From 1973-2002, the Yamaha YZR500 led four 500 cc Grand Prix riders to ten separate world championships. One of the most famous riders to take the helm of the YZR500 was France's Christian Sarron. For the 1988 season, Sarron rode for the Sonauto-Yamaha team, scoring 149 points to earn a fourth-place finish overall.

Hasegawa’s offering of the YZR500 is a re-box of an earlier release, as a limited edition with new decals and new brake parts. There are 139 parts included in the kit, including a clear windshield, two rubber tires, four metal screws, a metal spring, and two colors (black and clear) of rubber tubing. The body panels and wheels are molded in white, while the other sprues are in a medium gray. Ten of the parts are not used, and there are two options for brakes (steel or carbon). The kit comes in a typical top-opening box, and the sprues are bagged in groups by color. There is also a very nicely printed decal sheet

Stug IIIs are my go to kit for a build. When ever I’m done with one project I start thinking about another StuG. You would think I would get tired of them, but there is such a variety of finishes, production variations and field modifications, that there is enough opportunity for each one to be unique. Dragon’s latest StuG III is the Sturmgeschutz III Ausf G May 1943 Production with early style Schurzen. This kit is a bit of a mix and match from the earlier AusfG kits, notably 6365 Early Production with Schurzen and 6581 December 1943 Production with Schurzen.

Coming home from work the other day I found on my porch a rather large box. I’m sure that my mail lady who placed it there was annoyed because she had to get out of her Jeep. The crude looking box was rather curious, it was chopped down and folded up from a larger box that sported red and blue “Revell” models logos. I reached down and lifted the box up to eye level and saw the familiar IPMS seal with Dick Montgomery’s name and return address. I then did the unthinkable, I shook the box like a kid on Christmas day. I already knew what “Ole Saint Dick” had sent but I didn’t know when. As I walked through the front door my wife greeted me with “that better be a review” as she kissed me. I know, it’s a dream that only plastic modelers have but I was wide awake and I couldn’t wait to open up the box.