The Parts:

Included in this product are 22 white metal replacement parts for the Zvezda 1/144^th scale 747-800. The Zvezda product number for the 747-800 kit is 7010. These white metal parts replace all but one of the Zvezda gear parts contained in the kit. The only Zvezda gear part not replaced by the replacement parts is E58, a part that attaches to the nose gear strut. Of course, the tires and wheels, themselves are not included as kit parts that are replaced and the builder will use those supplied in the kit.

As usual, the SAC replacement parts can be substituted for the kit parts without interference with the order of construction called for in the kit instructions.

Conclusion:

Arriving in a small zip-lock bag stapled to folded card wearing Canadian maple leafs, we find a pair of beautiful seats, complete with molded cushions and the unique “Q” type harness belts, keeping with their high standards Ultracast has produce a high quality resin castings that correctly represents a accurate seat for these two aircraft during the mid to late war time period.

The Typhoon and Tempest, lucky day you score two for one on this deal since you get two seats in the package you can use both of them for the two offerings that are available.

First the Hasegawa Typhoon, and yes it is a beautiful kit, but the kit seat part is weak and featureless to say the least, even photo etch harness belts would not help, in fact years ago Hasegawa themselves released the Typhoon in a “Super Detail” boxing with a complete resin cockpit upgrade produced by “Jaguar” very nice to say the least, well good luck finding one of those (and yes, I have one).

Review copy courtesy of Osprey Publishing.

When Steve Collins announced that this book was available, I asked for it to review, because at one time I worked in AF Intel, and got intimately involved with aircraft identification. Especially when a Breguet Alize taxied right past my office window and parked a few hundred meters away. Made my week.

I expected this book to be a comprehensive listing of a lot of aircraft which a lucky person might encounter on a good day somewhere like Oshkosh Airventure or Farnborough International Airshow, or a military base.

I also expected some 3-view drawings and a rather truncated description of the aircraft’s origin, subtypes, and identifying features.

This volume by Osprey/New Vanguard gives an overview of British 8 inch gunned cruisers (heavy cruisers by definition) in WW II. Four major sections deal with the design and development of the ships, the specifications of each class, the service history of each ship and a finally a description of the ships' armament and operation, the last part of which actually should have been a separate section as it is a general evaluation of the ships and their effectiveness.

The text is concise and efficiently written, containing a good deal of information in a small space. There are summary charts on the details of each class with one over arching table with comparative information such as dimensions, performance, armament, etc. There are b/w photos illustrating many of the ships but they are almost all of the entire ship from a distance or an angle, so they are not useful for detail.

Pro Art Models has another new set of enhancements, and this time it’s a vehicle communications package for those of you who are into super-detailing the newer types of vehicles in the U.S. Special Forces genre. This set comes with 18 pieces of high quality light tan resin which is detailed to the max. I have yet to find any bubbles within the resin that are so often found in lesser quality resins. Also included in the kit is a photo etch fret containing parts which make up the shelves, cases, legs, and small switches for the radios and computers to fit on or into. The resin parts consists of the radios, power inverters, PC screens, keyboards, a hand- held GPS, antennas, and even the plug-in power modules. The detail is the best it can get and the photo etch antennas and shelves (including legs) add to the already fine detail. I have assembled some pieces to show what it could look like, and this will be placed into my vehicle when I reach that point in assembly.