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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hello!

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

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

After a great deal of thinking about which of my (many) Soviet aircraft to build for this GB I decided to do something a little smaller than my current project, ICM's Mig-25, I have finally settled on Hobby Boss' Mil Mi-8. As the topic says you cannot build a straight Mi-8 T from the box despite what Hobby Boss say, you can build an Mi-8 MT/Mi-17 and the kit is nicely detailed and accurate for such, just not a straight Mi-8. The problem lies with the engine housing on the top of the fuselage, as that (as well as the tail rotor location) is the main difference between the 2, fortunately Pavla make a correction set so i will be using one of these. Here is the ubiquitous box top shot. And the contents. And the Pavla correction set. And a nice decal sheet from Begemot. And the scheme I have chosen. The black and white picture doesn't quite do it justice so here's a picture of one in the same scheme, sunglasses at the ready! I plan to do her on a similar small diorama, snow too! Well at least it's smaller than the Foxbat! Thanks for looking in. Craig.

I've got a Work In Progress in progress on the Tamiya Tomcat and there hasn't been much progress because of these two kits. The Boston has been in progress for hundreds of years and fought me all the way. It's Italeri, but I think it might have been Revell Monogram once. I'm pleased that I learned a lot but the final result is a disappointment. The Pilots canopy is cracked, the nose is full of plastic swarf, the undercarriage is just a mess. However, the painting is getting close to what I want it to be and that makes it all worthwhile. The Wildcat is a HobbyBoss offering and was done in a week. (I bought it at Cosford). A fun build though not without its frustrations. Again, the paintwork is an improvement so I'm happy. Now that I've settled into being retired and the house is optimised for hobbies, I'm hoping to be churning them out quickly enough to actually improve my skills to a point nearing (but never reaching) personal satisfaction. So without further waffle, here you go. Oops? Not quite! What do you think of them then? At this rate I'll be needing new shelves....

Yep Hobby Boss got the shrink ray on Trumpeter's 1/16 T34/76 and in a few versions too. Here winter's bone and I am starting the year in green with this amazinginly detailed kit, with some truly small parts. My biggest gripe with the kit is despite the clear instructions and lovely painting guide sheet the instructions for painting details in and around the tank are too few. While the detail in these 1/48 kits is funtastic, I have to say I think I'm still more of a fan of vehicules in 1/76 and kits with figures and interiors in 1/35. Let's see if I can get this one to a decent standard.

French VBL Armoured Car with MILAN 1:35 Hobby Boss via Creative Models The VBL is France's answer to the light armoured car, which was quite forward-looking, as it was designed in the 80s with mine protection as one of the prime requirements along with efficiency, 4-wheel drive, NBC and small arms resistance. It was also engineered to amphibious and although it is by no means quick in the water, it still crosses rivers better than a HUMVEE if the bridge is out! As it is light, it is both fuel efficient and capable of being air dropped into the field, which makes it a very useful vehicle. Introduced in the 90s it has gone on to see service in many hot zones both in France's former colonies as well as with the UN banner on its doors. A surprising number of derivatives and variants have been created to fulfil different subsections of the light armoured car role, which is facilitated by a number of different body shells, plus a lengthened chassis. VBL stands for Véhicule Blindé Léger, which translates directly to light armoured car, and it is made in France by Panhard, a company with experience in this market and now owned by automotive giant Renault. The Kit This is almost a carbon copy of the initial release without the Milan fit, reviewed here in May of this year (2016). The main difference apart from the boxtop artwork extends to one small sprue of parts, the small decal sheet, and of course the markings sheet. In the box you get six sprues in an olive styrene, plus three separately moulded parts in the same colour, nestling inside a card divide with four "rubber" tyres, a small decal sheet, two identical clear sprues, and a simple Photo-Etch (PE) sheet. The instruction booklet is standard black & white fare, and the single sided colour and decal instruction sheet are on glossy paper. Construction follows the same path as the original with the notable exception of the MILAN Anti-Tank Guided Missile fitment on the rear roof of the vehicle, giving the lightly armed patrol vehicle the capability to take on armoured or hardened targets if the need arises. The base straddles the rear of the vehicle and locates on a pair of moulded in pips, with the rotation point suspended above the roof to clear the top hatch. The