Another in a long line of excellent turned metal (aluminum in this case) items from Master Model; IPMS USA sincerely appreciates Master’s support of our reviewer corps!

Once more Master provides a turned-metal pitot probe and Air-Refueling nozzle to replace the kit items; these are destined to satisfy our requirements for strength and accuracy.

This package contains two metal parts in a double-bag system; first, the outer protective card with details on the contents, then an internal “small” bag with the scale, strong pitot tube and Air refueling probe nozzle. As you can see by the pictures, these metal parts have far better detail than the kit items.

History

The Cape-class patrol boats were 95-foot (29 m) steel hull patrol boats of the United States Coast Guard with aluminum superstructures. They were unnamed until 1964, when they acquired names of US capes of land. Originally designed for anti-submarine warfare (ASW), all 36 boats in this class were built at the United States Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay, Maryland.

Kit

The kit is produced by Round 2 Models, a well-known company who bought the Lindberg Line and is re-issuing the kits in very colorful packaging. The box art work in outstanding! The scene depicts the cutter at high speed engaging an enemy submarine on the surface at dusk.

The PAC-3 Patriot is a surface-to-air missile system, whose primary purpose is to intercept ballistic missiles in the terminal phase of flight. This new offering from Aoshima is the first injection molded kit of the Patriot Missile system in 1/72 scale. The kit includes the Transporter Erector Launcher trailer, 4 missile containers, and an Isuzu Type 73 Heavy Truck. There are several options for displaying the model: you can display the TEL with outriggers up or down; the missile canisters can be stowed or ready to fire; the antenna can be in the raised or lowered position; or you can also show it firing a PAC-3 missile. One of the neat features of the kit is that it provides two full sets of outrigger legs and you do not glue the legs on, they are attached by poly caps. This means that if you are careful you should be able to swap out how you display the trailer.