This fine metal pitot tube is from Master Model, based in Poland. For those of you who have never heard of the company, they produce finely machined gun barrels, pitot tubes, and the like for aircraft, and also have a great line of metal gun barrels for ships in all scales.

This particular part is a single milled pitot tube for the nose of the Trumpeter Su-27 or Su-30. Adding it to the kit requires nothing more than gluing it in place. I have included a picture comparing the kit piece to the Master Model piece and the Zactomodels piece. I have also added the Master Models pitot to my kit nose (which is the replacement nose from Chris Wilson and Zactomodels) – the fit is perfect.

Highly recommended! This is a great replacement for the kit part (much less clunky) and is stouter than the resin piece from Zactomodels. My thanks to Master Model and IPMS/USA for the chance to review it.

This little set is designed as a drop-fit to replace the plastic machine gun barrels on any Italian 1/48 scale aircraft kit that was armed with the Breda 12.7mm machine guns.

Master Model provides a pair of gun barrels, each comprised of 2 pieces: a perforated jacket and the gun barrel itself. The brass is extremely cleanly cast, with full perforations in the jackets and a nice open muzzle on the barrels themselves. No cleanup of these parts will be required. The brief instructions show the barrels are to be inserted into the jackets, then placed onto the model in the appropriate location.

Since man’s first coordinated attempts to go airborne for the purposes of warfare (balloons used for artillery spotting in the Franco/Prussian War of 1871), opponents have speedily attempted to counter the aerial threat with ground based anti-aircraft weapons. And when the pace of war sped up, so the need for mobile AA weapons increased. During the opening phases of WW2, German ground forces enjoyed air superiority, and the need for mobile AA equipment was not a high priority. But by 1943, it became clear to German commanders that mobile AA weapons to keep pace with and offer protection for their mechanized units were required. Two existing tank chassis were used to provide the bulk of the Flakpanzer weapons, those being from the Panzer 38t and the Panzer IV vehicle series. The first Panzer IV chassis vehicle was the Mobelwagen, or “Moving Van,” initially mounting a quad 20mm Flak gun unit, but for the production series of vehicles, mounting a single barreled 37mm Flak 43.

Master Model continues their new releases with a replacement pitot tube for the Trumpeter range of F-8 Crusader kits. This particular piece fits either the E or J models.

The part is a finely milled, one-piece pitot tube that directly replaces the kit part. As you can see from the pictures, it is light years beyond the kits plastic part, having the correct shape and size. Adding it to the kit is simple – drop it in with no cutting and you’re done. For a mere $4.00, this is needed. It corrects the kit part and adds strength to the piece.

If you are building one of the Trumpeter F-8's, you need to add this piece. Recommended! My thanks to Master Models and IPMS/USA for the chance to review this item.

The Flakpanzer IV “Ostwind” (German for East Wind) was a self-propelled 3.7cm anti-aircraft gun based on the Pz IV. It was developed in 1944 as a replacement for the Wirbelwind. The number of units produced was about 43.

This is a multimedia kit comprised of 700+ styrene parts, magic tracks, two photo etched fret, decals, and the set of instructions that need to be reviewed very carefully before gluing any parts together. Most Dragon models today are a collection of old sprues and new sprues added to create a new kit variant. In this case, Dragon has done so and you will have some sprues with the same letter. You can actually build the production version of the Ostwind.

Step 1. This step is the assembly of the idler wheel, drive sprockets, road wheels, and return wheels. There are no problems here, other than the removal of the mold line which is noticeable on the road wheels.