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Desculpe o atraso! Here is my entry for this group build using Arma's MkIIc Hurricane and using LF "Over Portugal" decals. Other than the AM decals and some Eduard belts this WILL be an out of box build! Sprus shot and decals shown below. There is a little bit of flashing but the mouldings are very impressive! Some parts removed for cleaning up and painting of the cockpit area (using AK Real Color Markers predominantly) under way. Having come from the Heller GB the way that this kit is going together in comparison is a minor revelation! Hopefully my next post will have the cockpit buttoned up.

On the morning of September 5th, 1942 the quiet waters of Wabana Anchorage were disturbed by one of the few direct German attacks on North America. Trailing a small vessel into the anchorage after dark (and on the surface) on September 4th, U-513 spent the night on the bottom. Rising to periscope depth on the morning of the 5th, the U-boat quickly dispatched SS Lord Strathcona and SS Saganaga with the loss of 29 lives, all from the Saganaga. Shortly after, the U-boat escaped on the surface. SS Saganaga was almost cut in two by two torpedoes, sinking in just 30 seconds. SS Lord Strathcona was struck 30 minutes later, but alerted by the sinking of the Saganaga her crew were already in the lifeboats. After the attack in September, the Wabana anchorage had been fortified with guns and searchlights. However this did not dissuade U-518 from making another direct attack almost two months later on November 2nd, 1942. Sailing in on the surface, U-518 made a hit and run attack against the anchorage. It's first torpedo missed it's mark, detonating against the Scotia Pier. With the defenses alerted, U-518 quickly fired against the SS Rose Castle, sinking her with the loss of 28 men. PLM 27, a Free French ship, was next in U-518's sights. It went down quickly and with the loss of 12 crew members. U-518 sailed out the way it had come, escaping undetected despite the patrolling corvette HMCS Drumheller being in the area. These U-boat attacks on vital iron ore carriers caught the attention of Sqn Ldr Robert W. Norris of 125 (F) Sqn at nearby RCAF Station Torbay. Equipping Torbay's anti-submarine recon bombers with depth charges and getting them airborne could take over half an hour, whilst 125's readiness section could be airborne in minutes. Norris proposed that once radio signals established the location of a U-boat, his section could scramble to harrass the U-boat in order to attract the navy or RCAF bombers, noting that “we may be able to penetrate the sub’s outer shell and leave an oil trace.”1 However, as squadron pilot Flying Officer Lamont Parsons notes: "there was always a feeling among our people that we should be in a position to do something effective if we should come across a U-boat; something more effective than damage from eight .303 machine guns.”1 Using angle iron and springs from bed bunks and spare electrical arming mechanisms, squadron armourer F/Sgt A.S. Goodwin devised racks that enabled the Hurricanes to carry and release bombs or depth charges under each wing. These 'bedspring bomb racks' were ready for flight testing by March 1943. In April 1943, senior officers were flown in from Canada to observe the devices in action. It was Parsons who was selected to fly the test run: "There were one or two Hudson bombers orbiting the area just off Cape St. Francis with the observers on board. There were several small pieces of ice in the area and picking one of these I went in low and released the bomb load. Everything worked like clockwork. The bombs exploded and the ice pan was hit. What someone had forgotten to tell me was that the bombs were set to explode at contact. Had I known I think I would not have gone in so low. The explosion just about blew the Hurricane out of the air and gave the pilot one of the greatest frights of the whole war. Many people wanted to claim the credit for this bit of engineering but the Flight Sgt. [Goodwin] was the one responsible for the success of this project. It is of interest to note that when the engineering section of Eastern Air Command decided to go ahead with the design and installation of the bomb racks and sent to the Sydney Steel Mills to have them recommend a steel to be used on the racks, they were informed that they could not improve on the steel used in the manufacture of the barrack bunk beds."1 The squadron's ORB suggests that the depth-charged armed Hurricanes were 5490, 5493, 5482 and 5485. 125 Sqn remained at Torbay until June 1943 and are believed to have completed at least another 8 depth-charge armed flights, though the weapons were never used in anger against U-boats. A discussion elsewhere on BM regarding the nature of the bedspring bomb racks can be found starting here: Whilst the definitive comment from @dogsbody (thanks Chris) follows shortly after: References 1. Inventions and Inventiveness at RCAF Station Torbay: The Bedspring Bomb Rack - Darrell Hillier. https://crossroadsoftheworld.ca/pdf/Bedspring.pdf

After the P-51B/C (link), Arma Hobby is to release the 1/72nd North American P-51D/K Mustang bubbletop versions. Source comments: https://www.facebook.com/ArmaHobby/posts/4796445153719137 V.P.

Once upon a time, I would build several kits in a Group Build (I think my record was 9) but now I am so much older than before, I struggle to build one. Not in this GB though. I'm doing an AZ Hurricane IV and I'm starting another, just like in the good old days before life and it's little miseries do their best to stop me making 3 or 4 kits a month. This will be an OOB build of the Arma Hobby IIB, using the kit's decals - I've made a fair few Hurricanes but mostly they've been MTO or SEAC - not sure which one to do yet. I won't bore you with the box top but here are the sprues... You'll notice I've removed the IIC wings. If anyone wants them, drop me a PM and they're yours, no questions asked. I've also made a start with the painting by giving all the bits that'll be aluminium an undercoat of Tamiya XF-1 (they've since had a coat of XF-16 but i couldn't be bothered to take a photo). Thanks for looking.

Hi everyone, really looking forward for this GB to start! Although I should probably finalize my contributions to the ANZAC GB, before getting started here. The subject: Probably you all know a lot more about Hurricanes than I do, so I will keep this short. While the Hurricane was originally not designed to operate from ships, the Sea Hurricane Mk. Ia was the version that was mainly meant to be operated by MSFU on CAM ships. As far as I am aware, there are only few differences to land-based Hurricanes, while the later versions (Mk. Ib and folllowing) had additional remarkable features, such as hooks for carrier-landings. The main exterior difference for Sea Hurricanes Mk. Ia versus their land-based equivalents I am aware of are the connector points to the catapult. Without any opportunities to land on carriers, the pilots had to find onshore airfield or bail out. Belly-landings in the water were not recommended as the Hurricanes would spoon up water very quickly and sink before the pilots had a vital opportunity to get out. The kit: These Arma Hobby kits should also not need much of an introduction by now. Very nicely moulded, parts and instruction clearly laid out, the sprues are not different from their excellent Hurricane Mk. I kits. This means, that the small modifications required to turn the model into a Sea Hurricane have to be made from scratch. Markings included are for two Mk. I Sea Hurricanes operated by the No. 760 sqn of the FAA and one option for operation at 318 (Polish) squadron of the RAF, the decals are very nicely printed. The project: As the thread title shows, I will go for the option of RAF 318 (Polish) squadron, "City of Gdansk". I have always been fascinated by the major contribution of the Polish squadrons in WWII. While there is a huge amount of information and kits available for those squadrons involved during the BoB, the squadrons founded later see somewhat less coverage, which got me interested. There is some information available on the website of Arma Hobby, but if you like to dive deeper, you can follow some great online references or even read a whole book about this specific squadron. The book is written in Polish, but I have to say that google translates it quite well. The books (part one of two shown here) tells the whole story of the squadron from its formation and training in 1943, activities in Palestine, Egypt and Italy, offering more inspiration for models to be built. The specific subject here will be Hawker (Sea) Hurricane P2826 which was previously operated on CAM (catapult armed merchant) ships with the MSFU before it was transferred to the newly founded 318 sqn and labelled "N". The planes initially received for training purposes are described as "worn-out" or "run-down", so I am looking for some heavily faded colours (dark slate grey and extra dark sea grey on top, sky below) and some significant signs of wear. Regarding detailing, I am quite happy with what the Arma Kit offers, so most likely it will be OOB built without any major modifications. Cheers Thomas

