I have the Airfix 1/48 Sea Vixen FAW.2 and thought the kit parts were just perfect. Then, along came Quickboost with an aftermarket set of pitot tubes. I always thought they were all round, but Quickboost did their homework and made them the proper oval shape. This was news to me, but I am going to take their word that oval is correct and use them.

I was really impressed with the fact that these resin pitot tubes are straight. Most times on a part that long and thin they are warped. Thank you, Quickboost, for straight ones.

I would recommend these as a replacement for the kit parts. You can tell everyone that they are accurate; since they are oval and not round, I’m sure your modeling friends will be impressed with your knowledge.

I wish to thank Quickboost and Steve Collins at IPMS/USA for giving me this set to review.

This is a beautiful set of undercarriage doors for the Kinetic (Italeri) 1/32 F-86F Sabre. While the kit doors are nice, these are just wonderful. They are scale thickness and have great detail. They are molded in grey resin and have no seams or flash.

I haven’t started any of my many 1/32 Sabres, but I am looking forward to using them on all of them. I also liked the price of $ 10.25. That is quite a deal.

I would highly recommend this set to put your F-86 over the top. I wish to thank Quickboost and Steve Collins at IPMS/USA for giving me this detail set to review.

Most modelers prefer that the camouflage and markings on their models be historically accurate, but we rely on someone else to do the grunt research work. Before I went to Vietnam, I was already a modeler and IPMS member. I had a WWII modeler friend and mentor, Joe Lynch, who advised me to take lots of photos of anything I might want to build a model of when I came home. He said there was no way I’d remember serial numbers and exact colors and so on, and he was right. Luckily, just before coming home, I remembered, bought a camera, and took photos from every angle of the helicopter I flew in the most. I didn’t get to take many other photos, as I got the camera too late into my tour. I don’t think it mattered as I didn’t really have many photo ops since my eye was supposed to be looking thru a gunsight, not a camera lens. At this point, I was “getting short” – I only had a couple months left to my tour.

What's in the Box

The box, with a very nice photograph of one of the featured aircraft in pristine condition on the top, is crammed full of plastic and is a typical example of Hasegawa's practice of getting the most out of their molds. There are two sprues specifically identified for the TA-4, one labeled "A-4M,” with the remainder of the plastic sprues being labeled "A-4." There is an additional sprue of a material, identified as "UR," that has a tail pipe extension and blade antennas specifically for an Israeli TA-4. The kit instructions recommend CA glue for these parts, so they're probably not plastic, yet they come on a sprue and feel and cut softer than resin or plastic. For purposes of this review, right or wrong, I'll call them urethane. Since there are parts for different A-4 versions, there will be parts left over.

A few years ago, Tamiya released an all new 1/35th scale version of the Matilda Mk.III/IV, having produced an earlier kit of this venerable British tank back in the 1970’s. Those who build in 1/48th scale hoped that eventually Tamiya would downsize their new 35th kit and allow the modeler to have an alternative to the 35-year old Bandai 48th scale Matilda, which was selling on the collectors circuit for upwards of $100. Tamiya has kindly obliged!