Reviews of products for scale aircraft models.

Review Author
Rob Booth
Published on
Company
Master Model
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$7.25

Master-Model has produced replacement AOA probes and a pitot tube for any 1/32 F-16 kit. The metal replacements are a simple drop-in for the kit’s plastic parts. The supplied items include two AOA probes and one pitot tube. There will be no modification required for the installation of the replacements other than a slight drilling out of the pitot receiving hole to accommodate the replacement’s larger base (at least on my Academy kit’s nose cone). You will have to use CA or epoxy glues to secure them, of course.

A side-by side-evaluation (see photos) indicates a replacement of superior detail that will provide a more accurate representation of these tiny exterior details.

Highly recommended.

Thanks to Master Model and the IPMS Reviewer Corps for the opportunity to review these items.

Review Author
Rob Booth
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$4.50

Quickbost has produced a replacement gun barrel for any 1/32 F-16 kit. The resin replacements are a simple drop-in for the kit’s plastic parts. The supplied items include two replacement muzzles. The only modification required will be the removal of the end of the kit part’s barrels beyond the second sleeve.

A side-by-side evaluation (see photos) indicates a replacement of superior detail that will provide a more accurate view of a true dogfighter’s weapon of choice.

Highly recommended.

Thanks to Quickboost and the IPMS Reviewer Corps for the opportunity to review this item.

Review Author
Mike Kellner
Published on
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$17.95

Intended for the Kinetic 1/32 scale Hawk 100 trainer kit, this SAC replacement gear set includes a nose gear, right and left mains, and the two main retract struts. The 5 metal landing gear pieces are finely cast and are made of a soft white metal which cleaned up in quick order with a file and a Flex-I-File. They’re the same length as the kit’s gear, but are slightly thinner in diameter. You’ll need to use the kit’s plastic part # D-38 to complete the nose gear. There are no instructions, so I just followed the kit's instructions.

The kit’s nose gear has two halves in order to get the nose
wheel in place, but the SAC metal one is in one piece. To get the wheel in, I bent the nose fork open, snapped in the wheel, then squeezed the fork back together. The main wheels fit fine on the struts and everything fits the airplane's mounting points.

Review Author
Mike Kellner
Published on
Company
Kinetic Model Kits
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$70.00

The Hawk 100 series jet trainer is a British two-seat, single-engine advanced jet trainer. It was selected for use in a joint venture between Bombardier Aerospace Corp. and Canada. Some were also ordered and built in Australia. It is used in many variants by many countries friendly to England.

The kit is molded in light gray plastic and comes with a photo etched set; the clear parts are thin and very clear. The overall details were good, but some parts were soft and not sharp. There were sink holes in several places, among them the tops of the wings and the rocket rails. The kit gives the option of wing tip caps or missile rails if you want to arm the model; a drop tank is also included. Some extra parts weren’t used, which are probably for different versions.

Review Author
Jim Pearsall
Published on
Company
Minicraft Model Kits
Scale
1/144
MSRP
$18.99

OK, it’s a 1/144 B-17G. I have 1/144 B-17Gs in the stash from Crown, Revell, and Academy/Minicraft. Nevertheless, I’ve never gotten around to building any of these, so this one is the first of several B-17Gs I’ll be doing as I get around to it.

First reason to like this kit – they’ve completely redone the clear parts. Trust me, this mold has been around the block a few times, and these clear parts are much better.

Second reason – the decals. Cartograf makes excellent decals, and Minicraft gives you markings for two pretty interesting B-17Gs.

The Aircraft I Built

This B-17G is not done with the kit decals. Just before I started this project, I attended IPMS Las Vegas “Best of the West” contest at Henderson, NV. I picked up a set of Kits-World decals for the B-17. The provided decals would have been just fine, except one of the aircraft on the sheet has a personal connection.

Review Author
Rob Benson
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$6.50

Thank you to David Lajer of Aires/Quickboost and the IPMS Reviewer Corps for the privilege of reviewing this delightful aftermarket resin set. The Hobby Boss F8F kit is wonderful in its own right, but the replacement gun barrels add quite an eye-catching detail in a highly visible part of the kit.

A single casting plug with 2 longer and 2 shorter barrels is in the package, molded in medium brownish-gray colored polyurethane resin. The application is very simple; use the appropriate Quickboost barrels to replace kit parts E6 and E5. This is a direct, drop-in replacement; all you need to do is carefully remove the barrels from the casting plug.

Review Author
Rob Benson
Published on
Company
Aires Hobby Models
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$21.50

Thank you to David Lajer of Aires / Quickboost and the IPMS Reviewer Corps for the privilege of reviewing this delightful aftermarket resin set. The Hobbyboss F8F kit is wonderful in its own right, but replacement of the kit wheel wells with the Aires parts and the other pieces in the set allows a much cleaner and more detailed presentation.

Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
SuperScale International
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$12.00

Squadron and SuperScale have released a decal sheet, #481266, with USAAF national insignia for the period June 1943 to January 1947. This decal sheet does not include the red border around the circle and bars. As such, I believe the markings are only valid from September 1943 until 1947, not from June 1943 as listed in the decal sheet title.

The sheet includes decals for scale diameters of 25”, 30”, 35”, 36”, 40” and 55”. They are very shiny and printed by Cartograf (i.e. – good quality decals). The decal sheet instruction includes a location map for P-38, P-39, P-40, P-47 and P-51 aircraft.

Decals are thin, yet strong. I was able to float them onto the model and then easily relocate them for final placement until dry. They settled into the recessed panel lines with a minimal application of Micro Set. At the same time, the decals are opaque and have a vibrant color.

In just a few words: they are excellent decals.

Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
Academy Models
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$74.00

Academy continues to re-release the Accurate Miniatures series, which in my opinion is a very good thing. Despite their age, Accurate Miniature molds have very good surface detail and they have held up pretty well. There is virtually no flash at all. I only had to clean up two parts for a bit of flash.

Originally, Accurate Miniature released the B-25G as a conversion set for their early mark B-25. This particular re-release brings you all the parts needed to assemble a B-25G in a single box, plus decals from Cartograf. As a plus, you get plenty of spare parts from the early mark (B/C/D) B-25s.

Review Author
Mike Hinderliter
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$5.00

Quickboost has added the seat for the P-51D Mustang to their line of resin aircraft accessories. This latest addition is molded in a grayish resin, smooth, seamless and bubble-free. The seat is molded in one piece and is easy to remove from the mold block.

The package doesn’t state that it is for any particular kit, so it should work well with any of the P-51D Mustang kits. I compared it with the Tamiya kit’s seat. Talk about a noticeable difference – the detail on the Quickboost part is outstanding. From the photos you can see that the Quickboost seat has the belts molded , and you can almost feel the seat material in the cushion under the belts. You will definitely want to have the canopy open for this.