The Aircraft

What hasn’t been said or printed about the Fokker D.VII? The legendary fighter is widely considered to be the best German fighter aircraft to emerge from the Great War and it was certainly the most numerous type engaged in the conflict. Nearly 3,300 Fokker D.VIIs were built by three manufacturers, (Fokker, Albatros & OAW) in the summer and autumn of 1918, and many of them were the reason a number of German pilots achieved ‘Ace’ status in the last year of the war.

From its introduction into service in May 1918, the Fokker D.VII quickly proved its vastly superior performance over most, if not all, existing Allied fighters. With a high rate of climb, higher service ceiling and outstanding handling characteristics, German pilots scored 565 victories during the month of August alone. Because of its impact, it was the only aircraft listed in the armistice terms that Germany was required to surrender to the Allies.

The MiG-21 family of aircraft is known for their air to air capability. The big part of that capability was the development of the Atoll Air to Air missile system.

The Eduard MiG-21s are some of the best kits available in plastic and that transfers over to the armament as well. But as always plastic can only do so much. That is where the resin comes in. The Brassin range of aftermarket is designed directly by Eduard to replace select parts on their kits. Because it is designed by them they will always fit perfectly.

The resin is a dark grey type with simply no blemishes or bubbles anywhere. The pour blocks are very small and are easy enough to remove. There are 28 grey resin pieces with detail that just can’t be replicated in plastic. You get four launch rails, four missiles and 16 maneuvering fins and four warhead covers. If you don’t like the covered warhead you can have the clear nose cone. There are four clear nose cones molded perfectly in clear resin.

Model Art has done it again. Back in April 2013 they released Air War over Vietnam, U.S. Navy Aircraft Part 1. This Model Art Modeling Magazine special edition, Air War Over Vietnam 2, U.S. Air Force Aircraft Part 1, is the follow up and they have made some changes to the layout from the excellent first issue. The text is mainly in Japanese with some English subtitles throughout. One excellent feature of these magazines is the high quality of the photographs and the models that are used.

The issue starts off with a “New Kit Selection” article. It features the Hasegawa 1/16 Sopwith Camel F.1 and the Tamiya 1/72 Mitsubishi A6M3 "Zero Fighter".

The main feature is next. This consists of eighty seven pages packed full of models, period photos (color and black and white), maps, charts, marking references and color plate drawings.

Quickboost has added the anti collision lights for the F-102A to their line of resin aircraft accessories. This latest addition is molded in blue, red and clear resin. It’s smooth, seamless and bubble free.

There is no comparison between the Quickboost parts and the Meng parts. The Meng kit has the lights molded on and you are supposed to paint them the appropriate colors. Quickboost has the right idea, just drill out the area where the light is supposed to go and add the proper colored piece with a drop of glue. The best part is that they actually look like a colored light and you don’t have to paint them. I only wish that they had included a small instruction sheet like they did for the antenna and detail set (QB 72-415).

I very highly recommend this product if you want a nice and detailed F-102A. I would like to thank Quickboost and IPMS USA for the chance to do this review.

The Eduard MiG-21 family displays some of the best engineering in modeling. The kit cockpit is nice but there are limitations with plastic molding. Luckily for us modelers, Eduard has an answer for that in their Brassin range.

Typical of the Brassin range this set is a mixed media offering with resin and photo etch. The instructions are typical colored pictograph which is quite nice and helpful. There are five pages of actual assembly diagrams.

Also typical of the Brassin range, the resin is cast in light grey resin is perfectly cast with no bubbles or blemishes anywhere. There is one piece of clear resin. The detail is absolutely exquisite. The parts are packaged in a sturdy cardboard box with foam protecting the parts then to further safeguard them the resin parts are held in three bags to keep them safe. There are 29 resin pieces to make this cockpit.