Archive for the ‘Aftermarket Sets’ Category

When it comes to enhancing the look of a model, I’ve always felt that nothing can add more impact to the final result than some great looking resin aftermarket accessories. Whether it is a set of wheels, a new prop, control surfaces, a cockpit or a wheel well, resin accessories are often one of the simplest ways to spruce things up and add detail and realism that may not be found in the injection molded part. And in my experience, one of the finest producers of great resin accessories is Ultracast.

Kevin McLaughlin graciously sent some resin accessories for review. All of the parts look great, and have the quality that I’ve come to expect from Ultracast. There are a lot of resin parts out there, from a variety of manufacturers, but Ultracast’s products have always been at the top of the heap in my experience. (I think if I could afford to I would buy their Spitfire and P-40 seats with harnesses by the dozen! ) Read the rest of this entry »

Monday we had a look at some gorgeous decal sets from Starfighter Decals. Then on Wednesday, we looked at some of the resin upgrade sets from Starfighter Decals. Today we will finish the week with some photoetch- and more decals!

Many folks know of Starfighter Decals for the products they produce for Monogram’s classic 1930′s biplanes- the P-6E, F112-C, and F4B-4. If you’re like me though, as soon as you hear the word “biplane” you think “rigging”, and say “no thanks!”

Mark Tutton, the man behind Starfighter Decals, has taken those orries away with photoetch rigging sets designed especially for the classic Monogram kits.

Starfighter makes E-Z Rigging sets for for the three kits mentioned above, plus the P-26 Peashooter from Revell. We’ll look at the set for the P-6E and F112-C. Read the rest of this entry »

Monday we had a look at some gorgeous decal sets from Starfighter Decals. Today, we’ll continue with our review of Starfighter Decals products, looking at some resin upgrade sets. (And don’t miss out on part III, with photoetch and more decals.)

Though Mark Tutton produces many different decal, resin, and photoetch products, what Starfighter Decals is best known for are there sets for classic Monogram and Revell 1/72nd kits. Here are some of those resin sets. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the great things about modeling today is the huge variety of decals and aftermarket accessories available for the modeler to choose from. Whether it’s decals, resin sets, photo etch, or just about any other type of accessories, it’s a good bet someone in the world will be making it.

Mark Tutton of Starfighter Decals is one of those people. Mark was gracious enough to send me some great decal, photo etch, and resin sets to share with you, so this week I’ll be featuring Starfighter Decals products. (Be sure and check out part II and part III also!)

Starfighters Decals is well known for the decal and resin sets designed for Monogram’s 1/72 scale biplanes. What you may not know is they also carry products for many other great models, in a variety of scales.

Today we’ll take a look at some very interesting decal sets for pre- and early WWII US aircraft. Read the rest of this entry »

Several years ago, Mark Buchler of Modelnerd’s Modelshack fame had released a resin cowl update set for the Monogram P-61. With the renewed interest in the P-61 thanks to Great Wall Hobby’s Black Widow kit, it was time for an update to that set.

Mark’s new update will do double duty, working on both the Monogram and Great Wall kits. So regardless of which base kit you choose, you can be sure you’ll have some great looking power plants and their associated parts hanging on the ends of the booms.

The set itself consists of cowls, engines, props and spinners (with alignment jig), as well as a spacing adapter for the Great Wall kit. The parts are cast in light grey resin that almost has a styrene feel to it. The parts are free of pinholes or other deformations, with only a light amount of flash here and there. Impressively, none of the parts have the huge casting plugs normally associated with resin parts. Mark’s use of sprue-like attachments has always impressed me, and sets him at the top of the heap in my opinion when it comes to smart engineering for small resin operations. Read the rest of this entry »

Photo courtesy Mark Büchler

Many folks may know Mark Büchler as “Modelnerd” on various model related forums. A few may remember the super-impressive scratch built cockpit and other additions he did a few years ago for Lindberg’s Goshawk kit that was posted on Fine Scale’s forum. He did an awesome job on that, and decided to make resin copies. He sold a few of those, and decided to do more resin. An upgrade for the Hobbycraft/Academy I-16 followed (which I used in a build and quite enjoyed), as well as an engine/cowl set for Revell’s P-61.

Now Mark has re-done his Goshawk set, adding in some additional parts. The sets are available in a limited quantity, so if you’ve ever considered building Lindberg’s Goshawk, you might want to snag one of these really quick. Read the rest of this entry »

This is a continuation from Monday’s interview with Stewart Meikle of 3D-Kits. Today I’ll look at using two of the 3D-Kits sets in a build.

