The story of the Lockheed A-12 began with a bright orange fireball 70,000 feet over Sverdlovsk in the Soviet Union. This explosion, 1500 miles deep into Russian territory, would start a diplomatic crisis with repercussions that directly impacted the A-12 and SR-71 operations for the rest of their service lives. That explosion severed the tail from a Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft and sent the pilot, Francis Gary Powers, plummeting into the hands of the Soviet authorities. After the U.S. broadcasted a cover story assuming Powers had died, the Soviets revealed they had parts of the plane and Powers in their custody. This caused then U.S. President Eisenhower to do two things, stop all over flights and find a way to make the U-2 invisible to radar. While some efforts where made to reduce the U-2 radar signature, it was just not possible to cloak a jet-powered glider with long straight wings. Enter Lockheed’s Kelly Johnson.

This is the third replacement piece that I have acquired for my 1/48 Eduard Spitfire Mk.Ixc build. Master Model has produced a detailed pair of Hispano 20mm cannons that provide details that are missing even in the excellent Eduard kit. This is not to diminish the Eduard kit that has been reviewed by Bret Green as the definitive (his opinion) 1/48 Spitfire kit. In the photo the Master Model pieces are compared side by side to the sprue attached parts of the Eduard kit. You can clearly see the enhanced definition of the Master Model replacements. On close inspection there may be the opportunity for a steady hand, lots of patience and small sharp needle to do a little hollowing out of the front of the cannon barrel.

Recommendation

I highly recommend these replacement parts.

Thanks to Master Model for providing these parts and to IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review this item.

Quickboost has come out with a very nice aftermarket set of correct engine cowls for the 1/72 Academy P-38 Lightning. Right out of the clear packaging I could see that they did a very nice job in detail and size.

I took the kit cowls out and noticed I had to glue on the lower radiator intakes. The intakes did not fit very well, and would have to be filled and sanded. I then compared both cowls and you can see in the photos the kit lower intakes are bigger and thicker than the Quickboost. The scoops on the side look much nicer and are hollow, whereas the kit scoops are solid. After comparing them I started the task of cutting the Kit cowls off and installing the Quickboost ones. I used a very thin saw blade to do the job. Be careful and take your time so as not to ruin the rear cowls of the kit.

Mushroom Model Publications are available in North American from Casemate Publications.

MMP is expanded their excellent selection of scale plans for various aircraft. Sets No. 1 and 2 (detailed below) have been available for several years. In 2014 scale sets, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 have been released. One can see that the plans are of excellent quality and are filled with detail that many modelers value.

The pages, themselves can be removed from the publication and are suitable for framing, even suitable to decorate a display base! The price is right, the quality is excellent, and the subject matter is appealing.

Set No. 1 (978-83-89450-79-1 ) priced at $10.72, formatted in A4 Softcover, spiral wire binding 24 pages in A3 - Pages - 24 (0 in colour) contains plans in 1/48th for these aircraft:

The Cross & Cockade International is the quarterly publication of a non-profit organization known as The First World War Aviation Historical Society. The UK based organization has been publishing these journals since 1970 with the objective of furthering the study of First World War Aviation History. The Company overview on its Facebook page says “Cross and Cockade International can trace its history back to the 1960s. We have always attracted some of the premier historians in the field. Our current President is Air Vice Marshal Peter Dye (Rtd), Director-General of the RAF Museum. We publish a high-quality quarterly journal of original research into the subject.”

NOTE: The journal is apparently not available as single issues, but by volumes. Back issues sell for $33.50 per volume.