When I was young my grandparents, both originally Londoners, would tell me their stories of the Second World War. One of my grandmother's (always Nana to us) stories involved some Luftwaffe uniform buttons she'd once had. The story was that a German airman who'd bombed Buckingham Palace had been shot down and parachuted into the city, and was then being threatened by a crowd. The police took him to safety and some of his clothing ended up in their possession. Her father, an Inspector in the Metropolitan Police, cut off some of the buttons from the uniform and bought them home as a curiosity. It occurred to me recently that I'd be able to actually fact check her story. I first asked my mum to tell me the version she remembered my Nana telling just to confirm that the details lined up. Then it was just a matter of starting to search. It didn't take very much searching at all to find this one! https://wingleader.co.uk/the-pilot-who-saved-buckingham-palace/ One of the few cases of German airmen parachuting down into central London and the Buckingham Palace element lines up too (even if it was a myth, it was evidently widespread enough to be incorporated into the story. I can imagine my grandmother reading the family copy of the Daily Mail and saying 'Look Father, that German airman was trying to bomb Buckingham Palace!') Three German airmen are named as landing in London from this aircraft. Ludwig Armbruster at Sydenham, Leo Hammermeister at Dulwich and Robert Zehbe at Kennington. My great grandfather and his family were living in police accommodation near Waterloo station at the outbreak of war. This police accommodation was built to provide police officers somewhere affordable to live close to the area they were serving in so he must have been serving close to Waterloo. I'm pretty sure that he retired later in the war; the Metropolitan police records publicly available ought to tell me when exactly he retired and which division he was serving in at the time of retirement, but unfortunately I've not been able to find his entry. Anyway, Kennington was in M (Southwark) Division, and Sydenham and Dulwich within P (Camberwell) Division. I think that Sydenham and Dulwich are too far from Waterloo for him to have been working there. Kennington is a little over a mile from Waterloo and 'Southwark' is pretty much bang on. So I'm fairly sure the airman in question was Robert Zehbe at Kennington. This then throws us into a rather dark incident of the Battle of Britain. The Wingleader article states "A badly wounded Zehbe landed at Kennington, where was beaten up by civilians; he died later of injuries.". Various books I've checked have variations on this theme, with some going as far as suggesting that Zehbe was actually killed by the civilians. The Imperial War Museum, for example, in the notes on a related item in its collection, states "Zehbe died of injuries sustained from attacks by civilians.". I'll do some historical digging alongside the build to see what might have actually happened in Kennington that day and see how my Grandmother's story matches up with what is known from other sources. So onto the Hurricane itself. This incident is most famously associated with Ray Holmes, who attempted to shoot the Dornier down (after it was badly damaged by others and most of the crew had already bailed out), but then clipped it, knocked the tail off, causing it to crash near Victoria station and damaging his Hurricane to the point where he had to bail out himself. This managed to morph into an idea that he deliberately rammed it to save Buckingham Palace; the power of myths, stories and propaganda... Anyway, Sgt Ray Holmes was serving with No. 504 Squadron when, on 15 September 1940, flying Hurricane P2725 with code letters TM-B, he caused the Dornier to crash. So, that's the Hurricane I'll be attempting to model. I'll be using the Arma Hobby Mk I kit, appropriately in the Battle of Britain box. I understand this kit has a few fiddly bits that got ironed out in later Mks, will see how I get on. I'll be using some aftermarket masks for the canopy, camouflage and code letters, will have to dig it out for a photo later. And here's what's in the box. I've got a fair number of builds already going so might be a slow start but looking forward to this! Cheers, Richard.

One of the lesser known actions of WW2 was the Imperial Japanese Navy's strikes on Ceylon (Sri Lanka), aimed at neutralising the Royal Navy's Eastern Fleet in April 1942. Known as Operation C, it comprised two carrier-based air strikes, one against Colombo on 5 April and a second against Trincomalee on 9 April. And of course, the Hurricane was there. With the fall of Malaya and Singapore and Japan's rapid advances in Burma, the British hastily reinforced Ceylon, a critical base for controlling lanes of communication in the Indian Ocean. The Eastern Fleet was based there after the fall of Singapore, two brigades of the 6th Division, Australian Imperial Force provided a garrison force after they were diverted there on their return to Australia from the Middle East, and air defences were built up with three RAF Hurricane squadrons and two RN Fleet Air Arm Fulmar squadrons. One of those Hurricane Squadrons was the famous 261 Squadron, which had originally been formed from the Malta Fighter Flight. Both it and 30 and 258 Sqns were onboard the carrier HMS Indomitable bound for Java and found themselves sent to Ceylon instead after Java had fallen. The Hurricanes, which had been embarked at Port of Sudan in late February, were flown off for Ceylon on 6 March 1942, with 30 and 258 Squadrons based at Colombo and 261 at Trincomalee. And not before time as they found themselves in action in defence of Ceylon a month later. And one of those defenders will be the subject of my build, Hurricane IIb BG882. Flown by Richard Cleaver, who had the previous year had been created with downing an Iraqi SM.79a while flying a Gladiator, he was credited with downing an IJN B5N Kate after scrambling from the China Bay airfield to repel the Japanese raid. (His was a rare success - over the 2 raids the Japanese lost 18 aircraft to 54 British aircraft. Forewarned, the Eastern fleet had put to sea, but losses were still significant, including the carrier HMS Hermes, two cruisers and two destroyers - one Australian.) Here's what BG882 looked like, at least according to the DK Decals sheet I'll be using: Cleaver was from Wales, rather than New South Wales, so it's not clear who was responsible for painting the map of Australia on the nose of his regular mount. But there is a long and storied history of Australians tagging other nations' aircraft, and it certainly drew my eye to this scheme. This webpage, which profiles Richard Cleaver (who sadly would be lost in a Spitfire while patrolling over Normandy following D Day), has what seem to be the only known photos of BG882: http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/commonwealth_cleaver.htm And of course being black and white photos it's not entirely clear if the aircraft was still in desert camouflage colours when it sported its map of Australia, or if it had been repainted, as most Ceylon-based Hurricanes ultimately were, in the temperate land scheme, or at least the mid-stone being overpainted in dark green. Of course, Britmodeller being the incredible resource that it is, there is an informed discussion on this thread here: I'll probably go with the decal sheet colours for now, but would welcome other opinions. (Given my sporadic build rate of late, paint will be a long way off, so there's plenty of time to decide!) The basis for my build will be Arma's beautiful 1/48 kit. The plastic on the sprues is just gorgeous. With extras limited to some Eduard 3D decals and PE belts, plus of course the DK decals: Ahead of the build getting underway I've been boning up on my Hurricane history with a couple of second hand bookshop bargains: And while I'm enjoying the reading, I'm really looking forward to getting this build, and GB, started!

