Parts Count

• 71 White styrene plastic parts on ten spure with two individually wrapped
• 69 Chrome styrene plastic parts on five spure
• 10 Clear styrene plastic parts on one spure
• 4 Vinyl rubber tires
• 1 5 ¾” x 5 1/8” decal sheet
• 1 16 pages, 24 step instruction booklet

All parts are in separate sealed plastic bags and appear to be free of any flash. The chrome is bright and free of scratches. Clear parts are individually wrapped and appear free of scratches. The molds for the rubber vinyl tires appear to be fresh and without flash or mutation. Of note, the white styrene plastic this kit is molded in is extremely easy to work with; carves easily, sands well and reacts nicely with liquid solvent style glues like Tamiya Extra Thin Cement or Tenex 7. Decals have many options, are crisp printed and covered with protective wax paper.

Master Models is a company that makes turned brass aftermarket parts, specifically pitot tubes, refueling probes, and antennas.

The first thing I would like to point out is how good the packaging and instruction sheet is. The packaging consists of a zip-lock type bag while the part is in a smaller bag, keeping it from moving all over. The instruction sheet is very clear and easy to understand, only needing 3 steps. Cut off original part, Drill a hole (0.3 mm), Glue in the new metal part. Just be careful drilling the hole, especially in 1/72. You have to put each antenna group together which includes 3 parts. Mine got a little bent because of how small they are. I needed to use my visor with the highest magnification. Others will probably have an easier time than me if they are used to putting such small delicate parts together.

Hot on the heels of the release of the new Kinetic 1/48 F-18C, Scale Aircraft conversions has released a set of replacement gear in white metal. The set comprises 12 parts and includes both the main and nose landing gear.

A couple notes on the SAC parts: The kit nose gear leg has several ejector pin marks and the top of the main strut is two parts. The SAC kit has no ejector pin marks and the main leg is a single solid part. You will need to drill out the main leg to attach the top section but that’s simple. Second, that main gear are complete replacement parts, but the nose gear will have to have several parts added, such as the nose gear light and the landing lights.

Eduard continues to amaze with the release of its Bf-109G series of models. They’ve taken the kit and provided you with some impressive detail right out of the box. However, they also have their photo etch line and the Brassin line of resin. It was a natural to add this detail to their kits. The problem was that as you add more stuff the aftermarket stuff would become cost prohibitive. Eduard has an answer for that. They offer options in the BigSin series that bundles some of their sets into a lower cost offering. Same great aftermarket but at a lower cost.

This BigSin set offers the new Brassin multi-media cockpit set, fabric seatbelts, and a photo etch set. There is no part of the model that is not addressed. Let me look at each set separately.

Iveco is an Italian truck manufacturer that builds some of the latest trucks and commercial vehicles in Europe. Acitoinox is a truck accessory parts company, and plays a big part in the fancy stripes and mirrored finish stainless steel 40^th anniversary scheme of this subject.

The Iveco Stralis Hi-Way is a re-issued kit with new decals and adhesive “chrome” dress up “stickers”. It comes in a sturdy box that is well sized for the amount of sprues inside. The sprues are mostly individually bagged and protected.

This truck is beautifully detailed with parts reproduced faithfully to the original - outside and inside. I referred to various internet sites for picture references. The plastic is given in approximate colors of black, blue, white and chrome, so it could be built with no painting.

The instructions are well laid out with photo like pictures, a good parts map and paint recommendations.

OK, let’s build this thing!