Making his first appearance in comic books in 1941, Captain American began fighting the Axis Powers as a patriotic superhero. Fast-forward to today and Captain America (Steve Rogers) has had his own movie, been a member of The Avengers movie, and most recently again held the main stage in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
The Half Track was used in virtually every theater of conflict during WW II and the Korean War. It proved to be a very versatile vehicle, with a top speed of over 40mph. The M-16, as it was officially designated, could be equipped to transport troops or different types of armament. This kit represents the M-16 fitted with twin .50 caliber machine guns in a power operated turret. The Half Track was a big vehicle, with an overall length of more than 256 inches. It was also heavy coming in at 20,767 pounds, which is over 10 tons. Part of the weight was due to the ¼ inch thick armor plating. The engine produced 140 horsepower put through an eight speed gearbox. The power was delivered to both the front wheels and the rear tracks.
Thanks first to Dragon models USA for providing IPMS USA this interesting set of figures; your support is greatly appreciated…. And thanks also to IPMS USA’s leadership for the stream of things for me to work on!
This set contains six figures; two U.S. GI’s in a semi-crouch, two Werhmact Fallschrimjaegers in a similar crouch, and two standing females who are the object of the military figures’ attention between the opposing forces; these are posed so one is pouring water over the other in a shower mode. A fanciful encounter, but interesting in that it could have occurred, and with what final outcome is yet to be known.
The figures are all well molded, and sculpture is excellent; the facial features, in particular, are extremely well done. Each body is proportioned and matches what is on the box art.
The F-14A fighter was designed because of the failure of the F-111B and the lack of its fighter capabilities, weight, and rear visibility. It was a fourth generation, supersonic, two seat, twin engine, variable- sweep wing aircraft. It was designed using the lessons learned about fighting Migs during the Vietnam War. They took the TF30 engines, AWG-9 radar and the AIM-54 missile system from the F-111B and designed a more capable fighter aircraft. It first flew in 1970 aboard the USS Enterprise.
This kit is put out by Round 2 which is re-releasing older kits from Polar Lights, MPC and, AMT. It makes me really happy to know that I’ll be able to find some of the older kits from my childhood at more reasonable prices than the originals that are found on Ebay. Thanks for all your efforts Round 2, they are appreciated. One thing to remember about these older kits is that the molds are older and there can be a lot of flash to scrape off of the parts.
Scale Aircraft Conversions has released a set of white metal front and rear main gear for the Hobby boss A-6E 1/48 scale. The set includes 12 parts, a front gear strut with actuators and scissors, two main rear struts also with actuators and scissors. These twelve parts are replacements for kit parts front gear parts # F58, F18, F33, F32, F52, F29, F45, F46, F49, left main gear parts F23, F27, F22, F15, F47 and right main gear parts F28, F56, F57, F55, F3 and there accompanying metal inserts.
The Hobby Boss A-6E landing gear is rather complicated. It includes a metal strut that is encapsulated within plastic half’s to add strength to the undercarriage. It would be hoped that the SAC gear would simplify the process of building the landing gear. For better an understanding see the photos of the kit instructions.
Since I spent a lot of time in Air Force radio, some time in AF intelligence, and being generally interested in communications (I have an extra-class Amateur Radio license) this book was right down my alley. Additionally, being interested in post WW2 British aircraft is also a plus with this book.
The theme here is airborne ELINT, electronic intelligence. You can learn a lot by listening to what the other guy is saying on the radio when the fighters are up and practicing interceptions or tactical support. And that’s where the British started after World War 2. When you’re flying at 20,000 feet you can hear a lot more UHF and VHF signals because these frequencies are line-of-sight communications. The higher you are, the further you can see and hear.
Up until about 1949, RAF ELINT consisted of listening to the radio communications. Everything else was considered as “noise”.
Scale Modeling Quarterly is an interesting new magazine that nice variety of subjects of interest to many modelers. This is the second edition of the relatively new modeling magazine by Hobbyscale Press. The magazine is described is a journal for and by scale modelers. The magazine is published quarterly and costs $7.99 per issue.
The magazine is 8.5” x 11”, printed on a gloss paper and is 52 pages including covers. The typeface is large, easy to read, and colors are used to accentuate paragraph headings and titles. The photographs are sharp and are all printed in color.
The magazine includes a nice mix of editorial articles, modeler profiles, build articles, and modeling techniques.
Contents of this issue include:
The usual appreciation and applause to Ross at SAC for providing one more of his new metal gear for the new kits; and as usual, thanks to the IPMS leadership for sending it on!
This is a stronger, metal version of the kit’s gear. It is essentially a “form/fit/function” replacement, with the exception of the fact the SAC gear improves on the strength of the long kit legs. For this build, I left the SAC items unpainted just to see how they looked. I may go back and change that later.
A perfect addition to your diorama or display base is this Aires Aerobonus fire drum set. Aires Aerobonus provides two resin fire drums and a set of decals: “ For Fire Only”. Of note is the Quickboost re-sealable packaging making the parts easy to review and stuff back into the package securely. The supplied instructions provide color and decal placement drawings.
Aires Aerobonus has molded the fire drums in light grey resin with only a few bubbles that are easily filled. There are no mold seams to sand off and the resin plug is easily removed from the bottom with a razor saw or Dremel. The inside rim had a small resin protrusion, but that was easily removed with a swipe of a scalpel blade.
Most likely, if you build models, you’re familiar with the Xuron Corporations line of products. Designed by modelers for modelers, Xuron supplies some of the finest cutting tools on the market today. From sprue cutters to these photo-etched cutters the name Xuron is synonymous with high quality.
