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Nissan Skyline Sedan 2000 Turbo GT-ES (24374) 1:24 Tamiya via The Hobby Company The name Skyline is synonymous with Nissan, but it began life as a vehicle made by the Prince Motor Company in Japan, passing into Nissan’s auspices in the 60s when the two companies merged. The first generation was distinctly styled in a post-WWII manner with no thought for aerodynamics, it became a little more modern by the end of the 60s, and so on until the 6th generation R30 that was released in 1981 with a choice of coupé and sedan variants, the former more like a fastback of more recent years. The coupé was a 2-door model, while the more sensible sedan had four, plus the option of a short-lived lift-back that makes it a 5-door car. In all, there were twenty-six variations possible for this model, the station-wagon waving goodbye from the range. Some of the style cues that had become part of the Skyline brand were missing from this generation, which bore a strong familial resemblance instead to the current Nissan Sunny of the day, even down to the wing-mounted mirrors, which was a comparison that probably didn’t result in additional sales of the more expensive Skyline. There was a choice of engines that included a six-cylinder diesel as well as a four-pot petrol, ranging from 1.8L to 6-cylinder 2.0L with turbo. The GT-ES ran a turbocharged L20ET motor that output over 140bhp It underwent a facelift toward the end of 1983, which went beyond cosmetics, adding such things as disc-brakes as standard all round, and a new engine for the base-model. The interior was similarly upgraded with a new look, and the distinctive “hockey stick” wing mirrors were relocated to the doors from the wing where they got their name. There was also a link-up with actor Paul Newman, and sales to overseas importers offered larger engines that were de-tuned to give a similar power level without breaking the rest of the mechanicals. Its eventual 7th generation replacement was predictably the R31 Skyline, which was larger and boxier (wasn’t everything in the later 80s?), with a new range of engines that had a red cam-cover. The flagship GTS-R was developed to allow homologation of a racing car, with a little over 200hp to play with, while a race-prepared example could produce almost double that. The Kit This kit was originally tooled at or around the same time as the car itself was launched, and has been seen again in several boxings since, occasionally with new parts added. This boxing is a straight-forward re-release with new decals, and arrives in a standard top-opening box, with a white bodyshell, two sprues and floor pan of dull metallic grey styrene, a chromed sprue, a clear sprue, a bag of flexible black tyres, eight small and one large polycaps, a black anodised rear axle, two bright wheel pins, small decal sheet, and the instructions that are printed in black and white on a folding booklet, with a tech-tips sheet loosely placed inside. Detail is good for the era, especially the underside of the floor pan, with good tread on the tyres, and a solid interior. Construction begins with detail-painting the underside of the floor pan, using the shades and codes that are given in Tamiya X and XF codes for their gloss and matt acrylics. A flat steering rack is slid through the front of the floor pan, setting it centrally in position so that the front sub-frame can be painted and inserted, trapping two uprights with struts moulded-in, and the rear of the hub that receives a polycap inside the cup, installing them without glue so that they may remain mobile. The rims are pre-chromed for your ease if you prefer, while some opt to remove the chrome with a bleach solution to allow re-painting. They are paired for size and width, so take note of their intended location. Each rim has a flexible black tyre pressed over the them, taking note of the correct orientation of the tread, as they are asymmetric. The sockets on the back of the rear rims have two small polycaps inserted, and all rims have recesses in each spoke that are painted a contrasting metallic colour, then the smaller front wheels are attached to the front hubs with two metal pins, inserting the metal rear axle through the floor pan, fitting a rear wheel on each end, spacing them correctly with the solitary large polycap on the right side. Whilst the model is inverted, a cross-brace is fitted under the transmission, mounting the exhaust muffler with twin pipes made by adding the opposite halves to give it a pair of hollow outlets. Once the wheels are in place, the rear sub-frame is painted semi-gloss black, and installed under the rear axle on a series of pegs. The interior is applied directly to the floor pan, which should be detail-painted before adding any parts, following the guide carefully. The rear seats are moulded as a single part that has the rear parcel shelf with moulded-in speaker grilles behind them, gluing them over the rear of the floor and the front of the rear arches. A centre console runs down the transmission tunnel, adding a short gear shifter with gaiter, and manual handbrake in front of an elbow rest, applying a square decal to the instruments at the front of the console. The front seats are also single parts, and should be painted the appropriate colour for the chosen interior, before gluing them into place either side of the transmission tunnel on a pair of mounting rails. Like the UK, Japan drives on the left (the correct side), so the dash is handed suitably for both territories. Detail-painting is carried out first, applying a large decal to the instrument binnacle, prior to inserting the steering column with moulded-in stalks and the three-spoke steering wheel with a logo decal in the centre boss. Although this boxing appears to be a road-going vehicle, a figure that more closely resembles a racing driver with four-point seatbelts, but without a helmet is included, built from a torso with moulded-in legs, separate head, and arms that permit the modeller to personalise his pose within the car after gluing the dash in place to align the hands with the wheel. Step 9 shows a painting guide for the bodyshell, which is predominantly the colour of your choosing, with black rub-strips in the centre of all the side panels, trim around the windows, the front and rear bumpers, plus the side skirts. A little chrome is applied to the area around the windows and on the top of the front bumper, as well as the reflectors for the front and rear lights before their lenses are added later. Repeaters, indicators and reflectors are also painted at this time in orange. When you are happy with the finish of the body panels, the single window part is inserted in the roof of the body, for which you are incited to use Tamiya Multi-purpose Cement, then mount the rear-view mirror in a socket at the front of the roof. Door cards for each side are detail-painted and installed in the inner sides of the bodyshell, with a scrap diagram showing the correct location within, then once the glue is fully cured, the bodyshell and floor pan can be joined together, inserting the rear first, then clipping the front inside the front bumper, which can be done without glue, and requires some flexing of the bodyshell to force the pan past the sills. The model is then fitted out with a pair of genuine wing mirrors that fit in holes on the mid-wings, sliding clear round bulbs into position in the headlamps, and fixing a number plate in the recessed centre of the bumper. A radio antenna is attached to the front of the roof in the centre, adding a clear set of headlamp lenses that span the full width of the front, applying the grille into the recessed section in the centre after painting and adding a decal logo on the right side as you view it from the front. At the rear, another windscreen wiper is fitted in the centre, then the rear light clusters are pre-painted in black, red and clear orange to represent the distinctive circular lights, then gluing them in place over the silver painted area either side of the rear of the vehicle. Markings As this is a civilian vehicle, it can be painted any colour you wish, or you can research the details and choose a colour that was available for this model at the time. The decal sheet contains badges and logos for the front wings and rear doors, plus branding on the front and rear, and a pair of Skyline decals for the number plates if you wish to depict a showroom model. It’s worthy of note that the optional GT-Turbo logo on the front bumper is printed in reverse so that it can be seen by the vehicle in front in their mirror. From the box you can build the following: The decals are Tamiya’s usual offering, with good register, colour density and sharpness, while the carrier film is noticeably thinner than it used to be, and is cut very closely to the printed edges. Conclusion It’s not the newest kit on the block, but then neither is the car that it depicts. Detail is good for the time, and although there is still a hint of its more toy-like past around the rear axle, it should build into a creditable replica of the type with some care and attention. Highly recommended. Available from all good model shops now. Review sample courtesy of via importers

