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Saab J/A-21R First Swedish Made Jet (SH72480) 1:72 Special Hobby Saab have always been innovative in their aircraft designs, and the J-21 certainly was ahead of its time when it began gestation in the early years of WWII. Although Sweden were neutral, they believed in having a strong defence force to dissuade potential attackers, and this aircraft was part of that policy. It evolved over several design iterations into a pusher prop with twin booms based upon a license-built Daimler Benz engine, and because of the rear-mounted prop it was able to carry its armament in the nose, with the pilot having an unobstructed view of his quarry. The large prop at the rear dictated a tricycle landing gear configuration, and to save the pilot from injury when exiting the 'plane in flight, a simple ejector seat was developed by Bofors to blast him clear of the airframe and the flailing blades of the propeller. After the initial production the A-2 variant was re-armed with a Swedish developed 20mm cannon replacing the French model, and these were later superseded by the A-3, which had a bomb sight for air-to-ground operations, and was able to carry bombs and missiles, as well as use RATO bottles to improve take-off capabilities under heavy load. As the jet age was dawning, the engineers at Saab were asked to re-design the aircraft to switch to jet propulsion, mounting a De Havilland Goblin in a re-designed fuselage, with its tail adapted to clear the hot jet exhaust, resulting in an aircraft that looked very similar to the prop-powered version, but shared only 50% of the parts. Many of the prop-engined aircraft were converted to jet engines on the production line to reach the required number for the contacts, which were cut back from around 150 to a disappointing 64 due to the performance already on display by the prototype Tunnans that were flying before the J-21 reached service. The R has a much shorter service life that consisted mainly of ground-attack roles to which it was better suited, and with the purchase of the de Havilland Vampire and the J29 Tunnan in its production guise, the remaining aircraft served with the Swedish Air Force until 1956. The Kit The original tooling of this model was released in 2011, and has been reissued with a prop and jet pipe a few times in the interim, with it being the turn of the jet-engined R variant in this boxing. The kit arrives in a small top-opening box with a painting of the subject flying high and carrying a huge rack of rockets under its belly. Inside are three sprues of grey styrene, a clear sprue, a small bag of resin parts, a resealable bag of decals, Photo-Etch (PE) and a slip of printed clear acetate sheet, plus the A5 instruction booklet, printed on glossy paper in colour. Detail is good, with raised and engraved surface features, cockpit sidewall detail moulded inside the fuselage, a set of resin wheels and a gigantic rack of rockets as per the cover art, which instantly increases its appeal. Construction begins with the cockpit floor, to which is added a rear bulkhead, seat frame and seat that is detailed with PE foot pegs, diagonal insert in the rear, and PE seatbelts. The rudder pedals are moulded into the floor, and a pair of straps are fitted over them after they are bent to shape, fitting a control column between the seat and pedals. The instrument panel is laminated from a styrene backing, an acetate part with dials printed on, and a PE panel that fixes over the dials. A resin gunsight and clear lens is added to the top of the panel, then it is fitted into the starboard fuselage half along with the cockpit, nose gear bay, and additional detail parts on the sidewalls, notably a throttle box and trim wheel in a housing on the port side, with PE levers and wheel. The fuselage is closed and the twin booms are both made from two halves in advance of mating these assemblies with the wing and elevator panel. The wing is made from a full-span lower and two upper halves with the fuselage placed in the space between them, adding gear bay shells in the boom roots before gluing the booms into position behind the wing, slipping the elevator panel in between the booms while doing so. Clear lenses are inserted into holes in the front of the boom fairings, with resin 12.5mm gun barrels outboard of each one. The main gear legs are built from the strut, adding a yoke to the bottom and PE scissor-link to the lower oleo for each one, while the nose wheel is a single part that has a PE scissor-link, two PE brackets, and two resin parts glued to the sides of the legs of the yoke. The resin wheels flex-fit between the yokes, the main wheels having a chunky tread cast into the contact surface, presumably to cope with snowy landing strips. The nose gear leg is fitted into the bay with a parallel strut and actuator below it, a feature that is replicated in the main gear bays too. All the bay doors have PE hinges and mount on the sides of the bay after cutting the single parts into three for the nose gear, and into two for the main gear bay doors. A pair of PE trim tab actuators are then fitted to the elevator panel top and bottom. You have an interesting choice of armaments to hang from the underside of your model, the most unusual of which is the ovoid gun pack that is built from top and bottom halves, with a pair of Z-supports between it and the fuselage. The real pack has eight 8mm Browning M1919 machine guns with 800 rounds per gun, giving it immense firepower that is concentrated along the line of flight that should result in good accuracy, and is ideal for ground-attack on softskin targets and personnel. The largest rack of rockets is made from a ladder frame with six V-supports, and has ten 15cm RP-3 rockets mounted on the completed frame. Smaller racks can be mounted on the outer wing panels, carrying four rockets each, and these also have 6 supports that are made into a complex framework. While the model is inverted, three actuators are glued onto the ailerons and flaps. There are scrap diagrams for each of the weapons options, but sadly you can’t mount them all at once. With the model standing on its wheels, the canopy is glued in place, starting with the windscreen, then the starboard side and roof, the other side being a separate part. If you wanted to portray the canopy open, you would need to cut the roof and starboard side panes into separate parts, leaving the scalloped rear-view window in place, and hinging the side down along the cockpit sill, and the roof on the port side opened to near vertical. If you plan on carrying out that audacious adjustment to the kit parts, it would be a good idea to support the canopy during cutting by filling the inside with Blutak. There are a pair of wingtip drop-tanks that made from two halves glued around the wingtip, and it seems that if filled with napalm, they could be jettisoned and used as incendiary bombs. The final piece of offensive weaponry is a single 20mm cannon barrel that slips into a hole in the nose. Markings There are three options on the decal sheet, all of which are in olive green over light blue grey, differentiated by their individual markings and the colour of the nose cone. One option is further individualised by having white wing outer panels and drop-tanks. From the box you can build one of the following: J-21RA, S/N 21420, Yellow B, 3 Sqn., Wing F10, based at Ängelholm, 1950 J-21RA, Blue E, 2 Sqn., Wing F10, Ängelholm, 1950 J-21RB supposedly S/N 21440, Yellow B, Wing F17, Kallinge, 1955 The decals appear to be printed using the same digital processes as Eduard are now using, and have 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, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion The J-21R is an unusual-looking early jet, and its Swedishness appeals, as do the huge rack of missiles or gun pack. It’s a well-detailed model and will look great in your display cabinet, making everything else look a little less interesting. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

