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Focke Wulf Fw 189B-0/B-1 "Luftwaffe Trainer" (SH72430) 1:72 Special Hobby The Fw 189 won the competition in to replace older reconnaissance type with the Luftwaffe beating the Ar 189 and Bv 141. The type went on to become the Luftwaffe's standard tactical recon platform. The aircraft features a central fuselage pod heavily glazed, with twin booms leading back to the tail, the front of which housed the engines. The Luftwaffe looked at expanding 189 production and called for a training version, attack version and a maritime version with floats. Only 2 prototype attack versions were built, and the single float version was never finished. Along with the prototype Fw 189B trainer two more B-0 aircraft were built, followed by 10 B-1 aircraft. As well as for training the aircraft were used in the Liaison role, though little is really known on this. The Kit This is a rebox of the MPM kit with parts for the trainer version and new decals. Construction starts in the large cockpit area. The two font seats go in with a panel separating them and two control columns in front of the seat. Two additional seats go in the rear of the cockpit followed by the rear bulkhead and a further panel to the left of the two rear seat. Following the installation of the instrument panel into the right side of the fuselage pod the complete cockpit can be inserted in and the pod closed up. The cockpit glazing can now be added. Each of the twin booms can now be built up. There are front and rear bulkheads for the gear wells which support the gear well roof. At the front the engine face goes on, and to the left side resin intakes are added. Its now time to add the fuselage pod and the wings together. The lower wing is in three parts; a centre section and the two left/right wings. The upper wings are in left/right and attach to the fuselage pod. The twin booms fit on to the underside with the centre section joining on one side and left/right sections on the other. The tail will also need putting in between the booms at the same time! This does look like it will need some time and patience to get everything aligned correctly. Once all of the main structure is assembled the landing gear needs making up and installing in each boom. The last things to do are to install the props and the tail wheel. Markings The glossy decal sheet is printed in house and looks sharp and in register. There are three decal options available from the decal sheet; Fw 189B-0 BQ-AZ - Work No. 0010 - FW Factory Bremen 1940 - Overall RLM02 Fw 189B-1 BS-AA - Work No unknown one of only 10 built. 1940 overall RLM02 Fw 189B-1 BS+AC - Work No unknown one of only 10 built. 1940 RLM70 & 81 over 65. Photographed in Prague Conclusion It is good to see this released. The kit will take some fettling im pretty sure off, but once assembled it should look the part. Recommended. Masks Special Hobby also do masks for the kit . The masks are for the canopies. Review samples courtesy of

Dear fellow modellers, greetings from Italy. Here you are, just finished, my Special Hobby Re 2005 Sagittario. The kit is a bit tricky like all Special Hobby ones but a lot better compared to others from the same brand. This airplane has a beatufil design, one of my favourites, and it'a pity that there is only one camouflage applicable and very few decals options... unfortunately to few of them entered in service and for a very short time. The model is basically OOB. I've just added Eduard seatbelts, scrhatched some internal details and cut the control surfaces on the taill and glued in a different position. As ususal I airbrush painted it with Tamiya acrilycs and Tamiya spray finishing. Then just a light weathering with oil wash and pastels. Here you are the pictures, enjoy them and any comment is more than welcome. Cheers Andy

Morane-Saulnier type 'N' Bullet. 1/32 Special Hobby The Morane Saulnier Type N first flew in May 1914, well before the outbreak of the Great war and was designed as a racer rather than a combat aircraft. Although a fairly modern looking machine, it lacked ailerons and used wing warping instead. The tailplane was all moving and only the rudder was hinged on the fin. It was fitted with a Hotchkiss machine gun which was not synchronized to fire through the spinning propeller, rather it used two large steel wedges to deflect the bullets off it. Thus equipped, a small number of them entered service in 1915 and although not popular to fly, they did help end the 'Fokker Scourge' of the German Eindekkers. The RFC bought a small number and also used them to effect. The kit is from Special Hobby, and even at 1/32 scale is quite small. I really like Special Hobby kits, they are very well moulded and fit together very well. This one comes with a resin engine, propeller, ammo belts and minor accessories. Also included is a nice etched brass sheet with engine details, seatbelts and turnbuckles for the brave to use! But the inexplicable thing is that nowhere in the kit are the large & prominent 'MS' circular logos that go on the cowling. Nada, Nothing, Zilch, not even anything on the decal sheet. This is a serious omission and I'm baffled why Special Hobby didn't provide them on the etch sheet. All is nit lost though, as Tom's Modelworks in the USA do a neat photo etched pair that you simply must get if building this kit. I have no connection with Tom's Modelworks, but must praise them for excellent service. I ordered the etched logos in the UK on a Saturday, and they arrived from the US the following Thursday. Amazing and much appreciated. The kit Instructions (and the Eduard 1/48 kit) show this particular aircraft as having red painted cow;ing/spinner areas on the fuselage. Reading the Windsock datafile, this seems very unlikely. All Morane-Saulnier aircraft of this period were finished with black enameled metalwork, and this is how they were supplied to the French Air Force and Royal Fling Corps. It was the RFC that initially repainted the black areas in red, to distinguish their machines from the Pfalz and Fokker Eindekkers. Later deliveries to the RC were painted red at the factory, but I am convinced that French machines remained with the black finish, so that is how I have done my model. The wing ribs were covered with thin bamboo strips of a lighter colour, I used Wingnut Wings German 'linen' rib tape decal strips. I spotted the Blackdog 'Escadrille Lafayette pilot' on the big H website and though he might go rather well with this and my SPAD V.II (when I get around to building it !). There were no painting instructions so I had to google a lot of it. Anyway, I hope you like it, it was a very enjoyable build. Thanks for looking, John

