This may sound a bit hokey, but there are those companies who produce things they think we will want and there are those who listen to those little 'wouldn't it be nice if...' comments that modelers make from time to time. Steel Beach is one of those 'one man' operations that started when someone commented that it would be nice to have a set of exhaust with covers on them. After all, most of the time one sees a modern jet on the line, it has all sorts of covers on things. So Darren Roberts started Steel Beach to provide those neat resin exhaust with covers already molded in place and he did it for a plane that is a passion with him, the F-14 Tomcat.

Much to his delight, the idea took hold and he has since gone on to other neat thingies for modern jets. One of them is a line of intake covers. Most jets today use what is basically a form fitted canvas bag in various colors. His first set was, of course, for the F-14 and made from scrap vinyl with adhesive on one side. One simply peels it off and applies it to the model. So simple it is a wonder no one else thought of it. The first one was for the F-14 and while I thought I had a review of it, I guess I don't. Anyway, those came in various colors and the part numbers are SB 201 - red, SB 202 - black, SB 203 - yellow, and SB-204 blue.

This set is for the S-3 Viking and it comes on two sheets. The outer piece is already hatched on the inside to make folding it over into the intake easy. One then just attached the circular part over the opening. Easy to do. The colors for the S-3 Intake are SB 205 - red, 206 - black, and 207 - blue. A heck of a lot better than trying to fill intake seams and cheaper than resin seamless intakes!

September 2006

Thanks to Steel Beach for the review samples. You can get them at -

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