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Concrete Hedgehog WWII Anti-Tank Barrier (8066 & 2062) 1:48 & 1:72 CMK by Special Hobby Tank barriers are important aspects of any defensive line of the 20th century onwards, and they are intended to stop tanks in their tracks to prevent their advance, and therefore leave any infantry without their mobile heavy weapons support, or render them immobile and vulnerable to artillery fire. Various designs have been used over the years, and we’re looking at the concrete type fielded during WWII, which was nicknamed Hedgehog for fairly obvious reasons, as it’s a prickly customer. Made from cast concrete with metal reinforcement within, forming a similar shape to a jack from the game of the same name, the lower ends dig into the ground under their own weight, and if a tank rubs up against it, there is a good chance it will become snagged on the obstacle, stopping it from advancing any further. The rebar projects from the ends of the arms in a pig-tail curl to accommodate barbed wire entanglements, which would make the chances of stopping the enemy even greater. Similar style obstacles are still in use today. Both sets arrive in clear-fronted vacformed boxes, with the header card and instructions at the rear, whilst the resin parts inside are safely stored inside a cocoon of dark grey foam. There are four Hedgehogs in the smaller 1:72 set, while the larger 1:48 set has two Hedgehogs due to the extra size, and they are all cast on individual blocks with narrow attachment supports reducing the amount of clean-up on the underside. You’ll need to find some wire to create the pig-tail curls at the ends of the arms, and there are pictures on the instructions that will help you in this regard. Concrete Hedgehog x 2 (8066) Concrete Hedgehog x 4 (2062) Conclusion These sets are great for the diorama modeller, and their level of detail is excellent, down to the fine concrete texture and the tiny holes to accept the wire tails. Minimal clean-up of the parts further sweetens the package. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

A-20A/B/C/DB-7C Havoc/Boston "Early Gunships" 1:72 Special Hobby The A-20/DB-7 Havoc, known in Royal Air Force circles as the as the Boston, was a light bomber developed by the California-based Douglas Aircraft Company. Designed to a US Air Force specification issued in 1937, the aircraft’s first customer was actually the French Air Force, representatives of which had been impressed by its performance whilst visiting the USA as part of a pre-war purchasing commission. Those aircraft not delivered to France by the time the armistice had been signed in 1940 were taken up by the RAF instead. The Soviet Union was a major user of the type, with the Soviet Air Force and Soviet Naval Aviation acquiring nearly 3000 Bostons before the end of the war. The Kit It Was back in 2009 first iteration of this kit was released under the MPM Production label. The kit has been re-released about 20 times since then, including a re-box of the Boston Mk.V by big boys Revell. This time around the kit includes extra parts in resin, plastic and photo etched brass for earl;y gunship versions featuring extra guns in the nose. Inside the box are the usual five sprues of grey plastic and two sprues of clear plastic (the original sprue plus a new sprue for the turret transparencies. Together they hold over 160 parts, which is very respectable for a kit of this size. The mouldings look crisp and clean and there are no flaws in the plastic as far as I can tell. Surface details are comprised of fine, engraved panel lines and convincing textures on the rudder and horizontal tail. Although Special Hobby have had their money's worth out of these moulds, they seem to be holding up well and the overall impression is pretty good. The cockpit is rather well-appointed for a kit in this scale. It is made up of a floor, seat, rudder pedals, two-part control column, instrument panel, sidewalls and bulkheads. Details on parts such as the instrument panel are picked out with fine, raised details. The bomb aimer/observer position is just as good and includes a very nice bomb sight. The rear gunner's position is just as good, with nice extra details such as spare magazines for the lower defensive machine gun. The engine nacelles are made up at this point also and put aside for later. Once the fuselage halves have been joined together, the wings and horizontal stabilisers can be assembled and fixed to the fuselage. Unlike some limited run kits, the parts have location tabs and slots to help ensure a positive fit. The prominent nacelles, which house the large Double-Cyclone engines, are each made up of seven parts, while the engines themselves are made up of three parts – two rows of seven cylinders and the reduction gearing. They are nicely detailed and should look good once assembled. New resin cowlings are included for some of the decal options. The undercarriage looks well detailed, but frighteningly complex. Each of the main gear legs is made up of no fewer than six parts, plus the wheels themselves. I would recommend taking great care over these stages in the instructions as you don't want to end up with a wonky aeroplane when you come to rest it on its boots. The main gear legs actually fit directly to the wings, and it is possible to fit the rear engine nacelles over these parts afterwards. This should make things a little less frustrating as you will be able to place the parts precisely rather than having to stuff them inside a cramped undercarriage bay, but it will obviously make the task of painting the model a little more laborious. The remainder of the build is concerned with the addition of the transparent parts and some fine details such as the the radio antenna and propellers. The transparent parts are thin and clear and shouldn’t present any problems, although I have not been able to check to see how well they fit at this point in time. Different parts for the different nose gun options need to be fitted into the nose the decal option being modelled. Side blisters with additional guns are also added where needed. Decals Markings for five aircraft are provided on the decal sheet. A-20 13357/14 "Dirty Gertie" 47th Bomb Group, Tunisia 1944 A-20A 0166/13 "Little Hellion" 89th Bomb Sqn, 3rd Bomb Group, Port Moresby, 1942. This aircraft crashed and was repaired, later it was renamed "The Steak and Egg Special" As above but sporting the "Steak and Egg Special" Officially a non existent airframe re built from 2 crashed aircraft (and bits of others including Japanese ones) by mechanics. Again as above but stripped of its camo., and polished, the name was shortened to "Steak & Eggs" This aircraft then crashed of Low Wood Island Australia, where the wreckage remains to this day. Boston III, RAAF A28-9 "She's Apples" The decals are nicely printed and look quite thin and glossy. Conclusion This is the only modern tooling of the Boston in 1:72 scale, so it’s fairly easy to recommend it to modellers interested in adding the type to their collection. It looks good on the sprue, although opinion seems to be divided as to how easy it is to build. Some people have reported fit issues whilst others have stated that the kit practically falls together. Nevertheless, it is still the best Boston out there and with the interesting twist of the new gunship marking options, it can be firmly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Dromedary Camels x 2 (F72397 & F48398) 1:72 & 1:48 CMK by Special Hobby 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 large padded feet making it a capable of travelling vast distances without taking one step forward and two back on sand dunes. They’re still used everywhere there’s a desert, although 4x4 transport is taking over where the need arises. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when these sets arrived, as I’ve already reviewed a few more camels than I ever thought I would. I think the total is up to six now, and there are more coming. I’m not quite serious, but I seem to remember making a comment in the first review that I’d never reviewed a camel before, and likely never would again. I guess I was wrong… again. These two sets are 3D printed in two scales to go with your 1:72 or 1:48 desert diorama, whether it’s in the background or playing a more central 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. There are two camels in different poses in each box, and they each still have supports attached to the underside, which are easy to clip off and sand the remaining pips back flush. 1:72 Dromedary (F72397) 1:48 Dromedary (F48398) With only a little work to do to remove the attachment pips on the underside, they should be ready for paint pretty quickly, and the detail is superb, even down to the recreation of the changing texture of the animal’s pelt, where it changes to a coarser consistency around the hump. One camel is sitting down with its legs folded underneath, as is their way, while the other is standing up with its legs in a pose that implies movement, but could also be used in a standing pose, as it isn’t a particularly dynamic stance – probably for that very reason. Markings There are no decals, although I suspect I didn’t really need to mention that, however a quick Google of camel pictures will come back with plenty of examples of their colouring to aid you with painting them. It might also see you put on some kind of esoteric register of camel fanciers, but it also might not. Conclusion Detail is fabulous, with every aspect of the camel carefully replicated, including the shaggy texture of the animal’s fur and its goofy face, however it looks a little too cheerful based on the camels I’ve met before. Camels are always ill-tempered and often spitty. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Tachikawa Ki-54Hei/Hickory (SH72270) 1:72 Special Hobby The design that was to become the Ki-54 was requested as a response to the need for a twin-engined trainer aircraft to teach novice pilots that had already learned to fly single-engined aircraft to specifics of flying a multi-engined aircraft. Tachikawa was a major aircraft manufacturer between the wars, and it was their design that won the contract and first flew in the summer of 1940, successfully entering service during 1941 before the Japanese Empire attacked Pearl Harbour and brought the USA into WWII. It was one of those aircraft that most multi-engined pilots spent time earning their wings on at the time, before they moved on to fly the Ki-21 bomber, which had similar flight characteristics to the Ki-54, so was ideal for the task. The initial Ki-54a variant was designed for pilot and navigator training, and given the suffix Koh, followed by Ki-54b, a Gunnery and Wireless trainer variant called Otsu, and finally the Ki-54c Hei, which was a transport and liaison variant that was also used in civilian service. A few airframes were converted to Ki-54d standards as anti-submarine bombers that were named Tei, with a total of just over 1,300 aircraft produced spanning all types. Named ‘Hickory; by the Allies for ease of identification, the aircraft survived the end of the war, with numerous airframes used by the Allies for sundry roles, and more finding their way to different parts of the world in civilian hands. It is perhaps for this reason that two still exist in China and Australia. The Kit This is a 2021 tooling of this lesser-known type, and arrives in a small top-opening box with a painting of the subject matter flying over a coast that is covered in thick jungle. Inside the box is a resealable clear foil bag that contains four sprues in grey styrene, the wing sprue in a different hue in my example, a small clear sprue and decal sheet in their own separate bags, plus the A5 portrait instruction booklet that is printed in colour on satin paper, with painting and decaling profiles on the rearmost pages. The wing sprue gives the impression that it is from a slightly earlier period, partly due to the colour of the styrene, but also because the fabric control surfaces are a little softer than those of the tail surfaces. Detail is good overall, and includes a seating area in the main fuselage behind the cockpit, gear bay details and a representation of the Hitachi radial engines that will be seen through the front of the cowlings. Construction begins with joining the two halves of the centre console together, then building the two crew seats from four parts each, with decal lap-belts on the sheet. Both crew members also have a two-part handed control column made, and the instrument panel has a decal applied to depict the dials, and a small V-shaped coaming to the front, after which the assemblies can be brought together on the small floor, starting with the centre console that also acts as the base for the instrument panel. The seats and control columns are mounted behind on raised location points, then the passenger seats are built with two short C-shaped legs under each cushion, adding the seat back to the rear, making six of them in total. They mount on the floor after it has the two spar sections glued across it, locating the seats on short rails moulded into the floor, and fitting raised sides that represent the inner root of the wings. A scrap diagram shows the location of the three bulkheads in red, which are fitted next along with what looks like overhead lockers along the insides of the fuselage above the side windows, cutting an extra window for one decal option that is marked by a depression from inside, all of which are glazed after the fuselage is closed, although for the sake of losing one or more inside, it might be wise to glue them into position beforehand. The cockpit bulkhead door has a small window added, fitting the cockpit in front, and the tail-wheel bay in the rear, then closing the fuselage, dealing with the seams in your preferred manner, and gluing the canopy over the cockpit cut-out. If you’re wondering why the passenger floor hasn’t been mentioned in closing the fuselage, it’s because it can be installed from beneath, locating on tabs moulded into the bottom of the bulkheads, taking care that the seats are facing forward. As you may have already surmised, the lower wings are moulded as a single full-span part, and once the seams with the upper halves are dealt with, you