Content is identical for all their product of this range, you have inside instrument panel and seat belts. Instrument panel is mold with printed color and printed instruments on it. Instruments have even glossy surface so illumination of the instruments give real authentic look. Seat belts are, as I can see, steel series, so easy to bent into any shape. Depending from kit they are dedicated, Look can also have side consoles.

[See image gallery at www.letletlet-warplanes.com] Work is more then easy, even beginers can use it- instrument panel just cut from base and fix into place they have to be. Similar with belts, cut, merge with other parts of etched set if need, put on place. Very good thing is that etched set is fixed to cardboard so you have there good base for cutting. And it some ten minutes of work, it give excellent transformation of the cockpit of your model. Here is presented how to work with Grumman Hellcat cockpit.

Excellent product! There is so many products in this range so follow this link to see em all and my thanks goes to Eduard for sample products!

Srećko Bradić

Brengun produces a very interesting kit of the VZ-9 in a very small scale, 1/144. The kit is of mixed construction, main parts are resin, cockpit interior in etched metal and cockpit canopy from vacuformed plastic. No matter of the scale, the interior has two pilot seats and seat belts! Work on this kit goes lightning fast; basic color is natural metal with a few areas in light grey and black. With acryl paints used, it is over within one hour. A little patience is needed to precisely paint and position pilot belts as well as the three very thin landing gear legs.

There are not many decals to be used. The first thing to be placed from my point of view is the central red ring and after that red stripes and national markings.

Ths kit is very easy to build and final result is realistic. You can order it directly here!

Model built by Ivan Rakonjac

Srecko Bradic

With this product, Brengun continues to deliver on the market some very interesting subjects and this one is a very high quality one. Packed in a cardboard box, it has several resin parts inside, a small fret of etched parts and a small decal sheet. Parts are very precise and easy to work. Believe it or not, removing of the whole resin parts and joining them together could not take more then one hour and there is not much extra work on each part (no flash as on injected plastic kits).

The only thing you need to give attention to is the etched frame around the wheels on the resin trolley, they are better to place at very end as they would cover part of the wheel and make it difficult to paint. Other remarks is regarded the buster module. On the sample machine I have build it is not mounted on the trolley stand so you can do the kit without it. But it will not make a problem at all if you put it as assembly instruction state.

Very easy kit that even the beginners can work with. Final result is very authentic! Recommended!!!

Sample product is provided by Brengun.

Srecko Bradic

Vickers K was fitted to a number of two- and three-seater aircraft in RAF service such as the Fairey Battle and Handley Page Hampden. It was also used in gun turrets, such as the dorsal turret in the Bristol Blenheim, the nose turret in the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley and the rear turret of the Fairey Battle. It was the standard Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm “Telegraphist Air Gunner” machine gun, on British built carrier (Torpedo Strike Reconnaissance) aircraft – the Fairey Swordfish, the Fairey Albacore and the Fairey Barracuda.

Brengun has released this excellent resin and brass kit in 1/48 scale. Stock code of the product is BRL48047 and it comes in small plastic bag with parts for two machine guns and small and very functional assembly leaflet inside. Resin is of excellent quality and very easy to cut and finish. The main body parts consist of the machine gun body, barrel and drum. There is not much work with the resin, just cut it from the resin base and fit together.

The brass parts are very small and precisely made and they need some care during the work. They give a great authentic look to the kit. The entire kit needs to be painted in the dark metal color and then to add a few other color details. Side of the ammunition drum can be in light metal grey color and atop of it is a fabric grip in light brown color.

This kit requires just a few hours to be completed and it looks very good and will be welcome details to your plastic kit!

Great thanks to Brengun for the sample product! Direct order here!

Srecko Bradic

Product with stock item 648088 presents the R-23 missile in 1/48 scale. Packed in a nice black box, inside is resin parts for two R-23 missile with pylons. There is also a small sheet with etched parts as well as a small decal sheet. Quality of the molds is top and details are outstanding! Parts are very easy to remove from the mold base and after that you need to sand its bottom a bit. Main work on missile body includes attaching four front stabilizers and four rear stabilizers on missile body. On the body is included a base slot to insert stabilizers and I have never seen before such a precise element match as on this kit. Parts fit is so good  that they stand in slot without cement. Off course, it is better to fix it.

