Quickboost has added exhausts for the Academy Hellcat F6F-3/5 to its like of detail sets. They are molded in grayish resin, smooth, seamless and bubble-free.

The exhausts that come in the Eduard kit are okay but just lack the level of detail that the Quickboost parts have. The Quickboost parts are really superior. The biggest plus is that the ends are hollowed out, while the Eduard exhausts are not. This can really save you a lot of time if you were going to hollow out the kit parts, not to mention how great they will look on the finished model. The Quickboost parts for the Eduard Hellcat aren’t just drop-in parts like a lot of other Quickboost parts. The exhausts on the Eduard kit are molded onto the fuselage and will need to be cut and sanded off. Once this bit of surgery is out of the way, you will be very happy with the resulting improvement.

The British battleship HMS Dreadnought is widely thought to have been the first of the modern battleship designs, culminating in the Missouri class built during WWII. When the Dreadnought was launched in December, 1906, after only slightly more than a year in building – a pace unheard of prior to her building – she revolutionized battleship design and made all other existing battleships obsolete. The reasons for this were simple. She carried a massive, for the period, main armament and relied on only a single caliber, 12" 45 cal, for her main battery. Prior designs had mixed larger caliber guns which created problems when they were all firing and the fire control crews were attempting to determine which rounds to spot and adjust for more accurate fire. With only one large caliber, there would be no confusion as to which battery’s fire was to be adjusted.

Aires has been on the scene for some time now, producing some amazing details in resin and photo etch metal. Among aftermarket aficionados, Aires is the top of the pack for the level of detail and quality of casting. This set for the AFV Club 1/48 series of F-5 Tiger II kits is no exception, though installation is a little time-consuming.

History and Performance

The 15cm sIG33 infantry gun was first installed on converted Pz.Kpfw. I chassis and used in the early campaigns of May-June 1940. This combination resulted in a high profile vehicle that offered little protection to the crew. Afterwards, plans were developed to mount this weapon on a more suitable chassis. A prototype was mounted on a Pz.Kpfw. II chassis, but it was quickly realized that more room was required for the gun and crew. The chassis was widened and lengthened. Only twelve vehicles were built, and all were eventually shipped to Africa. All were destroyed in combat on that front.

Kit Review:

Instructions – The instructions are in the typical fold-out Dragon standard. There are 21 steps to the build, with a sprue layout identifying what parts are not to be used. There are painting and marking guides for seven vehicles.

John Noack was kind enough to let me do this as an in-the-box review, since it’s a rerelease of a version of the Hasegawa F-4 that’s been around for a while. It’s still among the best F-4 kits on the market. With the differences in the available kits narrowing over the last several years, it comes down to personal choice. Personally, I like the Hasegawa F-4s just fine, though I have more than a few examples of almost everybody else’s in my collection, too. To the kit…