P-51B Mustang China/Burma/India (70075) 1:72 Arma Hobby The P-51D was developed by the North American Aviation company as a fighter for Great Britain, but due to the poor performance of the engine that was initially fitted, it wasn’t all that good at higher altitudes. Fortunately, they slotted a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine into the airframe and it brought out the best of its design, which included the energy efficient laminar flow wing that gave it the potential to escort Allied bombers all the way to Berlin with the addition of drop-tanks and a lean fuel mixture when not in combat. It was flown in this guise as the Mustang III in British service, and as the P-51B/C in US service, then as the P-51D with a bubble canopy and cut-down aft fuselage, with an additional fin-fillet added later to improve stability that had been reduced by the new shape and fuel tank location, which was often retrofitted to older airframes due to its positive influence on the flight characteristics of the aircraft, regardless of whether it had a bubble canopy or not. The Kit This is a reboxing of Arma’s original 2021 release to depict various razor-backed Mustangs, and it depicts Mustangs in the Pacific Theatre of Operations (PTO). It arrives in a sturdy end-opening box with an attractive painting of a low-flying Mustang with rocket-tubes slung under its wings on the front, plus profiles of the decal options on the rear. Inside are three sprues in grey styrene, a clear sprue, a sheet of pre-cut kabuki tape masking material, a decal sheet, and an A5 portrait instruction booklet with full colour profiles on the rear pages. Detail is stunning for the scale, and the finish of the exterior surface is a pristine satin texture with some areas left glossy, an example of which are the lenses of the underwing identification lights on the starboard wing. Construction begins with the cockpit, which will be familiar to anyone who has built a Mustang before. The stepped floor has the tubular-framed seat, armour and support frame added to the front section, plus decal seatbelts. The rear of the cockpit is filled with the original fuel tank with radio on a palette on top, and decals are included for some of the radio boxes, of which there are a choice of two styles. The pilot has his control column added and two dial decals applied to the floor, with more decals for the highly detailed instrument panel that is fixed below the coaming and has the rudder pedals glued to the back as shown by a scrap diagram. The cockpit sides are also detailed with additional parts, a copious quantity of decals to portray the equipment faces, radiator and its trunking, inserted into the starboard fuselage side along with an insert for the tail-wheel bay, and a corrugated hose that is applied to the side of the cockpit area. The port side is prepared with extra parts and decals including another tail-wheel bay insert, adding the assemblies beginning with the instrument coaming, then the cockpit and finally the tail wheel itself, closing the two halves to complete the task. The wings are next, beginning with the centre divider of the main gear bay and a section of the spar. This is inserted into the upper wing half, and a detailed diagram shows how the bay roof should be painted correctly, which is best done before closing the wing halves and inserting the separate flap sections, which you are advised to paint before insertion, as they also have a decal around the halfway point of the curved leading edges. Unusually, both wing surfaces are full-width, in much the same way as the real aircraft, and after adding some internals and using a pair of supplied jigs to drill holes for the bazooka tubes, the wings are closed and mated with the fuselage with an additional part with a pair of jacks inserted from above before joining with the fuselage. The decal options given have the earlier un-filleted tail, which you add above the elevators with moulded-in fairings. An optional D/F loop on a fairing is applied to the spine for some decal options, and a panel behind the exhausts should be scribed using the masks supplied, and this might be easier done before adding the wings. The main gear consists of a strut with single wheel and a captive bay door attaching to the leg, which slots into a socket in the outer end of the bay, with a pair of inner doors fitted to either side of the centre-line bulkhead, detailing the two colours commonly found on those doors. The airframe is ostensibly complete, but some small parts and assemblies are yet to be added, such as the radiator cooling flaps under the rear, L-shaped pitot probe under the starboard wing, a pair of bomb-shackles outboard of the main gear bays, and a lip insert for the chin and main radiator intakes. The perforated grille panel on either side of the lower nose is slotted into its aperture, with a choice of shrouded or un-shrouded exhaust stacks, and two types of antenna masts on the spine behind the cockpit. The prop consists of four blades moulded as one, with a two-part spinner hiding a small washer that can be used to hold the prop in place and retain the option to spin if you so wish. The canopy has the option to portray it open or closed, all fitted with the older straight hood that consists of the fixed windscreen with a section of the fuselage moulded-in, the canopy and the two scalloped rear-view panes, with the optional parts provided to display the canopy opened to one side, assisted by a couple of scrap diagrams nearby and a warning decal for the inner lip. There are masks included for the individual panes of the canopy, with additional masks supplied for the wheels, and some of the panels that are amended for this boxing. The final choice is to hang metal fuel tanks or bombs, or the new triple bazooka tubes under the wings, the tanks made from two halves each that have stencil decals supplied from the sheet. The bazooka tubes are built from two tubes at the bottom with another laid on top, creating a triangular unit, which is fitted with end caps, and additional braces alongside the moulded-in brackets that have pins moulded into their upper ends. It was good practice NOT to have fuel tanks under the wings when carrying the bazooka tubes however, as Mustangs are acknowledged to fly much better without their wings blown off by the detonation of the fuel tanks. Markings Decals are printed by Techmod, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. From the box you can build one of the following: P-51B-15-NA Pilot: Capt. B H ‘Butch’ Ashmore, 26th Fighter Sqn., 51st Fighter Group, Kunming, China, 1944 P-51B-10-NA Pilot: Lt. Wilbert McEvoy, 529th Fighter Sqn., 311th Fighter Group, Burma, Summer 1944 P-51B-7-NA Pilot: Capt. Burton N Rodier, ‘Jeanne III’, 26th Fighter Sqn., 51st Fighter Group, China, 1944 It’s worth noting that each page of the profiles has a QR Code that takes you to a blog maintained by Arma, which provides much more information on the decal options and how to build their models than is possible in the instruction booklets, often including photos of the real thing and background information. Conclusion Another superbly well-detailed kit from Arma that offers some less mainstream decal options than a great many boxings of this perennially popular aircraft, with the bonus of bazooka tubes to suspend under the wings. Detail is excellent throughout, and the instructions are concise to help you with your build. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

It appears I have a second build underway, this time an Arma Mk I in 1/72 I've had this one in the stash a while and have toyed with building here, but I swore I would focus on getting at least one build done, my 1/48 Mk II, at the expense of any other distractions. And yet... I was sick last weekend and not thinking straight.I had aluminium paint in the paint brush working on my 1/48 build, and I thought, rather than pouring the excess back in the bottle, why don't I just spray it on the 1/72 kit and chip away on this one in the background. And then I also realised, taking a closer look at the markings offered in this boxing, that the cover art depicts a 261 Sqn aircraft - same as my 1/48 build - but this time from a year earlier when the unit was based on Malta... So before I knew it, I had 2 concurrent builds in progress. Have to say the 1/72 kit isn't as well engineered and as easy to but together as its bigger, but younger, brother. The detail is lovely, of course, but parts don't seat together as neatly, and the wing has required a lot of sanding back of the main landing gear bay assembly and some brute force to get it closed up. Have used the kit decals for the harnesses and instrument panel. I'll have the canopy closed on this one so not much of the internals will be seen I suspect. And of course I've chosen a subject aircraft where questions remain about the scheme it was painted in. Arma would have you paint it in a desert scheme with a black and white underside, as explained here: https://armahobbynews.pl/en/blog/2019/04/11/hurricane-p3731-j-in-defence-of-malta-70021/ Which I think does look really interesting, but I'll defer to @Troy Smith and others for any more expert guidance on the correct painting. Regardless, I do like the idea of two 216 Sqn machines, and two builds in two different scales...

Finished today - 1:72 Hawker Hurricane Mk.I, R4175/RF-R, 303 (Polish) Squadron, Sgt. Josef Frantisek, England, September 1940. Arma Hobby kit (Expert Set) + QuickBoost resin exhaust. Painted with MRP paint. Thanks for watching!

Hi All, I built this for the Hurricane GB so sharing here too. WIP is HERE for anyone interested. This is the first time I've built an Arma kit, but it wont be the last; these kits are amazing!!!!

Arma Hobby is to release in 2021 a 1/72nd North American P-51B/C Mustang kit. Source: http://armahobbynews.pl/en/blog/2020/12/30/arma-hobby-new-kit-announcements-for-2021/ Sprues design & 3D renders V.P.

Hi all, Here is my 1/72 scale P-39Q from Arma Bobby, finished as a 46th squadron 15th PG plane stationed on Makin Island (part of modern Kiribati) in late 1943. The kit is pretty nice from the box, and the only thing I added was a bit of extra nose weight, as the three steel balls provided are not enough. Most of the parts fit is pretty good, but there are a few parts that were a little frustrating. The canopy and doors were particularly problematic. The kit decals worked okay, but I needed to push them into the panel lines even after using Mr. Mark Softer. The finish is Mr Color lacquers thinned with MLT. Some very light oil dot filtering and pastels for the exhaust. That's it. Simple. https://i.postimg.cc/zfXjBFN5/PXL-20250802-020047675-2.jpg[/img] Next up, a...hmm. I don't know.

