AOA Decals has released its first 1/72 scale sheet which is a scaled down version in many ways of the 1/32 scale sheet. AOA indicates that the reason the company formed was to fill the large void in decal coverage of Marine Corps Intruder accomplishments during the Vietnam War.

There are a couple things that hit you when you first open the package. First, the number of options is staggering - 64 marking options of 45 different aircraft. These include:

The Ship

The Kongo class of battlecruisers was Japan’s attempt to acquire or build their first super-dreadnaughts. Designed by the British, the Kongo herself was launched from the Vickers shipyard in 1912, the last major vessel of the Japanese Navy built in a foreign yard. She underwent major reconstructions from 1929-1931 and again from 1935-1938, the last time so much so that she was reclassified as a fast battleship. During the Pacific War, she participated in early South Seas operations off Malaya and the Philippines. Her class’s high speed made them ideal carrier escorts, and Kongo served that function during the IJN’s Indian Ocean carrier sweep, the Midway operation and the action off Santa Cruz.

This is a review of the photoetch accessory package associated with Tamiya’s kit of the Panther Auf.D, kit number 35345. This kit includes all six engine grill covers as well as a redundant machine gun targeting ring which will certainly come in handy in other builds.

The photoetch grilles can be placed on the base Panther kit with no modifications to the kit whatsoever. The fit is terrific and they add immensely to the final look of the model.

My thanks to both Tamiya/USA and to IPMS/USA for a chance to add these nice additions to my Panther Auf.D kit.

This proved to be a fabulous kit with both the tilt front end 1940 Willys Coupe as the subject matter, and the nostalgia provided with arguably the most beloved and popular individual of The Three Stooges, Curly Howard, as the backdrop. I was so impreesed with the car itself. It went together so seamless, without any fitting problems whatsoever. This particular Willys Coupe can only be built the way it is depicted on the box top artwork.

Years ago when I got back into plastic modeling in a serious sort of way, I saw the 1/72 Airfix kit of the Fairey Firefly on a hobby store shelf and was taken by the box art of this big bird. Of course I bought it. I confess after all these years, it’s still on my shelf but with the arrival of this book authored by Paul Bradley, I’ve been inspired to put it on my short list. Along with the other two kits of the aircraft I have.

Teaming up with artist Srecko Bradic, Paul’s put together a 96-page tome covering all the details, variants, and history one could hope for on any one aircraft. Sharp photos---most in color---plus 34 color profiles from Bradic populate the pages. The author also provides a modeler’s section covering three 1/72 Firefly builds, one 1/48 scale one, plus two pages of “Kitography” listing all the available kits as well as aftermarket decal sheets.

This is a Level 2 kit and contains 105 pieces of which you will use 91. There are two different front spoilers and two rear bumpers, three different rear spoilers, and four different sets of wheels included. All of these pieces are molded in white, chrome and clear plastic.

I built this kit in sub assemblies to ease painting. The engine is well done and consists of approximately 10 parts. The main chasis is one piece except for the firewall. The molded in engine bay detail is very well done. The interior consists of about 13 parts plus a decal for the instrument cluster. I don’t know that the Type R had a different interior than a base model, but this one appears to be a standard setup. No racing seats, gauge clusters, etc. There are few suspension pieces and a three piece exhaust on the bottom.

Down the home stretch! Last time we had just completed the wings, fuselage, nose and wheel-wells, leaving just the final assembly and finish for this last segment of this three-part review. To recall: I chose to display only the starboard wing’s gun bay and starboard engine detail, and to cover up the lower front end encompassing the oil cooler/air intake.

Continuing with Assembly

Before painting commenced I had some loose ends that needed tying off, starting with…

Cockpit and Canopy - (Step 211) There was a prominent sink hole on the top of the small dash board under the rear of the canopy (Part L19) that I filled with Perfect Plastic Putty before painting it Tamiya XF-69 NATO Black.

