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Grumman A-6A Intruder Trumpeter 1/32 History The A6 was developed to meet the U.S. Navy's need for an aircraft that could attack ground and sea based targets in any weather, day or night. These needs generated a Request for Proposal in 1956 to which eight companies submitted no less than twelve design proposals. Grumman's design number 1280 was the winning entry and a contract was issued on March 26, 1959. The aircraft was originally designated the A2F1, and the first flight of BUNO 147864 took place on April 19, 1960. When aircraft designations were standardized, the A2F1 became the A6A. The first A6A entered service with VA-42 in March 1963. The "Intruder," as it was nicknamed, joined Navy/Marine squadrons on board fleet carriers in 1964, complementing A4 and A7 aircraft in the attack role. The A6 provided the Navy with an all weather strike capability for the first time. Its design enabled it to carry both nuclear and conventional weapons, which consisted of over three dozen types of ordnance, from guided missiles to cluster munitions. The Intruder's lack of eye appeal has resulted in a low-key image in the minds of many uninformed aviation enthusiasts. But throughout its 32 years of service, it has earned and maintained a reputation as the workhorse of Naval Aviation from the countless Battle Group Commanders who were responsible for projecting United States power abroad. Time is one of the key yardsticks used to determine the relative success or failure of almost anything man develops. And time has clearly signaled the success of the A6 design. It leaves the fleet as it entered the sign and how adaptable that design is to accepting improvements and technology. The A6 has proven exceptional in both areas. One of the main advantages of the Intruder has always been its ability to carry a lot of ordnance, both tonnage and variety, to the target. The aircraft can deliver twenty-eight 500 pound bombs with pin point accuracy day or night. It also can deliver the Navy's entire arsenal of available weapons, from bombs to ground attack and air-to-air missiles, flares, and also provide a full array of target services for air and surface training. The Intruder's range is also legendary. She can strike targets at over 500 miles from the carrier unrefueled. Her ability to go long distances with minimal additional fuel has greatly simplified strike planning for over 30 years, as airborne refuelling has been and continues to be one of strike planning's most irascible problems. The Model It has been on the wish list of many modellers for a long time and finally an A-6 Intruder has been released in 1:32 scale. Trumpeter have started, naturally with the A model and hopefully they will be releasing more marks in the future. The kit comes in a large top opening box, with a very nice artists impression of two Intruders in the air, one with a full weapons load and the other with racks empty but with undercarriage and wing tip air-brakes extended. Inside the box is crammed to the gunwales with twenty seven sprues of grey styrene, three sprues of clear styrene, a small etched brass sheet, rubber tyres, metal undercarriage legs and three sheets of decals. The mouldings are really rather nice with very fine details, engraved panel lines, well defined, but not overly done riveted areas, no sign of flash anywhere, (which is always a good sign in a new kit), and only a small number of moulding pips. Apart from the number of sprues, and therefore parts, (there are 570 parts in the kit), it is the size of the fuselage halves that gives the game away as to how big the completed model is going to be and it will certainly be impressive, being 522.2mm in length with a 502.8mm wingspan with wings extended. There is a wealth of internal detail included in the kit but there is always room for additional detail to be added by the more fastidious modeller should they so wish. Each of the sub-assemblies should be considered models in their own right as they are quite complex and will require some careful building and painting. Each engine build starts with the assembly of the intake fan which comes in five parts which is then fitted to the two part intake trunking, the seams of which shouldnt cause too much of a problem since its quite short in length. Around the rear of the trunking the four sections of the engine body are glued into position. Once the glue has set then another three sections that make up the rear of the engine are attached. Along with the auxiliary accessories pack there are a number of electronic boxes, pipes and sundries that are attached around the engine body. Before fitting the three piece exhaust duct and nozzle, the five piece engine exhaust is fitted to the rear of the engine. The way these engines have been designed they shouldnt cause too many problems with painting, my only reservation would be the filing and sanding of the seams, particularly if the engine bay doors are to be left open for all to be seen. The two assemblies can now be set aside until required later in the build. With the engines complete, its on to the cockpit assembly. Each of the two seats are made up of the main seat frame, two side arms, main gun tube and lower firing handle. Onto this the two piece backpad, seat squab and headpad are fixed. To complete each seat the upper firing handle is fitted and the four piece harness, made of PE is attached. The cockpit is constructed of the main tub and rear under canopy panel. Two circuit breaker panels are fitted to the rear of the tub, followed by the ejector seat assemblies. Several fittings are the attached to the rear panel along with a pair of pipes. The instrument panel is assembled next, with the clear part attached to the rear of the styrene part, (best painted beforehand). The panel is then glued into position on the underside of the coaming, before fitting to the cockpit tub the pilots rudder pedals are affixed to their mounting then to the cockpit floor. With the coaming in place the reflector bombsight and glass are fitted to the pilots side. The kit comes with a fully detailed rear equipment bay which swings out from the belly of the real aircraft. The two shelves are fitted out with black boxes before the swing arm frame, bay sides and bottom panel are attached. Four support rods are then attached, two per side. The next sub-assemblies built are the main undercarriage. Each side is made of the metal main oleo, onto which the main retraction jack, two part scissor link, additional linkages and tie down rings are attached. Each main wheel consists of the rubber tyre, inner and outer hubs and the brake unit, the completed items are then attached to the axle. Next on the production line is the windscreen and canopy. The windscreen is simply fitted with the magnetic compass whilst the canopy is fitted with an internal l shaped panel, onto which two boxes are attached. The two slides are then fitted to the underside of the panel and the whole assembly fitted to the inside of the canopy. As well as a small overhead console there is a small pipe, T handle and four rear view mirrors fitted. The nose wheel assembly is constructed from the metal main oleo, onto which the nose wheel steering motor associated link, and two additional items are fitted, along with the main scissor link, launch bar and motor, main retraction jack plus additional linkages are attached. The nose wheels themselves are made up of the rubber tyres plus inner and outer hubs, when assembled they are attached to the axle stubs. The last of the sub-assemblies are those for the two fuselage air-brake bays. Each bay is fitted out with from frames and three sections of pipework. With the above sub-assemblies complete, its onto the build proper. The keel beam panel, complete with nose wheel bay moulded onto it is fitted with the nose wheel bay sides and a couple of internal fittings. The nose wheel assembly is then fixed into place, followed by the main longitudinal keel beam. The cockpit assembly is then fitted to one fuselage half whilst the air-brake bays are fitted to both halves. The main intakes are constructed from three parts and also affixed into place. Each fuselage half is also fitted with a bulkhead just aft of the main wheel bays. With the keel beam/nose wheel assembly in place the fuselage halves can be close up with the single piece rudder sandwiched between them. The instructions call for the air-brake s to be attached at this point, but unless being posed in the closed position it may be better to leave these off until later as they could easily be broken off whilst the build continues. On the underside the arrestor hook bay is fitted along with the two piece arrestor hook, although this could be left off till later to aid painting. The forward bulkhead is populated with a complex array of black boxes, main radar and terrain following radar before being fitted to the nose section. The build progresses with the construction of the inner wings. Each wing section is made up of upper and lower panels, onto which the multi part flaps, slats and spoilers are attached, each of which has the option of being posed extended or retracted. The wing fold mechanism comes in pre moulded complete the two halves of the pylon situated at that point. Each inner wing section can then be attached to the fuselage, after which the two engine/intake/exhaust ducts are fitted into place, as are the nose wheel bay doors and their associated retraction jacks. The outer wings also come in top and bottom panels, which, when glued together are closed off by the outer wing fold mechanism panel. The wings are then fitted out with actuator fairings for the wing tip air-brakes and flap hinges. The air-brakes, flaps and slats are again able to be posed in the extended or retracted state. If the outer wings are to be posed in the spread position there is a rod that will help in support in the outer wing panels in place, followed by the appropriate wing fold cover on the upper wing. The two piece horizontal tailplanes are also glued into position, as are a couple of small intake ducts, the tailplane positioned pitot probe and the Ram Air Turbine in port wing root, which can be left off if required and the bay covered by a panel. If the wings are to be posed folded then the inner and outer wing fold cover needs to be fitted and the wings glued into position. Two large wing retraction jacks are then glued into place, followed by four small links and pipes. With the build nearing completion it is only a matter of fitting the nose radome, either open or closed, the windscreen and canopy sub-assemblies, and the main undercarriage. The crew access foot steps are assembled out of both styrene and PE parts and fitted into position on either side of the forward fuselage. Finally the engine access doors are attached. Once again these have the option of being posed open or closed and if open there are quite a few internal fittings that need to be attached first. There are a number of external air intakes to be fitted to these panels in either case. The central fairing, covering the exhaust section is also glued into position, followed by the main equipment bay sub-assembly, the forward nose wheel bay door, complete with clear parts for the lights, main undercarriage doors plus the centre and inner pylons, each made up of two halves onto which the crutch plates are added. There is a comprehensive array of weapons that can be fitted to the kit and each made up of multiple parts, including styrene and PE as well as having their respective adapters and fittings. For the iron bombs the kit comes with two TERs and two MERs. The selection of stores include:- Centreline drop tank 4 off wing mounted drop tanks 2 off AGM-12 Bullpups 2 off AGM-45 Shrikes 2 off GBU-8 2000lb HOBOs 12 off Mk82 500lb iron bombs with normal or extended fuses and slick or retarded tails 6 off M117 750lb iron bombs with normal and extended fuses For the correct or historical loadout check your references, for all other instances load it up to the hilt. Decals There are two large decal sheets and one small one provided. There is one for the aircraft and one for the weaponry and one for the instrument panel. They are all very nicely printed, in good register and opacity. They are quite glossy and thin, with minimal carrier film visible and with a good gloss coat beforehand they should bed down well without silvering. Two aircraft schemes are provided, these are for:- US Navy, VA-35 Panthers, BuNo. 152940, USS Enterprise US Navy, VA-145 Swordsmen, BUNo. 155717, USS Ranger The weapon sheet provides the yellow live weapon rings and placards for the each of the different weapons, with the rest of the sheet covering the placards for each of the pylons. Conclusion Grumman had a reputation for build strong, well built aircraft and the Intruder lived up to that reputation. It could carry a huge amount of stores great distances and deliver them accurately. With this kit you really get to appreciate the size and construction of the real aircraft and the amount of detail included is quite amazing and will keep even the out of the box builder busy for a good while, whilst giving the detail enthusiast an excellent starting point onto which to practice their art. I cannot comment on how accurate the model is as I dont have plans, but it sure looks right. Highly recommended. Walkround photos are available HERE Review sample courtesy of

Hong Kong Models 1:32 Avro Lancaster MKIII, Catalog # 01E06 My first posting so hope it is of interest to some and in the right place! Here in the USA, Internet Hobbies has the big Lanc on site for advance order at 285 USD with delivery date of November 2013...http://www.internethobbies.com/hkmo1avlamki.html I checked with them and they confirmed the November date. They estimate 15 USD for shipping to me in MA (based on shipping cost of the HK 1:32 B17). I am thinking to recreate the BBMF in 1:32, probably not an original idea, but I visited the flight's hangar in Coningsby in August and it was just so inspiring! With HK Models I found the Lanc - now I need to find some decent spits and hurris in 1:32. The Sptfire PR XIX will be a challenge!

