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Review Author
Pat Villarreal
Published on
Company
Twobobs Aviation Graphics
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$16.00

New decals for two aircraft of the VF-201 Hunters stationed out of NAS Fort Worth, TX. One is of an F-4N Phantom (BuNo 152244) during August, 1977. The other is of an F-14A Tomcat (BuNo 160396) during November 1998.

In the Package

There are two (2) decal sheets provided. The main sheet provides the colorful tail markings, insignias, and stencils. The second sheet is smaller for the F-4N Phantom fuselage “Navy” & “AF” wing markings. They are printed by Cartograf and have minimal excess clear film around the edges. The colors are vibrant and the registry is perfect.The fold-out color marking guide (11” X 17”) will help you locate the decals for each airplane. This also includes vendor paint guides for AK, Hataka, Mr. Color, and Mr. Paint.

Recommended kits for this decal set are:

Book Author(s)
Tom Cockle
Review Author
Andy Taylor
Published on
Company
Peko Publishing
MSRP
$41.95

This landscaped, hardback book is the third in a new series of books by renowned and prolific photograph collector and author Tom Cockle, published through PeKo Publishing of Hungary. This volume continues its proven formula of amazing photographs, many previously unpublished, of armored and soft skin vehicles in depots, in the field and post combat. Each page reveals more surprises than the previous. The first volume in this series was reviewed here: WW2 Vehicles Through the Lens Vol.1.

Volume 3 consists of the following six parts:

Book Author(s)
Tom Cockle
Review Author
Tomasz Menert
Published on
Company
Peko Publishing
MSRP
$26.60

The book Panzer-Rgt./Abt.18 on the Battlefield - World War Two Photobook Series Vol.26 is written by Tom Cockle. There are two pages dedicated to the history and combat experience of the Panzer-Regiment 18. This regiment was created primarily as the ‘Tauch’ or ‘Unterwasser’ (Dive or Underwater) and ‘Flamme’ (Flame) unit and the photographs in the book cover the period from early 1941 to late 1942. The photographic history of the Panzer-Regiment 18 shows Panzer II, Panzer III, Panzer IV tanks and even a picture of a captured British Cruiser Mk.IV tank, as well as some soft skin vehicles. The scenery includes vehicles’ travel to/from the battlefront, repair depots, resting spots, battle damage to the vehicles, and some accidents. The pictures shine a light on the weather conditions that the soldiers had to endure: heat, dust, and cold. Many pictures show tank crews at rest or posing with their vehicles.

Review Author
Bradley Moreland
Published on
Company
Tamiya
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$20.00

Unboxing

This kit has 3 sprues. Though the kit is small in size, it is LOADED with parts! I love how the parts were organized across the sprues. It was very easy to find what you needed. Each sprue was dedicated to the element of the model you were working on so there was no back and forth. Sprue A was the motorcycle itself. Sprue B was the sidecar. Sprue C was the figures. A neat little feature was the road signs on the side of the box that you cut out and form the traffic post. Much easier way to do this than a decal set-up.

Assembly

The detail on this model is very good! For something so small, I was impressed with the attention to detail that Tamiya gave to this. The instructions had very clear and detailed pictures which were easy to follow. This was my first ever motorcycle kit and it was a very enjoyable process.

Review Author
Bradley Moreland
Published on
Company
ICM
MSRP
$10.50

I will be honest…I do not have any firefighter figures that needed painting. That being said, these paints were PERFECT for what I used them for. I have a military motorcycle kit that I was working on. These paints were perfect for base paint on the project and especially for dry-brush weathering. On the figures the German Grey was the perfect shade as a base for the uniforms. After painting that, I used the Russian Green Primer. I dry brushed this lightly over the grey on the uniform jackets to give it the slightly “dusty green” that was pictured on the motorcycle kit box and it was a fantastic look. For the motorcycle itself I used the Chocolate, Black and Green Ochre to simulate dust, dirt, and scratches. I used a little bit of the Clear Red mixed with the Chocolate and Green Ochre. It made a very nice light rust color to simulate some very miniscule rusting on the motorcycle. Became a very nice touch.