Good day, Here is my second completed kit for the year, the Special Hobby P-40K Warhawk. A brief overview of the kit and the processes I used............ 1. Paint ( Main colors ) A. Mission Models US Army Sand FS30277 B. Model Master Neutral Gray C. Model Master US Interior Green D. Secondary colors : Tamiya Metallic Gray, Chrome Silver, Titanium Silver, Flat Aluminum, Mission Models Tire Black, Model Master Gulf Armor Sand, Green Drab 2. Aftermarket items : Photo Etched US Seat Belts 3. Kit decals used 4. Weathered using washes ( three different colors ), paint, pencils, and chalk pastels ( three different colors ) A good friend suggested I build this kit with a strong endorsement. I would consider this kit on par with the Tamiya Zero and Eduard Spitfire family of kits. I had no significant issues putting this one together. The detail, fit, and kit decals are excellent. I enjoyed this Special Hobby P-40K and highly recommend it for all skill levels. THANK YOU in advance!!!!! With much respect, Mike

Bf.109G German Pilot, Seated (F48368 for Eduard) 1:48 CMK by Special Hobby A pilot figure in an aircraft model seems to have become superfluous to requirements for a lot of modern manufacturers, which forces us to peruse the aftermarket arena for a suitable candidate when the need arises. As usual with CMK's resin sets, they arrive in the familiar clear vacformed box, with the resin parts safely inside, and the instructions sandwiched between the header card at the rear. Decals and Photo-Etch (PE) when included is separated from the resin parts by a clear piece of acetate to prevent scratching and damage during transit. This resin set provides a single pilot that has been patterned to precisely fit the recent Eduard Bf.109Gs in 1:48, and comes in four parts on two casting blocks. The pilot’s torso, arms and upper legs are moulded into one part, while the lower legs and head are separate, the former having small pegs in the tops of the boots that key into depressions in the knees of the figure. The head slots into a socket, and could easily be adjusted to look to the side with some trimming of the resin peg. The instruction sheet shows the figure assembled in the cockpit, illustrating the fact that his seat is also moulded into the figure, making the fit a lot easier, especially as the shoulder-straps are also moulded-in. next to that photo is a list of paint colours for the various parts of the figure in English and Czech. Conclusion Sculpting and casting is excellent, with loads of detail just waiting to be picked out with your best paintbrush. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

