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Sword is to release in May 2019 a 1/72nd Douglas AD-4W/AEW.1 Skyraider kit - ref. 72126 http://swordmodels.cz/cs/coming-soon/145-sw72126-ad-4waew1.html https://www.aviationmegastore.com/douglas-ad4waew1-skyraider--expected-may-2019-sw72126-sword-8592977721269-aircraft-scale-modelling/product/?action=prodinfo&art=161597 V.P.

When a old dream comes true !!!! - UPD: release now expected late June or early July 2024 Sword Models is to release a 1/48th Fairey Gannet AEW.3 - ref. SW48014 Sources: https://swordmodel.cz/cs/home/176-sw48014-gannet-aew3.html https://www.facebook.com/swordmodels/posts/pfbid071gJyGBW67h6nkHpWhmQB4sBMQHgeKWAivc7ct8a7n2nUGKxV2XgvsqHTjSkGwGHl V.P.

Meteor Nightfighter NF.14 (SW48011) 1:48 Sword Models The Gloster Meteor was the RAF’s first front-line jet, and although it wasn’t all that good initially, it was developed over a number of years and found its niches before its straight wings and centrifugal engines consigned it other jobs away from the front-line and eventually to history. In the meantime it had gathered a substantial following from aviation buffs that lingers even today, judging by the comments here on the forum. The Nightfighter was a good role for the Meatbox, as its relatively outdated technology and flight envelope didn’t matter so much, and no-one could see the big radome nose and long greenhouse canopy that was replaced with a more modern blown version by the time they got to the NF.14, which was a modified NF.11 with extended nose to accommodate the newer radar in only 100 airframes. The Kit Happy days! A new tool from Sword that fills in a gap in the Meteor kits in this scale, and makes building a 1:48 Nightfighter Meatbox less of a game of eBay hide-and-seek. It’s a lot different in terms of sprue layout from previous kits, although the moulding technology is similar but more advanced than the older kit we’re all thinking of. All parts are styrene and spread over four sprues in grey plus one with clear parts. Everything is in a resealable ziplok bag, and a couple of parts had come adrift during shipping, which you can see in the photo of the clear parts. There’s a reasonably large decal sheet and an A5 instruction booklet with colour painting profiles at the rear. Construction begins with the cockpit, which is all assembled on a long floor panel with the mounts for the nose gear at the front. Starting with the instrument panels for the pilot and radar operator, plus the pilot seat, the sidewalls, a pair of bulkheads front and rear, and ending with bulkheads between the two crew positions. Many smaller parts are added along the way together with the seats and instruments, as well as copious colour call-outs to make your model more accurate, after which it is flipped over and the nose gear bay is boxed in. That’s all you need to close up the fuselage, placing another bulkhead aft of the radome as you do so, and adding a rear deck insert once you have the two halves together. Unusually, the tail fins are put on the low t-tail early using a pair of pegs that fit into corresponding holes in the fin at 90o, with a small tail-bumper added to the underside. The main gear bays are buried in the wing between fuselage and engine nacelles, with their sides boxed in with five parts added to the already detailed upper wing inner surface. They are joined by an approximation of the centrifugal jet engine suspended on a bulkhead at the front, and an exhaust tube mounted on a bulkhead at the rear, the space between them never to be seen again. This is carried out twice, and the wing halves can then be joined along with the engine intake cowlings that have small cut-outs each side to mate with the wing leading edges. The completed wing gets fitted with the fuselage straight away, and has the clear wingtip lights painted with transparent red and green as well as adding the pitot probe. Attention then turns to the landing gear, the legs for all three made in halves to trap the two-part wheels in place and leading to a seam down the mud-guards that will need hiding in addition to the seam down the oleo itself. I’m going to try to fit my wheels later by flexing the stub axles to accommodate the wheels after clean-up of seams and painting. The nose leg has three bay doors and a moulded-in retraction jack, while the two main gear legs have separate jacks and two bay doors, the inner one having a closure strut that holds it open at the correct angle. Speaking of angles, there’s a small scrap diagram that shows the correct angles of the bay doors and the optional two-part wing-mounted fuel tanks that have their pylons moulded into each part. The final steps finish off the internal structure of the cockpit with coaming, radar hood and roll-over bars, then closing the cockpit up with the choice of two windscreens and the aforementioned blown canopy in either open or closed positions. A couple of small T-antennae are added along the bottom and a small intake fitted to the upper-mid fuselage, then it’s heading for the paint booth. Markings Decals are provided for two markings options with the same basic camouflage scheme underneath, with two pages taken up with locations for the many stencils that are dotted around the airframe. From the box you can build one of the following: NF.14 WS833 MS, 72 Sq. RAF Church Fenton 1956, flown by Wing Commander Maurice Shaw. NF.14 WS776 J, 85 Sq. RAF Church Fenton 1958, flown by Miroslav Liškutin Decals are printed by Techmod in good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. All of the stencils are legible if you have good eyesight or magnification, with plenty of them on the sheet, all adding to the realism. Conclusion A really welcome new release from Sword that deserves to sell well. The detail is good and the decals are excellent, so with the fact that it’s a Nightfighter Meteor, it’s a case of how many do you need, and when are other boxings coming out? Get them while you can. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

After the Seafire 5 kits set (link) Sword Models is to release in late October 2020 a 1/72nd Supermarine Spitfire Mk.XIVc/e 3 kits set - ref. SW72133 Sources: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/SW72133 https://www.aviationmegastore.com/spitfire-mkxiv---3-in-1--expected-october-2020-sw72133-sword-8596444721332-aircraft-scale-modelling/product/?action=prodinfo&art=173345 V.P.

After the TBM-3W Guppy (link), Sword Models is to release new Grumman Avenger variants https://www.facebook.com/swordmodels/posts/256373042442580 Expected late June 2020: - ref. SW72130 - Grumman Avenger AS.4 Source: https://swordmodel.cz/en/home/151-sw72130-avenger-as4.html - ref. SW72131 - Grumman TBM-3S2 Avenger Source: https://swordmodel.cz/en/home/152-sw72131-tbm-3s2.html - ref. SW72132 - Grumman TBM-3R Avenger Source: https://swordmodel.cz/en/home/153-sw72132-tbm-3r.html V.P.

After the Re.2005 Sagittario (link), Sword Models is to release in late October 2020 a 1/48th Reggiane Re.2001 Falco II kit - ref. SW48012 Sources: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/SW48012 https://www.aviationmegastore.com/reggiane-re2001-falco-ii---expected-october-2020-sw48012-sword-8596444480123-aircraft-scale-modelling/product/?action=prodinfo&art=173346 Box art & sprues V.P.

Sword Models is to release in October a 1/48th Reggiane Re-2005 Sagittario kit - ref. SW48010 Source: https://swordmodel.cz/cs/148/148-sw48010-re2005-sagittario.html V.P.

Sword is to re-release its 1/72nd Shooting Star kit - ref. SW72105 - RF-80C "over Korea" - ref. SW72106 - P-80A/B Sources: http://swordmodels.cz/cs/home/123-sw72105-rf-80a-over-korea.html http://swordmodels.cz/cs/home/124-sw72106-p-80ab-.html V.P.

Sword Models is to release a 1/72nd Kawasaki Ki-102b Otsu "Randy" kit - ref. SW72102 Source: http://swordmodels.cz/cs/home/120-sw72102-ki-102b-otsu-randy.html V.P.