HESA Shahed 136/Geran-2 (PLT279) Planet Models by Special Hobby The Shahed 136 autonomous drone, which translates to “witness” in English, rose to prominence after the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine on 24th February 2022, when it was later rumoured that Iran was exporting these simple drones for use by the Russian aggressors, which was confirmed following the recovery of remains of several destroyed examples in Ukraine. The drone is a simple piece of equipment that has been put-together using off-the-shelf components, many of which either originated in the West, or were designed there and manufactured overseas. In Russian service they are designated as Geran-2, which means Geranium. It is thought that the Russians are now manufacturing the larger components themselves, importing only the specific electronics and other parts that would be more difficult to manufacture at short notice. They are powered by a reverse-engineered copy of a Western designed piston engine that drives a two-bladed pusher propeller, and they are noisy in operation, which makes them an easily identified target for Ukrainian snipers or anyone else with a gun and a scope to take a pot-shot in aid of their nation’s defence. Although their payload is relatively small at an estimated maximum of 50kg, they are cheap to produce, and despite their vulnerability to ground-fire, are hard to hit by other types of weapons, particularly aircraft as their radar can’t lock on easily, and the speed differential is significant. The use of a technological successor to GPS by the Russians has increased their accuracy and extended loiter time, waiting for targets of opportunity to travel into their vicinity. They are launched from a ramp, sometimes in a rack of up to five drones on the back of a truck, using a RATO pod under the centre-line of the delta-winged drone to gain height and speed, after which it is jettisoned and the prop takes over. There is speculation about the aircraft’s range, with a maximum of around 1,500 miles, but with a top speed of 115mph it would take many hours to reach a target deep within Ukrainian territory, with plenty of opportunities for interception by the eagle-eyed locals. The Kit This is a brand-new mixed media kit from Special Hobby’s resin specialist brand Planet Models, although it includes traditional and 3D printed resin, and injection styrene parts inside the small cardboard box. There are seven grey resin parts, five 3D printed parts in orange, a sprue of grey styrene, and a decal sheet that provides the minimalist stencils applied to Russian and tail-codes for Iranian airframes. It’s a very small model for obvious reasons, and all the parts are easy to remove from their casting and printing blocks, and we’re all very familiar with removing styrene parts from sprues. Construction begins with the liberation of the parts and clean-up, then the support frame is made from three styrene parts from the sprue, plus four resin castors on circular bases. The drone is moulded almost complete, needing just the fins and rudders to be glued to the wingtips, two pieces of wire or tube from your own stock inserted into recesses in the leading edges of the wing, and the nicely detailed piston-engine slotting into the rear. The RATO pack installs on a bracket and slot under the fuselage, and that’s it. You join the two assemblies together, the nose support fixing into a hole under the nose at the bottom of a retaining strap that is moulded into the drone itself. Markings There are three Russian and two Iranian tail-code options, and for the Russian airframes there are No Step/Don’t Push stencils for each of the horizontal control surfaces. The aircraft is painted an off-white all over, while the engine is different metallic shades, and the RATO pod is black. The trolley is dark grey with silver castors and rubber tyres. If you need further information, there are plenty of pictures online. Conclusion A well-executed model in my favourite scale of an interesting drone from the modern era of drone-based warfare, even though it’s on the side of the aggressor. They make quite a bang when they’re shot down, so you know when you’ve hit one, which is always good. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

We got this in to review the other day, and I fancied a quick build, so left the box open after I posted the review here, and knocked it together pretty quickly, although it was done in between other things, such as fixing my old folks' faulty radiator and annoying phone system, plus the usual It goes together nicely with very little effort, other than trying to keep my sausage fingers from breaking bits off it of course I painted it with some Alclad white primer with a touch of grey added to give it an off-white look, then gave it about half a dozen coats of Alclad Aqua Gloss, applying the decals about three coats in at about the same time as a mixture of Ultimate's Concrete and Dark Dirt washes to the panel lines. I picked out the rivets in mid grey with a dot of off-white on top so they didn't look too prominent, slapped some metallics on the motor, added a beige colour followed by some brown oils on the prop, and grey over a black undercoat on the stand, using some Green Stuff World Chrome for the castors, and highlighting things as I went. Here she is. Target practice for the Ukrainian troops. ...and the underside: It's 8cm from nose to tail, so not a very large model. I'm gonna glue the frame to the underside now I've taken the pics, and as it doesn't take up much room in the cabinet, it'll get in there pretty soon now

J-3 Cub Inside/Outside Masks (M48015) 1:48 Special Hobby We’ve just completed our review of the latest boxing of this light-weight spotter/reconnaissance aircraft that served during WWII and beyond, with a healthy number still flying today. You can see our review here, and if you check the aftermarket section, you’ll also see some detail upgrades such as the awesome 3D printed engine here. Supplied on a sheet of yellow kabuki tape with a pre-weeded perimeter, these pre-cut masks supply you with a full set of masks for the canopy both inside and out, the clarity of which will be important due to the large expanses down the sides of the aircraft. In addition, you get a set of hub/tyre masks for the wheels and the roof light between the wings, allowing you to cut the demarcation perfectly with little effort. Since using this innovative masking style on a recent build of an F4F-3 Wildcat, I have become a huge fan of inside/outside masks, and will search out a set for any of my future builds thanks to the realism, crispness and extra detail they bring to the canopy area. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Special Hobby is to release a 1/48th Grunau Baby IIb/Nord 1300 "Over Western Europe" - ref. SH48203 Source: http://www.specialhobby.net/2020/01/norimberk-2020-priprava-zacatek.html V.P.

