Search the Community

#1/2016 New year, new production line and finally my dad´s first finished model. The new Hobby Boss kit with Aeromaster decals, stencils partly from the sparesbox, brake line on front leg and seat belts added, painted with Gunze and Tamiya acrylics. Aircraft of Kommando Welter later designated 10./NJG11 towards the end of war. Only a handful two-seat nightfighters were used in battle more or less successful mostly against Mosquito NFs and British 4-Mots. "Red 8" was captured by British troops and later found its way to South Africa were it is now displayed in a museum. the aerodynamic testbed with the real deal

Just finished this one build out of the box, for my Vietnam collection. Just refined the decals a bit to show the as on real thing. cheers Jes

Vickers Medium Tank Mk.II** 1:35 Hobby Boss via Creative Models After WWI there was a hiatus where it was believed by some that tanks would never see combat again after the "war to end all wars", but reality hit and planning for future wars became prevalent again. The Vickers Mark I bore a resemblance to the tanks of the Great War, but had a fully-fledged turret on top of the hull, giving it a more modern look. It was replaced by the Mk.II, which sometimes served alongside its predecessor as both were used to replace the ageing Mark Vs of wartime design. Only a hundred were commissioned initially, with just over half of these upgraded to the II* by moving the commander's position aft to avoid spent shell cases and install new coax machine gun. The rest were upgraded later to the same standard and called II** because they had an additional wireless compartment added to the rear of the turret, giving it a "bustle" and vastly improved inter-crew communications on the battlefield. Another batch of 20 were built as IIAs and a number of special variants were also made before the tank was phased out just before the outbreak of WWII, although the threat of invasion saw a number taken out of mothballs briefly. The Kit This is a revised tooling of the original kit release in 2016 as the Vickers Medium Tank Mk.I (83878), with new parts added to each of the following boxings, working from the II to the II* and now this variant. The box is typical Hobby Boss, and inside the more delicate parts are protected by a small card divider, with ten sprues in sand styrene plus hull and turret parts in the divider, four sprues in brown styrene containing track links, a sheet of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, a small sheet of decals, the instructions and separate colour painting guide. Detail is good, with lots of raised rivets dotted around the slide-moulded hull and turret parts, plus the individual track links, which are crisply moulded. Construction begins with the WWI-esque sponsons, which have well-defined sloped plates on the outer edge to disperse tracked-up mud. Five sets of four road wheels are fitted to the underside of the sponsons, plus a single pair on the end, and the adjustable idler wheel at the front. The hull is built up by adding the hatches and the ball-mounted machine gun in the sides, with the floor panel closing up the underside. Grab handles, steps and various vents, radiators and ports are added to the hull, and the multi-part drive sprockets are installed on pegs at the rear of the hull, joined later by the sponsons, which mate using three pegs to hold it them in place on the sides. A run of return-rollers and a guide rail are glued into the sponsons to support the track, which is fitted later, and a number of PE grilles are added, as is the driver's raised hatch. The tracks are made up from individual links that have two parts each, with the guide-horns fitted to a depression on the inner face of the links. Each run requires 65 links, which are a tight fit and the hollow guide horns are small, so will need a little care and patience. If you use liquid cement and drape them round the road wheels whilst the glue is still flexible, holding them in place with clamps etc., they should look good when painted. If you also use a straight-edge to ensure that they are correctly aligned, the task will be much easier. With the track runs fitted, the fenders can be attached to the remaining slots in the hull sides, with a set of PE brackets formed up to support them, plus the exhaust, light clusters (with optional headlamps) and stiffeners also made up from PE. The turret is mostly preformed by slide-moulding, to which a turret ring is added, and the gun's mantlet slotted into the supports moulded into the turret lower. The coax machine gun barrel slots in next to the mantlet, the radio box is fitted to the rear, and the commander's cupola with clamshell doors popped on top. The final act is to place the turret on the hull (no bayonet fitting here), and fold up then glue on the light boxes that deflect the paltry glow from the headlamps down toward the ground. Markings Only two decal options are provided from the box, which is almost expected for this middle-tier offering from HB, with one only having the number plate "ME 9840", and the other "MK 8227" and series of white Os on the front and turret sides. There's no further information offered, and the decals are all white, so registration isn't an issue, but density and sharpness are just fine, so nothing to worry about. Your MkII** will of course be green. Conclusion A good quality kit of this unusual box-like little tank, which was superseded by the differently boxy Cruiser Mk.I, which fought well in the Mediterranean in the early stages of WWII. With the addition of a commander poking out of the turret, its diminutive size will be well illustrated. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Started building the Cockpit. I used Quickboost seats cause of the great details they provide. Aires aftermarket cockpit would be a great choice, but I didn´t manage to get one. The Hobby Boss details ar not that bad, so I used the kits office..... A few weeks later the Hornet was done. I had some fit issues and in my opinion it is not a beginners kit. I used Revell Aqua Color for painting. For the red outlines on the landing gear doors I use a red Edding pen. Well... worked nice but I will use brush and paint the next time. The weathering was also done with colored pencils. Worked very nice and I will use them again. Thanks for watching. Pete

Hi This is another one for this year even if I started this kit many years ago. The 1/72 Hobby Boss kit is not the best in town but is easy to build except around the front part of the fuselage which is divided horizontally. I tried to compensate the poor detail level by chosing a multi-coloured scheme. This is the Armée de l'air (French Air Force) Republic F-84G-21-RE 51-10809 Thunderjet transfered to France and from EC 1/3 Navarre at Reims AB in 1953. The transfers came from the Hi-Decal HD72049 sheet. Patrick

In 2017-2018, Hobby Boss is to release a 1/48th Embraer EMB-312 Tucano kit - ref.81763 Source: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235012994-hobby-boss-catalog-2017-2018-complete-programme-now-online/ V.P.