Hi When I get the Eighties Lancia and the LKM Classic Kittyhawk done, I plan to enter this GB with an Arma Hobby 1:72 Sea Hurricane Mk. Ib - if I didn't already make myself clear in the header and the tags . I will probably build one of the four Operation Pedestal decal options supplied with the kit. V-P The kit: https://www.scalemates.com/kits/arma-hobby-70061-sea-hurricane-mk-ib--1444596 And The Review at our favorite modelling forum: https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235120148-sea-hurricane-mkib-70061-172/

The 1/72 Arma Hobby Hurricane Mk IIc Trop is an excellent, uncomplicated kit. Highly detailed with fine recessed lines, the kit fits on a single sprue. We can choose from between two aircraft, South African (pictured) or Burmese. Decals are pliant but durable, settled in very easily with minimal softener. I picked up some canopy masks from a newish company Kit Masx. These were good, but not great: fit wasn't always perfect and I had to do some trimming here and there. But they were affordable and arrived in the US from Canada quickly, and I will use them again. Paints are Tamiya and Alclad, some chipping done by hand with brush and micro-sponge, weathering with AK and Tamiya panel liners, and some various oils and pigments in places. Thanks for looking!

Hi Gents ! , Arma Hobby , once again , provides us with a new little gem . Ok , it's japanese , and it's 1/72nd ! 😄. Anyway I've been waiting for years to get such a nice kit of one of my favorite planes the KI-43 II in my scale . So Thanks to the Arma hobby team for this so beautiful kit ! 🙏 Many reviews on the net for it, so I won't add much things on this . Arma Hobby tried to reflect the specific lines of the original plane, and they did well! just one point for me Why did they omit the separation line on the nose air intake ? just a detail indeed.. I Always dreamed of a "blue" Ki-43 since I've brought the " profile book on Ki-43 " my first Doc indeed, such a long time ago ...😄 After, so many discussions about " blue or not blue Ki-43 did they really exist ???" on the net, I got the "pacific Profiles volume one " about Japanese Army fighters New Guinea & the Solomons 1942-1944 from Michael John Claringbould ( I encourage the ones interested in these points ( Japanese aircrafts/WWII :SWPA ) to buy this book 😉, don't have any financial interest..) And in this book there is a true evidence of blue paint on a KI-43 ! ( page 41 ) So adding to that : the main aera of operation , I can believe" blue " could have been used 😉 Paints used : To get as closed as possible ( following my feelings of course ) I chose to paint my plane with a mix of 90% Gunze Hooby Colors H322 and 10% Gunze H55 . intrados painted with a mix of Alclad paints ( aluminum /white aluminium /dark aluminium ) For the first time I used a silhouette printer to make masks for Hinomarus !!! so I used MRP-411 for the red MRP-308 for the white , MRP-419 for the yellow. Regarding the fin white markings, I decided to paint them freehand. The operational conditions on this theater of operations were so harsh on Japanese side that I doubt they had a " silhouette" to paint their markings , but this just a point of view; each modeler his own view and model of course . So let's go for pics ! And to stay as a kid anywhere ... Hope you liked it !! Thanks for seeing !! Cheers !! And happy modeling !!

ARMA HOBBY 1:48 HAWKER HURRICANE IIb TROP Hi all here’s my Arma Hobby Hurricane IIb Tropical. Ive wanted to do a desert scheme Hurricane for a while now and when my wife picked this kit out my stash earlier in the year I was eager to do it sooner rather than later so with other builds out the way this is my 5th kit build of the year so far ( only built 5 kits for the whole of last year!) Kit: Arma hobby (40008) Scale:1:48 Type: Hawker Hurricane IIb Scheme HL795/V 274 squadron EGYPT/LIBIYA November 1942 Aftermarket Extras used: Quinta Studio 3D Decal cockpit set (QD48410), Eduard Brassin fishtail exhausts (648916) Primer: MRP fine surface primer black Paints: MRP, MRP-111,-119,-121,-108,-135,-122,-123,-124/ MR HOBBY SM 201 Thinners: MRP MR.THINNER Slow Dry, Mr COLOR LEVELLING THINNER 400 Varnishes: MRP-048 Gloss and MRP-127 Matt Ammo panel line wash Humbrol weathering powders This was an enjoyable build from start to finish although I did have a small hiccup right near the end of the build I spilt a bottle of MRP paint on my workbench and some unfortunately splashed onto the model so I had to do the necessary corrective work to get the model back to where i was happy with it. one area I have trouble with in modelling is paint chipping I can never make it look right I’ve tried several methods over the years to no avail. I did try on this model but didn’t like the result so sprayed back over with the camo colours. This is my first build of a Arma Hobby kit and I must say the level of detail and the fit of the parts is second to none. Although I did find the the plastic is rather soft so extra care was needed when cutting parts from the sprues and the subsequent clean up. Paints used were from MRP and Mr hobby and I must say absolutely loving MRP paints as they sprayed beautifully. added a couple more pictures further in comments Thanks for looking and all comments welcome Happy Modelling

Hi Gents ! , Arma Hobby , once again , provides us with a new little gem . Ok , it's japanese , and it's 1/72nd ! 😄. Anyway I've been waiting for years to get such a nice kit of one of my favorite planes the KI-43 II in my scale . So Thanks to the Arma hobby team for this so beautiful kit ! 🙏 Many reviews on the net for it, so I won't add much things on this . Arma Hobby tried to reflect the specific lines of the original plane, and they did well! just one point for me Why did they omit the separation line on the nose air intake ? just a detail indeed.. I Always dreamed of a "blue" Ki-43 since I've brought the " profile book on Ki-43 " my first Doc indeed, such a long time ago ...😄 After, so many discussions about " blue or not blue Ki-43 did they really exist ???" on the net, I got the "pacific Profiles volume one " about Japanese Army fighters New Guinea & the Solomons 1942-1944 from Michael John Claringbould ( I encourage the ones interested in these points ( Japanese aircrafts/WWII :SWPA ) to buy this book 😉, don't have any financial interest..) And in this book there is a true evidence of blue paint on a KI-43 ! ( page 41 ) So adding to that : the main aer