J-3 Cub Goes to War (SH48220) 1{48 Special Hobby The Piper J-3 Cub was a light aircraft developed before WWII with production continuing throughout WWII and into the late 40s. In military service as a communications, reconnaissance, or spotter aircraft, it was known as the L-4 Grasshopper, and 20,000 plus were built due to its success in various roles, including trainer and glider tug. It was powered by a flat-4 engine, and despite the limited power it was agile in the air, with docile handling characteristics and a very low stall speed, which made take-off and landing a simple process, and let the aircraft use strips that were far too short for other types. After the war, many of the former military aircraft were re-purposed for civilian use, or sold to other nations in similar roles, while production of new build airframes was recommenced for those that don’t like cheap second-hand Cubs with one “careful” owner. Due to the simple nature of the type, maintenance was straight-forward and cost-effective thanks in part to the extensive spares library to accommodate the large number of examples built, leading to many airframes surviving to the present day in private hands. The Kit This is a reboxing of Special Hobby’s 2022 new tool of the type, which has been released in a few boxings already. The kit arrives in a modest-sized top-opening box, and inside are two full-size sprues in grey styrene, a clear sprue, a small fret of Photo-Etch (PE), a single 3D printed resin part in its own Ziploc bag, a tiny slip of over-printed clear acetate, the A5 instruction booklet in colour, and the decals in a resealable bag. Detail is good, although there are some ejector-pin marks here and there by necessity, and some of them might need dealing with during assembly and painting. Construction begins predictably with the cockpit, starting on a floor part that is detailed with rudder pedals, fire extinguisher and other small parts, plus the linked control columns, the four-part seat for the pilot, with a rear seat installed later. The Continental motor is begun by gluing the top and bottom halves together, with heat shielding over the piston banks, and a central air intake system underneath. This is slipped through the piston slots in the starboard fuselage half. The firewall with moulded-in tank separates the engine from the cockpit, and after gluing the floor into the bottom of the starboard fuselage, a sloped rear bulkhead is placed on ledges. Whilst closing the fuselage, two rods are inserted low on the firewall, linked diagonally to the sidewalls, then the rear seat that is similar to the pilot’s seat but with a single mounting frame, adding a tonneau cover spread over the rear cockpit area. The instrument panel is created by adding a curved coaming insert across the front of the cockpit, to which a choice of printed acetate film or a decal is applied, adding a PE surround over the top. The Cub’s extensive glazing is next, with a choice of closed or open starboard side panels, which is accomplished by using one of two parts supplied on the clear sprue. The port side is fixed closed, and is first to be placed in position, linked to the opposite side by a solid rear that holds the tops of the windows at the correct width. There are details moulded into the insides of the glazing parts, so masking inside and painting them will increase the realism appreciably, and Special Hobby have a set of masks to help in this regard. The clear roof is applied over the top, and in front of that the lengthy spar and a pair of inverted V-frames added then covered by the crystal-clear curved windscreen. Once the glue and paint are dry on the canopy, the wing halves are joined over the spars, taking care to smooth down the ejector-pin marks that are present on the inside surface of each part, just in case they clash. A few seconds with a motor tool, nippers or coarse sanding stick should see them gone, as you don’t need to be too careful. The single-thickness elevators are slotted into the tail, then it’s a case of adding all the detail, starting with the landing gear struts under the fuselage. The engine is also detailed with a new resin part under the chin, plus a small light “pot” on the top of the cowling. The wings are supported by a V-shaped strut between the fuselage and outer wing, with an additional supporting stay around half-way, and some tiny PE actuators fitted to the ailerons nearby. You will need to find some 0.3mm wire or thread to replicate the aileron control wires that run down the front support and pop out again to mate with the PE actuators added earlier. This is replicated on both wings of course, and their routes are marked on the instructions in red. The tail wheel is fixed to the moulded-in strut under the tail, and there are twin control wires added to the elevators, with the control wires replicated top and bottom, and two more to control the tail-wheel itself for ground-handling, again all these are marked in red. More short wires are added on the topside of the ailerons, and the two-part balloon-like tyres are slipped over the axles on the gear legs. If you have elected for an open cockpit, the open window is fixed almost horizontal, flush with the lower wing and held in place by a PE stay, while the lower trapezoid cockpit door is folded down with a PE handle and retaining clip glued to the bottom edge. It isn’t mentioned, but we assume that if you close the window you should glue the door in the closed position earlier in the build. Finally, the two-bladed prop is slipped over the drive-shaft at the front of the engine, without a spinner. Markings There are three decal options included on the sheet, and if you’ve been staring at grey jets a lot recently, the olive drab and yellow paint schemes might make a welcome change. From the box you can build one of the following: J-3 Cub/O-59A, 42-7827 No.24 J-3C-65 loaned to military during 1941 J-3C-65 n/c 7132, NC38601, Manufactured in 1941, Midwest Airfield, Fort Worth, Texas, 1040s The decals appear to be printed using the same digital processes as Eduard are now using, and have 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, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion I wasn’t all that interested in this aircraft until I saw the 3D printed engine set that we reviewed recently, and now I’m very interested in building a military example. It’s an acknowledged fact that I’m fickle, but it’s a really nice kit of a surprisingly common and persistent aircraft that will also appeal to civilian aircraft modellers as well as some of the many pilots that earned their wings flying in one. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Not quoted in most of the Nuremberg Toy Fair 2012 reports is a 1/32nd North American T-2 Buckeye kit in development by Special Hobby. Future ref n° SH32037 Source Aeroscale: http://aeroscale.kitmaker.net/modules.php?...4302&page=4 Image link: http://aeroscale.kitmaker.net/photos/featu...02/39_mpm25.jpg V.P.