should paint the underside of the wing where the gear bay will be a suitable green shade before adding the three struts that begin the landing gear assembly. The nacelles are built in a slightly unusual manner, as the upper wing has the cowling moulded-in, requiring just the lower halves of the nacelles to be glued under the wing after inserting a bulkhead that is previously mated to the main gear legs and separate oleo scissor-links. A scrap diagram helps you with this, and two additional small parts are added while the lower nacelles are brought up to complete the shape. Another jack is fitted after the nacelles are complete, and a line drawing of the completed gear mechanism is shown to help with alignment of the parts. The two engine cowlings are each split horizontally, and are assembled in preparation for the engines over the page, first joining the wings to the fuselage and fitting the two elevators, one either side of the tail fin, their tabs slotting into holes beneath the fin with moulded-in rudder. The engines are each moulded as single parts that have a bulkhead moulded into their rears, mounting on the nacelles by way of a keyed peg that slots into a hole in the rear, covering them over with the nacelles, then adding an auxiliary intake and exhaust to the outer nacelle sides. The model is flipped over onto its back to complete the landing gear, adding two-part wheels to the axle on each strut along with a narrow captive gear bay on the forward side, inserting the tail-wheel with moulded-in strut into the tail, and the crew step under the port trailing-edge of the wing. Righting the model, the two-bladed props and separate spinner are slipped into the bell-housings on the front of the engines, clear landing lights and wingtip lights are inserted into the leading-edges of the wings, plus a pitot probe in the starboard side. Another clear light is inserted in the end of the fuselage, an antenna mast over the cockpit, and the side access door is fitted with a small window before it is fixed to the fuselage in open or closed position. If you plan on closing the door, it might be best to glue it in before the fuselage is closed, as this will give you the best chance of getting it nice and level with the surrounding fuselage skin. Incidentally, a scrap diagram shows that the landing light parts have a circular depression moulded into them for you to fill with paint to depict the reflector around the bulb if you wanted to add a little extra detail. Markings There are four decal options on the sheet, three of them have a green squiggle camouflage over the entire upper surface. Happily for the squiggle averse, one option is painted the basic grey/green shade worn by many/most Japanese aircraft of the day wore. From the box you can build one of the following: C/n 5541, 38th Sentai, Noshiro Base, Japan, 1943 Recovered from Towada lake and on display in Misawa Museum 28th Dokuritsu Hikotai, Chofu Base, Japan, 1945 10th Dokuritsu Hikodan Shireibu, Borneo, 1945 10th Dokuritsu Hikodan Shireibu, Borneo, late 1945 operated by the Japanese Capitulation Delegation. Currently intact in Australia 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 A well-detailed kit of this minor type from the Allies point of view, but an important one for the Japanese pilots that trained in them. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Dornier Do.17Z Wing Fuel Tank Panels & Filler Caps (4465 for ICM) 1:48 CMK by Special Hobby A few years ago, ICM created a range of 1:48 kits of the German Bomber that began with the Dornier Do.17, and evolved during the war into several variants that were sometimes only recognisable by their similar design cues and skinny fuselage, which earned it the nickname “The Flying Pencil”. The kits are modern, well-detailed and readily available, but as I always say, you can always improve the detail. This set goes beyond adding detail to the visible areas of the kit, and delves into the equipment hidden beneath the aircraft’s skin, specifically the wings. The inner wing areas of the Do.17Z were filled with fuel tanks that fed the BMW Bramo Fafnir radial engines that were mounted in nacelles under the wings outboard of the tanks. 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. Decals and Photo-Etch (PE) is separated from the resin parts by a clear piece of acetate to prevent scratching and damage during transit. The box includes fifteen grey resin parts, plus a fret of PE that provides the bay surrounds where the individual panels were secured to the airframe. The lower wing is where most of the preparation is made, cutting out the panels on either side of the wing that are marked in grey on the instructions, while on the upper wing the three filler caps are drilled out to the correct size, one on each wing, one in the centre. After preparation, two circular resin parts that portray the filler cap and surround are glued together and inserted into each of the holes from below, and the flat cover panels are left free as they would be on removal by the maintainers. The lower wing has the rectangular bay areas inserted from within, filling the bays with the resin fuel tanks, which should allow the ribbing detail on the sides of the bays to remain visible from outside. The PE surrounds with fastening holes etched into them are glued to the perimeter of the bays, slightly below the level of the wing’s skin. The replacement resin panels will have been removed by the mechanics and either laid on the ground, propped against the aircraft or placed somewhere else convenient for later reinstallation. The extra detail will look good on your model and bring additional interest to the wing area, although they will be more obvious from above in a diorama situation with mechanics and other crew in the vicinity. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Elektrischer Generator 8KW für Flak Sw-36 mit Sd.Ah.51 (MV131) 1:72 Planet Models by Special Hobby Searchlights were the only way of finding enemy aircraft from the ground before the invention of radar and reliable infrared detection of targets, and all nations had their own systems to use in the run up to WWII. Germany’s system started with a 60cm reflector that output a staggering 137,550,000 candles of light in a tightly focused beam, which is the equivalent of 1.729004e9 lumens, if you can wrap your head round that number. Imagine 5,763,345 of your average 5w LED bulbs crowded into that space, and you’ll be getting there. These devices required a prodigious power supply, and could not rely on the domestic electricity supply, as it was unreliable due to the bombing, and the location of the searchlight stations wouldn’t necessarily be within range of a suitable connection. Instead, they were powered by generators that produced 8KW of DC current, using 6-cylinder BMW engines that had been used in pre-war cars, fed with petrol/gas by the attending crew. Like the searchlight, they had to be portable to go where they needed, so they were carried around on the same carriage that the searchlight used, the Sd.Ah.51. The Kit The kit arrives in a small white cardboard box with a sticker of the subject matter covering one side, and inside is one bag of parts, the instruction sheet and several packing foam pieces to protect it during transit. If you’ve already read our review of the Searchlight kit (MV130), you’ll recognise the carriage, which is made from the chassis and two wheels that slot into the axles under the arches. The print-bases with the frames cut away The generator can be left mounted on the carriage on the two tracks that accept the six wheels under the body, or it can be shown rolled off and sitting on its own wheels. The body of the generator is a single part, with the flat access door for the control panel a separate slim part that has a support moulded into it, so take care when removing it from the print-base. It can be fitted hinged up from the top to the horizontal in the open position, or by cutting off the support it can be glued over the instruments for transport or inclement weather conditions. Markings Like the Searchlight, the choice of colour is Panzer Grey for early war years, or Dunkelgelb for later operations. The cable reels should have their contents painted a black grey to represent the insulation around the cables, and the dials and switches in the control panel can be picked out using your preferred method. The carriage has just the wheels in rubbery grey, the rest is painted the same colour as the generator. Conclusion Coupled with the Searchlight kit, this makes an interesting diorama subject, or could be built alone for inclusion with a towing vehicle. Detail is excellent, and construction simple. Take your time cutting the parts free from the supports, and you’ll have a great model. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

60cm Flak Scheinwerfer (Flak Sw-36) mit Sd.Ah.51 (MV130) Světlomet 60N s Vlekem 1:72 Planet Models by Special Hobby Searchlights were the only way of finding enemy aircraft from the ground before the invention of radar and reliable infrared detection of targets, and all nations had their own systems to use in the run up to WWII. Germany’s system started with a 60cm reflector that output a staggering 137,550,000 candles of light in a tightly focused beam, which is the equivalent of 1.729004e9 lumens, if you can wrap your head round that number. Imagine 5,763,345 of your average 5w LED bulbs crowded into that space, and you’ll be getting there. There were larger diameter lenses at 150cm and 200cm, but we’re concerned with the baby of the range, which is kitted here by Planet Models in glorious 3D printed detail. The Kit The kit arrives in a small white cardboard box with a sticker of the subject matter covering one side, and inside are three bags of parts, one of which is doing a good impression of being empty, but more on that in a moment – just don’t throw it away. The largest print base contains most of the parts for the model, including the chassis and running gear, while the cylindrical searchlight is in another smaller bag, both of which are protected by sturdy supports in the form of a framework that has small recesses where the top can be cut free with a pair of nippers without damaging the parts. We nipped them off to show off more of the exquisite detail, and they have clearly been developed with protection in mind, including a web-work of internal structure to the floor and roof that adds strength to the whole arrangement. The final “empty” bag contains two small clear acetate discs, one of which is used as the outer lens for the searchlight, the other is provided as a spare in case of loss or damage. The print-bases with the frames cut away Construction is relatively simple, which is a common theme in 3D printed models. The base of the searchlight is a single part, into which you slot the cylindrical light, painting the interior silver, then applying the clear acetate disc over the top. The carriage is built up separately, consisting of the chassis and two separate wheels that slip over axles under the curved arches. You then have a choice of joining the two assemblies together to depict he light in transit, or leaving them separate so that you can pose the light in operation, with the carriage in the background. The lights were powered by an 8KW generator when in operation, which was mounted on a similar carriage as the searchlight, and is available as a separate model, which we’ll be reviewing shortly. Below you can see all the parts on simple prototype print-bases by Special Hobby Markings There are no decals on the model, and external painting is straight forward, requiring a choice between early war Dark Grey, sometimes referred to as Panzer Grey, or the later war Dunkelgelb or Dark Yellow. The operator’s seat is painted a leather brown, and of course the tyres in a rubber grey shade. Weathering will add some visual interest to your model once basic painting is completed. Conclusion A fantastically detailed model of this compact searchlight that is a rarity in the modelling world. Careful painting and weathering will result in an excellent model. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

IAF Mirage IIICJ Pilot & Female Ground Crew (F72387 Special Hobby etc.) 1:72 CMK by Special Hobby Israel was a long-term operator of the Mirage III, and Special Hobby have created a series of kits in 1:72 that depict many variants, including those used by the Israeli Air Force (IAF). Their figure sculptors have also been hard at work creating figures to go with these new kits, this set including both a pilot and female ground crew. This set arrives in Special Hobby’s yellow themed blister pack, with a header card and the instructions forming the slot-in back to the package, and holding the resin in place within the blister. The two figures inside are attached to their casting blocks by the soles of their shoes for minimal clean-up, plus a little fine flash between their legs, arms and other places where they will benefit from support during casting, especially the lady with her hands clasped behind her back, where they would have otherwise been the potential for bubble catchment areas. These fine areas of flash can be removed quickly and cleanly with a sharp blade, scraping or sanding away any residual flash until you are happy with the finish. The pilot is wearing a flying suit, boots and life vest, and is holding his helmet with mask and oxygen hose spilling over the edge, with both hands by his side, looking up and to one side as if admiring his aircraft or watching others from his squadron coming back in to land. The female ground crew operative is dressed smartly in a knee-length skirt and jacket, plus a cloth forage cap, and her hair pulled back into a short ponytail at the rear. Her hands are clasped behind her back as mentioned, and she is wearing a pair of low-heeled court shoes that might benefit from thinning of the soles to a more realistic height. Adding figures to a model or diorama brings that human scale to it, and these IAF crew are perfectly suited to the Mirage IIICJ in 1:72. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

A new tool 1/72nd Fairey Albacore kit by Special Hobby - ref. SH72152 Source: http://www.specialhobby.net/2020/01/norimberk-2020-priprava-zacatek.html V.P.