(Step 205) I painted the trim wheel and bump cushion Vallejo Panzer Aces 312 Leather Belt, and then drybrushed it with Mig P023 Black Smoke. I then drybrushed both internal structures with Uschi 4008 Chrome.

Aircraft and History

The AH-64 was developed for the Advanced Attack Helicopter back in the mid 1970’s and was to replace the AH-1 Cobra. First flown in 1975 and introduced into the US Army in 1986, the aircraft had many upgrades since then it’s introduction. The “D” version or “Longbow” increased the helicopters lethality and situational awareness. The most noticeable addition to the Delta model is a mast mounted radar located above the main rotor. With the radar above the rotor, it allows the Apache to detect targets while remaining behind cover. The main rotor shaft is hollow which allows a fixed shaft to extend through the hollow rotor which allows the attachment of the radar. Other enhancements include a “glass” cockpit, advanced sensors and upgraded engines. Most if not all of the “A” model Apaches have been converted to “D” model standards.

Scale Aircraft Modelling's August 2015 issue continues its fine history and modelling articles with everything from new kits, scratchbuilds and older kits.

The articles start with an Academy 1/48 F-4J Phantom built by Bill Clark. He adds Hypersonic Models canopy set and Quickboost resin seats to build an RAF Phantom in a unique turquoise scheme. The finished build looks great.

Andy McCabe builds Revell's 1/144 747-8F in Cargolux markings. The kit is built on a stand with an excellent paint job. Airliners and cargo planes never seem to get enough attention and this is a wonderful article covering just such a subject.

Meng Models 1/72 Kayaba Katsuodori Ramjet fighter is built by Mike Williams. Not only does he do an excellent review of the kit, he fits it to a modified Ki-67 turned into a Ki-109.

For those who want to try something different, Hauler has created a series of accessories that can be used to complement models of different eras and interests. This set is an old fashioned phone booth that was probably modeled after a 1930s English phone booth as the phone included is the old style phone with a hand held cone shaped earpiece with the cone shaped receiver on the front of the phone itself. The kit is composed of 3 resin pieces (floor, roof and phone) and a photo-etch fret with the four sides of the box, the door, a four-sided roof sign, a two part roof decoration, 2 dials, 2 handles and 4 hinges.

Eduard continues to expand its Brassin weapons range with this set of Mk. 84 2,000 lb. bomb set. The set includes two bomb bodies with standard low drag fins for normal drops, and three options for the nose – a fuse extender, a standard fuse or a nose cap, and a small photo-etch brass ring for the tail.

As with most US bombs, painting is easy – olive drab overall with a little silver or steel for the fuse. An option not noted in the instructions would be to paint the bomb blue to represent a cement filled training bomb. I left the fuses off until painting was complete so as not to knock them off. I sealed the paint with a nice coat of Future to prepare the bombs for decaling.

Background

In the mid-fifties, Northrop Corporation started the development of a lower cost, light weight, high performance fighter airplane. The impetus for the program was potential sales to allies under the Military Assistance Program. Initial US interest was in the trainer version of the program. This resulted in the T-38 Talon supersonic trainer. This was a great looking, high performance airplane. I loved watching them fly out of Luke AFB. The initial fighter version, the F-5A followed in the early sixties and had significant commonality with the T-38. This aircraft was sold to various allies and in fact, was built in some of the countries – Canada, Spain and the Netherlands. In the early seventies, the upgraded F-5E was developed.

At this year's National Convention in Columbus, master modeler John Vojtech provided us with a number of new product samples from his company UMM-USA. UMM, Unique Master Models, lives up to its name by offering an extensive variety of tools, aftermarket detailing supplies, decal sets and the like. (Be sure to peruse John's National Award winning models when you enter the site) .

The Multi-Shape Punch Set is a unique approach to manufacturing small detail shapes with multiple modeling applications. The set comes with a beautifully machined, truncated cone aluminum base that incorporates a soft rubber pad used as the striking surface. Several brass punches (one each of square, round and hexagonal cross section) and a sample sheet of soft, 3mm thick aluminum. At the time this review is being written, John is offering the Punch Set for $20.95, a substantial discount from the $29.99 list price – but I don't know how long this pricing will last).

