This kit is a special edition, re-release of the SR-71A Blackbird. This kit has markings for aircraft 17964, "Bododian Express", a SR-71A from the USAF 9th SRW Det.4 at Mildenhall Air Base England in 1981. This particular aircraft had to make a landing at the emergency recovery base for European flights, Bodo, Norway in 1981. I found the full story of the emergency at the following website - http://www.wvi.com/~sr71webmaster/bodo.html

Background

Hanomag (Hannoversche Maschinenbau AG) was a German producer of steam locomotives, tractors, trucks, and military vehicles in Hanover. During World War II, the car plant made military vehicle engines, a military version of their heavy tractor renamed the SS-100, and halftrack troop carriers. The single most important and iconic military vehicle to be designed and built by Hanomag during World War II was the Sd.Kfz. 251 half-track (commonly called simply "the Hanomag") with a total production numbering just over 15,000.

The Hanomag RL 20 wheeled tractor was manufactured from 1937 to 1942. The 1.9 litre, four-cylinder diesel engine produced 20 HP. At the beginning of WWII many of these tractors were put into service with the German Wehrmacht.

Master Model of Poland produces small brass parts for detailing models, be they aircraft or ships. They have parts for aircraft in 1/32, 1/35, 1/48, 1/72, and 1/144, mostly pitot tubes, refueling probes and gun barrels.

This product is a single pitot tube for a Revell 1/144 F-106. The instructions are quite simple. 1) Cut off the kit pitot. 2) Drill a hole for the brass part. 3) Install the brass part, using CA glue. 4) Paint the part.

This Master Model pitot was welcome because I had broken the pitot on my F-106, and replaced it with a piece cut from a straight pin. The replacement was too short and way too thick. The Master part fixes both of these shortcomings.

I was able to bypass part of the instructions because I pulled the pin replacement out with a pair of fine nosed pliers. This left a hole in the nose which was slightly larger than I needed to put the Master Model part in. I used gel-type CA, which also acted as a filler for the oversized hole.

Last year Trumpeter released a pair of very nice Su-24 kits, replacing the old Dragon kits. This set is one of two released by Aires/Quickboost to upgrade some of the Trumpeter parts. The set consists of five parts: the inflight refueling probe, the refueling probe door that covers part of the probe when it is retracted, the bay into which the probe retracts and the two fuel dump pipes under the engines.

Are you looking to add a little life to your 1/32 scale F-16 Fighting Falcon? If so, you may want to consider the latest release in this scale from the folks at PJ Production. This is the third PJ Production figure that I have had the pleasure of reviewing, and like the other two, assembly was easy, with minimal part clean-up being required. The detail is reasonable for this scale, and the figure can be used with the Tamiya, Hasegawa, or Academy kit. The only modeling skill required involves painting a figure; otherwise, I would recommend this as an item manageable by modelers of nearly any skill level.