Etched parts ring need to be place at the missile body bottom and after that parts have to be painted. Main paint is white. After that as final work on the same missile you need to place optional etched belt with red plates.

The pylon is also simple to use, just remove it from mold base and it is ready for painting. The painting present a bit problem so please refer to the kit you will plan to do before painting it. The reason is that there are many variations of external finish of this pylon. Also, decal sheet is very rich with service labels but the other problem is that not every pylon have them, almost all images I have seen present it blank of any letters.

Eduard did a perfect job on this missiles and provide very accurate products. Only problem is on which kit to place it asl not every MiG-23 in 1/48 scale is correct and pylons simply would not fit. But this does not reduce value of the Eduard product which is excellent and I warmly recommend it! Direct order is possible to have here!

Thanks to Eduard for sample product!

Srecko Bradic

The kit is packed in a hard cardboard box with an image of the finished kit on the cover. Inside is the set of resin parts as well as a small sheet with etched parts. Quality of the parts and details are top. Parts include elements for the Wasserfall rocket and launching portion. The work is more then easy, simply cut parts, do a little sanding and glue with the other parts. Parts fit is perfect and I find only the need of a small amount of liquid filler to be used around some of the front of the stabilizers.

As you can see on the images, I have first assembled rocket. Assembly instruction demand bottom to be open, one large hole as well four small side holes at bottom but I did not find a need for that. In final assembly it will be attached to launch holder and absolutely nothing from the bottom could be seen. Please take care about precise position of small brass flaps; they are on the edge of the bottom, between lower stabilizers.

Part which demands a little work is the base stand. In reality this is the concrete plate with rails and square hole at bottom. One of the launch points are still preserved at Peenemünde and this gave me a nice view at the details. You will note that on final images I have painted the square part in very dark color but this is just a quick solution. If you have the possibility, it would be far better to make diorama with the deep hole in that area. You have a manual extract which provides a better view for the build.

Another section of the kit is the launching trolley. Most of the parts are resin with one brass at the top. Not any problem was found during the assembly of the resin parts but you do need care when assembling and positioning the brass part. This part holds the whole rocket and if you don’t bend it into proper symmetry (it is octagonal), you could maybe have problems with rocket attachment at the end. So make as much as needed dry runs or positioning and standing of rocket over brass stand before placing it on the resin trolley. The rocket must stand by itself if everything is set up properly.

Paint instructions offer three options for missile. One is early test with black and white square areas, grey with silver bands and last is overall armor sand color. I have chosen the last proposal and painted the whole missile in the best color I could find in my stash. For the launching trolley I have used blue grey color. I painted the rails as well as the wheel rim in silver color.

[See image gallery at www.letletlet-warplanes.com] .

The kit you see here is completed direct from the box and made ‘as is’ but there is room for some more details. Here you are what you can do more on the kit:

• Drill hole at the top of the missile. There have to be two holes on each side and they are used for attaching during raising up into operational position. When put it on trolley, they have to be on side position.
• The basic stand has an indicated square where there needs to be a hole but in order to achieve authentic look, you need to cut this resin part and put the whole stand on a high block with square hole inside. This hole is also concrete inside.
• Missile is radio control guided but I have no idea of the ignition method, is it launched by radio control signal or by wire. If there is wire system, then you need to study where it is and attach it to the missile. I am lacking this info.

Kit is excellent, easy to build, well detailed and correct in size and shape. It is also easy to build, it can be done in just few hours and has nice options to be made as diorama. I would gladly like to recommend this kit to you all and you can order sample here!

Great thanks to Brengun for sample product.