Curtiss H-75 A1/A2 (70080) 1:72 Arma Hobby The Model 75 or Hawk as it was more commonly known outside the Curtiss company was one of the first of a new generation of all-metal monoplane designs that reached production around the same time as the other major combatants that saw service at the beginning of WWII. It was of a similarly advanced design, benefitting from retractable landing gear, and enclosed cockpit, with a close-fitting cowling around the Pratt & Whitney R1830 radial engine that was used for production variants. It first flew in 1935 using an earlier engine, and it mounted just one machine gun that fired through the arc of the propeller, without any of the features found in later combat-capable variants, such as seat armour and self-sealing fuel tanks. To improve rearward-vision of the pilot, scalloped windows were added behind the canopy glazing, which was a feature that was carried forward to the later P-40 that eventually replaced it. It won a fly-off against a competing design from Seversky, and a small order of production airframes was made after the engine had been replaced by the R1830 that would eventually be used in production, offering a moderate boost in power and top-speed. It was a diminutive airframe that had a low wing-loading, giving it excellent manoeuvrability and a rapid rate of climb for the era, although its performance dropped off at higher altitudes due to the single-speed supercharger. As the clouds of war gathered, France tried to remedy their capability shortfall by making first one order of 100 airframes, followed closely by another tranche of 100, some of which fought valiantly against the Nazis during the invasion of France, unsuccessfully staving off the enemy forces. Another order was made, although this was slowed appreciably by US opposition because deliveries to overseas buyers were seen as slowing their own deliveries. Given that the US wasn’t actively engaged in the war at this point, President Roosevelt intervened to assist, as the French-made alternatives were suffering from delays due to engineering problems, leaving them short. Many French pilots flew their aircraft to Great Britain once it became clear that the Battle of France was lost, and joined other aircraft that were shipped away from the combat zone before the Armistice to avoid them falling into enemy hands. There were eventually just under 230 airframes in the UK, receiving the name Mohawk Mk.I-IV, corresponding with their original designation A1-4. These airframes were distributed around the Commonwealth to free up first-line aircraft for defence of the realm, as although the Mohawk out-performed the early Mk.I Spitfires in some aspects, the Supermarine design was overall superior when handled by experienced pilots. Germany sold captured H-75s to Finland in three batches, including a small number of airframes captured during the fall of Norway. They were well-liked by the Finns, and served until after WWII, often with upgraded armament to replace their rifle-calibre machine guns to cope with more heavily protected armour they flew against, as well as making ammunition replenishment more straight forward. In American hands the P-36 played little active part in WWII, only flying against the Japanese at Pearl Harbour where they scored some of the first kills of their war, although technically war had yet to be declared by the US. The Kit This is a brand-new tooling from Arma Hobby of this American fighter, arriving in an end-opening box with a painting of a French H-75 flying over broken cloud, with profile artwork of the three decal options on the rear. Inside the box are two sprues of grey styrene, a separately bagged sprue of clear parts, a sheet of pre-cut yellow kabuki-style tape masks, and the A5 portrait instruction booklet that is printed on glossy paper in colour, with three pages at the rear devoted to a full set of profiles for the decal options. The front cover has a short history of the H-75 at the top in Polish and English, with a sprue diagram in the middle, and a colour chart at the bottom of the page, giving colours for Hataka, AK RealColor, Mr Color, Ammo, Humbrol, Mr Paint, and Tamiya, plus colour names and FS numbers where applicable, which will be pointed out through the steps in blue circled letter codes. Detail is excellent, with finely engraved panel lines, raised and recessed features, plus plenty of detail in the cockpit, gear bays and a full rendition of both piston banks of the engine. The instructions also include a QR code that leads to a link where a 3D .STL file can be downloaded to print out additional parts if you have access to a 3D printer, which will add to the already impressive detail present in the box. We understand that those who don’t have access to a printer can purchase the parts at the same time as the kit, so they aren’t left out. Construction begins with an unusual process for a styrene kit, involving folding up the long spar-like parts along thinned lines into a hollow box, gluing the ends together, unless you intend to depict the domed fabric liners that were sometimes fitted instead. Your choice of bay liner is glued into the lower wing, and if you are omitting the fabric liners, you will need to paint the ribbed detail that is moulded into the underside of the upper wing half, which is full-span, just like the lower. The two halves are glued together, painting the centre the same colours as the cockpit, with metal scuff panels, adding the control column, its linkage, throttle body and a lever to the floor, plus extra parts to the already detailed cockpit sidewalls that are moulded into the fuselage sides. Detailed colour and decaling instructions are present in nearby scrap diagrams to help you complete the task, and this extends to the seat, which is fixed to the armoured frame with headrest. The instrument panel has the rudder pedals moulded into the back, and there are an additional four decals included to supply the details of the dials and other equipment, fixing it and the seat into location points in the port fuselage side before closing the two halves together, noting that one decal options has a series of vents in the side filled, as they weren't present. The fuselage and wings are mated, taking care of the controls as you bring them together to avoid damage to them. Once the fuselage and wings are firmly fixed and the seams have been dealt with, the nose is extended by adding two parts to the front, which has a peg in the centre to support the engine once it has been built and painted. The entire tail is separate from the fuselage, starting with the elevator fins, which slot into place in the rear, adding the tail fin to another slot, and completing the empennage by mounting a single-part elevator to the rear, trapping it in place with the rudder, which interlocks near the bottom. The Twin Wasp engine is supplied as a two-part assembly that depicts both banks of cylinders, adding a bell-housing with push-rods to the front, then mounting it onto the peg at the front of the fuselage after painting, wiring up the cylinders if you’re feeling the urge. The bottom segment of the engine cowling is attached under the nose, joined by two side cowling panels that have cooling gills moulded-in, and are joined by the top cowling after inserting gun muzzles into the ‘frog eyes’ moulded into the top. There was a simplified variant of the Hawk with fixed, spatted landing gear, but the majority had retractable gear, which is the variant depicted here. Each gear leg has a complex captive bay door fitted behind the two-part wheels, and another pair of doors fixed to the ‘knee’ joints at the tops of the legs, one on each side with twin retraction jacks shown in scrap diagrams across the page, handed as appropriate. The tail wheel has its yoke moulded-in, and two bay doors to the sides, adding a pair of exhausts and their fairing under the nose, and an intake under the engine. A clear landing light pushes into a recess under the port wing, and for two decal options the rows of five pins that presumably fed a pack of underwing rockets are removed and the area made good by smoothing it with successive grades of abrasive. Righting the model allows fitment of the filler cap in the port rear-view scalloped window, with a corresponding hole drilled in the clear part, and an aerial mast on the spine between them. The three-bladed prop with separate spinner is inserted into the bell-housing of the engine, and another pair of gun barrels are slid into holes in the leading edges of the wings. The last job is to fit the gunsight in the front of the cockpit, followed by the windscreen, canopy, and the two rear-view windows behind. The final diagram shows the location of the antenna wires between the wingtips and tail-fin, with a fly-lead that enters the fuselage on the starboard side just behind the rear-view window. Self-Print 3D Parts A QR code at the front of the instruction booklet offers the potential of printing your own aftermarket parts for this kit, although that’s either dependent upon you having a printer, a friend with a printer, or remembering to buy a pre-printed set when you’re picking up the model. We’ve been provided with a set of parts as an example, and must stress that the parts aren’t included with the standard kit. The 3D .STL file will output a print-base that includes the following: Bulkhead with Seat & Belts Instrument Panel with Rudder Pedals Exhaust Pipes with Fairings Gun Barrels (x4) Reflector gunsight Ring & Bead Back-Up Sight (x4) If you’re wondering why there would be four of some items, it’s because they are very delicate, and may get damaged, or possibly fail to print in some circumstances. The detail is well worth the effort though, and the parts are protected by a set of stout legs in the corners of the print base, which should be proof against most minor impacts or clumsiness. Markings There are three decal options on the sheet, each in substantially different schemes, which should widen the appeal for those intending to use kit decals. From the box you can build one of the following: Curtiss H-75 A2 No.107 (U007), GC 1/55, Pilot 1st Lt. Jan Zumbach, Bordeaux, June 1940 Curtiss H-75 A1 No.16 (U015), 1. Escadrille GC I/5, Pilot Sgt. Léon Vuillemain, Reims, Spring 1939 Curtiss H-75 A1 No.35 (X834), 3. Escadrille GC II/5 ‘La Fayette’, Pilot Adj. Marcel Dougoujon, Toul-Croix-de Metz, November 1939 Decals are by Techmod, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. The masks are cut from paper-based kabuki tape, and include individual masks for each of the canopy panels, the wheels, and the landing lights. Peeling them and applying them with a tweezer should make painting the clear parts a breeze. Conclusion A modern tooling of this once leading-edge fighter that was quickly left behind due to the increase in technological pace that accompanies warfare. Detail is excellent, as are the masks, the optional self-printed upgrade parts, and the decal sheet. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

On display at the Tokyo All Japan Model Hobby Show 2024 Arma Hobby is to re1ease - in November 2024 ? - a 1/72nd Nakajima Ki-43-II Hayabusa/"Oscar" kit - ref. 70078 Sources: https://www.armahobby.com/70078-nakajima-ki-43-ii-hayabusa.html https://x.com/ModelArtInc/status/1844572143012749517 V.P.