Seafire F.Mk.XV FAA & RCN (SH48233) 1:48 Special Hobby A Navalised Spitfire was on the Admiralty's agenda even before WWII broke out, but it took until the end of 1941 before a viable conversion was actually constructed due to the rigors of carrier-based service that take its toll on any aircraft that embarks. The initial Merlin-engined Seafire Mk.Is reached the front line at the end of 1941, but these were quickly superseded by the more capable and battle-ready Mk.III, although it was 1943 before it saw its first real combat experience. As the Spitfire design was further developed, these improvements were eventually passed on to the Seafire, including the installation of the more powerful Griffon engine with the corresponding lengthened nose and four-bladed propeller, which resulted in the F.Mk.XV, a Navalised Spitfire Mk.XII, of which over 2,600 were built. It was the direct successor the Mk.III, somewhat surprisingly given the difference in Mark, but the Spitfire’s Mark designations have always been a bit flaky, so why shouldn’t its ship-based sibling have the same characteristics? The Mk.XV was equipped with a Griffon VI engine that could output around1,850hp at 2,000 feet, with the single-stage supercharger contributing to that impressive figure, driving the four-bladed prop with aggressive blade shape, which made it an excellent interceptor for the dreaded Kamikaze attacks that were becoming common at the time the XV came into service. It was replaced by the Mk.XVII, which was essentially a Seafire Mk.XV modified with longer and stronger landing gear and stronger main spar to cope with the extreme pressure of carrier landings in rough seas. The type also had a cut-down rear fuselage and tear-drop canopy synonymous with late model Spitfires, a larger tail fin to restore some of the stability lost by the removal of the spine, and a more streamlined curved windscreen. The Kit This is a reboxing of the 2012 tooling from Special Hobby of their Seafire Mk.XV with new decals, of the type that can be made carrier film free after they are dry. The kit arrives in a blue/white/grey themed top-opening box that has an attractive painting of the subject wearing a high demarcation FAA scheme, whilst flying over islands far below. Inside the box is a resealable bag with three sprues of grey styrene, a clear sprue, a large decal sheet that also has a sheet of printed acetate and a Photo-Etch (PE) fret in its bag, plus the instruction booklet that is printed in colour on glossy paper, and has the painting and decaling profiles on the rear pages, also in colour. Detail is good, with finely engraved panel-lines and rivets, cockpit interior and plenty of raised and recessed features around the model. Construction begins with the instrument panel, which is a lamination of two PE panels plus acetate dials that are aligned behind the dials to simulate their faces. This is applied to the cockpit frame with the foot well cut-out after removing the moulded-in detail, then installing the compass on its bracket under the centre of the panel. If you’re not a fan of PE, you can leave the raised detail on the kit’s panel, and apply two decals over it instead, being sure to flood the decals with plenty of decal solution to ensure it settles down smoothly over the detail. The rudder pedals are fitted with PE retainer straps on top, then are glued to the rudder mechanism, adding the two-part control column and an actuator rod going aft, then gluing it to the front of the instrument panel frame, adding a footwell bulkhead to prevent the viewer being able to see through into the engine compartment. The fuselage frame behind the seat is detailed with head armour, circular head cushion, and seat frame so that the seat can be fitted through the rest of the seat armour, then adding the PE four-point seatbelts, which have separate adjustment straps, painting them to enhance the details. The fuselage halves are prepared by adding the ribbing inserts plus some small details from styrene and PE, including the usual twin silver cylinders and throttle quadrant that are synonymous with the Spit. After detail painting, the fuselage is closed around the two cockpit assemblies, threading the linkage under the seat, and fitting a rod and roll-over frame to the next station behind the seat. The fuel filler cap on the nose in front of the cockpit is also inserted from within at this point. The lower wing is full span up to the joint before the tips, which has the very bottom of the cockpit moulded into the centre as raised ribbing, adding the landing gear bay inserts and ribbing, plus a triple line of recognition lights in the rear. The upper wings include the wingtips to obtain a fine cross-section, then building up the individual four blades of the prop on the back plate, and covering it with the pointed spinner, setting it aside until later. Before the wings are joined to the fuselage, the twin Griffon cowling bulges are applied over the exhaust slots, the single-part elevators and rudder are fitted to the tail, then the arrestor-hook ‘stinger’ is made up from two parts, using different fairings to depict early and later versions, which involves shortening the hook for the latter option. The wing assembly is then mated to the fuselage, and the single-part ailerons are installed in their cut-outs, deflecting them for a more candid appearance if you wish. Flipping the model over, the large rectangular radiator fairings are fitted with cooling flaps and inserted into their corresponding recesses after putting the radiator core inserts front and rear, using the raised lines in the bottom of the pathway to assist with positioning. A two-part chin intake is assembled and glued over the interface between the cowling and wing leading edge, and the tail-wheel with moulded-in strut is fitted at the rear, adding the two bay doors to the sides. An arrestor wire defecting frame is built from a straight rod and triangular support then glued into position in front of the wheel bay, a pair of dipole aerials are inserted under the starboard wing, with the L-shaped pitot probe under the port wing, but before any of this fine work is done, there is a fairing on the lower fuselage sides that must be sanded flush with the surrounding area, leaving the small holes unfilled to accept small circular lights in them. The main gear legs are each chunky single parts with separate two-part scissor-links, which have captive bay doors on the inner side, making a choice of hub inserts between a flat or four-spoked options, which are trapped between the wheel halves and slipped over the stub axles at the bottom of the legs. The legs are angled forward more aggressively than its land-based cousin, and plug into the bays on two chunky pegs. The instructions point out that there were often two anti-slip markings painted on the border between the hubs and tyres to detect whether the tyres were moving on their rims, which would presumably end with the valve being ripped away. Due to the nature of carrier-based operations, drop-tanks were often carried to extend range, with a two-part centreline tank included, suspended at an angle from two separate struts to avoid striking the deck. A pair of short pylons or bomb crutches are fixed under the wings, just outboard of the main gear bays, right next to the brass ejection chutes for the 20mm Oerlikon cannons, the barrels of which are inserted into the leading edge of the wings in the next step. The prop is installed on its axle, and exhaust stubs are added to their slots, moulded as a continuous part without hollow exits. They are circular and of a size that should make it easy enough to make a depression in the centre and drill out each one. A small intake is applied to the top of the engine cowling by placing it over the guiding lines engraved into the fuselage, with a choice of two styles of aerial behind the cockpit. Speaking of the cockpit, the windscreen is glued at the front of the cut-out, adding a rear-view mirror to the apex, then fitting the fixed rear portion into position. The canopy has a PE opening mechanism fixed to the leading frame, and can be posed open or closed. The cockpit door can be posed open or closed, with a fine PE opening mechanism glued to the top edge, hinging along the bottom edge. Markings There are two decal options on the sheet, and both wear a high demarcation scheme with Extra Dark Grey over Sky or Sky Grey. The first decal option has an interesting variation from the norm, as it has a replacement outer wing that is covered in green/grey Temperate Sea Scheme camouflage, a much larger roundel on the upper wing, and a different style underneath. From the box you can build the following: SW912, 134T, No.804 Sqn., HMS Theseus, 14th Carrier Air Group, February 1947 PR479, AA-B, No.883/No.1 TAG, Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Joint Air Training Centre, RCAF Rivers, Manitoba, Canada, September 1948 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 It’s good to see this kit back on the shelves, and the two decal options are just that little bit out of the ordinary, which is quite appealing too. The muscular lines of the Griffon-engined Seafire lends itself well to the Naval schemes, and the carrier-free decals are great news. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Maryland Mk.I/II “Warburton’s War” (SH48077) 1:48 Special Hobby The Martin Maryland was one of the best losers of the contract competition that resulted in the Boston A-20 Havoc, and as such it was ignored by America, but garnered substantial orders from overseas customers, including the British and French, with a total of 450 airframes built. The French specified a less powerful engine for their order, which saw action in the fight against invading Nazi forces where their speed helped to keep attrition figures lower than other similar types, eventually flying many of the surviving aircraft to French North Africa, although some were used by Vichy forces against the Allies. The remaining 75 of the French order was re-allocated to the British order, replacing the engines of those already built with the original choice of Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasps, which were more powerful and gave the aircraft a good top-speed and pleasant handling. For a light bomber, the Maryland was agile and fast for the time, having been developed before the outbreak of WWII in Europe, and benefitted from a narrow fuselage that improved its aerodynamics, and they were faster than the other British Light Bombers in service at the time with the RAF, although the constant technology race meant that the advantage was eroded away over time. In order to improve the aircraft to allow it to compete in the performance game and help it to evade enemy fighters, the Mk.II Maryland was developed, adding a two-stage supercharger to the Twin Wasp engines to give it more pulling power that would keep it in service longer. Many Marylands found their way into the North African theatre, where they were often used as reconnaissance aircraft, probably because of their relatively high top speed, using their six machine guns to defend themselves in case they were bounced by fighters. The type was eventually phased out in Allied service to be replaced by more advanced types such as the B-26 Marauder, but it had made its mark, being responsible for reporting that the Bismarck had left its home port on its final mission, taking the pictures of the Italian fleet before the Battle of Taranto, plus some impressive aerial kills with its guns, one pilot achieving Ace status by downing 5 enemy aircraft with his forward-firing guns, all of which were confirmed. The Kit This is a re-release of the original boxing of this kit from 2010, which also depicted Warburton’s War, who flew a former French airframe, the aircraft still wearing its French scheme, but was overpainted with British roundels and fin-flashes. These aircraft weren’t primed before painting, so the paint chipped and wore away extensively once they entered service. The kit arrives in a top-opening box with a painting of Mr Warburton’s aircraft looking a little shabby, and inside are four sprues in grey styrene, a clear sprue, Photo-Etch (PE) fret, a bag containing dozens of resin parts, decal sheet and the instruction booklet, which is printed on matt paper in portrait A5 format, with colour profiles for the decal options on the rear pages. Detail is good, and the inclusion of resin parts makes it better, as does the PE that includes seatbelts and other useful parts. It might be an older tooling, but there’s not much evidence that gives the kit’s age away. Construction begins with some removal of sections from parts. The cockpit floor has the centre rectangular section removed from the front of the floor, and there is an option to open up the crew hatch under the nose, which required removal of the two moulded-in doors from the fuselage halves, keeping them for later when they will be fitted in the open position on each side of the hatch. With preparation done, the cockpit floor is detailed with rudder pedals, an up-and-over control column with a yoke at the end, to allow their placement over the floor hatch cut-out at the pilot’s feet. The pilot’s seat has a box added beneath it to increase its height, while the bombardier’s is on a lower block moulded into the floor, the pilot’s seat is fitted with a set of four-point belts from the PE sheet, and lap-belts for the bombardier, as he needs to be able to release quickly and go prone into the nose, which has a PE insert placed in the cut-out made earlier, along with four brackets to give it the correct thickness, and depict the slatted construction of the area, which will be seen from below through the nose glazing. Another section of floor is glued to a bulkhead within the fuselage for the radio operator, adding a bucket seat with lap-belts, O2 bottles, document pouches, and other equipment to the floor and the port fuselage half, which is also fitted with a pair of windows of differing sizes. More detail is fixed to the port side of the cockpit, adding PE levers and trim wheel to the assembly before gluing it into position, following the guidance arrows carefully. The next step gets busy, fitting the cockpit, bulkhead, radio wall, stowage pockets, turret ring, another bulkhead and the tail-wheel bay insert into the starboard fuselage moving from nose to tail, plus a pair of side windows, including two more instrument packages into the front interior of the nose, plus the important instrument panel, which has raised dial detail moulded into it, but no decals, so get out your favourite detail brush to complete the job. The two halves are joined together and put to one side while the glue cures, so that you can deal with the seams in your preferred manner. Meanwhile, you can put the wings together, installing the gear bay inserts in the lower wing, and a landing light in the leading-edge cut-out before lowering the upper wings and gluing them together, adding a small insert into the top leading-edge inboard of the landing lights. The majority of the engine nacelles and combined main gear bays are moulded into