EoN Eton TX.1/SG-38 Over Western Europe (SH72442) 1:72 Special Hobby The Schneider SG-38 was a bare-bones glider designer to be an introductory airframe in flight schools. It was designed in the late 30s, and was manufactured by a number of companies, latterly Elliotts of Newbury as the Eton TX.1. It was employed in the UK and other countries after WWII as a cheap glider to be used by aeroclubs, which were still popular after the war. It was a truly basic in design, with a fabric covered wing and empennage, using bracing wires to hold it rigid like a WWI fighter. The pilot sat at the front totally exposed to the elements with his backside only a few inches from the ground, with a skid landing system that had some element of suspension between the ground and the pilot. The Kit This is a reboxing of the original 2015 tooling, with a collection of decals from the RAF, Belgium, Sweden and France, hence the “Over Western Europe” tagline. It’s a small glider, so in 1:72 it’s wee-tiny. It arrives in a short figure-sized end-opening box, and there’s a single sprue of grey styrene and a decal sheet in the resealable bag. The instructions are portrait A5 and printed in colour, with only two pages actually devoted to the build, the rest taken up with a sprue guide and all the profiles for painting and decaling. There are a couple of spare pilot cowlings within the sprue, one of which isn’t used on this boxing, the other is suitable for two of the decal options. Construction begins with the mating of the tail and supports to the one-piece fuselage, quickly followed by the wing that is slipped over the A-frame that juts out of the top, with a fairly visible seam on the moulded-in seat that will need a swipe with a sanding stick if you aren’t sourcing a pilot figure from somewhere. The pilot controls consist of a column and a choice of two styles of rudder pedals, then follow two drawings showing the installation of the tensioning wires in red, which you will need to source yourself. The final stage is the optional cowling around the pilot that can be fitted to the first RAF and Swedish decal options A & D. That’s it! Markings There are five decal options included on the sheet, which is also pretty small, but you have plenty of colour choices to go at. From the box you can build one of the following: EoN Eton TX.1 WP270, c/n 038 Maidstone Grammar School Combined Cadet Force (Air Cadets) Sept 1951 EoN Eton TX.1 WP265, c/n 033 Air Cadets, RAF West Malling, 1950s SG-38, PL-21, Royal Belgium Air Cadets, Beauvechain, 1959 G-101 (SG-38) built in Sweden by AB Flygindustri), No.80 Sweden, 1943-53 SG-38, No.95 “Le Timide”, France 1945 Decals are printed by Special Hobby and up to their usual standards with good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion This is a cool little kit that some of our older members may in fact have flown back in the day. It has some nice raised and engraved details, particularly around the flying surfaces, and should look quite special under paint and with the guide-wires in place on a representation of a piece of field somewhere. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Two different 1/72nd families of Cobra kits in view by AZ Models and another one by Special Hobby. The Czech ennemy brothers! A 1/72nd Bell AH-1G Cobra kit (early & late versions) is to be released in July by AZ Model. Soon also AH-1Q and TH-1G. Source: https://modelweb.eu/2013/12/23/172-ah-1g-huey-cobra-az-model/ - ref. AZ7450 Another family of 1/72nd Cobras (G and Q/S) is also to be released this summer by Special Hobby. Source: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234939769-new-72nd-scale-ah-1-cobra-available-soon/)1/72 3D renders V.P.

F-104C wheels 1:48 CMK by Special Hobby - For Kinetic kits These wheels are for the new Kinetic Kits, and are a drop in replacement for the kit parts. Review sample courtesy of