CAC CA-9 Wirraway In Training & Combat (SH72473) 1:72 Special Hobby The CAC Wirraway was a trainer aircraft developed by the Australian Commonwealth Aircraft Company (CAC) that was based on the North American NA-16, a design which was itself developed into the T-6 Texan. CAC altered the basic design of the NA-16 by adding a second forward firing machine gun and strengthening the wings to enable the aircraft to perform dive bombing missions. A total of 755 Wirraways were built by the time production ended, and the design also served as the basis for the Boomerang emergency fighter. Aside from fulfilling its role as a trainer aircraft, the Wirraway was also pressed into service as a stop-gap fighter and ground-attack aircraft during the early phases of engagement between Japanese and Australian forces. The type's only air combat victory occurred in January 1942, when Pilot Officer J.S. Archer dived on a Mitsubishi Zero flying below him and shot it down. The Kit This is a reboxing with new decals of a tooling from 2010, so is relatively modern, and arrives in an end-opening red, white and grey themed box with a painting of a yellow Wirraway on the front, and side profiles of the two decal options on the rear. Inside the box are two sprues of grey styrene, a clear sprue, a bag containing three grey resin parts, another bag with the decals inside, and the instruction booklet in A5 format, printed in colour on glossy paper. Detail is good, with a well-appointed cockpit, resin engine and cowling, and crystal-clear canopy in two parts. There is a wisp of flash here and there, but the majority of it is on the sprue runners themselves. Construction begins with the cockpit, adding the two seats on frames, control columns and two pairs of rudder pedals to the floor, then bracketing it with the framework, which has cross-braces and equipment added, and detailed painting instructions called out, which continues throughout the build. A large instrument panel and coaming are inserted into the starboard fuselage half along with the cockpit and a few other small detail parts, then the two halves of the fuselage can be glued together, making up the wings from full-span lower and two upper surfaces, with a gear bay insert added into the lower. The fuselage is inserted into the space between the upper wings, and the elevators are glued to the tail on a pair of pegs, although the instructions make it look like a butt-joint. Up front, the three resin parts are used, starting with the firewall that is glued to the front of the fuselage, then the resin Pratt & Whitney R-1340 radial engine is mated to the raised circular centre of the firewall after painting up the various components, and if you are feeling adventurous, you could also wire up the ignition leads. The cowling is slipped over the finished engine after the interior surface is painted grey-green, with a styrene chin intake added underneath. The main gear are simple struts with retraction legs inboard, and the one-part wheels attach to the axles along with a captive bay door on the outer side. The tail wheel is moulded with an integral strut, and fixes on a fairing under the tail, after which the model can sit on its own three wheels. The canopy is glued over the cockpit cut-out, leaving off the rear section to accommodate the rear-firing machine gun that is mounted on two semi-circular frames. An aerial post is fitted in front of the windscreen, adding two forward-firing machine gun barrels into the troughs in the nose, a pair of landing light lenses in the leading edges of the wings and a cranked pitot probe around mid-span of the starboard wing. The prop is a single part and slots over the axle on the bell-housing on the front of the motor to complete the build phase. Markings There are two decal options in this boxing, one in yellow, the other a foliage green, both with roundels that have no red component at the centre, due to trigger-happy gunners literally seeing red and assuming they were Japanese aircraft. From the box you can build one of the following: A20-617 (C/N 818) No.86 Sqn., RAAF, Northern Australia, Spring/Summer, 1945 A20-637 (C/N 1089) No.4 Sqn., RAAF, New Guinea, 1944 The decals appear to be printed using the same digital processes as Eduard are now using, and have 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, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion A welcome re-release of a more unusual and left-field subject that nonetheless played an important part in training pilots that fought in WWII. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Hello Today that is exactly 56 years ago the IDF/AF started what was called the Six Day War. During these days one aircraft type got aerial superiority, and it is the right opportunity to show you my last build with this 1/72 Special Hobby Dassault Mirage IIICJ aka Shahak. This plane #784 was from No119 Squadron and was famous when his pilot Ran Rosen on November 13, 1966 shot down a Jordanian Hunter after a hard fought air battle. I chose to put a couple of bombs under the belly as a typical interdiction mission. I avoided the Shafrir 1 missiles because they were often discarded due to their poor efficiency. The paint is Alclad Duraluminium with some darker aluminium added somewhere to get different shades. It is an easy kit to build and I am looking forward to adding a French Mirage IIIC later as this the subject of the new Special Hobby box. Patrick