HobbyBoss is to release a 1/48th Embraer EMB-314 Super Tucano kit - ref.81727 A test shot was on display last weekend at the All Japan Model & Hobby Show 2013. Source: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=522399501187936&set=a.522385911189295.1073741833.100002536719681&type=1&theater The dead of the AVM Scale Models resin kit http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234928632-148th-embraer-emb-314-a-29-super-tucano-resin-kit-by-avm-scale-models-on-pre-order/?hl=tucano V.P.

#22/2017 My dad let the Romanian Bf109 follow a Romanian native, the IAR-80 from Hobby Boss. Not a bad kit, but partly a bit simple and less detail. The ailerons and flaps are molded in one piece so my dad cut them apart to give the model some more life. EZ Line for aerials, decals from RB Productions, painted with Tamiya XF-81 RAF Dark Green and Gunze H417 RLM76. The model shows an aircraft of Escadrilla 42/52 Vanatoare in 1941. DSC_0001 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0003 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0004 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0005 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0006 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0007 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0008 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0009 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0010 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0011 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0012 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0013 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0014 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0015 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0016 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0017 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0018 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr DSC_0021 by Reinhard Spreitzhofer, auf Flickr

Su-27 Flanker Early 1:48 Hobby Boss The Su-27 and sibling Mig-29 were developed as a complementary pair of heavy and lighter fighters to combat the F-15 that was in development as the F-X at the time. It first flew in 1977, but encountered serious problems that resulted in some fairly spectacular crashes, some of which were fatal, but with persistence and successive rounds of improvements it came on strength with the Russian air force in 1985, but was still plagued with problems that prevented it from being seen in operational service for a further five years, and it is known as the Su-27S or Flanker B by the NATO countries, and it is this early version that is the subject of the model It proved to be a capable fighter, and after the fall of the Berlin wall, Russia continued its development, with other variants incorporating improvements, and wholesale conversions leading to other marks entirely, such as the SU-30, Su-33 and Su-34 with side-by-side pilot seating. The Flanker continues to impress the crowds at airshows with the controversial (for some reason) and contagious Cobra manoeuver that caused quite a stir when first seen. Sukhoi had a number of export successes, and China also manufactured Flankers under license as the Shengyang J-11 after an initial delivery of Russian built airframes. The Kit We reviewed the first edition of this kit almost a year ago (at time of writing), and you can see that here, as the box content is almost identical at first glance. The box is a standard top-opener with a Flanker flying "danger close" to a P-3 Orion that has presumably strayed a little too close to Soviet/Russian airspace. Inside is a card insert with the two fuselage halves and their blended wings secured to it by plastic coated wire, twisted around the nose, tail and wings. The nose and tail are further protected by a wrapping of thin foam, while the delicate parts of the wingtips are surrounded by a detachable sprue for safety. Under the insert are fifteen more sprues of various sizes in the same grey styrene, two clear sprues, a small fret of what looks to be Photo-Etch (PE) stainless steel, or something similar. There are also three black "rubber" tyres, and two decal sheets plus of course the instruction booklet and two separate glossy pages detailing the painting and decaling. The main differences between this and the earlier (later model) kit are to the rear of the fuselage halves, with the streamlined stinger between the engines making an appearance. Also, there is a probe atop each vertical tail, which is not seen in the later marks. Otherwise, it's a big sense of déjà vu until you get to the decal sheet, which is only 50% déjà vu. As the photos of the original boxing were decent and on a similar (if darker) background, I have included those with the old logo, and you can tell the new content by the lighter backdrop and freshly minted logo on those sprues. There's no sense in wasting server space with functionally identical photos, afterall. The weapons provided in the box are generous as normal with Hobby Boss, and the detail is pretty good throughout, although I do wonder how many of those moulded-in aerials and sensors will last at the hands of anyone with big clumsy hands like mine. My feelings regarding the rubber tyres are well known, and even though the detail on the hubs is very nice, I would still probably replace them with resin aftermarket to take away the risk of them melting over time, as was seen many-a-time with the older models. Whether they changed the recipe in light of that is anyone's guess, so from my point of view it's better safe than sorry. Markings The larger decal sheet is a straight-forward reprint of the earlier kit, with only the kit's code changed. The sheet with the more interesting markings is slightly smaller, and contains decals for two options, both of which are in the pale grey, pale blue/grey, and pale blue tri-colour scheme, and from the box you can build one of the following: Red 83 with a green radome and dielectric panels on the tail Red 36 with a grey radome and dielectric panels on the tail The decals are the usual fare from HB, are in decent register, lightfast and reasonably sharp into the bargain. You get a set of decals for the cockpit instruments, as well as a reasonable complement of stencils, but if you want to get it exactly right, you will need to consider some aftermarket stencils, such as those from Begemot. Conclusion Like its stablemate, it is a new tool moulding of an early Flanker, so what's not to like? It will doubtless have some foibles that will irritate the perfectionists, but what kit doesn't? Grab some AKAN paints on your way to the (probably virtual) checkout, and add one to your collection. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

