Eduard continues to lead the pack in taking older kits and upgrading them with PE and resin upgrades. In this case, we have the Academy MiG-29A, which in its own right is an excellent kit, with several items added to bring the basic kit to the next level. In this case, Eduard’s own PE instrument panel and detail set, combined with their in-house “Brassin” resin upgrades. Oh yeah, there is also one outstanding decal sheet included with no less than five variants to finish your model; Two Soviet, one Polish, one Czech Republic, and one Iranian. All are in register, and make for quite a variety of color schemes. The decals also include a comprehensive stencil suite, including missile and launch rail details. Outstanding!

Background

I'll not spend much time here. Google for "Jane Russell", when you're done reading that, click any link to "Howard Hughes", and when done with that click the link to the "Hughes H-4 Hercules" to find out all you need to know about this aircraft.

I will add that SWMBO and I had a trip planned that would allow her to go to a big quilt show in Sisters, OR, and allow me to stop off in McMinnville and see the 'Spruce Goose' -- it didn't happen but is still in the back of our minds. Unfortunately, we'll never hear the sound of 8 R-4360's cranking over and running -- that's 224 cylinders generating 28,000 h.p. …. and 448 spark plugs to change ….

Eduard is planning to release a pre-painted injected plastic PSP base. The base has a copyright of 1999 in the back, so I think it is the “old” PSP base which now gets a pre-painted treatment.

What about the pre-painting? It is great. Deep browns and grey shades, with a touch of lighter spots and rusty shades. This is not just pre-painted, it is weathered, too!! Now, be aware that the sides of the base are left in bare plastic (white). You might want to consider painting the sides to match the colors of the top and maybe to apply a wash to the overall base to bring out detail.

What is the quality and detail of the plastic? It is outstanding as we became used from Eduard. No flash or molding flaws. Clean and crisp details. The dimensions are 164 mm x 234 mm. It will fit a P-51 just fine, but it might be a bit tight for a P-47, as it is shown in the pictures.

Beechcraft has built many multi-engined airplanes over its long and successful history, but when anybody in aviation mentions a "Twin Beech", they don't mean a Baron, a Duke, or even a Super King Air – they mean a Model 18. Designed at the end of the 1930s as a competitor to Lockheed's Electra 10, it soon eclipsed that type in production with demand for light transports and aircrew trainers during WW2 (with Lockheed busy with building P-38 Lightning fighters, Hudson bombers, and bigger transport planes, Beech was in the perfect position for the business!). Thousands built, they served second-line military roles all over the world with all the Allied nations, and Beech kept the type in production afterwards for the growth of postwar air travel. Many are still in flying condition today and they are often seen at warbird airshows.

While meandering through the vendors rooms at the Omaha Nationals, I bumped into Ernie Gee while visiting with Gordon Kwan of Sprue Brothers. For those of you who don’t know, I consider Ernie to be the living GrandMaster of lost brass castings such as landing gear, boat propellers, and a multitude of other stuff. He handed these to me and asked if I might review them. Well…here is the review. EXQUISITE! There really isn’t much more to say about the absolutely beautiful work this guy does. (The last Fisher kit I reviewed, the RB-51 Red Baron Racer, had Ernie’s landing gear included, as does the F7U Cutlass I’m currently knee deep into). There can’t be enough good said about the quality of these products. If you haven’t tried any G Factor products, it’s past time. These can be ordered in the U.S. at https://spruebrothers.com and in the United Kingdom at https://www.hannants.co.uk.