Mini Countryman WRC 1:32 Plastic kit from Airfix The MINI countryman is the largest car in the MINI range, as you know the MINI is now owned by the German car maker BMW who reinvented the range attempting to keep the spirit of the original MINI alive. The Countryman takes its name from the Austin Mini Countryman that was built in the 1960’s as an estate car version if the Mini. The BMW MINI Countryman has a big range from the base MINI One, to the top of the range Cooper All4, with its 4 wheel drive system and John Cooper performance and styling upgrades. I have seen kits of the road going All4 Countryman in 1:24, but now Airfix have released the WRC in there popular 1:32 scale. The John Cooper MINI works WRC car was unveiled in 2011 and was MINIs re-entry into the rally scene since the 1960s. Using a BMW engine, and built by Pro-Drive the MINI entered the WRC in 2011 where it raced a few times, but took to the WRC fully in 2012. When you open the box you will see 3 sprues moulded in Grey, a single clear sprue and the cars body shell. This is moulded in white and captures the shape of the MINI well, there are various holes on the shell to locate the various bits and bobs. On my sample I can only see a couple of faint mould lines, just above the rear lights, that will require a swipe with a sanding stick to eradicate. You will need to paint the car red, before adding the various grills and vents to the openings, and the roof will need to be masked for its coat of white, I would add part C20 to the roof before painting as it’s also white on the finished model. Finally the A and B pillars will need a coat of Black paint before the windows and decals can be added. The chassis is a single part and includes the inner wheel arches and some basic detail of the protective and aerodynamic plates under the car, the cabin floor is also on this sprue, and this has a good level of detail showing the pressings and shapes of the floor, as being a Rally car there is none of the carpets and sound deadening found in the cars on our drives! The rest of the parts come over 2 grey sprues, the level of detail is very good for the scale, the roll cage is a multi part item that looks like it can be built before adding to the chassis, this will make it easier to paint and detail the car’s interior. I will follow up with some build feedback soon. The parts are well moulded, and as you would expect from a new kit there is no flash on the parts. OK, let down time, the tyres are poor again, the wheels look good and mirror the cars wheels but again the tyres have no tread or sidewall detail and they have the same disc to glue in the rear. The MINI Cooper needed some work to get this to fit so I hope this is better. There is a clear sprue that comes in its own bag, it holds the windows for the car as you would expect, and it also has the lens for the headlamps, and tail lamps. They are clear and don’t look too thick. they locate into the shell with lugs around the roof. A decal sheet is included, it contains decals for the windows, both to include the sponsor logos, and thankfully the black trim seals that modern cars have, this will save masking and painting the edges of the windows. Thanks Airfix! The decals cover the MINI driven by the British driver Kris Meeke, who for Top Gear fans took Captain Slow against the Olympian bobsled (Skeleton) racer Amy Williams in Lillehammer, the decals look good, well printed I hope the white in the checker flag covers the red without going pink so I look forward to giving them a go. Conclusion A nice model from Airfix, the scale is unpopular with some but it will allow you to cross with Scalextric parts especially the tires to give a well detailed model. Simple enough to be a quick build, but well detailed to be a nice build! Review sample courtesy of

AMC DH.9 1:32 Wingnut Wings The DH.9 was a development of the earlier DH.4 and was intended as an improvement, but unfortunately turned out to be an inferior machine in many ways. Demand for the Rolls-Royce Eagle engine meant that the '9' was allocated the Siddeley-Deasy 'Puma' engine which turned out to be notoriously unreliable and unable to deliver its promised 300 hp, 230 hp being it's more likely output. Ordered into mass production before the bugs were ironed out, the DH.9 was a hugely disappointing aircraft but the RFC (soon to be RAF) had to make do with it when it achieved squadron service in April 1918. Despite its shortcomings it saw widespread service into the postwar era, serving with up to 16 foreign air forces including Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Bolivia, Peru and many European countries. A new Wingnut Wings kit always creates a great sense of anticipation and they never disappoint. The whole presentations is as we have come to expect, with the beautiful artwork on the silver gilt edged box crammed with sprues of exquisite quality, and an an instruction manual that is a reference work in it's own right. Eleven sprues, one photo etched sheet, and two decal sheets are supplied, all of which are beautifully done. A few parts are marked as not for use, so it is clear that other releases are planned. Sprue A contains the majority of the cockpit parts and the tailplanes, and is in fact common with the DH.9a kit, although all the others are unique to each boxing. Sprue B holds most of the remaining interior parts and is joined with sprue H which has the fuselage side panels, struts and undercarriage parts. It's worth taking a look at the quality of mouldings, in case you have not seen one of these kits 'in the flesh' before. The propeller is a beautiful piece of work, such a complex shape and yet perfectly done. Even more amazing are the two bomb cells, completely moulded as seen here. Wingnut Wings have raised the bar again by providing elements like this. Sprue C is clear and contains the windscreen elements as we would expect. Two Sprue D's are provided, holding all the items that need to be doubled up, such as wheels, struts and ailerons. Alongside, two Sprue R's hold all the armament. Cooper, HERL, and HE bombs are there along with their appropriate racks. Vickers and Lewis guns, a Scarff ring and ammo drums complete the options. Sprue E is for the Puma engine. The rocker covers have the legend 'Siddeley Puma' moulded in micro fine lettering on them which really need a magnifying glass to see properly. There are alternative right side cylinder mouldings depending upon whether a single or twin carburettor version is chosen. Sprue F contains the upper and lower main planes, with the usual perfect Wingnut Wings depiction of the rib tapes and stitching. All the rigging points are indicated by fine holes which can be used 'as is' or further drilled for your favourite method of rigging. Sprue G holds the fuselage halves and associated parts. Detail is finely recessed or raised as appropriate. The rear fuselage has separate side panels which are to be found on sprue H, see above where it is attached to sprue B. The etched brass fret provides seat belts, ratchets for the scarff ring and minor fittings for the interior and exterior. Decals are on two parts, the main one is a huge sheet the same size as the box and gives all the roundels, serials, stencils, bomb marking and even individual instruments for the main panel (all readable!). A second sheet consists of white printing for the more complex areas of some of the finishing options, and should make completing any of them a breeze. They are produced by Cartograf, a name that stands for top quality. Finishing options. There are the usual five different options, there are two bonus offerings that can be completed with the elements provided. One is for 5636 of the RNZAF, and the other for C1283 of the RAF. The main options are; A) B7620, J.A. Gray and J.J. Comerford, A Flight, 211 Sqn, June 1918 'B) C6293, "3", 144 Sqn, August 1918 C) D2989, "Lobster", 49 TDS, February 1919 D) D7211, "Spetsai", HNAS, 1919 E) D7302, "N", R.S.S. Ingram & A.W. Wyncoll, C Flight, 108 Sqn, August 1918 Conclusion. Part of reviewing a kit is to draw attention to the good and bad parts of any new offering. Well in this latest package from Wingnut Wings I have to admit that I can find nothing even slightly negative to comment on. This is as perfect a plastic model as I have ever seen, it is simple as that. Everything is done to the highest standard, from the presentation, to the quality of moulding, even the plastic itself is without sink marks or blemishes. The individually wrapped sprues, the instruction manual with it's use of photos to further explain assembly, and the beautifully illustrated finishing options all combine to create modelling heaven. Highly Recommended. Review sample courtesy of