To accompany the Romanian 109 my dad startsanother Romanian WW2 bird, using the Hobby Boss kit and decals from RB Productions.

Having had some time off work - I decided to tackled this kit - which has been sitting in the stash for some time. All in all it's a nice kit to make. The cockpit is a real joy. Lots of detail, nicely designed, goes together very well. I sprayed it Tamiya gunship grey, then sponged on vallejo neutral grey, and pale grey to break up the surfaced and create some highlights on rims of seats etc. Once the cockpit is done, and the canopy masked off the rest of the kit is actually extremely fast to finish. The part count outside the cockpit is pretty small. I used the Eduard masks for this, as the idea of doing it myself was too terrifying. There was a fair amount of sanding needed to get the transparent parts flush with the wing roots. Once the plane was together I decided at the last minute to go down a 'what if' route. I am a bit bored of doing the usual green / grey splinter camo, and had some rattle cans knocking about that would allow for a desert version. I haven't seen any photos of a Bv-141 in the desert, so this is all a bit fanciful. Once the main 3 colours were on, I did quite a lot of post-shading using white and umber oil paint - put directly on the kit then blended in roughly in panel areas. Quite happy with how it went, once I practice I think it will be better at keeping it to the right areas and accordingly it will look better. Finally I splodged the with humbrol weathering pigment 'sand yellow'. The landing light is a little bit of kitchen foil. Seat belts are wine bottle foil. Thanks for looking - all criticisms welcome! Bruce

A-4E Skyhawk 1:48 Hobby Boss The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk was a carrier capable ground attack aircraft developed for the US Navy and US Marine Corps. It is a delta winged single engine aircraft. It was developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company originally under the A4D designation, latter changed to A-4. The A-4 was designed by Ed Heinemann to a 1952 US Navy specification for a carrier based attack aircraft capable of carrying heavy loads. For this an aircraft was to have a maximum weight of 30,000Lbs, and be capable of speeds up to 495mph. Initially the Douglas design with a specified weight of only 20000 Lbs was greeted with scepticism. Ed Heinemann had in fact designed a very small aircraft. This was to be roughly half the weight of its contemporaries. In fact the wings were so short they did not need to fold for stowage below decks. Having a non-folding wing eliminated the heavy wing folds seen in other aircraft, one reason for a low overall weight. The prototype also exceed the maximum speed the US Navy had specified. In fact not long after the aircraft would set a new world record of 695mph for circuit flying, bettering the specification by 200mph. The A-4A was the initial production aircraft with 166 being built. The A-4B was ordered with additional improvements over the initial design. These were to be; Stronger rudder construction, a pressure fuelling system incorporating a probe for in-flight refuelling, external fuel tanks, stronger landing gear, additional navigation equipment, an improved ordnance delivery system, and an external buddy refuelling package. A total of 542 A-4Bs were to be made with fleet deliveries beginning in 1957 only a year after the first A-4B flight was made. The A-4C would then follow giving an all weather capability with the AN/APG-53 radar, a new auto pilot and bombing system and a more powerful J65-W-20 engine. The E model was a major upgrade to previous aircraft included a new Pratt & Whitney J-52-P-6A engine with 8400 lbs of thrust. The air-frame was strengthened and two more weapons pylons were added. Improved avionics were installed including a TACAN, doppler system, radar altimeter, and a bombing computer. Later an even more powerful J52-P-8 with 93000 lbs thrust was added. The E would then see the addition of a dorsal hump on the fuselage spine to house extra electronics as appeared on the later A-4F. The Kit This a new tool from Hobby Boss of this famous Douglas aircraft. The kit itself is on three sprues is fairly simple much like the real thing. Construction starts in the cockpit you will be surprised to know! The two part Escapac seat is put together and placed into the cockpit tub after the aft wall is installed. The seat is fairly basic and there are no belts included in the model. The control column is then installed along with the instrument panel (details by decal), this is followed by the area just behind the seat. The completed cockpit is then installed onto the top of the front wheel well along with the rudder pedals. Next up the wings are completed. This is standard single part lower wing with left & right uppers. Once complete it is placed to one side. Construction then moves to the main fuselage. The completed cockpit assembly and the intake duct are installed in the main fuselage as it is closed up. The avionics hump or the top fuselage fairing are installed depending on which decal option is being modelled. Two side intakes are added along with the main wing assembly. Two small parts then need to be removed from the tail. Lastly the engine exhaust is added along with a rear underside panel. Next up the left and right engine intakes are assembled and added to the main fuselage. The instrument coaming and HUD are added to the cockpit and the 20mm cannons & fairings are added to each side. Two small fairings are added to the rear fuselage. The all moving tails are made u (conventional upper & lower construction) and added, along with the air brakes. The canopy is added along with two strakes just above the cannon barrels. The underwing/fuselage pylons are then made up and added along with the gear doors. The front undercarriage leg is added which has the nose wheel moulded on to it. The rear legs and retraction struts are added along with the wheels. To round things off the arrestor hook and til bumper are added. Weapons Hobby Boss aren't known for being stingy with these, and as you'd expect there are plenty to choose from, infact 5 sprues in this kit are devoted to underwing stores. As always, check your references for likely load-outs if you are going for accuracy, or slap them all on if not. It's your choice! Included are; 12 x Mk.82 Bombs 12 x Mk.20 CBUs 2 x AiM-9B Sidewinders 2 x Wing tanks 1 x Centreline tank Sway braces are provided where needed, as are launch rails and multiple ejector racks. There are other weapons on the sprues not used here so good for the spares box. The back page of the instruction booklet shows the pylon positions of the various options, but as above, check things over before you proceed. Stencil locations are shown on a separate colour page, with positions and colours all called out. Markings Hobby Boss often supply only one option with their kits, but this one has two, one is documented incorrectly, the other is not. It is really about time HB started giving some information about its decal schemes in the kits rather than modellers going on-line to work it out themselves. The decals are printed in house, and are of good quality. 150056 VC-1 US Navy - No data is provided but the box art is very similar to an image from 1972 from NAS Barbers Point, Oahu,HI 151074 VA-155 USS Constellation 1966 wearing experimental 3 tone camo. Note this aircraft did not have the dorsal hump despite the painting instructions showing it. Now preserved at Naval Air Facility Atsugi Conclusion This is a nice new tool of the A-4E from Hobby Boss. Recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Here's the Hobby Boss VK 4502 (p) with the forward turret. Its an excellent kit but the tracks are hard work as you can see. It has a fully detailed turret which is completely hidden from view so I didn't bother. Paints are Model Air and AK for the red primer. I've made the colour scheme up entirely but am reasonably happy with it. Story goes that one cam out to fight the advancing Russians at Kummersdorf in April 45 but no real evidence exists. As always would welcome your views. Thanks David

