The Shinmeiwa SS-2 Rescue Seaplane is a development of the Shinmeiwa PS-1 anti-submarine aircraft. The aircraft was used in a Search-And-Rescue (SAR) role, acting as an “Emergency Ambulance” for residents of Japan’s isolated islands.

Hasegawa’s kit of the SS-2 is an older kit that has been updated to represent the SAR version of this aircraft. Overall, the fit of the kit is fair, and there are some problem areas with parts fitting together. The detail on the flight deck is sparse for a kit of this size with a lot of windows to look in. It is a tail sitter, and you will need to add weight into the nose.

Osprey Publishing continues to add titles to its long running Campaigns series, this time tackling the struggle to liberate the remaining islands in the Solomon’s Island chain in the months after the successful conclusion of the Guadalcanal campaign. Using their tried and true format, the volume looks at the opposing commanders, forces, and plans before diving into the narrative on the campaign. Using contemporary photographs, superb maps, and full color illustrations, this volume does an excellent job in summarizing the strengths and weaknesses of both sides. Since these volumes are meant as an overview, they do not go into great detail into the campaigns, but provide enough information to give the reader a grounding in the campaign.

The Douglas A-1 series of aircraft (known as the AD prior to 1962) was designed as an attack aircraft that could carry a heavy load of ordinance.

Quickboost’s A-1H Tailwheel brings an improvement to the Hasegawa A-1H kit. This part replaces only the bottom part of the strut, and not the entire strut. The wheel itself is separate from the strut, and you have a choice of two wheel designs, one being spoked and the other is a solid wheel design.

I cut the bottom portion of the tailwheel strut where indicated in this kit’s instructions, and then glued the replacement strut piece into place using cyanoacrylate glue. Once the glue was dry, I painted the strut, installed the wheel onto the strut, and installed the strut onto the model.

I highly recommend this detail set for the Hasegawa kit. My thanks to Quickboost for the review sample.

The CASA-212 Aviocar is a versatile transport aircraft that was manufactured in Spain since the ‘60’s, and Indonesia until 2012. The C-41A is a military version used by the US, Mexico and many other countries within Central and South America. It exhibits excellent short field takeoff and landing (STOL) abilities, and is able to operate from unprepared airstrips.

This model is a re-release of various other versions of the aircraft. It comes in a very sturdy top opening box with a nice painting of the US military C-41A. All sprue trees were contained in one bag, with the clear parts and decal sheet in their own bags. The clear plastic bags are closed with sticky strips, so be careful when removing the decal sheet, and that you don’t allow the sticky strip to attach itself to the decals. I did, somehow, and had a heart stopping minute separating them! The instruction manual is printed on good quality glossy paper, and each step is clear, accurate and in color where needed.

Christmas came early this year for me when I received the email that this beastie was available for review. I am incredibly thankful to Kinetic Models for providing this kit for review and to the review corps higher-ups for trusting someone brand new to the group for having faith in me to not only build this thing, but in a timely manner to boot. It is a re-kitting of the Vintage Fighter Series kit released in 2008. I won’t say the ride was completely smooth…but it was a fun ride regardless.