Lifelike Decals continues to produce some of the finest, most colorful decals out there. In this release they have turned their attention to the Eduard Albatros. There are four colorful aircraft depicted.

There are two decal sheets with this release. One decal sheet is printed by Microscale, so if you use their decal products you should have no problem. All the decals are printed in register with good color opacity. The other, slightly smaller sheet is printed in Japan and contains the gorgeous markings for the aircraft, such as the coat of arms.

The instructions are printed on two single-sided A4 sheets in full color. The one thing I like is that Lifelike isn’t afraid to offer an educated guess when some marking is in question. They let you know what is speculative and how they came to their conclusions, a very professional and non-pompous way to do business.

A fast way to upgrade any kit is to replace the wheels with some higher quality resin ones. Ultracast has long been a standard for outstanding resin aircraft accessories and updates, with their P-51 items leading the pack. These wheels are for any P-51 kit where the modeler desires a diamond tread.

In The Package

The wheels come on two separate pour stubs, sealed in a Ziploc bag on a card hanger. The parts are completely free of any defect or casting flaw, and the tread pattern is very nicely defined but not overdone. The casting block attaches to the tire where there would be a slight flattening from the weight of the aircraft, but there is no “flat tire bulge.”

Use on the Kit

To use these, simply cut from the casting block and drill an appropriate sized hole to mount them on the landing gear. Just be sure to line up the flat side so that it is flush against the surface the model is sitting on. It’s that simple!

High Velocity Aerial Rockets, or HVAR, were used by the US between 1944 and 1955. This six-foot long rocket was 5 inches in diameter and carried a 45lb HE warhead. Unguided, it could be fitted to almost any aircraft with hard points and was used extensively on most late war fighters, patrol, and attack aircraft, and into the Korean war on jets like the F-86 and F-84. Retired in 1955, it became the precursor to the modern Zuni and other unguided ground attack rockets.

For most modelers, we all will spend lots of time and energy detailing the aircraft to the max, yet when we get to the ordnance, we are left wanting by the kit-supplied items. HVARs tend to fall into this category, ranging from bare likeness with fins to better looking but still not up to the same standard as the rest of the model.

As might be predicted, with Eduard’s numerous MiG 21 releases on the market, Aires has now added a highly detailed 1/48 scale Soviet KM-1 ejection seat to their line of aftermarket parts. By incorporating both cast resin components and numerous small photo-etch parts, Aires has come up with a remarkably accurate rendition of this style of ejection seat. So many parts are involved that one might describe this aftermarket seat as a kit in itself. The photos below show the components and the finished product.

I was recently given the new 1/48 Kitty Hawk F-94C Starfire to review. I think this is a very nice kit, especially considering that it is the first release by this company. When looking at the parts I was impressed by the detail of the landing gear.

No sooner had this kit hit the market, when Scale Aircraft Conversions released a metal landing gear that not only adds weight to the nose of the aircraft but also corrects a minor error in the kit landing gear.

The kit landing gear, while very nice, represents the legs at full compression. This is not correct. SAC has chosen to represent them as the real aircraft sits, which will alter the stance of the kit. The oleos are not fully compressed and look just right.

I have consulted some photos I have of the F-94C as seen at the Pima Air Museum in Tucson and the one at the USAF Museum in Dayton, Ohio, and they both have the oleos extended slightly but not fully. The SAC L/G legs are spot on.