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Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
March 2, 2011
Company
Ultracast
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$5.95

Editor's note: This review is for four related products: Spoked Wheels 700 x 175 Smooth Tires, Stock #- 48228; Spoked Wheels 700 x 175 Smooth Tires, Stock #- 48228; Spoked Wheels 700 x 175 Smooth Tires, Stock #- 48228; Late Style Wheels 700 x 175 Treaded Tires, Stock #- 48231. Price is in Canadian Dollars which at current writing is almost par with U.S. Dollar.

The Focke Wulf 190 has been kitted by every major kit manufacturer. Often times the kit wheels leave a bit to be desired, whether they were anemic or lack detail on either the hub, tread or brake side. Ultracast has provided an answer for both early and late model FW-190s. Molded in light cream colored resin the wheels are perfectly molded with no blemishes or imperfections. This is the typical quality that I’ve come to expect from Ultracast.

Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
March 2, 2011
Company
Ultracast
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$12.95

With the new Dragon Tiger tanks on the market, more people than ever are building tanks. I’m one of them. Armor, more so than aircraft, lends itself to figures. Enter Ultracast with their line of resin figures.

Molded in light cream bubble free resin, this figure features two heads, one with a headset and one without. The headset head has a nice action pose of the commander yelling. The neck is nicely rounded so you can articulate the head as you want, up, down, and left or right, excellent flexibility.

You also get two left and three right arms so you can pick and choose how you want your figure to look. The arms are keyed with square pegs so you can alter the look of the parts easily. Amazingly the thumbs are not grouped with the others and articulated and perfectly molded.

Book Author(s)
Michael JF Bowyer
Review Author
Roger Rasor
Published on
February 28, 2011
Company
Crecy Publishing, Ltd.
MSRP
$18.95

When we hear the words Battle of Britain, those of us who build aircraft models, especially those flown in WW II, immediately think of Spitfires and Hurricanes fending off what was, during that summer of 1940, the best air force in the world. They were the icons of that aerial struggle, but they were only part of the story. The Battle of Britain was also the story of young fighter pilots who flew the Spitfires and Hurricanes, as well as those who piloted lesser-known RAF aircraft and those pilots and gunners of Coastal Command who protected convoys in aircraft bearing names like Hudson, Skua, and Roc. On the ground, the Battle of Britain also was the Home Guard training for the expected invasion; the aerial spotters with tin hats and binoculars; neighbors sadly picking through their bomb scattered possessions, and children climbing over the rubble in the streets.

Review Author
Chris Smith
Published on
February 28, 2011
Company
Revell, Inc.
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$20.95

History

Yet another classic design from Kelly Johnson, the Lockheed F-80 was America’s first practical, jet powered fighter. I say practical because the real “first U.S. jet was the Bell P-59 which was really a transition trainer for new jet pilots, not a viable combat aircraft. The first “Shooting Star,” was produced in 141 days and flew on Jan 8, 1944. Teething issues included fuel consumption levels higher than anticipated (a common problem of early jet engines) which required hanging extra tanks under the wings. Armed with 6x 50 cal. machine guns and a stable flight profile, the F-80 proved its worth in the Korean conflict primarily as a ground support aircraft.

Book Author(s)
William K Fowler
Review Author
Mike Hinderliter
Published on
February 27, 2011
Company
Concord Publications Company
MSRP
$16.99

This book is Number 6530 in Concord’s Warrior Series. There are 3 pages of narrative on Operation Saturn and Heeresgruppe Sud (Army Group South), including the break down of which units were included. The rest of this volume is just filled with rare pictures of what the soldiers had to endure on the Russian Front, I was getting cold just looking at these pictures. The pictures are printed on glossy paper and are very clear so that you can make out everything in them. I especially liked how thorough the descriptions under each photo were. These pictures are just “diorama heaven” for the modeler showing everyday troop living and pointing out various uniforms and equipment.