Ki-115 Tsurugi (11192) Kamikaze Aircraft 1:48 Eduard Heavy Retro After initial success, the state of WWII became increasingly dire for the Japanese Empire, and suicide missions were undertaken by pilots in old or out-dated aircraft that were loaded with bombs and deliberately flown into enemy ships for the most part, but other large targets were also contemplated. It was considered an honour to die for the Emperor in this manner, and the name Kamikaze was given to the mission profile, many aircraft and pilots going to their end in a futile attempt to slow or stop the inevitable march of the Allied forces toward Japan’s “home islands” as the mainland was known. As the Allies got closer, it was decided that there weren’t sufficient reserves of out-of-date or unsuitable aircraft that could be quickly converted to the Kamikaze role for the upcoming defence of Japan, during which the Japanese high command intended to hurl wave-upon-wave of suicidal attacks against the invading Allies, the operation that never came to fruition being known as Downfall, a prophetic name if ever there was one for what was likely to become a classic pyrrhic victory, potentially costing the Allies a million or more in casualties to bring an end to the war. To plug the capability gap, a specification was put out for a simple aircraft that would be able to carry a large-enough bomb to cause a suitably devastating explosion, but could be flown by a relatively inexperienced pilot, due to the shortage of experienced pilots after the devastating battles that included Midway and the Marianas “Turkey Shoot”. Nakajima designed a simple airframe with a circular fuselage profile, jettisonable landing gear, and the ability to be mated to any engine that was in available. It also used little in the way of strategic materials, using wood wherever practical, which also helped to save weight. The Ki-115a prototype was fitted with a Nakajima Ha-35 radial engine, which output a competent 1,150hp, giving a top speed of around 340mph, which would be massively reduced by carrying a substantial 800KG bomb, making it a sitting duck for enemy gunners and fighter pilots alike. It was further compromised by terrible handling, coupling poor visibility with rudimentary controls, and initially, a suspension-free set of gear legs that rendered it almost uncontrollable on anything other than the smoothest of surfaces. The ground handling was partially fixed by adding shock-absorbers, and a pair of rocket packs were installed to assist with take-off under heavy load. That wouldn’t be of much use once airborne however, as handling in the air was so poor that only experienced pilots stood a chance of getting to their target safely, at which point the sitting duck aspect came to the fore. The intent of using novice pilots as weapons of destruction was starting to look less sensible at every step of the way, despite the improvements that were being made, often at the expense of losing another test airframe, and possibly the pilot with it. The thought of waves of thousands of these aircraft immolating themselves and the landing forces of the Allies were little more than pipe dreams, as was the intention of manufacturing up to 8,000 airframes per month across the length and breadth of Japan. In fact, very few aircraft were built and flown, but the war ended after the dropping of the first two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki before the type could be considered anywhere near capable of its intended mission. The Kit If you’ve never heard of either the aircraft or the kit, you won’t be alone. Until this arrived, I was in the same boat. The original moulding of this kit was first released in 2004 when Eduard was a much smaller concern than it is today, using traditional injection-moulding techniques, to a similar standard as Classic Airframes that were producing simple styrene parts for their kits at about the same time. The kit was released with some new parts soon after, and has been buried deep in the warehouse (probably) since then, just waiting for the creation of the Heavy Retro branding that Eduard have come up with to manage potential customers’ expectations before they put their hard-earned cash down on a new model. That’s a sensible practice, and one that is also used by some other companies, but with less élan of course. The kit arrives in a small top-opening box with a Ki-115 attempting to take off from a grass field, although you can’t see any fillings leaving the pilot’s mouth. Inside the box are three sprues of grey-blue styrene, a fret of pre-painted and nickel-plated Photo-Etch (PE), a small sheet of masks, decal sheet, and an instruction booklet that is printed in colour on glossy paper, with profiles for the decal options on the rear pages. Detail is on the high side of what you would expect from a kit of this era, showing engraved panel lines and rivets, although there are a few sink-marks present where the styrene parts are a little too thick, such as the cockpit floor and at the root of the tail fin. A full depiction both banks of the engine is included, and there is ribbing moulded into the inside of the fuselage where the cockpit will fit, but all the flying surfaces are moulded into their respective aerofoils. The detail should be improved by the addition of the PE, which covers the instrument panel, seatbelts and adds a wiring loom to the engine to give it some modern features. Construction begins with the cockpit, filling the sink marks in the floor if you think they will be seen, fitting rudder pedals with PE straps, a simple control column, the seat with PE belts, a throttle quadrant, and PE control wires for this part. The assembly is mounted in the starboard fuselage after painting the ribbed area within, and a two-layer instrument cluster is added to the starboard sill, choosing to either use the styrene main instrument panel with three decals, or removing the raised details except for one dial, and layering two PE parts over the top to depict the other dials. A scrap diagram shows the layout from the side, adding a bulkhead to the front before closing the fuselage around the cockpit. The engine depicts both banks of pistons, with a separate bell-housing that has the push-rods moulded-in added to the front, sandwiching the PE wiring loom, and a stepped axle trapped between the two banks. Scrap diagrams show the location of the ends of the wiring harness, then an intake spider is fixed to the back of the engine, adding a bulkhead behind that locates on a flat-spot on the plug to ensure correct orientation. The exhaust stubs are added in slots around the bulkhead facing aft, then the completed engine is slid within a two-part cowling, dealing with the seam there and on the fuselage in your preferred manner. The tail fin is a separate part that will need some filler to hide the sink-marks at the base, attaching it to the fuselage through a single part elevator that has the moulded-in styrene trim-tabs removed and replaced by PE parts, with another on the rudder. Three PE filler caps are fitted on the deck in front of the cockpit, painting them yellow and red as appropriate, mounting the engine on a peg projecting from the front of the fuselage, and mating the wings below after making them from upper and lower halves that are full-span. The trim-tabs are also removed from the ailerons, replacing them with more PE parts as before, fixing the rudimentary flaps to the inner trailing-edges on three hinges that look like clips in model form. The elevators are each supported by a diagonal strut that braces them against the fuselage, and a small intake is applied at an angle under the nose after fitting a PE mesh to the insert within. You have a choice of two sizes of bomb, both of which are built in the same manner with the same type of parts and PE upgrades, regardless of size. The bomb body is in halves, one of which has two fins moulded-in, fitting two more fins perpendicular to a slot in the rear, bracing the fins with a styrene box or PE replacement, wrapping another PE brace around the middle of the fins after cutting a shallow notch in the fins, as shown in red. Two more PE straps are wrapped around the bomb body, which have zig-zagging raised circles etched from the brass. Their locations are shown in blue on the drawings. Your choice is 500KG or 800KG bombs, the latter being longer than the other, your choice supported by four small streamlined pylons in a trough under the belly. The landing gear is simple, and consists of an H-frame that the two-part wheels flex-fit between, and a bracing jack that affixes to a bracket further back from the forward attachment points under the wings. Take care with the wheels, checking fit to ensure the two halves mate securely to reduce clean-up of the seams to a minimum. If you prefer, Eduard have created a new set of resin wheels (and a bomb) to replace the kit parts, which we’ll be reviewing soon. If you thought the main gear was simple, the tail is supported by a V-strut supported by a sprung rod at the rear. Placing the model on its wheels/skid allows fitting of the top intake at the rear of the engine cowling, plus three roll-over ribs behind the pilot, two with lightening holes in the centre, and a headrest that has two triangular supports behind it to protect the pilot from something or other… who knows? The canopy is in two parts, gluing the windscreen over the coaming, then deciding whether to pose the canopy open or closed. The prop is moulded as a single part, with a spinner fitting over the centre, then sliding it onto the axle in the centre of the engine cowling, adding a pitot probe to the tip of the port wing. The final part of the kit is a tubular sight with a bead near the front, which has 2mm cut from the rear before it is pushed through a hole in the windscreen over the coaming. Markings As this type never saw active service, Eduard have sensibly shown three options that depict an airframe as it progressed through the painting process, in three main steps. From the box you can build one of the following: The first phase of camouflage application The Second phase of camouflage application The Third phase of camouflage application 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. Supplied on a sheet of yellow kabuki tape, the pre-cut masks supply a full set of masks for the canopy, with compound curves on the top of the windscreen handled by using frame hugging masks, in-filling with either liquid mask or offcuts from the background tape. In addition, you get a set of hub/tyre masks for the wheels, allowing you to cut the demarcation perfectly with little effort. Conclusion Even though the object of this aircraft’s existence is singularly horrific and unappealing, the model does the type justice, and in many ways the simplicity of its design is replicated by a youthful Eduard as a nascent styrene kit producer. Seeing the aircraft progress through paint application in the markings is also an interesting aspect of the model. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

SEPECAT Jaguar GR.1/GR.1a Upgrades (For Airfix) 1:48 Eduard Brassin The Airfix SEPECAT Jaguar GR.1/GR.1a was a long-overdue retooling of this type that brought much joy to the modellers of the world, and those from this forum in particular. We reviewed the Photo-Etch (PE), 3D SPACE and mask sets recently here, and now Eduard have another batch of upgrades, this time consisting of entire cockpits, exhausts, wheels, and a Löök set for quick upgrade of the cockpit. As is usual with Eduard's larger resin sets, they arrive in a Brassin-themed black, orange-and-yellow cardboard box, with the resin parts safely cocooned in bags between two layers of grey foam, and the instructions folded around acting as extra padding. The smaller resin sets are in shallow boxes, with the wheel set in a flat package that has the instructions behind the backing card, while the Löök set has the resin parts in a shallow crystal-clear clamshell box within the flat pack. GR.1 and GR.1a Cockpit (6481145 & 6481146) This 3D printed cockpit is a replacement for the kit parts, and brings with it the exceptional detail that is possible with modern high-quality SLA printing. The set consists of nine printed parts, plus a small slip of clear acetate with HUD glass shapes printed in black, a sheet of bare brass PE, and a small square of decals for the many dials and stencils found inside the area. The two sets are very similar, differing only between the coamings and seats due to minor changes between variants. Construction begins with the common cockpit tub, which has details printed on the rear bulkhead, console sides, and floor. This is augmented by the separate console tops, which have resin and PE parts applied before painting. A control column is planted in a recess in the floor, and a section of the launch rail is added to the rear bulkhead, following painting call-outs using Gunze C and H codes throughout, with colour names nearby. The ejection seats between the two sets differ, having the appropriate type included with each set, which has a highly-detailed surface, including seatbelts, with appropriate detailed painting instructions, plus drawings showing where to apply the stencil decals. The ejection handle is also shown with a striped surface, which if you’re not too good with a brush, you could always paint yellow, then use a fine Gundam Marker or one of the new brush markers to depict the black stripes. The instrument panel is common between the sets, and has two PE levers added, painting as you go, then applying two decals for the dials and other controls, fitting it into the front of the tub, accompanied by the appropriate seat for your set. The coaming and HUD are different between the sets, the GR.1 having a large rectangular hourglass-shaped glass fitted between its supports, while the GR.1a has an enclosed frame that supports two smaller film parts, as can be seen from the photos accompanying this review. Subtle differences matter. The cockpit is set within the nose section of the model, locating over the nose gear bay in the same manner as the kit, fitting PE sidewall inserts during the process, then laying the coaming for your set over the front of the opening. Detail is without par, and it is well-worth picking one up if you’re serious about the detail of your cockpits. GR.1 Cockpit (6481145) GR.1 Cockpit (6481146) Exhaust Nozzles (6481141) The Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Adour Mk.102 jet turbine engines that powered the Jag took a lot of flak from those familiar with them, jesting that the only reason the Jaguar took off was due to the curvature of the earth. They eventually increased available thrust to satisfy military requirements, but the stigma lingered. This set replaces the kit exhausts with a super-realistic 3D printed pair of Adour exhausts, consisting of four parts each, totalling eight. The deep, tapering afterburner ring has the rear of the engine printed-in, sliding the trunking onto the stator blades, which match grooves in the front end of the tubular trunk. At the rear, a set of exhaust petals are glued to the end of the trunk, with a separate ring surrounding it, which will hide some of the petal detail from your paintbrush or airbrush, so painting the exhaust before overlaying the ring is a wise move. This is carried out twice of course, and the assemblies are direct replacements for the kit parts C6, C9, C10 & C19. Injection moulded styrene cannot hope to compete with 3D printing, and the detail on the exhaust is stunning. Wheels (6481138) Kit wheels are generally in two halves, which means you have the resultant joins to deal with, possible mould-slip issues on single part wheels, and sometimes less than stellar detail due to the moulding limitations of styrene injection technology, especially in the tread department. That's where replacement resin wheels come in, with their lack of seam-line 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. Each of the five wheels in this set are attached to their casting base at the contact-patch, making liberation a simple task, with minimal clean-up. They have highly detailed brake detail on the inner hubs, and circumferential tread around the rolling surface, plus raised manufacturer’s details and specification data on the sidewalls to add extra realism. They are drop-in replacements for the kit parts, and a sheet of pre-cut masks are included for every tyre that will permit cutting of accurate demarcations between the tyre and rim with little effort. Löök Cockpit Set (644323) This set contains a combination of pre-painted resin and pre-painted PE parts to detail up your cockpit quickly and efficiently. There are four resin parts that make up the instrument panel in front of the pilot, plus centre and side consoles, all of which are cast in black resin, and printed with dials, switches and have added PE levers, to a higher standard than most of us can attain. The side consoles have two standard resin parts inserted in recesses on the port side, after painting them black to match the rest, adding a PE lever in a housing on the opposite console. Additionally, the complex four-point belts for the pilot are supplied in nickel-plated pre-painted STEEL, complete with canopy-breakers that protect the pilot from injury if the det-cord in the glazing fails to shatter it. Anti-flail leg-straps and other small parts finish the set. Review sample courtesy of