I'd been thinking 100% that the next plane on my to-do list was going to be a Gloster Javelin but my hand got swayed into plucking this from the stash. The Swiss Air Force get an A+ for their instagram feed - this appeared on my recommendations list just before I went to the retrieve the Javelin from the loft and jumped another kit to the head of the queue I can't recall why I had this - something makes me think it was added to another order as it took it over the 'free delivery' line and was cheaper than paying the delivery charge. Let's see how it builds up - looks straightforward enough albeit with some oddities

Hello I wish to participate with the Mc.200 Saetta from Hobby Boss. Although better than the Revell offering (I believe), it lacks a few important parts. I hope to add some detail to a simple, but reasonably well shaped kit. I will select a scheme from Sky Models C.200 sheet with the assistance of these reference books. Also some PE seat belts........ .......and this should work for the C.200 instrument panel. I built one of these a while back and enjoyed it, but hope to make a better show of this one. Wayne

First picture from the Hobby Boss catalog 2017-2018. But once again, like for first Trumpeter catalog 2017-2018 pics (http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235012221-trumpeter-catalog-2017-2018-programme-first-pics/), nothing about the Aircraft pages... Stay tuned. Source: https://www.facebook.com/TrumpeterModel/photos/a.103538733138062.8169.103526326472636/705046186320644/?type=3&theater http://www.moxingfans.com/new/news/2016/1207/2910.html http://tieba.baidu.com/p/4890281771 V.P.