This is Eduard’s third release of their 1/144 MiG-15. The first was the Czechoslovak MiGs, the second was the MiG-15 bis, which used a different engine, but is generally the same.

The MiG-15 has been used by 44 different countries, including the US Air Force (!) and such world powers as Albania, Burkina Faso, Mali, Sri Lanka, and Yemen.

The aircraft on the decal sheet this time are from North Korea, China, USSR, Poland, and two Czechs.

I decided to do the Soviet MiG after checking out the histories of the aircraft. The pilot of this aircraft was Major Alexi Mikoyan. His uncle was Anastas Mikoyan, who was Khrushchev’s number 2 man for many years. His father was Artem Mikoyan, one of the founders of Mikoyan-Gurevich (MiG) design bureau. I think the pilot was pretty well connected.

The GBU-49 is an American laser guided bomb consisting of an Enhanced Paveway II GPS/INS-equipped guidance section and a 500 lb. bomb. It is one of the weapons of choice for the MQ-9 Reaper and is often carried by USAF F-16s with two GBU-49s on triple ejector racks on the middle wing pylons.

The set consists of two bomb bodies with the tail fins and guidance sections molded as single pieces except for the seeker head (resin) and the nose and aft guidance fins (photo-etch). Two options are provided for the seeker head, one with the seeker head exposed and the other with the plastic ground cover in place. I chose to use the heads with the cover installed as I plan on displaying the bombs on a parked, but armed aircraft.

Ray Rimell starts it off with “A steep learning curve…. Building one of the WNW AEG kits is not for the faint-hearted…” This is the fourth Modeling Special that WindSock has done and like the three that preceded it, it is simply amazing. If you have any intention of buying the WingNut Wings AEG G. IV, or for that matter any AEG G. IV, you will want this book. The rest of Ray Rimell’s quote tells you why: …but with patience and care the results can prove simply spectacular!”. Illustrated with over 230 photos, this 60-page (card covers get it to 64) guide provides a great supplement to the WindSock Datafile 51 on the AEG G. IV. Ronny Bar provides six color profiles as a ‘pull out’ centerfold with short descriptions of each profile.

I’ve heard and read about the quality of Tamiya models and now I’ve built one with only a couple of disappointments.

Engine

The six cylinder engine is has twin turbo chargers. There’s a pair chrome plated and a pair just plain white plastic. The plain one doesn’t even show up on the instruction sheet. All the parts fit extremely well and are well engraved.

Chassis

The chassis features nice detail and crisp engraving. Exhaust is a separate piece – again, one chrome plated and the other plain white plastic. Front and rear suspensions are multiple piece units that get glued in separately. The gas tank is even a separate unit.

Interior

The interior was a major disappointment. While the dash and seats are wonderfully engraved, there is virtually nothing engraved on the side panels. No door handles. No window cranks. No power window buttons. Nothing!

This set contains I sheet of Phot etch parts and 21 resin parts. These parts are used to add complete and very details gun bays to the kit which has no detail in these areas. The addition of these really does add a great display of the guns and the bays to an already very detailed kit.

As with these kits from Eduard there is no flash or other imperfection. The detail of the parts is exceptional. The parts once removed from the mold base are ready to install

A great price for such fine additional detail for the already fantastic Eduard kit.

Thanks to Eduard for providing the detail set, and to IPMS USA for letting me review it.

This sheet is the third of three limited edition sheets produced by Lifelike Decals for the Hasegawa 1/72 Ki-27 Fighter (codenamed “Nate” by the Allies). The sheet provides markings for seven different aircraft from the Japanese Army. The set includes color side views of all seven aircraft illustrating left side markings and overhead views showing the wing markings of the various aircraft.

Eduard continues to expand its line of WWII 1/48 Superfabric seatbelts. This time with a set of USN Beige WWII-era seatbelts.

