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F-86F-25/30 Sabre Upgrade Sets (for Airfix) 1:48 Eduard Airfix released their initial boxing of a new tool 1:48 North American F-86F Sabre a couple of years ago, and they have now updated it to include the F-86F-25/30 block of aircraft. Eduard's new range of sets are here to improve on the kit detail in the usual modular manner. Get what you want for the areas you want to be more of a focal point. As usual with Eduard's Photo-Etch (PE) and Mask sets, they arrive in a flat resealable package, with a white backing card protecting the contents and the instructions that are sandwiched between. Upgrade Set (491499) Two frets are included, one nickel-plated and pre-painted, the other in bare brass. A complete set of new layered instrument panels, a detail part for the gunsight, rear-view mirror in the canopy, sidewall details, and after reducing their height, multi-part side consoles with added levers for the equipment and the extensive throttle-quadrant are in full colour. The ejection seat has the foot trays cut from the front of it, replacing those with new PE trays that are folded from a single part. The seat has new side frames applied with extra details such as armrests and stencils fitted to the sides, detailing the sides of the headbox and fitting a head cushion frame behind the kit part C16. Moving out of the cockpit, the gun bays have front and rear bulkhead skins fitted, and the three .50cal breeches per side are trimmed and covered with new uppers that have more realistic detail etched-in. A pair of gun bay doors are folded up and bent to conform to the shape of the fuselage, adding stencils and braces to the interior. The deck behind the pilot has a pair of runner lips and stoppers applied over the slots, and a pair of brackets in the centre, followed by a sheet of head armour with extra details added just behind the ejection seat. The nose gear bay walls are adapted to remove triangular ribs, fitting access hatches to one side, and a box to the other, then fixing a rear bulkhead and equipment over the joint between the two parts, making seam filling redundant, while the bay roof that is moulded into the underside of the intake trunking has PE edges glued to the lateral ribbing, and a circular appliqué panel toward the front, removing a section of styrene wiring loom before adding those details. When the bay is assembled, the wiring loom is replaced with a PE part, and the triangular blobs are replaced by diagonal braces, adding extra parts to the side walls. All the gear legs have their styrene scissor-links cut away and replaced by new PE parts, the nose gear retraction jack is detailed with extra parts, and the captive bay doors on the main gear legs are joined to the leg using two PE parts plus two short lengths of 0.6mm rod from your own stocks. A scrap diagram shows the correct angle for this new assembly, at 45° to the bay door. The kit air brakes are replaced entirely by a new PE assembly, starting with the exterior skin that is conformed to match the profile of the kit parts, adding a interior skin with lightening holes, pivot-points for the actuators, and stiffened hinges to each one, repeating the process for both sides, then mounting them on the kit actuator rams, as shown in a scrap diagram nearby. Zoom! Set (FE1499) This set contains a reduced subset of the interior, namely the pre-painted parts that are used to improve on the main aspects of the cockpit, as seen above. Whatever your motivations for wanting this set, it provides a welcome boost to detail, without being concerned with the structural elements. SPACE 3D Printed Cockpit Decals (3DL48209) The Eduard SPACE sets use new 3D printing techniques that lay down successive layers of different colour resin, creating highly realistic almost full complete panels that are supplied on a decal sheet. They can depict metallic shades, plus glossy, satin, and matt colours too, which really ups the detail on everything they print. In addition, a small sheet of nickel-plated and pre-painted PE is included for the aspects of the set that lend themselves better to this medium, such as seatbelts and rudder pedals. Before fitting the PE seatbelts, two slots should be cut in the sides of the kit seat for the lap belts, then the shoulder harness can be installed before the head cushion to make the task a little easier. The lap belts have a comfort pad added under the buckle, then the instrument panel has its raised detail removed before applying two 3D decals over the top. The side consoles and sidewalls are covered by seven decals on the port side, and five on the starboard, two of which are applied to new PE parts that sit at the very front of the consoles. Seatbelts STEEL (FE1500) These belts are Photo-Etch (PE) steel, and because of their strength they can be etched from thinner material, which improves realism and flexibility in one sitting. Coupled with the realistic painting method that adds perceived extra depth to the buckles and other furniture by shading, they are more realistic looking and will drape better than regular brass PE. Before fitting the PE seatbelts, two slots should be cut in the sides of the kit seat for the lap belts, then the shoulder harness can be installed before the head cushion to make the task a little easier. The lap belts have a comfort pad added under the buckle, sliding the ends of the belts through the new slots in the seat sides. Masks (EX1090) Supplied on a sheet of yellow kabuki tape, these pre-cut masks supply you with a full set of masks for the canopy, with compound curved handled by using frame hugging masks, while the highly curved gaps are in-filled with either liquid mask or offcuts from the background tape. In addition, you get a set of hub/tyre masks for the wheels, allowing you to cut the demarcation perfectly with little effort. Masks Tface (EX0191) Supplied on a larger sheet/two sheets of yellow kabuki tape, these pre-cut masks supply you with everything above, but also give you another set of canopy masks tailored to fit the inside of the glazing so that you can paint the model’s interior and give your kit that extra bit of realism. Having used these sets on my own models now, I can confirm that they are extremely accurate, and it's good practice to place the outer masks first to act as a guide for alignment of the inner masks. Review sample courtesy of

In the Czech Modelforum it's mentioned that after the 1/48th MiG-21, Spitfire and Bf.109 families, Eduard has as long term project the North American P-51 Mustang in the same scale. Wait and see. Source: http://www.modelforum.cz/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=68170&start=5865 V.P.

X-15A-2 “White Ablative Coating” (SH32081) 1:32 Special Hobby After Chuck Yaeger broke the sound barrier (officially) in the X-1, the series of experimental high-speed aircraft continued in the shape of the North American built X-15, which began in 1954, with the programme continuing until 1968, and extending to just short of 200 flights of this manned missile throughout many flight-envelopes, collecting data and experience that would be used to great effect in the following Mercury and Apollo programmes, which shared some crew, as well as furthering the understanding of atmospheric flight at high speed. It was carried aloft by a modified B-52 Stratofortress known as a 'mothership', then released, and when applicable it would ignite its rocket engine that would burn for an amazingly short time of around 80 seconds, propelling the aircraft up to a toe-curling 4,500mph. Initially it utilised two Reaction Motors rocket motors, but these were replaced by their immensely more powerful single XLR99 engine, which was powered by anhydrous ammonia and liquid oxygen, and perming solution (hydrogen peroxide – probably quite a bit more concentrated than that used to turn your hair curly) to drive the pump that fed the engine, which could be throttled up and down thanks to advances in technology after WWII. There were three aircraft built, and one was lost in a mid-air breakup that sadly killed the pilot. X-15A-2 also crash-landed, ending the day upside down and leaking fluids all over the lake bed they were using as a runway, but it was recovered and rebuilt. It was lengthened by a couple of feet and given massive additional fuel tanks to extend the run-time of the rocket engine. It was also coated in a white ablative paint that helped to ameliorate the excess heat that was generated by such fast transit through even the most nebulous of atmospheres. In the end A-2 flew a total of 55 missions in its different guises before the programme came to an end in 1968, when the delay of the 200th flight by continuing bad weather led to its permanent cancellation in favour of the Mercury programme. The Kit This is a reboxing of the improved tooling of the original 2007 X-15 kit from Special Hobby that was later upgraded to be able to depict the later launches that used the big fuel tanks under the belly. This boxing also includes a stand for the finished model, allowing a wheel/skids up pose that was the aircraft’s natural environment, way, way up in the sky beyond the majority of the atmosphere. It arrives in a reasonably sized top-opening box, and inside are seven sprues in grey styrene, a staggering 165 resin parts (many tiny ones), a clear canopy part, a sheet of Photo-Etch (PE), a small slip of clear acetate with black printing for the instruments, a length of wire and a glossy instruction booklet with spot colour throughout. I forgot to photograph the wire, sorry! This isn’t a simple scale-up of their flawed 1:48 kit, and most of the issues present in the smaller kit aren’t present in this larger model. According to my Secret Advisor, there are one or two items such as the hemispherical nose tip being a little small, and the low-slung supplementary fuel tanks may be a few millimetres short, but that would only be visible from a side-on view if you knew where to look. Overall it seems to be a good replica of this amazingly fast space-plane, depending on where your idea of space begins of course! Construction begins with the combined cockpit and nose gear bay, starting with the rudder pedal box, which is faced with a laminated PE and acetate instrument panel. This is placed on the cockpit floor, and has side consoles, and rear bulkhead with stepped rear plus shaped top inserts, then at the front a bulkhead with the three-part nose bay is attached to the front. The additional joysticks are applied to the side consoles, followed by the building of the ejection seat, which has a large number of plastic and resin parts plus PE belts for the pilot, the completed assembly sliding onto the launch rail that is glued to the rear bulkhead of the cockpit. The main instrument panel is made from three sections and each has PE detail for the instruments, while the centre also has a piece of printed acetate behind it for the dials. More PE instruments fit to the front of the side consoles, and have small PE levers fixed in place to depict the controls. The fuselage is quite long at this scale, so the top and bottom halves are each made up from two panels, tapering to the nose at the front, and very blunt toward the exhaust of the XLR99 engine. Small parts are added around the cockpit and at the rear of its fairing, then the cockpit is glued to the upper fuselage so that the two halves can be joined together and have a small hemispherical Q-ball nose added. The wings aren’t particularly large, and are portrayed with two parts each that fit into the fuselage on lengthy tabs, as are the elevators with the addition of a swash-plate at the pivot point. A scrap diagram shows the correct anhedral of the elevators, plus the blocky tail fins, which are next. Due to the weird aerodynamic requirements of such a fast aircraft, the fins are blunt and don’t work all that well at slow speeds. They are made up from various parts, and there is an optional set of parts to depict the dive-brakes at the rear in the open position. The fuselage is detailed underneath next, and has a suite of probes and hollow-tipped exit pipes in the front section, then has the simple twin-wheel nose gear strut built and fitted with the bay door on a stand-off bracket behind the leg, which has a small flap in the lower section, presumably to help deal with dust kicked up on landing. Under the rear a small vertical “tail” assembly hides away more dive brakes, which can also be posed open by adding jacks to the mechanism to project the aft edge of the two surfaces away from the centreline. A pair of strakes fit on either side of this fairing, after which the exhaust for the rocket motor is put together around the outer lip, and having various sensors and vents arranged around it, plus a deep tapering trunk that gives the depth to the exhaust. When finished it slots into the rear of the fuselage. The canopy has small elliptical windows in the front, which are moulded into the clear canopy, and has a stiffener brace attached to the inside at the rear, that can be posed open or closed. An optional resin piece can be installed over the port window depending on the mission you are planning on depicting, but no information is given as to when this was used until you look at the two decal options, both of which have the panel. The two additional fuel tanks are made up from two large halves split vertically, with small inserts added to holes in the top sides. They seem simple, but on the upper surface they have a mass of hoses and equipment, plus the big attachment points where all those pipes enter the underside of the fuselage. PE brackets, wire, resin and plastic parts go into the detailing of the tanks, and you are provided with plenty of overhead and scrap diagrams to assist you in getting it right. Take your time and pay careful attention while performing this part of the build and you shouldn’t go far wrong. Ground handling of the airframe employed the nose wheel and a two-wheeled dolly arrangement that attaches to the rear of the fuselage astride the rear dive brake fairing. This is a complex assembly, and is mostly resin with a little wire and PE parts added for good measure, then painted hi-viz yellow and fitted with two wooden blocks that were inserted under the stanchions when parked. There is a whole page of diagrams showing the correct arrangement of parts, and how the wooden blocks were utilised, so again take your time to get it all together in the correct manner. On the last page the large tanks are fitted, then joined by the rear gear trolley or an optional dummy ramjet that was carried by decal option A after loading onto the mothership to test the effects of its aerodynamics on the airframe. It wasn’t good, and caused a substantial amount of damage thanks to the speed the air moved around it, causing the tail to lift and the skin around it to burn and melt. The pilot luckily managed to nurse his aircraft back to base unhurt, but the damage was never repaired due to the end of the programme. Markings The repaired A-2 flew with the white ablative coating applied, so the overall look of the aircraft changed markedly. Many flights were made, and small differences appeared and disappeared as the aircraft evolved. The decal sheet covers one flight of this airframe before and after it was mated with the B-52, with a separate page covering the complex scheme that was applied to the fuel tanks. From the box you can build one of the following: X-15A-2 56-6671, Pilot William ‘Pete’ Knight, flight 2-53-97, 3rd October 1967. Already lifted from the trailer and hung on the B-52 mothership, ready for the first stage of hypersonic flight. When the X-15 had been fitted to the B-52, the Ramjet dummy was then fitted to the ventral fin. X-15A-2, 56-6671, Pilot William ‘Pete’ Knight, flight 2-53-97, 3rd October 1967. The aircraft configured as it appeared before its very last record-breaking flight. The machine is positioned on the servicing and transportation trailer just before being towed to the B-52 mothership. Decals are well-printed and consist mainly of stencils and warnings in red, black and some are on a silver background, so the majority of the spot colour around the airframe will need to be painted, with the stripes posing the most technical aspect of that task. Conclusion If you haven’t got one already and are interested in early hypersonic research, this will be a highly interesting topic for you, and it builds up into quite a long model at slight over 50cm for the fuselage, plus a few cm for the pipes at the rear. There is a lot of documentation out there for those wishing to portray their X-15 as realistically as possible, and the addition of a stand should come in handy for those with limited shelf-space. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

