This new kit from Academy depicts the K311A1 1¼ -ton truck currently in service with the Armed forces of South Korea (R.O.K.) and exported to many other countries around the world. A detailed history of the vehicle is available on Wikipedia, so I won’t repeat it here. The kit provides marking options for two R.O.K. army trucks, one R.O.K. Marines, one R.O.K. Air Force, one Philippines, and two Chilean Marines trucks. The last Chilean option is a single color, providing an option for modelers who aren’t in the mood to paint complex camouflage.

The kit comes in a sturdy and surprisingly large box with the entire top covered by artwork of the vehicle. The kit includes separately molded cargo bed, bed canopy, and cab floor, four trees of tan parts, one tree of clear parts, a tree of poly-caps, five tires in soft black plastic, a fret of photo-etch, a sheet of masks, decals, and instructions. Everything is well packaged to prevent damage or loss of parts.

Thanks to MRC for the review kit and IPMSUSA for the opportunity to conduct and publish this review.

Bottom Line: 1/700 scale models of Royal Navy light cruisers built in WW I and repurposed as anti-aircraft (AA) cruisers in WW II have been long awaited as injection-molded plastic kits, and HMS Colombo is the latest arrival, and well done.

Brief Description of Product

This kit includes three quite well done 1/72 scale kits of three biplanes which were historically very important during the nineteen-thirties. Each kit includes an extensive instruction sheet, several color and marking choices, and adequate decals. The aircraft included are (1) Japanese Army Kawasaki Ki-10 Biplane Fighter, code named Perry by the Allies; (2) German Luftwaffe Heinkel HE-51A Fighter Biplane, used before the outbreak of World War II, and especially in the Civil War in Spain, and (3) the Polikarpov PO-2/U-2 Training Biplane, produced in enormous numbers in the Soviet Union up to the end of World War II, and which was used for pilot training and various combat roles, some involving the use of women pilots in combat.