G'day Team, Arma Hobby, WOW! If all their kits are like this I'll definitely be getting a few more. Maybe a Hurricane down the track. This is the Red Roo Models boxing of the 1/72 Mustang Mk III finished as 3SQN RAAF aircraft CV-Y. The Red Roo box is the Arma Hobby kit but with a few 3SQN decals thrown in which are pretty good. Built out of the box except for the Eduard 3D printed 500lb bombs, painted with SMS paints and weathered with Abteilung oils. The real aircraft had a dark 'stucco' coating painted onto the leading edges for protection, so I went a bit heavier to re-create that and am happy with how it turned out. Thanks for looking. J.G.

P-39 Airacobra Recon (40013) 1:48 Arma Hobby The P-39 was Bell’s response to a specification request for a fighter from the USAAC, which was to be a high-altitude interceptor. With Bell’s usual left-field approach to aircraft design, the team produced the world’s first tricycle landing geared prop-driven aircraft, as well as the first aircraft to site the engine behind the pilot, while the airscrew remained at the front. The prop was driven by a long drive shaft that ran under the pilot’s floor, with a coaxial 37mm cannon firing through the centre of the spinner, in a quest for high penetration and accuracy. Ancillary armament varied depending on model, from nose mounted .50cals to four 7.62mm machine guns in the wings. The Airacobra had limited internal space for fuel thanks in part to its tapered nose, and the lack of a supercharger substantially limited its abilities at higher altitudes. Despite these drawbacks, and the likelihood of engine failure after hits from a rear attack, the Airacobra flew in most arenas of combat, but distinguished itself best on the Eastern Front in Soviet service, where almost 5,000 were flown with some notable aces racking up victories whilst flying them. The N model started life as a G model, but due to changes on the production line, were designated N instead, with around 500 made. In fact no G models ever left the factory, being superseded and re-engineered as later marks. The final variant was the Q, which ceased production in 1944 after a variety of sub-variants and one-offs were created. The Kit This is a reboxing of a brand-new tooling from Arma that was released soon after its announcement, with plenty of detail baked-in. The kit arrives in an end-opening box with a painting of the aircraft zooming past a Bf.109 Gustav that it has just bested. On the rear are the three decal options in side profile with a little information about each aircraft under each one. Inside are three sprues in grey styrene, a clear sprue, a Ziploc bag containing three 8mm ball bearings, the decal sheet, a sheet of pre-cut canopy and wheel masks and of course the A4 instruction booklet that is printed on glossy paper in colour with profiles on the rear pages. Additionally, there is a Ziploc bag that contains two camera lens parts and a jig that are used to adapt the kit parts. There is a QR code on the instruction cover if you have a 3D printer and wanted to download additional parts that include a highly detailed seat with harness, gun barrels, levers and exhausts, which will be useful for the growing number of us that possess these new devices. Detail is excellent, with finely engraved panel lines, raised and recessed features, and crisp details within the gear bays and cockpit. Construction begins with the cockpit, starting with the footwell, which has the rear of the breeches for the nose machine guns moulded pointing sideways, which should be bent in to face aft into the cockpit with the aid of a little glue. The cockpit floor is fitted with a prominent drive-shaft cover, a small floor-mounted instrument panel plus decal and a lever to one side, that are joined by the rear bulkhead, a piece of head armour with a clear insert, installing the seat and decal belts (or the 3D parts if you’re a printer owner), then joining the rudder pedals to the front of the footwell, followed by the instrument panel with its decals and gunsight added to the top half along with a clear lens, plus a short control column that slots into the central shaft cover. The V-shaped part glued under the cockpit is a cross-member within the nose gear bay, which is beneath the forward end of the cockpit, and is completed by adding the side walls, which also have two scrap diagrams to show their orientation, and that they taper toward the front. The forward roof of the nose gear bay is installed over this, and here’s where the three ball bearings will be used to keep the nose-wheel on the ground. There are three hemispherical depressions in this part that the ball bearings are glued into with super glue or epoxy, and they act as the model’s nose weight. It’s always nice when a company includes the nose weight to take the guesswork out of the process, so it’s appreciated. The cockpit still isn’t complete, as there is a complex side console on the port side, plus a small detail part with decal on the sidewall and the rear deck behind the pilot, drilling two flashed-over holes for the radio gear for some decal options. Several panel lines and fittings are filled at this stage to individualise the model, which is best done before the wings are installed. The cockpit is located within the fuselage, and a bobbin is trapped between the two halves as they are brought together, which will allow the prop to spin if you don’t glue it up. The radio box is made from two parts, with a gun trough insert for the nose, and here it’s key that you test fit the part and fettle it before applying glue, as an early test-build showed that it could have a fit issue if dropped in without testing. The Airacobra is a low-wing monoplane, so the lower wing half is full span, using the included jig as a guide to cut a lozenge-shaped hole in the aft wing fairing, sanding it carefully to ensure it will accommodate the resin camera part, with the aerodynamic fairing toward the front of the model, drilling out flashed-over holes under the wing if you intend to fit wing-mounted tanks. The upper halves are glued over the lower wing with a small inverted T-shaped stiffener in the centre that also forms the leading-edge root intake trunks, and inserts form the wing-mounted guns in the leading edges for one decal option, which should be filled for two decal options. To ease the task, you could fit the guns, then nip the barrels off flush and make good around them. The tail is a separate assembly that begins with the elevator fins, which have the fin fillet moulded-in, and has separate elevator lowers fitted across the span before it is glued in place at the rear, plugging the fin into the top, and a separate rudder panel glued into the rear, both two parts each. The wings are also added at this point, filling the three engraved recognition lights in the starboard tip for all decal option, taking care to avoid marring the detail around it. As already mentioned, the errata sheet mentions that the kit intakes on the nose should be removed and replaced by the tiny 3D printed parts, filling some panels further back that are marked in red, all of which might be easier to do before mounting the wings. The Airacobra’s innovative landing gear format revolved around the nose gear, and that starts with you bending a triangular frame and locking it into position with another rod to form the retraction strut for the front leg. The long leg itself is moulded with a separate oleo-scissor and two-part wheel, and this inserts into the front of the bay, supported by the cranked strut that fixes to the rear on four raised pips that give it additional strength. The main gear legs are comparatively short and have separate two-part wheels and captive gear bay doors that hide the dull side of the hubs. Unusually, the inner main bay doors and their actuators are added first at the same time as the three cooling flaps under the engine, slotting the legs into the outer ends in the following steps. While the model is inverted, a small nose gear door is inserted in front of the strut, adding two long doors to the sides. A pair of cannon gondolas can be fitted under the wings for one decal options, or with two-part drop-tanks using the same holes. With the model back on its wheels, the canopy is dealt with. The Airacobra had unusual car-doors on the sides of the canopy similar to the early Hawker Typhoon, with the rest of the glazing fixed in place, which means that the main glazing covers the whole cockpit cut-out, once you have glued the optional radio rack in place behind the pilot. The two side doors should be painted inside using the interior and exterior masks, and have several decals added to detail them further, so you can choose to leave them closed, leave one open, or both open at any angle to suit your whim. The exhausts fit into slots midway down the sides of the fuselage, but the prop is still in the front, thanks to the long shaft through the cockpit. The blades are moulded as one, with the spinner fitted over it along with a choice of two styles of cannon muzzle tip, and the assembly is glued to the bobbin that was trapped between the fuselage halves earlier, adding a barbed pitot probe in the port wingtip. There is a recessed landing light under the port wing, and you also get to choose what to hang from the centreline pylon. You have a choice of a large two-part fuel tank or bomb, using the same pylon for either, and referring to the painting and markings guide next to it for stencil locations. Markings There are three options on the decal sheet, two in Olive Drab and one in bare metal, and an alternate scheme for the third decal option that changes some of the markings on the nose. From the box you can build one of the following: P-39Q-6 Airacobra, 82nd Tactical Reconnaissance Sqn., 71st Tactical Reconnaissance Group, pilot: Lt. Michael Moffitt, Saidor, New Guinea, Spring 1944 P-39Q-6 Airacobra, 4th Tactical Reconnaissance Sqn., 6th Air Force, Borinquen Field, Puerto Rico, 1943. P-39N-2 Airacobra, ‘Alan S’, 118th Tactical Reconnaissance Sqn., pilot Lt. Earl J. Davis Jr., US East Coast, early 1943. Decals are by Techmod, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. The layout of masks is different in this boxing, but contains the same parts There is a sheet of pre-cut kabuki-style masking material included in the box, which will allow you to accurately mask the canopy and wheels, plus other small masks for the landing light, and a couple that I can’t quite figure out without first using the others. Conclusion This is a comprehensive model of the oft-neglected Airacobra in 1:48, that’s based upon their extensive research for their earlier 1:72 kit, using the latest in moulding techniques, plus 3D printing technology for the recon-specific details, with more parts you can print yourself if you have a printer. It is packed with detail and has some interesting decal options and masks included in the box. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Nakajima Ki-43 II Hayabusa (70078) 1:72 Arma Hobby The Nakajima Ki-43-II Hayabusa, known to the Allies as the 'Oscar' was a single-seat, single-engined fighter that was flown by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force from 1941 until the end of the War. The design utilised the same 14-cylinder Nakajima Sakae radial engine as the infamous Mitsubishi Zero, and in fact in the heat of battle, the two aircraft were often confused by Allied aviators. Just like the Zero, the Hayabusa was light, nimble and exceptionally manoeuvrable, and just like the Zero, its Achilles heel was a lack of armour and self-sealing fuel tanks. The Ki-43-II introduced a more powerful engine with two-stage supercharger, strengthened wings with hard-points for fuel tanks or bombs, armour for the pilot and basic self-sealing fuel tanks. In service the Hayabusa at first enjoyed enormous success thanks to its phenomenal rate of turn and lively performance. This was soon countered by the introduction of more advanced Allied fighters with heavier armour and armament, which removed much of the Ki-43's previous advantage. During the war the Japanese supplied their allies with fighters as a matter of course, including Manchuria, a puppet-state of Japan and Thailand. They weren’t used in great numbers because of Japan’s own need, but this changed after WWII, with China operating captured airframes, France, Korea and Indonesia procuring their aircraft from derelict stocks that would have otherwise been scrapped, but which they repaired to flying condition. The Kit This is a new tooling from Arma Hobby, the announcement of which was greeted with happiness from many modellers in this scale. The kit arrives in a small end-opening box, with an internal tray that stops the box from being crushed either in transit, or once it reaches the stash. A painting covers the front of the box, showing a Hayabusa fresh from a victory over a hapless P-40 that will likely to have to ditch if the background ocean vista extends all around. Inside are two sprues of grey styrene, one of which is larger than the other, plus a separately bagged clear sprue, a sheet of pre-cut Kabuki-style yellow tape masks (not pictured), a decal sheet, plus a small Erratum sheet containing just two markings that were bereft of white outlines on the main sheet. The package is rounded out by the instruction booklet, printed in colour on white paper, with the marking profiles on the back pages, and replicated in side-view on the back of the box. Detail is excellent, although a little flash has crept in on our example, possibly due to the finesse of the tail fin, or the moulding operators learning the correct heat and pressure settings that are appropriate to these new moulds. Removing flash is the work of moments however, and infinitely preferable to short-shot parts, but care will need to be taken when removing it from around the fin due to the thin styrene, and a short antenna peg at the top of the tail, so take your time. 3D Printed Accessories There is a QR code on the front page of the instruction booklet, which leads to a file that should permit those of us lucky enough to possess a 3D printer to create some accessories, as follows: Exhaust Pipes – 2 sets Rear Frame with Pilot’s Seat & Belts Gun Barrel Fairings Oil Cooler Fuel Cooler The Oil Cooler is marked as “Soil Cooler” on the Arma site, so I took a leap of faith and assumed a typo. You can print as many of these sets as you like to share for free, but as you’d expect there is a requirement that you don’t share the files publicly, or use them in any commercial manner. Construction begins with the pilot’s seat, which is a two-part assembly that includes the station to which it is attached, followed by the full-span wings, the lower half needing some flashed-over holes drilling out if you intend to fit drop-tanks under the wings, and another pair of holes for two of the decal options that have a centreline pylon. The two halves are mated, and the cockpit floor in the centre is painted Nakajima cockpit green before adding rudder pedals, a throttle cluster, small gaggle of levers, and the seat assembly, using the scrap diagrams as a guide if necessary. The instrument panel has a choice of two styles of gunsight that are pushed through from behind, with a diagram showing the four dial decals to apply over the detail painting that is called out on the same diagram. The cockpit sidewalls have details moulded into the fuselage sides, adding equipment to them as indicated in the large scrap diagrams, taking care to align the part on the starboard side with the moulded-in ribbing. The fuselage halves can be joined together, removing a small raised section on the port side of the cockpit for two decal options, then installing the instrument panel after dealing with the seams in your preferred manner. The forward skin of the fuselage is supplied as a choice of two styles of insert, which again depends on your decal choice, fitting the cooling gills to the peg on the front after inserting one of two styles of exhausts parts to the back, which leaves the tip projecting from the rear. Mating the fuselage and wing assemblies should be done carefully to avoid damage to the detail parts in the centre of the wing, then attention switches to the Nakajima Ha-115 power plant. Both banks of pistons are included, totalling fourteen cylinders in all, adding a two-part push-rod spider to the front, with the bell housing at the very front. It is attached to the nose after painting and wiring if you feel the urge, and the cowling is built around it from four segments and the intake lip, fitting a gun-port insert inside the top section and referring to the scrap diagram if necessary. The elevators are each a single part, and should be left off until after final painting for one decal option, which has a decal applied at the root that is best done before the elevators are attached. Inverting the model allows the main gear to be made from a strut, captive gear bay door and wheel, each one handed, with the wheel facing the centre once installed. A two-part oil cooler intake is made and fitted under the nose, adding the centre pylon and tail wheel, plus two additional square doors to the outer end of the main gear bays. A small three-part headrest is attached to the fuselage behind the pilot’s head, with a decal applied to the side before installing the canopy, which is a two-part arrangement, allowing you to pose it open or closed as you wish. An aerial mast is mounted on the side of the starboard nose, a landing light lens is installed in the leading edge of the port wing along with a pitot probe, and the three-blade prop with two-part spinner is slotted into the hole in the engine’s bell-housing, completing main construction. Two styles of underwing pylon pairs are included on the sprues, both types with sway-braces moulded-in that should be rotated carefully by 90° for later use after building the tanks. There are also two styles of tank, the late-style consisting of two parts each, while the early type are handed, and have two circular inserts with lugs that project through holes in the top-sides, fitting your choice of tank and pylon to the holes drilled earlier in the lower wing surfaces, using the scrap diagram and accompanying text to inform your decision. The penultimate instruction step shows the location of the antenna wire stretching from the tail to the post in front of the cockpit, with a fly-lead leading into the rear of the cockpit through the fuselage side. The last step shows the locations of various IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) stripes on the leading edges of the wings and main gear bay doors. Markings There are three decal options on the sheet, as is usual with Arma kits, all wearing substantially different schemes. From the box you can build one of the following: 59th Hiko-Sentai, 3rd Chutai, New Guinea 1943-44 54th Hiko-Sentai, 2nd Chutai, Pilot: Capt. Hisashi Koshiishi, Paramushir, Kuril Islands, 1944 Hiko Dai, 71st Sentai, Hofu Airfield, Japan, late 1944 Decals are by Techmod, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. The masks are pre-cut from flexible kabuki-style paper (washi) tape, and are supplied for the canopy and wheels, although they aren’t documented in the instruction booklet. This shouldn’t be an issue however, as the wheel masks are toroidal, and the canopy masks are laid out in the shape of their destination. Conclusion Another high-quality release from Arma Hobby, with plenty of detail, a good choice of decals, with just a little flash to deal with. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Hi guys. I'd like to join this GB building this kit: It will be my first experience with this brand 🙂

