Master Box continues to surprise with interesting vignettes, all in one package. This set includes their Type 170 German staff car and five figures – two US Paratroopers and a civilian family. The US officer is consulting with the father in the family to determine where he’s going, and the child has squirmed out of his mother’s arms to get a closer look at the fascinating soldiers. I was attracted to his model from the moment I saw it – anything about the lighter side of warfare appeals to me anyway, and Master Box had come up with something really interesting.

Many of us have waited a long time for a quality kit of the Kfir, and Kinetic released a very fine example about a year ago. Though the kit is very detailed, of course there is always room for improvement and embellishment, so Aires has come up with a couple of offerings for this kit. One of these is a very nice set of highly detailed main and nose gear wheel wells. All together there are fifteen exquisitely detailed parts that include new doors and actuators for each of the wells. Both the main gear well and nose gear well include all of the plumbing that is inherent in those wells.

Many of us have waited a long time for a quality kit of the Kfir, and Kinetic released a very fine example about a year ago. Though the kit is very detailed, of course there is always room for improvement and embellishment, so Aires has come up with a couple of offerings for this kit. One of these gives the modeler the capability of opening the gun bays and showing the two Rafael DEFA 553 30mm cannons.

Packed in the normal Aires card and bubble pack one will find three pour blocks which include two gun bays, two gun breeches and two gun bay doors with latches. The detail is typical high quality Aires. The installation is rather simple. All the modeler has to do is remove the two doors from the lower wing half and install the bays and the doors. There is no great concern about having to thin everything as much as possible on this installation.

For the modeler who likes to display all of the various bays open, this is a great addition to the Kinetic Kfir.

Finally! Yes -- finally a product to relieve the angst of modelers worrying about losing or damaging delicate and precision parts during the dreaded airbrush cleaning process. It’s simple, it’s attractive, and it’s ingenious – it’s Iwata’s Raised Ridge Airbrush Cleaning Mat.

Although, unfortunately, it does not clean your airbrush for you, it provides a soft, durable surface with a raised boundary edge – much akin to a giant mouse pad with wall around the edges. Springs, nozzles, needles, tips, seals, and the like have little to no chance of escaping into the jaws of the carpet monster or into cracks between work surfaces. It’s non-skid backing keeps it securely in place – even against moderate bumps or jostles while moving around at the workbench.

Kudos to Iwata for this gem! I highly recommend this product to all airbrush owners who actually tear down their airbrushes for cleaning. You can’t go wrong with this – especially for under $20!

Background

The world’s first and most-produced supersonic trainer, the Northrop T-38A Talon has trained over 5,000 military pilots since its introduction to service in 1961. Of the nearly 1,200 T-38A’s produced, the US Air Force continues to operate over 500 of the type as of 2014, of which most will be upgraded to T-38C configuration with new wings and improved avionics, including heads-up display and inertial navigation systems, and will continue to operate them until at least 2020.