F-14A Tomcat Sets 1:72 CMK by Special Hobby for Academy kit CMK offer us 2 sets for the 1/72 Academy kit, a new complete cockpit, Cannon bay and port side engine bay Cockpit Set 7452 The is a complete cockpit from CMK. There is a large one part cast cockpit tub with molded in side consoles and the bulkheads behind the seats. Two new seats are provided as well with PE handles. For the tub there are new instrument panels with PE and film parts and new coamings for the top of them. There are new sidewalls as well for inside the cockpit and the pilots control column. To the rear of the cockpit the large shelf is also provided as a new part, Cannon Installation Set 7453 The is a complete set for installing the 20mm cannon in your F-14. The set comprises PE and resin. As well as the cannon bay there is the cannon itself and the ammunition bay & drum. The last two parts are the access doors for both areas. Port Engine Set 7454 The is a complete set for showing the port jet engine. In only three resin parts there is the engine bay, engine, and access door. Overall the parts are very well cast. with no issues visible at all. It will be upto the modeller how far they want to go with one or more of these sets to detail their model. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Please let me know what you think and any suggestions/advice/techniques are welcome! Thanks! After a long absence from these pages ( I have been lurking once in awhile) I present a WIP of the new Revell 1/32 Tempest Mk.V. This of course a re-issue of the Special Hobby kit. I will be using the Barracuda Studios nose correction set and wheels/tires. I bought Roy's seat too but I think the kit parts are superior in this rare case. I believe the Barracuda seat was designed for Revell's older Typhoon??? In regards to the kit I can say the following: - Moulding quality looks excellent. Fine engraving, rivets and raised detail. A really nice kit! - Heavy sprue gates. These are sometimes very heavy and can make cleaning up some of the tiny parts very tricky, - Fit is pretty good. Dry fitting is a must. I had to drill out a few locating holes to be a little larger. I cut off the locating pins on the drop tanks, stabilisers, elevators and rudder to get better algnment. - Decals seem good so far. Thin, in register and settle down very well with Microsol and Set. I haven't tried Gunze, Tamiya or Daco solvents yet. - Instructions are so-so. Clear illustrations with colour indicating newly installed parts but they do not show where cockpit components fit clearly. Just an arrow to the general area. Luckily I have an Eduard Tempest kit, a couple of photos and the internet to help. Anyway here we go... All interior parts were first sprayed with Tamiya X18 semi-gloss black. Green areas are XF-71 Cockpit Green lightly airbrushed, allowing lighter and darker areas. All parts were drybrushed with an off-white mix, clear coated with future, black oil paint/lighter fluid wash then finished with a mix of Future and Tamiya flat clear. Extra dry-brushing and picking out details as needed with Vallejo acrylics. The stencils are included in the Revell kit. The kit's decals were used for the instrument panel except for the lower right one. This was replaced with a Mike Grant decal as the kit one was rather ugly. The placards are from the Mike Grant set. The decals settled very well using Microsol and Microset. The panel was given a seni-gloss finish and the dials were then filled with Tamiya X22 Clear. The depressed area at the top should be an opening in the panel and a copper tank is visible. I used a piece of round scrap, painted copper to represent the tank. It looks crap in this close up but OK once in the fuselage (and viewed from 4' away). The red handle on the lower right side is not mentioned in the instructions. It is the canopy jettison handle. There is a spare handle on the sprue (maybe from the Mk. II?), I drilled a hole and dropped it in. I used Kamizukuri paper seat belts. I LOVE these but they seem hard to find nowadays. I modified them by splitting the top of the shoulder belts to fit over the attachment bars. From the references I found, which are limited I THINK the Sutton harness secondary harness fits through the hole in the seatback. Why else would the hole be there? Note I have not added the locking clip (included in the Kamizukuri set) and the locking pin (scratchbuilt from copper wire) in this picture. Bringing together these componenets is a little fiddly but it does work. Dry-fitting showed that some of the locating holes needed to be drilled a little larger. I LOVE those Kamizukuri paper seatblets! The straps are just drybrushed lightly with brown. The rivets were picked out with copper and the buckles were sprayed dull stainless steel. The buckles come on their own sheet. The die cutting is extremely fine and the paper material is quite tough and stands up to threading the straps through them. Here you can see the locking pin and clip hanging on copper wire. MIght be a while till the next installment - it's that time of year. Any comments or hints are welcome! Cheers for now

Hurricane Wing Armaments (8 guns) Set 1:72 CMK by Special Hobby for Arma Hobby kit While the new Arma Hobbies Hurricanes are great kits they dont give you the option to open the wing gunbays. This new set from CMK gives us the gun bays for the 8 gun metal wing aircraft.As well as the main bays eight 303 machine guns are included with PE feed trays. PE is also provided for part of the internal structures in the wing, The last items in the box are new covers for the gun bays. All the parts are very well cast. with no issues visible at all. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Gloster Meteor F.8 Prone Pilot (72424) 1:72 Special Hobby With the increase in speed of early Jet fighters a different command position than sitting was being looked at. By lying prone it was thought the pilots would be less susceptible to G forces. Another advantage would be that the front section of the aircraft would have a lower profile. Bristol looked to adopt this for their rocket powered fighter, and as such the RAF needed this to be tested. WK935 the last production Meteor was to be modified as a test bed. While the standard cockpit was retained a new lower profile prone cockpit was placed on the nose of the aircraft. A Meteor NF.12 tail unit was also placed on the aircraft for better control. It was found that the pilot was less susceptible to G forces flying like this, however situational awareness and in particular reward visibility was severely limited. In addition while flying prone the pilot could not sit in an ejection seat and would be forced to jettison the rudder control and climb backwards to an escape hatch. It was ruled these two factor outweighed the advantages of prone flight. The aircraft now site preserved at RAF Cosford if you wish to see a truly unique Meteor. The Kit This is the the MPM kit re-issued by Special Hobby with a new sprue of parts for the nose and tail, plus a new clear spure. The MPM kit is of the higher short run variety but builds into a nice kit with care. First up the main, and front prone cockpits are built up. Following this the nose and tail of the F.8 fuselage are removed. Not shown on the instructions is that any remains of the nose guns will have to be removed and filled/sanded as needed as these were just flat panels on this aircraft. The instructions then show the new nose and tail parts being attached to each fuselage half before the cockpits go in. I suspect most modellers will glue these parts together before then attempting to add them to the main fuselage. Even with the extra nose on this one I would also put some extra weight in to be sure it sits nose down. The underside of the main cockpit forms the front wheel well and the nose gear can then be built up and added in here. With the fuselage together the tailplanes can now be fixed on. Moving to the main wings the wheel wells are attached to the lower wing. In each nacelle the engine front and airflow splitter over the main spar is added. Then the wings can be joined and added to the main fuselage. The main gear can be assembled and added to aircraft, along with the intake lips and exhausts. The instructions show drop tanks being added, though in all the pictures of WK935 I have seen it is flying without them. The last steps in construction are to add the canopies, a couple of aerials and the pitot tube. Decals Markings are for WK935 only. With national insignia, serial numbers, and stencils only. The decals are nicely printed and look quite thin and glossy. Conclusion This is the only kit in 1.72 for this unusual aircraft, recommended if you like Meteors, or prototype/one off airframes. Review sample courtesy of