P-51B Mustang Deluxe Set (70069) 1:72 Arma Hobby The P-51D was developed by the North American Aviation company as a fighter for Great Britain, but due to the poor performance of the engine that was initially fitted, it wasn’t all that good at higher altitudes. Fortunately, they slotted a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine into the airframe and it brought out the best of its design, which included the energy efficient laminar flow wing that gave it the potential to escort Allied bombers all the way to Berlin with the addition of drop-tanks and a lean fuel mixture when not in combat. It was flown in this guise as the Mustang III in British service, and as the P-51B/C in US service, then as the P-51D with a bubble canopy and cut-down aft fuselage, with an additional fin-fillet added later to improve stability that had been reduced by the new shape and fuel tank location, which was often retrofitted to older airframes due to its positive influence on the flight characteristics of the aircraft, regardless of whether it had a bubble canopy or not. The Kit This is a reboxing of Arma’s original 2021 release to depict various razor-backed Mustangs, and as it is a Deluxe set, it has two complete kits, many more decal options, and some useful resin extras. It arrives in a sturdy end-opening box with an attractive painting of a brace of Mustangs on the front, plus profiles of the standard decal options on the rear. Inside are two bags, each containing two sprues in grey styrene, a clear sprue, a single 3D printed base of highly-detailed resin parts that are protected by verticals on the corners and trapped in a cardboard insert stapled to the box, two sheets of pre-cut kabuki tape masking material, a large decal sheet, and an A5 portrait instruction booklet with full colour profiles on the rear pages. Detail is stunning for the scale, and the finish of the exterior surface is a pristine satin texture with some areas left glossy, an example of which are the lenses of the underwing identification lights on the starboard wing. Remember that you get two of each of everything but the resin parts pictured below, as these are already doubled-up, and the decal sheet covers all the options, plus a bonus option that is mentioned at the back of the instruction booklet. Construction begins with the cockpit, which will be familiar to anyone who has built a Mustang before. The stepped floor has the seat, armour and support frame added to the front section, with a choice of resin seats that have moulded-in belts that comprise a bucket seat and two tubular-framed types for your use. The rear of the cockpit is filled with the original fuel tank with radio on a palette on top, and decals are included for some of the radio boxes. The pilot has his control column added and two dial decals applied to the floor, with more decals for the highly detailed instrument panel that is fixed below the coaming and has the rudder pedals glued to the back as shown by a scrap diagram. The cockpit sides are also detailed with additional parts, a copious quantity of decals to portray the equipment details, radiator pathway, adding a PE grille to the front of the bath, and another to the oval intake before it is inserted into the starboard fuselage side. The port side is prepared with extra parts and decals, adding the assemblies beginning with the instrument coaming, then the cockpit and finally the tail wheel, closing the two halves to complete the task. The wings are next, beginning with the centre of the main gear bay and a section of the spar. This is inserted into the upper wing half, and a detailed diagram shows how the bay roof should be painted correctly, which is best done before closing the wing halves and inserting the separate flap sections, which you are advised to paint before insertion, as they also have a decal around the halfway point of the curved leading edges. Unusually, both wing surfaces are full-width, in much the same way as the real aircraft, and after adding some internals, the wings and fuselage are joined with a choice of either a filleted tail, or the earlier un-filleted tail, which you get to choose by using different fin and elevator parts with moulded-in fairings. Some panel lines behind the cockpit should be filled depending on your decal choices, and this might be easier done before adding the wings. The main gear consists of a strut with single wheel and a captive bay door attaching to the leg, which slots into a socket in the outer end of the bay, with a pair of inner doors fitted to either side of the centre-line bulkhead. The airframe is ostensibly complete, but some small parts and assemblies are yet to be added, such as the radiator cooling flaps under the rear, pitot probe under the wing, a pair of bomb-shackles outboard of the main gear bays, and a pair of lips for the chin and main radiator intakes. The perforated grille or alternative blanking panel on the lower nose is slotted into its aperture, with a choice of two types of exhaust stacks that are duplicated in resin for extra detail and hollow exits with a decal depicting a new panel line aft of the slot, two types of antenna masts plus an optional non-standard antenna that you should make yourself and fix in place according to the scrap diagrams. The prop consists of four blades moulded as one, with a two-part spinner hiding a small washer that can be used to hold the prop in place and retain the option to rotate if you so wish. There are two styles of canopy supplied for your model, so choose the correct type for your decal option, both of which have the option to portray them open or closed. The older straight hood consists of the fixed windscreen with a section of the fuselage moulded-in, the canopy and the two scalloped rear-view panes, with the optional parts provided to display the canopy opened to one side, assisted by a couple of scrap diagrams nearby and a warning decal for the inner lip. The later Malcolm hood is the second option, with a blown canopy that gives the pilot more room to move his head for better situational awareness. This option firstly requires removal of some small blisters on the spine behind the canopy. There are parts supplied to portray the canopy rail, and these are shown correctly applied in scrap diagrams to assist you getting it right, with the stub end of the rails visible on the closed option. The final choice is to hang compressed paper fuel tanks, metal fuel tanks or bombs under the wings, all of which are made from two halves each and have stencil decals supplied from the sheet. Markings There are a generous eight decal options on the included sheet, plus a bonus option that’s at the end of the instructions, wearing a variety of schemes in service of British and American Air Forces. The first page shows the locations of all the common stencils on a line drawing to avoid cluttering and duplicating the other pages. Because there are two kits in the box, you can build two of the following: P-51B-7-NA 43-6913 "Shangri-La", 336th FS, 4th FG, 8th AF USAAF, pilot Captain Don S. Gentile, USAAF Station 356 Debden, Great Britain, March 1944 P-51B-15-NA 42-106950 "The Iowa Beaut", 354th FS, 355th FG, 8th AF USAAF, pilot 2nd Lieutenant Robert E. Hulderman, USAAF Station 122 Steeple Morden, Great Britain, July 1944 Mustang Mk III FZ152 (P-51B-5-NA 43-6533), No. 133 Fighter Wing, pilot Wing Commander Stanisław Skalski, RAF Coolham, Great Britain, Spring 1944 P-51B-15-NA 42-106839 "Bald Eagle III", 374th FS, 361st FG, 8th AF USAAF, pilot 1st Lieutenant Robert Turnbull Eckfeldt, USAAF Station 374 Bottisham, Great Britain, July 1944 P-51B-7-NA 43-6638, 355th FS, 354FG, 9th AF USAAF, pilot 2nd Lieutenant Fred G. Buckner, USAAF Station AFF-410 Lashenden, Great Britain, June 1944 P-51B-15-NA 42-106924 "Salem Representative", 334th FS, 4th FG, 8th AF USAAF, pilot 2nd Lieutenant Ralph Kidd Hofer, USAAF Station 356 Debden, Great Britain, May 1944 P-51B-1-NA 43-12375 "Bonnie ´B´ II", 353rd FS, 354th FG, 9th AF USAAF, pilot Major Don „Buzz” Beerbower, USAAF Station AFF-410 Lashenden, Great Britain, June 1944 Mustang Mk III FX876 (P-51B-1-NA 43-12146), No. 309 squadron PAF, RAF Andrews Field, Great Britain, May 1945 P-51B-7-NA 43-6638 Probably a 354FG hack, Autumn 1944 (Bonus Option) Decals are printed by Techmod, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. It’s worth noting that each page of the profiles has a QR Code that takes you to a detailed blog post about the set, which provides much more information on the decal options than is possible in the instruction booklet, including photos of the real thing and background information. Conclusion Another superbly well-detailed kit from Arma that doubles the fun with TWO kits in the box, plus the resin goodies and a heap of decal options. Detail is excellent throughout, and the instructions are concise to help you with your build. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of