Sukhoi Su-30MKK Flanker-G 1:48 Hobby Boss via Creative Models What do you get it you cross an Su-30 with an Su-35? The Su-30MKK could be one answer, as it incorporates some of the avionics advances of the Su-35 and applies it to the basic Su-30 airframe with two seats, and gets the new NATO moniker Flanker-G to differentiate from the Su-30 Flanker-C. The initial customer was China, with an agreement signed at the turn of the millennium and the first of a small order arriving with the People's Liberation Army Naval Air Force soon after in 2001. The aircraft is capable of flying all the muntions and pods that the Su-35 can carry, but has different software due to the mission capability requirements of the PLANAF, with carbon fibre and lighter aluminium alloys used to keep weight in check, and additional fuel stored in the twin tail fins to help give it the long range that was required. Fuel capacity elsewhere is also increased, and the increase in nose weight led to the addition of another nose wheel in tandem with the original. Further upgrades have led to the MK2 and MK3 variants that are being sold in small numbers to Vietnam, Indonesia amongst others. The Kit The Chinese juggernaut that comprises Hobby Boss and Trumpeter are on a big Russian/Soviet kick at the moment both in the aviation and AFV scenes, with Hobby Boss releasing some super stuff with wings in 1:48. We've been reviewing them as and when we can, and along comes the Su-30MKK, which is doubtless a subject close to Chinese hearts, as they have a shade under a hundred of them in service thanks to the aforementioned deal with Sukhoi and Russia. Pretty soon they will have filled all the gaps with new toolings of these impressive F-15 equivalents popping out every couple of months with different variants. The kit arrives in quite a large box, and inside is a divider to keep the small sprues rattling about, as well as a tray to which the fuselage/wing halves are attached via a bunch of plastic coated wires that are twisted into place. Both ends of the two parts are wrapped in foam sheet that is taped into place to avoid damage, and this method of protection is seen again in different parts of the package. In the box are seventeen sprues of grey styrene of variable size plus the two fuselage halves, three sprues of clear parts, four rubbery tyres, a small nickel-plated Photo-Etch (PE) sheet , two decal sheets, instruction booklet and two sheets of glossy paper for the markings and weapons stencils, both printed in colour. This is a BIG airframe, and you are greeted with this fact on opening the box, with the majority of the airframe complete in just two parts due to the blended-wing design of the original. Surface detail is good, with restrained engraved panel lines and rows of rivets, plus a number of delicate louvered vents on the fuselage. The weapons provided are also generous, taking up six of the sprues, with plenty to choose from. Construction begins with the two cockpits, which are well-appointed with rudder pedals and control sticks, detailed ejection seats, instrument panels and coamings, plus bulkheads and ejection seat ramps at the rear of each compartment. Decals are supplied for the instrument panels and side consoles, although they aren't mentioned in the instructions until you get to the painting and markings section. The nose gear bay is built at this point too, as is the nose gear leg and wheel, because the leg is trapped against the fuselage by the bay before the fuselage is closed up. The aft portion of the engine, afterburner ring and the initial section of exhaust trunking are also placed within the lower fuselage before the halves are joined, with a small bay for the refuelling probe also added, which if you forget could probably be snuck inside before the nose cone is added later. Flaps and slats are added to the near-complete wings, and the elevators are attached to the rear fuselages, complete with their outriggers that allow them to sit next to the exhaust petals. Speaking of which, there is a choice of either constricted or relaxed variants of the exhausts, which coupled with the separate rudders on the big fins, give you the capability for a bit of variation at the rear end. The air intakes are separate from the main fuselage parts, and are constructed separately before being added. The roof of the intakes are separate, and the drop-down FOD guard is depicted in the mount of the intake, removing any need for trunking, despite there being an engine face part included that won't be seen unless you retract them using whatever modelling skills you possess. These two and the strakes that sit below the elevators are added underneath, the former having a ledge in the fuselage to ensure good fit of the rounded joint, the latter fitting using the slot and tab method. The main gear are each made from a tow-part leg, two-part hub and of course the rubbery tyre that I dislike so much but couldn't really tell you why. Perhaps it’s a hangover from the old days where these things would melt over the years and ruin your kits? I've no experience of the modern type doing this, but I'm loathed to find out. I'll be quiet about them now. Gear bay doors with moulded-in hinges and separate actuators are fitted next with a PE AoA probe under the nose, with the large nose cone moulded as a single part fitted to the front with no talk of nose weight to prevent a tail-sitter. Use your judgement there, but at this late stage of construction, you should be able to test its centre of balance by perching it (carefully) on the edge of a rule on your desk and playing seesaw. The small and delicate pitot probe should probably be fitted later, and won't make that much difference to your calculations, but remember there will be weapons and the canopy to install before you're done. The canopy is two-part, and with modern blown canopies that give the pilots better situational awareness, there is the necessary seamline down the outside of each part, which can be sanded away and polished back to clear with some micromesh or similar. The windscreen has a separate IRST sensor part in clear, and the main canopy has internal structure, opener, and a set of four rear-view mirrors in PE. Behind the canopy is the airbrake, which has a two-part skin, and a large actuator, with it shown deployed and nothing mentioned about its retracted position if you were aiming for a "clean" airframe. It shouldn't be too difficult to achieve with test-fitting and a little filler if required. More sensors are fitted to the sides of the fuselage along with the refuelling probe, which is also shown deployed. The Su-30MKK is capable of carrying a significant quantity of munitions, as evidenced by the four pylons under each wing, with another four on the underside of the fuselage. These are fitted in readiness for the weapons, with options for the tip pylons to be replaced by a sensor pod, and the centre station on the wing underside has an alternative pylon style. The weapons capable of being carried are included, and there are quite a few, as follows: 2 x KH-31P Krypton passive seeker air to surface missile 2 x KH-29L Kedge-A semi-active laser guided air to surface missile 2 x KH-29T Kedge-B TV guided air to surface missile 4 x R-27R Alamo-B semi-active radar homing missiles 4 x R-27ER Alamo-C semi-active radar homing missiles with extended range 4 x R-73 Archer A2A missiles 4 x R-77 Adder active radar A2A homing missile The final step shows the pylons that each weapon is fitted to, but you may wish to check your references to see the typical load-outs carried in the real world. Markings Despite the large total size of the two sheets, only two options are included in the box, but with the additional serials that are on the sheet, other airframes could be modelled by consulting your references. From the box you can build one of the following: PLAAF Blue 59 PLANAF Blue 18 With typical reticence, they tell you little else about the subjects, even down to difference in colour used by the two operators. The decals are printed in-house, and overall are in good register, with adequate colour density and sharpness, but with the red Chinese tail markings, there appears to have been an issue with the red on the review sample. It seems to have come very close to clumping whilst drying, and coupled with a slight registration issue between the yellow and red, makes the decals a little bit low quality for such a prominent placement. Conclusion Another appealing big Russian/Chinese fighter that has been slightly let down by the slightly suspect national markings on the decal sheet. Review sample courtesy of