missile launch tube fits on top of a compact mount, which although small is well-detailed. Three additional rounds are supplied for the interior of the vehicle, fitted within their launch tubes, which are discarded after firing to be replaced by a new one. Also on the new sprue is a large container with rounded corners, the purpose of which isn't immediately obvious. Markings There is only one markings option for this boxing, which is the more traditional NATO Green/Black/Earth scheme, and as usual with Hobby Boss you don't get to know any background information about the vehicle portrayed. The decals are of good quality and should settle down well enough, and there are four decals including instrument binnacle to be applied to the driver's station. Conclusion A nice simple variation on the original theme, which adds a little interest on the roofline. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Mig-31 Foxhound 1:48 HobbyBoss The Mig-31 is an incredible machine even today, but was innovative and even more impressive when it was first brought into service, delivering on the failed promises of the Mig-25 Foxbat, and adding more capabilities. Its job as an interceptor and missile truck was carried out with aplomb, and it was one of the first aircraft to be able to shoot down cruise missiles from above. Carrying two pilots, with twin engines and tails, it was capable of flying supersonic at low levels due to the strength of the airframe, and had a capable radar system to detect all manner of threats. I'm using the past tense here, but the aircraft is still in service in Russia, and although they are scheduled to be retired, the date is not yet set in stone. The Kit Until recently modellers in 1:48 scale had little choice when it came to the Foxhound, but now they have two modern new toolings. I have reviewed and built the other kit, so it will be interesting to compare and contrast the two as we go along, but first impressions are good, with a lot of detail included, including a set of partial metal landing gear, good use of slide-moulding, and a sensible parts break-down. There are twenty two sprues of varying sizes in grey styrene, two sprues of clear parts, two frets of Photo-Etch (PE) parts, seven pieces of white metal, six black "rubber" tyres, two decal sheets, a single fuselage part with a cardboard protector over the aft section, instruction booklet and two separate sheets for the painting and decaling of the airframe and included weapons. As already mentioned, the detail in the box looks to be excellent, with a few immediate differences noticeable. Firstly, the interior of the intake trunking is portrayed differently, and the clear parts aren't tinted gold, so you'll have to do that yourself. There also isn't a separate canopy for the closed option, so you will have to fit them carefully if you wish to go down that route. Oddly, the panel lines on the fuselage that will be under the wing are raised, which I will look into later, but seemed strange. There are only a few there, and most of the are straight, but if they turn out to be incorrect, it's on a few minutes work. Initially, the fuselage also appears to be shorter than the competitor, but this is because more of the intake trunking is included on a separate assembly with the bleed-vents on the top causing the apparent difference. The partial metal gear should give it sufficient strength to support its own weight, which has been a problem in the past that has lately affected my built-up. This is a BIG model. Construction begins with the cockpit, which has nicely detailed seats with moulded in seatbelts, instrument panels and side consoles with decals, as well as decals for instruments that are embedded in the sidewall inserts. The cockpit is then installed in the nose, which is where another difference appears. The nose is split vertically down the centre, and has the nose cone moulded in, which although different, I can't seem to muster an opinion as to whether it is better or worse. We'll just call it different. The coaming is well-detailed with PE HUD supports and clear parts adding further to the complexity. The instructions tell you to install the fixed portions of the canopy at this stage, which is no bad thing, as the canopy struts stick up beyond the sills. The intakes are then built up from fewer main parts, with the outer wall simply thicker, rather than using two thicknesses, which removes one of the seams to tidy. The bleed-vents are separate parts and install in the top using a small tab and hole for accuracy. The intake trunks are depicted to full depth, and have raised outlines of the shapes that are actually indented into the trunks on the real thing. This is a major saving on tooling from a production point of view, but is a negative as far as accuracy is concerned, but if you're fitting intake blanks or suspect no-one will notice, it's probably a fair assumption to make. The main gear bays are made up in a similar manner to the other kit, as is the nose gear bay and its gear leg, which has a metal core that also includes the angled end section of the leg, which should make it more robust. Gear bay detail should be good once painted and