Review Author
Rob Booth
Published on
May 6, 2018
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$4.00

Quickbost has produced replacement exhausts for the Hasegawa 1/48 F-190 kits. The resin replacements are a simple drop-in substitute for the kit’s plastic parts. The supplied items include all three separate exhaust stacks. There is no modification required to the kit parts to use these resin replacements. The resin parts will need to be cut with a razor saw close to the base of the stacks to fit properly, so use care when removing the stubs.

A side by side evaluation (see photos) indicates a replacement of superior detail that will provide a more accurate rendition of the Butcher Bird’s exhaust assemblies. Check your references for the appropriate placement. Be sure to wash the parts in soapy water to remove mold release agents and prime prior to using your favorite modeling paints.

Highly recommended.

Thanks to the IPMS Reviewer Corps and Quickboost for the opportunity to review this item.

Book Author(s)
Richard Marmo, Jay Frank Dial
Review Author
Paul Mahoney
Published on
February 3, 2020
Company
Scale Publications
MSRP
$9.99

This is the 2nd eBook provided by Richard Marmo that I have had the opportunity to review recently.

United States Camouflage WWII, is not a book written by Richard, but rather is a book compiled and published by Jay Frank Dial in 1964. Richard restored and enhanced it, and then converted it (with small additions) to PDF format in 2008. According to the promotional blurb, the original book has/had been difficult to locate and was expensive when found. I did a quick search on abebooks and was able to locate a few copies, some cheaper than others (none cheaper than this eBook). The original book had only one production run in 1964 and was never reprinted.

Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
May 6, 2018
Company
Aires Hobby Models
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$13.00

AMK’s 1/48 Mig-31 is a kit that, once you see one built, it grabs you. Phenomenal engineering of a large subject is a real show stopper. Even as well designed as the kit is, there is always some room for improvements. Aires to the rescue with a set of speed brakes and pistons as replacements.

Inside the package, you will find a left and right speed brake (they are handed so watch for location) and two pistons for support. There are no instructions as these are direct replacements for the kit parts.

Preparation consists of freeing the pistons from the casting block and webbing which is easily accomplished with a sharp knife. You can see that the Aires parts (also available from Quickboost as a standalone set) are cast finer especially in the piston parts. A small difference but noticeable.

Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
February 10, 2020
Company
MikroMir
Scale
1/350
MSRP
$12.99

I have always had an interest in submarines after visiting the USS Cod in Cleveland. When the USS Thresher came up for review from MikroMir, I jumped at the change. The USS Thresher was the first of the new (in 1961) Permit class subs and had all the modern equipment for the time. She was 279 feet long and nuclear powered. Sadly, she was the first of the nuclear subs to be lost at sea during driving trials when she imploded about 350km east of Cape Cod on April 10, 1963.

MikroMir’s kit of the Thresher consists of two hull halves split upper and lower, a small PE fret with the propeller and other parts, decals for all subs in this class, two base parts and lastly, a small gray sprue containing the scopes, diving planes and the rest of the parts. Parts are nicely engraved and flash free. I have attached a copy of the instructions also.

Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
May 5, 2018
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$8.00

The Czechoslovakian Aero Vodochody L-29 Delfin (NATO code Maya) became the standard jet trainer for the Warsaw Pact Air Forces. First flight was on April 5, 1959. Two-thirds of the over 3,000 aircraft manufactured have served with the Soviet Air Force as its standard basic, intermediate, and weapons platform trainer. The L-29 has seen combat in several wars, notably the 1973 Yom Kippur War and the Nigerian Civil War in the sixties. Many have been sold to the private sector with some performing in airshows and air races.

This set is specifically designed for the AMK 1/48 L-29 kit. Of course it will work in the Eduard kit as well since Eduard used the AMK molds for the enhanced release. I don’t have the earlier Planet Models resin kit, but I’m sure these wheels will dress it up as well.

Book Author(s)
Richard Marmo
Review Author
Paul Mahoney
Published on
February 3, 2020
Company
Scale Publications
MSRP
$3.99

Richard Marmo’s name might be familiar to many IPMSer’s… he is one of the founding members of the club, and is in fact IPMS Membership #2 !!

This is #6 in his series of ePublications, and the first I have had the pleasure to read (and review). Available in several different formats, including ePub and PDF (see links above), this is an 89 page, highly detailed description of how Richard built (for commission) the 1/72nd scale C-46 kit produced by Williams Brothers.

Note: There are several ways to obtain this publication - Barnes and Noble (ePub ONLY) or via smashwords. I have listed both url's below:

Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
May 4, 2018
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$7.00

The Tamiya F-14A Tomcat set a standard for plastic model kits. If there is a drawback it is that the aircraft can only be built as a very early Tomcat. Well Quickboost has addressed most of the options to upgrade your Tomcat’s chin pod. All these chin pods were used on later F-14As and F-14Bs.

Review Author
Allan Murrell
Published on
May 4, 2018
Company
Mirage Hobby
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$12.00

This is a new version of the Renault UE Tankette and is the Scout version. This version has two options you can build one which has two machine gun turrets while the other has one machine gun turret and a load carrier at the rear.

The kit contains

  • 3 x sprues molded in grey styrene
  • 1 color guide sheet
  • 1 decal sheet
  • 1 instruction booklet.

Construction

Firstly you must know the instructions are in Polish which will be a problem for a novice modeler, but many will have no real trouble with the instructions.

Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
May 4, 2018
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$46.71

As someone who was very involved in developing the Kitty Hawk UH-1D, I know of some of the shortcomings of the kit. Some things that were not able to be addressed or were caused by the limitations of the plastic. Some things are just better in photoetch.

The key about these Big Ed sets is that they are a one stop shop for a kit. Not only are they a one stop shop but they are discounted significantly than if you were to buy the sets separately. In this case the saving is almost $20.

Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
May 3, 2018
Company
Aires Hobby Models
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$22.00

The new Airfix P-40B is an excellent example of the iconic fighter made famous by the Flying Tigers. The kit is nice but there are some things in the cockpit that need to be ‘fixed’. Aires has released this new cockpit set for the kit.

Inside the typical Aires blister pack are 21 pieces of molded in light grey resin. My example was flawless despite damage to the blister package. The set also has a small fret of photo etch that includes the instrument panel and seatbelts. A film of acetate is also provided for the instruments.

This set will require some thinning of the sidewalls to get it to fit properly. But once you get past that, the set fits together simply and easily. The parts breakdown is very similar to the kit breakdown. The pour stubs are easy enough to remove.