Quickboost has provided the modeling market with a whole series of useful aftermarket items that give a little extra detail or convenience without breaking the bank. These small sets tend to focus on one aspect of a model needing improvement - thus, the modeler can choose where to spend their energy, and money, on kit improvements. This small set from Quickboost improves the look of the open auxiliary air inlets on the side of the F-5 series of aircraft by AFV Club.

In the Box

The bag with card hanger comes with fourteen resin parts. Of those, twelve are the individual louvers and two are the drop-in fuselage plugs. Casting is perfect, with crisp detail. The fuselage plugs show more depth and detail than the kit parts and will be a marked improvement.

Installation

First, an important note about this set. The aux intakes are only open when the aircraft has the engine on, which means the cockpit is occupied, and the aircraft is either stationary or traveling at slow speed, such as taxiing or during takeoff/landing. So, if you are planning on having a detailed-up empty cockpit, then this set is not for you.

With that said, the first step is to cut the twelve resin louvers from the pour plug. Cut them as close to the plug as possible, and trim to fit later. Once cut, note that there is a “top” and “bottom”, as one side has a slight recessed lip where, on the prototype I’m guessing, it would lay on top of the adjacent louver. So as you are installing, orient the recessed lip down. Speaking of installation of the louvers, this is somewhat time-consuming and also finicky. There are are some very small alignment tabs on one side of the fuselage plug, and these don’t really do much to help. You are on your own to align all six louvers, and getting them all parallel and at the same angle requires a bit of patience. There is nothing “quick” about this part. It would have been helpful if Quickboost either provided a small alignment jig of some kind, or tooled this a bit differently. Once all the louvers are installed, the parts are complete and now only need to be installed into the fuselage. They are total replacement parts for the corresponding kit parts and fit right into place with no troubles.

Conclusion

The end result when compared to the kit-provided parts shows a substantial improvement. Not only is there greater detail, but also more prototypical depth. The enhancement goes a long way to improve this area of the kit. Just be ready for some tedious alignment. In the future, I may look into modifying the parts somehow to add in the alignment. One thought was to discard the provided louvers, cutting slots along one side of the fuselage plugs at the correct angle and spacing for the louvers, then inserting the louvers through the slots. Once the glue sets, trim them to the edge of the plug and fill any remaining remnant of the slot. This approach may have been a better way for Quickboost to design this part, but I digress. Overall, though, I am pleased with the result, and recommend the set to anybody wanting to pose pose their F-5 with the engine running.

Thanks to Quickboost for the review sample and thanks to IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review it.