the wing halves with the exception of the engine and cowling. The two cowling halves are spaced apart with narrow inserts over the top and bottom intakes to create the shape, then the cowling lip with integrated intake lips is glued over the front, taking care to align them carefully to reduce clean-up. The Twin Wasp engines are made up a few steps earlier, and these are built from resin that is built around a central core, and two rows of seven cylinders inserted into the holes, adding two push-rods per front cylinder from your own stocks of rod or wire to add to the detail. You’ll be building two of these, so make sure you have enough rod/wire to be able to finish the job. The engines are fitted into keyed recesses in the front of the nacelles, sliding the cowling over them, aligning it along the lines of the intakes top and bottom of the cowling, which should mate flush with the raised mouldings on the nacelles. The elevators have moulded-in flying surfaces, and are each made from top and bottom halves, sliding into position under the tail using the usual slot and tab method. The next step is a busy one too, adding two resin exhausts under each engine nacelle, building the main wheels from two halves each, then mounting them on the gear legs, with bay doors on each side. The tail wheel is a single part that glues onto the strut and is inserted into a hole in the bay roof to complete the landing gear. The rear glazing under the fuselage is put into its cut-out where the fuselage steps down in height, fitting the nose glazing under the bombardier’s position, and optionally fitting the crew access ladder to the hatch if you cut it out, gluing the two cut parts to each side of the hatchway. Placing the model on its wheels (if you fitted them at this stage), the canopy is glued in place, adding a ring-and-bead sight on the deck in front of it, fixing two small PE parts on the inside of the nose glazing before attaching it along with the clear nose-cone to the front of the fuselage. The landing lights have clear lenses glued into the bay, and are then glazed over with an aerodynamic cover, one per wing, and adding a pitot probe on the port wing, cutting off the stub and gluing an L-shaped extension depending on which variant you are modelling. The props are mounded as a single part with separate spinner, one on each engine, fitting a choice of two aerial masts on the spine and a D/F loop on a small fairing, which can be upgraded by using a PE loop after cutting the styrene loop from the fairing. A PE trim-tab actuator is fixed to the rudder panel below the level of the elevators. The top turret is built around a ring that mounts a single machine gun on a pintle-mount, adding armour and a seat around the rear inside the aircraft, and covering the gunner with a single clear dome with one quadrant cut-out for the gun, allowing it to pivot within that space to a limited degree without rotating the turret. The completed and painted assembly is then dropped into the cut-out on the spine, adding a small PE blocking frame that should prevent a combat-focused gunner from shooting his own tail fin off. Markings There are four decal options on the sheet with a variety of schemes, one in French colours but British markings, two in desert camo in A and B layouts, and one in early war RAF green/brown over sky. From the box you can build one of the following: Martin 167F No.114, White 2, RAF No.69 Sqn., Pilot A Warburton, Luqa Airfield, Malta, May 1941 Maryland Mk.I, AH284, RAF No.39 Sqn., Western Desert, Africa, 1941 Maryland Mk.I, 1654, Red X, SAAF No.24 Sqn., Western Desert, Africa, end of 1941 Maryland Mk.I, AR733, No.69 Sqn., RAF Luqa Airfield, Malta, 1942 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 I’m personally glad this kit is back on the shelves, as its unusual shape appeals to my love of all things strange or ugly. It also has a good level of detail from the box, with the exception perhaps of the instrument panel that some purchasers might want to upgrade to 3D printed or PE lamination instead. It’s a striking aircraft that was a lot better than it was given credit for, and deserves a little affection. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Mirage F.1 EQ/ED (72386) 1:72 Special Hobby The Dassault Mirage F.1 has been a successful point defence fighter for over thirty years, and was developed initially as a private venture by Dassault as a replacement to their ageing Mirage III fighters. It is a single-engined, single-seat fighter aircraft with a high-mounted delta wing and capability of reaching mach 2.2 in short order. Power was provided by a single SNECMA Atar turbojet providing about 7 tonnes-force (69 kN; 15,000 lbf) of thrust. Dassault soon found an eager customer in the shape of the French Armée de l'air, who bought various versions over the years starting on 1974. The French retired the Mirage F.1 in 2014. The ED is the export version for Qatar, and the EQ the version for Iraq. Its worth noting that private military contractors in the US are buying large surplus stocks of Mirage F.1s to use in the adversary role. The Kit This is a reworking of the superb new tool kit from Special Hobby. This boxing has extra plastic parts for this version being the tail and large centre line tank. There is also some small resin parts for the "lumps & bums", and a resin Exocet Missile for the Iraqi version. The parts are crisp with engraved panel lines deep enough not to disappear under a coat of paint, but not trench like. From the parts break down on the sprues it is evident more versions are on there way. Construction starts conventionally enough in the cockpit area. The instrument panel and coaming is built up and attached to the front of the cockpit, the rear bulkhead is attached, and the control stick added in. For some strange reason step 3 in the instructions has you placing the cockpit inside the fuselage and closing it up; and step 4 has you adding the front wheel well and exhaust into the fuselage. I would safely say that it's best to reverse these. On the subject of the exhaust, it is a three part affair and the quality of the kit parts is very good. Once the exhaust, front wheel bay, and cockpit are in the main fuselage can indeed be closed up. Once the main fuselage is together the correct nose can be added for your chose decal option. Various nose antenna are added along with the front airbrakes which are moulded in the closed position. The engine intakes are also added at this stage. Next the main wings are added which are of conventional upper/lower construction. Once these are on the rudder, tail planes, and ventral strakes are all added as well. Once the main aircraft is built it is time to switch to the landing gear. All three units are built up and added along with their respective doors. The undercarriage is quite detailed but has been moulded to be in as few parts as possible. The main legs along with their retraction struts are one part, with only a single small section needed for each of the mains. The wheels are one part each and have nice relief for painting. It is then a quick re-visit to the cockpit to build the ejection seat. For the scale this is quite detailed with 4 parts making up the seat. There is a choice of seat back/cushion however no indication of which to use for which option. It is suspected these options are time frame based, and the modeller should check their references. The penultimate step is to add the pylons. A single centre line pylon is added along with wing pylons, &chaff dispensers. Thankfully this time the instructions show which should be added for each decal option. The instructions show only fuel tanks to be attached, although the sprues do contain a nice selection of French weapons to be deployed as the modeller sees fit,. Lastly the canopy and front screen are attached. Markings There are four decal options on a sheet from Cartograf so there will be no issues there. 1. F.1EQ No.79 Sqn Iraqi Air Force (Sand / Grey scheme). 2. F.1EQ-5 No.81 Sqn Iraqi Air Force (Dark Sea Grey Scheme) - Fitted for Exocet. 3. F.1EQ-6 No.102 Sqn Republic Of Iran Air Force (Grey / Blue Scheme). 4. F.1ED Libyan Peoples Air Force (Aircraft which defected to Malta) Conclusion It is great to see more versions of this new tool from Special Hobby becoming available. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

AH-1Q/S Cobra US & Turkish Army Service (SH48232) 1:48 Special Hobby The AH-1 Cobra was the first production Gunship or Attack Helicopter to see US service as a new type of weapons platform. During the Vietnam war the US Army began to see the need for armed helicopter to escort its unarmed UH-1 Hueys into combat. Fortunately, Bell Helicopters had been independently investigating helicopter gunships as early as the late 1950s, so in 1962 Bell was able to display a mock up concept to the US Army, featuring a 20mm gun pod, and a ball turret mounted grenade launcher. It was felt by the Army to be lightweight, under powered and unsuitable. Following this the US Army launched and Advanced Aerial Fire Support System (AAFSS) competition, which gave rise to the Lockheed AH-56 Cheyenne heavy attack helicopter that proved to be too technologically advanced and therefore risky for its time, eventually being cancelled in 1972 after 10 years of development (some things never change). Despite the failure of the AAFSS programme, Bell stuck with its idea of a smaller, lighter gunship and invested its own money developing the AH-1 further. They used as many of the proven components they could from the UH-1 platform, adding these to a newly designed slender fuselage that had a minimal front profile. When The US Army later asked for plans for an interim gunship for Vietnam, Bell was in a fortunate position to be able to offer the ready-made AH-1, or the Bell 209 as it was then called. Given the work Bell had already done, the programme was completed in a relatively rapid eight months and won the evaluation battle against the competition. In 1966 the US Army signed an initial contract for 110 aircraft. Some slight modifications were made to the production airframes. The heavy armoured glass canopy was replaced by Plexiglas with an improvement in performance. Wider rotor blades were fitted and the original retracting skids were replaced by simple fixed units. The G model was the initial 1966 production model gunship for the US Army, with one 1,400shp (1,000 kW) Avco Lycoming T53-13 turboshaft. Bell built over 1,100 AH-1Gs between 1967 and 1973, and the Cobras would go on to fly over a million operational hours in Vietnam, losing approximately 300 to combat shoot-downs and accidents during the war. The U.S. Marine Corps would use AH-1G Cobra in Vietnam for a short period before acquiring more damage resilient twin-engined AH-1J Cobras. The AH-1Q/S was basically the AH-1G with the addition of a more capable Telescopic Sight Unit (TSU) and the facility to mount a four-pack of M56 TOW missiles under each winglet. The AH-1S is the same basic airframe but with a more powerful T53-L-703 turboshaft engine that was of benefit to the Turkish army because of their hotter climate. The AH-1 went on to serve the US Army until it was replaced by the AH-64 Apache. The last one leaving active service in 1999. The Kit This is a reboxing of a new tool from Special Hobby that brought us a long-overdue update to some of the older kits of the type on the market, plus more varied boxings as time goes by. This edition depicts the American airframes used in Vietnam, and arrives in a standard top-opening box in Special Hobby’s Hi-Tech black theme, and inside are eleven sprues in various sizes in grey styrene, a large clear sprue with a choice of canopies for upcoming versions, a decal sheet and their usual glossy A4 instruction booklet with spot colour throughout, plus colour profiles of the decal options in the rear. There are several red Xs on the sprue diagrams, as they have been tooled with future boxings in mind, so after you’re done building it, you will likely have parts left over. I’d also recommend checking the sprues for parts that have come off the runners during shipping, as a fair few were loose in past boxings, so don’t go tossing the bags in the recycling before you’ve checked for lurkers. Detail is excellent, as we’ve come to expect from SH, especially in the cockpit, the exterior surface and the rotors, while the instruction booklet takes you through the build process with colour and scrap diagrams used to clarify the process. Construction begins with the cockpit, which will be highly visible through the crystal-clear canopy parts, and this starts with the cockpit tub along with foot pedals front and rear, cyclic and collective sticks, gunner controls, filling a small depression in the floor, and the quilted rear bulkhead. The instrument panels receive dial decals to complete them along with coamings and HUD for the rear pilot, and the completed panels are applied to the appropriate crew station. The two seats are built up in the same manner but using different part numbers, starting with the L-shaped seat pan, and adding the sides then cushion to the base, inserting them into their slots between the side consoles and behind the instrument panels. The next step is to start prep of the fuselage halves by adding the nose cone and tail fin, taking care to align them carefully as well as choosing the correct one, as there are two tails provided on the sprues for the different decal options. The rotor-head is installed on a flat plate, allowing the head to rotate if you’re careful with the glue on the outer sleeve, then it is inserted into the fuselage along with the cockpit tub and the short internal exhaust trunk, closing it up after adding nose weight, and leaving it to set up so you can deal with the seams. The cockpit is then outfitted with armour panels on the internal sidewalls with an optional L-shaped part in the port front. What little there is of the underside of the fuselage is blank until you add the two armoured panels under the cockpit, and glue an insert into the hole in the underside around the rear of the turret. Two narrow intakes are added to the sides for three decal options, followed by two styles of main intakes further forward that slot into recesses on the fuselage sides. One of two types of tail stabiliser fins are slotted into the boom, and further forward the winglets that carry weapons are built from two halves plus hollow tip fairings, gluing two small sensor fairings to the nose for one decal option. The boom is covered in well-rendered raised rivets, as is correct for the type, and two appliqué parts are fitted either side below the exhausts, either filling the hole over the exhaust with putty, or fitting a curved baffle into the hole on top. There is a short or long exhaust ring for the decal options, then the winglets have pylons fitted under them midway, and in the tip fairing, allowing munition carriage on any of the four pylons. The fuselage is flipped on its back to create and insert the nose turret, with a pair of fairings added into the main turret part, and a 7.62mm Gatling gun in one aperture, plus a 40mm grenade launcher