I don’t normally go for installing figures in my models; however, after this one, I may change my stripes and do so more frequently.

First

Thanks to master Details for providing this excellent product to us. It was quite a pleasant diversion from just slappin’ together plastic… and an excellent addition to most WWII British kits!

What You Get

A torso, four different arms, and two legs in resin. And four different heads in white metal, along with an oxygen mask and hose for separate parts. One head with goggles down and no mask, one with goggles up and mask in place, one with mask and goggles in place, and one with mask in place, goggles up. The flight gear is for non-tropical situations, i.e. standard European issue. This is a mid-to-late war flight kit project; not appropriate warmer theaters of operation.

Possibly one of the world’s most recognizable flying machines, the NASA Space Shuttle was the first reusable piloted spacecraft, and to this day remains unrivaled in versatility and success in that role. Having its genesis in waning years of the Apollo Program, the Shuttle evolved throughout the early 70’s, dodging the lethal pens of budget-cutters, and matured into what now is the icon of American manned spaceflight. Now, 30 years after the maiden flight, the program draws to a close in 2011.

Dr. Baker skillfully and intimately captures the history and underlying technology of the Shuttle program and its family of 6 craft in this beautiful 196-page hard-backed edition. The volume is well-written by a man with first-hand experience in the program, and packed with over 250 photos and technical illustrations – a modeler’s dream!

Dioramas Plus was founded in 2008 and has been producing 1/35 bases and buildings for the diorama builder. These products are plaster cast and quite robust. When the box arrived I could tell that just walking it up my driveway tired the mailman out it was so heavy (OK, so maybe I exaggerate). Upon opening the box I found the content wrapped carefully in bubble wrap and an examination of the parts revealed no broken bits. You get 4 main cast pieces consisting of the walls and the street base; a thin wood laser cut sheet with window frames and a door, a clear sheet with holes and jagged edges for the window glass and a bag of loose bricks as well as some large debris piles cast as one piece. I was extremely impressed with the quality of the castings – the relief and detail is excellent and the damage convincing.

The Helicopter

The Mi-24 has been in service with the Soviet/Russian air forces since 1972. The design is interesting in that it has three engines; another tri-motor to add to the list. The 24 has undergone a number of redesigns, and the early versions had a much different cockpit setup. The Russian Air Force has announced that it will replace its 250 Mi-24s with newer more capable helicopters, starting in 2015.

The Mi-24 is nicknamed “crocodile” by the troops. The Mujahedeen in Afghanistan called it "Shaitan-Arba" (Satan's Chariot)". The Hind is unique in that it can carry 8 troops and weapons at the same time. Huey gunships had to have the seats removed to allow for ammunition and extra fuel storage. The crews didn’t think much of carrying the passengers, as they became a liability if the pilot had to do extreme maneuvers and return fire.

Quickboost just keeps adding to their line of resin aircraft accessories. The latest addition is for the ESCI/Italeri AC-47 Gunship. It is up to their usual standards; molded in grey resin, smooth, seamless and bubble free. One thing of note is that they are really easy to remove from the mold block because of a nice perforation. It only took me a couple of swipes with my saw blade to remove them.

The barrels on the ESCI kit part look alright and would make an acceptable model but the Quickboost replacements are superior because of the high level of detail. All that is needed is to cut the kit parts barrel off and glue the Quickboost piece into place.

I highly recommend this product if you want a really superior looking model. Usually replacement parts need some work to get them installed properly but these parts go into place nicely. Thanks to Quickboost and IPMS USA for the chance to do this review.