The Wessex family of helicopters has always been popular among modelers. There has been only one kit in 1/48 before and it has been out of production for a few decades, so this newly molded kit is certainly creating some positive ripples in the modeler community!

Italeri brings a brand-new mold of the Wessex UH.5. Surface detail is good, with most of the detail being recessed, but in some areas –where it should be – it is actually raised detail. The kit includes 4 sprues, nylon mesh for the intakes, and a small photoetch fret for cockpit detail plus some external detail, too. Clear parts are very transparent, but a bit thick. Decals are glossy and allow you to finish your model in 4 different finishes, either in Royal Air Force or Royal Navy service.

I bought this upgrade set at the Orlando Nationals to upgrade the Monogram P-36 which I was going to do with the Yellow Wings decals, which I have also reviewed.

The Monogram P-36 has been around for a long time, first released in 1967. While it’s not a new kit, it has decent shape and fit. But the interior is just a seat and an instrument panel. Starfighter Decals, part of Mark’s Models and Toys, comes to the rescue with resin parts.

You get wheel wells, a seat, cockpit sides, a floor, an instrument panel, and a stick.

Mark Tutton made the masters for the resin parts, and he’s done a good job. Everything in the cockpit went together well, and I’m happy with how it looks.

The instructions call for an aluminum interior, or possibly interior green. Since the 77th Pursuit was at Moffett Field when they had this aircraft, and they were there in late 1939 to mid 1940, I chose the green.

Aircraft History

The F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is a similar, yet fundamentally different, follow on to the F/A-18A-D “legacy” Hornets. Entering production in the late 90s, the Super Hornet, or “Rhino” as it is known in the fleet, improves upon many of the “legacy” Hornets’ shortcomings, most notably fuel capacity. The Rhino also increases power and payload over the Hornet, as well as offering updated avionics. Visually, it’s distinguished from the “legacy” Hornet by large squared-off stealthy jet intakes replacing the previous oval-shaped intakes, as well as the aft fuselage and wings being bulkier and larger overall. Ultimately, the Rhino is positioned as a money saving jack-of-all-trades for the US Navy, replacing the roles served by venerable aircraft such as the F-14, A-6, S-3, KA-6D Tanker, and in the guise of the EA-18G, the EA-6B.

Kit Contents

This kit is a re-release of the original B-239 in Finnish Service of some years back, only doubled and with new decals. Each of the two planes comes with 8 sprues and 52 parts, 12 of which are for optional versions.

Assembly is straightforward in 8 steps: cockpit, fuselage, wings, main assembly, landing gear, engine, props, and canopy. I encountered no issues with fit and very little need for filler. The only issue needing fixing was that the anti-roll device stood a little proud of the turtleback and this affected the fit of the canopy. Optional parts are for the propeller style, cuffed or not, and canopy windscreen, as parts are provided for both the telescopic and reflector gun sight versions. You need not pick a color scheme until step 7, and speaking of same, there are decals and schemes for 3 aircraft.

This was to have been a full gear replacement review until the USPS decided to treat the package like the gorilla from the old 1970’s American Tourister luggage commercial. Unfortunately, the package did not fare anywhere near as well as the luggage did, as it looked like it had been stomped flat. After sorting through the carnage I was able to gather together enough surviving parts for one main gear leg.

What you get in the package is a full gear replacement in white metal for both main gear legs and the tail wheel. As you can see from one of the photos, the SAC gear has simplified things by making the main gear legs three total pieces and main tailwheel leg as two total piece, versus five pieces for the kit’s main gear and three for the kit’s tail wheel.