in the other, and glazing for the smaller turret in the tip of the nose. Four thick eyes, a blade antennae, pop-up searchlight and the rotating gun turret, plus the tail bumper wire under the tail are all installed around the airframe, plus a choice of skids with thicker or thinner supports finish off the main fuselage for now, after which the two-bladed tail-rotor has its crown fitted and is inserted into the hole in the side of the tail. The main rotor sits on a chunky axle, over which an angular washer slides that is joined to the base by a pair of actuators. The two main blades are moulded as a single item, and are first detailed with additional parts before they are glued to the top of the drive-shaft, and are supported by a pair of long control rods linked to the blades to adjust their incidence. A scrap diagram shows the various parts in false-colour to help you get everything correctly aligned. It is lowered into the top fairing later and glued into place. The Cobra’s crew exit on opposite sides, and the long narrow top is fitted first after fixing an instrument cluster to the edge of the moulded-in windscreen, gluing it onto the fuselage at the front and rear of the cockpit cut-out. After the fixed sloped starboard section and port rear section are fixed in place, the two openers can be mounted in the open position and are supported by rods to achieve the correct angle for them. A wire-cutter fin is fitted into the roof of the cockpit for two decal options, and a small styrene part is glued to the bottom frame of the windscreen. Although it is best known for its Gatling gun, the Cobra could also carry rocket pods, and four of the 19-shot M200 pods are included on a separate sprue, as well as the XM26 TOW missile pods that are cylindrical and mounted in a pack of four per side. An optional ground-handling pack is included that consists of a pair of strap-on wheels that attach to a pair of pegs on the upper rear of the skids, lifting them off the ground, and it is towed by a pair of bars that also have castors at the base near the skid to facilitate movement when levelled out and when they’re off the airframe. The bars attach to the front of the skids, then it’s down to you to find a suitable towing vehicle if you wish. Markings There are four markings options in the box, three painted in green, plus a camo scheme for the Turkish option. From the box you can build one of the following: AH-1S 71-21024, 503rd Aviation Company, US Army in Europe, Hanau, Germany, 1979 AH-1Q, 68-15086, converted from AH-1G, different camo in 1970s AH-1S, 68-15204, Massachusetts National Guard, 1991 AH-1S, 10636 (68-15071) delivered to Turkish Land Forces to supplement their AH-1W airframes 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 Another variant of the Cobra broadens the range again, and the colourful Turkish option is a little out of the ordinary. Detail is excellent, and should be simple enough to build. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

A6M2 Zero Control Surface Correction Set (4464 for Academy) 1:48 CMK by Special Hobby Academy released their new tooling of the Japanese Zero in 2022 as a Battle of Midway 80th Anniversary boxing, but the model’s control surfaces suffer a little from an overly deep representation of the ribbing, and have fixed elevators and rudder panel that can’t be posed deflected. This set arrives in Special Hobby’s yellow themed blister pack, with a header card and the instructions forming the slot-in back to the package, and holding the resin in place within the blister. There are seven parts in grey resin, all of which have separate casting blocks that are joined to the parts at the pivot-point that will be less visible if any mistakes are made. The elevators are drop-in replacements, but the elevators and rudder will require removal of the moulded-in flying surfaces from the kit parts before the new resin parts can be added. The instructions advise sanding a V-shaped bevelled edge on the cut lines to allow the rounded leading-edges of the flying surfaces to nestle closely to the hinge-points, which shouldn’t be too difficult, as the surfaces are all moulded as separate halves. A worthwhile upgrade to the realism of the model, doing away with the deep recesses in the kit flying services, which is particularly noticeable on the moulded-in rudder. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Kittyhawk Mk.IV Over the Mediterranean & Pacific (SH72484) 1:72 Special Hobby First flying before the outbreak of WWII, the Warhawk was a development of the P-36 Hawk, and although it was never the fastest fighter in the sky, it was a sturdy one that took part in the whole of WWII in American and Allied hands, with large numbers used by Soviet pilots in their battles on the Eastern front. The various marks garnered different names such as Tomahawk and Kittyhawk, so it can get a mite confusing if you're not familiar with the type. It was unable to keep pace with the supercharged Bf.109, but was used to great effect in the Far East and Africa, which may have assisted in the feeling that it was a second-string aircraft of inferior design, when this actually wasn't the case – certainly not to the extent inferred. It was robust, cheap to make, and easy to repair, although its high-altitude performance dropped off somewhat. The early marks were under-armed with just two .50 guns firing through the prop from the top of the engine cowling and a pair of .303s in the wings, but later models benefited from improved armament. The B model was a revision of the initial airframe with lessons learned from early production, self-sealing fuel tanks and armour in critical parts of the airframe, although this extra weight did have an impact on performance. The -D was a partial re-design, eliminating the nose guns, narrowing the fuselage and improving the cockpit layout and canopy. In British service it was known as the Kittyhawk Mk.I, but only a small number were made before the -E replaced it with a more powerful Allison engine, and an extra pair of .50cal machine guns in the wings bringing the total to six, but even that wasn’t sufficient to let it keep up with the opposition. It wasn't until the –F model that the Allison engine was replaced by a license built Merlin that gave it better high altitude performance and a sleeker chin. The Kittyhawk Mk.IV was the British name for the -N, which had been lightened, had the interior behind the pilot cut away to improve the view over the his shoulder, and had a lengthened rear fuselage to counter the torque of the new more powerful engine. Another weight-saving option on some airframes was the removal of one .50cal per wing, bringing the total back down to four, and although its punch had been weakened a little, the additional speed of up to 380mph improved the aircraft’s chances of getting guns-on behind the enemy. The Kit This is a rebox of a recent tooling from Special Hobby with new parts to depict this variant, and it arrives in a red/white/grey themed top-opening box with a painting of the subject flying over jungle terrain with his wingman. Inside the box are three sprues in grey styrene, a clear sprue that’s separately bagged, decal sheet in another resealable bag, and the A5 portrait instruction booklet printed on satin paper in colour. Detail is good, with finely engraved panel lines, raised and recessed details around the airframe and a few spare parts that can stay on the sprues, which are marked with a red X on the sprue diagram. Construction begins with the pilot’s seat, which is mounted on an armoured panel with headrest, then attached to the bulkhead and given a set of four-point seatbelts from the decal sheet, after which it is set aside for a few steps. The fuselage sides are fitted with sidewall inserts, with sections further forward under the nose painted silver as they form part of the intake pathway, adding the core with three circular intakes inside, and the intake lip in front once the fuselage halves are together. The rear bulkhead with seat and the instrument panel with two decals for the dials are trapped between the two halves of the fuselage as it is closed, and a small circular shape on the cockpit side is removed and smoothed over at this stage too. Moving on to the wings, the full-span lower has the perimeter around the bay openings painted interior green, as are the side-walls that are glued in the recesses, and the roof that is moulded into the upper wing. The cockpit floor is moulded into the centre of the one-piece upper wing, and that is also painted the same colour, so quite convenient while you have the paint out. The control column and another lever are inserted into holes in the floor, then the wings can be joined to the fuselage whilst adding a landing light into the port lower wing from inside, taking care not to ping the stick off as you do so. The elevators are each a single parts that affix with the usual slot and tab method, plus a separate rudder that can be posed deflected if you wish. The exhaust stubs are supplied as a single insert per side, and are too small to drill out unless you have the world’s steadiest hands. Under the wing a pitot probe is inserted in the port wingtip, selecting open or closed cooling gills behind the chin intake by using one of two parts. The main gear struts have an additional bracing leg fixed at the top, then the tripod arrangement is inserted into the sockets in the bay, adding the two doors to each side of the bays, and another two with a cross-brace in the tail bay and a single part strut/wheel to complete the undercarriage. The three-bladed prop is moulded as a single part and is bracketed by the spinner and back-plate that slots into a hole in the nose, masking and painting the tips later. You then have a choice of three loads under the centre of the fuselage, consisting of two types of fuel tank, or a bomb for ground-attack operations. Each option is made from two halves plus four braces for the fuel tanks, and two for the bomb. Flipping the model over allows the last step to be completed, fitting the coaming and clear gunsight into the cockpit, adding the windscreen and the fixed rear portion behind the canopy, then a choice of two clear canopy parts which can be posed open or closed, as part H2 is moulded slightly wider. Markings There are two decal options on the sheet, wearing very different schemes to add variety, and from the box you can build one of the following: Kittyhawk Mk.IV (USAAF S/n.42-106386) A29-575, HU-E, No.78 Sqn., RAAF Morotai, Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), early 1945 Kittyhawk Mk.IV (USAAF S/n.43-23933) FX835, OK-D, No.450 (RAAF) Sqn., RAF, Italy, June to November 1944 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 P-40 is an interesting aircraft, and played some important parts in WWII, as evidenced by the number of notable pilots that gained their reputation in this doughty fighter. This is a well-detailed kit of a British(ish) variant, and has two interesting decal options that make it an appealing prospect. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Bofors 40mm AA/AS Gun PT Boat Weapon Set #6 (N72044 for Revell) 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 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. This set is number six of a growing series of sets that are now available for the basic kit, and it depicts the Bofors 40mm Anti-Aircraft cannon that saw extensive use both at sea and in the air during WWII, which was based upon a Swedish design that had been instigated as an improvement on previous Vickers designs. They were often seen mounted on the foredeck of PT boats on a substantial boxy installation, and the gun was used almost ubiquitously by WWII Allied Navies. The set arrives in a white cardboard box with a captive top flap and sticker showing the contents. Inside are three bags of parts, the traditional cast resin in grey, and the 3D printed parts in a bright orange colour. Additionally, a small fret of Photo-Etch (PE) provides more parts, and all this is protected by the instruction sheet and a few polystyrene foam peanuts to increase stability of the parts during transport and storage. The resin parts are attached to their casting and print bases in sensible locations to reduce clean-up work, and once the parts are liberated, they can be put to good use. Construction begins with the resin base, onto which the rotating floor and rear rails are added from the 3D parts, fitting PE foot rests and orange resin seats with PE backrests. A curved 3D profile is fixed to the rear of the floor, then the gun is built up based upon the breech, two of which are included, one for horizontal and one for elevated poses. Your choice of breech receives the barrel at the front, a resin ammo feeder that locates in a recess in the top of the breech, plus a PE twin ring-and-bead sight so that both crew members can sight the gun. It is mounted between two trunnions with PE elevation winder handles that should be glued in opposition to each other, adding twin elevation pistons under the front for the elevated option, and a curved resin part to the rear. The horizontal breech also has a choice of installing a covered ammo feeder instead of the open feeder that has rounds ready for firing. The base of the completed gun assembly is then plugged into a recess in the centre of the floor of the rotating portion to finish off, and a replacement stowage box has been included to improve details on the deck as a bonus. Markings There are no decals in the box, and no painting instructions are provided, as these will be found in the base Revell kit. Conclusion If your kit comes with a 40mm Bofors, this is a great way to upgrade the detail simply. If it doesn’t, you can install it on the front deck to add some individuality to your model. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Hurricane Mk.I/II Main Wheels 4-Spoke (Q32412 for Revell) 1:32 CMK by Special Hobby We reviewed Revell’s new large-scale Hurricane early this year here, and now we have some brand-new resin wheels from CMK. The Revell kit wheels are in two halves with separate hub, which means you have the resultant joins to deal with, and have less than stellar detail due to the moulding limitations of styrene injection technology, especially in the hubs in this instance. That's where replacement resin wheels come in, with their lack of seamline and superior detail making a compelling argument. They are also usually available at a reasonable price, and can be an easy introduction to aftermarket and resin handling, as they are usually a drop-in replacement. This set has the same part count for the main wheels, but the tyres are cast as a single part with sidewall details and maker’s marks on the surface, and there are two separate hubs with a deep undercut dish at the rear to ease removal from their casting block. The outer hub is four-spoke with a separate resin roller in the centre, and has a cut-out on the rim for the valve, while the inner hub has concentric rings of ribs and bolts cast-in. The tail wheel is a single part rather than two, saving clean-up of seams. The wheels are attached to their casting block at the bottom where there is a flat-spot, so clean-up should be a breeze, and the weighting hasn’t been overdone. To build the main wheels, simply cut the parts free from their blocks, clean up, and glue the two hubs into their depressions, which have a key cast-in to ensure correct orientation. Resin wheels are a great way to increase detail and realism, and they also don’t break the bank. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Titan “World Famous Research & Tourist Submarine” (N72045) 1:72 Special Hobby Navy Series The Titan submersible launched on a tourist trip down to the wreck of the Titanic on the 18th June 2023, and communications were lost a few hours later as it approached the wreck. Titan had already made a few visits to the wreck of the Titanic, clearly returning safely to the surface at the end of each previous trip, but this time nothing more was heard from them. An extensive search began, hoping that the five people in the sub could be recovered safely before they ran out of oxygen, which was limited to around three days, providing the passengers were calm and remained inactive. Sadly, later evidence from sub-sea monitoring devices and other sources confirmed that the vehicle had imploded on the first day when communications was lost, and the wreckage was discovered some time later, proving that the worst had happened. The pilot, the CEO of the operator OceanGate, and three passengers were all killed in the accident, and at time of writing the investigation is still ongoing. It is suspected that the radical use of carbon composites for the main tubular portion of the hull could be the reason for the implosion of the structure, as it was the first of its kind to be used at such crushing depths, so was essentially unproven technology. Our profound hope is that none of them suffered, for their sakes. The CEO has been portrayed in the media as somewhat flamboyant and blasé about the safety concerns of the design, but there is always a lot of hearsay and speculation after any catastrophe, as hindsight is always 20/20, so it’s probably wisest to wait for the official report before apportioning blame. The Kit This is a brand-new 3D printed rendition of the ill-fated submersible, and while some might say it’s a little mawkish to release it so soon after the disaster, it was doubtless commissioned before the incident with the best of intentions. The amount of work that went into it probably had a hand in the decision to release the kit, and whether you like the idea is entirely up to you. My feelings are that if you want to build it as a tribute to the passengers and crew that lost their lives, that’s ok. It’s a divisive subject, and not one we want to touch here on the forum. We’re presenting this kit for the fact that it is available, and that’s it. The kit arrives in a small white cardboard box with a large sticker covering the top, showing a 3D rendering of the Titan underwater. Inside are two complex 3D printed parts in orange resin, which combines strength with flexibility to create highly detailed prints. There is a clear resin porthole for the front of the vehicle, and of course the instructions plus a small decal sheet. Construction is simplicity itself, mainly relating to the removal of the printing supports that run up the sides of the main part, and more supports bracket the door with its thick observation window inserted into the centre once prepared. There are a row of lights, cameras and other sensors across the top of the main body, some of which had become detached in transit on my example, but were restored with super glue by careful inspection of the bag in which the parts are wrapped. There is a simple interior within the two halves of the model, plus the manoeuvring thrusters, more sensors and antennae along the spine, as well as trunking to feed power and data back and forth to the various areas. Under the cylindrical body is a framework that acts as a landing skid/support, with ballast weights fitted along parts of the length. Detail is excellent throughout the exterior, and the interior is very simple, much like the interior of the real vehicle, the size of which would have been a trial for anyone with even a hint of claustrophobia. The hinged door into the sub can be posed open or closed, and has a bench seat moulded-in on a cross-brace for observers to rest on when it was their turn to look out. The window is a tight fit in the circular aperture, and might not even need glue, so don’t expect to be able to remove it easily if you feel the need for a test fit. Markings There was only one Titan, the name of which had been changed from Cyclops 2 in time for its final ill-fated mission. It spent its time deep under water, so wasn’t covered in markings or advertising, just the OceanGate logo and the name Titan underneath on both sides of the tapering fairing at the rear that hid all the technical equipment from view. 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 As already mentioned, it’s a personal matter whether you think it’s too soon, and if you do, please just walk on by. If you wish to commemorate or remember the victims of the disaster however, it is a well-detailed model, and should go together easily. Review sample courtesy of

3D Printed Small Arms (P350012/14/15/16/19) 1:35 Special Hobby 3D Print Guns are a central component in any military engagement. 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 range, for use in dioramas, to increase the detail of figures, and as personal items in or around AFVs and softskins. Each set arrives in a clear bubble pack with a cardboard header and instruction sheet at the rear. The 3D printed parts are secured in foam inserts that are cut to suit their shape, 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. MG42 German WWII Machine Gun Early (P35012) The basis for many modern machine guns, the MG42 was a development of the MG34, intended to reduce the cost and increase ease 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 base that also contains four drum magazines and a pair of bipods. The PE sheet contains slings and a length of spent link that is glued to the open breech opposite the magazine. M1 Bazooka (P35014) The word Bazooka has become the generic name for any shoulder-mounted rocket launcher in some circles, and it was reverse-engineered by the Germans from captured weapons at the beginning of WWII to become the more effective Panzerschreck. It utilised a shaped-charge to punch above its weight, and was rocket-propelled from the tube, with a limited range but the capability of penetrating more than 70mm of rolled homogenous armour in use at the time. The set includes the bazooka as one part, plus two rounds, one with a pointed M6 warhead that was a little prone to ricocheting, and the alternative domed warhead that was designed to reduce ricochets. An additional set of fins is included in case you wanted to portray one “up the spout” hanging out of the rear of the tube. A PE sling is also included to complete the package, and the detail on the weapon is excellent, including the frame around the rear of the tube, which is a dangerous place to stand behind, which usually led to a quick look behind before pulling the trigger that electrically launched the rocket. 3rd degree burns tend not to be popular with comrades. M1A1 Bazooka (P35015) The M1 Bazooka wasn’t perfect, so the engineers went back to the drawing board and improved it, working on the electrical systems, removing the blocky front handgrip, adding a blow-back diffusing ‘colander’ at the muzzle, and improving the rounds to achieve more kills. The revised Bazooka is printed as a single part, with two of the diffusers on the enlarged PE sheet with the sling, and a pair of conical grey resin jigs that are hidden in the rear to bend the part to the correct shape quickly and easily, taking all the worry out of the process. It would be good practice to anneal the part carefully over a flame to soften the brass, but being careful not to overdo it, as the part is etched to half thickness and could be melted or even burned away by too much heat. M18 57mm Recoilless Rifle (P35016) The M18 was a portable 57mm rifle that was designed during WWII and saw limited service at the very end of the war, going on to fight in the Korean and Vietnam wars before it was retired. It could penetrate around the same thickness of armour as the initial Bazooka rounds, and in Europe it was only capable of causing damage to vulnerable parts such as the turret ring, vision blocks, armour seams or running gear, unless the operator was able to get to the rear where the armour was thinner. In the Pacific however, it was a resounding success, as the Japanese tanks were lightly armoured and armed. The set includes three display options for this unusual weapon, the first being low to the ground, using the extending foregrip as a bipod, and the shoulder rest split in two to provide two more points of balance for the prone operator. The best mounting platform was the tripod from a Browning 1917 machine gun, which explains why I did a double-take when perusing the instructions. The weapon and breech are printed as a single part, the prone mount having the stands fitted as separate parts, along with the breech operation mechanism and sighting mechanism. The man-portable version can also be made by using different parts for the monopod/grip and shoulder pad, using the same parts for the breech and sight. The most impressive option is the tripod-mounted rifle, which involves trapping two printed parts between PE frames, adding an adjustment wheel and locking lever on one side, and the stud on the other, then mounting it on the three legs with the base in the centre, plus adjustment and locking levers from PE and resin. A PE strap is affixed to one leg to secure them for transport, then the rifle is built with breech mechanism, sight and foregrip, after which it is lowered onto the tripod locating it on a pin behind the foregrip. There are three of the 57mm rounds included on the print-base, which employed an ingenious method to reduce recoil to almost zero. The casing was perforated, with a protective plastic inner sleeve keeping the weather out and propellant in, plus a ring that has grooves machined into it to engage in the rifling, reducing friction and giving it a high muzzle velocity that increased penetration. For painting the rounds, just Google it, as there are plenty of pics around on the ‘net. AK-74MN Russian Assault Rifle Laminated Stock (P35019) 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 a side-by-side protective printing base, 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 after a surprisingly short gestation period, 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

Short Sunderland Mk.III U-Boat Hunters (SH72304) 1:72 Special Hobby The Sunderland was developed in tandem with the Empire flying boat by Short Brothers during the 30s, in response to a requirement from the Ministry for a long-range patrol and reconnaissance flying boat, first flying in 1937 before war became inevitable in Europe. It was aerodynamically refined compared to previous designs such as the biplane Sarafand, and was well-armed with turrets and guns front, rear and in the dorsal area of the fuselage, which coupled with bomb/depth-charge carrying capability and an extremely long range, made it ideally suited to the job it was tasked with. The shoulder-mounted wing kept the four engines away from the spray and waves whilst on the water, and gave the crew a better view of the ocean when they were airborne, having no wing to block their view. By the time it had gone through prototyping and testing, it had more powerful versions of the Pegasus engine and a four-gun powered turret in the rear to mount a better defence against attacks from behind, although the use of the K-gun with its .303 round caused less damage than a well-placed .50cal. Because of the intended length of missions, there was a galley and sleeping quarters inside the expansive fuselage/hull, which was spread over different levels thanks to the height of the fuselage, putting the pilots high above the waves. There were forty Sunderland Mk.Is in service at the outbreak of WWII, with another thirty-five made before the introduction of improved Mk.II, which had more powerful Pegasus engines, extra ammo in the rear turret, and the removal of shoulder-mounted guns behind the wings that were less effective than envisaged, and put the gunners at risk with their upper bodies outside the aircraft. Their job was taken over by the dorsal turret in a similar location, adding weight but also increasing the usefulness of just one gunner operating twin guns, rather than two crew. Fewer than 50 of the Mk.II were made before the Mk.III replaced them, which used a revised hull to ease the “unsticking” process from the sea during take-off. The Mk.III became the most numerous of the Sunderland variants, with over 450 built, but it was a constant process of upgrading and amending the type, including the ongoing leap-frog improvements to the U-Boat detecting equipment in an effort to find and destroy them and protect the huge quantity of cargo shipping that the U-Boats had been picking away at since the beginning of the war, especially in the mid-Atlantic where air cover had been impossible until the Sunderland and Catalina came into their own. The Mk.III was eventually displaced by the Mk.IV, which flew on more powerful Hercules engines and substantial airframe changes that extended the fuselage and increased the size of the tail planes. Armament was increased, with .50cal and even 20mm guns, but only eight were made and the war ended before they saw active service. The Mk.V however was a Mk.II that had its engine replaced by a quartet of Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp engines that each output over 1,200hp, and relieved the stress on the underpowered Pegasus engines that were being run at full combat power just to get up to operational speed, mostly because of the increased all-up weight from additional ammo and radar installations, leading to frequent maintenance requirements. These later variants could stay in the air with both engines on one wing knocked out, a feat that was beyond the Mk.III, which would gradually lose height under the same circumstances. As a bonus, the range of the aircraft was almost identical, despite the increased power, and over 150 were built before the end of the war. Post-war, the remaining Sunderlands were used in civil service, some converted to carry passengers and renamed to Sandringham Mk. I. The age of the Flying Boat was over though, as jet engines came on-stream, shortening journey times immensely and consigning the flying boats to history. The Kit This is a straight re-release of the 2020 edition of the Mk.III, originating from a 2019 tooling of the Mk.V with new parts added in between times. Arriving in a large top-opening box with an attractive painting of the subject matter flying over a U-boat that it has just unloaded upon, inside are twelve sprues in grey styrene, a large clear sprue, a Ziploc bag with four resin porcupine