RES-IM has come out with a pair of resin main wheels for the Hawker Hurricane in 1/72.
They are cast in a medium gray resin with no flash or seam, smooth surface (no thread) and are slightly flattened at the pour stubs.
When I first saw that these were released, I was a little confused as they had previously released set 48585 which was a set of scoops. The confusion was solved with a little research. The initial release was for the OV-1 early versions while these scoops are specific to the OV-1D Roden release. Problem solved but there is no mention of which is which on the either set so modelers will need to do the research. On to the parts review.
The set includes three scoops with no seam lines and deep insets. Casting is perfect and removal is simple with a saw blade. Installation is also simple with one scoop on the left by the cockpit and the other two on the top of the fuselage. There is an excellent note explaining which Quickboost parts replace which kit parts. As you can see by the pictures showing comparison, these parts are much improved with better profile and depth in the openings.
USS Lake Erie (CG-70) is a Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser of the United States Navy, named after the U.S. Navy's decisive victory in the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812. She is the first U.S. Navy ship to be commissioned in Hawaii. The USS Lake Erie is a baseline 4 Ticonderoga class ship, with integrated AN/UYK-43/44 computers (in place of UYK-7 and UYK-20) and superset computer programs originally developed for the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers. The Lake Erie also has an improved UYS-20 data display system and various decision aids, as well as the SQS-53C sonar and the SQR-19 sonar data processor.
This is a difficult kit to assemble with some significant fit issues with many of the parts. An old diecast version of this car was previously issued by Protar, and it looks like Italeri worked directly from the diecast kit. The Italeri plastic parts are identical to the Protar diecast parts, including ejection pins and sink marks. It looks like Italeri used the Protar parts to make their molds. This helps to explain some of the rough spots, lack of crisp decal on the parts, and all the nut & bolt fasteners.
Round Two revival of the Lindberg Line of table top ships offers an opportunity along a couple of different fronts. The first of these, and this is mentioned on the box, is the in-expensive way for table-top gamers to get their hands on a couple of ships that they might not be able to get their hands on. The kits are easy to build with minimal parts and while many-a-modeler will probably turn their nose up at such a prospect (as many do with Lindberg) these are perfect for handling and moving around a large map without too much worry of breakage.
This is a color photo etch set for the cockpit and ejection sets of Trumpeter’s new Su-24MR Fencer E kit. While the kit’s molded in details are not bad, this set really spruces up the cockpit.
The PJ Production company from Belgium makes some very nice resin aircraft kits as well as resin aftermarket accessories for aircraft and lots of pilot and ground crew figures. This set provides a very comprehensive set of weapons for the Mirage III/5 aircraft. The set includes; Matra R-550 Magic 2 and AIM-9B Sidewinder AAMs as well as JL-100, LAU-32 and LRF-4 rocket pods. Also included are a Barrax, a Barracuda 2 and a Phimat pod. I believe that the first two are ECM pods and the latter is a chaff dispenser. Finally, a pylon is provided for the centerline of the fuselage. This can carry either two STRIM Bombs or two Alkan P-65 Adaptors for bombing practice. In each case, the proper French pylon is included. This weapons set can be used to outfit several Mirage models and other French aircraft. These parts are nicely molded in resin and require very little clean-up.
The Nord AS-30 is an air-to-ground missile. This two stage rocket propelled missile entered production in 1973. The initial booster section of the rocket motor exhausts on each side of the missile at the rear while the longer running sustainer rocket exhausts at the rear center of the missile. The impact speed is over 1000 mph. The missile carries a 240 kg. warhead of the semi-armor piercing high explosive type. Control of the missile is through the pilot using a small joystick to send signals to the missile. This requires the pilot to maintain sight of the missile. A later version of the AS-30 utilizes laser homing guidance for control. I am not sure if there are any visual differences between these variants. This weapon is used by the air forces of over a dozen countries.
Before I begin, one quick confession: I never watched this show much when it first came out. It was in direct competition with the original Star Trek and as a kid, I only go so much time in front of the idiot box.
That being said, what we have here is one fascinating vehicle. Featured in the second episode of Lost in Space, it was part of a real attempt at science fiction story telling before the gradual descent into satire. It’s in 1/350th scale, which makes both it and the Jupiter included in the same scale as the series of large-scale Enterprise kits currently available. For that matter, you could have the Jupiter docked on an aircraft carrier deck.
Aires in their AEROBONUS line has started offering resin aircrew figures. This is a great initiative, because there have not been a lot of quality aircrew and ground figures for those of us who want to add one to a plane or scene; a figure can give a model context and a better sense of scale. This product lines includes pilot which are seated (molded to the ejection seat), standing and in the case of this review, climbing into the cockpit. What is nice about a climbing pilot is that you get the sense of animation as well as scale without the pilot obscuring all of the work you may have put into the cockpit.
