Reviews of products for scale aircraft models.

Review Author
Timothy Funnell
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$14.95

One of Eduard’s Brassin line of upgrades is nose guns for their new BF-110E. This upgrade set is all resin with 12 highly detailed resin pieces and a small PE fret with 4 pieces. Also, it comes with a comprehensive instruction sheet with advertisement for other Eduard BF-110 products.

In a very neat plastic package, you will receive 4 Mg15’s, 4 ammo boxes, a lower nose, a gun tub, 4 PE covers for ammo boxes and 2 neat variations -- one a camera, and the other the top side nose, were the camera is mounted. If you use the resin upgrade guns, you will use the kit’s upper half (E-17) nose part. Alternately, if you decide to build the E-3 recon version, you need to use the kit’s lower nose half (A-6) to finish the fuselage.

Review Author
Timothy Funnell
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$16.95

In my opinion, Eduard makes some of the best decals on the market, and this set for the BF-110 looks superb. In this set of decals, you get color plates for 4 different 110’s – a 7/ZG Z6 Mediterranean 1941/42, a 1/ERG.Zerst. GR. Debln-Irena, Poland December, 1942, a 5./NJG1, Deelen, Holland, spring, 1941, and lastly for W.NR.3866, Hans-Joachim Jabs, Staffel/Kapitan, 3/ZG76, Argos 1941.

Of the decals for these four aircraft, only one of them is for a E variant. Two of them are D-3 versions, and the last is for a D-1 night fighter. This isn’t really a problem since Eduard is releasing a C/D version kit and the E kit # 7083 has an optional fuselage and Dackel Bauch belly tanks included.

Overall, this decal set gets two thumbs up from me. I would like to thank Eduard and Steve Collins at the IPMS Review Corps for a chance to review these decals, and you for reading this article.

Review Author
Timothy Funnell
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$34.95

The Bf-110 went though not only technical changes throughout its career, but also through a development of its operational use. It entered the war as a heavy escort and attack fighter. By the time of the Battle of Britain, it became apparent that the aircraft, in the role of escort fighter, had been pushing the envelope of its capabilities. On the contrary, as a defensive weapon against British bombers, the Bf-110 made an extremely good showing of itself and remained a deadly foe through the end of the war. The placement of RAF bombing operations within nighttime hours from 1941 brought the Bf-110 into the realm of night fighting on the Western Front. On the Eastern Front, they excelled as fast fighter bombers.

Review Author
Roger Rasor
Published on
Company
Albatros Productions, Ltd.
MSRP
$15.00

After 28 years of publishing, Ray Rimell’s Windsock Worldwide should be a familiar periodical reference to any serious WWI model aircraft builder. It’s fair to say that any such builder who is not familiar with the publication has been missing a lot and has been pursuing the subject at a great disadvantage when compared to those who look forward to the mailing of each new issue. Windsock Worldwide is, without a doubt, THE reference on the subject.

The September/October 2012 issue continues to deliver what can be best described as the bread and butter of WWI model aircraft news and information. This issue follows the now-familiar format…regular columns presented in order, with the center of the issue devoted to one or more featured subjects. This issue will be of great interest to any model builder who has purchased recent Wingnut Wings’ Fokker Eindecker or DH2 kits, because they comprise the featured subjects.

Review Author
Charles Landrum
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$3.29

Prominent on the nose of the F-101 Voodoo is a large pitot tube, which in 1/48 scale extends 1 1/16 inches (27mm). From a modeling perspective, such a large pitot presents several challenges. First, you hope that the part is not bent, broken, or molded out of round. Surviving that, you then need to remove the mold lines and ensure that the cross-section is round. Lastly, such a large pitot tube becomes a transportation liability during model shows and displays. This Quickboost product provides a safety net to the modeler who has had difficulty with any of these issues with the Monogram/Revell Voodoo kit.

Review Author
Clarence Wentzel
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$4.25

The Mi-24V Hind E is the prime Russian attack helicopter. This variant entered production in 1976 and has become known worldwide for its effectiveness. Variants remain in operation in many countries around the world and, I believe, some variants are still in production. The Russian scale plastic model company, Zvezda, offers an excellent kit of the Mi-24V, as well as the earlier Mi-24A and the later Mi-35. One notable feature of the aircraft and the kits is a variety of exterior antennas. This offering from Quickboost provides a number of these antennas, finely molded in resin and much more petite than is possible with injection molded plastic.

Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
Planet Models
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$108.00

Everyone knows the F-14D Tomcat and its swing wing design – Top Gun locked that down to the general public. Before the F-14 was built, Grumman produced the XF10F Jaguar, which was the world’s first swing wing fighter. Never heard of it? Me, either, until Planet Models produced a resin kit of it. One reason it never became famous is that only one was ever produced (although a second was started) and, like many early jets, it suffered from being…well, underpowered. Add that to the weird cantilever tail and the other problems, and the plane ended up being a test bed for swing wings, and I can say that lots of good information was learned and ended up in the F-111 and F-14. If you want to see one today, you can’t. Both of them were destroyed, so we have a model left to bring us that part of history.

Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
Roden
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$50.00

Roden continues its 1/48th scale family of T-28 Trojans with a “D” model. The kit comes with three sets of markings for an Air Force Training Squadron from Eglin, a CIA plane based in the Congo (both of which are light gray in color), and a Special Operation marking in SEA camouflage based in Thailand in 1960. The kit parts are found on light gray sprues with good panel lines, and there are a clear sprue, decals, and an instruction sheet.

Review Author
Phil Peterson
Published on
Company
Master Model
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$6.99

The word Vulcan conjures different images for different people. If you are into Roman mythology, you think of the God of Fire. If you like the show Star Trek, Vulcan is that red planet Spock calls home. But if you are in the US military or build models of those vehicles, Vulcan is the 20mm Gatling gun that is so deadly on the battlefield.

First used in 1959, the M61 has adorned most of the US aircraft from the F-104 to today’s F-22. Its 6,000 rounds per minute can chew up enemy targets, and it has also been used by the Navy in the Phalanx CIWS system and the Army as the M163 Anti Aircraft weapon.

Review Author
Matthew Cottrell
Published on
Company
Airfix
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$7.49

Aircraft History

Airfix has presented us with a newly-tooled 1/72 P-51D Mustang. Nearly everyone will be familiar with the venerable P-51 Mustang, the long-range WWII fighter that finally allowed US bombers to be escorted deep into the heart of Germany. Over 8000 of the “D” model variant were produced. Armed with 2 additional .50 caliber machine guns (for 6 total) and a bubbletop canopy for enhanced visibility, it represents the ultimate wartime expression of the Mustang.

Kit Contents

Inside the box you’ll find 53 parts across three sprues, two in Airfix’s familiar blue-gray and one in clear, along with decals and instructions. The instructions are generally very clearly illustrated. However, the painting callouts are made using Humbrol-specific numbers only, and there is no key provided for matching color names to the numbers. I found this need of looking up a cross-reference for the paint colors to be perhaps the most frustrating part of the build.