This is the fifth Ultracast figure I have had the honor of reviewing and I can honestly say that each one is better than the last. This figure of a WWII USAAF Fighter Pilot is no exception.

It is sculpted by my friend Mike Good. He has a world-wide reputation as a sculptor of pilots in every scale and I believe I have painted every one of them.

This piece is cast in tan hard resin in five parts that fit perfectly. The engineering is superb in that the pieces are pegged in such a way that there is no way to fit them wrong. After removing the casting blocks and minor cleanup of seam lines, I assembled the parts and mounted the figure on my favorite working block, a medicine container. I like this method because it affords me a surface to hold onto once the figure is CA glued to it and, after painting, is easily removed from it.

Paul Fisher has continued to expand his stable of exceptionally well done aftermarket products. These are, without exception, beautifully mastered and flawlessly cast in cream colored resin. No warps or pinholes (no surprise there). The four new items are shown in the images. Many thanks to Paul for the review samples. Please visit his website for these and many other quality Fisher Model products.

Quickboost just keeps adding to their line of resin aircraft accessories. Another addition is for the Revell F-22 Raptor. It is up to their usual standards: molded in grey resin, smooth, seamless, and bubble-free. One thing of note is that they are really easy to remove from the mold block because of a nice perforation.

The control lever and throttle that come in the Revell kit look okay and would make an acceptable model. The Quickboost replacements really look a lot better when compared to the kit parts. They are very easy to install and they just fit right in. in 1/72, these parts are very small but it is a great relief to know that, if you just fed the carpet monster your kit parts, you are able to replace them. The Quickboost set comes with two sets of control levers and throttles just in case you want to do another kit or give the carpet monster another snack.

Eduard has recently come out with a few new items for the Nashorn by AFV Club. This particular photo etch kit is plainly called “Nashorn” and it incorporates interior and exterior items to enhance the already fine kit which AFV Club released. The stock number for the AFV kit is AF35164.

This PE fret will enhance parts such as the floor, hinges on some of the stowage boxes, handles on the hatches, antenna mounts, small hold-down clamps for accessories and tools which are stowed on the outside of the vehicle, and newly formed boxes for tool storage. These features are all designed and made with the typical Eduard engineering found in all of their products which most definitely adds the finishing touch. All of the items included in this kit add subtle improvements, but when compared to an OOB assembly, the difference can be noticed.

Although not mentioned on the box, the Shiden-Kai was known by the Allies as "GEORGE". The SHIDEN (Violet Lightning) - KAI (Variant or Improvement) was essentially a redesign/conversion to a land-based fighter from the floatplane N1K Kyōfū, codename "REX". The Shiden-Kai entered service in early 1944 and, in the hands of an able pilot, could easily compete with the Corsair or Hellcat. The Shiden-Kai was extremely rugged and carried four 20mm cannon but, to its detriment, was plagued by mechanical problems.

My jumping on this review was primarily for one reason; I had not had a chance to build a 1/144 scale aircraft and this looked like a good model to start with. I can honestly say that in no way, shape, or form was I disappointed with the kit. Building 1/144 scale fighters from this era without a doubt forces the builder to tackle the project with a slightly different mindset than your typically larger scale kit.