DeHavilland DH-103 Hornet HpH 1:32 The twin-engine Hornet fighter was designed to Specification F.12/43 and the first prototype flew on 28 July 1944. It entered production at the end of 1944 and deliveries were made to the RAF from February 1945. Four versions were produced for the RAF as: the Hornet F.1 medium-range single-seat fighter with four 20mm cannon and provision for carrying two 450kg bombs or two 455 litre drop tanks; Hornet PR.2 long-range unarmed photographic reconnaissance aircraft; Hornet F.3 long-range single-seat fighter with the increased fuel tankage of the PR.2; and Hornet FR.4 with a vertically mounted camera. More than 200 were built. The Hornet was the fastest twin piston-engined operational combat aircraft in the world while in service and the first aircraft to demonstrate a cartwheel manoeuvre. Operated in Malaya in the early 1950s, the type was finally withdrawn from service in 1955. The Model With the disappointing news of the withdrawal of the 1:32 Westland Whirlwind fighter from their prospective new releases HpH came back with stunning news that they were to release the beautiful DeHavilland DH 103 Hornet instead. Still in 1:32, this news was greeted with great enthusiasm by the modelling world. The kit was rand eleased just before SMW at Telford, even though it is quite an expensive kit, from what I could see it was being snapped up. We at BM are lucky enough to have to opportunity to review one of my all time favourite aircraft, even if it is RAF colours. The kit comes in a very sturdy cardboard box, on top of which are two side views of the two colours schemes provided within the box. On opening the divided interior is full of grey resin, either separate, as per the larger parts or in poly bags for the numerous smaller bits. There are also three sheets of what look like etched nickel, a set of fabric seatbelts, paint masks and quite a large sheet of decals. The instructions are provided on a CD which when printed out are in full colour and very nicely laid out. The diagrams and parts placement are very clear and easy to read, which is a good job really, as there are a lot of parts in this kit. Before building there is a lot of cleaning up to be done. Not only is each part attached to a casting block, but there are large areas of the wings, such as flap and aileron positions, filled in with thin resin, as is the cockpit opening, and wing openings in the fuselage. A large number of the smaller parts are moulded on thin resin sheets from which they need to be cut out. Other than that there is no real excess flash and the moulding does look very nice indeed, with fine panel lines and rivets where required. There has been quite a bit of web chatter about the dimensions of the kit and it is generally agreed that the kit is very nearly spot, being within 0.5mm of what it should be, which, given the variable shrink rates of resin is about as good as it can get. The one fly in the ointment is the nose join with the windscreen and canopy. Even in the box the nose does look ever so slightly screwy and there does appear to be a slight discrepancy in the shape of the nose fairing where it joins the windscreen frame. This is quite an awkward fix, but it can be done as shown in a build thread on BM. That being said, I think if the kit is built out of the box with no alterations it will still look fantastic and impress anyone who views it. This kit will be the subject of a build review on here as soon as I get some time in-between other duties on BM and life in general. Once all the parts have been removed from their moulding blocks and the superfluous resin removed from the wings and fuselage, and had a good wash in warm soapy water you can start construction. The build begins with the wings and the fitting of the front and rear radiator faces, carburetor intake doors, which can be fitted in either the open or closed position depending on the whether the aircraft is flying or on the ground. The front and rear spars are then attached and wings closed up and finished off with the fitting of the clear navigation light lenses. The lower wing roots are then joined together along with the front spars, creating a single piece wing. Before the fuselage is closed up the tail wheel assembly is constructed put of the bay roof, front bulkhead, tailwheel and oleo which is fitted to the forward roof part. The completed assembly is then fitted in position in the right hand fuselage. The two fuselage halves are then glued together and the wing passed through the openings at an angle to slide through the fuselage, then straightened up and glued in position. Construction of the superbly detailed cockpit starts off with the starboard side panel and the fitting of the numerous handles, brackets, trim wheels, switch panel and its separate switches. The port panel is then assembled with the addition of switches, canopy handle and placard. The side consoles are also assembled with resin consoles, PE panels and additional switches. The main instrument panels are also in resin with the with the pre-painted PE instruments fitted to the back. The complex seat brackets are next, attached to the rear bulkhead then fitted with the four seat supports onto which the seat with its separate bag pad, PE seat adjustment handle bracket and resin handle attached. The assembly is completed using the fiddly, but very worthwhile cloth seat belts with their PE fittings. The cockpit floor is the fitted out with several PE items and the rear cockpit bulkhead is attached to the floor. Before the cockpit floor and bulkhead can be fitted into the fuselage the rear cockpit shelf needs to be slid into position. On this shelf there are two resin boxes with their associated PE tops and fittings and the oxygen bottle. With the shelf in position the cockpit floor is then slid into the nose of the fuselage and glued into place. The port and starboard cockpit panels are then attached followed by the side consoles. The rudder pedals and control column/joystick are then assembled and glued into place followed by the instrument panel and centre console, cockpit coaming and a beautifully detailed gunsight made of resin and etched parts along with a clear reflector glass, which is then attached to the top of the instrument panel. Finally the seat and bulkhead assembly is fitted to the attachment points on the cockpits rear bulkhead. At this point the instructions call for the windscreen and canopy to be fitted, but it’s probably best to leave this till a later stage, although there is a set of masks for hte windscreen and canopy should you wish to added them at this stage. Construction then turns to the rear empennage which consists of the two horizontal tail planes, separate elevators and trim tab linkages, along with the tailplane and separate rudder and again an etched trim tab linkage. The rudder and elevators require short lengths of wire to attach them to their respective parts. Wire is also required to attach the horizontal tailplanes to the fuselage with short lengths fitted to the rear of the join and a long length which passes through the fuselage onto which the tailplanes are fitted. With the airframe almost complete the build moves on to the engine nacelles. Each half of the nacelle is fitted with the exhaust stubs, from the inside, the main wheel bay forward bulkhead is then attached and the nacelles closed up. The two propellers consist of the four blades, propeller spinner, and two metal tubes which connect the propeller to the hub. The completed propellers are then fitted to their respective engines and the completed nacelles are attached to the wings, along with the radiator flaps, intakes grilles and the internal ribs for each flap bay and the pitot probe, although this could be left till later to prevent breaking the thing off. The main undercarriage legs are then assembled, each consisting of the main oleo, scissor link, support arm, and when fitted to their respective bays the retraction jacks are attached. The main wheels are made up of the wheel with separate inner and outer hubs and are then attached to the axles of each oleo. To finish off the bays the doors are fitted with their retraction jacks and attached to their respective positions on the nacelles. Each of the inner and outer flaps are assembled using the outer skins, inner hinges and a length of wire. If keeping to the instruction sequence the next operation is the construction of the weapons and drop tanks each of which can be fitted as per the modellers preferences. The 500lb bombs consist of the main body, separate tail and PE tail ring and are attached to the mounting pylon by PE crutch plates and crutches. The rockets are made up form a metal tube, turned metal head, PE tail fins, PE mounting clamps, mountings and supports. The drop tanks consist of the large resin moulding, onto which two etched rings are fitted to the top and side of the nose. They are then attached to their pylons ready for attachment to the wing. Also in this instruction sequence is the attachment of the trim tab linkage to each of the ailerons. The flaps, choice of weapons and ailerons are fitted to their respective positions on each wing. Decals The moderately large decal sheet contains markings for two aircraft, along with enough stencils for one. The options are:- • DH 103 Hornet F.3 of 33 Sqn RAF, Tenga and Butterworth, Malaya, 1951 – 1952 in Dark Sea Grey and Dark Green over Medium Sea Grey. • DH 103 Hornet F.Mk1 of the Commanding Officer 19 Sqn RAF, Church Fenton, Yorkshire, U.K. July 1950 in Medium Sea Grey over PRU Azure Blue The decals are very nicely printed, in good register and nicely opaque, they are semi-gloss and with little carrier film so they should settle down well with the modellers choice of softener and setting solutions. Conclusion It has been a long time coming and even then it came as a bit of a surprise, but it’s been well worth the wait. The nose and canopy problem will probably defeat all but the best or most fastidious of modellers who will be able to rectify this, but out of the box I imagine that most people looking at a completed model won’t be able to notice. Being mixed media though it will pose some challenges to those who haven’t built in resin and the like before, but if taken steadily and carefully, a superb model can be built. If you love the Hornet you shouldn’t be too disappointed with this release and it will look great in anyones collection. Highly recommended Review sample courtesy of

Messerschmitt Me-109G6 AlleyCat 1:32 Revell can be full of surprises and when they announced the new 1:32 Me-109G6 the usual clamour for information started. Fortunately for Revell, the kit was very well received, but as usual there were some areas that could have been done a little better. To help with making an more accurate model, AlleyCat have released this upgrade set of resin parts for it. Arriving in a sturdy cardboard box with just a simple sticker on the front describing what the set is for, the set replaces many of the kits problem parts and has been designed to improve other areas. The set contains 37 parts, all in a medium grey resin, plus a small etched sheet providing a couple of scribing templates and two A4 sheets of instructions. The first takes the form of colour photos showing how the parts are assembled and where they go, the second is a sheet of well written instructions, clearly describing what needs to be done and how. There is quite a bit of cleaning up to be done once the parts have been given a good wash in warm soapy water, as each part is on its own moulding block or surrounded by flash. This shouldn’t take too long as the parts and blocks have been well designed to allow for minimum contact. With the set parts sorted, some of the kits parts also need to be altered to allow the fitting of the resin bits. This is mainly around the engine cowling parts where small raised areas need to be removed for the replacement cannon bulges. The new carburetor intake will also need the three holes in the side cowling to be opened up and joined together to form a triangle for it to fit into. There is also a small scoop on the starboard side cowling that needs to be carefully removed to be replaced by a replacement scoop. The set includes a completely new propeller, with new blades, spinner and back plate. The blades have been designed to be slotted into their respective mounting points, with mounting blocks fitted beforehand, and pinned from behind, which is quite unusual, but effective in getting the blades at the correct angle. Also included are new radiator housing, radiator flap, exhaust stubs and backing plates, cowling gun bulges, elevators, rudder, cockpit floor, pilots seat, joystick and rear bulkhead, cockpit air vents, drop tank pannier, and aerial mast. The etched scribing templates are for correcting the small air vents below the cockpit, with clear instructions for the positioning. Conclusion Even though the new Revell kit looks great straight out of the box, there’s always room for improvement and set that not only corrects the slightly wrong areas but also gives much nicer detail definition to others. Very easy to use, even for the novice to resin it will certainly go a long way to help make a fantastic looking model. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Fokker E.IV 1:32 Wingnut Wings The Fokker Eindekker is well known to most aviation enthusiasts, mainly in its E.I to E.III form. Developed from it was the E.IV, which looks broadly similar but with some obvious differences. The most noticeable is the raised hump/fairing around the cockpit, which also covers the breeches of the twin Spandaus. The desire to increase the single gun armament of the previous Eindekkers to the twin guns on the E.IV made sense, as it would give extra firepower as well as the ability to keep fighting if one gun jammed. In fact the prototype was fitted with three Spandaus, but this proved to have problems with synchronisation gear and was not continued with. To cope with this extra weight the engine was also upgraded to a 160 hp Oberursel U.III, which was essentially just two seven cylinder Oberursel U.0 engines bolted together to form a fourteen cylinder rotary. Thus it was hoped that with its extra power and guns, the E.IV would be an evolutionary step forward of the aircraft that had brought the 'Fokker Scourge' to the Western Front. It was not be however, as that large engine spinning around produced significance gyroscopic forces which the old style wing warping controls were not well suited to control. Its performance was disappointing and the appearance of new allied machines such as the DH.2 and Nieuport 11 gave the advantage back to the Allies. Having arrived at the front in sufficient numbers by April 1916, the E.IV were mostly withdrawn by December as Halberstadt and Fokker D series biplanes took over. The Kit. Presented in Wingnuts Wings familiar silver trimmed box with Steve Anderson artwork, top quality is reassuringly in evidence. Lifting the lid reveals 10 sprues in individual shrink wrapped bags, one etched brass fret and a sheet of decals not quite A4 sized. The instruction booklet is of course to Wingnuts market leading standard, packed with CAD drawings of not only assembly sequences, but assembled sections as well. These are really helpful in clearing up any doubts you may have as you can see how the assembly should look when everything is together. Colour call outs are present all the way, and detail photographs of original machines are used to further illustrate how things should look. Cockpit, engine, guns, undercarriage, rigging, all are shown with photographs alongside the assembly drawings. These are actually seriously good reference works as well as assembly instructions. The plastic parts are a real pleasure to look at and examine. Beautifully moulded, the detail on them is exquisite. The tubular frameworks for the cockpit sides are very finely moulded, as are all the engine and cowl mounting frames. Of special note is the fabric effect, which is always good on Wingnuts. Sprue A Sprue C Sprue D Sprue E (2 are supplied) The large single wing parts look like they are actually a wooden framework covered with drum tight doped fabric. There is just that perfect balance of tautness and sagging that imitates the appearance of these early aircraft. Etched fret. Several options are supplied, the most extensive being for the prototype. For this a section of the forward fuselage is removed and replaced with etched brass panels. The three Spandaus and their mountings and cowl follow on, or the equivalent parts for a two gun machine can be used. An unslotted cowling is provided for the prototype, and a slotted one for all the others and even on this there flash guards to fit or not. Production or prototype cockpit coamings have their own windshields to fit, and then there is a decision to make on the fitment of a big four bladed fuel pump to the undercarraige legs. Lastly one of two beautiful looking Integral or Garuda propellers can be taken off the sprues to adorn the little beauty that this kit is undoubtedly going to be. Options. A. 122/15 Prototype, Anthony Fokker & Otto Parschau, September 1915. B. 127/15, Max Immelmann,FFA 62, January 1916 C. 638/15, Karl Albert, Albert Oesterreicher, Alfred Prehn, Willhelm Viereck, & Kurt Wintgens, KEK 3, mid-late 1916 D. 161/18, Lt Muller, Kest 6, April 1917 E. 163/16, Kurt Student, AOK 3 Fokkerstaffel, August 1916 Decal sheet. Conclusion. Having built a good many Wingnuts kits now, each and every one was an absolute pleasure to work on. Each new release just looks so good that I want to start building them straight away. There is in fact a great deal of pleasure to be gained from just looking through these kits and planning your build, deciding on the colour scheme, options to fit on, and so forth. Hours of fun can be had just theorising it all through before even a single part has been removed from the sprues, so you can get your money's worth before you even start it. If you've seen a wingnuts kit 'in the flesh' you will know what I am talking about. The E.I reviewed earlier, and this E.IV are both beautiful kits and share some common sprues, are both are calling out to be built ASAP. When finished they will be a reasonable size but not too demanding on storage space. Being monoplanes they should be easier to build than biplanes with all that associated struttery. The rigging looks be fairly straightforward, so any one of Wingnuts Eindekkers will be an excellent introduction to WW.1 modelling. It's Christmas soon, treat yourself to one of the most complete and rewarding kits that money can buy. It's another stunner from Wingnut Wings. Highly Recommended Review sample courtesy of

UPDATE 1: Hey folks, This will be my first WIP thread on this forum. I picked up this cheap kit for a quick build. It's a very old tooling so I'll try and do what I can to improve it somewhat. I plan to practise my weathering skills using my airbrush. I'm quite new to airbrushing.. only dug the equipment out of the garage a few weeks ago and have had to replace the needle, etc. This will be one of my first projects that won't be brush-painted. Just something to bare in mind. Moving on, I did actually own a late 70s rubber bumper MGB GT once (in 1:1 scale) so that was another reason for picking up this kit. Just remember this if you're thinking of restoring a classic MG; MG stands for 'money gobbler'. Anyway, enough waffle.. a detailed inbox of this kit has already been covered somewhere in this forum, so I won't bother. Here are some pics of the little progress so far. (Below) The first few steps of the build are complete (bar the detailing) but I seem to have mislayed one of the leaf springs. I've been using the pot of Ever Build wood filler to weather the wheel arches, which you can see in a picture further down the page. I'm kind of experimenting with weathering, and I thought the coarseness of the woddfiller would give a good dirt effect... I'll be using Vallejo paints primarily for this build. My workbench (below). I've been using the Revell Contacta Liquid with built-in brush.. basically because I've used all my ther polycement glues.. need to buy some more... Here a pic of the wheel-arch weathering I've embarked on (below). As you can see I've applied a thin layer of the coarse wood filler where necessary to give the kind of surface you find in the wheel-arches. It'll be painted a dirty brown colour later, after I paint everything black and pick out the other colours... Appologies for the massive pics and the slightly poor lighting in one or two of them.. I couldn't find a way of reducing the size, and my camera displays the images brighter than they actually are. Anyways, I've ordered a spair leaf-spring from Airfix and as soon as that comes through the letter-box I'll do another update on this one. That's it for now though, Thanks in advance for any comments, Andy.

