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Can I join the Meteor madness with another night fighter, Special Hobby's 1/72 NF.14? This is a beautifully detailed little kit, but I can see from some of the build threads here that it's not without a few challenges, so I go in with eyes wide open, especially after my Special Hobby Boston/Havoc build earlier in the year. This doesn't seem as difficult a build, and by all reports Special Hobby kits keep getting better and better. Not sure what scheme mine will wear, but am leaning towards the French flight test bird, je pense. My F-15E for the F-15 STGB is nearly finished, so I'm looking forward to getting stuck in and joining the fray, it looks like another fun GB to be part of! Gerard

I’ve been drooling over this new one from Special Hobby even in its 1:72 scale form, and I’ve literally just posted the review of it this avo here, plus the masks that you can get to cover up the canopy during painting. It’s always a danger to pull parts off the sprues to tape it up, mainly because it sometimes leads to reaching for tools, and we all know that often results in the dreaded… MODELLING! This is one of Special Hobby’s shorter-run kits, and isn’t going to be a shake-and-bake wünderkit that falls together by any stretch of the imagination, but that’s not why we’re here. There’s a little roughness here and there around the seamlines where the parts join together, and the fact that it includes resin detail parts is an indication that it has been tooled this way, as not everyone will be interested in this little racer. Me? I’m interested I started mucking about with the fuselage halves, and soon began putting cockpit parts together. It’s not your average cockpit due to its custom racer ethos, and there was a modicum of confusion in my mind about where to put the two fairings that cover up the drive shafts that pass through the cockpit area, which was resolved by test-fitting the rear bulkhead so you know where to butt the rear of the tubes, as the slight step in the rear that corresponds with the interior of the wing root fairing, and it’s better to be safe than sorry. Once the parts were cleaned up, it went together well enough, although you will need to place the support under the seat/floor part as a bit of a leap of faith after enlarging the notch a little to ensure it will fit. I used liquid cement to give me wiggle room and that did the trick. I also assembled the 2-into-1 gearbox at the front that converts the two input shafts into two concentric prop-shafts, and managed to partially sand away a box-shape on the top, so replaced it with styrene stock. Oopsie! This helped me get everything lined up in my head, and to guess where I needed to make any adjustments. Only the tip of the port fuselage had a slight missing bit right near the join-line, so I built that up with styrene and sanded it to shape. I’ve also been fiddling with the wings and the tail, tidying them all up first, then checking where any alterations are needed. I scraped the trailing edge of the wings, and thinned out the openings to the gear bays to give them a more realistic look, but I overdid it and need to put some small quantities of Milliput into the undercuts, and smack my own wrists for getting carried away I’m going to use Milliput for the easy clean-up to minimise any post-cure sanding that would be difficult due to the location of it, not to mention irritating, even with some fancy narrow sanding tools at my disposal. The tail was a similar proposition, needing a little fettling, and the addition of the resin pen-nib fairing at the rear. It needed some test-fitting and sanding/slicing, and the bottom portion of the fillet was slightly lop-sided at the bottom, so I added a bit of sheet styrene to it and trimmed it to profile, then slimmed it down until it fitted better. I also decided to move the tail assembly back by half a mil, so the fairing and the rudder trailing edges matched better, and while I was there, to get it to fit more snugly, I trimmed a few swipes of a sanding stick off here and there so I got maximum contact surfaces too. I’ve prepped two of the three grill combs that slide into the slots in the leading edges of the tail, and they’re possibly the hardest parts to prepare due to how close together they are. I have a set of stainless-steel sanding tools from Galaxy Tools, but they’re a bit thick at 1.4mm, but the smaller DSPIAE ones are only 0.5mm thick, even with one layer of self-adhesive sandpaper attached. I used one of those plus a #11 blade to even up the two halves of the moulds and smooth them out, then gave them a quick coat of liquid glue to get rid of any swarf. Two down, one to go That canopy is really nice! Can you see the wiring on the IP? I figured that I would be able to paint the cockpit with much of it in situ, so trapped the seat assembly in position between the two halves under the drive shaft fairings, leaving the bulkhead and instrument panel as a separate assembly after wiring up some of the dials at the back with some lead wire and fitting it to the coaming for a third assembly. The gearbox and front bulkhead are similarly loose so I can paint it better, and I think the front bulkhead will need slimming at the front because it projects forward from the fuselage a little. The inner face has some nice strengthening detail on it, so I’ll make sure that doesn’t get mashed in the process. Moving forward, I noticed there were some fairly big seams running down the props, so decided to put the contra-prop together while I was getting everywhere dusty. Each prop is separate, and there are two per boss, fixing into a cylindrical slot with a peg making sure you get the alignment of the blades correct. The moulding seams were actually quite easy to remove, complicated only by their small size, but I soon had them done, taking care to put the right pair on the right hub. As usual there was a bit of fettling needed to get everything fitting nicely, but once they were, they were rather nice and dainty. I reamed out the axle holes to get them on the prop shaft and test fitted them, which was when I found that the bulkhead sticks out a bit too far. That’s easily knocked back with a sanding stick though, which I’ll get round to later. With the cockpit basics in place, I elected to close up the fuselage, which I did with super glue (CA). It’s not the standard method for plastic kits, but I wanted the joints to be strong, and as there’s going to be a bit of sanding of seams to get a smooth surface, I also wanted it to be available to work on soon after gluing. Most of the gluing could be done from the inside thanks to the lack of wings at this point, so I started under the cockpit floor, then worked back along the top of the fuselage spine, all of which can be done from within, topping up with CA applied from outside by running a gluey old blade along the seam. With the seam glued, I immediately sanded them back roughly, and will sort them properly later on after a bit of primer gets sent their way. I’ll probably give the canopy a dunk in the Klear tank to increase the clarity even further, then mask it with the masks I also reviewed this afternoon here. Catch you next time