I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with aftermarket sets. I love the additional detail they can add to a build, yet I hate the fact that I seem to be unable to get more resin and/or photoetch parts to ever really work out right. I’ve ruined entire kits trying to mate resin conversions to a fuselage. I’ve spent money on photoetch sets, only to end up with one-third of the parts glued in to the kit in less than satisfactory fashion, one-third glued to me or somewhere on the floor, and the final third left in frustration on the photoetch fret.

It’s not so much that the parts don’t fit (in most cases), or that the directions aren’t clear. It’s simply the fact that whatever modeling talent I have runs out when confronted with aftermarket parts.

And then I found 3D-Kits and their wonderful injected plastic aftermarket parts. Read the rest of this entry »

I normally avoid resin or photoetch after market parts. I seem to have a talent for messing them up, gluing small metal parts to my forehead, or oversanding resin until it’s unusable. (And those are not exaggerations.)

 When I have tried to make a go of them, I’d end up sitting back and wondering “why doesn’t someone make this stuff from regular old plastic?’

Thankfully, someone has!

3D-Kits, a small after-market operation based in the UK, has begun producing high quality after market conversion sets. The man behind the company, Stewart Meikle, graciously took his time to tell us more about his work.

You can also read Part II of this report here, detailing the use of two of 3D-Kits aftermarket sets. Read the rest of this entry »

Randie Coulter submitted this review for a rare resin conversion set. Could this perhaps be for a fire bomber Randie?

If you have ever wanted a 1/72 scale DC-4/C-54 but, didn’t want to pay big bucks for the questionable Mach 2 kit then I may just have the solution.

A few years back, there was a conversion kit from a company called ‘Mullet Models’. I received a few bits and pieces and the instructions from one of these sets. I made a few phone calls and found out I was out of luck. They were no more! I did, however, learn the name of the gentleman who was behind ‘Mullet Models’….. Dana Kopher. A little detective work found that he was still active in modeling and living in Colorado.

I sent him an email with my request. Dana informed me that the masters were worn out and since Mach 2 had introduced their kit, he would not be re-doing his molds.

Back to square one. Read the rest of this entry »

NOTE: Mark has issued an updated set to replace this P-61 set. You can see a review of the updated version here.

Mark Buchler is on his way to be the King of Resin. I’m just proud to say “Ah, I knew him back in the day…”

You may recall when mark set about updating his Lindberg F11C-2 Goshawk build. He posted his work on the Fine Scale Modeler forum, showing off his great technique and skill. When he realized he had a pretty decent set of molds, he decided to release his set to the world.

About the same time Lindberg was re-releasing kits, including the aforementioned F11C-2. And then came Mark’s book on how to cast your own resin parts. Followed not too long after that by his update for Hobbycraft’s Polikarpov I-16 cockpit, which worked really well in my own build.

Now Mark is back with his newest set- a beautifully produced cowl and engine set for Monogram’s venerable 1/48 P-61 Black Widow. Read the rest of this entry »

Scot Meek submitted his impressions on an after-market resin set from Shull24.com. Sounds like a winner! Thanks Scot!

The GE F110 exhaust for the Tamiya 1/48 scale F-16 is a recent addition to the lineup of finely cast items by Shawn Hull. A small kit in itself, the GE F110 set consists of five pieces of gray resin. The flame holder is cast in a different type of resin that is a little flexible, allowing you…if you’re careful…to sand away the flash without worry of breakage. All of the pieces fit together very well and the finished result is nothing short of outstanding! If you’re thinking of, or about to build, a Block 30, 40 or 50 Viper, I cannot recommend this set enough. It is my humble opinion, that this is one of THE best aftermarket items to come around in a long time. If you have any doubts…. I’ll let the photo’s do the talking!

Conclusion: Highly Recommended

Item: GE F110 Exhaust and Nozzle for Tamiya F-16
Item #: 4850
Price: $12.00
Available from Shull24.com

Brian McClatchie (brain44) posted these pictures of his build of a nicely marked Canadian F-101, using the Monogram kit. Great stuff Brian!

I wanted to share this build with you all, as it is sort of a “fellowship” build of itself – the kit came from Will (Spaced) and the nose gear was donated by Mark (mhoupt) and the inspiration from brother Drew (DrewH)…..it came out rather well, I think, I’d love to hear your input as well!

AgapeModels.com forum member Ken Judt (icekj) sent in this product review for a very good looking cockpit upgrade for the F/A-18D.

Subject:  F/A-18D Cockpit/Correction set for Italeri/Revell 1/72 F/A-18D
Manufacturer: Modern Hobbies LLC.
Price: $12.50

Set includes:  Resin cast nose correction with raised detail, resin cast cockpit replacement set.  This set represents a BuNo 164196 or later night attack aircraft.