This is the superb Hannover Cl.II from Wingnut Wings, coupled with a lovely set of decals from Pheon. Reviews can be found here - Hannover CL.II Pheon Decals In brief, the Hannover was designed around the observers machine gun, to raise it high and give it the best possible field of fire (as was the Bristol F2b Fighter) including forwards over the wing. The biplane tail was to keep the span short and increase the field of fire rearwards to each side. It was a very succesful design and popular with its crews, soldiering on until the end of the first world war. What can be said about Wingnut Wings kits that you haven't already heard? Nothing really. Superb, Brilliant, Outstanding, Goregeous, Best of the Best. You got it - I love them. Pheons Decals are the icing on the cake, giving a lovely set of very interesting options to make your Hannover that little bit more special, and also come superbly presented and produced. On with the photos, there is not a square centimetre of plain finish on this, the whole thing is covered in lozenges and irregular shapes. Fuselage and wing centre section are handpainted, flying surfaces are decals. It took me a few month to get this far, but here she is, hope you like! All the ladders, wheel chocks etc come in the kit. There is a build log Here if you are interested. Cheers John

1:32 Westland Navy Lynx Mk.88A. 1:32 Revell (04652) Revell have released a new tool kit of the latest mark of Naval Lynx to serve with the German Navy History The Westland Lynx was born out of a late 60's requirement for a multirole replacement for the Scout/Wasp and was to be more advanced than the UH-1 Iroquis therefore offering a viable alternative to US helicopters in the export market. Originally a joint venture between Westland and Aérospatiale (with Aérospatiale taking a 30% share in manufacturing), the intention was that the French Army and Navy would buy Lynx and a reciprocating agreement would see the UK Armed Services buying Puma and Gazelle. Unfortunately, the French Army subsequently cancelled its requirement for Lynx and therefore the Army Air Corps, Royal Marines and Qatari Police became the sole users of the Battlefield variant of the Lynx. The Naval variant has enjoyed a far greater export success with 16 foreign Navies employing various marks. The Lynx is a twin engined machine with a semi rigid rotor which enables exceptional manoeuvrability and precise handling which makes it very suitable for ship borne operations. A variant also holds the world speed record for helicopters. The initial Naval variant of the Lynx, known as the Lynx HAS.2 in British service, or Lynx Mk.2(FN) in French service, differed from the Army Lynx AH.1 by having a tricycle undercarriage and a deck restraint system, folding main rotor blades, an emergency flotation system and a nose-mounted radar. The subject of this model kit is a German Navy (Marineflieger (Mfg)) Mk.88A which is itself an upgrade from the standard Mk.88 by the addition of Rolls Royce Gem 42 engines and an under-nose radome with 360° sweep radar. The Mfg Lynx, unlike RN Lynx do not feature folding tails. The Kit Moulded in white plastic which seems to my observation to be slightly on the soft side, the kit features both finely engraved panel lines and raised details where required to represent the actual details of the real aircraft. I am not a fan of white plastic used for kits, whilst it will help where you have large areas of white to paint, I feel that it makes checking for surface flaws during construction more difficult because of the lack of contrast and of course it has made photographing the sprues for this review a more difficult task. However, whilst not readily apparent from the photos, the detail is exceptionally good, certainly one of Revell's finer kits and care will have to be taken during construction to ensure detail is not lost if any filling and sanding is required. For more detail, a built up test shot in grey plastic has been featured in the Rumourmonger area of the forum here. A full cabin interior featuring sliding side doors, textured side walls, and roof. The modular dipping sonar equipment racks complete with observers seat are also provided. These are very well represented and with some careful painting and some additional cabling details added by the modeller will really enhance the interior. The cabin also has a fit out option for a heavy machinegun and mount complete with gunners seat and multipart passenger seats. A detailed cockpit with instrument panel (decals are provided for dials, screens and gauges) and multipart seats together with optional open pilots doors will build up into a fine representation of the front office. The undercarriage, rotor head, and transmission casing is also finely detailed out of the box. The exterior has also received a lot of attention to detail with raised patches, intakes, aerials, sensors and other lumps and bumps peculiar to the Mk.88A being provided. Again, careful reading of the instructions to open location holes and what parts are required for what option will be required. Finally, there are frames and pylons to carry the 2 x Torpedoes or 2 x Sea Skua anti ship missiles provided. Instructions The Instructions are clearly laid out in Revell's usual style and printed on off white recycled paper. Careful attention will need to be paid by the modeller as to what interior option he is building, as they require different fit outs. In total, there are 93 construction stages detailed before the painting options are reached, although some will be skipped depending on what fit out you are building. My gripe as ever with Revell instructions is that unfortunately the paint call outs are solely for their own brand paints with some needlessly complicated mixes being required to make a required shade. Whilst I can understand the 2 x orange colours required by one of the decal options not being readily available out of the tin, the other colours are available ready mixed by other manufactures. Please Revell, you make some cracking kits at a great price, a BS, FS or RAL number would provide a quick and cheap fix for what seems to be a recurring source of irritation for both modellers and reviewers alike. Instructions Marking Options Two marking options are provided: Option 1: A display machine (83+09) of Mfg-3 based at Nordholz in 2006 celebrating 25 years of Lynx Operations. This option has a very striking fuselage and tail art scheme of a lynx painted down both fuselage sides. The base colours are Dark Blue over a white underside. The scheme will require some careful masking and the mixing of 2 x orange paint colours will be required as the decals just provide the Lynx's marking details. Masking details are provided in the instructions. Option 2: A line machine (83+12) Mfg-3 based at Nordholz in 2010 in the later Grey (possibly medium sea grey) scheme with white undersides. The decals are glossy, very finely printed and have good colour density and representation. Full stencils for the aircraft are provided. According to the sheet they are designed by Syhart Decals (who specialise in display schemes) and have been printed in Italy for Revell, whilst they are not Cartograph, they certainly have plenty of detail and look to be of a higher quality than normal. Accuracy It's a dangerous thing to say on an online forum, but it does look like a Lynx to me! Unfortunately, I'm not in possession of scale plans to lay the kit against to check dimensions. Neither am I going to comment on the accuracy of the surface detail other than I would suspect that like the RN Lynx, no two Lynx will be exactly the same so please check your references to your particular machine. Apologies to any Lynx experten out there, any further information regarding accuracy of this kit would be more than welcome. Conclusion I like it! Well laid out, well engineered, well priced (around £20) and an interesting set of decal options. With the exception of my minor gripes concerning plastic colour and paint colour call outs, this is a very well detailed kit that looks like it will build with ease into a cracking model. With a little extra care and the addition of some wiring/detailing and seat belts this will be a an attractive addition to anyone's display case or shelf. Highly Recommended. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit

Agusta/Westland Lynx Mk88 1:32 Etched sets The Revell Mk88 Lynx is great value for money considering the size and details that the kit comes with. But there are always areas that could be a little more detailed or refined. Eduard have released three new sets for this kit, well four if you include the Zoom set. They are for the exterior, interior and seatbelts. The interior and seat belt sets come with pre-painted, self adhesive sheets in addition to standard relief etched brass sheets. Each is packaged in the standard poly sleeve, with thick card protecting the sheets from being bent. Unfortunately the instructions are, as usual, not the clearest in the world, but anyone with any experience of using etch it shouldn’t pose too much of a problem. As is normal for these kinds of sets, some of the kit parts need to be modified or details removed before the etched parts can be added. Lynx Mk88 Exterior Set – 32328, contains new grilles for the rotor head gear box fairing, panel surrounds, door window frames and handles for the cabin sliding doors, handles for the cockpit doors, and a new Doppler panel. The nose wheel bay benefits from having new sidewalls and bulkheads, while the nosewheel oleo is fitted with hydraulic lines and connecting rods. The cabin machine gun, if fitted is kitted out with new front and rear sights, new barrel which will need to be carefully rolled to shape and a new ammunition box cradle. The main wheels are fitted with new brake discs, scissor links and hydraulic pipework. There are also new grilles for the tail cone and vertical tail, hydraulic lines and root fittings for the main and tail rotors, lifting eye for the rotor head, sensor faces, windscreen wipers and the grille in front of the windscreen. Lynx Mk88 Seat Belts – 32763. As this sets name suggests it provides the modeller with a full set of seat belts for the three seats in the kit. The belts and fitting are pre painted and look really nice. In addition to the seat belts the set also includes the seat frame and other fittings for each of the seats. These are not pre-painted, but do provide that bit of extra detail that’s need in this scale. Lynx Mk88 Seat Belts – 32763. As this sets name suggests it provides the modeller with a full set of seat belts for the three seats in the kit. The belts and fitting are pre painted and look really nice. In addition to the seat belts the set also includes the seat frame and other fittings for each of the seats. These are not pre-painted, but do provide that bit of extra detail that’s need in this scale. Lynx Mk88 Interior – 32761. This set is slightly different in that one of the two sheets of etched brass is not only pre-painted, but self adhesive. The parts include the instrument panel with a backing with the instrument painted on. When joined, but before fitting to the kit, it might be an idea to add a drop of Klear or Aqua gloss to each instrument to depict the glass face. Also included on the self adhesive sheet are the upper and central consoles, warning light bar, circuit breakers, radar screen, and auxiliary flight instruments for the cockpit and the black and yellow warning strip for around the cabin door window frames, placards and emergency release handle, also in black and yellow. The larger unpainted sheet contains parts to enhance the actual frames for the cockpit bulkhead and cabin doors, cockpit centre console sides, instrument panel coaming, cabin door cards, and other detail parts for both the cabin and the cockpit including such as the cyclic and collective control sticks, upper console and upper glass frame. Lynx Mk88 Interior Zoom Set – 33118. This is a simplified set for those modeller who don’t want to add too much to their model, but just add that little extra detail to enhance the completed model. The set includes just one sheet contains all the parts that are on the pre-painted, self adhesive sheet mentioned above. Conclusion While the Revell Lynx Mk88 is a super kit there are certain items that are lacking, due mainly to the limitations of the injection moulding process. These sets aim to overcome them and add lots of lovely detail to really lift the finished model. All the parts are fairly easy to use, perhaps with the exception of the main rotor gearbox casing grilles which look a little awkward to shape and fit. Other than that I can happily recommend these sets to all. Review sample courtesy of

