Thanks to Aires for providing their excellent aftermarket parts for IPMS USA to review, and to IPMS leadership for providing it to me to review.

Once more Aires improves an already great kit; in this case, the 1/32 Italeri F-104G receives an upgrade in the form of improved speed brakes.

A grand total of eight parts are provided: two speed brakes (or speed boards, or air brakes, depending on your background), two fuselage wells to place them in, two actuating rods, and two brace frame assemblies.

In the side by side comparison, Italeri has provided an acceptable speed brake well and boards. Aires has taken the kit parts, and raised the detail bar. There are rivets incorporated in the well, the frames are more delicate, and the speed brakes themselves appear to be a bit more delicate.

Thanks to Brengun for providing this upgrade set for the Academy B-29; and to IPMS USA for sending it to me to review!

This is a very simple set which is designed for the Academy 1/72 B-29, but could also be adapted to the Airfix B-29.

Consisting of two resin Radomes, and a fret of PE antenas, this will go a long way towards improving the plastic items in the kit.

First, the Radomes. The AN/APQ-13 antenna fit were used on some B-29’s early on; the later “bathtub” radome is in the kit, and you need to check your sources before you commit to installing these radomes. The resin is flawless, with easy to remove Pour stubs. The only thing you will need to do is hold a sheet of sandpaper over the assembled model fuselage, and sand the appropriate curve into the mating surface of the radomes before installing with epoxy or superglue. Very easy.

The Revell of Germany 1/144th F/A-18C has been on the market since 2005. It’s a great little 1/144th scale jet. The Korean company ACE has re-boxed the Revell kit in recent years, but the plastic is all the same. Although it’s a nice representation of the Legacy Hornet, the Revell F-18 could benefit from some upgrades. Brengun has recently release a small resin set to improve the Revell kit.

Included in this resin set are: new landing gear doors, main wheels, leading edge extension (LEX) fences, ejection seat, new burner cans, a plethora of generic antennas, and a vac-formed canopy. The resin parts are nicely molded. I found two tiny pin holes on one of the main wheels. The vac-formed canopy is crystal clear. However, on my example there was a small blemish in the windscreen.

Res-IM has made a masking set for the Tamiya 1/48 Spitfire Mk. Vb. The kit has the following markings:

• Spitfire Mk.V, EN821, 243 Sqn, SN-M
• Spitfire Mk.V, BL479, 316 Sqn, SZ-X
• Spitfire Mk.V, AGM, Fighter Command Hq, flown by Wing Commander A.G. Malan

This masking set is die cut vinyl masks and provides the markings wing and fuselage roundels, the fuselage letters for the sides, the tail flashes in two styles and also the EN codes for one set of markings. The masks are very flexible and cut well.

Aviaeology’s Venturas in Canada 3 provides complete decal markings for eight individual late-production Ventura GR.Vs in Royal Canadian Air Force, Western Air Command service in the last two years of WWII. An 8-page black & white documentation/instruction booklet is supplied in the set describing the subjects in great detail and providing painting and decal application instructions based on photographs of the actual aircraft. It’s worth noting that several of the Venturas in this set were featured on the silver screen during the filming of the movie Son of Lassie at RCAF Station Patricia Bay in 1944.