Also seen in the Nürnberg Toy Fair 2013 photo reports, at the Special Hobby stand there was what looks like a 1/32nd Fiat G-50 Freccia ("Arrow") prototype. Sources: http://www.ipmsdeutschland.de/Ausstellungen/Nuernberg2013/Bilder_VH/Nuernberg2013_VH_1.htm http://www.ipmsdeutschland.de/Ausstellungen/Nuernberg2013/Bilder_JLF/Nuernberg2013_JLF_1.htm More pics: http://www.ipmsdeutschland.de/Ausstellungen/Nuernberg2013/Bilder_JLF/Nuernberg2013_JLF_037.htm http://www.ipmsdeutschland.de/Ausstellungen/Nuernberg2013/Bilder_JLF/Nuernberg2013_JLF_038.htm http://www.ipmsdeutschland.de/Ausstellungen/Nuernberg2013/Bilder_JLF/Nuernberg2013_JLF_039.htm http://www.ipmsdeutschland.de/Ausstellungen/Nuernberg2013/Bilder_JLF/Nuernberg2013_JLF_040.htm Source: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234935180-sh32056-fiat-g50bis-in-132-scale/ V.P.

After the 2021 newsletters (link), here's the first one from SH for 2022. Newsletter January 2022 https://www.specialhobby.info/2022/01/news-from-special-hobby-012021.html "Our list of models scheduled for this year’s release is in the attachment to this Newsletter." ??? No attachment to the online newsletter ? Anybody has it ? V.P.

MPM Special Hobby is working on new 1/48th Piper J-3 and Piper L-4 Cub injected kits. Sources: http://www.cmkkits.com/index.php?cmd=show&imageID=75599&title= http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234934400-piper-cub-148/ V.P.

Forgive the photos, I decided on an RFI during a burst of unjustified self-confidence. The camera sees what the eye occludes, and I'm much less happy with it than I was before I studied the photos. Additionally, my Pixel 7's camera has been incredibly disappointing, possibly due to a poor choice of case. And my lightbox needs replacing, and I need new lights for it besides. But those are all excuses. In any case, I opted to build a Kittyhawk shortly after the death of J F Edwards, Canada's greatest and last remaining ace from the Second World War. DK Decals has a sheet with a Kittyhawk I purportedly flown by Edwards in June of 1942 during his time on 260 Squadron, though not the aircraft he flew when on 17 June 1942 he shot down and killed the experte Otto Schulz with a deflection shot of remarkable difficulty. The Special Hobby Kittyhawk Ia kit was my base, with the only cosmetic modification to make it a Kittyhawk I being to replace the later bulged 0.50 barrels with some brass rod of the appropriate size. Paints are the excellent Colourcoats for all but the cockpit interior (a Gunze mixture), the rubber of the tires (Tamiya), and the propeller blades and tips (Gunze again). Some Eduard etch was used, principally to irritate me, I think, which probably speaks volumes about how low diplomatic relations with my own psyche have sunk. Wildly discursive build thread here:

