THANK YOU to our friends and suppliers at Aires for another improvement set, in this case for the Roden He 51b series biplane (which was also released by Eduard in a double set along with their ME-109 for the 1936 Spanish civil war. And thanks also to the reviewer corps leaders for making this set available to me to review….

This set provides two stabilizers and two elevators.. The detail provided is an improvement in that the stab has a recess for the elevators, and the elevators are rounded on the front. The stabs and fin have drill locating holes in them so you can prepare for rigging; only requires a bit of microbit work and they are ready to install. The rib and fabric detail appears a bit more refined, so you don’t have to sand them down to make them look better.

Quick installation: Remove the parts from their pour stub, clean up with a sanding stick, and superglue the parts in place. The stabilizer tabs are a tight fit, and if you are careful you will not need any filler. The actual control surfaces themselves can be installed without any problems, and can be posed in offset positions. Just remember to move the stick to the correct direction (toward the rear for “Up” and toward the panel for “down”) if you DO deflect them.

This set is a most welcome addition to the line, thanks again to Aires and IPMS USA for providing these items!