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Review Author
Greg Wise
Published on
January 30, 2012
Company
Zvezda
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$21.59

History Brief:

After the Winter War with Finland, the M-72 motorcycle was built in the Soviet Union as a replacement for the two outdated heavy types already in service with the Red Army. As an odd twist of fate would have it, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact provided the necessary legal, political, and economic environments that allowed the Soviets to build the BMW R-71 that had been rejected by the Wehrmacht as the M-72. The short-lived pact agreement included that BMW provide the design, tooling and training to build the motorcycle and military sidecar. Proposed manufacture was to be in three factories located in Moscow, Leningrad, and Kharkov. Only Moscow produced any M-72s prior to the German invasion.

Review Author
Dave Koukol
Published on
January 30, 2012
Company
Wheeliant
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$6.50

Over the past couple of years, aircraft diorama accessories have become more prolific in the scale modeling marketplace – much to the liking of many of us dioramically-challenged aircraft modeler types. Aires, one the leading aftermarket detail accessory manufacturers, is making its contribution to the proliferation in the form of its Wheelliant brand of accessories – namely in the form of aircraft chocks.

Wheelliant’s 1/48 scale NWC-4/5 chocks for US Navy aircraft come in a 2-pack of superbly-cast resin parts and a length of thread to represent the manila grab-line used to release the adjustment lock mechanism.

Review Author
Howie Belkin
Published on
July 4, 2020
Company
MiniArt
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$19.00

Ukraine’s prolific MiniArt has released this WOODEN FENCE as a follow up to their METAL FENCE. It is a welcome addition to their large line of 1/35 buildings and building accessories. This kit contains 4 of the same sprue that yield 140 grey styrene parts with wood grain molded in that will create a lattice-style fence for civilian, military and railroad modelers, and architects, much like its real counterpart. I believe this is a style of fence that might be seen throughout the Western world and Eastern block, though I’m no expert on fences! Like the real fence, each lattice section connects to a post on each end, which connects to the next section. Each post is topped off with a square crown. Each section has a top rail. You can add single width gates (for people) or double (for vehicles, etc) with the handle, hinge and latching hardware provided. With care, you might be able to assemble it with gates that work.

Book Author(s)
Pavel Kloucek & Bohumir Kudlicka
Review Author
Brian R. Baker
Published on
January 30, 2012
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$20.49

History

This is an unusual book in that it covers a relatively unknown but significant event in postwar aviation history. This was a series of air displays held at the Prague-Ruzyne Airport immediately following the end of World War II, during that precious time period when the Czechs enjoyed a brief era of freedom before the Communist regime takeover in 1948 drove them back to the Dark Ages where they would languish until democracy regained control when the Soviet Union disintegrated around 1990.