Su-17M4 Fitter-K 1:48 Hobby Boss The Su-17, with its NATO reporting name Fitter was derived from the earlier Su-7 as a project to improve its low speed handling, particularly during take-off and landing. It was Sukhoi's first attempt at variable geometry wings, and when it reached service was the Soviet Union's first swing-wing aircraft in service. To keep the project costs down, the centre section of the wing remained fixed, with the outer able to swing back for high-speed flight, and forward for slow. A pronounced spine was also added to the rear of the cockpit to carry additional fuel and avionics that were necessary with the advances in aviation. The first airframes reached service in the early 70s, and were soon replaced by more advanced models with the designation M3 and M4, designated Fitter-H and –K respectively by the Allies. The M4 was based on a larger fuselage and had additional weapons options, developed further and was considered to be the pinnacle of the Fitter line with a heavily upgraded avionics suite including improved targeting, navigation, and yet more weapons options, as well as improved engines. A downgraded version of the M4 was marketed as the Su-22M4, and was in production until 1990! Although the Su-17 was withdrawn from Soviet service in the late 1990s, it remained in service much longer in its export guise, where it was used by both Iran and Iraq, Libya and Angola to name but a few, where it had variable success, which likely had as much to do with pilot skill and training as the merits of the airframe. The Kit It's London buses time again! We reviewed this same subject by another company in January of this year, and less than half a year later, we're doing it again for the juggernaut that is Hobby Boss. This is a new tooling from them, and arrives in their standard top opening box with just a hint of the cardboard corrugations showing through the lid. Inside are fifteen grey sprues, two clear ones, three "rubber" tyres, a small fret of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, a decal sheet, instruction booklet, and two loose leaves of full colour glossy printed painting and markings guide. The first thing to note is that the fuselage is made from two full-length halves, which will simplify construction and appeal to some over the multi-part fuselage of the other new kit. Detail seems good throughout, although some of the finer stuff is absent to an extent, such as the riveting around the wing strakes, in the wheel bay, and the lack of separate blow-in doors on the nose sides. There are other positives that outweigh these minor issues however, such as a more detailed canopy interior, and the lack of a few extraneous surface details that were visible on the other contender. The nose gear bay is built up first with its gear leg captive from the outset, which I find a little inconvenient, but if you leave off the yoke and wheel, the rest is sturdy enough to survive the build, unless you are really clumsy (like me). Following on close behind is the cockpit, which assembles around a tub part, with a nicely detailed seat, side consoles and sidewalls, plus decals for the consoles and the instrument panel. The exhaust is made up from a number of cylinders and has nice detail, as is the intake bullet with its radome and bright green finish. All these assemblies are inserted into the fuselage as it is closed up, leaving you with a long tube onto which you add the strakes, centreline pylon, sensors and eventually the tail, which has two halves and a moulded-in rudder, but separate blade antennae on each side. This fits in on two pegs, with the elevators using the same method, and the host of intakes that litter the fuselage sides all nestle into their own positions on the port, with their outlines raised on the surface. The inner wing panels are next, with the correct thickness obtained by inserting the one-piece wheel bay sidewalls between the halves, which have the bay roof detail (minus copious rivets) moulded into the upper skin. Strakes and pylons are also added, as are the main gear, which can be left off until later, having a peg/hole fit, two-part hub and those rubber tyres that I'm not all that keen on for no discernible reason. These glue to the fuselage sides with two large pegs fitting into corresponding holes to keep everything aligned. A chaffe and flare dispenser is scabbed onto the rear fuselage on the starboard side, and attention shifts to the outer wing panels. (Specially for Gabor) The outer wings rotate to perform the variable geometry role, and each one has separate slats and ailerons, plus a clear navigation light at the very tip. You use one set of panels for swept configuration, the alternative set showing them in their fully extended low-speed configuration, which is a neat idea, with the same pin/hole fitting between the inner and outer sections. The cockpit needs a coaming, which is built up to include the HUD, which has two clear parts, the display element supported by angled styrene parts. More sensors are added around the nose with PE parts, and the styrene pitot is further detailed with more small PE parts that have tiny slots into which they fit, making for a more robust finished item than you would initially expect. Take some care in aligning everything, and it will look good. The canopy is in two parts, with separate windscreen and canopy, the latter having a combined PE and styrene insert that adds a level of detail that is more pleasing to the eye than simple clear styrene alone. As a bonus, you get a tow-bar with the kit, which is quite detailed, with plenty of parts to add a little more interest to your finished model. Weapons Hobby Boss aren't known for being stingy with these, and as you'd expect there are plenty to choose from on a number of sprues, as you see fit. As always, check your references for likely load-outs if you are going for accuracy, or slap them all on if not. It's your choice! 12 x AB-100 Iron bombs on 2 x MER 2 x AB-250 Iron bombs 2 x FAB-500 Iron bombs 2 x S-24B on adapter rails 2 x R-60MK on adapter rails 2 x B-13L rocket pods 2 x B-8M rocket pods 4 x Fuel Tanks The back page of the instruction booklet shows the pylon positions of the various options, but as above, check things over before you proceed. Stencil locations are shown on a separate colour page, with positions and colours all called out. Markings Hobby Boss often supply only one option with their kits, but this one has two, and they have even documented which airframes and timescales they relate to, which is good to see. The decals are printed in house, and are of good quality, although some of the stencils are illegible for one reason or another. The other decals are in register with good colour density and adequate sharpness, although the yellow seems a little pale to my eyes. If ultimate detail appeals, you could supplant the kit details with some stencils from your favourite aftermarket decal company, but as a lot of folks don't relish the thought of adding hundreds of tiny decals, it shouldn't be seen as mandatory! As usual with Hobby Boss, the colours are given in Mr Hobby, Vallejo, Model Master, Tamiya and Humbrol numbers, with a few gaps in the non Mr-Hobby ranges that will require a bit of research to fill. From the box you can build one of the following: Su-17M4 Yellow 27, 20th GvAPIB, Templin (Gross Dölln) Air Base, April 5, 1994. Su-17M4R, 886th ORAP, Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, December 1998. Conclusion Hobby Boss's Russian aircraft are often better than their western kits, with the FAA kits of a few years back being the major exception. I expect this kit to build up pretty easily with no real fit issues due to the relatively simple breakdown of parts, and with a little access to my references, as well as our Walkaround, it does a good job of convincing me that it is reasonably good shapewise, but it is always a bit tricky to make statements like that without first building the kit. I'd have preferred a bit more detail, but it's nothing too major, and if you have some Archer 3D rivets you could have the missing rivets done in a modelling session. The captive rudder shouldn't be too difficult to liberate from the fin if you are minded, but remember to leave the bullet at the bottom attached to the fin if you do. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

