This is the first of a three-volume set being published by Kecam. This first volume covers Japanese aircraft operated by Japan’s allies during World War 2, as well as those captured by opposing forces (other than the US, UK, and Commonwealth countries), and those pressed into service by various countries in the immediate post-war period.

The book is in a softcover format, with thick stock covers and pages finished in a high-quality satin finish. Black and white photos, as well as extremely well-done color profiles, appear on almost every one of the 128 pages. There are even a few rare color photos in some sections.

The authors dive right in to the topic, with the inside front cover having a table of all Japanese aircraft operated by the subject countries. Aircraft purchased, seized, or otherwise obtained by various Chinese forces, Thailand, Kwangsi, Manchuria, Korea (North and South), Nanking, Indonesia, the Soviet Union, and France are all listed.

Scale Aircraft Conversions continues to crank out metal landing gear for a lot of recent kits. One of their latest offerings is this set for the impressive 1/48 Zvezda Bf-109F kit. The SAC set contains both main gear with separate oleo scissors, and also a new tailwheel. The tailwheel appears to be slightly smaller in diameter than the kit part; otherwise, there doesn’t appear to be any difference.

At the outset of the First World War, motorized weaponry was still in its infancy. The machines of today’s modern military had not yet been invented: the tank, the armored personnel carrier, self propelled field artillery. Among the very first Allied armored cars, the very best were built atop chassis produced by Rolls-Royce, with the very first Rolls-Royce armored car being a privately owned vehicle fitted with a machine-gun and limited sections of armored plating. It was pressed into service by the Royal Naval Air Service in Flanders, 1914. By 1915, approximately 100 Rolls-Royce chassis had been acquired by the British Army, eventually finding themselves sent to units scattered across the globe: India, the Middle East, Europe, and South Africa. Post WW1, they were to be found from Ireland to Shanghai, making a final if brief appearance in the initial days of the Second World War. The Roll-Royce armored car’s most famous proponent was T.E.

Packaging and Initial Impression

The paints are contained in 20 ml plastic poly bottles with flip caps. The clear gloss is contained in a 35 ml plastic bottle with a flip cap. The bottles are clearly labeled with simple instructions of “shake well” and “for airbrush dilute properly”.

My sample bottles tended to spit paint a bit when “flipping” the cap open, but that may be a simple consequence of opening them at 7500 ft where I live. The dropper in the cap and a squeezable bottle provide a nice controlled dispensing of the paints and clear coat.

The Italeri Hurricane has been molded with the option of having both the escape door and canopy open, allowing a great view of the cockpit. The original cockpit is fine but there is always space for enhancement and Aires is offering a nice resin and photoetch cockpit detail set for it.

Sadly, the review sample I got only had the Hurricane photoetch fret on it. The resin parts were for a different model, probably a “George,” as the cockpit layout and seat look a lot like a Japanese cockpit to me.

As such, I cannot comment on the fit of the parts or any other assembly issue (I just did not have all the right parts!).

Based on the parts breakdown, this detail set is intended to be a full replacement “drop-in” cockpit. Based on the picture from the Aires website, the details is very fine and it should be a nice improvement over the plastic parts. The detail on the photoetch fret is superb.