The Eduard MiG-21 family displays some of the best engineering in modeling. The kit cockpit is nice but there are limitations with plastic molding. Luckily for us modelers, Eduard has an answer for that in their Brassin range.

Typical of the Brassin range this set is a mixed media offering with resin and photo etch. The instructions are typical colored pictograph which is quite nice and helpful. There are five pages of actual assembly diagrams.

Also typical of the Brassin range, the resin is cast in light grey resin is perfectly cast with no bubbles or blemishes anywhere. There is one piece of clear resin. The detail is absolutely exquisite. The parts are packaged in a sturdy cardboard box with foam protecting the parts then to further safeguard them the resin parts are held in three bags to keep them safe. There are 29 resin pieces to make this cockpit.

The Revell/Monogram offering of the Tom Daniel Paddy Wagon is a recent release of nostalgia. Originally released in 1968, the Paddy Wagon is one of many collaborations between noted show car designed Tom Daniel and Monogram. Others in the series include The Red Baron, Rommel’s Rod , The Beer Wagon, and The Garbage truck to name but a few. Anyone of a certain age will have fond memories of these kits, and if you’re like me, very happy to see them again on store shelves.

The kit contains 88 parts, and is molded in dark blue plastic, and has one sprue of gold plated parts. Four tires, a clear windscreen and two headlight covers round out the parts list. Then there are the two cop figures, more on these later. The instruction sheet contains nine steps, all of which contain multiple mini steps, and the final step shows decal placement. Paint call outs are part of each step, and are easy to follow.

Lifelike Decals has produced another sheet for the Hasegawa/Minicraft/Academy and Eduard 1/72nd B-24s.

Contained in a 6x9 Ziploc baggie, the first thing you will notice is two A4 sized single sheet full color instructions. One sheet contains the front with the profile drawings and the back page has the plan views and references listed where Lifelike got their information from. This is a particularly good idea because if you wanted to verify the information you could. The other thing this does is it allows Lifelike to tell you what they saw. Lifelike is not afraid to make an informed guess if they don’t know something. But unlike other decal companies, Lifelike will tell you if they don’t know something.

The Typhoon was an impressive air to ground fighter. It was made even more formidable with the underwing rockets that it carried. Brassin has taken notice of the this piece of armament and given it the Brassin treatment.

Eight resin missiles are provided in dark grey resin. The pour blocks on the rockets is quite small and will easily be removed. The rockets themselves are perfectly straight and have no mold lines to remove so you know they are perfectly rounded with no work.

What will require the most work will be the photo etch which is supplied on a fret of nickel plated photo etch. The hardest part of the whole upgrade will be folding the mounts which are in photo etch for realistic look. There are two mounts per rocket so that is a lot of photo etching. The electrical connectors and the flutes are easy enough to add.

After that it is just a matter of adding them to the aircraft.

The P-47 just begs for nose art with that big cowling out front. That is exactly what ground crews did and Lifelike has captured in this latest release.

Designed for the Tamiya, Hasegawa, Academy or Revell/Germany kits, the decals and instructions are packaged in a 6”x 9” inch ziplock baggie. The instructions themselves are printed on two A4 pages with full color profiles and plan views. They also include a reference section so if you want to see the real aircraft all you have to do is find the book or website. There is another half sheet that has the stencil locations on one side. I love the instructions. A little history of each aircraft and the markings are included for each aircraft.

Lifelike has no problem letting the modeler know what is known and what is conjecture. That is a very unique approach to decals. I personally like that. They are not afraid to make an educated assumption for the sake of including a peculiarly unique aircraft.