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Package and contents

E-2C 2000 Hawkeye Cockpit Interior
Review Author
Fred Wilms
Published on
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$14.95

Construction

Edward has produced an E-2C Hawkeye photo-etched cockpit installation and seat detail system, pre-finished and with adhesive backing. Photo-etched parts were in perfect condition. The instructions were excellent for the most part, but I believe they forgot to show where the face air outlets (eye balls) and fire warning instrument system were located. Per my research, I placed it below the overhead eyebrow. The parts were easy to install. Make sure the instruments, control pedestal and side consoles are filed flat, removing the instruments molded in the details before adding the new panels. A word of caution: some patience is required when installing the throttle, flap, and steering controls, as they contain many tiny parts.

Comments

This kit is recommended for the experienced modeler, due to the numerous tiny parts.

Box Art

Barrel of a Gun: A War Correspondent's Misspent Moments in Combat
Book Author(s)
Al J. Venter
Review Author
John Ratzenberger
Published on
Company
Casemate Publishers
MSRP
$34.95

This book has nothing to do with models or modeling. If you are into modeling that part of the world, you might find a useful picture of a vehicle or aircraft.

The author, Al J. Venter, is a South African war correspondent who has covered Africa and the Mideast for 40-some years He has about 20 books to his credit, a few of which are on diving. I have read none of them, so this was a first for me. There is no doubt that he is not, and never has been, sitting behind too many desks.

From the publisher's data sheet and the book end covers, I gathered the purpose of this book is the show that it's a dangerous profession -- well, yeah, think Ernie Pyle. It was fortuitous (I guess) that as I was reading this, the Egyptian government was being overthrown -- the media became the target of the "pro-government" forces and there was the scene of Katie Couric almost swallowed by a mob -- all that brought the theme home, maybe as well as the book did.

Packaging

P-47D Oil Cooler
Review Author
Roger Rasor
Published on
Company
Quickboost
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$3.80

Quickboost recently released a set of detail parts for the 1/72 Tamiya P-47D that shows their unique focus on accuracy. Set QB 72 282 provides model builders with a pair of oil coolers that will not only add an often-overlooked detail, but also correct a distortion that is molded into the kit fuselage parts. Tamiya’s practice of simplifying kit construction usually leads to molding as much detail as possible into major parts. This sometimes leads to less than perfect shapes here and there (such as those oval shaped rivet depressions along the mating surfaces of both fuselage halves).

The oil cooler louvres molded into the kit’s fuselage halves are incorrectly angled upward so they will release from the molds. This inaccuracy becomes very obvious when the kit's parts are compared to the Quickboost replacement parts (as shown in the photo below).

Box Art

Confederate Raider
Review Author
Doug Hamilton
Published on
Company
Moebius Models
Scale
Unkown
MSRP
$44.99

Editor's note: Although the scale is unkown, the figure stands Rider: 5" approx, Horse 7-1/2"

Originally produced by Aurora Models in 1958/1959, this kit has been around awhile, although until recently only in the kit collectors realm. Moebius Models has chosen to rerelease this gem of yesterday, with the same box art and instruction sheet guaranteed to bring you back to your childhood days of saving your paper route money to buy one of these babies for about 3 whole dollars. The horse looked very familiar to you when you got it home and opened the box. But that’s only because this fella had been released twice before. The first time seating the mounted Gold Knight of Nice, part of the original Aurora Knight set. The second time around, an Apache Warrior was atop this fine steed’s back. The third time being the charm, here comes the trusty mount again, this time carrying a Confederate Raider!! Talk about some mileage!!!

Box Art

Gotha IV
Review Author
Rod Lees
Published on
Company
Wingnut Wings, Ltd
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$139.00

First comment: Thanks to Richard at Wingnut wings for sending IPMS USA a review copy of this magnificent kit. Did I say it was “Magnificent”? You better believe it!

Crammed into a sturdy double-corrugated lower, full-color wraparound upper box is undoubtedly one of the most complex, yet simple-to-build, WWI kits I have ever encountered. Box art is excellent, showing two aircraft flying through flak and dropping bombs… Given the reputation of this still-young company, you don’t have to worry. There has been a bit of engineering involved here (duh) to provide excellent fit and, as our British friends say, “Value for Money”.