Flexible Die-Cut Masks 1:48/1:32 Eduard In continuing to increase their range of pre-cut masks, Eduard are helping to improve the lot of the average modeller. No more trial and error in getting the masking tape cut to the right shape or making up a large mask with lots of small strips. The Kabuki low tack tape used not only allows great flexibility it also means that their won't be any sticky mess left on the cockpit transparencies when removed. The individual sheets are contained in the standard, small, flat, self sealing sleeves, backed by card. Each sheet comes with a set of instructions. As is now usual Eduard have provided masks which only protect the edges of large transparencies with the modeller having to fill in the rest with either their own tape of masking liquid. As has been stated in other reviews some of these masking fluids contain ammonia which may dissolve any acrylic varnishes the transparencies have been dipped in, so be warned. This latest selection of releases include 1:48 and 1:32 scale aircraft. 1:48 Seafire F Mk 15 (Special Hobby) EX356 EA-18G (Hasegawa) EX373 Mig-29 (Great Wall Hobby) EX382 Jaguar A (Kitty Hawk) EX386 1:32 BAe Hawk 100/128 (Kitty Hawk) JX148 Conclusion Another nice selection of masks that cover some of the latest model releases. Highly recommended

Hello, apologies in advance for the noddy question, but I'm trying to ascertain whether the Italeri boxing of the Kinetic F-86F (1:32) is of the -30 or the -40 variety and what the differences are - I believe Kinetic did both? Thanks in advance, Andrew

Curtiss P-40K Decals Super Scale International 1:32 This is another new sheet from Squadron Productions in their Super Scale International range of decals. The sheet contains full insignia, stencils, identification numbers and the ubiquitous sharks mouth for two aircraft, although there are only enough decals to complete one aircraft. The two options are:- • P-40K-5, Pilot – Major Robert Liles, CO of 16th FS, 51st FG, October 1943, in Olive Drab over Neutral Grey • P-40K-5, Pilot – 1st Lieutenant Charles White, 25th FS, 51st FG, Summer 1943, in Brown and Green over Light Grey The decals have been printed by Cartograf in Italy so you know the quality is going to be good. The decals are very glossy, in good register and nicely opaque the carrier film appears almost non-existent and can only really be seen on the aircraft numbers. If they’re like other Cartograf products they should react well with most softening and setting solutions, which will probably be required more with the shark mouths than any of the other decals. The instruction sheet has nice colour profiles of the aircraft showing not only decal placement, but also the colour schemes and the FS and DuPont codes for the colours used. Conclusion This is a very nice set of quality decals for the Hasegawa kit giving another pair of options for the modeller to decide upon. Highly Recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Parachutes True Details 1:32 True Details are renowned for their aftermarket sets for aircraft. Recently they have been releasing diorama pieces and these two sets come from that range. Each set comes packaged in a small blown poly box and protected by a foam insert. Each parachute is really well moulded, with all the straps, handles and clips well represented. Set one shows the parachute lying flat with the chute bag upright whilst set two has the parachute with the chute bag facing downwards ready to be put on. Apart from effective painting and shading the hardest part of using these sets will be removing them from the excess resin sheet, as there are areas that will need precision cutting with a nice new blade. Conclusion These are great little additions to the modeller's armoury. I’d imagine they’d be suitable for all aircraft in the USAAF inventory during WWII and will look good either lain on the wing or tailplane or with set two you could leave it on the seat in the cockpit. With careful painting these will look really good in any diorama. Recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Mikoyan Mig 23ML Flogger G Aires 1:32 Equipment Bay Set There have been quite a few aftermarket parts designed for the big Trumpeter 1:32 Mig 23ML, but this set will allow the modeller to open up a lot of the nose equipment bays up and populate them with the relevant black boxes. Equipment Bay Set (2184) Packaged in the usual Aires style blown poly box the parts are protected from rattling around too much by a foam insert. Now while this helps there have been occasions when parts have still managed to be damaged. Fortunately on this occasion the parts are well attached to their casting blocks so haven’t suffered. The set contains the large bay on the starboard side nose and the five smaller bays on the port side. The moulded detail is superb giving some real depth to each section, but you will need to be prepared for some fairly detailed and careful painting and washing. The panels for each of the small bays will need to be carefully removed from the kit parts before the resin bays are fitted a panels thickness from the outside skin. Each of the small bays have fastener details moulded into the outside faces so that when the panels are left off this detail is visible. With the bays in place the painted equipment blocks are fitted from the rear and should look really good when viewed from the outside. The kit panels are replaced with new resin ones which of course should be left off of as is the practise of some maintainers left dangling from one screw. The large bay on the starboard side also needs to have the kit panels removed again ensuring that they match the internal resin structure. More care will be required when cutting these out as there doesn’t appear to be a lot of fuselage left top and bottom and will only regain structural integrity once the resin bay has been fitted. The bay itself is made up of rear wall, foreward and aft bulkheads and the top and bottom parts making up a box structure, into which a curved rib section is added. It’ll be best to paint all the parts first to ensure none of the detail is missed then fitted together. With all the parts assembled the bay is positioned on the inside of the fuselage. Once again the modeller can choose to do whatever they like with the resin panels, either having one or both removed depending on the look they are after. Conclusion The detail in this set is a sight to behold, almost too much in fact. Much research will be required to the get the colours right, particularly of the wiring and any switches etc. The effect should look outstanding if done right. Care and patience is the name of the game when cutting open a big and quite expensive kit, but it will be worth it. Highly recommended. Review samples courtesy of distributed in the UK by Hannants Ltd.

Northrop P-61A/B Etch Eduard 1:32 The P-61 Black Widow is a great looking aircraft and it was with great excitement that HobbyBoss announced the release of one in 1:32 scale. Now a few months since the release Eduard have started to release etched sets designed to enhance the already nice detail of the kit. This is the first such set to reach BM Towers. Engine Set (32341) Contained in Eduards usual packaging this two sheet set, comprises of two medium sized frets of relief etched brass one slightly larger than the other. This larger sheet contains the short wiring looms for the front bank of cylinders and the cowl flaps for the rear of the engine cowling. Now while the fitting of the looms is pretty straight forward, particularly in light of the size the engines are in this scale, the cowl flaps do not look like an easy build. Once the inner cowl flaps faces have been folded into shape the whole ring will need to be gentle bent into shape, until it forms a circle and the ends can be glued or soldered together. The lower ring forms the mating surface which is glued inside the rear of the kits engine cowling. There are another set of flaps which are then glued on the inside of the flap ring. The smaller sheet contains the longer wiring looms which are threaded through holes drilled in the kits engine mounting ring to the rear bank of cylinders. The looms are connected to the wiring harness ring attached to the rear of the crankcase cover. There are also a set of tabs that attach between the engine mounting ring and each cylinder head. Conclusion This is quite a complex set and will need some careful work, particularly with getting the cowl flap rings bent properly to shape and you may need some specialist tools to achieve the effect. The detailed wiring harnesses will really look the part when painted up and fitted as this scale really lends itself to this sort detailing. Recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Su-25 Frogfoot Air Intakes 1:32 Quickboost from Aires Aires in their various incarnations are continuing to expand their range of 1:32 scale detail sets. This one, contains the auxiliary air intakes for the Trumpeter Su-25 Frogfoot. Contained in a poly sleeve, with a card backing these intakes, moulded in dark grey resin are direct replacements for the kits parts. There are five types of intakes all moulded with no sign of flash and minimal contact with the casting block these will be ready to use in no time at all. The intake lips are beautifully thin, certainly much finer than the kit parts. They will be a great improvement and add that little extra something to the completed model. Conclusion A great little detail set that can really help set off a model. The intakes look great in the resin and are so easy to use. Highly recommended for anyone with the big Frogfoot. Review samples courtesy of distributed in the UK by Hannants Ltd.

Diorama sets 1:32 Aerobonus Resin from Aires With so many great 1:32 scale kits either released or due to be released there seems to be a need to have that something extra. The modeller who likes to present their creation in a diorama or vignette needs to have personnel and ground equipment available to bring their ideas to life. Aires, in their Aerobonus range have thought of this and have been releasing several items just for this occasion. These three sets will help add that little something to the party by bringing additional characters to the story that the modeller is trying to tell. USAF 150 Gallon Fuel Bowser - (320 036). Although stated as a fuel bowser it’s more common use was that of transporting waste fuel and oil. The set comes in a blown plastic box on a cardboard sleeve. The parts are protected from bouncing around and breaking by a thick foam pad, although there still seemed to be some damage to the tanks fixing straps in the review example. The parts are all nicely moulded with only slight amount of resin flash. The two tanks are identical and whilst this looks wrong, particularly in relation to the fixing straps they are in fact correct. The moulding block is quite thin a shouldn’t take too long to remove and it will be necessary to take a bit more care with the side of the tank that faces forward as this will be quite prominent. The trailer frame is connected to its moulding block at the rear and will also need some careful cleaning up, unlike the wheels which are only tentatively attached to their block and won’t need much to remove and clean up. The rest of the parts are moulded together in strips but, again, won’t take much to remove. Construction is fairly simple, with the two tanks fitted to the frame so that the front tanks straps attach to the centre beam and the rear tanks straps attach to the rear beam, leaving a small gap between the two. It seems that the dolly wheel can be fitted to either side of the front angled section and the same goes for the bonding cable reel and its mounting plate. The main axle and wheels are then attached to the frameworks central beam. There are two drain taps, one for each tank with one fitted to the side of the front tank and the other fitted to the rear of the aft tank. There are two resin plugs that close off the redundant holes in each tank. There is a very small sheet of etched brass that provides the crocodile clip for the end of the bonding cable, part of which needs to be made up of suitable thickness wire provided by the modeller. Also on the etched sheet are two hand wheels for the tank drains. Decals are provided in the kit and these are for the various warning signs, designation and identification signs. There are also black decals for the tanks corners. The decals in this kit do only give identification signs for USED JP8, as Aires have already released a model with WASTE OIL signs, so check which one you actually need. Two colour schemes are shown in the instructions, one in an overall blue-grey, whilst the other is in overall dark green. USAF Flightline Tool Cabinet – (320 029). This very simple kit is a useful addition to any diorama as how do maintainers fix the aircraft without tools. Though the title of the set is Flightline tool cabinet, it would appear that they are more for hanger use. The single block of the cabinet itself will need to have the casting block removed from the back and made good. Any imperfections though could be covered by a suitable safety poster or even something a bit more racy if the modeller so wishes. The eight draw handles and what would be the key lock are nicely reproduced and would just need a scratch built key in the lock just to finish it off. The four casters and handle are all on one resin strip, but look very easy to remove. The cabinet has holes in each corner to accept the casters and at the top of one side similar holes are provided for the handle, thus giving a reasonably good gluing surface. Decals are provided for the cabinet identification number and Snap On logo. There are a number of other decals on the sheet, but their position and identification are not mentioned on the instructions, so some research will be needed to see what these are for. Flightline Cones - (320 027). This set is exactly what it says on the pack. There are six cones and their bases provided. Four of which are solid and two are hollow, thus allowing them to be stacked. All parts look pretty easy to remove from their casting blocks with minimal clean required afterwards. Decals are provided for the reflective material around the cones, once they’ve been painted a suitable colour. There also three different identification markings although what two of them mean isn’t given. These are SFS, ECA, and Caution, again check references and research when these would be used. Conclusion Three very useful sets for populating a diorama, whether it be a flightline or hanger scene. The mouldings are very good and construction nice and simple. The bowser has tremendous scope for weathering and would make a good practice piece before going onto something bigger. Highly recommended. Review samples courtesy of distributed in the UK by Hannants Ltd.

