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Pre-Cut Canopy Masks for Various Kits & Scales 1:72, 1:48 & 1:32 Special Mask by Special Hobby Some modellers are a little bit phobic about masking the canopies of our models to keep them crystal clear during the building and painting process, as they can be tricky if you’re inexperienced or a bit ham fisted. Special Hobby have created their own Special Mask line to help with that, and we’ve got a bundle of them in the review queue in various scales. Supplied on a sheet of yellow kabuki tape, these pre-cut masks give you a full set of masks for the canopy, with compound curved handled by using frame hugging masks, while the highly curved gaps are in-filled with either liquid mask or offcuts from the background tape. In addition, you usually get a set of hub/tyre masks for the wheels, allowing you to cut the demarcation perfectly with little effort. They each arrive in a flat polythene packet with a card header behind and a sheet of instructions sandwiched between them, all held together by a single staple. 1:72 CH-37 Mojave Canopy & Wheel Masks (M72046 for Special Hobby) Kit review here 1:72 Spitfire Mk.22/24 & Seafire Mk.46/47 Canopy & Wheel Masks (M72048 for Special Hobby) Kit review here 1:48 AF-2 Guardian Canopy & Wheel Masks (M48014 for Special Hobby) Kit review here 1:48 AH-1Q/S Cobra Inside/Outside Canopy Masks (M48016 for Special Hobby) Kit review coming soon 1:48 Grunau Baby IIb Canopy & Fabric/Flying Control Surfaces (M48017 for Special Hobby) Kit review coming soon 1:32 T-2 Buckeye Canopy & Wheel Masks (M32008 for Special Hobby) Kit review coming soon Conclusion Pre-cut mask sets save a lot of precious modelling time and don’t cost a ton of money, so they’re always worth picking up, even if you’re not averse to masking. Add in the new Inside/Outside masks to the mix, and they’re a great boost to realism in my estimation. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Afrikakorps Soldier Prodding Unwilling Camel (F72391 & F48392) 1:72 & 1:48 Special Hobby During WWII in the African theatre of operations, both sides used the tools available to them to fight and transport themselves to the next battle, so naturally the camel featured at some point. The camel, known colloquially as the ‘ship of the desert’, is a large mammal that is as cantankerous as it is capable, having a huge fat storage hump on its back that allows it to travel for up to 40 days without a proper drink, its long legs and feet making it a capable of travelling vast distances without taking one step forward and two back in sand dunes. They’re still used everywhere there’s a desert, although 4x4 transport is taking over where the need arises. A reviewer of mostly military models and accessories must be flexible, so when the first set of camels came in, I thought “fair enough, a once in a lifetime thing. No problem”. Now we have two more camels in to review. An unexpected sequel, but now I’m just waiting for the next one. These two sets are 3D printed in both main aviation scales to go with your Afrikakorps or Luftwaffe desert diorama, whether it’s in the background or playing a primary role. The set name is a little misleading, as even the drawings show that the soldier is simply holding the reins of the camel loosely in his hand, probably waiting for Humpfrey to get up so he can finally make some progress. Both sets are supplied in the usual clamshell box with card header, the colours and branding different by scale for reasons that aren’t immediately apparent. The instructions are simple, and are hidden between the resin part and the backing, consisting of a simple visual of the model with painting examples. Both scale sets still have many supports attached to the underside, and to support the head of the beast, as well as the horizontal parts of the hopeful rider, who is wearing a peaked cap, which needed support during curing. I have nipped the supports from the larger model to show off the face, and as you may have already noticed the designs are the same for man and beast, just the scales that are different. 1:72 (F72391) 1:48 (F48392) With only a little work to do in order to remove the attachment pips on the underside, it should be ready for paint pretty quickly, and the detail is superb, leaving you to provide the harness controlling the animal’s movement, as well as it can be at least. Conclusion Detail is fabulous, with every aspect of the rider and camel carefully replicated, including the shaggy, wrinkly texture of the animal’s fur and its goofy face, however it still looks a little too happy based on the camels I’ve met before. Camels are a miserable, cantankerous species. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

A-20G Havoc Low Altitude Raider (SH72478) 1:72 Special Hobby The A-20 Havoc, better known to those with an interest in the Royal Air Force as the Boston, was a light bomber developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company of Long Beach, California to a US Air Force specification issued in 1937. The aircraft’s initial customer was the French Air Force, who had been impressed by its performance whilst visiting the USA as part of a pre-war purchasing commission. The order was not able to be delivered to the French however, as by that time they were overrun and the armistice had been signed in 1940, so the contract was taken up by the RAF instead, who needed every aircraft they could lay their hands on. In RAF service it was known by the name Boston, and by the service code DB-7, with no fewer than 24 British and Commonwealth squadrons operating the Boston, either as a light bomber or night fighter such as the Havoc I Turbinlite, which was fitted with a powerful searchlight in the nose. The A-20 was also widely used by the USAAF after being met with initial indifference, and by the end of the war, almost 7,500 of the type had rolled off the production lines. By the time the A-20G began production in 1943 the glazed nose had been replaced by a solid nose that carried a gun-pack, initially with four 20mm cannons plus two .50cal machine guns set slightly back under the nose, although they reverted to six .50cals later, due to the inaccuracy of the cannons. The rest of the armament was standardised with .50cal guns in the newly powered top turret and the ventral turret, the former requiring the widening of the fuselage to accommodate its bulk. The engines were upgraded to more powerful variants of Wright R-2600 Twin Cyclone engines, and became the most numerous variant, serving in US, British and Soviet Air Forces amongst other operators, replaced by the H and J variants with more powerful engines amongst other improvements. The Kit This is a reboxing with additional parts of a kit that was first released in 2007, although it doesn’t seem to have been affected by time one iota. The kit arrives in a modest red-white-grey themed top-opening box, and inside are four sprues of grey styrene in a resealable clear plastic bag, plus a clear sprue in its own bag, a decal sheet that is separately bagged with a sheet of paper to keep moisture at bay. The instruction booklet is printed on glossy paper in colour with a portrait A5 format, and colour profiles in the rear to assist with painting and decaling. Detail is good, extending to all the usual places, and including fine engraved panel lines, internal details inside the fuselage and gear bays, as well as the rendition of the individual cylinders of the twin Pratt & Whitney engines. Construction begins with the cockpit, starting with a stepped floor, onto which the front bulkhead, instrument panel with decal, nose gear bay, pilot seat, control column and rudder pedals are fitted, the gear bay located on the underside of the floor. The upper turret is built on a detailed ring, adding a pair of guns into slots, then covering the assembly with a clear domed glazing, with the option of leaving the guns mobile if you don’t glue the pivots. This permits closure of the fuselage halves, fitting detail inserts each side of the cockpit, being careful to remove a tiny triangle of raised styrene from the starboard insert to improve fit. The upper turret and a clear window are added to the top of the fuselage during closure, adding a pair of oval windows on the sides, and shaving off an antenna over the wing root for accuracy. The wings are built next, comprising top and bottom halves, plus an insert on the top surface, and landing lights underneath. The engine nacelles are then made from halves, and have bulkheads at each end of the gear bay, plus an insert that details an intake on the side of the nacelle, all of which is painted in green primer before being set aside to build the elevators from two halves each. The next step sees the wings, elevators and a two-part nose with 20g of nose weight added inside, bearing in mind that this aircraft was an early adopter of tricycle landing gear, the bane of forgetful modellers everywhere! There’s plenty of room, and nothing will be seen of the area once completed, so a little more won’t hurt. The engine nacelles can’t be installed until the engines and their cowlings are completed, which starts with the twin banks of pistons, which have cooling vanes moulded-in, and a separate bell-housing in the centre, mating to a bulkhead in the rear, then they are slipped into the one-part cowling, one for each side of the aircraft. The landing gear is built before the nacelles are installed, and the nose wheel is first, the strut having a separate scissor-link and moulded-in yoke that accepts the two-part wheel, with retraction jack heading aft into the bay. The main gear is built with a box-like frame that is made from several parts with the main strut central, leaving the wheels off until after the nacelle is fitted. Once the bay roof and the gear assembly is complete, the nacelles are lowered carefully over the struts, and are joined at the front by the engine and cowling assembly. The main wheels are each two parts, and they can be glued onto the axles at this stage, along with the bay doors that run along both sides of all the bays under the aircraft. Putting the model on its wheels for the first time, the canopy and its long top-opening section are glued over the cockpit, the props are inserted into the front of the engines, and the nose cone with six .50cal barrels protruding from the holes moulded into it. Markings There are two decal options on the sheet that is included in the box, both of which are predominantly olive drab over neutral grey, but having some brighter green splodges here and there. From the box you can build one of the following: A-20G-25 Havoc, 43-9105 J, ‘Sweet Li’l Kitten’, 312th BG, 388th BS, USAAF, Gusap, New Guinea, Summer 1944 A-20G-45-DO Boston, 43-22148, A-28-78/DU-R, No.22 Sqn., RAAF Morotai, Podzim, 1944 <ul style="list-style-type:upper-alpha"> The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion The Havoc/Boston is one of the many aircraft that served without the fanfare of the Lancaster, Spitfire or Mustang, but it served valiantly thanks to its crew, and this is a good model of the type. It’s mean and green, with a forest of guns in the nose. These things appeal to me, how about you? Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

