This kit features three figures depicting Wehrmacht soldiers fighting in the battles around Smolensk and Roslavl in 1941. From the start of Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, the German forces army had enjoyed many quick successes and had advanced over 300 miles in less than 3 weeks. However, when they encountered the Soviets in the region around Smolensk, the Germans ran into heavier than expected resistance and were delayed for three months from July to September 1941. Although, the Soviet counterattack failed, and resulted in huge losses, including three Soviet armies, this defensive battle slowed the German advance and showed that a Blitzkrieg to capture Moscow was not going to be as easy as expected.

Parts Count

• 71 White styrene plastic parts on ten spure with two individually wrapped
• 69 Chrome styrene plastic parts on five spure
• 10 Clear styrene plastic parts on one spure
• 4 Vinyl rubber tires
• 1 5 ¾” x 5 1/8” decal sheet
• 1 16 pages, 24 step instruction booklet

All parts are in separate sealed plastic bags and appear to be free of any flash. The chrome is bright and free of scratches. Clear parts are individually wrapped and appear free of scratches. The molds for the rubber vinyl tires appear to be fresh and without flash or mutation. Of note, the white styrene plastic this kit is molded in is extremely easy to work with; carves easily, sands well and reacts nicely with liquid solvent style glues like Tamiya Extra Thin Cement or Tenex 7. Decals have many options, are crisp printed and covered with protective wax paper.

Master Models is a company that makes turned brass aftermarket parts, specifically pitot tubes, refueling probes, and antennas.

The first thing I would like to point out is how good the packaging and instruction sheet is. The packaging consists of a zip-lock type bag while the part is in a smaller bag, keeping it from moving all over. The instruction sheet is very clear and easy to understand, only needing 3 steps. Cut off original part, Drill a hole (0.3 mm), Glue in the new metal part. Just be careful drilling the hole, especially in 1/72. You have to put each antenna group together which includes 3 parts. Mine got a little bent because of how small they are. I needed to use my visor with the highest magnification. Others will probably have an easier time than me if they are used to putting such small delicate parts together.

Hot on the heels of the release of the new Kinetic 1/48 F-18C, Scale Aircraft conversions has released a set of replacement gear in white metal. The set comprises 12 parts and includes both the main and nose landing gear.

A couple notes on the SAC parts: The kit nose gear leg has several ejector pin marks and the top of the main strut is two parts. The SAC kit has no ejector pin marks and the main leg is a single solid part. You will need to drill out the main leg to attach the top section but that’s simple. Second, that main gear are complete replacement parts, but the nose gear will have to have several parts added, such as the nose gear light and the landing lights.

Eduard continues to amaze with the release of its Bf-109G series of models. They’ve taken the kit and provided you with some impressive detail right out of the box. However, they also have their photo etch line and the Brassin line of resin. It was a natural to add this detail to their kits. The problem was that as you add more stuff the aftermarket stuff would become cost prohibitive. Eduard has an answer for that. They offer options in the BigSin series that bundles some of their sets into a lower cost offering. Same great aftermarket but at a lower cost.

This BigSin set offers the new Brassin multi-media cockpit set, fabric seatbelts, and a photo etch set. There is no part of the model that is not addressed. Let me look at each set separately.