P-51B Birdcage Canopy Cockpit (6481033 for Eduard) 1:48 Eduard Brassin Eduard’s new Bird Cage Mustang went under the microscope here, and now we have a finely detailed 3D-printed resin cockpit to augment the already impressive detail you’ll find in the kit. As is now usual with Eduard's larger resin sets, they arrive in the new deep Brassin cardboard box, with the resin and other parts safely cocooned in bags, a foam sheet in the top and bottom and the instructions folded around acting as padding. Inside the box are forty-three resin parts of various sizes, a fret of Photo-Etch (PE) that has been nickel-plated and pre-printed, a sheet of decals and a slip of clear acetate with the gunsight glazing shapes printed on. The instruction booklet tells you remove some sections of interior detail on the fuselage halves, which are marked out in red for your convenience. It’s worthy of note that there isn’t a pre-painted PE instrument panel in this set, but there are a host of decals for the instruments and placards, which you apply along the way toward a complete cockpit. Construction begins with the seat in a choice of three styles that are printed as one part each, and are decorated with pre-painted PE four-point seatbelts, a common headrest that attaches to the seat armour and mounting rail part, adding a cushion/stowage with a PE hook over the top. The seat is attached to the new highly detailed floor and is fitted out with the control stick, fuel hose, and a small instrument console, with detail painting and decaling instructions throughout. A bulkhead between the pilot and rear of the compartment is inserted behind the seat, adding hoses and other parts for detail, with a choice of three styles of rear compartments behind the pilot. Two options involve installing different equipment boxes to the floor, and another rear-facing instrument on the bulkhead. Two types of radio gear can be fitted to the pallet and after detail painting it is straddled by a pair of ribs toward the rear, which will allow it to be mounted as a second layer above the equipment on the floor, which will still be seen by the intrepid viewer. The third option involves the original kit fuel tank that has its attachment pins removed before it is glued to the floor, mounting a palette with equipment, and the ribs replicated from the other options, then wiring it with a 20mm length of 0.6mm wire from your own stock. The resin sidewall parts are well detailed to begin with, but they are both augmented with additional resin parts that vary between cockpit fitments, as well as having their own painting and decaling diagrams to complete the task. The result will be an exceptionally well-detailed pair of sidewalls, with a choice of variant specific instruments, providing you follow the instructions precisely. The three resin gunsight options have their glass replicated by a piece of acetate sheet of varying shapes and sizes, installing it on the kit coaming, which has a small portion cut away beforehand for one option, using the appropriate coaming for your chosen gunsight. The main panel is a resin part that has decals applied depicting the instruments, with more decals on the lower centre panel, mounting the new detailed rudder pedals on pegs in the rear, setting their alignment with reference to a scrap diagram showing the assembly from the side. The cockpit and sidewalls are brought together to create a tub, then the kit fuselage is closed around them, adding the coaming assembly, another small equipment box, and kit canopy to finish the set off. Conclusion A super-detailed set for a superb model of a legend of the skies with the original canopy style. Excellent use of 3D printed resin to improve a focal point to your model, with a choice of equipment options to add individualism to your P-51B. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

P-51D-5 Mustang 20th FG & 361st FG (KPM0440 & KPM0442) 1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov The P-51 was developed by the North American Aviation company as a potential fighter for Great Britain, but due to the poor performance of the original Allison engine at altitude it wasn’t suitable, especially for a specification that included combat at high altitude over Britain. In a fortuitous attempt to correct this deficiency, they decided to bolt a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine to the front of the airframe that 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 with a “razor-back” spine and scalloped rear-view windows behind the cockpit, until some bright spark took a blown hood that had been used successfully on the Spitfire and fitted it to British Mustangs, garnering the nickname Malcolm Hood after its manufacturer. The P-51D was altered to have a bubble canopy and cut-down aft fuselage that improved the pilot’s situational awareness, with an additional fin-fillet widely added later to regain some of the stability lost due to the new shape and fuel tank location. In British service it was known as the Mustang Mk.IV, and the same variant made at the Dallas factory with hollow AeroProducts props that was designated P-51K in US service was known as the Mk.IVa in RAF service to differentiate. Sadly, the hollow prop was prone to vibration thanks to some inferior quality control at the factory, so was often swapped out in the field. The most prevalent P-51D is the Mustang that most people think of when they hear the name, unless they’re more of a petrol head or a bit horsey, although us modellers are more likely to ask “which variant?”. The Kit This is a new tooling from Kovozávody Prostějov, which has been released in several boxings with different decals, of which we have two in for review. Both kits arrive in a small end-opening box with a dramatic painting of the subject matter on the front, profiles of the decal options on the rear, and inside are two sprues of grey styrene, a small clear sprue in a Ziploc bag, a sheet of decals, plus the instruction booklet that is printed on a sheet of folded A4 in black and white. Detail is good, with fine engraved panel lines, raised and recessed features inside and out, and a nicely detailed main gear bay. KP Models kits are medium run, and there is evidence of this in some panel lines that may need extending to their full length around the wing leading edges, a little flash in places, and there appears to be a very slight patina visible under magnification to some of the open areas that should be looked at after a coat of primer to establish whether it will show through, in which case a very light sanding of those areas would be advisable to ensure a good finish. Construction begins with the instrument panel, which has the rudder pedals moulded-in, and a dial decal is applied to the front after painting, adding the gunsight to the top of the coaming. Detail painting instructions are given for the cockpit sidewalls, then the floor is painted a wooden shade as indicated, adding a console on the port side, the seat and armour to the rear after applying decal belts, the control column in front of the seat, the panel with coaming, and a bulkhead at the front of the floor. To the rear, the fuel tank with radio gear on top is glued to the floor, and the completed assembly is inserted in the port fuselage side along with an insert for the tail wheel bay, and a plate that blanks off the air pathway behind the pilot. The tail gear bay roof is a single part that receives the tail-wheel and is inserted into the port fuselage before closure, dealing with the seams in your preferred manner, and fitting intake lips under the nose and on the belly intake to complete them. The lower wing is a single-span part, which has the well-detailed main bay installed and painted, mating it with the fuselage before adding the upper wing halves, ensuring there is a 5° dihedral once the glue has set. The elevators are each separate parts that are attached either side of the tail fin in the usual slot-and-tab manner, using the parts appropriate to your choice, then gluing the rudder panel into the rear of the fin. The flaps and ailerons are separate parts, affixing to the trailing edges, with the possibility of posing the flaps lowered and the ailerons deflected if you wish. The four-bladed prop with cuffs are moulded as a single part that is trapped between the front and black-plate of the spinner, inserting the short axle at the rear into the nose of your model, adding a pitot probe under the starboard wing, an aerial mast on the spine behind the cockpit, and the two-part canopy/windscreen assembly over the cockpit cut-out, with a rear-view mirror on the apex of the windscreen. A choice of two styles of exhaust stacks is offered in this boxing, so check your references to see which is appropriate for your build, then install the main gear legs and wheels into the outer ends of the main bays, with captive bay doors against the struts, and inner bay doors hinging down the centreline, with a choice of colour options for the interior. Finally, a pair of two-part drop-tanks are included with pylons to mount under the wings outboard of the main gear bays, as shown in the final instruction step. Markings There are three decal options per boxing, and from each box you can build one of the following: 20th Fighter Group (KPM0440) 361st Fighter Group (KPM0442) The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion A couple of nice 1:72 late Mustangs with some interesting transitional schemes that retain some of the olive drab in places around the airframe. Highly recommended. P-51D-5 Mustang20th Fighter Group (KPM0440) P-51D-5 Mustang 361st Fighter Group (KPM0442) Review sample courtesy of

P-51D-5 Mustang ProfiPACK (70171) 1:72 Eduard The P-51 was developed by the North American Aviation company as a potential fighter for Great Britain, but due to the poor performance of the original Allison engine at altitude it wasn’t suitable, especially for a specification that included combat at high altitude over Britain. Happily, in an attempt to correct this deficiency they decided to strap a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine to front of 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 with a “razor-back” spine and scalloped rear-view windows behind the cockpit, until some bright spark took a blown hood that had been used successfully on the Spitfire and fitted it to British Mustangs, garnering the nickname Malcolm Hood after its manufacturer. The P-51D was altered to have a bubble canopy and cut-down aft fuselage that improved the pilot’s situational awareness, with an additional fin-fillet widely added later to regain some of the stability that had been lost by the new shape and fuel tank location. In British service it was known as the Mustang Mk.IV, and the same variant made at the Dallas factory with hollow AeroProducts props that was designated P-51K in US service was known as the Mk.IVa in RAF service to differentiate. Sadly, the hollow prop was prone to vibration thanks to some inferior quality control at the factory, so was often swapped out in the field. The P-51D is the Mustang that most people think of when they hear the name, unless they’re more of a petrol head or a bit horsey, although us modellers are more likely to ask “which variant?”. The Kit Following the launch of the initial boxings of Eduard’s brand-new 1:72 P-51 Mustang tooling, this ProfiPACK edition brings an additional sub-variant to the range, and a substantial decal sheet that contains five relevant options. There are three sprues in grey styrene, plus another of clear parts, a PE fret that is nickel-plated and pre-painted, a sheet of pre-cut masking material that isn’t pictured (think ‘yellow rectangle’), a stencil decal sheet, and the main decal sheet that contains the larger decals and national markings. The instruction booklet is printed in colour on glossy paper, and has profiles for the decal options on the rear pages. Construction begins with the pilot’s seat, which is built up with a framework seat with PE belts plus a PE document case on the back of the headrest, then the cockpit floor and fuel tanks are added in, with a framework on top that supports two radio boxes and a C-shaped bracket that fits over the assembly. A PE dial is installed on the floor, mounting control column with gaiter in front, and the seat made earlier with pilot armour and headrest, adding another pair of PE dials to the floor, plus a pair of stencils on top of the front boxes behind the pilot, remembering to detail paint the underside of the cockpit floor that will be seen through the main gear bays later. The starboard side wall frame has plenty of detail moulded-in, removing the front of some boxes, adding PE details over them, followed by the port sidewall that is prepared similarly. They are installed in the fuselage sides after painting the interior sections noted in the instructions, adding backing for the exhaust stubs at the front, followed by the tail-wheel bay that is made up from two halves, fitting the radiator pathway and a wide oval PE grille to the belly intake before the fuselage halves are closed. A separate fin is inserted into the fin with integral rudder panel, and a small insert is fitted to the aft deck behind the pilot, completing work there for now. The wheel bays are built up next with some advice regarding colour given along the way, splitting the bay down the middle with a bulkhead and bracketing it front and back with bay walls that have partial ribs moulded in place, and here the detail is excellent, including a landing light assembly that is fitted at an angle within the bay, using a scrap diagram to guide you. This assembly is fitted to the full-width lower wing along with ammo chute backing plates, and drilled out holes if you intend to mount the bomb racks. A single clear part for the three identification lights is installed in the starboard lower wingtip before the wing uppers are glued on and the aileron tabs fit into slots in their recesses, with some room for deflecting them if you wish. The short section of the nose moulded into the wing lower has a PE template to help you scribe a rectangular panel line under there, filling three of the other panel lines there with your favourite filler. On the leading edge is an insert for the guns with barrels moulded-in, adding a small tip light plug into the ends of the wingtips as they are mated with the fuselage. Then the elevator fins slide into slots horizontally, while the rudder is moulded into the tail fin that was installed earlier. The instrument panel gives you a choice of styrene or PE options, depending on which you prefer, the more detailed option layering a choice of two pre-painted PE parts for the main panel and another for the smaller central section. The styrene option is made from two parts, and has four decals represent the dials and switch-gear. The coaming has the panel fitted under it, mounting a gunsight on top, then hanging the rudder pedals from pegs behind the instrument panel. It is dropped into the front of the cockpit, and a scrap diagram shows it from the side, ensuring it is suspended vertically, perpendicular to the sill. The model is flipped over to install the outlets for the radiator, the larger aft exit held in place by a vertical PE actuator, gluing the tail gear strut and separate wheel into the bay under the tail, showing the correct angles in scrap diagrams nearby, and fixing a V-shaped PE retraction jack at the front of the two moulded-in doors. The intake lip is fitted along with a PE splitter under the belly, adding a PE appliqué panel behind it, whilst under the nose a pair of inserts are installed, using solid parts from the sprues, following which the smiley chin-intake lip is fitted under the prop back-plate, and five small raised marks are removed from the lower wings forward of the flaps near the outer end, then it’s time to build the landing gear. The tyres are moulded intact and have diamond tread, with hub caps added from either side before they’re fitted to the struts, which have moulded-in scissor-links and door actuators, adding the captive bay doors later. The flaps are each made up from two styrene parts with a tiny piece of PE added to the inner end of each one and a decal on the curved leading edge applied after painting, which you’ll need to remember to do later. Main gear and flaps are all slotted in place on the underside along with the captive outer bay doors, inner doors with actuators and a pitot probe under the port wing, after which you can rest her on her wheels for the first time. The prop is made from two pairs of blades that fit perpendicular to each other between the two spinner halves and separate back-plate, fitting it to the plate on the front of the fuselage. There are two styles of hood with two internal parts for all options in this boxing, gluing the windscreen into the front along with an optional rear-view mirror at the apex of the canopy. It can be glued over the remaining cockpit space in the closed position, or you can slide the canopy to the rear, using the scrap diagrams for guidance, and masking them with the included pre-cut kabuki-tape masks. A backup ring-and-bead gunsight is fitted, the ring inside the canopy, the bead on a short post on the top cowling, drilling a 0.3mm hole in the deck first. The exhausts are either single parts, or are made from two parts each, fitting them into slots in the cowling after painting them a suitable hot-metal colour, and fixing an aerial on the spine behind the cockpit. Drop tanks are last to be made, with a choice of three tank types that all share the same style of pylon, and they are each made from two halves. A few spare weapons are left on the sprue, including a set of five rockets for under each of the wings, which have separate tails and moulded-in launch-rails, plus a pack of three tube-carried rockets in a triangular cluster, and two sizes of bombs with separate fins. Markings There are five decal options included in this boxing, some wearing camouflage and others in bare metal. The overall term “bare metal” isn’t quite correct for the Mustang though, as large areas of their wings had their panel line joints puttied over to increase aerodynamic efficiency and thereby top speed, so it was necessary to overpaint these areas with a silver lacquer to harmonise the finish. These areas are marked out on a half-page series of profiles that show which are which, including aileron trim-tabs, plus elevator and rudder flying surfaces. From the box you can build one of the following: s/n 44-13321, Lt. George E. Preddy, 487th FS, 352nd FG, 8th AF, Bodney, United Kingdom, July 1944 s/n 44-13318, Lt. Col. Thomas L. Hayes Jr., CO of 364th FS, 357th FG, 8th AF, Leiston, United Kingdom, August 1944 s/n 44-13606, Capt. Claude J. Crenshaw, 369th FS, 359th FG, 8th AF, East Wretham, United Kingdom, September 1944 s/n 44-13859, Lt. Walter Mullins, 55th FS, 20th FG, 8th AF, Kings Cliffe, United Kingdom, September 1944 s/n 44-13321, Capt. John M. Simmons Jr., 317th FS, 325th FG, 15th AF, Lesina, Italy, September 1944 The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. There are masks for both styles of canopy in this boxing, pre-cut to shape from yellow kabuki-style paper tape on a sheet, including masks for the wheels, allowing you to cut the demarcations between tyres and hubs with ease. Conclusion Eduard have created a similarly well-detailed kit to their 1:48 offering in 1:72, and with it comes the ease of build of its larger sibling, PE and masks, plus a choice of five decal options. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