Tempest Mk V & VI Fuselage Fuel and Oil Tanks 1:32 CMK by Special Hobby If you are wanting to do a diorama with your Special Hobby Tempest then this set provides new fuselage oil & fuel tanks, plus the bulkheads and fittings. Also provided is a new cowl to display next to the model. All the parts are very well cast. with no issues visible at all. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Messerschmitt Bf 109E-4 (SH72439) 1:72 Special Hobby The BF 109 has inherited quite a legendary status and when you look into its service career, it's certainly obvious why. Viewing the design in retrospect, it looks just like a typical fighter of the WWII era, but it was more than that, it was the very platform that the single seat fighter format was born from. Powerful engine, monocoque airframe, all metal construction, enclosed cockpit and retractable gear this was unheard of before hand, it was radical, not typical in the 1930's. Its birth wasn't perfect however, to achieve its performance, some sacrifices were made, particularly in the landing gear arrangement and high wing loading having a negative effect on landing speeds compared to the competition at the time. This inherent design issue was never fully cured and it's estimated that at least 10% of all 109's were lost in take off accidents. Early models (A-D) were powered by the Junkers jumo engine with outputs of around 700hp. The aircraft was first used in combat during the Spanish Civil War where many lessons were learned and these would be later put to good use in battles over France and Britain. The E or Emil model broke the mould in 109 development by changing to the more powerful Daimler Benz DB 601 engine of around 1080hp, a significant step in performance and also in armament due to the introduction of 20mm cannon. By 1939, all earlier variants had been replaced in frontline service. As the variants progressed, so did the level of armour protection for the pilot. Another critical element to improve survivability was the use of twin radiators with cut off valves meaning that if one radiator was damaged, the other could be used to keep it airborne. The Emil was the primary Luftwaffe fighter until 1941 when the F model became widely available with more powerful engine although a few managed to see combat in the Battle of Britain. For an aircraft that broke the mould with fighter technology and performance in the mid 30's, it's evolution meant that whilst it's design had exhausted improvement capability towards the end of the war, it stayed in operational use until 1965 in Europe in the guise of the Spanish licence built HA 1112 using the Merlin power plant. During its 30 year career, more than 33,000 were built, a record that will probably never be beaten. The Kit This is a brand new tool for 2020 from Special Hobby, in collaboration with Eduard. The quality is fist class with crisp moulding and fine engraved panel lines. Given the small size of the real aircraft, in 1/72 the model is quite diminutive, but seems well detailed. Construction starts with the cockpit. The rear bulkhead attaches to the floor with the rudder pedals going in as well. The front lower bulkhead is made up and installed onto the floor followed by the instruments panel and the coaming in front of it. The instruments being provided as decals. Into the cockpit go the flight controls and flap wheel, followed by the seat. The belts being provided as decals also. If the modeller is going to display the cover for the guns in front of the cockpit open then full guns are included, if you are doing this closed then only partial ones need to be added. Next up the engine is assembled which seems quite detailed for the scale, the bearers attached and it fitted to the firewall. Inside the main fuselage halves the exhausts are fitted along with the tail wheel and then the whole thing can be closed up. Separate engine and gun covers can be added, or left off as needed. After the tail surfaces are attached to the main fuselage then we can move onto the wings. The lower wing is a single part with left and right uppers. The wheel wells are all boxed in on the lower. To the middle of the lower wing the radiator is first added. The top wings can then go on. All the wing control surfaces are separate parts. To finish the wing the under wing radiators are added. The wing can then be joined with the fuselage. The canopy parts can then be added, with different types of head armour being provided for the different decal options. The slats can then be added to the main wing in either the open or closed position as needed. At the front the prop and spinner goes on. Last up for the main parts, the main landing gear is made up and added. A few detail parts now can be added to finish of the kit, the aerial mast, pitot tubes, balance horns,; and even an engine starting handle if you wish to install it. Markings The glossy decal sheet is printed in house and looks sharp and in register. There are four decal options available from the decal sheet; Flown by Oblt. Gerhard Schopfel of III./JG 26, France 1940 (Box art) Werk Nr, 4148 flown by Oblt Helmut Wick, Staffelkapitan 3./JG2, France 1940 (additional stipple decals are available from SH here) Werk Nr. 4148 flown by Hptm Wolfgang Lippers Kommandeur II./JG 27, Greece 1941. Yellow 8 of III./JG 52 Romania 1941. Conclusion It is good to see a new tool out of this most famous aircraft. I am no 109 expert but it looks to be a well detailed and engineered kit. Highly recommended. Masks Special Hobby also do masks for the kit (though they are not in their web shop at the time of writing this? The masks are for the canopies and wheels. Review samples courtesy of