Zetor 25 Military Tractor w/Towbar for MiG-15/17 (8063) 1:48 CMK by Special Hobby Following the end of WWII, many companies returned to create civilian products, and in Czechoslovakia (as was) the Zetor company was created in 1946 to manufacture tractors and farm machinery under the watchful eye of the government, with its first product being the Zetor 25 tractor that was designed before the brand-name was even registered. A year later they had produced almost 3,500 units, when it was joined by the 15, and later by improved versions of the 25 that were made until the early 1960s when it was replaced by the more modern 35. The 25 saw extensive service in the military as a ground-handling tractor, towing MiG-15s and MiG-17s around the airfield once the engines were shut down. Fitted with a custom towing bar, they were a common sight chugging around the perry tracks, in-and-out of hangars on Soviet era military bases until they were replaced by more modern, capable designs as technology improved and the aircraft became heavier. The Kit This is a reboxing of a 2022 tooling of the agricultural version of this common tractor in resin, with new parts to reflect its military service, plus the tow-bar to enable its use on an airfield. It arrives in a rectangular yellow cardboard box, and inside are fifty-eight grey resin parts, six orange 3D printed resin parts, two clear resin parts, two small frets of Photo-Etch (PE), a small decal sheet, and the instruction sheet, printed in colour on a folded sheet of A4. Detail is excellent, and once the parts have been removed from the casting blocks and cleaned-up, it should go together like an injection-moulded kit, but with the parts first washed in warm soapy water to remove any moulding residue, and super glue or epoxy resin used to build the model. Construction begins with the chassis, which is built up from a large number of parts, including the engine, transmission, axles and a bench seat for the driver, with a long steering column topped with a four-spoked wheel. Various PE and resin small parts are installed on the assembly from both sides, then the top cowling and grille are applied over the engine, adding a simple instrument panel in front of the driver, linking the exhaust to the engine with a resin downpipe, and a short length of wire from your own stock passing behind it, another piece of wire bent to create a grab-rail behind the seat, and another short length bent to an L-shape to form the peg that holds the towbar to the 3D printed hitch. A V-strut supports the front axle from behind, adding the small wheels to it, and the larger rear wheels under the driver’s position whilst adding the arches that prevent mud splatter between the chassis and the wheels. There are a pair of optional number plate holders and accompanying decals to give your model an identity. The towbar comprises a main part, adding the eye and compression gaiter to the front, then creating a stabilising wire from your own stock that is tipped at each end with PE eyes from the fret that attach to the main gear legs of your chosen MiG, and wrapping around a pulley printed integrally to the main towbar part, which adjusted position as the vehicle turned corners. The yoke at the rear of the bar attaches to each side of the aircraft’s nose wheel hub, and the towing eye of course connects to the hitch at the back of the tractor. Markings For the most part these beasts of burden were painted a khaki green, with little to differentiate them from each other except for their number plate and the state of their paint-job. This is reflected in the profiles, with just the two red and white decals for the Zetor 25 badges on the sides of the cowling, and the optional number plate decals. The decals appear to be printed using the same digital processes as Eduard are now using, and have 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, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Even though this feature will only be visible on the cowling logos, it’s a focal area of the model, so still good to have. Conclusion I’ve been envious of the 1:72 modellers and their CMK Zetor tractors for a while, and now we 1:48 modellers can tow our early jet MiGs too. The kit has plenty of detail, and don’t let the fact it’s resin put you off. It’s not all that hard with a little patience and a razor saw. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Good evening gals and gents, today I'd like to present to you a gift for a good friend of mine. As he is a huge fan of Bugatti, mostly of the Veyron, I decided to get him a Bugatti he hasn't in his collection yet. Small wonder. Most people associate the name Ettore Bugatti with racing cars and luxury automobiles but only a few probably know the story of the Bugatti Model 100, sometimes called the Bugatti-De Monge 100P. In 1937 Bugatti decided to get back at the Germans and to win the prestigious Deutsch de la Meurthe Cup Race. He teamed up with Belgian engineer Louis de Monge and they were on course to enter the 1939 race, but to do so they needed to get their aircraft completed by September and we all know what happened in September of 1939. They missed the deadline and so the Model 100 never took to the skies and when in 1940 the Germans were approaching Paris, the still incomplete plane was moved to the French countryside where it was hidden in a barn for the next almost 30 years. It was sold a couple of times, among other to an American automotive aficionado who bought the Model 100 for its two Bugatti Type 50P Straight 8 4.9L engines, which were used for restoration works of Bugatti cars. In 1996 the airframe was donated to the EAA Aviation Museum in Oshkosh where it was restored and is now on display. But the story doesn't end there. While Ettore Bugatti never saw the plane fly, it finally did in 2015 - at least a replica did. It was built by a group of enthusiasts using the original plans. Some materials originally used by Bugatti and de Monge were changed for safety reasons and the plane was powered by two Suzuki Hayabusa engines. Nicknamed Blue Dream, the plane was slightly damaged during an landing incident on the first flight, but was repaired and did another successful flight. Almost exactly one year after its inaugural flight, Blue Dream took to the skies for a third and last time. Unfortunately it crashed right after take-off, tragically killing the pilot and initiator of the re-creation of the Model 100, Scotty Wilson. Even more tragic - this was to be the aircrafts final flight anyway as the team behind the project planned to donate it to a museum afterwards. So while these enthusiasts proved the Bugatti Model 100 could fly, neither them, nor Ettore Bugatti and Louis de Monge themselves could prove that this might have been the fastest, most advanced racer in its time. At least it looks absolutely stunning! So...after a long brainstorm what to get that guy for his birthday ("I don't want anything!") I got back to the most obvious but I didn't want to get him another 1/18 scale Bugatti Veyron, even when I entertained the idea of getting one, remove the paint and spec it individually, I finally settled on the Special Hobby 1/48th scale kit of the Model 100. It's compact enough so he can add it to his collection without any problems, which was the main reason I didn't go for another Veyron or the 1/32nd variant of this kit. The build was quite enjoyable. The bulk of the parts is used in the cockpit and the fitment of the small parts amazingly is not bad at all. The airframe on the other hand didn't go together so easily, there was quite a gap in the front of the fuselage, but with the help of putty it wasn't that big of a deal. What I couldn't get rid of is the visible step between the fuselage and the wings at the rear. The fuselage seems to sit way lower than it should or the wings are to thick, don't really know where the mistake was made and unfortunately I'm not that skilled with sculpturing and rescribing to get it done with putty. But it bugs me so much, I even consider to keep that one for myself and build another one and approach the attachment of the wings differently and hoping it will look better. Anyway, the rest was easy going, except I had to write to Special Hobby because one of the resin parts was missing from my kit. But one mail and two days later I got the part in my mailbox, free of charge. Kudos for that service, thank you Special Hobby team! With everything in place the kit was primed with Tamiya white primer from a spray can and sprayed with Tamiya French Blue. For the cockpit, canopy, landing gear and propellers Vallejo and Revell acrylics were used, I kept the weathering to a minimum, just suggesting a bit the plane might have been raced once or twice and yeah, Bob's your uncle. Except for the problem with the wings, I'm quite pleased with the result and it certainly looks sexy in blue next to all the mostly grey and huge military jets on my shelf, as I still haven't decided if I should give it another go or if this actually is worthy as a gift. Either way sooner or later I will add this little beauty to my collection. That at least is decided Thanks for reading and watching!

