Aerobonus is part of Aires and has consistently come out with great items for dioramas for kits in multiple scales. In this kit, Aerobonus provides a 150 gallon USAF Fuel Bowser which is used to reclaim the fuel planes have left over in their tanks after they’ve landed.

The kit comes with 14 resin parts and five small photoetch parts. Construction started by removing the casting blocks. They are large on the two tanks, and time spent here sanding them is worthwhile. The frame was next, and then the small parts. I added the two tanks to the frame, wincing at a few broken straps on the tank bottoms. They are fragile and broke during shipment. They were replaced with Evergreen strip.

I added the axle next, and then added the reel on the front, and also added the two tires temporarily. Once these were on, the front tire/jack stand was added to the front using the back tires to get the spacing correct. I added some line and the PE valve knobs and clips to the front.

Thanks to Ross at SAC for providing IPMS USA this review set. Keep on producin’, amigo! We need these!

Although the Tamiya landing gear for its new “wunderkit”, the F4U, is just fine as is, there is always the opportunity for improvement.

Enter SAC full-metal landing gear! This upgrade is one that fits well with the new kit. Here’s why…

The Tamiya gear incorporates two plastic strut halves with a metal rod in the center. This does two things: (1) provides detail; and (2) provides the necessary (but basic) strength for a large kit.

The difficulty is, you still need to clean up the seam line, and the actual wheel and axle assembly can be a bit weak in full plastic. The SAC gear, being one-piece full metal, fixes both issues nicely. Strong, and just as detailed as the kit plastic, the SAC gear will provide peace of mind down the road, particularly if heading off to a contest with the model in a car.

Quickboost’s latest resin ejection seat is a 1/48th scale offering for Hasegawa's 1/48 AV-8B II. The seat comes as a single gray casting and is perfectly done in Quickboost's normal gray, pinhole-free resin. Prep is simple – cut the seat off the casting block and sand smooth.

I included photos of the built kit seat (which is decent), but the resin seat and its belts are a definite improvement. The seat fits right into the cockpit. If you consider that adding a set of PE belts would costs a few dollars, buying this seat will fix the belt issue and improve the look of the seat which occupies a large percent of the cockpit.

Another hit from Quickboost and definitely recommended. My thanks to Quickboost and IPMS USA for the opportunity to review this seat.

Warbird Decals is known for its aircraft decal line, and now it is making new strides into real space subjects.

Upon opening the ziplock bag, you find two letter-size decal sheets which includes lower surfaces and upper surface/rudder tiles, and one single page with a 4-view drawing of the Space Shuttle with a decal map. The decal sheets provide extra decals, but the instructions do not tell you what for (more on this later).

I built the Tamiya Space Shuttle a few years back. You can find a review of the kit at http://web.ipmsusa3.org/content/space-shuttle-atlantis. It is a nice kit, but certainly has room for improvement, mainly due to the lack of tile detail in the lower surfaces.

These decals are very glossy and conformed to the surface perfectly, without needing to use any decal solution. They were easy to move around for good alignment, too.

The Aircraft

The DC-3 was a development of the earlier DC-1 and -2, with each one getting a little larger and faster. The DC-1 was a result of a request by TWA for a Douglas airliner, as United had the production of the Boeing 247 sewed up and TWA needed a suitable airliner. The original aircraft after the DC-2 was the DST, Douglas Sleeper Transport, built for American Airlines to replace their Curtiss Condors. The DST first flew on December 17, 1935, the 32nd anniversary of the Wright Brothers first flight.

The huge advantage the DC-3 had was its greater speed and range. You could fly New York to LA in 17 hours, with 3 fuel stops. LA to New York was 15 hours due to prevailing winds. Previously, the practice was to fly passengers partway, put them on a train at sundown, and back on another plane at dawn.