Panzerspähwagen (Funk) P204(f) (35378) 1:35 ICM via The Hobby Company The original name of the P204(f) was the Panhard 178, developed in 1935 as an advanced reconnaissance armoured car for the French armed forces, 178 being Panhard's internal project number. The vehicle featured 4-wheel drive, a 25mm main gun that was supplemented by a 7.5mm machine gun. It was the first 4-wheel drive vehicle that was mass produced by a major power, a notable feature being a separate seat at the rear for a second driver to reverse out of trouble without having to perform a U-turn. The second driver also doubled as radio operator in command vehicles. The main gun used was normally a shortened version of the 25mm Hotchkiss L/42.2, which was the standard French Anti-tank gun, but to counter the shorter barrel, the gun used a heavier charge that could penetrate up to 50mm of armour when using a tungsten round. Secondary armament was usually a coaxial Reibel 7.5mm machine gun for which 3,750 rounds were carried, approximately half of them being armour piercing. A further machine gun was carried on the internal wall that could be mounted on the turret for anti-aircraft use, the ammo also carried on the internal walls of the fighting compartment. Approximately 370 vehicles were completed and available for use when war broke out, and they were employed by infantry units as well as the Cavalry. When in combat against German vehicles that carried 20mm cannons, the Panhards often fared better than the enemy vehicles, but after the French defeat almost 200 (many brand-new) were used by Germany in reconnaissance units. An interesting and inventive modification made by the Germans was to develop the Schienepanzer as railway protection vehicles that were fitted with special wheels to allow them to run on railway tracks, whilst others were used as radio wagons by fitting a “bedstead” antenna on legs over the hull, linked to radio gear inside. After the war the type was updated with a 75mm gun, but it was later decided to install a lighter 47mm SA35 gun, with over 400 made, making a grand total of over 1,000. The Kit This is a re-release by ICM of their 2015 tooling with two extra sprues to depict the radio gear. It has a full interior, including the engine, fighting compartment, with the two driving positions and flexible black tyres. The kit arrives in a top-opening box with a captive flap on the lower tray, and inside are six sprues of grey styrene, four flexible black tyres that are moulded in pairs on a short sprue, decal sheet, and the instruction booklet that is printed in colour on white paper, using the glossy rear cover for the markings profiles. Detail is good, and the finesse of the new parts adds to the overall high quality of the package. Construction begins with the fighting compartment floor mated to the lower hull, followed by the rear driver’s bulkhead and both drivers’ seats. The longitudinal bulkhead between the rear driver’s position and engine compartment is then fitted into position, followed by the well-detailed ten-part engine. The drivers’ steering columns and steering wheels are next, along with shifters and foot pedals. The rear driver’s angled bulkhead is then fitted in case he wasn’t feeling quite claustrophobic enough yet, and a rack of shells for the main gun is glued to the fighting compartment bulkhead. The radio box included on one of the extra sprues is intended to be used in construction, but it isn’t shown where it should be fitted in the instructions. There are some clues however, as the fly-lead enters the vehicle at the rear by the rear-driver’s hatch, and he was the intended operator, so it would have to be close by for ease of operation. Looking back at the railway mounted variant from a few years back however, it can be seen in the instructions being mounted in the left side on a shallow stand, which we have reproduced below for your ease. Both sides of the hull have a door that can be posed open or closed to display the interior if you wish, and on the inside of each hull side there are numerous ammunition drums for the machine gun, along with the driver’s instruments and a spare machine gun. The sides are then glued to the lower hull, followed by the front and rear bulkheads, plus a two-part glacis plate. The rear bulkhead is then fitted, adding an exhaust outlet and the engine bay roof, along with the fighting compartment roof, followed by engine louvres and rear mid-bulkhead hatch. The rear wheel arch mounted storage boxes are then fitted and finished off with their respective doors, adding mud deflectors to the front arches on each side. The running gear and suspension is very simple, having just two axles and two-part differentials plus drive shafts that are assembled, then mated with the four suspension spring units were incorporated in the side panels, followed by the steering linkages that are attached along with drop links, horn and towing hooks. The wheels are each made up from two-part hubs and a flexible black tyre, with the completed assemblies glued onto their respective axles. The rest of the hull is then detailed with grab handles, door handles, pioneer tools, headlights and a rack on the rear bulkhead. The turret is then assembled beginning with the co-axial machine gun, which is made from three parts before being fitted to the left-hand front of the turret. The main gun comes in two halves, which once joined together are fitted with trunnion mounts and elevation equipment, which is fitted to the turret ring along with the turret traverse mechanism. The turret ring and turret are then joined, and the commanders and gunner’s seats are assembled on a V-shaped bracket and are glued into position. The commander’s hatch is fitted with a handle and vent before being fixed into position, and the two rear hatches on the turret can be posed open or closed. There are a pair of two-part periscopes fitted forward on the turret roof, and two lifting hooks on the rear sides. The completed turret is then twisted onto the turret ring on the hull, and the last parts added. These include driver’s viewing ports front and rear, which can also be posed open; the two-part exhaust silencer; wing mirror and a few appliqué panels. The bedstead antenna is supported at the front by a two-part tripod that fits on the top of the turret with a pivot in the centre, allowing the turret to remain mobile without twisting the frame off. The large curved frame is a single part that is placed on the forward support without glue, and is further supported at the rear by a pair of support tubes with concave tops and mounting plates on the bottom to improve fit. Red marks on the engine deck show where the two mounts should be glued in place. Markings There are three decal options on the small sheet, one each in panzer grey, winter distemper, and late war dunkelgelb (dark yellow). From the box you can build one of the following: 20th Panzer Division (20. Pz.D.), Eastern Front, 1941 20th Panzer Division (20. Pz.D.), Eastern Front, Winter 1942 (probably) Eastern Front, 1943 Decals are by ICM’s usual partners, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion A less famous but important armoured car that carried out an essential task, and was reused by the Nazis to bolster their own shortage of armoured vehicles, which they hid well in propaganda at the time. Good detail throughout, and a nicely moulded set of new parts that differentiate it from a standard vehicle. Highly recommended. Available from all good model shops now. Review sample courtesy of via importers

My rear bulkhead to the cockpit also has layer lines which are quite pronounced. Easily visible with the naked eye. Not sure why this part is 'rough' when the other resin parts look OK. I asked Eduard for a replacement which they duly sent. Unfortunately, it's as bad as the original. I'm assuming all these parts are the same. It's like you mention in your post, its nigh on impossible to sand them away as the fine detail will be destroyed. This is the downside of the 'Hybrid' concept, there is no injection molded part to use in its place. I really can't see this part accepting any type of wash as it will run into the layers. I'm really surprised Eduard has allowed this piece into the kits. I'm not sure if it's worth contacting them again for another replacement. There was also the control stick completely missing from the little plastic protection box. It wasn't even loose. Again, Eduard sent a replacement, no questions asked.

Another fine review that tweaks my addictive attraction to purchasing more and more kits that will just collect dust for awhile. Thanks for sharing.

Schnellbomber Ju.88A-4 Limited Edition (11194) 1:48 Eduard The Ju.88 was designed as a schnellbomber in the mid 30s, and at the time it was faster than current fighter designs, so it was projected that it could infiltrate, bomb and exfiltrate without being intercepted. That was the theory anyway. By the time WWII began in the west, fighters had caught up with the previously untouchable speed of the 88, and it needed escorting to protect it from its Merlin equipped opponents. It turned out to be a jack of all trades however, and was as competent as a night fighter, dive bomber or doing reconnaissance as it was bombing Britain. They even popped a big gun on the nose and sent it against tanks and bombers, with variable success. The A series was powered by a pair of Jumo 211 engines in cylindrical cowlings producing over 1,000hp each, and was improved gradually up until the A-17, with the A-4 being an earlier upgrade to the original that incorporated longer wings and a minor tweak to the engines. It also had strengthened landing gear and shackles for four bomb racks under the wings inboard of the engine nacelles. It was improved further in subsequent variants, some with balloon cutters, others with more powerful engines such as the A-5 that managed to beat the A-4 into service. Its real replacement was the A-14, that was fitted with more armour, had the bombsight removed, and had balloon-cutter equipment fitted, proving that the Germans took the barrage balloons over British skies seriously. The Kit It will come as no surprise to many that the plastic in this kit is from ICM, as they have been engaged in creating a comprehensive range of Ju.88 variants for some time now, with their kit becoming the de facto standard in the scale, unseating the previous incumbent. This Limited Edition boxing from Eduard takes the ICM plastic and breathes the usual Eduard magic on it, making it an even more desirable prospect. The kit arrives in a large top-opening box with a painting of a gloriously multi-colour camouflaged Ju.88 flying over a frigid-looking deep blue seascape, and scattered cloud cover on the distant horizon. Inside the box are eight sprues of grey styrene, a clear sprue, a set of resin wheels with separate hubs, two frets of Photo-Etch (PE), one nickel-plated and pre-painted, the other bare brass, a small square of clear acetate sheet with circles pre-printed in black, a sheet of pre-cut kabuki-style masking material in yellow, a separately bagged pair of decal sheets, and the instruction booklet that is printed in colour on glossy white paper, with painting and decaling profiles on the rear pages, plus a page of greyscale profiles that separate out the stencil locations to avoid muddled profiles and subsequent confusion. Detail is excellent from the box, enhanced further by the included PE, and sat upon a set of superbly crisp resin wheels that are almost a direct drop-in replacement for the kit parts once they have been cut from their pour stubs. Construction begins with the fuselage with the addition of sidewall details in the extensive cockpit area. Rear bulkhead, side consoles and seats with PE belts are all added to the cockpit sides for a change, with an insert in the fuselage for the circular Pielgerat 6 antenna and tail wheel added into the starboard side, the cockpit hugely improved by the additional of dozens of PE parts, many of which are pre-painted, and decals that add layers of details to the sides of the fuselage and radio wall, including a clear portion of the acetate sheet. The instrument panel and ancillary dial are supplied with two decals, and fits into the fuselage during mating of the two halves. The missing floor has two recesses filled for some decal options, and is added to the lower fuselage panel along with two additional styrene parts and two more in PE, which includes the lower parts of the inner wings and gives the structure some strength. It also receives the rudder pedals, control column, and the two remaining crew seats that are built up to include PE belts, before being joined to the underside of the fuselage. The tail has articulated flying surfaces that are all made from upper and lower halves, as is the rudder, and the wings are supplied as top and bottom, with the flaps and ailerons separate from the box, and neat curved leading edges so they look right when deflected. The flaps include the rear section of the soon-to-be-fitted nacelles, which are added as separate parts to avoid sink-marks, and these coupled with the ailerons run almost full-span, terminating at the wingtip joint. This variant was fitted with the under-fuselage gondola, and each side has separate glazing panels inserted from inside, and a seam running vertically along its length, draping more PE seatbelts for the crewman there. It is added to the hole in the underside of the fuselage, with the front and rear glazing plus a choice of two rear machine guns or a forward-firing cannon later in the build. The landing gear is made up on a base that accepts the main strut and retraction jacks, plus an A-frame and separate oleo-scissor links, adding them to the underwing in preparation for the installation of the nacelle cowlings. The engines must be built first, consisting of a three-part block and high ancillary part count with plenty of detail, mounting them on a rear firewall that fits securely inside the cowling after adding a curved rib at the mid-point. Even though this is an in-line engine with an inverted V-piston layout, the addition of the annular radiators gives it the look of a radial, with their representation added to the front of the cowling, obscuring much of the engine detail, the side panels can be left off to show all that detail however. The cooling gills around the cowling are separate parts, and the exhausts have separate stacks, which aren't hollow but are large enough to make reaming them out with a drill a possibility. The completed nacelles fit to the underwings over the top of the main gear installation, securing them in place with four pegs, two on each side of each nacelle. For one marking option a cannon is fitted in the gondola, consisting of a breech with moulded-in barrel, separate ammo can, and a chute that takes the brass to an exit point below the gondola. A highly detailed bomb sight is created from two styrene parts and four more decals and PE parts, siting it in the main cockpit, and choosing the appropriate nose glazing for your decal option. The main greenhouse for the cockpit has a choice of two guns, one with a double “snail” magazine, a sighting decal that is applied to the windscreen, and PE panels that fit over the rear horizontal panes. A grab handle and PE instrument box are also fixed in the windscreen, adding a two-part PE travel lock for the windscreen gun after the canopy is installed. The rear portion of the canopy is made from two halves due to its double "blown" shape to accommodate the two rearward gun positions, so that the gunner's head isn't pressed against the canopy. The guns are fitted through the two circular ports on the rear, adding a ring and bead sight, although no ammo feed is supplied. The props are made from spinner, backplate and a single piece containing all three blades, sliding onto a pin projecting from the engine front, which will require glue if you want to keep them on. The alternative gondola guns at the rear have a zwilling mount, and a blank glazing panel or the afore mentioned cannon in the front. Under the wings the dive spoilers are added with four bomb crutches on aerodynamic fairings between the fuselage and engine nacelles, with bombs supplied that have two of their fins moulded separately, along with the stabilising struts that fit into notches in the fins. An antenna and aileron actuators are added while the model is inverted, fixing the new resin wheels with PE rings at the rear, and twin main gear bay doors, with two more for the tail-wheel. Addition of the canopy mounted antenna and pitot probe in the port wing leading edge completes the build, and an extra diagram shows where the antenna mast wire should be run, including where the fly-lead enters the fuselage. Markings There are a generous six decal options included on the sheets, although the box art option is the most tempting from my perspective. There are a wide range of schemes including winter distemper, desert, splinter and other more unusual camouflages, to widen the appeal. From the box you can depict one of the following: 1./KG 1, Kharkov-Voichenko, Soviet Union, January 1943 Hptm. Klaus Häberlen, CO of Stab I./KG 51, Bagerovo, Soviet Union, April 1943 4./KG 54, Catania, Sicily, spring 1943 W.Nr. 140206, Hptm. Heinrich Paepcke, CO of Stab II./KG 77, Gerbini, Italy, October 1942 W.Nr. 1016, Lt. Johannes Geismann, CO of 1./KG 77, Catania, Sicily, September 1942 Lt. Gerhard Brenner, CO of 1./LG 1, Eleusis, Greece, March 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. The masks supplied on a sheet of yellow kabuki tape provide you with a full set of masks for the extensive greenhouse canopy plus its optional parts, adding more for the other windows around the model, and masks for the wheels to allow you to cut the demarcation between tyres and hubs with ease. Conclusion The ICM kit is a great model from the box, but adding Eduard’s extras in the shape of PE details and resin wheels adds more appeal, as will the varied decal options, which offer a few standard choices, and some fairly unusual alternatives to test your painting skills. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Your guess is good as mine, but it'd be interesting to find out

