Dwill

I have both the Trumpeter and the Bronco/CyberHobby 1/350 LCS-1 kits. Both have clear bridge windows. In the photo of the Trumpeter kit superstructure above, those window-like outlines are vents or something. The bridge is lower and is on the panels that attach to the front of that superstructure part. The bride windows are on the sprue shown below that one piece superstructure. They are the trapezoid shapes with the square cutouts for the windows. The Trumpeter kit has a flat clear PVC plastic strip that glues in behind those panel to represent the windows, so the "glass" is recessed from the outside surface. It also has a simple bridge that glues in behind the windows. The Bronco/CyberHobby kit has a more conventional injection molded clear glass strip that is raised, so that when installed from the back, the "glass" is flush with the outer surface. There is no bridge, the the windows just open into the the empty superstructure. Both kits have their pros and cons, I think.

The exhausts are the same size (very undersized) in all of the Revell 1/32 MiG-29 boxings. The original US Revell single seat kit had deep engine tunnels that required a stepped transition piece at the rear to mate with the undersized exhausts. The UB "fix" was to reduce the depth of the engine tunnels under the fuselage at the rear so they tapered down more to match up with the exhausts, which were unchanged. The subsequent RoG reissues of the single seaters, as well as this UB reissue, had the revised engine tunnels. They didn't really fix the problem with the exhausts, they just tried to make it less ugly. The Zactoman upgrades are really the way to go on the Revell MiG-29s.

Thanks for the great review. Just an add-on, you get 4 Red Tops in the box, although the instructions only tell you to use two, so you can do the 4x missile loadout if you choose.

I got the Super Lynx (HMA8) kit today and it does not have the Sea Sukas either, although they are shown on the box art. From the instructions over at Hobby Search, I believe only the German Mk.88 kit has the missiles. http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10083623 The Super Lynx just has two types of torpedos, although you do get painting instructions for the missiles. Also, no bulged windows in this kit either and although it does have the later rear gear farings with the squared off ends for the ESM, they are inferior in detail to the original gear fairings still in the kit. On the original fairings, they used a slide mold to make nice tie-down ring detail on the side of the fairing. On the later fairings, they just used a conventional top/bottom mold, so there is no tie-down ring detail on the side, plus there is no actual ESM detail, just a flat area on the rear of the fairing. The kit also lacks the large cylindrical fairing under the front of the tailboom for the IRCM disco light. The Mk.88 kit might be better to cross pollinate with the HAS.3 kit for the blades, later gear fairings, and Sea Suka. HTH.

Looking great! One note on the throttle. Looking at the Aerofax book, the kit gives you the throttle as in the recon bird, the one bent over at the top toward the center of the cockpit. The F/J Drakens really had a straight throttle with a small knob on the top. This was because there was a large grip that was inboard of the throttle that was actually the control handle for the radar. Here's a shot: http://www.airliners.net/photo/Finland---A...aken/0298093/L/ The actual radar control handle is missing (you can see the hole where it would sit between the throttle and the edge of the seat), but the throttle is there. HTH.

Looks good. For the left tank, are you using the kit's rounded end dome as is? For some reason the taper on the end of the tanks looks different to me. When I put the dome with the tapered section on the right tank and just the dome on the left tank, they don't look the same to my eyes, and I'm thinking they should be identical.

Yes, and Fox One did a decals sheet for them. The sheet instruction indicate that they used the SUU-16 pod and destroyed 4 MiGs.

Looks great! What did you use for the endcaps on the wingtip ESM pods?

Hopefully Aires will do a cockpit, wheel wells, and speed brake. They just released a Hun seat so maybe there is a glimmer of hope they will do a full cockpit at least Agree about the exterior set. Those PE fuselage plates look like add on scab armor. I also agree that 99% of the stuff in Eduard sets would be better done in resin, however not everything people want is released by someone as a resin set. Sometimes, it's Eduard PE or nothing.

I've looked at the sets and the only one I ended up buying is the cockpit set, which includes a lot of stuff for decking behind the seat. I've got the AMS seat, so I don't need any of the seat stuff. Some of the Eduard stuff seems overkill, like the speed brake and well. Yeah, the kit brake and well can be improved but, for me at least, it isn't worth building it up out of flat PE parts.

This was a known problem with the Tamiya C/D kit decals when it first came out. They got a bad batch of Scalemaster decals that had the problem and they were, at the time, replacing them. For aftermarket, aside from the Airdoc ones, I can think of two other sheets, but they may be OOP. Fox One Decals 32-002 for Gunfighter F-4Cs and 32-004 for 8th TF Wolfpack Jan - Jun 1967.