Each issue of Scale Aircraft Modelling follows a basic design and format. There are usually two Feature Articles, an Aviation in Profile piece, industry news, and a series of Compact Build Reviews. This is my first chance to review this magazine and I am impressed.

The Feature Articles for this issue cover a Revell 1/32 BAE Hawk and AZ Models 1/48 Heinkel He70. The Hawk build by Brian Wakeman covers building the Revell Hawk kit with an Aires seat, SAC landing gear, and Airframe decals for an African scheme. He covers the build thoroughly, including the need for replacement seats and his painting and weathering techniques using oils and variations in paint colors.

Revell has reissued a modified version of their venerable F-105D kit. This time, they have added the larger spine necessary to make the Thunderstick II conversion. This allowed a better visual and blind bombing capability by adding electronics which were housed in the larger spine.

This is part 3 of the continuing review of Eduard’s interior parts for the HK B-17 kit. The usual thanks to Eduard for providing us these sets is again stated!

This installment covers the very visible nose interior section of the aircraft. I have noted several reviewers take Eduard to task for daring to try to include details that are (1) actually there on the aircraft and (2) are considered redundant since you “can’t see them.” Not so; they will be tough to see, but the Eduard updates certainly add a lot of visual interest to the kit. Having built more than my share of Monogram B-17G’s over the years, that kit has better basic interior detail in many ways than the HK kit, and Eduard is addressing those points.

Timeless and unmistakable in form, the VW Beetle became a symbol of the 1960s and early ‘70s in the United States. After roughly two decades of absence in new car showrooms, the “New Beetle” re-emerged as a concept car in 1994, followed shortly by production versions.

Although originally released in 1999, Revell’s rendition of the modern “Bug” is a beauty – both in form and engineering – and serves as a great subject for young or novice modelers.

Molded in yellow and black, with chrome-plated trim parts, clear windows, and a sheet of peel-and-stick markings, the model can be readily built into a reasonable and convincing facsimile of the real thing in under an hour. Body, chassis, and interior detail is crisply and accurately defined and well-molded. Part fit is virtually flawless, with only a minor amount of parental support being required to help Camden (age 8) squeeze and press some of the parts together.

Hobby Boss continues its F-14 series with a modern F-14D. The kit is large. There are 27 sprues of well-defined gray plastic, along with vinyl tires, a photoetch fret, one sprue of clear parts, and three decal sheets. Ten of the sprues are for weapons, including two GBU-12, two fuel tanks, four Mk-82's, four GBU-31's, six AIM54's, four AIM-7's and two AIM-9's. The kit features an open gun bay, refueling probe, two complete engines (that can't be seen), and a complete optional radar.

When this kit came out, the first thing that attracted me was the markings. The VF-101 markings with a black tail and white grim reaper were excellent, but then I noticed that the second markings were from VF-213 aboard the USS Carl Vinson where my son is stationed, so it became a no-brainer. Also, I had built the excellent 1/48th scale carrier deck from Skunkmodels, so it was time to build a kit to rest on the deck. This meant I want the plane to represent a configuration ready to take off.