Possible to apply to the old Monogram Marauder perhaps?

Been on a B-26 kick lately and after doing some research, I thought I'd point out to those interested that the markings are not entirely accurate for depicting the plane before mid-September 1944 since that is the point when the bomb markers were repainted red. Prior to that, they were yellow, which was standard practice in the 322nd. By the time they were repainted, the plane had flown well over 100 missions. And after the repaint....

B-26F Marauder Upgrade Sets (for ICM) 1:48 Eduard There won’t be many modellers that haven’t seen or at least heard of the new range of 1:48 kits that ICM have been doing of the Marauder, which was woefully overlooked by other manufacturers for what seemed like the longest of times. Now we have a new range of kits that depict different variants throughout its short but illustrious career during and shortly after WWII. Eduard's new range of sets are here to improve on the kit detail in their usual modular manner. Get what you want for the areas you want to be more of a focal point. As usual with Eduard's Photo-Etch (PE) and Mask sets, they arrive in a flat resealable package, with a white backing card protecting the contents and the instructions that are sandwiched between. Upgrade Set (491552) Two frets are included, one nickel-plated and pre-painted, the other in bare brass. Kit parts that require adjustment are marked out in red for removal, or orange for sanding back. The rudder pedals are cut away at the bottom and have new perforated parts glued in to replace them, doing the same for a lever on the starboard side of the centre console that is also stripped of its moulded-in detail. The console has side skins overlaid, plus highly detailed new control panels, throttle quadrants and their attendant levers, wheels and adjusters. The instrument panel is sanded back and replaced by a new layered panel, cutting a section out of the cockpit floor to extend the crew hatch further into the fuselage, inserting a folded rectangular tunnel with retaining flanges, and a riveted strip laid on the forward edge. Hatch doors are made from new PE parts with handles, hinges and attachment points that should give a strong joint behind the crew seats. Speaking of seats, they have their adjustment rails removed and replaced by new PE parts, while the seats themselves are also replaced by several new PE parts that are folded to shape. The short forward bulkhead between the cockpit and nose is given a detailed skin with a couple of extra detail parts, then the rear bulkhead gets a pair of grab handles to ease crew passage through the narrow hatch. The cockpit sidewalls are littered with new boxes formed from folded layers of PE that have painted fronts, removing some parts from the separate side consoles to replace them with new painted details on both sides. The prominent nose gun is given a visible ammunition feed, folding up a PE length of link, then fitting it between the gun’s breech and a new ammo box, fixing a ring and bead sight to the breech and tip of the barrel, the latter after inserting the gun in the nose dome, adding a windscreen wiper to the flat spot through which the bomb-aimer views his target. The main canopy is detailed with an interior skin in between the two roof hatches, fitting extra detail parts in the centre, plus grab handles around the side windows, and an instrument in its own box in the centre of the windscreen. Zoom! Set (FE1552) This set contains a reduced subset of the interior, namely the pre-painted parts that are used to improve on the main aspects of the cockpit, as seen below. Whatever your motivations for wanting this set, it provides a welcome boost to detail, without being concerned with the structural elements. Seatbelts STEEL (FE1553) These belts are Photo-Etch (PE) steel, and because of their strength they can be etched from thinner material, which improves realism and flexibility in one sitting. Coupled with the new painting method that adds perceived extra depth to the buckles and other furniture by shading, they are more realistic looking and will drape better than regular brass PE. The entire crew are given belts, which are lap-belts for the most part, save for the flight crew. Two belts are made for right and left of the crewman, one having a comfort pad under the buckle, showing them used for the rear gunner, waist crew, fight crew, and the pilot, who gets a set of shoulder belts to keep him in place during rough conditions. The upper gunner is also set up with a pair of lap-belts that should just be visible in the turret once completed. Exterior (481172) This larger bare brass set contains some important upgrades, although many of them aren’t quite exterior. Work starts with the cover panels that fit between the spars, facing inward into the bomb bay. They are stripped of raised detail, then have a new skin applied over the top, folding down two ribs and rotating them into position, with a pair of brackets toward the rear, one for each wing root. The engine nacelles are fitted with oval meshes over the intake horns, and have a square panel mounted in the centre of the forward bay bulkhead facing aft, adding two lightened braces across the rear. Before they are fitted to the wings, a skin is added inside the roof on the lower wing, with a small bracket at the rear, offering a much more detailed view into the bays. The engines have a full suite of wiring harness sections, each part forming a pair of leads, one per cylinder, with a C-shaped link between the tops of all the cylinders, following the scrap diagrams to locate them correctly. There are two of course, and it will be a lot easier than doing the wiring manually with your own wires, to which I can testify, as I have done that. The truest exterior part is the replacement of the kit’s deflectors to the front of the waist gunner positions, which are moulded as angular lumps on the kit by necessity. After removing these blobs, they are replaced by a pair of baffled deflectors that are double-thickness, and have a bracket added to the rear, plus a length of your own 0.5mm plastic rod to act as the retraction jacks, using a 1:1 drawing to assist you with cutting them to the correct length. Bomb Bay (481173) This set will be of use to anyone posing the bomb bay doors open, as it supplies replacements for the outer bomb ladders, which are chopped from the kit’s bay wall inserts before beginning. The new ladders are folded in half end-to-end, adding a set of bomb plates to each “step”, and mounting the ladder on a backing plate that has contoured sides with additional skins to add detail. The same process is then carried out for the longer central ladders, but without the contoured sides. The bombs all have a shackle fitted vertically, with scrap diagrams showing how the bombs should interface with the steps on the ladders. Rear Interior (491553) This set consists of two frets, one nickel-plated and pre-painted, the other in bare brass. It covers the waist gunner and upper turret positions, increasing the detail there substantially, particularly the waist position, which is noticeably simplified in the kit. Equipment boxes are folded up from rear parts with coloured faces, making three sets for use around the interior. The waist gun windows have the kit retraction rails used, but the ammo run that travels down much of the length of the fuselage is replaced by a new PE track that has ammo inside, rather than the kit’s blank surface that you have to paint and stripe yourself (like I did). Two of the equipment boxes are fitted either side of the starboard window, and the entire window frame is replaced by a two-layer PE assembly that sandwiches a piece of clear acetate between it, curving it to match the fuselage shape, using the kit parts as a template. The two guns are given a pair of ring-and-bead sights from PE, and are fed by a complex pair of ammo cans that are slid into a frame that is held in place by a pair of lateral beams, plus two V-shaped supports on each side. A length of ammo feeder track with link inside is also included, exiting the front of the ammo boxes and entering the breeches of the guns. The kit surround of the upper turret has a box removed from one corner, covering it over with a detailed skin, plus a handle on one side that is absent from the kit. The final assembly is the front bulkhead of the rear compartment, cutting away a moulded-in box and replacing it with another that has a pre-painted face added along with a handle near the top. The third of the equipment boxes made earlier is applied to the starboard side of the moulded-in hatchway, completing the set’s upgrade. Review sample courtesy of