P-51B Mustang w/Dorsal Fin ProfiPACK (82108) 1:48 Eduard The P-51 was developed by the North American Aviation company as a potential fighter for Great Britain, but due to the poor performance of the original Allison engine at altitude it wasn’t suitable, especially for a specification that included combat at high altitude over Britain. Happily, in an attempt to correct this deficiency, they decided to install a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine to the airframe that brought out the best of its aerodynamic 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 with a “razor-back” spine and scalloped rear-view windows behind the cockpit, until some bright spark took a blown hood that had been used successfully on the Spitfire and fitted it to British Mustang Mk.IIIs, garnering the nickname Malcolm Hood after the company that created them. The P-51D was altered to have a bubble canopy and cut-down aft fuselage that improved the pilot’s situational awareness, with an additional fin-fillet added later to regain some of the stability that had been lost by the new shape and fuel tank location. In British service it was known as the Mustang Mk.IV, and the same variant made at the Dallas factory with hollow AeroProducts props that was designated P-51K in US service was known as the Mk.IVa in RAF service to differentiate. Sadly, the hollow prop was prone to vibration thanks to some inferior quality control at the factory, so was often swapped out in the field. The P-51D is the Mustang that most people think of when they hear the name, unless they’re more of a petrol head or a bit horsey, although us modellers are more likely to ask “which variant?”. The Kit Eduard entered the Mustang market with a brand-new P-51D in 2019, bringing exquisite detail and fit that became the new standard for many in 1:48 scale, and now we have the earlier B series, this variant benefitting from the added stability that the fin fillet gave it. This new boxing provides ProfiPACK levels of detail with parts to make the Malcolm hood or original ‘bird cage’ canopy option, in a predominantly American, but with one British decal option. The top-opening box contains six sprues in grey styrene, two clear sprues, a fret of pre-painted nickel-plated Photo-Etch (PE), three decal sheets, and a sheet of kabuki-style masking material (not pictured) that is pre-cut for the canopy glazing and wheels. Construction begins with the pilot’s seat, which is built up with a choice of traditional seat with PE belts for one option or the tubular-framed seat that is used for the remainder, one of which has different seatbelts, then the cockpit floor and fuel tanks are added in, with framework on top, and a divide between it and the cockpit that has the seatbelt tensioner removed and replaced by a new part. A couple of hoses in a V-shape are sited behind the seat, adding a control column with gaiter in front, and a fuel gauge on the floor either side of the pilot’s feet. Behind the pilot is a choice of two arrangements of boxes that includes the radio equipment that are shown with connecting wires in blue, firming up locations with a pair of scrap diagrams and notes where decals are applied. Another PE dial is applied to the front of a small PE housing that is raised from the floor, and it is already shaping up to be an exceptionally well-detailed cockpit. The starboard side wall frame has many details added, removing the front of one box to replace it with a more detailed PE face, with more PE along the sill, or decals if you prefer, choosing the layout appropriate to your decal choice. It is installed in the fuselage side after painting the interior sections noted in the instructions, adding an oxygen hose, a section of wing fillet and the backing for the exhaust stubs at the front, then the tail-wheel bay is made up from two parts, plus separate wheel and strut, fitting the radiator pathway and a spinner backing-plate into the port fuselage along with a grille and another exhaust backing panel, plus another highly detailed side wall frame with another choice of layout, and a wide oval PE grille to the belly intake before the fuselage is closed up. A hole is opened in the spine, filling holes in the port nose for some decal options, closing the fuselage around the cockpit and spinner back-plate, then fitting the scalloped rear-view windows typical of the early Mustang after painting the panels behind them. The wheel bays are built up next, splitting the bay down the middle and bracketing it front and back with bay walls that have partial ribs added once in place, and here the fit is exceptional, as is the detail. This assembly is fitted to the full-width lower wing and joined by a leading-edge landing light and a single clear part for the three identification lights, drilling out holes in the lower wing for fuel tanks if you intend to use them. The wing uppers go on and the aileron tabs fit into slots in their recesses, with some room for deflecting them if you wish. On the leading edge is an insert for the guns with separate barrel inserts, adding a choice of two styles of tiny tip light over and under the wingtips as they are mated with the fuselage. The empennage is assembled, sliding the elevator fins with separate flying surfaces into slots horizontally, while the rudder can be fitted at any sensible angle, as all flying surfaces are single thickness parts with a sharp trailing edge and taped ribs moulded-in. The instrument panel gives you a choice of styrene or PE options, depending on which you prefer, the more detailed option layering two pre-painted PE parts for the main panel and the smaller central section, adding PE levers to complete it. The styrene option is made from two parts, and has two decals to represent the dials, with two configurations for both methods. A choice of two coaming styles is detailed with de-fogging nozzles, gluing the panel beneath it, mounting a choice of gunsight on top, then hanging the rudder pedals from pegs behind the instrument panel. The completed assembly is dropped into the front of the cockpit, and a scrap diagram shows it from the side, ensuring it is suspended vertically, perpendicular to the sill. A small PE panel is glued to the cowling behind the exhaust exit on the port side for some decal options, flipping the model over to install the outlets for the radiator, the larger aft exit held at the correct angle by a vertical PE rod. A V-shaped PE actuator holds the tail bay doors in position, and the intake lip is fitted along with a PE splitter under the belly, removing a raised area behind it, to be replaced by a new PE part. Under the nose are a pair of inserts that are perforated for some decal options, and a curved chin-intake lip is fitted under the prop back-plate, then it’s time to build the landing gear. The tyres are moulded in halves, and have diamond tread with hub caps added from either side before they’re fitted to the struts, which have separate styrene scissor-links and door actuators slotted into place. The flaps are each made up from two styrene parts with a tiny piece of PE added to the inner end of each one and a decal applied to the curved leading edge after painting, which you’ll have to remember to add later. Main gear and flaps are all slotted into place on the underside along with the captive outer gear bay doors, inner doors with actuators and a pitot probe under the starboard wing, and at that point you can rest the model on its wheels for the first time. There is a choice of exhaust styles, making up two sets and installing them in the slots on either side of the nose, then the prop is made from two paired blades that fit perpendicular to each other between the two spinner halves and separate back-plate, fitting it to the front of the fuselage in case there was any doubt. A choice of two windscreens is glued into the front of the cockpit, adding sill and a rear hoop if leaving the canopy open, using different parts for open and closed options, the closed option having long rails behind it that must be handled carefully as they are necessarily delicate. The closed Malcolm canopy is a different part, and there are three decal options that have the original framed canopy, with separate steps included. For the bird cage canopy, the open option is depicted by one part that has the upper section moulded in the open position, while the lower section hangs down against the side of the fuselage, while the closed option consist of just one part, glued between the common windscreen part. A backup ring-and-bead gunsight is fitted to both options, the ring inside the canopy, the bead on a short post on the top cowling, drilling a 0.2mm hole in the deck first. There are two types of aerial mast and a two-part D/F loop for different markings, one aerial must be made from wire from your own stocks, installing the exhausts that are made from two parts each, fitting them into the slots in the cowling after painting them a suitable burned-metal colour. The two-part drop tanks are last to be made, with a choice of two tank types that share the same style of pylon, leaving two four-part bombs with square fins and other spare weapons on the sprue, including a set of five rockets under the wings, which have separate tails and moulded-in launch-rails, plus linked three tube-carried rockets in a triangular cluster and small bombs. Markings There are six decal options on the two larger sheets, with a variety of markings over various camouflage and natural metal schemes. The stencils are found on a third sheet, with the back page of the instructions covering their application, away from the other profiles to avoid replication and over-complication. From the box you can build one of the following: P-51B-1-NA, s/n 43-12375, Capt. Don M. Beerbower, 353rd FS, 354th FG, 9th AF, A-2 Cricqueville, France, June 1944 P-51C-10-NT, s/n 43-25054, Lt. Robert M. Scott, 79th FS, 20th FG, 8th AF, Kings Cliffe, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom, November 1944 Mustang Mk.III, s/n FZ111, F/L Mieczysław Gorzula, No. 309 (Polish) Squadron, RAF Andrews Field, United Kingdom, April-May 1945 P-51B-15-NA, s/n 43-24877, Lt. Harold P. Kick, 325th FS, 318th FG, 15th AF, Lesina, Italy, November 1944 P-51C-10 NT, s/n 44-11096, 26th FS, 51st FG, 14th AF, Kunming, China, 1944 P-51C, Lt. G. J. Kaplanek and L. D. Monaghan, 118th TRS, 23rd FG, 14th AF, Chengkung, China, May 1945 The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. The kabuki masking sheet contains pre-cut masks that are perfectly sized to keep the canopy crystal clear during the building and painting of your model, plus a set of hub/tyre masks to make cutting the demarcation a simple task. There’s even a mask for the landing light in the wing leading edge. Conclusion The Malcolm hood is my own personal favourite of the early Mustangs, but it was a surprise to see it used in American service. The detail is stunning, and you also have the choice of three airframes with unadapted canopies, in case you’re not a fan of the blown hoods. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Mustang Mk.III ProfiPACK (82109) 1:48 Eduard The P-51 was developed by the North American Aviation company as a potential fighter for Great Britain, but due to the poor performance of the original Allison engine at altitude it wasn’t suitable, especially for a specification that included combat at high altitude over Britain. Happily, in an attempt to correct this deficiency, they decided to install a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine to the airframe that brought out the best of its aerodynamic 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 with a “razor-back” spine and scalloped rear-view windows behind the cockpit, until some bright spark took a blown hood that had been used successfully on the Spitfire and fitted it to British Mustang Mk.IIIs, garnering the nickname Malcolm Hood after the company that created them. The P-51D was altered to have a bubble canopy and cut-down aft fuselage that improved the pilot’s situational awareness, with an additional fin-fillet added later to regain some of the stability that had been lost by the new shape and fuel tank location. In British service it was known as the Mustang Mk.IV, and the same variant made at the Dallas factory with hollow AeroProducts props that was designated P-51K in US service was known as the Mk.IVa in RAF service to differentiate. Sadly, the hollow prop was prone to vibration thanks to some inferior quality control at the factory, so was often swapped out in the field. The P-51D is the Mustang that most people think of when they hear the name, unless they’re more of a petrol head or a bit horsey, although us modellers are more likely to ask “which variant?”. The Kit Eduard entered the Mustang market with a brand-new P-51D in 2019, bringing exquisite detail and fit that became the new standard for many in 1:48 scale, and now we have the earlier B series, starting with the Overlord dual-combo boxing that was released as a Limited Edition. This new single boxing provides ProfiPACK levels of detail with a new sprue containing parts to make the Malcolm hood option, and entirely British markings for the decal options, with six sprues in grey styrene, two clear sprues, a new fret of pre-painted nickel-plated Photo-Etch (PE), and a sheet of kabuki-style masking material that is pre-cut for the canopy glazing and wheels. Construction begins with the pilot’s seat, which is built up with a choice of traditional seat with PE belts for two options or the tubular-framed seat that is used for the remainder, then the cockpit floor and fuel tanks are added in, with framework on top, and a divide between it and the cockpit that has the seatbelt tensioner removed and replaced by a new part. A couple of hoses in a V-shape are sited behind the seat, adding a control column with gaiter in front, and a fuel gauge on the floor either side of the pilot’s feet. Behind the pilot is a series of boxes that includes the radio equipment that are shown with connecting wires in blue, firming up locations with a pair of scrap diagrams and notes where decals are applied. Another PE dial is applied to the front of a small PE housing that is raised from the floor, and it is already shaping up to be an exceptionally well-detailed cockpit. The starboard side wall frame has many details added, removing the front of one box to replace it with a more detailed PE face, with more PE along the sill, or decals if you prefer, choosing the layout appropriate to your decal choice. It is installed in the fuselage side after painting the interior sections noted in the instructions, adding an oxygen hose, a section of wing fillet and the backing for the exhaust stubs at the front, then the tail-wheel bay is made up from two parts, plus separate wheel and strut, fitting the radiator pathway and a spinner backing-plate into the port fuselage along with a grille and another exhaust backing panel, plus another highly detailed side wall frame with another choice of layout, and a wide oval PE grille to the belly intake before the fuselage is closed up. A hole is opened in the spine, filling holes in the port nose for some decal options, closing the fuselage around the cockpit, then fitting the scalloped rear-view windows typical of the early Mustang after painting the panels behind them. The wheel bays are built up next, splitting the bay down the middle and bracketing it front and back with bay walls that have partial ribs added once in place, and here the fit is exceptional, as is the detail. This assembly is fitted to the full-width lower wing and joined by a leading-edge landing light and a single clear part for the three identification lights, drilling out holes in the lower wing for fuel tanks if you intend to use them. The wing uppers go on and the aileron tabs fit into slots in their recesses, with some room for deflecting them if you wish. On the leading edge is an insert for the guns with separate barrel inserts, adding a choice of two styles of tiny tip light over and under the wingtips as they are mated with the fuselage. The empennage is assembled, sliding the elevator fins with separate flying surfaces into slots horizontally, while the rudder can be fitted at any sensible angle, as all flying surfaces are single thickness parts with a sharp trailing edge and taped ribs moulded-in. The instrument panel gives you a choice of styrene or PE options, depending on which you prefer, the more detailed option layering two pre-painted PE parts for the main panel and the smaller central section, adding PE levers to complete it. The styrene option is made from two parts, and has two decals to represent the dials, with two configurations for both methods. A choice of two coaming styles is detailed with de-fogging nozzles, gluing the panel beneath it, and mounting a choice of gunsight on top, then hanging the rudder pedals from pegs behind the instrument panel. The completed assembly is dropped into the front of the cockpit, and a scrap diagram shows it from the side, ensuring it is suspended vertically, perpendicular to the sill. A small PE panel is glued to the cowling behind the exhaust exit on the port side for some decal options, flipping the model over to install the outlets for the radiator, the larger aft exit held at the correct angle by a vertical PE rod. A V-shaped PE actuator holds the tail bay doors in position, and the intake lip is fitted along with a PE splitter under the belly, removing a raised area behind it, to be replaced by a new PE part. Under the nose are a pair of inserts that are perforated, and a curved chin-intake lip is fitted under the prop back-plate, then it’s time to build the landing gear. The tyres are moulded in halves, and have diamond tread with hub caps added from either side before they’re fitted to the struts, which have separate styrene scissor-links and door actuators slotted into place. The flaps are each made up from two styrene parts with a tiny piece of PE added to the inner end of each one and a decal applied to the curved leading edge after painting, which you’ll have to remember to add later. Main gear and flaps are all slotted into place on the underside along with the captive outer gear bay doors, inner doors with actuators and a pitot probe under the starboard wing, and at that point you can rest the model on its wheels for the first time. There is a choice of exhaust styles, making up two sets and installing them in the slots on either side of the nose, then the prop is made from two paired blades that fit perpendicular to each other between the two spinner halves and separate back-plate, fitting it to the front of the fuselage in case there was any doubt. A choice of two windscreens is glued into the front of the cockpit, adding sill and a rear hoop if leaving the canopy open, using different parts for open and closed options, the closed option having long rails behind it that must be handled carefully as they are necessarily delicate. The closed Malcolm canopy is a different part, and there are three decal options that have the original framed canopy, with separate steps included. The open option is depicted by one part that has the upper section moulded in the open position, while the lower section hangs down against the side of the fuselage, while the closed option consist of just one part. A backup ring-and-bead gunsight is fitted to both options, the ring inside the canopy, the bead on a short post on the top cowling, drilling a 0.2mm hole in the deck first. There are three types of aerial mast for different markings, one must be made from wire from your own stocks, installing the exhausts that are made from two parts each, fitting them into the slots in the cowling after painting them a suitable burned-metal colour. The two-part drop tanks are last to be made, with a choice of two tank types that share the same style of pylon, or you could mount two four-part bombs with square fins, leaving more spare weapons on the sprue, including a set of five rockets under the wings, which have separate tails and moulded-in launch-rails, plus linked three tube-carried rockets in a triangular cluster and small bombs. Markings There are seven decal options on one sheet, with a variety of markings over the same basic British scheme. The stencils are found on a second sheet, with the back page of the instructions covering their application, away from the other profiles to avoid replication and over-complication. From the box you can build one of the following: FZ152, W/Cdr Stanisław Skalski, CO of No. 133 (Polish) Wing, Holmsley South, United Kingdom, June 1944 FZ152, W/Cdr Stanisław Skalski, CO of No. 133 (Polish) Wing, Coolham, United Kingdom, April-May 1944 FB387, PK-G, S/Ldr Eugeniusz Horbaczewski, CO of No. 315 Squadron, Brenzett, Kent, August 1944 FZ181, F/Sgt A. J. Fellows, No. 19 Squadron, Funtington, United Kingdom, April-May 1944 FB260, G/Cpt Brian A. Eaton, CO of No. 329 Wing, Italy, Autumn 1944 HB900, F/Lt Reginald A. Wild DFC, No. 112 Squadron, Creti LG, Italy, July 1944 FB254, W/O J. S. Duncan, No. 260 Squadron, Cutella LG, Italy, April-May 1944 The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. The kabuki masking sheet contains pre-cut masks that are perfectly sized to keep the canopy crystal clear during the building and painting of your model, plus a set of hub/tyre masks to make cutting the demarcation a simple task. There’s even a mask for the landing light in the wing leading edge. Conclusion The Malcolm hood is my own personal favourite of the early Mustangs, so I’m very happy to see it, especially with D-Day special markings. The detail is stunning, and you also have the choice of three airframes with un-adapted canopies, in case you’re not a fan of the blown hoods. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

