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Review Author
Rob Benson
Published on
Company
MikroMir
Scale
1/350
MSRP
$29.95

Overall Summary

I recommend this kit for any collection of unusual submarine models. This kit is for intermediate-skill modelers, and will result in a very nice representation of an M-class submarine that served in the Royal Navy in World War 1 and shortly thereafter. Assembly was straight forward, with no major problems. No alignment pins or sockets are present in the kit design, and many parts may require addition of shims, spacers, pins or wire for positive location. This is not a detraction from the kit, but something to think about when you start assembly. The resulting model looks proper in comparison to photographs and references.

Review Author
Rob Benson
Published on
Company
MikroMir
Scale
1/350
MSRP
$29.95

Overall Summary

I recommend this kit for any collection of USN submarine models. This kit is for intermediate-skill modelers, and will result in very nice representation of any of the short-hull Sturgeon class attack submarines that served in the U. S. Navy. Assembly was straight forward, with no major problems. No alignment pins or sockets are present in the kit design, and many parts may require addition of pins or wire for positive location. This is not a detraction from the kit, but something to think about when you start assembly. The resulting model looks proper in comparison to photographs and references.

Review Author
Rob Benson
Published on
Company
MikroMir
Scale
1/350
MSRP
$33.95

Overall Summary

I recommend this kit for any collection of USN submarine models. This kit is for intermediate-skill modelers and will result in a very nice representation of any of the George Washington class submarines that served in the U. S. Navy. Assembly was straight forward, with no major problems. No alignment pins or sockets are present in the kit design, and many parts may require addition of pins or wire for positive location. This is not a detraction from the kit, but something to think about when you start assembly. The resulting model looks proper in comparison to photographs and references.

Review Author
Phil Peterson
Published on
Company
PJ Production
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$7.60

PJ Production does an interesting selection of items in resin including aircraft related figures in the more popular scales.

This set includes 4 figures designed to fit a Black Hawk of choice, though I am sure you could use them with any modern US chopper. You get a pilot, copilot and two air crew. They are molded as one-piece items in a light tan resin, except the pilot which has a separate arm to help position on the controls.

There were no air bubbles on the figures but there was a bit of flash and some mold marks that needed attention. The pilots have the regular bone dome while the aircrew get the added facial mask which makes painting them a breeze if you aren’t into painting flesh tones. They also have molded-on seat belts which doesn’t extend to their back making it easier to fit them into a seat.

Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
Company
Avantgarde Model Kits
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$70.00

AMK models has re-released an improved version of their 1/48 Kfir model. Based on what I read online the overall shape of the fuselage was improved, plus the weapons are now produced by slide molds technology. The rest of the sprues, I think, are the same as the original boxing.

In the box are 12 sprues for the airplane, plus multiple sprues for the individually molded weaponry. These sprues are packed in smaller boxes within the main box, ensuring all the sprues fit nice and firmly inside the box. No sprues will get damaged or rattled around in this box.

You also get an excellent decal sheet for 5 different markings: Israel, Sri Lanka, Ecuador, Colombia, and the civilian contractor ATAC, which provides air combat training for different Air Forces. You can finish the model as a C2 or C7 version and the instructions are absolutely clear regarding which parts to use with each version.