Bugatti 100 Racer Masks (M48011 for Special Hobby) 1:48 Special Mask by Special Hobby I have literally just finished tapping out the review of the new 1:48 scale Bugatti 100 Racer, and thought it prudent, kind and sensible to let you know about this handy set of masks that will allow you to mask up the crystal-clear canopy before you get the paint out, to ensure that it stays clear and bright throughout. Like the rest of the new range of canopy masks from Special Hobby, the set arrives in a re-sealable clear flat-pack that is protected from the inside by a sheet of card and a set of paper instructions that double as the header card, with the masking material displayed at the front. Supplied on a sheet of yellow kabuki tape, these pre-cut masks supply you with a full set of masks for the canopy, with compound curved handled by using frame hugging masks, while the highly curved gaps are in-filled with either liquid mask or offcuts from the background tape. In addition, you get a set of hub/tyre masks for the main wheels, allowing you to cut the demarcation perfectly with little effort. Highly recommended, especially if you’re not keen on masking. Review sample courtesy of

Special Hobby is to re-release in 2023 the MPM 1/48th Heinkel He-177A Greif kit under ref. SH48???? This re-edition will include several new designed parts. Source: https://www.specialhobby.net/2022/12/heinkel-he-177a-148-navrat-trochu-jinak.html V.P.

Bugatti 100 Racer (SH48219) 1:48 Special Hobby Bugatti’s streamlined air racer was custom designed for flying the circuits in 1939, using twin engines behind the pilot that ran a pair of contra-rotating props in the nose, which gave it a sleek aerodynamic profile and a compact size. It was also inventive in terms of the tail, which was a V-shape and had a gearbox to split the pilot inputs accordingly between the fins. Before it could be tested and put into the air however, the German invasion began, which forced the engineers to dismantle the aircraft and hide it on Mr Bugatti’s estate until after the war, although he died in 1947 so development stopped there. Over time, the engines were raided for car projects and the airframe fell into disrepair until the 70s when a restoration project began, after which it was placed in a museum. A replica was made using more modern technologies where sensible, and this flew briefly using a pair of more readily available Suzuki engines. After a prop strike during landing, where the aircraft veered off the runway following a brake failure, its third test flight ended in disaster when the aircraft went out of control, killing the pilot who had played a major part in its production, and completely destroying the replica. It had been promised to a museum in England after this flight, which clearly couldn’t now happen. Quite a sad tale overall. The Kit This is a brand-new tooling from Special Hobby, and after bemoaning its absence in 1:48 when reviewing the 1:72 issue a few months ago, I’ve now got my wish, as it’s a rather cool-looking aircraft. It arrives in a small top-opening box, and inside are two sprues and separate lower wings in grey styrene, a clear part in its own Ziploc bag, a bag of resin parts and this time, a tiny sheet of decal. No, that’s not a typo, you get an instrument panel decal. Even in 1:48 it’s a relatively little thing, and that much is brought home when you see the fuselage, which is under 15cm long on the sprues, although longer when the nose and prop are complete. Construction begins with the transmission at the front of the cockpit, which takes the power from the two engines and adapts them to the contra-rotating prop gearbox, the final-drive shaft passing through a bulkhead that fits into the front of the fuselage. The fuselage halves have sidewall detail moulded-in with a little more added from separate parts, and fairings over the two drive-shafts are glued into both fuselage sides, then backed up with the cockpit floor on a support, seat back with four-point Photo-Etch (PE) seat belts against the rear bulkhead, and rudder pedals with short control column are placed in recesses in the floor. The coaming has a number of small parts installed so that the instrument panel can be attached and covered by the single decal, plus a pair of bottles inside the nose housing after the fuselage is closed up with a fluted insert added in a hole in the spine, and an intake behind the cockpit. Like a lot of air racers, the 100 has a short wingspan for manoeuvrability, but at the root the chord is wide with a large root fairing, the chord tapering rapidly to the tip. The lower half is a single piece, which has a pair of resin bay wall inserts fitted into the marked recesses, then closed up with the upper wings after a lick of paint. The fuselage is dropped into the space in between the wings, and the V-shaped tail assembly with a recess moulded-in to replicate the intake louvres on the leading edge, and an insert at the rear. The recesses are filled with curved louvre intakes, as is the slot in the vertical tail that doubles as the tail-wheel strut. On the fuselage sides, a pair of bulged resin exhaust outlets are fixed to the fuselage in recesses in the aft section of the wing root fairing, then the landing gear is installed after flipping it over onto its back. The gear legs are a single piece each plus retraction jacks with the two-part wheels flex-fitting into the yoke, and a pair of captive gear bay doors affixed to the outer side, and a tiny vestigial door at the top of the leg, fitting flush with the wing surface. After which the model can stand on its own three wheels. Additional details are fitted into the cockpit before it is covered by its canopy, including a number of PE levers, and the clear canopy is then fitted to the opening as a single part, with no option for leaving it open, but as it’s nice and clear you should still be able to see all your hard work. The contra-prop has four elements to its spinner, two trapping each of the two-bladed props in between, with the smallest pointy one in the front, of course, gluing into position on the long prop-shaft. Markings There are two markings options given on the instructions, one of which is the actual blue scheme it wore, the other a what-if scheme that has red and white fan-shaped stripes on the wings and tail, which looks quite patriotic. From the box you can paint whatever you fancy, but these two are suggested: There aren’t any decals for the airframe, and the one for the instrument panel is totally fit for purpose. Of course, I couldn’t resist taping up some of the major parts to give an impression of the finished model, so here it is: There is a set of masks available now from Special Mask to allow you to mask up this lovely crystal clear canopy without stress or anguish, and quickly too, even if you're not masking phobic. You can see the review of that set, right here. Conclusion I’ve been smitten with this little aircraft since the smaller kit arrived, and Special Hobby have done a great job with the moulding, using resin where sensible, and giving us plenty of detail in the kit. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Special Hobby working on SAAB VIGGEN scaled down to 1/72 metal mould made with 3D CAD-CAM CNC technology like Vampire, Gnat, Mirage etc.

Allrighty I'll start off with this Hopefully it won't prove too challenging. For various reasons I've not been at the bench for nearly a month. I need something relatively simple to get the modelling mojo juices flowing again I'll post up the box and sprue shots soon(ish) /P

L-4 Grasshopper Engine (P48002) (Continental O-170-3) 1:48 Special Hobby 2022 saw the release of a brand-new tooling of this lightweight aircraft, the militarised variant of the Piper J-3 Cub, and not too long later, up pops this gorgeous 3D printed engine and cowling for it, offering significantly higher levels of detail than can be achieved with injection moulded styrene. As usual with their resin sets, it arrives in the familiar clear vacformed box, with the resin parts safely inside, and the instructions sandwiched between the header card at the rear. Due to the delicate detail of the parts, they are cocooned in a hollow foam square, with another sheet behind it to protect it during shipping and storage. There are ostensibly two parts on separate printing bases within the box, but the cowling actually consists of four parts on one compact base. The outer cowling splits in two as you remove it from the base, and inside are another two parts that are used as heat deflectors over the two banks of pistons of the flat-4 Continental engine, and using two colour diagrams inside the instructions, you can connect up the cylinders with wire from your own stocks, which pass through the heat deflectors, and locate at the rear of the engine. To add it to your model, you simply remove the front of the fuselage as per the two diagrams marked in red, insert the engine’s backplate in the opening, and reuse the small square kit part underneath. After adding the heat panels and wiring up the motor, the two-part cowling can be fitted over the engine, or left off for a maintenance diorama or similar. You might notice a few layer lines on the sides of the cowling parts, but these are so small as to be nigh-on invisible to the naked eye, and will disappear under primer and paint. Conclusion The detail on the engine, especially as it is a single tiny part, is stunning, and the finesse of the cowlings is equally impressive, adding so much detail to your model that it looks like you could turn the prop, start it up and fly away… providing you were an inch tall. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Mirage IIIC Wheels (Q72401 for Special Hobby) 1:72 CMK by Special Hobby We reviewed Special Hobby’s new Mirage IIIC in various guises, the latest to be found here, and while it’s a nice kit, resin can always improve the detail that injection moulded styrene is capable of. As usual with CMK's resin sets, It arrives in the familiar clear vacformed box, with the resin parts safely inside, and the instructions sandwiched between the green Quick & Easy branded header card at the rear. There are two casting blocks inside the box, one containing two main and one nose wheel, the other with two rear hubs for the main wheels that include brake detail and a keyed hole for the kit’s axle. The wheels are attached to the block via their contact patches to ease removal, and the hubs are flat on their block so you can remove them with a razor saw and not damage any of the fine detail. Super easy, and a simple improvement on the kit parts. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

AJS37 Viggen 37104 - F15 Söderhamn June 1996 The Box The goodies The decal set by Moose Republic and the reference book Research has started. If all goes as planned, I will be starting on it mid december. Is there anybody around who would like to do a parallel build? See you soon, Sam

After the 1/72nd kit (link), Special Hobby is to release a 1/48th Bugatti-De Monge 100P racer kit - ref. SH48219 Sources: https://www.specialhobby.net/2022/01/sh48212-siebel-si-204e-148-frezujeme.html https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/SH48219 V.P.

Mirage IIIC Atar 9B Engine Nozzle (Q72402 for Special Hobby) 1:72 CMK by Special Hobby We reviewed Special Hobby’s new Mirage IIIC in various guises, the latest to be found here, and while it’s a nice kit, resin can always improve the detail that injection moulded styrene is capable of. As usual with CMK's resin sets, It arrives in the familiar clear vacformed box, with the resin parts safely inside, and the instructions sandwiched between the green Quick & Easy branded header card at the rear. Containing just one resin part, it takes the place of two kit parts to depict the hot end of the Atar 9B engine nozzle that propels the Mirage IIIC and variants to supersonic speeds. The nozzle is mounted on a circular casting base, and should be easy to cut away due to the narrow supports that are holding it down. Sanding the surface flat should be all the preparation needed apart from a wash in warm soapy water to remove the rest of the mould-release agent. As well as not having to deal with a seam down the centre of the kit parts, you also get additional detail on the exterior in the shape of rows of rivets, and even more on the inside surface, plus the finesse of the lip. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Hello Here is my last build with this 1/72 Special Hobby Gloster Meteor F. Mk.8 in the Syrian Air Force around 1956. Actually this is the old MPM / Xtrakit dated back to 2006 which was reissued this year with different markings about Middle Eastern Air Forces. I chose the Syrian one as I liked this scheme with light earth / dark green over blue. I used PRU blue because I saw a colour picture and it is consistent with most RAF fighters at the time which were dark sea grey / dark green over PRU Blue. But the discussion is open. Patrick

Zetor 25 Tractor Driver & Village Boy (F72382) 1:72 CMK by Special Hobby This delightful little figure set is intended for use with Special Hobby’s own resin Zetor 25 tractor that we have reviewed recently. As usual with CMK's resin sets, it arrives in the familiar clear vacformed box, with the resin parts safely inside, and the instructions sandwiched between the header card at the rear. Inside are two resin casting blocks, each one containing a figure. The driver is sculpted in the seated position, with a separate right arm for detail’s sake, and a thin film of flash running vertically down from his face to his vest to improve moulding reliability. That’s the work of moments to brush away with the side of a blade or even a cocktail stick. The other mounting points are where he sits and against the back of his legs, with excellent sculpting by M. Antfeist of his trousers, jacket and cap. The boy is standing with his legs slightly apart, looking up at the driver perhaps, wearing some baggy pants that are held up by a pair of braces over his shirt. There is a little flash between his legs to facilitate casting, but again that should be easy to remove. After a wash in warm soapy water to remove the last of the mould release, you can paint them any colours you like, but the instructions show a typical example if you’re stuck for ideas. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Hello:) Kit is OOB with addition of some scratchbuilt details(full cockpit, pilot seats). Painting was quite a challenge since this was the first time I decided not to use decals (blue and yellow Sweden national colours) but decided to paint them instead. Only issue I had was with small windows on the sides (they didn't fit well) but other then that very enjoyable build and lovely kit, something different for a change. Kit: 1/72 Special Hobby SH-89(CASA C-212-300 Aviocar) Decals: OOB, painted Paint: Ammo Mig primer and acrylics Weathering: Ammo Mig washes and Oilbrushers, AK Interactive weathering pencils

