Model Art Magazine is a monthly magazine that covers aircraft, armor, ships and car modeling. Model Art started releasing magazines in 1966 and has evolved from there over the past forty six years.

This is a special issue released by Model Art covering plastic model aircraft of the IJN in scales 1/72, 1/48 and 1/32. The book is broken down into six sections. Interceptors, Night Fighters, Land - based Attackers and Bombers, Trainers, Experimental and Reconnaisance Land - Based Aircraft and Foreign - Made Aircafts and others.

Each section includes photos of finished models, period photos, available kits, year released and a rating system for a lot of them. The ratings are from one to five stars and you find most of the older kits tend to have a lower rating, but this not always the case as some of the recent releases have some lower ratings.

The very last part of the article consists of minor scale plastic kits (1/100, 1/144 and 1/700).

Tamiya has released a brand new model (new tool) of the Dingo Mk.II, which is a great addition to their growing line of 48th scale military miniatures.

Upon opening of the box you find two sprues for the British Armored Vehicle. Tires are molded in plastic (no rubber, which is good), but they are molded together with the wheel hubs. It would have been nice to have them molded independently to make painting easier. The model has a simple interior and two figures.

You can build the model with the top either open or closed. There is no engine provided, however the engine compartment is provided, so I would imagine some aftermarket company will come to the rescue.

While the interior is simple, I would say it is adequate for the scale and once you have the figures inside is likely to be just fine. There are a handful of ejector pin marks in the interior, but I doubt those will be visible, even if the top were to be left open.

As a Cobra pilot on the border in Germany during the cold war, the Mi-24 Hind was the boogieman. It is one big ugly and deadly helicopter. I’ve always wanted to fly one.

The Hind has sported some very colorful paint schemes, especially since the end of the cold war. Big and ugly can become somewhat beautiful when you put a nice paint scheme on them they become less ugly, kind of like putting lipstick on a pig.

The latest offering from the Hungarian company, HungAeroDecals, covers four Mi-24V Hinds in Hungarian service. The decals are printed on a 2 ½ x 4 7/8 (6.5 x 12.5cm) printed by BOA Agency so you know they are very thin, opaque and react well with setting solutions. Just make sure that you use plenty of water to slide them on. The instructions are on a single sheet of A4 paper with full color side view drawings of both sides of the four aircraft. Other than notes on the countries of the aircraft there is no other information on these aircraft or units.

The Aggressor schemes as applied to Air Force F-16s are some of the ‘coolest’ paint schemes applied to the light weight fighter. Whether it is the Artic, Desert Flanker, Lizard, Blue Flanker or the Blizzard scheme they add lots of color to the drab F-16. The most unique of the Aggressor schemes is the Blizzard one. This set is based off of the USAF F-16C Block 30 (or Block 32) #86-0269 from the 64th AS in 2012. The markings are available through Afterburner Decals Aggressor sheet (48-085). This aircraft is the sole aircraft painted in this scheme, however, it is the best of the bunch. It features squiggly lines of color in FS35109 (dark blue), FS36628 (light grey), FS36270 (dark grey) and FS36251 (mid grey).

A nicely detailed 1/72 USAF Fighter Pilot! He stands in a USAF flight suit, harness, helmet in his right hand, and wears a USAF flight cap. Missing is a g-suit and the distinctive “bulletproof” mustache worn by USAF fighter pilots during the Vietnam War. However, with some careful painting, you can suggest these things at this scale.

The figure arrived in a clear package with insert. On the insert you’ll find a simple color illustration with paint suggestions. No specific paint manufacturer is suggested. Refer to references for correct colors.

The figure consists of separate pieces attached to a resin casting block: main body, left arm, right arm, and helmet. All you have to do is carefully remove them from the casting block and perform some light cleanup. Use superglue to assemble the figure.

A problem area encountered is the left arm, specifically the unnatural bulkiness of the left shoulder. Remove some material and it should look right.