weathered. The three bays are glued inside the fuselage lower, along with a recessed box for the 8TK IRSK that sits out at the front of the lower fuselage section, and is added later in the stowed position. The nose assembly is then added to the front of the fuselage, which was a bit of a surprise. This makes a little more sense when the intakes and their trunking are then added along with a blanking plate/bulkhead with engine faces installed, allowing you to line everything up. It might be wise to place the upper wing/fuselage part at this stage, to ensure your joints are all aligned and there are no horrible gaps or steps. The majority of the upper fuselage is attached to the upper wing panel, which is of course full width, and has strengthening ribs inside to prevent flexing, plus a set of exhaust bulkheads that will be used later. The lower wing fixes to the underside, with the leading-edge slats moulded-in, while the trailing-edge control surfaces are separate parts, with different locating pegs to be removed if you are posing them deployed or stowed, which saves wasting additional parts. This assembly is then dropped onto the fuselage, creating the almost complete airframe, which just needs the tail feathers and engines, plus a number of other smaller parts of course. The exhausts are familiar, with a multi-stage tube assembled from three cylindrical parts, plus flame-holder for the afterburner and the rear face of the engine in each tube. Careful painting is needed, and some pictures of the real thing show some sections are a Russian green shade, although this varies, and isn't throughout the exhaust, so don't be misled by the instructions. Check your references before you commit to a totally green exhaust interior. The parapack is a two-part assembly that is split horizontally for easier alignment, and fits to the rear of the spine on two small pins with corresponding holes in the deck. The elevators are each single parts, due to their slim profile, and should (in general) be posed level when parked up, but can pivot around their axle if you feel the urge. The twin tails are each two equal parts that avoids too-thick plastic that can lead to sink-marks that might mar the detail, but there are many fewer rivets depicted than the real McCoy, which are quite noticeable, and often have distinctive weathering that would be tricky to achieve without them as a guide. Adding them won't require too much effort, but it would have been nice to have them there from the outset. The raised rivets on the leading edges are also absent, and unless you have some Archer 3D rivet transfers, they'll be a little harder to add, and the bullet-fairings that house the various systems also seem simplified, and look like they have been copied from one tail to the other, when they should be asymmetrical. It will take some modelling skill to replicate these correctly, which might grate a little if you weren't expecting to have to engage in this type of work. The instructions then have you building up the canopies, which they have taken an interesting route to completion. The outer canopy is of course clear, but has some detail moulded-in, and has only an outer surround added in grey styrene. That initially seems like an over-simplification until you notice the number of small PE parts that are added to the inside of the canopy to represent the strips that hold the green insulation material in place. To make your life easier, bend these parts to shape and then "glue" them with your favourite acrylic gloss varnish, as using CA could end up with a fogged canopy, which no-one wants. A complete interior skin would make the painting part easier, but this method results in a more scale-thickness canopy structure, so if you take your time with the paint brush, it should look just about right when you finish. The pilot's canopy is more simple, but has a set of rear-view mirrors added in PE, and both fit by their rear edge to the airframe, and rest on the rams that hold them to the correct angle. They have also moulded the co-pilot's pop-up rear-view mirror in clear, so with an undercoat on the rear of chrome, it should have a more realistic look if you opt to post it raised. The landing gear is designed for rough-field handling, and has an inboard/outboard pair of wheels on the main legs, which splay outward slightly, putting quite a lot of stress on the scale-replica legs, so strength is needed, and initially was absent from the other recent model of this type. The designers have provided limited metal gear for this kit, including a metal core to the main leg, a metal bogey (with plastic parts), and a metal bracing strut that should give adequate staying power to prevent the Foxhound from taking a squat on your display shelf. The plastic parts provide the cosmetic details, and the smaller jacks and struts are also styrene, as they hold no structural weight. Coupled with the metal nose-gear core, the legs should be good for extended duty. The wheels have styrene hubs and a slightly flexible black plastic tyre, which has tread moulded in (a rarity from the pictures I have seen), as well as some nice sidewall detail. They would benefit from some careful