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

Stallions in Italy (PV-006-48) P-51D Mustangs of USAAF 15th Air Force 1:48 & 1:72 Paulus Victor Paulus Victor have a unique aspect to their products that include a slew of background information and technical assistance to the modeller that generally hasn’t been available in the same envelope with decals before. They provide stories, not just decals in isolation. Their packaging is also unique, with a high-quality feel to everything, and attention to detail evident in every aspect of the set. They arrive in a thick Ziploc bag, with a folded sheet that contains instructions that are larger than A3 when opened, showing the five subjects printed across the sheets, and additional information and small detail photos for your reference. This is wrapped in an outer folder that covers stencilling, details to make your model more accurate, and some more small photos that point out salient points. Sliding the card folder out of the bag reveals the contents and sticker, the folder itself covered in additional information that should be useful in helping you paint and decal your chosen subject. The subjects of these two decal sheets are five Mustangs as expected, all with natural metal finishes and colourful tails in red, yellow and checkered. Each airframe is discussed in detail around the profiles, and has at least one photo of the real thing to accompany the text. The painting guide helps you through the painting of these aircraft accurately down to the finest of details, as well as offering background information for each one. You can build the following from the included decals: P-51D-5-NA Mustang ‘WD-M’, ‘PENDAJA’, s/n 44-13287, Spec. Proj. No. 90674N - 4th Fighter Squadron, 52nd Fighter Group, 306th Fighter Wing, 15th Air Force P-51D-5-NA Mustang ‘3’, s/n 44-13465, Spec. Proj. No. 90694R - 306th Fighter Wing, 15th Air Force P-51D-20-NA Mustang ‘91’, ‘The Partisan’, s/n 44-15636, Spec. Proj. No. 90940R - 319th Fighter Squadron, 325th Fighter Group, 306th Fighter Wing, 15th Air Force P-51D-20-NA Mustang ‘HL-B’, ‘Tempus Fugit’, s/n 44-63237, Spec. Proj. No. 91006R - 308th Fighter Squadron, 31st Fighter Group, 306th Fighter Wing, 15th Air Force P-51D-15-NA Mustang ‘42’, ‘Creamer’s Dream’, s/n 44-15472, Spec. Proj. No. 90938R - 301st Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group, 306th Fighter Wing, 15th Air Force Each subject has notes and small photographs of unique aspects etc., to help you with your preparation, painting and application of the decals. Each type is discussed in detail in the text portions of the instructions with additional drawings, photos of parts of the airframes that were different from the originals. The key take-away is that you are given the information that you need, and you can use it to make your model more accurate. The decals themselves are printed on two similarly sized sheets of blue decal paper at a high resolution that renders all the stencils legible, providing you have good enough eyesight and a grasp of English. They have good registration, sharpness and colour density, and additional squares are included for the chequered tails in case you make a mistake. One of the flaps recommends some further reading to expand your knowledge of the P-51, and at the bottom it has a small square that acknowledges the support of Marko Jeras and Martin Kyburz for their help in creating this detailed sheet and accompanying literature. Just in case you’re new to waterslide decals or would like to refresh your memory, there are a set of general decal handling and application instructions printed on the rear of the folder, guiding you through the preparation of the surface, the decals and the application of setting solutions, plus how to seal them for posterity. Conclusion Decal sheets usually come with brief instructions if any, so Paulus Victor is a breath of fresh air, giving you plenty to read, plenty to help you create a more accurate model, and plenty of advice on how to make your painting and decaling process more satisfying and realistic. We have received the 1:48 sheet for review, but the 1:72 sheet is functionally identical, differing mainly in size due to the scale. The links below lead to Paulus Victor’s current outlet, which is eBay. The links will take you directly to those sheets if you wish to check them out further. Highly recommended. 1:48 1:72 Review sample courtesy of

P-51D Mustang & Messerschmitt Bf.109F-4 Dogfight Double (A50193) 1:72 Airfix This is a reboxing of two recent toolings from Airfix’s growing Starter Set range that includes two simplified kits plus stands, nine thumb-pots of Humbrol acrylic paint, a 5ml tube of cement, and a #0 and #4 Humbrol paint brush with clear plastic tubes protecting the synthetic bristles. This range is intended to cater to the novice, whether they’re young, old or anywhere in between, or an experienced modeller that wants to build something simple for a change that is sometimes referred to as a “palette cleanser”. Starter Set instructions differ slightly from the standard offering, as they include yellow markings as suggestions for where to apply the glue between parts, and each step of the instructions has a sprue diagram in the corner that points out the location of the parts used, cutting down on the time spent hunting for parts that can affect even the most experienced modeller, draining away valuable modelling time hunting for that elusive part. The kits arrive in an end-opening box and aside from the consumables already mentioned in one bag, there are two kits in their own bags, the instruction booklet that is shared and has profiles at the rear of each section, plus the decal sheet that is also shared between them. The stands are made from a silhouette-shaped base that mimics the shadow of the kit and has a curved support, plugging the model into the top once complete. There are engraved Airfix logos at each wingtip that could be painted a contrasting colour if you’re feeling adventurous, or you could paint the entire stand a dark shade to resemble the shadow of the aircraft flying low over the ground. North American P-51D Mustang The North American P-51 Mustang is one of the most famous and easily-recognisable of Allied types to have served during WWII. It was originally designed to a British requirement for a low-altitude fighter, and because it was designed around the Alison V-1710 engine, it had limited performance at higher altitudes. This shortcoming was famously addressed by the marriage of North American’s airframe to Rolls Royce’s legendary Merlin engine. Once so equipped, the Mustang was able to take on Luftwaffe fighters on equal or better terms up to 15,000 feet. In common with later Spitfires, the D model of the Mustang employed a cut-down rear fuselage and a bubble canopy, giving pilots superb all-round vision, but soon requiring a fillet to the tail fin to return some of the lost stability. Other improvements included adding extra .50cal machine guns to the wings, giving the pilot three guns per wing with a commensurate increase in firepower. Over 8,000 P-51Ds were produced before it was superseded by the next variant, more than any other Mustang type. The outstanding feature of the aircraft was its range, which enabled Mustangs to escort bombers all the way to Berlin and back, reducing bomber losses, and diminishing the number of enemy fighters available to fight them off with every successive mission. This prompted the famous quote from Reichmarshall Herman Göring: "When I saw Mustangs over Berlin, I knew the jig was up." In German, of course. Its successor, the P-51H had a lengthened fuselage with additional fuel tank in the new space, a more powerful Merlin engine with broader props to use the 2,270hp of raw power, all thanks to the weight savings found during development of the intervening unsuccessful variants, although it didn’t see service during WWII. This was the airframe that became the basis of the F-82 Twin Mustang, which is another story entirely. The kit comprises three sprues of grey styrene, plus a clear sprue, sharing the instructions and decals with the 109, as mentioned. Detail is perfect for a Starter Kit, having good external detail, with engraved panel lines and raised features such as underwing pylons and gun barrels in the leading edges of the wings. There is also a simple cockpit and crew figure to add detail to the model, plus the option to build it with gear up or down. Construction begins with the cockpit, which is a long part which receives the seat and the pilot, trapping it between the fuselage halves after some interior painting. The wings are moulded as a single lower and linked upper layer, having main gear bay roof details moulded into the underside of the upper, and noting that the inner bay doors are moulded closed in the lower wing, as these were generally closed on landing, sometimes sagging as the hydraulic pressure bled away after switch-off and disembarkation of the pilot. The fuselage fits in the gap between the upper wings, adding elevators to slots either side of the tail that is moulded into both fuselage halves, with the rudder moulded into the starboard side. Two single-part exhaust stub runs are slotted into the nose, then if you are mounting your model on the stand, you can close the main gear bays with two separate door parts, inserting the tail wheel into the rear bay. To pose the model on the ground, the two gear struts have single-part wheels located on keyed pegs at the lower end, adding the flared bay doors to the exterior face. The key in the wheels will ensure that the small flat-spot on the tyre will align with the ground when the model is finished. A pair of two-part drop-tanks are included, mounting under the wings on the short pylons that are moulded into the undersides. The Mustang’s four-bladed prop is moulded as a single part that is trapped between the spinner and back-plate parts, using a pin to secure it to the nose insert before plugging that into the front of the fuselage, and if you are careful with the glue the prop should remain mobile. The canopy is a single part and fits over the cockpit cut-out, with a short antenna slotted into the spine behind it, completing the model. Messerschmitt Bf.109F-4 With almost 34,000 examples manufactured over a 10-year period, the Messerschmitt Bf.109 is one of the most widely produced aircraft in history and saw active service in every theatre in which German armed forces were engaged. Initially designed in the mid-1930s, the Bf.109 shared a similar general arrangement with the Spitfire, employing monocoque construction and a V12 engine, albeit an inverted V with fuel injection rather than the carburettor used in the Spitfire. Initially designed as a lightweight interceptor, like many German types during WWII, the Bf.109 evolved beyond its original brief into a bomber escort, fighter bomber, night fighter, ground-attack and reconnaissance platform. The -E variant, or Emil as it was more affectionately known was the first major revision of the original design, including an uprated engine and the attendant strengthening of the airframe that was required. It first saw service in the Legion Condor fighting in the Spanish Civil War on the side of Nationalist forces of Military Dictator Franco, and then in the Battle of Britain where it came up against its nemeses the Supermarine Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane during the critical fight for the survival of the RAF and Great Britain, which was key to halting Operation Sea lion/Seelöwe, the invasion of Britain by the Nazis. The -F, or Freidrich as it was colloquially known was another revision that was initially based around a new more powerful Daimler-Benz DB 601E engine, but also experimented with changes to the wing planform, shortening the tips, but adding back a semi-elliptical tip when the test flights showed off the negative effects the wingspan reduction had created. The new tips became the standard going forward, and other aerodynamic refinements were made to improve performance, including expansion of the radiators and the intake for the supercharger on the port side of the cowling. The end result was considered to be the best handling 109 by its pilots, although its successor the Gustav was faster and more heavily armed. Almost 2,000 of the F-4 were manufactured, with 20mm cannon in the cowling, and later examples capable of carrying additional cannons in panniers under the wings. Inside the bag are three sprues of grey styrene, and a small clear sprue, the instruction booklet and decal sheet shared between the two kits. Detail is good, bearing in mind the simplified nature of the kit, extending to the cockpit, gear bays, nicely moulded wheels and a pilot figure with his hands on his laps. Construction begins with the cockpit, fitting the pilot into the tub, noting that there isn’t a control column present in case you feel like adding one. The cockpit is glued into the starboard fuselage half, choosing either a retracted tail-wheel or using the same part in a vertical orientation for wheels down. A horizontal insert carries the exhaust stacks on each side, with an arrow ensuring that it is inserted the correct way around, and the exhausts project from the slots in the sides of the cowling. With that the fuselage can be closed, and after the glue has cured the wings are made from upper and lower full-span parts, slotting the fuselage in between them and adding the elevators to slots either side of the tail. The supercharger intake is fitted to a recess in the port nose cowling, then the model is inverted to add the twin radiator housings beneath the wings, and the oil-cooler intake under the nose. While the model is inverted, the main gear legs with moulded-in bay doors are inserted into the bay after adding wheels to each axle, or the slimmed-down retracted versions are glued into the recess with a section of the tyre visible past the captive gear bay doors. Righting the model permits fitting of the one-part canopy, which has a small hole near the rear for an aerial mast, creating the prop from three blades that are moulded as one, spinner and back-plate, plus a peg that pushes through a circular plug that glues into the front of the model, taking care with the adhesive if you want the prop to spin once the model is complete. Markings Each kit has one decal option on a shared sheet, with the profiles at the end of the corresponding build steps. From the box you can build the following: Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion The Starter Set range is intended for a wide audience, with the possible exception of the ‘serious modeller’, but they already have more detailed kits of both types from Airfix and others, so they can’t complain, and we need more modellers in our hobby. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

