Ever since I was a young lad, and would pass construction and road works sites while out driving or walking with my Father, I have loved bulldozers. Big, yellow and Caterpillar! Yet whenever I went to try and build a model of one, I always struck out. The only kit I could ever find of a Caterpillar product in injection plastic was a 1/25th scale kit, which was either too expensive for me as a young hobbyist, or the wrong scale once I got a job but moved on to focus on modeling military subjects in 1/35th scale. This year, however, Meng Models from China, a relatively new player in the model kit industry, has hit the ground running and provided the 1/35th scale military modeler with an amazingly detailed injection model of the mighty Caterpillar D9R armored bulldozer. Read on!

History Brief

When the F-105 Thunderchief entered service in 1958, it was the heaviest single-engine combat aircraft and was commonly known as the "Thud" by its crews. In March 1956 the USAF placed an order for 65 F-105Bs and 71 were built. Although it set speed records the 105B was besieged with problems, typically the F-105B required 150 hours of maintenance for each flying hour. Most of these problems were addressed under Project Optimize and by 1964 it was relegated to ANG squadrons.

Again, many, many thanks to Mr. Hideyuki Shigeta for honoring me with the privilege of building the Super Wing Series He 219 Uhu (Eagle Owl) model kit for public review as an IPMS Reviewer Corps representative. I am deeply appreciative of the trust and confidence shown in me by both Mr. Shigeta and the IPMS Reviewer staff. I am delighted to report on the last stages of construction!

Quickboost is known for producing finely cast resin details. This seat is no exception. The details are very good but some are fragile, such as the ejection rings, which quickly broke off and disappeared. This isn’t so much a function of the piece, but of careless handling on my part. They are easy to break, so be prepared to make up your own if you snap them off.

Removing the seat from the resin casting plug was easy enough with a razor saw. However, I eventually had to cut more, about 1/8”, from the seat bottom to get a decent fit in the Hasegawa 1:72 F-104C kit. I don’t know if this is a function of the kit or the seat.

Once painted, and with a subtle wash, the seat details pop out. After modifying the seat bottom as above it was a drop fit into the cockpit.

The Quickboost replacement seat is far better than the simple plastic form that Hasegawa supplies, plus, it has seat belts cast in. A worthy addition to your Starfighter.

Couple of thank you notes up front; to Hornby for bringing Airfix back from the abyss and turning it around; an Injection-molded 1/48 Javelin is one we could only dream of in the past, and here it is! And to Hornby America, who provided IPMS USA this great model of an iconic British cold war fighter. (And thanks to Dave and Dick for the build opportunity!)

The last time I built a “flatiron” as these were called, was the old Dynavector 1/48 vacuum molded kit about 15 years ago. It had a wealth of detail, and was actually very easy to build. The kit is still viable (I have another one sitting on the shelf waiting to e built), but the Injected version is far better in the full-Monty detail realm. The only tricky part was installing the forest of vortex generators on the wings, as these were brass tiny brass tabs with small spears to push into holes on the wing… surprisingly enough, they worked well on the soft plastic and were very durable. Ah, the old days….