Many thanks to the Hauler Brengun Company and the IPMS Reviewer Corps for allowing me to review this unique diorama accessory. Hauler Brengun is a valued contributor to the IPMS Reviewer system and I am very pleased to report on my experience with this excellent accessory, a modern USN tow bar.

USN jets are one of my favorite modeling subjects, and small details such as this tow bar add greatly to displays of completed kits. These towbars are ubiquitous anywhere aircraft get pulled around.

Thank you very much to the wonderful folks at SAM Publications for providing this new title for review. Thanks are also due to the IPMS Reviewer Corps for allowing me the opportunity to research and learn more about these colorful adversary jets. Many of these unusual aircraft thrilled me with close passes while I was working in the Nevada mountains years ago. This volume is the first in a new SAM Model Data File publication series described as “scaled down in size and price.” I found this book outstanding in quality and value, so that description is quite modest.

Tsesarevich (Russian: Цесаревич) was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Russian Navy, built in France at the end of the 19th century. The ship's design formed the basis of the Russian-built Borodino-class battleships. After repairs were made following the Russian-Japanese war, most of the small-caliber guns (47mm and 37mm) were removed. Tsesarevich was not very active during the early part of World War I and her sailors joined the general mutiny of the Baltic Fleet in early 1917.

This Master Model set provides you with 20 barrels: Four machined aluminum 305mm/40 (12”) barrels; twelve machined brass 152mm/45 (6”) barrels; two 47mm (1.85”) Hotchkiss Gun barrels; and two 37mm (1.5”) Hotchkiss gun barrels and a single page instruction sheet. As you can see in the comparison photo below, the improvements are most noticeable in the muzzle ring of the twelve 152mm barrels due to the limitations of injection plastic molding.

Airfix continues to impress everybody with the increasingly detailed and high quality of their products. This is a great gift set that can be made and used in a very detailed diorama of a typical RAF World War 2 airfield during the period of the battle of Britain.

In the box is:

• 1 Hawker Hurricane Mk.I - L200 x W255; Pieces 127
• 1 Albion AM463 3-Point Fueller - L118 x W45; Pieces 113
• 1 Bedford MWD - L89 x W41; Pieces 95
• 10 x Ground Crew Figures and Accessories - H38; Pieces 108
• 12 x acrylic paints
• 2 x brushes
• 2 x poly cement
• 1 decal sheet
• 1 instruction booklet

The kits are all bagged individually which helps with assembly; the sprues are well molded with no flash.

First launched in 1991, the SHINKAI 6500 is a manned submersible that can dive to depths of 6,500 meters (20,000 feet). Operated by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Shinkai has completed over 1300 deep dives in the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans, as well as the Sea of Japan.

In 2012, the vessel underwent a major upgrade, including conversion from a single aft prop to two thrusters and the addition of one more horizontal thruster for maneuverability. Hasegawa offers the kit with two build options to reflect the original and upgraded version of the submersible. To clarify the build process and the differences, the instruction sheet includes complete build sequences for each version. It's worth taking the time to go through the instructions – particularly since other sub-options are offered within each build – to end up with the configuration you've chosen.