I hope you don’t mind me joining in the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations Group Build with this offering. I am going to build the Special Hobby 1/48 Blackburn Skua using the ‘Norwegian Campaign’ boxing but it will be built as L2927/A of 803 NAS HMS Ark Royal, Mediterranean Aug ‘40. I’ll talk later in the build about why this particular aircraft but for now here are a paltry starting efforts. First off the box and sprue shots. Not many parts.. I thought I would start with the engine. Crankcase, cylinders and Exhaust are separate resin parts. All need fitting.. Then you slap some paint on, fit the exhaust collector ring, mounting frame. It is all a bit fiddly but slowly does it. The cowling was held together with tape and the engine assembly dropped in a regular intervals to make sure it fitted. The assembled unit, exhaust collector ring fitted into cowling/ front of the collector ring and some filling done (liquid sprue) to bring the two units together. . I need to do more work about joining the front and rear parts of the collector ring before painting up in scorched metal.. I also put the first coat of paint on some cockpit elements and decided to make the radios in the TAG cockpit a little more 3D.. . I’ve found a better picture of the radios so they might get a repaint (or printed front). Any comments welcome. Thanks for stopping by..

Harrier T.12 Conversion Kit (4373 for Hasegawa) 1:48 CMK by Special Hobby The Hawker Harrier, later under BAe’s auspices has had a two-seat trainer in both its original metal-winged version and the newer composite winged upgrade. Kinetic’s newish kit covers the T.2. T.2A, T.4, T.4N and T.8 variants, but there were another two, the last of which was the T.12, a series of nine T.10s that were upgraded to GR.9 standards, the last of the British Harriers in service with the RAF. There were also T.12As with more powerful engines, with T.10s onwards being combat capable should the need arise. If you want to model a T.12, this new set coupled with the rear-end of a Hasegawa Harrier is now your eariest option. The set arrives in a good-sized sturdy cardboard box, and the reason for this becomes clear when you open the top flap. There are two large single-piece vacform canopies pulled from a single sheet, a fuselage front half as a single moulding with 20 more parts in grey resin, a small sheet of decals, two slips of clear acetate sheet with the HUD glass shapes printed on them in black, and two small Photo-Etch (PE) frets and a folded up instruction booklet that acts as protection for the parts during transport, as do the two ziplok bags that the parts (except the fuselage) arrive in. First impressions are excellent, and live up to the “The best for the detail hungry” motto on the rear of the box. The canopies are crystal clear and very crisply formed, and a spare is always welcome in case you slip-up during cutting out. After the parts diagram, the first step shows the parts of the kit that need adjusting, including removing the slime lights on the LERX, removal of the tail stinger, and tabs on each side of the nose parts that are no-longer needed. It’s all pretty straightforward, then it’s a case of removing the casting blocks from the resin parts and cleaning up the cuts. They’re sensibly placed so that it shouldn’t take too much effort, and their contact patch cross-section has been minimised to assist in this. Construction revolves around the forward fuselage, with the rudders and control sticks added first, then the aft spine with bulkhead, central coaming with detail insert, and front coaming fitted, including two instrument inserts glued into the two main panels. The adjusted kit nose fits onto the front, then the twin seats and HUDs are made up from PE and acetate parts before the canopy is glued over the whole, having a separate windscreen part. If you wish to cut the canopy to open them up, there is the aforementioned spare, then you add two intakes either side of the spine and join the assembly to the rest of the fuselage, remembering to paint the short intake trunking at the rear of the cockpit. At the rear, a totally new larger tail fin replaces the kit part, and the removed stinger is replaced by the longer resin part, with the blade antenna facing downwards. Resin usually comes still attached to its pour block, which is where the resin is poured into the mould and acts as an overflow and bubble-catcher for more rustic manufacturers that don’t have access to pressure casting methods. These will have to be removed before you can assemble or paint the parts, so there will be a little extra time needed to prepare the model for construction. With resin, you should take the precaution of wearing a mask when cutting or sanding it, as all tiny particles are