painting, as the black is a little too dark for the real world, but for the novice, they could be used as is after a scrub of the contact surface with a sanding stick. Underneath the fuselage the gun blister is constructed from two parts and glued to the slot on the starboard fuselage side, while the lower intake flaps are added in either dropped (for extra air intake) or raised positions as you see fit, including their straight or kinked actuator fairings. The large air-brake/gear bay doors are also inserted into their hinge-points and struts, with recessed detail on the inner face, and the nose wheel receives a nicely moulded mud-guard that straddles the ends of its axle. The rest of the gear bay doors are then added along with their struts and some nice PE parts. The nose gear's front door has three holes for the landing lights, which are separate clear parts that are fitted from behind, making it easy to give them nice shiny reflectors, although the designers still haven't managed to avoid ejector pins in the rear. A profusion of aerials, probes and intakes are fitted to the underside and nose of the beast, with Angle-of-Attack (AoA) probes on the sides of the nose in PE, as well as some of the others that will be most visible. Of note is the lack of refuelling probe option on this boxing, but unless I'm imagining it, there appears to be a spot for it, so we will perhaps see at least another boxing with the probe and a few other subtle differences. Let's hope they adjust those tail fins. Now for the fun parts – the weapons. This starts with the wing pylons, which are built up from two halves each, and fit into pre-drilled holes in the underside of the wing panels. If you are fitting the big R-33 missiles on the semi-recessed belly stations you will need to remove the tops of two raised sections on the fuselage underside, so if that's the plan it would be sensible to do that before you start, to avoid any unnecessary cursing later. There are no fancy single-part mouldings with the missiles, which I was on the fence about anyway, as you double up on the seams to scrape, so I won't lament their loss, but simply comment on the difference. The R-33s build up from two halves with two fins moulded-in, the other two added to the slots, and the steering vanes added at the rear. The two folded-over vanes are shown as "optional", which isn't the case unless you are showing a missile in flight or on a rack. The vanes fold over next to the fuselage to prevent the two interfering, so ensure that the "top" two nearest the shackle-points receive those parts, and if in doubt, check your references. Each of the four missiles has a connecting plate added to the shackles, and they are then glued into the belly recesses. For the wing pylons you have some choices, so either follow the load-out guide, check your references, or pick a selection that you think looks good – entirely your choice! 4 x R-60 AA-8 Aphid infrared short range A2A missile on twin launch rail adapter 2 x R-40T AA-6 Acrid infrared medium range A2A missiles 2 x R-40R AA-6 Acrid radar medium range A2A missiles 2 x Fuel tanks with pylon adapters All of the missiles are supplied in halves, so take care in aligning the parts to minimise the clean-up work after the glue has set, and take care in adding the separate fins, steering vanes and exhausts to ensure they are all square. Markings There are three markings options supplied in the box, although a full complement of digits in three flavours are included if you want to depart from the sheet. The markings are spread over two decal sheets, with a lot of stencils applied, which given the size of the diagrams and the profusion of numbers and lines, is going to be a little tricky without magnification. There are a good range of instrument decals provided though, which should help in making the cockpit look its best, and the missiles are supplied with stencils too. Without wishing to make you spend your hard-earned money on aftermarket before you've even broken the seals on the bags, I would heartily recommend the wet transfer stencil set from HGW (248025), which although intended for the other kit, would fit this kit too, and would leave you with no carrier film to disguise. The drawings are bigger too! If I can't tempt you, the stencils included in the kit are of good quality, and with a little care, the carrier film can be hidden with the application of a few coats of gloss varnish and cautious sanding. The pink Germetika sealant decals are also missing from this boxing, and as the ground crews slap it on all over the place, it would be useful to add this during painting and masking. The rest of the decals are sharp, in good register and with suitably dense colours to prevent bleed-through of the paint underneath. From the box you can build one of the following: 24 Blue 61 Blue 174th Safanov GvIAP, 6th OA, "Boris Safonov" red 08 All aircraft are medium grey (see AKAN for the perfect colours), and have the obligatory National markings of red stars on the wings and tail surfaces. The last option appears to have more information than the others for no apparent reason, and also has the name Борис Сафонов (Boris Safanov) in red on the