Twobobs Aviation Graphics continues to release decals to celebrate the special paint schemes that the US Navy is using to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Flight (Centennial of Naval Aviation or CONA). Each decal sheet contains markings for these special aircraft, and a 3” sticker with the CONA official logo is included in the packaging. Twobobs actually has an official licensing agreement with the Navy to bring these decals to us in the hobby world! As always, this Twobobs release features decals that are thin, crisp, and in perfect register.

Packaging is the usual clear zipper bag we see decals in, and inside is a one page, double sided, full color sheet which contains color information, the decal placement directions, and some images of the actual aircraft. This package contains one “standard size” decal sheet as well as a smaller insert sheet, along with the 3” sticker mentioned earlier. Decals are printed by Microscale Industries for Twobobs.

Once in a while, you see a movie that, while not hugely financially successful, makes for a great 2 hours of fun. Such is the "The Relic", a 1997 monster flick starring Penelope Ann Miller, James Whitmore, Linda Hunt and Tom Sizemore. It shows up on cable pretty regularly and if you have the chance, watch it. The star of the movie is a 12 foot long mutant creature called the Kothoga that is part mammal, part reptile and all bad. It likes eating brain parts. Stan Winston Studios produced the monster and did it perfectly. Pegasus Hobbies has given a great opportunity to model the creature with this kit.

The kit itself is a mini diorama which contains the creature, a large museum base (the entire movie was shot in the Natural History Museum in Chicago), stanchions with rope, a name plate and a figure of the relic. The relic and Kothoga are molded in vinyl and the rest is in ABS plastic.

Product/Stock #

• 148 003 Navy Chock/ Bar (Early Production) $5.99
• 148 002 Universal Navy Chock/Rope (Early Production) $4.99
• 148 006 Universal Navy Chock/Rope (Late Production) $4.99

Anyone’s who’s seen the Aires line of detailed aftermarket aircraft parts is well aware of the high quality and attention to detail that goes into all their products. Now, Aries has dug even deeper into scale modeling minutiae with their offering of these 1/48th scale Wheelliant resin wheel chock sets. These ubiquitous pieces of equipment are on hand wherever Naval Aviation is found, on land or at sea.

The Detail Parts:

We all know what a propeller is, but what is this “tool” of which we speak? Trumpeter provides a block of resin with a “bed” for the prop blade to be placed into, and a locating hole and ring for the spinner. When placed into the “bed” the prop will assume the correct angle for alignment with the spinner. Using this tool, which is also included in many of the other Quickboost prop sets, alignment of exactly the same angle and orientation will be achieved for each of the three blades. What a great idea!

The F/A-18 Hornet has been around for a while, and it looks to be almost as big a winner as its predecessor, the F-4 Phantom. One of the stories going around St. Louis in the 90s was that the plant wanted to build 5058 Hornets, one more than the production run for the Phantom. Well, the production line is still open, and they’re past 1100 now.

The F/A-18 E and F are different aircraft from the A to D models. The whole plane is larger, the engines are more powerful, and it’s stealthier. The engine intakes are square and the landing gear doors have sawtooth edges, which reduce radar return.

Here’s a picture of my recent CF-18A with the F/A-18E.

The Kit

You get two kits in separate plastic bags. The only difference between the two kits is that the F model has a longer canopy. Otherwise, they’re part-for-part the same kit. You even get two ejection seats and the extras for the rear cockpit with the E.