This is another paint set by the prolific Ammo by MiG concern out of Spain. I’m sure many of you already use these acrylic paints and so are familiar with their ease of use with both brush and airbrush. The featured colours come in the familiar yellow-capped 17ml dropper bottles and include those colours needed for a range of modern Luftwaffe aircraft in the NORM 72 and 83 schemes, such as the Tornado, F-4F, F-104, Alpha Jet and UH-1H. The bottles are contained in a tray inside a sturdy card box that features a summary of the paints included and a nice colour profile of a Tornado.

Scale Aircraft Conversions provides resin and white metal parts for scale model aircraft, most of which are drop-in landing gear replacements.

The Airfix 1/24 BF109E was first released way back in 1973 but has featured in their range on numerous occasions since, most recently as part of the ‘Vintage Classics’ range in 2020. As such, the model lacks detail compared to modern kits and any enhancements for the kit are most welcome.

The Emil’s landing gear legs are pretty simple units, and the SAC parts reflect this. With just a little clean-up, these parts are drop-in replacements for the kit parts. The only parts you’ll need to use from the kit are the tyres and outer hubs.

SAC didn’t add brake lines down the main gear legs, but in this scale, the modeller is best served by adding these themselves so it’s no loss.

Hobby Boss latest Hornet release is the F/A-18 E Single Seat Super Hornet. Looking inside the box, the kit comes on 16 nicely molded grey sprues, 2 clear sprues, a small photoetch sheet, three sheets of decals and a full set of instructions. All total, there are 520 parts plus a piece of vinyl tubing. Options include:

Historical Background

The DO-335 was designed as a heavy fighter for the Luftwaffe, and featured a pair of DB-603 engines, one mounted in the nose, and the other mounted aft of the center of gravity, with its propeller located behind the tail surfaces of the aircraft. This push-pull arrangement eliminated the drag usually associated with a second engine, and allowed much higher speeds. It was intended to counter the British DeHavilland Mosquito, which was causing severe problems for the Luftwaffe in attacking German night fighters trying to counter the RAF’s night bomber offensive. There were several prototypes built, each differing in minor details. Some were single seat, while others were two seaters intended for night fighting, although few, if any, were equipped with radar. The aircraft had an impressive performance, but very few were built, and they never went into Luftwaffe service units, as the war ended too soon.

Historical Background

This book tells the story of the development and operational career of the Nakajima B5N Japanese Navy torpedo bomber, known as the Kate to the Americans, who developed a sophisticated identification system which avoided the linguistic problems associated with adapting the Japanese language to American use. In general, fighters had boys’ names, while bombers and other types used girls’ names. Therefore, Zeke, Nate, and Jack were fighters, while Nell, Betty, and Kate were bombers. The story of the development of that system is another story.