Hi Guys, To follow on with my little P-40's series in 1:72 scale. This time the very well known "44" 3Lulu Belle" of Lt Philip S Adair. My purpose here is to illustrate : -another style of "Unit nose art" as seen on this group during their P-40 use. Each skull was different, - this typical camouflage of Olive drab ( second type) and Medium green 42. - star with white band only a national markings. I Chose this specific plane as it had its tires highlighted in white. Not for sun heating protection purpose , as seen on some Me 109 in North Africa , but as special personnel deco from P.S.Adair. He was car salesman on its civilian activities prior the war, and at that time many US cars had their tires decorated this way, A kind of remembrance for him I suppose. Now, As regard of external load, one of the main mission of 80th FG was to support "Merrill's Marauders" in their way through the jungle landscape of this theater of operations. For these missions they decided to use Depth Charges Mk XVII from the US Navy ( The only group to do that. ??) . I guess that the blast effect of these charges was very efficient in Jungle both to clear drop zones for resupply ground troops, and also may be to smashed Japanese buildings made out of wood and bamboo trees. As these charges went of US navy stocks, some were olive drab other navy light grey, depending on availability .. I chose grey 😊 Now my little bird : Tried to represent wire mesh that was frequently used there in replacement of more standard PSP ones Hope you'll like it !! cheers !!

Another Supermarine, more precisely a Seafire FR.Mk.47 in progress by Special Hobby with catalogue number SH72099. Herebelow the box art and the proposed markings. Source: http://www.modelforu...hp?f=97&t=69259 V.P.

I've built a lot of Special Hobby Mirage F1s in the last six years. It's one of my favourite kits. However, every one that I have built in French markings has been in the original blue scheme. Time to put that right. This will be a Mirage F1CT in the later green and grey disruptive pattern and roundels without the yellow ring. Even better, it will be in the overall camouflage scheme. This is the kit. Not from a box, but a bag. Special Hobby term these "simple kits" as they have no decals. The sprues. I'm sure you have all seen these many times before. The decals are from Printscale. My subject may even be No 3 as shown. I like the look of that honking great belly tank. Another one for the flightline, @Sam

The Special Hobby Mirage IIICJ kit hasn't been out for long. I haven't even completed a straight build of it yet but I'm going to mess around with it. I will build the kit as one of the Israeli "Tzniut" recce conversions, with the freakishly weird nose. The recce nose parts are from the AML kit which I built as a Mirage prototype in the recent Prototypes GB. The AML kit actually provides two choices of recce nose. The Tzniut nose is utterly bizarre! It is shown on the boxart of the AML kit.

