Airfix has a long tradition of packaging kits into gift sets. This tradition continues with the release of the Bomber Command Gift Set. As you can see from the box, profits go to an RAF charity. They have blended their ground support set with a Lancaster Bomber, making for a Bomber Command gift set. I have had the opportunity over the past several years to review the newer kits that Airfix is releasing, and I have been very pleased with their choice of subjects, improved instructions, and ease of assembly. This continues with this gift set. Airfix usually adds some extras to their gift sets. This gift set includes little plastic bottles of Humbrol paint that correspond to the painting instructions. It also has two little tubes of plastic cement. Having never used Airfix cement, in spite of its smell, I certainly like it better than the traditional Testors plastic cement.

Furball; a dogfighters’ term for a fighter-themed modeling company. We sincerely appreciate Furball Aero-Design’s support of IPMS USA and their providing one more of their great products for review. And thanks to the reviewer corps leaders for sending this set to me to review!

Everyone who loves to mask flaps and slats on white-belly marked F-14’s, raise your hands. (Not you, Scott, I know you hate Navy stuff and won’t touch them). Long story there...

Anyway, for the other hundreds who didn’t raise your hands and laboriously mask off the white slats and flaps on your Tomcats with bits of masking tape and swearing profusely, Furball has a simple solution: This very fine vinyl mask set!

To use: assemble Tamiya’s F-14 wings, and do all your prep work (seams, etc). Stick the wings on a holding fixture (I found the kit runners had some candidates), then primer with white.

Back in ’77 the AMC Pacer was arguably ahead of its time. The expanded windows were a definite safety feature allowing greater visibility, and the sub-compact (now the same size as some mid-size cars) had great fuel consumption. Unfortunately, it was “too far ahead” and people described its odd look as an upside-down fishbowl.

To those who model Soviet era and modern Russian aircraft there has been a welcome proliferation of weapons which have emerged on the market, so we have something to hang on aircraft models other than rocket launchers and dumb bombs. Unlike the west, the Soviet, and now Russian military is not known for the use of smart ordnance, and rare were the pictures of them fitted. But a wide range of weapons exist for specialized missions and the pictures coming from Syria show smart weapons being hung.

A new manufacturer from Russia has come on the scene to offer perhaps the widest range of munitions than we have seen so far on the market – Advanced Modeling (AM). Multi-media kits with cleanly cast in gray, durable resin; the detail is superb.

Background

The Dassault Aviation company of France has been producing and exporting delta wing aircraft for 50 years. The first production series, the Mirage III, 5 and 50 started production around 1960. By the time production had ceased, over 1400 of these first-generation had been produced and various versions were in use in around twenty countries. The aircraft had a reputation for good performance, the ability to fulfill many different tasks and reasonable cost. In many cases, some components were produced in the customer country.

Eduard continues to expand its series of WWII-era pre-painted seatbelts in the “steel” series. Eduard Models call this product line “Steelbelts”.

This review covers the following items:

To those who model Soviet era and modern Russian aircraft there has been a welcome proliferation of weapons which have emerged on the market, so we have something to hang on aircraft models other than rocket launchers and dumb bombs. Unlike the west, the Soviet and now Russian military is not known for the use of smart ordnance, and rare were the pictures of them fitted. But a wide range of weapons exist for specialized missions and the pictures coming from Syria show smart weapons being hung.

A new manufacturer from Russia has come on the scene to offer perhaps the widest range of munitions than we have seen so far on the market – Advanced Modeling (AM). Multi-media kits with cleanly cast in gray, durable resin the detail is superb. The casting are so well done that I could see faintly detect lathe marks when the masters were turned.

Recently I was given the opportunity by IPMS USA to review Scale Aircraft Conversions adaption of the Curtiss P-40B landing gear in white metal for the 1/48 Airfix kit. This set consists of two main gear legs, the two retraction strut pieces, which are on a metal sprue, and the tail gear strut. These are direct replacements for the parts from the Airfix kit. When comparing the kit landing gear and the SAC landing gear side by side you will notice they are very similar, other than the difference between plastic and white metal. Ignore the rough texture in the pictures all white metal is like this but will not show once painted. Overall this is highly recommended for stronger landing gear and added detail and is a great addition to the Airfix Curtiss P-40B kit. I would like to thank Scale Aircraft Conversions for another great offering in metal landing gear and IPMS USA for the opportunity to review this item.

To those who model Soviet era and modern Russian aircraft there has been a welcome proliferation of weapons which have emerged on the market, so we have something to hang on aircraft models other than rocket launchers and dumb bombs. Unlike the west, the Soviet and now Russian military is not known for the use of smart ordnance; rare were the pictures of them fitted. But a wide range of smart weapons exist in the Russian inventory for specialized missions and the pictures coming from Syria show smart weapons being used.

A new manufacturer from Russia has come on the scene to offer perhaps the widest range of munitions than we have seen so far on the market – Advanced Modeling (AM). These are multi-media kits cleanly cast in gray, durable resin; the detail is superb.

