History

Entering RAF squadron service in 1960, the Lightning represented a quantum leap in capability and performance over the RAF’s previous interceptor jets, offering Mach 2+ performance as well as a phenomenal rate of climb. Until its retirement in the 1980s, the Lightning had few rivals for outright speed and climbing ability, however it did have some shortcomings, most notably its lack of range as well as its limited armament of just two air to air missiles. The F3 Lightning introduced an enlarged ventral tank with later versions being equipped with over wing tanks, improving the range of the lightning further. These versions deleted the nose guns of the earlier variants, thus reducing the ability of the Lightning pilots to get in close with their opponents. They also did nothing to overcome its missile deficiency, with the Lightning still having to rely on just two missiles.

Thanks to Ross at SAC for continuing to provide us review items; we at IPMS USA sincerely appreciate your contributions!

This set is, yet again, a simple drop-in replacement for the kit items. The set contains two main gear struts, a nose gear, and the retraction strut for the nose gear. Definitely a must if you are adding a lot of weight to the model; and particularly useful if everyone who views your model wants to “spin the rotor” (too much temptation) and see if it works.

(Office fun if you take models to work: Make your wheels, props and rotors fit real tight and watch the face of the holder when they snap off parts. Of course, there is the repair, but it’s a common theme.)

History

The DeHavilland DH-112 Venom NF.3 was a night fighting development of one of the RAF’s original jet fighters, the DH-100 Vampire, which entered squadron service in 1949. Used as a fighter and ground attack aircraft, the Vampire was developed into the Venom fighter bomber with revised wing form and increased power, raising the maximum speed from the 540 mph. range to the 630 mph. range for the NF.3 variant. The crew sat side-by-side, and the wing had sweptback leading edges. A total of 129 Venom NF.3’s was built, and these were operated by several RAF squadrons starting in 1953 until they were replaced by Gloster Javalins in 1957. Several Venoms of various marks were exported to Sweden, New Zealand, Iraq, Switzerland, and Venezuela.

Res-Im (Resin Improvement) is a new company to me out of the Czech Republic. After checking out their website it appears they offer a variety of items, photo etch, masks, and resin, but how good is it? Let’s find out.

The first item I got for review was a canopy mask set for the AZ Models AH-1G. Packaged in a ziplock baggie you get one sheet of masks for one aircraft.

I hate to mask canopies and it is even worse in 1/72^nd scale. Made of the famous Kabuki tape this small sheet contains the outline of the canopy and will need to be filled in with a liquid mask. This is the only way to do this type of canopy with all the compound curves.

My only problem with this or any of the Kabuki tape masks is that it is yellow tape printed on a yellow background. I use a pencil and make a thick patch of lead on a piece of paper then rub the mask over the piece of paper. This will transfer a little bit of the lead to the mask and allow you to see the masks.

Quickboost has added the P-51D/K propeller to their line of resin aircraft accessories. The blades are molded separately from the spinner and a tool is provided for the proper blade pitch during installation. This latest addition is molded in a grayish resin, smooth, seamless and bubble free. One thing of note is that they are easy to remove from the mold block taking only a couple of minutes with a saw blade to remove them.