Marauder Mk.III (48326) WWII RAF/SAAF Bomber 1:48 ICM via The Hobby Company Instigated on the eve of WWII in Europe, the Marauder was a medium bomber developed over two years by the Glenn L Martin company, entering service in early 1942. Due to its high wing and relatively small planform, loading was high, which resulted in a faster than usual landing speed, which could cause problems for an inexperienced crew during final approach, and similarly if a single-engined approach was necessary. Its stall speed would bite the pilots aggressively if they varied even slightly from the documented landing procedures, resulting in excessive losses due to accidents, which earned it the nickname ‘Widowmaker’ amongst crews. To counter this, changes to the aircraft’s aerodynamics and wing length were undertaken, together with additional crew training, a combination that proved successful, and led to the type’s loss rate being amongst the lowest of the Allies bomber fleet. After initial orders, more followed, and improvements led to the B-26A, and soon after the B-26B, which by Block 10 benefited from longer wings and the other improvements that gave its pilots a longer life-expectancy. The type saw extensive service in Europe, flying with the US Army Air Force and with the RAF, where it was known as the Marauder Mk.1 for B-26A airframes, and Mk.1a for the B models. It also saw service in the Pacific, with a total of over 5,000 airframes built, 500 of which were flown by the RAF, the last batch being the F models, which the RAF knew as the Mk.III, which had the incidence of the wing increased by a few percent to improve slow flight characteristics, fitting new oil-coolers to the engines, a different tail-gun with a canvas cover, and a new bomb-sight, as well as other British equipment fit. This was later standardised as the G, of which the British and South African Air Forces took a total of 350, split between Fs and Gs, all under the Mk.III designation. Post-war, drawdown of the Marauder was relatively fast, with all airframes withdrawn from service by 1947, after which the A-26 Invader was given the B-26 designation, creating confusion amongst many aviation buffs and modellers over the years. Powered by a pair of Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine in nacelles under the wings, the rotund fuselage could carry up to 4,000lbs of bombs in a bay between the wings with a range of 1,500 miles at a substantially higher cruising speed than a B-17, giving it a better chance against fighters and flak, which contributed to its low attrition rate. An early adaptation saw the main armament increased from .303 machine guns to .50cals in all four turrets that could take a bigger bite out of any enemy fighters that ventured too close. The Kit This is a reboxing of a recent tooling from ICM of an aircraft that has been neglected for many years in 1:48 scale, so many modellers were highly excited on its release. This boxing has a new fuselage to represent the revised angle-of-incidence, and has acquired a new sprue of parts that includes the necessarily different spar/bulkheads, plus sundry other parts required to depict the new variant. The kit arrives in a top-opening box with a painting of a solitary Marauder flying over a mountain with an ocean vista in the background, and under the lid is the usual captive flap on the lower tray, and beneath that are nine large sprues in grey styrene, plus two of crystal-clear parts, a large decal sheet and the instruction booklet that is printed on glossy paper in colour, with painting and decaling profiles on the rear pages. Detail is up to ICM’s modern high standards, with most of the fuselage full of detail that includes the cockpit, bomb bay and fuselage compartments around the turrets and waist gun positions. Construction begins with the fuselage halves for a change, preparing the interior by drilling out some flashed-over holes for gun packs used on some decal options, and adding the outer bomb racks plus other small details, along with the windows and hinges for the bomb bay if you plan to pose them open. There are also two decals to be applied to parts of the nose compartment, one on each side. The nose bay is built upon its roof, adding side walls and details to the interior, then the cockpit floor is layered on top, fitting the pilot’s four-part seat and separate rudder pedals, making the centre console from another five parts, and attaching the instrument panel to the rear, both it and the console receiving decals to depict the dials. The cranked control column has a bow-tie yoke, applying them to the floor in front of the pilot’s seat, and a bottle behind it, plus a single-part co-pilot seat, two-part yoke, and a stiff neck from straining to view the instrument panel. In the front of the floor is the bomb aimer’s seat, with a new three-part sight for him to look through when the time for dropping bombs arrives. The bomb bay front and rear bulkheads have spars moulded-in and show off the circular cross-section of the fuselage, detailing both with small parts, and joining them together via the roof, which is ribbed for strength. Six bombs are built from two main parts with a separate spinner trapped inside the fin structure, gluing three to each of the central bomb ladders, then mounting those onto a pair of rails that fit into the bottom centre of the two bulkheads during the installation of the bay roof. The completed assembly is inserted into the port fuselage half, hiding the short empty sections of the fuselage by inserting another bulkhead behind the bomb bay and in front, the latter having the cockpit floor slotted into it before installation, leaving space for nose weight aplenty. Before the fuselage halves can be closed, there is a lot of armament to be built, starting with the waist gunners’ MGs that are applied to the floor on pivots, then the rear gun turret, which has two guns glued to a central support, sliding the barrels through the two slots in the canvas cover, and adding a tapering bracket to the top. The armour and controls for the rear guns has a window, rest and control handle fitted to the front, inserting it and the turret mechanism in the rear, sitting the gunner behind on a circular seat that is also included. The top turret has the front section with ammo cans built first, inserting it and the gunner’s seat into the turret ring from below along with the control levers. The twin .50cals are inserted from above with the sighting gear between them, slotting the completed interior into a surround, then sliding the glazing carefully over the barrels and securing it with a non-fogging glue before it is slipped into the cut-out in the upper fuselage. Another ovoid bulkhead with a hatchway is inserted between the rear gunner and waist gunners, suspending a simplistic ammo box overhead in the waist compartment, then sectioning off the nose from the cockpit with a horseshoe-shaped bulkhead. If you skipped ahead and prepared the starboard fuselage half to speed through painting and weathering, it’s all good, otherwise the starboard fuselage is drilled out and dotted with detail parts, windows, braces and bomb racks, plus bomb bay hinges if you are leaving the doors open, then closing the two halves after putting 90g of nose weight in the space between the cockpit and bomb bay to keep the nose wheel on the ground when the model is complete, which is a substantial increase from the original 50g. Once the glue has set, your last chance to install nose weight in the space between the detailed areas expires when you install an insert over the back of the cockpit, using either a flat or domed astrodome, drilling a small hole in the port side of the part before fitting it. The tail fin is a separate assembly on this kit, starting by gluing the two halves of the fin together, then building the stabilisers as a single unit made from a full-span lower and two upper parts plus two smaller inserts. The two assemblies are brought together at the rear, covering the rear of the fuselage, then mounting the rudder and two elevators that are each made from two halves, and can be glued into position deflected if you wish, to add some individuality to your model. The bomb bay has four actuators fitted to each of the fore and aft bulkheads, installing the four doors folded into pairs, or covering the bay with a pair of doors if you intend to close it. All the decal options carried cheek-mounted gun packs, one only mounting one rather than a pair per side, which mount on the holes drilled earlier, after building each one from fairing, barrel, and nose cap for each of the four (or two). The main canopy and tail gun glazing are attached, adding two clear roof panels to the canopy, and making the nose glazing with a rectangular box on one side, and a gun in the centre before it too is glued in place, adding a bumper under the rear fuselage. Two detail inserts are applied between the spars that project from the wing root, with the detail facing inward, so remember to paint those at the same time as the rest of the interior for your own convenience. The wings are each separate, and slide over the spars that are moulded into the bomb bay bulkheads once completed. Before closing the wing halves, the gear bay structure is made, consisting of three parts forming an H-frame, adding two more ribs in the forward compartment, and closing off the rear of the bay with a final stringer, painting everything as you go. A bay insert is also included for the ailerons, and this is fixed to the lower wing as the upper is brought in and the two halves are mated. The two-section flaps are each made from upper and lower halves, as is the aileron, and all three are fitted in the trailing edge of the wing, attaching actuator fairings, detail parts inside the nacelle roof, a landing light in the leading edge, and a tip light over the moulded-in recess, which has a likeness of a bulb moulded into the area. A pitot probe is cut from near the wingtip, then the same process is carried out on the opposite wing in mirror-image, setting the completed wings to one side while the engines and their nacelles are built. Each Double-Wasp engine is made from a layer of six parts, depicting both banks of pistons and push-rods, adding the bell-housing and magnetos to the front, trapping a prop axle between them without glue, and inserting the intake ‘spider’ at the rear, with nine exhaust stubs mounted behind the engine. The completed engine is then locked between two circular carriers, and two exhaust collector parts are attached at the rear next to the cooling gills that are moulded into the rear carrier. The cowling is a complex shape that has a substantial portion moulded as a single part, inserting a curved plate inside to create a broad intake trunk in the base, then fitting two more inserts into the top sections of the cowling that fit into position, creating the familiar intake ‘ears’ at the top. The engine slides into the cowling from the rear until the cooling gills butt up against a cut-out, then attention shifts to the nacelle, which is made from two halves after adding covered exhausts and hinge-points to the gear bay sides on a single carrier per side, then gluing the two halves together with three bulkheads holding everything to shape. Once the glue has cured and seams have been dealt with, the engine and cowling are glued to the front and fitted under the wing. Again, the same process is carried out in mirror image for the opposite nacelle, after which the wings can be slid into position and glued in place. The Marauder was another tricycle gear equipped bomber, and the nose leg is made from the main strut with scissor-links added on both sides, fitted into the bay with a retraction jack behind it. A crew access ladder is provided, and is fixed into the roof at the rear of the bay, locating the two bay doors on the sides after fitting hinges along the upper edges, with a small retractor jack installed at the mid-point to complete the area. The main gear legs are fitted with twin supports at the top and door openers mid-way down, inserting them into the nacelles along with a V-shaped strut, and a pair of bay doors on each nacelle. The main wheel tyres are made from two halves, with two more parts for the hubs, as is the nose gear wheel, but with flat hub caps, all three installing on stub axles so that the model can sit on all three wheels, or the rear two if you forgot the nose weight. I can’t laugh, as I recently did that, but just got away with it. An aerial and a faired-in D/F loop are fixed under the belly, and another three are arranged behind the cockpit, with just the two four-blade props with separate spinners to complete the build. Markings There are three decal options in this boxing, all wearing British RAF roundels. From the box you can build one of the following: HD545, Martin Field, Baltimore, Spring 1944 HD561.B ‘Bilksem’, 21 Sqn. (SAAF), Italy, 1944-45 HD505/V ‘Vindictive Viking’, 12 Sqn. (SAAF), Italy, Winter 1945 Decals are by ICM’s usual partners, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. As is common now with ICM kits, there is a page of the instruction booklet devoted to the masking of the canopy, using the printed shapes on the bottom of the page and the diagrams at the top to create your own masks if you wish. It goes up to 34 thanks to the extensive glazing. Conclusion Like a lot of modellers, I’ve had a soft spot for the Marauder for a while, and I’m grateful that a new well-detailed model has been released by ICM, with various boxings following on from the initial offering. The Marauder saw a lot of action, so there’s plenty of opportunities to depict a well-weathered example, and I’m looking forward to seeing them popping up on the forum. Very highly recommended. Available from all good model shops now. Review sample courtesy of via importers