Quality:  This is my first purchase from Modern Hobbies and I am very impressed.  The pieces look to be accurate from the research I did on the web.  Here is a listing of the various details I checked:

* Both the control sticks for the WSO are represented

* The aft deck is properly arranged and represented

* No rear control stick, as there are none on the night attack Deltas

* Front and rear instrument panels properly laid out

* Combing over the rear instrument panel is proper size and you can even see the chaff/flare dispenser buttons

* Replacement nose with raised panel lines like the kit it is intended for

* SJU-17 ejection seats are correct from the photos I compared them with Read the rest of this entry »

Pössum Werks has released some brand new decals, following up their very fine initial release of just a few months ago. This time, it’s 3 new sets of water-slide goodies, 2 for some new plastic, and 1 for a classic.

The decals are printed by Cartograph, and as is always the case with their decals, the color and quiality of these 3 sets is simply outstanding.

And the man behind Pössum Werks, Tom Myers, has done a fabulous job on the artwork for each of these sets. His previous set, decals for Steinhoff’s Bf-109s, were very nice, and really looked great when applied to plastic. And I expect these will be every bit as good when applied.

Here are the three sets:

Read the rest of this entry »

Don McIntyre gives us the details on Lonestar Models 1/48 OS2U Cockpit Set (LSM 0224). This is Don’s first contribution to AgapeModels.com- thanks for the support, Don!

This set consists of approximately 20 resin parts, and is designed for Monogram’s venerable OS2U-3 Kingfisher kit, a WWII observation floatplane produced by Vought. The Monogram kit is pretty well done for it’s age, excepting the cockpit and engine/cowl area (which Lonestar Models also covers in another set).
From reading I’ve done over the years it appears that the floats on the kit aren’t quite right either, but unless you can find a Cutting Edge Float set (obviously discontinued for the foreseeable future and very expensive on eBay if you can find it) you’ve got a lot of scratchbuilding to do. Neither option appeals to me, so I’ll probably just leave things as they are when I get around to this build.

Read the rest of this entry »

Mark Buchler, the “nerd” behind Modelnerd’s Modelshack, will shortly be releasing his second resin set, this one for the 1/48 Academy/Hobbycraft Polikarpov I-16. He sent me some information sharing the photos with me, and describing the new “discovery” he’s made to assist him in parts design and fabricating: CAD.

The I-16 kit is almost ready, and I’m real excited about this one! It’s a quantum leap ahead of my first kit. CAD has so much more possibilities.

He also has some additional information on his website about the forthcoming release:

The kit will contain twelve individual parts, plus a printed gauge cluster which can be glued to the back of the instrument panel. Two cowls will be provided for both the Type 10 and Type 18 variants. I am currently working on an instruction sheet, and I hope to offer the kit for sale within the next few weeks.

Mark also shares some interesting information on ways he’s able to improve the quality of his castings…. but I’ll let you visit his site to read that.

Pricing on the set will be $15, plus shipping. I’ve already sent my money in- I want to see this set! (Now to find the kit…..)

And if you’re interested in learning to cast your own parts, check out Mark’s wonderful book, “A Beginner’s Guide to Mold Making and Resin Casting for the Hobbyist“.

Talk about being at the right place at the right time. A few months ago, Mark Buchler, who is the “Nerd” behind ModelNerd’s ModelShack, detailed a resin set he was making to update his build of a Lindberg F11C-2 Goshawk kit. He posted several updates on the Fine Scale Modeler forums, and impressed more than a few people with his work.

Mark thought more folks might want to make use of his molds, and began selling the parts at his site for anyone who wanted to update their Lindberg Goshawk kit.

And in a stroke of great timing- Lindberg kits are suddenly back on the market, including the F112-C Goshawk.

The set contains fifteen resin parts, plus one vacform canopy. According to Mark’s site, the set “address several issues found in the Lindberg kit.” Read the rest of this entry »

One of the great things about the Internet is it has allowed small shops all over the world to sell some very high quality products that many of the “big” manufacturers overlook. Kiwi Resins in New Zealand is one of these shops- and seeing their resin set that combined ICM’s Mk. IX kit with resin and decals to convert it to a Mk. XII in one of the UK model magazines caught my eye.

I contacted Dave Lochead from Kiwi Resin and said I would really like to get my hands on the kit, as the Mk. XII is not one of the typically modeled Spitfire variants. Unfortunately, Dave replied back that due to a problem with supplies of the ICM base kit, he was sold out. Too bad, I said, let me know if that changes.

Then he replied back “I can sell you the resin parts, if you like. All you need is an ICM Mk. IX.”

If I like? My saying is “You can never have enough Spitfires.” I promptly replied back “I laready have the ICM kit in the stash… set me up!” Read the rest of this entry »