurate and easy to build Sea Harrier (SHAR) on hand. Let’s begin…

The basic kit is the same as the FR 2; in the box, there are more external stores, and a decal sheet to be savored. If you really want to build every SHAR you have the decals to do it. Check out the scan… Cartograf manufactured, CROSSDELTA designed. VERY WELL DONE!

Like last year, it was pleasant to have minimal aftermarket to deal with and have a great result. This time, instead of metal gear, I found a Martin Baker Mk 10 seat appropriate for the SHAR, and did the slight modifications to fit. The basic cockpit is more than sufficient for a closed canopy, but the resin seat sealed the deal.

A-4B Skyhawk Control Stick

Review Author

Paul R. Brown

Published on

January 5, 2016

Company

Quickboost

Scale

1/72

MSRP

$5.00

Like many Aires/Quickboost sets, this set is a drop in replacement for the kit supplied control stick for the Airfix A-4B/P Skyhawk. The set actually includes 3 sticks, so you will have enough for three single-seat Skyhawks or a single-seater and a TA-4 two-seater.

The stick is nicely detailed and paints up very well. While the resin is not flimsy, be careful in handling the stick once it is removed from the pour stub as I managed to snap one of mine in two and had to repair it with superglue.

P-47D Decals Part 8

Review Author

Dick Montgomery

Published on

January 4, 2016

Company

Lifelike Decals

Scale

1/48

MSRP

$14.00

Lifelike produces excellent decals and, specifically, excellent coverage of the “Jug”. This particular item is Part 8 in the Lifelike coverage of markings for 1/48th P-47s. The other P-47 sheets are 48-045, 48-024, 48-014, 48-011, 48-010, 48-009, and the original 48-008. Clearly, if you are building a bubble top or razorback P-47D, Lifelike has you covered.

This sheet of decals provides markings and stencils for three aircraft. I chose to use the decals for the aircraft flown by Capt. Charles H. Anderson, 335th FS/4th Fighter Group. The nose art features “Hell’s Belle”. Markings are provided for the aircraft of Maj. Charles F. Matheson, 394th FS/367th FG and Capt. Marvin E. Grant, 342nd FS/348th Fighter Group.

De Havilland Comet 4B

Review Author

Jim Pearsall

Published on

January 4, 2016

Company

Airfix

Scale

1/144

MSRP

$18.99

The Comet was the basis of the rebirth of the British civil aircraft industry after World War II. Development began before the war ended, but the first comet didn’t fly until 1949. The Comet 1 had a serious problem, however. About a year after the first commercial flights began in 1952, Comets began breaking up in the air. The problem was traced to the repeated pressurization and depressurization of the fuselage, which caused metal fatigue. The square windows provided a focal point for the stress, and the fuselage would rupture at the window corner. The eventual fix was to make the windows oval, with no corners. The Comet 4 was the model with this fix. The last Comet flight was in 1997. The Nimrod, a reconnaissance and ASW version of the Comet remained in RAF service until 2011

This is a reissue/rebox of the 1960s Airfix Comet 4B airliner. It also has new decals and instructions.

P-40K Kittyhawk Exhausts

Review Author

Dick Montgomery

Published on

January 3, 2016

Company

Aires Hobby Models

Scale

1/48

MSRP

$6.00

Aires offers a myriad of after-market parts, this being a new offering. Designed for the Italeri kit I wanted to experiment a bit to see how the parts fit on the Hasegawa kit.

The first step is to remove the Aires parts from the part carrier. This is easy to do and quite safe as the parts are not delicate. I used a Xuron part nipper to remove the parts from the carrier, trim away any flash, and then also to cut the six exhaust ports into 3 units of two ports each. That division is required to get the Aires parts to drop into place on the Hasegawa kit. As you can see in the accompanying images, the parts fit nicely and without issue.

Spotlight on the MiG-29 in PAF (Polish Air Force)

Book Author(s)

Marek Radomski

Review Author

Paul R. Brown

Published on

February 3, 2020

Company

Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books

MSRP

$35.00

This is a new publication from Mushroom Models Publications. The book includes a brief description of where and how the Polish Air Force acquired its MiG-29 fleet. I was surprised to learn that only the first twelve aircraft were purchased directly from Russia. The bulk of the PAF’s MiG-29’s were actually acquired from Czech Air Force and from the German Air Force (post reunification) when those services decided to cease operating the MiG-29. Interestingly, upon acquiring these used jets, initially the PAF continued to operate the aircraft in the paint schemes of the original operator, so a number of the PAF single-seat MiG-29s operated for a period of time in several shades of green and brown. In 1997, the PAF commenced the overhaul of its MiG-29s.

Douglas F3D-2 Skynight Landing Gear

Review Author

Frank Landrus

Published on

January 3, 2016

Company

Scale Aircraft Conversions

Scale

1/48

MSRP

$19.95

Scale Aircraft Conversions has released replacement landing gear for the Czech Model 4814 / Encore EC48004 Douglas F3D-2 Skynight. The 17 parts supplied include the nose gear bay, nose gear, main gear, and additional retraction arms and braces. One of Ross MacMillan’s passions is the Douglas Skynight, and he spent several hours taking photos underneath one to get this set right.

A side by side evaluation of all the SAC parts shows the initial similarity with the kit parts. The nose gear bay, in addition to helping keep the Skynight on its nose gear, has been modified by including mounting points for the nose gear strut and the nose gear retraction arm. The nose gear torque link, missing in the kit, has been provided. The nose gear strut has been lengthened. The nose gear retraction arm has been modified and relocated to where it belongs.

OS2U Kingfisher

Review Author

Rob Benson

Published on

February 3, 2020

Company

Kitty Hawk

Scale

1/32

MSRP

$99.00

Thank you to the great folks at Kitty Hawk Models for bringing a welcome new large-scale kit to U. S. Navy propeller aficionados. Kitty Hawk subjects are starting to fill out my collection more and more! Thank you also to the IPMS Reviewer Corps staff members who do the hard work in getting us kits to review.

This new release from Kitty Hawk fills a long-standing gap in 1:32 scale early USN aircraft. The Kingfisher is represented in the scale modeling world by very old but generally still available smaller scale 1:48 and 1:72 kits, which can be upgraded and corrected by a wide variety of after-market components. However, I am unaware of any injection-molded Kingfisher kits in 1:32 scale, let alone a modern release. Bravo Kitty Hawk!

This review is a pre-build review or scrimmage, where I am reporting on construction planning, kit option choices, evaluation of the kit, and preliminary observations. A full build will follow soon!

2F.1 Ship's Camel

Book Author(s)

Colin A. Owers

Review Author

Frank Landrus

Published on

December 31, 2015

Company

Albatros Productions, Ltd.

MSRP

$17.61

Colin Owers has generated a new look at the Sopwith 2F.1 Ship’s Camel. Jack Bruce’s Datafile number 6 was issued in 1987 and has been long out of print, so it is about time that Albatros revisited Sopwith’s shipboard Camel. The cover features a Paul Monteagle painting of Sopwith 2F.1 N6602 flying over HMS Furious during take-off and landing trials in April 1918. Ronny Bar contributes seven large color side profiles, including N6818, an eye-catching red and white sun-burst paint job as flown by Major W.G. Moore. I counted 64 black and white photos and three tables.

Mick Davis grabs the pullout centerfold with 1/48 general arrangement line drawings of the Sopwith 2F.1 Camel. For those of you that still dabble in that odd 1/72 scale, Mick Davis also provides you the same drawings on a single page. The bonus is three pages of 1/32 detail and structural general arrangement drawings.

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