The P-39 was a marvel of engineering with a mid-mounted engine and a primary gun firing through the propeller hub. Because the US Army Air Corps wanted to save money, the supercharger originally fitted to the prototype was removed. This decision almost doomed the aircraft. The US no longer wanted it for a fighter role and the British summarily dismissed it altogether. Many of the airframes went to the Soviets under a lend-lease agreement where they found their niche as ground attack aircraft and low altitude fighters. This particular kit represents one of those lend-lease aircraft.

For the uninitiated, Halinski paper models are often referred to as the “Tamiya” of paper models. They are that good. Anyone who thinks paper models cannot rival plastic needs to experience one of these before making a conclusion.

The latest addition to the Quickboost line of resin accessories is a dorsal fin conversion for the Tamiya P-47D Thunderbolt. The first P-47s had a “razorback” canopy configuration with a tall fuselage spine behind the pilot which resulted in poor visibility to the rear. The British came up with an idea to use bubble top canopies on some of their aircraft to fix this problem. The USAAF liked this change and started to implement it to their fighters which included the P-47. To fit the bubble top canopy to the P-47 they cut down the rear fuselage which was found to cause yaw instability. To fix the yaw problem they introduced a dorsal fin extension in the form of a narrow triangle running from the vertical tail plane to the radio aerial. This change was also implemented in the field on earlier bubble tops. This is where the Quickboost part comes into play.

When the package arrived I was expecting a C-130A and was surprised to find in its place a model kit for the JC-130A. I didn’t have a clue on what the “J” stood for, so off to the internet to find out. Well, they were built to track and retrieve missiles tested over the Atlantic test range. Further snooping found that eight C-130A’s were built as JC-130A’s and later several B models were built as JC-130B’s and were used to track and retrieve space capsules (i.e. film capsules from spy satellites) on the Pacific test range.

Quickboost has taken a shine to the Italeri Ar-196 kit. This makes either the fourth or fifth upgrade set for it. This time the emphasis is on the armament. Molded in light grey resin the parts feature great detail. This set has seven resin pieces with everything from the guns and barrels themselves to the mounts and ammo drums. The cooling fins on the gun barrels are especially nicely done. The ends are hollow and look great. The detail is much finer than that included in the kit and requires significantly less clean up than the plastic parts.

Highly recommended

Thanks to Quickboost and IPMS/USA for the review copy

You can obtain your copy from your local hobby shop or by contacting Quickboost at www.quickboost.net.

The Academy kit is a nice kit but could benefit from some resin upgrades. Quickboost offers an easy way to upgrade the exhausts with this little set. The set is molded in light grey resin and contains two exhaust stubs. The ends are hollowed out and include the molded on weld seems. These are drop in replacements for the kit parts so adding them is easy.

Because of the size of the parts these will not fit the Hasegawa kit without some modification, but on the Academy kit they will fit perfectly. Just some paint and these will be ready to go.

Highly recommended

Thanks to Quickboost and IPMS/USA for the review copy

You can obtain your copy from your local hobby shop or by contacting Quickboost at www.quickboost.net.