Among the most un-Japanese looking fighters of WWII were the rather chubby J2M Raidens that were designed and built as bomber interceptors for the Imperial Japanese Navy. They were reasonably successful in defending the homeland against U.S. high-level bombers in the final year of the war. And, over the years, many kits have been offered by Hasegawa, Tamiya, and Oataki (later marketed under a number of other brand names) to build various versions of these interesting interceptors. They are appealing subjects and many of us probably have a few of these kits salted away for a rainy day.

The Fw-190A-5 was different from earlier versions in that the nose was extended forward 6 inches to help change the center of gravity. This would help with a planned addition to the armament.

The Kit

This kit is made up of 108 parts. It has 5 injection molded grey sprues and 1 clear plastic sprue. The moldings are very crisp and the clear parts are also flawless. The decal sheet is not so flawless. My copy had nicely printed decals that were semi-gloss but had spots of very high gloss over them (like something spilled on it). This worried me just a bit. Looking at the parts, I noticed that Hasegawa supplies the wrong wheels and tires for this type. Resin aftermarket parts are easily available, though.

I’ve reviewed a couple of these products before and was impressed with the quality of their workmanship. Master continues the trend with their latest release. The MiG-29 set includes the pitot tube itself and two small, photo etched strakes. On the real machine, the strakes are positioned on either side of the area where the pitot tube meets the nosecone to help direct airflow when the aircraft is at high angles of attack (AOA). As you can see from the photos, this little masterpiece is a definite improvement over the kit-supplied piece. In this case, the kit is the Italeri MiG-29. Master’s rendition accurately captures the multi-diameter shape of the original.

The pitot tube has a peg which fits neatly into the nose of the model. Though I haven’t done so, I think gluing the strakes to the pitot tube and nose will be a challenge. There just isn’t much surface area. Perhaps slicing a small groove on either side of the nosecone will offer more purchase.

I had been kicking around the idea of purchasing some sets of white metal landing gear from Scale Aircraft Conversions for a while to go with some of the kits that I have in my stash. The idea of being able to put a heavier model on sturdy gear is very appealing to me. So when the opportunity presented itself, I figured that I would give it a shot.

What you get with the replacement landing gear is one full set of main landing gear (right and left) and a tail wheel produced in white metal.

Once in a while, I like to build one of the older kits from the stash, adding additional details and such to bring it “up to modern standards”. One of these sitting in the to-do pile is the old AMT/ERTL F7F-3N Tigercat. This kit was recently re-boxed from Italeri, and is the only 1:48 plastic kit of this aircraft anywhere. Quickboost again provides a timely release with these replacement landing gear bay doors.

In the Box

The hanging bag with paper instruction insert comes with five resin parts on three casting blocks. All the bay doors are replaced with items in this set, including both pairs of main landing gear doors and the nose gear door. Casting is flawless in the familiar dark grey resin, and the attachments to the casting block is minimal.