Are you now a believer in Eduard's decals Mike since their move from Cartograf 😉🙂

MiG-21F-13 ProfiPACK (82191) 1:48 Eduard The Fishbed, or MiG-21 was such a successful design that there were more than a few generations of the type, starting with what would later become known as the first generation in the late ‘50s. By the early ‘60s a new generation had been designed that was marked out by the F suffix, which stands for “Uprated” in Russian “Forsirovannyy”. They benefitted from improved avionics, additional fuel and a more powerful engine, with a wider spread of munition types available to hang under the aircraft. Adding the K-13 missiles to their repertoire led to the additional suffix of 13, making the full name MiG21F-13, with the capability of carrying two suspended on adapted pylons, then later using newly designed weapon-specific pylons. They were also built under license as Chengdu J-7s or F-7s, and by Czech manufacturers, initially differing by name, but later reverting to the Soviet nomenclature. It was given the NATO code of Fishbed-C for quick reference by Allied operators. To reduce the weight and space needed by more traditional weapons, the F-13 had only one NR-30 cannon fitted in the starboard bay, the other removed. This cannon carried a miserly sixty rounds, but the lack of extended dogfight capabilities was more than made up for by the new weapons it could carry, making it a more lethal opponent than previous iterations. The next generation arrived just a year later and used the P designation, as they were interceptors first-and-foremost, again adding the F for later upgrades, which included new engines, radar, avionics and weapons systems during one of the fastest-moving periods of aviation technological growth since man first took flight. These too were superseded by another generation toward the end of the ‘60s. The Kit This is a boxing of a new tooling from Eduard, and arrives in a standard gold-themed top-opening box with a painting of a brace of F-13s high over pinkish morning or evening cloud. Inside the box are seven sprues of grey styrene in three bags, a clear sprue in a Ziploc bag, two decal sheets, a small sheet of kabuki-style masking material, a sheet of nickel-plated and pre-painted Photo-Etch (PE), plus the instruction booklet that is printed in colour on glossy white paper, with the decal profiles on the rearmost pages and a stencil page at the back. Eduard’s original series of MiG-21s debuted in the 2010s to much applause, and this kit continues that theme, packing the parts with excellent detail, and thanks to the addition of masks and PE parts, there’s little extra that will be needed for most modellers to be happy with their model out of the box. Construction begins with the cockpit, starting with a choice of two styles of instrument panel, the style relating to the method used to build them up. A blank panel is the basis for the PE option, using two pre-painted layers to create the main panel, adding another two for the bottom-centre panel (with a choice of two top layers), and two more layers to the panels to each side of the main panel. The simpler option involves a styrene panel that has dials and instruments moulded into it and the sub-panel in the centre, applying decals over the main panel, with a choice of two decals for the centre panel. The cockpit floor is a short flat section with peg at the front, which receives rudder pedals and control column toward the front, dropping the main panel into a slot between the two components, setting it aside for a moment while the intake trunking is made. The trunking also incorporates the nose gear bay, and is made from two sculpted walls, a bay roof, and an aft bulkhead, mounting a peg to each side to space it equally away from the fuselage halves, attaching a U-shaped bracket into the centre of the bay slot, a single rod in each wall side, and another small part buried within. The exhaust is next on the tick-list of tasks you need to complete before closing the fuselage, starting with two halves of the main trunk, which has an afterburner ring and another length of trunk attached to the front, with a representation of the engine rear moulded into the bulkhead with a spacer at the very front. Moving to the rear, a tapered ring of petals is fixed to the end, with an outer ring slipped over, and a trio of actuators placed in grooves round the perimeter, assisted by a scrap diagram. The MiG-21’s main gear bay is an unusual arrangement in the fuselage, consisting of a loosely box-like assembly that is made from four parts, with one side having an optional wall for some markings, adding small parts to the detailed sides, painting it as per the instructions before putting it aside while the cockpit receives some more attention. The interior of the starboard fuselage is painted as indicated, adding the sidewall after applying a PE skin and two detail parts, with a three-part side console that has three PE parts applied to the top, slipping it into position on a pair of U-shaped “hangers”. The same process is carried out inside the port fuselage, with three small parts on the sidewall, and a mixture of decals and styrene parts on the side console. The aft bulkhead of the cockpit is a choice of a solid or a clear part, installing your choice in place with the help of a scrap diagram, and fitting the intake trunk, two-part coaming, plus two half bulkheads in the centre of the fuselage, followed by the exhaust, after which you can close the fuselage, remembering to add some nose weight in the space inside the trunk where the radome is sited, fitting a nose cone to the front, and covering top access with an insert in front of the windscreen. A brief interlude shows a pair of side profiles with small areas marked out in three different colours, which indicate areas that should be filled depending on which markings option you have chosen. Take a moment to fill and make good, then you can move on to detailing the surround to the cockpit, starting with a combined four-part PE/styrene cluster in the top of the main panel for some decal options and a two-part assembly for them all, a three-part HUD with choice of clear lenses, followed by an insert behind the pilot, which has additional hoses and other parts applied for some decal options. The tail fin is a large two-part assembly with a long section of spine moulded-in, a separate rudder fin, and a choice of using the moulded-in triple IFF sensors on the tip, or replacing them with a finer PE representation after removing the styrene antennae and drilling out a 0.3mm hole to locate them, which also gives you an opportunity to put them in place after main painting. The fin/spine arrangement is glued into position on the fuselage after test-fitting it with your choice of canopy parts to ensure correct alignment, then the two-part exhaust cowling is glued together and fitted over the rear, an intake is applied to the side of the spine, and the intake ring is installed over the radome, fixing two PE vanes in the front of the stators before doing so. Starting work on the full-span lower wing sees fitting of inserts under the nose, and in the outer ends of the bay cut-outs. Small holes are drilled in the wingtips, for the wing pylons, and another two down the centreline, plus a diamond-shaped hole if you intend to use the styrene IFF triple-antenna under the belly, otherwise a small hole is drilled later for the PE alternative. Various small parts are installed in the bays along with a little detail painting, flipping the assembly over to fit a circular landing lights that are each made from a clear lens and styrene back, using a different part for a landed aircraft, which has the light flipped horizontally, pointing down the runway. The main gear bay is dropped into place in the section of fuselage that’s moulded between the wings, then the upper wing surfaces are glued over the top, lowering the fuselage into position once the glue is cured, before moving onto the tail. Each elevator is a single part that fits with slot and tab either side of the fin, festooning the area with intakes and fairings during the process. The flaps can be posed retracted or deployed by switching out the parts, and adding an extended actuator to the deployed option, inserting ailerons outboard, with an actuator fairing between them, and a fence in a slot near the tips. A scrap diagram shows the detail parts that are applied to the flap tracks to complete the process. More fairings are added between the flaps and ailerons under the wing, with T-probes outboard, adding a strake to the slot under the tail, and the air-brake pattress in retracted or deployed condition under the belly, with a few more intakes and exhausts nearby. To mount the open airbrake, the two-part perforated brake and retractor jack are fitted to the leading edge of the pattress, installing the forward airbrake bays under the fuselage next to the wing leading edge, only if you are deploying them. Each bay has a retractor, and the starboard side also holds the breech of the gun, which is made from three parts, taking note that there are two distinct colour schemes for the bays, depending on your decal choice. Flush panels are fitted behind the bays, installing the brakes hinging from the leading edges of the bays, then fairing over the front with a narrow panel, the starboard side having perforations to cool the barrel of the gun beneath it. For closed airbrakes, it’s a simple case of installing a single complete panel over and around the bay area, adding a representation of part of the gun mechanism behind the starboard part. A PE hinge is added above and below the barrel fairing, using the large diagrams to guide you. The main wheels are each build from two-part tyres, plus separate inner and outer hubs, making two, then building the gear legs from the main strut, brake housing and hose, separate oleo-scissor link, captive gear bay door with actuator, building both in mirror image, and choosing which colour to paint the doors depending on your decal choice. They are installed in the outer end of the main bays along with a large retraction jack, and an inner bay door with retractor, with another scrap diagram from overhead showing the correct orientation and angle. The wheel for the nose gear is made in the same manner as the main wheels, attaching it to a strut with twin yokes and control arm, noting the location of a small part on the tip of the yoke near the hub. It is dropped into the bay and is bracketed by a pair of detailed doors, with the usual colour caveats depending on your decal choice. A small antenna is added under the nose, if you chose the PE IFF antennae they are mounted in a 0.3mm hole, as is a triangular antenna behind it, ensuring you use the correct parts… again depending on your marking choice. On the topside of the nose is a probe at an angle on the starboard side, mounting the correct fairing over the front of the spine for your choice, with a small part inside, and an antenna in the rear. You may have noticed there’s nowhere for the pilot to sit yet, but that’s next. The KM-1M seat is made from a myriad of parts for excellent detail, including a PE pull-handle between the pilot’s knees, adding stencils to the headbox once painted, then fitting a set of four-point PE crew belts that are pre-painted, and consist of nine parts, plus two more to add yet more detail to the seat. It is slipped into the cockpit in a “reverse-ejection” movement, fitting an internal windscreen over the coaming, then choosing whether to attach the closed canopy part over it, or pose it open by using the alternative part with a tab that fixes into a slot in front of the coaming at an angle. Short lengths of PE are fitted to the hinges of the ailerons, adding static-discharge wicks to the tips of the wings, elevators and tail fin to complete the airframe, save for the long probe on the nose, which is made from a central styrene needle, one straight for flight, the other option showing it folded to prevent stabbing anyone walking nearby. The probes are moulded with two vanes integral, and you can choose to fit two more perpendicular, or remove the two that are moulded-in, and replace them all with PE parts from the fret. A final diagram shows the correct fitting under the nose for both options. There are a good range of weapons and stores provided in the box, starting with a two-part 490L drop-tank for the centreline, plus two UB-16 rocket pods that are made from halves, with a bulkhead in the middle, and a choice of short or long tapering tips that are moulded with the rocket noses just visible. A pair of S-24 missiles are made from two halves each, adding opposing fins to holes in the tail, then mounting it on an adapter pylon. Next are a pair of R-3S A2A missiles, with a clear seeker on a thin tubular body, adding opposing fins to those moulded-in front and rear, with its own adapter rail. The final items are a pair of FAB-250 iron bombs, with two-part bodies, two opposing fins, and a two-part annular fin at the rear, plus a pair of mounting lugs on one side. A choice of these weapons can be attached on the three pylons under the wings and centreline, with a final step in the instructions showing possible locations. If you are looking for a more realistic load however, check your references for certainty. Markings There are six disparate decal options in this boxing, including some countries that no-longer exist in that particular form, and with a variety of schemes and equipment fits that will inform your build decisions throughout the process. From the box you can build one of the following: s/n 741204, HävLLv 31, Kuopio-Rissala AB, Finnish AF, Finland, August 1985 s/n 74211503, Nguyen Nhat Chieu, 921st FR, Sao Do, Democratic Republic of Vietnam, October 1967 s/n 660416, 1. slp, České Budějovice AB, Czechoslovakia, 1968-1970 Cairo-West AB, United Arab Republic, 1967 s/n 22504, 204. LAP, Batajnica AB, Yugoslav Air Force, Yugoslavia, 1962 s/n 741924, AFS-31, East Germany Air Force, Preschen AB, German Democratic Republic, 1978-1980 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 masks supplied on a sheet of yellow kabuki tape provide you with a full set of masks for the canopy, more for the bullet-proof section within the windscreen and the rear bulkhead. In addition, you get a set of masks for the two lenses of the HUD, landing lights, the seekers on the R-3S missiles, plus a few extra circles that are used with a pod/missiles not supplied in this boxing. Conclusion Eduard’s MiG-21 series is already well regarded, and this new and much needed addition continues the tradition of supplying a ton of detail and options to the modern modeller. A highly detailed cockpit, gear bays, airbrakes, and a choice of weapons load make for an appealing package. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

I've used kind of a mix mentioned in kit instruction, i.e. 4 parts Gunze RLM02 and one part Gunze RLM82. I've also used a custom mixed dark gray surfacer - grey and black Gunze surfacer 1500

Been looking forward to this kit. I know we have Eduard’s kits but this will be an easier build. Shame an earlier rudder isn't included but you can’t have everything!

