The Aircraft

The Boeing 720 was a direct development of the highly successful 707. The 720 had a shorter fuselage and was narrower, making it more cost effective for airlines on the shorter runs. 720s were profitable for Boeing because the development work had all been done with the 707. There were two basic versions of the 720, 720A and 720B. The A had P & W JT-3C turbojet engines, the B had JT-3D turbofans. Many As were upgraded to Bs through changing the engines. 720s were built from 1958 to 1967.

The 720 in this kit was a 720B N7224U, owned by Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas Nevada. The aircraft was called “Caesar’s Chariot”. It was leased to the rock group Led Zeppelin for their 1977 North American concert tour. The plane had a special paint job, with Zeppelin’s “Swan Song” album logo on the tail.

Lifelike Decals continues its superb line of 1/72 decals with 5 options for the Hasegawa kit. The decals are perfectly in register and are printed by Cartograf. The instruction sheets are superb being full color and having side profiles of all five aircraft. There is also a very thoroughly research paint scheme and stencil instructions.

The five aircraft represent the following:

Superscale Decals is now owned by the excellent people at Squadron Products, and their latest release is this sheet containing four different sets of walkways for 1/48th scale Phantoms. Both the wing and top of fuselage walkways are included. The set is printed by Cartograf and is beautifully in register and glossy.

The sets included are:

1. Black outlines with the walkway language
2. FS36231 Gull Gray with black outline and stenciling
3. FS36231 Gull Gray with no outline and with stenciling
4. FS36118 Gunship Gray with no outline and with stenciling

The instructions are well done, in color, and show the needed location of the decals.

This set is highly recommended and will go really well with older Phantom kits or the newer Academy kit. My thanks to Gary Newman and Squadron Products for the chance to review these great decals, and to IPMS USA for the opportunity to do so.

Quickboost is well known for creating nicely detailed drop-in replacement parts to enhance the detail of plastic models. This time around they have released a set of fuselage air intakes for the Su-7 from KP (reboxed by Eduard).

The air intakes are perfectly cast in grey resin, with a smooth, bubble-free finish. The molding includes two side walls to prevent accidental damage of the parts while in transit or storage. Removal of the parts should be easy, with either a hobby saw or even by scoring with a #11 blade if you take your time.

All the air intakes are hollow and have very thin edges, adding to the scale effect of your model. You can compare the resin parts with the plastic ones. The plastic ones have thick edges and in some cases (like part 119) they are not even hollow, being just a bump in the fuselage.

Recommended to modelers of all skill levels.

I would like to thank Aires, Quickboost, and IPMS/USA for the review sample.

Quickboost is well known for creating nicely detailed drop-in replacement parts to enhance the detail of plastic models. They have released a set of gun barrels for the Mirage III, for either the Eduard or the Hobby Boss kit. It might be possible to use this set with the Italeri Mirage IIIE, but I am not sure.

The cannon barrels are perfectly cast in grey resin, with a smooth, bubble-free finish. The molding includes two side walls to prevent accidental damage of the parts while in transit or storage. Removal of the parts should be easy, with either a hobby saw, or even by scoring with a #11 blade, if you take your time.

You can compare the resin parts with the plastic ones provided in the Hobby Boss kit. The main difference you’ll see is the muzzle brake detail and a much finer cannon barrel.