F4F-4 Wildcat Gun Bay & Dinghy Sets (7512 & 7513 for Arma Hobby) 1:72 CMK by Special Hobby Arma Hobby have released several boxings of their excellent 1:72 Wildcat, with the most recent we’ve seen here in the Cactus Air Force boxing along with an P-39 Airacobra for good measure. Detail is excellent, but some aspects of the aircraft aren’t depicted, leaving space for CMK to create these two sets of upgrade components that can be used for a maintenance scenario, or just to have all the bits hanging out on this pugilistic little fighter. As usual with CMK's resin sets, they arrive in the familiar clear vacformed box, with the resin parts safely inside, and the instructions sandwiched between the header card at the rear. Open Gun Bays (7512) Containing twenty-four resin parts on six pour blocks, the first task will be to open the kit upper wing panels as shown in the instructions, and thin down the corresponding area inside the lower wing half to match. This is best done with either a motor tool, or by scraping with a curved scalpel, checking your work against a bright light to see whether you are getting close to going through. With the preparation done, the bay carcasses are loaded with the three gun breeches per side, plus short ammo feeds, then they are offered up to the new openings in the upper wings. A small triangular web is placed across the inner front corner, and the forward bay doors are placed near vertical along the front of each bay, with the others loose on the wing or somewhere conveniently nearby. Test fitting the bays in the wing will be key aspect of a successful completion, so take your time, and test, test test! Conclusion With only seven parts on two casting blocks, this set needs a small section removing from the spine of your model, as show in the instructions. A floor panel is inserted to span the gap, with a front and rear bulkhead joined by a rib along the line of the spine. The resin dinghy pack is shaped to fit the space, and two clamshell doors are fixed to the lower edges of the bay for the earlier mark, and for later airframes, only one door opens to the starboard side. Conclusion A pair of simple sets that will increase the detail further on what is already a great kit. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

C-37C Mojave ‘Deuce USMC’ (SH72172) 1:72 Special Hobby Following WWII, the US Marines were looking for a heavy-lift helicopter to transport troops to and from the battlefield, and of course Sikorsky were involved, successfully offering the S-56 design, which resulted in an order in 1951, with airframe delivery by the middle of the decade. The C-37A was the initial Marine variant, followed by an Army order for more airframes that were later upgraded to the C-37B standard, which had stabilisation equipment included to make the crew’s life easier. The Marine variants were redesignated C-37C later. It was powered by a pair of Pratt & Whitney R2800s that was used in the B-29 Super Fortress late in WWII, suspended outboard from the fuselage sides on bulbous pods, driving the rotor via shafts that entered the sides of the fuselage. Having the engines outboard, their sponsons also containing the retractable main gear, which left the majority of the fuselage space for load carriage, whether it was a troop of twenty-six fully armed soldiers, or a pair of lightweight 4x4 jeep-style vehicles, all of which could exit the aircraft from a pair of clamshell doors in the nose as well as the side door. It was the largest helicopter of its day, and was also the last heavy to use piston engines, later designs switching to the lighter and more powerful turboshaft engine. It was involved in a small way in the Vietnam conflict, where it was used to recover crew and equipment that would otherwise have been lost behind enemy lines or in otherwise inaccessible places. Despite its capability and stubby appeal, it had a relatively short service life, with a comparatively small number built that left service at the end of the 60s. It was replaced by two types rather than one, the CH-53 Sea Stallion (Nickname: Jolly Green Giant), and the CH-54 Tarhe that’s better known commercially as the Sky Crane, both of which were larger and used more reliable and compact turboshaft engines. The Kit This is a reboxing of a Special Hobby kit from 2007, with some additional parts tooled in the interim, and given the era, it is more multi-media than you might expect. The kit arrives in a red and grey themed box, and inside are four sprues in grey styrene, a clear sprue, a bag of resin parts, a sheet of Photo-Etch (PE) brass that is bagged together with the decals and a slip of clear-printed acetate, plus the instruction booklet that is printed in colour on glossy paper. Detail is good with crisply engraved panel lines, raised and recessed surface features, which includes mesh panels and stiffening straps moulded into the surface. Construction begins with the broad cockpit, mounting on a resin floor that has plenty of detail moulded-in, adding resin rudder pedals, PE centre console instrument insert, and the wide coaming, which receives a PE instrument panel with the printed acetate performing the job of the dials, after painting the rear of the acetate white so the dials show up through the holes in the PE. The pilot seats have a pair of PE lap belts with extra fixtures draped over them, and these are joined to the framework moulded into the cockpit floor, adding the rear bulkhead plus a couple of raised PE frames behind the seats, onto which the shoulder belts attach and drape down over the back of the seats. The resin cyclic and collective sticks glue into the floor and the seat surround respectively, and the instrument panel assembly is fitted on a lug onto the front of the centre console. You now have a choice of building your model with or without the sliding side door, which requires cutting out from the starboard fuselage side, following the panel lines with curved top corners. The space inside the panel lines is sacrificial, so you don’t have to be too careful removing the plastic, perhaps starting with a motor tool to take the majority out, then falling back to sanding sticks as you get closer to the line. Once the decision is made and the optional mess is cleaned up, there are three windows on the starboard side, and four more on the port side, all inserted from inside. The fuselage is joined around the cockpit, inserting a shallow tub into the rotor head, and gluing several grab-handles to the sides unless you’d rather leave them off until after major painting is done. There are two vertical tramlines running down the sides of the fuselage under the sponson roots, the forward line having a 1mm hole drilled near the bottom, and a depression between the lines should be filled in. Speaking of sponsons, they’re next. The outer cowling half of each sponson is made up from two parts, with space for the mesh inserts that are supplied as styrene for strength, three of which insert into each outer. The resin bay parts have their detail painted up, then they are trapped between the outer cowling assembly, and the single inner half, adding the nose with offset PE mesh insert at the front, and a pair of flared conical exhausts at the rear. The landing gear strut is a long straight leg with lightened stiffening webs near the top pivot, and a short cross-axle at the bottom, fixing PE scissor-links, a bracket and tie-down eye to each one, with a wheel on each end of the stub axle. The strut is inserted into a hole at the front of the bay, and it is braced by a three-part resin retraction jack, then the completed assembly is joined to the fuselage on a two-part aerofoil, which has a small cut-out at the leading outboard edge, and has a representation of the drive-shaft inserted during assembly, as shown in a diagram from overhead. The canopy is a single moulding, which has a pair of PE rails attached carefully to the sides, replicating the siders for the side windows, with two windscreen wipers on the front, all of which can be “glued” in place by your preferred clear acrylic gloss varnish, such as Klear/Future. A two-layer overhead panel is glued inside the centre of the canopy, and here something stronger would be suggested, such as GS-Hypo cement to give it a little more grip, as you don’t want it rattling around inside later if the model receives a jolt. The rotor head is well-detailed resin, and each of the five blades is inserted into the root, adding a small actuator cylinder to the side, remembering that this era was pre-composites, so blades used to bend with gravity when stopped. To achieve the level of droop you require, find a curved surface such as a bowl, tape the blades into position equally, then pour very hot water over them, followed by cold to fix them to shape. The rotor fits into the well at the head of the cowling, but is best left off until later for convenience's sake. The canopy and the clear lower nose are glued into the spaces in the fuselage front, fitting some more grab-handles and resin sensors around the area, and a few more toward the top of the rotor cowling. The tail rotor is also resin, and has a conical mount with a pair of PE actuators on the inner surface, plus four more on the outside, plugging the styrene blades into the holes in each root. The mount fits into a cup at the top of the tail, with a resin and PE sensor fixed near the bottom, and the one-part tail wheel and strut underneath. If you elected to cut out the side door earlier, its replacement is mounted on a pair of slide-rails that you can find on the resin blocks, and although they look broken at first glance, the support legs are cut to different lengths according to the shape of the fuselage. The door has its window inserted, and a pair of PE antennae in the centre, with a resin step under and another PE antenna just in front where it rolls into the underside. This boxing includes a pair of two-part fuel tanks that are suspended on pylons under the engine nacelles with V-shaped braces that end just under the winglets. More handles, antennae and a little exhaust-shaped PE part are glued to the port side, then the last task is to drill 1.2mm holes in the sides of the boom to mount the stabilisers and their support braces. Markings There are three options on the decal sheet, but it shouldn’t be a surprise that they are all painted green that was so prevalent with American helos at the time. They all have the appearance of googly eyes on their engine sponsons, with unit and airframe markings differentiating them. From the box you can build one of the following: The decals are designed by Dead Design, and printed using a digital process by Aviaprint, and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion There seems to be a bit of a Helo buzz on the site this week, and I’m OK with that. It’s a nicely detailed model, especially in the cockpit area, and I sincerely wish it was in my scale. In 1:72 the fuselage is almost as large as the 1:48 Sea King I’m currently building, so it’s a bit of a large one. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

