General

I rarely build 1/72 armor now, but this is a kit of the M60A1, which I commanded while serving in the US Army. I never operated this version, but it will add another variant to my collection. Academy has produced a 1/72 version of their previous 1/35 USMC M60A1 MBT as deployed by the USMC in DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM in 1990/91. The sprues are arranged differently than their 1/35 version of the same vehicle. It is very nicely detailed, there was no flash, mold seams were minimal and easily removed as the plastic is easy to sand. Parts fit, with a few exceptions, such as the road wheel arms to the underside of the hull, is excellent and very little filling was required. Filling large gaps in the lower hull above the final drives and the underside of the fender mounted sponson boxes (see photo #15) was necessary.

This is the third (of four) in this TrainCraft series. The other volumes are:

• How to Build a Model Railway
• Constructing Buildings for Model Railways
• Euston – A History and Modelling the 1875 Station (available for preorder)

These intensive, informative, and well photographed books are written by David Ashwood (the Vice Charmain) with the Market Deeping MRC (Model Railroad Club), now located in Essendine, near Peterborough, England.

As a plastic scale modeler, I was pleasantly surprised that this is a book focused on model railroads. As most of us modelers are open-minded, I wanted to know what I could learn from another fun hobby I shared as a lad; I was not disappointed.

ICM isa hobby company based out of Ukraine and has provided IPMS/USA a six (6) bottle acrylic paint set for review, WWII German U-boats Acrylic Paint Set.

In the Box

The paint set contains six (6) 12ml bottles with nontoxic water based acrylic paints. The following colors are provided:

• Sky Grey (1033)
• Dark Sea Grey (1034)
• Dark Grey (1037)
• Brass (1018)
• Oily Steel (1026)
• Clear Red (1011)

Straight out of the bottle, the paint’s viscosity is thick and purposely prepared for brush painting. The instructions do recommend thinning 40-60% with water or thinner for airbrushing. All surfaces are recommended to have primer applied prior to painting. Volume wise, the paint takes up about 70% of the bottle and has “room” to add thinner if so desired.

Note, the bottles are not the usual dropper style (think Vallejo) but a twist off cap and a large opening to allow brushes to enter the bottle.