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Review Author
Keith Gervasi
Published on
Company
Hasegawa
Scale
1/200
MSRP
$34.99

History

Introduced in November 2013, the P-8A Poseidon is the latest multi-mission maritime aircraft traditionally flown by the US Navy. In contrast to the piston engine-powered P2V Neptune and the turboprop-powered P-3 Orion, the P-8A is propelled by twin high-bypass turbofan engines. Each engine is equipped with an electric generator to power the P-8A's extensive array of onboard electronics.

The Kit

Inside the box you will find 4 light grey and 1 tinted sprue of plastic, a decal sheet and an instruction fold out. The plastic is cleanly molded and has some very nice raised and recessed detail. The decal sheet is printed very nice with a semi-matte finish.

Book Author(s)
Dick Taylor; Color Plates: Tony Debski; Drawings: Dariusz Karnas and Dariusz Grzywacz
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$49.00

Dick Taylor is a recently-retired British Army Lieutenant Colonel who has been deployed in many areas of the world, including Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, South Sudan and lately, in Sierra Leone in the fight against Ebola. Joining the army as a junior soldier in 1976, he has served exclusively in the Royal Tank Regiment. Commissioned in 2000, he has specialized in tank gunnery instruction, Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear operations, Psychological Operations, and defense exporting. He has a First Class degree in History, a Master of Philosophy degree in Historical Research, and a Master of Arts degree in Political Science. He is married with two sons and lives in Blandford Forum, Dorset. Dick Taylor has authored, or co-authored, at least 16 books on armored fighting vehicles, primarily with Mushroom Model Publications.

Review Author
Mike Lamm
Published on
Company
Italeri
Scale
1/56
MSRP
$34.99

Italeri has recently begun producing a line of 1/56 scale AFVs and figures. This might be an unusual scale for most model builders, but is a fairly common wargaming scale equivalent to the 28mm scale. The Cromwell tank kit is one of their newest kits promoting the on-line video game, World of Tanks®. Italeri currently has four kits in 1/56 scale promoting World of Tanks®, the other three kits include the Pz. Kpfw VI Tiger, the Pz. Kpfw. V Panther, and the M4 Sherman.

This kit comes packaged in a side-opening box displaying a Cromwell tank crushing a burning car, with the British Union Jack flag in the background on one side, and a World of Tanks® logo proudly displayed on the other. This artwork is exactly the type of branding World of Tanks® does with their video game, and the result is very striking.

Review Author
Allan Murrell
Published on
Company
Fly Models
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$89.83

When I was offered the opportunity to review this kit, I jumped at the chance. Growing up in the UK, the Wessex was a familiar sight at airshows and at Airports. The kit looks great and when you open the box the size and amount of detail is fantastic!

In the box is:

  • 7 x light grey sprues
  • 2 x clear sprues
  • 2 x Photoetched details parts
  • 1 printed paper set of seats and seat belts
  • 1 decal sheet
  • 1 instruction booklet
  • A lot of resin parts!

All the sprues are extremely well molded with super fine details. The plastic is a little softer than I like. A big drawback is the sprues have no part numbers on them so you have to keep turn back to the front of the instruction manual to ensure you are getting the right part from the right sprue!

Review Author
Clarence Wentzel
Published on
Company
Hasegawa
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$39.99

Background

This is a kit of the fighter plane “Space Wolf” flown by the space pirate, Captain Harlock from the adventure filled world of Leiji Matsumoto. Originally created in 1977 for a manga TV series, Captain Harlock has appeared in various film and TV shows, most recently a 2013 feature film, “Space Pirate Captain Harlock”. For his interspace travel, Captain uses a mother ship named Arcadia. A number of these Space Wolf fighter planes are carried by the Arcadia for protection and offense.

The Space Wolf is a space fighter plane capable of operating in either atmosphere or space conditions. It is armed by two 75 mm pulse laser cannons mounted in the front cowling and two Vulcan cannons in each wing. It appears that jet or rocket thrust can be directed to the tips of the wings and canards to provide control in high altitude or space conditions. The ventral fin is extended during flight but folds forward for storage during landing.