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Product Picture

King Kong Triumphant
Review Author
Dave Morrissette
Published on
Company
Round 2 Models
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$149.95

Round 2 and Polar Lights has begun releasing full resin kits with The Wicked Witch, Kane from Alien and this kit, King Kong Triumphant. All of these kits are made of cold cast resin. This kit represents King Kong after the fight with the T-rex standing triumphantly on top of his beaten opponent. The kit was sculpted by Gabriel Marquez and represents the "long face" Kong from the film as animated by Willis O'Brien.

This kit is packed in perfect Styrofoam packaging with each piece nestling into a hole precut for it. The kit comes with Kong’s main body, his two arms, the base with the dead T-Rex and the dinosaurs left forearm. The kit has minimal to no seams with just a little clean up around the head of the dinosaur and a few in the fur. I prepped the kit using a Dremel with diamond bits and had it ready in no time.

Product Picture

Su-15 (Flagon) Pitot Tubes
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Master Model
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$9.00

A feature that you can quickly notice on the Sukhoi Su-15 Flagon-F is the complicated nose pitot tube. Although Trumpeter made a valiant effort in molding the Su-15 TM pitot tube with its twelve separate vanes, the limits of the injection molding process come into play. I have used another set that used a combination of resin and photo-etch that was an improvement, but assembly was very difficult and the photo-etched vanes don’t really convey their 3-D nature. This Master Model set provides a quantum leap over any previous attempt to portray the Su-15 TM nose pitot tube. As a bonus, Master Model also provides the ability to build the slightly less complex Flagon-A nose pitot tube. I have also listed the Trumpeter Su-15 UM Flagon-G above, but I only have conflicting evidence that this set will help that kit. There should be no problem for the wing mounted pitot, but I have seen a variety of nose pitot tubes for the Flagon-G.

Box art

61 Falcon Ranchero
Review Author
Ron Verburg
Published on
Company
Round 2 Models
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$19.99

History

The Ford Ranchero is a coupe utility that was produced by Ford between 1957 and 1979. Unlike a pickup truck, the Ranchero was adapted from a two-door station wagon platform that integrated the cab and cargo bed into the body. A total of 508,355 units were produced during the model's production run.

Kit

The kit is produced by Round 2 Models, a well-known company who bought the AMT Line and is re-issuing the kits in very colorful packaging. The box artwork shows a close up of a black 1961 Falcon Ranchero on a classic green background.

Sample month

Cross & Cockade 2017 Calendar
Review Author
Dick Montgomery
Published on
Company
Cross & Cockade International
MSRP
$22.00

It’s that time of year again. That time of year to think about purchasing your 2017 Cross & Cockade International Calendar. “But”, you say, “it is only June of 2016! What’s the hurry?”

Well, first, you should realize that there may just be a limit to the print run for these calendars. I honestly don’t know if there is such a limit, but if there were you’d rather be on the “I got mine” side of that line.

Secondly, “the profits from the sale of the 2017 Cross and Cockade International Calendar are once again going to assist in the upkeep of the British Air Services Memorial at the St-Omer airfield in northern France” according to Roger Tisdale of Cross & Cockade. There is always a need for support for this fund, so why wait until closer to the New Year to provide some financial support to this very worthy cause? One can check out the St-Omer Memorial at http://www.webmatters.net/txtpat/?id=258

Package

Handley Page Victor Pitot Tubes and Refueling Probe Boom
Review Author
Jim Pearsall
Published on
Company
Master Model
Scale
1/144
MSRP
$4.13

Here’s another of those useful little accessories from Master Model of Poland. These are finely done turned brass parts to replace those fragile and easily bent, broken, or lost parts from your lovely Victor.

In this case, it’s the pitots and the refueling probe. There’s a pitot at the end of both wings, and they’re right out there where the least bit of careless handling will either bend or break the pitots. The refueling boom is right out there in front, just inviting some disaster. More about my Airfix VC-10 tanker later.*

Installation

I did the refueling probe first. The instructions are VERY clear and easy to follow.