Skunkworks is a brand name from Lucky Models. They have released some really unique sets in the past including weapons sets, Navy deck tractors, and UAVs. This is one the first of their new helicopters, the HH-60H Rescue Hawk. The Rescue Hawk is a development of the SH-60F Seahawk designed to retrieve downed aviators behind enemy lines.

Eduard has released another set of die-cut flexible masks and this one is for the 1/32 Revell AR196A kit (No. 04688). This set includes all of the required masks for every piece of “glass”. The material used is not unlike the material that Tamiya uses for their masking tape. It has the same holding qualities and peels off easily without leaving any residue. I coat all of my “glass” with a layer of Future which also helps to stop the glue from sticking. If you don’t use anything on your “glass”, a light stick to the backside of your hand should take care of the residue, if any.

Considered by many to be the finest piston-engined fighter aircraft ever to take to the skies, the P-51 Mustang is legendary among aviation aficionados and modelers alike, and needs little introduction in this “first look” at Tamiya’s exquisite rendition of the defining Mustang variant, the P-51D.

Riding on the tremendous popularity of its 1/32 Scale Aircraft series thus far, Tamiya once again ups the ante with the introduction of the P-51 series. As with their Zeros, Phantoms, and Spitfires, Tamiya has clearly engineered their tooling to crank out Mustang variants other than just the “-D.”

The Product:

The Aires set arrived in the standard blister pack we all have come to recognize. Secured in place with a small foam block accompanied with the familiar blue instruction sheet, the resin parts are highly detailed and somewhat delicate. My sample was flawless and bubble free. The set contains parts for both gun bays including the guns, ammo cans, feed chutes and multi part cover doors.

The Bottom line:

Quickboost’s line of after market exhaust options just keeps on growing. The latest addition is for the Hasegawa JU88 A-4. It is up to their usual standards; molded in a cream colored resin, smooth, seamless and bubble free. One thing of note is that they are really easy to remove from the mold block with just a few passes of the hobby saw. Another plus is that the exhausts are bored out, which would be a real pain if you tried to do it on the kit part.

The exhausts that come in the Hasegawa kit look alright and would make an acceptable model but the Quickboost replacements are superior because of how they are bored out which makes for more realism, especially in a photo. These exhausts are very easy to install, and they just fit right in. They will also work well with any other JU88 A-4 kit as long as the kit part is close to looking like the Hasegawa assembly.