Usually, when I get a Dragon 1+1 kit, it contains two of the same plane or AFV. Not this one. It contains the LTV-4 amphibious landing vehicle and a Jeep, which can be put in as cargo or, with the ramp down, can be shown loading or unloading.

The LVT was developed as a civilian ambulance/rescue vehicle which would operate in swampy areas where “normal” wheeled and tracked vehicles were useless. It had a watertight hull, with propulsion in water provided by the movement of the tracks. The unit could go directly from water to land to water with no problems. The Marines in the Pacific Islands found this particularly useful, as many islands had offshore coral reefs which would stop landing barges well offshore. The “Amphtracs” (or “Amtracs”), as these amphibious tractors were called, could cross the reefs and go up on the beach as far as needed.

I was fortunate enough to review the new Kagero Fokker Dr. I: The Aces’ Aircraft, Legends of Aviation in 3D book. This is the first book in a series of aviation books they are releasing in 3D. Now don’t get freaked out, the whole book is not in 3D, just some prints that show the plane and its components. You get a really nifty 1950’s style pair of 3D glasses, too (the old blue and red kind that some of you might remember from your childhood).

One of the areas that the 1/32nd scale Hasegawa Bf-109 kits lacks is the wheel wells. There is no lining and the detail is a little heavy. Aires now offers an option.

The Aires set includes two resin wheel well inserts and a small fret of photoetch. The parts are molded in light grey resin without any imperfections that I could see. The instructions are adequate for the job at hand.

Start the addition by deciding whether or not you want the round or squared off wheel wells. If you elect to use the squared off one, you’ll have to do it now. Then start thinning out the upper wings and the area around the wheel well opening. You will have to remove a good amount of plastic and thin out the upper wing, but nothing that a Dremel tool with sanding bit can’t fix. The process was actually quite easy. I removed some of the stiffeners in the kit wing but it wasn’t really necessary.