The AIRES Mig-15bis engine replacement is a model kit in and of itself. It replaces the 3 part “engine” of the Eduard 1/72 kit. The AIRES kit is made up of 30 resin and 19 photo etch parts. The kit gives you a complete Klimov K-1 engine! The resin is fantastic with great detail and is very easy to remove from the pour plugs. The photo etch is very fine but has strength, so it doesn’t feel flimsy at all.

Build-wise this engine goes together very well and the instructions are pretty easy to follow. The only thing they don’t provide is a list of colors to paint the parts. There are many photos though on the web of Klimov K-1s, so it isn’t too hard to find the color scheme, but it would be nice if they told you what colors each part needed. I used Alclad aluminum, burnt iron, steel and, dark aluminum along with Model Master flat black.

This item from Quickboost is a direct replacement for the control stick for Trumpeter F-105 kits and should be compatible for their D and G models. They should also be useable on the Hasagawa or Monogram/Revell kits. Three new sticks are provided in the package. The detail is a bit finer than the Trumpeter version but they are a bit fragile. As you can see in the pics, I broke off one of the grips just while handling it for the pictures. So use some care when you are removing the sticks from the runner and the flash from the stick itself.

No instructions are provided as they are a direct replacement for the kit part.

So, just be a little careful and you will have a nicely detailed stick for the pit.

Thanks to Aires and IPMS/USA for the review kit.

Considered by many to be the most famous aircraft used by the Japanese in World War II, the Zero is the subject of hundreds of books. And yet, with all of the information already available on the A6M this book, illustrated and authored by Artur Juszczak will make an excellent addition to your research library.

The advertising literature for this publication indicates that drawings and data have been pulled from original technical manuals, with dimensional details and images gathered from surviving airframes located in museums. These pictures and details cover the aircraft inside and out.

I found that the advertising for this book was quite accurate. The images are outstanding and will prove very helpful to the modeler, showing interior and exterior colors, color demarcation lines. The book goes far beyond what one would expect after having read the advertising.

Overview

The F9F-8 Cougar was a carrier based early swept wing jet that was light, fast and had good range and load carrying capacity. It was developed from the F9F Panther which was a straight wing jet. The operational career for the F9F was 1951 to 1974. It was also used as a photo recon and two seat trainer.

The Kit

Kitty Hawks 1/48 scale F9F Cougar is the first 1/48 kit since the Revell kit and a couple resin kits of the 60s and 70s. It seems the Cougar has been like the red headed stepchild of the model world. That has changed now that Kitty Hawk has the F9F-8T trainer and the F9F-8 and -8P Cougars.

The new format continues to change to even more history interspersed with the modeling. The banner at the top of the cover even states "The Best for Modelling and Reference". The blue gray background are even more prevalent including the cover. The old structure and build types are gone and this concentrates more on feature articles.

The first feature article by Andy McCabe and is a test shot build of the new Revell 1/32 FW190 F-8. The finished engine OOB is awesome and detail overall is superb. The engine access panels even open to display the kits engine and all for a very reasonable price.

Richard Bolingbroke goes full bore with a two kits builds of Eduard 1/48 Hellcat series with a F6F-3 and an F6F-5. To top it off, he summarizes the wing fold kits that have been produced and uses the Wolfpack set on both to do the kits "at ease".