What's a decent diorama builder to do if you want to pose your plane with a boarding ladder? Plusmodel to the rescue! They have recently released a series of 1/48th scale boarding ladders for several planes. This one if for a F-105F/G (the two seat version) and could be used with either the Hobbyboss or Revell kits and it is INJECTION MOLDED!!!!!

There are two sprues (one for each ladder) that contain 8 parts each. There is a nice instruction set and assembly is simple, but requires some patience to get things lined up properly. I started construction by removing the parts and giving them a quick sand to get rid of small seam lines. I added the two brackets to the back taking time to square things up. I let these dry then added the two curved side rails and let the entire assembly dry over night. The next day, I added the two railings to the top section and the braces to the back. After they dried, I primed and cleaned up a few errors and painted the entire thing yellow per the instructions. The guards at top were painted black and the entire ladder flat coated. I then added some washes and scratches and flat coated again. I hung it on the side of a single seat F-105D and it fit perfectly (this was the Revell kit). Making a second ladder for a two-seater would only require a second build. Entire build time was well under an hour.

Highly recommended. While a little fiddly to maintain scale size, this set took a few minutes to build and looks fantastic. My thanks to Plusmodel for an excellent addition to my Thud.