June 24, 2026

Preview: Special Hobby & CMK kits for July

Special Hobby has several releases slated for July. Some new, some (re)newed. See them in our preview...


Preview: Special Hobby & CMK kits for July

Special hobby had originally wanted to bring the 1/72ND Fairey Albacore Mk. I kit this month, but unfortunately, due to problems with its tooling, this model will only be offered in next month's releases.

But even without the Albacore, this month's kits are still very interesting. Special Hobby offers a reissue of the 1/72 Viggen fighter, the 1/72 Focke-Wulf Fw 189A-1 and the hi-tech AT-6 Texan / Harvard kit with ground attack armament of various air forces. 

Among the new 3D and resin kits and models, Special Hobby recommends to your attention in particular the engine set for the 1/48 Heinkel He 177 and the wheels for the 1/48 Hampden Mk. I and the 1/72 3D-printed legs for the Mirage F.1 kit. The July newsletter will bring the already mentioned Albacore kit, a 1/48 Bücker Bü 181 in a revised form, and a 1/72nd Junkers Ju 87D-1/3 with interesting colour schemes. Special Hobby is finalising the 1/48th-scale Baltimore bomber kit, the first box of which is SH48160 Baltimore Mk. I/II will be offered to you in the summer. Also in preparation are the 1/48th Sea Venom and Venom (ex-Classic Airframes) kits; the 1/72nd TP-40N Warhawk, combining plastic and 3D-printed parts; and similarly designed kits of the ‘German flying beer coaster’ Sack AS-6 in both 1/48th and 1/72nd scales.


JA-37 Saab Viggen Fighter
1/72nd Scale
Art. no. 100-SH72384
The Saab 37 Viggen was an aircraft ahead of its time. The unorthodox solutions chosen by its designers not only allowed the Viggen to meet the requirements placed on it but also, in some parameters, to surpass them. The Swedish Air Force ordered the Viggen in several versions, with the basic design of the aircraft forming a universal platform that, supplemented with special equipment, enabled use in several roles. The propulsion was provided by a Volvo RM8 engine, a licensed civilian Pratt & Whitney JT8D engine with afterburner and thrust reversers. This, as well as the concept of double delta wings, contributed to the Viggen's excellent performance during takeoffs and landings on short airstrips. 
For better handling of the aircraft after landing, storage in hangars or better camouflage during operations from non-standard areas, the Viggen was given a folding fin. The electronic equipment was one of the best in the world at the time. The Viggen was the first aircraft with a built-in integrated circuit computer. The AJ 37 Viggen variety was the first one to enter service with the Swedish Air Force, followed by the SK 37 – a two-seat fighter trainer; the SF 37 – a reconnaissance version with photographic equipment in a modified nose; and the SH-37 – an anti-ship version with different electronic equipment and anti-ship armament. About ten years after the first version had been introduced, the second generation of the Viggen, the JA 37 fighter version, was produced.

This is a reissue of the second-generation Viggen fighter with an extended fuselage and a more powerful engine. The kit contains eight sprues of plastic parts, a sprue of clear parts, full-colour instructions and decals.
Kit features
- A highly accurate and detailed model, the best in 1/72nd scale.
- Decals for three machines, including an anniversary one with a red fin decorated with a drawing of a rider.


AT-6 Texan / Harvard ‘Little Warrior’ HI-TECH
1/72nd Scale
Art. no. 100-SH72537
The AT-6 Texan/Harvard was used mainly for training during World War II. However, North American already anticipated during its design that some operators would use the Texan as a combat aircraft. After World War II, it became clear that the Texan was excellent for counter-guerrilla warfare and also in the FAC (Forward Air Control) role. Squadrons of Texans, nicknamed ‘Mosquito’, were used by the USAF in the Korean War. European countries such as France, Spain, Britain and Portugal used armed Texans in colonial or anti-communist conflicts in Africa. Texans fought against the communists in Greece. They were used in the first Israeli-Arab wars, on both sides. Texans were also used in combat in South America in many conflicts, uprisings and revolutions.
The kit offers Academy AT-6 mouldings, complete with our new tooled, injection-moulded canopies for various versions. The kit also includes 3D-printed, resin and etched parts of the undercarriage for the Texans of various air forces. Decals include two USAF aircraft from the Korean War, a French aircraft from Algeria with a painted-on beast's mouth on the fuselage, a Spanish Texan armed with machine guns in the wing, a Syrian aircraft whose gunner shot down an S-199 fighter and, finally, an IAF Harvard.  
Features
-    Eye-catching colour schemes and decals
-    3D-printed parts portraying the underwing armament
-   Selection of machines with interesting history and appearance



