Unmistakable in appearance and unequalled in firepower among American fighters in World War II, the Northrop P-61 Black Widow was America’s first purpose-designed night fighter. First contracted in January 1941 at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio, delivery of production aircraft took place in the summer of 1943 to stateside training units, followed by initial deployment to the European Theater of Operations that December, with the Pacific Theater units equipped the following spring. By war’s end, the P-61 would amass 136 confirmed kills, including 9 V-1 “buzz bombs,” in European, Mediterranean, Pacific, and China-Burma-India theaters of operation.

Since the early 1970s, the classic Monogram P-61 has been the modeler’s only choice in 1/48th scale…until now. Nearly 40 years later, Great Wall Hobby has delivered a state-of-the-art rendition of this nocturnal predator. First out is the P-61A, representing early production examples without a top turret.

Aires has long been known for extremely nice resin detail parts. For several years now, under their own name brand and in the Quickboost line, Aires has produced replacements for kit parts that have an outstanding level of detail, exquisite molding, and excellent ease of use. Wheeliant is the most recent line added to the Aires brand, and it easily meets the standard set by the company’s previous products.

For anyone building a 1/32 Eurofighter Typhoon, Aires’ latest release is a must-have. Anyone who has worked with Aires resin parts knows they are at the top of the industry for resin aftermarket parts. I recently had the opportunity with IPMS to review their resin cockpit set for the EF2000A, and the set was such a vast improvement that I jumped at the chance to see their new wheel bay set. Now, I should note, the set is recommended for the Revell EF2000 kit; however, I am comparing it to the Trumpeter kit. Now, Trumpeter kits are usually known for high detail and quality, but the Aires resin parts are far superior. The set comes in standard grey/beige resin and includes the nose and main gear bays and new door actuators. The bays are molded as one-piece, drop-in replacements for the multi-piece kit bays. The detail is amazing and, in a comparison to photos of the real thing, it seems Aires got every detail captured in resin.

Aires is probably the best known provider of resin aftermarket accessories. Well, they’re certainly the most prolific. And I still haven’t figured out how they make the detail so fine. I’d almost swear they have little one-inch tall guys making this stuff. This set is an exhaust for the F-16I Sufa kit from Hasegawa. The set consists of five finely cast resin parts, two to make up the exhaust petals, one for the exhaust chamber, one for the aft compressor blades, one for the engine ring on the fuselage and one photoetched piece to represent the flame holder of the afterburner.

1/72 model aircraft builders, like 1/48 model aircraft builders, now recognize that not all Quickboost detail parts are grey resin. Some are yellow, red and blue! Among the latest releases from Quickboost are sets of multi-colored aircraft recognition lights. This one, set #QB 72 338, is sized for 1/72 scale models. It includes three sprues; one each of transparent yellow, red and blue resin, which contain three small cylinders that will fit typical bezels found on most 1/72 scale aircraft.

After carefully drilling out the lights that are cast on the underside of an aircraft’s wings or fuselage with a drill bit that matches the diameter of these little castings, just fit each of the cylinders in their corresponding hole and anchor it with a drop of future, epoxy, or superglue. It should make an easy job of enhancing the detail in that area of any kit that does not include clear parts to do the job.