The Hobby Boss 1/48^th scale kit of the MiG-17 series are THE kits of this fighter plane. The kit does have good detail but like anything, it can be improved upon. Included in this photo etch set are some major upgrades.

Packaged in the typical Eduard resealable package with card stock support. This pre-painted single nickel-plated photo etch fret features some prominent upgrades.

Most of the parts are designed for use in the cockpit. The biggest being the instrument panel. The instrument panel is a two-part affair with the instrument faces having glass like faces and over that is the visible panel with its various switches and buttons. On top of that there is a HUD for the gunsight. It is a single piece of photo etch that replaces the kit clear plastic part. Sidewall details are also provided.

The Aircraft

The Republic P-47 was one of two very successful fighters flown by USAAF pilots and were built at Farmingdale, Long Island in New York State. Until the P-51 came along, there wasn’t a more successful American escort aircraft and tactical bomber than the P-47.

I’ve been a fan of the P-47 ever since I found a copy of Robert S. Johnson’s “Thunderbolt!” in my high school library. This kit contains markings for 4 aircraft, and I decided to do Walker “Bud” Mahurin’s razorback. Bud was the first American pilot to become a double ace in Europe (10 victories) and wound up with 19.75 victories. He was shot down over France in May of 1944, rescued by the Resistance, and returned to Britain. Because of his knowledge of the French Resistance, he was transferred to the Philippines, where he shot down a Japanese bomber. Later he flew fighters in Korea, where he got 3.5 MiG-15s, making him the only fighter ace with victories in Europe, the Pacific, and Korea.

The Topdrawings series specializes in line-drawings of a given subject in each booklet. The 84^th installment in this series is devoted to the always popular M2/M3/M4 Armored Personnel Carrier Half-Track.

This booklet has 4-View for the M2 (early, mid, late production), M2A1 (early and late), M3 (early and late), plus color profiles of M2A1, M3, M4A1 (4-view color), and even an M9 in French Service.

The booklet also includes a brief description on the overall history of the AFV and each line drawing has an explanation as to what was modified from the previous block series.

If you are looking for detailed drawings of the M2/3/4 half-track, this book is your destination.

Highly recommended.

I would like to thank Kagero Publishers and IPMS/USA for the review sample.

One of the banes of existence for fans of modeling 1/144^th scale aircraft are the over-sized, out of scale canopies supplied with the kit that often lack any molded definition. With few exceptions modelers just have to contend with these abnormalities. Another thing germane to our hobby overall is patience, and if you wait long enough everything will be provided by some manufacturer. Such is the case with Brengun and their new vacuum formed, clear canopies for the 1/144^th scale F-Toys F-105D aircraft kit. [Technical Note: The F-Toys F-105D kit was originally released in 2010 with another issue in 2018 with new box art and decals.]

My take on the Italian aircraft industry during WW II was they were usually playing catch-up with the Allies. The main Italian fighter at the start of the war was the FIAT CR.42, a biplane even though by 1940, other air forces had moved away from them. As their aircraft designs modernized, the Italian industry had difficulties producing suitable engines. The answer was to import German engines, mainly from Daimler-Benz. Their DB601 engine with 1075 HP, powered the Reggiane Re.2001 and the Macchi C.202 Folgare. These designs were soon outclassed by Allied fighters, so new designs with more powerful engines were needed. Aeronautica Macchi answered the call by mating the newly available DB605 engine (1475 HP) to the C.202. The resulting aircraft was the Macchi C.205 Veltro (Greyhound).The new fighter had a different nose profile and externally mounted, cylindrical oil coolers, but retained the modest armament of the C.202.