Reviews of products for scale aircraft models.

Review Author
Steve Collins
Published on
Company
PJ Production
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$4.25

PJ Production from Belgium makes resin aftermarket accessories for aircraft, as well as some very nice resin aircraft kits. Among their many products is a series of ejection seats to replace the usually plain kit-provided examples.

This particular seat is a Martin Baker Mark 4 seat. The listing isn’t more specific than that, but says it is to be used in Lightnings, Alpha Jets, Canberras, Hunters, and Vampires.

Now, I’m not entirely up on the Mk 4, but I know that most of those jets used different versions of the Mk 4, along with seats other than the Mk 4, in various versions of the aircraft. For instance, the Lightning used Mk 4BSB, 4BSC, 4BST, etc., while the Canberra used the Mk 1C, 3CSB, 4Q, 4QS, and others in various versions of the aircraft. I’m pretty sure the differences in the different types of Mk 4 were visually minor, so that’s acceptable to me.

Review Author
Steve Collins
Published on
Company
Aires Hobby Models
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$21.50

Aires has created a new wheel bay upgrade set for the Trumpeter F-100C or F-100D. The set’s parts include the main wheel bay in the fuselage, the nose wheel bay, inserts to go into the wings, the nose gear doors and various struts, hoses, and retraction arms, along with a piece of wire to be used to replicate the hydraulic hoses for the main gear struts. In my set, the smaller pieces were broken off the casting block and all but two were missing. However, I’ve seen other copies of this set and this is not typical.

In order to install this set, you are directed to remove the kit wheel bays and the detail inside the top part of the wing. An advantage of this set is that you will not have to deal with the seam down the middle of the main bay after assembly. Additionally, there is added detail compared to the kit parts, especially in relation to the gear doors.

Review Author
Dick Montgomery
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$11.95

I am a fan of Scale Aircraft Conversions gear, having used a number of SAC gear sets on previous projects. I do not replace the kit gear because they are of poor quality, but rather, the SAC gear are much stronger than the plastic kit parts, and require far less clean-up. It is the strength of the metal SAC parts that I particularly like.

Clean up on the SAC gear usually can be accomplished, when necessary, by a few swipes of an X-Acto blade which removes any mold steps. SAC gear can be primed and then shot with the same colors one would use on the plastic parts. In fact, the painting process for SAC gear is the same as for the kit parts.

SAC parts fit extremely well. In fact, the gear seen in the accompanying images were photographed prior to being glued into place. Some superglue was applied, and after a minute or so the SAC gear were firmly fixed into position.

Review Author
Steve Collins
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$6.50

This is another typical Quickboost accessory set. It’s designed to be a drop fit replacement for a kit part, usually with detail enhanced in some way. For this particular set, the ends of the intakes are hollowed out for you. As you can see in the accompanying pictures, you’d have to do that for yourself with the kit parts. Mind you, there’s nothing wrong with the kit parts. This set just saves you the time it would take to add that extra level of detail and there are eight of them. The parts are nicely molded, with crisp detail and no casting flaws or bubbles. They are handed, so be careful that you put the correct one on the correct side.

Thanks go to Quickboost for providing the sample and to IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review it.

Review Author
Steve Collins
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$6.00

For those of you who have acquired the Revell Halifax in 1/72, you may have noticed that it gives you lots of options, including three different types of exhausts. While they’re not at all bad as they come in the kit, you’ll need to hollow out the ends of the exhaust stacks and that can be very tedious when you’re doing stacks for four engines. Quickboost, as they usually do, have stepped in and done that for you.

This set is for the Type B exhaust and provide exhausts for all four engines. They are nicely cast, in one piece, with no bubbles and the ends already hollowed out for you. Additionally, the kit parts are in two pieces each and you’d have to remove that glue seam. As usual, they’re a drop fit replacement for the kit parts and at the price, seem well worth it. After all, what is your time worth? Recommended.

Thanks go to Quickboost for providing the sample and to IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review it.

Review Author
Steve Collins
Published on
Company
PJ Production
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$6.55

PJ Productions from Belgium makes resin aftermarket accessories for aircraft, as well as some very nice resin aircraft kits. Among their many products is a series of aircrew figures ranging from WWI pilots through sitting and standing pilots for all the major combatants in WWII to modern pilots from Vietnam era through the most modern. These cover American, British, German, French, and Russian style helmets and crew equipment molded on the figures.

Review Author
Steve Collins
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$6.00

For those of you who have acquired the Revell Halifax in 1/72, you may have noticed that it gives you lots of options, including three different types of exhausts. While they’re not at all bad as they come in the kit, you’ll need to hollow out the ends of the exhaust stacks and that can be very tedious when you’re doing stacks for four engines. Quickboost, as they usually do, have stepped in and done that for you.

This set is for the Type C exhaust, one of the stranger looking types available, and provided exhausts for one engine. Quickboost has made theirs a bit different than the kit parts and I think theirs are a bit more accurate. As usual, they’re a drop fit replacement for the kit parts and at the price, seem well worth it. After all, what is your time worth? Recommended.

Thanks go to Quickboost for providing the sample and to IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review it.

Review Author
Steve Collins
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$6.00

For those of you who have acquired the Revell Halifax in 1/72, you may have noticed that it gives you lots of options, including three different types of exhausts. While they’re not at all bad as they come in the kit, you’ll need to hollow out the ends of the exhaust stacks and that can be very tedious when you’re doing stacks for four engines. Quickboost, as they usually do, have stepped in and done that for you.

This set is for the Type A exhaust, one of the more normal appearing types, and provide exhausts for all four engines. They are nicely cast, with no bubble and the ends already hollowed out for you. As usual, they’re a drop fit replacement for the kit parts and at the price, seem well worth it. After all, what is your time worth? Recommended.

Thanks go to Quickboost for providing the sample and to IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review it.

Book Author(s)
Yefim Gordon & Sergey Komissarov
Review Author
Grace Deck
Jim Deck
Published on
Company
Hikoki Publications
MSRP
$56.95

This isn’t book it’s a tome, and a well done one at that. The large 8.5” x 11” pages are chock full of information, photographs and drawings. The book is broken down into 7 chapters the first four of which are divided by specific eras with the last three tackling specific subjects. One entire chapter deals with the downing of both KAL flight KE902 and KE007.

This is a quality book, not your typical hobby shelf reference fodder. It is nicely bound on heavy stock paper and includes the dustcover as pictured. The pages are well laid out with crisp text and hundreds of unique photographs. The profile drawings are just icing on the cake.

Book Author(s)
Jose Fernandez, Przemysiaw Skulski
Review Author
Mike Hinderliter
Published on
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$27.00

Another addition to the Mushroom Model Publications Yellow Series of books is focused on the Douglas F3D Skyknight. This book is definitely focused towards the modeler with lots of black and white and color photos, color profiles of various schemes and markings, and scale plans in 1/72 scale.

The book is divided into the following sections