Review Author
Mike Hoekstra
Published on
October 2, 2011
Company
Happy Medium Press
MSRP
$21.95

This is my first go-around with Sci-Fi & Fantasy Modeller. I’d heard of the magazine/publication, but never had the opportunity to look at one up close in my area of the country. I must say that the first thing that immediately caught my attention was that this is not a typical “magazine”, but more of a soft-cover book. The materials for the publication are very sturdy with the pages made of very heavy paper stock, pretty much guaranteeing that this will be around for years as a reference or inspirational item.

Review Author
Mike Hinderliter
Published on
October 2, 2011
Company
Airfix
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$44.95

My son was really excited when he saw that a model of the Stratos 4 was being put out by Airfix. He is an avid Anime fan and wanted us to build this model together. Before the kit even arrived, he had already brought out his DVDs of the Stratos 4 series. The Stratos 4 series was done by Studio Fantasia and Bandai Visual and directed by Takeshi Mori. The story is about the comet defense system that was formed when, 50 years earlier, scientists discovered that a group of comets was on a collision course with the Earth. The defense system comprises a two-tiered plan – the primary a space-based comet blaster group and the secondary a ground-based meteor sweeper group. The idea is for the space-based Comet Blaster ships to blow up the comets and the ground-based meteor sweeper group cleans up any chunks that remain too big from the initial explosion.

Most of the series follows the female pilots of the ground-based units that are on Shimoji Island in 2024.

Review Author
Tom Moon
Published on
October 1, 2011
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$9.95

These sets of masks are for the use in painting the model without painting the clear glass windows and lamps. The masks are made of a vinyl type of material and are different from the yellow “Tamiya” type of tape. Because they are of this vinyl type of material, they are much stiffer, but do allow you to place them fairly easily. However, it became a task to remove them without popping the glass out. There is a two part mask for the windshield that allows for a depiction of a dirty windshield that has been wiped clean by the windshield wipers. This worked very well and does make the weathering process easier.

Review Author
Tom Moon
Published on
October 1, 2011
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$32.95

Page 1 has the replacement of the front bumper after removing the plastic one. You will need a PE bending tool as the replacement part is several inches long. This step also replaces the rear fender support with a PE U channel. A bending tool would be helpful here. There are replacement foot petals, but I did not use them. They are deep in the cabin and are hard to see unless you leave the doors open. There are two front grill add-ons that look very good. The final item on this page is the addition of PE chains to the towing bolts. I did not place them on until very late in the build, as these have a tendency to pop off during handling.

Review Author
Greg Wise
Published on
September 30, 2011
Company
MiniArt
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$75.00

History Brief:

Vickers-Armstrongs privately designed the Valentine. Based on the A-10 Cruiser tank it was submitted to the War Office on Feb 10 1938. The development team matched the lower weight of a cruiser tank to the suspension and transmission of the A10 heavy cruiser, with the superior armor of an infantry tank. The new design was easier to produce and cost less than the older Matilda tanks. The first Valentines used a gasoline engine with conventional steering. The Mark II used a diesel version of the engine while the Mark IV and later variants GMC diesels.