Fokker D.VII(F) 1:32 Wingnut Wings The latest release from Wingnut Wings continues their theme of the superlative Fokker D.VII series, covering the D.VII(F). This was the designation given to those aircraft fitted with the BMW IIIa engine, often referred to as the 'high altitude' engine. Supplies of the BMW engine were strained towards the end of the war so most went directly to the Fokker factory, where those aircraft fitted with them were given the (F) suffix. Albatros and OAW also received a limited number but no such identification was given to their D.VII's. Fokker D.VII(F)'s were the most coveted of fighters amongst the German aircrews as it was the hottest of the hottest aircraft, with most seeming to have gone to JG.1 'Richthofen' Ernst Udet, Herman Goering, Georg von Hantelmann and Bruno Loerzer being amongst the most prominent aces to receive them. The Wingnut Wings kits have been reviewed on Britmodeller previously, so it was with some interest that this latest release was received. Most of the contents are common with the sprues in the Fokker D.VII(Fok) boxing, but there is a complete new sprue covering the BMW IIIa engine, and typically for Wingnuts, a new sprue for appropriate engine cowlings. I have built and modified a number of 1:48 Eduard D.VII's often having to cut out my own cooling gills on the cowling parts, as these were often field modifications. No need to do that here, Wingnuts have moulded them all for you as extra parts. Interestingly one set of them are greyed out on the sprue map, so there may yet be more releases to come. Having already built the D.VII(Fok) boxing I can confirm that it is well up to the high standard set by Wingnut Wings. The instruction booklet is a complete reference document in itself with clear assembly drawings, and a particular favourite of mine, drawings of completed sub assemblies so you can see how each section should look after assembly. Add to this colour photographs of various details of full sized machines and you have instructions that have never been bettered by any other manufacturer. Sprue A contains most of the interior fittings and other small parts. Sprue B has the fuselage halves and interior tubular framework, along with the beautifully moulded three way struts for the forward wing mounts. Sprue C hold the two optional windscreens. Sprue E is for the BMW IIIa engine with a choice of Heine or Axial propellers. Attached to its is Sprue G with the optional cowlings with extra cooling gills. Detail of the upper crankcase. Sprue F holds the upper wing. Sprue H has the tailplane and lower wings. Sprue I has other cowling elements and the axle wing. Finally there is a photo etched sheet with seat belts and machine gun jackets. As usual there are five beautiful marking options offered in the kit, the choice of which is agonisingly difficult as they are all so nice. A. F 460/18, Eric Just, Jasta 11, August 1918. B. F 501/18 Red'W', Jasta 26, November 1918. C. F 4253/18, Ernst Udet, Jasta 4, September 1918. (An interesting aside, Captain Eric 'Winkle' Brown, the famous test pilot, had his first experience of flying by being taken up in a Bucker Jungmann by Enst Udet in the 1936). D. F 4330/18 Egon Koepsch?, Jasta 4, August 1918. E. Unknown, Karl Boelle, Jasta 2, November 1918. The kit contains a full set of 4 colour lozenge decal for all the options, note how faded lozenge is supplied for the interior of the cockpit. [Edit] There is also a supplementary decal sheet avaialable with five more options.Reviewed here [/Edit] Conclusion. This is another superb release by Wingnut Wings that has everything you could wish for to create a stunning model. They are not kits to be rushed, and why would you want to? Each stage builds up into satisfying sub assemblies that come together to create an exceptional whole. Detail from my earlier build of the Fokker D.VII(Fok) Yes the fuselages can be a tight fit to put together because there is so much in them, but take care and align everything and it will all work out. The bugbear of struts and wings is all taken care of, such is the precision of these mouldings that it is an absolute doddle. Its World War 1 modelling made easy for the average modeller, especially with the D.VII as there is almost no rigging. Highly Recommended. Review sample courtesy of

BAE Systems Hawk 100/127/128/155 Kinetic Models 1:32 History The BAE Systems Hawk is a British single-engine, advanced jet trainer aircraft. It was first flown at Dunsfold, Surrey in 1974 as the Hawker Siddeley Hawk, and subsequently produced by its successor companies, British Aerospace and BAE Systems, respectively. It has been used in a training capacity and as a low-cost combat aircraft. Operators of the Hawk include the Royal Air Force (notably the Red Arrows aerial display team) as well a considerable number of foreign military operators. The Hawk is still in production in the UK and under license in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) with over 900 Hawks sold to 18 customers around the world. The Hawk is an advanced trainer with a two-man tandem cockpit, a low-mounted cantilever wing and is powered by a single turbofan engine. Unlike many of the previous trainers in RAF service, the Hawk was specifically designed for training. Hawker had developed the aircraft to have a high level of serviceability, as well as lower purchasing and operating costs than previous trainers like the Jet Provost. The Hawk has been praised by pilots for its agility, in particular its roll and turn handling. The design of the fuselage included a height differential between the two seats of the cockpit; this provided generous levels of visibility for the instructor in the rear seat. Each cockpit is fitted with a Martin-Baker Mk 10B zero-zero rocket-assisted ejection seats. Air is fed to the aircraft's rear-mounted Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Adour engine via intakes on each of the forward wing roots. During the aircraft's development, Hawker had worked closely with Rolls-Royce to reduce the engine's fuel consumption and to ensure a high level of reliability. The Hawk was designed to be manoeuvrable and can reach Mach 0.88 in level flight and Mach 1.15 in a dive, thus allowing trainees to experience transonic flight before advancing to a supersonic trainer. The airframe is very durable and strong, stressed for +9 g, the normal limit in RAF service is +7.5/-4 g. A dual hydraulic system supplies power to operate systems such as the aircraft's flaps, airbrakes and landing gear, together with the flight controls. The Hawk is designed to carry a centreline gun pod, such as the 30 mm ADEN cannon, two under-wing pylons, and up to four hardpoints for fitting armaments and equipment. In RAF service, Hawks have been equipped to operate of Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. The Hawk 100 series, (the subject of this kit), was a larger exercise in modernising the production aircraft and continues the development of updating the avionics and systems with HOTAS and Multi Function displays, but also included a new wing design and a lengthened nose. A new, more powerful Rolls Royce Adour 871 turbofan engine was also installed. The new engine increases the maximum speed to around 585knots and a maximum altitude of 44,000ft. It also allows the carriage of around 6,600lbs of external stores should the customer require. The complete package of upgrades and redesign has created a better, more current environment for the student to learn how to handle and control a modern aircraft. There are several different types within the series, depending on which countries have taken up orders. The Model This kit was a bit of a surprise announcement from Kinetic seeing that it hasn’t been that long that Revell released their Hawk kits in the same scale. The difference with this kit is that it is of the more modern 100 series of aircraft. The kit comes in the standard attractive box with an artists representation of a Hawk in landing configuration, (although the flaps are up). Inside there are just five sprues of light grey styrene, one of clear styrene, a small sheet of etched brass and a large decal sheet. All parts appear to be cleanly moulded, with no sign of flash and only a few moulding pips. Detail looks pretty good with finely recessed panel lines, screw heads and a very rivet strewn, (whilst prominent, they are not overly done, and will look good under a coat or two of paint), back end of the fuselage. Some of the details in the cockpit and undercarriage bays do look a little soft and could do with some extra adding to bring them to life. Either that or the areas will need some very careful detail painting and weathering. As with other Kinetic kits the styrene is on the soft side so take care when sanding down the parts. Whilst the styrene is smooth it feels and looks like there is some texture, particularly on the larger parts, just enough for any paint or primer to key onto. There is evidence of release agent on some of the parts so will need a good wash in soapy water. A good practice to do anyway, but this kit will definitely need it. There are several sub-assemblies to be put together before the main build can start. These include the front and rear coamings and instrument panels. The front coaming is also fitted with a PE HUD frame, and clear parts for the lens and reflector glass. The canopy is fitted out with the clear inter-cockpit screen, for which it might be an idea to colour the glue, (particularly good if you’re using GS Hypo or similar), to represent the colour of the join. Two rear view mirrors are added to the front framework. The ejector seats are also assembled, out of the seat squab/PSP complete with backrest, head box top and seat ejection handle. A full set of straps and belts are provided on the etched brass sheet. The completed seats are then fitted into the cockpit tubs along with the rudder pedals, joysticks and throttle stick. The intake ducts, each made up of inner and outer parts are assembled and the engine rotor disc glued to one duct. When the ducts are fitted to the fuselage they align just before the disc, thus giving a full depth intake. The problem will be trying to get rid of any visible seams, although there have been some imaginative solutions to this problem on other models by the good members of BM. Engine nozzle is also in two halves, onto which the exhaust disc, with moulded in EGT spiders web is attached. The spine aft of the cockpit is also separate and consists of the spine section onto which two auxiliary air intakes, anti-collision light and aerial are fitted. The completed intake ducts are now fitted to each half of the fuselage. Each duct sits in the fuselage intake and a large slot at the rear and are left unglued for the time being. Meanwhile the external intakes are fitted to each fuselage half. Before the fuselage is closed up the nosewheel and nosewheel bay needs to be assembled. The nosewheel comes as a single piece oleo with one half of the wheel yoke, to this the three piece wheel, (hub and two tyre parts) is fitted along with the other half of the yoke and below the oleo/yoke joint the nosewheel steering motor is attached. The completed nosewheel is then fitted into the single piece nosewheel bay along with the three bay doors, (these can obviously be left off until after the rest of the aircraft has been built and painted). At this stage in the instructions the centreline fuel tank and two Sidewinder AAMs are also to be assembled. With all the sub-assemblies completed the nosewheel bay, exhaust nozzle and cockpit can be fixed into their respective positions in one half of the fuselage. The fuselage can then be closed up and the intake ducts positioned correctly and glued together and to the fuselage. On the outside of the fuselage the strakes just forward of the horizontal tailplanes are attached as is the emergency brake chute panel at the rear of the aircraft just above the exhaust nozzle and the navigation lights either side of the fuselage on the intakes. Next up the horizontal tailplanes are attached to their fishplates, (which look a touch on the thick side and may have been better in etched brass), and fitted to the fuselage. The opening on the fuselage for the fishplates allows them to be posed as per the modellers’ wishes. Underneath the rear fuselage the airbrake bay is fitted and whilst the airbrake is shown in the closed position with no option of having it open there is in fact an actuator on the sprues that gives you that option even though it’s not shown on the instructions. Also around the airbrake bay the lower anti-collision light, fuel dump pipe and tail bumper are fitted. On the underside of the forward fuselage a number of aerials are fitted. Right on the nose there are two PE parts fitted which are presumed to be the FLIR panel and nose light. With the fuselage pretty much complete, it’s on to the wings. The quite large single piece lower wing is fitted out with the main undercarriage bays made up of individual side, front and rear parts and the central bay roof. The outer bay roof of each main bay is part of the two upper wing sections which are now attached to the lower wing. What is nice about this kit is that Kinetic have given the option of having the flaps posed either up or down using different actuator fairing and flap parts. No more having to cut and scratch these areas unlike the Revell kits. Now again, according to the instructions the main landing gear is to be assembled and fitted to the main bays. These are probably best left off until the wing has been attached to the fuselage in case of breakage when carrying out any filling and sanding that may be required. Each main gear is made up of a three piece wheel, similar to the nosewheel construction, a single piece oleo and the two outer doors and lower door strut. When fitted in place the main bays are completed with the inner door and their respective actuators. With the wing and fuselage joined the upper spine assembly is then fitted along with the upper IFF aerial, pitot probe, windscreen and the two wing fences per wing, on the underside the centreline fuel tank can be fitted it required. On the wing tips there is an option of having either standard tips or the Sidewinder launcher rails, and just inboard of the tips a two piece PE wing fence is to be fitted. To complete the build the canopy complete with release handle and hinge, (for the open option), is attached. To the port side just under the cockpit the emergency canopy release handle, footstep and AOA sensor are fitted. Etch The single small etch sheet is very nicely produced in relief etched brass. It is already quite thin and pliable, so porbably won't need anealing before use. Most of the parts are for the seat straps and belts, plus back pad and central five point buckle. There are also the outer wing fences, fuselage louvres, FLIR and nose light panels. All in all a useful little sheet. Decals The huge decal sheet, which takes up almost the whole bottom of the box, has a complete stencil set for one aircraft, plus national insignia, aircraft identifications and squadron colours for the following:- • Hawk 115/CT-115, No15 Wing, NATO Flying Training Center, Royal Canadian Air Force, Moose Jaw, Canada, 2003 • Hawk 128, BAE Systems, Wharton, Lancashire, England 2008 • Hawk 120D, BAE Systems Demonstrator, Wharton, Lancashire, England 2008 • Hawk 127, No76 Squadrons special scheme, Royal Australian Air Force, Williamtown, New South Wales, 2003 • Hawk 127, No76 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, Williamtown, New South Wales, 2011 The decals have been printed by Cartograph, designed by Crossdelta/Leading Edge Decals, and are superb, nice and thin with minimal film except for the large No76 Squadron special scheme tail emblem, which may be better being cut down a little. They are quite glossy, in good register and nicely opaque. Conclusion This is a great looking kit, although again slightly lacking in detail in some areas, or least they could be better defined, particularly in the cockpit and undercarriage bays. The instructions could be better detailed, as whilst they are clear and well drawn, there are some areas that could be a little clearer. Nonetheless it should build into a nice looking model and not too large to have a few on the display shelves in the different schemes provided. Being exported to several other countries I’m sure there will be aftermarket decals and details out soon to be able to make even more. It's a bit of a shame that the kit doesn't come with additional pylons or stores, but that could be an option for a different release. Highly recommended. In association with