P-51B/C Mustang 3D Printed Upgrade Sets (for Eduard) 1:48 Eduard Brassin We reviewed the new 1:48 P-51B/C Mustang here recently, and as is the way, Eduard have created plenty of after market sets to further improve the detail of your new purchase, and this tranche are all 3D Printed under the Brassin branding. The larger sets arrive in a shallow Brassin cardboard box, with the resin parts safely cocooned in bags, and the instructions folded around acting as padding, while the smaller sets arrive in a flat resealable package similar to their PE sets but with different branding, with a white backing card protecting the contents and the instructions that are sandwiched between. The printed parts are safely ensconced in crystal clear clamshell boxes inside the pack, secured inside by a piece of double-sided tape that prevents them from rattling around during shipping. Wheels - Various Treads (648986-90) These sets include two main wheels with varying treads depending on which you choose below, plus two outer hubs for the main wheels, a tail-wheel with integral hub, and a set of pre-cut kabuki tape masks that allow cutting of the demarcation between tyre and hub with little effort. They have a slight weighting effect at the bottom of the tyres, which is where the parts are connected to their base, which makes removal simple, and if you make a mistake during cutting, your shame will be hidden under the model once completed. We requested just one of the sets as an example, which we have pictured below. If you need to see photos of the others, follow the links to view the Eduard site. Diamond Tread (648986) Oval Tread (648987) Cross Tread (648988) Block Tread (648989) Diamond Tread 2 (648990) Seats – Various Types The P-51 flew with three different styles of seat in the cockpit - one at a time of course (until after the war), and Eduard have created resin sets of each one to add more detail to your model with little additional effort. Each set includes a 3D printed seat that is printed as one monolithic part, and includes a set of pre-painted, nickel-plated Photo-Etch (PE) seatbelts to add more realism. The belts include fold-over chest adjustment buckles, and comfort pads under the clasp, with the release lever folded over perpendicular to the straps. Again, we requested one seat, and you can see the other by following the links below. Seat Type 1 (6481002) Seat Type 2 (6481003) Seat Type 3 (6481009) Hamilton Standard Propeller – Cuffed & Uncuffed (6481006 & 1007 for Eduard) A very obvious difference between Mustangs was their prop, usually a Hamilton Standard unit, and either cuffed or uncuffed, which is a short fairing at the base of the prop that widens the blade toward the spinner. Both types have been released, and we have both to review. They are built in the same manner, and have the same parts breakdown, consisting of four separate blades, a front and back portion of the spinner, central boss and a prop-shaft that is glued into the front of the fuselage. In addition, a resin jig is provided, plus a small fret of PE that includes three tiny circular parts, one of which inserts in the tip of the spinner. Construction begins with drilling out the centre at the rear of the boss with a 2mm bit, to a depth of 5.3mm, which can be achieved by measuring and placing tape on your bit before you begin. If you have a drill press, all the better. The boss is then inserted into the jig without glue, and the first blade is plugged into the hole with a little super glue securing it in place. The next three are done the same way by rotating the boss 90° in the jig, leaving them to cure before closing the two halves of the spinner around the freshly-assembled prop. If you intend to depict the prop in a maintenance situation, there is detail moulded into the interior of the spinner halves, and additional painting instructions in their usual choice of Gunze Sangyo codes. The completed (or dismantled) prop can then be slipped over the newly installed prop shaft, placed on a winch, or workbench, depending on what you have in mind for it. Hamilton Standard Propeller (6481006) Hamilton Standard Propeller (6481007) Bazooka Rocket Launcher (6481008) The Mustang could carry a bundle of three-tube rocket-launchers under each wing for ground-attack missions, which this set replicates in excellent detail. The set contains two packs of rockets, with separate end caps for the rear that give the impression of hollow ends or covered rears, plus two mounting legs with a diagonal brace between them. Two PE straps join the front support with the strapping in front, bending them slightly so the ends sit square, as shown in the diagram. Conclusion A great range of upgrades that will add detail and individuality to your model, with minimal effort and maximum reward. Just beware of inhaling resin dust, as it’s not good for your lungs. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

T-2 Buckeye Anniversary Markings (SH48231) 1:48 Special Hobby Following WWII, the US Air Force embraced the jet engine wholeheartedly, with the Navy lagging behind a little due to the slow spool-up of the early jet engines that made wave-offs and go-arounds a cheek-clenching prospect. By the early 50s the T-28 Trojan was showing its age, so those in command began looking for a replacement. North American of P-51 Mustang fame won a contract in the mid-50s, and the T-2A flew by 1958, entering limited service a year later, with only one jet engine installed in the earliest variant, which was also called the T2J-1 at the time, although consolidation of naming in 1962 renamed it as the T-2A. By the time the T-2B entered service, the engine count had increased by one to give it more speed and similarity of operation to the aircraft that the trainees would eventually fly after graduation. Around 600 airframes were built in total, and the type had a long career that spanned around 40 years, with most pilots during that time having spent part of their training flying a Buckeye, the name given to it that relates to the location of the factory in Ohio that made them, which has a state tree by that name. The T-2C was the final variant in US service, with GE engines replacing the Pratt & Whitney units, presumably for efficiency and maintenance reasons, as they brought no extra power to the party. 50+ D and E variants were built for overseas operators in South America and more notably Greece, who took 40 and are still flying them at time of writing. In US service the Buckeye was retired in 2008 when it was replaced by the more modern T-45 Goshawk, which is a substantially re-engineered and Navalised version of the BAe Hawk, as used by the RAF and the famous Red Arrows. The Goshawk is faster and more agile than its predecessor, getting close to the sound barrier and with advanced avionics that mimics those of the current fighters better than the worn-out Buckeyes could manage. A few T-2s are still flying in private hands, and make appearances at air shows, as do the Greek airframes if you’re lucky. The Kit This is a welcome reboxing of the 2009 tooling that initially appeared under another manufacturer’s name, but with Special Hobby doing the tooling, while subsequent boxings were released under Special hobby’s own name, so if you missed out on those, now is the time. The kit arrives in a top-opening box that has a pair of profiles of the decal options laid over a merged US and Greek flag. Inside are five sprues of grey styrene, two small clear sprues, one for the canopy parts, a small bag with thirty-nine resin parts, two decal sheets, a fret of pre-painted Photo-Etch (PE) parts, and finally an instruction booklet printed in colour on glossy white paper, with painting and decaling profiles on the rear pages, followed by some adverts for some of Special Hobby’s other products. Detail is good, and improved further by the resin that’s included, especially a pair of ejection seats and four side consoles that are very well done, as is the rear-seater’s coaming, especially the wiring on the rear. Engraved panel lines, accompanied by raised and recessed features where you’d expect them go to make a good-looking model that has a reputation for being one of those models that you need to keep your wits about you when building, as there are fit issues that will need fettling. It’s certainly not unbuildable as some wavers-of-hands would bemoan, as it has been made by many a modeller in the years since it first appeared, with results varying according to level of skill and patience applied during building and painting, as with most things. Please note that the swirls visible on some of the parts above are from the moulding process and will disappear under paint. Construction begins with the cockpit, diving straight into the instrument panel, which has a lamination of two pre-painted instrument panels layers placed over the flat front under the coaming, with a styrene part with raised and recessed details on the surface for those who don’t like PE wrangling, a job that is repeated to make the rear instrument panel, which is a different shape, with the deeply recessed rear of the panel depicting the backs of the instruments and their wiring. The four resin side consoles are detailed with additional parts, including the rudder pedals from the sides, all of which has colour call outs using letters that correspond with a table of Gunze Sangyo paint codes, which carries on throughout the build. The next step is bringing together the various sub-assemblies on the cockpit floor, adding bulkheads behind each pilot, control columns, two more small parts on the tutor’s coaming and one on the student’s, and a rounded enclosure on a shelf behind him. There is a lamination of two PE parts for the mini-coaming around the instrument box on the top of the tutor’s coaming, which represents the instruments deep within. Finally, a small bulkhead is fitted to the front of the cockpit assembly. The rest of the internals need to be built and painted before closing the fuselage, starting with the long intake trunks, which are each made of two halves, attaching to a bulkhead that has the first compressor faces moulded-in, which should be painted metallic before installation. The same part-count and a similar bulkhead is used to create the exhausts, although the painting will be more of a burnt metallic shade for the whole assembly, thanks to the high temperatures there. The nose gear bay is in two halves, so mating them neatly will reduce any clean-up work before you can apply the paint. Adding 10 grams of nose weight during closure, along with the cockpit, intakes, nose gear bay, and exhausts, after which you can deal with the fuselage seams in your preferred manner. The rest of the flying surfaces are made up for a break from detail work, including the ailerons, elevator panels and separate flying surfaces, flaps and the two rudder panels, each one put together from two halves. The main planes are separated by the fuselage and are provided as top and bottom surfaces, adding two gear bay wall sections before closure, painting them and the detail moulded into the upper wing interior as you go. The wings, elevators and their panels, plus the two rudder halves are all installed, leaving the flaps until after completion of the lower fuselage. The open lower fuselage is filled with an insert with a small resin insert in the insert to be inserted (yikes!) to add detail where it would otherwise have been impossible with a two-part fuselage design, then a quartet of small intakes are fitted on marked locations on the lower sides of the fuselage where the engines are found. The exhaust trunks are finished with their pen-nib fairings, and the intakes are extended with a two-part fairing and fine lip to complete the assembly that is plugged into the fuselage sides under the rear cockpit. Finally, the arrestor hook is glued under the tail with a PE support near the hinge-point, the whole length of it painted in black and white stripes. The flaps can be attached tucked away for flight, or deployed for take-off and landing by adding three brackets per side to the leading edges before installing them in their wells. A clear light is inserted into a socket under the belly, and another flat light with a PE bezel is fixed under the nose, just behind a probe. The main gear legs have a sturdy upper section that needs the pegs cutting from the pivots, and these are joined to the lower on a stepped join for strength, adding PE tie-down lugs, separate scissor-links and a retractor jack that needs a 2mm piece of 1.5mm diameter rod fitting on one side. The leg has a two-part captive bay door applied to the outer surface, while the inner bay door hangs down, and is retracted by a delicate resin H-frame. The wheels are two parts, and slip over the stub axle at the bottom of the yoke, facing inboard. The nose gear is a single strut with an additional cylinder added to the front, and two scissor-links at the rear, installing another two-part wheel that is different from the main gear wheels. The bay doors are simple side-opening parts that hinge along the bay sides. Flipping the model over, the two-part tip-tanks with clear light added to the centre outboard and with a clear tip insert, are fitted to the wings, with three more lights on the tail fin plus a pitot probe, and two strakes on the fuselage sides under the tail fillet. A conformal landing light lens is inserted into a cut-out in the port wing leading edge, fitting the two resin ejection seats into the cockpit, which were painted and decaled while the cockpit was being made, adding a stripey black/yellow actuation handle to the headbox from the resin parts. The windscreen is glued into the front of the cockpit over the forward coaming, fitting the canopy in either open or closed positions. Before it is installed, a bulkhead is fixed under the rear of the canopy, with a resin bracing strut in the centre and a pair of rear-view mirrors in the front frame. To pose the canopy closed, a short ram is fixed under the cross-brace, with a longer one used to lift the canopy up for crew access. Markings There are two decal options on one sheet, with the second sheet containing stencils for around the airframe. From the box you can build one of the following: T-2C Buckeye, Bu.no.155241, No.309, VT-23 ‘The Professionals’, NAS Kingsville, Texas, 1976, marking the US Bicentennial. T-2E Buckeye, Bu.no.160084, No.84, 363 Air Training School (MEA) ‘Danaos’, 120 Air Training Wing (PEA), Kalamata, Hellenic Air Force, celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the 363 MEA. The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion It’s good to see this kit back on the shelves in my preferred scale, and with marking for US and Greek aircraft included to widen the appeal. The resin does a good job of increasing the detail of the model, especially those ejection seats and other cockpit details. Incidentally, if you have one of the early boxings and don’t like the vacformed canopies that come with those, Special Hobby have released just the canopy sprue for purchase separately, which you can find here. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

