Lifelike Decals from Japan has released its 7th installment in a series of P-47s. The A/C you get are
The latest journal of Cross & Cockade International - Winter 2015, features a photo of Armstrong Whitworth F.K.8 B-291 of 15 TS in the snow during winter 1917-18 on the cover. The rear cover shows the result of an apparent RAF B.E. 12b collision just outside Penston aerodrome on April 28, 1918. This issue also includes a separate A2 size sheet in color covering Ordnance Survey maps that are marked up with the location of WWI aviation interest sties in Ireland. The back of this foldout provides maps showing RAF Areas and Groups for April 1918, November 1918, June 1919, and January 1920.
Note: The $40 price is for the 4-issue subscription.
The Grumman F4F Wildcat was the US Navy's primary carrier-borne fighter aircraft at the start of WWII. Characterized by its stubby appearance the Wildcat had been developed from Grumman's successful range of pre-war biplanes and had entered service with the US Navy a year prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, replacing the Brewster Buffalo. By the time of the crucial battles for Midway and Guadalcanal, the F4F-4 model had become the most numerous variant and new tactics such as the ‘Thach Weave’ enabled American naval and marine pilots to gain the upper hand on the previously all-conquering Mitsubishi Zero. The F4F-4 introduced both folding wings and an extra .50 machine gun in each wing, adding to the Wildcats already powerful armament. Lessons learnt with the tubby but tough F4F were later incorporated into the F6F Hellcat, a fighter which went on to dominate the skies over the Pacific.
The Hawker Typhoon was designed as a replacement for the Hawker Hurricane, and was intended to be a medium to high altitude interceptor, However, several design problems did not permit the Typhoon to meet this requirement. Initially the Typhoon Mk Ia was fitted with twelve .303 calibre machine guns, while the later version, the Mk. Ib, was fitted with four 20 mm Hispano Mk. II cannons.
The subject of this review is a decal sheet that is 2 3/4" wide by 4" long, and includes national markings for one aircraft. Two sets of top wing insignia are included, along with the fuselage side and underwing markings, as well as the fin flash.
The F4U-5 Corsair was a 1945 design modification first flown in mid-December 1945. It was intended to increase the overall performance, incorporate pilots' suggestions, and featured a more powerful Pratt and Whitney R-2800-32(E) engine with a two-stage supercharger rated at a maximum of 2,850 hp. Other improvements included automatic blower controls, cowl flaps, intercooler doors and oil cooler for the engine, spring tabs for the elevators and rudder, a completely modernized cockpit, a completely retractable tail wheel, and heated cannon bays and pitot head. The cowling was lowered two degrees to help with forward visibility, but perhaps most striking, it was the first variant to feature all-metal wings
Injected-molded plastic kits do have some limitations when forming small details. Often times these details may not replicate the parts exactly, have difficult to remove mold lines, or may be fragile.
The MiG-15 UTI is the two seat trainer version of the MiG-15 fighter. Originally developed to provide conversion training for the transition from propeller aircraft to jet aircraft, it served as the primary jet trainer for the USSR and much of the Warsaw Pact air forces into the 1970’s.
As with Eduard’s MiG-15 and MiG-15bis, this is a new mold, very different from the old KP MiG-15UTI that some of us still have in our stashes. While the kit is clearly based on Eduard’s current MiG-15/MiG-15bis kits, there is only one common sprue, the one for the wings, as the others are all tailored for the two-seater. As these are overtrees, not a kit, they do not come with instructions or decals, however, since Eduard posts its instruction sheets on its website, all you need to do is go online and download the instruction sheet for the regular kit and you are ready to go!
This is another of SAC’s marvelous landing gear replacements for 1/144 scale aircraft. One of the worst things to fix on a finished aircraft is the broken landing gear which occurs from either a move or less than careful handling, usually by a friend of spouse. I was at a display when a spectator started to pick up one of Brian Baker’s planes. I tried to stop him, but he said “I know what I’m doing!!” and then proceeded to remove the antenna, landing gear and rigging in one grab.
You get two sets of nicely cast metal gear legs. This is cool, because Eduard has two Spitfires in their 1/144 kits. Well, there IS a single kit, but I haven’t seen that one yet.
I show in the photos below that the SAC parts match the Eduard parts pretty closely. In 1/144, it’d be hard to say exactly. Even with a magnifier, I’m not that good.
Airfix has created a smashing new Heinkel 111 P2 kit, and this one is well worth getting if you like the HE111. The detail and high quality of this product is fantastic.
In the box:
All the sprues are well molded with no flash at all.
The detail is very fine and crisp. The panel lines on the He111 P-2 are all very well defined.
First based on the order in the instruction booklet, we start on the interior of the fuselage, which like the cockpit on this kit is extremely well-detailed for a 1/72 kit. In fact the amount of detail is better that a lot of 1/48 kits I have built.
The fuselage halves are joined, and then we start in the bomb racks and wing center section.
There is a little filling to do when you bring the center wing section and the fuselage together, but not much.
The Polikarpov I-16 was a Soviet fighter aircraft of revolutionary design; it was the world's first low-wing cantilever monoplane fighter with retractable landing gear to have attained operational status, and as such "introduced a new vogue in fighter design." The I-16 was introduced in the mid-1930s and formed the backbone of the Soviet Air Force at the beginning of World War II. The diminutive fighter, nicknamed "Ishak" or "Ishachok" ("Donkey" or "Burro") by Soviet pilots, prominently featured in the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, and the Spanish Civil War. The Type 24 replaced the skid with a tailwheel, and featured the much more powerful 670 kW (900 hp) Shvetsov M-63 engine. The Type 24 also featured four ShKAS guns, proper landing flaps replaced the drooping ailerons, and a second cockpit door was added on the starboard side.
The HH-65C used by the US Coast Guard (USCG) is derived from the civilian Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin. The USCG selected this helicopter in 1979 and entered service in 1985.as a short range recovery Air-sear rescue helicopter. A total of 102 aircraft were manufactured and are still in service today. One distinctive feature of this aircraft is a “Fenestron” ducted fan anti-torque tail. This design improves safety for crews and the airframe itself from tail rotor strikes. The HH-65C carries a crew of 4 which consist of a pilot, copilot, flight mechanic and rescue swimmer. In addition to search and rescue, the aircraft tis also used for homeland security patrols, cargo/drug interdiction, ice breaking and pollution control.
