Military aircraft vol.20

Subject: Grumman F8F Bearcat
Scale: 1/48
Manufacturer: Testors
Construction details: Wing panel lines were scribed; construction out of the box; Painted with tamiya acrilics.

Kit review vol.4: Saturn 1B

Subject: Saturn 1B
Scale: 1/144
Manufacturer: Airfix

Comments: This is the Airfix kit for the saturn 1B launching vehicle that was included in the recent space line of the british manufacturer. t is sold as the lanunching vehicle for Apollo 7, but it has the general configuration for any Appolo flight that was launched by the Saturn 1B. In fact, you got the luna module that was not used in the Apollo 7 flight, and was onboard with the Apollo 9. This vehicle, a two stage rocket, was the final transition to the luna vehicle, the Saturn 5. It´s second stage was used as the third satge on all lunar missions.

Airfix kit  has nice molds with almost no flash. The decal sheet is well printed and the markings that were to be placed over black painting have a white background. I do not know how transparent they are, but it may help the painting of the vehicle.

Overall, this is another nice release by airfix. Before this kit, all you have were the 1/200 scale kit by AMT with less detail, and the limited run resin kits on the market, almost always expensive. This one cost me €$25,90 in the same hobby shop i got the vostok 1 in Barcelona. I must say: it was a bargain! Now all that is left is to try to get the Saturn 5 in the Skylab launching configuration! 

Here are some photos of the sprues and decals.

Work in progress vol.4: Douglas AD-4W Skyraider

Subject: Douglas AD-4W Skyraider
Scale: 1/48
Manufacturer: Esci

Comments: Injection molded, raised panel lines, decals for two versions (Royal Navy, 849 squadron, A flight, 1956; U.S. Marines VMC-1, 1950)
Photos of the sprues and decals:

Step 1: The reviews on Esci´s Skyraider say that the italian manufacturer´s kit is not their best model. I like Esci´s kits and i have few waiting to be build in my stock. I ran a dry fit test and identified some weak points, but overall it did not show any hard places to correct. There will be some filling and sanding, but this no problem. Here are some pictures of the test:

Kit review vol.3: Vostok 1

Subject: Vostok 1
Scale: 1/144
Manufacturer: Airfix
Comments: This kit is sold as Vostok1 celebrating the 50th aniversary  of the first orbital flight by Yuri Gagarin. In fact, this is a A-1 rocket, with options to build it as the launching vehicle not only for Gagarin´s flight but also for Lunik 1 lunar probe and for many of the early Soyuz flights. You got inside the box the first stage, that was called one and a half stage, because the main RD108 rocket was supplemented by four RD107 solid fuel engines. This rocket launched Sputnik. The vehicle was then upgraded and received a second stage (A1-v), used in  Lunik and Vostok flights. A new second stage, 5.4 times more powerfull was added to the A-2, the vehicle that launched several Soyuz flights. You can build any of the last two versions. Airfix molded the Vostok and Soyuz spacecraft in their launching configuration. The Lunik probe is not molded, only the tip of the launching vehicle in this configuration is provided. The molding is clean and detail is very good for this scale. A-1 vehicles did not have many markings, so there are only two decals.
Overall, this is a fine kit of a very important subject. It cost me €$18,90 in a hobby shop in Barcelona, not bad for what i got inside the box!

Boats vol.2: CA-72 USS Pittsburg

Subject: USS Pittsburg CA-72
Scale: 1/700
Manufacturer: Trumpeter
Painting: Gunze acrilics

Military aircraft vol.19

Subject: Fieseler Fi103 V1
Scale: 1/48
Manufacturer: Tamiya
Painting: Tamiya acrilics

Walkaround vol.3: Quad gun trailer M55

Subject: Quad gun trailer M55
Location: Museu do Comando Militar do Sul (South Military Command Museum), Porto Alegre/Brasil
Comments: This is a quad gun M55, equiped with four.50 caliber machine guns operated by the brazilian army. The photos show some details for the model builder, specially inside the gunners position, the aiming equipment and other operational features.

Dragon has a nice kit. Maybe an interesting and quick project!