Grumman AF-2 Guardian ‘Fire Bomber’ (SH48225) 1:48 Special Hobby The Grumman AF Guardian was designed from outset to be an anti-submarine warfare aircraft, although the airframe began life as a heavy torpedo bomber, taking numerous forms and using two engines to give it enough power to lift a larger load. The penultimate design included a jet engine in the tail and a Pratt & Whitney Double Wasp radial engine in the nose, but as the jet engine never lived up to its promise, it was dropped and the type reverted to tried and true prop power to lift it from an Essex-class carrier, which was to be its usual home. The size of the airframe and its choice of power plant made it the largest propeller engine aircraft to have flown regularly to and from carriers. There were two sub-types when in US Navy service, the hunter, which had two extra crew to operate the belly-mounted radome and electronic countermeasure equipment, but it had nothing to defend itself with other than the capabilities of the ECM fit and harsh language from the crew. The other sub-type was the killer, carrying two flight crew and an additional radar/searchlight operator, with an array of weaponry in the internal bomb bay. Fewer than 400 were built overall, and it entered service in the early 50s in time to serve in the Korean War, where it garnered a reputation for being a difficult aircraft to fly thanks to its lack of power and heavy controls that led to a high attrition rate due mainly to accidents. There was an attempt to combine both roles in a single Guardian-based airframe, but it was soon cancelled. Despite some improvements in the shape of the AF-3, it was retired from active service in 1955 but remained in reserve until 1957, replaced by the S-2 Tracker, also from the Grumman stable. Remaining airframes were scrapped, with just five receiving a stay of execution to be used as fire bombers in California until their retirement in 1978 after many years of sterling service where their drawbacks weren’t such an issue. The Kit This is a reboxing of a 2014 tooling from Special Hobby that has been upgraded with additional parts to portray its fire-bombing incarnation. It arrives in a blue-themed top-opening box, and inside are seven sprues of grey styrene, a clear sprue, a bag of thirty-six resin grey parts, a large decal sheet, a fret of Photo-Etch (PE) parts, a sheet of pre-cut masking material for one of the decal options, and of course the instruction booklet, which is printed on glossy paper in colour, with profiles of the decal options on the rear pages for when the time comes. Detail is good, and the large size of the aircraft is noticeable when you first open the box. The engine uses up most of the resin parts, and it should result in an excellent rendition of this powerful radial motor that was sadly not sufficient to propel this monster as well as it deserved. Because this is a civilian version of the aircraft, there are several unused parts that are picked out on the sprue diagrams with large red Xs. Be aware that many of the larger parts have large raised ejector turrets on their inner faces, some of which will require removal to avoid fit issues, so it’s an idea to take your nippers to them wholesale before you begin to build. Wear glasses to avoid getting a scratched cornea or worse if one pings in your direction. Construction begins with the instrument panel, which is wide even though there’s only a single pilot sat at the controls. The styrene panel has PE rudder and other pedals attached from behind, or you can simplify the rudders slightly by using plastic supports with just the pedals applied from the PE sheet. Decals are applied to the instrument panel and a resin part is fixed to the starboard side, adding the coaming and another detailed part over the top of it. Three seats are made up, one on a rail with headrest and four-point PE seatbelts added, with two more simple seats that have just lap belts to hold the crew in place. The main cockpit has a narrow space for the pilot and two side consoles that are detailed with three decals, adding two folded PE document pockets to the sides of the starboard console, the seat slots into two holes in the floor, plus the control column in front of it. The rear bulkhead fits to the back of the floor on a pair of rails, joining the two elements together with a palette of equipment. The other two seats are placed on small sections of floor that have bulkheads added into grooves in the front, and are used to locate them against a couple of raised lines inside the fuselage, as is the main cockpit, plus a bulkhead in the nose with a hole in the centre. A small section of the bomb bay is removed for the first decal option, and the bottom half of another raised line is removed from the starboard nose at the base of a depression to ensure a good fit. The tail-wheel bay slips into the tail along with a small bulkhead, and on the sides of the fuselage a couple of windows need adding so the rest of the crew can see out. The engine must be made up next before being inserted into the open front of the nose. The whole assembly is resin apart from the push-rods, which you must make eighteen of from 0.5mm wire that is 5mm long, adding them to the front bank of pistons once they have been inserted into the holes in the central block, taking care to use the correct parts in each bank, and adding the ancillaries to the reduction housing at the front, plus the wiring harness, which you can improve by wiring up all the plugs with some fine wire from your stock. Once it is painted, the rear is inserted into the bulkhead in the nose, and the cowling lip is detailed with two internal parts to make up the intakes before gluing it to the nose around the engine. Resin exhaust stubs are inserted at the base of the depressions in the side of the nose, covering their bases with a separate section of cowling, and adding a resin intake and PE grille to each side along with two more cowling panels over the upper outlets. The canopy is in two parts like the real thing, but without seriously messing about with the parts, I can’t say whether you can depict the canopy opened. If not, the brave amongst us could cut the canopy in half and add a small fillet to give it the requisite width. The enormous elevators are each made from top and bottom halves, sliding the mini-stabilisers into the grooves in the leading edges, and then cutting them off and making good for the first scheme, as they aren’t fitted. The first scheme also has an extended bomb bay that contains additional firefighting water, while the other two options still have the original flush-fitting bay doors that are each a single part. The lower wings have the leading-edge slat bays fitted to the outer panel, then the gear bays are inserted, made from three parts each, completed by lowering the upper wing halves onto them, which have some ribbing detail moulded into them that will be the roof of the bay once installed. There’s a landing light inserted into the starboard wing lower, after which the wings slot into the grooves in the fuselage sides, setting them aside to cure at the correct dihedral. The tail has the arrestor hook inserted through the bulkhead, and two lights above it, one clear the other red, adding another red light just behind the cockpit. Two little T-aerials are glued under the elevators later in the build. With the model inverted, the flaps are detailed with PE hinges, adding an L-shaped pitot on the starboard side. The main gear legs are shown being built up in isolation with their bays hovering in space to make the process clearer, taking the main strut and adding two retraction jacks, a PE scissor-link and the captive bay door to each side. The wheels are each made from two halves and are slotted onto the axles at the bottom of the legs, referring to a scrap diagram that shows the correct angle for the legs and wheels, which are canted slightly outboard. The tail wheel bay is also shown in isolation, adding the twin wheels to the yokes, a V-shaped retraction jack, and two-part bay doors that are captive to the leg. A small resin peg is added to the rear of the strut to finish it off. A pair of wingtip lights are inserted in the gaps in the wing, the prop is made up from the central boss and four separate square-tipped blades, then a forward-raked antenna is placed 15mm back from the rear of the canopy, with a blunt antenna behind it, and another on a short post behind that, adding a pair of whiskers trailing behind with the airflow, again from your own stock – toothbrush bristles are quite good for that. Markings There are three decal options on the sheet, one bright orange and white, the other two aluminium with an orange fuselage band. From the box you can build one of the following: BuNo.123088, ex-US Navy, Rebuilt as a firefighter. In 1962 is flew with civil registration N3142G with code 30E on its cowl, operated by the Aero Union Corporation in Choco, California. NoNo.126792, ex-US Navy, a firefighting aircraft with civil registration N9995Z, operated by the Aero Union Corporation in Choco, California. BuNo. 126759, ex-US Navy, flew with civil registration N3144G, operated by the Aero Union Corporation in Choco, California. During service it flew with several different variations, at one point with an orange engine cowling and 30E on the nose. The decals appear to be printed using the same digital processes as Eduard are now using, and have 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, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion It’s a big, ungainly aircraft with a certain appeal beyond its prodigious size. Sure, it wasn’t very good at its job in the military, but it made a great fire truck, and this model depicts that well, with plenty of detail and a gorgeous resin engine. The decals are very colourful too. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Time for me to get working on the (sadly flawed) 1/48 Special Hobby Wirraway kit. I have about six of these in my stash (how??), and I'm going to build two at once... One will be built as A20-719 / VH-WRX representing its movie star role as a US Navy Douglas Dauntless in the 1998 Terrence Malick movie "The Thin Red Line". This version will have a few modifications, some to make it more like a Wirraway and some to make it less like a Wirraway! There are very few photographs of the aircraft in this guise, but here's a sketch of what the movie star looked like: The second will be built as A20-547 as it appeared post-war at Base Squadron Point Cook, flown by pilots from 1FTS. This is a build for a friend, who owns (and is restoring) the remains of the real aircraft. This one will be built OOB (apart from the post-war modifications), so I can give a comparison to the more detailed build of 719. Here is what this second model will look like (apart from the serial number being different): I happen to have two different boxings of this kit, but the contents are the same... First step in construction is to build the fuselage frame and fit out the cockpit. Clearly the floor detail in the Special Hobby kit doesn't match the reality of a Wirraway... So for the extra-detailed build for A20-719 I cut the foot-troughs into sections of the correct length and will use the aft-most troughs (turned upside-down) to duplicate the foot-plates either side of the aft seat...