exhausts inside, a large decal sheet and the instruction booklet printed in colour on matt paper in portrait A4(ish) format, with profiles of the decal options on the rear pages, one option per page. Detail is good, and this is the first time I’ve taken a good look at the Special Hobby kit, as it isn’t my scale, my last exploits with a Sunderland being the ancient Airfix kit when I was a wee boy and was blissfully unaware of the concept of seam-filling and gloss-coats. The interior is well-detailed with internal structure all over the fuselage sides, perforated floor areas to drain away any sea spray, and tons of options on the sprues, many of which will stay in the box for this edition. As a 1:48 scale modeller, I’m a little bit jealous, even though I have an Alpha Flight Sunderland lurking in the stash somewhere. Construction begins with the cockpit, building up the seats, which had to be strong and comfortable for 14-hour sorties, both pilots having the same four-part arrangement, with a slightly less fancy seat for the rear crew member. The raised cockpit floor has the centre console and instrument panel installed which has a decal on the sheet but doesn’t mention it, plus a pair of rudder pedals and control column for both pilots, which is then inserted into turrets on the main floor part, adding the seat, plus another pivoting stool that sits at a map table in front of the rear bulkhead with a door that shows the curtain pulled half-way across. The radio equipment is made and inserted into holes in the floor, painting everything as you go, using the letter call-outs that match a table on the front of the booklet that use Gunze codes. The lower floor is filled with four bulkheads, plus two support walls for a staircase up to the flight deck, fixing six bunks and two folding tables into place in between the centre bulkheads that have doorways moulded-in and have the doors as separate parts to be posed however you like. Two bomb rack bases are built and have four carriers mounted across each one, fixing one on each side of the sloping rails that fit in a groove in the roof/floor panel that is fixed behind the cockpit floor later. There are eight bombs with two anti-sway braces each that hang off the rails, and will either be seen through the portholes of the door, or if deploying them, they’ll be seen through the open bomb doors under the wings. A ladder is inserted between the two floors as they are joined together, emplacing the bomb compartment roof behind the cockpit on the same level, then installing the tapering perforated floor in the nose, which has a small raised section further forward on a shallow support, which is where a crew-member stands with a hawser during docking. Two styles of cheek inserts are supplied for different decal options that fit into the nose of both fuselage halves, and small steps are fitted to the inside, adding more to the sides, including guns if you selected the insert that has the two troughs moulded-in. What look like bench seats are fixed as a single part under the lower portholes in the sides, installing a semi-circular raised panel further back. The bomb doors on each side are moulded as clear parts to ease building, masking off the windows before painting, and applying a stencil to the inside after. These doors can either be inserted into the cut-outs in the fuselage, or mounted below the aperture when ready for a bombing run. A plethora of clear porthole parts are inserted into their holes in both sides, and a hand-cranked winch is mounted in the nose on a trapezoid base. It is well worth the effort of painting and weathering the interior of the model, and Special Hobby have pulled out all the stops with the internal detail, which includes ribbing throughout the fuselage, and the roof and floor parts are well-detailed too, with a detailed painting guide at each step. There is another stencil on a small hatch above the waterline, as shown in a scrap diagram nearby. Small holes for the radar antennae that gave the aircraft the nickname the Flying Porcupine are made with the help of a scrap diagram that also gives measurements to aid accuracy, then one last radio box is fixed to the port cockpit wall before the interior assembly is glued into it, adding the floor in the rear of the fuselage, a short cross-member below the dorsal gun position, which has a ladder up to another short floor section with ammo boxes and framework below the turret, but also served the earlier variants with two gunners on the sides of the roof, the insert for which is also on the sprues. The fuselage is almost ready, but the coaming needs gluing over the instrument panel, a shallow bulkhead is glued into the space in front of the cockpit, and an optional ammo box in the nose, plus either a traditional anchor in the nose, or a two-part assembly that appears to be a demountable mooring post. Another ammo box for the nose turret is mounted in the lower floor of the nose before the two fuselage halves are closed, and here these is a small caveat. Under the bomb doors, there is a short sink-mark where the detail inside increases the thickness of the styrene, so it’s probably a good idea to fill that before you get too far into the build process. Once the glue has cured, the dorsal turret insert can be glued in, and the canopy fitted over the cockpit, fixing a centre console to the interior of the glazing with some non-marring glue. If you think you’re done with the fuselage, there are a few more items to deal with. There is an insert in the keel step that helps the aircraft un-stick from the ocean, which was squared off on the initial Mk.I, but was smoothed off for the Mk.III, which is the insert to choose, taking care to test-fit and fettle the join before applying glue. The tail fin makes an appearance, but isn’t yet glued to the tail, as you are advised to test-fit the two-part assembly along with the rudder before fitting it in step 50, although the instructions mention step 51, which deals with the underside. The elevators are each two parts, as are the wings, but these are just a little larger, and have long supporting spars projecting deep into the fuselage to prevent wing-sag. The spars are offset, so each wing spar passes almost all the way through to the other side side-by-side with the other for strength of join. The elevators plug into slots in the tail, inserting and gluing the fin that traps the elevator in position. A pair of clear landing lights are inserted into the leading edge of the port wing, and a choice of bomb-rack deployment rails are fitted under the wing, depending on whether you plan to have them visible or not. The Sundy’s four engines are each made from the cylinder bank with separate bell-housing, and these are fitted to the domed nacelle fronts that are glued over the flat ends, and have the two-part cowling glued over them after painting. The two wing floats are each two parts, and these are mounted on a pair of struts that fit into new holes that you must drill forward of those already marked, filling in the original holes once done. The floats are rigged with support wires, which isn’t really mentioned in the instructions, but are discussed below. The extended bomb racks if you are deploying them are glued to the rails outside their open doors. The Sunderland was a prickly customer before it grew all those aerials, and the turrets are next to be built, which are a big improvement over the old Airfix kits, having much more realistic detail and representations of the guns. The rear turret has four barrels, and the interior is trapped between the front and rear glazing, using non-fogging glue to fix the parts together, while the nose turret has just two guns, plus a hoop over the top, again trapped between the front and rear glazing elements. The rear turret is fitted on a small support with a central hole and is secured in position by a fairing at the top, while the nose turret is inserted into the front of the sliding “tunnel” that allows it to be retracted for mooring, where a crew-member pops out, standing on the steps added earlier. An astrodome is plugged into a D-shaped hole in the roof behind the cockpit, with a circular light further back along the spine, and another two behind the dorsal turret fairing. The crew access door in the nose can be posed open by folding the door back into the fuselage, with a scrap diagram showing how it should look from inside, and if you have fitted the nose turret in the retracted position, that two-part mooring post is fixed into a hole inside in the vertical position. Each of the four three-bladed props are a single part that has a two-part spinner at the centre, slotting into the hole in the bell housing, and gluing the resin hedgehog exhaust ends into their collector rings with super glue. The moulded-in ailerons have four actuators each, then the removable main landing gear struts are built from two halves, plus a pair of two-part wheels, and a boxy bracing strut, all mounting to the fuselage sides on pins, plus the “tail” wheel, which is nothing more than a cart that has two supports on each side and a pull-handle, with two wheels on each side. I can’t imagine it was much fin putting that into position in cold weather. Now that the Sunderland can stand on its own wheels, the delicate parts are fitted, starting with a faired-in D/F loop, and an antenna mast on the spine, then building the dorsal turret interior with two guns on trunnions that mounts on a circular base, fitting the styrene back, clear front and styrene chin-strap fairing, and if you have chosen decal option D, you’ve just wasted some modelling time, as it has the turret opening faired over by a circular cover. A couple of T-shaped pitot probes are fitted to the underside of the port wing near the inner engine nacelle, then it’s an antenna building spree, starting with a pair under the wings, supported by two tubular frames. The rear of the fuselage has four double-T antennae on the spine, with measurements showing where they fit, and two more rows of four T-antennae on both sides, using the holes drilled earlier. The final antenna is above the cockpit, supported by two converging struts that hold it in place above the canopy. The final drawing shows the model from the front which shows the rigging lines on each of the wing floats, which each have two per side. If you are concerned about where they should start and finish, there are small recessed lines on both the float sides and the underside of the wing, which you could drill out with a very fine drill to avoid losing them during painting, especially if you’re not using an airbrush. Markings There are four decal options in this boxing, and white is a dominant colour on the undersides, with varying levels of high demarcations along the fuselage sides, but despite this they are sufficiently different to be appealing. From the box you can build the following: EK591/2U, No.422 Sqn Royal Canadian Air Force, Castle Archdale Northern Ireland, Early to Mid 1944 EJ168/J, No.343 Sqn (French) RAF, Dakar 1944 EJ134/N, No.461 Sqn Royal Australian Air Force, Pembroke Dock, Wales, 1943 DV969/E, No.10 Sqn Royal Australian Air Force, Pembroke Dock, Wales, Spring 1943 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. The dotted red lines around some hatches and panels have carrier film all over them, including the centre, but as the carrier film can be teased away, that shouldn’t matter. Conclusion This model is extremely well-detailed, so it should keep you busy modelling for quite a while, and painting should be fun too. Some of these gigantic aircraft were subject to extreme wear, and their time at sea was hard on their paintwork and metal surfaces, as well as their crews. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Supermarine Seafire F/FR Mk.46 No.1832 Squadron (SH72482) 1: 72 Special Hobby A Navalised Spitfire was on the Admiralty's agenda even before WWII broke out, but it took until the end of 1941 before a viable conversion was actually available due to the rigors of carrier-based service that take its toll on any aircraft that embarks. The initial Merlin-engined Seafire Mk.Is reached the front line at the end of 1941, but these were quickly superseded by the more capable and battle-ready Mk.III, although it was 1943 before it saw its first real combat experience. As the Spitfire design was further developed, these improvements were eventually passed on to the Seafire, including the installation of the more powerful Griffon engine with the corresponding lengthened nose and four-bladed propeller, which resulted in the F.Mk.XV, a Navalised Spitfire Mk.XII, of which over 2,600 were built. It was the direct successor the Mk.III, somewhat surprisingly given the difference in Mark, but the Spitfire’s Mark designations have always been a bit flaky, so why shouldn’t its ship-based sibling have the same characteristics? The Mk.46 was a Navalised Mk.22 equipped with a Griffon 83 engine that could output over 2,350hp, with the supercharger contributing to that impressive figure, driving two contra-rotating three-bladed Rotol props with aggressive blade shape, which removed the potentially dangerous torque-steer to starboard that the Griffon could induce, that was a critical issue when dealing with the cramped deck of an aircraft carrier. The type also had a cut-down rear fuselage and tear-drop canopy synonymous with late model Spitfires, a larger tail fin to restore some of the stability lost by the removal of the spine that was later used on the Seafang, and a more streamlined curved windscreen. In terms of looks, it is clearly the inspiration of the fuselage of the Seafang, but without the laminar-flow wing of the later design. An order of 200 was made, but it was dramatically scaled back to only 24, rapidly replaced by the Mk.47 that built upon early experiences with the Mk.46, eliminating issues that had been identified. The 47 was the last Seafire, with fewer than 100 produced before the end of the Spitfire/Seafire programme in favour of the Spiteful/Seafang initially, but the death-knell of propeller-driven fighters was already on the horizon. The Kit This is a reboxing of the original F Mk.21 Spitfire that was released in 2012 and has had additional parts added in stages over the intervening years. Although the Mk.46 was introduced in the same year as the original boxing, more new parts have been included for this boxing, with both Seafire Mk.47 and Spitfire Mk.22 fuselages in the box. The kit arrives in a shallow top-opening box in the usual red/white/grey theme, and with a painting depicting a brace of Seafires over broken cloud. Inside the box are five sprues of grey styrene, a clear sprue in a separate Ziploc bag, decals in another resealable bag, and the instruction booklet printed in colour on glossy paper in portrait A5 format, which has the painting and decaling profiles at the rear. Detail is good, with fine engraved panel lines and rivets on the exterior surfaces, plus raised and recessed features throughout the model, as expected. Construction begins with the control assembly below the pilot’s feet, adding rudder pedals and control column to holes in the top