Aviaeology provides well researched decals on four RCAF 418 squadron Mosquitoes that covers the changing markings during the service careers of these aircraft. Each subject is complete with narratives on time period and painting suggestions. The instructions and diagrams are provided on four photo copied sheets, but an email request to Aviaeology will get you a promptly sent color PDF of the instructions which will prove helpful. The PDF can be printed or sent to your tablet for reference in your model workshop, you can magnify the profiles as recommended by Aviaeology to identify the subtle shades and the finishes of these Mosquitoes. You also get a tutorial of the bombs and the racks used with complete painting guides for them. Listed below is a breakdown of the subjects.

This is the first of a three-volume set being published by Kecam. This first volume covers Japanese aircraft operated by Japan’s allies during World War 2, as well as those captured by opposing forces (other than the US, UK, and Commonwealth countries), and those pressed into service by various countries in the immediate post-war period.

The book is in a softcover format, with thick stock covers and pages finished in a high-quality satin finish. Black and white photos, as well as extremely well-done color profiles, appear on almost every one of the 128 pages. There are even a few rare color photos in some sections.

The authors dive right in to the topic, with the inside front cover having a table of all Japanese aircraft operated by the subject countries. Aircraft purchased, seized, or otherwise obtained by various Chinese forces, Thailand, Kwangsi, Manchuria, Korea (North and South), Nanking, Indonesia, the Soviet Union, and France are all listed.

Scale Aircraft Conversions continues to crank out metal landing gear for a lot of recent kits. One of their latest offerings is this set for the impressive 1/48 Zvezda Bf-109F kit. The SAC set contains both main gear with separate oleo scissors, and also a new tailwheel. The tailwheel appears to be slightly smaller in diameter than the kit part; otherwise, there doesn’t appear to be any difference.

QB 48446 (Rotol Spinner) and QB 48447 (Spitfire Spinner), each $6.50

The Italeri Hurricane is getting a lot of attention from the aftermarket manufactures. Quickboost has released two resin Rotol propellers for it. One of the sets has the typical Rotol spinner (more pointed); the other set has a Spitfire spinner (more blunt). I’ve read that during the Battle of Britain there were some Hurricanes fitted with Spitfire spinners.

A nice feature of these aftermarket sets is the provision of a “tool” to ensure the proper pitch of all the propeller blades. After sanding off the back of the spinners, the tool provides you with a “seat” for the spinner, and then you only need to tack the propeller blade in place with a drop of superglue.

Quickboost has released several items to enhance the Italeri Hurricane. Among them are these “drop-in” replacement parts for the gun barrels. They are very nicely rendered in medium grey resin, with crisp panel lines and good depth for the barrels.

During construction, however, I ran into problems. The replacement parts are a bit too wide to fit in their slots in the wings. Maybe the problem is due to my construction of the wings, but neither the starboard nor the port gun barrel would fit.

I’ve measured the slots and the resin parts and maybe the problem is that both the replacement parts and the slots have the exact same width (20.0 mm, measured with a caliper). Perhaps the resin parts should have been a tad narrower to be able to fit in the slots?