P-51B/C Mustang Control Surfaces (7514 for Arma Hobby) 1:72 CMK by Special Hobby Many models arrive from the manufacturer with their flying surfaces moulded into the wings and tail, regardless of scale. For those amongst us that wish to add some individuality to their models by depicting the flying surfaces either deflected as if they have just been left by the pilot, or performing a manoeuvre in-flight, the task of cutting out the kit surfaces and repairing or replacing them so they can be offset one direction or another is a fairly complex task that can put many modellers off. This set is intended to simplify the process, providing replacement surfaces that lets you remove the kit areas without worrying how much you cut away. This set arrives in CMK’s yellow themed blister pack, with a header card and the instructions forming the slot-in rear of the package, and holding the resin in place within the blister, using a sheet of clear acetate to separate the Photo-Etch (PE) parts to the rear when applicable. Consisting of nine grey resin parts in total on six casting blocks, there is a complete replacement for the kit tail in either filleted or unfilleted forms, to which the attach the fin and rudder panel, the former into two pin-holes, the latter down the groove in the fin. The elevators are separate, and attach to the rear of the stablisers, nestling into the rear, and bear in mind that the elevators move as one, so should be at the same angle unless battle damage has severed the linkage. Moving forward, the ailerons are the only parts that require surgery to the wings, cutting the trailing edge of upper and lower halves, being careful to leave the delicate wingtip at the very end. You can probably get away with bevelling the edges of the wing skins to depict the pivot surface, so scrape and test-fit as you go along, setting the two surfaces in opposition, remembering that the authority of the raised aileron is stronger, so less deflection is typically shown than on the lowered aileron. Check your references for evidence particular to the Mustang, just to be sure. Conclusion Detail is excellent on the exterior of the parts, and should blend in with the kit nicely. Helpfully, they are all attached to their casting blocks along hidden edges, so you should be able to score them through with a sharp blade if you don’t have a razor saw, with the possible exception of the stabilisers, which have the tail root moulded-in. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

NA Mustang in RAF Service - Wingleader Photo Archive #22 Part One – Allison Engined Variants Wingleader Publications Originally developed to fulfil a British requirement for a new fighter aircraft, the unmistakeable North American P-51 Mustang famously went from drawing board to first flight in just 178 days. It went on to become one of the most famous and successful aircraft of the Second World War, thanks to its speed, agility, distinctive looks and long-range capabilities. It was originally powered by an Allison built engine, which was better suited to lower-level operations, as performance gradually dropped off above 12,000ft, and the first Marks of Mustang that came on charge with the RAF were tasked with jobs that played to their strengths, such as low-level reconnaissance and ground attack. These specialists stayed in the fray longer than many would imagine, and went through several sub-variants, as well as the usual piecemeal upgrades that comes from experience. Initially known as the A-36 Apache, the British gave it the name Mustang that stuck on both sides of the Atlantic, and the first British mark was the Mk.I, followed by the Mk.Ia that added 20mm cannons to the wings, then the Mk.II that benefitted from numerous upgrades including the blown Malcolm Hood that improved the pilot’s situational awareness, especially behind him, where the spine of the aircraft was an impediment to his rear view. The spine would eventually be addressed with later marks that also benefitted from the less altitude-dependent Merlin engine in front of the cockpit. The Book This twenty-second volume in the series covers the activities of the Allison-engined Mustangs in RAF service throughout WWII, starting in 1941 and extending long beyond the end of WWII to 1947 when the final airframe of its type was struck off charge. It begins with the Mk.Is that were shipped across the Atlantic to Liverpool and re-assembled at Speke wearing North American’s impression of early war RAF camouflage. It went through colour changes and numerous markings amendments due in part to some misunderstandings by the manufacturers, but also thanks to changes required by the Air Ministry in an effort to standardise everything, but as usual it standardised very little, as can be seen at times. Interleaved between the pages of photos are sheets devoted to particular examples of the type that have been discussed in the preceding pages, pointing out aspects and colour details specific to that individual airframe that will assist the modeller, as well as points of conjecture where appropriate. The photo pages are filled with large crisp pictures within the constraints of the quality of the original medium, a few of which are even in colour, which is a rare treat, and as usual there are interesting captions that are frequently accompanied by arrows or letters to help the blunt-eyed reader identify the subject in question, whether it is a particular exhaust on the side of the cockpit, or the length of the intake trunk over the nose that gives the early Mustang its distinctive look, mimicking the older P-40. Some of the photos are staged of course, probably for the benefit of press or for use in training material, but there are also a large number of candid shots, a precious few of which are in colour, and some nearer the end of the book are of weather-beaten aircraft that have seen much better days, but due to the low-level nature of their operations, there are perhaps fewer damaged returnees, other than a couple that had caught a fleeting blast from a flak gun in the tail and been able to limp home. One aircraft was photographed after crash-landing behind enemy lines, the pilot being captured and imprisoned, while the Germans pored over what was to them a new aircraft type that was worthy of inspection. The Allison Mustang was also involved in D-Day, wearing Invasion Stripes as the need arose, with interpretation and necessity causing some non-standard applications. This also applied to other identification stripes, roundels, codes and markings, the reasons for which are interesting, showing how the squadrons and even the pilots individualised their personal aircraft. Conclusion Yet another in a growing line of visually impressive books with plenty of reading material into the bargain that will have you coming back to it again and again, especially if you have more than one Mustang in your stash, which is highly likely thanks to the reputation it gained and how different its first incarnation was from the last. I look forward to each new volume of this series, and as expected, I’ve become a firm adherent to them, waiting impatiently until they are published. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

F-86D Dog Sabre Upgrades (for Revell/Monogram) 1:48 Eduard The original Monogram tooling of this quite different-looking Sabre is quite aged now, originating just after the turn of the millennium, but it’s still the best kit in the scale, and has been reboxed in Revell and Monogram boxes (mostly) since then, the most recent being the boxing we reviewed here. Just because the kit is older, it doesn’t mean that it has been forgotten about though. Eduard's new range of sets are here to improve on the kit detail in the usual modular manner. Get what you want for the areas you want to be more of a focal point. As usual with Eduard's Photo-Etch (PE) and Mask sets, they arrive in a flat resealable package, with a white backing card protecting the contents and the instructions that are sandwiched between. SPACE 3D Printed Cockpit Decals (3DL48116) The Eduard SPACE sets use new 3D printing techniques that lay down successive layers of different colour resin, creating highly realistic almost full complete panels that are supplied on a decal sheet. They can depict metallic shades, plus glossy, satin, and matt colours too, which really ups the detail on everything they print. In addition, a small sheet of nickel-plated and pre-painted PE is included for the aspects of the set that lend themselves better to this medium, such as seatbelts and rudder pedals. The decal sheet is filled with new 3D instrument panels that require removal of the moulded-in details, plus a short section from the top of the panel to match the new part. There are also decals for the two side panels, each of which have PE backing panels on which the decals are applied. The centre radar screen part is inserted in the middle of the new panel and has a PE hood to roll into shape. The coaming is filed down to correspond with the accompanying guides in red, then a replacement top is installed once the fuselage halves are together. In addition, there are wide side console decals, with a sloped edge, adding kit handles and some lengths of 1mm rod to give it extra relief, again removing the kit details, then adding skins to the inner edges of the cockpit sill on both sides. The early ejector seat is draped with a set of painted four-point crew belts, with a large RBF tag draped down the back cushion, and two more threaded through the side rails of the seat frame. The kit belts will need scraping and sanding away before this of course. Seatbelts STEEL (FE1351) These belts are Photo-Etch (PE) steel, and because of their strength they can be etched from thinner material, which improves realism and flexibility in one sitting. Coupled with the new painting method that adds perceived extra depth to the buckles and other furniture by shading, they are more realistic looking and will drape better than regular brass PE. As well as the crew belts, you also get a set of the comfort pad under the buckle, with a side-profile showing how the shoulder belts should drape over the top. They are identical in form and function to the SPACE set above. Masks EX940) Supplied on a sheet of yellow kabuki tape, these pre-cut masks supply you with a full set of masks for the canopy, with compound curved handled by using frame hugging masks, while the highly curved gaps are in-filled with either liquid mask or offcuts from the background tape. In addition, you get a set of hub/tyre masks for all the wheels with a cut in the top for fine adjustment, allowing you to cut the demarcation perfectly with little effort. Masks Tface (EX941) Supplied on a larger sheet of yellow kabuki tape, these pre-cut masks supply you with everything above, but also give you another set of canopy masks tailored to fit the inside of the glazing so that you can paint the model’s interior and give your kit that extra bit of realism. Having used these sets on my own models now, I can confirm that they are extremely accurate, and it's good practice to place the outer masks first to act as a guide for alignment of the inner masks. Review sample courtesy of

P-51B/C Mustang Club Kit (CLK0009) 1:72 Kovozávody Prostějov Originally developed to fulfil a British requirement for a new fighter aircraft, the unmistakeable North American P-51 Mustang famously went from drawing board to first flight in just 178 days. It went on to become one of the most famous and successful aircraft of the Second World War, thanks to its speed, agility, distinctive looks and long-range capabilities. The performance of the original Allinson engine gradually dropped off above 12,000ft, but this was transformed by being replaced by Rolls Royce’s legendary Merlin engine. With its Achilles heel sent packing, the Mustang went from strength to strength as the B and C variants, which had a “razorback” spine and scalloped rear windows that gave the pilot a little better rearward view. It was eventually developed into The P-51D that introduced a number of improvements in response to combat experience, including a cut-down rear fuselage and bubble canopy, plus an increase in the number of 0.5 inch machine guns from four to six. Over 8,000 P-51Ds were produced, more than any other Mustang variant. The Kit This is a new boxing of a 2015 tooling from KP, and it arrives in a small end-opening box with two sprues of grey styrene, a single sprue of clear parts, decal sheet and the instruction booklet, formed from a folded sheet of A4 that has been printed in colour. Detail is excellent for the scale, and the decal sheet includes items such as instrument dials and seatbelts to add more visual interest to your model. The instruction booklet is a multi-kit offering, covering other variants with the blown Malcolm Hood, and some versions of the F-6 reconnaissance Mustang, which you can safely ignore. Construction begins with the instrument panel that is shown being painted and decaled along with the gunsight, as are the sides of the cockpit within the fuselage, showing thorough painting guidance throughout the build. The curved cockpit floor has a lever and console fitted to it, before it is joined by the fuel tank with radio gear on top, the pilot’s seat with separate armour and head rest behind it, the control column with linkage, and front bulkhead in front of the instrument panel and coaming. The completed cockpit and rear radiator trunking are inserted into the port fuselage half along with the tail-wheel bay door and the bay with tail-wheel strut inserted into the roof of the bay. The fuselage is closed around the cockpit, adding one last lever to the starboard cockpit wall, then once the glue is dry, the lips on the chin and belly intakes are glued in place to give them a more finessed appearance. The lower wings are full span, and the well-detailed gear bay insert is placed inside before it is joined to the fuselage and the upper wing halves are laid over it, accompanied by the elevators and the rudder at the rear. The flying surfaces on the main planes are all separate, and can be offset as you see fit, with the instructions advising that the flaps can be posed with up to 50° downward deflection to depict an aircraft configured for landing or take-off. The prop is a four-bladed, cuffed part, which is trapped between the spinner cap and rear plate that has an axle on the rear to join it to the front of the nose at the same time as the single-part canopy is installed over the cockpit, with a rear-view mirror and radio mast at the rear, which includes a small portion of the fuselage to give the rear windows a smooth surface, and moves the seam further aft, just out of the way of the clear parts. An optional D/F loop is installed on the spine behind the canopy, which doesn’t seem to apply to the decal options below. The main landing gear comprises the struts with moulded-in scissor links, to which the wheels are attached, to be inserted into the outboard ends of the gear bays, adding the captive outer bay doors, and the two inner doors that often drop down as the hydraulic pressure bleeds away after parking up. Only the top drawing of the last page of the instructions apply to this boxing, adding a choice of two styles of exhaust stubs to the sides of the nose, and painting the lower frame of the diagonal windscreen panels. Markings There are two options included in this Club Kit, and although the text is written in Czech, Google gives us the following options, of which you can build one: P-51B-5-NA, 4th fighter squadron, 52nd fighter group pilot capt. James Otey "Tim" Tyler, Italy, September 1944 The aircraft crashed at Tri Duby Airport while escorting a B-17 piloted by Ethan A. Smith with Slovak National Uprising assistance. P-51C-10-NT, 5th fighter squadron, 52nd fighter group, pilot Lt. Alexander F. Watkins, Italy, September 1944 Due to a malfunction, the aircraft remained at the Tri Duby airport during the Slovak National Uprising. After a quick test that confirmed my suspicions with an earlier kit, the decals appear to be printed by Eduard or using the same digital printing techniques, and are in good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. I mention Eduard because from 2021, the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, especially at this scale, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion The Mustang is well-loved in the aviation and modelling world, and these unusual markings options should appeal to many, as should the level of detail that’s included in the kit. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