Pfalz D.XII 1:32 and 1:48 Pheon Decals 1:32nd scale sheet 32030. 1:48th scale sheet 48022 The Pfalz D.XII was a development of the earlier D.III, and shared a similar fate in that it was outperformed by another manufacturers product. With the D.III is was the Albatros DV that was considered to be the better aircraft, while the D.XII couldn't compete with the superb Fokker D.VII. The major developments applied to the D.XII were a nose mounted radiator and replacement of the sesquiplane wing arrangement with more conventional wings of more equal span and chord. It also had conventional strutting and drag inducing rigging which the Fokker was designed to do without. Although it was a perfectly competent machine, it could not climb or manoeuvre as well as the Fokker D.VII so was never a popular choice for the Jastas. Pheon decals have issued two decal sets for the D.XII in both 1:32 for the Wingnut Wings kit, and in 1:48th for the Blue Max or Special Hobby kits. I bought the Wingnut Wings kit as soon as it was released, and as expected it is a beautiful set of mouldings well up to the high standard we expect from Wingnut. The kit offers five finishing options which cover a good range of the D.XII's short career, but only 1 of them (Option B, Jasta 49) really grabbed me. So it is great to see that Pheon have produced a set of 10 further options to tempt us with. Produced in their now familiar A4 format the set consists of a paper sheet showing all 10 options available (11 on sheet 48020) . There are then 3 sheets of profiles showing each one in more detail, with 3 or 4 drawings per sheet. Then we have the very helpful A5 booklet giving some background information on the aircraft, and written details of each aircraft option. There is a lot of useful information in here, pointing out where there are difficulties in interpreting colours from old black & white photographs. Although the Wingnuts kit supplies both early and late style fin/rudder units, Pheons sheet covers only the later aircraft. Shown here are the profiles from 32030 on the left, with 48022 on the right. The Options are; 1.D.XII 2695/18, pilot and unit unknown, Autumn 1918 2.D.XII 1460/18, pilot unknown, Jasta 23b 3.D.XII, serial and pilot unknown, Jasta 17, probably Autumn 1918 4.D.XII 1416/18, pilot unknown, Jasta 17 5.D.XII 2525/18, Vfw. Ludwig Marchner, Jasta 32b 6.D.XII 1443/18, pilot unknown, Jasta 77b 7.D.XII, serial pilot and unit unknown 8.D.XII, serial pilot and unit unknown 9.D.XII 2867/18, Belgian markings, post-war 10. D.XII, serial unknown, Ltn. Josef Reasch, Jasta 43, Harbourdin, August 1918 Sheet 48020 only; 11. D.XII, 1445/18 pilot unknown, Jasta 49 (the same as Option B in the Wingnuts kit.) The decals. Both sets are printed by Fantasy Printshop, the 1:32 on an A4 sheet, 1:48 a little larger than A5, and they both show the same high standards we have come to expect from this source. The sheets are logically laid out, with each option having its own section. The colours are good and a typical Pheon touch is that where there is a possibility that a marking could have been one of two colours, you get the decal in both, such as the white or Blue 'M' for option 5. Printing is pin sharp and the carrier film is minimal. Some slight extra carrier film is used on the wavy yellow band on option 2 to help it hold its shape. This is pointed out in the instructions so that you can keep or remove it as suits your preference. Sheet 32030. Sheet 48020 48020 contains a small supplementary sheet of Pfalz logos. Rather than repeat items that are in the kit, Pheon use the space on the sheet to give you more options. Therefore you will need to take some of the items from the wingnuts kit, particularly the lozenge for the wings and the Balkenkreutz etc. The Belgian option however does supply all the roundels and rudder stripes. Conclusion. Another lovely and well thought out set from Pheon. Split between 4 camouflaged, 4 silver-grey, and 2 black examples, giving a good range of extra finishes to choose from. The two black options look particularly sleek, whilst the captured Belgian example really offers something exotic. Whichever your preferred scale either of these sheets will make a great addition to your stashed Wingnut Wings, Special Hobby, or Blue Max kits. Very highly recommended Review sample courtesy of Pheon Decals