The C-47 will be finshed in about a week. Then my dad will start the next shelf eater, this time a bit smaller. Gonna do a North Vietnamese Gunship with the Hobby Boss kit, decals and rocket pods from the Valom kit.

US T29E1 Heavy Tank 1:35 Hobby Boss Toward the end of WWII when the almost invulnerable (if temperamental) King Tiger reached the battlefield, the Allied began a scramble to complete existing heavy tank projects, and initiated some new ones. The delayed Pershing project did manage to play a limited part in the final days of the conflict, but was considered too light to be effective counter to the Tiger II, which resulted in a larger chassis, a lengthened Pershing hull being mated to a huge turret that could house a previously unbeaten 105mm gun. The all-up weight was around 64 tons, with armour that was almost 100mm thicker than the King Tiger on the front, so would have been able to march right up to one and knock on its glacis plate with its high velocity 4.1" diameter rounds, driven along by an engine putting out in excess of 700hp. Sadly for the designers, the T-29 was unfinished by the end of the war, and as such became somewhat extraneous to requirements, ending its days as an engineering exercise for pushing the envelope in terms of tank design. The Kit Another new tooling from Hobby Boss, who seem to be enjoying kitting the many "almost" projects that were either made in small numbers, or barely got to the prototype stage. As someone that enjoys seeing the unusual and odd, I'm enjoying this phase of theirs too, so always look forward to seeing what's around the corner. The box is standard Hobby Boss, and inside are nine sprues and three large parts in grey styrene, eight sprues of track links in brown styrene, decal sheet, instruction booklet and separate colour painting guide. The standout part in the box is the massive upper hull, which is… well, BIG. The turret parts are also pretty large, and have a nice casting texture that should look good under a few coats of paint. The tracks look like they could be a little fiddly, but we'll take a proper look at those later in the review. Wheels. Lots of them. Every tank has this to a greater or lesser extent, and there are 18 pairs of road wheels to make up, which have a styrene (not poly-cap) collar between the halves that has a friction fit with the axle. Careful gluing is the order of the day if you want them to remain freewheeling. The drive sprockets are similar, but with more parts, and the idler wheels are included in the road wheel set, as they are identical. The drive sprockets are at the rear, and a portion of the lower hull is made up with the final drive housings and rear bulkhead attached, which is fitted to the back of the one-piece hull after removal of a couple of pegs from the top sides. Suspension parts are then studded all over the hull sides, with bump-stops, dampers and stub-axles of various types added, and a run of seven two-part idler wheels on each side, with nine road wheels and the drive sprockets added to complete the underside. Tracks come later. The upper hull is structurally complete, but with gaps for the gratings on the engine deck, and all the usual light clusters, pioneer tools etc. The fenders are also moulded in, and the starboard side has the exhaust and stowage boxes added, plus the bow-mounted machine gun barrel in its ball mount. 12 little shackles are added to the edges of the fenders, after which the upper hull is set aside while the tracks are constructed. 113 links per side are needed, with a jig supplied to ease construction. Five links are constructed at a time, with two separate end-caps to the links, which fit onto two pins projecting from each side of each link. The instructions tell you to glue these to the tracks, but if you do, you will be left with a flat length of track that isn't much use to you. I tried gluing one side of each pin to see whether I could obtain a workable link, but this failed due to the glue seeping across to the other side. You could create the links in batches of five, wrapping them immediately around the wheels, but remember that the outer caps have a spade-like extension to give the tracks extra width, which the instructions don't mention. I'm hoping for aftermarket tracks to become available before I build this, but with the addition of the sideskirts, less track would need to be used if you find it a chore, creating only enough to be seen. The travel-lock for the main armament finishes off the hull, and we move onto the turret. The turret halves are brought together immediately, and care will need to be taken in aligning the seams, and creating a realistic joint, which was a rough curve in places, and sharp in others. Check your references and reinstate any lost texture using glue and a stippling paint brush. The mantlet is in two parts and glues into the front of the turret, leaving the outer mantlet free to move, and the barrel is a two part moulding that fits into a keyed hole in the mantlet. There are three hatches on the top of the turret, with no clear parts, so you'll have to paint the vision blocks a suitable colour to give it some realism, plus of course a .5 M2 derivative on a mount at the front of the turret, and aerial mounts at the rear. The turret attaches to the hull with a standard bayonet fixing that you drop in and twist to lock, leaving it free to rotate. Markings Don't get too excited, as there are four decals on a tiny wee sheet, and all of them are white, and all of those are type designations for the front glacis and rear fenders. Olive drab is the scheme, but there's nothing to stop you from going off-book and doing a speculative scheme as if it had entered service either at the end of a longer WWII, or in Korea to name a couple of examples. Imagine a Maus and a T29 going head-to-head in Berlin! Conclusion A real monster of a tank that didn't go beyond prototype, but is still an interesting dead-end that shows how worried about the King Tiger and whatever was to come next from the Nazi War Machine. It's available at a fairly pocket friendly price too. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