Mirage IIIC 
1/72nd Scale
Art. no. 100-SH72476
The iconic Mirage IIIC 1/72 scale model kit is back again on the offer, in the French Armée de l'Air livery.
The Mirage IIIC was the first jet produced in Western Europe to break the double speed of the sound in the level flight. The type was the very first of the whole family of Mirage fighters IIIC, IIIE and 5, some of which keep flying even to this day. The Mirage IIICJ was the epitome of Israeli air supremacy in the wars with the neighbouring Arab countries during the War over Water, Six-Day War, War of Attrition and Yom Kippur War as well as many other more minor conflicts. A great number of Israeli fighter pilots became aces flying their Mirages. The Mirage IIIC saw service with the domestic Armée de l’Air, too, the first airframes being fitted with a unique belly-mounted rocket booster motor to enhance the performance in the initial climb. The later machines, though, had this booster removed to enable them to carry more ordnance to more distant targets. The Mirage IIIC was also delivered to the SAAF, and some of the ex-IAF machines found their way to Argentina. The type completely proved worthy in its role as an air superiority jet.
As many as seven sprues of grey styrene plus one sprue with clear parts offer highly and finely detailed parts; the kits also have a sheet of decals with markings for four French machines, two of which flew in the natural colour of metal (one of them of the early booster-fitted variety), and then also one machine in blue-grey over aluminium and one in the later desert scheme.
 
-    A superbly detailed model
- Attractive colour schemes and decals


Fw 189A-1
1/72nd Scale
Art. no. 100-SH72546
In 1937, the RLM (Reichsluftfahrtministerium) issued specifications for a new Luftwaffe reconnaissance aircraft. The companies Blohm & Voss with their asymmetric BV 141, Arado with the single-engine Ar 198 and Focke-Wulf with the Fw 189 project participated in the competition. The winner was the Focke Wulf.
Like the BV 141, the Fw 189 stood out with an unusual technical solution. Chief designer Kurt Tank designed the aircraft with a central fuselage nacelle and two tailplane booms from the engine nacelles. This provided the crew of three with excellent visibility. The prototype flew for the first time in July 1938, and the pre-series Fw 189 A-0s were delivered in September 1940. Production continued with the first series version of the Fw 189A-1. It was produced at the Focke Wulf factory in Bremen, where production was soon halted due to the production of the Fw 190. From March 1941, the Prague Aero factory supplied the Fw 189 (production ceased in 1943). Other Fw 189s were produced until 1944 in French factories in Bordeaux-Mérignac. In the second half of 1941, the A-1 version was replaced on the production lines by the A-2 version with more powerful armament. A small series of training and liaison versions B was also built, differing in the shape of the fuselage nacelle and other details. A ground attack version, designated Fw 189C, was tested in prototypes; the first prototype Fw 189V1 crashed, and even the modified prototype Fw 189V-6 did not convince.
The vast majority of Fw 189 aircraft served on the Eastern Front. The Focke-Wulf Fw 189 A proved to be capable of handling unpaved airfields, with excellent manoeuvrability and reliability. Several Fw-189A-1s were even fitted with the FuG-212 Lichtenstein C-1 radar and an oblique cannon and used as night fighters in Romania in 1944. The Fw 189 also saw service with the Slovak, Hungarian and Romanian air forces.
The Kit Fw 189A-1 SH72546 includes three plastic parts sprues, a clear parts sprue and 3D printed parts. The decals feature two German aircraft, one captured Soviet aircraft and one Norwegian aircraft. This originally German aircraft from the Eastern Front flew to Norway just before the end of the war and was used by the Norwegian Air Force after the war.


Heinkel He 177A Engine set for SH kits
1/48th Scale
Art. no. 129-4520
A nicely detailed resin cast set of Heinkel He 177A’s engine assembly which can be installed in the left or the right wing, using the appropriate engine bulkhead. Designed for Special Hobby’s He 177 kit set.


HP.52 Hampden Wheels for ICM Kits
1/48th Scale
Art. no. 129-4521
Resin cast wheels with nice detail levels and weighted tyres and the tailwheel for ICM’s Hampden Mk. I kit.


CAC Boomerang Upgrade Set for Special Hobby kits
1/72nd Scale
Art. no. 129-7532
The new reboxing of Special Hobby’s 1/72 CAC Boomerang, kit no. SH72539 comes with new, 3D-printed update parts both for the exterior and the cockpit of the aeroplane. The same set of parts is now available also for the owners of the earlier releases of the kit.


P-47D/M Intercooler Channel Correction Set for Tamiya kits
1/48th Scale
Art. no. 129-P48052
The Tamiya P-47D kit lacks the internal section of the intercooler air duct channel, and so the empty fuselage is clearly visible through the opening. Our 3D-printed set fixes this omission very simply, and all you need to do is just install the duct channel and the intercooler into the fuselage.


Mirage F.1 Undercarriage Legs for Special Hobby kits
1/72nd Scale
Art. no. 129-P72050
Finely detailed ABS resin 3D-printed undercarriage wheels for all boxings of Special Hobby’s Mirage F.1 kits


HMMWV Humvee Wheels for Revell kits
1/72nd Scale
Art. no. 129-P72051
Nicely detailed, 3D-printed wheels for Revell's Humvee model kit. The tyres come with life-like tread and are also weighted. The set also contains the shock absorber springs.


Heinkel He 177 A Wheels for Revell kits
1/72nd Scale
Art. no. 129-7533
Finely detailed main undercarriage wheels and the tailwheel for the Luftwaffe's only four-engined bomber . Our wheels come in a weighted shape and with more detail than the kit’s wheels could offer.

These new kits are available on Special Hobby's Website or from Hobbylink Japan