I don't know what you mean!

P-40N Warhawk ProfiPACK (82242) 1:48 Eduard 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 airframe 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 wasn’t really 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, with the -L having the same engine. The next main variant was the -K, which retained the Allison engine and nose configuration, after which the M was produced with a more powerful Allison engine primarily for the Allies, and the final production variant, the -N, with more power, a reduced spine, the same longer fuselage of the -L, and a drop in weight to increase top speed. A proposed -P variant was instead built as more -N airframes, while the bubble-topped -Q with more power and four-bladed prop couldn’t compete with the Thunderbolts and Mustangs that were streaming off the production lines by then, so it never made it to production. The Kit Eduard recently brought their talents to bear upon the P-40, providing plenty of detail, and as much or as little aftermarket available separately, specifically engineered to fit the kit, that you could possibly want. The kit arrives in gold-themed top-opening box with a painting of a P-40N involved in a head-to-head knife-edge pass during a battle with a heavily camouflaged Japanese adversary. Inside are six sprues of grey styrene, a clear sprue in a separate Ziploc bag, a large sheet of Photo-Etch (PE) that is nickel-plated and pre-painted, Three decal sheets in a resealable bag, and the components are rounded off by a sheet of pre-cut kabuki-style masking tape (not pictured) for the canopy, wheels and other clear parts. The package is completed by an A4 instruction manual that is printed on glossy white paper in colour, with a set of profiles for the decal options and stencils on the rearmost pages. The kit exterior is fully riveted with finely engraved panel lines, plus raised and recessed features where appropriate. Inside the fuselage halves are recessed lines and raised areas that will assist any modeller that decides to opt for the many aftermarket enhancements that Eduard have created to coincide with this and subsequent releases, making the task of integrating them much easier than it was in the past. Detail inside the cockpit and gear bays is excellent, and this attention to detail extends to the intakes around the nose, giving the model a realistic look once built from the box, as many of us will. There are also numerous weapons options included on the sprues, from bombs to rocket tubes, and with the choice of extra fuel carriage in the form of two style of drop-tanks under the belly. Construction begins with the cockpit, starting with a seat that is made from three parts, and is mounted on a bracket attached to a low bulkhead, with rear armour sited between the seat and bulkhead, which includes two side projections and a round headrest. Four-point harnesses of two styles are provided on the PE sheet, pre-painted for your ease, mounting the assembly at the rear of the cockpit, then adding a control column, lever and two other controls on the floor, applying a PE dial, or using another decal. The instrument panel can be made using either a styrene panel with decals with different options for each decal option, adding a rear coaming and one of two gunsights, or using a blank panel that is detailed with laminated PE with the dials printed on the rear layer, plus a single-layer ancillary panel at the bottom, plus a smaller sub-panel from the bottom of the part, taking care to flip the page over for the rest of the options. The sidewalls are detailed with styrene and decals, with the cooling flap control linkage swapped out depending on whether you intend to have the gills open or closed under the nose, which shows avid attention to detail. With the addition of two small PE parts on the port wall, they can be installed on the cockpit sides, supporting the instrument panel and two-part rudder pedals at the front of the tub. To be able to close the fuselage, the exhaust backing-plates are placed behind their openings in the nose with instructions to secure them well, building the intakes under the prop, depending on whether you are posing the gills open or closed, requiring a little surgery with a 0.2mm drill to correctly depict the internal configuration. The three circular mesh airways are depicted by PE parts front and rear, completing the ducting with a lower insert, following which there is a choice of styrene or PE cooling gills, using different parts for your chosen option. For the PE gills, the base of part F16 is retained after cutting the gills off, pressing-in strengthening ribs with a ball-point pen from the rear where the PE is thinned down, then fitting brackets to the inner face before they are inserted in the nose behind the duct-work. The cockpit tub and a tail-wheel bay are installed during fuselage closure, trimming a small area of the tail fin mating surface to accommodate a PE antenna bracket on the centreline near the tip. Once the fuselage is closed and the seams dealt with, the cut-down insert behind the pilot is installed along with the front portion of the intake, a section of trunking for the upper intake, and each of the individual exhausts are pressed into the stubs, noting that they don't have hollow tips due to their necessarily small size. The perforated panel in the nose has the holes filled for one decal option, but only on the port side. The main landing gear bays of the Warhawk could be fitted with canvas covers that were custom-fitted to prevent dirt and debris ingress in the wells, but as these weren’t always present, Eduard have provided both options for your use. Each option is made from different parts, comprising two L-shaped walls, and a flat(ish) roof that fits into the recesses moulded into the upper wing parts after installing two inserts in the centre of the full-span lower wing to personalise it, and drilling out any necessary holes for underwing stores if you intend to use them. A panel line is filled on the upper wing halves, which is probably easiest to do before adding the “knees” to the leading edges, which can be left off until later if you wish. The ailerons are each single parts, with fine detail moulded into both surfaces and no a sign of any sink-marks that you might have expected back in the “good old days” when injection moulding wasn’t as advanced as it is now. They slot into their recesses on twin pegs that allow some deflection, should you wish to project a more candid appearance. Two more inserts are placed in recesses in the lower wing to cover the shell-ejection chutes for the wing armament, adding more holes if required for rocket launchers, and the gun barrels that are moulded to a carrier that fits inside the leading edges. Once everything is in place, the upper and lower wings can be joined together and the seams dealt with for later installation under the fuselage. Meanwhile, the elevator fins are made from two parts each, installing them in the slots each side of the tail, then finishing them off with separate flying surfaces, which are again single thickness parts with detail moulded-in. PE trim-tab actuators are applied to the elevators after trimming the styrene alternatives, followed by a two-part rudder post, which is hidden by the rudder surface, giving you options to deflect it as you see fit. Mating the wings to the fuselage is followed by inserting wingtip lights top and bottom, plus a circular landing light under the port wing, another on the trailing edge where the wing meets the belly, and a smaller light further aft. The wingtip lights should be painted with clear red for the port lights and green on the starboard. The landing gear legs are simple struts with PE tie-down loops added to drilled-out holes, plus PE brake hoses, fitting the wheel to the stub axle at the bottom, which is built from a two-part tyre that has diamond tread, and two hub halves that fit through the centre. The completed units plug into sockets in the front of the main gear bays, adding the tail wheel that has a single-sided yoke and separate tyre, then fixing bay doors to the wells, the inner main doors made from two parts each. The retraction jacks are added before the main bay doors, as shown in a scrap diagram nearby, and a single actuator is located between the tail wheel bay doors to complete them. Turning the model over, the canopy is next on the agenda, starting by adding a PE rear-view mirror to inside the top of the windscreen, then gluing it and the fixed rear canopy to the model, and choosing part G10 for a closed canopy, or the slightly wider G9 if you intend to pose it open. An aerial mast is sited just aft of the canopy slightly off to the starboard side of the spine with another small light further back, and the next drawing shows the location of the antenna wire and fly-lead in blue, along with the location that you need to drill out to admit the wire to the rear of the cockpit area. A PE ring and bead sight is mounted on the nose in front of the windscreen, adding a PE balance to the rudder, and a styrene pitot probe to the port wingtip, then building the prop from a single three-bladed part that is trapped between the pointed spinner and back-plate, sliding the shaft into the hole in the front of the nose. There is the choice of two types of drop-tank under the belly, both using the same style of sway-braces, although the part numbers are different, with lots of detail moulded into the two halves of the tanks. Alternately, a central bomb can be mounted, making the body from two parts and folding up the fins from a long piece of PE, then installing it on similar braces as the drop tanks, after removing a nub from the contact points that glue to the sides of the bomb. There is another choice for underwing stores, consisting of three rocket tubes that are made from four parts including a pair of hollow tips, or two more bombs that are made either in the same manner as the belly-mounted option, or can be fitted with a two-part styrene fin-box if you prefer, as can be done for the belly bomb if you wish. There is a choice of two fixture styles for the bombs, sharing the same locating palette, but with a choice of either four tubular braces, or two solid panels, one on each side that form a triangle when viewed from the front. Your choice of ordnance is then located under the wings using the blue areas on the final drawing as a guide, but remembering to fit one or the other, not both. Markings As this is a ProfiPACK Edition, there are a generous six decal options, the first the one depicted on the box art with the massive skulls on both sides of the nose, the rest in various schemes. From the box you can build one of the following: 42-105128, P-40N-5, 2Lt. Philip R. Adair, 89th FS, 80th FG, Nagaghuli, India, early 1944 42-105116, P-40N-5, Capt. Gilmer L. Snipes, 45th FS, 15th FG, Nanumea, December 1943 P-40N-20, 43-23400, Maj. Donald L Quigley, CO of 75th FS, 23rd FG, Kweilin, China, August 1944 P-40N-5, 7th FS, 49th FG, Finschhafen, New Guinea, September 1944 P-40N-5, 1/Lt. Benjamin H. Ashmore, 26th FS, 51st FG, Kunming, China, 1944 A29-651, F/O John Noel Olivier, No. 80 Squadron, Noemfoor Island, 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. The stencils are handled on a separate page of the instructions to prevent the profiles devoted to the main markings from becoming muddled and complicated, including stencils for the landing gear and prop blades to add realism. The masks supplied on a sheet of yellow kabuki tape provide you with a full set of masks for the canopy, using different sections for the open and closed canopy options. In addition, you get a set of hub/tyre masks for the wheels, allowing you to cut the demarcation perfectly with little effort, plus a mask for the landing light into the bargain. Conclusion Another high-quality offering from Eduard that is already on its way to becoming the de facto standard for the scale, once their range has expanded to encompass more of the major marks. The detail is excellent throughout, and raises the bar for this type to new levels. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Fantastic schemes. Quite left-field for a mainstream Mk.IX, but each very appealing.

