The concept of the UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) is not a new concept. But UAVs have been hot-points in the news from many parts of the world over the last decade. “Birds of Prey” is an absolutely fascinating, current, and in-depth description of the wide variety of these vehicles. The author skillfully intertwines factual information with almost "Tom Clancy" descriptions of combat action. The huge variances in the size, style and missions are covered extremely well. To put the size variance into a modeling perspective, the smallest winged UAV, the Scan Eagle has a 1 inch span in 1:48 scale! Compare this to the Global Hawk Block 20⁺vehicle with a wing span of 32.5 inches in the same scale.

Eduard’s FW-190s are some of my favorite models. One of the things that is ‘nitpicky’ about them is that you have to cut open the wing root gun covers so that the kit parts will fit in a closed position. Sometimes this results in a less than perfect fit, depending on how well you cut them. Well you don’t have to do it anymore. Loon Models provides you with the two covers with the trailing edges suitably thinned so you no longer have to cut into the wings. This will make that whole process so much simpler and ensure a perfect fit.

Molded in light yellow resin that is blemish free these are easy additions to the kit.

Highly recommended

Thanks to Loon Models for the review copy. You can obtain your copy by contacting Roll Models. Tell them IPMS/USA sent you.

These represent a fairly new product from Aires, long time producer of quality resin aftermarket aircraft accessories and they are absolutely GORGEOUS !!!

As image shows, all tires and hubs are cast flawlessly as separate pieces which makes making painting a breeze. The tires have raised “Goodyear” and tire info in raised letters that take a light dry brushing extremely well. Images show the difference between kit and resin parts. There is also included a length of copper wire to be used as a brake line. I truly believe that these will sell very well when the work spreads as to the quality found here. See the “Wheeliant” line on Aires website at https://www.aires.cz/en/. Many thanks to Aires for the review sample.

Please note that cost is an estimate.

• QB48 333 AU-23A Nose $3.49
• QB48 334 AU-23A Propeller with tool $6.29
• QB48 335 AU-23A Exhaust $4.61

Roden’s AU-23A kit was a welcome addition for those who like Counterinsurgency (COIN) aircraft, and Roden has established itself with a fine line of kits. However, being a short run kit, there are areas that can be improved with the addition of resin details. Quickboost comes to the rescue, with a series of items to help overcome some of the minor shortcomings of the Roden AU-23A kit.

QB48 333 AU-23A Nose

First in line is a single piece part to replace the nose on the kit. The resin part has a nicely molded front with deep air inlet. There is also some crisp panel lines scribed in, and at first glance this looks like a winner.

The Voroshilovets tractor was produced at the beginning of WWII and was used by the Russians as their heavy artillery prime mover. It had a crew of 2 and could carry the gun crew on the bench seats in the cargo bed. The Germans captured and used a few of these vehicles.

The kit is molded in yellow plastic, with the tracks in brown. There is also a sprue of excellent clear parts for the cab windows, tarp windows and headlight lenses. Molding is very good with a minimum of ejection pin marks. I had no references at hand, but the model looks to be close to the proper dimensions based on pictures I found on line.

The instructions are clear and nicely illustrated with 15 steps in 12 pages, including a parts map. The decal sheet measures 1 ½ by 2 inches and includes 2 red triangles for the Russian version and 6 white markings for the German version. There is a separate painting and decaling sheet with full color 5 view drawings for each version.