intake sides under a blue flash. Safanov was a decorated pilot during WWII, flying 234 combat missions before being lost in the sea after his P-40 came down after a dogfight. He was awarded the Order of the Red Banner three times, the order of Lenin, Hero of the Soviet Union, and even a British Distinguished Flying Cross and is still remembered in aviation circles. Conclusion I knew from the start that this was going to be a difficult conclusion to write, as the kit has a lot to recommend it, but also has some flaws such as the tail ironwork and the oddly detailed intake trunking. It is up against stiff competition, and for the most part it comes across as a well thought out kit, but loses marks for the errors and simplifications. Little things such as the lack of the large circular decal from the tail and over-busy decal guide also conspire against it, losing it critical points along the way. As a norm we don't discuss prices in our reviews, as these vary massively once the discounters get hold of a kit, but at the retail price point, it is difficult to recommend over… you know, the other one. If you find one at a good price and the aspects I have mentioned don't bother you or you fancy a crack at fixing them, you could pick one up and it will build up to a model that will impress all but the accuracy obsessed and those that know the airframe well. None of the flaws I have picked up on are fatal, but together they do the kit no favours. Our sincere thanks to our friends at Creative for letting us have this review sample. Review sample courtesy of

Su-27 Flanker B 1:48 Hobby Boss The Su-27 and sibling Mig-29 were developed as a complementary pair of heavy and lighter fighters to combat the F-15 that was in development as the F-X at the time. It first flew in 1977, but encountered serious problems that resulted in some fairly spectacular crashes, some of which were fatal, but with persistence and successive rounds of improvements it came on strength with the Russian air force in 1985, but was still plagued with problems that prevented it from being seen in operational service for a further five years, and it is known as the Su-27S or Flanker B by the NATO countries. A navalised Flanker was also put into development, but that's a whole 'nother model. It proved to be a capable fighter, and after the fall of the Berlin wall, Russia continued its development, with other variants incorporating improvements, and wholesale conversions leading to other marks entirely, such as the SU-30, Su-33 and Su-34 with side-by-side pilot seating. The Flanker continues to impress the crowds at airshows with the controversial (for some reason) and contagious Cobra manoeuver that caused quite a stir when first seen. Sukhoi had a number of export successes, and China also manufactured Flankers under license as the Shengyang J-11 after an initial delivery of Russian built airframes. The Kit This is a newly tooled kit from Hobby Boss and arrives in a large top opening box with a Flanker flying across the front. Inside you are greeted by a card insert with the two fuselage halves and their blended wings secured to it by coated wire, twisted around the nose, tail and wings. The nose and tail are further protected by a wrapping of thin foam, while the delicate parts of the wingtips are surrounded by a detachable sprue for good measure. Under the insert are fifteen more sprues of various sizes in the same grey styrene, two clear sprues, a small fret of what looks to be Photo-Etch (PE) stainless steel, or something similar. There are also three black "rubber" tyres, and two decal sheets plus of course the instruction booklet and two separate glossy pages detailing the painting and decaling. The fuselage and wings strapped to the insert in the top of the box as a monolithic chunk of plastic is impressive, and having a look over it whilst perusing photos of the real thing, it seems to be ticking the boxes in terms of shape, although it's still tricky to be 100% about that when big chunks of the airframe are still on the sprues. That said, there are no immediate alarm-bells going off, so I'm hoping this turns out to be a more complete job than their recent Mig-31 that was a little disappointing. Construction starts with the cockpit, which is well detailed and has a multi-part seat, rudder pedals and control column, plus decals for all the main instrument panels. The instructions switch straight to building up the landing gear, as the nose gear is held in place by the addition of the gear bay to the lower fuselage, so they must have decided they might as well get you to build the main gear too. The gear legs are multi-part affairs, and the nose leg has the characteristic mud-guard and landing lights attached, the former in two parts that close around the nose wheel. The wheels are all two-part hubs with those black rubberised tyres, which have tread pattern moulded in, although no sidewall detail is present. Speaking purely personally, I would replace these with resin parts, as the plastic of the tyre seems rather slick and may have difficulty taking paint, as well as the usual detail improvements that resin provides. The cockpit is installed from the underside