surface, then mating that with the seat frame, adding seat armour and the seat to the cockpit assembly, then inserting it between the fuselage halves, with different fuselage parts for each decal option, gluing the instrument panel frame into position after painting it and the sidewall details moulded into the chosen set of fuselage halves. Decal option A uses Mk.47 fuselage halves, which have reconnaissance camera apertures in the fuselage sides, which have clear parts to fill them in, remembering to do that before the halves are mated. The lower wing is full span out to the shortened wingtips, which are half-way between the original and clipped tips, and have cut-outs for clear tip lights later in the build. A hole for another camera aperture should be drilled out in the rear centre fillet under the wing, adding the three recognition lights and the camera lens into the four holes. The walls of the gear bays are each built from four separate parts, with a recess in the inner wall to cater for the gear leg when retracted. With the bays completed and painted, the detail moulded into the upper wing undersides should be painted, then laid over the lower wing and inserting the fuselage between them. The elevators are each separate and slot into the sides of the moulded-in fin, adding the rudder and separate trim-tab to the rear, and the arrestor hook stinger fairing underneath. A lightened roll-over support is fitted behind the pilot’s head-rest, then the important Griffon engine bulges are applied over fine lines engraved over the exhaust slots on the forward cowlings. The chin accepts a smooth insert below in preparation for the two-part intake scoop that straddles the lower wing and chin insert later. The Seafire’s tougher landing gear struts have a separate scissor-link added to the oleo, and a two-part wheel slipped onto the stub axle, with the captive bay door added to the outer side of the leg, building up the two radiator assemblies from the cowling, two inner core faces, and the cooling flap at the rear, then installing the gear, radiators, plus an outer gear bay door at the most outboard edge of the bays. A pitot probe is inserted under the port wing, and a dipole aerial under the starboard wing, the latter made from stretched sprue or rod from your own stock. The tail wheel is moulded into the strut, which is glued into the tail gear bay, fitting the two bay doors on the bay sides, then adding an arrestor-wire deflector just forward of the bay from a straight rod with tapering support. A central drop-tank is made up from two vertically split halves, plus an additional support either side, installed under the wings at an angle that prevents it striking the deck on take-off or landing. Under the wings you have a choice of a semi-conformal tank that is a single hump under each wing, or a quartet of supports for rockets, all of which is shown with distance measurements from key parts of the wing to help you locate them correctly. Turning the model back over, the exhausts are inserted into their slots, and it is possible to drill out the round stubs if you have steady hands and a good set of micro-drills. The clear wingtip lights are painted clear green and red as appropriate to each wing, the twin cannon barrels are glued onto their fairings, the shorter one on the outer station, and adding a small intake onto the top of the engine cowling. The pilot’s windscreen is glued to the front of the cockpit cut-out, and the teardrop canopy can be posed open or closed using the same part, with the access door as a separate part that can be left open or closed as appropriate. Each of the three-bladed props have their own split spinner and separate blades that assemble onto the back-plates and are closed over with the aerodynamic front fairings. The pointy one fits to the front of course, with the flat-fronted spinner to the rear. Now for the last parts, which are quite fun. Rocket-Assisted Take-Off or RATO pods that mount on the upper wing at an angle, made from two rockets with flared exhausts moulded one on top of the other, and a three-bar mounting frame at the front. Their location on the upper wing is arrowed in blue, and the forward mounting point is a small depression on the side of the fuselage just behind the engine cowling. These were ejected after launch, and were of great help when carrying a heavy load of fuel or weapons. Markings There are two decal options included on the sheet, and a page devoted solely to the location of stencils to avoid over-complicating the profiles. From the box you can build one of the following: Seafire FR Mk.46 LA561/104-CH, FAA No.1832 Sqn., RNAS Culham, May 1948 Seafire F Mk.46, LA545/110-CH, FAA No.1832 Sqn., RNAS Culham, May 1948 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 return of a nicely detailed Seafire Mk.46 is welcome, and although only a few were made, it’s still part of the glorious history of the Spitfire, and is well-worth adding to your collection. 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

Mirage F.1EQ/ED (SH72386) 1:72 Special Hobby The Dassault Mirage F.1 has been a successful point defence fighter for over thirty years, and was developed initially as a private venture by Dassault as a replacement to their ageing Mirage III fighters. It is a single-engined, single-seat fighter aircraft with a high-mounted delta wing and capability of reaching mach 2.2 in short order. Dassault soon found an eager customer in the shape of the French Armée de l'Air, who bought various versions over the years. The B model is a two-seat variant that is 12"/30cm longer than the single seater, sacrificing some fuel capacity to house the second cockpit, and weighing in heavier due to the two Mk.10 ejector seats that were installed. The cannons were also sacrificed, but cannon pods can be used if required. It is predominantly intended as a trainer, but other than the lack of cannons, it is fully mission capable and is wired and rated for munitions identically to its single-seater sibling. The F.1 was an export success, bought by twelve nations, most notably and somewhat infamously, to Libya, Iraq and Iran, some of which were destroyed in the conflicts in the 2000s. The two seat B was sold in smaller quantities to Libya, Spain, Kuwait, Jordan and Iraq, although not all the airframes were delivered to Iraq before they fell from grace internationally. The EQ was sold to both Iraq and Iran, ironically, and the ED was used by Libya, one of which famously defected during the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The F.1 is still in service with a few nations although France retired theirs in 2014, and before its retirement it earned the nickname Grandma with the Spanish Air Force due to its advancing years. At time of writing, they are still in use with the new Libyan government, Morocco, and Iran, to name a few. The Kit This is a straight-forward reboxing of the 2021 edition of the kit, the original tooling released in 2016 but with additional parts added along the way. It arrives in a modestly sized top-opening box, and inside are six sprues in grey styrene, a clear sprue, and two bags with twelve resin parts inside, a tiny Photo-Etch (PE) sheet that is bagged with the decal sheet, and the instruction booklet that is printed in colour on glossy paper in an A5 format. Detail is good, and the inclusion of resin and PE add to that, resulting in a well-detailed model. Construction begins with the cockpit, starting with the tub that has the side consoles moulded-in, to which is added a rear bulkhead, instrument panel with HUD that includes a clear lens, the former having a decal that portrays the dials and other controls. The ejection seat is fitted near the end of the build, with a choice of two designs for different decal options. The starboard fuselage half is prepared by installing the three-part exhaust, which starts at the bulkhead with the rear of the engine moulded-in, a straight exhaust tube that has a corrugated and stepped inner face, followed by the exhaust that has petal details engraved to complete the look. The nose gear bay is a single part that also has plenty of detail moulded-in, and that is integrated under where the cockpit is inserted as the fuselage is closed, after painting the side walls and their ribbing detail. There is a choice of two nose cones, each in two halves with probes to the side, one fitted with a refuelling probe, the other without, but a probe on the very tip of the cone. There is a resin replacement for the tip of the refuelling probe that is installed after cutting off the plastic tip according to a scrap diagram, adding extra detail to this prominent area. A pair of inserts under the intake trunks depict the perforated surfaces of the air-brakes in the stowed position, and there is a circular light under the nose with a couple of small clear parts on the front ends of the spine behind the canopy. The intakes and their shock-cones are each moulded as a single part, and they have a small window insert glued into a depression at the rear of the parts, leaving an oval window into the trunking. Each wing is made from top and bottom halves, the upper surface larger to obtain thin trailing edges and the dog-tooth leading edge, cutting off a small raised section near the tip. There is a choice of two styles of tail fin, which is achieved by cutting a section out that is marked in red and extends to three parts, slotting into position on two tabs and inserting a blade antenna near the tip on each side. A pair of strakes are fixed under the aft fuselage, and for some camo schemes, a small resin bump is glued under the fuselage just aft of the wing trailing edges. The landing gear is next, each of the three legs made from one part with extra struts supporting it, and twin wheels all round, each one a single part. The main gear bays have three doors that are curved to the shape of the fuselage, fitted to the top and bottom edges of the bay, while the nose bay doors consist of a solid Y-shaped front door, and a large side-opening door that has a choice of a styrene blade antenna or a PE triple antenna for one decal option. There are two choices of ejection seats that are made from four parts each, two for the frames, one for the cushion, and an inverted and sloped L-shaped rail at the rear. Detailed painting instructions are included, and the finished seat is placed in the rear of the cockpit before the windscreen and canopy are installed, choosing to pose it open or closed. The rest of the parts are a mixture of styrene and resin, creating a pair of two-part drop-tanks with two fins to the rear, another for the centreline with an H-tail on a shallow pylon with two more for optional mounting under the wings. A pair of Matra A2A missiles are fixed to rails on the wingtips, each missile having a pair of perpendicular fins attached to the tail. The infamous Exocet missile is supplied in resin for one of the decal options, with separate exhaust part and four forward fins that fit into slots in the body of the missile, and a resin pylon to mount it under the aircraft. There are also a pair of Super 530F missiles with separate perpendicular fins front and rear, and its own pylon for under the wings. There are a smattering of additional weapons and sensor pods left on the sprues that can be allocated to other projects or left in the spares box for later. Markings There are four decal options included on the sheet, as well as a lot of stencils to add realism to your model. From the box you can build one of the following: Mirage F.1EQ, 4014, No.79 Sqn., Wahda Air Base, Iraqi Air Force, Sept 1981 to 82 Mirage F.1EQ-5, 4577, No.81 Sqn., Qayyarah Air Base, Iraqi Air Force, June 1985 Mirage F.1EQ-6, 3-6211, No.102 Tactical Fighter Sqn., No.10 Tactical Air Base, Chabahar/Konarak, Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, 2011 to present Mirage F.1ED, 502 (and 508), Libyan People’s Air Force/Free Libyan Air Force, Luqa, Malta International Airport, 2011-2012 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 A welcome re-release of this long-lived fighter aircraft in service with nations that aren’t perhaps as popular as others. Detail is good, and there are some neat upgrade options from Special Hobby’s CMK line, as demonstrated in a little half-page advert at the end of the instruction steps. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

After the Tempest (http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234931374-132-tempest-mkv-mkii-and-mkvi-by-special-hobby/#comment-1192212) Special Hobby is to release in 2017-2018 a new tool 1/32nd Hawker Typhoon Mk.1 "Car Door" - ref. SH32046 Sources: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235016099-novelties-from-special-hobby/ https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/SH32046 V.P.

German WWII Aircraft Maintenance Toolkit (5145 & P72006) 1:32 & 1:72 CMK by Special Hobby It’s no secret that aircraft are high-maintenance, much of it preventative because bailing out of an aircraft that has broken down is dangerous, and the resulting crash is expensive at the very least. Ground Crew are tasked with always keeping the aircraft in a state of readiness, or at least as much as humanly possible. Their toolkit is extensive, but a simple kit was the base for most repair or maintenance activities, resorting to the big tools when necessary. During WWII all sides had their toolkits, and this pair of sets depicts a typical German kit. 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. German WWII Aircraft Maintenance Toolkit 1:32 (5145) This set includes five toolboxes, two of which are opened up to display the tools in their scissor-linked trays, with another open-topped box for which you’ll need to supply a piece of wire or rod to create the carry-handle. Two other boxes also need rod for their handles, as does the kettle, which is supplied in addition along with an oil can with precision applicator and a small rectangular can that completes the set. The two opened boxes have separate lids, and two of the other boxes have rounded resin handles, while all the tools are cast into the trays, with extreme detail and excellent definition that look highly realistic. German WWII Aircraft Maintenance Toolkit 1:72 (P72006) Containing the same elements as the larger set above, this set is instead directly 3D printed on two printing bases, with each toolbox complete apart from the lids that are printed vertically around the other parts. There is no need for any wire, as all the handles have been precision printed, even down to the kettle, which makes life a little easier. The parts are all attached to their bases by fine tendril-like supports, and due to the orange resin that is used this shouldn’t be a problem, as it combines strength with flexibility – two very desirable features when 3D printing. On my sample there were a couple of small depressions in the top of one of the closed boxes, but a little filler will solve that issue in short order. Conclusion A pair of highly-detailed sets that will add candid detail to any maintenance diorama or vignette in your chosen scale. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of