The Superfabric seatbelts are made of some sort of “rubber-like” material. They have volume - i.e, they are not flat like decals - and they have a little bit of texture like if it they were made of ‘fabric’ (pun intended).

From what I read in the Eduard website you can either apply the seatbelts “dry” directly on the painted seatbelt or “wet” if the seatbelt has been coated in Future.

I choose to apply the seatbealts over a “flat surface” (i.e, just over enamel paint).

The Su-9 was a Soviet interceptor from the later 1950s until the late 1970s. It superseded by the Su-15 Flagon and Mig-25 Foxbat. Often mistaken for a Mig-21 because of the delta wing, it was in fact a much larger aircraft with greater range. It was the second Sukhoi fighter with the Su-9 numerical designation, the first being a prototype early twin engine early jet fighter similar to the Me-262 which never saw service. The Su-9 shared an airframe and engine with the Su-7 Fitter, the aircraft being developed somewhat in parallel. It only saw service with the Soviet Air Force (VVS) and was never exported.

Quickboost is well known for their fine resin details and plenty to choose from. The Hawk pitot tubes are typical of them with fine details that are difficult if not impossible to produce with injection molding. There are three Pitot tubes provided so if you do not break them, one set will allow you build three kits. The tubes come in a plastic bag with while the pour block (sprue) contains supports to protect the fine parts.

Compared to the Hobby Boss (HB) kit parts, the QB parts have a more defined shape including the various tapers and tip of the probe.. The kit part has a very “blunt” tip where the QB tip is tapered and well defined.

Quickboost is known for exquisite detail on all of their update sets and this review sample is no exception. I would like to thank Aires for this review sample.

John Vojtech made a big splash at several nationals a while back with his magnificent builds of a B-2 and C-130 to name a few. To build these models, John actually fabricated some of his own tools and over the years has refined them and is now selling them. This UMM-USA tool is the VojTech Hand Sanding Bar. These bars come in five convenient sizes: Extra Large, Large, Medium, Small, and Fine. Made from polished aluminum and with 6 flat surfaces, these tools are useful in many applications.

The part reviewed here is the extra-large bar. Using it is simplicity itself. Get a piece of the appropriate sandpaper cut a strip the width of the sanding bar or a little less. Wrap the sandpaper around the bar of the side you need. One end of the sanding bar is longer and comes to a sharper taper. The other is wider and not as sharp of a taper. You can also use tape to attach the sandpaper also

We all need a cutting mat for our hobby area. Not just as a cutting surface, but as a work area and to prevent damaging the table/surface we are working on.

Squadron has released the latest on their tool line with a cutting mat on A3 size, with a 10x15 inch working area. One side is just plain green for general work and cutting, while the other side has a square inch pattern plus angle lines at 30, 45 and 60 degrees.

The surface is made of a self-healing material, meaning that your cuts would “heal-up” (i.e. disappear) and you will have a smooth surface to continue your work. I did a few test cuts -gentle ones, just drawing the blade on the surface- and next morning I couldn’t see any cut or “scar” for what matters.

This cutting mat is likely to last you a long, long time (I would bet at least a decade if you take care of it) plus it will protect your blades and your working surfaces. Get one, you won’t regret it.

Recommended.

We sincerely appreciate the manufacturer Kittyhawk for providing this kit to IPMS/USA for review! (and the usual thanks also to IPMS USA Reviewer corps leadership for sending the kit my way).

Kittyhawk, as a relative newcomer to the plastic model aircraft arena, is breaking new ground with each new release. First, they are delivering kits we old timers never thought we’d see. A look at their website shows a commitment to stepping up to the plate. Right now the 1/32 kits are causing extreme excitement, and rightfully so. Read on.

We customers are provided with a box espousing six marking options (one United States Air Force Gray, Two United States Marine, one Thai, and one Philippine Air Force. All are colorful options, and cover the bases for markings. By the way, the wing mounted zuni pods are NOT included in this kit; they are from a 1/32 crusader, more later.