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U-2/Po-2 Control Surfaces

Published on
Review Author(s)
Frank Landrus
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$14.00
Product / Stock #
4669
Base Kit
ICM, and various
Company: Aires Hobby Models - Website: Visit Site
Provided by: Aires Hobby Models - Website: Visit Site
Details
Aircraft

Quickboost provides you with a product to replace your one-piece Po-2 horizontal tail surfaces with the capability of displaying the elevators in alternate position. Please note this set does not depict elevator tabs that are present on some aircraft. The packaging is the standard polyethylene bag secured to a header card with staples. There are no supplied instructions but then again, the three parts are a direct replacement for the kit’s horizontal tails surfaces.

Although this product is designed specifically for the ICM 1/48 kits (48251, 48252, and 48253) it should take zero- to minimal-modification effort to mount this set in the Admiral kits (4807, 4808, 4809), the Gavia kits (002/0399, 004/0600), the AZ Model kit (AZ4870), the Jadar-Model resin kit (48 001), or even the older Sierra Scale Models 48-46 vacuform kit.

Although most paints will adhere to resin alone, I would recommend that you wash the parts to remove any remaining mold release and prime them first. The tail surfaces will need to be installed with your favorite CA (super glue) or epoxy, as the normal plastic glues or solvents will not react with the resin.

Quickboost has molded the horizontal tail surfaces housing perfectly in light grey resin with no apparent bubbles. The Quickboost horizontal tail surfaces provide you with only minimal seams to sand off. Be very careful removing the parts from the resin block, it is incredibly easy to accidentally break all three of the parts, not to mention the elevator control horns. I used a photo-etch saw to remove the resin parts from their sprues and then trimmed with a #11 scalpel blade. Total preparation time for the Aires horizontal surfaces, not including painting, was under twenty minutes and that is taking care to cut off the pour block properly.

This product is an excellent way to display the horizontal surfaces on your Polikarpov Po-2 and is well worth the time and cost if you wish to have them drooping, etc. This product is highly recommended due to the ease of use, superior appearance of the Aires parts, and added detail.

Thanks to Aires Hobby Models and IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review this set.

Product picture

Reviewer Bio

Frank Landrus

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Frank retired from the Ophthalmic industry with over thirty-six years of Research and Development experience. Frank's first model kit was a 1959 Hawk 1/72 US Marines Vought AU-1 Corsair and has been building models for over sixty years. Frank's first encounter with IPMS was attending a North Central Texas ScaleFest show in 1984. Frank soon became more involved in Make-N-Take activities and became the IPMS Western Coordinator for Make-N-Takes [West of the Mississippi River]. Make-N-Takes quickly became a local model contest and airshow staple reaching a high of reaching over 1,300 children before the COVID shutdown. Frank has volunteered to assist in contest judging since 1985 and is currently the Nationals Head Figure Judge until he is dead or they find someone better.