in the upper fuselage, while the nose gear with the two exhaust trunks are placed in the lower half. The trunking is blanked off at the front by a simulated engine rear, and a slightly chunky-looking flame holder for the afterburner. That's it! The fuselage can go together, and if the dry-fit is anything to go by, there should be little if any clean-up to do. The leading edge slats and flaps are separate, and adding them completes the wings, while the elevators fit to the rear at the side of the exhausts. The twin stabs have separate rudders and asymmetrical detail at the trailing edge, which is as it should be, and if you'd read the Mig-31 review, you'll know why it's worth a mention. You then have a choice of either open or constricted exhaust petals, which are both single parts per side, but one of my constricted parts had a tiny under-shot in the lip, which could be fixed fairly easily with a little putty and re-shaping, but it is worth checking your copy before you add it to the loft insulation. The rear section of the engine pods are moulded into the fuselage, but the forward section is separate, with a detailed roof section, and a built-in FOD (Foreign Object Debris) screen blocking your view of the intake fan for the engines, which are supplied anyway. These fit onto ledges at the front of the fuselage-bound aft sections, with a cut-out over each main wheel bay, allowing you to fit the pre-prepared legs at this point if you wish. Each main gear bay has two doors, which have their actuator jacks included, as does the main nose gear bay, with the smaller rear door captive to the trailing retraction jack. The nose cone is a single part, and has plenty of space for a nose weight if you think it will be necessary, although the instructions don't mention it. The canopy is also added at this stage, which is broken down into windscreen section with a clear bulb for the windscreen mounted sensor added as a separate part, and the canopy which has opening equipment depicted, as well as the PE rear-view mirrors. The canopy is correctly blown in front profile, which requires a three-part mould, so there is a seam on the top of the canopy that you will need to sand away and then polish back to clarity. The windscreen part seems to suffer a bit from distortion around the curved section at the lower edges where it meets the framing, but a dip in Klear might help alleviate this to an extent. Add a few probes and sensors, and that's the airframe built. No modern fighter would be complete without a selection of weapons to hang under its wings and fuselage, and the Su-27 is not short of stations, with three under each wing and another four under the fuselage. Of course, they're seldom all populated, so check your references, choose a layout from the diagram on the back page, or just make one up that looks cool to you, and shrug your shoulders when someone tells you it's not representative. It's your model! In the box you get the following types: 4 x R-73E (AA-11 Archer) short range A2A missile. 4 x R-27R (AA-10 Alamo-A) semi-active radar homing medium to long range A2A missile. 4 x R-27ER (AA-10 Alamo-C) semi-active radar homing extended range A2A missile. The smaller Archers are single part bodies with top & bottom fins moulded-in, and the side fins as separate parts, with a clear seeker head and additional exhaust part. The Alamo missile bodies are split vertically with the same method for adding the additional fins. The wing tip launch rails can be swapped out for streamlined ECM pods at your option, so again check your references. Markings You get two markings options from the box, both of which have a rather blue theme, but are different enough to appeal to a lot of folks, and overall the decals of of good quality, however the blue seems to be slightly out of register, which affects the black-outlined "14" and the white outlined "10", and would benefit from a dot of matching blue paint for the former, and a careful trim for the latter. From the box you can build one of the following, but as usual you don't get much information on the where and when these schemes were carried: Blue 14 – Three-tone pale blue/mid-blue/grey camouflage. Blue 10 – Two-tone pale blue/mid-blue camouflage with a red/blue/white stripe and shield on the port outer stab. If you are a stickler for detail, you might want to invest in some Su-27 Stencils from Begemot (48009(1)), as you can bank on those being comprehensive, and the instructions will be a little easier to follow without the national markings on the same diagram. The second sheet provides cockpit decals, which have instruments and details, but no background colour to match your paint to (which is a good thing), and a substantial number of stripes and stencils for the included missiles. Conclusion This seems to be a promising release of a model that has been needed to replace the rather archaic Academy kit for some time now. Detail is good, and the shape also seems to be too, although the true proof of the pudding will be in the building. I think I have some Eduard resin wheels somewhere. Consider me tempted. Highly recommended. Currently discounted at time of writing! Review sample courtesy of