Recommendation – most high

Well, it’s October and, as usual, Ross McMillan and company have not rested (at least for very long). This is only a guess, but with a model as potentially heavy as the 1/32nd He-111, I can’t help but think that metal gear could easily be a necessity. Also, the 1/48th Hasegawa kit (of which I have built 2) was a request from yours truly in that the plastic kit gear is weak. In any event, here are this month’s offerings. Make sure you visit their website for these and the ever-increasing selection of replacement gear available.

Eduard has recently released a few Photo Etch items for the AFV Club Nashorn kit. This review encompasses the Nashorn Ammo Boxes.

In general, Eduard has replaced the back, the top and the folding doors of these boxes, which when shown closed the hinges can be clearly seen. When the box is viewed open the doors are “collapsed” and folded on top of each other and sit on top of the box. I built it open to also show the enhancements inside and also when the model is finished I intend to show the boxes mostly loaded with ammo and with a slight weathering on the inside. If you look close you might notice that I am using the “salt method” for the weathering process.

One of the leaders in resin detailing parts, Aires recently released a detail set for the wheel bay of the Tamiya 1/36 A6M5 Zero. Cast from resin, with no flash or flaws, the set comes with the two main gear bays, detail parts, and partial gear doors. As with all Aires sets the detail is superb. I did not have the Tamiya kit on hand to compare to, but a comparison to the 21^st Century Zero kit showed a serious improvement over the kit bays. It is also noted that the Aires parts do fit the 21^st Century kit (it was rumored that the 21^st Century kit had detail copied from Tamiya).

Once again, I am very impressed with Aires’ latest release. They have an eye for detail, and an amazing skill for casting resin parts. This is one highly recommended resin set. My thanks to Aires for providing an excellent sample for review.

Quickboost has added a new resin item to their growing line of aftermarket parts for 1/32 aircraft. Set 32 112 will add detail to the Kinetic, Italeri or Hasegawa 1/32 F-86F kits. This set provides two ready-to-install pitot tubes cast in a flexible gray resin that likely will survive occasional bumps sometime experienced when a finished model is handled. As the photo below shows, the pitot tubes are molded on a common casting block with extended bars that protect the parts from damage in the package. These parts exhibit a much better detail than those included in the kits.

A sharp #11 x-Acto blade can be used to remove each pitot tube from the casting block. This part is a direct replacement for a kit part, but there is no molding seam to remove as is usually the case with injection molded kit parts. Because this part is cast in resin, it should be attached with super glue or epoxy cement.

The summer issue of AFV Modeler lives up to its pedigree as a world-class modeling magazine. The cover article is a riff on Luftwaffe ’46. Using what I believe is the Dragon Panther II kit, Miguel Jimenez (MIG products founder) describes his flight of fancy – the Americans and Germans unite at the end of the war to battle the Communist menace using German equipment. The bulk of the article is devoted to giving the tank its marvelous finish. Using color modulation and the hairspray technique, the author gets a fantastic result using advanced finishing techniques.

The next article features Denes Benedick’s diorama. Set in the last days of the 1940 French campaign, the Bronco A13 Mk. II and Adler Kfz. armored car builds a very nice diorama depicting the British First Armored Division on the offensive.