harmful to your health if breathed in. Washing the parts in warm water will also improve the adhesion of paint, as there may still be some mould release agent on the parts when you receive them. Take care not to use water that is too hot, as this may cause deformation to more delicate parts, but this factor can conversely be used to fix warped parts, using cold water to “freeze” the changes in the parts. My sample had no such issues of course. Markings The instructions advise that the colour of the twin-seater cockpit is identical to the single seat variant that can be found in the kit instructions, and includes additional decals for two airframes, so you can build one of the following: Harrier T.12, 105/ZH657, 800 NAS, FAA, 2010 Harrier T.12, 108/ZH660, No.20(R) Sqn, RAF, 2010 The decals are printed for Special Hobby by Eduard, and are in good register, sharpness and colour density. The diagrams show the kit decals required in purple, and a pair of det-cord canopy breaker decals are included for your use. Conclusion An excellent set that is full of detail and should be relatively easy to build even if you have never used a resin conversion kit before. As long as you have a motor tool or razor saw to cut away the casting blocks, you should be fine. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Sd.Ah 115 Flatbed Trailer 1:72 Special Armour (72022) The Sonderanhänger 115 or Sd.Ah 115 trailer was designed in 1937 for transporting the then light weight tanks such as the Pz.I, Pz.II, Pz.38(t) or Pz.35(t), but on its flatbed, it could carry any military vehicle of a total weight of up to 10,000 Kgs. To pull the trailer, heavy lorries Faun L900 or Büssing-NAG 900A were often used. Those vehicles were able to carry one tank on their platform and another one on the Sd.Ah 115 trailer. In field, a Sd.Kfz 7 half track vehicle could also be used to pull the trailer. The Sd.Ah 115 trailers were seen in service throughout the war, mainly during the Polish and French campaingns. They were used to transport military vehicles to the front line and also to remove wrecked or damaged vehicles to repair yards or even to move enemy’s captured vehicles. The Kit This is the a new tool kit from Special Hobby which arrives on two sprues of plastic and a small decal sheet (not shown). The parts are crisp as you would expect from a new tool kit. The main flatbed is one part to which everything else attaches. The turntable front axle is the first thing to be constructed. The leaf spring suspension connects the axle to the turntable with an airtank being attached. The neck of the trailer is then built up and attached to the trailer. The rear axle with its mud guards can then be built up. This can be attached to the trailer or left as a separate part depending on how you wish to use the trailer as this would detach to load the equipment on. The wheels can then be built up and attached to the axles. The front axle attaching to the trailer. The drawbar then attaches to the front. Rear loading ramps can then go on the rear of the trailer if using for a loading diorama, or fixed to the trailer if using it on its own, or to carry a vehicle. Decals Markings are supplied on the very small sheet for the number plates and a single white marking number. Conclusion This is a good looking model in 1.72 and should be welcomed by the small scale armour modellers. Recommended. Review sample courtesy of

German WWII Aircraft Maintenance Toolbox 1:48 CMK by Special Hobby It is often the small items that when put together make a good diorama. If you have any aircraft or vehicle being worked hard then it needs correct maintenance to keep on functioning. Despite the name this set does not contain one toolbox but five. There are two cantilever toolboxes (one one and one closed), two smaller toolboxes (one one and one closed) and a smaller tool tray. As well as this there are three oil cans of different sizes. All the parts are very well cast, and lets be honest they will work in any scenario where a tool box is needed on a build. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

My first build of 2021, and a nice simple one to get back into it. This Special Hobby Vampire is a nice little kit and fits together really well. It does need a lot of nose weight though! I made this one out of the box, including the decals for 601 Sqn.

I couldn’t get motivated for the Sea King yet, too much interior stuff needed, so I thought I’d try a simple (hopefully!) build. This little Vampire should fit the bill, an all-over silver finish and simple cockpit. It’ll sit nicely with my Meteors, Sabre and Javelin, (Hunter and Swift at some point) in this scale. Nice box art, I haven’t made a Special Hobby kit before but it looks nice, lots of detail for its size and five decal options.

