Editor’s note: “Luft ‘46” are hypothetical Luftwaffe aircraft which may have been available had the war continued into 1946 and beyond. They are broad-brush extrapolations and probably not connected to reality.

This is an in-box review of this hypothetical German fighter from Encore.

First up is the box with great artwork on the front. It shows pictures of the model with alternate paint schemes on the back. Encore has been doing a lot lately, and this kit shows it! The instruction sheet is well done, and it is both informative and easy to follow. It shows potential pitfalls during the build, though I do not anticipate any.

While the plastic is nicely scribed 9 of the 16 pieces are not used. Those used are complemented by additional parts made in cream-colored resin, including pulse jet engines; cockpit; nose-guns, tail surfaces, and ailerons. There are 21 resin parts in all, as well as your choice of a vacuformed or an injection plastic canopy.

A large book at 8-1/2 by 12-inches, Allied Torpedo Boats is a hardbound ShipCraft Special of 128 pages by Seaforth Publishing and Classic Warship Publishing, which has produced this work, composed of 9 sections.

History

The Hawker MK1B Typhoon is a British made aircraft and one of the most formidable used in WWII. It was used as a bomber/interceptor and also as a ground support aircraft. Top speed of this aircraft was 417 mph. and it could climb to 20,000 ft. in 7.6 min.

The Kit

The kit is made up of injection molded gray plastic parts. The details were excellent with minimal flash and no defects.

In construction, I started with the cockpit, adding details and painting the interior portion. Prior to assembling the wing halves, the wheel well areas were painted. After assembling the fuselage and wing halves, I proceeded to put the completed fuselage, wing and tail surfaces together.

This is the Academy “Achilles” kit put into an Italeri box and marketed. The sprues all say Academy and the only difference is the decals and instruction sheet. The Academy kit is a gorgeous representation of the British version of the American M10 “Wolverine”. There are a few interior issues with stowage and rounds but it builds into a great model just the way it is.

What you get is the ten Academy sprues done in beautiful tan plastic, two vinyl T-62 riveted tracks, a 16-page instruction booklet, length of twine (for tow cable), and decal sheet to mark four vehicles. The vehicles are two Polish Division machines and two British vehicles. One of the British vehicles has a neat looking black and green camouflage pattern. The only first look issues are the interior turret plates. These are littered with ejector pin sink marks that are going to need to be cleaned up. The worst part is that these are mostly oblong instead of round ejector pits.

Quickboost now offers 1/32 scale builders a set of resin exhaust pipes for Hasegtawa’s Ki 44 Tojo kits. They are accurately sized, cast in Quickboost’s typical gray resin and feature remarkably thin sidewalls that capture the appearance of the Prototype’s exhausts quite nicely.

Unlike the kit parts that require modelers to glue together two halves to end up with a single hollow pipe, the Quickboost exhausts are already hollow and ready to use without any assembly. They are cast so they may be painted while still on the casting block. After removing them from the casting block, they will fit in place with absolutely no modification required. Just remember, because they are resin, they will need to be attached with super glue or an epoxy adhesive.

This set is recommended. My thanks to Quickboost and IPMS/USA for the review sample.