Beaufighter Mk.I/VI Main Wheels Early (7481 for Airfix) 1:72 CMK by Special Hobby Kit wheels are generally in two halves, which means you have the resultant joins to deal with, possible mould-slip issues on single part wheels, and sometimes less than stellar detail due to the moulding limitations of styrene injection technology, especially in the tread department. That's where replacement resin wheels come in, with their lack of seamline and superior detail making a compelling argument. They are also usually available at a reasonable price, and can be an easy introduction to aftermarket and resin handling, as they are usually a drop-in replacement. This set is just that, containing two main wheels that are drop-in replacements once removed from their casting block, which is conveniently placed on the slightly flattened contact patch that just needs flattening off once removed. The tyres have the early block tread pattern, and the hubs are similarly early versions with five-spoked fronts and solid rears. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

WWII Fighter Pilot 1942 (F48383 & F32381) 1:48 & 1:32 CMK by Special Hobby A pilot figure in or next to an aircraft will give it a scale that might otherwise be missing, and if well-painted, it should also add a little realism and credibility to your model. Quite often the kit-provided figures are either softly-moulded and seated for ease of production, with hands on laps and simple structures, and seldom are you supplied with anything standing, and even less likely anything highly detailed or period specific. These two sets from CMK do just that, just in case you hadn’t already twigged. 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 it and the yellow header card at the rear. Decals and Photo-Etch (PE) when included are separated from the resin parts by a clear piece of thick acetate to prevent scratching and damage during transit. RAF WWII Fighter Pilot – 1942 (F48383) This set includes a pilot figure stood up straight whilst admiring his aircraft, or watching his colleagues over-fly the field, with one hand down by his side, the other up near his waist, possibly holding the zipper on his sheepskin-lined leather flying jacket. He’s also wearing a traditional WWII flying helmet with the comms bulges over his ears, and a pair of fur-lined flying boots on his feet. The jacket’s low strapped waist buckles are supplied on a tiny fret of PE parts that can be annealed then glued in place with some super glue (CA) and draped with gravity. RAF WWII Whirlwind Fighter Pilot – 1942 (F32381) Although this pilot is dressed and posed exactly like the 1:48 chap above, he is of course half as large again, and has his head cast separately, which gives some leeway with posing. Again, he has PE straps on his jacket’s waist but also on his helmet, and you are shown where the helmet’s wiring should run by a Y-shaped green line on the instructions. You’ll have to provide that wire yourself of course. He’s called a Whirlwind pilot on the box, but he could equally be used with any British fighter of the period, it’s just that Special Hobby have recently released a large-scale kit of the Whirlwind, so you can’t blame them. Conclusion Superb sculpting by Special Hobby’s artists, and equally high-quality casting that results in an excellent figure, whichever scale you want, need or choose. You could argue that many pilots left their helmets plugged-in inside the cockpit, but they look better with them on, so why not? Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Hi all Here is my latest model finished, the FMA IA.58 Pucará (Special Hobby 1/72) Model represents the aircraft A-511 Grupo de Ataque 3 - BAM Malvinas, pilot mayor Carlos Tomba. This aircraft was shot down on the 21st may 1982 by Lt Cdr "Sharkey" Ward piloting the Sea Harrier XZ451/006. Mayor Tomba survived the ejection and later became prisoner of war. I'm really glad to finally finish this kit. It fought me all the way (I started this building on June 2020). Several problems with fit and when it was almost done I had a problem with the windscreen and broke it when trying to fix it. I had to find another kit to replace the part (Thanks Trevor ). Not my best model but glad to finally call it done. #armouredsprue #pucara #Falklands40 Critics and comments are welcomed Cheers Paulo

In flight test it's always something different, and this fits the bill. No sense in letting the Air Force getting all the glory. So here's Special Hobby's1/48 Douglas D558-1 SkyStreak. The Navy's version of the X-1. Not as fast as the X-1 but just as brightly outfitted.

Special Hobby has just announced a new tool 1/48th Martin Baltimore Mk.I/II kit - ref. SH48160 Source: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235016099-novelties-from-special-hobby/ V.P.

Special Hobby is not only working on a 1/72nd Dassault Super Mystère SMB2 kit (link) but also on a 1/48th one! Yesss. The subsidiary question is when as the SH kits development delays are often really slow. Source: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235011761-we-need-it-in-148th-the-smb2/&do=findComment&comment=2570698 V.P.