3D Printed Small Arms (P35009/11/13/17/18) MG3 Machine Gun, M2 Flamethrower, MG42 Machine Gun, M1917 Machine Gun, AK-74MN Assault Rifle 1:35 Special Hobby Guns. They’re everywhere, especially where there’s fighting. Special Hobby have taken to printing many of their upgrade and detail sets in attractive orange resin, and the detail is phenomenal. They’re bringing out a range of small arms as part of their offering, for use in dioramas, to increase the detail of figures, and as personal items in and on AFVs and softskins. Each set arrives in a clear bubble pack with a cardboard header and instruction at the rear. The 3D printed parts are secured in foam inserts that are cut to suit the shape of them, and there are small Photo-Etch (PE) frets of brass separated from the resin by a piece of clear acrylic, adding straps and other small parts to the models. This collection of sets is spread over different eras of warfare, and should be chosen for their suitability to the models you are making, not just because they look great, although it is tempting. MG3 Machine Gun (P35009) Although this looks very similar to a WWII MG42, it is its modern offspring, developed from a gun that was almost perfect, with little in the way of changes needed other than reducing the rate of fire, as bullets aren’t cheap and can only make the enemy a certain amount of dead. There are two of these weapons in the box, supported on printed surrounds along with a bipod and large drum magazine in resin, plus a sling and a short length of expended link on the PE sheet that is glued to the open breech opposite the magazine. M2 Flamethrower (P35011) This backpack-mounted weapon started service in WWII, seeing heavy use in the Pacific Theatre, where it was used to root out enemy soldiers from underground tunnels and bunkers. The set consists of six printed resin parts, building the three bottles on the frame, then adding a piece of wire from your own stock as the hose that connects the gun to the backpack. The PE sheet contains a two-part belt system, with additional thicknesses over the operator’s shoulders to reduce chaffing. You can see a few layer marks on the bottles, but those should disappear under primer and then paint. MG42 German WWII Machine Gun Late (P35013) The basis for many modern machine guns, the MG42 was a development of the MG34, intended to reduce the cost and increase speed of production as the war progressed away from Germany’s favour. Its formidable rate of fire garnered the nickname ‘Hitler’s buzz-saw’ amongst others. There are two of these guns on the printed bases, plus another base that contains four drum magazines and a pair of bipods. The PE sheet contains slings and a length of spent link the PE sheet that is glued to the open breech opposite the magazine. M1917 US Machine Gun (P35017) Although it looked visually similar to the ubiquitous Maxim gun, from which many other early machine guns were developed, the M1917 was mechanically different, and lighter than its competitor, leading to it remaining in service until long after WWII, and as recently as the Vietnam war. When crew-served, it was usually mounted on a tripod with its water jacket replenished from a can via hose, the ammo fed from boxes mounted to the side of the breech. The set is larger than the others in terms of parts, totalling 20 in orange resin, plus a small fret of PE that makes up the mount and other small parts. The two PE halves of the mounting frame join around resin parts at the front and rear, with a piece of wire from your own stock, then the adjustment levers and wheels are fixed on the outer surface. The tripod is built from a centre with three legs, adjustment gear in resin and PE, plus a PE strap around the rear leg, onto which the mount drops. The gun is a single resin part to which the PE trigger, ladder sight and cocking arm with resin handle are glued, then it is lowered onto the mount to complete it, choosing one of two types of magazine to hang on the left side of the breech, with a length of PE ammo common to both types. The WWI and WWII era magazines have different details, as explained in the diagrams on the instruction sheet. A spare magazine of either era can be placed ready on the ground near the tripod, and the water can is linked to the front of the jacket by another length of wire from your own stock to represent the hose. AK-74MN Soviet/Russian Assault Rifle w/Folding Stock (P35018) This was the standard rifle with the Soviets and is still in service with their Russian Federation successors, plus many of their Allies, former satellite states and other customers. There are two rifles in protective printing bases, and they are complete save for their slings, which can be found on the PE fret in the box. Conclusion 3D printing came of age, and it really shows in these weapons sets. Whichever one you choose for your next project, you won’t be disappointed, just remember to anneal the PE slings and straps carefully so they bend more naturally. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Mirage IIIC Armée de L’Air (SH72476) 1:72 Special Hobby The Dassault Mirage III is one of the most recognisable aircraft to emerge from the Dassault Aviation stable in post war France with its distinctive delta wings and sharply pointed nose. The Mirage III grew out of French government studies for a light weight all weather interceptor able to reach an altitude 18,000 meters (59,500+ ft) in six minutes and able to reach Mach 1.3 in level flight. The tail less delta combined the wing with an area ruled Coke bottle-shaped fuselage to achieve such speed, minimising buffeting and other compressibility related issues that had plagued early supersonic designs. The Mirage IIIC would remain in French service from 1961 until 1988, and although there were fewer than 100 airframes built of this mark, it formed the basis for many sub-variants that were sold to overseas operators, including Israel, who operated the Mirage IIICJ that had less advanced avionics and some aspects of the design removed or simplified. Nevertheless, Israel found these aircraft and weapons systems more than a match for anything her neighbours were able to field during the Six-Day and Yom Kippur wars, with the aircraft being a resounding success in combat with Syrian, Jordanian and Egyptian aircraft, many of which were of Soviet origin. Israel then sold some of these aircraft to Argentina when they had been replaced by more modern designs. The Kit This is a reboxing of a new tool by Special Hobby of this Dassault success story, and it shows by the level of detail that is present. There is fine detail to be seen throughout all the sprues, including a crystal-clear canopy sprue, and a well-printed sheet of decals. The kit arrives in a modest top-opening box, and inside are five sprues in grey styrene, a small clear sprue in a Ziploc bag, a decal sheet in a resealable bag, and an A5 instruction booklet printed in colour on glossy paper. Construction begins with the cockpit, which consists of a tub with separate front and rear bulkheads that has the side consoles moulded-in, to which the rudder pedals, control column, instrument panel with decal, and the coaming with a clear HUD unit is attached to the top. The exhaust is made up from three sections to obtain detail, with a two-part lip, and a single section representing the rear of the engine that has a bulkhead moulded-in to secure it within the fuselage. The intake bullet fairings have a small insert added to each one, and the nose gear bay is glued to an insert that forms the lower surface of the nose, after which you can begin to close the fuselage, adding a two-part outer fairing to the exhaust before putting the trunk and cockpit between the two halves, installing the nose gear insert below once the halves are together. The tail fin is separate, and you have a choice of bullet fairings for within the intakes either side of the cockpit depending on which decal options you choose. Once you have chosen, the outer fairing can be glued over it to complete the intake trunking. The lower wings are moulded as a single part that incorporates the underside of the fuselage, needing a few fairings removing and a choice of two rectangular inserts installing before you can proceed. The main bays are added to the inside and are painted along with the roof details that are moulded into the upper sides of the wings, which are separate parts that are fitted after the fuselage is glued on the lower wing. Flying surface actuators are joined to the wing, and a circular light is inserted into a hole in the underside of the nose, leaving you with a very Mirage-shaped model that just needs the fine details and some paint to finish it. The nose gear is built from an A-frame to which the two halves of the yoke are added along with a rectangular bay door and the single-part wheel. The main gear struts are each one part with two-part wheels, and these are attached within their bays with the addition of a pair of retraction struts and bay doors on the outer and inner edges. The nose leg has a long retraction jack and another rectangular door at the front, plus a third that sits on the side of the bay with a retraction jack projecting into the bay. Several antennae, pitot probe in the nose and other small parts are dotted around the airframe, and the last act is to insert the ejection seat, which is made from five parts, and is covered by the fixed windscreen and pivoting canopy, which can be fixed in place in the raised or lowered position. A diagram shows the weapons locations for your ease, and these are included in the box, as follows: 2 x AIM-9D Sidewinder A2A Missile 2 x Matra Magic A2A Missile 1 x Matra R530 A2A Missile for the centreline 2 x 625L Fuel Tank 2 x 1300L Fuel Tank 2 x 500L Fuel Tank Each one is provided with a pylon and/or adapter rail, with separate perpendicular fins on many of the missiles, and a tail cone for the 500L fuel tanks. Markings There are four decal options included on the sheet, and you are provided with a four-view page for each one, complete with colour call-outs in Gunze Aqueous and lacquer. From the box you can build one of the following: No.28, 2_EG, Escadron de Chasse EC 1/2 Cigones, Armée de L’Air, Base Aérienne BA 102 Dijon-Longvic, France 1961 No.77, 13PG, EC 2/13 Alpes, BA132, Colmar Meyenheim, France, 1963 No.30, 10-RE, EC 2/10 Seine, BA120 Creil, France, May 1978 No.27, EC 2/10 Vexin, BA188 Djibouti (Ambouli International Airport), République de Djibouti, November 1978-September 1988 The decals appear to be printed using the same digital processes as Eduard are now using, and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. I mention Eduard because from 2021, the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion A very well-detailed and crisply moulded new tooling of this important French fighter in service with their own forces. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

PT Boat Weapons Set 2, 3 & 5 (N72031, N72032 & N72042 for Revell) Twin 12.7mm AA Brownings, 37mm M3 Gun & 37mm M4 Autocannon 1:72 CMK Navy Series by Special Hobby The American PT boat series were fast, agile and well-armed to deal with the Japanese enemy vessels in the Pacific theatre for the most part. Revell’s kits of these famous sea-borne warriors are quite old now, so upgrades to the level of detail to modern standards is a worthwhile proposition. We reviewed sets 1 Mk.4 20mm Oerlikon and 4 Mk.50 Rocket Launcher out of order, and now these three sets seem to complete the weapons upgrades… along with the other sets we’ve reviewed here and here that weren’t numbered. The smaller sets arrive in blue-themed blister packs with the resin cocooned inside, separated from the Photo-Etch (PE) by a clear acetate sheet, and protected at the rear by a sheet of dark grey foam, with the instructions flat against the card header. The larger set, #5 is supplied in a cardboard box that has the resin and PE separated in their own bags, plus a few foam peanuts and the folded instructions helping to keep the parts safe. Set 2 – Twin 12.7mm AA Brownings (N72031) This set contains two twin anti-aircraft mounts in protective frames, plus lengths of ammunition link for each of them on the PE sheet, four in total, one for each gun in both paired mounts. The guns are 3D printed, and the detail is exceptional, down to the perforations in the cooling jacket and the cocking handles. Care must be taken when removing the parts from their print-base and surround, but the orange resin that SH are using is both strong and flexible, which is good news all round, especially for ham-fisted modellers like me. Set 3 - 37mm Gun M3 (N72032) Containing the gun’s barrel with integral breech, plus the perforated breech guard on the PE sheet, this set is engineered to replace the kit part while utilising the rest of the kit parts for the trunnions and adjustment gear. Set 5 – 37mm M4 Autocannon (N72042) The largest set of the three contains five resin parts and one PE part to create the autocannon version of the 37mm cannon, including the large deck plate with cut-out, the tapering riser with pinion, plus the D-shaped magazine of 37mm shells that feeds the breech with rounds, fitting above the breech, augmented by adding a PE deflector grille vertically down the centre of the D, locating in a groove marked into the resin. The model is completed by fitting the two grips on a cross-beam at the rear of the breech. Conclusion The rear of the instruction sheet for the autocannon shows the full range of upgrades for the base kit, which is extensive and the kit will be immensely improved for their addition. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Hurricane Mk.I/II Exhausts Ejector & Fishtail Types (Q32410 & Q32411 for Revell) 1:32 CMK Quick & Easy by Special Hobby Revell have recently issued a modern tooling of the mighty Hurricane in 1:32 as reviewed here, although it does have a few issues such as a simplified canopy and solid exhausts, but is otherwise a nicely tooled, well-detailed kit. These sets aim to remedy the shortcomings in the exhausts, and there are two flavours available, depicting the earlier Ejector type exhausts fitted to the initial Mk.I Hurricanes, and some of the first Mk.IIs, with the Fishtail style for the later Mk.IIs. Each set contains two sets of exhausts, one for each side of the Merlin engine of course, and they arrive in a clear plastic bag with a thick card hearer and instructions inside. The package is held closed by a single staple through all elements save the resin. The parts are all well-detailed with fine weld-lines and recessed tips to each of the exhausts that give the impression of a hollow part, the effect of which could be further deepened by adding some Black 3.0 or Musou black into the recesses. The earlier ejector type has a circular aft port, with the two forward of it a curved open slot, while the later fishtail pipes are all narrow arcs that gave just a little extra forward thrust to the airframe, to boost performance in air-to-air combat where it mattered most. Ejector Type Exhausts (Q32410) Fishtail Type Exhausts (Q32411) Conclusion Whichever set you choose, it’s a well-detailed and cost-effective remedy to one of the model’s weak points that is a drop-in replacement. It could actually be considered easier than gluing the kit halves together and dealing with the seams, and the extra detail is a bonus. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Towbar for MiG-15/17 and other jets (P48006) 1:48 Special Hobby During the early part of the Cold War, a standard agricultural Tractor, the Zetor 25 saw extensive service in the Soviet military as a ground-handling tractor, towing MiG-15s and MiG-17s around the airfield once the engines were shut down. Fitted with a custom towing bar, they were a common sight chugging around the perry tracks, in-and-out of hangars on Soviet era military bases until they and the jets they towed were replaced by more modern, capable designs as technology improved and the aircraft became heavier. The towbar comprises a main frame with curved skid underneath, adding the towing eye and compression gaiter to the front, then creating a stabilising wire from your own stock of fine wire or thread that is tipped at each end with PE eyes from the fret that hook to the main gear legs of your chosen MiG, and wrap around a pulley printed integrally to the main towbar part, which on the real thing adjusted position as the vehicle turned corners, a simple mechanism that cleverly evened out the tension on the gear legs. The yoke at the rear of the bar attaches to each side of the aircraft’s nose wheel hub, and the towing eye of course connects to the hitch at the back of its tractor. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Potez 25 A2 Jupiter Version (SH72420) 1:72 Special Hobby The Potez 25 was a French single engined, two-seater biplane designed in the interwar period and used widely by air forces around the world. Following development of the Potez 15, the designers attempted to build a larger, more flexible type that would be used in a variety of roles, including as a fighter, bomber escort, light bomber and reconnaissance platform, and this design became the Potez 25. The A2 variant was primarily a reconnaissance aircraft, powered by either a Salmson radial engine, a Lorraine inline engine or a Hispano Suiza engine. The Potez 25 had a respectable range of 373 miles and a maximum speed of 132 mph that was about average for the period, and even armed with 7.7mm machine guns, it was also capable of carrying 200kg of bombs. Surprisingly, the aircraft could quite easily be converted from sesquiplane to parasol-winged monoplane, and served with the Romanian Air Force in this configuration, hardly missing the smaller lower wing. In total, over 4,000 examples were built, including many under licence. The Aircraft was license built in Poland for the Polish Armed Forces. 47 aircraft were powered by a PZL Bristol Jupiter VIIF radial engine, as the original engines were in short supply in Poland at the time. The last example rolled off the production line in 1936, and any that were in service at the outbreak of WWII were hopelessly outclassed by more modern German Aircraft. The Kit The original boxing of this kit arrived in 2019 under the Azur Frrom logo, with new parts in subsequent boxings from both them and Special Hobby. This boxing depicts the Jupiter engined variant from the late 20s and early 30s, in the service of foreign operators Estonia, Finland and Yugoslavia. The kit arrives in a small top-opening box, and inside is a resealable clear foil bag that holds five sprues in grey styrene, a Ziploc bagged small clear sprue, another bag of 3D printed small parts in orange resin, a fret of Photo-Etch (PE) with a relatively large decal sheet in their own resealable envelope, and the instruction booklet printed in colour on portrait A5 glossy paper. Detail is good with engraved panel lines and louvres, raised and recessed features, and a well-rendered radial engine that gives its name to the boxing. Construction begins with the cockpit floor, which has two longitudinal ribs added to the top surface, a rudder bar near the front, and the seat toward the rear. A bulkhead and aft rudder bar are slotted behind the seat, adding two control columns into holes in the floor’s centreline. The aft cockpit is built inverted initially so that the two-part camera can be fixed to the underside, the pilot’s instrument panel with decal is placed on a cross-rail to be fixed to the starboard side of the fuselage along with the cockpit floor and the camera assembly, with another short L-shaped section with a U-bar projecting rearwards fitted into the port fuselage side along with a small seat and two canisters. Once all the detail painting is completed, the two halves can be joined, closing the underside with an insert that contains a downward firing Lewis gun fitted with a plate mag. The separate nose that allows the different engine options to be portrayed is built from two halves, adding a linked U-shaped cabane strut into the corner before trapping it in place with the top cowling portion. A small hole on the front of the fuselage is filled, making two pits nearby with a drill bit for later use. The lower wing has a spar joining them to full span, and two small holes need filling on the leading edges before they are slotted into the groove in the front of the lower fuselage, after which the nose assembly can be glued in place, trapping the wing in position. A windscreen, tubular sight and machine gun with ammo feed are installed, the latter in a recess that should be lengthened into the nose area before gluing. The upper wings are full-span, and join with the lowers on two angled interplane struts, plus another two cabane struts that plug into the upper fuselage just forward of the cockpit. The elevators are moulded as a single part, and must be marked with a drill according to the given locations on a separate drawing, then the part is laid on the rear of the fuselage into the recess at the tail. The marks made before are the locations for the V-struts that brace them, fitting the rudder into a slot over the elevators and marking the sides with a drill before placement. The undercarriage axle is supported beneath the fuselage by a three-part assembly of struts that forms a W, adding the tyres with two hubs at each end of the axle. A simple tail skid fits beneath the fuselage to support the rear. There are several PE parts applied to the upper wing, including aileron actuators and small aerofoils on short pins that sit in the hinge-point of the ailerons. More actuators are added underneath, then three rigging diagrams show how to lace up the wings, using a gaggle of PE turnbuckles that are marked in red to assist the process. It’s good to see these forming part of a biplane kit, as they make the task much simpler. Flipping the model on its back allows fitment of the paired bombs on racks under the wings, the crew step under the fuselage, and two 3D printed aerodynamic fairings that fit to the leading edge of the lower wings about centre span. The model is without any form of motive power at this stage, the Jupiter engine supplied as a single well-detailed part that fixes to the flat front of the fuselage, and is hemmed in by the multi-legged cowling before fitting the two-bladed prop into the bell-housing. The rear gunner’s position is fitted with a Scarff ring and U-mount with a pair of V-braces at the sides, and twin Lewis guns with plate mags that for the day must have given any attackers approaching from behind pause for thought. Scheme B wears a pair of skis on the landing gear axles, which comprise the ski parts and a conical adapter, plus a 3D printed conical spinner in the centre of the prop. Markings There are three options on the decal sheet in the service of different nations. From the box you can build one of the following: No.100, 2 Division, Estonian Aviation Regiment, Tartu, 1930 PO-40, Finnish Air Force, 1928 No.28 Royal Yugoslav Air Force, Yugoslavia, 1933 The decals appear to be printed using the same digital processes as Eduard are now using, and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. I mention Eduard because from 2021, the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion An interesting reboxing of this interwar biplane in some more unusual schemes, with plenty of detail into the bargain. The addition of skis is a fun option. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Afrikakorps Soldier Riding Camel (F72388 & F48389) 1:72 & 1:48 CMK from Special Hobby During WWII in the African theatre of operations, both sides used the tools available to them to fight and transport themselves to the next battle, so naturally the camel featured at some point. The camel, known colloquially as the ‘ship of the desert’, is a large mammal that is as cantankerous as it is capable, having a huge fat storage hump on its back that allows it to travel for up to 40 days without a proper drink, its long legs and feet making it a capable of travelling vast distances without taking one step forward and two back in sand dunes. They’re still used everywhere there’s a desert, although 4x4 transport is taking over where the need arises. These two sets are 3D printed in both main aviation scales to go with your Afrikakorps or Luftwaffe desert diorama, whether it’s in the background or playing a primary role. Both sets are supplied in the usual clamshell box with card header, the colours and branding different by scale for reasons that aren’t immediately apparent. The instructions are simple, and are hidden between the resin part and the backing, consisting of a simple visual of the model with painting examples. The 1:72 camel still has many supports attached to the underside, as well as a separate back to the seat, which plugs into a slot behind the driver, who is wearing a pith helmet (hold the jokes, please). With only a little work to do in order to remove the attachment pips on the underside, it should be ready for paint pretty quickly, and the detail is superb, even down to the recreation of the harness controlling the animal’s movement, as well as it can be at least. F72388 1:72 F48389 1:48 Conclusion Detail is fabulous, with every aspect of the rider and camel carefully replicated, including the shaggy texture of the animal’s fur and its goofy face, however it looks a little too even-tempered based on the camels I’ve met before. Camels are never happy. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Nakajima Ki-43-II Ko/Otsu Hayabusa ‘Japan’s Allies’ (SH72479) 1:72 Special Hobby The Nakajima Ki-43-II Otsu Hayabusa, known to the Allies as the 'Oscar' was a single-seat, single-engined fighter that was flown by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force from 1941 until the end of the War. The design utilised the same 14-cylinder Nakajima Sakae radial engine as the infamous Mitsubishi Zero, and in fact in the heat of battle, the two aircraft were often confused by Allied aviators. Just like the Zero, the Hayabusa was light, nimble and exceptionally manoeuvrable, and just like the Zero, its Achilles heel was a lack of armour and self-sealing fuel tanks. The Ki-43-II introduced a more powerful engine with two-stage supercharger, strengthened wings with hardpoints for fuel tanks or bombs, armour for the pilot and basic self-sealing fuel tanks. In service the Hayabusa at first enjoyed enormous success thanks to its phenomenal rate of turn and lively performance. This was soon countered by the introduction of more advanced Allied fighters with heavier armour and armament, which removed much of the Ki-43's previous advantage. During the war the Japanese supplied their allies with fighters as a matter of course, including Manchuria, a puppet-state of Japan and Thailand. They weren’t used in great numbers because of Japan’s own need, but this changed after WWII, with China operating captured airframes, France, Korea and Indonesia procuring their aircraft from derelict stocks that would have otherwise been scrapped, but which they repaired to flying condition. The Kit This is a reboxing with new decals of the 2009 kit from Special Hobby, and it arrives in a modest top-opening box with a brace of Manchurian Oscars flying over broken cloud with a verdant stretch of land beneath them. Inside the box is a resealable clear foil bag with five sprues in grey styrene, a clear sprue in its own Ziploc bag, decals in another resealable bag, and the instruction booklet that is printed in colour on glossy paper in an A5 portrait form factor. Detail is good throughout with fine engraved panel lines, raised and recessed features in all the usual places such as cockpit, engine and landing gear bays. Construction begins with the cockpit, which is based on a flat floor, to which the two-part seat, rudder pedals and control column are attached, painting them and the sidewalls Nakajima cockpit green, and adding sidewall details depending on which decal option you are building. The instrument panel is fitted to the front of the cockpit opening during closure of the fuselage halves, at which point the single part elevators are fixed to the sides of the tail on twin pegs, with the tail wheel below, then creating the wings from full-span lower, and split uppers that leave space for the fuselage to fill. There are two cowling options for this boxing, both using the same engine part that is moulded into a bulkhead at the rear, fitting into the top cowling with two side panels, lining up on the ribs inside and painting the exhausts that project from under the cooling gills a suitable colour. The completed cowling is mated to the flat front of the fuselage and given a three-blade prop with separate spinner that slots into the hole in the centre of the bell-housing, with decal option A having a chin intake that comprises three parts. The canopy is split between windscreen and opener, first installing the gunsight and headrest at either end of the short opening before gluing it in position, then adding an antenna mast to the cowling on the starboard side in front of the cockpit. A clear landing light and pitot probe are inserted into the leading edge of the port wing, and you are advised to string an antenna wire of 0.02mm between the mast and tip of the tail fin. The landing gear struts are single parts that accept the wheels at the lower end, and have a captive bay door fixed to the outer side, adding another small door almost flush to the wing at the edge of the bay. Decal option C carries a pair of two-part fuel tanks that are held on a small pylon with a pair of sway-braces inserted on pegs, then an additional diagram shows their location 27mm out from the model’s centreline. Markings There are three options on the decal sheet, one Manchurian and two Thai aircraft, all wearing substantially different schemes and decals, none of which could be considered mainstream or common-place. From the box you can build one of the following: Ki-43-II Koh Hayabusa, Manchuka Imperial Air Force, Manchuria, 1945 Ki-43-II Otsu Hayabusa, Foong Bin 15 (15 Air Sqn.), Royal Thai Air Force, Don Muang, Thailand, 1943 Ki-43-II Otsu Hayabusa, Flt. Lt. Therdsak Worrasap, Foong Bin 15 (15 Air Sqn.), Royal Thai Air Force, Don Muang, Thailand, Autumn, 1944 The decals appear to be printed using the same digital processes as Eduard are now using, and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. I mention Eduard because from 2021, the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion A different take on a late war Japanese fighter in the hands of lesser-known operators, with some interesting schemes. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

DH.100 Vampire FB.6 ‘Pinocchio Nose’ (SH72391) 1:72 Special Hobby The De Havilland DH.100 Vampire was built to fulfil a wartime requirement for a small, lightweight jet fighter for the Royal Air Force. Although the prototype aircraft flew almost two years before the end of the war, the production aircraft arrived too late to see service during the conflict. Despite this, well over 3,000 examples were produced overall and the aircraft enjoyed a relatively long service life by the standards of the day. Powered by a single De Havilland Goblin turbojet that was regularly upgraded, the diminutive and low-slung Vampire was capable of almost 550mph and had a service ceiling of over 40,000 ft. In common with many other fighters of the day, it was armed with four 20mm cannon, as reliable guided missiles weren’t yet in production. The prototypes for the F.3 were converted from F.1s, and around 300 brand-new airframes were constructed for the RAF as a single seat fighter, with a substantial number of those exported to Canada and Norway. It ran a Goblin Mk.II engine, which was replaced with a Mk.III. when the time came to upgrade the type to the FB.5 and the tropicalised variant the FB.9, both of which were based upon the FB.3 with improvements. The French Air Force took almost 100 FB.5s on charge at the end of the forties, which went straight into operational use. The FB.6 was powered by the Goblin III, and almost 600 airframes were built for the RAF, Switzerland who license built some of their own, and Sweden, where it was referred to as the J 28B. The Swiss airframes, some of which were later fitted with an extended nose cone that garnered the nickname ‘Pinocchio Nose’ were taken into service in 1949 and remained until the late 60s and early 70s. Some aircraft carried on as target drones or trainers until the 90s, but they were phased out of the fighter role rapidly due to the speed of development in aviation at the time, initially replaced by Hawker Hunters that also remained in service until the 1990s, when cracks were found in their wings, leading to a temporary lack of air to ground capability for the ever-so bellicose Swiss. The Kit This tooling originated in 2014, and is a reboxing with new parts and decals to depict the Swiss aircraft more accurately. The kit arrives in a small end-opening box with a painting of the most colourful decal option on the front, and profiles for all the decal options on the back. Inside the box are three sprues of grey styrene, a small fret of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, a bag of grey resin parts, the decal sheet and instructions that are printed in colour on glossy paper in an A5 portrait form. Detail is excellent, with crisp engraved panel lines, raised and recessed features, and cleverly engineered intakes for the Goblin engine that double as spars. Construction begins with the cockpit, starting with the floor and adding the rear bulkhead and head armour, with a choice of a simple WWII style seat or the Martin Baker ejection seat that was fitted from 1960 onwards. There are decals for the traditional seat that could be reused for the ejection seat, although whether they’re accurate or not, you’ll need to check. The control column is planted in the floor in front of the pilot, and the instrument panel with gunsight and dial decal is inserted into two slots at the front. The floor is then glued into the lower fuselage nacelle along with the engine front that is crisply moulded into the bulkhead, with the engine rear dropped into the front of the exhaust trunking that is moulded into the fuselage. The upper fuselage is painted and has a pair of equipment boxes inserted into the cockpit area, then the fuselage halves are closed, adding either the shorter nose, or the longer Pinocchio nose that was fitted in 1980 to many airframes still in service. You are also advised to insert additional weight into the nose, although a number isn’t given. The elevator panel is prepared with a pair of balance horns, while the wing halves are glued together after painting the intake trunking area silver before they are installed on the sides of the fuselage nacelle, using the curved trunking section as a short spar, and filling the remaining gap with the intake inserts, which have vertical splitters moulded into them, and wingtips slotted into the open ends of the wings. The booms are both made from two halves split vertically, and they are inserted into the holes in the trailing edges of the wings with the elevator panel trapped between the two fins. Some decal options have a resin antenna under the port boom, while others do not. The main gear legs are single parts with a captive bay door and two-part wheel with hub, adding the outer doors on their hinges, then retraction jacks linking them to the inside of the bay. The nose gear leg is similarly a single part with two-part wheel that is trapped in place by fitting the starboard half of the yoke to the leg. The highly visible nose bay door at the front differs between nose variants, while the sideways opening rear door is common, both attaching to the sides of the bay on their hinges. Sitting the model on its own three wheels allows you to glue the windscreen in place at the front of the cockpit, and the sliding canopy behind, which you can leave open should you wish. There is an optional decal that runs down the side that was fitted from 1960 onwards, so check the profiles for details. There is a choice of things to hang under the wings that includes a pair of resin tanks that have a small rear section added, plus two resin supports, and a diagram that shows their correct location just outboard of the wheel bays. The other option is two pairs of unguided rockets that are fitted to the inner wing panels either side of the fuselage, and have four PE stabilising fins each that fit into recesses at the rear of the rockets. Markings Whilst there are only four decal options on the sheet, there are alternative colours provided for the candy-striped aircraft, as the orange was later repainted to red. From the box you can build one of the following: FB.6 J-1082, Zielfliegerkorps 5 (Aerial Target Corps) at Sion, Flugwaffe (Swiss Air Force), 1980s FB.6 J-1156, local build airframe with a British built engine, Emmen, Flugwaffe (Swiss Air Force), 1984 FB.6 J-1154, 2 Sqn., Dubendorf, Flugwaffe (Swiss Air Force), 1980s FB.6 J-1010, 2 Sqn., Dubendorf, Flugwaffe (Swiss Air Force), 1964 The decals appear to be printed using the same digital processes as Eduard are now using, and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. I mention Eduard because from 2021, the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion Having not seen one of Special Hobby’s 1:72 Vampires before, the level of detail is impressive, and the Pinocchio nose takes it away from the norm, as do the Swiss decal options, especially the colourful striped airframe. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Special Hobby (SH) is to reissue in 2023 the Classic Airframes 1/48th Avro Anson Mk.I with two new injected sprues under ref. SH48211 Source: https://www.specialhobby.net/2023/07/sh48211-avro-anson-mki-148-boxart.html box art V.P.

