Raised in Port Moresby, pilot Michael Claringbould is a globally recognized expert on the New Guinea air war and Japanese aviation in particular. In 1976 he conducted numerous surveys of crash sites in Papua New Guinea while based at Lae. The following year he continued his survey of crash sites in the Solomon Islands. In 1984 he was a key member of a RAAF salvage team, which recovered an intact Douglas A-20G "Hell'N Pelican II". From 1995 to 2001 he conducted fourteen surveys of crash sites in the Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands. Michael is an established author in this field as well. His books include Helluva Pelican, The Forgotten Fifth, Forty of the Fifth, and Black Sunday.

The Tamiya Panzerkampfwagen I (Sd.Kfz 101) is presented in Tamiya typical rigid top opener with nice artwork depicting a unit from the 4^th Panzer Division, Poland, September 1939. Contents of the box are limited as this is of course a small kit.

This 100% newly tooled kit complements the existing 1/35 scale line up of German WWII vehicles in the Military Miniature Series and completes the lineup of main German tanks of WWII for Tamiya.

The box contains a normal Tamiya instruction manual with clear construction steps, 22 in all to complete this kit.

Also included is a glossy ‘background information’ leaflet which is a welcome addition and provides some history, design and deployment details of the Panzer I.

It also contains details of the specifications of this Light Tank including dimensions, crew capacity, engine (with speed and output) as well as range and armament.

The leaflet is presented in Japanese, English, French and German.

After decades in the Monogram “tomb of doom” Atlantis has saved some of the Route 32 kits from the crypt and reissued them for us to enjoy once again. This model of the 1982 Z/28 Camaro was initially issued in 1982 and is now available as brand-new stock.

Back in the day, because these kits were relatively inexpensive and perfectly sized, many of these kits were primarily adapted to serve as slot car bodies. As fashionable as that was, they were also nicely detailed models when built with moderate detailing. If you collect a lot of models, or you’re concerned with space, 1:32 scale car models are only about 6” long but are good representations of the real thing.

The kit consists of 47 pieces for the single-purpose version of the 1982 Camaro Z/28. It is molded in color and includes a detailed one-piece body, interior, and engine, along with scripted rubber tires, chrome-plated and clear parts, instructions, and waterslide decals.

ICM continues to pump out new and interesting kits despite a war affecting all in the Ukraine, but especially in their home base in Kiev. This present reiteration of the original tooled Studebaker kit from 2007 (#35511) has new parts to make it into the U5 fuel truck specifically. This adds two tandem 375-gallon tanks with racks on the side to store a good number of 5-gallon Jerry cans. Let’s get into it…

What’s Inside the Box

You get six green plastic sprues- the four original sprues present in the earlier versions (A-D) and two copies of sprue E which contain the parts for the fuel tanks and their mounts, and the jerry cans. Sprue F is a clear sprue containing the windows, windshield, and headlight lenses. Decals include options for two nondescript schemes- one with a star and circle on the hood and one sans circle. No indication of where they were stationed but I suppose whenever fuel was needed to power machines of war would be fitting.

A Very Brief History of the Tank

This is clearly one of the seminal tanks of the 19^th century with the total number of over 22,700 being constructed (both M3 and M5 versions) from 1941-1944 largely by four manufacturers (including Cadillac, American Car & Foundry Co. and Massey-Harris).

From an armor standpoint, the Stuarts were our several ‘starter’ tanks during the early 30’s. They were largely lacking in firepower and lightly armored. They also suffered regarding their ability to meet their opposition, the German tanks they often faced on the battlefield.

However, throughout their production and a great number of modifications and improvements, the M3 proved its worth on the battlefield.

Rather than ramble on further, here are some additional online references that I found most informative and interesting: