Review Topic: Aircraft
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ICM Beechcraft C-45 Expeditor
FineScale Modeler reviews ICM’s 1/48 scale plastic transport aircraft kit. Derived from the classic Beechcraft Model 18, nicknamed Twin Beech, the C-45F, (later redesignated UC-45F) Expeditor served the U.S. Army Air Force as a military transport during and after World War II
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Italeri Short Stirling Mk.IV
FineScale Modeler reviews Italeri’s 1/72 scale plastic aircraft kit. A big huzzah! to Italeri’s new Stirling. Molded in gray, its recessed panel line and rivet details are perhaps a little more pronounced than some modelers might prefer, but, happily, they are much moderated by a coat of paint.
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Wolfpack Designs T-2C Buckeye
FineScale Modeler reviews Wolfpack Designs’ 1/72 scale plastic model airplane kit. Finally a state-of-the-art kit of the Buckeye has come. Many of us have been holding on to the toylike Matchbox kit, but we can now pass those old kits to the kids and grandkids. Wolfpack’s new kit features a decent interior and recessed exterior detail.
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OrangeModel F-35C Lightning II
FineScale Modeler reviews OrangeModel’s 1/72 scale plastic model airplane kit. The F-35C, made for U.S. Navy carrier duty, differs from the Lightning IIs in having a larger wing with folding outer panels and beefed-up landing gear for those punishing catapult launches and arrested landings. This is the first C kit available in 1/72 scale. Coming from…
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Revell Germany Saab JAS-39C Gripen
FineScale Modeler reviews Revell Germany’s 1/72 scale plastic model airplane kit. Revell Germany’s newest release represents the latest version of the Gripen and offers two marking choices: a colorful Czech aircraft decorated for the 2014 Tiger Meet, and a Swedish fighter that flew in a 2013 Air Force Red Flag exercise. Molded in light gray plastic,…
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Kitty Hawk 1/48 scale F9F-8/-8P Cougar
FineScale Modeler reviews the Kitty Hawk 1/48 scale F9F-8/-8P Cougar scale plastic aircraft model. This is the first 1/48 scale injection-molded kit of Grumman’s swept-wing Cougar since … well, since forever. The Cougar was the principal carrier-borne fighter of the mid-1950s, paving the way between the straight-wing jets of the Korean War period (Panthers and…
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Zoukei-Mura 1/32 scale Horten 229
FineScale Modeler reviews Zoukei-Mura’s 1/32 scale Horten 229 scale plastic aircraft model. The Horten Ho 229 has to be one of the most futuristic aircraft designs to take to the air during World War II. The Horten brothers’ design was so far ahead of its time that in the early 1980s a team from Northrop-Grumman,…
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Airfix Folland Gnat T.1
FineScale Modeler reviews Airfix’s 1/48 scale plastic model airplane kit. I didn’t know much about the Gnat, a British fighter turned trainer, but I was expecting a model similar in size to the T-38 or Fouga Magister. Nope: This ornithological wonder is small, Cessna 182-size — actually the 182 is larger. I checked the scale twice.…
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Airfix Dornier Do 17Z
FineScale Modeler reviews Airfix’s 1/72 scale plastic model airplane kit. My first impression of Airfix’s new 1/72 scale Dornier Do 17Z? In a word, details! Fine surface and interior details grace the fuselage halves, wings, and nacelles, but it’s the array of additional parts for the cockpit and bomb bay that put this kit a cut…
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Kinetic Mirage IIIE
FineScale Modeler reviews Kinetic’s 1/48 scale plastic model aircraft kit. Kinetic’s new kit offers five versions of the Mirage III, including two French fighters and a French recon bird, a Spanish IIIEE, and an Australian IIIO. Don’t be alarmed at the number of parts — the kit provides a bunch of optional parts for the different…