We got this in to review the other day, and I fancied a quick build, so left the box open after I posted the review here, and knocked it together pretty quickly, although it was done in between other things, such as fixing my old folks' faulty radiator and annoying phone system, plus the usual It goes together nicely with very little effort, other than trying to keep my sausage fingers from breaking bits off it of course I painted it with some Alclad white primer with a touch of grey added to give it an off-white look, then gave it about half a dozen coats of Alclad Aqua Gloss, applying the decals about three coats in at about the same time as a mixture of Ultimate's Concrete and Dark Dirt washes to the panel lines. I picked out the rivets in mid grey with a dot of off-white on top so they didn't look too prominent, slapped some metallics on the motor, added a beige colour followed by some brown oils on the prop, and grey over a black undercoat on the stand, using some Green Stuff World Chrome for the castors, and highlighting things as I went. Here she is. Target practice for the Ukrainian troops. ...and the underside: It's 8cm from nose to tail, so not a very large model. I'm gonna glue the frame to the underside now I've taken the pics, and as it doesn't take up much room in the cabinet, it'll get in there pretty soon now

Saab J/A-21R First Swedish Made Jet (SH72480) 1:72 Special Hobby Saab have always been innovative in their aircraft designs, and the J-21 certainly was ahead of its time when it began gestation in the early years of WWII. Although Sweden were neutral, they believed in having a strong defence force to dissuade potential attackers, and this aircraft was part of that policy. It evolved over several design iterations into a pusher prop with twin booms based upon a license-built Daimler Benz engine, and because of the rear-mounted prop it was able to carry its armament in the nose, with the pilot having an unobstructed view of his quarry. The large prop at the rear dictated a tricycle landing gear configuration, and to save the pilot from injury when exiting the 'plane in flight, a simple ejector seat was developed by Bofors to blast him clear of the airframe and the flailing blades of the propeller. After the initial production the A-2 variant was re-armed with a Swedish developed 20mm cannon replacing the French model, and these were later superseded by the A-3, which had a bomb sight for air-to-ground operations, and was able to carry bombs and missiles, as well as use RATO bottles to improve take-off capabilities under heavy load. As the jet age was dawning, the engineers at Saab were asked to re-design the aircraft to switch to jet propulsion, mounting a De Havilland Goblin in a re-designed fuselage, with its tail adapted to clear the hot jet exhaust, resulting in an aircraft that looked very similar to the prop-powered version, but shared only 50% of the parts. Many of the prop-engined aircraft were converted to jet engines on the production line to reach the required number for the contacts, which were cut back from around 150 to a disappointing 64 due to the performance already on display by the prototype Tunnans that were flying before the J-21 reached service. The R has a much shorter service life that consisted mainly of ground-attack roles to which it was better suited, and with the purchase of the de Havilland Vampire and the J29 Tunnan in its production guise, the remaining aircraft served with the Swedish Air Force until 1956. The Kit The original tooling of this model was released in 2011, and has been reissued with a prop and jet pipe a few times in the interim, with it being the turn of the jet-engined R variant in this boxing. The kit arrives in a small top-opening box with a painting of the subject flying high and carrying a huge rack of rockets under its belly. Inside are three sprues of grey styrene, a clear sprue, a small bag of resin parts, a resealable bag of decals, Photo-Etch (PE) and a slip of printed clear acetate sheet, plus the A5 instruction booklet, printed on glossy paper in colour. Detail is good, with raised and engraved surface features, cockpit sidewall detail moulded inside the fuselage, a set of resin wheels and a gigantic rack of rockets as per the cover art, which instantly increases its appeal. Construction begins with the cockpit floor, to which is added a rear bulkhead, seat frame and seat that is detailed with PE foot pegs, diagonal insert in the rear, and PE seatbelts. The rudder pedals are moulded into the floor, and a pair of straps are fitted over them after they are bent to shape, fitting a control column between the seat and pedals. The instrument panel is laminated from a styrene backing, an acetate part with dials printed on, and a PE panel that fixes over the dials. A resin gunsight and clear lens is added to the top of the panel, then it is fitted into the starboard fuselage half along with the cockpit, nose gear bay, and additional detail parts on the sidewalls, notably a throttle box and trim wheel in a housing on the port side, with PE levers and wheel. The fuselage is closed and the twin booms are both made from two halves in advance of mating these assemblies with the wing and elevator panel. The wing is made from a full-span lower and two upper halves with the fuselage placed in the space between them, adding gear bay shells in the boom roots before gluing the booms into position behind the wing, slipping the elevator panel in between the booms while doing so. Clear lenses are inserted into holes in the front of the boom fairings, with resin 12.5mm gun barrels outboard of each one. The main gear legs are built from the strut, adding a yoke to the bottom and PE scissor-link to the lower oleo for each one, while the nose wheel is a single part that has a PE scissor-link, two PE brackets, and two resin parts glued to the sides of the legs of the yoke. The resin wheels flex-fit between the yokes, the main wheels having a chunky tread cast into the contact surface, presumably to cope with snowy landing strips. The nose gear leg is fitted into the bay with a parallel strut and actuator below it, a feature that is replicated in the main gear bays too. All the bay doors have PE hinges and mount on the sides of the bay after cutting the single parts into three for the nose gear, and into two for the main gear bay doors. A pair of PE trim tab actuators are then fitted to the elevator panel top and bottom. You have an interesting choice of armaments to hang from the underside of your model, the most unusual of which is the ovoid gun pack that is built from top and bottom halves, with a pair of Z-supports between it and the fuselage. The real pack has eight 8mm Browning M1919 machine guns with 800 rounds per gun, giving it immense firepower that is concentrated along the line of flight that should result in good accuracy, and is ideal for ground-attack on softskin targets and personnel. The largest rack of rockets is made from a ladder frame with six V-supports, and has ten 15cm RP-3 rockets mounted on the completed frame. Smaller racks can be mounted on the outer wing panels, carrying four rockets each, and these also have 6 supports that are made into a complex framework. While the model is inverted, three actuators are glued onto the ailerons and flaps. There are scrap diagrams for each of the weapons options, but sadly you can’t mount them all at once. With the model standing on its wheels, the canopy is glued in place, starting with the windscreen, then the starboard side and roof, the other side being a separate part. If you wanted to portray the canopy open, you would need to cut the roof and starboard side panes into separate parts, leaving the scalloped rear-view window in place, and hinging the side down along the cockpit sill, and the roof on the port side opened to near vertical. If you plan on carrying out that audacious adjustment to the kit parts, it would be a good idea to support the canopy during cutting by filling the inside with Blutak. There are a pair of wingtip drop-tanks that made from two halves glued around the wingtip, and it seems that if filled with napalm, they could be jettisoned and used as incendiary bombs. The final piece of offensive weaponry is a single 20mm cannon barrel that slips into a hole in the nose. Markings There are three options on the decal sheet, all of which are in olive green over light blue grey, differentiated by their individual markings and the colour of the nose cone. One option is further individualised by having white wing outer panels and drop-tanks. From the box you can build one of the following: J-21RA, S/N 21420, Yellow B, 3 Sqn., Wing F10, based at Ängelholm, 1950 J-21RA, Blue E, 2 Sqn., Wing F10, Ängelholm, 1950 J-21RB supposedly S/N 21440, Yellow B, Wing F17, Kallinge, 1955 The decals appear to be printed using the same digital processes as Eduard are now using, and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. I mention Eduard because from 2021, the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion The J-21R is an unusual-looking early jet, and its Swedishness appeals, as do the huge rack of missiles or gun pack. It’s a well-detailed model and will look great in your display cabinet, making everything else look a little less interesting. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

HESA Shahed 136/Geran-2 (PLT279) Planet Models by Special Hobby The Shahed 136 autonomous drone, which translates to “witness” in English, rose to prominence after the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine on 24th February 2022, when it was later rumoured that Iran was exporting these simple drones for use by the Russian aggressors, which was confirmed following the recovery of remains of several destroyed examples in Ukraine. The drone is a simple piece of equipment that has been put-together using off-the-shelf components, many of which either originated in the West, or were designed there and manufactured overseas. In Russian service they are designated as Geran-2, which means Geranium. It is thought that the Russians are now manufacturing the larger components themselves, importing only the specific electronics and other parts that would be more difficult to manufacture at short notice. They are powered by a reverse-engineered copy of a Western designed piston engine that drives a two-bladed pusher propeller, and they are noisy in operation, which makes them an easily identified target for Ukrainian snipers or anyone else with a gun and a scope to take a pot-shot in aid of their nation’s defence. Although their payload is relatively small at an estimated maximum of 50kg, they are cheap to produce, and despite their vulnerability to ground-fire, are hard to hit by other types of weapons, particularly aircraft as their radar can’t lock on easily, and the speed differential is significant. The use of a technological successor to GPS by the Russians has increased their accuracy and extended loiter time, waiting for targets of opportunity to travel into their vicinity. They are launched from a ramp, sometimes in a rack of up to five drones on the back of a truck, using a RATO pod under the centre-line of the delta-winged drone to gain height and speed, after which it is jettisoned and the prop takes over. There is speculation about the aircraft’s range, with a maximum of around 1,500 miles, but with a top speed of 115mph it would take many hours to reach a target deep within Ukrainian territory, with plenty of opportunities for interception by the eagle-eyed locals. The Kit This is a brand-new mixed media kit from Special Hobby’s resin specialist brand Planet Models, although it includes traditional and 3D printed resin, and injection styrene parts inside the small cardboard box. There are seven grey resin parts, five 3D printed parts in orange, a sprue of grey styrene, and a decal sheet that provides the minimalist stencils applied to Russian and tail-codes for Iranian airframes. It’s a very small model for obvious reasons, and all the parts are easy to remove from their casting and printing blocks, and we’re all very familiar with removing styrene parts from sprues. Construction begins with the liberation of the parts and clean-up, then the support frame is made from three styrene parts from the sprue, plus four resin castors on circular bases. The drone is moulded almost complete, needing just the fins and rudders to be glued to the wingtips, two pieces of wire or tube from your own stock inserted into recesses in the leading edges of the wing, and the nicely detailed piston-engine slotting into the rear. The RATO pack installs on a bracket and slot under the fuselage, and that’s it. You join the two assemblies together, the nose support fixing into a hole under the nose at the bottom of a retaining strap that is moulded into the drone itself. Markings There are three Russian and two Iranian tail-code options, and for the Russian airframes there are No Step/Don’t Push stencils for each of the horizontal control surfaces. The aircraft is painted an off-white all over, while the engine is different metallic shades, and the RATO pod is black. The trolley is dark grey with silver castors and rubber tyres. If you need further information, there are plenty of pictures online. Conclusion A well-executed model in my favourite scale of an interesting drone from the modern era of drone-based warfare, even though it’s on the side of the aggressor. They make quite a bang when they’re shot down, so you know when you’ve hit one, which is always good. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

