Background

H.P. Martin and George Handasyde were an aircraft and motorcycle manufacturer from 1908 to 1922. The subject of this kit was one of their first efforts and appears to represent the third version of this aircraft. I base that on the 40hp J.A.P. engine that is fitted to this kit. This aircraft strongly resembled the French Antoinette including the odd twin wheel controls in the earlier versions. Those were abandoned after criticism from early test flights. Controls were modified to a control wheel with fore and aft motion for the elevators and wing wrapping controlled by turning the wheel. A bar controlled the rudder.

HAD Models from Hungary has its own line of resin and photoetch and this set is an example of how superb their parts can be. Set 132001 is a set of wheel chocks meant for Mig-29's, but would work with any 1/32nd scale Russian planes. The set consists of two resin parts for the majority of the chock and 6 photoetch pieces. Four make up the braces and two are the ends with the claw-like grabbers, which prevent the chock from moving.

Assembly is done by removing the casting block from the resin chock bodies. Next two of the braces are bent into channel shapes. A hold and fold is excellent for this. Lastly, the front part is bent so the grabbing fingers bend down. All three of these are glued in place on the bottom via their excellent instructions. Super glue is a must for adhesion since we are bonding photoetch and resin. Repeat for the other chock and prime (I used Alclad gray).

Recently Academy has jumped on the bandwagon of World War 1 related items by re-releasing a couple of their older 1/32^nd scale aircraft. This one is the ubiquitous Nieuport 17. This new commemorative edition features new decals for three aircraft, a little string for rigging, and a small photoetch sheet for details.

Having built this model a number of times over the years, I still consider it one of the best offerings Academy has ever done of a WW1 aircraft. It captures the lines of this scrappy little fighter quite well. The only notable exception is the upper wing gun, which doesn’t to my eye come close to representing a Lewis gun, or any other aircraft gun of the period, for that matter.

History

During WWII, the use of tanks revolutionized the way war would be fought. It was known as “Blitzkrieg”, and the German Panzer tank was the key vehicle in this new style of war. The Panzer medium tank had a number of major modifications during the course of the war. The MK IV featured a 75mm main cannon and two 7.9mm machine guns. However, the MK IV was not heavily armored and suffered greater losses as the war developed. The PZKW was conceived in 1934 and went into limited production by 1936. The MK IV version went into full production in 1943 and reached large production numbers. After the first version of the PZKW, the MK IV became the basis for numerous armored vehicles, ranging from self-propelled guns to munitions carriers and bridge-layer tanks. Its poor armor protection was supplemented by armor skirts on the sides and around the turret.

The second Republic P-47D Thunderbolt decal set recently released by A.M.D.G. Decals is #A48-006. It provides markings for one Razorback and three Bubbletop P-47Ds from four different fighter groups flying in the European theater. If a Thunderbolt is not already on your bucket list, this set may force you to reconsider the omission. As a matter of fact, it may motivate you to pencil in more than one P-47 project because all four schemes are very tempting candidates, and this set provides everything needed to complete each of the tempting subjects.