F-86D ‘Dog Sabre’ (03832) 1:48 Carrera Revell The F-86 Sabre was the first advanced jet fighter in widespread use with the US Air Force, but it was a fair-weather fighter that was bereft of radar that was to become more important as time went by during the Cold War, and essential today. The project to create an all-weather, radar-equipped derivative of the Sabre resulted in a substantially different aircraft, with a longer, wider fuselage that had a radome inset into the top of the intake trunking in the nose, a different canopy, and larger tail feathers. By the time the D variant reached service, the engine had also been upgraded, including an afterburner that gave it additional power and drove it closer to the sound barrier than its sibling. Its armament was different than the six cheek-mounted 0.5cal Brownings carried by the standard Sabre too, eschewing machine guns in favour of a conformal twin rack of Mighty Mouse rockets that would drop down into the airflow before firing, exposing 24 x 70mm FFAR Mk.4 rockets in a curved holder that would retract to clean-up the aerodynamics of the aircraft after firing, although a ripple-fire salvo must have had some choking effect on the engine, being mounted so close to the intake. There were over 2,500 D variants made, with subsequent updates making additional changes, some of them substantial, some such as the G less so, getting lumped in with the Ds during production, possibly to fudge some figures, knowing the sneaky history of aviation financing of most countries. Many NATO countries flew the Dog Sabre, some later K variants built under license by FIAT, which is a terrifying concept, given their reputation at the time for terrible cars with dodgy electrics. Some were still flying operationally into the 1970s, although not under combat conditions, as by then it would have been hopelessly outdated. The Kit This is a reboxing of the original Monogram tooling from 2001, but looking at the sprues for the first time in a long time, it’s surprisingly modern looking, although the bags are non-standard for Revell, having heat-sealed ends, and no tape, which to be fair can be annoying on occasion. It arrives in a medium-thickness end-opening box, and inside are four sprues in grey styrene in two bags, another bag containing the clear parts, the instruction booklet in colour, with the decal sheet and safety sheet hidden in between the pages. At the rear of the booklet are colour profiles to assist with painting and decaling. As already mentioned, this is a well-detailed model of the type, and is the only current relatively modern kit of the Dog in this scale, with other manufacturers reboxing it on occasion. It benefits from engraved panel lines and rivets, offers separate flaps and slats, detailed cockpit and wheel bays, and even a pilot figure with separate arms, and a surprisingly well-sculpted form. Construction begins with the four-part frame for the basic ejection seat, which inserts on a seat-shaped platform and receives the actual seat with rear headrest within, plus rudder pedals and control column first, then the instrument panel that has five additional parts installed on it before it is slotted into the front of the cockpit tub, and has another two short levers added to the left side console. Sadly, there are no decals for the panels, but a bit of careful painting should see that remedied. Like many fighters, the cockpit is positioned over the nose gear bay, but there is an intake trunk in between them, which is made from two halves, with the bay details moulded into the lower half, having two side walls added along with the nose gear strut and retraction jack. The pilot is made up and painted, and inserted into his cockpit at this stage if you plan to use him, after which the cockpit is glued to the top of the intake on a pair of upstands. Before the fuselage can be closed up, the exhaust must be completed, which consists of a tube moulded to a bulkhead, into which you insert the rear face of the engine, then attach the exhaust lip to the rear, fitting on a lug to ensure correct orientation. The inside of the forward fuselage is painted dark grey, and has three holes opened up in the underside, a small clear light near the nose, and an insert with an intake on the sides of the fuselage, using different parts for USAF or DK (Danish?) options. I find that confusing however, as both decal options are USAF, so it may be a hangover from a previous boxing. The inset marked DK has a recessed NACA intake, if that helps to deconfuse you. The fuselage is closed around the cockpit/intake and exhaust assemblies, plus a palette of equipment in a recess behind the pilot, 20g of nose-weight, and the radar-equipped nose cone, which also includes the intake lip. The lower wing is full span, and has six holes drilled out from inside before the bay walls and top detail insert are added inside, to be covered by the upper wing halves, which have more detail for the gear bays on the inside. The fuselage and wing are mated at the same time as the slats are glued to their actuators along the leading edge of the wings, leaving the flaps until later. Meantime, the main gear legs are built from a single part strut and two-part wheels, with a captive bay door on the back, and a C-shaped actuator joining them together. The inner bay door has a short jack on the forward edge, and behind the wing, repeating the process on the other side and placing a small rectangular insert into the fuselage underside. The nose wheel is a single part and is added to the strut that was fitted earlier, and has a side opening main bay door, plus a two-part folding front door to finish it off. The flaps are simple, each one consisting of a single part that fixes to the trailing edge of the cut-outs on two pegs. While the model is inverted, the two-part fuel tanks and pylon with forward stabiliser post is glued to each wing, and a clear peg has been included on the sprues just in case you didn’t include enough nose weigh to prevent a tail-sitter. The FFAR palette is fabricated based upon the outer skin, with four walls fitted, the front one having 24 holes that show the tips of the rockets, and the rear face having an impression of the rear of the rockets and their fusing wires, which are glued to an upper surface that fixes to the fuselage underside on two pegs behind the nose gear bay. If you have decided not to deploy the rocket pack, remember not to bore out the holes in the fuselage beforehand. Like its sibling, the Dog Sabre had fuselage-mounted air-brakes just in front of the tail, and these can either be mounted flush, or exposed by adding a V-shaped strut inside the bay to hold it at the correct angle, with scrap diagrams showing how they should look from behind. The elevators have long overlapping tabs that pass through the tail, and should give a strong joint with little chance of sag, plus a small blade antenna that is added under the port elevator. Finishing off the model begins with the canopy, which unusually for its era includes a pair of styrene inserts within the lower rails of the opener, plus a clear rear-view mirror. A platform with a clear part fixes into the rear of the canopy too, giving it a more detailed look, especially if you can find some Tface masks from Eduard to paint both sides of the clear parts. The windscreen is fixed, and the canopy can be posed closed by cutting off small sections of the deck at the rear of the cockpit, or opened clamshell-style by leaving those intact, and gluing it into position at the rear, with a curved clear part inserted into the fairing behind it. A choice of a crew step or a small insert to depict it retracted are provided to fit into the port side, and two tiny clear lights are popped into the leading edge of the wingtips. Markings There are two markings options on the decal sheet, although I initially thought there were four, as the usual 39 and 39a style numberings haven’t been used on this sheet. I’m easily confused though, and reading the headings makes it clear within moments. From the box you can build one of the following: F-86D-20 Sabre Dog S/n.51-2989, McConnel AFB, 1956 F-86D-40-NA Sabre Dog S/n.52-3722, 15th Fighter-Interceptor Sqn., 34th Air Division, Davis Monthan AFB, Arizona, 1957 <ul style="list-style-type:upper-alpha"> Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. It’s a shame there aren’t any instrument decals, but the wealth of stencils more than make up for that minor disappointment. Conclusion Although the kit hasn’t become rare while out of production, it’s nice to see it back on the shelves with some modern decals and stencils. Detail is good for the era, and still holds up well by modern standards. Highly recommended. Carrera Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Hi all and this is my latest finish for the 'Century Series' GB here on the site. The short build thread is here but to recap: Kit: Trumpeter#01605 North American F-107A Ultra Sabre Build: OOB Paints: Tamiya acrylics; Klear; Oil pin wash. Extras: Some extra stencils from spares Notes: Canopy fit needed some surgery; the intake doesn't fit quite right; some detail inaccuracies; very few decals (all the red is painted!). But very happy how it turned out and great to build something different. Trumpeter_F107_Super_Sabre (7) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Trumpeter_F107_Super_Sabre (11) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Trumpeter_F107_Super_Sabre (10) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Trumpeter_F107_Super_Sabre (2) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Trumpeter_F107_Super_Sabre (5) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Trumpeter_F107_Super_Sabre (9) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Thanks for looking and happy modelling. Dermot

Hello, I'm currently finishing a Special Hobby N.A. BT-9 in the KUTA group build, see the links if you are interested: While applying the decals supplied I found myself with three sets of individual numbers '292', two are for the wing leading edge like in this example: I don't know what to do with the third one, nothing can be found in the instructions. Then I studied again a high resolution version of the only image I have of '292' and noticed a shadow over the underwing 'ARMY'. Maybe it shows where the third decals goes? Here are the intructions for reference, hope to not breach any forum rule linking to a commercial site https://www.super-hobby.hu/zdjecia/9/4/2/1152_2_SPH72069_4.jpg Thank you!

F-6C Mustang Expert Set (70040) 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 the 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. The F-6C was developed from the B/C variants, most of which were built in the Dallas factory, with openings for two cameras in the fuselage, with one camera mounted obliquely in the side of the rear fuselage, firing to the left, and the other mounted underneath, just aft of the radiator flap. Apart from some other minor changes the aircraft was fully combat capable, so didn’t need an escort to carry out its assigned task, and some of its pilots became Aces flying recon. The Kit This is a retooling of Arma’s original 2021 release to depict the reconnaissance variant of the Mustang, and as it is the Expert set, it’s the top-of-the-line boxing. It arrives in a sturdy end-opening box with an attractive painting of the subject on the front, plus profiles of four of the decal options on the rear. Inside are two sprues in grey styrene, a single clear sprue, a small fret of Photo-Etch (PE), a sheet of pre-cut kabuki tape masking material (not pictured), 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. 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 PE belts supplied for your use, and a choice of bucket seat or tubular-framed type for your use. The rear of the cockpit can either be filled with the original fuel tank with radio on a palette on top, or three other configurations for your consideration. Decals are included for some of the radio boxes, and the finished assembly should look good with sympathetic painting. 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 instruments, and some adaptations to the fuselage sides to cater to your chosen decal option. The radiator pathway is also made up, 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 to receive the cockpit and tail wheel, beginning with the instrument coaming, then the cockpit assembly and tail wheel, closing up 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 up 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. Unusually, both wing surfaces are full-width, in much the same way as the real thing, and after adding some internals, the wings and fuselage are joined with a choice of either a filleted tail, or the earlier unfilleted 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 earlier 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 edge of the bay, with a pair of inner doors fitted to the centre-line. 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 on the lower nose is slotted into its aperture, a choice of two types of exhaust stacks, two types of antenna masts plus an optional D/F loop with fairing are fixed in place around the same time as the prop, which 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 it 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 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 the sides, 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 bumps 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. The final choice is to hang 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 six decal options in the box, two of which are a bonus for this boxing. From the box you can build one of the following: F-6C-10-NT Mustang 44-10889/R7-N, GR II.33 Savoie, French Air Force, April -May 1945 F-6C-1-NA Mustang 43-12400/ZM-O, Cpt E B Blackie Travis, 12th Tactical Reconnaissance Sqn., 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group, Middle Wallop, England, Spring 1944 F-6C-5-NT Mustang, 42-103604/600 Lt. Col. E O McComas, 118th Tactical Reconnaissance Sqn., 23rd Fighter Group, Chengkung, China, Dec 1944 F-6C-1-NA Mustang, 43-12404/266, 26th Fighter Sqn., 51st Fighter Group, China, 1944-45 F-6C-5-NT Mustang, 42-103604/600, Maj. E O McComas, 118th Tactical Reconnaissance Sqn., 23rd Fighter Group, Chengkung, China, Oct 1944 F-6C-1-NA Mustang, 43-12330/263, 26th Fighter Sqn., 51st Fighter Group, China, 1944-45 Bonus Decals 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. Conclusion Another superbly well-detailed kit from Arma that makes this 1:48 modeller more than a little bit envious. Detail is excellent throughout, and the instructions are concise to help you with your build. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

