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.
Instructions clearly show how to use the parts for both kits. For the Great Wall kit, there are direct replacements. A simple spacing plug is provided to facilitate installation. For the Monogram kit, modification is needed on one boom, that of removing the molded on cowl on the left side.
You can view Mark’s instruction sheet to get the full picture.
The full set is $19, plus shipping and handling. You can get more details of this great update set at the Modelshack website. Mark has recently done a redesign of the site, and it looks awesome! And while you are there, be sure and check out the products page for Mark’s update sets for the 1/48 Academy/Hobbycraft I-16 and the Lindberg 1/48 F11C-2.
Special thanks to Mark Buchler for providing this review set!
