Figures are the easiest way to provide scale to your model. Aerobonus figures are an inexpensive way to add figures to your model.

The latest offering from Aerobonus features a Luftwaffe pilot in flight overall in a relaxed pose waiting for his aircraft. There are four perfectly cast pieces. The breakdown is not what you’d expect. There is the body with one arm cast in place. There is another arm. Of course there is a head too. The unique thing is the separate headset which would be added to the hand.

The instructions are basic drawings with basic colors called out. This is adequate for the modeler but some may find the basic look and dismiss this figure due to that. They would be wrong. The figure is wonderfully sculpted with impressive folds and highlights. The head looks perfect as well. The proportions of the whole thing are perfect for 1/48th scale.

A wonderfully detailed 1/72 Soviet air force pilot! He stands in a blue flight suit, leather jacket, leather boots, sidearm, and white flight helmet. His arms are crossed behind him. One imagines him attending a pre-flight briefing or a post-flight discussion, or posing proudly beside his aircraft while someone snaps a photo. Be sure to add some snow at the edge of the tarmac!

The figure arrived in a clear package with insert. It is a single piece on its resin casting block. All you have to do is carefully remove it from the casting block and perform some light cleanup. There was some flash around his hands and under his nose, but the mold seam was easily cleaned up.

On the insert you’ll find a simple color illustration with paint suggestions. No specific paint manufacturer is suggested. Refer to references for correct colors.

UMM-USA is distributing a very neat model detailing item produced by HGW Models: riveting decals. To be completely honest, I don’t know if this set should be called a decal; it is more like a “wet” transfer than a traditional decal, but more on that later.

This set, for the 1/48 Tamiya P-47D Razorback, provides an easy way to add raised rivet details to the surface of your model. Arriving in a simple bag package, you get two sheets of continuously printed decals for a single Razorback. Note that I mention that they are continuously printed, as you will have to cut and trim each section before application.

The History

Trumpeter describes the history of its latest kit subject, the Cessna A-37A Dragonfly in 1/48 scale, on the box. The Dragonfly was developed from the T-37 trainer for combat service in Vietnam. A series of new components were applied to the aircraft, including: one GAU-2B/A 7.62 mm minigun, two drop tanks on the wing tips, three weapon stations under each wing, stronger landing gear, and two more powerful J85 engines. The new A-37As were affectionately nicknamed the Super Tweet. They were sent to Vietnam as part of the 3rd Tactical Fighter Group, 604th Air Assault Squadron on July 17, 1967.

First, my thanks to Ross, the CEO of Scale Aircraft Conversions, for providing IPMS/USA with so many examples of his new products. I am certainly not paid to say any of this, but Ross and his crew have taken the metal landing-gear market by storm. Their cautious first releases were met with a chorus of “whys?” That was, until their metal was proven (a bad pun, but true).

My personal epiphany came after building the Revell 1/32 Ju 88 kit. The owner of my local, now-defunct, hobby shop tried to convince me to use a set of SAC gear, but I passed based on the cost. Of course, the kit’s plastic gear failed after two months. I had second thoughts, but I was not convinced to try the SAC products until a similar fate befell my 1/48 Roden T-28; the kit’s gear legs were so accurately scaled, the thin, soft-plastic of the nose-gear leg couldn’t hold the weight of the CMK resin engine I had installed.