Douglas A-1D, (AD-4) Skyraider Trumpeter 1/32 History The Douglas A-1 Skyraider (formerly AD) was an American single-seat attack aircraft that saw service between the late 1940s and early 1980s. It became a piston-powered, propeller-driven anachronism in the jet age, and was nicknamed "Spad", after the French World War I fighter. The Skyraider had a remarkably long and successful career, even inspiring its straight-winged, slow-flying, jet-powered successor, the A-10 Thunderbolt II. It was operated by the United States Navy (USN), the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) and the United States Air Force (USAF), and also saw service with the Royal Navy, the French Air Force, the Air Force of the Republic of Vietnam (VNAF), and others. The piston-engined Skyraider was designed during World War II to meet U.S. Naval requirements for a carrier-based, single-seat, long-range, high performance dive/torpedo bomber, to follow-on from earlier types such as the Helldiver and Avenger. Designed by Ed Heinemann of the Douglas Aircraft Company, prototypes were ordered on 6 July 1944 as the XBT2D-1. The XBT2D-1 made its first flight on 18 March 1945 and in April 1945, the USN began evaluation of the aircraft at the Naval Air Test Center (NATC). In December 1946, after a designation change to AD-1, delivery of the first production aircraft to a fleet squadron was made to VA-19A. The low-wing monoplane design started with a Wright R-3350 radial engine, later upgraded several times. Its distinctive feature was large straight wings with seven hard points apiece. These gave the aircraft excellent low-speed manoeuvrability, and enabled it to carry a large amount of ordnance over a considerable combat radius and loiter time for its size, comparable to much heavier subsonic or supersonic jets. The aircraft was optimized for the ground-attack mission and was armoured against ground fire in key locations unlike faster fighters adapted to carry bombs, such as the Vought F4U Corsair or North American P-51 Mustang, which would be retired by U.S. forces before the 1960s. Shortly after Heinemann began design of the XBT2D-1 a study was issued that showed for every 100 lbs of weight reduction the take-off run was decreased by 8 feet, the combat radius increased by 22 miles and the rate of climb increased by 18 feet. Heinemann immediately had his design engineers begin a program of finding weight saving on the XBT2D-1 design no matter how small. 270 lbs was found by simplifying the fuel system; 200 lbs by eliminating an internal bomb bay and hanging the bombs, drop tanks and rockets from the wings or fuselage; 70 lbs by using a fuselage dive brake; and 100 lbs by using an older tail wheel design. In the end Heinemann and his design engineers found over 1800 lbs of weight savings on the original XBT2D-1 design. Navy AD series were initially painted in ANA 623 Glossy Sea Blue, but during the 1950s following the Korean War, the colour scheme was changed to light gull grey (FS26440) and white (FS27875). Initially using the gray and white Navy pattern, by 1967 the USAF began to paint its Skyraiders in a camouflaged pattern using two shades of green, and one of tan. Used by the USN over Korea and Vietnam, the A-1 was a primary close air support aircraft for the USAF and VNAF during the Vietnam War. The A-1 was famous for being able to take hits and keep flying. There was added armour plating around the cockpit area for added pilot protection. It was replaced beginning in the mid-1960s by the Grumman A-6 Intruder as the Navy's primary medium attack plane in super carrier-based air wings; however Skyraiders continued to operate from the smaller Essex class carriers. The Skyraider went through seven versions, starting with the AD-1, then AD-2 and AD-3 with various minor improvements, then the AD-4, (the subject of this kit), with a more powerful R-3350-26WA engine. The AD-5 was significantly widened, (allowing the two crew to sit side-by-side), it also came in a four-seat night-attack version, the AD-5N. The AD-6 was an improved AD-4B with improved low-level bombing equipment, and the final production version AD-7 was upgraded to an R-3350-26WB engine. Skyraider production ended in 1957 with a total of 3,180 built. In 1962, the existing Skyraiders were redesignated A-1D through A-1J and later used by both the USAF and the Navy in the Vietnam War. The Model It is great to see another 1:32 Skyraider on the market giving the modeller a choice of either a complex or relatively simple build, even though the marks are different. This kit is of an earlier version, as used in the Korean War and is certainly the most accessible kit of this aircraft available, and I’m sure Trumpeter will be releasing later versions in the future, certainly going by the number of parts that aren’t used in this kit. The kit comes in quite a large box with an artists representation of the aircraft in flight over a target in Korea. Even with the size of the box, on opening it is stuff full with eighteen sprues of medium grey styrene, one sprue of clear styrene, rubber tyres, a small sheet of etched brass, and two quite large sheets of decals, one for the aircraft and one for the weaponry. All the parts appear very well moulded with no sign of flash and not too many moulding pips. Surface detail is a mixture of engraved and raised lines where appropriate such as strengthening straps and rivets. The instructions, on twenty four pages of landscape A4 are very clear and easy to follow. Despite the size of the kit, construction appears to be fairly simple, yet there is plenty of scope for additional detail to be added as has been seen on this site already. Once good thing about building a carrier borne aircraft in this scale is the useful feature of having the wings folded, thus taking up less space in the display cabinet. Construction starts with the engine build. The front and rear banks of cylinders are in two halves, each bank is then attached to each other and the push rods are fitted, as is the rear engine mounting plate. The crankcase is then built up with the addition of the magnetos and other ancillary parts before fitting to the front of the engine. The air intake manifold is the assembled and fitted to the rear of the engine followed by the complex arrangement of exhaust pipes which look quite fun to assemble and fit to each cylinder. The planetary gear case with the oil tank and sump moulded integrally is fitted with the two part battery and attached to the rear of the engine as are the very sturdy looking engine mounts. With the engine complete, the cockpit is then assembled. To the basic cockpit floor, with the side console shapes pre-moulded, the side console inners and tops are added, along with the seat, joystick, rudder pedals and instrument panel. The panel consists of a backing plate and clear front portion, onto the back of which the instrument decal is positioned. The instrument faces then need to be masked off before painting. When the masking is removed if should give the effect that the dials are behind glass. With the panel in place the rear bulkhead, having had the headrest attached can be fitted to the floor. Etched belts are provided for the lap and over-shoulder positions. To the completed cockpit assembly the main fuselage bulkheads fore and aft are attached. The foreward bulkhead also has the main engine oil tank, oil pump and fire bottle fixed to the front face, whilst the rear bulkhead has the fuselage fuel tank fitted to the rear face. The engine assembly is then attached to the front bulkhead and the whole assembly fitted to one side of the fuselage. The tailwheel bay is made up of the roof, sides and small front bulkhead to which the fuselage tail bulkhead is attached. The tailwheel itself is made up of the oleo, three part wheel support structure and the three part wheel including the rubber tyre. The tailwheel is then fitted into the well and the whole assembly fitted to its position in the fuselage. There are six further bulkheads fitted within the fuselage two of which are attached to the separate lower air brake well. With everything fitted into one half of the fuselage, the other half can be attached closing the fuselage up. With the fuselage closed up work still continues on the nose area. Firstly the two intakes are attached above and below the nose, aft of the engine; the lower intake is fitted with a PE grille. The two side panels aft of the engine are moulded in clear styrene, presumably so that the internal can be seen if one or both panels are left unpainted. The four nose strakes are attached to their respective positions, two per side whilst the cowling mounting ring is fitted over the engine and attached to the fuselage. In the cockpit the two canopy rails are fitted, whilst behind the cockpit two air scopes are attached. The engine cowling has the option of being posed open or closed as do the front and rear cowl flaps. If posed closed there is a very nicely moulded single piece outer cowl, into which parts representing the internal structure and front cowl flaps are fitted. Whilst this is a nice feature, it would be a shame to hide all the great engine detail. For the open cowling there is a separate nose structure into which the front cooling flaps are fitted, the support beam, two hinged panels and their gas struts. Moving back to the cockpit opening the coaming is fitted with a switch box and glued into place. There is a panel fitted behind the headrest and fitted with a support posts. The canopy slide rail is then fitted along with a blade aerial and the windscreen. The single piece canopy, moulded in clear styrene is a very complicated moulding and due to this does suffering from a mould seam which will need some careful sanding and polishing with something like the micromesh system before sealing in Kleer or Alclad aqua gloss before fitting to the fuselage. With the fuselage now complete work moves to the tail with the assembly of the horizontal tailplanes, elevators and rudder, each of which is in two halves. For the elevators to be posed drooped two small tags need to be removed first. The lower wing centre section is then fitted out with the main undercarriage bays box structures with cross bracing between the inboard and outboard sides. The inner wing cannon ammunition boxes are also fitted, as are the fold join ribs. The inner cannon are made up of the breech, with ammunition belt feed and ejector detail and a three part barrel and barrel bracket. The cannon are then attached to the inner wing between the inner and outer fold join ribs. If the wing is to be modelled unfolded then the three piece barrel can be replaced by a single, less detailed one. With the cannon fitted the upper wing parts can be attached. Turning the wing over, the flaps are assembled and attached to the wings by four actuators the choice of parts will depend on whether the flaps are to be modelled up or down. At this point the instructions call for the main undercarriage to be fitted, but it may be prudent to leave this until after the inner wing section is attached to the fuselage to prevent any breakages. As it is, the main undercarriage is each made up of the main oleo, retraction frame, gas strut, and front bay door. The wheels consist of the inner hub with separate brake piston detail, internal axle mount, a choice of spoked or solid outer hub and the rubber tyre. Once fitted to the wing the inner and outer bay doors can be attached. With the inner wing attached to the fuselage the side air brakes are fitted, again with the option of posing them open or closed. If closed then the internal panel and retraction jack can be omitted. The same goes for the underside air brake, just forward of which, on both sides a footstep is fitted. Right aft the two piece arrestor hook is attached, presumably in either retracted or extended position, but it’s not clear just going by the instructions. The propeller is then constructed out of a two part boss and four individual propeller blades. The completed propeller can be fitted once painting and decaling has been finished. The outer wings are now assembled with the wing cannon constructed in the same way as the inner wings guns and fitted into the gun bays built using the front, rear and side bulkheads with the ammunition boxes outboard of the guns. The wing lights, just inboard of the tip is fitted along with the wing join rib which has had the fold mechanisms attached, the type used will depend on whether the model is to be built with wings spread or folded. With the internal parts fitted the upper wing panels are attached, followed by the clear light covers and the ailerons. If the wings are spread then the outer cannon and ammunition bays can be shown with their access panels open. The completed assemblies can then be attached to the inner wings. Again, these can be left off until after painting and decaling, particularly if the wings are to be folded. Final attachments to the wings and fuselage are the various pylons. Alternative pylons are provided for the inner wing, dependent on whether the 2000lb bombs are to be mounted. Each pylon is detailed with separate crutch plates which is an item normally missed on kits, even in this scale. There have been some concerns over the type of pylons fitted to the outer wings, but having done a fair amount of research the kit pylons seem to match those fitted to the AD-4 during Korea. The kit has plenty of weaponry provided, including:- • Four M64 500lb bombs • Eight Mk82 500lb bombs, (not used in Korea) • Two M66 2000lb bombs • Eight Mk81 250lb bombs, (not used in Korea) • Two M-117 750lb bombs, • Eight M-57 250lb bombs • Four LAU-3 rocket pods, (not used in Korea) • Four SUU-14A/A cluster bomb units, (not used in Korea) • Sixteen 5” rockets • Two wing drop tanks • One centreline drop tank • Two toilet bombs, (not used on this model, but another sign of what is to come) So, whilst there is a large stock of weaponry in the box, very little of it can actually be used on an AD-4 in Korea. Still, the modeller should be able to attach a pretty unhealthy load. Etch Of all the parts on the small sheet of etched brass only five are actually used, the two lap straps, two shoulder straps and the intake grille. Although quite a thick sheet, it appears to be malleable enough to use without the need to anneal beforehand. Decals The two large decal sheets, one for the aircraft and one for the weaponry are both very nicely printed, in good register and opacity. They are quite glossy and thin, but some of the backing sheet is quite noticeable, although with a good gloss coat beforehand they should bed down well without silvering. The only real concern is the mottling on the surface, particularly noticeable on the Stars N Bars. Two aircraft schemes are provided, these are for:- • US Navy, VA-95, AD-4NA 515, BuNo127003 • US Marines, VMA-324, AD-4B 2, BuNo132364 The weapon sheet provides the yellow live weapon rings and placards for the M-64, M-66, Mk-82 and M-117 bombs, even though the latter two are not relevant for this era. The rest of the sheet covers the placards for each of the pylons. Conclusion I’ve always like the Skyraider and have been several in 1:72 and 1:48, but never thought I’d see one in 1:32, now we have two. This kit provides excellent value for money in my view, with some lovely moulding on the acres of styrene. The detail is great and should cater for all but the most fastidious of modellers, who can add detail to their hearts content as the basics are definitely here. It’s nice to see an early mark being released but it will be a challenge to weather the aircrafts overall dark blue realistically. Having got the ZM A-1H I think this kit complements the more complex product and as mentioned above is certainly more accessible to casual modellers, yet good enough for the more hardcore brigade. Highly recommended Walkround photos available HERE Review sample courtesy of

Well I'm a bit of a lurker in the vehicle section, there is so much beautiful work here. I'm pretty much an aircraft builder, mainly WW1 and airliners, and started a Revell Routemaster last year which I'm still struggling with. Anyway I decided to tackle something less ambitious and summoned up courage to join in with a car build. I saw this Airfix Jaguar in the shop and thought It would be a good one to have a go with. I've always liked Le Mans cars, beauty and hairy chested muscle power in one package, although I don't know much about them. The Jag called out 'buy me and build me', so it went straight from shop to workbench as a fun diversion from my usual stuff. Here it is, hope you like; The wide white stripe is Halfords appliance white from the rattle can, the gunmetal is airbrushed Citadel Boltgun metal darkened with a little black to match the 'claw slash' decal stripes. Wheels are Alclad aluminium, headlights alclad chrome. The chrome window edgings is bare metal chrome foil. The only mod I made was to the roof arial which looked a like a broomstcik, it was so thick. I replaced it with a bit of fishing line. Body is brushed with Johnsons Kleer befeore and after decalling. All these things are form my standard aircraft building stuff. I must say I was astounded by the supreme accuracy of fit of the whole kit, it was flawless and brilliant. I'm hooked, I've got the Airfix Aston DBR9 to go with it now! Thanks for looking, John

...with apologies to Viv Stanshall for the title, I couldn't resist it! If you don't know what I'm talking about see HERE This is the brilliant Wingnut Wings Sopwith Snipe with Pheon Decals 'Post War Sopwith Snipes'. There is a build log Here so I won't repeat anything but to say that The Snipe was a late first world war fighter that went on to serve in the Post War RAF. 'Bonzo' was entered by RAF Halton in the 1923 Duke of Yorks Air race, as part of the winning team. A Bristol Fighter and Avro 504 were the other team members. It is one of many options on the Pheon sheet, which you will want to treat yourself to if you either plan to get, or already have in the stash. Here she is, one of the most enjoyable builds I've had in a while, I hope you like her. I bought a lovely resin pilot figure from the MDC stand a this years Cosford show, and have painted him up to stand with the Snipe. This is a bit scary because the photo is bigger than than the real life size of the pilot. Ready to climb in and fly! Thanks for looking. John