I seem to have lost my mind... Over in the Dassault GB I am building two Mirage IIIs and a Mirage F1. In this GB I am building two Mirage IIIs. So in the interests of symmetry it seems only fair that I build a Mirage F1 as well. So far, every Mirage F1 that I have built in French markings has been in the classic blue air defence scheme. I fancied a change in the Dassault GB and so am building an F1CT in the tactical scheme, which I have never done before. It changes the whole look of the aircraft. I'm very pleased with how that build is progressing as the camouflage looks really good, so I suddenly had the urge to build another... This will be a Mirage F1CR using the last of my Special Hobby "simple kits". Not to worry though, I still have plenty of boxed SH F1s in The Stash. I'm planning on building a Greek one in the Southern Europe GB and a Spanish one in either the Southern Europe GB or the Desert GB. Just had a very silly idea... But back to this build. Here is the kit with the in-progress F1CT in the background. The sprues, in photos cribbed straight from my F1CT build. The decals will be from this Print Scale sheet to represent an aircraft of ER 1/33 Belfort.

Latest finish is Special Hobby's re-box of the Tarangus kit in 1/72, this is the air superiority version. A lovely kit with some nice moulded detail but as many have found care needs to be taken with the forward fuselage and the intake joins. I adjusted the some of paints indicated in the instructions as 3 of the upper colours didn't look right when sprayed, masked with my own hand cut masks by laying tape over a up-sized laminated photo copy of the painting guide and carefully cutting with a sharp knife before transferring onto the kit. Built OOB less the AIM9's (Airfix) and Skyflash (Resikit) both mounted on LAU's taken from an old Hasegawa F4E kit. Painted with usual mix Mr Hobby Colour and Tamiya acrylics. All comments welcome. Here a link to the WIP

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

Once I’ve finished off a few other things I’ll be joining in with this DH beauty. Though I suspect the kit will take a bit of work to get there. Three grey plastic runners, much of the moulding is nice and fine, if not totally crisp. The detailing is relatively restrained, but there are a lot of injection pins that’ll need removing. A fair bit of resin and a small injection moulded transparency runner, with the canopy and camera ports. Typical SH instructions and some etch as well. Markings for two F20s, one High Speed Silver and one in Extra Dark Sea Grey over Sky, and for a PR22.

Hi Guys !! , I'm currently working on a series of P-40 aircraft. The Curtiss fighter family interests me greatly, both from a historical and modeling perspective. For me, the two go hand in hand. The P-40 has a number of unique characteristics that set it apart in many ways: -It is the only fighters series whose various models/versions were used on all continents and also on all fronts of World War II. -It is the only aircraft that was flown by almost all the belligerent nations of World War II (with the exception, I believe, of Italy, Denmark, Belgium, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria), not counting the Baltic countries, but that's still quite a lot of nations. -It is the only aircraft that carried both all the camouflage patterns and national markings used by USAAF fighters during the war. All these aspects make it very interesting for modelers I think. Furthermore, many American P-40 units (or associated units like Chennault's Flying Tigers under Chinese colors) systematically applied unit "nose art" to their aircraft, especially in North Africa/Italy and the CBI theater of operations. Not to mention the individual nose decorations applied mainly in the South Pacific (Solomon Islands, etc.). With all of this, I believe there's a lot of fun available for a modeler . I plan to combine various interesting offerings from different manufacturers (model kits, decals, accessories like wheels, external stores, etc.) to cover a part of this series. So, to start , I present to you a P-40E used by the 11th Fighter Squadron of the 343rd Fighter Group in the Aleutian Islands. This unit was initially, for a brief period, commanded by Lt. Col. John Chennault, the son of General Claire Lee Chennault, the initiator of the Flying Tigers in China. Like all children (I have 3...), he "teaches" their parents about Life. Consequently, he told his dad, "Your Flying Tigers' nose art is lousy! They're not tigers, they're sharks!" (Inspired by the British shark mouth of desert AF.) "Seriously!!!" (I can only imagine...😈) And he chose this decoration... which actually represents a Chinese tiger...😆 As for the model ,finally!!! ( I know, was a little bit too long , as most of you guys knew that already I'm sure ..Sorry for that 🤭) The kit is from Special Hobby, Aeromaster decals, and the paints are Tamiya OD 41 (the first version from Tamiya), which I believe is the most suitable color, the same for the NG. Also, an Aeromaster US orange yellow for the prop hub to match the yellow of the tiger head .Build some years ago 😊 This one as : External stores :the first belly tank used by P-40 and diamond threads wheels . Now on to the pics . Hope you'll like it 😉 This one to "kill" the legend (in my opinion) of these planes wearing a lone white star without blue background (As presented on the Aeromaster decal sheet). ...Plant line discussion " Guys !, no blue left ! let's go for white stars only !!😄 . But if I'm wrong would be really pleased to learn about it really. Now the undies of the lady ..😊 I tried to represent muzzle shoot stains as they looked on pictures, oily ones, linked I think to barrel cleaning with oil ( I cleaned some guns and in fact 0,50 during my military period ( last century☺️ ) ) closed canopy Then tried to represent the "volcanic " landscape of this forgotten area of operations ; That's all folks ! Thanks for watching ! Take care .. and happy modelling! Cheers !!

Special Hobby reissue expected in May 2023 - ref. SH72480 - Saab J/A-21R Source: https://www.specialhobby.net/2023/03/sh72480-saab-ja-21r-first-swedish-made.html Box art V.P.

Here is my latest completed model - 1:72 CASA C-212-100 Aviocar, no 16507, 502 Squadron "Elefantes" of Portuguese Air Force, Sintra 2005. Special Hobby 72376 kit "out of the box" with a few additions made from scratch. Painted with Mr. Hobby C. Thanks for watching!

Overall, good kit, main issues were with decals (terrible print quality and crumbling/folding) and bad fit. Really nice details though and I still enjoyed making it. Glad I'm finished with it however. Thanks for looking!