Eduard continues to expand its series pre-painted seatbelts in the “steel” series. I think that Eduard Models call this product line “Steelbelts”.

When working with this new line of seatbelts (steelbelts) the main thing that jumps is how thin they are. Reading in the Info Eduard (June 2016 issue) they say they are 0.04 mm thick. I should probably say they are 0.04 mm thin. They are pre-painted and also have some shading (weathering) on them.

You apply them like any other metal aftermarket piece, using a dab of superglue. That is all that takes to use the steel seatbelts. About 1 minute per seat and it is very easy to do (if you have experience with small parts).

Pros

• They are very flexible and easy to pose in any position you would like.
• They are pre-painted and have nice stitching detail on them.
• You can bend and re-bend them a few times and they will keep their last shape.

Cons

Recently I was given the opportunity by IPMS USA to review Aires Focke-Wulf Fw 190F-8 fuel point with covers for the 1/32 Revell Focke-Wulf Fw 190F-8 kit. One of the first things to notice with this product is the excellent presentation of the packaging with the sealed flap on the back of the package to allow for easy access to parts.

Upon removal of the resin fuel points and covers, you will notice the great detail that we have come to expect from Aires QB products. The molding on the fuel points and covers is excellent and it comes off of the resin block with little effort along with the help of a razor saw.

History

The English Electric Canberra traces its roots back to 1944 when the Air Ministry issued a requirement for a successor to the De Havilland Mosquito 'with no defensive armament and a high-altitude capability to evade interceptors'. Taxi tests began in May of 1949 and the first flight was May 13^th, 1949…..and yes, it was a Friday! First delivery to the RAF was May 25^th, 1951 t0 101Sqn, Binbrook and in the next 3 years, 23 squadrons received the aircraft. The Canberra proved so successful that it was exported to many other countries (15) and also built in Australia and the U.S. there were (including prototypes) 40 variants of the Canberra. The B9i).6 was the interim interdictor version for the RAF pending delivery of the B(I)8. Based on the B.6 with a detachable ventral pack housing four 20 mm Hispano Mk. V cannon for strafing; also had provision for two wing hard points. LABS (Low-Altitude Bombing System) for delivery of nuclear bombs.

Background

During World War Two, the Allies encountered German tanks with heavier armor and more powerful guns than those the Allies possessed. The US initiated development and testing of heavy tanks in 1943 as the armor on the M26 was not thick enough to stand against the latest German guns. The war ended before the US Army could deploy a heavy tank in Europe, but a need was recognized for a heavy tank to counter the deployment of the IS-3 by the USSR. The T43, mounting a 120mm main gun and a new V-12 engine was selected as the new heavy tank. The T43 became the basis for the M103, America's only operational heavy tank.

Tamiya offers a trio of “panel line accent colors”, Black (# 87131) Brown (#87132) and Gray (#87133). Two of these colors were provided to IPMS for review, those two colors being black and gray. All three colors are enamel based and that means that one will need to be aware that plastic and enamel have a love-hate relationship. While the accent paints will really pop out the detail on a model, if applied too generously it can damage the plastic. Tamiya understands this issue and provides reminders of this issue to the user.

For test purposes I used the F-14 Tomcat that is currently sitting on my work bench. I picked an area that had not yet previously been highlighted or “accented” and then gave it a coat of Future to seal the acrylic and provide a barrier upon which the Tamiya accent paints could be applied.

Quickboost provides you with the capability to open up your MiG-21 parachute housing and display the tail end of the packed parachute. 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. The supplied instructions graphically depict where you cut off the existing closed parachute housing and add the three resin parts included in this set.

Although most paints will adhere to resin alone, I would recommend that you wash the parts to remove any remaining mold release and prime them first. The parachute and parachute housing will need to be installed with your favorite CA (super glue) or epoxy, as the normal plastic glues or solvents will not react with the resin.

The Kit

The kit comes in a fairly thin box that has a nice painting of a Coastal Command Wellington bombing a U boat. The scheme seen on the box is number one of the 6 choices that Italeri gives you. Upon opening the box you find a single bag of 5 gray sprues, and one clear sprue. Inside that bag is also a note saying that the kit was made in the Czech Republic. This kit is the MPM kit reboxed. Along with the sprues come a nice large instruction booklet and a very nice decal sheet by Cartograf. Under all that is an addendum to the instructions telling you step 6 is wrong for this version of the kit, and to use the updated parts for the exhaust. (The hedgehog exhaust of the original MPM kit were replaced by regular tubular exhausts.)

Aires continues its releases with this excellent set to make the horizontal stabilizers moveable on Trumpeters 1/48^th scale F9F Panther. The set is comprises four perfectly molded parts with two for each side.

Casting is perfect and prep work takes about five minutes. Carefully cut the four parts free with a razor saw and then sand the edges smooth that were cut loose. They are already keyed to fit directly into the kit parts. A little clean up and they fit perfectly. One thing to note too, the set duplicates the kits surface detail very well with all the needed rivets. To finish, glue to the kit and angle the moveable parts to the same angle and paint.

