Brassin Detail Sets

• Cockpit/Radio Compartment – Stock No. 648074, $28.99
• DB-601 Engine – Stock No. 648059, $28.99
• MG-17 Mount – Stock No. 648060, $28.99
• Wheel Set – Stock No. 648058, $5.99

Eduard’s Bf-109E series has released all the variants of the Emil. This is the first time, other than the Royal Class, that the E-3 version is available. The Profipack release is typical Eduard quality with the suitable extra items, such as photo etch and masks. While a good deal and adequately detailed right from the box, what happens when you add all the Brassin items designed for the kit? Well we are going to find out.

The Aircraft

The Junkers Ju-52/3m was a continuation of the Ju-52/1m. The 3m stands for three engines (dreimotoren), the 1m stands for one engine (einmotor). The prototype was built with one engine, but it proved to be badly underpowered, so two more engines, one on each wing, were added.

The other feature of the Ju-52 was the corrugated skin on the wings and fuselage. The idea, originated by Junkers in World War I, was to add strength to the aircraft without adding weight. The Ford Trimotor used this, too. Although it worked, the corrugations added drag. It can also be an additional task for the modeler when filling seams.

The Kit

The PE set consists of two frets of PE. They seemed to be set up so that one covers the interior, the other the exterior. Some of the parts are prepainted, and some are left in “natural” brass.

Vietnam was called “The Helicopter War,” which suited me just fine, having served as a UH-1H “Huey” doorgunner. But as a modeler, a Long Islander (home to Grumman and Republic), and an armchair historian, I have to concede that quite a number of other aircraft types served heroically, if not stoically, and are owed much, much more appreciation for the extraordinary tasks they accomplished under some of the most suicidal “rules of engagement” ever self inflicted upon a combatant. The Grumman A-6 Intruder has starred in a couple of books and movies, with her pilots among the authors. Indeed, the author of this book, Rick Morgan,”is a retired Navy Lieutenant Commander with more than 2300 hours of flight time… principally in EA-6B Prowler, A-4 Skyhawk and A-3 Skywarrior type aircraft.” Though too young to have served in Vietnam, Morgan flew combat in Desert Storm.

Modelers’ Guide to the P-38 Lightning is the third in a series of books published by Aero Research to aid modelers who want to build accurate models of specific aircraft. According to the first sentence in the book’s introduction: “This book is a guide to building any military variant of the P-38 Lightning, using existing kits.” That is not an understatement. The book will be a very useful reference for anyone planning to build any P-38. All variants, from prototype to the M model (and all photo-recon versions) are included. Author Jay Sherlock has done a thorough job of researching and organizing pertinent information that modelers usually find they need sometime during a project. As a matter of fact, the book will come in handy before starting the project – when deciding which kit to purchase. The first chapter describes in detail all kits currently available in 1/44, 1/72, 1/48 and 1/32 scales, and each description includes a small color photo of the box top.

History

The Polikarpov U-2 biplane was designed and built during 1928 as a primary trainer for the fledgling Soviet Air Force, and it seemed to possess all of the characteristics desired by that service, including rugged all-wood construction, a low-powered but reliable power plant, and excellent flying characteristics. It was produced in massive numbers, approximately 40,000 of them eventually being manufactured in the Soviet Union and foreign countries. The type was adaptable to many uses, including training, air ambulance, night bombing, crop dusting, and a few were even used as floatplanes. During the war, the plane was re-designated Po-2 in honor of the designer, Nikolai Nikolaevich Polikarpov. A few were even used by the North Koreans during the Korean War for night harassment, as, having all-wood construction, they had a very low radar profile. There are still a few flying today, especially in Europe.