This is a re-boxing of the Two Bobs kit first released in 2009. Special Hobby has since issued three versions. In this the “Anniversary Markings”, version we get a US Navy bird celebrating the American Bicentennial and a Greek AF, T-2 marked to commemorate 40 years of service with that organization. The T-2 first flew in 1958 and was the backbone of the Navies jet training syllabus till its replacement in 2008. The Hellenic or Greek AF received a total of 40 T-2Es and is just now in the process of phasing the last out of service. Venezuela also used this venerable trainer. In total 609 were built giving thousands of military aviators their first experience of jet flight.

When ICM released their 1/32^nd scale AH-1G series of models there was an outcry from US modelers, why in this scale? Helicopters are not like other aircraft where there are ‘preferred scales. Airplanes typically are sold in 1/72, 1/48 and 1/32^nd scale. Helicopters come in a more varied scale assortment. The common thought is that they are more akin to armored vehicles so they have been molded in 1/35^th instead of the common 1/32^nd scale so you could take advantage of armor figures and accessories. European manufacturers, namely Revell-Germany, have released helicopters in 1/32^nd but they are not as common as the 1/35^th offerings. So, US helicopter modelers reached out in forums and said that we prefer 1/35^th scale. ICM listened and decided to downscale their offering to the more common helicopter scale for the US market of 1/35th scale.

F-Toys/Platz have been producing small-scale (1/144th) aircraft kits for a few days now and originally released their F-16 kit in 2015. This latest iteration has new parts and decals that will allow you to build an F-16C with conformal fuel tanks. The new parts, in a soft resin, are those tanks and decals for a test bed aircraft stationed at Eglin AFB circa 2001 and another assigned to the 14th Fighter Squadron at Misawa AFB, Japan.

The kit comes in an open-ended box with some extra bits that will allow you to build several different configurations should you so choose. At the very least you will have some excellent parts (various under-wing stores) for the spares box. There is even a pilot figure. Another nice addition is an alternative vertical stabilizer with the braking parachute housing.

Hobby Boss first released their new-tooled F4U-1A Corsair back in 2012. Thirteen years later in 2023, after numerous reiterations and re-releases, they have produced a 2 in 1 release with extra parts to provide a kit of the -1A and -2, respectively.

Construction, as is the norm, begins in the softly detailed cockpit. There is no provision for any type of seat harness, so I used a set from a Warbirds Decals sheet. Overall detail in the cockpit is soft, and the instrument panel decal is lacking in detail.

Step 2 has the modeler construct the engine, replete with a full exhaust collection ring and exhaust. The instructions are confusing in this step (as with many other steps), so the fitting of the exhaust system was done by trial and error. Parts of this subassembly are nicely detailed, such as the exhaust system & transmission housing, while the cylinder heads are soft.

Ammo is a company founded by Mig Jimenez and based out of Spain. It provides products for the modeling community by way of paints, weathering effects, tools, and various modeling merchandise. Ammo has provided IPMS-USA a twelve (12) bottle acrylic paint set for review.

In the Box

The paint set contains twelve (12) 20 ml bottles with nontoxic and odorless water based acrylic paints. Inside each bottle is an agitator ball to help mix when shaking. These paints are presented in a new clear container featuring a new cap that can be opened and closed with one hand. The following colors are provided: