Aires is known as the producer of excellent after-market and detail items, and this product lives up to that standard. Designed for use on the Hasegawa P-40M/N this product provides for both of the horizontal stabilizers and control surfaces. There are four parts in all, cast in a durable resin material.

Looking at the accompanying images, note that the image labeled, ” 2 Parts 1” shows the parts after having been removed from the package. One will notice some “flash” between the parts and the part carrier. Not to worry, that flash is easily removed with a sharp blade or a pair of cutters. All four parts were removed and cleaned up in under 5 minutes without the use of sandpaper. Study the image labeled, “3 Aires Parts Removed from carrier” to see one set of parts after having been cleaned up.

Floyd Werner has come to the rescue with a correction to the Kitty Hawk 1/48 AH-1Z Viper kit by issuing a resin linkless ammo box for the right (starboard) side. Now, this is not an absolute must have, as you can always leave the ammo door closed, but it is necessary if you are going to open the door. Floyd Werner provides great instructions showing exactly what to modify on the kit along with color photos of the linkless ammo box being installed in an AH-1Z. A re-sealable zip lock bag holds the part and the instructions. This part can also be used in any AH-1W kit as well since many AH-1Ws have been retrofitted with the linkless ammo box. If you happen to have the Italeri 1/48 AH-1Z, the linkless ammo box can also be used there, but the Italeri kit does not have an ammo bay so you would be creating the bay on your own.

If you’ve built a weekend edition of an Eduard kit you would think that is as cheap as you can get an Eduard kit. Well then you haven’t seen an overtree. Eduard occasionally release an overtree kit for a limited time of their new items and it is only available through the Eduard Store online. The thing about an overtree kit is it only comes with the plastic pieces. It does not come with instructions, decals, masks, or photo etch. You can download the instructions online from the Profipack or weekend kit. You have to be careful and order the correct kit. Like me I chose to review a Bubbletop Mk.XVI with Late Wings. I should have ordered the Bubbletop with Early Wings. So note that you only get one set of wings and one fuselage. You need to know what you are going to build before you order it. More on that shortly.

Quickboost provides you with one set of Lavochkin La-5 exhausts. Of note is the re-sealable packaging that Quickboost uses that makes the parts easy to review and then stuff back into the package securely. There are no supplied instructions; you simply swap out the kit provided plastic parts with the new Quickboost replacements. These Quickboost parts are specific replacements for the kit parts found in the Zvezda 4803 kit and Eduard’s re-issue as a limited edition kit (1148).

Quickboost has molded the exhausts perfectly in light grey resin with no apparent bubbles. The Quickboost exhausts provide you with only minimal mold seams to sand off along with a hollowed out exhaust. Be very careful removing the parts from the resin block. I used a photo-etched saw along with a couple swipes of a sanding stick to have great looking parts. Test fitting revealed no discernable difference compared to the kit parts that should cause any problems