RAAF PR CAC CA-18 Mk.22 Mustang Conversion Set (RRR48185 for Eduard) 1:48 Red Roo Models During WWII the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) manufactured 200 North American Mustangs under licence as the CA-18, and of these a small number were converted to Photo Reconnaissance variants that carried two F24 cameras vertically and obliquely in the rear fuselage. There were various differences between US-built and Australian airframes, and the PR variant diverged further, having bespoke fairings for the camera apertures that aren’t readily available in mainstream kits. The Set Red Roo specialise in Australian aircraft and provide modellers with conversion sets and upgrades that allow us to make more accurate models with all of the time-consuming research already done for us. Their sets aren’t ostentatious, usually arriving in a Ziploc bag, but the contents and instructions are concise and absolutely suitable for the task at hand. This set is no different, including thirteen resin parts in another Ziploc bag, and a sheet of custom decals for the included example airframes that can be found at the rear of the six-sheet A4 instruction booklet that is stapled in portrait form. The parts are as follows: 1 x CAC Moulded plywood pilot seat 2 x CAC 8-spoke wheels 1 x Spinner front 1 x Spinner back plate 4 x DHA Cuffless Propeller Blades 1 x vertical Camera Port 1 x Oblique Camera Port 1 x Decal Sheet The instruction booklet is essential to successful completion of the conversion, as it is verbose in describing the various alterations that need to be carried out on the base Eduard kit. Some scribing of access panels will be required on the fuselage sides, which have diagrams showing the location and size of each one on the sides. The two camera ports don’t need any alteration to the kit, as they are designed to be applied to the surface, using gloss black paint to represent the optical lenses, although the underside lens can be modelled covered over by a retractable shutter by overpainting it fuselage colour and installing a short rod in a slot that replicates the locking stud. There were three crosses painted on the port wing that when matched with crosses on the canopy glass would ensure that the camera was pointing in the right direction when pressing the shutter release. The Xs on the glass can be replicated by scraping with a pin then rubbing acrylic black paint into the grooves and wiping the remainder away before it dries. Additional notes can be found after the initial instructions that detail the localised radio gear, alternate battery location and the CAC wheels, as well as some corrections and information as to the configuration that Mustangs were typically parked in by their pilots after a mission. The back four pages give guidance on applying the decals and profiles of the decal options that are included on the sheet from both sides, while the standard top and bottom view are found on the last of the pages above a photo of one of the real airframes, although some smaller photos near the profiles are also included. The decals are in good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion If you want to build an accurate CAC PR Mustang in 1:48, this set will be essential to get the details right, helped immensely by the comprehensive instructions. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Mustang P-51D-20 & CAC Mustang Upgrade Set (RRR48178 for Airfix) 1:48 Red Roo Models Mustangs and Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC)-built Mustangs were used by the RAAF during WWII in the Pacific, but even commercial boxings that depict aircraft in that theatre generally only pay lip service to being correctly configured to actually portray those aircraft, and the devil is most definitely in the detail. Red Roo specialise in Australian aircraft and provide modellers with conversion sets and upgrades that allow us to make more accurate models with all of the time-consuming research already done for us. Their sets aren’t ostentatious, usually arriving in a Ziploc bag, but the contents and instructions are concise and absolutely suitable for the task at hand. This set includes parts and raw materials that will provide parts for the conversion, as follows: 10 x Brass Front Rocket Mounts 10 x Brass Rear Rocket Mounts 1 x Resin SCR-695A IFF Radio unit 1 x 0.013” (0.33mm) V-shaped wire 1 x 0.010” (0.25mm) x 0.060” (1.5mm) styrene strip x 10mm (not pictured) 1 x 0.020” (0.4mm) x 15mm Brass Wire (not pictured) There’s a little mixing of Imperial and Metric measurements there (the bracketed figures are mine) and elsewhere in the instructions, but we’re all of an age where we can probably handle either, and if not it’s just a Google away. The instructions are key to the operation, and consist of eight sides of A4 stapled into a short, useful booklet. It is colour printed, and also includes various drawings and photos that will assist in getting the job done, which includes the following tasks: installing the IFF Radio in the cockpit and making up a locking strip Adding an inertia switch and indicator light on the back of the seat’s head armour Putting the SCR-695A antenna in the lower wing Adding missing parts around the intake that most 1:48 kits have left out Fashioning a battery ventilation intake on the cowling Creating a circular or rectangular gun camera aperture in the wing leading-edge Adding an engine oil breather & flare tube to the fuselage side Installing up to 10 brass underwing zero-length rocket launch rails Making a static port on each side of the rear fuselage & adding a static wick under the tail The rocket launch rails are cast in two fans of brass parts, and it is worth noting that they’re different from each other, one fan full of front rails, the other with rear rails, which you can identify by the accompanying drawings. The styrene rod (not pictured) is used in conjunction with the brass wire (also not pictured) to create the tie-down strap for the IFF radio, drilling holes in the strip to glue over the wires. As well as being verbose in assistance with construction, you are also given colour suggestions, and even hints and tips on how to create your masterpiece, with the photos and drawings of particular use. Conclusion A useful set that will improve the accuracy of your Mustang, whichever 1:48 brand you choose, although the Airfix kit is mentioned most regularly. It’s always nice when everything you need is in the bag right from the outset, without needing to hunt around, just bring your talent and some tools, and everything should be just fine. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Canadair Sabre Mk.4 Cockpit & Airbrakes (4445 & 4448 for Airfix) 1:48 CMK by Special Hobby Airfix’s new(ish) Sabre has been around now for a while, and some folks have complained about a bit of soft detail in places, especially the rear deck behind the pilot’s head. CMK have created a number of resin sets to improve on the base kit, of which we have two sets in for review. Both sets arrive in their standard yellow blister packs with a card header, and the instructions sandwiched between the two halves. Both sets have Photo-Etch (PE) that are separated from the resin parts by a sheet of thick acetate, to avoid damage during shipping. Cockpit Set (4445) This set contains twenty-one resin parts, a fret of PE and a small printed piece of acetate sheet. It replaces the kit cockpit completely with a new resin tub, into which the replacement resin seat and PE seatbelts are fitted, along with the three-layered resin/acetate/PE instrument panel, which has additional PE controls added after has been laminated, and before it is inserted into the front of the tub with the control column. The pilot’s headrest is glued to the armoured upstand and spaced out with another resin part, then the replacement rear deck is joined to the rear of the tub. The fuselage internal sidewalls are sanded/scraped down to accommodate the new resin inserts, and the front coaming is improved by the addition of two small resin parts on the aft corners plus the gunsight, and the while there aren’t any shapes printed on the acetate sheet for the glazing, a little bit of research should allow you to make the parts from the off-cuts around the instrument panel. The kit canopy is last to be augmented, having a well-detailed resin insert to replace the simplistic internal structure, although it does reuse the clear ADF-loop cover from the kit sprues. The final part is the addition of a PE rear-view in the top of the roll-over hoop, which will need some chrome paint adding to simulate the silvered glass. Air Brakes (4448) Containing eight resin parts and a small sheet of PE, this set replaces the simplified inserts that make up the air-brake bays, relegating the kit parts to the spares bin, then replaces the brakes themselves with resin parts that are overlaid on the interior with a pair of PE skins on each one, after adding the triangular resin edges to the main brake. They are then added to the fuselage after the build, with new resin actuator pistons supplied with the set holding them at the correct angle. Review sample courtesy of

Cavalier Turbo Mustang III (11149) 1:48 Halberd Models Conversion for Eduard P-51D After WWII, the P-51 Mustang continued to serve with the US Air Force for a while as their standard fighter, although with every day it became more out-dated due to the headlong rush of aviation technology after the advent of jet propulsion and the race to break the sound barrier. By 1957 the last Mustang left US service, and North American sold the intellectual rights to the design that they then considered worthless to Trans Florida Aviation Inc., who intended to create a high-speed executive transport by taking surplus airframes and rebuilding them as an improved two-seat civilian aircraft. The initial Cavalier Mustangs were stripped and rebuilt without their military equipment, but apart from their livery and the taller rudder fin, they were visually almost indistinguishable from the old warhorse. They were well-appointed, with new avionics and luxury interiors, were powered by an improved Merlin engine, and were available with various-sized fuel capacities that gave a range from 750 up to 2,500 miles. Around 20 were made of the initial mark, then the Mark II was designed, with tip-tanks for extra range and various structural and avionics improvements. It was also outfitted with hard-points for weapons, and another boost to the power of the Merlin engine. Some of these were sold to Asian and South American countries, where some El Salvadoran airframes took part in the Soccer War. During this period Cavalier were actively courting the US Air Force trying to sell them the improved airframe as a Counter Insurgency (COIN) or Close Air Support (CAS) platform, but they weren’t biting, so sales were low to other customers. Soon after, they retired the trusty Merlin and replaced it with a Dart 510 turboprop, again from Rolls-Royce, although they had really wanted a Lycoming engine. It reduced the maintenance burden and was more gutsy and fuel efficient, but they still couldn’t get the US government interested. The design with the preferred Lycoming turboprop engine replacing the Dart was sold to Piper, and became the PA-48 Enforcer, but only four were made and shared so few parts with the original Mustang that there was little in the way of cost-savings from use of existing Mustang parts. Only two of the four survived the years in between, and are to be found in US museums. Many of the original Cavalier Mustangs were converted back to their original specification when Warbirds and heritage flights became popular. The Kit This is a new resin conversion kit for the Eduard P-51 Mustang in 1:48, and will convert it to the Rolls-Royce Dart equipped Turbo Mustang Mk.III that was unsuccessfully marketed to the US Airforce, and we’ve already reviewed the original Mk.I and Mk.II Cavalier conversions that carried piston engines here, which has the same preamble for obvious reasons (my laziness, and a shared story). It was an evolutionary dead-end, but looks pretty awesome, so I for one am extremely pleased to see this conversion kit, resigning the old set by the now defunct Heritage to the bin where it belongs. You can buy the set in a box with some Eduard Overtree sprues, or separately in a smaller white box if you already have a candidate kit in your possession. The conversion arrives in the aforementioned white box with a large sticker and a profile of the aircraft on the front, plus logos and a link to their eBay shop in red. Inside are 24 resin parts in Halberd’s signature green resin, surrounded by bubble-wrap and Ziploc bags, with the two large replacement fuselage parts taped together and encased in bubble-wrap to keep them safe and aligned during shipping and storage. In addition to the resin is a small set of decals on white backing paper, plus three pages of A4 instructions printed in colour on both sides. The parts are expertly cast, and the fuselage parts have all the detail of the Eduard parts, carried over flawlessly onto the new nose that extends from the front of the canopy. The new and old details are perfectly matched, which is very impressive, given the finesse of the originals – kudos indeed. This finesse is carried through to the large square-tipped prop blades, the oval side-mounted exhaust and the antennae that are attached to the new taller tail fin. As usual, take care with sanding resin, as the fine dust can be hazardous to your health if you breathe it deep into your lungs. Wearing a mask and wet-sanding will help keep you safe, and carrying out the task outdoors would be ideal. Construction begins with adapting the seat to remove the head armour, adding it and the new resin rear passenger seat to the cockpit along with the headrest as part of building the kit cockpit with whatever upgrades you may or may not wish to apply from other sources. The new fuselage needs little in the way of clean-up, but ensure it is done before you begin adding the kit parts, and remember to use CA to glue them, as resin cannot be bonded together or with styrene parts by our usual plastic glues. Not even the mighty Tamiya Extra Thin can do the job. Epoxy resin can be used for large parts if structural strength is needed, but it’s slippery stuff and takes 5 minutes for initial cure, so needs to be held in place with tape or clamps, whereas CA generally bonds almost instantly. It’s your choice of course. At the tail the fin has been adapted ready for the extended tip, and you should drill two 0.2mm holes in the sides for the antenna on each side. The fin fillet from the kit will fit in the gap at the leading edge of the tail, and the kit rudder will fit too once you have removed a short section from the top, using the new fin top as your guide. The kit canopies are used, but with the stiffening hoop omitted to avoid decapitating the passenger and a new resin part at the rear, while the windscreen loses its rear-view mirror. Going back to the fuselage, the front is finished with another fine resin part, with a top intake and a small gap between the cowling and the gearbox housing, with some fine stators visible at the back of the space. The prop boss has recesses for the four blades cut into its sides, and a peg that mates with the recess at the centre of the nose for easy installation. The prop blades however aren’t keyed, so you will need to set the angle yourself to ensure they are all correctly aligned and facing the right way. It may be an idea to create a small temporary jig to help with this. The large exhaust is fitted through an oval opening in the starboard side of the fuselage, and the inner end butts up against a recess inside the nose, so insert that before you get too far ahead of yourself and can no longer see the part’s destination. The kit wings are built up as normal, but have the front section under the nose removed back past the curved section of the root fairing, and the wingtips too, both as shown in red on the instructions. Take care here, because the centre section is shown being removed in steps in two separate diagrams, which could lead to some confusion. The tip tanks have their fairings and a shallow peg to mate to the open wingtips, and they are moulded with the nose separate to allow them to be cast as smooth as possible. I have cut one of the parts free on the previous set, and with careful fitting, the noses can be mated perfectly to the main tank section. Just take some time and care with sanding and test-fitting the joints. The pylons for the numerous weapons the Turbo Mustang could carry are attached to the underside of the wing on pins, and you should first measure and drill the holes, preferably before you have completed the wing, so take care there too. There are six pylons in total, two from the kit, and four resin parts from the conversion, all of which are set 13.5mm apart in a line. I’ve also marked these out on a kit wing and drilled them out, so it’s not so hard. The rest of the kit is put together in the same manner as the Eduard instructions suggest, but it will be key to your success to familiarise yourself with both sets of instructions to ensure you know exactly where all the parts go, and at which stage in the build you should insert them into the model. Markings There were only a few of these aircraft made, so there aren’t many options unless you’re going to go with a “what-if” scheme. From the box you can build the following: Cavalier Turbo Mustang III, Sarasota, Florida, 1968 The colour call-outs use FS numbers and colour names, and the few decals are shown in an enlarged form where necessary to save straining your eyeballs. The decals are well-printed with a thin carrier film, and a small arrow is printed next to the step-marks on the wing roots so that you fit them correctly. Stencils for the large prop blades are included, as are a selection of RR logos and fire warning stencils. My example had two decal sheets in the bag, but yours may not, so don’t assume. Conclusion The previous sets were excellent, but the sheer weirdness of the nose of this version makes me unreasonably happy, and the fact that it has been so well done almost brings a lump to my throat. You really need one for your stash, and to encourage Halberd to create more excellent oddities to fill our cabinets and stashes with interesting aircraft and their lesser-known derivatives. Extremely highly recommended. Halberd Models sell their products via eBay for their ease, and the link below will take you to their shop there. Review sample courtesy of