J-3 Cub Inside/Outside Masks (M48015) 1:48 Special Hobby We’ve just completed our review of the latest boxing of this light-weight spotter/reconnaissance aircraft that served during WWII and beyond, with a healthy number still flying today. You can see our review here, and if you check the aftermarket section, you’ll also see some detail upgrades such as the awesome 3D printed engine here. Supplied on a sheet of yellow kabuki tape with a pre-weeded perimeter, these pre-cut masks supply you with a full set of masks for the canopy both inside and out, the clarity of which will be important due to the large expanses down the sides of the aircraft. In addition, you get a set of hub/tyre masks for the wheels and the roof light between the wings, allowing you to cut the demarcation perfectly with little effort. Since using this innovative masking style on a recent build of an F4F-3 Wildcat, I have become a huge fan of inside/outside masks, and will search out a set for any of my future builds thanks to the realism, crispness and extra detail they bring to the canopy area. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

J-3 Cub Goes to War (SH48220) 1{48 Special Hobby The Piper J-3 Cub was a light aircraft developed before WWII with production continuing throughout WWII and into the late 40s. In military service as a communications, reconnaissance, or spotter aircraft, it was known as the L-4 Grasshopper, and 20,000 plus were built due to its success in various roles, including trainer and glider tug. It was powered by a flat-4 engine, and despite the limited power it was agile in the air, with docile handling characteristics and a very low stall speed, which made take-off and landing a simple process, and let the aircraft use strips that were far too short for other types. After the war, many of the former military aircraft were re-purposed for civilian use, or sold to other nations in similar roles, while production of new build airframes was recommenced for those that don’t like cheap second-hand Cubs with one “careful” owner. Due to the simple nature of the type, maintenance was straight-forward and cost-effective thanks in part to the extensive spares library to accommodate the large number of examples built, leading to many airframes surviving to the present day in private hands. The Kit This is a reboxing of Special Hobby’s 2022 new tool of the type, which has been released in a few boxings already. The kit arrives in a modest-sized top-opening box, and inside are two full-size sprues in grey styrene, a clear sprue, a small fret of Photo-Etch (PE), a single 3D printed resin part in its own Ziploc bag, a tiny slip of over-printed clear acetate, the A5 instruction booklet in colour, and the decals in a resealable bag. Detail is good, although there are some ejector-pin marks here and there by necessity, and some of them might need dealing with during assembly and painting. Construction begins predictably with the cockpit, starting on a floor part that is detailed with rudder pedals, fire extinguisher and other small parts, plus the linked control columns, the four-part seat for the pilot, with a rear seat installed later. The Continental motor is begun by gluing the top and bottom halves together, with heat shielding over the piston banks, and a central air intake system underneath. This is slipped through the piston slots in the starboard fuselage half. The firewall with moulded-in tank separates the engine from the cockpit, and after gluing the floor into the bottom of the starboard fuselage, a sloped rear bulkhead is placed on ledges. Whilst closing the fuselage, two rods are inserted low on the firewall, linked diagonally to the sidewalls, then the rear seat that is similar to the pilot’s seat but with a single mounting frame, adding a tonneau cover spread over the rear cockpit area. The instrument panel is created by adding a curved coaming insert across the front of the cockpit, to which a choice of printed acetate film or a decal is applied, adding a PE surround over the top. The Cub’s extensive glazing is next, with a choice of closed or open starboard side panels, which is accomplished by using one of two parts supplied on the clear sprue. The port side is fixed closed, and is first to be placed in position, linked to the opposite side by a solid rear that holds the tops of the windows at the correct width. There are details moulded into the insides of the glazing parts, so masking inside and painting them will increase the realism appreciably, and Special Hobby have a set of masks to help in this regard. The clear roof is applied over the top, and in front of that the lengthy spar and a pair of inverted V-frames added then covered by the crystal-clear curved windscreen. Once the glue and paint are dry on the canopy, the wing halves are joined over the spars, taking care to smooth down the ejector-pin marks that are present on the inside surface of each part, just in case they clash. A few seconds with a motor tool, nippers or coarse sanding stick should see them gone, as you don’t need to be too careful. The single-thickness elevators are slotted into the tail, then it’s a case of adding all the detail, starting with the landing gear struts under the fuselage. The engine is also detailed with a new resin part under the chin, plus a small light “pot” on the top of the cowling. The wings are supported by a V-shaped strut between the fuselage and outer wing, with an additional supporting stay around half-way, and some tiny PE actuators fitted to the ailerons nearby. You will need to find some 0.3mm wire or thread to replicate the aileron control wires that run down the front support and pop out again to mate with the PE actuators added earlier. This is replicated on both wings of course, and their routes are marked on the instructions in red. The tail wheel is fixed to the moulded-in strut under the tail, and there are twin control wires added to the elevators, with the control wires replicated top and bottom, and two more to control the tail-wheel itself for ground-handling, again all these are marked in red. More short wires are added on the topside of the ailerons, and the two-part balloon-like tyres are slipped over the axles on the gear legs. If you have elected for an open cockpit, the open window is fixed almost horizontal, flush with the lower wing and held in place by a PE stay, while the lower trapezoid cockpit door is folded down with a PE handle and retaining clip glued to the bottom edge. It isn’t mentioned, but we assume that if you close the window you should glue the door in the closed position earlier in the build. Finally, the two-bladed prop is slipped over the drive-shaft at the front of the engine, without a spinner. Markings There are three decal options included on the sheet, and if you’ve been staring at grey jets a lot recently, the olive drab and yellow paint schemes might make a welcome change. From the box you can build one of the following: J-3 Cub/O-59A, 42-7827 No.24 J-3C-65 loaned to military during 1941 J-3C-65 n/c 7132, NC38601, Manufactured in 1941, Midwest Airfield, Fort Worth, Texas, 1040s The decals appear to be printed using the same digital processes as Eduard are now using, and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. I mention Eduard because from 2021, the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion I wasn’t all that interested in this aircraft until I saw the 3D printed engine set that we reviewed recently, and now I’m very interested in building a military example. It’s an acknowledged fact that I’m fickle, but it’s a really nice kit of a surprisingly common and persistent aircraft that will also appeal to civilian aircraft modellers as well as some of the many pilots that earned their wings flying in one. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

CAC CA-9 Wirraway In Training & Combat (SH72473) 1:72 Special Hobby The CAC Wirraway was a trainer aircraft developed by the Australian Commonwealth Aircraft Company (CAC) that was based on the North American NA-16, a design which was itself developed into the T-6 Texan. CAC altered the basic design of the NA-16 by adding a second forward firing machine gun and strengthening the wings to enable the aircraft to perform dive bombing missions. A total of 755 Wirraways were built by the time production ended, and the design also served as the basis for the Boomerang emergency fighter. Aside from fulfilling its role as a trainer aircraft, the Wirraway was also pressed into service as a stop-gap fighter and ground-attack aircraft during the early phases of engagement between Japanese and Australian forces. The type's only air combat victory occurred in January 1942, when Pilot Officer J.S. Archer dived on a Mitsubishi Zero flying below him and shot it down. The Kit This is a reboxing with new decals of a tooling from 2010, so is relatively modern, and arrives in an end-opening red, white and grey themed box with a painting of a yellow Wirraway on the front, and side profiles of the two decal options on the rear. Inside the box are two sprues of grey styrene, a clear sprue, a bag containing three grey resin parts, another bag with the decals inside, and the instruction booklet in A5 format, printed in colour on glossy paper. Detail is good, with a well-appointed cockpit, resin engine and cowling, and crystal-clear canopy in two parts. There is a wisp of flash here and there, but the majority of it is on the sprue runners themselves. Construction begins with the cockpit, adding the two seats on frames, control columns and two pairs of rudder pedals to the floor, then bracketing it with the framework, which has cross-braces and equipment added, and detailed painting instructions called out, which continues throughout the build. A large instrument panel and coaming are inserted into the starboard fuselage half along with the cockpit and a few other small detail parts, then the two halves of the fuselage can be glued together, making up the wings from full-span lower and two upper surfaces, with a gear bay insert added into the lower. The fuselage is inserted into the space between the upper wings, and the elevators are glued to the tail on a pair of pegs, although the instructions make it look like a butt-joint. Up front, the three resin parts are used, starting with the firewall that is glued to the front of the fuselage, then the resin Pratt & Whitney R-1340 radial engine is mated to the raised circular centre of the firewall after painting up the various components, and if you are feeling adventurous, you could also wire up the ignition leads. The cowling is slipped over the finished engine after the interior surface is painted grey-green, with a styrene chin intake added underneath. The main gear are simple struts with retraction legs inboard, and the one-part wheels attach to the axles along with a captive bay door on the outer side. The tail wheel is moulded with an integral strut, and fixes on a fairing under the tail, after which the model can sit on its own three wheels. The canopy is glued over the cockpit cut-out, leaving off the rear section to accommodate the rear-firing machine gun that is mounted on two semi-circular frames. An aerial post is fitted in front of the windscreen, adding two forward-firing machine gun barrels into the troughs in the nose, a pair of landing light lenses in the leading edges of the wings and a cranked pitot probe around mid-span of the starboard wing. The prop is a single part and slots over the axle on the bell-housing on the front of the motor to complete the build phase. Markings There are two decal options in this boxing, one in yellow, the other a foliage green, both with roundels that have no red component at the centre, due to trigger-happy gunners literally seeing red and assuming they were Japanese aircraft. From the box you can build one of the following: A20-617 (C/N 818) No.86 Sqn., RAAF, Northern Australia, Spring/Summer, 1945 A20-637 (C/N 1089) No.4 Sqn., RAAF, New Guinea, 1944 The decals appear to be printed using the same digital processes as Eduard are now using, and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. I mention Eduard because from 2021, the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion A welcome re-release of a more unusual and left-field subject that nonetheless played an important part in training pilots that fought in WWII. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Zetor 25 Military Tractor w/Towbar for MiG-15/17 (8063) 1:48 CMK by Special Hobby Following the end of WWII, many companies returned to create civilian products, and in Czechoslovakia (as was) the Zetor company was created in 1946 to manufacture tractors and farm machinery under the watchful eye of the government, with its first product being the Zetor 25 tractor that was designed before the brand-name was even registered. A year later they had produced almost 3,500 units, when it was joined by the 15, and later by improved versions of the 25 that were made until the early 1960s when it was replaced by the more modern 35. The 25 saw extensive service in the military as a ground-handling tractor, towing MiG-15s and MiG-17s around the airfield once the engines were shut down. Fitted with a custom towing bar, they were a common sight chugging around the perry tracks, in-and-out of hangars on Soviet era military bases until they were replaced by more modern, capable designs as technology improved and the aircraft became heavier. The Kit This is a reboxing of a 2022 tooling of the agricultural version of this common tractor in resin, with new parts to reflect its military service, plus the tow-bar to enable its use on an airfield. It arrives in a rectangular yellow cardboard box, and inside are fifty-eight grey resin parts, six orange 3D printed resin parts, two clear resin parts, two small frets of Photo-Etch (PE), a small decal sheet, and the instruction sheet, printed in colour on a folded sheet of A4. Detail is excellent, and once the parts have been removed from the casting blocks and cleaned-up, it should go together like an injection-moulded kit, but with the parts first washed in warm soapy water to remove any moulding residue, and super glue or epoxy resin used to build the model. Construction begins with the chassis, which is built up from a large number of parts, including the engine, transmission, axles and a bench seat for the driver, with a long steering column topped with a four-spoked wheel. Various PE and resin small parts are installed on the assembly from both sides, then the top cowling and grille are applied over the engine, adding a simple instrument panel in front of the driver, linking the exhaust to the engine with a resin downpipe, and a short length of wire from your own stock passing behind it, another piece of wire bent to create a grab-rail behind the seat, and another short length bent to an L-shape to form the peg that holds the towbar to the 3D printed hitch. A V-strut supports the front axle from behind, adding the small wheels to it, and the larger rear wheels under the driver’s position whilst adding the arches that prevent mud splatter between the chassis and the wheels. There are a pair of optional number plate holders and accompanying decals to give your model an identity. The towbar comprises a main part, adding the eye and compression gaiter to the front, then creating a stabilising wire from your own stock that is tipped at each end with PE eyes from the fret that attach to the main gear legs of your chosen MiG, and wrapping around a pulley printed integrally to the main towbar part, which adjusted position as the vehicle turned corners. The yoke at the rear of the bar attaches to each side of the aircraft’s nose wheel hub, and the towing eye of course connects to the hitch at the back of the tractor. Markings For the most part these beasts of burden were painted a khaki green, with little to differentiate them from each other except for their number plate and the state of their paint-job. This is reflected in the profiles, with just the two red and white decals for the Zetor 25 badges on the sides of the cowling, and the optional number plate decals. The decals appear to be printed using the same digital processes as Eduard are now using, and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. I mention Eduard because from 2021, the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Even though this feature will only be visible on the cowling logos, it’s a focal area of the model, so still good to have. Conclusion I’ve been envious of the 1:72 modellers and their CMK Zetor tractors for a while, and now we 1:48 modellers can tow our early jet MiGs too. The kit has plenty of detail, and don’t let the fact it’s resin put you off. It’s not all that hard with a little patience and a razor saw. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Hi All, This will be my second entry in the Southern Europe Group Build: Special Hobby's 1/48-scale Breda Ba.65A-80 two-seat ground attack aircraft. The model will be finished in the colours of the Portuguese Aeronáutica Militar, who purchased ten aircraft in 1937. The Aeronáutica Militar allocated the aircraft to Grupo No.4 at Sintra airbase where they were apparently quite unpopular, being fairly difficult to fly and with mechanical reliability problems. On the 15th February 1941, however, the Grupo's prayers were answered when an exceptionally heavy storm destroyed the hangar where all the Bredas were parked, the whole force being damaged beyond repair. The boxing is the "Aviazione Legionaria" edition, which is for a single-seat Spanish Civil War. However, the parts for the two-seat versions, including the Breda Type M turret, are included, and the instructions can be downloaded from Scalemates The Portuguese national markings and aircraft numbers may be a sticking point, which will require a bit of thought, but I may be able to cobble them together from other sheets. As I've hurt my shoulder I won't be cutting plastic for a day or two, so I'll do the usual box and sprue photos then. Thanks for looking in! Cheers, Mark

Good evening gals and gents, today I'd like to present to you a gift for a good friend of mine. As he is a huge fan of Bugatti, mostly of the Veyron, I decided to get him a Bugatti he hasn't in his collection yet. Small wonder. Most people associate the name Ettore Bugatti with racing cars and luxury automobiles but only a few probably know the story of the Bugatti Model 100, sometimes called the Bugatti-De Monge 100P. In 1937 Bugatti decided to get back at the Germans and to win the prestigious Deutsch de la Meurthe Cup Race. He teamed up with Belgian engineer Louis de Monge and they were on course to enter the 1939 race, but to do so they needed to get their aircraft completed by September and we all know what happened in September of 1939. They missed the deadline and so the Model 100 never took to the skies and when in 1940 the Germans were approaching Paris, the still incomplete plane was moved to the French countryside where it was hidden in a barn for the next almost 30 years. It was sold a couple of times, among other to an American automotive aficionado who bought the Model 100 for its two Bugatti Type 50P Straight 8 4.9L engines, which were used for restoration works of Bugatti cars. In 1996 the airframe was donated to the EAA Aviation Museum in Oshkosh where it was restored and is now on display. But the story doesn't end there. While Ettore Bugatti never saw the plane fly, it finally did in 2015 - at least a replica did. It was built by a group of enthusiasts using the original plans. Some materials originally used by Bugatti and de Monge were changed for safety reasons and the plane was powered by two Suzuki Hayabusa engines. Nicknamed Blue Dream, the plane was slightly damaged during an landing incident on the first flight, but was repaired and did another successful flight. Almost exactly one year after its inaugural flight, Blue Dream took to the skies for a third and last time. Unfortunately it crashed right after take-off, tragically killing the pilot and initiator of the re-creation of the Model 100, Scotty Wilson. Even more tragic - this was to be the aircrafts final flight anyway as the team behind the project planned to donate it to a museum afterwards. So while these enthusiasts proved the Bugatti Model 100 could fly, neither them, nor Ettore Bugatti and Louis de Monge themselves could prove that this might have been the fastest, most advanced racer in its time. At least it looks absolutely stunning! So...after a long brainstorm what to get that guy for his birthday ("I don't want anything!") I got back to the most obvious but I didn't want to get him another 1/18 scale Bugatti Veyron, even when I entertained the idea of getting one, remove the paint and spec it individually, I finally settled on the Special Hobby 1/48th scale kit of the Model 100. It's compact enough so he can add it to his collection without any problems, which was the main reason I didn't go for another Veyron or the 1/32nd variant of this kit. The build was quite enjoyable. The bulk of the parts is used in the cockpit and the fitment of the small parts amazingly is not bad at all. The airframe on the other hand didn't go together so easily, there was quite a gap in the front of the fuselage, but with the help of putty it wasn't that big of a deal. What I couldn't get rid of is the visible step between the fuselage and the wings at the rear. The fuselage seems to sit way lower than it should or the wings are to thick, don't really know where the mistake was made and unfortunately I'm not that skilled with sculpturing and rescribing to get it done with putty. But it bugs me so much, I even consider to keep that one for myself and build another one and approach the attachment of the wings differently and hoping it will look better. Anyway, the rest was easy going, except I had to write to Special Hobby because one of the resin parts was missing from my kit. But one mail and two days later I got the part in my mailbox, free of charge. Kudos for that service, thank you Special Hobby team! With everything in place the kit was primed with Tamiya white primer from a spray can and sprayed with Tamiya French Blue. For the cockpit, canopy, landing gear and propellers Vallejo and Revell acrylics were used, I kept the weathering to a minimum, just suggesting a bit the plane might have been raced once or twice and yeah, Bob's your uncle. Except for the problem with the wings, I'm quite pleased with the result and it certainly looks sexy in blue next to all the mostly grey and huge military jets on my shelf, as I still haven't decided if I should give it another go or if this actually is worthy as a gift. Either way sooner or later I will add this little beauty to my collection. That at least is decided Thanks for reading and watching!

Hi Guys, To follow on with my little P-40's series in 1:72 scale. This time the very well known "44" 3Lulu Belle" of Lt Philip S Adair. My purpose here is to illustrate : -another style of "Unit nose art" as seen on this group during their P-40 use. Each skull was different, - this typical camouflage of Olive drab ( second type) and Medium green 42. - star with white band only a national markings. I Chose this specific plane as it had its tires highlighted in white. Not for sun heating protection purpose , as seen on some Me 109 in North Africa , but as special personnel deco from P.S.Adair. He was car salesman on its civilian activities prior the war, and at that time many US cars had their tires decorated this way, A kind of remembrance for him I suppose. Now, As regard of external load, one of the main mission of 80th FG was to support "Merrill's Marauders" in their way through the jungle landscape of this theater of operations. For these missions they decided to use Depth Charges Mk XVII from the US Navy ( The only group to do that. ??) . I guess that the blast effect of these charges was very efficient in Jungle both to clear drop zones for resupply ground troops, and also may be to smashed Japanese buildings made out of wood and bamboo trees. As these charges went of US navy stocks, some were olive drab other navy light grey, depending on availability .. I chose grey 😊 Now my little bird : Tried to represent wire mesh that was frequently used there in replacement of more standard PSP ones Hope you'll like it !! cheers !!