History

The Avia B.534 was one of the classic biplane fighters of the 1930’s, and was used by several European air forces almost until the end of World War II. I did a review of Eduard’s kit of this aircraft in May, 2015, so for a detailed account of its service, I refer you to the IPMS review site. The aircraft appeared in four basic versions, differing in cockpit arrangement, armament, wheel covers, and propeller. There are many references available on this aircraft, including the old Profile #152, and most sources are available on line.

This latest addition to the Ampersand Group's Visual History Series contains a wealth of information not only for the historical buff but, to the serious modeler whose dedication for detail will provide immense resource. David Doyle and Ampersand Group, Inc. have provided the serious modeler a welcomed addition to his library.

At first glance one sees a clear, detailed, color cover page depicting the crew of a M48A3 at Fire Base Bastogne in Viet Nam on 16 April 1968. The back cover shows an image of a damaged M48A3 at the 218th Collection, Classification, and Salvage Company at Long Binh 14 June 1967. The book is broken down into various sections including;

The Introduction consisting of the first 13 pages giving a brief history of the M48 Patton series of medium tanks from the inception and development, to upgrades and modifications.

This is the first Royal Class kit I have had the opportunity to build. It’s the latest Eduard FW 190A-8 release in 1/72 scale. This series is great and the addition of the Beer glass and original piece of one of the Aircraft you can build is a wonderful and original idea. The Royal class also comes with enough parts to build four complete kits with PE, Resin, Masks and Decals for lots of versions.

In the box is:

• 9 x light grey sprues
• 4 x clear sprue
• 8 x photoetched details parts
• 1 mask set
• 5 x decal sheet
• 1 instruction booklet
• Plaque with an original piece of a real FW190A-8
• Certificate of Authenticity of the piece of Aircraft included
• Beer Glass with FW 190A-8 emblem

All the sprues are extremely well molded and super fine details we have come to expect from Eduard’s kits.

Scale Aircraft Conversions has released a nice set of replacement landing gear for the Kitty Hawk 1/48 Vought XF5U-1. The eleven parts supplied include the tail gear, main gear, torque links, and main gear retraction arms. A side by side evaluation of all the SAC parts shows the similarity with the kit parts. There are no supplied instructions; you simply swap out the kit provided plastic parts with the new white metal items. You do need to be very careful to assure proper alignment on all three axes. The SAC landing gear may need to be slightly adjusted to be straight (a benefit of using metal is that you can bend it slightly). Smooth jaw needle nose pliers work wonderfully.

Scale Aircraft Conversions has released replacement landing gear for the excellent Pilot Replicas 1/48 SAAB J 21 A-3. The 13 parts supplied include the nose gear, main gear, torque links, and main gear retraction arms. A side by side evaluation of all the SAC parts shows the similarity with the kit parts. Ross McMillan has combined two parts by securing the nose gear wheel fork to the nose gear, eliminating a potential point of failure. There are no supplied instructions; you simply swap out the kit provided plastic parts with the new white metal items. You do need to be very careful to assure proper alignment on all three axes. The SAC landing gear may need to be slightly adjusted to be straight (a benefit of using metal is that you can bend it slightly). Smooth jaw needle nose pliers work wonderfully.