Review Topic: Aircraft
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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…
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GWH Handley Page Victor B.2
Following its Vulcan, GWH brings us a Handley Page Victor B.2. Like its predecessor, this kit is a beauty, with finely engraved surface detail and nicely detailed wheel wells and speed-brake bay. The speed brakes can be posed open or closed. Decals provide a choice of three RAF bombers during the 1960s.
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Tarangus 1/48 scale Viggen
Seeking a fighter capable of operating from short, improvised airstrips, Sweden turned to the Saab 37 Viggen. The delta-wing aircraft featured large canards to aid low-speed handling. The turbofan engine was equipped with a thrust reverser, allowing the aircraft to back up under its own power.
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Special Hobby 1/48 scale Supermarine Seafire Mk.III
FineScale Modeler reviews Special Hobby’s 1/48 scale Supermarine Seafire Mk.III plastic model airplane kit. The carrier version of the British Spitfire, the kit includes optional clipped wings, a photoetched-metal instrument panel, posable control surfaces, and photoetched-metal seat belts.