Hi, the decals are from T9.

Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IXe (A05144) 1:48 Airfix The Supermarine Spitfire was the mainstay of British Fighter Command for the majority of WWII, in conjunction with the Hurricane during the Battle of Britain, with the Mk.IX being the most popular (with many) throughout the war, seeing extended periods of production with only minor alterations for the role that it was intended to help the spotter differentiate between the sub-variants, plus of course the increase in engine output and increasing torque. Originally requested to counter the superiority of the then-new Fw.190, a two-stage supercharged Merlin designated type 61 provided performance in spades, and the fitting of twin wing-mounted cannons with accommodating blisters gave it enough punch to take down its diminutive ‘Butcher-Bird’ prey. The suffix following the mark number relates to the wings fitted to the aircraft, as they could vary. The C wing was also known as the Universal Wing, and saw extensive use because it mounted 20mm cannon in each wing on the inboard of the two possible locations, the empty outer barrel usually covered by a rubber plug. The Mk.IXe had the 20mm cannons in the outer of the two stations, adding a .50cal machine gun in the inner position, giving extra firepower without the extra bulk and weight of the larger cannon and its ammo. The two outer machine gun stations were deleted, but the access panels remained to reduce re-engineering requirements of the hard-pressed manufacturing companies. The main gear was adjusted to provide more stable landing characteristics, and bowed gear bays removed the need for blisters on the upper wing surface, helping aerodynamically, while the cannon blisters were transferred to the outer position, understandably. The gun mounts were redesigned to require smaller blisters in the wing tops to accommodate the feeder motors, and there was even more room for fuel than earlier wings. Lastly, the wings were able to have longer elliptical high-altitude, or shorter clipped tips fitted instead of the traditional tips, the resulting shorter wingspan giving the aircraft a faster roll-rate that would be especially useful in low-altitude ‘dogfight’ combat situations where a fraction of a second faster turn could mean the difference between life and death. The Kit This is a new tooling from Airfix that shares two sprues with the new TR.9 that we reviewed and I built a few months ago. It is one of the first to have the exterior fully riveted, which is bound to split opinion, as usual. The kit arrives in a top-opening red-themed box, with a painting of most of a squadron of Spits flying high over mountainous terrain, escorting a flight of American B-25 Mitchells on a mission to bomb some unfortunate enemy target. Inside the box are four large sprues in dark grey styrene, a separately bagged clear sprue, large decal sheet, and the instruction booklet that is printed in spot colour on white paper, with full colour profiles of the decal options on the rearmost pages. Detail is excellent, extending to the usual points of interest that include the cockpit, gear bays, plus other exterior features both raised and engraved. The inclusion of a fully riveted and panel lined exterior skin is a new feature for Airfix that was first seen on the TR.9, and adds to the appeal for many modellers, as above, which coupled with Airfix’s clever engineering of their kits and excellent marketing and distribution network, makes for a better product for us modellers. Construction begins with the cockpit, and the component parts will be very familiar to anyone that has built a Spitfire before, starting with the instrument panel with separate compass and decals for both. The lower cockpit sides are made from thin ribbed skins to which controls are added, bracing across the front with a portion of the spar, then inserting the instrument panel in front on the port side. The tangle of controls for the rudder has a pair of separate foot-pedals attached to pegs at the top, which is then slid into the assembly through the front via the open frame under the main panel, adding the two-part control column to the rear end, then closing the foot well off with an angled bulkhead with a pair of scalloped bulges that give the larger-footed pilot extra space. The frame behind the pilot’s seat is next, adding the voltage regulator block behind the triangular head armour, followed by building the seat from main pan with separate side panels, plus adjuster mechanism on the starboard frame, fitting it to the seat-shaped armour that has the mounting frame attached behind it. The completed seat is then mated with the frame, and is inserted into the port side toward the rear, with a scrap diagram showing its correct location and orientation. A pair of O2 tanks with stencil decals are fixed behind the seat on the port side, with another frame slotted in behind it, and braced against the seat frame with a bar between the tops. Now you can decide whether to utilise the crew figure, which made an appearance in the Tr.9 kit, and is the front figure in my build, which you can see a photo of below. He has separate arms to fit more realistically into place on the controls, which requires their addition after the figure’s main part is seated in the cockpit. If you elect not to use the pilot, you’ll need to pick up some seatbelts to make your cockpit more accurate and realistic. The front pilot in this Spitfire Tr.9 cockpit is included in this boxing, and is shown by way of an example - he's armless Before the fuselage can be closed around the cockpit, you should make the decision whether to pose the canopy open or closed, as the sills need to be removed for the closed option. Fortunately, Airfix have included two jigs for the sides that allow you to cut the necessary parts of the sills away without issue, providing you don’t forget and glue the jigs in place in a moment of insanity or memory lapse. To pose the canopy open, the access door is cut out along the thinned lines, as shown on the instructions, with a replacement part provided on the sprue, noting that during WWII, the crowbar was bare metal, and only post-WWII it became bright red, which is essential if you want to avoid risking pillory from purists. Another piece of equipment is added to the moulded-in ribbing inside the fuselage on the starboard coaming area, and a filler cap is inserted in front of the windscreen before the completed cockpit can then be trapped between the two fuselage halves, which is when we see a new engineering decision that will lead to a better joint on the cowling over the Merlin engine. Instead of moulding the bisected by the fuselage joint, it has been created as a separate part that is given the correct shape and form by using sliding moulds, resulting in fine seamlines that need little clean-up, and shouldn’t reappear like many Spitfire cowling seams have in the past, a hauntingly common occurrence to which many can attest. Each elevator panel is made from upper and lower skins, slotting into the tail on either side, adding a full-span flying surface across the concave trailing edge, and trapping it in position with an insert in the centre. This allows the modeller to deflect it as they wish, adding the rudder behind, which can also be deflected for a more candid look to the finished model. The lower wings are full-span out to the tip-joint frames, and have a pair of boxy radiator housings inserted after fixing the cores front and rear inside them, gluing the cooling flap to the rear, which can be set open or closed, whichever you prefer. Flipping the lower wing over, a pair of circular bay walls are added to the cut-outs, linking them with a pair of parts that perform the dual task of bay sides whilst acting as spars to keep the dihedral of the wings from sagging. A circular light is embedded in the lower wing toward the trailing edge under the fuselage, then it can be mated with the fuselage, gluing the upper wings over the top after the event, and installing the ailerons in their cut-outs near the tips. I made the mistake of joining the upper wings before installing the fuselage on my Tr.9, and made a fair amount of work for myself by doing so. Please feel free to learn from my mistake. One decal option requires the removal of the wingtips from the upper wings before mating, to be replaced by clear clipped-tips that will leave wingtip lights clear once painted. You have the option for wheels-up or down with this kit, the easiest option being in-flight, requiring the installation of the fixed tail-wheel under the rudder, and a custom set of main bay doors that have spacers moulded-in, which prevent the parts from dropping into the bays, and give enough space for the simplified wheels to attach to the integrated axles. To model the Mk.IXe on the ground, a pair of struts are made with separate scissor-links and captive bay doors, both inserting into the bays and locating securely in position with the help of some sensible engineering that makes a strong joint. The wheels are moulded as tyres that have block tread (more typical of post-war use) moulded-in along with the rear hub, adding the front hub before installing them on the stub axles at the lower end of the leg. While the model is inverted, an L-shaped pitot probe it glued under the port wing, a pair of small hooks are installed between the radiator housings, and another antenna is fitted vertically under the starboard side. Attention moves back to the fuselage, concentrating on the nose and cockpit to finish off. The six-stack fishtail exhausts are moulded on the same sprue as a set of tubular stacks, so ensure you fit the correct option before proceeding. Each set comprises two parts that hold three stacks each for extra detail, interleaving together and hiding the mating surfaces inside the cowling after they have been inserted into the slots in the sides of the nose. The four-bladed prop is moulded as a single part that is bracketed by the spinner and back-plate, which is placed against another plate that is skewered by a stepped pin that should allow the blades to spin if you are careful with the glue. The assembly is then glued into a cup that slides into an oversized hole in the front of the nose, again being careful with the glue to leave the blades mobile. As mentioned earlier, the canopy can be posed open or closed, and by now that decision should have been made to ensure the correct actions have been taken. To have the canopy open, the windscreen and fixed aft section are first glued in place, fitting the opener in the retracted position as shown on the diagrams, and fixing the new open door hinged down from the bottom on the port side of the fuselage that should have been cut out earlier. If closing the cockpit, a small section of the front cockpit sill should have been removed using the jigs supplied earlier in the build, allowing the combined opener and fixed aft section to be glued in place over the cut-out. A circular rear-view mirror is placed atop the windscreen, with an antenna post behind it to compete the model. Markings There are three decal options included on the large sheet, one in RAF markings, plus two overseas operators. From the box you can build one of the following: No.43 Sqn., (A Flight), P/O Alan G Eduards (Aus), Ravenna, Italy, March/April 1945 No.5 Eskadrille, Royal Danish Air Force, Air Base Karup, mid-Jutland, Denmark 1947 SM26 (ex-PV189), Brustem Advanced Pilot School (Ecole de Pilotage Avancée – EPA), Brustem, Belgium 1952 Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion The Mark 9 is seen by many as the definitive Merlin-engined Spitfire, and it is extremely popular amongst aviation fans and modellers alike. This new tool brings the quality of Airfix’s offering up to modern standards, with plenty of detail, options, and disparate marking choices. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Don't be too hard on yourself! Take it slow and easy, and add new things one by one, without over-facing yourself. The small dry-brush in that set has replaced my previous incumbent as my go-to brush now. They're made specifically for the job, and it really shows

Ah, the tyranny of the close-up photo that makes you consider your work unworthy of viewing. I try my best not to take pics too close to my cockpits, or I'd hide them too

I'll take your word for it , I probably just don't have the patience! But I'll certainly check out the Army Painter set you mentioned as one of the best things of modelling is trying new techniques!

That's a great way of thinking about it. In fact as I was messing about with my P-47 interior last night I thought I could almost build only interiors! That would be wasting a lot of kit though... It was with great sadness that I recently bid adieu to the interior of my Finnish Hurricane as I condemned it to closed-canopy obscurity. Cheers Nick