Srecko Bradic

The first M39 was not delivered until late November 1939, the twelfth on 5^th January 1940. However, none were equipped with their weapons nor had any visors and used normal truck tyres. Dutch-made visors were finally fitted, but cracks developed in the armour around the MG mount and had to be fixed. It was then hoped that the vehicles would be fully operational by September 1940. The German attack in May 1940 only found three M39 armoured cars ready to fight: they fought in the defence of Rotterdam. Two of them broke down and were destroyed by their crew on 11^th of May, the third one, III-2203, after several skirmishes with the enemy was finally retired to The Hague on 14^th on May, where at least five other M39s, some of them without their armament, had been used to patrol the city and respond to Fifth column “threats”. The Germans were quick in re-using the M39s they found: 4 were added to the reconnaissance battalion on the 227^th Infantry Division on 15 May. During the same campaign, four other were impressedinto the 225^th Infantry Division. They became known as Panzerspahwagen DAF 201(h). The 227.ID’s M39 were seen in France in late May 1940, and later in Belgium, and were at some stage refurbished by DAF and given radio equipment. They then found their way to the opening stages of Operation Barbarossa, on the Northern front, and disappeared over the following two years, probably due to lack of spare parts. The fate of the vehicles pressed into service with 225.ID is unknown. The vehicles in Dutch servicewere green overall, but as realy as late May 1940 in France, the ones used by the Germans are reported to be “Panzer Grey”. Some more elaborate camouflage appear on some vehicles at a later date. After the war it was envisaged to restart the production to reequip the Dutch Army with 200 reconnaissance vehicles ; it seems that Belgium had some interrest for that vehicle too. But due to the cost of the project, and the low-cost of the British light tanks in surplus, the reconnaissance rule was given to light tanks.

The kit from Retrotracks: There is 35 parts (two are little parts to be used as spare parts only). The kit is finely molded in resin; the parts are well conceived and assembly will be easy. The doors can be placed in open position. The wheels are well detailed. The decals permits to build one Dutch or two German vehicles. German decals are really good, but Dutch ones will advantageously be replaced by other of better quality; or hand-painted with caches.

The fact that Belgium could have been equipped with some DAF M39 gived me the idea to build a “what-if”; so my build will represent a Belgian vehicle from the 2Cy (elite mechanized infantry unit: the “Black Devils”).

Lets go to the building himself: for a resin kit, no real problem. The most difficult thing was to remove the resin carrot under the chassis… With patience, result is fine. I built the chassis, keeping the turret and the wheels aside, for an easy painting stage. As always I used white as primer. Then I airbrushed the camo of that little DAF. As it is a “what-if”, I’ve decided to represent it with the Belgian khaki “mosterd” from 1940… I like it!

Belgian khaki 1940 =
40% Tamiya XF-49 kaki
40% Tamiya XF-59 Desert Yellow
10% XF-52 Flat Earth
10% orange yellow

Then I’ve painted the tyres with “Dark Rubber” from Panzer Aces and made some  weathering with Model Master Rust with some drops of MM Gun Metal…  And I’ve assembled the parts. Pébéo gloss varnish followed, with the application of the decals (that came from a DACO decal sheet for Belgian AFV’s). A new airbrushing of gloss varnish followed, then I made an oil wash with Abteilung 502 “Brown Wash”.  Once dry, I airbrushed Pébéo matt varnish; then weathered the DAF with Tamiya pastels (I like that!) and turnet my attention onto the base…

In fact I hade the idea to present the DAF as a “museum guardian”: you can situate the scene in the actual period… I prepared a socle, inspiration came from the socle of the JPK90 of the Musée des Chasseurs à Pied, Charleroi, Belgium. The ground is from an Evergreen sheet, that I engraved to represent a court. Then, light gray was airbrushed; gloss varnish; oil wash; matt varnish and weathering with pastels. Some touches of grass were added.

OK, that was nice but uncomplete… The scene lacked of life. So I’ve added some plants; and my friend Domi sent me “civilians” and a cat! I decided to represent a family visiting the museum. Couple is looking to the AFV, but of course the daughter had her attention catched by a cat near the rear wheel! Painting of the figures was made with Vallejo and Citadel Colors acrylics, and they received a wash of Vallejo “Brown Glaze”.

Now the scene is looking good for me: you have a central element (the DAF); some life around it (visitors clothes are adding color touches to the scene) and a secondary element: the cat!

Conclusion: an easy build that brought great fun. If you’re familiar with resin, this is a piece of cake. If you’re not familiar with resin, this is THE kit to begin with.

My thanks to RetrokiT fot the review sample, and for the enthousiasm of Dominique Jadoul when I spoke him about a possible Belgian deco…

Daniel Clamot

Only one or two bubbles were present in the resin but easily eliminated with Vallejo putty. The figures received a white primer, then after some search of documentation on Google (type “MiG 21 pilot suit” and “RAF WWII pilot suit”) were painted with acrylic paints. Easy work, the figures being perfect!

After painting, I used Vallejo Brown Glaze heavily diluted with water to give some darker zones, and mark the eyes and the month of the pilots.

Once dry, I removed the pilots from the resin carrots with the help of a razor blade.

The MiG-21 pilot was glued on top of one of Frédéric Mertès airfield base an I placed the East-German MiG-21 from Eduard near the pilot. For the WWII RAF pilot, I placed him near a Hurricane MK I from Sweet. As you can see on the photos, result is stunning, amazing, … Incredible but… Splendid!

I recommend warmly those products! You can get RAF pilot here and MiG-21 pilot here!

Big thanks to Brengun for product samples.

Daniel Clamot

The latest release from Eduard is a resin wheel set for the 1/48 Tamiya P-51.This set is a standard Brassin product with the stock code of 648 092. Packaging is the standard transparent plastic case with resin parts and instructions inside.

The contents consist of four components, two tires and two wheel covers. The parts are absolute perfection in quality. A small mask sheet and instructions round out the set. Working with the parts is more than easy, simply remove them from the stubs with a sharp knife and clean them up. Note that the wheel covers require opening the holes. For this use a very sharp and pointed knife. Then you can prepare the parts for paint, and I apply primer as a first coat. Two colors only are required to complete this set, silver for the wheel covers and extra dark grey for the rubber.

An excellent product! This requires a small effort to construct and the final result is tops! In the gallery above you can how the real subject looks.

Big thanks to Eduard for the free review sample. You can et yours here!

Srecko Bradic

One of the machines to mount this BK 3,7 weapon was the subject of the Eduard release, stock number 7085, Bf 110 G-2. This plastic kit is in 1/72 scale and released as a ProfiPack version. This means that inside the box is an excellently molded plastic kit, photoetched parts and canopy quick-masks. An excellent starting point to build a very detailed and precise kit. As the letter G suggests, this is a late-version Bf 110 with more powerful engines and one of the external signs of this are the more streamlined engine nacelles. Assembly of this model is quite similar to the earlier versions released by the manufacturer.

As usual, the kit build starts with arranging all the plastic parts, build them into subassemblies, and painting. This is the fastest and easiest way to prepare them for the etched parts which need to be attached. The PE parts are one of the most demanding of time, but no matter the number of parts, it does not demand high skill and even the average modeler can make this with top results. One item I do not recommend installing early is etched part #33, this being the gun sight for the machine gun, part J5. Since this part is mounted externally it would be vulnerable during painting so it is far better to install it at the very end of the assembly process.

While the fuselage parts are drying you can move on and build the wing and engine assembly. Special attention should be paid to the left and right engine subassemblies as this is the moment to make a decision on which variant you are building. The kit contains decals and painting instructions for four machines and these differ in some features. This also includes different elements under the wing and fuselage. The wings have points inside which will need to be drilled out to open holes for your optional elements. My choice fell to the sample machine armed with the heavy cannon. This demanded opening the hole in the rear of the wing center-section for the locating pin on the cannon gondola. Alternately, four holes in each wing lower panel need to be opened if you intend to install the rocket launch tube.

Assembly of the wing with the fuselage goes very smoothly and the whole kit build is without any problems, thanks to the fact that parts fit very precisely. Following the wing/fuselage assembly you will need to install the canopy and landing gear. Placing the transparent parts demands some time and I chose to make this one with the canopy closed. The landing gear is completed without the wheels, this making painting easier. Wheels, exhaust stacks and propellers are far better to finish separately and then to mount on the kit in the final steps.

I decided to finish this kit in the colors of a machine from 4./ZG 76 which used the cannon pod operationally. It has the standard grey camouflage pattern with mottling on the fuselage and vertical tails. Then I added all the stencils and warning decals. I avoided adding the stencils on the yellow fuselage band as I presume they were painted over when the band was applied. After the stencils I placed the national insignia and unit markings. After drying I put the last parts on the kit and gave some dry-brushing over certain areas.

This kit is a model you can build with real pleasure and in an absolutely relaxing atmosphere. The results are a very nice looking kit with greatly captured detail and authentic appearance. If you wish to enjoy modeling, want to have a piece of history on your desk, and, moreover, you are a fan of the Bf 110—this kit is the right decision for you. You may get your sample here!

Big thanks to Eduard who provided me this nice kit!

Srecko Bradic