HobbyBoss is to release a 1/48th family of BAe Hawk. - ref.81733 - BAe Hawk T.Mk.1A - ref.81734 - BAe Hawk T.Mk.67 - ref.81735 - BAe Hawk T.Mk.100/102 - ref.81736 - BAe Hawk T.Mk.127 - ref.81737 - BAe Hawk Mk.200/208/209 - ref.81738 - BAe Hawk T.Mk.1/1A Red Arrows Source: http://tieba.baidu.com/p/2804569608 V.P.

Hi guys, I will try to build the 1/48 Hobby Boss FB-111. The kit will be build almost straight out of the box. I have got one exta thing for this kit and that is a pitot tube from master. I think I will also need some seatbelts for the ejection seats, but I hope I can score them this Sunday at the Shropshire show. I will try to use the decals from the kit. Here are two pictures of the box and content. It is a box full of plastic. Cheers,

Hello!

So this is me waay out of my comfort zone...building a ship! I'd say the last one I built was an Airfix 1/600 small ship back in the 70's.. Have gone with this one after reading good things about them. Plus the low price from Creative Models was too good to ignore Really impressed how Hobby Boss pack their kits, with lots of protection for the parts Test fitting is good.. Etch too! Long way from the comfort zone now... Thanks for looking and wish me luck! Cheers, Dermot

So just finished this one, my first ship kit in about 20 years (I'm more of a wings & rotors man). USS Lassen (DDG-82) is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer in the US Navy. Named for Medal of Honor recipient Commander Clyde Everett Lassen, she is the 32nd destroyer of its class. Commissioned in April 2001, she was homeported in San Diego, Yokosuka Japan and since 2016, Mayport Florida I had a great time with this kit (though the P/E drove me a bit mad) and can highly recommend it to anyone wanting to get back into or start building ship kits - really lovely moulding and fit overall. Options include full hull or waterline, 2 helos and P/E comes with the kit as well which really brings it up a notch. Build details as follows: Kit: Hobby Boss USS Lassen DDG-82 Scale: 1/700 Kit No: 83412 Paints: Halfords primer from a can; Revell Aqua Colours with a brush; Klear; Flory Wash; Weathering with oils and pastel; W&N Flat Coat (all with brush) Build: All OOB Some of the rails are a bit wonky (my fault) and she's also missing some UHF antennae (carpet monster) but will replace them asap. Hobby_Boss_USS_Lassen_DDG-82_done_ (1)s by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Hobby_Boss_USS_Lassen_DDG-82_done_ (2)s by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Hobby_Boss_USS_Lassen_DDG-82_done_ (4)s by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Hobby_Boss_USS_Lassen_DDG-82_done_ (5)s by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Hobby_Boss_USS_Lassen_DDG-82_done_ (7)s by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Hobby_Boss_USS_Lassen_DDG-82_done_ (8)s by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr I could see myself building another ship kit in the future, makes a nice change from fuselage halves and cockpits. Thanks for looking and enjoy your modelling! Dermot