It is no secret that I love the Zvezda Bf-109Fs. They are remarkably well-engineered kits and the most accurate Fs on the market. There are only two pieces of aftermarket that I use for them, Vector’s correction set and the Eduard Zoom set.

This Eduard Zoom set includes a single fret of self-adhesive pre-painted photo etch. The components are all for the cockpit area. The amount of detail that Eduard puts into the instrument panels and placards is amazing, far superior to anything I can do with a paint brush. A clear acetate piece is included that has the gunsight reflectors on it.

The instructions are straightforward and easy to understand.

The Kit

This is a review of the Italeri 1/24 scale Mercedes-Benz 2448 Canvas Truck. The box is large and features photos of the built-up model on the top. Along the sides are 360-degree views of the model that can be used for reference. Inside the box you will find three individual bags of yellow, black, and grey styrene; there is a tree of chrome parts and a tree of clear parts, each wrapped individually in plastic bags. There is a super decal sheet which contains markings for two separate trucks, twelve soft rubber tires, and a twelve-page, well laid out instruction booklet. All of the parts trees are clearly marked. The first two pages of the instruction booklet contain a drawing of all the parts trees, making the individual parts easy to find. The instruction guide also calls out painting suggestions.

Two seats come packaged in a plastic bag with a folded paper backing sheet. There is no color information and no instructions, as there is no assembly required. However, care should be taken cutting off the pouring plug as part of them may be used for properly spacing the seat away from the cockpit floor.

The seats and seatbelts are very well defined with reasonable undercuts and no air holes or distortions. The resin took my Vallejo paint well after a soaking bath in Wesley’s Bleach White and priming with Alclad II Gray Primer.

If you want a great-looking seat without installing individual seat belts, this is for you. The Roden cockpit is nicely done and these seats go a long way toward improving the front office. Thank you to Quickboost and IPMS/USA for offering these resin seats for review.

Master-Model has produced replacement AOA probes and a pitot tube for any 1/32 F-16 kit. The metal replacements are a simple drop-in for the kit’s plastic parts. The supplied items include two AOA probes and one pitot tube. There will be no modification required for the installation of the replacements other than a slight drilling out of the pitot receiving hole to accommodate the replacement’s larger base (at least on my Academy kit’s nose cone). You will have to use CA or epoxy glues to secure them, of course.

A side-by side-evaluation (see photos) indicates a replacement of superior detail that will provide a more accurate representation of these tiny exterior details.

Highly recommended.

Thanks to Master Model and the IPMS Reviewer Corps for the opportunity to review these items.

This was on the review list for some time before I volunteered for it. This vehicle comes with the anti-slip texture that is missing on so many newly released Merkava-based kits, and I could not understand why no one wanted to review it. Maybe it was because it is one of two prototypes currently being evaluated by the Israeli Defense Forces. This version is called the NAMER ACHZAKA and it’s bigger brother is called NAMERA. Imagine these vehicles similar to the M578 and M88. The big difference is that both IDF vehicles are based on the Merkava Mk. III chassis with many Mk. IV components. The NAMER ACHZAKA crane can lift the engine pack of the Merkava for quick and easy changes. Supposedly, these are based on modified Merkava III hulls. Well, one thing right away that stands out is the HUGE final drive housings. These are definitely late model Mk III versions or IVs because they are too huge to be the same as seen in the Latrun example.