The Aires Hobby Models website lists not only the Aires product line of resin replacement accessories, but also Quickboost, Wheelliant and Aerobonus. I have used products from all four lines and have never been disappointed. Collectively the product lines offer a broad choice of detail enhanced replacement parts for aircraft models in several scales.

The subject resin parts come in a sealed clear package with a small "instruction" enclosed therein. The instructions are limited to a profile of the parts with the portions of the resin to be removed shaded grey. The parts are surrounded on two sides by resin "legs" to protect the parts. I noted that the arrestor shaft had a small opening cast in the end where the hook was to be attached.

I used a fine razor saw to remove the parts from the casting block. One must be careful to avoid losing the small hook portion. A bit of cleanup is required at the main part base to eliminate saw marks. The fun part was drilling a small hole in the hook at the attachment point: I was never a fan of butt joints for resin parts, so I planned to insert a small length of wire to reinforce the joint. I also planned to add a short length of metal rod at the attachment point between the model and arrestor hook assembly. Super glue held the pins and parts in place.

Before painting the arresting hook assembly I did a Google Image search to see just what a Phantom arresting hook looked like. I found several images that helped me decide on how to paint the parts.

After washing the resin parts I airbrushed them with flat black. I lightly drybrushed the base and hook portions with silver Rub-n-Buff, but more vigorously applied the silver to the hook shaft. The detail for the base and hook was nicely accentuated by the drybrushing. I applied a clear flat coat to seal the finish. I also used a graphite pencil to further high light the edges and shaft portion.

The kit arresting hook is molded as part of the fuselage halves. Removing it from the kit parts was easily done with a fine blade razor saw. A small block of styrene should be installed inside the fuselage where the hook was removed to reinforce the join between the resin part mounting pin and the fuselage. Once the solvent has hardened and fixed the block in place a small hole may be added to the block to hold the resin hook in place. Once again super glue is used to fix the hook to the fuselage.

Conclusion

The resin replacement parts are extremely well detailed and will not disappoint the most discerning builder. These parts will be a great compliment to the finished model. I highly recommend this set for anyone wanting the build the already fine Hasegawa FGR Mk.2 Phantom II.

My thanks and appreciation go out to Aires and IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review this product. Aires continues to provide fine accessories for this hobby. Thank you Aires. Thank you IPMS/USA