IPMS/USA Reviews

Minicraft produces a variety of aircraft kits in 1/48^th, 1/72^nd, and 1/144^th scale, but I always associate them with the wide variety of 1/144^th planes they offer.

Over the years, Minicraft has released and re-released this version of the P-38 a number of times. Many times it's just a new boxing, or has a different decal scheme, but every time it's been the same kit. The kit itself was originally the Crown models mold, and like Helen of Troy had a face that launched a thousand ships, it appears that Crown has the mold that launched a thousand boxings of the P-38. The last time I built this kit, it was packaged in a Minicraft/Academy boxing, but the original "new tool" is from 1975. Since that time, this kit has been sold by Crown, AHM, Revell, Minicraft/Academy, and finally Minicraft Model kits. This version is the first to include new parts in the form of a pre-painted canopy.

Tru-Color Paint was formed in 2008 by Rick Galazzo and Scott Cohen, both of whom come from extensive backgrounds in formulating paint on the commercial scale. They set out on their own to develop this paint line of solvent based paint by reformulating the old Accupaint formulation to flow better and give a more glossy appearance after drying. They currently offer over 600 colors offered with more to follow. Sets and single bottles are available and include lines for railroad, automotive, and military aircraft and armament lines.

The specific set I tested was specifically for weathering and include a sample of their masking frisket papers as well as the following colors in 1 oz. bottles:

If you really, I mean really like research, then you know the passion that comes with it. Well so does Fundekals. Their latest release is on the F4U Corsair. This is their second Corsair sheet and it is full of goodies too.

First off, did I miss something? I only got decals. There are no instructions with this sheet. No, that is the norm for Fundekals. To save printing costs, and subsequent costs to you, you can download the instruction booklet online. You can save it and/or print it. The amount of research into the booklet is worth the price of admission.

The decals themselves are printed by B.O.A. so you know they are world class. They are thin, opaque and in register. The sheets are mostly white markings but there are some colorful personal emblems included for the aircraft. The second sheet is the geometric markings for one of the subject aircraft.

The Tamiya Bf-109G-6 is a great model kit. It comes with its own masks but they are not pre-cut nor do they stick to the compound curves very well. Kabuki tape masks work so much better and if they are pre-cut they are the answer to the shortcomings.

New Ware Masks are the answer to those issues. This set is pre-cut on Kabuki tape and provides nearly everything that you'd want to mask off on the kit. More items are included than what is included in the kit. The masks are printed on a 39,5x111 mm sheet of Kabuki tape.

As you'd expect, masks for the canopy are provided as is the normal but unlike the kit masks, this set includes masks for the inside AND outside canopy framing. But this set doesn't stop there. There are masks included for the spiral, the wheels, the radiator faces and all the other clear parts. The one thing not provided is masks for the wingtip lights.

The instructions are printed on a single sided sheet of paper. Step 1 is the interior masking and Step 2 is the exterior. The spinner decal is broken down into three pieces just like the kit decals.

Per Wikipedia, the AN/AAQ-28(V) LITENING targeting pod is an advanced precision targeting pod system currently operational with a wide variety of aircraft worldwide. The targeting pod contains a high-resolution, forward-looking infrared (FLIR) sensor that displays an infrared image of the target to the aircrew. It has a wide field of view search capability and a narrow field of view acquisition/targeting capability of battlefield-sized targets. The pod also contains a CCD camera used to obtain target imagery in the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum capability. They are currently in use in over 20 countries in the world.