Dear fellow Britmodellers, my first completed AFV in 2021 is the 1/72 Special Hobby Marder II. This kit was originally released under the 'MK72' label in 2011. It's a highly detailled quality tooling, on par with the latest Revell releases. Coincidentially, other versions based on this chassis (StuH Grille & Marder III) will be released by Revell Germany, according to their news announcement. I especially liked the one-piece tracks that simply wrap around the drive sprocket, as link'n'length tracks in 72 scale frequently cause me problems. I painted with Gunze/Mr.Hobby acrylics, washed with artist oils and dusted the model with Tamiya pigments. The model represents a vehicle operating in the Lake Balaton area, Hungary, March 1945. All photographs by Wolfgang Rabel. Thank you for your interest, best greetings from Vienna! Roman

Sd.Kfz.131 Marder II crates & Crew Helmets (B72103) 1:72 Blitz Line by Special Hobby If you’ve got the Special Armour Sd.Kfz.131 Marder II kit in 1:72, reviewed here on the forum, you should consider grabbing this set from CMK. As usual with their resin sets, they arrive in the familiar clear bag, with the resin parts safely inside, and the instructions sandwiched between the red-themed header card at the rear. There are six resin parts in the package on two casting blocks. You get four crew helmets with joins on the domed tops and with hollow interiors, plus two stowage boxes of different styles, complete with tie-down straps, and a location suggestion on the folded instructions. The boxes are patterned for specific locations, with the tall one attaching to the front right fender, while the flatter box fits on the left side of the rear deck. The helmets can be strung along the tops of the crew compartment, or placed elsewhere if you like. Casting is excellent, and the brims of the helmets are commendably thin. Clean-up on the tops of the helms will need some gentle sanding to retain the shape, but otherwise the set should be simple to fit with the assistance of a razor saw and some warm water to remove the sanding debris and release agent residue. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Medium Coarse Brass Chain (H1016) 1:35 & 1:48 CMK by Special Hobby Lots of vehicles have short chains hanging from them, and there are a myriad uses for it in dioramas, as well as on boats and ships. Getting chains in scale isn’t always that easy, so having ready access to a series of sizes in a handy pack is pretty useful. This set contains 30cm of brass chain with links that are 2mm wide and 2.5mm long, although you actually get a shade more than 30cm, which is nice. It comes in a flat CMK package with the chain held inside a ziplok bag to reduce tarnishing, so my sample came out of the bag nice and shiny. In use you can cut it to length with a pair of nippers, paint it and even use some patinating fluid to age the chain and make it blend in with your model. There’s not much more to say, other than it’s a useful tool to have in stock, as you never know when you’ll need it, even for something as simple as replacing moulded chain on your latest AFV model because the original isn’t very convincing. There are a few other sizes available and you can see them all below. Very highly recommended. Coarse 1:35 (H1013) Medium Coarse 1:35 & 1:48 (H1016) Medium 1:48 (H1014) Fine 1:72 (H1014) Review sample courtesy of

B-17G Flying Fortress Dinghy (4414 for HK Models) 1:48 CMK by Special Hobby HK Models’ new medium-sized 1:48 B-17G, not to be confused with their own gigantic 1:32 kit has been around for a while now, taking over the mantle from the old Monogram kit. The Flying Fortress often flew over large tracts of water, and like most WWII aircraft it had a dinghy pack oboard in case it went down far away from land. Being a tad larger than a fighter, and with 9+ crew, a larger dinghy was required, which was housed in the raised cockpit portion of the fuselage behind the mid-upper turret on the port side. CMK resin sets arrive in a clear clamshell pack with a yellow card insert behind that protects the parts within and keeps the instructions free from harm. There are three parts in the pack, all on their own casting blocks. Installation is simple, requiring the modeller to remove a small rectangular panel in the port side of the fuselage, which is picked out in pink on the instructions. The dinghy bay slots into the aperture from behind, then the packed-up dinghy is sides inside, making sure to paint the bay green and the dinghy yellow before you do. The bay door is wafer-thin, and attaches to the pour block along its hinge edge, with little clean-up needed there, or for that matter on either of the other two parts, which have their contact patches hidden away after construction. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

F-104 Early & Late type wheels 1:48 CMK by Special Hobby - For Kinetic kits These wheels are for the new Kinetic Kits, and are a drop in replacement for the kit parts. F-104G/S Wheels late type (Q48381) F-104G/J Wheels Early type (Q48380) Review sample courtesy of