Airfix's 1/48th Sea Vixen kit is a beauty all by itself. The one thing it does need is some ejection seats, as these are pretty visible when the build is done. The kit seats are OK but do not include any belts and, with the limitations of injection molding versus the great detail of resin, someone needed to make a nice set of seats. Squadron products to the rescue!

Squadron's True Details USA line offers excellent value and detail and these seats are no exception. The set comes with two seats and a small sprue of ejection handles to add. The first thing you notice is that the seats are not carbon copies of one another – they are different. This is a great idea as many aftermarket sets that have seats with belts just mold the seat twice and while you get a nice seat, they look identical, which isn't the real world.

History Brief:

The next step in the evolution in German tank designs may have included the “E-series” ordered by the Waffenamt as a parallel development to the Porsche Maus in June of 1943; these new super tanks would have been based on the E-100. Our model, the Jagdpanzer E-100 prototype, was being developed as the next generation tank destroyer. Henchel produced these prototypes around the city of Paderborn. However, after 1944 work continued at a slow pace and was finally canceled in favor of the Maus. The first prototype was never completed and was found by the allies on the factory floor in 1945. Secured by the British Army, the E-100 was evaluated and scrapped.

The Product:

Kit consists of over 270 parts on 7 sprues plus hull, vinyl track lengths and photo-etched grills. Color painting guide for 2 conjectural German vehicles.

The Build:

First thanks go to our friends at Stevens International who provided IPMS-USA this kit, and thanks to Trumpeter for having (once again) stepped out and provided what the modeling community had only previously dreamed of; a 1/32nd scale F-18G!

These accessories are manufactured by Quickboost to provide additional detail to currently produced models. In this case, the accessory kit consists of two parts, a resin casting of the mechanical compass located behind the gunner’s position on the JU-87D, along with a clear plastic cover which fits over the unit to protect it from the elements.

From the photos I have examined, these compasses are not prominent features of the airplanes and don’t show up on many photos. When the gunner’s canopy is slid back, the unit would be invisible underneath the canopy. Nevertheless, they generally were installed, similar to those on the JU-88, which are depicted on some of the better JU-88 kits. None, to my knowledge, appears on any JU-87D/G kit. Therefore, this unit would be useful on any of the late-model Stuka kits, whether they be Fujimi, Academy, Revell, or even the old Frog kit. A scale drawing of the exact location is provided in the instruction sheet.

Note: While this book has been out of print since approximately 1992 it can still be found at Amazon.com. A softcover was released in 1992, priced at $15.00. The original was published in Japan by Kobunsha Co., Ltd., in 1970.

While unpacking my book collection from 6-year old moving boxes, I came across a treasure trove of books long forgotten. “Eagles of Mitsubishi….” came out of the box and, after taking a look, I decided that this was worthy of a review.

“Eagles of Mitsubishi….” is written by Jiro Horikoshi, Chief Designer of the Zero-sen fighter. The Zero-sen was the premier fighter for the Japanese Navy during throughout WW II. Much like the Messerschmitt Bf-109, the Zero went through upgrade iterations, starting with the original design stemming from the Imperial Navy’s design requirement released in October of 1937. Much like the Bf-109, the airplane was forced to soldier (sailor?) on throughout the war as the prime fighter for the air services.