This is a dual kit of two famous aircraft flown by American Ace Francis Stanley Gabreski (nicknamed “Gabby”). Gabreski flew the P-47D in WWII scoring 28 kills, and flew the F-86 in Korea with 6.5 credited kills. He was one of only seven pilots to become an Ace in two wars. It was my pleasure to meet him in person at the IPMS/USA National convention in Chicago in 2001.

Both the Academy kits have fine recessed panel lines and are molded in a light gray plastic. The builds are fairly straightforward with some fit problems. I needed some filler around the leading edges of both airplanes’ wings. The P-47’s cockpit floor seemed to be too low and left a gap between the instrument panel and the top of the fuselage.

The latest in Tamiya’s range of 1/48th scale military vehicles is what the firm lists as a “British 7ton Armored Car Mk.IV”, while the correct designation is in fact “Armoured Car, Humber Mk.IV”, so I presume the lawyers found that “Humber” was a protected trademark and Tamiya didn’t want to pay for the privilege of using it! These vehicles were to be found all over Italy and NW Europe in British, Canadian, Polish, etc. units, as well as training units in the UK, from 1943 onwards.

Gone are the days when Tamiya incorporated a cast metal hull piece or lumps of metal to attach to the hull interior of their 48th scale military vehicle range. This kit includes only injection molded plastic parts of a dark green color, plus a small decal sheet. No cast metal, no photo etched, no clear injection plastic parts. Detail is good for this scale and there are no visible ejection pin marks that need removing, nor any flash on the parts.

The Bearcat was just too late to join the fight in WWII but was used by the French in Indochina to great effect. It is a sexy and compact naval fighter.

An easy way to add some life to your static model is to reposition the flight control surfaces. I’ve never been able to do this effectively. Well Aires has come to the rescue. The latest release is molded in light grey resin with no flaws anywhere. Two horizontal surfaces and two elevators are included.

Removal of the parts from the pour block is quite easy. The horizontal surfaces are slotted so are drop in replacements for the kit parts. The elevators can then be added and deflected as you see fit with superglue. You may want to pin it to get a more solid join. Don’t forget to move the stick in the appropriate direction. It is really that easy and simple.

Another winner from Aires. This set is an easy addition to make your model come alive. I’m looking forward to other releases such as this from Aires.

This is a great photo etch set for the Kitty Hawk OS2U Kingfisher Kit. This set adds a lot of extra detail to the interior of the kit and makes it really stand out.

The phot etch parts are for the:

• Bulkhead details
• Instrument panel and various control details
• Bomb fins
• Machine gun and ammo box details
• Seat details
• Main cabin floor details
• Radio rack details

In the packet is:

• 1 Photo etch sheet
• 1 Colored photo etch sheet
• 1 Instruction sheet

Summary

This is a one of the best Photo etch sets I have used and is a must for the Kitty Hawk Kit, as it makes it into a great model with lot of additional interior details for this aircraft. I really think the machine gun and instrument details alone are worth getting this set for.

Thanks go to Eduard for providing this set to review and IPMS USA for allowing me to review it for them.

This 16-page booklet continues the series that contains 1/72 and 1/48 decals, profile images, and descriptive camouflage information covering a number of different fighter aircraft in Finnish service during WWII. The text, photos and graphics come from the excellent “Finnish Fighter Colors” books, also published by MMP.

This volume cover six aircraft in detail: