This is another of SAC’s drop-in replacement landing gear sets. It is meant for the ICM MiG-25 Foxbat kit. As you can see from the pictures, they’re a direct replacement for the kit parts. With the Foxbat being a substantial aircraft, the extra support of the metal landing gear could come in handy.

The detail on the parts is sharp and should paint up very nicely. The parts require minor cleanup of mold seams, easily done with a knife blade. Some small parts may have been slightly bent during shipping but they are easily straightened. Recommended.

Thanks go to Scale Aircraft Conversions for the landing gear set and to IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review it.

Kitty Hawk’s 1/48 scale Jas-39 Gripen is a detailed, well-executed kit. It does require skill to assemble, and many of the details are simplified for various reasons. This is where Quickboost (Aires’ in-house brand) has stepped in to provide some added detail.

Quickboost provides us with a better-detailed, very fine aerial refueling boom and probe. The nozzle head itself is literally perfect. The remainder of the boom is a worthy upgrade just so you don’t have to scrape the mold seam from along the sides of the kit’s boom. This can save a ton of time! Also included in the detail set is a well for the retracted boom and exterior door with actuator. Ultimately, the kit’s parts were best described as “meh,” and these Quickboost additions are just the thing to kick the build up a level.

Kitty Hawk’s 1/48 scale Jas-39 Gripen is a detailed, well-executed kit. It does require skill to assemble, and many of the details are simplified for various reasons. This is where Aires Hobby Models has stepped in to provide some added detail.

In this case, Aires has created a very nice resin replacement cockpit. Opening the package reveals fine details that would take endless patience and hours of skillful work to deliver. The cockpit set provides sidewalls, a control column, a full lower cockpit tub, the forward instrument-panel coaming, and a world-class ejection seat. Etched details are provided for the seat harness, a few extra cockpit details, and an instrument panel.

With practice and a steady hand, this cockpit will look fantastic in the finished model and will raise the kit’s overall look from good to great.

Quickboost is known for replacement parts that are pretty much just drop-in, without modifying the kit very much. Such is the case with these parts. This set includes two pitot tubes (you’ll only need one for the kit) and two antennas. Depending on antenna fit on the aircraft you’re modeling, you’ll need both for the upper spine. The resin parts are more finely cast and the antennas have a better shape than the kit parts do. They should be easily removed from the pour plug and will fit into the holes in the kit for the kit parts. Plus, you don’t have to clean up the blade of the antenna, as you would with the kit parts, where the sprue attachment is on the side of the antenna. Recommended for having sharper detail and easier cleanup.

Thanks go to Aires / Quickboost for providing the parts and to IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review them.

This book tells the story of the events leading up to, during, and after the battle of El Alamein from June to November 1942. Prior to this victory, the British had not been able to defeat the German army anywhere. The author uses a huge number of first-hand accounts to illustrate the viewpoints on both sides of the hardship faced by the common soldier, the decisions that had to be made by the commanders in the face of political pressure, the actions and the consequences of the battles leading up to the stand at El Alamein, and the abilities of some of the (for lack of a better term) ‘superstar’ generals in charge on both sides.