This is a wonderful quick to add set from Aires and will give you kit more visual interest. Highly recommended

My thanks to Aires and IPMS/USA for the chance to review this great set.

One of the latest releases from Eduard in their rapidly expanding Brassin line are a set of late wheels intended for use on the new Tamiya F-14A (kit 61114). Consisting of eight resin parts along with a set of masks to aid in airbrushing the wheels and tires, the set can be used to dress up the appearance of the Tamiya kit, especially for modelers that like the representation of weight on their tires.

This set consists of resin main tires with separate inserts for the outer and inner wheels as well as front wheels, which are cast as single assemblies. The Tamiya kit provides main wheels that are molded as front and back halves, while the front wheels are molded as single pieces. Assembly and installation instructions are provided on the inside of a bi-folded sheet of paper that include the calling out of only two Gunze paint colors, Tire Black and White

Nicholas Straussler, a Hungarian designer living in Britain between the world wars, designed several armoured cars for Britain. He was eventually able to come to an agreement with the Weiss Manfred factory of Csepel, Budapest to produce armored vehicles for use in his home country. The most popular design, the Csaba, named for Attila the Hun’s son, was based on the Alvis AC2 armored car.

After successful trials, the Hungarian Army ordered approximately 100 vehicles in 1940. About 20 of these were used in combat, with the remaining vehicles seeing service as command or reconnaissance vehicles.

The Csaba had a 20 mm cannon and an 8 mm machine gun fixed on a centrally mounted turret, a crew of three, and was powered by a 90hp 8 cylinder Ford engine.

The MSRP for the tape products are: 5mm $6.50 and 12mm $11.50

Masking is a job that makes most modelers cringe but it is a task that at some point in your modeling career you will use. There are several different types of tapes out there that seem to do the task to a certain level but we can find complaints in all of them. I was given the opportunity to review 2 different sizes of Tamiya’s tape offering’s to allow you to mask curves on your model of choice. The tape is made out of a soft resin material, allowing the tape to adhere in a curved line while preventing paint from seeping into masked off areas.

Soviet Cold War Guided Missile Cruisers by Edward Hampshire is his third book and first for Osprey Publishing. Edward Hampshire earned his PhD in War Studies from King’s College in London with a thesis on British naval equipment of the 1960s. His focus is Cold War era navies and British defense policy since WWII. Dr. Hampshire has taught at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and has worked at the National Archives. He has been featured on television and radio, including the BBC, ITV, ABC, and NBC. Dr. Hampshire’s previous book was published in 2013, East of Suez to the Eastern Atlantic, British Naval Policy 1964-70. He also co-authored British Intelligence: Secrets, Spies and Sources, published in 2008. He has been a Senior Lecturer at the Royal Royal Military Academy Sandhurst since 2012.

Eduard continues their Brassin series armament releases for 1/32^nd scale aircraft with Mk. 82 low drag, general purpose bombs which are in use around the world. This set is your basic dumb bomb with a low drag configuration with no guidance systems or retardation fins. This set is comprised of thirty parts; twelve of which are the bomb fronts and the fins. The remaining eighteen are fusing/plugging options. There are three choices- standard fuse and the extended fuse and lastly, the plug installed to the nose to cover the internal parts. Casting is excellent with no pinholes and great definition. There are no seams on the parts to sand.

Background

Toldi tanks entered Hungarian service about 1940. They were used by the Hungarian Army against Yugoslavia in 1941. They were mostly used against the U.S.S.R. between 1941 and 1944. The primary role was reconnaissance due to their light armor and good communications equipment. They were not effective against the Soviet T-34 when they encountered them in operation Barbarossa.

From the website

Overview

In May 1940, the German Army and the Allied forces they faced were fairly evenly matched. Two months later Britain was on her own, hopelessly outnumbered and facing imminent defeat. Should the RAF have done more to support the Allied armies in France? Could the RAF have protected the British Army better at Dunkirk? How narrow was the margin of victory in the Battle of Britain? Was the RAF ready to deal with an invasion? Why were hundreds of American combat planes and experienced Polish and Czech pilots never used? All these questions and more are answered in Greg Baughen's third book in the series. Baughen describes the furious battles between the RAF and the Luftwaffe and the equally bitter struggle between the Air Ministry and the War Office- and explains how close Britain really came to defeat in the summer of 1940.

About The Author

Early in the 1960s West Germany and the US agreed to bolster the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) tank forces by beginning the process of replacing their aging fleet of tanks with more modern M48A1/A2s. In all around 150 M48A1s and 100 M48A2s seem to have been sold to Israel during this time. It is a little unclear from the resources that I have when the upgrades exactly started to these M48A1/2s but the intent was to upgrade them to the M48A3 specs by replacing the gasoline engine with a more reliable diesel power plant, improved communications equipment, and the lowering of the command turret’s profile. They also began swapping out the original 90mm main cannon with the British 105mm L7 from the Centurion. Some of these upgrades seem to have started before the outbreak of hostilities leading up to the 6 Day War in 1967 but it is unclear from my references to what extent they were completed and how many fully upgraded Magach 3s served during the 6 Day War.